Dec31

Kirby

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Kirby

Rest in peace. Kirby of Minnehaha Creek. Palm Sunday 2006 to Erik’s birthday 2011. Eventful dates for an eventful companion. Kirby, yesterday you received your new body. Enjoy it and wait for us. We love you!

Our dog died yesterday morning. Given the state of mourning in this house, you’d think something much, much worse had happened. For the record, our family and life is great. Our parents are living and well, and our children, nieces and nephews are healthy and capable young people. But this dog wormed his way into our hearts and lives in a way that leaves a black vacuum when suddenly removed from us.

Rob and I have always joked that we should write a book about the hilarious things that Kirby does. I always thought that I had a couple more years to pull something together.  I’ve been suddenly plunged into a time to write.  I have idea of how to write a book, but in the movies someone usually just sits down at the typewriter and begins to type madly.  I’m thinking that I’ll start by looking through the hundreds of photos I have of Rob and Kirby and just remember the situation.

Sep20

Everything belongs to God.

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Everything belongs to God.

Everything belongs to God.

Oh the depth of riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!  Who has know the mind of the Lord?  Or who has ever been his counselor?  Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?  For from him and through him and to him are all things.  To him be the glory forever!  Amen.

Romans 11:33-36

Lately, our family has been adjusting to a change in our budget, brought about by a change in income.  Downward.  I suppose that if the change was upward, we would not be “adjusting”  (insert ironic laugh).  We’ve dealt with promises of pay that have fallen through.  We’ve struggled with bitterness.   I’ve gone through the past four months in limbo and sporadic paychecks.  At times, I felt I were going forth “on faith” because of promises of pay, only to be disappointed later when the receivables didn’t pan out as expected.  Fear of continued disappointments sets in and freezes my body, mind and soul at times.  I have showed up faithfully to work each day, but my paycheck has not been so reliable.  My prayers are in earnest; “Surely God wants us to have enough to live!” was my cry.  So, Sunday’s sermon based on Romans 11:33-36 hit me hard:  “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?”   Contrast that with our communion hymn, O Jesus, at Your Altar Now (#324 ELH),  “Eat, drink and in your heart be glad, for such food and drink angels never had.“

After church and lunch, I had occasion to look around the house and clear out some things to sell on Craigslist and Amazon.  It’s easier to do this when you keep in mind that nothing truly belongs to you.  It all belongs to God and I am merely holding it for the time being, to use for good or bad (my choice).  I also decided that before buying any fun extras (books, music, DVDs, etc), I will first figure out how many hours I had to work to buy the items.  I am hoping that many  items won’t seem worth the cost.  I also hope that if my income goes up again, I will keep my new attitude.

Sep6

Decide what to be and go be it.

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Decide what to be and go be it.

I’ve been on an Avett Brothers kick for a while now.  My favorite song, so far is Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise.  I love the line “decide what to be and go be it” .  I don’t like the part of about being “frightened by those who don’t see it”.  Perhaps I don’t understand fully the song writer’s intentions.  There is an amazing video on YouTube of the band recording this tune in front of a live audience.

There’s a darkness upon me that’s flooded in light
In the fine print they tell me what’s wrong and what’s right
And it comes in black and it comes in white
And I’m frightened by those who don’t see it

When nothing is owed, deserved or expected
And your life doesn’t change by the man that’s elected
If you’re loved by someone you’re never rejected
Decide what to be and go be it.

There was a dream
One day I could see it
Like a bird in a cage I broke in and demanded that somebody free it
And there was a kid, with a head full of doubt
So I scream til I die or the last of those bad thoughts are finally out

There’s a darkness upon you that’s flooded in light
In the fine print they tell you what’s wrong and what’s right
And it flies by day and it flies by night
And I’m frightened by those who don’t see it

Sep6

Staring at a cell phone

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Staring at a cell phone

I had an interesting conversation yesterday with my 19 year old college sophomore son.  I had been thinking about a recent blog post on doing a media cleanse.  It had been on my mind because I had thought I disagreed with the writer.   …until I saw how young some of her children are.  As the parent of older kids who aren’t even kids anymore (19 and 22), I’ve been thankful for cell phones, texting and social media.  But that stuff wasn’t a part of my kids growing up years and I”m so thankful because I would have been one of the moms staring and laughing at her phone…just like I do now.  My family’s entrance into social media developed at a good time – no computers until elementary school, no cell phones until jr high (a week after 9/11), then came MySpace, blogs and FaceBook during high school years.  I still firmly believe that family texting throughout the teen years actually benefitted us.  So it worked for us, but what about my grandchildren I might have in 5 to 10 years?  Might my own kids be continually texting in front of their kids (yikes)?  So, I asked my son his thoughts on texting in his group of friends.  He said that he now prefers to actually talk to his friends over texting, except for useful texts like meeting up, etc.   He agreed that parents should not be staring at their phones when their kids are around.  I’m thinking that my grandchildren’s grandmother will also need to abide by that rule.