Christmas

Do you know how many stanzas of All My Heart This Night Rejoices they cut out of LSB??? (The answer is 60%. Do you think I will reconcile myself to that before I die?) I came home on Christmas Eve and played piano and sang the rest of it -- several times. Gary got out the violin and joined in on melody. Cool, eh?

We shall call this year "The Christmas of the Hair-Straightening"




Birthday girl, with straight hair, wearing her new Illini shirt. With straighter hair, we were calling her "Katie" all day long. It was freaky! I thought they looked alike, but, boy oh boy, straighten Mag's hair and then they really look alike!

Concentrating on the Qwirkle game --

Christmas ribbons nabbed off a present from Grandma made Rachel's hair look festive!

Now, why would you touch the filthy poker for the fireplace?

Oh, that face is more handsome than the last snapshot.

Caught a lot of nice-looking shots of Philip this week.

Gary's known at work as the guy with the interesting ties. Gumby is a favorite.

Aw. Isn't that romantic? Sharing their present-opening.

Katie. Or not. Maybe Miss-Maggie-of-the-Straight-Hair

Captain Andrew-of-the-Straight-Hair. Piratical earring. And a parrot cat on his shoulder.

Today's Laugh

Chris and his wife had just finished tucking their young ones into bed one evening when they heard crying coming from the children's room. Rushing in, they found Tommy crying hysterically.

He had accidentally swallowed a nickel and was sure he was going to die. No amount of talking could change his mind. Trying to calm him, Chris palmed a nickel that he happened to have in his pocket and pretended to remove it from Tommy's ear. Tommy, naturally, was delighted. In a flash, he snatched it from his father's hand, swallowed it and demanded cheerfully, "Do it again, Dad!"

The Holy Spirit Gives Life

John 1 -- In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life ....

As Gabriel told the blessed virgin Mary, the "Holy Spirit shall come upon you" and she would conceive the Son of God in her womb.

I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver-of-Jesus ....

(Seems to me to fit with the High Priestly Prayer and Augustana V.)

Today's Laugh

It was the day after Christmas at a church in San Francisco. The pastor of the church was looking over the creche when he noticed that the baby Jesus was missing from among the figures. Immediately he turned and went outside and saw a little boy with a red wagon, and in the wagon was the figure of the little infant, Jesus.

So he walked up to the boy and said, "Well, where did you get Him, my fine friend?"

The little boy replied, "I got him from the church."

"And why did you take him?"

The boy said, "Well, about a week before Christmas I prayed to the little Lord Jesus, and I told him if he would bring me a red wagon for Christmas, I would give him a ride around the block in it."

Birthday

Can you believe a mother who would mortify her 15-yr-old by getting a bunch of her friends to sing Happy Birthday to her in the choir room after church?

Then off for Chinese food --

Picture didn't turn out too well, but we stuck a candle in a cream puff and sang Happy Birthday at the restaurant. Hey, the folks at the other tables quieted and listened and then applauded Maggie. That only happened once before.Maggie was, once again, mortified.


Illini girl -- (Was this from Mom or Karen?)

Intuitive Learning Company

One of the popular Christmas presents was something I stumbled onto at Goodwill and snapped up the second I laid eyes on it. Intuitive Learning Company also sells shower curtains with French and Spanish vocabulary. The only puzzle is whether to put it with the writing facing into the shower so we can read it while we're bathing, or words out to the room to look more attractive overall. Gary noticed this evening while he was brushing his teeth that we can read the vocabulary left-to-right in the mirror, so for now we have to read backwards only while we're on the toilet.

Matt was asking today what homeschooling is like. It's like ... uh ... buying vocabulary-laden shower curtains ....

Sunless

Ten days straight without sun. (Well, there were a couple of minutes on Sunday morning during church when a beam peeked through the stained glass.) The 10-day forecast calls for "partly cloudy" next Tuesday. And only Tuesday: the rest is overcast and snow.

If somebody had not eaten for 4-5 days, a person who said, "Gee, you look hungry!" would not be disapproving of the person's discomfort for being hungry.

But what if somebody looks sad and droopy because she has not seen the sun for 10 days? Is she supposed to just chipper-up? Should a person be able to control her body's response to light-deprivation more than she can control her body's reaction to food-deprivation?


I think it's high time to start goofing off with regard to work, and time to start playing the piano more, watching funny movies more, and reading something fun to Maggie.


