Ritual

I have a ritual that makes me happy, in a deep down durable way. I don't need to wake up to transcendent views, or look over my daytimer as I get dressed for my high powered job, or pad about in jammies through my McMansion. All those things are fine, but they wouldn't make my heart sing. They don't even raise one of my eyebrows - no piquing of even a little bit of interest or wonder in my mind. Just give me a cup of coffee, and this...

Me and my grandson, just this morning. (Sorry for the flash, but it is a rainy day here...no natural light to speak of.)

I am one of those grandmommies with the rare privilege of living with her grandson. My daughter and her husband, after being married a year, moved back in with us, so that Justin could complete his internship and Master's degree without having to work a third job. They will be here until he starts teaching Advanced Math full time in the fall.

It's all very joyful, very homey, very "Walton-esque", to be honest with you. You know - all the generations together, under one roof. The way things were when times were simpler and more difficult in some ways, but better in all ways that matter. The days of our grandparents, that greatest generation. Tim and I are almost embarrassed to convey how delightful it is, to play board games in the evening (when we aren't rushing out to youngest son's basketball game), how sweet it is to feed our grandson his bottle once in awhile during the day, and to say goodnight to five dear and near souls every night - each other, our youngest son, our daughter and her husband, and Little Britches.

Every morning, my ritual includes cuddling my teacup poodle, Rambo. Tim usually brings me my coffee about that time. Then, when I hear my grandson stirring, I go and just look at him in his crib. Marveling.

Only this morning, I scooped him up and snapped our picture.

What can I say? It rocks to be me. Four children who know God, two sons-in-love who are Godly and gifted, and now an adorable grandson....who lives with me for now. God has been mindful of me, and has blessed and increased me. My job is to enjoy it.

~Linking to "The Sunday Creative", at the delightful blog of MadelineBea.

Gabbi Grace's First Sunday-And Our Baby Total is Now SIX!

Remember my friend Megan Cummins, who was expecting her first child, a girl they named Gabbi Grace?

Here is our Gabbi, in all her glory, on her very first Sunday at church~

One eye open, while daddy feeds her her bottle...

The proud pappa and his Gabbi Grace!

Oh, and by the way. The whole "fruit of the womb is a reward" thing? As a church, we were expecting four...then five, when Meredith discovered she is pregnant for the first time. And now? SIX. Sweet Lisa and BJ are expecting their first.

SIX babies. In one mini-mega church. Wonder what God thinks about us?

Reaching the Nations Without The Plane Ticket

I'd like to introduce you to our new Chinese friend, Jimmy. I believe he is weeks, if not days, from being radically saved. He came to Harvest Church for the first time today, and we went to the restaurant where he works (Ichiban) after church. Jimmy came to our table and talked at length with Tim and I, and our friends Scott and Cyndy.



Here's where it gets absolutely exciting. Jimmy came to church this morning because a Chinese friend of his, Eric, came to Christ at my church two weeks ago. Our dear friend Jeff Kear led Eric to Christ, after he and his wife Maria spent months of going to Ichiban to eat, had many conversations, and several conversational English speaking sessions with Eric and his wife in their own home.



So Eric brought Jimmy to church today. Later, at the restaurant, Jimmy told us (and this is the condensed version), "I came to church, I look for life, I feel life. I look for love, I feel love. So much love. I think to myself, 'There is only one more thing - laughter. I want laughter' and next come laughter. When singing start, I feel God, my heart beat faster. I will come back. I am very close to contacting Jesus Christ. I will bring my wife and daughters to Harvest, but first my wife is flying back home for ceremony. She is Hindu, and when I married her 8 years ago, her father did not have the Hindu ceremony that releases her to my responsibility. He now agree to have ceremony, my wife is flying home in a short time for ceremony. I not feel right bringing her to Harvest to hear Christians until her father release her to me. Then I bring her."



Yeah. I looked at Tim, he looked at me. We could read each other's minds: "It is Harvest Time, baby."



His Hindu wife, soon to be coming to our church. I had to be careful not to allow my very effusive (and very Western culture) personality reveal my complete delight at the idea of this whole family coming to Christ Jesus. I just calmly nodded my head and said, "Many Christians also believe that the father needs to release his daughter into the care of her husband, too. We often include that as part of the wedding ceremony."



He seemed to find that very interesting.



