Today is a big day in our home, as we celebrate the birth of our sweet Sarah, who turned five today. It is also a day of great celebration as we celebrate the birth of Kathy, who graciously shares this day with her daughter.
But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children – with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts. (Psalm 103:17-18)
We opened one present for each of the birthday girls before the family headed off for a week at camp — a CD for Kathy, and a couple of little people for Sarah to play with on the drive.
Once we were all ensconced in the Duckabush house, we started to open presents in earnest. As the clock sliced away at the minutes before I had to get to bed (I have to work this week, and so am staying home while everyone else is at camp, sniff, sniff!) I began to run into some peculiar resistance. Kathy didn’t want to open her presents. She loves the anticipation of her birthday so much, that she can hardly stand to let it end. As we have tried to follow a budget this year, she knows this will be a sparser year than some, and I had to promise her that I had at least one present still in the mail before she would agree to open most of her gifts.
Sarah can always count on a brother or two hovering nearby to ‘help’ her with her gift-opening
Sarah had no such compunctions, but we did end up limiting her gift-opening so as not to overwhelm her with the generosity of her siblings and over-indulgent parents.
Rachel and Sarah bought their mama a new tea kettle, something she has wanted for a good while. Daniel and David went in on a fancy new frying pan, one with a handle that can stand the heat of the oven (in case she wants to make a frittata, I’m told). Joshua bought some music CDs, as we renew our efforts to satisfy Kathy’s love for variety in Christian music.
Some years ago I bought Kathy a colorful beach towel for her birthday, and eventually inherited it as my bath towel. The towel is starting to fade with age, and so …
I looked up ‘birthday’ on my favorite online Bible reference site and discovered that the only recorded scriptural accounts of people celebrating the day of their birth (apart from Jesus and the three Magi) seem to involve Pharoah (the good one, who was smart enough to hire Joseph) and a rather gruesome tale about Herod’s birthday party. Celebrating birthdays doesn’t seem to be much of a big deal in scripture, except for this rather graphic reference in the book of Ezekiel, when God reminds Israel that she was nothing before he chose her:
On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. No one looked on you with pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you. Rather, you were thrown out into the open field, for on the day you were born you were despised. Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, “Live!” I made you grow like a plant of the field. You grew up and developed and became the most beautiful of jewels. (Ezekiel 16:4-7a)
My two birthday girls were not despised on the day of their births, but it is sobering to think that, except for God’s kindness toward each of us, we would be ‘thrown out into the open field’ to die, forever cut off from his glory because of our sin. Remembering our helplessness and God’s gracious salvation through His son, Jesus, it seems very fitting that we celebrate Jesus’ birth with such lavish display and outpouring of good will toward our fellow man. Kathy and Sarah’s birthdays are well-situated at the other end of the year, when our budget and shopping stamina is not so exhausted from Christmas.
This year the kids seemed to have definite ideas about what to buy their mother, which was a great relief to me.
For several months, Kathy has been hinting about her desire for Photoshop Elements, a software package that she hopes to use to enhance some of her digital camera pictures. In June, she stripped the veils off her hints and began making less guarded comments, perhaps fearing that I would somehow not realize what she wanted for her birthday. Spitefully, I maintained an air of insouciance and bland disinterest, desperately clutching at the hope that I could still give her the software as a surprise. I’ve never been very good at insouciance, as it turns out, so I’m sure she was not surprised to receive Photoshop Elements as her ‘big’ present. Smug and delighted: yes, surprised: no. At least I can spell ‘insouciance’, which is no small thing in this day and age.
Now she has to contain her glee until she gets home, since the software will probably not install on our old laptop. And she thought opening the gifts would end the anticipation!
As the household settled down, Kathy persuaded the passel of boys in the next room to brush their teeth, with some success. It should be a fun week of Camp and Cousins!
Teeth-brushing, tongue-brushing, what’s the difference, as long as you’re sincere?
He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD. (Proverbs 18:22)
Thanks be to God for His abundant favor and blessing to me! Thanks, Mamie and Grand-dad, for raising such a godly and delightful daughter!
