Godchildren*

inspired by the magical love that is linni ~ i share my precious darlings with you . . .

love this post! i am godmother to timmy, lauren and carlee...one of
each of my sister's and brothers' children, and i cherish them as if they were
my own. you have sparked me to write about these three special treasures meme
style on my blog and i'll tag you when i do as the inspiration! my youngest gem
is 11 now and we are meeting weekly for 'garnet mondays at ruby tuesdays' since
we share a january birthday and a lot of each other's personality traits too ;)
we get each other pretty well. love you linni. will take your thoughtful tips to
make these precious ones feel as special as they are.

Sitting on the dock of the 'Big Pine Lake' bay are my brother Steve alongside our first nephew Timmy. #18 is my sister Sue & Craig's firstborn son and my first godchild. His heart is as expansive as his shoulders are becoming in this memory picture from a few years back and like that first shocking big shoulder awareness that my little brother Steve was not a little boy anymore, Timmy has grown into a real man, loving husband to Stacey, and proud father to my first grand-nephew Jayden.

Daddy says Jayden is

the sweetest little
bundle of joy
EVER!

My beautiful niece Lauren [who looks remarkably like Cameron Diaz] just became a new mommy on February 28, 2008....just barely pushing before the leap year stroke of midnight! Lauren's voice and musical talents are mostly inherited from her angelic singing mother although my brother Tom can belt out a good tune [and with Ang they sing a mad toe-tappin' duet or a rousing "Skol, Vikings!"] so maybe it's just a perfect blend of feminine and masculine Imago Dei passed down to their daughter. LDubb, my precious first goddaughter...I love you dearly!

Now, if you recall Joey, my special rock hunting companion, he is Lauren's brother...and just became an uncle for the first time. So one way or the other, this custom designed onesie is definitely going to be fitting for our new little nephew Trey. Only question is will he be shooting pucks or finding pretty rocks first?

[for any baby shower planners...this was a fun activity for all!]

And last but not least, the lovely Carlee Anne.

Caring, nurturing, forgiving and more

describes the person that we all adore.

Thinking of others in multiple ways

will guide the little ones all of their days.

Take this angel given to you

from a child that does what you do.

Godmother, Aunt, Teacher and Friend,

the bond that you share will never end.

Many will see it, many may not,

but to us, your influence sure means a lot.

Sharing something, though indescribable it's there,

the ways that you both seem to love and care

for others in ways that affects you so deep

this commonality is great that both of you keep.

Thank you for caring, for being there to show

her wonderful ways to help her to grow.

Just knowing the problems Carlee could face,

it's comforting knowing she's filled with God's grace.

~a poem from Steve & Kathy~

I'm hoping this Girls Rock movie comes to town so we can go see it together although I'm pretty sure we would be the first two putting in our earplugs! Love the concept though and Kirsten had some great ideas for 'quieter' Girls Rock alternatives [dance, visual arts, more classical forms of music]. Those tween and teen years are turbulent ones and what a difference this sort of thing could be.

It has been said that Carlee and I are a lot alike...and neither of us are at all bothered by that (even though it smacks of our being a little sensitive and a lot strong willed) we consider it a compliment and anything else is just for critics (love that line in the Girls Rock trailer!). Carlee loves competing in gymnastics and cooking with Grandma. Those times together, just like our Garnet Mondays @ Ruby Tuesdays, rock like jewels!

Last October while Rob was doing an Advanced Wild at Heart boot camp at Timber Bay, about an hour away from where Carlee and I sat on the same dock that is shown in the first picture above, we were praying about all kinds of things and she surely has Jesus in her heart. And on the drive home the next morning we sang this song and talked about God and Satan and heaven and hell...and the difference between make believe Santa and the Easter Bunny and having faith in Jesus. Nothing has prepared me to have the answers to such questions for such a young searching heart...I praise and ask the Lord to give me just enough words.

a gift to treasure

Poem for do-bee

Like petticoats twirling
Thoughts dark and bright
Blue agate rivers swirling
Tumble in at night

Then! Quiet, and soften
For beauty can see
That every so often
She ceases from doing to BE.

from marsyl

~ ~ ~

i found a veritable treasure trove you all will love to see
creative~wise~beauty~full a gift from God is she
who wrote this ditty just for me who listened deep and knew
we truly simply need to know we're loved for who we be

thank you marcell for who you are
~a treasured gift from God to thee~
i share her with you now...the lovely pentimento

still lovin' the snow

walks with rob rock!!!

random retelling 3

If a picture is worth a thousand words, how valuable is a song that can transport you right back to a certain place in time? Some times we would rather forget. As I switched over from the usual cd selection the other day this was playing on the radio and swiiish! all those feelings came rushing back like a violent crashing wave tossed on the stormy sea to let me know that cynic is still alive and well down there somewhere and probably could use a little Jesus in that place...but for now she's just letting that part listen to the retelling of this extended chapter of the do bee di story.



by Soul Asylum

Call you up in the middle of the night
Like a firefly without a light
You were there like a blowtorch burning
I was a key that could use a little turning

So tired that I couldn't even sleep
So many secrets I couldn't keep
Promised myself I wouldn't weep
One more promise I couldn't keep

It seems no one can help me now
I'm in too deep
There's no way out
This time I have really led myself astray

