I haven’t been doing much besides taking the OM to doctor appointments and labs etc. (also my own doctor appointments and labs etc.) and trying to get him to eat. My second home is Missouri Baptist Hospital.
But I have read some helpful things. “The Bible is immensely practical. It explains life—and really, what other book can make that claim? It tells us about God and also about ourselves. It counsels us on how to live well, and gives perspective far below the surface of our troubles and struggles. It offers hope and the way to deep transformation.”
And when in doubt: Deuteronomy 29:29…
“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.“
And here are some thoughts about comfort. “I long to be comforted, but where do I find comfort?”
You may not be able to tell from this picture, but we were having super fun at Ted Drewes yesterday. Ida said, “My ice cream is so yummy!” and we all agreed.
Later in the afternoon the boy came over with the bud (while Lottie was at dance class) and we sat on the driveway while the kiddos drove the “motorized truck” (as Katie calls it) around the yard in various seating combinations.
The bud being the pro that he is, showed Katie the ropes and she eventually agreed to drive–ever so seriously, observing all the rules of the road. Ida was having the time of her life and would have taken the wheel in a flash if we had let her. (She’s only two.)
They topped the afternoon off with popsicles.
And this is true: “Yes, there is hope. Jesus is king. And that means everything will be ok.”
Well, the OM was sent home from the hospital on Wednesday afternoon after a fun-filled 6-day stay. He is slowing recovering from what they think is related to his autoimmune system. He is very weak, but is getting around with the help of a walker. We have a raft of follow-up doctor appointments ahead of us.
The boy and daughter #1 have been very helpful and attentive, and daughter #2 brought the prairie girls for a visit and they are keeping us company this week.
And Mr. Smith is lending his spiritual support as needed….
We have much to be thankful for.
For people my age who remember K-Tel product ads on TV, this made me laugh so hard:
I wish I knew 5 Neat Guys. Who made the egg salad sandwichs?
And don’t forget to keep your eyes open to all the wonders around you, care of the King of Creation:
Hang in there.
*All Creatures of Our God and King, Tr. William H. Draper, 1925
The OM has been sick for over two weeks and finally was admitted to the hospital on Friday to find out what is wrong. He is still there having gone through a battery of tests. He is improving slowly, but we still don’t know what’s up. Please keep him in your prayers. Posting will be spotty for awhile.
I thank God for our family, friends and our loving and supportive church community. Praise the Lord.
(That’s eye black under Lottie’s eyes which was hard to scrub off after her lacrosse game. I used makeup remover later which worked and she approved.)
What a weekend–which really started on Thursday for me–a lot of socializing, which, as we know, is exhausting! We had our volunteer reception at Mudd’s Grove on Thursday night and then our Trivia Night for the Kirkwood Historical Society on Friday night. Both were fun, especially the trivia event.
Last year my team came in 2nd, but this year we didn’t do so well–mostly because of me insisting twice that I was definitely right when I was oh so wrong. The OM was home sick so was not available to correct me. No, Katie, it’s not the Stray Cats, it’s the Clash. C’est la vie.
Saturday I went to a funeral at church–this time for a lifelong member of Ladue Chapel whose son goes to our church and is in my community group. The family wanted the grandson-in-law who is a PCA pastor to conduct the service at Ladue Chapel (PCUSA), but the pastor there said no, that might be offensive to some of their members/staff. Seems petty and vindictive to me, but par for the course, I guess. The service was lovely as led by the grandson-in-law.
After that I “babysat” for the twins all Saturday afternoon. Their mother is at a conference in Orlando and their dad was working. It was a lovely day so I did some driveway sitting while they drove the raptor around…
(after we cleaned out the dead spiders inside which Lottie found)…and pretended to sing in the rain…
Who knew playing with umbrellas could be so fun? Then we went inside and watched The Incredible Mr.Limpet (1964)…
…until it was time to clean up and head over to church for the annual pig-pickin’ (pig roast) picnic. The twins were beyond excited to be able to play on the playground, which is usually off-limits on Sundays. They had so much fun running around with their friends and shrieking like maniacs. They didn’t eat a thing except a chip or two. I had fun talking to people and sitting at a table with no one I knew–something I have learned to do over my lifetime. After an hour and a half I drove the kids to their dad’s store and I went home, exhausted again, but feeling happy.
