Grateful Days

We have been so, so busy around here. No busier than anyone else, but none-the-less busy, busy. The last month has been a blur of chemistry and science classes, fall events and activities, school and homework, choir practices and family moments and memories. 

I've been saving all my words for a children's project I'm working on. Hoping to have something to show for my efforts by Christmas, but we'll see. Writing projects have a mind of their own regarding schedules. I've found that words grow best with nature, grace, and time.

Recent memories

Learning to take the reins of life.

Pondering this today:

Like Thunder Follows Lightening

Thoughts from Middle Earth

Inside, I feel the ramping holiday season. I find myself at a loss for words, yet hungering for good ones. 

About this time each year, I try to overcome my Martha spirit and assume the Mary pose. You know the one. 

image from Wikipedia

This year, I'm rather on the brink of abandoning Mary and Martha and just going for a Mrs. Claus impersonation. That gal, she's got it made.

Yet, as I peer in the door at Mary and Martha's I notice all of Luke 10. I hear in Luke 10, "Go. Stop. See the need. Do something. Sit. Soak in Me. Repeat." Not quite the language of the North Pole, but the North Star.

Pondering this tonight. 

It seems a season to soak in good words and then get up and go. 

Love, love, love that DL Mayfield is from this neck of the woods. You go girl. 

After Dinner Write Night

On November 6th, there was an important election in our community. Not the presidential election, but something much more important to one of the special interest groups in our neighborhood. The local Turkey Caucus elected Harold T. Gobbler as chief lobbyist for our family's Thanksgiving Menu Congress. 

Harold has been walking the picket line in our kitchen with his "Eat Pork" placard. As part of his "get out of the vote" campaign, he unplugged the freezer to start thawing a ham. 

Like many special interest groups, his lobbying efforts may depend on loopholes and creative reading of the rules. But as the turkey in the kitchen, the price of failure is a free trip for Harold to the oven. 

by Dad

... and yes, Harold really is in the kitchen with his "Eat Pork" placard. He happens to be clay, but he's speaking up regardless. It's now or never.

The Measure

This, speaks to me.

Thoughts Worth Pondering: Eastern and Western Education

How Eastern and Western Cultures Tackle Learning

 OSU Discovery Days

 Hands on learning.

 Seeing through a different lens.

 I pray, learning for life.

Oh, the word perseverance, it is easy to say, but hard to do. This article gave me needed encouragement to continue to tackle what is hard. We must look for opportunities for our children that require difficulty and determination. I, as a parent, will optimally model perseverance in the face of difficulty.

It begs me to ask of myself, what am I doing that is hard? What am I doing that requires me to be stretched? Am I modeling this for my children? Am I stretching my wings, while I ask them to stretch theirs? 

Perseverance: continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure or opposition. Steadfastness.

From the Mouth of Babes...

Driving in nearby wine country on the way to chemistry class, 

I heard brother read a sign, "Hip chicks do wine." 

What does that mean I inquired? 

His response, "Chicks with hips don't whine."

Brother's chicks are getting bigger. They don't whine.

Raising Boys to Become Men Who Thrive

 Petroglyph Lake (and wall), Hart Mountain Wildlife Refuge, Oregon

I recently finished reading Swagger, 10 Urgent Rules for Raising Boys... by Lisa Bloom. I'm not sure it provoked anything but grimness in my soul. I won't review it further, but if need your cup half emptied, go ahead and read it. 

I found much more hope in The Heart Grows Smarter by David Brooks of the New York Times.

An excerpt:

It’s not that the men who flourished had perfect childhoods. Rather, as Vaillant puts it, “What goes right is more important than what goes wrong.” The positive effect of one loving relative, mentor or friend can overwhelm the negative effects of the bad things that happen. 

In case after case, the magic formula is capacity for intimacy combined with persistence, discipline, order and dependability. The men who could be affectionate about people and organized about things had very enjoyable lives. 

Raising sons (and daughters) is not for the faint of heart. More often than not, I'm overwhelmed by days that go by to fast and are filled with a complexity that my simple mind can't grasp. Lord, help us raise them well. Help them thrive, not just survive. Surely, raising children (and growing up ourselves) is a day by day lesson in grasping grace. Some days we do it better than others.

Sheldon Hot Springs, Nevada