A Perfect Day

     Our son, Brian, came to visit us this week.   He lives and works in Utica.  Brian stopped in briefly the Friday before last, joined us for dinner, then went to New York City to visit some friends for a few days.  He came back to us on Wednesday.  We went to lunch, visited Harney’s Tea Shop, lingered over dinners, and celebrated his birthday a month early, before he left last night.  My mother’s heart misses him already.
     Brian was to take the train out of Grand Central on Wednesday morning.  He boarded the northbound train, which left around 9:40.  The train stopped two minutes later and then reversed back into the station.  There had been a terrible gas explosion near the tracks about ten minutes earlier.  All traffic to Grand Central was shut down.  No trains were able to go in or out.  Brian called Pat to let him know that he was delayed.  Eventually, Brian found a round-a-bout route to catch a train beyond the blast site.
     Meanwhile, on Wednesday morning, I was at school.  I could tell that it was going to be a good day.  It wasn’t snowing.  We had all made it out the door on time.  I had remembered all the things that I needed for school, including my lunch, my tea, and my glasses. Best of all, I was looking forward to seeing Brian when I got home.  But first, I had a busy day ahead of me with annual meetings with parents.  These meetings are important, because we are planning for the children’s program for next school year.  Our day was well underway, when a parent came in shaking her head.  She said, “Isn’t it just terrible?  There was a big explosion at Grand Central Station.  So sad.”
     I flew out of my chair.  “My son!  My son is at Grand Central!”  I frantically left the meeting.  Memories of a beautiful morning one September and more recently, black backpacks in Boston filled my mind.  My prayers for Brian weren’t even words, but more like a breath and a hope.  I did what i always do when I am in trouble; I called Pat.  Pat quickly reassured me that he had just spoken to Brian and that he was fine.  Brian’s biggest problem would be finding a way to get home.  I suggested we drive down and pick him up.  Pat calmed me down and we hung up the phone.  I allowed myself a few grateful tears of relief, whispered a prayer for those who were involved in the explosion,waited for my heart to slow, and then went back to my meeting.  When I arrived home at the end of the day, Brian was there to greet me.  My son had come home.
     Some days we wake up to the perfect day and God’s loving presence can be seen and felt in every little moment.  We sing praises of anticipation as we move through our day.  But sometimes, a perfect day explodes with the unanticipated and we are thrown from the path we are traveling.   Sometimes God backs us up and sends us off in a different direction.  Sometimes we are misinformed, but God shows us that He is truth.  I am so thankful for the reminder that God loves my children even more than I do.    Whether my day is going my way or is far from perfect, Jesus is my constant companion.  He is at work in all my situations.  In fact, He goes through them with me. And had the unthinkable happened, God is still God and He loves me. His precious Holy Spirit whispers words of comfort and encouragement at those moments when I need them most. He helps me to sing songs of praise as joy flows freely from my lips, and to speak words of thanksgiving when I am frightened.  Our God is a God of refuge.  He is a place of rest.  He is a place of trust.  He is my hope all the day long.

Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.   ~Psalm 73:25-26

A Good Land

 

     Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills;  a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey;  ~Deuteronomy  8:6-8

Say What?

A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.  ~Proverbs 25:11 

     Pat told me that this is a story that I must share with you.  If you know my husband, and his sense of humor, you know that I did something incredibly not smart or I put my foot in my mouth.  In this case, it was both.

     First, let me say that I love all our music ministers.  They are fabulous.  Their songs minister to my heart.  They are talented people and I appreciate them very much.  There are several people involved, but in this story I will only mention Pastor Mike, Eric, and Dan.

     A few weeks ago, as we were leaving church, I stopped to talk to Eric about a song that I thought would be a great church song.  The song is by Ellie Holcomb and is called Anchor of Hope.  It is linked below.

     And because it is always more run to be humiliated in front of several people, Pastor Mike and Dan were also present - so half of our church's worship team.

     “What kind of song is it, Donna?”  Eric asked.

     “Well, it has great lyrics and I think it would be good for church.”  Realizing that my description was remarkably unspecific,  I continued with complete sincerity, ”Eric, I love when you sing.  When you sing, you make everyone else sound better.”  Everyone, but Captain Obvious here, laughed.

