Tag Archives: 10 Things

10 Things I Learned In May

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1. My half birthday is May 1st. I have always wished I had a spring birthday. It’s such a happy time of year with flowers and warm sunshine and the promise of three months of summer to follow. As I get older, celebrating half birthdays sounds like it should be a thing.

2. Inviting six women to come and sit around a table for a meal is an extraordinary way to spend an evening. I followed the If:Gathering idea of six women, two hours and four questions. What Nika Maples said is true: “If you enter a meal with others, you enter at one level of relationship and you leave the meal at another, deeper level of relationship.” I can’t wait to do it again.

3. Spurgeon’s quote of the month: “Certain people must always have sweets and comforts, but God’s wise children do not wish for these in undue measure. Daily bread we ask for, not daily sugar.”

4. PB can’t keep a secret from me and I’m secretly happy about that. He outdid himself by planning a fantastic surprise, and then promptly told me the surprise. It only took about two minutes to get this one out of him. He bought tickets to see James Taylor live in concert. “Whenever I see your smiling face I have to smile myself because I love you, yes, I do.”

5. PB knows how to milk something for all its worth. As a result of #4 above, every time he exasperated me over the last month, he would smile and say, “James Taylor”.

6. We have entered into a new phase of parenting. On Mother’s Day weekend, my oldest daughter invited me out to breakfast and she picked up the tab. And left the tip. It was strange and wonderful. Adult children grow up to be lovely friends.

7. If I could go back and live in another time, I think I’d want to experience Jerusalem in 33 A.D. I read the book of Acts this month and those days of the early church must have been amazing. They were trying to figure out how to do this thing called church. No denominations, no programs, no church growth strategies. They just followed the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Huh.

8. Flat Jesus is catching on quickly. We handed out laminated cutouts of Jesus to everybody at church and challenged folks to take Jesus with them wherever they go this summer. They were instructed to take a picture of their travels with Flat Jesus (a la Flat Stanley) and already we have photos pouring in. So far, He’s been to Seattle, Colorado, a preschool show and tell, Disneyworld, a soccer game and a gospel music fest. And summer hasn’t even started.

9. I’m a happy, tired Nonnie. We just spent five days with several different combinations of our six grands. There’s nothing like hearing the sweet voice of a three year old calling out “Nonnie” at 5:00 a.m. I expect I’ll wake up at 5:00 a.m. tomorrow morning and miss hearing that little voice. Then I’ll say a prayer for all the parents of little ones and sleep awhile longer.

10. Three days at a writer’s retreat gave me a lot to think about. I’m still doing a lot of thinking. Hopefully soon I’ll be doing a lot of writing.

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10 Things I Learned in April

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1. Don’t put away the turtlenecks until May.  We were in the 30s this week.  As in degrees.  To clarify: I personally haven’t been in the 30s for two decades.

2. Gathering twelve women together on a snowy weekend in April can begin a movement.  What IF we lived and loved like Jesus?

3. There are crystals in my ears. If one of them should happen to dislodge and fall into one of my three semicircular inner-ear canals, the room starts spinning.  Thankfully, a friend told me how to get that crystal back where it belongs. The Tilt-A-Whirl has mercifully stopped.

4. Spring cleaning feels good. The best part is looking out freshly washed windows. Gosh, it’s a beautiful world out there.

5. Cell phones are wonderful and horrible. PB and I spent three hours trading in our old cell phones for new models. As the afternoon frittered away, I wondered, “What if we sent a monthly bill to church members, required them to update their Bibles every few years at an outrageous price, made them sign a contract and then preached a three hour sermon?”

6. My new favorite old dead guy is Gerard Manley Hopkins. He was a priest and a poet in the 1800s. He wrote this: “The world is charged with the grandeur of God. The birds sing to Him. The thunder speaks of His terror. The lion is like His strength. The sea is like His greatness. The honey like His sweetness. They are something like Him. They make Him known. They tell of Him.” Why don’t we talk like that anymore?

7. It’s possible to spend six weeks studying 25 verses. The little obscure book of Philemon had much to teach. Who knew?

8. I need daffodils in the spring, but I never think about it when it’s time to plant in the fall. So I took drastic measures – I’ve set a reminder to go off on my phone on September 1, 2016 that says, “Buy daffodil bulbs.” I suppose I should also set a reminder for October 1 saying, “Plant those darn bulbs, for goodness sake.”

9. I’m glad I’m not planning any grad parties or wedding receptions this summer.  In fact, I won’t be pulling together any massive galas for the rest of my life.  The next big family fete will be grandson Hudson’s high school graduation…in 2030.

