Sock Hop

Along with the DC pictures were the ones from the Sock Hop. Again, I didn't take many, but here are a few. I did buy a cd from the official photographer, but I haven't looked at it yet. #1 ha to help in the kitchen before it began.

The hula hoops are a big attraction. #2 was the night's winner. That boy can move!

Elvis was in the House and had a change of costume too. He looks more like Johnny Cash to me, but he does a good job of keeping the kids involved in the fun.

This sweet family is becoming more involved in our lives. Their oldest two sons are on the Envirothon team, and three of the kids are in my writing classes. The younger girl wanted to dance and her dad didn't want to. He was dragging her off the floor before the dance contest. Another mom and I hounded him about being a bad father, so he took her back to dance. They ended up winning! He was flipping her through the air and tossing her under his legs; she had a great time!

The night before we left for DC #1 was part of a Political Meet-n-Greet through 4-H. He was to ask one of the candidates a question. He seemed very pleased that his dad was there to see him. He seems to be wanting his dad these days. I guess it is right and proper...Growing Up I think they call it.

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I slept about 10 hours last night and I feel a lot better this morning. My lipstick went on a whole lot better this morning! I am blinking more naturally and my mouth is a bit easier to control, though singing in church had its issues. Thanks again for your prayers and concern.

Criminals on the Mall

The first night in DC we walked the Mall and looked at the monuments. I had taken a similar group photo at the Washington Monument 4 years ago. After a group picture, I thought they looked like they were in a line-up, so I had them do profile shots too.

--------- Thank you for the calls and emails about my health. I seem to be slowly improving. It has been a week and a day since the Bell's Palsy attacked full force. I still don't blink my right eye naturally, but things feel like they are returning to normal positions. Hubby isn't so sure, but then he hasn't had to put lipstick on the last week. My lip is definitely moving back toward its usual place. My rheumatology appointment went well yesterday. The doc said I don't have arthritis. I am just tired and achy because I am old. I liked the doctor that said I was young. I want HIM back! -------- I took the kids to a corn maze last night with SGA. Both of my boys were able to go since it was a family event. The kids went through the maze and the parents sat around the fire and talked. It was relaxing and enjoyable. I took my 2 as well as 5 other kids, so we got home late after dropping everyone off at their own homes. It is funny that kids don't think you can hear when you are driving a vehicle. They have some interesting conversations. Last night's conversation of interest was a defense of the Constitution by #1. His friends were saying you should have prayer at public events, but he was saying it is unconstitutional. I keep telling him he should be a lawyer.

Pictures as Promised

I did it! I loaded the pix onto my computer. This bunch of hooligans is my favorite group of little people...young adults. They are a great group of kids and I love them all.

The tour of the Capitol was enhanced by these headphones. So that everyone can hear the tour guide, you are all plugged into his microphone. It was wonderful. I hope other tourist places start adding these.

#2 was desperate to look like he was holding the Washington Monument. It was so dark in my viewfinder I had a hard time getting it just right.

The WW2 monument is an amazing monument. I think it is my favorite in the whole Mall. Here are my WV fans, even the little guy in the middle. Taking them to WV for summer camp won all of them over.

BP in DC

It was lovely in DC this past weekend. I promise to download pictures this week. I really didn't take a lot of pictures. I find that I don't now that my kids are bigger. I used to be the Picture Queen, but it just doesn't seem as important as it once did. Now I enjoy the moment and hope it lives in my memory well. There were 9 kids and 6 adults. Hubby did not get to go, and neither did another father. We managed to get tickets to the Washington Monument for all of us. We also saw many museums and took a tour of the Capitol. Now for the bad news. Last week I started having an awful taste in my mouth. It was so disgusting that I wouldn't eat or drink. After two days of that Hubby and I decided I better go to the doctor because I couldn't go to DC and pass out from dehydration. The doc was concerned that it might have been a small stroke and scheduled me for a CT scan as well as doing some blood work ups. I went on to DC. On Friday the doctor called and said all of the blood work came back fine and the scan was scheduled for Monday. By Friday evening at dinner I couldn't close my right eye or move the right side of my mouth. I had a friend with me who is a nurse, and we both believed it was Bell's Palsy. We decided to go on with the trip and if anything out of the ordinary (beside what was already going on) were to happen, they would take me to a hospital. By Saturday evening I could close my eye if I thought about it really hard. So I felt like that was an improvement, but I asked one of my friends to drive for me. The lack of blinking is irritating and makes my eye water and blur. Monday I called the doc and got right in. I was right...Bell's Palsy. When I got back from the doc's #2 met me at the door. "What's wrong?" "Bell's Palsy." "So you had to pay to learn something you already knew, huh?" Yep. I should have been a doctor. The CT scan was cancelled since it didn't appear to be a stroke. I saw my podiatrist in the afternoon and he explained BP as unplugging an appliance. It still works, it just isn't plugged in right now. He also referred me to a rheumatologist since I am still having aches and pains along with exhaustion that is not my thyroid. Anyway, I have been on the couch most of yesterday and today just trying to rest. My eye isn't doing well with computers and books, so mostly I rest. That is probably the best medicine anyway. I told the boys they have the week off of school, except for Thursday classes, and hopefully I will be much improved by next week. The doctor said it can last two weeks to two months, but since I am young it will probably not last the months time period. It was nice to have a doctor think of me as young for a change.