     Did my husband leave my statement alone?  No!  He jumped in and stirred the pot.  “Wow, Eric, I think she just said that you must be pretty bad if when you sing you make everyone else sound better.”  The guys roared, and always the fast thinker, I realized that my statement could possibly be taken as an insult, which it completely was not in my mind.

     I desperately tried to explain myself.  “No, Eric, it’s just that your voice is so good that it helps to make even someone like me sound better.”  Yup, I was digging the hole deeper.  While everyone else was laughing at the great compliment I had given Eric, I quickly told him that I would email him a link to the song and hurried off, hoping that Eric had understood.  Of course, he didn’t.  Eric went home and asked his lovely wife, Katie, “I know Donna meant it to be nice, but exactly how could that be a good thing?”

     I have the privilege of working in the same school as Eric, so on Monday morning, I found Eric in his classroom.  The poor man is never safe from me.

     I apologized and tried again to explain.  So here is what I meant and I hope it isn’t insulting again.  Eric has a beautiful voice that is easy to listen to and easy to follow.  There are lots of musicians that I enjoy listening to, but I would never attempt to sing with them, like Pavorati. Eric’s voice fills in the squeaks and squeals of even my singing.  I think that Eric’s voice holds the group together somehow and compliments it.  His voice is like grace poured out.    

     Katie explained to me that Eric sings tenor.  So...my unmusical self looked that up on Wikepedia - so you know that it has to be true.  “The name "tenor" derives from the Latin word tenere, which means "to hold".  The tenor is the structurally fundamental (or 'holding') vocal. All other voices are normally calculated in relation to the tenor...”  

     Which goes to prove my point...Eric does have a voice that makes everyone else sound better.

“The LORD your God is with you, 

he is mighty to save. 

He will take great delight in you, 

he will quiet you with his love, 

he will rejoice over you with singing." Zeph.3:17 (NIV)

Patty's Snickerdoodle Cookies

     This is a delicious cookie that my daughter Patty makes.  It is a favorite in our house.  Anthony was bragging about them in school and his teacher requested that he bring some in for everyone to sample.  I'm sure that you will enjoy them as much as his classmates did!

Patty’s Snickerdoodle Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Cinnamon Sugar:
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

How to:

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the shortening and 1 1/2 cups sugar.  Stir in the eggs and the vanilla. 
3. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt and 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon.  Stir into the creamed mixture until it is well blended.
4. In a small bowl, stir together the 2 tablespoons of sugar and remaining cinnamon to make the cinnamon sugar.
5. Roll the dough into balls about the size of a walnut.  Roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar.  Place them about two inches apart on an un-greased cookie sheet.
6. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes.  Edges should be slightly brown when cooked.
7. Remove from cookie sheet to cool on wire rack.
8. Enjoy!

Day Trip: Adams Fairacre Farms Garden Show

    Adams Fairacre Farms hosted a Lawn and Garden Show at it's store near us.  If you live in the Hudson Valley area of New York, I encourage you to go. There are garden displays in their Poughkeepsie, Wappingers, and Newburgh stores.  It was heaven to wander through the gorgeous fragrant flowers on a cold winter day. I took these pictures on the same day that Pat and I walked along the Poughkeepsie Riverfront to see the ice.  What an amazing contrast!

     Tulips are my favorite flower.  There were gorgeous tulips in every color.

     These primroses were such an unusual color.  Really spectacular.

     These orchids were in the greenhouse.

   

Five Things I Learned in February

1.  The question, "What's bothering you?" really struck a chord in my heart when I read about it at Chatting At The Sky with Emily Freeman.  I want the things that break the heart of God to be the things that bother me.  You can read about what is bothering me here.

2.   A simple cup of tea is far from a simple matter.  My husband has become a tea snob.  We took a drive to the Harney Tea Shop in Millerton, NY. Pat has fallen in love with their teas.  He has taken to carrying a travel mug with a built-in tea infuser full of his current favorite tea.  He has the "perfect tea spoon," at least five varieties of loose tea, pounds of rock sugar, a tea infuser for mugs and the aforementioned travel mug.