10. If ever there was a song to close April and usher in May, it’s this one by James Taylor. Stay with it to hear the transition from “Before This World” to “Jolly Springtime.”

“Yes the winter was bitter and long
So the spring’ll be sweet.
Come along with a rhythm and a song
Watch creation repeat.”

april may

10 Things I Learned in March

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1. You CAN go back. For PB’s birthday this month, our daughter arranged dinner out with the “original six”, meaning no spouses or kids were invited. We rode together to the restaurant and there was some faintly familiar banter about who would have to sit in the back seat. At the restaurant, we all took our places at the table in the same seating arrangement as years ago. Only a few things seemed to have changed: 1) nobody teased a sibling to the point of tears and 2) nobody farted and fell off the chair laughing. They are all grown up. It was such a lovely time.

2. There is more than one kind of cheesecake. For PB’s birthday, a good friend took a chunk of pepperjack cheese and cut it to look like a mini birthday cake, candles and all. It was a true one-of-a-kind cheese cake for a one-of-a-kind guy.

3. An early Easter overloads March. We had Daylight Savings Time, St. Patrick’s Day, Palm Sunday, the first day of spring, Good Friday, Easter and the March Madness NCAA basketball tournament all packed into two weeks. Whatever will we do in April?

4. The best way to break a reading fast is to get up at 4:30 a.m. and read the first two chapters in five different books before going to Easter services at church — not unlike pigging out at the Easter buffet after church. Both felt like extravagant indulgences. One made my stomach ache, one made my head ache. But I thoroughly enjoyed them both.

5. Spending a whole month meditating on Jesus’ last week on earth as recorded in the gospels is wonderful and terrible. I wrote two pages of longhand in a college-ruled spiral notebook every morning, getting my heart deep into Passion Week. I can’t go back and read over it now without weeping. “You gave your life, to give me mine. You say that I am free. How can it be?” (“How Can It Be?” by Lauren Daigle)

6. Buzzer beaters are only exciting if it’s a guy from your college team who throws up the shot with no time on the clock and it swishes through the net, sending you to the Sweet 16. Otherwise, it’s devastating. But if it is a guy from your team, you get to shout like crazy and jump around in front of the TV like you’re in the celebration huddle.

7. Best advice of the month: “Pray to catch the bus, then run as fast as you can.”

8. Tulips and daffodils only come up in the spring if bulbs were planted in the fall. But in the fall, I’m not thinking about tulips and daffodils. I’m more interested in pumpkins and chrysanthemums. Every spring I knock myself on the head and say, “Darn. Too late for tulips again this year.”

9. It’s possible to get your Christmas shopping done in March. There was a big sale on a big ticket item and I had a 30% off coupon to boot. I bought a bunch of them and socked them away. Fa-la-la-la-la.

10. I’m not only saved from something (eternal separation from God), I’m also saved for something (for the life of the world). This spring, I’m looking forward to learning what that means with my Bible study friends.

 

hello april

 

 

10 Things I Learned in February

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1. Baking bread in the oven makes the house smell so good.  I haven’t made a loaf of bread from scratch in years. Oh my. It tastes even better than it smells.

2. Giving up reading for Lent hasn’t been that hard. There are plenty of other things to do besides read books. I cleaned out the pantry closet. And watched lots of documentaries on Netflix.

3. I thought a lot about the word “essential”, which means “absolutely necessary, indispensible”. It comes from the word “essence”, which means “the basic, real, and invariable nature of a thing”. I’m asking, “What do I absolutely need to be most real?”

4. Picking out knobs and handles for kitchen cupboards isn’t easy. Picking out knobs and handles for kitchen cupboards that both PB and I agree on is downright hard. We have ordered and returned and ordered and returned lots of hardware. I also learned about something called “restocking fees” — so, no more returning.

5. Sometimes you just have to move on.

6. We went to a wedding where the bride and groom washed each other’s feet during the ceremony. It was very moving, but it would never have worked with PB and me. He goes through the roof when anyone touches his feet.

7. I shouldn’t despise what I have the power to change. That pantry closet has been bothering me for months. I hated opening that door and seeing the chaos. Now I enjoy looking into that space.

8. I thought the concept of “preaching the gospel to yourself” was a new idea conceived by a contemporary, popular pastor in a hip, happening church out on the west coast.  Turns out, Martin Luther (1483 – 1546) came up with that amazing phrase.

9. Sometimes I don’t learn ten things.

10. But then, it was a short month.

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10 Things I Learned in January

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1.  Healing takes time. PB and his new knee are trying to get used to each other. I think they will become good friends, soon. I guess you can’t expect to make an 8″ incision, pull a joint apart and insert a piece of hardware without some pain and suffering.