Runaway train never going back
Wrong way on a one way track
Seems like I should be getting somewhere
Somehow I'm neither here nor there

Can you help me remember how to smile
Make it somehow all seem worthwhile
How on earth did I get so jaded
Life's mystery seems so faded

I can go where no one else can go
I know what no one else knows
Here I am just drownin' in the rain
With a ticket for a runaway train

Everything seems cut and dry
Day and night, earth and sky
Somehow I just don't believe it

Runaway train never going back
Wrong way on a one way track
Seems like I should be getting somewhere
Somehow I'm neither here nor there

Bought a ticket for a runaway train
Like a madman laughin' at the rain
Little out of touch, little insane
Just easier than dealing with the pain

Runaway train never going back
Wrong way on a one way track
Seems like I should be getting somewhere
Somehow I'm neither here nor there

Runaway train never comin' back
Runaway train tearin' up the track
Runaway train burnin' in my veins
Runaway but it always seems the same

random retelling 5

I just finished listening to John Eldredge's cd series on The Four Streams and it brought back to mind a past experience of the Counselor coming for me and bringing Healing to a broken and shattered part of my heart that needed His truth and healing touch and, in a precious few moments, was able to reconnect a dis-integrated part back into the whole.
It was just the beginning but it was a gloriously good start. At the time this occurred this experience bookmarks a coming together of several resources pouring into my midst; reading the manuscript for Seeing is Believing, learning the foundations of a broad spectrum of therapeutic healing techniques in the lay counseling class at church, attending a one day teaching on theophostic prayer...sponging it all up and practicing
"how to" but finding real healing in the process. I retrieved this April 2004 post from CVM and decided to share this small chapter of the sweet sorrow story.

As an adult woman on the other side of a painful struggle with infertility…one day as I was praying, the Holy Spirit guided me to recall a childhood memory…

I’m five or six years old – downstairs at the house where I grew up – looking up at Santa (very suspicious that he looked an awful lot like Uncle Gene) but anyway, Santa begins to hand out presents to all the children, my two brothers, then my sister, then each of my five cousins, one by one Santa calls out their name HO! HO! HO! and with excitement and smiles they are handed a present to open. But then, there are no presents left, Santa’s bag is empty, and there was no present for me.

I hear my Dad say “Sandy, how could you forget her present!!!” It was evidently an oversight on Mom’s part [oops]...

But now, I’m remembering the joy each of my siblings and cousins experienced as every one of them were eventually blessed with a child, then another, and another… and I’m remembering the pain of those days, the unmet desire, the disappointment…month after month, hoping, praying… the old thought that I’d been forgotten, overlooked, why wouldn’t God bless me with this gift? Please! Tears flowed followed by sobbing at the deep pain I didn’t even know still existed.

Then, there was Jesus, sitting on the step beside me, with his arms around me, he told me the TRUTH “In this world YOU WILL have trouble, but I leave you my peace…I have given you many gifts…and I will never leave you nor forsake you, I will be with you always, until the end.”

The tears became tears of joy and gratitude welled up in me as I experienced Jesus' love and concern for me, his compassion, his gentle, healing touch.

Forgiveness wasn’t necessary in this memory, but Jesus did bring truth and healing to this six year old child who did not know the truth at the time. She just felt forgotten. But Jesus said you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free! [Posted 4/13/2004]

ten minutes of inspiration

can also been seen here

a word from Rob

Today is the first day of the rest of my life.

Today I am Di’s special guest blogificator! She had asked me if I would share my thoughts about my recent big change so here it is.

Last Friday I took a quantum leap into the unknown. I left my secure paycheck for the unknown of unemployment. Really what I am doing is a practicum on my way to a degree in counseling. This has been a long journey of studies and self doubt. I am so grateful for the ones who have supported me. I could not do this without the amazing sacrificial support of my loving wife. She kept telling me I can do it and she kept typing my APA formatted papers. I am so blessed (way beyond what I could say here)!

I also am so grateful for the many opportunities I have had along the way that gave me the impetus to dare to jump into this new world! Thank you Terri Churchill and Kevin Callaghan who have let me be a part of the unique ministry of lay counseling within a church context. I am grateful for the opportunities they have provided me. I would not have dreamed this possible had they not invited me into their ministry. There are a number of other men who have spoken into my life at times when I needed a kick in the butt.

I have been working for years with computers. If you know anything about the Strong Interest Inventory, it is subdivided by categories like Investigative, Artistic, Entrepreneurial etc. I had taken this test a few months ago in a Career Counseling class. I scored the lowest on working with things and the highest on working with people. How true that is! I have been dying at my job. I had been working with computers at a company that basically exists to make wealthy people even wealthier. What a double edged heart killer!

Today I am doing an internship in counseling working with people who do not have the resources to get insurance and can’t afford to get counseling from the professional channels. It is the same as what Terri and Kevin do at Woodland. I have no idea where my income will come from in the future, but I feel so alive.

If you are thinking about a new adventure with God but don’t know how it will ever come together, I would encourage you to listen and follow where He is leading. I remember sitting with Kevin about 7 years ago thinking I would NEVER be able to fulfill this desire placed by God in my heart to help his hurting ones. Today I took another step in that direction. Where will all of this lead? What am I going to do? I don’t know for sure, but I hope to be working with people and helping them find healing in their life.