Over the Ord..a time capsule

This desk is a time capsule. See all those air mail letters on the left? They are all letters from my friends in Scotland that I saved from my first few years away. We had four absolutely marvelous and unforgettable years living in Scotland. Leaving there was heart-wrenching. I had crying dreams for weeks even before we left. The first year was the worst. I never really recovered totally. I've never had such a group of friends as I did there. My letters were from (and this will only mean something to those who lived there!) Mairead, Tricia, Janet Docherty, Elizabeth, Cathy Sunderland, Carol MacKenzie, Christine MacKenzie, Bessie, Janie, Minnie, Norelle, Val Graham, Helen Christie, Chris Nicolson...can you believe all that?! I still stay in touch with most of those friends, but some of them have died. One of the letters from Elizabeth described Bessie's funeral. That was very touching. If I keep reading, I may find one telling about Janet's. I do have one from Elizabeth after John died. It's a wonderful letter of hope and peace.

One of the fun things about these letters is since they were written nearly 20 years ago (most between 1989 and 1993) our children were very young or still babies. What fun to read about what we/you were all going through! Holidays, pregnancies, outings with friends, work around the home, ill health, school progress. It's also fun to read about my children's club in Castletown. What happened with it after I left, and how my friends were keeping it going. Now I expect a comment from one of you Scottish friends reading this! *smile* We've come a long way from those pen and paper days, but there is nothing like pulling out those old letters and reading them again.

This is what I get into when it's another dark, cold, cloudy blustery day. You'd think it was the end of November! Oh, and by the way, it snowed this morning! Yeah. But it didn't stick.

I'm monitoring testing....

I thought I'd blog while I'm watching 8th grade students take their annual achievement tests. OCA didn't have enough teachers to cover both the senior classes and the testing rooms, so they asked me to come over and help. You know how I love to be here. On Monday when I finished I went to finish the afternoon in 2nd grade. That class is the sweetest class with two darling boys and 10 sweet girls (They are the 1st graders that I took a photo of last winter with all their Bibles! They were very excited to have me in their room again. Maybe a litte too excited... The teacher is reading one of the American Girl books to them, one about Felicity. So this morning I brought Linnea's Felicity for them to see. Don't worry, Linnea, the teacher said she wasn't going to let them play with her!

Yesterday was dark, dark, dark. Those heavy dark, cold rainy days really bother me. I woke up with a headache, but it went away fairly soon. I wrote letters, read and tidied up the house. Since Andrew's car is broken, there was no car for me to go anywhere. Not like I really wanted to anyway in weather like that. However, by 4 it was an absolutely gorgeous day. After dinner Den, who had gotten new running shoes, and I went for a 3 mile walk along the bike path. The sun was just setting as we returned. Ah, I love Midwest evenings! There was no wind and the sky was clear and sunny. I DO love living here...except for no sea.

I'm reading a biography of Ben Carson called Gifted Hands. He is a neurosurgeon who separates Siamese twins. He is a brilliant man and a Christian. He talks about how his mother kept after him and his brother to work hard and do their best in everything. One amazing story takes place when he was in his first semester at Yale. He had done very well in high school and easily gotten into Yale, but he says that he really hadn't learned how to study. When it came time for his Chemistry final, he knew that he hadn't learned what he should and he was going to fail. Since he had wanted to be a doctor ever since he was 8 years old, he began to panic. That night he prayed and asked forgiveness for not working all semester like he should have. He prayed that God would help him study, then he worked and worked all the problems in the book. But by 1 am he was too tired and went to bed. During the night he had a dream about the test problems. He was working on them in his dream. When he woke up, he could remember what his dream was so he wrote down everything he could remember. When he got to the test, THOSE WERE THE EXACT QUESTIONS ON THE TEST! He wrote the test and ended up getting a 97. However, he never again procrastinated about studying. He knew then, for sure, that God wanted him to be a doctor.

"Italian" visitors

One of the blessings of being in the Navy and living around the world is that our friends come from all over. These friends aren't really Italian, but he was our chaplain at the base chapel there for three years. Our children are nearly the same ages; they have their girl and two boys like we do. Our families, along with two other families, did many things together those three years. Tim and Marsha were driving from Wisconsin to California and stopped here Sunday evening. We had a lovely Italian dinner and had a good visit before bed.
It's lovely to be able to just pick up where you left off! And the bond we have in Christ makes our time together all the more special.
Anyone else driving through? Make sure to stop for the night. There is always dinner and bed and breakfast!

Whirlwind weekend

I went down to Covenant College this weekend to see "Guys and Dolls". Will played Lt. Brannigan, the policeman who is always trying to catch the gamblers on Broadway. He never quite catches them in the act, but it's funny watching him try. The part isn't huge, but it's funny. Will is good at playing the tough guy. Our friend Jim thinks he needs to wield that billy club a little more forcefully! He does poke at them with it. I got to see the musical twice. And it was great both times. I tell you, Covenant College has some fantastic singers! The harmony, the solos, all fantastic!! Much of it is men's harmony, and that is such a treat these days when we rarely hear men sing in church let alone have several who harmonize. Another of the main characters was a guy (have to say "guy" since it was "guys" and "dolls") from my mom's church who sang with two other guys. It was a fun song sort of in a round. Denny and I are going to rent the video so he can get the idea of what Will did. The video is with Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando made in 1955. The musical must be set around that time, I think.

It was spring in Chattanooga. Blooming forsythia, red bud, a few dogwood, flowering cherry, pear, apple, daffodils, hyacinths. Ah, and green grass. What a pleasant change for a few hours!! The drawback was that it rained the whole weekend and "thunderstormed" all day Saturday. Whether it was that or just the stress of the trip, I ended up with a migraine on Saturday and didn't get up until 4pm. Oh, I kept trying, but I didn't finally start pulling out until then. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to miss Saturday night's performance.

After Saturday's performance I did get a chance to talk to Will for awhile and visit his room(s). He rooms with three other guys. They sleep in one room, and study/hang out in another.

Sunday I went to New City Fellowship, the PCA church in downtown Chattanooga. A very lively service! I enjoyed it, but I don't think I could go there every Sunday. Of course, Jim Ward is the music director, so we rock and rolled! It's fun to sing one of his songs in church while he's leading the music. The highlight of the day for me was getting an invitation to the "Drexler Dinner". The friends with whom I stayed have Sunday dinner for their nieces and nephews (8 of them!) who go to Covenant. They invite a friend each (or so). College students are so energetic! And hungry. I peeled 10 pounds of potatoes before church. Sara had roasted several roast beef and cut up carrots, a college girl made a huge bowl of salad. It all disappeared in less than an hour! They live in a lovely old house and the tables were decorated so beautifully. It was a great way to end the weekend.

Set your mind...

Thoughts to begin a new day. Deut. 4: 2 "For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? (v. 29) you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. (v 35) To you it was shown that you might know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides him. (v. 39) Know...that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other."

Pretty clear who's in control, huh? Great way to focus my thoughts for today. Off to public school, where to them, God is not "God in heaven above or on earth beneath". Sad. I'm glad for the scriptures and the grace of God that helps me to remember Who is Truth! Have a great day!

The ark of the covenant

Yes, I know it looks like a cedar chest. It is, and a very old one. But I call it the "ark of the covenant." My grandmother, my dad's mom, got it from her parents when she got married way back around 1921 or so. She told me years ago that as a young mother she knelt and prayed at this cedar chest until she found her peace with God. To this day, it reminds me of the blessing of the covenant family. I relish those promises. I kneel here at times and pray for my children. I know there is no special "power", but I like to think that special power is God's promise to be a God to me and my children. That's a pretty powerful promise! I hope you're praying for God to fulfill His promise to you and your children, too!

God's arms

Last week I was writing a note to local friends whose son is on his third deployment to Iraq. This verse came to me, and it is so encouraging. I think I am going to post it on my refrigerator door. Such peace and security!

"The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms." Deuteronomy 33:27