♫ Oh, Mr Sun, Sun, Mr Golden Sun,
please shine down on me! ♫

♫ Sunshine on my shoulders
makes me happy. ♫

A Visit

Today's Laugh

A Christmas Tradition

The liquor companies give GOOD rebates around Christmas and New Year's. So if you're going to buy vodka-for-vanilla or whiskey-for-medicine or schnapps-for-granola or Southern Comfort [-for-yummies], now is the time of the year to do it. You may get a bottle of schnapps for $2, or a year's worth of vanilla for $4.

But the GLUE! Oh, the glue!

For a rebate, you have to turn in the UPC code. You have to soak it off the liquor bottle. Now, the labels will fall off my syrup jars in about 20 seconds. The labels will fall off my bouillon jars in 5-10 minutes. But soaking a bottle of vodka? The front label will fall off the bottle in half an hour. But the part of the label where the UPC code is? After four hours, the UPC code can be pried off only with lots of tearing and ripping of soaked paper.

Can the ladies processing the rebates even read the shreds I send them from the UPC code?

Maybe it's a conspiracy to not pay the rebates?

Or maybe the company is trying to protect itself from people who scam businesses out of rebate money? Maybe if you send in a decent-looking UPC code, they will know you faked it ... because you didn't have to fight the Superglue-strong-enough-to-hold-a-spaceship-together!




Whatever it is, I discovered this is one of the dumbest Christmas traditions we have. But a tradition it is, nonetheless.

The Lion Shall Lie Down with the Lamb

I've lived in Wisconsin a long time. No dangerous snakes. No scorpions. Virtually no deadly spiders. There are certain times of year where your outdoorsy preschooler may be covered with welts from mosquito bites. But overall, it's a pretty safe place.

Katie has told me about the fire-ant hills and the snakes and scorpions and the other nasty critters in Texas. She has to watch out for Alia when they go outside to play.

So when we hear during Lessons & Carols that the baby will be playing outdoors by the snake holes, and the toddlers will be stickin' their little hands into the den of venomous snakes, it sure sounds different this year. That's something that was just words to me before; I could intellectually assent to the coming of peace and safety Isaiah describes. But wow, those words probably sound completely different to mommies who have to keep their kids away from rattlesnakes and fire ants.

Faking Confidence

At the Christmas party for Gary's job, one of the guys we were chatting with mentioned how it's important to sound like you know what you're talking about. Even if you don't.

I've heard the same thing from other salesmen: sound confident. It will instill confidence in your prospective buyer. If you sound confident, the sucker will do what you want him to do.

Grrrrrrr.

Gary and I did a little Christmas shopping on Tuesday night. We were trying to figure out exactly how the sizing on a particular item worked. When the label says it's thus-and-so big, exactly where on the item is it measured? Because it made a difference. I was digging in my purse for my trusty tape measure (a necessary item for those who shop at Goodwill and Salvation Army) when a saleslady came by. We asked; she told us the answer; we bought the gift. Came home and found out she was just talkin'. She didn't know. She was wrong. So I had to go back to the store and return the gift. The exchange was easy and there were no complaints from the store. But I had to go back.

Really, now, would our whole economy collapse if salesmen told the truth? Would it destroy their careers if they said, "I don't know; I'll have to find out for you"? (Who knows? Maybe it would!)

These incidents make me think I should trust no one's word, no matter how inconsequential the situation is. [sigh]

Today's Laugh

California Trip

You disembark from the plane for your lay-over, walk into the Las Vegas airport, and face a whole bank of slot machines. Around the corner we found the wheel. Boy, you know it's Las Vegas!

Sacramento airport was a little more peaceful-looking.

The entrance to the M.I.N.D. Institute. Notice all the sun sun SUN in these pictures.

The side view of the MIND Institute, as we saw it from our room.

The entrance to the Kiwanis Family House.

The side of the Kiwanis House where we stayed, as seen from over at the MIND Institute.

The nearby corner where we could find food: groceries and sit-down restaurants and fast food and an awesome Thai place. It was about two-thirds of a mile.

Our bedroom at the Kiwanis House.

Maggie working in our section's kitchen.

The dining room. (How'd that kombucha bottles get there?)

A shot of Maggie at the Phoenix airport.

Today's Laugh

A man was brought to Mercy Hospital and taken in for coronary surgery.

