by @ngie on September 1, 2010
Now on with the crunchy, munchy, mixed-up life I lead…
- The last three posts were nice and meaty. This, my 699th post, will be light and snack like… but still exciting.
- There are many more -umle words that could be put together nicely: tumble, crumble, stumble, grumble, rumble, humble, bumble, fumble, jumble… guess they will just have to wait patiently in my Moleskine for now.
- We paid off our truck. Thank you God!!!
- I have started running before I meet the girls to walk (M, W, F). I like it very much.
- August: no more greasy foods. Same for September, plus cutting waaaaaaay back on the sugar intake.
- ^Black coffee^ is yummy.
- WE HAVE OUR FINAL COURT DATE TO BE RECOGNIZED LEGALLY AS KAITLYNN’S FAMILY!!! Monday, September13 at 10:30 am. Hurray! Party time!!!
- Kids are in the final trimester of the school year. Weird to be hearing about back to school fun from up North while trying to keep the kids motivated to finish strong.
- One final item of news before I go: (in)courage has invited me to be a guest writer! I am so super excited and over the top honored to have a slot in September amongst such a fab line up of ladies.
Curious: what is your favorite part about the current season in your corner of the world?
by @ngie on August 30, 2010
Seeing people do what they were born to do is one of the most beautiful things in the universe. Watching Tim Treadwell in action is one of those occurrences. His generosity and down-to-earth friendliness is poetry in motion, er, puns in motion to be more accurate. His quick comments on facebook are only the surface. He is also a blogger (handle: Stumbler), a master of delicacies in the kitchen, a teacher at a boarding school and (sssshhhh) a secret agent.
Let me back up just a bit and tell you how we met. If memory serves …
So there is this guy in England. He knows how to google. He is looking for info to teach his students about different countries and missionaries around the world. So he punches in “ex-pat Bolivia” and my dear friends the Holmans (Joe and Denise) pop up. So they strike up an online friendship based solely on a candy vs. sweets rivalry. He is sending them chocolates, sour bombs and biscuits. They are so kind to allow us to taste his treats and voice our opinion on the battle between American candy and sweets from the UK. Comments and convos start on facebook. Links are exchanged. I become a co-conspirator in secret agent hi-jinx. We are now friends.
That is the short story. There are other things I could tell you, but, as they say… then I’d have to kill you. (muahh ha ha!) Suffice it to say that Tim is a great guy and I am very thankful to know him. I am glad we stumbled upon eachother.
To watch a video of our most recent not-so-secret op together click this link to the House of Dreams blog and revel in the absolute cuteness of our Dreamers:
Connecting Continents
by @ngie on August 26, 2010
Brushed away. Worthless.
Careless crumbs fall hidden.
Laying in the dark shadow,
Kicked by feet,
Forgotten, unimportant.
That little bit,
Made of the same stuff,
Sugar and butter and yum,
Destined to be swept,
Morsels of trash sit.
Sniff. The dog pants,
Lick. The crumbs gone.
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Plagued by a perfectionist complex just tell me you are disappointed in me and I will sit damaged, reeling to disbelieve your words. It happened one week ago. Unexpected, a message came, from a dear person. I suppose it was the surprise of it all that made it so hard to get back up. Stress, fret, anxiety, and fear surrounding the circumstances that brought about the note added to the struggle. Never before have I been so close to uttering the Q word.
Quit? Are you crazy?
I think I was a bit out of my mind. My soul gripped me like a climber that slips and then dangles by that tiny little rope. With sweaty hands slipping and trying again I was brought back to sanity. My, that sounds dramatic, here on the other side. During, though, it is a perfect description. Climbing ain’t easy. Sometimes your feet fail you. I may wish it with all my heart but the truth is I am far from perfect. Still, I can’t quit.
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True story: There was a lady once who had a sick daughter. She went to get help. Physician says that he can’t help her because there are some other people, his priority, in front of her. She begs for mercy, pleading, trying to persuade with compliments.
He said, “It’s not right to take bread out of children’s mouths and throw it to dogs.”
A dog! He called her a dog! Does she turn tail and run in shame? No.
She was quick, “You’re right, Master, but beggar dogs do get crumbs from the master’s table.”
Ah, all she wanted was crumbs. Just a tiny bit of grace was enough to treat her suffering daughter. Just a little left-over of goodness is all it would take.
Jesus gave in. “Oh, woman, your faith is something else. What you want is what you get!” Right then her daughter became well.
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When I feel as though I have been treated like a dog, unappreciated, misunderstood, just plain tired out, crawling about on the floor in the shadows and filth, still He is present.
A morsel of mercy.
A crumb of kindness.
A scrap of hope.
Were it not for His grace where would I be?
Grateful, today, for a God that doesn’t quit, even when I am close to wanting to.
*Scripture quotes from the Message Bible in Matthew 15
by @ngie on August 19, 2010
A tumbler of water teeters on the edge of the coffee table in the middle of a busy room. In a flash and a crash, the tumbler tumbles to the floor; clunk. Water everywhere.
In the moment of the fall what did you do? Feel? Think?
Well, of course, as anyone in that position would do I …
My finger raises and I tilt my head to the side calling you to think a moment about starting your answer that way with a teasing scold, “Ah, ah, ah.” Your questioning face studies my knowing grin.
Not everyone would respond the same.
This is a bit of an age old situation given to illustrate a truth.
Some would run for a towel.
Some would tell someone to run for a towel.
Some would reprimand the one who knocked the tumbler over.
Some would look scornfully at the one who caused the interruption.
Some would comfort the one who knocked the tumbler over.
Some would try to turn the incident into a lesson or teaching opportunity.
Some would philosophize.
Some would attempt to diffuse the tension with a quip.
Some would laugh.
Some would ignore the occurrence altogether and change the subject.
Some would alert the children to stay away in case of broken glass.
Some would physically remove the children from the room.
Some would start composing a blog post in their mind.
Some would go on with whatever was happening before.
Some would jump up startled, whether the water spilled on them or not.
Some would apologize, whether they caused the problem or not.
Some would look for a way to get the person who lost their drink a fresh tumbler full of water.
And those are just a few; you probably have a few more to add to the list.
The point is: be aware of the diversity in this world and choose to celebrate it.
A secondary point could be: know thyself.
Combine those two points and we have a wonderful understanding happening.
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Here is a fun little exercise I do in my premarital classes. We talk about what values / morals are, where they come from, how and when they are formed, etc. I give them a few examples of values in our society such as: loyalty, ambition, and punctuality. Then I ask them to take a few moments and write down what they believe are the top ten values that govern their personal lives, listed as well as they can from one, the most important, on down to number ten. This is an individual activity so things are quiet for some time as they ponder and write on their sheets of paper. When they feel that they have a good representation of the top items of their moral compass we compare lists.
The surprise is rich! When it is inevitably obvious that this lovely young lady and this honorable young man have very different core values we have a platform for discussing how to mesh these two wonderful personalities into a loving marriage.
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So I would like to know… when the tumbler tumbles what is your gut reaction?
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