O.K. So they're growing-up.

Sometimes it's hard to imagine that our kids won't be under our wings forever. Days like today force us to see glimpses of that reality. Though it may sound silly to some, a simple playdate that Liam had today brought those momentary glimpses to my mind. It was his very first playdate ever. He got picked-up at school by his friend's mom. Off he went like a big boy to someone else's house after school. We know the family and have spent time with them before consenting, of course. And he and this little girl "friend" are good buddies. He did just great too. They had a wonderful time. He did say he missed us and home. I knew for him it must have felt like a very long time away from home, having left early in the morning for school. To be honest, it felt like a very long time to me too. I missed him. I just can't imagine that soon, both our children will be older and more and more independent of us. All too soon I'm afraid.

Nice Wine (under $10)

WINE RECOMMENDATION:

We're sitting here on a chilly (yes, finally!) evening here in Florida, enjoying a glass of the Little Penguin, South Eastern Australia, Cabernet Sauvignon. It is a very nice wine and at a great price. Very smooth, and full-bodied in flavor.

PIZZA?

And if you need a good store bought frozen pizza to go with it, might I recommend this: Freschetta, PizzAmore' - Very good (for a frozen pizza):



Anyone else have any to recommend?

Hope in Grief and Heartache

Why is it that God gets blamed for all the bad things that happen, but never gets the credit when something good and wonderful occurs? One might hear of an unexplained healing happen, someone awaking from a coma after many years, and even doctors saying that they can't explain it; and yet, there will inevitably be an attempt to explain it in such a way that denies God the credit.

I would agree with those who say that life is hard. It is very hard at times. Cruelly hard at times. Very complicated and impossible to understand or comprehend at times. I believe we were never intended to endure, withstand and experience some of the things that we do. We were not created for that. I am of the belief that God never intended for us to experience the loss of someone to death, or to face death ourselves. God is about life. Not death. We are not Omnipotent as God is. We are fragile. We are weak. We do not have the ability to endure the devastation that death brings. We do not see things as God sees things. We do not have the perspective that God has. We may catch a glimpse of a heavenly perspective, but lose sight of it quickly in the midst of our circumstances.

A heavenly perspective is a difficult thing to maintain.

Without God, nothing makes sense. Even with believing in God, sometimes things make no sense. Without God, however, there is no hope. There's nothing to look forward to that is definite. With God, throughout the pain and trials, we are working towards an ultimate end that is beautiful.

With God, you can believe that there's a grace in the midst of pain that you cannot imagine if you are not living in the storm causing the pain. One example, when my dear cousin, just a year younger than me and like a sister, was dying of cancer. She was on the other side of the grace line. She was living in a place of grace that I could not understand (even as a believer myself). I would look at her and try to be in that place that she was. She was so peaceful. I was in turmoil. She told me the story of a day during her illness when she thought she was dying. She was filled with fear. She was in severe pain. She was in a room in the emergency room at the hospital. She was alone. She said she felt someone walk into the room behind her and physically felt a hand on her shoulder. She said the pain left her body. She felt profound peace. She said that Jesus visited her. There was nobody else there. From that day on, she had this grace. She passed-away at the age of 24. (She "visited" me in a dream on the night she died. She told me, "Look, Jan, I'm healed." I've never seen her so full of joy, so happy.)

I remember from the book, The Hiding Place, by a Christian named Corrie Ten Boom about living in a Concentration Camp. She and her family helped to hide Jews in their home in Holland in WWII (I once was blessed to get to visit that home), and they were caught. She witnessed her sister suffer and die in that camp. She reflected back to a time when she was a little girl and asked her father what it would be like to die. He asked her, "When do I give you the money for the ticket to ride on the train? Three weeks before?" She replied, "No, right before we get on the train." He told her that when it is our time to go, we will get a grace ticket. We can't imagine how we will handle something like death, but then, we're not in the situation at this moment, and therefore, do not have the grace to handle it. When we are in the situation is when we're given the grace ticket. The ability to endure. That ticket is handed to us by the Lord Himself, and I believe with it, He takes our hand in His and walks with us, giving us the strength we need.

There are promises that God has given to us. That He will never leave us or forsake us. I believe that all things will be reconciled to God, and become the way He intended them to be all along. In places throughout the Scriptures, this point is clearly made.