The operation went well and, as the groggy man regained consciousness, he was reassured by a Sister of Mercy, who was waiting by his bed.

"Mr. Smith, you're going to be just fine," said the nun, gently patting his hand. "We do need to know, however, how you intend to pay for your stay here. Are you covered by insurance?"

"No, I'm not," the man whispered hoarsely.

"Can you pay in cash?" persisted the nun.

"I'm afraid I cannot, Sister."

"Well, do you have any close relatives?" the nun essayed.

"Just my sister in New Mexico," he volunteered. "But she's a humble spinster nun."

"Oh, I must correct you, Mr. Smith. Nuns are not 'spinsters.' They are married to God."

"Wonderful," said Smith. "In that case, please send the bill to my brother-in-law."

Certainly Not by Merit

The story in Sunday School this week was about Jacob and Esau. Jacob was not exactly a pillar of morality in his younger years. Pastor was talking about Jacob being

the son of the promise (this is key) by the free choice of God's grace, not because he was entitled to it. The birthright has certain rights associated with it, but Jacob was not the first-born. Furthermore, Jacob's sin does not nullify God's promise. God certainly does not condone sin, but neither does our sin make God renege on His promise. If His promise is "I will love you, and I will send My Son to die for you and to redeem you with His blood," your sin does not then cause Him to say, "You know, I changed My mind. I do not love you any longer, and I will not send My Son." Understand?

He is faithful for His sake. Before the twins were even born, He chose Jacob to be the son of the promise. His choice was made purely on the basis of His grace. When Jacob proved himself to be unworthy of the blessing, when he schemed, when he coveted and stole, God did not come up with Plan B. God did not ditch Jacob. His word is sure. His promise is certain. And the promise made to me in baptism is just as sure and certain.



Romans 11 -- The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.


Oh, then, rejoice that through His Son
God is with sinners now at one.
Made like yourselves of flesh and blood,
your Brother is the eternal God.

What harm can sin and death then do?
The true God now abides with you.
Let hell and Satan rage and chafe --
Christ is your Brother; you are safe!

Christmas Decorations

Every year the girls had to wear these as earrings. Hey, we only have two left. I wonder if Rachel and Katie have a pair each at their houses?

Katie tried to convince me these were hers. They weren't, and I wouldn't let her take them when she moved away from home. But she looked forward to pulling them out every year. She can see them only when she comes to visit. But the rest of the kids should let her have them after her father and I die.

Gary used to be in the Giraffe Club. This was from Mom to go with the other giraffes in the giraffe collection. The hook broke off his little head, so now he hangs by floss. Not the best, but it works.

Ornaments I made as a kid. I think the craft kits from Montgomery Wards were probably Christmas or birthday presents.





The first year we were married, we realized we had nothing for the top of the tree. No star. No angel. No money to go buy one. No idea what to choose for something that would last for decades.So Gary cut a star shape out of the bottom of a cardboard box and we covered it with foil. If you look closely, you can see the round indentations from the food cans that were shipped in the box. The star was a temporary fix. (Ya laughin' over that??) After about 15 years, somebody suggested we buy something nice for the top of the tree. Well, after that little piece of cardboard has moved with us repeatedly, decorating the top of the tree for nearly 30 years, do you really think I'm going to let go of it now?

Today's Laugh

A little girl climbed onto Santa's lap. Santa asked the usual, "And what would you like for Christmas?"

The child stared at him open-mouthed and horrified for a minute. Then she gasped, "Didn't you get my e-mail?"

Solstice and the Return of the Sun

Rejoice now, all you heavenly choirs of angels!
Rejoice now, all creation!
Sound forth, trumpet of salvation,
and proclaim the triumph of our King!
Rejoice too, all the earth,
in the radiance of the light now poured upon you
and made brilliant by the brightness of the everlasting King!
Know that the ancient darkness has been forever banished.
Rejoice, o Church of Christ,
clothed in the brightness of this light!
Let all this house of God ring out with rejoicing,
with the praises of all God's faithful people.

That is from the Easter Vigil.

Look at it! All that talk about light. And the King. And the angels' rejoicing. You'd almost be tempted to think that it dovetails with Advent's

O come, Thou Dayspring from on high,
and cheer us by Thy drawing nigh.
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
and death's dark shadow put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, o Israel!