Quiet

Autumn fog shrouds the morning sun in Eastern Carolina. It is a delightfully sleepy morning as I watch the chickens race outside in the yard. #1 just came down to read the paper and have breakfast. He grinned when he saw the weather, "Looks like rain!" That boy loves a rainy day. The birch started balding last night. Leaves litter the side yard and warn me that winter is coming. I put away my summer clothes yesterday, knowing that the forecast said it was the last of the really warm days. I like summer better than winter, but snuggling up on the couch now with a soft blanket and a quiet house, I have to admit that there are some winter qualities that excite me. A slower pace, a time to turn inward and ponder, a chance to quietly enjoy my family...This is my happiness. Bring it on Winter, but bring it at about 65 degrees, please.

Hacked

Sock Hop is over and I am enjoying a couple of hours that feel sort of stress free. This afternoon I will start preparing for the trip to DC, but for now life is good. Actually, it isn't all that great. One of our accounts was hacked last month, and someone in GA bought a new computer. I love our credit card company because they are always on top of these things, but this one slipped by them. I had to make a payment today and that took a while. I talked to people in several states to try and figure out what we actually owe today. We always pay in full, but I am not paying for a computer I don't have. It seems to be cleared up now. Being hacked is a fear of mine in this day and age. You may have noticed that by my use of numbers for names. Last month I suddenly had more followers on my blog- and I don't know who you guys are!- so I immediately went in to deceptive mode. It kind of freaked me out that strangers would be reading this. I intend my blog to be a place to practice my writing and to keep family and friends updated on our lives. I am glad others enjoy my writing, but when it is combined with an identity theft at the same time...just a little disconcerting, that's all. I changed the blog last year to only accept comments after I see them because someone kept leaving comments in another language, and when you clicked on them you got an eyeful of something you didn't want to see. Now I keep getting hits to leave comments. The favorite post for leaving comments is Defiantly Joyful. I don't know what that means in some Asian language, but it evidently doesn't mean the same as in English. Lately the hits have been Jesus and Opossums and Guy For A Night. I can understand why the last title gets hits, but Jesus and Opossums? Who knows. Anyway, I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the posts, few though they be. I will try to trust that you are all "normal" people who just like to peek into my life every now and then. But I still go check on you sometimes too!

MY BOYS

The video was made by #1 for our church worship service today. He is studying communication in 4H and I thought this would be a good project for him. The sermon was on Isaiah 6 and asking God to send us to his people. #1 went all around town taking pictures of places that our people go...work, home, school, market, etc...and then made a video about being sent to those who are already near us. I would guess he did 85% of this by himself. I helped with some of the conceptualization and with the typing. Now that I have admitted that, I must put in the caveat that the English teacher in me was kicking and screaming the entire time, but #1 didn't want to use capital letters. I insisted that God be capitalized, however.

We had a wonderful time at the Sock Hop again this year. I didn't get many pictures since I was one of the people in charge of it. I plan to buy some pictures from the guy that was the official photographer, so hopefully soon I can get pictures up from it. #1 was bummed that there weren't more teens. He felt like there were too many little kids. It was planned as a family event, and there did seem to be more little kids this year, but I quickly named 18 teens. He agreed that the problem wasn't the number of teens, but the number of available girls for dancing!

#2 won the hula hoop contest. He and his brother were the last two in their category for the elimination round. They kept at it for a long time. Finally, they had to add another hoop to do it with 2 hoops. #1 can't do that and had to drop out. During the final round I thought no one would get out. We went through 3 songs and had to add hoops to the last 3 kids, but finally we had a winner.

