That's better!

I got over that illness pretty fast with the help of an antibiotic. The weather has remained absolutely beautiful -- well except for last Saturday (a week ago) it rained all day. Then Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and today -- gorgeous! Soon we'll be needing some rain, but how wonderful that we've had as much nice sunny warm weather as we have. Here's something I never thought I'd say, the pool is almost too warm. Unfortunate for Tom who is training for the swimming leg of a triathlon. He has to practice swimming in a wetsuit because the lake will be c-o-l-d. Or at least it was supposed to be cold, but considering this weather it's not going to be that cold. Oh well, new experience. But the pool water is awfully warm for vigorous swimming.

We thoroughly enjoyed having some of our kids for the weekend. The new baby (coming up on 3 months) is a big'un. As his daddy said, he's tipping the fat baby scales. And of course he's so sweet and cute. Big brother is 3 and chatty as can be, and good, and smart ;-) and wonderful. He sat with me in church today while his daddy was preaching and he had something important to ask his dad. So periodically he say in a really loud whisper, "hey, Dad? Daddy?" And I'd have to remind him that Daddy couldn't talk to him right now. So he waited, but he didn't forget what it was that he wanted to ask, and as soon as Daddy was finished he scooted up there and asked his question. It had to do with something his dad said at the beginning of the message. The kid doesn't miss much.

 It was a good weekend all around. I got to play with the kids. The guys and Mel got to go fishing, My daughter-in-law got to visit with her sister. We grilled out -- burgers, hot dogs, and the big fish that David caught. (Mel caught a fish too. Hmmmm what did they do with that fishy? I bet she didn't want us to eat it. Catch and release is my guess.)

A beautiful day in this part of the country

It's much too nice a day to be sick, but I am. The little girls I watch had colds last week...I think they shared. Oh well, that's life. My remedy: chicken soup, tea, orange juice and my trusty antioxidant, glutathione builder MA+, which apparently let me down, but will, I hope, pull me back up, pillow, blanket, couch, book and laptop. After a day and a half you may wonder, how's that working out for me? I feel better today, I think. I absolutely have to be better by Friday or I won't be handling my littlest grand-baby. We'll see.

I spent my sick days reading lovely stories celebrating moms in a book Adam sent me called MOM (a collection by storycorps) edited by Dave Isay, and read on NPR. Touching , moving, funny, poignant stories by children, siblings, friends, spouses -- about moms and being a mom. Some make me melancholy, wishing I had been a mom like that one or this one. Others make me laugh, "At least I never did that!" Still others make me think or sigh, or cry. And at the end of each story I feel like I've met new people and come to understand more about human nature -- and man, I could have been so much better at this whole mothering thing if I had just read this book way back then.

But you know what? It wouldn't have made much difference. I wouldn't have had the perspective on life that I have now. I wouldn't have heard or comprehended the depth of the messages, the wisdom, the truths that come with years of life experience. I wouldn't have known my need to know. I wouldn't have had the compassion to to take these lessons to heart. And that's the truth. As my dad likes to say, "too soon old, too late smart." It's silly, but it's true. A commercial for  L'Oreale hair color said...You're not getting older, you're getting better. I hope the commercial was at least half right. I certainly am getting older -- I hope I'm getting better.

Which brings me back to... I'm sick, but I'm working on getting better.

Jim Wallis on Social Justice

I think you can click on the title of this blog to read the article. I'll just add this bit from Jim to Glenn Beck on the important issue of Social Justice as it relates to people of faith. Glenn was not interested in a dialogue...
and I wonder why?

"...You are vigorously in favor of the new law. But I would suggest that the solution to the 12 million undocumented workers now in this country isn’t demanding identity papers and threatening deportation, but working to change the conditions that lead people to come here without papers in the first place. Decades of neglect and irresponsibility by both parties -- liberals and conservatives -- have created this inhumane and complicated problem. We have had two invisible signs on our southern border: “No Trespassing” and “Help Wanted.” Those conflicting messages have ensnared many vulnerable and sometimes desperate people. And now we need to fix that broken immigration system that is grinding up vulnerable families..."

Jesus said to love one another. He said that was the second greatest command after loving the Lord God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind. As Christians each of us has to figure out how to best do that. I'm a fairly simple minded person. I think it means to be kind and to share. A children's song comes to mind, "Love, love, love makes people happy. Love, love, love makes people kind. Love makes people do the things they know they ought to do. Love is helping those who fall behind."

Yep, social justice makes good biblical sense to me.

Running out of daylight...

I remember when I wrote that last blog weeks and weeks ago, thinking I'd get right back and finish the story...in fact leaving it hanging would insure my getting right back to it. Yyyyeah, right. Since then the daffodils have gone, the tulips came and went, the lilacs are now in bloom and as fragrant as can be. Next come the dahlias. But not until I get them in the ground. My dahlias are the only flowers I fuss with, digging up the bulbs in the fall, replanting in the spring. Everything else is on its own, but I baby the dahlias. Not because I love them more, but because it saves me a ton of money on annuals. They'll flower from June through October and into November until the snow flies if I treat them right.

What does this have to do with Chasing Daylight (by Erwin McManus, not to be confused with Patrick McManus who I also really like as an author but -- worlds apart!) ? Just this, "The flower fades, but the word of our God lives forever." In S.S. we're still following Jonathan in his battle against the Philistines who were taunting the Israealites without mercy. So Jonathan and his armor bearer scaled the cliff to face those giants with their swords -- and the long story short is that God was indeed with them and they slew a bunch of bad guys who got all worked up, confused, discombobulated and started slaying one another. But then the book goes on a rabbit trail about Elijah in I Kings 19 -- related in this way -- Elijah trusted that God was with him too. He set up a wild and crazy plan to show Jezebel and the prophets of Baal that his God was GOD and their god was NOT. It's a great story but it'll lose a lot in the re-telling so I'll let you go read it for yourself. Happy ending? Yes and no. And that's what I'll blog about next time.

Like Jonathan, Elijah, Gideon and a bunch of other heroes like them, I've had times of trusting God, relying totally on His coming through for me, times when I just want to sing with the late Rich Mullins, Our God is an awesome God! Then again there are times when God has to come looking for me, asking, "Betsy, what are you doing here?" like he asked Elijah...but that's grist for the next blog-mill.

Dahlias from last year...a reminder that I need to get those bulbs set.