Morning Glory

A couple of years ago my sister handed me a bag of tiny black seeds and said that they were morning glories. So, I planted them in the spring and I got a few pretty purple flowers. Now, two years later, I have a mound of flowers that greet me each day. It is really great to walk into the kitchen, look out onto the deck and see such a beautiful sight.

The wild thing about these flowers is that by noon, they are are closed up for the day, leaving only the leaves as evidence that they were there at all.

I can't help but think of our Christian walk when I look at these flowers. When we walk into a church on Sunday morning we are all smiles, just waiting to see what the Lord has in store for us. By the time the service is over, our noon meal eaten, and the kitchen cleaned, we have closed up shop on the spiritual side of our lives, and we are left without the "glory" we had that morning.

Maybe we need to look at things from a different viewpoint... instead of viewing the vines (or our "weekday lives") as empty, we need to be anticipating what is to come. Wouldn't it be cool if those who saw us on Monday's were watching us with anticipation...wondering just what we might do next that would bring Glory to God? It might just put a whole new spin on the words Morning Glory!!!!

Family Reunion

I missed out on Church today, so I will be listening in on iTunes to catch what Chad had to say. I was busy cooking for a family reunion so Carly and I stayed home to prepare. While I was busy putting together a dish to take, Carly began preparing her pie contest entry. You heard right... a pie contest entry.

My grandmother passed away around 5 years ago. She was an awesome cook and if you called a day in advance to let her know you were going to visit, you could bet your last dollar on the fact that she would have no less than three pies sitting on the counter when you arrived. My sister and I, along with several cousins, were commenting on that fact right after she passed away, and we came up with the idea to hold a pie contest in her honor each year. We felt that it was important to keep the art of pie baking alive.

Visit any Walmart or Kroger and you will see people picking over the baked pies and taking them home... loving what they have purchased. Most people don't know how to make a pie... especially one that is completely homemade. We have set about to change that...at least in our family.

Carly has entered the contest each year for the last four years. Her first year she brought home the "Miss Congeniality Award", and then the competitive streak hit her hard. This year it paid off, she come home with a first in the Junior Division (yes we have TWO divisions... one from the "under 50's" and one for the "overs"!) She made a peach upside down pie, and it was great. Not only did she place first in her division, but she brought home the overall grand champion award. (Okay, so we take it to the extreme, but we do have fun with this!)

I have never entered, I have always felt like I shouldn't since I help to run it, but next year... I'm in! I can't wait to begin thumbing through my cookbooks to find just the right pie! And the best part... I will ONLY be 49, so I can still qualify for the Junior Division!!! Now... if I could just figure out where Carly got that competitive streak?????

The Band

Since I have a difficult time saying no (okay not ALL the time, but sometimes!), I have been painting the props for this year's EHS Marching Band show. The title of the show is "Timeline" and it covers Formation, Civilization and Exploration.

When I designed the banners for the back field and took my mock up in to the director he looked them over very seriously and said, "This sort of looks like the "big bang" or something. Or like creation." I said, "Oh really, is there a problem with that... I mean, you decided on the names for each movement." He then said... "So do you believe in the big bang?" To which I replied, "Of course... God couldn't have spoken everything into being and there not have been a large bang associated!"

So if you get the chance to come to one of Carly's performances, check out the back field banners... and while you are looking at them, you can be sure that I had creation in mind, and wanted the viewer to come away with that feel. I believe that everything we do needs to point the way to the Creator... including painting back drops for marching band.

And for those of you at GCC, Carly will have a performance at Floyd Central on September 22... hope to see you there!

A Busy Week

This has been a very busy week so far and it is only Tuesday night! I realized that I hadn't posted anything for nearly a week. Things have been "crazy hectic" around here.

Last week Carly and Michael both started school. Add to that a couple of interviews and appointments and the time just seemed to fly by. We even had a trip to Cincinnati on Sunday and Indy on Monday...and the paper was due to the printer today. It just seems that when it rains it pours! And the rest of my week is no different. Friday is the only day that I don't have something on my schedule. And that can change very quickly around here.