There is an excellent book out by Randy Alcorn called, Heaven. It talks about what we might expect on the other side of this life. I found this book comforting; especially during the long year we were caring for my father while he was dying of cancer. They are not just hopeful words. Much of it is evident in Scripture, and some is solely based on God's character (of which we can learn about in the Scriptures, as well as, through walking in relationship with Him.)

It is true that much does not make sense from our current perspective. The challenge I find is to keep a Kingdom perspective (God's Kingdom). That Kingdom that will come in full one day. That Kingdom that we can live in part in the here and now as well, but mixed with the way the world is in its current state (fallen). We can catch a glimpse of the Kingdom here on earth. The natural beauty of the earth, for example. Or, the loving, kind act that someone performs for another. It's not an easy thing to maintain. Someone cuts you off in traffic. Our natural inclination is to get angry and then get even.

A Kingdom perspective is to respond in the opposite way. In love. It's not an easy thing to do. But it makes a huge impact on a heart if we do. I recall a story I heard from a former gang member in the Philippines. He had come into a relationship with God, and had left the gang. The lead gang member found him and started to beat him up. With each punch to the former gang member's face, he would say, "Jesus loves you." The perpetrator was unrelenting. But with each blow, the response was, "Jesus loves you." The one throwing the punches finally yelled out to him, "Why do you keep saying that?" He replied, "Because, Jesus loves you." The gang leader came into faith through that inexplicable display of love and forgiveness.

In our present state, seeing things in this way takes discipline and Divine strength. God is love. He gives us that love if we let Him in. If we yield to His love, it can shine through us. It is a battle of the flesh. It is the slaying of the flesh. But God intends good things for us. They are heavenly things and not things of this world. The heavenly things can be experienced here and now in part, but the things yet to come are beautiful, perfect and in their fullness forever.

The pain and suffering in the now were never intended for us. But God promises to be with us, and that there's relief and no more grief on the other side of this world. Take heart. Things don't always make sense. Oftentimes they don't. But we don't have God to blame for those things and we have Him to eternally thank for ultimately restoring and rescuing us from things forever being grievous, painful and wrong.

Wall of Fame

One thing I adore is childrens' art. So when Liam brought home from school his "self-portrait," I was thrilled. I was also amused at how much it matched his school picture (which he didn't use as a model for the drawing.) I couldn't wait to get a frame for both of them to hang side-by-side. As you can see from above, mission accomplished! Aren't they cute?

Memories of Places Visited

A friend's e-mail got me thinking about places we've been to throughout the years in our work. In her e-mail, she ("Hi Jill") was telling stories of the past after coming up on a 20 year anniversary mark. I started remembering the past 20+ years as well. Some of those years I crossed paths with Jill. So of course, it made me remember a lot of old times.

One being, working with Primary Health Care and the remote places it took us to in various countries. One place was in Banaue, a mountainous area of the Philippines where there are 2,000+ year old rice terraces with sitios (small villages) interspersed. We hiked along the rice terraces, with backpacks full of our clothes, sleeping bags, medical reference books, medicines, and even pots and pans for cooking!

Here are some really nice photos I found of Banaue on-line. I have a lot of my own, taken back in 1990, but they are mostly all in slide form:

http://www.pbase.com/mark_dominic/banaue

In these pictures, you can see the houses built on piles that the Ifugao people live in. We lived with them in those small little huts, cooked our food in the "kitchen" located underneath the hut, fought off the chickens when they tried to eat out of our pots of cooked rice (and that region grows the best tasting rice I've ever eaten), got bitten-up by chicken mites, chased the pigs away in the outhouse (!), danced their dance with the Ifugao people, made the locals laugh when we tried to winnow the rice (and they make it look so easy), hiked far sometimes just to take a bath in a spring, tried not to slip and fall in the mud while hiking, enjoyed breathtaking views of the terraces, waterfalls, and villages, enjoyed fresh, crisp air (huge contrast after having been in Manila), and were overcome by the hospitality (in the village I stayed in with two other girls, they built us our very own house out of bamboo, and a brand new outhouse that was surrounded by a large bamboo enclosure! This house and outhouse was to be used as a dormitory for students after we left as students must hike sometimes over 6 hours to attend school. With a dormitory, they can stay over rather than having to hike back and forth to school.)

