February In Review

I loved reading your comments, I think I'd like to come gaze out y'alls windows!  Scene 1 was my current view... And by the time I had finished writing, it had changed to scene 2:

 

The winner of giveaway #4 is Karen, who commented: "I see my bird feeder  (which is empty) I'll fill it up yet before leaving my classroom... blue sky, brown field, an astute brick southern mansion up on the hill beyond the field that separates our little white school house from them. "

Karen, email your address to christopherbethany@juno.com and I will get "The Ministry Of Ordinary Places" sent your way!

I really enjoyed doing this month of giveaways; thanks for participating and making it fun! The only thing I don't like about giveaways is that I can't make everyone a winner. I'd love to. ☺

February held more than just giveaways and more cold days. I thought I'd give you all a little review of the highlights with pictures....

On February the 4th, I turned 40.

That's a big number.

But the celebrating made it almost worth it   -- there were no less than six different celebrations, each one special and unique. It made me feel humbled and tearful. 

My youngest came home from kindergarten reading words and little stories!

There was a school open house with a powerful speaker and fun exhibits. Lillian's classroom made this little town...

Complete with so many fun details...

She was proud to point them all out. 

Jasmine turned 15 on the 8th.

Yes, she's that much taller than me. 

Current favorite game. 

This particular time his first question was

"Does your person have a mustache?"

You can imagine his glee 

when the answer was yes!

My birthday surprise from Chris was scribbled on a napkin at the restaurant...

After consulting my children, everyone wanted to go back to Florida again!

As I told a friend 

who asked about our trip afterward --

"It was good, in a 'very-much-not-how-I-envisioned-it' kind of way".

We got an Airbnb in northern Florida this time and the weather didn't cooperate very well -- not so much lovely sunshine and blue sky as we were hoping for, the promised pool not open... but we really did have a good week together. 

We have a science museum membership right now, so we enjoyed two museums!

The first one had lots and lots of hands on projects we all loved. 

This was a challenge to hang 10 to 12 nails on one upright one. 

Chris and I managed to get

 20 nails on there!

This fellow showed up one day to check out our picnic. Came right up and snatched a tidbit off of the picnic table!

The second museum was a Naval Aviation Museum. Simulated flying with The Blue Angels and watching a video about the space station had to be the highlights here. 

Blue skies and sunshine though we may have lacked, it was still a lovely far cry from the snow and cold of Ohio!

Putt Putting was a big hit. 

Twice. 

And the most fun of all was having our own little house to hang out in. It meant cooking most of our meals but that was actually kind of fun too, to see how efficient we could be with using up every little bit of food by week's end. 

Scum was the game of choice, 

even while traveling home. 

I also had discovered an app that allows me to borrow audio book through our local library so we enjoyed "Cheaper By The Dozen" and "The Phantom Tollbooth".

And then it was back home and straight back to real life the next morning!

And this was my view on March 1

And now I really must run along and take care of laundry and get something else done. Happy Monday to all!

In Honor Of Fathers

*This poem was written six years ago and I thought I would share it again on this Father's Day.

-----------------

It's been on my mind, 

And weighed on my heart

Til I've picked up a pen

And decided to start...

The subject is Fathers,
This thing on my mind,
To the value of Fathers
It seems we are blind.

To bring forth a child,
Two people are needed -
A man, and a woman,
This must be conceded.

Perhaps it's just me,
Or maybe it's true?
It seems that the Mothers
Get all the ado.

The sermons on Mothers
Seem heaped full of praise,
While Dads are admonished
To change in their ways.

Mom's work, we are told,
Just never gets done,
It's true - round the clock
She is seen on the run.

But come rain or shine,
Come heat, hail or snow,
Those bills must be paid,
As all Father's know!

So, off they will go
To work once again
It's not just for fun,
And it never will end.

I also have heard,
That Mother's famed spot
Cannot be replaced
By one who is not.

Now, that is a puzzle,
Cause on Mother's Day
The Dad's often cook,
And take Mom's spot away.

But come Father's Day
There's never an offer
Of - "I'll go to work
To fill up the coffer"!

The Mother's find flowers,
Fine roses and such.
(Well, give those to dad's
And it wouldn't mean much.)

