thanksgiving

I’m a slow processor in the body of a woman always in a hurry.  And today I have the stomach flu. This thanksgiving day. This day to process every gift given us, on all those other days when I am too hurried to notice. And I sit and listen to my sweet husband struggling to make six pies while the youngest runs around licking batteries and the boy begs, “Can’t we please make a whole pie of maraschino cherries? - are you SURE it would cost $35.00?” 

And I laugh.  I laugh that tomorrow I will be well and their shenanigans and his habits will somehow annoy me, while today I long to be a part of it all. I laugh at the footsteps I hear upstairs and doors banging downstairs… of people in my house - once strangers and foreigners… now friends who I do life with - if I take the time.  And my family - out-laws - in -laws - mother- father- men-of-my-heart, from a distance and those who somehow find their way into my living room every-single-day of the week. Who last week I was bemoaning the simple reality that time spreads too thin to reach them all on one holiday… and now today - I see no one. Quarantined for a mere instant - one little day - because He knows I am a slow processor.  Today I miss their faces - the hubbub… because it takes me all day to sit here and mull over how wonderful this gift of my life really is.

This is where you say, “SHUT UP!”  anytime I begin to complain about anything from here on out…. ok?? 

Thank you.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Scripture notes:

48 give thanks - most have to do with His “unfailing love”

6 - thankful

30 - thanksgiving - I love how in the Old Testament this was often someone’s whole vocation :)

I never knew Colossians was such a thankful book.

Colossians 3:16 NIV

Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 

give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Chronicles 16:34

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Philippians 4:6

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

In no particular order:

I am thankful for Jay and his baby lamb! Her name may or may not be "Easter Dinner"

This guy learned to drive... and we didn't even DIE!!

our chickens may not be the smartest (i.e. - laying their eggs anywhere - including a tool box inside a shop) but we DO have fresh eggs.

Umm... I just think they are amazing... authentic... and amazing

and they make huge messes and tons of great projects... never boring.

like I said. Never boring.

I may never have HAD brothers... but I watched brothers my whole life.

And these police men makes John's day - every year :)

And our students teach about their cultures to the kids at Washington...

And my dad is moving into the 21st century... kind of excited - kinda sad.

I am thankful for these children and that sunset - and that we didn't get towed...

I am thankful for her. INSIDE and OUT.  

The Doctors can find NOTHING wrong with her.

That's always been my problem too...

I'm thankful for this grandpa and the 3 others who pour into our kids lives - every day

I think mostly I am thankful that I am too sick to try carbonated olives.

I am thankful for the unique experience that my son and I have of sharing a best friend. 

30 years later...

This.

This is my life. Could it get any better? I think not.

"celebration season"

One of our first students, Marina, told me the second year she lived here that from Halloween until New Year's day was "celebration season" - that the whole of these 2 months were a run together of happy events.  As a child, the weeks from Halloween until New Years seem as long as the endless summers on the other end of the year. Now... they are a run together.  But in our house they are a run together of beautiful.  Why not celebrate for an entire 2 months of the year? Why not carve out a giant section of the year to be intentionally creative, hilarious, thankful, generous and gracious?  I cannot for the life of me think of a reason to not "celebrate" for the rest of 2014.

So - the rest of FHSU starts "celebrations" at Octoberfest... and apparently this newspaper clipping shows a sobriety test being given in our drive way.  I think we slept through that.  And we probably miss the 100s of others given there while we carry on with life...

Like tonight's celebration of the beginning of "celebration season"

Or our "goodbye" celebration to Grace, Daniel, and Noah... :(

Or maybe we were busy watching the backyard fungus grow...

or on a field trip...

Or maybe we were trying on a wig...

Or doing some crafts while we pass a month of illness

Or maybe we were on a pumpkin patch/corn maze/haunted house road trip

Or... carving a pumpkin

Or costuming...

it's what we do best...

well... it's what Grandma Joan does BEST

We just do a lot of it :)

Ahhh.... 703 Fort.

So much to celebrate here...

And just a little reminder to me: 

Don't Blink.

Columbus Day

Hebrews 11:1

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

Luke 13:18 

He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it?”.....

So let’s just say - there is something beyond what we see. What everyone else around us sees. Something beyond the refugee camps blossoming this year into millions, and the many more that would do anything just to move to one. Something beyond waiting for yet another MRI, or being told that you need to sit and watch your disability score raise even though you are no longer capable of watching your own children. No help yet - maybe never. Something beyond days of winter illnesses, repeated surgeries, climbing bills, dwindling resources, and the continual search for the person who is gonna really “get behind you" and the quieting of those who don't. Something beyond ebola headlines. And something beyond the fear mongers.  Something beyond misunderstands, hurt feelings, unmet expectations, and the sinful brokenness of the person you hoped would be your next best friend. Something beyond my sinful brokenness. At 6:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m. 2:00 p.m. and then again at 11:30. And then again tomorrow.  Something beyond a cell phone with a humorous or “informative” news feed that momentarily takes the edge off - and silently steals moments from my day - days from my children’s childhoods - all moments of quiet. As I daily participate in the epidemic loss of the contemplative.

It would be worth sailing for.  It would be worth campaigning for, raising awareness of, and leaping out in faith for.  It would be worth more than all the gold of a new world. Worth all that is lost of the old world.  And there would be signs of it.  A slight bend in the distant horizons that whispers, “They are all wrong.” “There is more.” “There is a way.” “Set sail.”

And the bend in the horizon is the beautiful moments and the narrative of those who have been just a little further down the road… or seen it all from a slightly different tilt. And scripture - a map. Perhaps I read it poorly, but well enough to know which way to start. And all the stories and glimpses and directions combined give one enough hope to say, “tomorrow  - I just hoist the sail again, aim that way, and wait for the wind.  For I can’t set sail without the wind, but I can be prepared to catch it when it comes to carry me … one step closer to the unknown… but the promised.”

And i'll practice reading the map. 

So here’s to Columbus Day and the beautiful fall that has been the bend in my horizon:

New family members... and their traditions... and all the beauty it brings to a simple Kansas life.

Good friends who have become family.  Better than family.

Crazy Grammees' who just keep things FUN

And Bunny ears. They are of the kingdom of God. They are. Really.

And family... spread far and wide: geographically, philosophically, and in every other way but roots

Field trips.  I think my kids should go on a field trip every day.

And if they don't we make family field trips.

Or dinner dates with Grandpa.

And there is produce. All kinds - I don't care if is baked or thrown out of a trebuchet - It is blessing

 Doubly if shared with friends.

And celebrated with friends.

Kingdom medicine for my soul.

And Saudi kingdom medicine for my body, "Amanda, it is ok. It is the Saudi way to take it all together."  Good. I'm a bit Arab after all.

And when we are well we should build things and shoot things and dance  and eat hot dogs over an open fire and hold snakes and play tennis. We see the bend past all the brokenness in these ways.

And we should dress up. Always - and we should prepare to dress up for months ahead of time. 

Right Gandma?

And she should take road trips with student drivers - surrendering ourselves to near death just for a Chinese buffet. 

And when someone builds you a fence:

 you should probably fry 25 lbs. of liver for them and make 20 lbs of mashed potatoes.

But then you should probably open all the windows in your house - because the smell...

well it is not of the Kingdom of God

What is your bend?