An Irish Blessing

We wish to the new child
 A heart that can be beguiled
By a flower
That the wind lifts
As it passes.
If the storms break for him
May the trees shake for him
Their blossoms down.

In the night that he is troubled
May a friend wake for him
So that his time may be doubled,
And at the end of all loving and love,
May the Man above Give him a crown.

Baby!

So my friend Allison who we had the shower for just a couple of weeks ago had her baby and I went to the hospital to take some photos.  He was born about 5 weeks early but was 5 lbs 9 oz and healthy.  Allison and Benny were so proud of their new little guy and I can tell they are going to be wonderful parents.

Flash Back Friday 238

Oma

Love Thursday

We were driving downtown to look at some ArtPrize exhibits this past October, and God made a special ArtPrize in the sky.

Joy

 " Joy is what makes life worth living, but for many, joy seems hard to find. They complain that their lives are sorrowful and depressing. What then brings the joy we so much desire? Are some people just lucky, while others have run out of luck? Strange as it may sound, we can choose joy. Two people can be part of the same event, but one may choose to live it quite differently from the other. One may choose to trust that what happened, painful as it may be, holds a promise. The other may choose despair and be destroyed by it.

What makes us human is precisely this freedom of choice."  -Henri Nouwen

Held

 "To be grateful for the good things that happen in our lives is easy, but to be grateful for all of our lives-the good as well as the bad, the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow, the successes as well as the failures, the rewards as well as the rejections-that requires hard spiritual work.  Let's not be afraid to look at everything that has brought us to where we are now and trust that we will soon see in it the guiding hand of a loving God."  -Frederick Buechner

Something Warm

Well, we have just survived an artic chilly weekend.  It seemed pretty harsh for some reason and so, I went to the gym instead of my usual outdoor walk.  One fantastic thing that warmed us all up is we heard my friend Cathy's daughter Emily's profession of faith on Sunday...

 

She made this wonderful video to share her story!

Flashback Friday 237

Wow, this was taken in January 2008 - 4 years ago!  Time flies!

Love Thursday

One thing I love about this photo is how the repeating pattern of the windows in the building balance the repeating pattern of the boxes in the blanket.  I also love how it tells the story of how Cathy wore a blanket over her head for our walk because she couldn't find a hat.   But I think I mostly love it because it is of my BFF Cathy.

I Love GR!

Taken this past Sunday from Lookout Hill.

Showers of Baby Blessings

Saturday was a beautiful snowy day and I went to a baby shower for my friend Allison.  Jeanette and Sung-Ae outdid themselves with the cooking and presentation and it was so fun to be with friends and the excitement of the soon to be arrival of "Panda."  I am hopefully going to the hospital sometime in February to take baby photos!

Hello Snow!

The big snow finally came to Michigan and a lot of the US.  It snowed pretty solidly for a couple of days and my first thought was, well you're a pretty old man but you can go now.   Finally, I was able to take some photos this past weekend to really appreciate it.

Flash Back Friday 236

Edward, Maria & Bridget, Concord, MA  August 2001, Old Hill Burial Ground

And thus began the family tradition when we drive by a graveyard, someone says, "Cemetary" and then we all say in unison, "Everybody out!"

Love Thursday

There's a song in here somewhere...

Love Makes Life Work Hard

My friend Cathy and her 2 kids have decided they are ready to do foster care.  She has worked as a child welfare professional in foster care and adoption, both as a licensed social worker and as an attorney for many years and has always wanted to help in this way.  This past weekend, I went over to her house to take some "before" the house is ready photos and helped her set up a blog so she could share their journey through the process.  

Here is the link to her blog: http://lifemakesloveworkhard.blogspot.com/

Please visit and leave her a comment!!!  That would be so awesome.

Amazing Grace

One of the words on the annual List of Words Banished from the Queen's English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness for 2012 is "Amazing."  Truly an overused word, but I think it always applies to grace.

Harmony

^8-9Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies. Philippians 4:8

Flash Back Friday 235

New Year's Eve, 5 years ago! Maria Bridget & 3 friends

Love Thursday

Edward & Maria went back to Calvin this week.  We enjoyed having them home for a couple of weeks/


Edward did a lot of running as usual.


Maria re-read the Harry Potter series as she recovered from the pneumonia she had gotten at the end of the semester.

And Now We Keep it Alive

I wonder how long it will take before I give up?

Olga's Girls

So one thing we did over the break was to try to duplicate the signature sandwich at one of our favorite, Olga's Kitchen.  We found a "copycat" recipe for the special bread and yogurt sauce and made curly fries and orange cream coolers which are also signature Olga items.







The Olga night was a smashing success - the whole family raved!  We struggled with the dough a bit due to inexperience and maybe a little neglect, but overall it was very good.

Happy New Year!

John & I celebrated NYE by going downtown GR to dinner at One Trick Pony with Cathy and a friend of hers and then to listen to the Romatics who were on stage at the corner of Pearl and Monroe.  They sang their most famous song, "That's What I Like About You" just before the ball dropped.   Cheers!