But a big candy bar,
Or a note of respect
Might do the same thing
For a dad, I expect.

If you think my goal
Is to put Mother's down
Then I understand
Why I've caused you to frown.

But that's not my goal,
Not is it my aim,
I think that the Father's
Deserve just the same --

The same praise as Mother's,
The honor, respect,
Their God-given spot
We so often reject.

Please give it some thought,
And see if it's true.
Let's raise up our Father's -
Give them some ado!

--------------

A very happy Father's Day to dads everywhere but particularly to
 the Father of these ones......

 You have a very special and important spot to fill!!

A Thank You to the Men

I was sitting in McDonalds with Charles beside me. Part of my mind was busy with eating - rescuing the ketchup from the edge of the table, reaching a hand to steady the drink, wiping the drips from my own chin - the other part of my mind was busy watching people. We had been helping at the new house, so we slipped off for lunch with Chris, and the place was crowded. Mostly with men.

I'm not really sure why the many men caught my attention. Maybe because for months now the subject rolling around in the back of my brain has been God's plan for the roles of men and women. Or maybe it's because, for about five months now, I've been watching a man build a house.

Being a mom 24/7 often feels exhausting. I don't know how often I have flopped into bed at night with a sigh and remarked wryly, "I'll go to work tomorrow and you can stay here!" Chris is always more than willing to agree to the arrangement. The truth is, we both know full well it's a joke; neither role is really easier.

I've been reading the American Girl books to my girls and it's been interesting to get glimpses into different eras in our American history. The most recent books we read were set during the depression. In the back of the books they share all kinds of interesting facts and information about that time period. One of the facts from the depression era that stuck out to me was the loss of jobs and the extreme measures men went to to provide for their families. A lot of men left their families under the pretense of finding work elsewhere and never came back. Their logic was that hopefully their wife and children would be more likely to receive aid if there was no husband at home.

As I watched the many men that day at McDonalds, it was obvious that most of them were on lunch break. I had to wonder, where do they all work? Do they like their jobs? Are they struggling to pay the bills? What kind of life do they live? Do they look forward to going home in the evening?

Just from my observations of the men in my own life, I expect that most of those men waiting in line to place their orders and select their drink and straw shared one objective: providing for those in their care. Some were doing it with work callused hands and rugged boots. Some were doing it with suit and tie and hours spent on the phone. Some were doing it by taking orders from the boss man and punching in a time clock. Some were doing it by taking on the headaches of being in charge.

I've been watching a man build a house. I am amazed at the endless amount of work it takes; tedious, time consuming, hard work. It gets hot working out in the sun, did you know? Measuring and cutting and figuring and climbing up and down a ladder is no walk in the park either. And then, some days the hero in my story spends the second half of his day going off to a Tire Shop to work til 7 pm!

It is true that sometimes pure hard physical work looks almost more inviting than the emotions and stress of motherhood and I'm not really here to say one is harder or easier than the other. What I am here to say is that I'm feeling a deep, healthy dose of respect for all the men who get out there every day and work to provide for their wives and families.

To all of you hard working men: I am in awe of your determination and dedication. To you I am offering a heart felt Thank You. May your lives be blessed.
____________________________________________________________
Meet the Graviteers: Ezekiel Victor
My name is Zeke! I find it hard to pick favorites because I get sick of too much of one thing. Read more →
http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/56170e80bf796e7f5499st01vuc

What Have We Done to Our Men?

It was late, and I was indulging in my (slightly) bad habit of savoring some alone time after everyone else was asleep. I wasn't thinking about blog posts, for sure not planning to write one, when a minion quote suddenly jolted me to attention: "Husbands are the best people to share secrets with. They won't tell anyone, because they're not even listening."

It may not have gotten as much of my attention if I hadn't just spent an evening with my husband several nights ago. We were browsing around in a Kitchen Collection store when we got started reading the sayings on some refrigerator magnets. "The views expressed by the males in this house are not necessarily shared by the management." said one, and we smiled a little but then Chris pointed something out that made me think.

"We can say that about a man, and it's funny. But try taking that and switching it around to be about a woman and sticking it on a magnet and that's not going to go over well at all!" I had to admit he was right.