The need for basic health care and education in the region was immense. One of the problems stemmed from lack of water to bathe in. We had lines of children waiting to get treated for various skin ailments. Scabies and with secondary infections oftentimes, like Impetigo. Because of the lack of water as well, there were problems with parasites. Vitamin A deficiency and lack of iodine were also common. Many of the older women had very large goiters. Some so large that they would have to support it with one hand.

The Ifugao people were amazing. They could hike-up the terraces, in steep and difficult areas, with huge sacks of rice on their heads. Their feet are spread (toes oftentimes flaring out) from hiking barefoot with so much weight over the years!

The Philippines is a place I'd love to visit again someday. Of all the places I've been, I always say it is the country with some of the most hospitable people.

Wednesday

Today has the potential for being a great day for my nerdy side. In a short while, the Space Shuttle is supposed to return to earth (which means the potential for hearing the double sonic boom here in Florida, as they come in!) and tonight, a lunar eclipse! All in one day. Hopefully, the sky will be clear for the eclipse tonight. More later...

9:13 a.m. - Update...No sonic boom heard from our house. But it was neat to watch the landing on television anyway. A couple of shuttles ago, we heard the sonic boom loudly. Just like when it takes off, sometimes we see it, sometimes we don't. Let's hope that there are no clouds hampering our view of the lunar eclipse tonight.

9:43 p.m. - Update...Lunar eclipse very cool between clouds passing. The kids got to see it as it began before they were off to bed. Liam understood when I explained the position of the sun, earth and moon, and that it was the earth's shadow we were seeing. But then I began to wonder just how much he understood when he kept putting his hand up into the air and waving to see if he could see his shadow across the moon! Too cute.

Aquarela ("Watercolor")

A friend of mine just posted this on his site. It almost made me cry to watch and listen to it. It was the song Edilberto and I had our first dance to at our wedding reception (chosen by him.) It is "our song." This little video is very well done. Though in Portuguese, you can understand what it's about through the animation. Very touching!

Aquarela, by Toquinho.

Four Day Weekend

After a long week, we have a four day weekend with Liam out of school on Friday and this coming Monday. It's been nice to relax and just hang-out with the kids. Here are a few pics. from today taken while playing outside:

Note:

*Just wanted to let you know, comments left will first be moderated before they appear and are posted. You may leave a comment, but if it is a suspicious sender, it will be deleted and not opened. This will delay the posting of all submitted comments. So if you're submitting a comment, don't worry, it will be posted soon after if it is a legitimate one. This is due to the fact that I am getting pornographic material sent into the comment area of my blog. If this continues, I may have to change blog servers.

XO XO XO

(note: I've tried doing everything to put spaces in between the paragraphs of this blinking post, but to no avail. I have no clue what's up with blogger.com today *grrr*)


'Kiss' 'Kiss.'

Some Valentine's Memories....

One of the most memorable Valentine's Days I had as a kid was when I was in 7th grade. You could pay $1 and have a carnation sent to someone at school. Well, I was embarrassed as well as elated to receive a carnation from a classmate. He was in the class at the time. He grinned and blushed when the flower-gram arrived and was delivered into my hand. He had a crush on me, which wasn't fully reciprocated. But I am thankful that I was kind enough to appreciate his gesture and remain his friend. I don't recall being too embarrassed either, that I had received a flower from him. It genuinely made me feel special. The smell of carnations can still carry me back to that day!

Today at his school, Liam will be getting a bag of Hershey Kisses from us. The Jr. High students are doing a cancer research fundraiser. You pay $2 to have some Kisses delivered to your student. I had some sent to him. They're also having a Valentine's Day party of course.

Valentine's Day was also the day that my parents met each other. It was at an Officer's Club dance (my dad was in the Air Force at the time). Dad noticed Mom from across the room and asked her to dance. They married within the same year, and they never stopped dancing for almost 48 years. A true Valentine's story.

Stormy Weather

I went to bed last night under a tornado warning in our area. The warning was downgraded to a "tornado watch" by the time I settled into my bed. I hoped that meant I could sleep without having to worry about the roof getting ripped-off the house. We made it through the night and no tornado.