2.  Lazarus had a lot to teach me. I didn’t have high hopes for a 5 week Bible study on “The Life and Death (and Life) of Lazarus”. It was simply something to fill in the weeks between Christmas and Lent. But wow. There was a gold mine in John 11 and 12.

3.  If you chase down the garbage truck and tell the driver you’re very sorry you forgot to take out your garbage bins, but your husband just had knee surgery and he usually takes out the garbage and besides that, your grandchildren were visiting and there is some very stinky garbage in your bins, the driver of the truck will have mercy on you and go back down your street to pick up your garbage.  (Thank you, whoever you are.)

4.  I still get excited when school is cancelled because of cold or snow. We don’t even have kids in school anymore, but it doesn’t matter. Seeing our school on the list of cancellations conjures up good memories of going into my teenagers’ rooms and whispering, “No school today.”

5.  “Downton Abbey” is pure delight. Maybe because it’s the last season so I’m soaking in every minute, but it seems extra good this year. I’m predicting happy endings for all.

6. Abraham Wright is my newest favorite old dead guy. He was a Puritan minister in the 1600s who said this: “I am mended by my sickness, enriched by my poverty, and strengthened by my weakness… What fools are we, then, to frown upon our afflictions. They are our best friends. They are not indeed for our pleasure, they are for our profit.”

7. The legalism of the Pharisees in Jesus’ time doesn’t look much different today. When rules are more important that relationships then love has been replaced with law. It’s tricky, but I must deal with people graciously even if I disagree with them.

8. I can’t read the Genesis story of Joseph without breaking out into song from the Broadway musical – “Go, go, go, Joseph, you’re doing fine; you and your dreamcoat ahead of your time.” What I didn’t know until this month’s re-reading of Joseph’s account, is that he sat in an Egyptian prison for 14 years after being falsely accused. Yet Joseph didn’t become bitter or hopeless. There was no documentary filmed on Joseph’s life and no petition was circulated on Facebook to release him from prison. But “the Lord was with Joseph” at every turn.

9. Recommending a good book is one of my greatest pleasures. I finished “Peace Like A River” by Leif Enger on New Year’s Day and turned right back to the first page and started reading it out loud to PB. It’s my new favorite novel – read it. Please. (Sorry, I can get bossy about books.)

10. Going through a painful time makes us more compassionate towards other people’s pain. PB will be able to minister well to those who go through knee replacement surgery and rehab. Our pain is never wasted.

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10 Things I Learned in November

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1. Birthdays are wonderful.  Although I’m not crazy about getting older, I am crazy about being alive and fairly healthy and mostly sane.  Every day is precious, but birthdays are worth celebrating.

2. I wouldn’t have made it to Oregon in 1846.  In fact, I never would have left my log cabin with two cows on six acres in the heartland. I read “The Indifferent Stars Above” out loud to PB this month — the story of the Donner Party and their debacle in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  Nightmares ensued.

3. Craig’s List works. I sold something for the first time on the free ad site. There were bidding wars in my inbox right off the bat. Some lovely people came to our house, picked up the goods and handed me cash.  I might be hooked.

4. Prayer is a deep topic.  Our women’s Bible study has been learning about prayer for 12 weeks now and I feel like we’ve barely scratched the surface.

5. Sometimes old, familiar words take on a whole new meaning.  Take, for instance, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life…” The word “follow” suddenly became significant. I guess I can’t sit around and wait for goodness and mercy to show up.  Instead, I set out and start moving ahead and when I turn around to look over my shoulder, there they will be.  Goodness and mercy can’t follow me if I’m not going anywhere.  After all this time, that little bit of truth has been waiting for me to unearth it.

6. I read through Ecclesiastes this month and found myself irritated with Solomon’s pessimism.  After each chapter, I wrote Solomon a letter outlining all the problems I had with his view that “everything is pointless, perfectly pointless.” “Dear Solomon, The best you can offer is ‘eat, drink, and be merry’?  That smacks of a very shallow life.  I’m all for good food and good times, but Sol, there’s more to life than prime rib and parties.”

7. I’m taking a friend’s advice to enjoy winter this year.  Typically, I’m a happy hibernator from January through March. But after hearing my friend talk about her decision to approach winter with a positive attitude, I signed up. The key for her is bundling up and going outside, despite the cold and snow.  I’m asking for battery powered socks for Christmas.

8. Old football injuries never go away.  PB gave his knee to Brillion High back in the 70’s. Soon he will be getting a new one. With six grands, he has to be able to give horsey rides without his knee going out of joint.

9. In January, I’m going to transition from working full-time to working part-time.  I’m trying to figure out what that means.

10. Being thankful and saying “thank you” to someone are two different things.  Listening to the celebrities interviewed during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, I was struck by how genuinely grateful they all sounded.  Not many knew whom to thank, however.  It’s like being thankful for the turkey on the table without saying “thank you” to the one who made it.  Knowing Whom to thank makes all the difference.

What did you learn in November?

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10 Things I Learned in October

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hello nov1.  It’s hard to let go of October.  On Sunday, the 11th, I sat outside and held on to the last wisps of the 80 degree sunshine on my face. Sure, the leaves were falling all around me, but for a moment I could close my eyes and feel the last gasp of summer-like breeze waving good-bye.

2.  I threw away a book.  The title was on somebody’s recommended reading list so I bought it because it sounded promising.  I groaned so many times while reading it that PB asked me if I was sick.  And I was.  Sick that I spent good money on such a poor read.  I couldn’t even put it in the Goodwill box.

3.  If you email a famous person, sometimes they email back.  Since getting a response from a recording artist, I’m making a list of famous people to whom I’m going to shoot an email.

4.  My new prayer is “Give me this day my daily words.”  My freezer is full and my grocery store is handy, so daily bread is not a struggle.  But I need words – lots and lots of words.  I am aware of how completely dependent I am on holy inspiration on a daily basis if I’m going to keep traveling down this path.

5.  People say “um” a lot.  Maybe I’m too sensitive, but I get really distracted by speakers or podcasters who throw an “um” into every sentence.  I find myself counting the “ums” instead of listening to the content.  “Like” is gaining ground on “um”. I listened to a 28 minute podcast in which the interviewer said “like” 37 times and the person being interviewed said “like” 194 times.  Uh-huh. I actually listened a second time, just to count the “likes”.

6.  I have another favorite old dead guy.  Right up there next to Charles Spurgeon is a man named Robert Murray McCheyne.  He lived from 1813-1843 in Scotland and was a preacher, pastor and poet.  He said things like, “For every look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ.”

7.  I spend a lot of time transitioning.  For one week in October, I kept a log of how I spent my time in half hour increments. It was an eye opener.  It wasn’t just the time spent watching TV or eating that surprised me.  It was the time spent transitioning between home and work and then work and home.  I can’t blame a commute – I work one block away from our house.

8.  The best part of going to conferences is the bus ride.  I went with 30 women to a conference this month and enjoyed the music and speakers.  But three and a half hours on a bus there and back was perfect for nice long conversations that otherwise wouldn’t happen.

9.  PB will not be outbid at an auction.  Since it was a fundraiser for our youth group, I didn’t mind the $120 pie.

10.  I get an extra hour to be 55. Daylight Savings Time ends on the night before my birthday. Delaying the inevitable bump up in the age bracket is okay by me.

What’s one thing you’ve learned in October?

10 Things I Learned in September

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sept1. I like demolition.  PB and I have been working on a house project this month, with the help of some good friends.  With a lot of help.  From some very good friends.  It included 40 pound sledgehammers and pulling up 3.7 million screws and a dumpster filled to the brim with our blood, sweat and tears.  I loved it.  I felt like I was on an HGTV show.  Busting stuff up and getting filthy dirty was great fun.

2. I’m a journal junkie. At present, I have seven journals on my desk.  One leather bound journal for, well, journaling.  One small bound book that is a five-year/one-sentence-a-day volume.  One that keeps a list of books I’ve read for the past eleven years. Another that is titled “Pretty Good Ideas”. Then there is a spiral notebook for brain dumping, another for taking notes on podcasts and sermons, and yet another for writing reflections on scripture reading.  Oh, and one more that I use for copying down excerpts from books.  Make that eight journals.  Last week I stumbled onto something called the “bullet journal” so now I am chomping at the bit to start October so I can roll out number nine.

3. Gardening is not my strong suit, but I do like digging in the dirt.  When we moved to a new place years ago, I had a hard time adjusting.  When spring rolled around, I told a friend that it finally started to feel like home when I started digging in the dirt.  She laughed and said, “You old farmer, you.”  My thumb is not green and I can’t keep a houseplant alive, but this month I’ve pulled some weeds and took pleasure in the feel of dirt in my hands.

4. Podcasts are fun to listen to, but lots of work to create.  Our church started producing a weekly podcast with updates, announcements, sermon recaps, family devotions, etc.  It helps to have a super talented technological wizard doing all the heavy lifting.  All I have to do is push record and try to talk naturally into a microphone in an empty room.  It’s harder than you’d think.