Sunday morning I was back at church and singing with gusto. Nothing makes me happier than watching everyone going up for communion singing Nothing But the Blood of Jesus from memory–even the little kids.
I rounded out my weekend with wine time/Mr. Smith time at daughter #1’s house.
Yesterday we were able to do some driveway sittin’ when the boy came over with the bud while Lottie was in dance class. The bud drove the little Raptor around and we had a gay ol’ time gabbing away. Truly there is nothing better on a lovely spring day than to sit and soak up some vitamin D under the blue, blue sky.
Meanwhile I have been crossing items off my to-do list. The Review is at the printer. I have been to the dentist. And so on. I am reading another Agatha Christie–Ordeal by Innocence, published in 1958. Life goes on at a retirement pace–I have no complaints.
In other news, the pope died. I will let Carl Trueman speak for me. “Francis was thus my own worst Protestant nightmare: an authoritarian Roman pope driving a liberal Protestant agenda, a leader who embodied the worst of all possible Christian worlds.”
I talked to my 90-year old Catholic friend yesterday about the pope’s passing. She thought he was great–he really cared about the environment. So go figure.
And news alert: there’s going to be a rare ‘smiley face’ celestial alignment in the morning sky this Friday, April 25, so make a note.
My friend Carla gave me Help Thanks Wow by Anne Lamott for my birthday. I have read it, but I read it again (I do that a lot.)
When all is said and done, spring is the main reason for Wow. Spring is crazy, being all hope and beauty and glory. She is the resurrection. Spring is Gerard Manley Hopkins, “The world is charged with the grandeur of God./ It will flame out, like shining from shook foil.” I read Hopkins for the first time in seventh grade, when I also first read Langston Hughes, and between the two of them, I was never the same.
Poetry is the official palace language of Wow.
Buds opening and releasing, mud and cutting winds, bright green grass and blue skies, nests full of baby birds. All of these are deserving of Wow–even though I have said elsewhere that spring is also about deer ticks–and everywhere you look, couples are falling in love, and the air is saturated with the scent of giddiness and doom. Petals are wafting and falling slowly through the air, and there is something so Ravel, languorous, reminding me to revel in the beauty of the things wafting.
The Easter weekend was a blur of activity, but I do remember that something fun happened on Good Friday. I went over to daughter #1’s house for an impromptu lunch after which we hopped over to an estate sale nearby at a Clayton penthouse. Normally condos are not worth going to because the people living in them have already down-sized, but this one was listed by our favorite estate sale company and there were a lot of books.
We did, indeed, find a few books, but I also found an antique loveseat that had been recovered in a fab fabric. (Like the Madcaps, no beige for me!) I started to fill out a bid card, but Lamar called us over and looked at it and gave it to me for my asking price (60%)! Plus he threw in everything else for the Lamar discount of free.
One of their guys delivered it to my house and he and his son got it upstairs and into my office easy peasy. I am thrilled.
And I made it to church by 6 o’clock!
With all the excitement I almost forgot it was my birthday. I received many lovely birthday gifts over the weekend…
My children know me so well.
My daughters also gave me fancy beauty treatments which I very much appreciate, because they are “in the know” and I am not. They know too to put the effort into fancy wrapping and ribbons, which they learned from me and I learned from my mother. They also know to go to the Dollar Tree for fab decorations! This warms my mothers heart.
All the rain, of course, has resulted in lush growth everywhere. Look at Don’s beautiful creek bed–fresh rainwater runoff over bedrock behind his house…
Daughter #2 and famille made it to town in the driving rain on Saturday morning and then it was party central for the rest of the weekend. What fun! We didn’t get to do any driveway sittin’ or drive the miniature raptor, but the good times still rolled. We celebrated our birthdays…
We had lots of primo cousin time…The twins set a good example in church on Sunday and the prairie girls did great.