This morning, the storm is still here. It's quite lovely outside (I do enjoy stormy weather in moderation.) Gusts pushing waves of rain through and an occasional roar of thunder. There's standing water everywhere. It's a very soggy day in South Florida.

Mommy's Helper

Isabella is only 4 years old. But she's going on 17. I came home from the grocery store this morning. She noticed I had bought cereal. She asked, "Did you buy Grapenuts." I said, "No, don't we have some still?" And she said, "Well, we do, but just a little. We're almost out of it." It was while she was having a bowl of Grapenuts for her breakfast. It made me laugh that this 4 year old was keeping track of stocking the kitchen! Hopefully, she'll grow into more and more of a helper. She's such a sweetie pie. She's growing-up so fast.

In Honor of Natasha's Life

An inspiration ~
Running and dancing once again.
(Click on title for link about Natasha)

Grandparents' Day

Isabella and I joined Liam at school this morning. They invited the grandparents for a special Grandparents' Day presentation. Our neighbor was nice enough to be a stand-in Grandma for Liam, since his grandmas are far away and couldn't make it. The kids decorated boxes for their Valentine's Day cards, and then we headed over to the kids' chapel where the students performed music. There was beginning band, as well as choir. The best part for me was when Liam's class did a sign language song to "God Bless the U.S.A." It was nice. The Pre-K kids were adorable as well.

Here are some pictures from this morning:

Liam decorating his Valentine's Box with his "grandma."


Isabella enjoyed the attention she was getting from one of Liam's classmates!


On the playground.

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Yesterday, the Space Shuttle blasted off into space. I was just about to pick Liam up from school. I saw the afterburner cloud outside when I went to the car (although I had tried to see the Shuttle itself, but was unable to this time.) It seemed like the afterburner cloud was a thick cotton rope. It blew in one huge line, as if solid, by the wind and began to fall perpindicular to earth. It lasted for a very long time. It was still quite straight when I took these shots:

More Sick Days...

Just look at the poor petal. Here she is yesterday running a fever and feeling miserable. She's still sick today. I'm looking forward to us all being well again. It seems like it's been one thing after another here.

I had her situated quite well. Don't you think? I had her resting on the daybed in the Florida room. See, she's got her Gatorade, her crackers with peanut butter (Protein: Good because fever causes you to burn protein.) And then we have the stuffed friends and baby dolls all around. Pink blankie too (although I made her take it off when the fever was high). She was loving the princess treatment.

La Cucaracha

"La Cucaracha"

...just one of the songs that a wonderful Mariachi band played last Monday night (that song was specifically performed for the kids at our table.) We went out to dinner with our neighbors at a wonderful Mexican restaurant.

This particular Mariachi band was amazing. It was the first time that Liam and Isabella experienced hearing one. I grew-up hearing Mariachi bands in Southern Cal. I've always loved them. My birthdays were always spent going out for Mexican food.

It was fun for me to see Isabella absolutely swoon as they surrounded our round table and beautifully sang songs for us. They were directly behind her, and she would coyly glance-up at them as they sang. At one point, they even sang a song just for her (since she was the only girl child at the table). Liam seemed to be very focused on every note and had a sweet appreciative smile on his face the entire time. I was pleasantly surprised by that, because for many reasons, I thought he might be embarrassed that they were singing at our table, or that the music would be too loud for him. But no, he thoroughly enjoyed the entertainment and just absorbed every note.

The food was wonderful. All four kids did very well the entire evening. It was a nice outing with our neighbors. I'm glad we finally got to get out with them (we'd been planning a Monday night out to this place for a while.)

Busy School Days

Isabella and I joined Liam at school on Thursday and Friday to help with International Day and Friday's Field Day (that continued with the international theme). Liam's class represented Germany (hence the 'lederhosen' look).

Field day wasn't a big success with Liam. He isn't into the running competition kind of thing. Give him a Science Fair competition anyday. That'd be his thing. Although I think his form in throwing a baseball looks pretty good. Maybe we can convince him to try that.

Isabella was made to feel very special and included by Liam's classmates and staff. You'd never know by her size that she is two years younger than all of them. They even included her at the awards ceremony where she won a ribbon for participation! Very nice of them to do that for her.

Some pictures from Field Day: