The Road Not Chosen

It's Party Time!

The kitchen floor is finished, the house is clean and we are almost ready for our party tonight! We haven't had a party in quite a while so I thought tonight would be the perfect time to have one. Everyone is bringing food, I'm making a meat & cheese tray along with Parsonage Punch. (Parsonage Punch is strong tea, sugar, almond & vanilla extracts, lemon juice & 7-Up. Very yummy!) We'll play board games, eat & laugh. Somewhere close to midnight I am sure Harold will break out his guitar and we will worship in the New Year.

Last night I was making sugar cookies. Saying that I actually made them is not really true. I cooked them. Pillsbury actually made them. As I was icing them, Evan noticed that I didn't seem to be doing it correctly. I was squeezing the icing out of the package onto the cookies as they lay on the rack & taking a butter knife and spreading it over each cookie.

"Mom, you're doing it hard." my son told me. "Pick up cookie, hold in your hand & spread the icing. It's easier that way." I looked at him with some surprise, as to my knowledge he had never iced a cookie in his life. (We aren't big iced cookie fans.) "How do you know this?" I questioned him. "Your dad taught me a long time ago, when I was a baby kid. Now I teach you how." he replied very proudly. Evan then ran into the living room. "Dad, I teach Mom how to ice cookies! I teach her!"

I had to laugh with joy. It isn't often that Evan gets to teach someone, especially his Mom, something so practical. In his view, he must seem to be endlessly the student. I was glad for his instruction and even happier for the joy it brought to him. We all need to feel wise on occasion, don't we?

Happy New Year to all!

New Kitchen for a New Year

Husband's can be unpredictable creatures at times. (I'm sure they feel the same way about us!) I went into the office this morning for a couple of hours to get the deposit done from Sunday's offering, pay some bills and visit the wonderful ladies in the daycare who are working this week while I goof off. When I got home, Harold was laying our new flooring, by himself! (Well, Evan did help a bit until the noise from his dad pounding the boards into place got to him. He then retreated to his room to play his drums!)

Harold was supposed to wait until next week when our strong young men, Danny and Paul, would be available to help him. But Harold had recovered from painting the kitchen last week and was ready to move on to the next project. I think he is just happy to have some time to get some things done around the house. He rarely has much free time so wanted to put it to good use. Plus he's not a very good vacationer unless we leave town, which we will do tomorrow for a couple of days.

So he's almost done with the flooring, which is good because we are having our friends, the Hanley's, over tonight. I have posted a couple of pictures of the work in progress. I'll post some before and after pictures of our kitchen when everything gets done.

I want to say I am so very thankful to God for this new floor. I've wanted one for many years, but some other need was always more pressing. It's nice to have a freshly painted kitchen and brand new floor to start off the year. We will initiate it on Saturday with a New Year's Eve party. If I don't get a chance to post for a few days, Happy New Year's to all!

Christmas Reflections

I thought I'd do just a short post about church today. Yes, we did have a service, for which I was grateful. Tom, our senior pastor, had an awesome message about Christ coming and bringing a defining moral compass to the earth, proclaiming truth for all eternity. It was really good!

We had visitors from other churches in town that did not have services today. I was glad that we were there so they could come worship with us. It was also fun to meet people's family members. That's one thing I always like about holiday services, I get to meet new people. The only problem is that I get pretty deluged with intoductions, being one of the pastor's wives, and I am horrible with names. Great with faces, though, so I can usually remember if I've met someone in the past! I used to be able to remember names but as time goes on.... Well, we won't talk about that!

We had a quite Christmas afternoon and evening, which was really nice. So now I think I will go nibble on some of the yummy treats we have and snuggle with my hubby on the couch. Hope your day was peaceful and full of blessings also!

You Are Japanese Food

Strange yet delicious. Contrary to popular belief, you're not always eaten raw.

What Kind of Food Are You?

This is so true! Japanese food is my absolute favorite. I'd rather eat sushi than anything else!

The Bold & The Brave

Evan, the conquering hero, is back from having his tests done. Harold reports that he did awesome. We had prayed with him this morning and walked him through his coping strategies one more time.

Harold said that fortunately they got right in for the blood draw, so Evan didn't have time to sit around and get nervous. Evan held out his arm for the tech, took his dad's hand, and self-talked his way through it. Harold said the tech was super calm and very quick. The hardest part of the labs was that they needed a urine sample, which someone had forgotten to tell us about. Evan had been fasting & had nothing to eat or drink after 10PM last night. I had made sure he went to the bathroom right before they left also. It took a while, but Ev was able to give them what they needed. (Sorry if  this is too gross. Remember, I come from a medical family. These lines are a bit blurry to me at times!)

As for the x-ray's, Harold assumed they went OK because the tech wouldn't let him in to be with Evan. Harold waited outside the door to make sure it sounded like everything was going OK, ready to go in anyway if Evan sounded stressed. Everything went fine & I think our son felt pretty grown-up by the time he was done.

