Memorial Day

We like to do something historic as a family to make Memorial Day special in honor of those who gave their lives for our freedoms.

So today we packed our Star Spangled Banner tablecloth and a lunch and headed down the Natchez Trace toward the town of Port Gibson. On the way we read the book From Sea to Shining Sea, which chronicles stories from the history of America. We imagined being pioneers headng westward toward the Great Missisippi River in our covered wagon like thousands of others which had gone before us by way of The Trace.

At one point we stopped at a creek where children from the nearby abandoned town of Rocky Ridge used to play. As we got out of the car we heard the steady beating of a small waterfall which we heard dropping below us. We all climbed down to it, and the boys had great fun exploring inside a caved grotto behind the falls.

When we reached Port Gibson we were welcomed by a sign stating that Ulysses S. Grant had declared this town "too pretty to burn," when his Federal troops landed there in 1862. So unlike so much of the South, it was spared.

The main street with its antebellum Bed and Breakfasts and aged churches is a treat, but the rest is somewhat shabby. That's ok. We really just wanted to see the Mississippi River, which ought to have been next to the port city.

It turns out the river used to be closer, but now it is several miles away, having changed its course considerably since Civil War days. So we drove to the state park next to the river, toured the historic buildings there and ate lunch all alone at a picnic table set in a wide open place circled by woods and overlooking the mighty Mississippi at a place, which would have been deep under water when Mr Grant visited.

Way across the rushing waters with its currents and surprising whitecaps, the trees on the opposite shore rose uninterrupted anywhere by signs of human life. A white speck on the far shore turned out to be a heron which Rob zeroed in on using the camera close up lens.

The amazing wide and gray river was alive and changing even as we sat watching it. A very memorable Memorial Day lunch for sure.

Birthday

It is difficult to imagine James being 14 years old. I think back to the first time I looked across a bus at him and saw his eyes smile back at me above a scarf carefully wrapped across his mouth. My heart jumped and I knew I was going to take him home.

And now he is here, just as adorable as ever. Bob was proud of the way he smiled broadly and shook the principals hand at the awards'ceremony last week at school.He received the certificate for Student of Merit for his Christian character and perseverence.

That same day the head coach at school asked if, since he will be 19 in his senior year and not permitted to play sports, and...since James has "the look" for football, could he move ahead a grade so he could play football as a senior.

Dad says, "No," and that it will give him the opportunity to concentrate on his academics and get scholarships that year. James as always is submisive and cheerful, looking forward to swimming, tennis, soccer and basketball. What a sporty school we have here, but what a wonderful group of godly coaches to speak into our children's lives.

James' family birthday party included an old Irish Rovers' CD Maggie brought along when she came. We have decided it will be a new family tradition at birthdays from now on. Recall the tune?

Let's take a look behind
And see what we can find.
Last year has gone for everyone
Passed with time.
What happened to us then
Can't happen once again
And what's now all to me?
History.

Years may come (Many years are still ahead)
Years may go (Many years have passed)
Some go fast (They belong to yesterday)
Some go slow (Still the memories last)
Some are good (Couldn't stop the laughter flowing)
Some are bad (Couldn't stop the tears)
For each one (Thank the Lord that we have been)
Just be glad (Together through the years)

Whenever I review
The lovin' times with you
I wouldn't change a single page
We've lived through.
It wasn't always smooth
Sometimes we'd jump the groove
We've shed some tears and then
Loved again.

Years may come (Many years are still ahead)
Years may go (Many years have passed)
Some go fast (They belong to yesterday)
Some go slow (Still the memories last)
Some are good (Couldn't stop the laughter flowing)
Some are bad (Couldn't stop the tears)
For each one (Thank the Lord that we have been)
Just be glad (Together through the years)

Heartaches I don't doubt
Life's sure to dish us out.
We'll beat the lot and that is what
Life's all about.
Whatever may come true
Ahead for me and you
Some day it all will be
Memories.

Years may come (Many years are still ahead)
Years may go (Many years have passed)
Some go fast (They belong to yesterday)
Some go slow (Still the memories last)
Some are good (Couldn't stop the laughter flowing)
Some are bad (Couldn't stop the tears)
For each one (Thank the Lord that we have been)
Just be glad (Together through the years

American Boys

While Maggie and I were up north on the weekend, the boys moved into their summertime mode, getting creative after a year of school-directed studies, sports and contrived field trips. Now they are free to make their own fun.

They didn't even consult the American Boys' Handbook, which I am always touting as The place to find directions for "My Side of the Mountain" type survival skills and other such fun. The three of them started in constructing their own bows and arrows and came up with some that shoot higher than the tall Southern pines in our yard.

After that they decided to build a house behind our shed. In a tattered album in the cupboard there's an old black and white photo of a tiny house I had once built. It has a door on hinges and a window with a flower pot on the sill. While other girls my age were reading Namcy Drew mysteries, I was attaching my brother Eric's wagon to the back of my bike and hauling scrap lumber from a nearby lumber yard.

But our boys don't lack for lumber. There's plenty in our shed, and when they aren't shooting arrows as high as the pine trees or deep into the woods next door, Peter and James have been hammering.

And just a minute ago, Rob and James snuck by me semi-embarrased but with the explanation that they were Indians. "Don't worry. We don't scalp each other; we're naturalists." I said. "That's good," and off they went out the back door with James actually calling his big brother, 'Robbie.'

Even though there are still three half days left to school, summer has arrived. Everyone is relaxing at our house, and I am reminded why I loved homeschooling. Without the stress of peers and studies, I am once again getting to see how sweet my boys really are.

Coversation with Mia

I woke the other morning to the bump, bump, bump of my little granddaughter's feet pounding the hardwood floor in the downstairs of our Michigan house.

Mia wakes up chatting and goes to sleep chatting, so it was no surprise that, when I whispered over the railing to her to come upstairs to Grammy's bed, she eagerly grabbed the bannister and climbed up. I raced her back to my bed, so I could pull the covers over my head and jump out when she came in.

Giggling, we snuggled in for an interesting conversation about the big thunderstorm that came through our area the night before. "I am scared of thunder, Grammy," she informed me."

"Oh," I said. "You shouldn't be, it's only God walking around."

Her eyes got wide. "Yeah, you know how your feet go bump, bump, when you come down the hall? Well, His feet are really big so they make very big bumping and rumbling when He walks."

Now I am not sure this is any more theologically or factually correct than the Da Vinci Code or Santa Claus, but it got us both thinking.

She looked at me and asked, "Grammy, why doesn't He come down here?"

Hmm, now I could get factual. "Actually He did," I said, "but don't be scared, because He turned into a little baby first. Then He came."

He did?" she asked, her eyes wider than ever.

"Yep, you are not afraid of a tiny baby like Will, are you?"

"No! she laughed.

"Well, God didn't want to you be scared so He became a baby too."

"Can we touch Him?"

"His mommy and family and lots of people got to touch him. Just like you can pat Will's arm, they could touch God. Cool, eh?"

"Yeah, we can touch Him," she smiled and snuggled closer under the blankets.

My family

Let me tell you about my family. At least the Greenhow side of it - the head of it all being my mom's siblings. Mom passed away several years ago and so, as the big sister of six brothers and one sister, she is dearly missed. However, we have a photograph to prove that the other seven, most in their seventies and eighties, are still as lively a bunch as ever. Bob, Paul, Godfrey, Eric, Dorothy, Henry and Ralph all got together to celebrate my Uncle Paul and Aunt Grace's 60th wedding anniversary last weekend.

The same weekend it 'just so happened' that Maggie and I had booked a flight up to visit our precious little baby Will, who was 10 days old. So it was a two-birds-with-one-stone weekend. What a treat to see everyone, to hug the necks of our Steph and Ed, Em and Chad, my dad and Magdalene, sister Marnie and brother-in-law, Ed, aunties and uncles, nieces and nephews, a variety of 'greats' and cousins, to stare amazed at all the good looking, young, second cousins, and...the icing on the cake - to soak in the new baby sweetness and darling Big Sister Mia - all in the same trip.

God is the most thoughtful and efficient Person I know. Even though I am sure He is quite busy, He still somehow manages my calendar to perfection whenever I ask Him.

Dude Ranch

If this is supposed to be a journal, I'd better get busy because the jours are coming thick and fast.

Last Thursday evening I left a list of jobs for each boy, with orders to pack their suitcases, while I went out for a special treat. Compassion International, with whom we sponsor a girl in Uganda, asked if I would volunteer at a Rebecca St. James concert at a big church near us.

Rebecca also sponsors a child in Africa and encouraged sponsorship among the moms and daughters at the concert. Maybe 2-3000 were in attendance. At intermission the girls and moms swarmed around our tables full of photos of the little kids. Almost 100 children were connected with sponsors, who will pay Compassion $32 per month to Aee that the children receive food, clothing, education, and Sunday School classes.

