After we walked the trail at Elephant Rocks, we decided to have a picnic lunch.
But before lunch was consumed, other activities became more of a priority…
Fortunately, there is (again) no pictorial evidence of my playground antics.
If you would like to see more pictures of our day, visit Joel’s blog. He did a much better job explaining the park, and has a good photo of a ruin of an old granite engine house.
Yesterday, despite the fact that my laundry room looks like Mt. Washmore, and despite the fact that I have 2 papers due in my current class – ‘Prophetic Books & Eschatology’, the kids and I took the day and went to Elephant Rocks State Park.
After we arrived, we started walking the trail,
climbing rocks,
and yes, posing.
Elephant Rocks was named after an outcrop of the granite rocks that resemble a train of circus Elephants.
The largest of the “elephants” is 27 feet tall, 35 feet long, and 17 feet wide.
Once you reach this highest rock outcropping, the views are fantastic.
We have been to this park several times over the years. I first went to this park when I was 14 years old, and I have a picture of one of these fun trips – I had that picture in my hands two weeks ago and put it in a place where I wouldn’t forget. Yeah, right – sound familiar? When I find it, I’ll post it.
Six years ago, We went with Daddy, Sarah, & Dean.
Weren’t they cute???
Tomorrow I will share some other fun sights from the day.
I woke up to a very chilly 35 degrees and found myself very thankful that I haven’t set my tomatoes and peppers out yet. It really is too early.
However, my onions, arugula, and carrots are coming on quite nicely.
Sorry, no pics of the carrots.
I also started some butternut squash, and I expect the blue potatoes to show up on my doorstep within a week. I ordered some from Burpee for Shannon.
Today, I am going to surprise the kids and take them to Elephant Rocks State Park. They have been wanting to go for a while, and today will be the perfect day. I would try to explain the park for those of you who have never had the privilege of visiting, but I will let the pictures tomorrow do this. (And yes, mama, I do now know that they don’t move the rocks! 😀 )
Well, I’m off to pack a picnic lunch.
Last week, as I was driving around town running my errands, I was in deep aggravation thought about where this country is headed, and frustrated about how fast the current administration is getting us there. (To be honest, I can’t think of anything this administration has done that hasn’t upset me!)
I started harkening back to the ‘good ole days’ (sans the outhouses) – you know, the days when the pace of life was slower, people knew the value of hard work, there weren’t crack houses, meth labs, and registered sex offenders living on the same street with you, and most activities were centered around God and the church.
I started imagining what my life would be like way back when . . . (cue violins fiddles) . . . a farm-house, a huge garden, chickens running around in the yard (that amazingly had NO outhouse), a huge barn filled with hay, cows and horses off in the pasture, numerous children laughing and playing in the yard, the church spire seen in the distance, I would be standing over the wood cook-stove preparing fried chicken to take to the church social, and (music comes to a screeching halt) then God pulled me up short.
What? Where did my beautiful daydream go?
God reminded me of a girl named Esther. Remember her – the young Jewish girl who became a queen? While she was enjoying the life of royalty, Haman was planning to wreak havoc and annihilate the Jews. Mordecai, Esther’s cousin who had adopted her, went to Esther and asked her to approach the King on behalf of the Jews. But Esther was fearful…
EST 4:9 Hathach went back and reported to Esther what Mordecai had said. 10 Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, 11 “All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that he be put to death. The only exception to this is for the king to extend the gold scepter to him and spare his life. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.”EST 4:12 When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, 13 he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” (NIV)
God showed me that I had been born at this time – for such a time as this. God has a plan for all of our lives. We were born at this time, for His purpose, to do His will, for His glory.
Now, I am not saying there is anything wrong with having a huge garden or chickens (I’d still like to have them), I’m willing to cook on a wood stove (and many people still do so), but what I am saying is that we cannot, out of fearfulness or any other reason, ignore the problems and needs of the present and stick our head in the sand, dreaming of the past and the way things ‘used to be.’ We need to be willing and available for God to work through us in the here and now, with the problems of the here and now.
Are you willing for God to use you for such a time as this?
Joel and the birds are not the only ones enjoy the “memorial garden.”
Someone else is pretty happy about it as well.
We’ve decided it would probably be best to move the bird feeder to “higher ground.”
(and yes, we have mowed the lawn since this picture 😛 )
This past weekend, Shannon performed in her first dance competition.
(I’m getting better at doing her hair. Make-up, we are still working on. I have traumatized the girl so much with eyeliner and mascara that she has decided she will not wear make-up when she grows up. Yay me!)
