Spring

Spring must be here.

Today as I drove, I saw:

• more than one machine shed with the doors flung open, 
• tractors and cultivators sitting out in farmyards, supposedly getting readied to use
• tank after white tank of anhydrous.

I passed two tractors on the road.

The Farmer has started coming home after dark (and even later tonight due to racing the coming rain).

Today was the first day (of many) that he didn't come home for lunch.

Today was the first day that I was called into service to give a ride to or from a distant field.  

Spring is here.  Seeds will soon be in the ground.  And then we will watch them grow to harvest, Lord willing.

Who plants a seed 

beneath the sod

and waits to see

believes in God. 

1000 Gifts, Vol. 5, #66

651.  a Pennsylvania lumberjack who walked the sawdust trail with his wife at a tent revival

652.  that couple's prayers that one of their sons would become a preacher

653.  God's answer that THREE of their sons would become preachers

654.  the Christian marriage and home of one of those preachers in particular

655.  his son and their five daughters who made many happy memories

656.  their youngest daughter who loved Jesus and people and life and was known for her kindness

657.  her trust in Jesus as her Savior

658.  her five children, ten grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren who loved her dearly

659.  her five children (& spouses), ten grandchildren (& most spouses), three great-grandchildren, three sisters (& spouses), three nieces [I am one] and one nephew (& spouses), and four great-nieces and great-nephews who gathered to remember her life & faith, glorify her God, and laugh and cry together

660.  her funeral service which she had planned, which consisted mainly of selected Scripture readings, recounting what 20 or 25 people in the Bible thought of who Christ was, and ending with the Lord saying, "Come," starting with "Come into the ark," continuing to "Come, let us reason together," and ending with "The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come.'"

Maple Syrup

My childhood home had frequent visits from various relatives from northern New York State.  Often they brought a tan jug of pure maple syrup with them.  As prices increased and relatives moved, we received fewer jugs, and the ones we did receive became gold!

When Little Guy began liking the My First Little House books, I relished in reading "Sugar Snow" to him.  And was delighted that we were able to attend a maple syrup experience at the nature center this winter ... two hours of lessons, stories, tasting, crafting, learning, and actually tapping a maple tree!!!

A conversation in the post office let me know that some people around here tap their trees and boil the sap down to have a few gallons each year.  How intriguing!  Wish we had trees!

And then a post on a local online garage sale alerted me to a local family who was selling the syrup they had produced!  A few days later, I parked in their driveway and picked up my two glass jars from their porch and left my money behind.

Yum!!!!

White Socks - the curtain liner edition

{from August 2007}

Last night, I thought, "It would be nice if I had the sun-blocking curtain liners on my living room curtains."  (I bet you can guess the end of the story.)

This morning from nine 'til noon was an all-hands-on-deck workday at the house that ... will move into on Tuesday when they arrive for 2 years, during which time he will be an elementary teacher at the MK school.

In terms of work, we got a LOT done.  One lady worked in the yard the whole time ... There was no working vacuum cleaner, so so-and-so will go over later to do that.   ...

We divided up all the garbage. Since I didn't have my car with me, I only got the dead batteries.  ...

The house we readied today is the one that I lived in for 2 yrs prior to my HMA.  I had left my curtains hanging in my room there because I doubted they would fit any other place I lived.  Of course, as various people have lived there, various things have happened with the curtains.  The most recent occupant had made a nice bedskirt out of them.  Very creative, I thought.

I did NOT observe another important point, though, until our final walk-through, as so-and-so pointed out the nice curtains hiding the dryer (the house has a serious lack of doors; curtains are hung in no fewer than 4 spots to serve as doors).

I agreed with him, and added, "But it's a shame to use these sun-blocking liners for something other than their purpose." Then realization hit. "These are MY sun-blocking curtain liners!"  To his, "Speak now or forever hold your peace," I wondered aloud if they were wide enough for my living room window.  He had already begun taking them down, when another person said, "Oh, your beige ones are here in the dining room."

So now you know the rest of the story.  I have 4 panels of liners I had once upon a time purchased, and which have now come home to roost ... or hang, as the case may be.

As we speak, they are drying on the poles on the balcony.

~ J-, who is accumulating a drawer full of white socks

1000 Gifts, Vol. 5, #65

641.  bright sunshine and gorgeous blue skies ... even if it is 33* and we had snow squalls on both March 6th and 7th!

642.  a baby learning to walk! ... even if she looks like a drunk sailor alot ;)

643.  a 4 yr old sitting quietly at the kitchen table leafing through a book (amazing what a sugar-free sucker can accomplish!)

644.  a friend who is a SAHM and can watch the children so I can go to an appointment

645.  checking something off that has been on my list for 7 months (whew!)

646.  tulips popping up!!

647.  a chance to sit for a few minutes after a short night and a long day

648.  Little Guy never resists nap time at school ... and didn't resist today at the sitter's either ... even though the sitter has a son his age (who was not napping)

649.  children learning how to play with others and share their toys (when play group meets at our house)

650.  friends who are so flexible with me ... (play group friends who are so understanding on the multiple weeks I can't host play group because of a schedule conflict ... & Moms in Prayer friends who switch our prayer day from week to week, based on whether or not I'll be in the same town as the school)

From the Random Files department

While searching for "white socks" on my computer, this file came up.  I'm not sure if I sent it with my Christmas cards in 2007 or not... but it sure was a walk down memory lane!

(The "new favorite hymn" is currently taped to my bathroom mirror. So powerful!) 

My Best of 2007

Favorite memories from vacation in Tennessee: 

·      going to the library with my book-loving nieces!