We went to the boy’s new house after church and had a fabulous time plus a gourmet lunch served up by daughter #3.
Is that a chocolate Westie?!!
An indoor Easter egg hunt was a big hit!
(Katie’s great-grandmother–after whom she is named–made this English smocked dress, which I wore c. 1964.)
It was a super fun weekend and I am super tired! It will take me a few days to recover!
I did watch the second half of Ben Hur on Sunday night–the perfect end to a perfect weekend.
Bonus: The ensemble at church sang this on Good Friday. I cried.
…and contemplate the lush green grass–which won’t last, I know–
…but it sure is beautiful now! Even on an overcast and cloudy day.
I have a lot on my “to do” list this week what with getting the Review to the printer and the house ready for visitors this weekend. We are going over to the boy and daughter #3’s house for Easter, so at least I don’t have to prepare a big meal. Lottie has told me several times that it is a very special Big Deal that we are coming over for Easter. I am most appreciative. We are also going over to daughter #1’s house for my birthday/daughter #2’s birthday celebration. What a blessing to have my sweet family close at hand!
Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways! 2 You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. 4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord.
5 The Lord bless you from Zion! May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life! 6 May you see your children’s children! Peace be upon Israel!
–Psalm 128
I didn’t get a chance to watch any of the Masters this year, but I was happy that Rory McIlroy finally won. He has had a difficult few years and I’m glad he pulled it together! Golf is such a difficult mind-game. I got a big kick out of 4-year old Katie’s reaction to his win:
AP photo
Here are 40 random pieces of advice from Tim Challies which I like a lot. Such as: “Sing loud in church, especially if you are a man. Don’t be content with mumbling as if it’s somehow embarrassing to have a male voice.” I totally agree!
I hope you are feeling the joy, joy, joy, joy down in your heart like this little angel and that you had a good weekend!
Daughter #1 and I had a super fun roadtrip down to southwest Missouri where we were adventurous and checked out the Top of the Rock on our way to Branson. She even drove us in a golf cart around the Ozarks Heritage Preserve…
…through a cave…
…and over bridges…
…and waterfalls…
It was really very cool! We saw a lot of natural “table rock” formations…
The museum there is also very well done–lots of collections of arrow heads and ax heads and Indian clothes and baskets and pottery, dinosaur bones (Terror Birds! Hell Pigs!) and Ozark history.
It was all very well done–beautifully displayed and curated–I was impressed.
My daughter says I look like Sasquatch
After that we checked into our hotel–the Chateau on the Lake resort in Branson where our DAR State Conference was being held.
The view from our balcony
I didn’t take many pictures at the actual conference. Just imagine over 400 older ladies wearing patriotic scarves and jewelry and sashes.
DAR celebs
When daughter #1 and I were having a glass of wine in the hotel bar Thursday night a man came up to where we were sitting and asked us, “What is going on here? I’m the only dude in the whole bar!” We explained the situation and he headed out.
We played hooky on Friday morning and drove down the strip in Branson where we saw the Titanic!
…and King Kong! And John Wayne! And Elvis!
It is really quite the place. The twins would be in absolute heaven!
We came home on Saturday afternoon. As you can see, the weather was glorious the whole time–just perfect for exploring our beautiful state.
I was gone two nights and three days and, thank the Lord, the OM did not burn the house down. (He did the taxes in peace and quiet.) We made it to church Sunday morning and got to hear the Children’s Choir (including the twins) enthusiastically sing “To the King, Sing Hosanna”. We had three baptisms! It was lovely to be back.
Now I have a very busy week ahead. And it is darling daughter #2’s birthday today!
We can’t wait to see her this weekend and celebrate her birthday with the whole fam! And Easter!
dual personalities 