As I have gone from one place to the next over the past few days I have realized that the only really quiet time I've had was in prayer...and that even gets disturbed every now and then. However, I have learned to "pray on the run" and I am convinced that God hears these prayers just as well as he does the ones where I am in a quiet place.

I often find myself in conversation with God as I travel. My radio stays on a Christian station (unless Carly finds her way to the buttons when I am not looking!) and I love singing and praising God as I travel. I think that the most time I get with God is when I am delivering the paper to churches in the area. It takes between 4 and 5 hours to do my route. God and I can have some pretty amazing conversations during that time... and we definitely get our praise and worship going.

So for those of you that think you don't have nearly enough time to pray or spend quality time with God you had better think again. God is with us throughout our entire day...not just in the quiet moments that we "reserve" for him...he is in it ALL. So the next time you are on your way to work, or the grocery, or to the doctor's office turn the radio up and sing praise to your Father in Heaven...and lift up a prayer or two... he's right there beside you waiting for you to notice he is there.

Jesus Clouds

I love to take pictures of Jesus Clouds... there have been many times I wished I had my camera with me, and this week I got lucky. I managed to grab a couple of good shots. So are you wondering just what a Jesus Cloud is????

When I was a small child my grandmother told me when we saw clouds such as this Jesus was looking down from heaven...inviting all those who had died that day to come and be with him. Morbid... no... not when you believe that you will rest with Jesus for eternity when you die. And can you imagine... making your way to such a glorious sight when you go to be in heaven.

So when I see these clouds I can't help but smile and wonder who Jesus is welcoming home!

Fellowship

Mickey and I are very "family oriented" people. In fact, most of the time we just socialize with our kids and their families. We love nothing more than having the kids and grands over for a meal and fellowship. We have so little extra time that we love to cram in family time when we can. Yet, this weekend was different.

Ricky, Rebecca, Mike, Amy and Jordan paid us a visit for 'game night'. Now, of course that included food...what get together doesn't? After a meal, we set about playing games until late in the evening. We had a great time... there was "bean bag" toss in the yard, poker (no real money!), Catch-phrase, Speed Uno, Bible Mad Gab, and my favorite... Scrabble!!! The house was filled with laughter, conversation and competition. It was a great night.

And you know... I don't think that we strayed from our family time... our kids and grands were here too... and I believe that we were all one big happy family.... you see... we were in fellowship with like minded believers. We are all sons and daughters of the king, and that makes us family.

I am looking forward to more "family nights"...and who knows, we might just add a few new members to the family along the way!!!

Sweat and Hard Work

Last night I went out to visit Carly and the band members at Camp. (The picture is of Carly, Jessica, the Guard Director, Nancy and Jennifer) This is the first year is decades that the band has traveled away from campus for camp. I serve as the booster president and along with the director and other officers, we felt that it was time that these kids get a taste of what can happen when you really work at a program. The only way for that to happen was to get them away from their everyday activities and let them become immersed in the program.

At the end of last year's season we began the process of pushing the kids to raise the money to attend. They were all given the opportunity to raise money so that parents didn't have to carry the brunt of the cost ($275 per student). We also set up a scholarship fund that the community was encouraged to contribute to. Any money raised over and above their individual costs was put into the scholarship fund to help another student attend.

As I arrived at Country Lake Christian Retreat (yes, our band used a Christian camp...neat huh???) I immediately noticed a new sense of camaraderie among the students. They had become a family...and it showed in their practice. I was so impressed with this group of students...here it was, around 100 degrees, and they were out on the field working diligently to get their second set on the field by the end of practice. And they accomplished that goal!

My hat is off to the director and his staff of instructors, as well as the parent volunteers who have given up their time to stay at camp with the kids. They have done a fantastic job and the kids... well a little sweat and hard work has paid off... they are now unified, and I can hardly wait to see what happens at this year's competitions! If you would like a schedule of their events, visit http://www.easternbanddept.com/ .

Memories

As I read Chandra's post today about the good old days of sprinklers and duct tape (see The Smith Family link) I couldn't help but smile. There were a lot of things that our kids didn't have...okay let me rephrase that... they didn't have the real item, but their replacements were always unique and original.

One winter I remember the oldest of the kids (Holly, Chandra, and Jason) sledding in our back yard. Rachel, who was two at the time, was confined to the house, having just gotten out of the hospital with pneumonia. The kids were having a blast, and their sled wasn't what you might imagine. Their "sled" consisted of a large piece of black plastic around 1/4 inch thick. Pa (my dad) had tied bailer twine to the front for a handle and the kids spent all day going up and down the hill. It was actually large enough that Chandra and Holly would stand on it to go down the hill. Like usual, Jason was told if he just pulled the sled UP the hill he would get a turn... the girls didn't say what century that would happen in, so Jason would often end up in the house drowning his sorrow in Hot Chocolate and cookies!

We didn't have a lot of fancy gizmos and gadgets, but our kids sure did have fun... the memories that they share when together fill the room with laughter. Using your imagination is becoming a lost art, one that we should begin working at re-establishing... so if you have any black plastic that you aren't using... look me up. Michael could use a sled!!!!

One little word

As strange as this was for me... a writer from the Courier came to the house and interviewed Chandra and I a couple of weeks ago. The article appeared in the Saturday issue of the paper. It was really odd to have someone interview me... I much prefer to have it the other way around.

The article was good, and I appreciate the efforts of Patti Smith, the writer. Yet with the slip of one word, my daughter Carly became Asian!!! Instead of the word 'him' the word 'them' appeared and Carly, it seems, joined our family ten months ago from China!

If you know our Carly, you know that she is about as far from Asian as you can get!!! She is the All American, girl next door kind of kid, and we definitely had a great laugh over the article. I even tried to get Michael to teach her how to be Asian, but alas... she is still just Carly! Oh well... we love her just the way she is!

Our hope for the article is that everyone who reads it will see The Good News in a whole new light. We want to be considered a ministry, not a business. Our goal is to help spread God's love and the salvation that Christ offers to everyone who opens the pages of the paper.

One little word can definitely change what we believe to be true... and most believe that seeing is always believing. But remember, as Christians, our goal is to believe even though we don't see... and someday we will see our Savior face to face... now that will make an awesome story!!!!

Still a band geek!

I was in the marching band during both my junior high and high school years and I loved it. While I marched I did flags and baton (yes, I was once skinny enough to be considered for those positions!) In concert season I played a number of different instruments over the years. I began with the clarinet then moved to baritone, mellophone and french horn, and I would throw in the trumpet on occasion. I loved getting a new instrument and mastering it. I also enjoyed getting to know everyone in the group. With many different age groups involved, I got to know people from many different classes and I still see many of them out 30 years later.

When Rachel was in band I decided that I needed to be involved with the program to support her. During that time, I became the flag instructor for both the marching season and winterguard season. It was fun, but working with teenage girls isn't easy. Too many hormones flying around, but we all managed to survive. Upon her graduation I backed out of the program, ready for a break.

Carly is now my newest band geek. She is doing great, and she has inherited my desire to play more than one instrument. While she plays the sax during concert season, she is in the Pit for marching season. She plays the marimba, and I have to say, she is very good at what she does. She even made squad leader this year. That involves some added responsibility, but she is up to the task. And in the winter...she will be in winterguard.

Now...while I held a position the position of VP for the boosters for a couple of years, last year I became the president, and still hold that position this year. I have been blessed with a great group of officers who take up my slack. With Michael it isn't always easy to do all that I should, but I try to do as much as I can...I think that it is important to be involved in your children's activities.

For all of you parents (and wanna be parents) out there...I encourage you to be involved in your children's lives. It isn't enough to drive them back and forth, you have to show them that you really care about their activities. My goal has always been to be involved enough that when my children are older they will remember that Mom was there. That they will learn by example and always be there for their children. Kids need to know that mom and dad care about them more than they care about the world... be a coach, teach a SS class, sit in the bleachers for every game, do your best to be visible and supportive...it can make all the difference in how your child views themselves!!