Now we wait for the results. I am not sure how soon we will find anything out because of the holidays. My guess is we won't know anything until after New Year's.

So we are now prepping the kitchen for the painting we will do today. (Really, I have been helping. Harold is pulling off the baseboards right now. All my tasks are finished.) Thanks to all who prayed for us. We really appreciate it.

Tests Coming

Evan will be having some tests this Thursday morning at our local hospital. He has been complaining of pain in his knees and hips for a while. Since he is not a big complainer, his doctor thought it best that he get some x-rays to make sure there is no joint degeneration or other problems. It's been a long time since he has needed O.T. for his hips but maybe we need to start up again.

While he's there, they will also do some routine bloodwork. Except that getting blood drawn is never routine for Ev.  He rarely has to get it done, and when he does we are pretty much in for a fight as he is still really scared of needles. So we are not looking forward to Thursday morning. We have been talking with him and helping him walk through some coping strategies. His classmates are going to pray for him tomorrow (which is the last day of school before break) and that always makes him feel better. Hopefully things will go well. So please say a prayer for Evan if you think of it Thursday morning. Thanks!

Catching Up

It certainly has been a busy few days! I'm not sure why I decided to move my blog during the busiest time of year... Julana asked me to share why I choose to move my blog to TypePad. I guess the answer is that I'm a tinkerer, but I'm only a tinkerer to a certain extent. And, boy howdy, is that a metaphore for my personality if there ever was one! So while reading the following explanation, feel free to see it as a glimpse into me.

Welcome!

I have been blogging for two years now. I spent about a year and a half at Blogger and six months or so at MSN Spaces. Neither one of them really felt comfortable to me. My dear blog friend, Julana, has begged me to leave Spaces, as it is hard for people to leave comments there. I agree. So I have made the jump to Typepad.

To those of you who so graciously have a link to me posted on your blogs, would you mind updating it (again!) to http://upsndowns.typepad.com/the_road_not_chosen/ and I'll try to stay put!

You may have noticed I changed the title of my blog. The Road Not Chosen certainly echos Robert Frost's famous poem, The Road Less Taken, and that was my intent. My life has certainly taken a road that I did not choose. God chose it for me, and it has turned out a much more fruitful journey than if I had taken the wider, easier road I had planned!

I hope to move some of my favorite posts from my other blogs to here over the Christmas break. Let me know if you have one you particularly liked. If you are new to this site and would like to read my past posts, please see the links to the sidebar on your left.

Thank you again for your patience in following my blogging trail!

Tookie William's Legacy

I am rarely political on this blog, but the impending execution of Stanley "Tookie" Williams at midnight tonight begs to be talked about. If you are unfamiliar with Mr. Williams or his life, I will mention that he was the founder of the Crips street gang, based out of Compton, California. The Crips are one of the most violent street gangs in the history of our country. They started out small but now you can find Crips members literally from coast to coast and many places in between. They, along with the notorious Blood street gang, have divided Compton for decades. (I will not spend time here debating the issues of crime & poverty.)

While there is a lot being said about whether Tookie should live or die tonight, and debate about if he is guilty or innocent of the 4 murders for which he is charged, one thing is certain. There is a legacy of blood, death and destruction caused by his actions as a younger man. He has tried to atone for these things as best as he could. He has renounced the Crips, and dedicated himself to trying to educate young people as to the true nature of gang violence. He has tried to leave another legacy, for which he deserves credit.

I have a different perspective from most white, middle-class Americans on the subject of gang violence. To most people in this country gang culture is something observed only in the news, in movies or through rap music. I have seen it up close and personal. Harold & I spent several years at a church in Compton. My life has been impacted by the citizens of that area who have lost children to gangs, whether by incarceration, death, or violence. I have held a weeping mother in my arms, whose gang banging son has been sent to jail. I have been to the hospital to visit someone who has been caught in the crossfire of a gun battle between the Crips and Bloods. I cannot wear something blue (the gang colors of the Crips) or red (the colors of the Bloods) without thinking of those gangs. I saw and experienced things I will never forget.

It was an honor to serve the people of Compton. I learned more there about life and God than almost anywhere else. I have learned bravery from stubborn grandma's who fought for their families and neighborhoods against gang violence. I learned that people will either think you are very crazy or very brave by visiting their home at night, when nary a white person can be found on the streets, but they will love you for your effort. I have had the joy of seeing former gang members give their hearts and lives to God, and make changes possible only with the help of Christ. No city I have ever lived or worked in has impacted me like Compton.

Today I pray this: that if Mr. William's life is required of him tonight, that he is ready to face God, who is the only one who knows the truth about each and every one of us and will judge us accordingly. I pray also for Compton and South Central L.A., that, should Mr. William's be executed, there would not be rioting and further violence in his name, something I doubt he wants.

And finally, I pray that somehow, someway gang culture, which has  become so horribly glamorized that even farm kids in my rural, Midwestern town flash "gang signs", would be shown for what it is: a legacy of death.