Now I have to return items to the store, take garbage and recycling to the dump, and finalize all the numbers. Then my part of the SGA committment is over until I have concessions duty at a ball game in late November.

Last Tozer

Last post from The Pursuit of God... Let us say it again: the Universal Presence is a fact. God is here. The whole universe is alive with his life. And he is no strange or foreign God, but the familiar Father of our Lord Jesus Christ whose love has for these thousands of years enfolded the sinful race of man. And always he is trying to get our attention, to reveal Himself to us, to communicate with us. We have within us the ability to know Him if we will but respond to His overtures. (And this we call pursuing God!) We will know Him in increasing degree as our receptivity becomes more perfect by faith and love and practice. Wednesday evening we were heading to church after a long and eventful day. I was feeling a bit foul and irritated. Driving the van, Hubby gave a sigh. I sighed at the same moment. Then I said, "This presence of God thing isn't working so well today." Then I remembered that Brother Lawrence also said that when he felt himself leaving the presence of God he would just simply turn back toward God, without guilt. And so I did as well. Perhaps that is why we call it the pursuit of God. Yes, He is pursuing us, but we so often turn and head the opposite direction. When we realize we are going the wrong way, then we turn to God and pursue Him. And we don't even have to be long distance runners. He is right there! Yay 50 yard dash!! Tomorrow is the Sock Hop. Our homeschool group put one on last year, and we had ever so much fun. This year I am in charge of putting it together along with another woman. That basically means that all day tomorrow will be decorating, cooking, cleaning, dancing, cleaning again, and undecorating. The middle part sounds fun. I will try to get some pictures. We will have a hula hoop contest, limbo contest, bubble gum blowing contest, and dance contest. There will also be cheeseburgers and little glass bottles of Coke for sale. We are really looking forward to it. Once the Hop is over, we prepare for our trip to DC with 4H. So although I would like to say I will be better about writing on the old blog, I can't promise anything. Just want to let everyone know that we are fine down here, and the weather is starting to change. However, I believe it is still nicer than WV, though, if you want to come and visit. Love you all!

Receptivity

I have been temporarily shut out of the internet. Our ISP has been fixing things that weren't broken, and therefore I have been unavailable. It wouldn't have mattered too much anyway. As it is I just had to interrupt this post for half an hour while I put out a brush fire. I seem to be running from one dilemma to the next these days. I have not allowed this frantic life to tear me away from my morning quiet time though. Here is another excerpt from The Pursuit of God: (Receptivity to God) may be increased by exercise or destroyed by neglect. It is not a sovereign and irresistible force which comes upon us as a seizure from above. It is a gift of God, indeed, but one which must be recognized and cultivated as any other gift if we are to realize the purpose for which it was given. Failure to see this is the cause of a very serious breakdown in modern evangelicalism. The idea of cultivation and exercise, so dear to the the saints of old, has now no place in our total religious picture. It is too slow, too common. We now demand glamour and fast flowing dramatic action. A generation of Christians reared among push buttons and automatic machines is impatient of slower and less direct methoods of reaching their goals.We have been trying to apply machine-age methods to our relations with God. We read our chapter, have our short devotions and rush away, hoping to make up for our deep inward bankruptcy by attending another gospel meeting or listening to another thrilling story told by a religious adventurer lately returned from afar. The tragic results of this spirit are all about us: Shallow lives, hollow religious philosophies, the preponderance of the element of fun in gospel meetings, the glorification of men, trust in religious externalities, quasi-religious fellowships, salesmanship methods, the mistaking of dynamic personality for the power of the Spirit. ...We have all contributed directly or indirectly to this sad state of affairs.... What God in His sovereignty may yet do on a world-scale I do not claim to know. But what He will do for the plain man or woman who seeks His face I believe I do know and can tell others. Let any man turn to God in earnest, let him begin to exercise himself unto godliness, let him seek to develop his powers of spiritual receptivity by trust and obedience and humility, and the results will exceed anything he may have hoped in his leaner and weaker days." The first time I read this I was struck by the fact that this was written about 60 years ago! My particular denomination hasn't dealt with the "entertainment of religion" for 60 years. It has been a fairly recent advent, perhaps of a decade. I do feel that we have lost our grip on the deeper side of God. I am not laying blame, as I have admitted here in the last month or so, I too am feeling the shallow waters of drought. I very much was looking forward to having time this year to read some of these deeper thoughts with my older son, but it seems that our schedule is not condusive to that. We each seem to be reading on our own and then trying to have a conversation every couple of weeks at the end of a book. Currently we are reading Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. He was a monk in the 1600s. #1 seems to be enjoying it. I finished it this morning. I may have some tidbits to share from it as well, but mostly I have been dwelling on the idea of always being aware of God's Presence. Perhaps if we were more aware we would not find ourselves in this predicament that Tozer describes.

