mr. z

in our fair city there is a kind and generous 93 year old man,
named mr. z.  he has donated millions of his hard earned dollars
to our impoverished school districts, hospitals, mental health
facilities, and libraries.

my father in law, who is 87, has lunch with him at 11:30 every
wednesday at snow fork restaurant.  their lifelong friendship is
based on mutual respect and affection.  

"well,  mr. z., what are you having today?"

"i'll just have whatever you're having."

and then they will share a steak sandwich.  something about
the contentment in their tradition melts my heart.  the next bit
of conversation goes like this:

"well, mr. z., the kids at the local elementary school need a
new gym floor.  should we help them out?"

"i'll just match whatever you give."

my father in law is a committed Christian, and mr. z. is a
devout jew, but that has never hindered this sweet friendship
one dash.   the disparate countries of the world could learn a
thing or two from these wise men.

yesterday, i was greeted at my front door with a gorgeous
easter lily.  mr. z. sends one every year.

i hope our children catch the spirit of their generosity.

love,
lea

"honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all
your crops . . . " proverbs 3:9

hurdles

the hurdles is an excruciating race for me to watch.  when the
runners trip and fall, i bury my face in my hands.  it must hurt
so much, but they just pop right up and finish the race.  how
do they do that?

moms have more than their share of hurdles.  we carry our
sweet babies within us for nine months, and then we birth
them, feed them, burp them, bathe them, rock them, sing to
them, doctor them, teach them, read to them, correct them,
and of course, love them.

and that is the easy part.

the hurdles of advising them about friendships, romances,
safe driving, college applications, and getting married are
quite a bit higher and come faster than you ever expect.

before we know it, we are tripping over hurdles left and
right.  and we do not have the luxury of giving up, but we
brush ourselves off, make sure we are properly 'refueled',
and head toward the next hurdle.

i imagine the last hurdle will be into the grave, and by then we
will probably be ready for it. :)  hopefully, we will be able to say,
"i have fought the fight and finished the race." (2 timothy 4:7)

after that i expect to enjoy some 'flying.'

love,
lea

ps.  i thought it would be much longer before i came back.  just
goes to show . . . that i never know what i am talking about.

the best laid plans

dear emily,

i think my motives were right when i began this blog.  they
were "to encourage young moms to love their husbands and
children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home
and to be kind." titus 2:4

somewhere along the way, i lost my way.  this became my
wonderland, and like alice, i lingered.  to be perfectly frank,
i made an idol of it, neglecting and hurting the people i hold
most dear.  that grieves me greatly.

it is the Lord's mercy that He revealed my heart with such
kindness, and i am grateful that "he redeems my life from the
pit and crowns me with love and compassion." psalm 103:4

until He shows me a safe way to continue, i will be taking a
break from writing here, but i will still visit those of you who
have become dear to me.

if you are a young mom, go back and read my earlier posts.
their content is richer than the recent ones.  you may even
see where i lost my way.

love,
lea

sports illustrated?

dear emily,

when i was a timid, young bride, my stomach would be tied
in knots before a business dinner or social function.  i fretted
about what i would talk about or what i would wear.

hans, who is a natural extrovert and completely comfortable
in any social environment, couldn't really understand my
worries.  "honey, you'll be fine.  they'll love you."

yeah right.

so, i took the matter into my own hands and began to read
"us news and world report" before each event.  this armed me
with some talking points, but i also quickly discovered that
most people are happy as clams to just talk about themselves.

and, of course, i bought a new suit (think armor not armani.)

when our oldest turned twelve, he no longer found me very
intelligent or interesting.  so i read "sports illustrated" to say
things during games like, "do you think he should hold for
one or take a look?"

desperate times call for desperate measures and "a good
sacrifice is not necessarily sound but leaves your opponent
dazed and confused."  (nigel short)

love,
lea

"i appeal to you . . . to present your bodies as a living sacrifice."
romans 12:1

iphones

dear emily,

what was life like before iphones?  i'm trying to remember
my loved ones' faces,  as i mostly just see the tops of their
heads now.

my worship pastor asked me if i had one, and i quickly
responded, "no way!  everyone i know who has one, gets
married to it!"  i didn't know i felt that strongly until that
popped out of my mouth.  poor guy was just going to invite
me to play 'words with friends'.

that's what my sweet husband was playing . . . during the
church service last week. . . with my daughter!  i wanted
to raise my hand and tell on them.  :)

i have found iphone messages in the morning from young
mommies, "well, here i am nursing my baby at 3:00 in the
morning."  seriously? when i was a new mommy, i stumbled
into the nursery in the middle of the night barely opening my
eyes.  i used to pray that i wouldn't fall out of the rocker.

remember when everyone had carpal tunnel disease from
spending so much time at the computer?  well, i'm afraid
there is going to be a new more threatening disease, called
carpal iphonal.

the left hand will freeze in a clawlike state and become
useless for any other task than holding an iphone.

it will be up to those few non-iphoners to care for the rest
of the world.  thankfully, though "many are the afflictions
of the righteous, the Lord delivers him out of them all."  
(psalm 34:19)

call me,
lea

ain't no rock!

dear emily,

a lovely lady was standing next to me at my sanctuary, i
mean william sonoma, and i overheard her ask if this was
easter sunday.  "well, she's not in the choir," i thought to
myself.  we can tell you the date and celebration of every
sunday until Christmas.  :)

it's palm sunday,  one of my favorite days of the year!  who
could resist little children waving palm branches, singing
"hosanna to the Son of david!"  not me.

when the religious pharisees heard the children shouting
their hosannas to Jesus, they were indignant.  "do you hear
what they are saying?"  they asked.

well sure, "from the lips of children and infants has been
appointed praise."  (matthew 21:16)

i love the next part even more, Jesus said if the people
"keep silent, the rocks will cry out." (luke 19:40)   a long,
long time ago, i decided, "ain't no rock gonna' cry out in
my place."

hosanna!

love,
lea

ps.  i'm singing "the holy city" this sunday and would
appreciate any and all prayers.

consistency

dear emily,

it has often occurred to me that when we are training our little
ones to be kind and good, we are really training ourselves.

there are many gadgets in our parenting tool belt, but consistency
is one of the most effective.   if i am unfailing to shine my light
on his bad language, for instance,  then my child will usually
upgrade his vocabulary.

on the other hand, if my ornery widget is not totally sure how i
will react, he will spout off the dirty words.  the fun of it is worth
the risk.  maybe i'll ignore it this time.

if we take advantage of that very short period of time in which
they want to please us, we can teach our children invaluable
life skills.  the key is our unswerving response.  we  need to
reinforce any kind and thoughtful gesture and correct the hurtful
or selfish ones.

sounds pretty easy, but those days that i don't feel well or just
don't want to get off the couch can sabotage me.  as nike says,
"just do it!"

or as Jesus says, "let your light shine . . . that they may see your
good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."  matthew 5:16

love,
lea