5. Live theater makes me happy.  PB and I went to see “Newsies” this month and we’ve been seizing the day ever since.  I always leave musicals wishing I had stuck with dance lessons.  Alas, when I was five, I refused to go on stage in my tutu.  My mother walked me around the parking lot and tried to talk me into performing, but I was a no-go.  Hence, the end of my dance career.

6. Nobody’s favorite Bible verse is from the book of Nahum.  I’ve been reading through the Old Testament minor prophets this month and it’s a hard read.  Bless the people who are called to pronounce impending judgment on nations.  Bless the nations who heed the warnings.

7. September is my new favorite month.  Summertime has always been my season of choice, but this year September was spectacular.  Bring on the sweatshirts and flannel jammies.

8. I’m willing to be a fool for Christ.  Every Sunday morning we do some silly theatrics for the K-5th grade Sunday school classes.  So far I have 1) mixed a Super Hero concoction of chocolate syrup, maple syrup and cough syrup and drank it, 2) pretended I couldn’t lift a five pound weight, and 3) swallowed a packet of hot sauce.  Anything to get kids excited to come to church.

9. After observing Jesus’ habit of going outside to pray, our Bible study ladies were given an assignment to take a prayer walk.  I get it.  It was so much easier to praise God when I wasn’t distracted by the dust on my table or the streaks on my windows.  My confidence in God’s ability to hold the world together, including me, soared.  Getting out into big beautiful nature put my problems in perspective.

10. I am not prolific.  I wish I could pound out blog posts like nobody’s business.  I just can’t figure out how these people blog every day.  But then I remembered that I’m ghost writing for another blog, creating content for the new podcast, putting together a 12 week Bible study and trying to keep up with my eight journals. Make that nine journals starting tomorrow.  Bring on October!

goodbye

 

10 Things I Learned in June

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1. I still love reading books out loud.  On a recent road trip with PB, I started reading “The Boys in the Boat” and now every time we get in the car, he asks, “Did you bring the book?” Back in our homeschooling days, I used to spend afternoons reading books aloud to the kids. I had forgotten how much I enjoy reading out loud.

2. It’s nice to take a break from TV. Usually, about this time, we are tuning in to Brewer games, but they’ve lost more games than any other team in baseball (except the Phillies).  Sitting on the deck with a book or taking a bike ride is way better than anything TV has to offer in the summer.

3. James Taylor still has it. He’s 67 and released a new album this month.  His music has provided the soundtrack for some of the most significant times of my life. I brought all his albums with me to Michigan State when I was 17. I’m glad he’s still giving me songs to dance to in the kitchen.

4. Abraham Lincoln was a real leader. PB and I went to Springfield, Illinois and took in the Lincoln historical sites. Since it was just the two of us, we were able to read every plaque, listen to every documentary film, and stroll down every street Lincoln himself walked, without any kids begging to go back to the hotel pool. They don’t make politicians like Honest Abe anymore.

5. Biking is more fun when you don’t have to pedal uphill.  PB did a little research and found a company that sells battery powered motors for regular bicycles. I know cycling purists would probably gasp at the thought, but I’m loving that little button on my handlebar. Biking is fun again.

6. When I think I’ve learned it all, there’s always more. I read the gospel of Mark in June. I’ve probably read that book 30 times, but I still was able to take twelve pages of notes. There is no limit to the richness of scripture — it keeps going deeper and deeper.

7. It’s sad to say goodbye to a member of the family. Bo, our dog, started having some serious health issues, so we had to put her down.  PB bought her a Happy Meal on the way to the vet, so I know she went out happy. Food was Bo’s love language. For all of my complaining about dog hair and poop in the yard, I do miss the afternoon walks and waggy welcome when I walk in the door.  Rest in peace, Bodacious Bojangles Bo-Sox.

8. I should have been an editor. I can’t stop myself from correcting typos and grammatical errors, whether it be in the local newspaper or on a billboard on the interstate. I sent an email to an author that published an article riddled with misspelled words, offering to edit his work. I haven’t heard back.

9. If God doesn’t give any new instructions, carry on as is. I’ve asked the Lord what to do with this blog, this writing thing I can’t shake, this compulsion to put down thoughts on paper.  I’ve pestered and begged and pleaded for some direction.  I got nothing. I’m taking the silence to mean: there are no further instructions, so carry on.

10. Babies are a wonder, every single time. Ruby is our sixth grandchild and sweetness just seeps out of her. I always wondered what my family thought when I was born. I was the 11th grand on one side of the family and the 7th on the other. Now I know – they were just as enthralled and enchanted and amazed at little me, as all the others that came before. It never gets old.