Small Worldview Crisis Which I Am Enjoying

Ahem.


I am generally logical. Generally practical. Generally fond of things which either get something done or produce something beautiful or are worthwhile in some meaningful way for advancing the kingdom.


But. Not always. 



I do not understand why Mr Music's ability to throw a round white ball very hard very fast very accurate and strike terror into other young boys as he strikes them out makes me so happy. It does not get anything worthwhile done. It is a stretch to say it produces something beautiful (other than a smile on his face). And it does not do anything I can see for the kingdom. But it makes me happy.


As does his ability to nail a piece on the piano, and Miss Dance's ballet, and Miss Dog Lover's essay she wrote today, and Miss Language's poetry. I guess Mom's are like that, just crazy about things their kids do that they would not care less about if anyone else did them.

A New Creation

II Corinthians 5:17 ~ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

I love the way this tulip petal - slightly a new creation - is split right down the middle with no blurring whatsoever.

The Most Important Thing

I grew up learning some sort of catechism used by the United Presbyterian church way back. The first question was "What is the most important thing in life?" The answer was "The most important thing in life is knowing God." It went on with "How do we know God?" Answer "We know God in part through His revelation of Himself to us through the world He created, but He gives us a saving knowledge only in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments."


Anyhow, today I was thinking about this. This is spring break week here and my brain has a bit more freedom than usual. I started wondering what the distinguishing hallmark of a Christian education is and decided I think it is expecting to learn about God everywhere you go in life. Looking for Him. Knowing everything we study has things about God to teach us, whether biology or US History or fractions or languages or Little League or piano practice or making lunch.


And that  is good. As a homeschooling mom I have many many opportunities to get to know God. I hope my crew is learning to look for Him everywhere they go. 

Taste Testing

I will have to beef up Miss Dog Lover's studies because I don't think there is much chance of her getting a job as a taste tester. (Haven't you always thought what a cool job that would be?) Anyhow, I came to this conclusion on Sunday. We had a bowl of wasabi peas as a side dish. She did not want any and explained, "They taste like crickets."


I really am not sure I want to know exactly what she meant by that.  :-P


~~~
back to add: Arby is interested in discovering when Miss Dog Lover tasted crickets. I am not. This is the child who loved kissing slugs. Bleh.


~~~
now I am back again to add some research my brother conducted on behalf of this post. Just for your education:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090103143012AAif731

What do wasabi peas taste like???

-- No similar analysis here, but only 5 people responded.

http://www.chacha.com/question/what-do-crickets-taste-like

Crickets are normally said to taste sort of like green, crunchy vegetables, such as celery.

http://www.candywarehouse.com/crickets.html

Maybe if you hurry you can order some chocolate covered crickets and get them in time for Easter!!! ;) 

-- Actually, I would rather have chocolate cake.

Rocks of Remembrance

I first saw a blurb about these tsunami marking stones in World Magazine. Here is a nice little article and photo.


I have a few thoughts about those. How it is love in action to warn future generations of a tragedy that would occur maybe every few hundred years. And how they remind me of the stones raised by the Hebrews to remind them of God's faithfulness. 


I Samuel 7:12 ~ Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer (stone of help); for he said, “Till now the LORD has helped us.”


I wonder where in my life I should raise stone markers to warn or remind others.

3 Things

Randomocity Rules my brain tonight.
~~~


First, I kind of figure it has been a long day when I see the headline "Rains pound Grenada, flooding forces evacuations" but read "Raisins pound Grenada" and start to think about Chew and Swallow.
~~~


Second, (and yes, these are in reverse chronological order. I guess that would be counter-chronological.) Anyhow, second: I am that mom.  The one with the socially awkward 16 year-old who as we leave the Y leans over the counter to whisper in the ear of the person who beeps you in, "I used 163 calories." Somehow I never pictured being that mom.
~~~


And third, an article I read today that may change my life. I think I need to stand up now. 

Rainbows

Finally, March weather is here, just a few weeks late. Be glad, I shall spare you my "Impeach Phil" rant about the little rodent who actually promised us an EARLY spring. But I am not ranting.


Saturday we put away the flannel sheets and got out the summer ones. That is a hopeful sign at our house.


Yesterday we actually had SUNSHINE! Miss Dance and I each caught a rainbow in my kitchen. Aren't they lovely? I am so glad God gives us light and color.

Misheard at the Banana's

Two interesting things I heard from the crew today.


First, Mr Music was peeling an orange at lunch and got a lovely strip about an inch wide. He put it across his fuzzy little head and said, "I am making a silly dillic headband." After a moment's thought, I said, "Do you mean psychedelic?" The 60's just won't stop haunting me. :-P


And then I had Miss Dog Lover at the mall. As we walked around, she was going on and on about how weird teen boys are, but named one particular one and said that "he is the correction." It did not take long to substitute "exception."


And just to make a correction for the record, orange peels really do make pretty silly dillic headbands. 

Words at Dinner

I bring you two quotes from dinner last night. I would say "random" but clearly they are not that, though what I would mean is that apparently they came from random neurons firing without meaning. Hence, bothering with any context would be meaningless. I know no context we heard gave any insight.


Miss Dance: The past was the present, a while ago.


and


Miss Dog Lover: Every Wednesday my stomach goes on vacation.

French Braid

I am a French braider of ideas. I pull an idea in from the side, from a song, blog post, or book. I bring in a thought from the other side, a conversation, something I saw. And I tease out something coming like a hair from my own head.


This morning I woke up braiding things together with a blog post I read yesterday about how to live faithfully while you wait on God. It is a very good post, by which I basically mean I would have been glad to write it and was glad to read it. In any case, my first-thing-in-the-morning brain started thinking that really, what the author called waiting on God, wasn't so different from what most people call dealing with depression. And yet I find it a much more encouraging way to look at things.


And then I found myself working this recent post of Miss Language's into the braid, where she talks about calling out to God especially when you feel distant from Him. I read this and was thinking how normal it is to call out when you are alone. That is what children do when they are lost and scared ~ call out exactly because they feel alone. 


And so that is all. The hair from my own brain being braided into this is simply how encouraging it is to think of difficult times as waiting on God. What could be better than waiting for the Creator of the universe?


~~~


Hosea 12:6 “So you, by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God."