·      riding the twilight hayride at Cade’s Cove with my parents

Not-so-favorite memories from vacation in Tennessee:

·      that it turned into my “Club Med” vacation with 11 doctor’s visits (the Japanese call it “human dock,” like a ship going into drydock)

·      not being able to see everyone I wanted to see

Heart-tugging moments:

·      hearing my nieces’ “See you when I’m 5!” and “See you when I’m 7!”

·      5-year old girl on our team exposing my control tendencies when she asked, “Aunt J-, but why don’t you want the others to get there before we do?”

·      3 ½ year old boy on our team saying, “But, Aunt J-, you are nice!” upon hearing me exclaim to his parents that I want to be a “nice old lady.”

Best experiences catching up over the years and miles:

·      Kuala Lumpur, September, Asia Area Retreat: late night conversation at Starbucks and in a hotel hallway with a former teammate now in another country in Asia

·      South Carolina, August: cousins converging for less than 24 hours, with stories of the past months in Fiji, Japan, China and New Mexico

Most momentous life occasion: 

·      attending the high school graduation at our missionary kid school (The class of 2007 was a class of one, but that one graduate was a month old when I first arrived in Japan, so it was a pretty special occasion).

Best sporting event I attended (of course the only sporting event I attended, and that, rather accidentally!):

·      Karuizawa International Curling Championship 2007

New favorite hymn: 

·       “Hast Thou Heard Him” (http://www.igracemusic.com/indeliblog/?p=21)

Best discipline of this past year:

·      keeping a 1000 gifts journal, in which I list the everyday gifts God gives me   (I’m at #1615 and counting, counting things like the early morning mist rising from the pond I like to walk around)

 Newfound brain exercises:

·      Codeword puzzles

·      Free rice vocabulary game

Favorite airport trips of the year (driving to Tokyo/Narita airport an hour away):

·      finding a new back road to the airport, a 2-lane tollroad with “Watch for Wild Animals” signs

·      driving one of the vans to pick up a new short-term missionary family in August; the wife is one of the missionary children I taught my first year here!

·      getting to listen in as I drove Dr. D.A. Carson and my two conversationalist “plants” to the airport, after he spent a week teaching in Japan

Farthest out-of-my-comfort-zone experience:

·      interpreting from English to Japanese

·      learning to park the “tank” (very nice van) I’m driving for six months while friends are away

New phrase:

·      “white socks,” referring to a long-ago friend who saw God provide everyday things for her family, such as white Sunday socks for her little girls.  Looking for “white socks” this fall has shown me more of God’s care and provision for me.  So far, my “white socks” range from a jar of special jam to the car above.  Looking for “white socks” has opened my eyes to God’s deep care for me.

Greatest lesson God has taught me: 

·      His perfect plan is just that.

Hardest experience moving that truth from my head to my heart:

·      an allergic reaction to the Japanese sweet olive tree in early October, recovery from which included steroids, antibiotics, a nebulizer machine, and two months later, a visit to a highly-acclaimed medical center near here.  Today I feel great, and I trust it continues. 

 

Two years ago - Woohoo!

Two years ago this month, I posted the following.  Sooooo much has happened in two years!  I remember my delight when I heard the conversations below come out of Little Guy's mouth. 

Those skills have only continued to improve.  God has given him some mighty fine language skills; so fine that they sometimes mask his speech issues.  We're still working hard on the speech skills.  Thankfully, he has the opportunity to do so ... & with expert help!  

The latest summary is that his "speech development is significantly delayed.  Intelligibility varies widely from highly intelligible to mumbly/ slurry / unintelligible. "

And so we keep working, we keep praying, and we keep remembering how far he has come and how faithful God has been to provide the help he needs. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*



Wednesday is Speech Day.  I keep notes throughout the week of Little Guy's words (and now sentences & conversations) and give them to the speech therapist and aural rehab therapist so they can have more samples of what he is producing.  

Below are a few samples from this week.  Enjoy!  And take a moment to thank the Lord with us for answered prayer!

 

Sample conversations:

March 18 2016

Little Guy, looking longingly at two wooden Japanese dolls and whining gutturally.

Mom: Little Guy, use your words.

LG:  LG wants people.

Mom: Good use of words.

(Gave him small wooden doll.)

LG: LG hold big one.

(Gave him big one.)

LG:  Mommy hold little one. LG hold big one.

A few minutes later, with another pair:

LG: Hold small one. [switched between "little" and "small" effortlessly]

Mar. 19

“Here you go, Mom.” (handing me goldfish)

Mar. 21

LG: Oh, no!  Big mess.

(I gave him a paper towel.)

LG: All dry. (After LG wiped it up.)

LG: (Putting paper towel in trash) Messy!

Mar. 21

(at breakfast)

No strawberries.

Just pancake.

Mar. 21

LG (Giving suggestions as I got dressed): “Wear red.”

Mar. 21

LG (putting blankie on Daddy in the recliner): Daddy cold.  Warm blankie (for) Daddy.

6 word sentence

(Playing with booster seat and referring to buckle:)

Mommy help you take it off. 

All, now, & too

LG (after cleaning up play-doh, as I had told him he had to do before going upstairs): Now, go upstairs.

**

LG:  “All eat apples.”  (When giving play apples to Daddy, Mommy and himself.)

**

(after I explained that we were going to the park and Grandma was going and his cousin was going and a neighbor girl was going)

LG: “All in there park.” (aka, All in the park.)

**

Mar. 20

“All books.” (He stacked up all the hymnals on the pew during the church meeting.)

**

Mar. 21 (while pretending)

“Go library.  Church too.”

**

Mar. 21 (while pretending)

LG in there house. Mommy in there house TOO. [there = the]