Amen to this:

O God of such truth as sweeps away all lies,
of such grace as shrivels all excuses,
come now to find us
for we have lost ourselves
in a shuffle of disguises
and in the rattle of empty words.

Let your Spirit move mercifully
To recreate us from
The chaos of our lives.

We have been careless of our days
our loves our gifts
our chances…

Our prayer is to change, O God,
not out of despair of self
but for love of you,
and the selves we long to become
before we simply waste away.

Let your mercy move in and through us now…

Amen.

Ted Loder, My Heart in My Mouth (Philadelphia, PA: Innisfree Press, 2000), pp. 50-51.

Worth exposing A-Town ID: Fly, Jackie, Fly!!!!!!!

Albion's own Jackie Madejski (who played the part of Peter Pan in the outstanding A-Town spring production of that show) has been selected by the Rochester Broadway Theatre League to compete for the opportunity to represent Albion and the Rochester area in a State competition in NYC. 1st prize is an annual $25,000 scholarship to NYU.  Below is a web address where you can vote for her once daily. Let's see if we can get her to the top of the vote count. The last day to vote is May 25th.  The address is below.

http://www.rochesterhp.com/StarsOfTomorrow/.

And this endorsement/request came from Charlie Nesbitt this morning -- I wholeheartedly agree: 

This young lady gave a wonderful performance as Peter Pan, among the very best I have ever seen by a non-professional. Please vote for her and encourage your contacts to do the same. She certainly deserves the support! (Remember, you can vote once each day) Thanks for your help!

 

Charlie

A slice...no, a sliver...no, a ladle-ful of life

I'm warming up a can of "meatball soup," Ben's favorite. Ben and Pearl wait together at the dining room table, eager to be served.

Their banter:

Ben: Dinner is the best invention ever!

Pearl: Uh...nohhh!! (all, like, Valley Girl in tone) Mommy!! Isn't God's plan the best invention everrrr?! Like, He made the worrrrrld!!

Bathroom or basement? Let's step into my office...

(Been awhile. Hi!) I don't really have time to post a full-fledged entry. Won't happen until after the major fund-raising banquet for my workplace/ministry next week. But as I've been "working the phones" in the past few days in anticipation of the big event, I've come to reflect on one of the realities of working from home -- this is true for both Will and me: When there's an important phone call to make or receive, whether from prominent politicians, minor celebrities, or friends from the other side of the globe, we're most likely to end up talking to them from our basement or bathroom. Those seem to be the only places in our house somewhat safe from squalling babies, inquisitive preschoolers, or demanding tweens. I'd be willing to bet that if Will had the opportunity to talk to the Leader of the Free World himself, he'd end up interviewing him from beside a 3-foot pile of dirty laundry, using the lint-covered top of the washing machine for a clipboard, possibly even scribbling down his notes with a broken crayon.

A Banner Wednesday (with 3 pesky exceptions)

Today is a banner day! I finally figured out that I could adjust my Google settings to maneuver multiple Gmail accounts simultaneously. For nearly 2 years now, I’ve been manually switching back and forth between my 2 accounts, all the while wishing there was a way to keep both open at the same time. Luckily, some smart Google employee also thought of my brilliant idea and—much more brilliantly—figured out how to make it work. It’s a little silly how happy this makes me feel.

Speaking of smart people, did you see the genius kid on Yahoo! News yesterday? Dizzyingly perceptive: http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110329/ts_yblog_thelookout/for-12-year-old-astrophysics-prodigy-the-skys-the-limit.

On a not-so-banner note, Wednesdays I’ve been doing my weekly weigh-ins (violating my New Year’s Resolution to stay off the scale for the first 6 months of 2011). On this particular Wednesday, I am 3 pounds heavier than I was last week. (Sigh!) How does this happen? Sugar and salt are my strongest suspects. Mostly sugar. Sugar is my mortal enemy. OK, that can’t be true—it’s inanimate, it’s neutral. But sugar—or, rather, the over-consumption of sugar—brings out the villain in me, as Pearl so perfectly put it! Moderation is not my strong suit. And so, for today (er, um, for the rest of today), I shall abstain from the ingestion of my mortal enemy!

Speaking of enemies, I meant to mention the other day that Pearl’s use of the term “villains” rather than “bad guys” might have struck some readers as odd. I’m not sure why my kids say “villain” (instead of, say, “scoundrel,” “rascal,” or “thug”), but they do.

And another thing about that post: When Pearl says “what in the hills,” she’s not merely repeating some Southern expression of disbelief (such as “what in the Sam hill…”). No, I’m pretty sure it’s her misinterpretation of the plain-old expletive now known for its abbreviation, WTH. Since Will and I don’t talk that way, she must have heard it on TV, but not quite right—and by-gum, I’m glad!

Quotable Pearl, age 5

A week ago Sunday, Will’s mother and brother came to visit us. For several days beforehand, I’d plotted how and when to clean and de-clutter, and my good intentions had been repeatedly thwarted. The night before their arrival, I was bemoaning my total failure as a housekeeper when this Pearl of wisdom flowed from my 5-year-old’s lips: “Gramma C and Uncle S won’t care about the mess, Mommy. They’ll only care about the children.”

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Yesterday in children’s church, those present reported to us later, Pearl explained the theological concept of temptation to her peers using this analogy: “God is the superhero because he makes all the good things happen. The Devil is the villain because he makes all the bad things happen. When we make bad things happen, we’re all villains, too.” And there you have it, kids—temptation, in a nutshell: Resist the urge to be villainous.

-

In keeping with her development as a saint-in-the-making: This morning before school I ran a bath for Pearl—her hair needed washing. I brought a bright pink plastic cup from the kitchen with which to douse her head and she demanded: “What in the hills is that for?!”

Quotable Ben, age almost 7

“How big is Heaven? … Is it bigger than Russia?”

~

“My teachers keep saying that I’m kind.”

~

Listening to Vi practice her 6^th-grade trombone music: “I know that song – I think it’s by Justin Bieber.”

~

Holding the book for bedtime story, so I could nurse the baby while we read:

Mommy: “OK, next page…”

Ben puts his hand to his nose, then turns the page.

Mommy: “Why’d you do that?”

Ben: “I was just sniffin’ my hand – that’s what people do when they turn the page.”