February 21 - Three Gifts White

White froth lifting us 

onto the next leg of the crazy run. 

Family rocking it on the 

Frank Sade Memorial Menominee Run,

August 4th, 2014. 

Thankful for

 Kosir's Mackenzie Bryant, 

raft guide par-excellence.

Joe and I, 

pounding whitewater as a backdrop,

sitting close to where Frank Sade 

awaited his homecoming

while in the Everlasting Arms.

Thankful for the Rock of Ages.

Youngest son, bracing himself against Lake Superior's fury...
white tongue intent on lapping him up.

Crazy boy, proving his manhood -

I'm glad he knows how to swim. 

February 10 - Three Times You Heard Laughter Today

1)  Had a heart to heart 

with Manitowoc friend today.

Funny thing is we were dead serious

about so many things.

It's very refreshing,

this being-honest thing.

It builds respect each one for the other

and sets us free to be who we are.

It also encourages the kind of intimacy

good relationships are made of.

Honesty also produces a kind of freedom

that makes room for finding humor

in difficult things.

Some stuff can be so confounding,

we choose to bring humor to it.

And the laughter we share

is twice as good

for the sharing of it.

___________________________________

2)  Long ride home of 2 hours and 40 minutes...

what's a woman to do

but listen to something that nourishes

heart and soul.

Nothing like a funny preacher 

to do just that.

Humor has a way 

of reaching and teaching the heart 

that sometimes a more serious sermon 

can't seem to do.

At least for me.

Well, laughing alone in the car

was a delight today.

3)  Speaking of honesty... 

I love taking photos 

of things that speak volumes.

So on the ride home,

I stop and take photos of this and that,

and one in particular made me laugh.

"Where were you this evening?"

He or she may be honest 

when they answer the pointed question with ....

"I don't know"

Well now... 

do you really believe that'll work?

Might as well go straight home,

pour yourself into the relationship

you started long ago,

 and tackle the difficulties with

honesty, humor and respect.

February 8 - A Gift Broken, Fixed and Thrifted

I was fed up.

Desperate.

The boys were not getting along.

How they spoke to each other was so wrong...
so wrong.

So I got creative.

Radical.

Crazy.

The idea could have been
a gift from God.

I had once purchased a beautiful gravy boat
found at a local thrift store.
(Expensive china for a great deal.)
It was not part of a set,
it was single.

It was different - but even prettier - than this one.

After dinner was over, we cleared the table.

I told the boys to sit back down 

and wait for just one moment.

I went and retrieved the vintage gravy boat

and set it on a towel, on the table before their eyes.

I'm sure I said something like...

"Isn't it a beauty? 

It's worth a lot of money, you know,

because it's an antique. 

I only have one like it.

And I love it."

I can be a real china diva... 

my sons knew my weakness for beautiful dishes - 

often 2 or 3 sets were available 

for different occasions.

They looked expensive, but weren't, after all.

Then I took a towel and

covered the bowl completely...

I gave them a hammer,
one at a time,
and told them to have at it.

"Go ahead, break it, I said."

They were very reluctant.
I had to coax them to do it.

When it was all done,
broken china embedded deep into 
the threads of the towel,
gone from a bowl to a spread of shards...
I said to them...
with eyes a tad teary...

"This is what your words can do to a soul.
This is what can happen to the heart of your brother
if you don't control your tongue.
We are fragile boys,
we are all fragile.

And words hurt... 

words hurt.

I do believe that fixed the "bad mouthing" situation...
at least for a while.

And I was happy to do it,
for what matters more...

a bowl 

or a soul?

February 7 - A Gift at 11:30am, 2:30pm, 6:30pm

1)  11:30 a.m. finds me at Family Reunion time.

Today, the 7th fell upon Sunday,

and my ears, eyes, and heart
are fixed on the preaching.

I'm feasting with family members on God's Word;

followed by a solemn time for communion with

heart inspection, confession, and renewal;

followed by the famous Pot Luck get-together in the back.

I love family time!