Happy Birthday Kathy!!! I didn’t realize you also share this day with Sarah and my Lizzie.
Holly
Tim, your blog entries still make me laugh more than any others I read (sorry Kathy, your are great too, but Tim hits my funny bone more often).
I think it is just the way you turn a phrase, and then turn it again, and again (like a rotisserie perhaps). I mean with such words as ensconced, compunctions, and insouciance how can you go wrong? You missed a great opportunity to use the word parsimonious, but then you were always careful to maintain a positive spin on things that hit close to home.
The quote from Ezekiel was perfect. I must remember to use that one in the next custom birthday card I send. It took me awhile to regain composure to continue with the fine application you extracted from that passage. It is a sobering thought.
Carl, thanks for the kind words. I’ve been reading a collection of short stories by Pat McManus, lately; perhaps some of his clever phrase-turning is rubbing off on me. I can dream, can’t I?
With Kathy away at the Duckabush, and with limited connectivity, I plan to make a concerted effort to ‘take back’ this blog. (Insert evil chortle here.) She’s had it too much her own way with this Project 365 thing, and (once she figures out how to use Photoshop Elements) there will be no stopping her. This is a time for a man, and I am the man for this time.
Speaking of Photoshop Elements, I just got off the phone with Kathy and she reminded me of the not-so-subtle way she checked out all the Photoshop Elements for the Intellectually-Challenged books from the library and left them strewn suggestively about the house. It really galls me that people always seem to assume that Kathy is the martyr in our marriage … !
Coincidentally, I received a form rejection notice from Hallmark Cards, regarding my submission of Ezekiel 16 as text for their Inspirations line of birthday greeting cards. It was probably just an oversight, and they’ll be contacting me any day, now, with a contract for additional tasteful card messages.
Happy Birthday Kathy and Sarah! We have Photoshop and Allison, my dd, loves it.
What a great dh to give you such a tribute.
Happy Birthday!
I love the pictures of Katherine. THANKS, Tim. So often we see the kids- whom I also love dearly. But that Katherine- well, she is the birthday girl. Along with that sweet Sarah.
Happy B.day to you both.
I am very impressed with your use of insouciance. What in the world does it mean? Well, a good English major can tell from the context. But my my my.
Love you, Tim- don’t get too lonely. Do I need Photoshop too?? I think so!! Ha. Aunt Kate
Happy Birthday girls!!!!!!!
I am sure that it is double the pleasure being able to celebrate with your family and the Noredgrens!!!!! (sorry about the new family name, Liz)
Of course you need Photoshop Elements too, Aunt Kate … and maybe a new computer to go with it! I was hoping that Kathy’s new software would require a system upgrade, but (curses!) the box says that it will work with our existing computers. The things a guy has to do to justify a new gaming computer!
I think insouciance is best rendered as ‘nonchalant indifference’, but I could be wrong. I picture a guilty person whistling demurely and sidling toward an exit whenever I hear that word, which makes me smile.
Thank you so much for the lovely Birthday Greetings!!! It’s special sharing the day with Sarah. She’s an awfully sweet present.
Posie – I love the name for the PMGE’s Noredgrens. Funny.
Lisa – what does Allison do with Photoshop? Does she spend very much time working with it? I’ve been wanting it for a LONG time. I’m afraid I’m not very subtle with my “hints.” Ha!
Hey Tim…. (bubble bursting comment coming:gird thyself)
Well, I, unlike Carl, lean (let’s face it, Tower of Pisa has nothin’ on me) to Kathy’s blogging efforts. With joy and anticipation, I open the blog each day and have to admit am more than crestfallen when I don’t see kme. Not that you aren’t witty and I have even at times quietly chuckled whilst reading your entries, Kathy, in my humble opinion, is far superior. What kind of a friend would I be if I didn’t stand up for her whilst she is away, taking care of your 5 children. Shame on you!
Honestly speaking, I think that any attempt on your part to ‘take back’ the blog is pure delusion and implies that it was yours to begin with…. Kathy’s readers can see through your insouciance towards them and will remain faithful! If you fail to cease and desist in this futility, I will be forced to report you to the elder chairman.
