Category Archives: Family

Events, Kathy, Sarah

Morning Manna

4 Comments

Once a quarter the women’s ministry at our church hosts Morning Manna – a Saturday brunch where the women have the opportunity to gather, meet new people, hear from one of the ladies within the church body, and enjoy some time of delicious food, fellowship and laughter.

For some reason Sarah decided she wanted to go with me to this morning’s brunch. “That’s a great idea,” I enthused, “why don’t we call Caden and see if she and Mrs. B. would like to join us.” I think there is something appealing (even intriguing) to a young girl about the congregation of women.

And so we see the next generation of godly women...

Sarah and Caden were perfect additions to the morning – they joined in on the Compliment Your Neighbor table mixer, they cheerfully ate the breakfast, and they sat quietly during the talk.

Krystal & Caden - more mother and daughter Morning Manna girls.

What a joy to spend some special time with Sarah. Just this week I had shared with a friend some struggles I was having with Sarah and expressed my desire to carve out some one-on-one opportunities with her. How kind of God to, so quickly, provide the perfect outing. Rachel and I have developed a sweet rhythm of shopping and running errands together, but Sarah is usually content to stay home and play or brings her beloved buddy/brother, David, with her and therefore we don’t have a consistent pattern of mother-daughter time.

Matching Purple Girls

Our speaker, Drea (Rurban Family Blog) did a beautiful job of sharing the story of her courtship (this was a Valentine’s Day themed brunch, afterall) and outlined her upcoming role as missionary/pastor’s wife. She and her husband Carl are leaving at the end of this month, with their four children, to work with Village Missions. We love this dedicated, faithful family and will miss them dearly!

Esther - two days old and already involved in Women's Ministry!

Of course, what would a women’s ministry event be without some sort of silliness? I don’t know how I keep getting talked into skits (big and small), but they are a lot of fun. Thankfully I can always find a willing victim, I mean friend, to join me on stage. This time Michelle and I ad-libbed our way through some announcements.

The Girl With All the Problems & the Girl With All the Answers

I am incredibly blessed to have such wonderful friends in my life.

Michelle can always be counted on - for friendship, support and fun!

I hope I am modeling to my daughters how to find and be a good friend. I am definitely a work in progress, and God is constantly shaping and growing me.

Marion and Nancy have greatly enriched my life.

Sarah had such a delightful time, that she asked if she can please go to the next Morning Manna in May. I’m sure laughing along with her mother’s silly skit (or was that laughing AT her mother?) added to the fun of the morning. I loved having her by my side: sharing with her the joy of women gathering together in the House of the Lord, training in manners and etiquette, modeling being involved and serving at church, and just plain growing closer as mother and daughter.

Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Proverbs 31:30

Kathy

Share or follow
Share

Related posts:

My favorite sister, Posie
Events, Family

A Pocket Full of Posie

4 Comments

After Christmas, we had the delightful opportunity of celebrating my parents’ 50th anniversary. My brother and sister and their families came out to Washington, and we all spent the week after Christmas getting ready for the big day. Now, six weeks later, I miss having them around.

My favorite sister, Posie

My parents were married twice and never divorced, and so they have two anniversary dates, the 12th of December and the 13th of January (or possibly the other way around). Because of college schedules, etc., we put the 50th anniversary celebration on the 29th of December, which is nearly the midpoint between the two dates.

There was a good crowd; I estimate that between eighty and ninety people were in attendance. But the best part was having my brother and sister and their families around for a good, long visit.

My sister's family and a few extras

Since my sister lives in Georgia, we don’t see her very often. I don’t know her children as well as I would like — it was great to have a chance to be with them and watch them in action.

To host such a big party, there were a lot of details, and lots of work to do. It was very fun to share that work around, between six grown-ups and eleven kids (with Grandma and Grandpa pitching in as necessary). We played games, watched movies, told stories, cooked, ate, and prepared for the party. I can’t think of a better way to spend a Christmas vacation.

In retrospect, we should probably have paced ourselves, using up only one of the 50th anniversaries, instead of recklessly spending them both. I wonder what excuse we can use next year, to get everyone to assemble again?