2) 2:30 pm presented another family reunion,

this time of mother and daughter.

It was both sweet and sour.

She is always so happy to see me,

but this time she said...
"Are you here to stay with me forever and ever? 

You are staying forever, aren't you?"

And her strong hand slips to the back of my neck,

draws me close as she kisses me

and she says "I love you" over and over.

Wow.

"I love you too, mom, yes... I love you too."

She raved about how much she loves her photo-blanket.  See her there with her four children?

I share news of family...

sister and husband now 

entering a nursing home in Montreal.

We talked about the way of life

and how it just slows down more and more.

What a good tete-a-tete we shared.

Back and forth we talked about family,

and then the subject turned to Heaven.

I am always thrilled to talk about Heaven with her

because it's an opportunity to again drive home

what she recently accepted to be Truth...

Christ, Savior of the World came

to save her, and not just the whole world.

And I hope the talk deepens her assurance

 of her not-so-far-away future in Heaven.

I left with my heart full and happy.

I always leave her presence trying to remember 

that this may be the last time I see her.

So with a lingering hug and another kiss,

I leave her to sleep.

I would have no regrets if it were the last time.

___________________________

3)  6:30 pm brings us to a quiet time of reflection.

Evening settles, and life slows down.

Photo taken by my son Frank - Lake Superior, Marquette, Michigan

And I settle for a good read, 

this time one accompanied with questions 

to help me probe a little and challenge 

what in my life might I be casually accepting

as normal and fixed...

but needs to change.

"The unexamined life is not worth living."  Socrates

So I take the time and Sunday evening is perfect.

Thanks, Father, for such a lovely day!

February 6 - Three Gifts from Outside

1)  Family portraits out on the porch... 

oh what a gift it was that a friend

offered her photography skill.

And we did not know what the future would hold.

It was the season of life just before our second-born

moved south for opportunity's sake.

What a tough decision that was.

2) Then, much later, another season came...

 we enjoyed grandma living with us 

... a year and a half, to be exact.

It was wonderful.

Porch seasons where breezes 

brush up against cheeks.

Wonderfully refreshing.

Now a new season,

and she is in a nursing home...

I don't like her being away, 

outside our home.

Not at all.

3) Then an especially difficult season came around.

(No one knows what the future holds.)

That second-born stepped outside

the realm of this ol' world...

and we learn that...

 "Sometimes God allows what He hates (death),
in order to accomplish what He loves (new life)."
Judy Jeffery

It's true, when you have someone in heaven,

you carry a little piece of it around with you.

You literally feel closer to God.

And you long even more for that "outside world" yourself.

Of course you do.

This just so happened to be one of our boys' favorite books.

Lovely memory of years gone by.

I still have that book.

February 5 - Three Gifts Stitched, Hammered, Woven

1)  Stitched... knitted... woven... 

however it was... 

it's by His hand that I came to be.

There's something very comforting about that.

That the handiwork of the Master-Designer

can create such a beautiful soul.

A beautiful 

You.

2) I know someone who hammered away at the drills 

and the exercises, and the repetition,

over and over and over again.

After all, this whole piano thing was his idea.

I am thankful he asked for lessons, 

for he is gifted in a marvelous way. 

Now, every once in a while, a new composition 

comes floating our way.

What a joy.

Here, for you, the keys of an old tune are hammering away 

in response to his passion:

3) Woven...  

as in threaded through and out 

and through and out again 

and do it again and again.

Like a life that has to experience

one thing after the other,

sometimes the same thing...

 in order to learn

one

darned

lesson.

And we think it's all a mess,

undecipherable,

illogical and downright futile

to have to visit that again,

and again, 
and again.

That's not how God sees it.

Every woven thread has a purpose,

and soon enough,

you will see the beauty of it all.

It's true, you know...

February 4 - Three Gifts Found when Stooping

1)  When we stoop to admit our need for God...

He gives forgiveness that wipes away all guilt.

All kinds of guilt.

And this white robe of His righteousness

is given to us.

Imagine that.

What a beautiful thing.