Happy Birthday Both!
Michelle —
Oh, what a terrible thing to face at 4:50 am — to have my own insouciance thrown back in my face!
Humph — “taking care of my five children” — you should see the glee with which she sends them off each morning to camp, with only Sarah (well, and five or six toddlers to keep her company) to watch during the day! But even in the watching of the teacher’s children, she has considerable help!
I sneer insouciantly at your threats and I gladly take up the challenge! Kathy’s readers will forget all about her and will become my loyalists! Bwahahahahahaha!
Maybe I shouldn’t comment this early in the morning, come to think of it. I fear I come across a little on the maniacal side.
Children! Play nicely while I’m gone.
Michelle – what a GREAT friend to defend me like that. See, Tim, I have faithful readers. Faithful Starbucks readers at that.
Tim – I need to remind you that you actually need to blog (and not just comment) if you’re going to develop some real fans.
HE STARTED IT FIRST!!!!
To KME I say……We’re faithful to the END!
To my little Insouciant Jouster I say…..you’ve been WARNED.
Enough said.
Happy Birthday, Sarah and Kathy! Our Gabe celebrated on Sunday! Can’t wait to see what you do with Elements…some fun photos I’m sure.
I have to agree that I am a little disappointed to see it is TJE and not KME writing the blog. I always find Kathy so funny, refreshing, and inspirational. So another fan of Kathy, YEAH!!
When Kathy and I were in college, we took a class together, entitled The Psychology of Humor. It was a great class, seminar style, and we wrangled for a long time just to come up with a definition of humor. One thing we settled on as a class is that humor is a blend of incongruity and familiarity — without the element of surprise or ‘it shouldn’t be that way’, a joke is just blandly familiar, and without some level of familiarity, a joke is just weird.
I have noticed that men tend to lean toward a higher proportion of incongruity (as in the comic strip The Far Side) as they mix their humor, while women can tolerate a much higher degree of familiarity (as in the comic strip Cathy) and still find something funny.
As Emerson Eggerich says, in his Love and Respect Seminar, “Not wrong, just different!”
Don’t worry, ladies, Kathy will be back online soon.
This explains why I love Far Side, but when I show it to my mom, she just smiles and says, “that’s cute honey”. No, it’s not cute, it’s hilarous! But she will clip out a Cathy comic to show to the ladies at Bible study and my dad and I just get a puzzled look on our face when we read it.
So now I need no longer feel guilty when a dozen ladies comment on how funny Kathy’s blog entry is, and all I can think is, “just sounds like another average day in the life of the Edgrens”. Apparently “another average day” the way Kathy tells it is filled with the “humor of the familiar” which only the more refined mind of the female is capable of fully appreciating.
Sorry to have started such a controversial discussion here. I better quite while I’m ahead.
Belated happy birthdays to both Kathy and Sarah. What a SWEET photo.
Happy birthday to both birthday girls (a couple days late)! And, Kathy, you will have a blast with Photoshop Elements! There’s a lot to learn (I like the Missing Manual book), but it is very cool.
And–Excellent spelling, Tim!
Happy birthday to you both!
Allison loves to make collages with her own art work for the background. It really came in handy for our annual family calendar.LOL She also loves to mess with photos, you know, crop, edit, blow up, change colors, that kind of stuff. She made one of my Summer Clean up Challenge graphics, all on Photoshop. All of her work is on my blog, even the calendar pages. She’s my artist/musician/dancer in the family.LOL
Happy belated birthday. I was wondering why all of the posts from Tim and none from you since I’ve been back online. Now I know.. you’re away again!
Tim is very patient to let you get away so much while he stays home working!
LOL about the Humor class. You guys are HILARIOUS and once again I LOVe the way you’ve woven scripture into the blog… I can’t say that I blame Hallmark for not wanting to start a new line of cards with your recent findings!
PSE… I must get it one day.. .maybe for Christmas… but then it would sit here for a year while I find time to figure out how to use it. I still haven’t even opened the iPod that the kids gave me for Mother’s Day!