Friday, January 27, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
I Love You
It is a quiet Saturday morning. I have had my coffee, settled with my morning readings and quiet time and prayers, and added my daily five things to my gratitude journal. Frequently, one or all three of these little girls appear in that journal - their laughter, their singing, their joy and generosity. I don't have to write Skye or Maddie or Jordann for them to be on my mind and in my heart because they are always there. But there is something about writing the thought down that pins it down in a collection of beautiful memories. I love them deeply, and I know they love me. They also love each other. Maddie and Jordann live 5 hours away, and here are leaving to go home with their parents. What an expression of "parting is such sweet sorrow!"
I have a dozen items on the to do list, getting ready for another surgery for Joe next week, but starting them can wait. I am going to make a couple of phone calls!
I have a dozen items on the to do list, getting ready for another surgery for Joe next week, but starting them can wait. I am going to make a couple of phone calls!
Labels:
family fun,
grandchildren,
grandmothers,
gratitude,
remembering
Friday, January 13, 2012
Joy
Today is our oldest son's birthday. Sean Paul Parker, born on January 13, 1968, was not only our first son, but my parents' first grandchild. In this photo, my Daddy, Howard Teal, and Sean are enjoying reading The Night Before Christmas, with Sean illustrating "up the chimney he rose!" I love the pride which gleams in my father's face. I love the unbridled joy showing in my son's smile. Happy Day, Sean! We wish you this much joy today!
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Beginnings
I guess the beginning of a new year is a time for thinking about beginnings of all kinds. This little box is a recipe box. Joe painted and decorated it for me for our first Christmas after we were married. It was pretty empty for a long time because I didn't have many recipes. The only thing in the box was a small note pad on which I had written menus and my grocery lists for the first six weeks we were married – our beginning meals! I even kept tabs on how much I spent for groceries – part of our beginning budget!
I enjoyed cooking and learning to make new dishes, but I was definitely a beginner. The little white box was, too. As I collected recipes from friends and family, the box filled until it needed tabs and labels for indexing – the beginning of a large cookbook and recipe collection. I think all these beginnings led to the start of a lifelong love of cooking and joy of hospitality. I am grateful for the beginnings.
Labels:
beginnings,
Christmas,
Christmas recipes,
family,
marriage
Friday, January 6, 2012
I Choose You!
I have so many reasons for loving Christmastide! Faith and family are intertwined during these days in powerful ways. As we gather at Christmas and live the days (all twelve!) to Epiphany, today, January 6 - we make choices, year after year. Clyde Reid's book You Can Choose Christmas is one of a number of books I enjoy reading each year; it lies on a table beside my chair right now. It is true, we can choose Christmas...that choice lies within us. We also make choices in relationships, the most important ones in our marriage and family. When Joe and I were married on December 28, 1963, the vows we made to each other used some important phrases beginning -" I will" and " I take" and " I do" that are really saying "I choose. I choose you." Since our anniversary always falls in the middle of the week between Christmas and New Year's, it is always a special time for remembering that choice. So, last week marked 48 years of saying "I choose you!"
Christmas 1963
I remember a blur of travel, anticipation, last minute preparation.
The memories rush by like scenery from a train window.
family and friends gathering, arms open
happy voices
bells
church
prayers
the color cranberry
boughs of green
candlelight
gifts in fat boxes with shiny paper
white ribbons
a muff where I hid my hands
a dress I sewed with lace and tiny buttons
Mother's sweet smile
Daddy's shaking hands
chocolate covered cherries under the Christmas tree,
his gift to me each year.
In 1963, he gave me
To a man who said he would love and honor me.
My love gave me my new initials.
1963, the year of my Christmas wedding.
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