Simpler Days

We spent Saturday afternoon at my grandmother's house. She got out her old albums and boxes full of pictures and we lost track of time as we poured over the pictures of days gone by. With pictures scattered all over the living room, we asked my grandma to identify this person and that person. Interestingly, or ironically, the striking part of each picture was its very simplicity.

This picture is of my mother's parents with the first seven of their thirteen, yes, that was thirteen, children. Obviously, in the raising of such a large family, there were sacrifices. The family was far from well off, and they lived in a fairly small house in the country surrounded by farms. But they all worked hard, and they all loved to laugh and have fun.

It is interesting to compare today, complete with our economic "crisis," with those times. I think part of the problem for us today is that we have come to expect more in the way of "things" than our grandparents and great-grandparents did. When you compare our standard of living to that of many others in previous generations, and even today in other cultures, you have to wonder, are we really as badly off as the media would like us to think? Or is it just that we been spoiled to the extent of developing skewed ideas of what distinguishes between "necessities" and "luxuries?"

My mother's family worked hard for what they had. They didn't whine for what they didn't have. When my mother's brothers were old enough to be hired out, they worked for farms in the area - and then voluntarily handed nearly their entire salary to their father at the end of the week. When I compare this to many of the younger generation of today who are thankless for what their parents have invested in them, who seem to expect instant gratification as a right instead of a privilege, it boggles my mind.

I think part of our problem today is that our lifestyle is based on paradigms we have developed that were unrealistic in times past and may be unrealistic going forward. Who knows? It may be that the economy scare will provide enough of a jolt for many of us to return to a simpler lifestyle.

And that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.

Summer Days - 'lil bits of life

"The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world, and all who dwell therein."

-Psalm 24:1

"But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you."

- Isaiah 43:1-2

"Oh taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him."

-Psalm 34:8

has it really been this long? And yes, I'm still alive! :)

I think in my last post I promised to post more often - only that was some 8 or 9 months ago... and, I ask, wherever did those months go??!!

Time just seems to whisk by these days!

Here's a few random "catch up" facts of what I'm up to now:

1) Derivatives. Logs. Integrals. Tangent lines. Ugh. Yes - I'm taking a summer calculus class! And already in over my head... as in, will bake cookes for tutor. (hehe). I'm grateful for a dad who has the math brain that somehow skipped me!

2) Music. Still involved in the music at church about 3 weeks a month. Also singing with the Sunday School aged kids. When I suggested to the children that they sing out, as in loud-enough-so-as-not-to-sound-totally-bored-yet-not-ear-splitting, they asked if they could "scream." Um, no. However, I did introduce a song in which there is a line "Praise Him with a shout!" and they are allowed to "shout" the word "shout." This has become their favorite song, and we now sing it often. As in: Every. Single. Week. Twice. Ah yes, fun! :) Oh, and their teachers, (one of whom is my mom) absolutely love me for it... ;)

3) Major switch. Right, from accounting to business. Never thought this would happen, and my accounting professor gave every evidence of being broken-hearted over it, but my motivation is that I graduate a semester earlier by switching. It was odd timing, immediately after a particularly intimidating accounting exam, and actually my fellow students told the professor that I switched because of his difficult exam. He took it personally. My poor professor.

4) Car. My Plymouth Breeze had come to the point where I refused to put any more money in it. It was time to find a more reliable car, yet one that would still fit in my small (think college student) budget. Well, my dad and I found a DEAL! Yes, we were so excited I bought the car on the spot, and post purchase realized that a) the A/C didn't work (minor detail, who needs it?) b) the windows stuck when you rolled them down (yikes don't like that one!) c) it smelled like cigarette smoke (somehow we didn't notice because of the DEAL) d) oh, and other things stick, such as the gear shift and the key, but if you wiggle them just long enough you can work with it. Anyway, what a DEAL! :D

5) Can't. Wait. For school to end. Oh, hang on, that one isn't new... :)