2) She stoops down and sees that God works best

in hearts that embrace humility.

For God resists the proud,

but gives grace to the humble.

She may have lost a son

at the bottom of that waterfall...

but she knows He knows

best of all

that he belonged Home.

His work on earth was done.

3) Does God require us to stoop

so He can look down upon us

with haughty eyes.

No. Indeed,

that is Lucifer's way.

Jesus, however,
stooped all the way out of Heaven and Home... 

and slipped into a feeding trough.

The Bread of Life did this, for you and me.

He then lived a 30-year life span

that climaxed with the ultimate stooping...

receiving lashes and torture untold...

to ensure we would once again be His.

All that humility and power 

blended into one

God-Man Messiah.

Come, stoop down and see....

February 3 - Three Gifts Found In Writing

1)  Gift of Love on paper... 

older brother to younger brother.

Who's not thankful for such treasures?

2)  Many gifts are found in writing, and many times,

you discover things about yourself you had no idea was in you...

until you put pen to paper...

your own life played out in lines and swirls

of thought and meaning. 

 It is amazing, the power of the written word.

3) You know how it is...

getting a hand-written letter these days 

is a real treasure.

To think someone thought of you enough

to put love on paper...

just so you could read it

and feel its embrace.

Lonely souls know...

February 2 - Three Gifts on Paper

1)  Yes.... 

it's hard to beat the fast production of words 

pounded out on the keyboard, 

flying swiftly all over the world

in just a matter of seconds.

Amazing things, these computers of ours...

but really...

can you tell me the magic of a computer is better 

than the handwritten letter of a grandchild

who loves you and wants to connect with you...

by sending concentrated effort

of loving thoughts brought forth

through fingers on pencil and pencil on paper?

No.

I don't think so.

 Thank you Father, for little ones who show us how to love.

2)  Ha!

A magnificent discovery has been made, my friends...

right under your noses!

This lover of words has finally come to realize

that her other love... of beautiful fabrics,

cut into simple but gorgeous garments,

carefully paired with accessories

and the flair of a scarf or belt or jewelry...

all these wonderful things brought together

are not, after all...

solely the product of...

vanity.

They are the joy of a life lived with creative flair... 

(and a heart of gratitude for the gift)

a life that loves color, the feel of soft, flowing fabric,

and of a tad of drama.

(She should have been an actress that one!)

She now KNOWS it's okay to...

This paper reminder is on her office wall, oh what a delicious discovery!

3)  The following paper product 

comes from the heart of a man 

who has beautiful memories of times

spent at Grandma's Italian Deli in downtown Detroit,

or at the family reunions with mounds of food

produced by three Italian ladies in his life:

His Mom, Helen, 

his Grandma Lucy, 

and his Great-Grandma Iaconelli.

Husband took it upon himself to gift his son

with a hand-written cookbook of all his favorite recipes,

straight from the heart and kitchens of his ancestors.

And not without a touch of humor all throughout...

What a guy.

February 1 - Gifts of Red

1)  Two roses with red-edged petals...

each one a memorial of two little lives 

that didn't see the light of day.

But they do see the Light of their Father's face...

and one day soon, we will see each other

face to face.

Thank you, Father, for assurance of Life after death...

where we will be reunited with loved ones.

Forever.

2)  There was a gift given to me in 1971 by my parents.

It was a graduation present, 

a White sewing machine,

(still using it 45 years later )

along with accessories...

like the little red tomato pin cushion.

Mother did not teach, per se...

but I did inherit the gift of being creative

with fabric and buttons and bows...

Thank you, Mom, for the example.

Thank you, Father.... for making me in your image...

a creative sort...

like you, the Master Creator.

3)  Memories of long long ago...

a good portion of my childhood

played out on a Southern California beach.

This little red-scarfed toddler

enjoying the sand...

depicts glorious days gone by...

... days when my brother and I

brought toys to the beach

to make our play even more fun.

Those were the days...

and the memory still brings joy to my heart.

Thank you, Father, 

for good memories.