Many children worldwide have been born again through this wonderful organization and lives are changed forever. The sweet letters we get are so worth it. Anyone who has the money can support a child this way. Anyone can do this great thing for Jesus. Just check www.compassion.com.

Friday after school we joined the other moms and dads and Rob's ninth grade class in a caravan up to a dude ranch for our end of the year field trip. We had fewer parent chaperones than we could have hoped for, but at the last minute God sent another dad, and the kids were well behaved and mingled nicely.

The boys who are already a tight knit group laughed a lot and the girls who didn't really know each other came back friends (this is saying a LOT for 15 year old girls) The place, www.triplenranchms.com was way in the boonies of Mississippi on 650 acres of rolling, green woods and pastureland with a large pond, horses for riding and canoes and fishing rods and boats there for the grabbing.

Some kids had never been in a canoe or on a horse. One canoe sank and two kids fell off horses, during the "Fear Factor" exercise two swallowed a worm and a bunch slid down a huge slip-n-slide into a conveniently muddy patch of ground at the bottom.

After a fish fry Friday evening we all sacked out in the big old ranch house and in the morning fried bacon and eggs for breakfast in the spacious kitchen. Topping it off was an excellent devotional time where the guys and girls were divided up with dads and moms to discuss some probing questions for young Christians to ponder.

After 24 hours together we felt we knew each other, and I feel certain God enjoyed Himself too.

IT'S A BOY!

The little"girl' on the ultrasound turned out to have a little something extra. So we heard at 6:00 am this morning.

Em and I talked yesterday, and I should have known the telltale signs of impending labor. She asked me to pray that the doctor would listen to her that afternoon when she told him she really needed to have this baby NOW. Would he please get things rolling?

I recall each time I was ready to give birth I would become very organized and whip everyone around me and the house into shipshape. Then, sure enough, I was into the hospital that night.

Unfortunately the doctor informed her that the baby was not ready and to settle in for a couple more weeks.

Well, Chad called around midnight from the hospital to say she was in labor and that a baby would come before sunrise. But we didn't hear the phone. Our bedroom door was shut and the window was open, filling the room with the noisy, sub-tropical night sounds of Mississippi.

Then he called again at 3:00 am. Again the bullfrogs were croaking and the mocking bird was warbling her usual all night songs, mocking every bird on her list, one after another. I heard a bluejay, a song sparrow, and cardinal and the sound of a spring boinging. She was loud! And I did not hear the second phone message that said, "The baby is healthy and 7lb. 7oz, born at 2:30am."

Finally at 6:00 am Emily called with a big smile in her voice to say, "Our little 'girl' has a weinie!" His name is Will, and he looks just like Chad!"

This is the child who we prayed would get out of breach position and did. Now the timing of his birth could not have been better and the labor smoother or quicker.

As always, God is so gracious and kind, the kindest Person you will ever meet, the best Father you could ask for at a time like this, or anytime at all.

Hi There!

Thanks for the comments, girls :) Just when you think you are all alone in the world someone reads your blog. How sweet.

Friday was Field Day at school. Each class had their special colored tee shirts and the kids were divided up into mixed age teams and had a blast. Meanwhile we moms cooked hamburgers and worked the consession stand. A local businessman contributed enough hamburgers and all for the entire student body. It was a busy day scrambling for food for everyone, but a sunny, suntanned, happy time for all.

We all collapsed in a pleasant heap for Pizza and Movie night on Friday evening,which degenerated into a Pizza and Hockey night (of course- It's playoffs!)

Then next morning had a quick breakfast and headed up through miles and miles of flatland with cotton fields and catfish farms into the Delta and the North Mississipi State Championship Track Meet in Greenville. Rob raced against the big boys, 10th, 11th and 12th graders. He did not place but DID beat his personal record by 11 seconds. With a sore knee. And not being able to see in the pouring rain streaming down his face.

It was a very wet but fun event. The boys were drenched to the skin. I clutched the plastic picnic tablecloth around me and Peter. That worked until we hopped back in the car and drove the 2 1/2 hours back south with the heat on.

Up again the next morning for church and a nice lazy day by the pool. Then in the evening James had his first. He and Rob went to youth group together. :)

We ARE growing up! He turns 14 this month. It is so sweet to hear Bob pray for "our boys" at school, when he and I sit down to lunch on these quiet Mondays and Tuesdays he has off to when we can work on the companion volume to his medical text, which was just published.