A Happy V-Day card that looks like a word search (perfect for a word-lover like me).
Candles (good-smelling).
Watermelon Jelly Bellies (green on the outside, pink in the middle; my favorites).
A heart-shaped tin of chocolates (yum).
A Barnes and Noble gift card (I could LIVE in that store).
A splendid basket, lined with a fluffy soft, vibrantly red hand towel, and containing all of the above.
The time and care my husband took to create such a personal, thoughtful, perfect gift for me.
The smile on my husband's face when he saw how much I loved this gift.
God's good plan of one man for one woman forever,
Or as one human said...
"The game of love is never called on account of darkness or rain."
I am one blessed lady.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Friday, February 8, 2008
Follow-up
Thanks to all of you who took time to read and comment on my post about Nate's adventure to the chess tournament. Many people have asked how it turned out, so I thought I'd give a follow-up.
Nate did indeed travel with the team to the tournament in Ferndale.
He got checked in and then settled his backpack into a spot at a table in the rec area.
And then he waited. (We found out there's a lot of waiting in a chess tournament.)
The thing is, Nate did a lot of waiting ALL BY HIMSELF.
Yeah, no other 6th grade teammates made it to the tournament...
and all the other team members were competing in a different division...
in a completely separate building on the campus...
and the coach was otherwise occupied as a "floor judge" for...
you guessed it...the upper division in the other building.
(Oh, the things moms are glad they don't know beforehand!)
And yet, Nate just handled it.
By the time I came to watch at noon, he'd played 2 matches (lost one, won one), eaten all his snacks :), and spent his long waits between matches reading his book. What a good kid!
The competition was being held in a cafeteria where about one-third of the room was set up with the chess sets. The students would be in that area during their matches. That end was open to the rest of the room where competitors sat between matches, along with coaches, parents, siblings, and whatever other assorted people happened by. There were probably 90 or so total competitors in the K-3 and 4-6 divisions. Needless to say the "rec" area was very lively and noisy with all the people hanging out there. In and of itself, Nate's ability to tolerate that environment is a huge testament to his growth. And to manage it by himself...awesome!
After all the waiting throughout the day, we decided to forgo an extra 2+ hours of waiting for the completion of the upper division and for the awards ceremonies. We headed home with Nate having finished with a record of 1 win and 4 losses, with some hard-fought matches in the process, and with the winning and losing met with equal grace.
It was a day with much to be thankful for. But for me, as the mom, there was one thing that particularly stood out about that day; something I felt God did just for me. You see, out of the 60 competitors in Nate's division of 4th-6th graders, Nate knew exactly ONE other student. Guess who Nate's first round "randomly chosen" opponent was?
Yeah. The one kid Nate knew.
I don't know that that mattered much to Nate,
but I felt it was God's little message to me,
"See how much I can do, Megan?
I've got it ALL under control."
A friend who has watched Nate through all his years, and who read the chess tournament post said he was reminded of the Ephesians verse that talks about "Him who is able to do abundantly more than we could ask or imagine". Our God is the giver of ALL these good and perfect and compassionate gifts. He is the One who loves and nurtures Nate more than Jim or I ever could. He is the One who has given our family the hands and smiles and voices of so many dear ones through whom Nate has felt His warmth.
We're grateful to Him, and grateful to you.
And we're oh, so proud of Nate.
Nate did indeed travel with the team to the tournament in Ferndale.
He got checked in and then settled his backpack into a spot at a table in the rec area.
And then he waited. (We found out there's a lot of waiting in a chess tournament.)
The thing is, Nate did a lot of waiting ALL BY HIMSELF.
Yeah, no other 6th grade teammates made it to the tournament...
and all the other team members were competing in a different division...
in a completely separate building on the campus...
and the coach was otherwise occupied as a "floor judge" for...
you guessed it...the upper division in the other building.
(Oh, the things moms are glad they don't know beforehand!)
And yet, Nate just handled it.
By the time I came to watch at noon, he'd played 2 matches (lost one, won one), eaten all his snacks :), and spent his long waits between matches reading his book. What a good kid!
The competition was being held in a cafeteria where about one-third of the room was set up with the chess sets. The students would be in that area during their matches. That end was open to the rest of the room where competitors sat between matches, along with coaches, parents, siblings, and whatever other assorted people happened by. There were probably 90 or so total competitors in the K-3 and 4-6 divisions. Needless to say the "rec" area was very lively and noisy with all the people hanging out there. In and of itself, Nate's ability to tolerate that environment is a huge testament to his growth. And to manage it by himself...awesome!
