a few pics from our trip to VT this weekend
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Monday, June 25, 2012
Friday, June 15, 2012
love
Love is patient and patience is this willingness to suffer — to put aside plans for a person, to lay aside self to serve, to set aside agendas to step up to an altar.
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- Ann Voskamp -
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
conGRADs! - it's about time :)
Gave this "present" to Playmaker's boyfriend for his high school graduation along with the following timely words:
Yesterday is history
Tomorrow is a mystery
Today is a gift – That’s why it’s
call “the present”
You can try to buy some -- or carve some out -- or to find some
-- or to save some...but all to no avail. It's valuable. Precious. Priceless …
no amount of money will ever be able to purchase even one split second - yet
the only thing one can really do with it - is spend it! But - there never seems
to be enough of it! - - although Ecclesiastes 3 says…
1 There is a time for everything,
and a
season for every activity under heaven:
2 a time to
be born and a time to die,
a time to
plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to
kill and a time to heal,
a time to
tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to
weep and a time to laugh,
a time to
mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to
scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to
embrace and a time to refrain,
6 a time to
search and a time to give up,
a time to
keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to
tear and a time to mend,
a time to
be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to
love and a time to hate,
a time for
war and a time for peace.
***
Forever is composed of nows.
- Emily Dickenson -
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We each leave our mark on the world every moment of every day
through the choices we make and the actions we take.
Congratulations on your High School Graduation!
Praying for you - for wisdom in how to best spend your time from now on :)
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
something old - something new
Our church observes a special annual tradition. I gather it goes waay back, ceased for a time, but our Pastor reinstated it. I've never seen it done anywhere else. The first Sunday in June is set aside as Graduation Sunday - a special service geared to the high school grads - and interactive for them as well in the sense that they wear their grad garb, proceed down the aisle to the front, our pastor briefly interviews each one about their plans for the future before presenting them with a gift and having them sit in the front row. Pastor prepares a special message "just for them" (funny tho' how timely it always seems to be for me!) at such a time as this when they are planning their futures and making some big decisions.
This year we did something new/different as well. The graduates' Bibles were laid out on a table in the foyer for our church family to underline and sign verses/passages they had chosen to encourage each grad. They were invited to write a short note in the margin as well. Participation was great! And each grad ended up with such a treasure in the end ... a beautiful gift (so much encouragement) from their church family wrapped within the covers of their very own Bibles! :)
This could be such a meaningful/practical/timely way to encourage someone who is grieving or hospitalized/ill (if the family asked visitors to do the same), new baby/new parents, someone entering the armed forces or being deployed, or for a "mission commission" or a bridal/baby shower ... so many possibilities.
Monday, June 4, 2012
High School Graduation 2012
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A graduation ceremony is an event where the commencement speaker tells thousands of students dressed in identical caps and gowns that "individuality" is the key to success.
~Robert Orben
Despite the petite li'l thing that she is, Playmaker has always kinda been the "square peg" that didn't fit into the "round hole" that public high school tried to squeeze her into. She attended there for two years but the last two years she chose to do Dual Enrollment at our local state university instead. Loved it! In the end she chose not to participate in the High School graduation ceremony either. She attended some of the rehearsals and soon realized how unimportant all the pomp & circumstance was to her. She did graduate tho' - and managed to make the Dean's List at the university all four semesters that she attended there - tho' I gather technically it didn't really apply because she was in high school - but three of the four semesters they sent her a letter congratulating her in that regard. Go figure. Prouda her! From here she plans to continue living at home and to attend a nearby community college to become a Physical Therapy Asst (2 yr program). I think she'll be a great one! I did some math recently and figured that her used (like new to her) VW Beetle and her new to her (but really very old/beautiful) baby grand piano and her college degree all combined will likely cost less than many if not most people pay for one year of college alone - and if all goes according to plan as it has so far - neither she nor we will have to go into debt at all (happy dance!).
With her years of piano education and her new piano, she now owns everything she needs (including business cards!) to begin a small business teaching private piano lessons and entertaining at private functions if/when she wants to - and the PTA degree she's pursuing should allow her lots of options - and flexible schedule options too - once she begins working in the field...part time/full time/home health (set your own schedule), etc. For now tho' she's working at a privately owned local garden center and I'm pretty sure she has the best job in town for someone her age :) And they're so good to her there. She's learning so much there too!
***
The trouble with learning from experience
is that you never graduate.
DOUG LARSON,
attributed, The Ship of Thought
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Prom 2012
Heavy rain was forecast for the night of prom so the kids dressed up just for outdoor pics on the evening before. So glad we did that because prom day was soggy, indeed!
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Friday, June 1, 2012
The Garden
This year's garden is planted! We're experimenting with organic gardening this time around. I'm nervous. So afraid I'm going to over or under fertilize and not sure if anything organic will really work to repel and/or kill "potato" bugs. Should be interesting! I hope this experiment works well!
4 While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: 5 “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. 6 Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture.7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”
When he said this, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”(E)
9 His disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10 He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you,(F) but to others I speak in parables, so that,
11 “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God.(H) 12 Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.(I) 14 The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches(J) and pleasures, and they do not mature. 15 But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.
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