Unselfishness...

"Mom, when I grow up, I'm going to work really hard so Daddy doesn't have to..."


Scott said this to me today.  It's one of those proud, sweet moments that make me think we're doing something right.  What an unselfish little man!

The Walk to the Bus

I recently wrote a post about riding to school on the bus, and it brought back so many memories!  Here's something else that jumped into my mind...the way we'd walk or ride our bikes to the bus stop.

For those of you who never went to a rural school, you'll have no idea what this is like.  We were to meet the bus at the neighbor's red house on the corner of our gravel road every morning.  She didn't have any kids in school, but it was on the turn to some other houses.  We must have been so pesky to her bickering and scaring her chickens every morning at 7:30!  She probably thought she was past all that when she married off her last kids!

Anyway...our driveway was a rocky gravelish road of 1/4 mile or so.  In the middle stretch of driveway was a moderate hill, an enourmous puddle we called a lake, and another huge very rocky hill.  Every morning I'd load up my backpack, grab my clarinet and/or lunch, hop on my bike and head out.  It was easy riding until we passed the turkey barn and silo.  Then came the first hill.  The trick to riding the driveway was to brake as little as possible on the way down hill #1, aim for the three inches of dry or muddy ground on the side of the lake, then pedal furiously up hill #2.  If you could do that, you could almost make it up to the top before getting off and walking your bike up to the cattle guard.

I've often thought of myself tearing down one of the hills on my bike, gripping the handle bars along with the lunch box and hugely inconvenient band instrument, trying like crazy to hold on.  The wind would whip through my hair and my heart rate would increase from the scariness of the ride...and we all did it twice a day!

We'd stow our bikes just over the cattle guard and walk the last bit through the field, then climb over the barb wire fence, trying not to catch hair, clothes, or any of our paraphenalia on a barb before jumping the ditch to get to the neighbor's house.  On days we were late, it must have been a sight to behold!

Last year I walked the old driveway again with my kids.  I was shocked at how steep the big hill was!  Could I really have ridden down it at full speed with all my stuff?  Yes...a lot!  Was I just that athletic or just that stupid?

You should have seen my brother, Amos fly down.  It's a miracle he can still walk!

Marcus Stone

Have you ever seen the artwork of Marcus Stone?  Here is my favorite, called Profile of a Young Girl.

I love the softness and light accents in her hair.  The innocence of the pink ribbon and rose really stand out against the darkness of the background.  It does look very fresh and young and innocent, doesn't it?  It reminds me of my sweet Cara picking flowers and putting them in her hair and clothes now that Spring is here.  It's one of the sweetest delights of girlhood!

A quote that made me feel like a dummy...

"Wow!  You're really striking out, Mom!"


<<sigh>>  This one was said to me the other day by my four-year-old, Scott.  We were playing the game Huskerdu...it's a memory/matching game...not pretty.  Did I mention that he beat me in all of the four rounds we played before slamming me with this comment.  'Beat me' is a nice way of putting it, too.  If I remember correctly, the trend was right around ten matches for him, two for me, but maybe my memory is a little foggy.  That's the whole problem...

Serving your spouse...

This surgery has been a pretty big deal, but it's not without it's joys.  There's something so beautiful about being able to help and serve your spouse in a very personal and physical way.  No nursing staff can care for my loved ones like I can, and what better way to show your love than by doing the unlovely things in a lovely way.  It's a poignant acting out of our marriage vows, a renewing of our love and commitment.  To serve and be served together, to show the weaker spouse that you're going through all hardships together...it's one of the true joys.  What a beautiful thing real love is!

Scott's First Tee Ball Practice

With sweat sprinkled across his brow and his arms pumping vigorously, Scott rounded third base and ran for home.  He ran as fast as he could, he pushed himself for even more speed.  The field dust began to billow in a cloud behind his nimble, Thomas the Train-clad feet.  With a grunt, he dropped to his knees and slid into home base.

"Safe!" he yelled, after rolling in the dirt for a second or two.  He stood up and dusted off his shorts, smiling to me in the bleachers.

Then he had to go...the coach was ready to start the practice.

I think he's got the whole adrenaline-packed rush to the base thing down.  Some things don't require a coach!

Back To Normal...

This title is a goal rather than a statement of fact for us right now!  I have good news...my husband's very difficult surgery was successful.  It took 7 1/2 hours, and I think it traumatized the surgeon a little as things were much worse than he expected when the surgery really got under way.  My poor husband was opened in the abdomen to work on the spine from the front, closed up, flipped over, then opened up from the back to do more repairs from the back.  He's got a lot of hardware and cadaver between his three lowest vertebrae, and with God's help, he'll fuse together and not have to go through this again.

Recovery has been what we expected...difficult.  Don't get me wrong, Andy's doing amazingly well.  I can't comprehend dealing with the pain and difficulty of a surgery like that myself!  Now that we're a few weeks past the surgery, things are getting somewhat more back to normal for us, and I'm finding that some of the longer term difficulties are beginning to weigh on us.  We're physically and emotionally drained.  In fact, the reason I'm posting now is because I'm unable to turn off my mind to the marathon hardships facing us.

After a too-long-abstained-from cry out to the Lord, I feel much better.  There's something so sweet about a much needed quiet communion with Him when you're feeling at your weakest.  I've been reading Psalms 30-32 tonight and I feel so comforted...I know He understands.  Although the severest of the traumas in this journey has been successful, He knows the needs I still have with the more subtle difficulties of discouragement and exhaustion.  Psalm 31:7 says "thou hast known my soul in adversities."  Isn't it amazing how sweet the fellowship with Him is during the hard times?  There is no one who can fully understand what each of us feels but Him.  He knows our souls more than we do.

I've been reminded He is there for the long term.  I've been reminded how much we as a family have to be thankful for.  He has been so good to us, to me.  How can I stay discouraged?  He is my hiding place.