Tuesday's Trivia

I am a wealth of information. Some of it is timely and informative, but the bulk of it is of little value in the realm of academia or life-changing experience. But I continue to collect it. Until recently, apart from the captive audiences of my family and students, there was no place to share this vast collection of facts. However, that was before today. Today I introduce my first attempt at a series: Tuesday's Trivia.

Now, without further delay, the first Tuesday's Trivia fact:

See how simple, how valuable, how deep Tuesday's Trivia is? Let's see if I remember to continue the series next week!

Love

Twelve years and many beaten odds. We will never forget the miracle of your past, but gladly celebrate your exciting present and future.

Happy birthday to our precious boy !

Hostess Trying to Have the Mostess

It's Friday, so away we go with Friday's Freewrite and Friday Fragments.

1. A long time ago in a galaxy far away, we had some acquaintances over for dinner. It was a nice evening, but they never spoke to us again really after that night. A while later, my sibling and the acquaintance both relocated to the same town. The acquaintance was wonderful about helping my sister get settled, so as a thank-you my sister had the acquaintance over for dinner. You guessed it: they've never spoken again.

2. I have marvelous next door neighbors. Low maintenance, generous, kind. We've been neighbors for a decade and they've each been inside my house one time. I don't think I've ever been farther than their front doors. Funny the boundaries that keep us as good neighbors, I guess.

3. When we bought this house, we wanted certain features which would someday accommodate our kids' friends and youth group activities. Now that our daughter is in the youth group at church, I can think of many reasons why I've never hosted an activity here.

4. I'm thinking it was a man who built all these houses in the 70's and 80's with a bathroom right off the kitchen or living room. Some things really do need to remain private.

5. My nephew never once complained to us about being forced to give his bedroom to us while we visited. Thanks, J, for your willingness to sleep on the living room floor.

6. I am having two friends over today for lunch. In a stroke of hostessing brilliance, I made certain they both share a first name. This way there will be no awkward silences as all I have to do is say, "What do you think of that, Jill?" and suddenly two people will be speaking at once.

P.S. They're coming at noon and I have no idea what I'm serving for lunch... I wonder if this is somehow related to item #1??

Retuning My Heart

My sister-in-law has a flair for decorating and a personality people seek out. She is regarded as a best friend by many and has found tremendous success in her career. But that's not what has touched my heart about her.

What touches my heart is that she has made a deliberate effort to love those people who are deemed, "hard to love." She says the last couple of years have been wonderfully fulfilling as she has chosen to stand in what is sometimes the receiving end of their anger, their frustration, their hurt. It doesn't make sense to some people. Why would anyone choose to be there in the ugliness, the messiness, the worthlessness?

Because it's what Christ commands.

And with His help, sometimes it's possible to see the beauty buried and hidden deeply within the mess we've made of his creation.

Shades of the Man He Will Be

On Monday, when the testing list was posted, his name was missing. Too many absences. He went home and cried and contemplated quitting. Then, on Wednesday, he grew up a little and asked for a meeting with Sensei. They talked about asthma, about how much testing meant, about his skill level. When the meeting was over, his name was on the testing list.

On Saturday, the orange belt was exchanged for a green belt.

And never was a color belt more precious to this boy.

Will I Be Strong Enough to Read Her Report Card?

Pepper's first behavior-training class is tonight. Now I wish I'd stocked up on those back-to-school supplies at Walmart last week.

What Do I Know?

One morning recently, we found this Mutant Ninja Turtle playset on our front porch. Next to it was a case full of Magnetix. No note. No indication of the source. Just two very nice toys.

I suspect that my next door neighbor was divesting herself of the remnants of her annual visit from her grandkids, but am not sure of that.

Because I normally see the half-empty glass first before forcing myself to see the half-full glass, I felt sad because these toys have been brought to a house where Mutant Ninja Turtles and Magnetix are passe'.

How long did my children play with these things - the same things I said they wouldn't like? 6.5 hours - and that was just the first day.