Three is a Magic Number

Our family mini-vacation was to Eau Claire this year. Great trip!     -The Met ropolis Resort with waterpark and indoor amusement area with huge arcade, mini bowling, mini golf, go carts, maze, etc… Great place for kids who are 10, 8, and 6.      -Visited to UWEC to show the kids my old stomping grounds, including my old house. A beautiful new student center is being constructed.   -Visited the rivers (Eau Claire and Chippewa) at Phoenix Park, which is absolutely beautiful.    -Saw Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat by Eau Claire Children’s Theater at the State. Really well done—Samuel loved it and was dancing around in his seat.    -Played at Carson Park and visited Chippewa Valley Museum and Paul Bunyon Logging Camp. Super exhibits for kids, much like the MN Historical Society. The exhibit on family farming was wonderful, but bit alarming. I said to Paul, “I never imagined the life style I grew up in would...

Pony league ended this weekend for Paul (coach) and Samuel.  Our team started out as a scrappy little group, and developed into some great ball players.  They still are squirley as ever, but have learned how to field, hit, and pitch with confidence.  The season record was 4-5-3.  Ties are allowed.  With the double elimination tourney, we played Friday night and won.  Then, we ended up playing the same team three times in a row.  Four of the 5 losses in the record above were against this team.  We won Sat., lost Sat., and won Sun.   All the kids, on all the teams, did exceptional this year.  We love baseball around here, and I am proud of my two guys.  I am also glad when the season is over.

Just have to share this because I am so proud of my parents... My parents are supposedly retired.  For the last several years, they have chaperoned teenagers on mission trips.  Every year, they seem to go some place different.  I hope I am going on mission trips with 16-year-olds when I am in my mid-60s.  I truly aspire to be that crazy and giving.  For those of you who can't pick them out, my dad is farthest to the right and my mom is the person farthest to the left who is kneeling.

Faith, Em, and I walked in a parade today for a teacher who is running for a political office.  We got home and Faith said, "There was a lady who looked at me and put her thumbs down.  She kept doing it."  I told Faith that I saw it, and I was glad that she (Faith) just smiled and waved at the lady.  She said, " I didn't feel like throwing her candy much.  But she was a very old lady, so I threw her some anyway."

My great-aunt Auntie (real name Viola) died this week.  She was a teacher in a one room schoolhouse.  She was 99.5 years old.  As you can tell, she gave me a very important gift--she taught me how to learn.  Below are portions of the letter I sent to her sons. ---- I am saddened that I did not share the contents of this letter with Auntie personally. When in elementary, school was very hard for me. Even after much reflecting, I have never really been able to pinpoint what my issues were. I was slow to read and slow to learn math. I did get some services in school, but additionally my parents had me see Auntie every Saturday morning for personal tutoring. I remember her house and my time there well—the cookies, the kitchen table covered in “learning materials,” the handkerchiefs, the math grids, and decodable books. I remember her patience when I became frustrated with reading hard words. I remember her catching me when I tried to add or subtract usi...

These are pictures my sister posted to her blog, but I had to steal them.  Trying to get a picture of all of them is totally impossible. 

Some years I try to be intentional about Lent and Holy week.  I work at being clay in God's hands.  Sometimes this "intention-ality" is productive.  But I have to admit, most times, I am just left empty after putting effort into Lent.  I don't know why, but it just happens.  Probably has something to do with my approach. This year, I had NO plan to be intentional about the whole thing.  Things are busy at work and with other activities.  But I was surprised this year by God.  Event 1: I attended just one lenten Wed. service.  The speaker was a Stillwater father who lost his son in a mountain climbing accident.  Jon, the son, was a youth director and was suppose to attend Luther Seminary in St. Paul the next fall.  The dad could not make sense of why God would not have intervened in his son's death.  And as he went through some of his son's college papers, he found a quote by Jon, "I will live the questio...