I couldn't help but smile when he said he came to church looking for laughter. Jimmy has a sharp wit - he is hilariously Chinese. How brilliant, that he looked for three distinct experiences: life, love, and laughter. He called it, "three L's." He said he wondered if he'd find laughter, and then, "It happened. Lots of laughing."



I felt better, because I had cut up quite a bit when I made the announcements that morning.



::sigh::



I can't help it. But this time....God used my shtick as an evangelism tool. I feel so vindicated!



The food at Ichiban was....wow. Amazing. Art on a plate. Look at the sushi~
After Jimmy offered us three different desserts, all on the house, I have felt no need to eat the rest of the day.

I'm so proud of my friends Jeff and Maria. So thrilled about the way they love to include the whole body of Christ in their evangelism and relationship building efforts.

Oh. One last thing Jimmy said. He said, "Many yellows are searching for God. Many, many."

(He calls Asians "yellows".) Again, Tim and I glanced at each other, caught off guard, sort of startled...

...like how you'd feel if you were out fishing, and five big mouth bass jumped in your boat before you could even put your hook in the water.

Our Missionary To Cambodia is Returning to Cambodia...

Our missionary to Cambodia, Jonathan Trentham, lovingly known as "Jono", came home on furlough in late January...


We surprised him with a "Welcome Home" gathering at the church...

Look closely...can you see the love and respect on those faces? This young man is greatly esteemed, and much loved by all in Harvest Church...



And by one Timothy Paul. (This was shot the next morning, at my house...) We all believe that Timothy will go on a "big trip" with his tall uncle-buddy Jono one day.

And now...his time here stateside is over. As soon as it began, it seems, it is over. My heart is actually a bit heavy as I turn into my bed this evening. Tomorrow is the last Sunday I will get to see Jono for the next 6 months.

Ah. My heart. I love this kid. (No, he isn't a kid, but he is such a sweet "boy" to me!) Actually, Jono came home a grown man. You could see it.

Jono, I will dwell on this happy picture, until you come back home, my friend. Godspeed.

Netbook Cover

I am missing my beloved, who is in Atlanta. (Oh, and to any bad guys out there, I am not home alone. I am home with my daughter, my son-in-love who happens to pack heat and is an excellent shot, and my adorable grandson...)

To stave off the melancholy, I've been sewing my little heart out this morning.

After pricing covers for my netbook, I concluded they are all ugly, and overpriced. I mean, who wants a hot pink "neoprene" bit of hideousness to house their prized netbook? Not this would-be designer. And I don't want the black leather zipper case for it for every day. I only need that when I am traveling via plane...not very often.

The beauty of a netbook is its delightful and utter portability. Coming in at a very slim and small , oh about 7 inches by about 10 inches, the exact dimensions of an i-pad, if not a bit smaller, I can easily slide it into my purse. Thus, the need for a soft cover.

The least expensive thing I found was a cover for an i-pad. Ugly. $9.99. I knew I could do better, so I went to the fabric store and purchased some nice charcoal gray felt. For about $2 worth of felt,and some scrap ribbon and trim I already had, I came up with this:





and here she is, at home on my bedside dresser:

I Am Knitting a Snood

A pink one.

"What's a snood", you ask? Here is the wikipedia definition:

A snood is historically a type of European female headgear, or in modern times a tubular neck scarf.

No longer is a "snood" a sort of hammock for the hair. Today, it is, in fact, a tubular neck scarf. Here are a few pictures of snoods I love:

Last, but not least...

I don't know this puppy, but I'm thinkin' that my teacup poodle Rambo would look great in a University of Tennessee orange snood.

A Master of the Needle Arts-Lisa Borgnes Giramonti

Allow me to introduce to you the unique and beautiful, timeless yet modern work of Lisa Borgnes Giramonti. This lovely lady is artist- mother to her grade school son, a wife to a husband who travels overseas a great deal...sometimes Lisa and her husband are able to bring their adorable son to amazing places like England or Morocco. Lisa is a Master of the needle arts, as you can see in the tapestry below...

Crafted by the inspiring Lisa Borgnes-Giramonti, who I discovered via her blog "A Bloomsbury Life". She has done intricate needlework on subjects such as silicone boobies and botox. Her work has been featured in prominent art shows all over the United States - I am not sure about overseas, though I would not at all be surprised. She has the effect on me that all good artists should have on those who view their work: she makes me want to sit down with some burlap and thread, and start stitching.

Good artists make their work feel accessible, even when no mere human could actually do it.