Refreshment - Elizabethan style

Rick and I are actually on vacation! What a sweet time of renewal for both of us. He found a wonderful B&B - Anne Hatheway's Cottage - in Staunton. We enjoyed a lively and intense performance of Hamlet last night at Blackfriar's Theatre (constructed inside like the Globe). The crowd was boisterous and the players were beyond energetic, performing songs before and during the interval as well as putting on a fast-paced performance of the play. I was intrigued by their choice of lighting - they keep the lights up during the whole play so it's like daylight. The dynamic this created between the audience and the players was fascinating. I was expecting to be distracted by the fact that I could see both the actors and the audience, but the experience was much the opposite. I loved having the panorama of characters in my field of vision (unlike the movie editions) and the audience involvement was high. Maybe this accounted for some of the actor's energy!
This morning we enjoyed cool mountain breezes in the breakfast/great room. Now we're taking the time for some quiet reading/writing after our morning walk through the cemetery. ☺ I'm in the rocker by one of the windows under the eaves with a cup of green tea. Quiet - how refreshing!

Grace for Each Season

As we settle into the slower rhythm of summer, the challenges of helping an aging parent loom large. I'm so grateful for the time (finally) to look for wisdom and help from others rather than do crisis management with "a lick and a promise"! Finding an article on this at Radical Womanhood has been a great help!
Alzheimer's and Gospel Transformation

Amoretti: Presenting . . .

Amoretti: Presenting . . .

Calling all sewers:
Just in time for summer.....a great give-away at Amoretti! Click on the the "Amoretti:Presenting" just under the main title.

Closing Out the School Year

This is the last full week of classes - Yippee! I think I'm at least as excited as my students. I'll have one more week of exam grading following all the testing next week, but there's closure with that. Something finished. A new beginning awaiting me in September. (I think that's one of my favorite things about teaching - a fresh start every year!)

Summer holds a promise of rest, not because there won't be anything to do, but because there will be different things to do, and most of those different things revolve around my home and family. I also have a stack of reading beckoning me - Travels With Charlie by Steinbeck, Saving Leonardo by Nancy Pearcy, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, and a long-awaited revisit to Pilgrim's Progress. The intellectual challenge this summer is reading through Calvin's Institutes with my dear (and brilliant) husband. We'll be taking a few days to attend General Assembly in Virginia Beach (and treat the girls to a beach day - something they've never experienced!) Uh oh, that reminds me---need to order bathing suits today!

I have some new recipes to try, some sewing to do, and, hopefully, more regular writing. And, at the top of the list of things I'm looking forward to - time with friends! Ah, summer, how good you look.

The Wrappings of Love

It's been a looong time since Valentine's Day! The days have been so full of changes and challenges that I've hardly had a moment to think, and thinking is the essence of writing. Hence, no blog posts!

Today is Good Friday, though, and I have had some moments to reflect this morning. Uppermost on my mind is one of the odd things about love. Our depiction of love is usually "sweet" - relaxing and beautiful environments, that special someone with adoring eyes looking at us, and the joy of giving (love is about giving, after all!) in ways that bring us a great deal of satisfaction and pleasure. Sometimes love is experienced this way.

The aspect of love I'm pondering today though is the not-so-pleasant presentation of love -- intense suffering and paralyzing grief. So many people that I love are in the throes of suffering right now, and my heart breaks. My heart grieves. My mind reels and cries out for an end to it. I've had my own physical challenges as well, and it's hard to remember sometimes that I'm in the hands of a loving God.

Good Friday puts it in perspective, though. How bleak that day was for those who loved Jesus. How unbelievably difficult it was for Him as He anticipated it all in the Garden of Gethsemene. Yet, "for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, despising the shame." (Hebrews 12:2b) That joy was the salvation of His people! That joy was life from death!

Love was wrapped up in bloody, sorrowful suffering and death. It was a gruesome sight, an utterly hopeless moment for those who loved Jesus that day. They couldn't see yet that the awful day was a prelude to the most glorious day in history - the resurrection!

I'm looking forward to the celebration of Christ's resurrection on Sunday. I'm also praying for faith to see the hand of love behind the sufferings of this present day. And, I'm giving thanks for the reminder of Good Friday.

Celebrating Love

If one day of celebration is good, a week is better!

That's my philosophy about almost every holiday and it holds true for Valentine's Day as well. Will you celebrate with me? Here's the challenge: I'm focusing on one aspect of I Corinthians 13 (the great love chapter) each day of the week and prayerfully seeking to love as Christians are called to love. It's much costlier than flowers and chocolate in some ways, but the riches are for those around you and for your soul.

Monday, Feb. 14 - Love is patient. Prepare early in the morning (with prayer) to patiently meet those daily challenges and glitches to your plans. Bless those around you with the peace of a patient spirit!

Tuesday, Feb. 15 - Love is kind. Don't be random; be intentional. Who needs kindness today?

Wednesday, Feb. 16 - Love is not envious. Put down the magazine, turn off the ads, and make a list of blessings to give thanks for!

Thursday, Feb. 17 - Love does not seek its own. What can you give up today in order to give to someone else? Your right to some "me" time? That manicure you've been wanting? Our perhaps you have the opportunity to be flexible because of someone else's need or lack of planning. ☺

Friday, Feb. 18 - Love thinks no evil. Here's a challenge - speak only words of blessing to other motorists today! Don't assume that people are idiots. There are so many applications for this one -- see what God has for you!

Enjoy your week of love! ♥
(and feel free to share your stories here!)

Talking and Learning

"The wise in heart will be called prudent, and sweetness of the lips increases learning." Proverbs 16:21

I have just a simple thought based on this proverb. How sweet is the speech in your home? Are you encouraging your children? Are you their best cheerleader? Are your words life giving or death dealing? People are intricately woven together - mind, body, and soul. We often acknowledge this in theory but don't apply it practically. If your child's body is sick, you realize that he won't be at peak performance academically, and you wouldn't demand it of him. But what if his spirit is broken? What if his heart is hurt? What if she's afraid? And what if those hurts and bruises are all because of careless and impatient words spoken in the family? All these things can affect the ability to learn (and to enjoy learning). Let me encourage you to begin each day with a prayer to see each of your children through God's eyes - whole people, not just bundles of demands or recalcitrant antagonizers designed to make your life more difficult. Then, speak graciously and take every opportunity to build them up. Not only is this good for their souls, it also enhances their learning potential! And when the time comes for hard lessons (in school and in life) or discipline, the strength they've gained from good words from a prudent parent will go far in helping them meet the challenges.