Lord, That I May See

In lieu of my recent post, I have a story to tell. Turtle comes to me today and says "I would like to dye my hair. Maybe yellow. Or red. Can I? Aunt C. dyes her hair." And then Rosebud chimes in merrily: "And I'm going to too! Blue and pink and purple! I will look like an Easter egg! Or maybe just purple. I will see." Oh Lordy, I got some practicing what I preach years coming! ;) Because after I told them that hair dye chemicals weren't good for children, they assured me that they would wait till they were ladies. :) And Turtle wants to know exactly what age constitutes grown up enough!

I know, I know. I don't have teenagers, so what do I know? Still, I have been thinking . . . Last night I was talking with a woman about her 19 year old daughter. She was commenting on her daughter's desire to get a second hole pierced in her ears, wear earrings her mother doesn't like and clothes that just barely pass the modesty standard of the family. She wasn't happy with these little rebellions in her daughter. But mind you, I'm thinking at this point how this daughter is a remarkably good and responsible girl. So I said something mildly about trusting children and about how little rebellions might be preferable to bigger ones later, but I knew she didn't think much of my thoughts. I also related how two of my brothers (20 and 18) had wanted to get tattoos honoring their friend with terminal cancer and my mother, while I'm sure she let them know that she was aghast, and immediately printed up an article on the toxicity of tattoos :) ultimately...

I read this article by Simcha Fisher the other day and had to re-read again a couple times to process it. Still figuring out what I think, but anyone else have any thoughts? http://www.ncregister.com/blog/simcha-fisher/it-gets-me-every-time (Sorry about the link! Still without a computer, so posting from my iPhone)

Jeanie the cat lives next door. She visits us a lot. The girls chase her around, trying to push her down the slide and hold her by her legs. Sometimes she gives them a good scratch but mostly she tolerates a bit of handling. I don't like cats. One teeny hair of theirs gets anywhere on my body and I sneeze, wheeze, and get swollen itchy throat and eyes for the next half dozen hours. (Other animals are not much better. Even though I owned two dogs as a girl, I am allergic to them too. I used to just deal with it because I loved them, now I don't care to deal anymore.) My girls, however, are dying for a pet. I feel like such a mean mom for denying their pleading eyes! A cat, a dog, a hamster (RIP Scratchy), anything. Sunshine even asked for a pony once! For now, to my mind, Jeanie is the perfect pet. She comes around, entertains the girls and lets herself be petted and then leaves. No food, no responsibility, no vet trips (though she does treat our yard like a litter box). ...

For the past 6 days, I have been taking formation classes for Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, Level One. This opportunity came up suddenly for me and I barely hesitated before I registered. There are times when God works things out so masterfully for you that you can see the pieces falling into place before your eyes. I had to seize the chance I had been waiting for! You see, this course has been one that I have dreamed of taking for over 8 years now. I had the chance in college and passed it up, and then, once I had children, I sadly thought that there would never be a good time for me to leave my children from 9 to 4 for 18 total days (nine at a time) and receive this beautiful formation. But I have faithfully and determinedly made sacrifices to send my children to one Atrium or the other as soon as they were old enough. This kind of encounter with God for them has been one that I have always laid in His hands and He has always been with me to make it work. He has called th...

Me: Eat some hot dog, Sunshine! Her: No! Then, reconsidering: Do the helicopter! Me, flying the food up to her mouth: Brrrrrrmmm Her: No! You have to say "open the hangar!"

We've brought in the high summer month of the year with lots of heat! On Friday morning, our air conditioner broke. So, although the crazy "land hurricane" that hit our area that night left us with our power still on, we ironically, and in companionship with the rest of the area, have been very hot! I have been wondering how people survived 30-40 years ago before AC was so commonplace! Fans and ice-cold drinks are definitely helpful, but the weighty oppression of being so hot is hard to get used to! Yet, as my husband likes to comment, "This is a 1st world problem!". We Americans certainly like our comfortable lives! Not many other nations, relatively speaking, are as dependent on power as we are! Dependent wimp or not, I still thank God for electricity!