Mourning to Dancing

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Fun with Mr. Tom

At the beach in P.E.I. with Tom Story.

Summer, 2009.

Memories of my friend, Tom.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Our Mr. Tom

"Precious in the Lord's sight

is the death of His saints."

~Psalm 116

Tom with Brandon's first catch.

Tom and Si.

There've been intermittent tears at our house today and as I write now. And I'm sure more to come.

Tom Story ran into the arms of Jesus this morning.

And we miss him already!!!

"When someone you love becomes a memory,

that memory becomes a treasure."

How we love you, Tom, and are praying for your precious Karen. So anxious to get to you!

Monday, February 13, 2012

how to have 1000 addictions

when you love creation more than you love the Creator,

you have given birth to a thousand addictions and to a gangrene that will attach itself to your relationships and erode out the joy meant to be had in your life even in a fallen world.

when you love creation more than you love the Creator,

you are trying to get from creation what creation can not give you.

you are forced to medicate with drugs and alcohol, sex and love, new trinkets and toys...

~Matt Chandler

Creation does not satisfy
The CREATOR does.

Faith that goes forward triumphs

A poem I discovered in Streams in the Desert about Columbus and the value of perseverance.

Behind him lay the gray Azores,

Behind the gates of Hercules;

Before him not the ghost of shores,

Before him only shoreless seas,

The good Mate said, "Now we must pray,

For lo! the very stars are gone.

Braved, Admiral, speak, what shall I say?"

Why, say, 'Sail on! sail on! and on!'"

"My men grow mutinous day by day,

My men grow ghastly wan and weak!"

The stout Mate thought of home, a spray

Of salt wave washed his swarthy cheek.

"What shall I say, brave Admiral, say,

If we sight naught but seas at dawn?"

"Why, you shall say at break of day,

'Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!'"

They sailed. They sailed. Then spake the Mate:

"This mad sea shows its teeth tonight.

He curls his lip, he lies in wait,

With lifted teeth, as if to bite!

Brave Admiral, say but one good word;

What shall we do when hope is gone?"

The words leapt like a leaping sword;

"Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!"

Then, pale and worn, he kept his deck

And peered through darkness. Ah! that night

Of all dark nights! And then a speck--

A light! A light! A light! A light!

It grew, a starlit flag unfurled!

It grew to be Time's burst of dawn.

He gained a world; he gave that world

Its grandest lesson: "On! sail on!"

~Joaquin Miller

Friday, February 10, 2012

Birth control is not a health care issue.

So, how exactly is birth control a health care issue?

It doesn't improve your health.
It doesn't take care of some disease.

It alters the normal behavior of your body.

Medicine is a health care issue.

Physical check-ups are a health care issue.

Surgery is a health care issue.

Child birth is a health care issue.

Cancer is a health care issue.

Birth control...is not a health care issue because birth is not a disease...contrary to popular and stupid belief.

How about if you don't want to get pregnant, you buy your own damn birth control?

How about self-control?

How about a brain?

an accurate perspective of the issue:

the power of language

"With the gift of language, you can move people in other places and in other times, many miles and years from the sound of your voice, just as God's Word does. With the gift of language you will influence and shape your child's life for God."

"The power of God's gift of language is in the ability to use words to move people --- to cause another person to learn, to change, to act, to resist, to believe, to follow. ...those who understand its power use it to change lives and influence history."

~Clay Clarkson, Educating the Wholehearted Child.

The depth of this I didn't understand until now, but my heart has moved in this direction for a while for I absolutely seek to change lives and influence history through passionate words and truth.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Buyer Beware

"From satan's first entrance on the stage of earth in Genesis 3, he's tried to convince believers that God is holding out on them. Cheating them. satan tries to suggest that this life is all we can be sure of: live it sacrificially and we've lost it all. he mocks, 'How gullible -- how stupid -- could you be? Live it up while you've got the chance!' As we walk up and down the sidewalks of our present Babylons, stay alert to his seductions and the songs in his town square.

In reality, satan is the cheater and Babylon is his queen, offering false fulfillments for any taker.

Buyer beware."

~Beth Moore

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Insights from Brandon

"My brother is crazy because he drinks a lot of fruit juice." (7-5-10)

A phone call.

Dad: "Hey Brandon, do you miss me?"

Brandon: "Actually, Dad, I've been having such a good time, I haven't really thought about you."

While watching the Perseid Meteor Shower, Daddy put away the telescope. B says: "Well, we'll have to depend on our eyes now." (8-12-10)

Was watching AFV with B. I said, "I've never seen a cat do that." B looked at me and stated very matter-of-fact: "Well, now you have." (8/22/10)

B: "Mom, Si said he was mad at you and daddy because he couldn't go miniature golfing. I told him he should be mad at satan because satan made him be bad." Me: "Brandon, you know satan doesn't make us do anything. We all make our own decisions." B: "Oh! Thank you, Mom. I guess I don't know everything." (9/11/10)

"I can only find my sandals. If Jesus can wear 'em, I can wear 'em!" (11/15/10)

B: "Mom, instead of just buying milk at the store..."

Me: "...we should just get a cow?"

B: "Yes! Cows are my favorite animal."

Me: "Do you like cows because they make milk?"

B: "Yes! Milk is my favorite drink."

Me: "Yes, well, where would we keep it?" (1/12/11)

J: "Does anyone know what 'reproach' means?"

