taking the spider bite

A while back Keona found a spider on the floor. After squishing it soundly (we have recluses in Missouri), I proceeded to pick up the pair of pants I had laying out for her and run my arms through the legs.

"Mommy, what are you doing?" Keona asked. I replied, "I'm running my hand through so if there are any other spiders, they'll bite me instead of you."

Keona's eyes welled up with tears, "You'll take the spider bite for me?"

"Of course love," I whispered, realizing that this was a love-in-action moment for my daughter.

Then with tears rolling down her cheeks she asked, "Mommy, what if I'm not strong enough to take the spider-bite for my children, will you take it for them too?"

Wrapping my arms around her I answered, "As long as I have breath, I will do everything I can to take the spider-bite."

It was one of those mommy moments that are etched in your memory, but I hoped that the truth would last longer than a moment for my dear daughter.

Evidently it did. Yesterday she was telling me about a dream where she was attacked by a mean tiger. "That sounds scary!" I responded, "what happened?" "Oh, it was okay. You took the tiger-bite."

Yes indeed, while I have breath...

a family tradition

"Tradition" is a fabulous word for our kids. One of their favorites is our Valentine's Day Tradition where we pack up the whole tribe and go off to a fancy hotel in Branson. We just returned this afternoon and I thought I'd share some of the fun!

Packing on Monday, Bear was watching Louie, Jona was focused one of his newer space books, and Keona was VERY JAZZED about helping mommy pack. She's been packing ever since she could walk, stuffing toys and shoes into backpacks or Walmart bags and pretending she was going to the Moon or Dora's house...As she and I were packing things up, she looked at the boys and said, "We're the workers. They're the wait-ers."

With teddy bears and swimsuits in tow, we pulled into the "Castle" and piled out in our matching ISMK sweatshirts to take over the hotel. We started with a swim, enjoyed chocolate-covered strawberries while we explored the hotel, then took in a movie in their mini-theatre, played games in the room, and finished with another swim. Today we repeated the pattern and topped it off with icecream.

Jona announced, "this is one of the best days of my life!" And Keona asked, "what would happen if we stayed here 100 days???"

Ah, memories. They probably won't remember the details but I do pray that our kids grow up knowing they were always our main event!

chi alpha retreat, MA

L-A-T-E last night I flew in from Boston after spending 48 hours with a group of college students whose brain power will change the world. Boston University, U Mass Amherst, MIT, Cornell... brilliant students studying photography, engineering, mathematics, music, fashion design, urban planning, and many other degrees gathered from Massachusetts, New York, New Hampshire, and Vermont.

Their giftings were many, but what I treasured much more was their hearts. They stayed with me as we went to some hard places spiritually. They stood boldly, confessing their need to follow God whole-heartedly. They processed the teachings and asked excellent questions.

And, they had a lot of fun! Saturday evening, the campus directors coordinated a coffee house that began with the area director, Mike Olejarez, dressing up like Satan--red head, horns, cape--and handing out copies of C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters while the students and staff invited everyone to a coffee house for poetry readings, music, and a brief message from a "former atheist" (yours truly). The evening was filled with laughter, great talent, and a few tears.

After I shared "Reflections of a young atheist: 5 things I really like about God" a man tapped me on the shoulder to say thank-you. I asked him where he was in his journey. He said, "I'm not a Christian. I only believe what I see. But," he said meaningfully, "I believe that you truly saw something. Thanks."

God will complete what He began this past weekend. It's an indescribable joy to partner with the Great Shepherd.

beyond the groundhog

For all who watch the weather, my dear daughter has new insight for you:

"Mommy, "she said without blinking, "when a fish sees its shadow it means two more months of rain."

There you have it. Add it to the Almanac.

In other news...we're surrounded by the dangerous beauty of two inches of ice here in the Ozarks. It is gorgeous but you truly wouldn't want to go outside. The branches are creaking and cracking all over the property. The Silver Maple that reaches over my writing room has lost at least 10 of its highest boughs.

During the ice storm when the electricity went out, we snuggled inside a tent in our living room (Barry is an amazing daddy) with pillows and blankets, built robots, played memory games, and spent a lot of time in front of the fireplace. It was a very precious time for our family.

Though I'm grateful to have plumbing again, the experience did leave me thoughtful regarding how the presence of media options (computers, leapsters, videos) affects family interaction. We already have limits on screen time for the kids and several media-free days and zones, but I think we'll keep moving toward even less in the future. I liked doing crafts by candlelight :-).

Evangel Temple, Georgia

Late last night Alia and I returned from spending a wonderful weekend with a healthy, responsive church family in Columbus, Georgia: southern hospitality at it's best!

Even more than how warmly they received us, I will never forget how they responded to each teaching. Already today I've received several emails from people who responded to the Sunday morning messages.

The weekend started with a women's luncheon on Satuday where I shared on the theme of Anonymous: Jesus' hidden years and yours and had the JOY of meeting and hearing Damaris Carbaugh! What a voice, but even moreso, what a loving, passionate heart. I am so grateful for what I sense is a new friendship.

The first service on Sunday was traditional, the second contemporary, and the third post-modern. Different ages graced each service but without the tension that sometimes accompanies generation-customized ministry. They believed in each other and integrated as one family through the overflowing Sunday school hour.

In the second service I sensed God asking me to change my plans and share Reflections of a Young Atheist: 5 things I really like about God. Dozens of sincere souls responded to Jesus' invitation to believe! It was beautiful and so moving to witness young and old choosing to dedicate their lives to God.

Thank you Rich and Jane, Rod and Damaris, Bud and Margaret and all the Evangel Temple family for the opportunity to be with you!

"how do babies get in a woman's stomach?"

"How do babies get in a woman's stomach?" asked Jonathan (age 10.5) as we were reading in his room.

"Well, babies begin with a choice and a miracle," I said, offering the answer that has held for at least six months now.

"Yes, but HOW do they get there through a choice and a miracle?" he replied.

Keona unknowingly gave me a few moments to think: "They come on rainbows," she said with absolute certainty.

Over the next few minutes I ventured forth explaining how God created women with eggs and that several hundred, out of the several hundred thousand she was born with, would have the opportunity to become babies.

"How?" he asked again.

"Well," I began, stretching out the word with a few more syllables, "there's a miracle called 'fertilization' that transforms an egg into the beginning of a new life!" I smiled, paused, and braced for the "big one."

But then Jonathan surprised me by asking, "But what happens to all the other eggs?! Do they go to heaven?"

Jonathan was on the edge of tears, already mourning for the eggs that didn't become babies. The conversation stretched over several minutes but in the end he seemed to begin to grasp that the miracle (fertilization) initiated life and that God knew what he was doing with the eggs that did not have that opportunity.

As we all drifted naturally into another conversation I thought to myself, "How will my son feel the day he learns about abortion? He's already fighting for the life of an unfertilized egg."

party hats

Christmas Day we plunged--via an unexpected gift from Granny--into the world of Nintendo DS and quickly realized that we would have to set up some tight boundaries on "screen time." We thought through a few different approaches and finally decided that Nintendo for Jonathan and Leapster for Keona would be earned by chores. Jona feeds and waters our 3 cats and 3 dogs and Keona sets the table for breakfast, lunch, and dinner both for 30 minutes of screen time.

The pets have never had it so good.

But we humans are also treated each meal to something special. Dear Keona takes table-setting very seriously. Of course there's the usual plates, forks, and cups. Add to that napkins fashioned from whatever paper she happens to fancy as pretty.

But then, for every meal, Keona gives us all party hats! The first meal it was an assortment from the birthday cupboard. Then some paper Princess ones she printed from her computer. And since then it's been anything that can sit on your head.

Smiling at my daughter with her polka dotted hat on the other day I thought, "Life, for my baby girl, is truly a party." I have so much to learn.