Archive for the Personal
Monday, May 10th, 2010
Sabbatical
The first day of May was the first day of the leave of absence that my husband has spoken and written about. I told you how much this means to me.
Wise friends suggested that I should take a sabbatical from blogging and tweeting, just as he is. I really didn’t want to do that–strongly didn’t want to. So that was a good clue that I need to follow their good advice.
For the next few months, I won’t be posting or responding to website emails and comments. I have gotten some very good suggestions and questions from your comments and emails that I want to post about sometime, but not now. I’m saving them for later.
I don’t want to lose you internet friends, so I hope you will do a couple of favors for me.
1. Please maintain your email or rss subscription, or subscribe if you aren’t already. There will be a couple of missions-related short seasons during the sabbatical when I will probably blog. If you’re subscribed, you won’t miss those posts. And then you’ll know when I’m back at the end of the leave.
2. Check my Recommendations page once in a while. Lord willing, we two will be doing some reading together and individually during these months, and I’ll be adding suggestions to the Recommendations along the way. Also I’ve sorted recommendations into categories so it is easier to see what’s there.
Thank you so much for your prayers for us and our family. God is good. All the time. And you are part of his goodness to us.
Monday, April 19th, 2010
More photos
Our talented tenant, Jenny, has posted a few of the photos she shot of Johnny and Talitha before the Father Daughter Tea on Saturday.
Saturday, April 17th, 2010
Cut once, sewed once, dress done
I finally pushed through my silk-terror and cut out Talitha’s dress for the Father-Daughter Tea. And I worked with my procrastination perfectly, getting the fasteners sewed onto the jacket 45 minutes before Talitha needed the dress this morning.
At this moment, father and daughter are in a festive hall filled with glittering daughters and proud fathers.
Wednesday, April 14th, 2010
Measure twice, cut once
When I went to China a few months ago, Talitha sent me with one gift request–red silk to make a dress for this spring’s father-daughter event at church.
The event is soon–very soon–and if it looks like I’m blogging to put off cutting into the silk, I am. Here’s the mental conversation.
Me: I’ve never sewed with such expensive material before.
The other me: You’ve already cut the dress out of an old tablecloth and fitted it on Talitha, so you could make your adjustments there, so what’s the problem?
Me: Yeah, but to actually touch scissors to the silk. What if I mess it up?
The other me: How many yards to you have?
Me: More than I need.
The other me: So-o-o?
Me: Well, I guess I could cut another piece if I mess one up.
The other me: And how many years have you been sewing?
Me: Since I was Talitha’s age.
The other me: So close that computer and get off your . . .
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010
Brass is my dogwood
It’s been a tradition in my Georgia family to take a trek out into the woods sometime around Easter to see the lush wild azaleas and dogwood blooming amongst the pines. I haven’t been home at Easter time since we were married, so the hills of oranges, pinks, magentas, whites, golds, reds live for me only in my mind.
When I visited the flower show here in Minneapolis a week ago on the last day of March, the first thing I saw transported me to Georgia on about that date in 1992.
My father died on March 26, 1992. His funeral was just a couple of days later. So it would have been on the 30th or 31st that Johnny and our sons and I hiked out to the azalea hill. I hadn’t known how much I was counting on God to soothe my spirit through the beauty of the sweetly-remembered azaleas and dogwood. I hadn’t known until we got there and discovered all the buds still closed–not one bloom in sight.
While Johnny and the kids climbed on nearby stone wall ruins and splashed in the rocky creek, I lay face down in the pine needles and wept as I hadn’t wept after the first moments when I knew Daddy was gone. My grief over the absence of the azaleas sucked into itself my grief at the absence of Daddy.
EASTER FLAMES
A Villanelle Far from Home
by Noël Piper
Azalea and dogwood blooms hide the old mill,
dead pine straw ablaze as the hearthplace of spring. But here,
brass is my dogwood and far from its hill.
When Daddy’s fire died and forever was still,
his granddaughters gathered white blossoms out where
azalea and dogwood blooms hide the old mill.
I thought, when our kinfolk had all gone back home, “I will
look for his flowers of flame while I’m here.”
(Brass is my dogwood and far from its hill.)
Sparks of tight buds were the promise I found – still
too early for flames; so the pine straw caught tears where
azalea and dogwood blooms hide the old mill.
The dogwood that hangs from the chain on my neck, still
carries the heart of the ones at the mill, though here
brass is my dogwood and far from its hill.
