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John, Holly and I went Christmas caroling with our church tonight. We all had a great time, especially because the weather was so nice! It's probably the first time I've gone Christmas caroling in 60 degree weather. We always go to the shut ins and senior citizens of our church. Most of them sing right along with us. Our last stop was at a sweet lady's house. She is neither a senior citizen nor a shut in but someone who is going through some physical trials. Normally, she would have gone with us. She was so blessed that we came to her house that she cried. I am blessed to be part of such a wonderful church.
Gabriel and Hannah will be home in less than 48 hours! I am ecstatic!! We've been able to see them a few times over the last 11 months but they haven't been HOME since January. And they haven't seen our "new" house at all. I'm not sure if I can contain my excitement over the next few hours. Pray for them as they travel home on Saturday. It is a 14 hour drive.
I reached one of my smaller goals with my Crafty Homeschoolers shop - 25 items listed! Next goal is 50. Wonder how long that will take?
Tonight I was sitting in the living room when I heard sirens. It was a fire truck. Well, we lived in an apartment for four years about 1/2 mile away from the fire station so hearing sirens were normal everyday occurrences. I hardly noticed it until John jumped up and ran outside to see what was going on. Then I remembered that we were no longer in our apartment but in a nice quiet neighborhood. So I opened the front door and looked around. Was a neighbor's house on fire? Could I see any smoke? No, but there was the fire truck right in front of our house. It was going slowly with lights and sirens. And then, I saw a person on top that was not wearing a fireman's outfit. It was Santa Clause. What??? Did the Christmas parade get lost? Were the firemen bored? Is this some sort of tradition in this county? I just don't know. I guess I'll have to ask the neighbors. Thankfully none of them needed the firemen!
I mentioned on my last entry that I started an Etsy shop. Holly came up with the name. We both thought of several other ideas but they were all taken. So Crafty Homeschoolers it is! I hope you'll take a look. Perhaps you need some Christmas tags or other scrapbooking items. I've had fun making them. Stop by and take a look! Here are a couple of things I've made. Hoping to add some more this week.
Hello, dear deprived blog! So sorry that I've neglected you. Life stays busy. Like this weekend for example. We had cantata practice on Saturday. John, Holly and I sang in the choir. None of us had speaking parts this year for a change. Then on Wednesday, the lady playing Anna the prophetess became seriously ill and was hospitalized. So on Friday I volunteered to do her part. Thankfully, I just had to read it and not memorize it! It went great! Afterwards we had a huge dinner - I brought sweet potato casserole. Yum! Now it's time to relax. I'd like to promise to write more often but with Gabriel and Hannah coming home THIS SATURDAY and my new etsy shop - Crafty Homeschoolers - I'm sure I'll be busier than ever! But I'll try. Because I miss you!!
We have always celebrated the kids' birthdays by giving them a day off of school. Traditional schools take off for Washington's, Lincoln's and Martin Luther King's birthdays, so why not celebrate our own instead? That has been our custom since our first kindergarten years in the mid 1990's. Each and every year the kids tried to convince me to take my own birthday off as well. Anything for a free day, right? No. I was adamant. I LIKED teaching! And what better way to spend my birthday than doing something I liked!
I don't remember if it was last year or this year, but Holly figured out that with Gabriel and Hannah being gone she didn't get the same number of "school holidays". So she convinced me to take off for my birthday and John's too. She's always been my little negotiator. Gabriel and Hannah now have to attend classes on their birthdays. Hannah hardly gets to even celebrate hers because it comes right in the middle of mid-terms!
This morning I enjoyed sleeping in late (until 7:30), uninterrupted devotions, and some quiet time to myself. Holly does have a co-op class today, birthday holiday or not. She is taking high school art this year. Later John, Holly and I will go see the new Sherwood Films movie Courageous. It opens today! I don't go to the theater often but this is one film I want to support. After the movie we'll have one of my favorite foods - Pizza!
My September 11 story began in June of 2001. We were missionaries to Romania on furlough. We were in New York trying to raise support to return to the field. We had a day off and decided to go to the Statue of Liberty. This was my first time there; the kids too. I remember standing there looking across the skyline of New York City. I had always wanted to go there. I made up my mind right then and there that we would go on our next trip to New York which was coming up in September. Ten year old Gabriel didn't seem as impressed as I was with the skyline. One comment about the world trade center buildings was, "They're not twin towers. One has an antenna on top."
Three months later we found ourselves in New York again. We were busy visiting several churches and spending time with John's family. John asked at one point, "What do you want to do on Tuesday?" I forgot about my determination to go to New York City. I forgot about the Empire State Building and the Twin Towers. It never occurred to me that we would be only an hour away on Wednesday and it would be a very feasible trip on Tuesday. All of that completely slipped my mind. Instead I said something like, "I don't know. I think it would be a good idea to stay at the mission apartment and do some homeschooling with the kids." And that is exactly what I did. John had heard about a preachers' meeting going on that day and so he left early to do that. I was there in that church apartment, prophet chamber as it was called. We pulled out our books and I was so glad to get some much needed school work done.
It was a nice place to stay. There were two bedrooms and a bathroom. There was an old TV on the dresser. The kind where you pull the knob out to turn it on and it takes a while to warm up. We didn't bother turning the TV on. We had school. Did I have a cell phone? I don't remember. I would say probably not because John had not contacted me. Neither did anyone else. We were pretty much in our own little world that day. As far as we knew, it was just your run of the mill average day. How very wrong we were.
It was about 2:30 PM when a lady from the church came over. She was also a homeschool mom and we had made plans to fly kites together that afternoon. She came into the church kitchen with a distraught look on her face, "Have you heard what happened?" she asked me. By her facial expression, I knew it was serious. I had no idea that it was an event that would forever change all of our lives. As she shared the impossible news, I wondered what had happened to our country. How was it that our security was so lax that so many planes could be hijacked?
We went to the room with the old fashioned black and white TV and pulled the knob to turn it on. It wasn't hard to find a channel broadcasting the news. By that point, both buildings were long gone and they showed over and over how they had collapsed. It was then that I saw the antenna on the one tower - and I remembered! I remembered Gabriel's words on how they weren't really twins. I remembered my desire to visit the city. Oh how I had wanted to go! And that was our free day, the day that it would have been possible to go - and I had forgotten.
Why did God spare us, and not others, from possible death and certain calamity? (Just being in the city that day must have been a nightmare.) I am sure I will never know as long as I live on this earth. For His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. We are blessed by His mercy and His grace. Our hearts are grieved by the tragedy that touched all of our lives. I hope that as Americans we will never forget what has happened; that we will continue to be a strong nation that will fight for our freedom. And I pray that as Christians, we will love God with all of our heart, soul and strength and share His mercy and grace with all. May God bless America!
