I Heart You

This post is dedicated to my e-relationship world: I wish you a very Happy Valentine's Day and wish you a fun celebration with your real people! To those who live at the intersection of my e-world and real world, I also wish you a happy Valentine's Day.

John, who hopefully won't read this before he gets home, is going to get a new shirt and tie from me!!! It's a necessary evil for him, as in, I can always use work clothes, arg! Edward, Maria & Bridget were excited when I gave them conversation hearts and valentine-themed Nerd candy this morning. When John asked me what I wanted, I said ,"How about a 500 gigger?" Does anyone even know what that means?

Hope

"All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken, a light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken, the crownless again shall be king."
-J.R.R.Tolkein

I liked this poem I found and how it speaks of hope like when you see the light and shadows on a sunny day in February.

Have You Ever Wondered What is on Dutch TV?

My parents just returned from a trip to the Netherlands where Dad was filmed by a TV station in Groningen for a TV show about his family's emigration from Holland in 1952. Dad was followed by a TV camera for 3 days - they shot hours of footage which will be condensed into a 30 minute program (in Dutch). In the following pictures Mom sent me, I was thrilled to see the places which John & I visited with Mom & Dad in 2003:


The Christian Reformed Church in Bedum. Dad is talking about the 1944 split in the church.


Top of the dike at Noordpoulderzijl. It is very windy and scenic up there. That is a mighty tall Dutch lady there seeing as Dad is about 6 foot!


Dad is being interviewed in front of the car dealership in Bedum which his father owned. He is next to his cousin Aaf whose father took over the dealership in 1952


Candlelit breakfast at the B&B where they stayed.

Leviticus: What Would Jesus Eat?

Leviticus is a book of laws for the Jewish people and chapter 11 is specifically about dietary laws. God gave His people the law to guide them toward righteousness. In comparing the law to righteousness, the pastor today gave us the example of how righteousness is like playing a piano. Even if you get all the notes right, you still may not get the music right.

Of course we believe that since Jesus came and died for us, His righteousness was imputed to us. The Bible is so much more to us than a How-to manual - it is the story of redemption! We know that in Christ, nothing is neutral: everything matters. God should be involved in everything we do. We are no longer under Old Testament Law, but God still cares about the same things - even about the food we eat! He wants us to be people who show His character, His holiness. He wants us to stand out and to be noticeable. And now, we do this because we are thankful for what He has done for us. John Calvin said that the reason for the law is to show gratitude to God. Leviticus always reminds me how hard it would be to keep the law and because of this, how great Jesus' sacrifice was.


Still snowing...

Sunrise

Yesterday morning, my schedule worked out so that I could take an early morning walk. I was walking with a couple of friends, so I took this picture rather quickly. I love the promise of a sunny day with the clear sky as the sun was coming up.

Flash Back Friday 5

I asked Maria to pick out this week's flash back picture and she came up with this happy memory from our trip to California to see John's dad. When we were eating lunch, she had a leftover pat of butter which she put in the front pocket of her overalls to save for later. You can see the grease stain above. We always used to say when our kids were little that they liked butter because they were born at Butterworth Hospital.

Shalom

Above all these, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together perfectly;
and let the shalom which comes from the Messiah be your heart's decision-maker, for this is why you were called to be part of a single Body. -Colossians 3:14-15

I love how this verse reads in the Complete Jewish Bible. The commentary that goes with this translation says that Shalom here is more like "wholeness" than "peace." The Messiah's wholeness or "oneness", His interest, is to do the judging, deciding, controlling and ruling in the heart of believers.

Keeping Warm

Stampot Mouse: I realize this photo would in no way qualify me to be a food photographer.

Today, after work, I was sitting there getting my boots on and almost dreading my daily walk. It was 1 degree on my way to work this morning and now it is just over 10 degrees. My head has been feeling unusual during the past week - sort of a frontal-lobe-pressure-sharpish-pain and I've been exceptionally tired. I told Sharon at work that I might be dying of a brain tumor and she said in a monotone, no you can't do that right now, we need you here. We kind of have little laughs like that all the time at work. Then she told me my headache was probably from the changes in atmospheric pressure, so now I am going with that theory.