After all the waiting throughout the day, we decided to forgo an extra 2+ hours of waiting for the completion of the upper division and for the awards ceremonies. We headed home with Nate having finished with a record of 1 win and 4 losses, with some hard-fought matches in the process, and with the winning and losing met with equal grace.
It was a day with much to be thankful for. But for me, as the mom, there was one thing that particularly stood out about that day; something I felt God did just for me. You see, out of the 60 competitors in Nate's division of 4th-6th graders, Nate knew exactly ONE other student. Guess who Nate's first round "randomly chosen" opponent was?
Yeah. The one kid Nate knew.
I don't know that that mattered much to Nate,
but I felt it was God's little message to me,
"See how much I can do, Megan?
I've got it ALL under control."
A friend who has watched Nate through all his years, and who read the chess tournament post said he was reminded of the Ephesians verse that talks about "Him who is able to do abundantly more than we could ask or imagine". Our God is the giver of ALL these good and perfect and compassionate gifts. He is the One who loves and nurtures Nate more than Jim or I ever could. He is the One who has given our family the hands and smiles and voices of so many dear ones through whom Nate has felt His warmth.
We're grateful to Him, and grateful to you.
And we're oh, so proud of Nate.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
You Won't Believe What I Did This Morning
Let me give a little disclaimer at the outset: This post will only make sense to those who know my family reasonably well. My apologies.
So...what I did...
I dropped Nate off at school this morning. Yes, I know it's Saturday.
I dropped Nate off so he could go to his first chess tournament today.
All day.
8 AM until he gets dropped off at home at 6:30 PM.
Released to the chess coach.
Riding in a van for 25 minutes with the other middle school players.
Riding in a van for 25 minutes with some high school players.
Checking in at the tournament; at a place he's never been before.
5 rounds of chess.
Downtime with kids from other schools in between rounds.
Awards ceremony.
Carrying money in his pocket.
Buying his own pizza for lunch.
Stopping for fast food with the team on their way home.
Nate WANTED to go.
He knew that all of the above would be involved.
He knew that his best friend, Logan, would not be going.
He knew there would be no sleeping in today.
He knew he would be gone ALL day.
And he WANTED to go.
No hesitation.
No fear.
No anxiety.
He's just doing it.
And mom is fine. Flabbergasted, but fine.
My boy is coming into his own,
And we are amazed
And grateful.
To all of you who have come alongside our Nate,
who have loved him and helped him,
who have joked around with him,
and kept running conversations with him over months and years:
This is your triumph too.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
So...what I did...
I dropped Nate off at school this morning. Yes, I know it's Saturday.
I dropped Nate off so he could go to his first chess tournament today.
All day.
8 AM until he gets dropped off at home at 6:30 PM.
Released to the chess coach.
Riding in a van for 25 minutes with the other middle school players.
Riding in a van for 25 minutes with some high school players.
Checking in at the tournament; at a place he's never been before.
5 rounds of chess.
Downtime with kids from other schools in between rounds.
Awards ceremony.
Carrying money in his pocket.
Buying his own pizza for lunch.
Stopping for fast food with the team on their way home.
Nate WANTED to go.
He knew that all of the above would be involved.
He knew that his best friend, Logan, would not be going.
He knew there would be no sleeping in today.
He knew he would be gone ALL day.
And he WANTED to go.
No hesitation.
No fear.
No anxiety.
He's just doing it.
And mom is fine. Flabbergasted, but fine.
My boy is coming into his own,
And we are amazed
And grateful.
To all of you who have come alongside our Nate,
who have loved him and helped him,
who have joked around with him,
and kept running conversations with him over months and years:
This is your triumph too.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Monday, January 7, 2008
God's Palette
It all started with a chicken.
For a brief few hours in the middle of this January day, the sun came out and it was one of those crisp, beautiful winter days that simply couldn't be spent indoors; at least since it was Monday - my day off - and everyone else in my household was at work or school. (Yeah, I know...I'm spoiled.) So I just HAD to get outside - look around a bit - specifically, look at God's world up close and personal, and just soak it in. Mmmmmm...I need a dose of that regularly, and the more often, the better.
Off to Hovander Park I went. Not as sunny there as at home, but still beautiful in the stark way of a snow-less winter landscape. And there I met THE CHICKEN.
