There are people who have habits – ways that they do things day after day. These are people who put things back in the same place each time they clean them up. Those who follow routines in their daily lives. Then there is me. I don’t have habits – I have tendencies. I could take the same path to the store everyday for 5 years … Continue reading I’m driving my husband crazy
There’s an article at Christianity Today about marriage which I found kind of intriguing. It’s called “Just Because”. In it, the author talks about how her husband has a habit of bidding on large items on ebay which are “pick-up only” and are located across the country. So they end up making weekend trips across the country to pick up motor homes, home gyms, motorcycle … Continue reading Adventurous Marriage?
My mother is in the hospital. It could be something serious or maybe not. I don’t know if the doctors know right now and neither of my parents are the best sources of information. So if y’all could just pray for her, ‘twould be much appreciated. Continue reading Prayers for my mom
It has been my observation for some time that we have a very bizarre disconnect in our culture between the way we treat our children and the adults they become. On one hand, when we run across an adult with emotional, mental or substance abuse problems and they share the traumas of their childhood, we are sympathetic. We can see the line between neglect, humiliation, abuse, a failure to protect, etc and the problems which this person has as an adult.
On the other hand, we somehow seem to think that children will survive all manner of things from being dumped in a crowded daycare for 12 hours a day at 6 weeks, to watching violent and sexual entertainment, to being bullied at school without any serious damage being done. It’s as if we as a society seem to think that as long as our children are not subject to permanent bodily harm and have adequate exposure to education and enrichment activities, we’ve done our job. There’s no serious consideration given to the sort of people we are raising and the effect that masses of people raised without adequate attention, nurturing, values and compassion will have on our society. Even when we claim to be advocating for kids, we have a hard time connecting the children of today with the adults they will become. We speak of children as the future, as if they were magical beings who can set things right by virtue of compelling the adults around them to behave well so as not to upset the children’s cuteness, not out of concern for the sort of adults they will one day be.
We have compassion for damaged people on the back end while refusing to do anything to stop the activities which cause this damage to begin with. Adults rule, the kids will be alright and families are whatever the adults want them to be. Continue reading “It is family that will change the world”
Since I was in high school I have suffered from cluster headaches. Fortunately, it has been several years since I have suffered an episode. However, for years I lived with persistent daily bouts of scathing pain for weeks and sometimes months at a time. One of the things I discovered from living with pain was that over time, your ability to cope with fairly minor … Continue reading The Long Walk
I am the oldest of 9 children; 7 girls and 2 boys (poor boys!). We’re all almost grown up now and it’s kind of amazing to see how wildly different we all are in many ways. We have liberals and conservatives and people who don’t know which is which, there are introverts and extroverts, scholars and airheads, city folks and country lovers, Christians and new age-y types, and on and on. Yet there are a couple of things which we all pretty much have in common. We tend not to be particularly materialistic or impressed by names, titles or celebrity.
The other thing I think we all have in common is that we are profoundly tolerant of people. None of us really finds it that hard to say, “I disagree with you, but if that works for you, then have at it.” We all know how to deal with difficult people without going nuts. If you ever need someone to talk to who won’t judge you, even as they offer advise, call one of us. You can be diametrically opposed to everything we think is right, know that we do not agree with what you’re doing and still be friends with us. We’re not perfect, but we do know how to get along with people as a general rule.
One of my sisters and I were talking and laughing about our youngest brother who as a kid had a notoriously bad temper. She was telling me about the time one of the sisters called his Tae Kwon Do instructor to tattle on him for throwing hissy fits around the house. LOL Can you imagine having to take that call? Continue reading “Sibling Socialization – The Best Kind”
I haven’t been posting as much as I’d like because it’s just been an incredibly long and trying couple of weeks around here. Yesterday and today were particularly horrible. If anyone who wanders by here could say a prayer for our family, it would be much appreciated. And if you want to ship us some diapers, soy milk and cash, that’d be much appreciated as … Continue reading Long Couple of Weeks
And now for something completely different. . . I’m going to share my family’s secret recipe for Yankee French Bread. Actually, I found this recipe in GQ, of all places years ago and have used it ever since. It’s super easy and gives you a wonderful, dense, slightly sour loaf that keeps well in a grocery store plastic bag. Mmmmmmm. . . 7 Cups Flour … Continue reading Yankee French Bread
I’m taking this down because I’m never real comfortable having something this personal up. It’s a personal quirk, not anything dogmatic about blogging personal things. I’m just generally a private person who was having a very trying day. Thank you so much to anyone who said a prayer for my family. And any continued prayers for us are very much appreciated as well. Continue reading Prayer Request
One of the joys of having my two daughters is being able to watch Little Bear on Noggin with them. Somehow, I completely missed Little Bear with my sons, which is a shame. It is such a wonderful show – like the classical music of the cartoon world. It’s literature for the preschool set. This was one of the stories I watched with my girls … Continue reading I love Little Bear
The Upside Down World 