Stumbling through a Darkened Hallway

A low, electric hum awakened me at 1:33 a.m. I listened for about 20 minutes, and then I climbed out of my cozy bed to find the source of my annoyance. I was afraid that it might be the septic system alarm. The Great Rain of last week could have filled the ground to capacity and a problem might be occuring. Of course, the first thing one must do upon climbing from a warm bed is to "visit the facilities", and the septic alarm can be seen and heard well from our bathroom window. Thankfully, no red light was glowing or alarm sounding. Walking into the hallway, I noticed that the computer had been left on upstairs. I flicked on the stairwell light and went up to turn off the boys' computer. In the light I noticed the ceiling fan was on high and thought for sure that that must have been the humming noise I heard. After pulling the fan cord I happily headed downstairs fully intending to slide back into my warm spot under the covers. No such luck. At the bottom of the stairs I could hear the humming again. I went into the kitchen and discovered the noise emanating from my refrigerator. Great. The refrigerator has been giving us fits for a few months now. We stopped using the water in the fridge because it was leaking. I even put up packer's tape so that one can't forget that it leaks and use the dispenser by accident. A while after that the fan froze in the back of the freezer. The water was not just leaking from the dispenser but also from the icemaker. I defrosted the fan twice before I decided it would be easier to use ice cube trays. So now I am awake at 2 in the morning trying to not think that we may need to purchase a new refrigerator. Certainly it merits a call to the repairman if nothing else. After about a half hour the humming stops, and I attempt to sleep. Of course by now I am fully awake and thinking through the many problems of life and love. Then at 2:33 the humming begins again. And yes at 3:33. That was when I decided I could better solve the world's problems if I were sitting up, and now I am on my couch. I checked the freezer and the fan is not frozen, so the humming was evidently an alarm clock from God. Here is the next excerpt from The Pursuit of God... Why do some persons "find" God in a way that others do not? Why does God manifest His presence to some and let multitudes of others struggle along in the half-light of imperfect Christian experience? Of course, the will of God is the same for all. He has no favorites within His household. All He has ever done for any of His children, He will do for all of His children. The difference lies not with God but with us. Pick at random a score of great saints whose lives and testimonies are widely known. Let them be Bible characters or well-known Christians of post-Biblical times. You will be struck instantly with the fact that the saints were not alike. ...Their differences must have been incidental and in the eyes of God of no significance. In some vital quality they must have been alike. What was it? I venture to suggest that the one vital quality which they had in common was spiritual receptivity. Something in them was open to Heaven, something which urged them Godward. Without attempting anything like a profound analysis, I shall say simply that they had spiritual awareness, and that they went on to cultivate it until it became the biggest thing in their lives. They differed from the average person in that when they felt the inward longing they did something about it. They acquired the lifelong habit of spiritual response. They were not disobedient to the heavenly vision. As David put it neatly, " When Thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto Thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek." Psalm 27:8 I know when I don't feel close to God, it isn't because He isn't close to me. It is because I have not responded to His invitation to seek Him. Perhaps in another 40 years I will have overcome that fault, but for now I seek in spurts and ask the Lord to forgive my times of self-seeking. Today I answer the hum of the refrigerator and seek my Lord in the early hours of darkness.