Christmas Decorations

Some newer ornaments that are beautiful and theologically spot-on:




Some very old ornaments. I remember these on Nanna & Gramp's tree when I was little. And I don't think they were very new then. We had the glass balls on our tree at home, but Nanna's ornaments had the etched pictures and words. That just seemed so special and beautiful to me as a child. Wait. It still does.

Today's Laugh

A man is in bed with his wife when there is a rat-a-tat-tat on the door.

He rolls over and looks at his clock, and it's half past three in the morning. "I'm not getting out of bed at this time," he thinks, and rolls over.

Then, a louder knock follows. "Aren't you going to answer that?" says his wife. So he drags himself out of bed, and goes downstairs. He opens the door and there is man standing at the door. It didn't take the homeowner long to realize the man was drunk.

"Hi, there," slurs the stranger. "Can you give me a push??"

"No, get lost, it's half past three. I was in bed," says the man and slams the door.

He goes back up to bed and tells his wife what happened and she says, "Dave, that wasn't very nice of you. Remember that night we broke down in the pouring rain on the way to pick the kids up from the baby-sitter and you had to knock on that man's house to get us started again? What would have happened if he'd told us to get lost??"

"But the guy was drunk," says the husband.

"It doesn't matter," says the wife. "He needs our help and it would be the Christian thing to help him."

So the husband gets out of bed again, gets dressed, and goes downstairs. He opens the door, and not being able to see the stranger anywhere, he shouts, "Hey, do you still want a push??"

He hears a voice cry out, "Yeah, please."

So, still being unable to see the stranger, he shouts, "Where are you?"

And the stranger replies: "I'm over here, on your swing."

Lunch at the Beach

One of the readers at Lessons & Carols today went just a wee bit fast with one phrase. She was reading Genesis 22, the promise to Abraham, and did it completely right. But it sounded a little funny when she read:

Blessing I will bless you,
and multiplying I will multiply your descendants
as the stars of the heaven
and as the sandwiches on the seashore;
and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.

Obstructionists

Another Democrat fell. A purported pro-life "obstructionist" sold out to a big barrel of pork for his state.

Remember the story of the little Dutch boy who held his finger in the dike? He was an obstructionist. He got in the way. He slowed down what was coming.

Look what happened in New Orleans when the levies didn't do the job of obstructing that they were supposed to do during Hurricane Katrina.

Let's applaud some of those obstructionists!

Christmas Decorations

Because the four oldest weren't here to help with tree-decorating this year, and thus unwrapping these tangible memories, I thought they might want to mosey down Memory Lane via photos.


Beeswax ornaments from our honey lady in Clinton. Local honey for a good price. And she had to think of something to do with the wax; she had a variety of beeswax candles and decorations. It was one of our first fieldtrips with our homeschool group, and we returned to Vaenoski's often.(I was amazed to see that these had survived a hot summer in the attic -- something that destroyed our Advent candles.)



From our trip to Sarasota (with much appreciation to Jane's mom and Wicked!). One day we visited Mote Marine Aquarium. Fantastic place!



The lighthouse at Ponce Inlet. From our trip to Daytona (with much appreciation to my parents!).



From our visit to the EAA Museum. All the time we lived up there, we never actually visited the fly-in or museum. But when Gary had a pastors' conference in Oshkosh one year, we went along to enjoy the hotel pool. While there I took the kids to the museum.

Today's Laugh

In the year 2009, the Lord came unto Noah, who was now living in the United States, and said, "Once again, the earth has become wicked. I see the end of all flesh before me. Build another ark, and save two of every living thing along with a few good humans." God gave Noah the CAD drawings, saying, "You have 6 months to build the ark before I will start the unending rain for 40 days and 40 nights."

Six months later, the Lord looked down and saw Noah weeping in his yard -- but no ark. "Noah!" He roared, "I'm about to start the rain! Where is the ark?"

"Forgive me, Lord," begged Noah, "but things have changed. I needed Building Regulations Approval. And I've been arguing with the fire department about the need for a sprinkler system.

"My neighbours claim that I should have obtained a planning permit for building the ark in my yard because it is development of the site, even though in my view it is a temporary structure.

"We had to then go to appeal to the Secretary of State for a decision.

"Then the Department of Transportation demanded a bond be posted for the future costs of moving power lines and other overhead obstructions to clear the passage for the ark's move to the sea. I told them that the sea would be coming to us, but they would hear nothing of it.