Ever since reading the book Love and Respect and realizing how society has stripped men of the respect that they long for with its feminist movement and cries for equality, I've been more sensitive to this kind of thing. Still, it's easy to think it's all "out there" and kind of shrug it off as not really being that bad.

After reading the minion quote and shaking my head and thinking, "Really? Really. You're going to comment on that and 'like' it and act like it's hilarious? We seriously have a problem", I decided to do a little searching.

I pulled up trusty old google and typed in "quotes about men". What did I find? Twenty out of twenty of the quotes about men made them out to be the dummies. So, I googled "quotes about women". Out of twenty quotes about women, two were demeaning and two others were slightly so. I wasn't quite sure that had been a fair search, so I googled "funny quotes about women". Out of 100 quotes maybe 10 - 15% put women down but here's the really startling thing: a good 50% of those "funny quotes about women" made MEN look like the idiots.

People! What is wrong with this picture? What have we done to our men? What are we doing?

I went to bed after that but my mind was in high gear. I felt sick inside and I wondered how we could have strayed so far from God's plan for the man and woman as He created them?

The truth is, we Christians aren't so very different from the rest of the world in this area. We might be a few steps behind our society but we've accepted a lot more of the feminist attitude than we want to admit. We're pretty careful not to step on the women's toes but we pretty regularly portray the attitude that on the opposite side it's no big deal, the men can handle it!

What's my point? Just this, I guess: As Christians let's open our eyes and beware! Let's be honest and admit that we have this problem more than we think we do. Let's not join the crowd chortling at silly, demeaning quotes. Let's show the world that we respect our men!

Dear Groom

 On the occasion of a couple's return from their honeymoon:

Dear Brand New Groom,

Was I you, once upon a time? That seems to be an amazingly long time ago, and sometimes it seems like only yesterday. I wonder what did you always dream being married would be like.

I look at you, and I wonder, how much do you know about marriage?

Do you have any idea what it's like to become one with a woman, to leave all and make a new unit, just the two of you? Do you have any concept of this woman’s deepest longings. How much she craves your implicit love and understanding. How she will want to know she is yours and yours alone. Do you realize the vast difference in a woman's needs compared to your own. Do you have any grasp at all of the importance of feelings to a woman. Do you realize how much differently you process thinking and feeling than she does? You think, and then think, and then feel. She feels and then feels, and then she might think, if she feels like it. (I hope you know a little something about feeling)

I wonder, have you had any bumps in your road yet - any arguments, any disagreements? Has she criticized your family, or you hers? Has she done something you just really don't like, said something that hurt you down deep? Has the realization of all that will be expected of you, all that will be new and different, seeped into your blissful bubble at all?

I was you, once upon a time, and I sat in someone's wedding service, holding my brand new wife’s hand, and the preacher kept repeating, "Marriage is hard work!" And I rolled my eyes and pitied the poor preacher, too bad his marriage didn’t work out like he had hoped! And, almost fourteen years later, I still roll my eyes at that poor man. My wife tries to give him the benefit of the doubt, she  says, “I know what the preacher meant, even if he didn’t say it very well” I’m less tolerant of the picture he paints of marriage. Marriage IS rosy cheeks and shining eyes and beautiful bouquets of roses and knights in shining armor, of course it is! That’s the whole point. If yours isn’t, you’re doing it wrong!

So, when you find yourself doing it wrong, stop! Don’t fall into the marriage grind, just don’t. Make a promise to yourself to never accept a marriage that is “hard work” We ALL do it wrong, occasionally, the trick is recognizing when it’s wrong and making it right as quickly as possible. As the leader of your home, make keeping your marriage “fun work” at the top of your list. Life and marriage include work, but never let it be drudgery.

I was you, once upon a time, Brand New Groom, and if I could go back, I would do it again, without question. In spite of all the bumps and the lessons and the things you will find out the hard way, it IS more than worth it. Just remember, Marriage is: (A.) Rosy cheeks and shining eyes and beautiful bouquets of roses and knights in shining armor, OR (B) Hard work, and drudgery and fighting and arguing and heartbreak. Your choice, pick A or B.

Here’s to many happy years of choice A. And if you find yourself experiencing choice B just stop and choose choice A again.

I wish you all the best!

Guest Posted by: The man whose first response was, “HUH?”