Homesick

A few years back, I made it a summer goal to only read Nebraska authors. I quickly fell in love with Bess Streeter Aldrich's "A Lantern In Her Hands." One of the things that really spoke to me in that book was how the protagonist, Abbie Deal, leaves her family in Iowa with the promise to return. Her new husband takes her to Nebraska, where life happens and she never is able to return to her family in Iowa. As a transplant myself, I find myself so blessed by current technologies like email, social networking and Skype that keep me connected to my family. However, Abbie didn't have these luxuries. She must have been homesick indeed. Now, I know that she is a fictional character, but isn't that very typical of many pioneer women who left everything familiar to follow the westward call with their husbands?

Well, it hit me this Christmas that life kind of took a similar turn for Mary. She was living her life, presumably still under the shelter of her parents' home in Nazareth when Joseph was summoned to Bethlehem to obey Caesar's edict regarding the census. Certainly, the baby wouldn't be born while she was gone. I imagine her reassuring her parents, "We'll be back before it's the baby's time. Don't worry about us. Joseph will take care of me." Well, we all know the story didn't quite turn out that way. Was Mary caught off guard when they entered the crowded city and she had no place to rest from the piercing contractions? Did she notice the stench of the animals in the stable cave where the Messiah made His earthly entrance into the world?

We know from Luke 2:21 that they must have traveled from Bethlehem to Jerusalem after the birth of Christ, because He was presented in the temple on His eighth day to be circumcised. In Matthew 2, the Magi appear from the East. Tradition tells us that the Christ child was probably just past toddlerhood when they arrived. So, here are Mary, Joseph and Jesus, now staying in a house in Bethlehem (Matt. 2:11). I imagine the accommodations were nicer than the stable, and Mary must have enjoyed establishing her small household. But shortly after this visit, Joseph was warned in a dream to flee to Egypt (Matt. 2:13). The holy family stayed in Egypt until the death of Herod, when they finally returned to Nazareth. I don't know how long this would have been, but Luke 2:41 tells us that Jesus' parents took Him every year to Jerusalem during Passover.

Still, can you imagine the stories that Mary had for her mom when they finally returned? She was storing so much inside her heart...the birth of her first child in, shall we say, unusual circumstances; the visits from the shepherds; gifts from the Magi; fleeing to another country from a murderous official. I'm not sure how much time passed, but this seems to be more like years than weeks.

I wonder what Mary would have done if she would have been able to pick up a phone and pour these things out to her mom. Certainly the birth of Jesus was lifechanging for her. I had never considered all that happened after she told her parents goodbye on her way to the census.

I guess my occasional bouts of homesickness just don't compare...

Family Tree of Thanksgiving

Nothing like waiting until Christmas Eve to put up pictures of my Thanksgiving Tree! I guess that's the busy-ness that is my life right now.

We started this tradition last year, where on Thanksgiving Day, we take some time to write some of our blessings on a leaf and add them to a tree. (I'm thankful that I bought this ginormous tree bulletin board kit for my classroom about ten years ago and haven't used it since!)

Enjoy!
l

Our Own "Gift of the Magi" Story

Twelve years ago, a tradition was born out of desperation. For our wedding, a friend bought us an angel food cake pan and box of cake mix. A few months later, Dan's first birthday came...two days before payday. We were poor. I literally had $.69 in change (from the laundry money...we lived in an apartment and had to pay for our laundry.) I figured we had a cake pan and cake mix, and angel food was Dan's favorite.

Imagine my surprise when I came home from work and discovered the mix was for a spice cake. So there I sat, with $.69 to my name, and nothing to make for Dan. I pulled out a cookbook (another wedding present) and found a recipe for angel food cake. The only thing we didn't have was a dozen eggs. So, I said a prayer, took a deep breath, and prayed for a miracle. (Okay...I prayed that there would be a significant sale on cake mixes.)

In true O'Henry fashion, I took my $.69 to the grocery store. To my dismay, there were NO sales on cake mixes. But...I could buy a dozen eggs for $.66.

That night, I made an angel food cake from scratch. Hands down, the best cake I have ever made. Dan took one bite, sighed in ecstasy, and informed me that I could make this cake every year for his birthday.

So, for the twelfth straight year, I've got a homemade angel food cake in the oven. The timer should beep any minute now.

Happy birthday, Dan!

Sick Day

A friend told me once that she actually looked forward to the days when her kids were sick and SHE got to stay home from school...not the throwing up, high maintenance kind of sick; just the extra TLC kind of sick.

I got to enjoy that kind of day today. Dayna's been down most of the week with a nasty viral infection. Yup...that was the official diagnosis from the Urgent Care center Tuesday night (day 3 of high fever and sore throat.) But, because I had programs this week, I couldn't be gone. So Dan stayed with her early this week. Today marks the official end of the fever and sore throat, so Dayna can go back to school tomorrow. In the meantime, I had a lovely day home with her.

I FINALLY got the living room cleaned (two weeks later) from the Christmas boxes. Now I can enjoy my tree! I got 2 more kinds of cookies baked, over half of my 2nd quarter grades in the computer, a dress cut out for Dayna's Christmas present, and various and sundry other items off my to-do list.

Dayna and I have had some nice conversations, and she's getting out of the tub now and ready for some snuggles in bed with a little more reading from "Farmer Boy." (It's taken 5+ weeks and we're only halfway through! I never realized Laura Ingalls Wilder was so verbose!)

I'm glad she's feeling better, but I'm even more excited to have had an unexpected productive day at home.

New Traditions

I confess, I completely stole this idea from my friend Joy, who lives in Oklahoma (but since she doesn't cheer for the Sooners, she's okay in my book!)

We took Dayna to Paint Yourself Silly today, where she painted the first in a series of Christmas plates. We'll take her back each year to do another one. When she's old enough to go out on her own, she will have her own set of Christmas plates and a whole passel of memories to go with them.

Today's design was a large ladybug surrounded by holly leaves and berries. Unfortunately, we had no camera today, so I'll have to post a picture of the final product when we pick it up in a week or so.

Dan and I also painted a little cookie plate together. We had meant to do this 2 1/2 years ago for our 9th anniversary, but just got around to it today. Isn't that the way it goes sometimes?

So, thanks for the idea, Joy! We can't wait to see how this tradition unfolds.

Eric Ludy - Depraved Indifference

Christmas Shopping and Lessons Learned

I went out with Dayna the other night for some "girl time." She wanted to eat at "M for Mommy's." So I pull off the Interstate and we go inside. There was a father and son in line in front of us waiting for their food. 10 minutes later, there were 8 more people behind us, the line hadn't moved, and nobody had so much as come up to the counter. The employees were in back yelling at each other. Dayna told me that she really didn't want to wait, so we could go somewhere else.

Good thing there's more than one "M for Mommy" in Omaha. So, after a quick trip to the craft store, we go into another one. This time, we were served immediately, but the restaurant was so crowded it took 20 minutes to get our food. They were absolutely slammed! But, the employees were working as hard as they could, and they were working together, so it didn't really bother me all that much. When we were done eating (our two experiences to get a fast food meal took over an hour!) I looked around the lobby. There were no clean tables, the trash cans were overflowing, and one table had a big chocolate milk spill underneath. I knew they were slammed behind the counter, and no one had a chance to clean up the dining area. So, before we left, I asked the manager for a dishcloth. I couldn't take care of the garbages, but I was able to quickly wipe down all the tables. I don't think the manager quite knew what to do with that, but it was definitely eye opening for Dayna. When she asked why I would do a thing like that, I told her, "because it's the right thing to do." It didn't cost me anything, but provided a small act of service to others and spoke a very loud message to Dayna.

From there, we went to the toy store to pick out a gift for her cousin (from all of us) and her dad (from her). She has really been excited about doing something for her dad this year. I told her that this year, she has to pay half for the gifts she buys. So, she brings her little glass jar labeled "SPEND." When we get to the checkstand (it was also a crowded night at the toy store!), Dayna stopped the line to count her quarters. I looked up at the cashier with an apology, but before I could get it out, the cashier said, "This is the best thing I've seen all night! I wish all parents would teach their kids about money!" The people behind me in line likewise seemed to have no problem waiting a little bit longer so a five-year-old could learn the value of saving and giving.

What set out to be a fun evening with my daughter turned out to be an evening filled with little lessons that will make a big impact on her life.