3.   Antelope in the Living Room:  I loved this book by Melanie Shankle.  You can read my review here.

4.  The wonders of Cranberry Horseradish Sauce!  Where has this been all of my life?    I love it.  It has just the right amount of tangy cranberry and zippy horseradish.  It tastes great on sandwiches and on chicken.  It is not sold by any of our local stores.  My wonderful husband ordered a case of six,  he never does anything half way, from Amazon.  Try it.  You will love it.   PS:  The horseradish people do not know me at all.  This is just an unsolicited opinion.

5.  Coursera :  You can take online classes for free at Coursera. 

      I am currently enrolled in Teaching Character and Creating Positive Classrooms.  I am really enjoying it.  One thing I noted from this class is that we, as parents and teachers, should compliment effort.  So often we compliment the finished piece, instead of the practice.  But in the mess of practice is where learning occurs.  Think of a child learning to play the violin.  When my son played violin, there were many screeches and scratches in practice as he learned to hold his bow and play.  There were mistakes, many mistakes, and lots of repetition, but in the end Baa Baa Black Sheep was recognizable.  Applauding the effort by saying, "I hear that you are working hard at that part.  I'm proud of you," will reward the learning that is happening.

     Take a look at the course listing.  You may find something that interests you.

What Bothers You?

     Loud noises bother me.  Anyone looking to send me over the edge just has to shout, squeal or use a jackhammer in my presence.  I am bothered by city traffic and inconsiderate people who use the last tiny little square of toilet paper and don’t replace the roll.  I am bothered by loud telephone conversations in public places about private things.  And I am very bothered by a four minute YouTube video I watched a few weeks ago at Chatting at the Sky, by Emily Freeman.  I'll post it at the bottom.
     The video was John Ortberg interviewing Dallas Willard.  They were talking about living in Christ's presence.
     John asks Dallas how we can help someone to know how their spiritual life or their soul is doing?
     Dallas responds, “Well, very slowly we listen to them. . . I think the next thing is a question and not a statement: What’s bothering you? Start there.”
     “What’s bothering you?”  That question caused my heart to thump.  The two men talk a little more, and then John makes a joke.
     John: “What’s bothering you? ... could be an interesting liturgical question – to start the church service asking, What’s bothering you? and the people could respond back, And also you.”
     I laughed out loud and so did the audience.  Yet as the clip ends Dallas says, “That would be absolutely revolutionary.”
     Wouldn’t it be revolutionary if the things that bothered me were not the self absorbed things that inconvenience me?
    What are those things that bother my heart?  Does my heart long for the things of Christ?
    Wouldn’t it be revolutionary if I consciously made the priorities of my day what God would have me to do?   Now I do believe that God has placed me in my home and in my job and washing the dishes, cleaning a toilet, writing a lesson plan, and tying a child’s shoelace is exactly what God would have me do on most days, but He also calls me to be bothered by the needs of strangers.
     Jesus spent His life being bothered for others.  Being bothered about something causes a response. Jesus healed them. He taught them. He recruited them as His disciples.  He spoke gently with the woman at the well.  He called Zacchaeus from a tree.  He healed the woman with an issue of blood, and the ten lepers.  He raised Jairus' daughter and Lazaraus from the dead.  He had mercy on the woman caught in adultery and on a thief on a cross.  He laughed and cried.  Jesus was bothered enough about you and me that He allowed Himself to be put to death on a cross.
     Jeremiah wrote, "I am broken by the brokenness of my dear people. I mourn," (Jer. 8:21).
     Wouldn’t it be revolutionary if my heart were so filled with God that the things that break the heart of God were the very things that bothered me?
     Wouldn’t it be revolutionary if I touched the splinter in my heart and listened to the pain in the heart of my friend?.
     God’s heart overflows with an intense and passionate love for us.

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.   ~Jesus,  Luke 13:34

     I know from experience that God touches us in our broken places.  He uses people with bothered hearts.

   Search me, God, and know my heart; 
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
   See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.  ~David, Psalm 139:23-24

    What bothers you?  Start there.