Tim

Share or follow
Share

Related posts:

DSC_1464 (Medium)
Family, Musings

A Visit with Timothy

1 Comment

My nephew Timothy has been visiting with us the last few days; it has been a pleasure for us to have him with us. Sadly, he heads back to college tomorrow, taking some of the fun with him. On Friday, he joined us for a game party, and on Saturday he helped to pick out Rachel’s new kitten. Today we taught him to play Stone Age — I particularly like having him around because he takes even longer than I do, to decide what to do in a given game-turn.

I’m always being hassled for my careful, deliberate style in playing games. The kids like to tease me about it:

“Hey Mom,” one of them will quip. “It’s my turn after Dad’s turn, so I won’t be able to wash a load of laundry. I can, however, wash the dishes, clean my room, mow the yard and attend a swim meet while we wait for Dad.”

My children are hilarious.


Timothy missed his little brother, so Daniel stood in for Samuel.

I think part of the problem is that I play games, not so much against the other players, but against myself. I want to play each game (within the context of the luck of the draw and the choices of the other players) in the most efficient way, maximizing my chance to win. I don’t so much care if I win or lose, but mostly I want to be sure to squeeze every possible advantage out of each of my turns. I particularly hate to win when I don’t know how or why I was victorious.

It was a good day. We enjoyed Tung’s teaching on Luke 6 in Sunday School, an excellent lecture by Andy Frye of Worldview Academy fame, and a delicious meal back at home. My parents came by for a quick visit and belated birthday celebration for Timothy, and then we read a few chapters of our latest Gordon Korman book (A Semester in the Life of a Garbage Bag). We played a few more games (Race to the Galaxy, Stone Age) and finished the evening with a Tim Hawkins DVD. All in all, we counted the day a success.


Sometimes you count yourself lucky to get your own hand back from a game-turn.

Share or follow
Share

Related posts:

Family, Rachel

Sweet Sixteen

I know, this blog post is supposed to be about today, or at least, the photo is supposed to be taken on or near this day, otherwise, what is the point of a Project 365 blog?

Rules, or at least the following of them, have never been my forte.

This picture was taken near Rachel’s 16th birthday, back in December. Some dear friends loaned us their cool bus (pictured below) and Rachel took a group (gaggle?) of girls up to Bellevue Square to window shop. We decorated the bus, stocked it with goodies, but we still needed a driver.

Fearless Driver
The birthday girl and her driver

“There’s no way I’m going,” I bluffed, trying to look like I was really digging in my heels. “Shopping with a dozen girls, in Bellevue? That’s not really my scene.” I was weakening, and Rachel knew it. She gave me her ‘please, may I have a kitten?’ look, which she has been practicing for years.

I began to panic. Six or eight hours driving and shopping didn’t sound like much fun to me. “Wait, what about Michelle?” I blurted. (There’s nothing like a good panic to get the ‘ole brain cells firing.) “She loves to drive, and she’s a girl, so she probably doesn’t mind shopping!”

A few text messages later, Michelle was on the hook to drive the bus. What a great friend. Thanks, Michelle! And a special thank-you to our dear friends, who loaned us their bus, and didn’t even fuss when we blew out a fuse with our hot-water pot!

A gaggle o' girls
Rachel has a nice group of friends.

Share or follow
Share

Related posts:

Family, Silliness

A Face Only A Brother Could Love

7 Comments

The best gift (OK, the only gift) that I gave my brother for Christmas was to grow a beard.

Purportedly, I grew it to amuse my wife, and to honor her family’s Thanksgiving-to-Christmas beard-growing tradition. I thought that this year, the first since Kathy’s father died, would be a good time for me to make my first-ever beard attempt.

Kathy was away for Thanksgiving, so I got an 8-day start, carefully nursing my sparse beard into life like an arctic explorer using his last match to ignite a fire. She laughed when she saw it, and so I’ve put off shaving it for some weeks, now.

But the big payoff was for my brother, who spent Christmas with us at the Refuge, as we celebrated my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. Mark couldn’t seem to keep his hands off my scruffy face, probably overcome with jealousy and awe at my hirsute manliness (or perhaps manly hirsuteness?). He mocked and sneered, but everyone could tell that he wished he could have a beard just like mine.

Envy can be ugly, sometimes
As always, I bore his impertinence with quiet dignity.

Too bad, Mark. You’re stuck in the Army for another couple of years, where facial hair is not appreciated. Maybe next I’ll grow a ponytail.

Share or follow
Share

Related posts: