Jasmin - 13!

    Jasmin's birthday! 

She got a Sunday of all her requested meals: meat pies from the bakery, grilled cheese sandwiches, and tuna casserole. Of course, there was also a sponge cake (we bought and didn't make her bake her own cake!) and presents. Not pictured is the sewing machine for projects yet to come. Both Jasmin and Grace have handsewn themselves a piece of clothing... things should go faster now!

Kindle for our now avid reader

Art desk for this one who draws incessantly!

Monday afternoon we went to the beach for a climb and a supper with a friend. they spent a good amount of time catching a bowl full of tiny crabs... and Jasmin enjoyed using our new phone camera for pictures!

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Two Minute Tuesday - countryside

Countryside is where the grass and the sky meet unhindered. 

Countryside is where horses graze and run in fields under the sun.

Countryside is where farms roll and birds fly

Where people and nature collide

Not too crowded, not too sparse

If only cities were like the countryside

Countryside

What shall I call it?

A bovine land?

A forest with trees and speckled houses overgrown with vines?

A village cottage group nestled in the mountains?

A rolling field that stretches into the distance, broken only by a barnhouse?

A land of yellows and greens?

Not a city, that’s for sure

But what is the countryside?

And what is a town?

The rolling meadows

The forest green

The lonely cottage

The village hidden

The pastured land

Countryside

Two Minute Tuesday Poem Replacement

You See a Valley Of Bones

You see a valley of bones

Stretching over the land before you

You see a valley of bones

Scattered over the whole world through

Parched, dry and broken

Left lying for all to see

You see a valley of bones

The remnants left within me

You see a valley of bones

Bleached white, dead and gone

You see a valley of bones

No mem'ry of breath living on

Destroyed, left forgotten

None living to care

You see a valley of bones

Abandoned, long since stepped bare

You see a valley of bones

Son of man, can they live again?

You see a valley of bones

Son of man, prophesy to them

That I'll give them new bodies

Revive them again

You see a valley of bones

Where once was an army of men

You see a valley of bones

Hopeless and left there to die

You see a valley of bones

Unable to enter new life

But living they are

And standing before you

You saw a valley of bones

But I saw the lives to renew

Grace's meditation after reading Ezekiel 37

And another two just because:

It's so simple

Such a simple story

Yet so impossible

That God stepped down from glory

To wear my every sin and

Bear my heavy shame

To die and rise again, and then

I'll live to bless His name.

Looking For Something

Looking for something

That you left behind?

An 'other' to satisfy

To prove that our kind

Can live in happiness

Without our Creator's touch

His love

That we left behind.

Looking for something?

You left it behind

When you chose 

To step outside God's grace

Can't name it

But I sense it

Something is missing

Something's not right

Looking for something?

I'm afraid you misplaced it

Back when you rejected God's plan

Find an alternative if you wish

It won't work

A bottle cap to plug a hole

In a river

Gushing through a dam

No substitute satisfies

Looking for something?

Try back where you started

The life you've forgotten

Before you left for good

Return to your master

The God who forgives

And find your missing something

Jesus.

Birthdays!

We didn't make it to the beach for Grace's birthday, but we did for Mom's and Aiden's. Aiden almost didn't get to go because it was pouring, but the rain cleared in time, and we managed to get a fire going with the few semi-dry sticks we found to burn along with coal we brought from home.

The last time we had supper on the beach was Christmas! It felt good to be out doing it again. The beach was just as busy as usual, which oddly felt rather strange after being isolated for so long. Still, people were keeping their distance from groups other than their own.

 The usual sand projects, dips in the sea, hanging out in the hammock, and attempts at some badminton all took place.

Jasmin made another smashing cheesecake for Aiden, that we "shared" with family over Zoom with presents and a Kahoot game or two Monday morning.  After so many Spring celebrations, she's gotten really good! This one was just right: creamy smooth and blueberry sweetness...  AND, as he requested, we also had pumpkin pie on Sunday night! Lego knights, a 5x5 Rubix cube, foam darts for his gun, a soccer ball made his birthday day (s) just right for this newly minted 8 yr old.

Two Minute Tuesday - Here

Here
An acknowledgement of existence
Right here, right now
Here
A notification of your presence
Telling me to wait
Here
A message telling of comfort
A promise to stay by your side
Here
A quiet shoulder of solace
A person with whom I can cry
Here
A designation of location
For finding and describing
Here
An unknown vocation
A trumpet call to tell you why
Here
An answering callback
The vouch that I’m okay
Here
The instant placement
And here I’m content to stay
(That is, until you need me…
There.)

We’re here because we're here we're here because we’re here

We’re here because we're here we're here because we’re here

We’re here because we're here we're here because we’re here

We’re here because we're here we're here because we’re here

We’re here because we're here we're here because we’re here

We’re here because we're here we're here because we’re here

We’re here because we're here we're here because we’re here

We’re here because we're here we're here because we’re here

We’re here because we're here we're here because we’re here

We’re here because we're here we're here because we’re here

We’re here because we're here we're here because we’re here

We’re here because we're here we're here because we’re here

We’re here because we're here we're here because we’re here

We’re here because we're here we're here because we’re here

We’re here because we're here we're here because we’re here

We’re here because we're here we're here because we’re here

We’re here because we're here we're here because we’re here

We’re here because we're here we're here because we’re here

We’re here because we're here we're here because we’re here

Quoted from World War 1 German soldier

Stand here, by my side,

Together we will survive

Stand here, through the storm

Together we will conquer

Stand here, in the waves

Together we will not fall

Stand here, till the last rays of the sun

Together we’ll see the moon gone

Stand here, Stand here,

Together we’ll persevere

Here in this moment are you with me?

Really here?

Not just glazing over

Not Comparing, contrasting, filtering.

Are you here with me?

Can you see with me here?

Imagine and feel my pain and frustration?

Acknowledge you cannot know

But still, be here with me?

Are you here with me?

Ready to walk, question, and learn?

To share my here and now

Not just to shout and march for change.

Are you here with me in living out the change?

Two Minute Tuesday - Climb

Come and climb a tree with me, 

Higher than can be

Come and climb the house with me,

Up the roof and to the sky

Come and climb a mountain with me,

Higher, higher, up the cliffs

Come and climb with me,

Together we’ll reach new heights

Come and climb,

Come and climb,

There’s nothing like being up high.

Climb

Reach for the skies

Reach new heights

Up and away

Maybe

If you get that far

Climbing

Running to the rock beach

Sizing up the new challenges

Ready to conquer the giant boulders

Like a monkey crossed with a gazelle

Leap across the rocks

Scramble up the slopes

Wave from the top

Climb

Dig your toes in

Find a foothold

Hang off the most improbable of grips

Scale the seemingly impossible slope

First rule of climbing: Just Jump!

Your body can do more than you think it can

Climb

Out of the pit they said

It's easy, they said

Just do this, and this, and this

Continually until it works

Just try harder, they said.

So climb I did

And fell

Climbed and slid

Climbed and crashed

Sometimes sore

Sometime hurt

Slimed even more

Always back at the bottom of the pit.

Can't anyone help me climb?

Hands reach down

But they are too far

The rope they lower

Frays and snaps

You're not alone, they call

So? I want to be up there

Not here in the pit

Smeared, crumpled,

Burning with shame.

Climb

Why bother now?

I know it can't be done.

Climb

With me, you can do anything.

How do I know it will be different?

I'm tired of trying and hurting

Rebuilding hope and faith.

I'm done trying.

Climb

Hold my hand

And climb.

And climb I did

Crazily wild

One hand held

By the One who does not slip

Easy and hard

humbling, painful

Simple, smooth

Why did no one know how to do this?