So back to my walk. I started wondering what might cure this malaise. What is it that might warm the inner recesses of my physical body? And suddenly, I thought of Stampot Mouse. This is a winter time dish that is made in the Netherlands. My dad ate it growing up, and my mom then made it for us. Edward actually requests it sometimes, but the girls - not so much. It's so easy to make: You boil about 6 large potatoes with a can of kale and sausage for about 45 minutes. Then you mash the potatoes with the kale and butter and put the sausage on top. At this point, you can put it in a warm oven till supper thus giving you leeway as to when you actually eat supper. I can almost taste it now.

Coffee Talk about Snow

Another snow day...




"Growing up in a place that has winter, you learn to avoid self-pity. Winter is not a personal experience, everybody else is as cold as you, so you shouldn't complain about it too much. You learn this as a kid, coming home crying from the cold, and Mother looks down and says, "It's only a little frostbite. You're okay." And thus you learn to be okay. What's done is done. Get over it. Drink your coffee. It's not the best you'll ever get but it's good enough." -Garrison Keillor

Winter Wonderland

The size of the kid to the size of the snowman is inversely proportional. ie. When the kids were little, their snowmen were much bigger. This is a good use for those mini carrots.


I think our house looks like a blue & white gingerbread house under the snow.

These next 4 pictures are of that cool drift on the front of our roof. If you can't tell, I will tell you: I find it very fascinating.






This morning, as I rode to work, our car thermometer said -5. I don't remember ever seeing the negative sign on that thermometer, so this I also found fascinating. The kids had another snow day today.

The Great Blizzard Adventures of '07

John's car shut down on the highway yesterday during the blizzard, but he was followed by Edward & a cop. (His car is pictured above at the auto repair place where we went later to drop off a key.) It continued snowing and blowing through the night, and today, most church services were cancelled. I made it outside this morning for my 2 mile walk in 2 degrees and some astronomical wind chill below zero, and talked to many neighbors who were out shovelling their driveways and maybe longing for contact with real people from the outside world. I tried to help one neighbor push his car out of a snow bank, but I'm a weakling. Soon, John came to the rescue! He also picked me up from my walk and took me out for a cappuccino which in itself is an adventure.

Top 12 Reasons Why I Needed to Do This

Where I actually post a picture of myself in a bathing suit (?)

12. It is 15 degrees F outside today.
11. I clean up little muddy puddles of melted ice every day this time of year.
10. I had just walked 2 miles in 15 degrees F.
9. All the broken bones I've had get achy in the cold. Come to think of it, even the bones I didn't break get achy.
8. I worked so hard this week that I had Friday off.
7. I had to catch up with my friend and adopted sister Lori.
6. If you lay in the snow and then jump in the hot water, Lori says it cleans your pores. (We really did this).
5. I dropped off 6 big heavy bags of old newspaper in the Paper Gator recycling thingy and as long as I was out and about...
4. The kids were in school.
3. After I snowblowed the driveway today, my fingers were so cold that ice cubes felt warm. That was weird.


2. The snow coming down as we sat in the hot tub was beautiful. Soon, we had an inch on our heads. I actually put the camera on the tripod and ran barefoot in the snow for these shots because it sounded like a fun thing to do and it was fun.

And reason #1. I was preparing for this on Saturday:


Saturday at noon: we are in the midst of a blizzard. This shot taken out our back window does not capture the intensity, so later I may venture out in my boots to capture some. When the blizzard unexpectedly hit, I was in Panerra Bread with my friend Annette. We looked out the window and it was completely white. I suppose it wasn't totally unexpected - I just didn't believe it would really come! And now already, everything for tonight is cancelled.

Flash Back Friday 4

This was taken during the previous century (1998) at Sequoia National Park. Those 3 kids at the foot of the trees are Edward, Maria & Bridget.


Sequoia trees are so amazing! The kids must be holding cones from another tree because sequoia trees have smaller cones.

Egyptian Dreams

The Sphinx


Maria doing homework in front of the Sphinx

In one of my recurring dreams, the semester in history class is almost over and I haven't done any of the reading yet. I am getting a sense of dread over this. A friend who I used to work with has this same dream. Maria often dreams that I forgot to pick her up. I can only imagine the meaning behind these dreams.