Tolliver's Secret by Esther Wood Brady is a simple story about a spy for George Washington's army who ends up wounded and can't deliver his important message. His grand-daughter, Ellen Tolliver, is sent to deliver it in his stead. Through incredible delays and set-backs (including getting mixed up with a boatload of Redcoats) she keeps on until she finally delivers the message into the right hands. This young lady is a great example of perseverance and bravery and courage. One of the follow-up assignments for this book was for my daughter to write a speech for George Washington to deliver, thanking Ellen Tolliver for her heroism. This book was my favorite of all of them this year.
The Journeyman by Elizabeth Yates We just finished this one recently. The main character, Jared Austin, is a creative young man who becomes a journeyman painter (a traveling painter, back in the 1800s). My daughter enjoyed the book because she enjoys art and has her own creative bent. I liked it because it taught underlying lessons in perseverance, hard work, dealing with difficulties in life, and responding to gossip in a godly way... and the happy ending.
Carry on, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham was another favorite. While the characters of the other books I've listed were fictitious, the main character in this book, Nathaniel Bowditch, really lived and took part in America's history. I knew nothing of him prior to reading this book. I learned a lot - about seafaring and navigation. The book does a great job telling the story but also showing the reader just how important math (and precision) are in real life. To many mariners, it meant life or death, back before GPS was available.
4/18/2012
18 months ago I stepped away from a part-time job that I'd held for 6 years - as our church secretary.
Next week I return to that position.
I'm excited about the change. And nervous.
Not nervous because of the work - I am an organizer by nature so the work comes easy to me and is enjoyable.
Not nervous about the coworkers - I have a good relationship with our pastors.
Somewhat nervous because we've moved to a different building so there are changes related to location (like a security system to figure out).
But mostly nervous because I feel like a different person than I was before. The last 18 months have felt like a lifetime to me. I have lived a lot in those months. I have grown up a lot. God has done a lot of molding and chipping away at me. In so many ways I am not the same person I used to be.
To walk back into a job that once came so easy and was such a good fit now makes me nervous. Will it still come easy? Will it still be a good fit? Are my pastors expecting it to be just like it was before? Expecting me to be just like I was before? Because I'm not the same.
Hopefully I'm better. Hopefully I'm more Christlike. Hopefully I'm more grace-filled. Hopefully I'm leaning more on the strength of God than on what I can muster up. Hopefully the beautiful fruit of the Spirit is more evident in my life, because of what I've lived through in the last 18 months. More love. More joy. More peace. More patience. More kindness. More goodness. More gentleness. More faithfulness. More self-control.
At least that's what I pray for, as I enter a new-yet-not-new season. A season that will feel familiar and yet different.
If you think of me this week and would like to pray for me, I welcome it!
*Pray for clarity of mind as I learn new things and adjust to the work again
*Pray for my family, as we all adjust to this change in our schedules
*Pray that in this work situation (and in all of life), God would be growing His fruit in my life and His love would flow through me
*Pray that He would be glorified through all things
Pretending to drive tractors. 
Pretending to ride horses or calves. 
Seeing cows and calves. 
Petting precious lambs. 
And petting crazy poodles like this one, who was incredibly soft. Touching a large turkey was a highlight for my daughter, as well as watching pet rabbits do tricks (like jumping over low hurdles). My son loved being up on the tractors, eating the free cookie, and touching the soft bunnies.
Aunt Karen come over one night this week. She played a fun game with the kids. 
Then she and my daughter played dress-up. Here's my daughter's beautiful outfit. 
Our pet bird Weezy has enjoyed more freedom lately, flying around the house. One of her favorite perches turns out to be my head! I know... I better watch out!
Easter egg hunt at my in-laws' house. My girl in the foreground found plenty of eggs. My son... well, he found one and then headed for the sandbox (seen in the background).
Here's my boy with his one egg, which he broke open immediately to see what treasure could be found inside!
Like father, like son!
