my eyes were dry

dear emily,

i was studying the scriptures to encourage a young woman who asked me to
be her titus 2:4 older woman.   when i was young, there were only one or two
older women available for that, and i desperately needed the mentoring.

while flipping the pages of my bible back and forth, the Spirit of God
descended, and i was undone.   that hasn't happened in a while . . .  and that
shows the state of my crusty heart . . .  which demonstrates His mercy.

again.

how long has it been since you felt the Lord's presence wash over you?   it's
better than the sweetest honey on the comb or the finest wine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyxoqHBkwqY

love,
lea

" . . . I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of
flesh . . . they will be My people, and I will be their God."  ezekiel 11:19

super fun give away

dear emily,

some friends have invented the most ingenious device!   i only wish someone
had invented it when my kiddos were babies.   i bought a dozen to give as
baby presents.   the young inventor has put all "his eggs" in this basket, and it
would be so great to help them out some more.

the super cute little straps keep carseat straps to the side for MUCH easier
placement of the baby.   no hunting around for them!    i love them so much
that i want to give away a pair to YOU.  

if you comment, your name goes in the basket once.  
if you look at the video and comment, you get twice as many chances.  
if you repost this at your blog, you get a FOR SURE 'side kick!'

http://www.shortstackjack.com/

check out the website and let me know if you're interested!

love,
lea

ps.  heck, i'll probably give away a pair for a funny joke.

london

dear emily,

ok, back to our trip!   we flew from florence to london, landing just 20
minutes after our youngest and her best friend.   hailey and hunter were
a little wobbly after their transatlantic coach flight.   while i was jabbering
excitedly about italy, hailey closed her eyes for a second and then fell
dead sleep in a nanosecond.

our hotel was beautiful, but the girls' room was not ready, so they crashed
on our bed.   while they were snoozing (snoring), the receptionist called
to say she would like to treat the girls to a penthouse suite, at no extra
charge.

hunter & hailey in our normal room

hans put his hand over the phone and asked, "have you ever heard of a girl
named bianca or reanna?"

"rihanna????"

apparently, she had stayed in the same 'room' a few days before.   if you
don't know who that is, google her.   that's what hans had to do.  :)

hunter and hailey in a rihanna sized room

so, imagine two 20 year old college students, accustomed to yucky dorm
rooms, peeking into the magnificence of a penthouse, accustomed to rihanna.
there was a lot of squealing, i can tell you.   then the doorbell rang, and we
met their personal BUTLER.

here's a little tour.   london will have to wait until next time.

75 white roses in the entry hall

breakfast room

strategizing in the sitting room

hailey claimed the shower

rooftop view of their city for ten weeks

good grief.

love,
lea

"now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more that all we ask
or imagine . . . "  ephesians 3:20

grandma goldie

dear emily,

i have written about the precious legacy of my two grandmothers, one was
truth and the other grace.   grandma goldie was grace.   she affirmed every
atom in my being and let me read as long as i wanted.   she never said, "you
need to get outside and get some excercise."

the day of her funeral was one of the loneliest of my life.   i kept looking
for her to comfort me, but she wasn't there.   as a 38 year old woman, i sat
in a sunday school chair by myself and cried myself sick.

fortunately, i get glimpses of her in my daughters from time to time, and i
am grateful to the Lord for "His mercies are new every morning." (lam. 3:23)

in the sleepy colorado town that we love, we dug a large pond and were
told to name it.   so we did:

GOLDIE'S POND

once i was shopping in aspen and stumbled into a heavenly store:

thank you, Lord, for sweet memories,
lea

best friends

dear emily,

i read so many facebook posts in which women say, "my husband is my
best friend."  that is wonderful . . .

but mine isn't.   my best friends are female.   they wear make up and bras.
they cry when i cry and laugh at my dorky girl jokes.   they understand
when i get all angsty, jealous, and bloaty.

they tell me when my shoes don't work with that dress and if that dress
makes my backside look BIG.   they want to hear every detail about my
daughter's trip and my son's precious new wife, the insane grocery clerk,
and the next door neighbor's dog.

why do we, as women, want to make our husbands be our best friends?  i
want my husband's best friends to be the ones to hunt, fish, and talk foot
ball with him.  I don't want to do that.  i'm content to "um huh" and nod,
but i'm really thinking about thanksgiving, the election, or whether or not
my last check hit the bank before my last deposit.

my husband is part of my soul.   he is the best side of me.   he protects
every side of me.   he eats my yucky cooking, watches my crazy sci-fi
shows, takes me on bike rides, and sits close beside me in church.   he
fathered my five children, and he sleeps with me.


and i love him,
lea

"be devoted and give preference to one another."  romans 12:10

the intruder

dear emily,

it's been a while since i told you a good 'max' story, and there is no
shortage of them.   he is our 24 year old middle child, the one i used to
tell, "if you weren't so cute, i would kill you!"

when he was seven we were visiting his grandparents at a sleepy resort
of octagenarians.   besides the atlantic ocean, every corner was as safe
as sunday school.   one afternoon, i sent my little dennis the menace up
to our room on the third floor (306) to grab some beach towels while i
waited in the lobby with his two little sisters.

after longer than i would have imagined, he returned white as a sheet.
apparently he had accidentally gone to the second floor (206), barging
into the wrong room.   instead of our mountain of swimsuits and tennis
shoes,  he ran into two elderly ladies.

never doubting himself, he asked, "what are you guys doing in my
room . . . in your slips?"

google image

love,
lea

"do not forget to entertain strangers, for by doing so some have
entertained angels without knowing it."  hebrews 13:2

dear emily,

how does one describe the beauty of the birthplace of the renaissance?
with better words than mine.   "i saw the angel in the marble and then
carved until i set him free." (michelangelo)

google image

florence, italy is filled with angelic countenances and splendour.   one of our
tour guides said that 90% of the world's greatest art is here.  "paris and
berlin have a few nice pieces, but they are such young cities."  :)

we stayed in a villa that overlooked the city and lovely vineyards:

the roman wall begun in 12 bc

our purpose was to visit the palazzo pitti museum's showing of our
own gilcrease museum's art collection.   it was a shining moment to
be in such glorious  company.

google image

the boboli gardens behind the palace were breathtaking, but this guy
was a little scary:

you better watch out, you better not cry . . . 

i was too overwhelmed by the beauty of the gardens to capture it and
to put that in perspective, i spied this tiny garden on the other side of a
WALL.   it wasn't even mentioned on the tour.   my secret garden.

lea's garden (hee hee)

next time, london!

love,
lea

"He has made everything beautiful in its time."  ecclesiastes 3:11

washington d.c.

dear emily,

hans and i just returned from a dreamy trip that started in our nation's
capital.   here's the view from our window the first morning.

if you're wondering what's behind the trees . . .

while my poor husband was working from dawn 'til dusk, i was walking
the streets.   not that way.   i got the giggles once i noticed the funny
state of our nation's shoes.    mine were the worst.

but these are NOT mine!

this gentleman met me each day at the park, but i didn't have the nerve
to talk to him.   i wondered where he would go as the weather cooled.

in a few days i will share some photos of our next stop:  florence, italy.

love,
lea

"all nations will be blessed through You."   galatians 3:8

dear emily,

while playing bridge with some friends, one asked if any of us had seen any
good movies.  another friend recommended a comedy.   i begged to differ,
mentioning that it had a pretty strong "R" rating.   she countered with the
thought that it was hilarious and really only deserved a mild "R" rating.

i spouted without thinking, "you're either "R", or you "Rn't."

love,
lea

"finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is right, whatever is pure . . .
think on these things."  philippians 4:8