"What if" Amanda

 What if my parents moved, the bus was late that day, they got impatient, and left me? 

What if a spider under my bed ate all the bedbugs, grew giant, and ate me? 

What if a really big eagle picked up the car we were in and started flying away with us? 

What if burning your finger meant you would die soon?

What if every time you smiled you had to go potty? 

    --Amanda, age 8

I'm Glad

 I'm glad there's chocolate,

    Fish 'n chips,

Starry skies and onion dips,

    Soft, worn jeans,

    And crispy fries,

Goods-down quilts,

    And butterflies.

I'm glad there's kittens,

    Candleglow,

Sunday comics,

    Fresh white snow,

Daffodils and barbeque,

    But most of all,

I'm glad there's you. 

Someone is Watching

 Old Testament characters didn't know their words and actions were being recorded for all mankind to read and evaluate. 

If Jonah had known ... would he have gotten on that ship? 

If David had known ...  would he have taken Bathsheba?

If Joseph's brothers had known ... would they have sold him into slavery? 

If Moses had known ... would he have killed the Egyptian?

If Sarah had known ... would she have lied to God? 

Even though, as far as we know, our words and actions aren't being recorded for posterity, I think we forget that someone is always watching us. II Chronicles 16:9 says, 

"For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him."

 After a very long list of faithful people, Hebrews 12:1 says they are "a cloud of witnesses." 

Not only that, but people around you are watching you. Your children watch you. Your neighbors watch you. Your siblings, parents, friends... they all watch you.  Everything they see in you is measured by a standard, and we all fail. But our goal is to be able to say with Paul (I Corinthians 11:1), 

"Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ."

 

 

 

 

Changes

March 10, 2013

I might have to move. Again. I’ve accepted that.

Yesterday, my family asked me why we are not considering overseas opportunities.

Because I’m selfish, that’s why. OK? I like my comfortable living space, driving to stores and putting purchases in the trunk, reading signs in town, and having steady electricity in my home.

Since November, I’ve been helping my husband look for work anywhere. Well, anywhere INSIDE the USA. Maybe the Caribbean, if need be. Alaska and Hawaii are OK with me. And so far, we have had very little in the way of success at finding that next job. He has had a few phone interviews, but the follow-up has been the letter of “we chose to go another direction.”

So yesterday, they asked me. Selfishness isn’t really a good answer to the question. Because my family is all on the west coast of the USA, I say. Yes, and how often do we see them? Truthfully, about once every two years. And I slowly realize, I have no reason at all to tell God I won’t go overseas again. It’s not comfortable. It’s downright wrenching. And then I let go.

Well, mostly let go. I enter the favored website and put in all our combined qualifications, and then I carefully select two opportunities I might like. One is in the Caribbean. I go on with my Saturday, feeling much better. And praying for a job in Puyallup or Uhio. Or the Bahamas.

Bahamas

Sunday morning, I check our email. That should be safe on a Sunday. And there is an inquiry from a school in Bangladesh, a request that we apply. That is by no means a done deal. I’m not packing. But my heart is challenged today, to consider it, seriously and prayerfully consider moving back to an inner city, with its poverty and the amazing opportunities to share hope and joy in a dark world that knows it is dark.

Bangladesh

Every grandmother thinks her grandbabies are the smartest. But mine actually are. Olivia is absolutely remarkable, even though we are a whole country apart. And Derek amazes me daily.

Derek and Garry do this cute little interaction throughout the day. One of them makes a sound, like “La, la, la!” and the other one echoes it. They might be in different rooms, and one will call out, “Ba, ba, ba!” and the other echoes.

We Skype with Aunt Michele since she moved to Baton Rouge, and Derek always checks behind the computer to see if, just maybe, she is back there. He remembers things she taught him, like blowing kisses and sticking out his tongue, and he does them at the phone whenever she calls.

I feel so privileged to have been a part of every day of this little guy’s first year. Here’s to more!

Family Reunion

The original six of us, and my favorite picture from the reunion so far.

Fuller Family Reunion 2012

I go to Family Reunions with expectations. I shouldn't, and I know I shouldn't, and yet I do.

This time, I expected to play games, talk a lot, listen a lot, laugh a lot. I expected to catch up on everyone's lives, hear all their stories from the past two years and their plans for the next two.

And I expected to show off our delightful, cheerful, easy-going grandson, Derek.

Derek didn't cooperate, and that affected ALL of my expectations. Stories were told, and I was upstairs with an upset baby. Games were played, and I was helping figure out that Derek didn't react well to local water being put in his formula. And our cheerful showpiece was arching his back and screaming. Often.

By the time people began leaving, Derek was almost back to normal, and was really enjoying his second cousins. Our drive home was incredibly easy. He was cheerful the entire 8 hours. It was amazing. And today, he is delightful again.

So much for my expectations! I don't know how my brothers and their families are really doing. I didn't hear their plans. I did play a couple of games and helped a little with a puzzle. But it wasn't the week I expected. Looking back, it was a good week, though. I wasn't at work, I was hearing the voices and laughter of people I love dearly, and I got lots of hugs.

It's fuzzy, but this is my mom and her first great-grandson.

Six months old. Our little guy has been with us six short/long months. He is still the most cheerful, easy baby I've ever seen. That's not to say he doesn't have his moments - the occasional frustration that leads him to let loose a scream - but for the most part, if you pay attention and give him something to do or think about, he is calm. 

It's spring, and we often sit outside in the evenings now. Sometimes someone joins me, but most every night it's Derek and I. We listen to neighborhood dogs and he tries to bark back at them. We watch birds land in our little trees and then fly away, and he follows them with his eyes until they are FAR away. He loves it when I imitate the bird sounds. 

He hates it when the military jets fly right over our house, and is frightened by any loud, mechanical sound. They make him cry and he appears to be afraid. A sudden, loud cough in a quiet room has the same effect on him.

Pounding on things and hearing the different sounds they make seems to fascinate him. He likes to try different objects on different surfaces. I'm not sure if that makes him a scientist or a musician! Or maybe it just makes him a little boy...

And his favorite song is "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy." Isn't that silly? But it makes him smile and bounce every time I sing it. So I do. I love to make this little guy smile. His second favorite song is, "Ho-ho-ho- hosanna, ha-ha-hallelujah..." And he will actually make the "ho ho ho" sound to ask me to sing it. 

Someone visited recently, someone who really would rather Derek had never been created. That broke my heart. I know it wasn't the ideal way for our grandson to enter the world, but oh, what a precious treasure he is, what a gift from God! And I just couldn't get past that. I know I need to forgive that person, just as God has forgiven each of us because of what Jesus did. I will forgive them. But what a sad thing to wish for. Don't wish away my little sweetheart. He's a bundle of joy in my life. 

"...He-he-he-he saved me; I've got the joy of the Lord!"