"Getting the wood was another problem. All the decent trees have Tree Preservation Orders on them, and we live in a Site of Special Scientific Interest set up in order to protect the spotted owl. I tried to convince the environmentalists that I needed the wood to save the owls -- but no go!

"When I started gathering the animals, the SPCA sued me. They insisted that I was confining wild animals against their will. They argued the accommodation was too restrictive, and it was cruel and inhumane to put so many animals in a confined space.

"Then the County Council, the Environment Protection Agency, and the Department of Natural Resources ruled that I couldn't build the ark until they'd conducted an environmental impact study on your proposed flood. I'm still trying to resolve a complaint with the Equal Opportunities Commission on how many disabled carpenters I'm supposed to hire for my building team. The trades unions say I can't use my sons. They insist I have to hire only accredited workers with ark-building experience.

"To make matters worse, Customs and Excise seized all my assets, claiming I'm trying to leave the country illegally with endangered species. So, forgive me, Lord, but it would take at least 10 years for me to finish this ark."

Suddenly the skies cleared, the sun began to shine, and a rainbow stretched across the sky. Noah looked up in wonder and asked, "You mean you're not going to destroy the world?"

"No," said the Lord. "The government beat me to it."

Practice for tomorrow's Lessons and Carols

Christmas Decorations

Decorating the tree always mean a trip down Memory Lane.

This one's from a missionary family who visited our church in 1995. It shows St Isaac's in St Petersburg.


This is a tiny hand-painted picture of the log cabin that was the first St Louis sem.


This is from a family at Gary's vicarage congregation. The words painted on the cross are "He gave His only Son," and every year it hangs in a prominent spot near the star on top of the tree.


This is from the organist at Gary's vicarage congregation. My mom loved the pottery cherub face from the first time she saw it, and commented on it nearly every year she visited at Christmastime.


These clowns are also from the organist in Jackson. The poor fellows have rendezvoused with Elmer's Glue more than once, but 24 years later we still have 'em.

Today's Laugh

Christmas Decorations

Hanging above the kitchen sink, with the Revereware --
the Mistletoad.

If I remember correctly, this fellow was a gift from a community Christmas party put on for families of disabled kids. I think we received the mistletoads the same year that Katie and Rachel got their gray stuffed bears.

A Few Short Items

Do you really need to enunciate on the descant? It's high. It should be okay if you hit the note and just approximate the consonants, right? After all, the congregation is supplying the words and sufficient enunciation.

Andrew and I butchered our first animal on Wednesday. I didn't throw up. Good for me. Lesson #1 -- the knife needs to be sharp. Lesson #2 -- intestines are funny. Lesson #3 -- some lessons are learned easier from a teacher than from a book.

It's snowing on a global-warming conference. Psalm 2: God sits in His heaven and laughs.

The nice thing about having two identical DVD players is that losing the DVD remote doesn't mean you can't use the machine. You just hijack the other machine's remote. (What happens when the second remote goes missing??)

An incident with Glenda's grocery receipt makes for a funny joke for Lutherans and other liturgical types.

Today's Laugh

"It's so cold outside," the elf said, "that I just watched a polar bear jump from one iceberg, trying to reach the next iceberg, but he froze in mid air!"

"That's impossible," Father Christmas said. "The law of gravity won't allow that!"

"Oh, I know," the elf replied, "but the law of gravity's frozen too!"

Commstock

The Mankato newspaper had an article last week on a half-hour movie produced by a couple of guys connected with Bethany. Paul said the bit part he played actually made it past the editing cuts, so that he was in 1-2 seconds of the finished film. And one of those scenes turned out to be the poster for the movie. Just thought Mom might like to see the poster.


For those who don't know my kids, Paul is the tallest guy in the picture, the one on the left in the front, next to the main character.

Blessed Virgin Mary

The angel comes to Mary and greets her with "Blessed are you among women!"

Mary goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth. She greets Elizabeth with "My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.... All generations will call me blessed" and tells why they will do so.

At the sound of Mary's song about God's keeping His promise of mercy, baby John leaps in Elizabeth's womb for joy, and Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit and responds to Mary's greeting, "Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb!"

Elizabeth was the first of "all generations" to call Mary "blessed." And why did she choose those words? Because it was the word of God spoken by the angel, and told her by the one who heard the angel.

And why do we call Mary blessed among women? Because we too heard what Elizabeth said that Mary said that Gabriel said that God said.

Trickle-down theology. Yup.

Today's Laugh

I didn't know if my granddaughter, Rachel, had learned her colours yet, so I decided to test her. I would point out something and ask what colour it was. Rachel would tell me and always was correct. But it was fun for me to revel in how bright she was, so I continued.

At last she headed for the door, saying sagely, "Grandma, I really think you should try to figure out some of these yourself!"

Economic and Social Stability

The property tax bill came recently. We were discussing whether to pay it in December or January, and how that would affect what we pay in federal income taxes. If we pay in January, this year's taxes will be a hundred or so dollars more, but the 2010 taxes would be several hundred dollars less (if the tax law remain the fairly stable).

We came to one conclusion: there is no way to know what to do. We don't know what the government is going to do to the economy, to know how much more trouble we're going to face with regard to Gary's income. We don't know what the government is going to do with regard to tax laws. We don't know what the government is going to do with regard to socialist policies in other areas. IF there were stability, we could make plans that we could reasonably expect to pan out. But there isn't enough stability for us know.

Then we visited the orthodontist today. We don't know what's going to happen with health care. We don't know what's going to happen with prices. How do we make decisions that will worsen Andrew's situation (which is a necessary step to achieve real healing), knowing that it's possible he'll get caught in the middle and not be able to finish the treatment? How do we know if we're going to start something which, with policy changes, may leave us with crippling bills before it's over?

As the bigwigs are playing politics and looking for power, I wonder if they have any idea that nearly every family and every small business in the country is facing decisions like these (be it about college, moving, health care, debt, job changes, etc) because we don't know what to expect from their tinkering two or three years down the road?

Orthodontia

The dentist recommended two orthodontists for Andrew. He told us that he wasn't sure whether Andrew would need palate surgery too, or if the braces would be enough. Today we got our first opinion. Second opinion is in 3 weeks.

Wow. Andrew's bite is misaligned in one direction on the left side, and misaligned in the other direction on the other side. Around the canines, the upper teeth fit inside the bottom teeth. The front teeth cannot touch each other. The roof of his mouth is not wide enough. Oh, and by the way, the wisdom teeth need to be removed too. These are not matters of appearance; this is about the likelihood of teeth becoming worn out at far too young an age, as well as the near-certainty that the problem will cause pain in his jaw, back, neck, and headaches a couple decades down the line.

If the dentist where we used to live had pointed these things out, they could have changed his palate through orthodontia instead of waiting until his bones were harder and the joint fused so that it needs surgery.

They need x-rays to see how to remedy this. The orthodontist said that her first look at his mouth indicates that we'd probably need to have him in braces which will actually worsen his situation. It will take a year or so to get the teeth in the right position for where they'll be after they do the surgery to rearrange his palate. After a couple of months to heal from surgery, they will continue with the braces to get all the teeth in the right place as best as they can. I asked about what would happen if, for some reason, we started on this program and it was interrupted. Wouldn't we be leaving Andrew in worse shape than where he is now? The orthodontist said that there isn't much worse than what he's got now.

Oh.

We talked briefly about the benefits and risks of a proper fix, as well as the benefits that might be achieved through a "compromise fix." These are going to be some hard decisions.

History Tidbit

The things you learn as you're teaching your kids...

American soldiers in the first century of the country were excellent marksmen and sharpshooters because the young men had been shooting their suppers. Kids would sometimes take rifles to school so they could shoot something on the way home. Or kids would be told to go out into the woods until they'd shot enough squirrels, crows, rabbits, quail, whatever, to feed the family that night. Their aim was well-practiced before they ever ended up in the military.

Today's Laugh

How do you know Santa is a man?

Because no woman is going to wear the same outfit year after year after year ....

A Highly Favored Lady

It's an amazing and humbling thing to look at your kids sometimes and see their faith and their good works, and realize that you would never have done the good thing that you just witnessed your kid do. When you see holiness in your children that does not manifest itself in your own life, you may have awe, but no pride (since you know you didn't have anything to do with engendering that goodness in them).

Think how often Mary must have seen that. When other kids picked on Jesus, He did the right thing. If Mary was impatient one day, Jesus responded perfectly. He did what He was supposed to, even when she didn't. I don't know about you, but whenever that happens in my house, I need more Jesus, more forgiveness, than ever. For Mary and Joseph to live with a perfect Son, there would've been plenty of opportunities to notice their own shortcomings, and thus be deeply in need of God's favor/grace.

