erasers and platitudes

i admit that i have a long way to go in caring for this beautiful
part of God's earth, but as i drove past a hip boutique, i felt
steam hissing out of my ears.

"man should not make marks in the sand that the wind cannot
erase."

this is clearly an ecological statement meant to teach me a deep
lesson  about my 'green' footprint, but my first thought was,
"well that looks ugly.   i wish the wind could erase it."

the wind would have a hard time blowing over this tree that WE planted.

second thought:  "man should try to express his deepest thoughts
in the positive."

my final thought:  "a man who is living in a grass hut in the jungle
has more of a  right to say that to me.  his own footprint can
easily be erased by the wind.  BUT,  the owner of a glass fronted,
brick sided store does not."

only one of our famous tornadoes could erase that footprint.

can you tell i skipped breakfast?  my mom told hans, "my only
advice is that you make sure she eats enough and gets lots of
sleep, or she turns into a bear."

grrrr,
lea

"the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of
eden to work it and take care of it."  genesis 2:15

guess who's coming to dinner?

dear emily,

unlike some of my stories, this one is 100% true and kind of funny.

saturday was a a gorgeous evening for a garden party at our local
museum.  the lovely ladies were bedecked in their pretty frocks
and skyscraper heels.  the men wore seersucker suits and dirty
bucks.   some were over-enjoying their cocktails, but that's not
part of this story.

the tables were extravagantly decorated with every shade of
purple flower, from the palest lilac to the deepest magenta lilies.
we were surprised to see two strangers seated at our table, but
found them delightful.

two days later, i received an exquisite bouquet of flowers from
the museum director with a note apologizing for the disappointing
evening.  ???   i couldn't, for the life of me, understand what he
meant, as the garden party had been perfect.   later, i  discovered
that our dinner guests had been party crashers, which hit my funny
bone.

you might think they got a free meal, but really they paid a high
price; they had to talk to us all evening.

love,
lea

ps.  "do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing
so some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing
it."  hebrews 13:2

crumbs from the table

dear emily,

i would do many things differently, if i had the chance, but there is
one i would love to do over and over again.

when my children were 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11, i heard about a great
preacher who was to speak at the local Christian university.   as
i always wanted to expose the kids to inspiring men and women,
i purposed to take them.

unfortunately, as we slipped behind the 12 foot high doors of the
chapel, an usher whispered that the service was reserved for the
college students.  crushed, i  remembered the canaanite woman
who begged help for her daughter.

Jesus told her that he "was sent only to the lost sheep of israel. . .
it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."
(matthew 15: 24, 26)

her reply resounded in my ears, "yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat
the crumbs that fall from their master's table."  (mt. 15:27)  with
renewed courage, i heard myself say, "we won't take a seat from
any student but will just stand in the back."

the preacher was as anointed and full of God's power as any i
have ever heard.  as he closed his sermon, he looked to the back
of the auditorium and asked, "are those children back there?"  for
a moment i was afraid that we would be scolded, but instead, he
said, "bring them up here, so i may pray for them."

pretty sweet crumbs.

love,
lea

ps.  it was brought to me attention that i have already told this
story. . . sheesh.   oh well, chalk that up to old age. . . and get
used to it!

dear emily,

a few weeks ago i found a wonderful blogger who shares some
yummy secrets to adapting 'fake' snacks into healthy treats.  her
simple genius has helped me think outside the box, too.  i would
love to send you to her blog, but i've lost it.  dang.

want to know what else is in your mr. redenbacher's microwave
popcorn?  i don't even know what a couple of these substances
are:

popcorn
palm oil
salt
potassium chloride
butter
natural and artificial flavor
color?
TBHQ??
citric acid

here's the ingredients for your just as easy microwave popcorn:

popcorn
salt, if you want . . .
butter, if you like . . .

pour 1/4 cup popcorn kernels into a paper lunch sack.  fold the
sack over twice, creasing each fold, and set microwave to the
'popcorn' setting.  once your corn has popped, season as you
wish, happy with the knowledge that nothing artificial has been
added to your healthy snack.

yum!

love,
lea

ps.  "dear friend, i pray that you may enjoy good health and that
all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well."
3 john 2