Temporarily Out of Here

Duane and i are going on our first fall vacation in twenty-five years. We are going to Montana on the bike. I'll post some pics as soon as i can!

The Difference Between Boys and Girls

When my girls were little, like-toddlers-in-the-high-chair-little, they would do things like pick up a piece of spaghetti off of their plate and rock it between their fingers and hum, “Rock a Bye Baby”. When my boy was little, even littler , like-a-just-sitting-up-baby-in-a-high-chair-little, he would move cheerios around on the high chair tray making blubbering boy “putting “ noises with his mouth like they were cars. Yes, before he could even talk.

I didn’t teach them that.

They are no longer little. Now they are 20, 26, and 28. So last Friday I found a mouse head on my nice flagstone patio. My daughter Ashley’s very unique long haired black cat, Edgar, sat nearby looking very full and contented. (My son, Jeff, says Edgar is just biding his time until he can take over the world.) So I texted the kids a message about the mouse head, and got these replies:

Daughters: Eewwww.
Son: Take a picture!
And upon receiving the picture: That’s AWESOME!

…the difference between boys and girls…

Birthdays

I'm so bad at birthdays. Not the remembering them part, just the celebrating them part. I always remember them, like the day before. Then i don't have time to mail a card or buy a thoughtful gift or really plan a fitting celebration. Or sometimes i buy a card weeks early, with all the good intentions in the world, but never look up the address or buy the stamp to put it in the mail timely.

I think my birthday dilemma began way back. All of the significant birthdays in my life are too close to other holidays, so everything runs together...especially when i have to get finished with one thing before i can concentrate on another. My CPA husband, Duane -- his birthday is during tax season. My kids --Kari's is right before Valentine's Day, Ashley's is the day after Halloween, and Jeff's is Christmas Eve. My Mom's is Columbus Day, grandbaby Titus' is the day after Ashley's, and so on. And mine...December 23. Sigh. My apologies to all of you. I think i just prefer Christmas. (Maybe because it's always a set date, and i have a month to work on it.)

So i have an idea. I've been having some good ones, lately. Like, for instance, renaming the fall festival at church "Pumpkin Palooza". My birthday idea is extraordinary, though. I've decided to buy and send birthday cards whenever i see one that reminds me of someone. Whether it's their birthday or not. Yes, maybe it's a little weird, but on the other hand... i'll never be late with a birthday card, again. Kari said that was just fine with her, as long as i remembered to include the money!

FIREWORKS!

I've decided i want a night funeral so i can have fireworks. At the funeral. Or at the burial. Doesn't really matter to me. My daughters both said they'd do sparklers in place of roses on the casket, but that's not big enough. I want real fourth of July fireworks.

My husband will have to die first, because he thinks i'm crazy. He doesn't share my fascination with fireworks in the least. I could watch them every night...in fact the last time we went to DisneyWorld, that was my goal. I watched them on the beach, I watched them from the theme parks, I watched them from a boat on the water. I looked for the best spot to watch them, and by golly ... i watched them. I love fireworks, but i love it even more when they are put to music.

I think i got it from my Dad. Dad loved fireworks and I'm sure he introduced us to them at an early age. I guess i just never got over it. He loved every thing about summer..lightning bugs, falling stars, whipporwills, heat lightning, the sound of locusts buzzing in the nearby trees, sitting outside on the patio at night telling Paul Bunyan stories until we got sleepy, and of course...fireworks. In the old timey days when you got to light your own, and it was still legal, we bought more than we could afford and sat up shop in my grandmothers front yard. From the safety of Mama Jo's front porch (or not) we and all the cousins, popped firecrackers, lit roman candles, watched our first "fountains", and explored the fascinating world of pyrotechnics and pyromaniacs.

So this fourth of July, Duane and i went to a great fireworks display. We sat on a pallet waiting for dusk and for the fireworks to start. About half way through the program, this little kid in the group next to us couldn't contain himself any longer and shouted out, "THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!"

Remember that, if someone comes through for me and has fireworks at my funeral!

Observation: The Body of Christ

I intended to write about our busy month of May, which included a visit by baby Titus to Texas to meet his sweet great-granny and the wonder of their instant "bond", as if he knew they belonged together.




I know i said i would write more later about our Branson trip, but i never got around to it. I meant to write the interestingly miraculous story of the gigantic old live oak tree that fell on the house, but i didn't do that either.


And now it's VBS week. (For those who don't know the code, that means Vacation Bible School -- the best week of the year for children!)

I love Vacation Bible School. I guess I'm a hopeless old die-hard preschool minister at heart. I think, even after over 75+ years of evangelical churches having VBS's, that it's still one of our best chances in the world to reach kids for Christ.

And besides that, I love it because i love watching the Body of Christ in action. I love how we are knitted together and perform as ONE. I love watching the Craniums teaching the Bible stories and thinking of better ways to communicate Truths, the Hands designing their room decorations, the Larynx’s hollering their class cheers as they move from rotation to rotation and the Shoulders with tired little ones nuzzling up against them. I love seeing those passionate about missions, teaching missions... those gifted in music, teaching music... those who love 2nd graders, teaching 2nd graders... and those who are in heaven blowing bubbles for one year olds, blowing bubbles for one year olds. I love knowing that some folks actually took vacation to teach VBS, not because someone twisted their arm…but because they love the Body, love kids, love the kingdom, and love Vacation Bible School. I love knowing that some folks have been members of our church for years, and some have been members for only days. I love that men can teach Vacation Bible School, too.

How blessed we are! Can it get much better than this?

"For the body is not one member, but many. And God has placed the members , each one of them, in the body, just as He desired." 1 Corinthians 12: 14, 18

People Unclear on the Concept

Duane and i took a road trip on the bike last week (more about that later). Riding through a small town in northern Arkansas we saw this unbelievable sign in front of a house:

YARD SALE: Inside

Suffering

I'm not a big fan of popes (nothing against them, its only because I like Jesus a lot better), but I saved the religion page of the April 2, 2005 Houston Chronicle simply because of this great quote by Pope John Paul II. It is regarding suffering and is in an article about faith, life, and death. Pope John Paul II made a point of showing the world the suffering that comes at the end of life, as he lived frail and bent in the spotlight in his last days. So here's the quote. "Suffering is part of God's wonderful plan."


Can't help but thinking about it during Easter.


To all my friends who are struggling, whether with cancer or broken hearts over broken children, broken dreams, or broken marriages...to Marion, Sharon, Kelly,Fayrene, Cindy, Terri, and others. I whisper to you what i whispered to my sweet Dad when he still understood, but could no longer speak and no longer answer back, "Thank you for choosing to honor God even in your pain. Finish strong!" Dad was the best example ever at overcoming, and rose above his circumstances and suffering to finish strong when it would have been so much easier to give up, to be overwhelmed, to make everyone else suffer with him.


Can't help but thinking about it during Easter.

Good reading: Romans 5:3, Romans 8:17-18, Philippians 3:10, 1 Peter 2:19, 1 Peter 4:12-13

Backroads, Bluebonnets, and Blessings

An annual rite of spring for city-dwellers in this part of Texas is to head out of town for a breath of fresh air and explore the backroads in search of bluebonnets. Too many years to number, we packed two giggly girls and their little brother in a maroon '79 Astro van and headed to the country ourselves. (And I have the pictures to prove it.) Though we now have our route mapped out, I imagine in the past twenty years we, at one time or another, have traveled every little country road in Washington County.

So Duane and I did the bluebonnet tour on the bike this year (the bike being an 800 pound Honda Goldwing motorcycle). And at every turn of the road I saw them again, leaping like lambs in the meadows, standing on their heads in patches of bluebonnets, exploring the ramshackled porch of the broken down old house, hanging over fences, posing for pictures by the little white country church, climbing over a barbed wire fence to find a bluer patch... It was true. There was probably nowhere they hadn't touched and everywhere i looked, I saw them again...two giggly girls and their little brother. I have to admit, I missed them all so much I started to cry. Right there on the back of the bike.

And the bluebonnets, they were more beautiful than they've been in years. How blessed we are!

"For lo, the winter is passed. The rains are over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, and the time of the singing of birds is come! " Song of Solomon 2:12

i really don't know nuthin' about blogging

The funniest thing about my blog is that I only started it so I could embed and save the photoshow of my grandbaby Titus during his first week. It was a Walgreens photoshow thing and it expired after a month unless you paid an exhorbatant amount of money to upgrade something. Since I thought it was worth keeping, I opened up "beckyzblog" and started this thing.

The next funniest thing about it is that absolutely no one even knows I have a blog except my oldest daughter, Kari (who, by the way is Titus' mother.) Who, by the way, is also the only person who has commented on anything in my blog...except for Titus, who once commented vicariously through his mother. So even though I haven't told anyone else about it, every now and then I open up my blog and see if anyone else has found it and commented on anything. Or I open it up to fiddle around with blog things I mostly can't figure out.

When I was nine years old I had a diary and wrote in it every night, mostly stupid things like, "today I got up, went to school, played outside, read my Bible and went to bed." (Life wasn't very exciting at nine.) I guess blogging is a 21st century techno-diary, with one exception. You can't lock it and hide it in your underwear drawer to keep your brother out. You just don't have to give anyone else the link.

empty nesting

As an early Christmas present for Duane, and just because we wanted to and finally could afford to do something for ourselves, we flew out to California to watch the Texas A & M and UCLA basketball game in early December. Coupled with visits to our long lost relatives (my sweet Uncle Win, and Duane's Uncle Charles and Aunt Twila) we spent the weekend enjoying catching up with family and traveling the California coast from Anaheim to San Diego. There are, afterall, advantages to empty nesting!

my personal mission statement

It's kind of boring around Houston today-- cloudy, damp, and cold for the umpteenth day running. So i thought i'd try adding something to my blog. I wrote this mission statement around 1999 or 2000. A lot has changed in my life since then-- empty nest, kids are grown, have a grandbaby-- but my goals are steadfast and hopefully in the process of being accomplished! I guess i need to add a grandchildren part...

My Personal Mission Statement

My heart...

"Will you love Jesus more, when we go our different ways? When this moment is a memory, will you remember HIS face? Will you look back and realize you sensed His love more than you did before? I pray for nothing less, than for you to love Jesus more."

My desire is to know Christ and the power of His Resurrection in every role in my life. To walk with Him intimately as He guides me to fulfill His purpose for me in every role of my life, both now and in the future throughout the changing dynamics of these roles.

For my husband: To love, honor and encourage Duane. To have a marriage that represents the wholeness and oneness of Christ to the world. To communicate openly and respect each other unconditionally. To live happily ever after.

For my children: To disciple my children. To raise godly children and prepare them for independent living in a world that is not their home and shares not their values. To stand on the sidelines and cheer enthusiastically whether they win the race or not. To love them each the best and to help develop within them the creative and unique individual God has designed them to be. And to ultimately move from parent to friend.

For my home: To make my home a haven. A place of ministry. To let even my garden reflect the wonderful things He has made!

For my friends/other family: To laugh with those who laugh. To weep with those who weep. To play together. To be held trustworthy. To know and live out this truth-- that i would be the poorer without them...good, dear, life-enriching friends. To live out my important relationships with no regrets.

For my ministry: To share my passion for preschool and family ministry through writing and speaking, nurturing teachers and parents, and people of like passion. To reproduce myself in mentoring and discipleship relationships.

grandbabies are amazing! see photoshows of titus owen breed's first week

http://www.photoshow.net/publish/wm3ux9FG.swf?w=240" http://www.photoshow.net/publish/KH3zU4ci.swf?w=240"