6) Hiking. Yes, I actually fit a hike in BEFORE finals this spring! :) (I was sore for two days, ahem, could that mean, out of shape?! I think possibly. :) )

7) Lots of other stuff. Yes, busy, busy. And honestly, since this has been a very difficult year, I wouldn't have it any other way. I think I needed every distraction I've had, even when I complain about the lack of sleep! I actually think that this has been a trend for me over the last few years, as in whenever I went through a particularly difficult time, it was also such a busy time that I didn't have too much extra time to think. And that's been a good thing. Anyway... I'm still taking it one day at a time. And in less than 365 of those days I will have graduated and will be looking for something else to keep me busy... :)

I've missed writing, and hope to post another update soon (say maybe a real blog post as opposed to this rather strange quick-facts-of-what-I've-been-up-to-blog-post).

And this time, I'm thinking soon will mean something less than the last 8 or 9 months that went by since my last post...

:)

Another Semester, oh joy! :D

Ooh, it's the start of a new semester...

People ask me if I'm enjoying it, and I'll say, "well.. seriously... ummm...."

"not really?"

It's not that I don't like learning. It's not that I don't want a degree, it's not that I'm lazy. Well, not often lazy. :) It's not that I don't like balancing a job and school and homework and studying and church music ministry and and still trying to stay connected with my family.

No, no, not that I don't like it... ;)

I have to say though, I don't understand how working mothers do it! I don't! The most I try to manage my balancing act the more I am impressed with how working mothers keep their sanity. Like Sarah Palin, for instance. Now how can a woman have five kids and run for Vice President? I like her views, I appreciate her stances, I am very glad for a prolife candidate, but at the back of it all I wonder, how does she do it?

Gotta wonder.

Yeah, I like being back in school, I like staying busy. But you'd better believe that by the time I've started a family, I will be more than ready to let go of it all.

Yes. :)

Well, I'm off to finish my income tax and marketing study assignments. Not sure when I will post again but I will do my best to be more regular than I have been. Oh, and that last sentence was for you, Ginger. And for you, Aunt Laurie. ;)

Weekend!!!

YEAH!!!


(that's it, but I'll be back... :) )

The Miracle of the Sunrise

Today I got up early, and sat before my open bedroom window and watched the sun rise up above the hills and trees. Its light was softly glowing, long before it actually could be seen, and then suddenly, it burst forth upon the mountain tops, down into the valleys and into my window to shine across the room in such a radiant way that one could not help but feel the warmth shine right into the deepest parts of the heart.

It reminded me of another kind of sunrise: the sunrise that broke through one of the darkest and deepest of moments of my life. The sunrise that came slowly at first, so much slow that I could hardly dare to hope it would ever really come, and then, as if in time with a great unknown orchestra, it broke forth, sending it's bright and warming rays to the farthest corners of my heart. It did not take all the pain away, no, for pain is not a part of darkness, but the darkness, the deep black that blinded my eyes from seeing beyond the moment, was gone, and as I sat, quietly thinking of the road that I had travelled in the dark, I realized that it is true. Had it not been for the darkness, I could never have rejoiced as I do now in the breaking forth of the sunrise. Had there not been moments when by faith, I held on to what I knew was there but could not see, the sunrise would be but common place and ordinary. It was then that I realized that “We can only appreciate the miracle of a sunrise if we have waited in the darkness” (Unknown)

God has promised that every dark night has an end. There will be a sunrise, a glorious, beautiful sunrise someday. It might seem like the night will never end. Perhaps you'll only see the glorious dawning in the place where He makes all things beautiful, all wrongs right, but the morning will come. The darkest is before the dawn. Just hold on a little longer, because the morning is coming, and the sunrise will be worth it all.
- by Chantel Harding

(From the ylcf blog) http://blog.ylcf.org/2008/08/miracle-of-sunrise.html

His House

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised.

But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to?

The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come in and live in it Himself."

-C. S. Lewis