Choir

I get to play chimes with Pam and Kara for Lessons & Carols on Sunday. Oh boy! And I get to play the drum for one of the songs. Oh boy! I like being in choir. Yes, I do!

I never played chimes or handbells before. Kara and I have to share one of the chimes, and pass it off between us. Kathy, the choir director, told me it helps to practice with spoons. So yesterday I had my teaspoon, tablespoon, serving spoon, and mixing spoon lined up on the dining room table, "ringing" them according the music. Andrew laughed at me. But boy, it helped a lot! Reading music isn't enough for chimes or handbells. There has to be some coordination too. Yikes -- for that I need practice! But practice with the real chimes (and the real live children's voices) went much better today. Yippee!

Now the question is whether I can sing and play the drum at the same time.

Today's Laugh

It's not hard to meet expenses;



... they're everywhere.

Where Did Pooh Go?

We came home from choir this afternoon to find a Pooh ornament off the tree, across the living room, under the edge of the back of the couch.

Andrew claimed it was Athena's fault. Being a middle-aged female (like Athena) I disagreed. It was the young 'un.

Proof?

Mentor or Teacher?

If I teach someone how to make kombucha or knead bread, I'm handing over a skill or a certain amount of knowledge. That's teaching, but it's not being a mentor.

When my kids learned to drive, Mr Fischer was the teacher for most of the kids in the class, but for my kids he was, for a brief time, a mentor. He was someone to look up to, someone who taught them much more than driving, someone to remember for the rest of their lives. That's why I bothered to make the 2-hour roundtrip to take Andrew to Trident Driving School after we'd moved.

Most homeschool moms are mentors more than they are teachers. A teacher passes on a skill or a certain bit of knowledge. But a mentor teaches so much more: values and outlook and habits and mannerisms and skills and worldview and social habits and maybe even academic knowledge too. Mentors shape people.

It's a scary to be a mentor. You know your own failings. How can you teach other people? What if they grow up to be like you? Yikes! It would be so much easier to just teach what's in the book, avoid the risk. But then ... which book? Who decides which bits of academic knowledge are the important ones to teach? Who decides which worldview should be passed on? A school board? A government panel? Nah. I don't want them being mentors for my kids either.

It's scary enough to be mentor for your own children, the ones God placed into your care, the ones whom you've loved since birth, the ones who've trusted you all along. But then, to ponder (even briefly) the thought of teaching other kids, the scariness multiplies! You know you can't love those other kids as much your own. You suspect other parents ought not trust you with their child's mind and heart and life. After all, who are you? When it's your own kids, you know you have a call from God to raise them up. But other kids? That would be a daunting responsibility to take on oneself.

Maybe if I could convince myself that teaching was something simple like passing on spelling skills, or fixing a washer, or declining Greek nouns, then teaching wouldn't seem like such a big deal. But when you've spent most of your adult life as a parent, a homeschooler, a mentor, it seems like such a trivial thing to merely "teach," in contrast to investing all your life and energy into the people committed to your care.

Today's Laugh

The only time the world beats a path to your door is if you're in the bathroom.

Christmas Lights

Everybody around here leaves their outdoor Christmas lights on all night. When you drive past houses in the daytime, you can usually see the tree in the front window lit up. The power company warns us every November that next month's bill will be high due to colder weather, more days on the billing cycle, and extra energy use for holiday celebrations and lighting.

When I was little, I remember waiting for dusk and asking Mom and Dad when we could turn on the tree lights or the outdoor lights on the porch. The 25th was the ultra-special day when the Christmas-tree lights could be ON during the daylight hours.

My big problem with turning the lights off (to extend the bulb life and to save on electricity) is forgetting to turn them back on again the next evening!

Library Browsing

Some homeschoolers choose which books they want to use for the year, buy them, and proceed to work their way through their chosen curriculum. Other homeschoolers plunder the library on a regular basis, making use of what's available, being flexible with the curriculum so as to make full use of what our tax dollars have purchased.

If you love using the library, now is the time to browse.

December is when people don't borrow as many things from the library. Especially the non-fiction. The shelves are overloaded! A couple of hours in the library in December will give you a great idea of what science and history resources, what educational DVDs, what computer programs, etc, are available to be used the rest of the year.

Today's Laugh

Middle age is when it takes longer to rest than it takes to get tired.