My northern azaleas resist winter-kill,
and bear flickering flames, pink and orange, of where
azalea and dogwood blooms hide the old mill.
Brass is my dogwood and far from its hill.
Monday, April 5th, 2010
Time for flowers
Talitha and I went with friends last week to the Annual Flower Show at Macy’s.
Stepping off the elevator, I felt like the air was composed of totally different ingredients than Minnesota winter air. I could have been happy just to stand and take deep breaths.
I try to be economical (frugal, cheap, pinchpenny), but by this time of the year, I’m springing for a bouquet of spring flowers whenever I’m at the supermarket.
So this hour was a mini-retreat for me.
If you live in or near Chicago, Minneapolis, New York City, Philadelphia, or San Francisco, you have till this Sunday, April 11 to take in the flower show.
Sunday, April 4th, 2010
Easter 2008
Easter 2008 stays in my mind.
The ground was covered with snow, not what I expect on Easter. I thought that was going to make it difficult to find Felicity’s small memorial plaque.
But as the sun was rising, I discovered a snowman watching over her. So I knew her big brother Orison had visited the day before.
She lives her name, Felicity–perfect happiness. Still it’s hard not to be able to do anything for her.
I laid my pink springtime blossoms there.
Sunday, April 4th, 2010
An Easter story
Easter always reminds me of a moment much earlier in our marriage.
Early one Easter morning, Johnny woke and saw I was already up. Usually he’d be well ahead of me, while I was still struggling to open my eyes.
“You’re up first this morning,” he said. “That’s appropriate.”
I said, “You mean because the women got to the grave before the men?”
“No,” he said, “I mean the raising of the dead.”
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
Actually, five
Last week, Abraham and Molly discovered she’s carrying twins.
Ever since Orison learned about the pregnancy, he’s been referring to the baby as she. No gentle warnings toward wait-and-see could shake his confidence.
Today Molly posted the video of Orison discovering he’s expecting not one sister, but two.
I love it near the end when he announces the number of children in the family, remembering Felicity.
Monday, March 8th, 2010
100 and counting
Today was my 100th workout at Curves. Just don’t ask me when I got started. But at least I got this far.
Next workout will be #1 towards 200.
I’m curious how many of you work out regularly. How many at Curves?
Saturday, March 6th, 2010
A champion in the family
Outside, germinating seeds are competing with icy geodes. That means spring is near in Minnesota. And spring means the season of playoffs. And speaking of playoffs, our granddaughter Millie is advancing to the Minnesota State Spelling Bee.
Never one to deserve the taj of a dunce, Millie prepared pragmatically for the competition, poring over the libretto of words, words, words. Not even the beauty of the carmine setting sun could lure her from her spelling recitations.
Squashing the suspicion that such obscure words could have been assigned only through misanthropy, she pursued mastery of each word like a vigilante.
Through all this hard work, she wedged her way into the Regional Bee, adjacent to only one other 5th grader–both girls facing down the machismo of 7th and 8th graders. Millie held on obstinately to the end, through 11 rounds and a spell-off for 4th place.
By the end of the Bee, her father was in need of a tranquilizer.
If there had been a sashimi restaurant in town, that would have been a worthy place to celebrate.
Way to go, Millie!
Saturday, March 6th, 2010
Digging out of chaos — I have a study
It’s time for the big update you’ve been waiting for (if you’ve been with me long enough). I’ve dug out of the chaos in what was “the den” and is now “my study.”
My study is beautiful and, most important, I can use it for something besides a walk-in junk drawer. I used to stand in the doorway (because it was unsafe and unhealthy to walk any further) and toss stuff onto the pile. Now I can walk into the room and sit down at my desk and work at my computer.
A visiting grandchild can sit opposite me on that little stool and work at the desk with me. And there’s room beside me for Talitha to pull up a chair so we can look at school work together.
Or I can sit in my armchair and read my Bible or just do nothing.
AND now I have something I’ve never had before–a place especially for my sewing machine. And even better, it’s a fold-away shelf, so it’s out of sight when I’m not using it.
I am so thankful for the gifts God has given our son Benjamin, who took my ideas and wishes, worked with what was left in the room after I emptied it, got creative with Ikea pieces to make them fit with existing shelves, and coordinated the project.
I know I may not be entirely objective, but there are plenty of others besides me who think Piper Construction is pretty great.
Digging out of chaos — previous posts:
