Poetry Thursday

I Stop Writing the Poem
by Tess Gallagher

to fold the clothes.  No matter who lives
or who dies, I'm still a woman.
I'll always have plenty to do.
I bring the arms of his shirt
together.  Nothing can stop
our tenderness. I'll get back
to the poem. I'll get back to being
a woman. But for now
there's a shirt, a giant shirt
in my hands, and somewhere a small girl
standing next to her mother
watching to see how it's done.

Two 90 Year-Old Men I Love

The grand prize goes to this fella right here:

 My Grandpa will hit 93? 94? this coming October.  I really believe his secret to long life is laughter, spaghetti, and Jesus, not necessarily in that order.  He and my Grandma will celebrate 69 years of marriage in just a few weeks.  Try and wrap your noggin around that!

Second place goes to Mr. Truett Cathy, shown here with his lovely wife of 63 years.  Cathy started and owns the Chick-fil-a franchise.  He is one amazing dude.

He recently spoke at Indiana Wesleyan University, my alma mater, at their May graduation.  He received an honorary doctorate degree from the college as well as the honor of being inducted into their "Society of World Changers."

One of my favorite quotes from that speech is, "We all need encouragement.  I get a lot of encouragement, but I never got an overdose." 

True!  Who can we encourage around us today?

My husband is currently out of town for business, but couldn't resist sending me this photo this morning.  I'm sure he delivered these to some extremely happy steel customers of his.  

I personally didn't find it very encouraging.

No Poetry, Just Pictures

We've been taking in the beautiful sights of Northern Michigan this week.  Daddy has been working here and we are thankful to be tagging along.  

Could I please just freeze my kids right now?  We are definitely in a "golden" spot where no one has hit puberty yet, but we're done potty-training.  Sure, they still fight and whine, and generally make me crazy most days, but they are all young enough to enjoy family vacations.  I realize my days are numbered.

 We've been blessed to see some friends and enjoy the last few days of our summer.  Sigh.  It always goes too fast, doesn't it?

YouTube Joy

There's been a lot going on around here lately, so the blog hasn't received much attention. I'm cheating by putting up a funny video today.

The scary thing is...I think I understand them....

John the Baptist - Worship Leader?

Leading worship makes me nervous.

When I take on that role, I suddenly feel like a little girl trying on her mother's heels, "I love these shoes, but can I really pull off this look?" 

Over time, I've come to relax and rest when I turn my thoughts from What do they think of me? to What do they think of Him?  Immediately, I breathe again and all the pressure (most of the pressure :) slips away.

I read this from Priscilla Shirer this morning and it helped continue to sharpen my definition of worship and ministry:

For those of you who minister in your home, neighborhood, or church, here's the best definition of ministry I've ever heard.  John the Baptist was standing with two disciples when Jesus walked by.  John said, "Here is the Lamb of God!"  Immediately, those disciples left John to follow Jesus.  

Ministry is when people who hear you don't want more of you; they want more of Him because of what you've said.  

(From He Speaks to Me by Priscilla Shirer)

You may not be holding a microphone or singing somewhere, but your life is still coming through the speakers, loud and clear.  

Do your words, your life, make people want more of God?  

The Value of Staring

(Canyon in Yellowstone, Artist Point)

I stared a lot during our road trip.  Just taking in all of the raw beauty of this land.  

I felt like my eyes, my soul, had feasted.  And it was good.  

Leisure 

by W.H. Davies

What is this life if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare?

No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,

Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,

Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,

And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can

Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

I Went West, Young Man!

We're back!

Four kids, 2800+ miles, 8 days = 412 photographs.

Don't worry, I won't post them all over a period of weeks.  I wouldn't do that to you.  You only get a handful unless you are related to me and happen to be visiting soon.  Then, you are sitting down for an old-fashioned slide show complete with long-winded narration and various anecdotes.  You've been warned.

Here's where we've been:

 The Corn Palace!  

In Mitchell, South Dakota, there is this building with ...um, corn decorating the outside.  In the 1800s, residents of Mitchell wanted to persuade visitors to live in Mitchell, so they showed off their awesome agricultural status with this building.  It now holds a huge indoor basketball court and stage.  I read somewhere that it was "the Boston Gardens of the Midwest."  

Uh, no.

 Wall Drug in Wall, South Dakota.  Another delightful tourist trap. 

 More fun than a can of spray cheese!

 Mount Rushmore.  Love.

 Crazy Horse Memorial (in progress....forever....) a few miles down the road from the Presidents. Did not love so much...

 Grand Teton National Park = where Aaron wants to build a small cabin and live FOREVER

 Jackson Wyoming = where the rest of us can live and go visit him :)  kidding -- we all loved this part of Wyoming!  This was taken in the Town Square, where each corner has a huge arch of elk antlers.  Sweet.

And the grand finale!  Yellowstone!  It's an incredible place that I can't describe in one sentence.  Beauty upon beauty and wonder upon wonder.  

One more thought -- please, please, whatever you do, don't drive route 212 across South Dakota.  Unless you have some deep desire to test the limits of your sanity, stay on big old interstate 90 and don't leave it, no matter what your GPS says. 

 Trust me on this one.