One of the things I appreciate about the dance school she attends is that the instructor works hard to make sure the costumes are very modest, the music tasteful, and the choreography appropriate and non-suggestive. Unfortunately, I cannot say that for all of the dance schools that attended the competition (which is why my husband and son made the decision to stay home). However, I will save my rant on the objectification of women and wondering why in the world some parents let their young children learn the equivalent of pole dancing for another time.
They won Silver for ‘Jack’s Train,’
and High Silver for ‘Meow Mix.’
I thought I would share some other candid pictures of her awaiting the awards,
because not only is she incredibly beautiful (I am NOT being partial, I am being honest! 🙂 )
But also because she looks incredibly like …
Amber.
I was going to share about Shan’s dance competition from this past weekend, but it will wait.
Then I thought I would just write my memories of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah building in Oklahoma City, but realized that while those memories might mean something to me, several may have no meaning to you. So I thought I would just share some of them and what I learned from that day.
There will be no pictures – the real life scenes of that day and the days that followed are forever seared into my memory, and for me that is enough.
Everyone has defining moments or events in their lives. Some, like our weddings and births of our babies, bring joy. Others bring tears, sorrow, and pain. All can bring about personal and spiritual growth, if we allow it.
Many of you know that Tim and I were living in OKC in 1995, attending Mid-America Christian University. That morning, I was in the music department practicing piano – basically passing time before the memorial service for my friend, who had just been killed in a car accident, was to begin. After the service, I was going to rush to my job at Weokie Credit Union. At 9:15 I decided to go to the bookstore and get my daily fix of Otis Spunkmeyer cookie dough. As I was paying for my purchase, I heard the radio announcer report the bombing. My first thought was that there had been another bombing in the Middle East – so what – they seemed to happen all the time.
Lesson learned: I had become desensitized to death and tragedy that wasn’t immediately affecting my personal life.
There are other lessons I learned, or re-learned from that day and the days that followed.
* While we may think we are in control of our lives, God is ultimately in control.
*While God is ultimately in control, he gives us free will to make choices – whether good or bad – that may affect the lives of many.
That evening, during women’s Bible study, we learned that Jill Randolph, the daughter of one of our church board members had been killed. It was his wedding anniversary, but now is the anniversary of his daughter’s death. Another family that attended our church had been at the building at 9:00 a.m., but having realized they had forgotten an important paper, left just one minute before the blast.
When I arrived at work the following day, I was informed that I would be working for the Federal Employees Credit Union for the next few weeks (they had been located in the Murrah building – this was also where Jill worked). The FECU had been set up at a temporary location, and credit unions around the city were “donating” employees to help them get back up and running. While many of the tasks proved to be very difficult (like trying to balance the vault), the most difficult task I was assigned for a few of the days was to answer phones. I had a list of employees who had been killed, still missing, wounded, or were okay, and it was my job to give those calling for information the status of their friends and relatives. I specifically remember one phone call I took – T.V cameras were stuck in my face as I was telling one woman of the death of her sister. I found myself becoming angry. Angry at the whole situation that had brought me to this moment, and angry at the camera crew for being so callous.
Lesson: Not every cares about the personal pain in people’s lives, some are just out for a good story or to sensationalize the pain of others.
Probably the biggest lesson ‘re-learned’ was that Jesus died for Timothy McVeigh too.
In my Biblical Life & Witness class, the students were discussing the many ways we would like to take revenge upon Timothy McVeigh – I’m sure most of us were using the “eye-for-eye, tooth-for-tooth” principle. However, my professor used our conversation to remind us of the fact that Jesus didn’t just die for us, he also died for the Timothy McVeighs in the world, and if he (Timothy) decided to give his heart to Jesus, he would in fact be our brother in Christ and we would see him in heaven.
While you are going about your day today, I ask that you remember the families of those who lost their family members and friends on this day 15 years ago. Time does ease the pain, but nothing can bring back the people who were lost.
I love my job. (Okay, there are those days…)
I have great benefits.
No, it does not come with insurance. Nor does it come with a retirement plan (unless you count the couch that I have been known to occasionally take naps on).
However, I don’t know of many places of employment where you can bring your dog…
and your kids with you on any given day.
Yesterday was one of those days that I brought both my dog and one of my kids.
Joel came with me because after work, we went up to G’s property (right next to the church property) to pick rock. I had asked him last week if he had any spare rock I could use as a border for my flower beds, and he told me to bring the kids and take as much as I wanted. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this area, granite is over abundant. (And it is at this point that Joel wanted me to insert some interesting facts about granite, but I cannot for the life of me remember what he wanted me to tell you, so I am hoping he will post it on his blog.)
Shan opted out of this “field trip” 😀
We had parked up at my mother-in-law’s house and realized that it was going to be too difficult to get all of the rocks up the hill, so I had Joel bring the van down into the field.
After we got all the rock we were able to carry home (I’ll need to go back for more), I had Joel drive the back roads in to Doe Run and over to the old church. Since the fire, someone purchased the old building, gutted it, and restored it back to a church. It has been sold several times to various churches. Right now it is an Assembly of God church.
The battery in the camera died before I could get a picture of the front of the church, but I did get a picture of another familiar place…
It’s that time of year!!!!
No, I’m not talking about allergy season – although it is that time also.
I’m talking about gardening. This year I am container gardening because if/when we move, I want to be able to take my garden with me. I don’t know how well that will work, but I’m willing to try.
So far, I’ve started Roma & beefsteak tomatoes, and banana & bell peppers from seed.
The tomatoes germinated fairly quickly. I was starting to think my peppers weren’t going to, however this morning I saw two plants popping up. I’ve also planted red, white, and yellow onions, carrots, arugula, chives, oregano, cilantro, basil, and stevia. I’ve never tried growing stevia, but thought I would try. It certainly would be much cheaper than buying it at the health food store.
I also thought I would make my life easier and my hips, back, and knees happier by getting many of the smaller plants up at waist height. I took some plastic saw horses and some old 2×4’s from an old project Tim had going and made myself a gardening table with a bottom shelf.
Shan helped me plant some arugula and carrots this morning.
When I started out this morning, it was pretty cool outside (thus the flannel shirt), but by the time we were finished – around 11:00 a.m. – it was already in the 80’s. While I would love to spend all day outside, I have much school work to get done.
In other family news…
A memorial service was held Monday afternoon for Joel’s hamster, ‘Tater. She was with us for over 3 years. Tim and Joel lovingly dug a grave and planted a flower for her.
We now have two new “additions” to the family.
Please meet Snowflake and Snowball.
Albino dwarf hamsters. (Yes, I know that they look like miniature rats, but I promise they are not.)
At the pet store, the children both held baby American alligators. The store owner tried to convince me of what wonderful pets alligators make. HAH!!!! Absolutely NOT!!!! This was my rule… no reptiles, crustaceans, amphibians, or anything that we didn’t already have supplies for. I was really rooting for a pet rock, but that didn’t happen. 😀
This weekend the kids and I hijacked took Tim’s baby truck to St. Louis to attend The Greater St. Louis Homeschool Expo. (With many admonitions from dear hubby on how to park, where to park, and “please don’t come back with a dent in my bumper” comments)
We arrived Thursday evening and checked into our hotel,
which just happened to be beside a “Papa’s Farm” (just for you, Dean Thomas 😉 )
The hotel was great. They had free breakfast and supper. Of course along with supper, they had free cocktails. It was kind of funny, though, because many of the families going to the convention were also staying at this hotel, and we kind of took over the eating area. Those few who were drinking were looking around at all of the children wondering what was going on – they didn’t stay around very long. 😀
It didn’t take long for Joel and Shannon to make friends.
While the kids attended the children’s program,
I attended workshops
and meandered through the many exhibitors selling curriculum.
After much prayer and three days of contemplating, I finally selected next year’s curriculum…
My Father’s World.
I love this curriculum, and wish I would have known more about it last year. While many curriculums have a specific Bible “class” in it, this curriculum is completely centered around the Bible and a Christian worldview. It is missions focused, and by the time the kids graduate, they will have read through the Bible twice.
I also purchased a few “fun” books and games as well.
The workshops were wonderful, but a little overwhelming. I found that by the end of the day I needed to nap decompress so my head wouldn’t explode.
We left St. Louis this morning (Sunday) and arrived at our church just in time for service. As soon as service and lunch were over, I had to get Shan ready for dress rehearsal for dance competition.
Now, let me just say that I’m not a good “Dance Mom.” I can’t “do” my daughter’s hair well. When I try to “do” her hair, my mind is usually yelling, “I want my mommy!” And Shannon is literally yelling, “I want Aunt Tanya or Kirsten!” According to Shan, you two are the best when it comes to doing her hair, followed closely by Grandma Teal. I’m at the very, very, very bottom. (Correction, Tim just informed me that he is at the bottom of the list. Whew, I don’t feel so bad!) So, would any of the afore-mentioned relatives want to come down next weekend for her competition??? Her tender head would be greatly appreciative.
The Joy of the Lord is My Strength 