B: "Well, I think I sort of know. It's like when you first approach somebody and then you reproach them later." (1/17/11)

"I love me! I love myself! I'm a genius!" ...upon great success playing his math game. Don't worry, I reminded him of the Proverb: Let another man praise you and not your own lips. And then I praised him and told him he's a genius. (2/18/11)

"Mom! I didn't know I could have so much fun in one day!" Excitedly pronounced as we exited Circus Circus. (3/18/11)

B: "Mom, Si's having an otter pop. Can I have one?"

Me: "Yes."

B: "But, you said we couldn't have dessert."

Me: "Well, Daddy said yes."

B: "Oh! It doesn't matter what you say, Mom; it matters what Dad says!" (8/27/11)

B: "There's 2 reasons why I was in the bathroom for so long. I was going poo...that's number one..." Mommy: "Don't you mean that's number 2?" (2/15/12)

Great Quotes

"Be sure to put your feet in the right place, then stand firm." ~Abraham Lincoln

"In contemplating the political institutions of the United States, [if we remove the Bible from schools] I lament that we waste so much time and money in punishing crimes and take so little pains to prevent them." ~Dr. Benjamin Rush, The Father of the Public Schools under the Constitution

"Those who have known freedom and lost it have never known it again." ~Ronald Reagan

"In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." ~Mark Twain

"Act as though it's all up to you; Pray as though it's all up to Him." ~Glenn Beck

"God uses each of us within the limitations of our personalities. ...it is Him in me that will reach the world." ~Sally Clarkson

"If I had a choice, I would still choose to remain blind...for when I die, the first face I will ever see will be the face of my blessed Savior." ~Fanny Crosby (author of more than 8000 hymns)

"Cat food tastes so bad cats deserve it." ~Hank the Cowdog

Silas speaks

"Mommy, Jesus was in my dream and He said, 'You should obey your mom and dad everyday.'" (4-5-10)

I got the ice cream out of the freezer and set it on the stove to dish some up for the boys and Silas says, "Don't warm it up, Mom! Then it won't be ice cream, it will just be cream." (6/4/10)

Silas: "Dad, why is the earth made of dirt?'

Daddy: "That's a strange question coming from a kid that should be asleep."

Silas: "But it's a good one." (6/6/10)

"I picked up Daddy's rubber band (the theraband Jamie is using for p.t. on his arm) and I looked around and no one was looking, but I knew God was looking so I put it back." (6/7/10)

We were having lunch at Calico's (a restaurant) and Silas says to the owner, "Brandon is sad because he likes the Fudge Factory better." (7/22/10)

B: "Grammy we got Twinkies at the Bottle Shop for an after-lunch treat."

Si: "Yeah, We had zucchinis...I mean, whatever-they're-called." (8/21/10)

B: "Mommy, I want to sleep with you."

Mommy: "That's nice, but you need to sleep in your own bed."

Si: "I want to sleep on the crouton." (He meant the futon in our room.) (8/22/10)

Me: "Si, what was your favorite part of Sunday School today." Si: "Saying my memory verse." Me: "Really? What was it?" Si: "I don't remember." (9/12/10)

I'm going through Madeline for our Five-In-A-Row lesson, and I asked the boys what tower is in Paris. Si shouts, "The Tower of Terror!" I guess the ride at Disneyland made an impression. (9/27/10)

Si & I were at the Miramar Air Show when a man sitting in front of us fell unconscious. By all observations, he was dead. So, I prayed and helped how I could. After a while, we walked away and I tried to explain to Si what had happened. I asked him if he'd like to pray for the man and his wife and he did. His prayer was beautiful and perfect. After praying, he said to me, "Mommy, when I was praying I thought my eyes were going to cry." I told him that those are the best prayers. (10/1/10)

We were talking about the Lamb's Book of Life during breakfast, and Si says, "Mom, I think we should pray right now that our names are in the Book." "Okay, honey," I said, "go ahead and we will all pray." About 3 minutes later, I continued to read the Bible story and I saw Si, head bowed, hands clasped. "Siley, are you praying again?" "Yes, mommy. I really want my name in that book." (11/30/10)

Watching the Charger game.

"The reason why they call him 'Rivers' is because his shirt is blue." (12/16/10)

Spoken as dramatically as you can comprehend: "I am the golden child!" (12/20/10)

Daddy: "Are you excited to see your great-grandmother tomorrow?"

Si: "I don't even know who she is."

Daddy: "She is Baba's mom."

Si: "I didn't know moms and dads and grandmas and grandpas have moms and dads."

Daddy: "Baba and Dadu are my mom and dad."

Si: "How do you know?"

Jamie went into a lengthy answer about living with them while he was young, etc., then Silas asked, "Well then, why did you leave them?" (12/21/10)

After writing the letter 'q'. "Wow! That's a great whatever-that-letter-is!" (1/17/11)

"I burped three times. Excuse me... Thrice!" (5/28/11)

Me: "Boys, who is your favorite hero and why?"

Si: "God. Because anytime He wants He can turn me into a chicken." (1/12/12)

Me: "Real life is way better than school." Si: "I'll tell you what's better than school...learning about heaven!" (2/6/12)

Ganging up together...

B: "Silas, you know, when you drop one of my favorite things, your brain tells your bones to do it." To which Si responds: "Maybe that's it! My brain's being mean to me!!" (9/1/10)

B: "Hey! You killed me! Why'd you do that?"

Si: "Well, you ran in front of my gun...what do you expect?" (4/23/11)

The boys are coloring.

me: "Who is that?"

B: "Abraham Lincoln."

me: "What's he doing?

B: "Reading."

Me: "He's reading by the firelight. Everything he ever learned, he taught himself."

Si: "So did Yoda." (2-12-12 Happy Birthday, Abe.)