4/11/2012
Each year, prior to Easter, we have the opportunity at church to purchase a beautiful flower to help decorate the sanctuary on Easter Sunday morning. After the service, we are free to take our flowers home. This year, we bought a flower in honor of our two babies in heaven.
Easter = new life = reason to celebrate for those who are enjoying new life in heaven
This hydrangea is big and beautiful, full of blooms and full of life. I love it!
I've mentioned before how my heart has been encouraged by flowers planted in honor of our miscarried baby. There is just something so joyful about springtime and flowers in bloom.
I'm reminded of Luke 24:5 "Why do you look for the living among the dead?" This was asked of the women who came to the tomb, looking for the body of a dead Jesus Christ. My babies are not living on earth, but they are very much alive. I do not seek them at the cemetery, for I know that they are not there. They are alive and I am reminded of them when I see the beauty of the living - the beauty of flowers in springtime.
And Matthew 22:32 comes to mind too. "God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." In the same way that Jesus could talk of God being the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (who were long since dead, on earth), He is the God of my children who are dead on earth. Once life begins, it has no end. It goes on forever. A short portion of that life is spent on earth, while the rest is spent in eternity and has no end.
How gracious is He to invite us to join Him in a glorious eternity?! What marvel and beauty we will behold, if we make Him our choice. This is all my hope and peace. Because He lives, we can face tomorrow... and each day thereafter.
This year, more than ever before, I am enjoying spring and the gorgeous flowers, which are the small foretaste of what is yet to come!
My mom is coming to visit this weekend, which is special. And there will be a family dinner on Sunday afternoon.
4/2/2012
I love the cute things my 4-year-old boy says these days. Though he's quite shy in public, at home he battles with his very-talkative sister to be heard.
Last night when I was putting him to bed, we re-read the birth of Jesus in our Bible storybook. I asked him "Would you like to have been born in a barn or to live in a barn?" He said "No, but Daddy would! He told me so last night!" Okey dokey.
Getting into the car to leave with Daddy, while I stayed home, my son says "Mom, take care of yourself!"
Recently I pointed out the new buds on the trees and how pretty green they look now. He excitedly replied, "Yahoo! We have the baby leaves now! Yeah!"
After eating some chocolate and then grabbing some grapes to eat, my smart boy told me "Mom, I have the chocolate germs in my mouth. I think this grape will taste bad now."
Big sister had slept in late and when she finally joined the rest of the family at the breakfast table, little brother tells her "Welcome to the party!"
When cuddling with Daddy, I asked him "Do you love your daddy?"
Son: "Yes."
Me: "I love him too."
Son: "But I want to keep him!"
My son got a new toothbrush. It has "Snooby" and "Woodstop" on it.
Tucking my son in one night, he told me he loved me. I told him I loved him too, very much. He replied, "You have to love me very much. That's why you're the owner." Owner? Where did he come up with that?
Having lost 2 babies in the last year, we talk a lot about heaven at our house. My son is very curious and regularly asks me "How will we get to heaven? Will Jesus fly down to get us or we can drive there in a car? Will he carry me or will I run there?" This led to a discussion about whether there will be cars in heaven. I said I'm not so sure, but there will be streets of gold and a very shiny sea. He then wonders "Are there fish in the water?" Ummm. Maybe. He says "Probably God wants to see some people go fishing there." Maybe, Buddy! Jesus did seem to like hanging out with fishermen!
PS: Here's my organizational system for keeping track of these cute things my kids say or do. Sometimes I will write it on our family calendar - the physical calendar that hangs in the kitchen - noting who said it and when. More often I write it in an email draft that I just keep adding to. I have one with my daughter's name and one with my son's and I just open it and add a sentence or two as life happens. Eventually I print that off and stick it in their baby book / scrapbook. Just recently my daughter was going through her album and laughing at the funny things she said as a toddler. Precious memories... and I know that if I don't write them down, they will be lost forever. So I work diligently to write them down as they happen so we can enjoy them for years to come. I feel the same way about photos - they tell the story of our lives and without them to spark my memory, I know I would forget a large percentage of all that we do with our kids.
