On Sponges (and it’s got nothing to do with square pants)
I'll tell you what, hanging out with a dramatic three and a half year old provides non-stop entertainment. (Actually, everything about Lilli is non-stop, but I digress.) I am marveling (marveling, I say) at her current command of the language. Her tones and inflection...her comprehension of what she's saying. Especially, as Brody, a mere two and a half years younger, sits across the room from her, pointing at the dog and saying "ga." It's a show of incredible growth. For instance, here is a sampling of yesterday's best: Scene: Playing hide and seek with big sis, Valé. Lilli, in the washer/dryer closet; Mimmie, directly across from her in the pantry. Through a little slit in the...
The Lovely in Unlovely
Lilli loves her bath. It’s an honest legacy, passed down from her Mimmie who holds her nightly bath time as wholly sacred. Today, after her baby brother’s first nap, she asked if she could take a bath. I figured with me coming in the night before, perhaps she’d missed her bath and was longing for a make-up. I was happy to oblige. I got the bath filled, got she and her brother stripped down and, just as they were about to get in, Emmie called from work. Telling her what we were about to do, she quickly told me no. Apparently, due to Brody’s days-long bout with the stomach bug, she’d been bathing him alone in the tub, and Lilli had been taking showers, so as not to share water with...
A Million Kinds Of Beautiful
I'm writing this, flying high above the clouds, the night before I post it. The sun is tucking in its last rays of the day, out the window to my right, as we travel southeast to real, true spring, and beautiful babies in three different varieties: infant beautiful, preschool beautiful and school-aged beautiful. I'm wondering, sitting here sandwiched between the gal reading One Thousand Gifts and the other watching Jennifer Aniston on her iPad, just how many times I've made this trip. How many times have I occupied 16 (18, 23...) E, and asked for water from the flight attendant's cart? And how many people have I watched, anonymous, yet completely out in the open? As is always the...
It Takes Time
Remember this? My friend, Lynne, gave me a dishtowel with a picture of one of these babies on it, adding a little vintage flair to my kitchen. She knows how much I love old stuff, and she told me about a friend of hers who actually uses one today. After enjoying a fabulous cup of coffee at her friend's house, Lynne decided to get one for herself, which spurred the dishtowel purchase and the sharing of the story. As you can see in the ad, this percolator was part of the 50's "kitchen of the future," giving the average American housewife ease and leisure, and freeing her from the chains of archaic appliances and doing everything by hand. Even the name "Presto," made it the "magic wand...
His Words
Every Sunday around here is for His words, alone. Feeling defeated today? Let this soak in... For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" 1 John 5:4-5 ESV Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is...