A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

I finished The Pursuit of God this morning. I read several chapters over as I went. It has been quite a while since I read a deeply devotional book. Today's devotions seem somehow shallow. Anyway, Tozer wrote back in the 1940s, and his writings are thought provoking. I want to share some parts I enjoyed. It will probably take a few days to do so... What does the Divine Imminence mean in direct Christian experience? It means simply that God is here. Wherever we are, God is here. There is no place, there can be no place, where He is not. Ten million intelligences standing at as many points in space and separated by incomprehensible distances can each one say with equal truth, God is here. No point is any nearer to God than any other point. It is exactly as near to God from any place as it is from any other place. No one is in mere distance further from or any nearer to God than any other person..... If God is present at every point in space, if we cannot go where he is not, why then has not that Presence become the one universally celebrated fact of the world? The patriarch, Jacob, in the "waste howling wilderness" (Deut 32:10) gave the answer to that question. He saw a vision of God, and cried out in wonder, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not" (Gen 28:16). Jacob had never been for one small division of a moment outside the circle of that all-pervading Presence. But he knew it not. That was his trouble, and it is ours. Men do not know that God is here. What a difference it would make if they knew. The Presence and the manifestation of the Presence are not the same. There can be the one without the other. God is here when we are wholly unaware of it.He is manifest only when and as we are aware of His Presence. On our part, there must be surrender to the Spirit of God, for His work is to show us the Father and Son. If we cooperate with Him in loving obedience, God will manifest Himself to us, and that manifestation will be the difference between a nominal Christian life and a life radiant with the light of His face. ---------- I know God is everywhere, but to hear it in this way was refreshing. It was also refreshing to hear that God is here even when we don't admit it. Certainly I admit the fact of God's presence, but I don't always dwell in His Presence. I just need to recognize Him more often. I am enjoying my morning time with God. I feel more at peace with my day. Try it for yourself.

Comfort Food

Last week during the rainy weather we stupidly ventured out for dinner at Olive Garden. We held classes as usual Thursday, and then the grandparents picked up the boys after school to take them out for a while. Hubby and I met them later for dinner. We were all surprised to see the restaurant parking lot so full. Truly it was dumping thousands of gallons of rain by the second. What kind of "idiots" would be out in this? We commented on that to the waitress, and she said that when the weather is bad they are often swamped with customers. It seems the warm soup and bread combined with the pasta dishes is just the comfort that people need. I agree that the smell of freshly baked bread on a dismal day can make me feel warm and cozy inside, but there just isn't anything better than a hug from my sweet son sitting in my lap. Welcome Fall. Welcome Rain and Chill. Welcome Hugs and Snuggles.

Busy

I seem to have disappeared from the cyber world. I am having trouble keeping up with everything. We had a lovely visit from the grandparents this last week, and I wouldn't give up those visits for anything, but they do mean that the schedule goes a bit wonky as my Scottish friend says. #2 is doing a 4H project this fall on his family history. One of the assignments was to make a photo collage of things around the house that show his family history. He took a picture of this trunk that belonged to his great-great grandfather. The grandfather signed the trunk, so the picture is of his signature. It was good to have the grandparents here to help with part of that project. We discovered that green eyes and curly hair are very dominant on his father's side of the family. #2 has always wanted to grow an afro with his blond hair. Yesterday, though, he was trying to get me to put his hair in a stocking and pull pieces through. He wants to look like he is part bald for Halloween. From afros one year to balding the next, that boy keeps me on my toes. More big news about #2, he lost a tooth yesterday!!! It is in the front on the left side. It is one of the places with no adult tooth to come in behind, so it was actually being pushed out by the wrong tooth. That is his first lost tooth in nearly 4 years! He was asking me about the tooth fairy last night and locked his door to see what would happen. Well, the tooth fairy made it in with a dollar, but she left the tooth behind. He thought that was odd, but is hoping to try again tonight. Here is another reason I haven't written in a while. This was our backyard and grape arbor on Thursday. I took it through the windshield, so it isn't clear, but the depth of water is certainly clear. The road in front of our house was flooded and had about a half lane open for part of the time. Schools closed for a day and had late start the next. Our internet service was messed up for several days and access was spotty.

This is the dog. When I leave my room in the morning, this is often what I see. She lays at the bottom of the stairs to catch the air conditioning as it flows down the stairs. Why she puts her head against the wall I will never know.

This cutey is in our Geography Club. We were studying Oceania for a couple of weeks and had a Balinese dinner one day. It was quite tasty...rice, chicken, pineapple, onions, crunchy noodles, and more.

And this was the dessert. #1 had New Zealand that day and we took Pavlova. It is a meringue cake filled with whipped cream and fruit. It was really quite easy and the kids loved it. I will likely make it again sometime. If you are in New Zealand this is the type of cake you get for your birthday.

Geography Club wrapped up last week. That means one less thing to do on Tuesdays. As #1 said, "That should make things a little better." Except that he got a part in the play and has practice several evenings a week until mid-November. With the play, Student Gov't Association, Envirothon field trips, and 4H I can't guarantee any more frequent posts, but I am hopeful. Living in a fantasy world, but hopeful.