First I met A chicken (not to be confused with THE chicken). It was a fenced-in chicken, mind you. This first chicken was truly a specimen - it was HUGE! Biggest chicken I've ever seen. Its legs were probably as big in diameter as a quarter. Its feathers were primarily white with some black - nothing particularly eye-catching - but the size, oh my!
I started noticing how many varieties of chickens were there: 10 at least, plus a couple kinds of ducks and a number of geese (they all seemed to get along fine, by the way, but the geese came unglued when a gal walked by with her puppy!).
And then, I saw THE CHICKEN.
OK, I'm the first to say that chickens are NOT lovely looking creatures. I've always thought they're kind of creepy, with their scaly legs and their red combs and the herky-jerky way they walk around. But being safely on the other side of the fence, I could just observe. And what I saw, I began to like. This chicken had the most amazing colors in its feathers. Long, narrow, delicate feathers covered its head and cascaded down its neck. They ranged from a deep rust color at the top, to gold, and back to yet another rusty shade before meeting the larger black feathers of the chicken's body.
I was fascinated! Whoever thought a chicken could be SO beautiful. I looked and looked at the richness of those colors and knew they were uniquely God's - His palette. Humans can try all they want but can never duplicate the amazing colors, textures and shapes God crafted into His creation.
I watched more, and walked (sauntered, really), and looked, and breathed, and soaked it all in. I stopped long enough to see the fantastic colors of one chicken's eyes. To watch a chicken waking up from a long sleep. To hear the sparrows chattering to each other. To watch the placid river flow and to listen to the wind in the winter tree branches.
I had brought my Bible along to read, but I didn't need to. God's Word was written all over everything I saw, everything I heard. The rich, deep palette of His creation spoke all I needed to know: God made all this, He made me.
And He loves it all.
For a brief few hours in the middle of this January day, the sun came out and it was one of those crisp, beautiful winter days that simply couldn't be spent indoors; at least since it was Monday - my day off - and everyone else in my household was at work or school. (Yeah, I know...I'm spoiled.) So I just HAD to get outside - look around a bit - specifically, look at God's world up close and personal, and just soak it in. Mmmmmm...I need a dose of that regularly, and the more often, the better.
Off to Hovander Park I went. Not as sunny there as at home, but still beautiful in the stark way of a snow-less winter landscape. And there I met THE CHICKEN.
First I met A chicken (not to be confused with THE chicken). It was a fenced-in chicken, mind you. This first chicken was truly a specimen - it was HUGE! Biggest chicken I've ever seen. Its legs were probably as big in diameter as a quarter. Its feathers were primarily white with some black - nothing particularly eye-catching - but the size, oh my!
I started noticing how many varieties of chickens were there: 10 at least, plus a couple kinds of ducks and a number of geese (they all seemed to get along fine, by the way, but the geese came unglued when a gal walked by with her puppy!).
And then, I saw THE CHICKEN.
OK, I'm the first to say that chickens are NOT lovely looking creatures. I've always thought they're kind of creepy, with their scaly legs and their red combs and the herky-jerky way they walk around. But being safely on the other side of the fence, I could just observe. And what I saw, I began to like. This chicken had the most amazing colors in its feathers. Long, narrow, delicate feathers covered its head and cascaded down its neck. They ranged from a deep rust color at the top, to gold, and back to yet another rusty shade before meeting the larger black feathers of the chicken's body.
I was fascinated! Whoever thought a chicken could be SO beautiful. I looked and looked at the richness of those colors and knew they were uniquely God's - His palette. Humans can try all they want but can never duplicate the amazing colors, textures and shapes God crafted into His creation.
I watched more, and walked (sauntered, really), and looked, and breathed, and soaked it all in. I stopped long enough to see the fantastic colors of one chicken's eyes. To watch a chicken waking up from a long sleep. To hear the sparrows chattering to each other. To watch the placid river flow and to listen to the wind in the winter tree branches.
I had brought my Bible along to read, but I didn't need to. God's Word was written all over everything I saw, everything I heard. The rich, deep palette of His creation spoke all I needed to know: God made all this, He made me.
And He loves it all.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
More Wisdom from "Snog"
All lovebirds young or old: take note of this little gem from Antoine de Saint-Exupery, via "Snog: A Puppy's Guide to Love"...
"Love does not consist in gazing at each other,
but in looking outward together in the same direction."
"Love does not consist in gazing at each other,
but in looking outward together in the same direction."
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