Purpose

Afflictions make the heart more deep,

more experimental,

more knowing,

more profound...

and so more able to hold,

to contain,

to bear more.

~John Bunyan

Things I Love

Building furniture

Refinishing furniture

Playing the trumpet

Listening to soothing music

Visiting the sick and elderly

Giving massages

Sitting by the lake

Fishing

Walking through orchards

The smell of spring

Twilight (time of day - not the movie)

The sound of frogs/crickets

Traveling to new places

Hearing people's stories

Dreaming

Writing

Drawing

Creating

Working with my hands

Reading the dictionary

Solving math problems

Playing with my students

Solitude

Quiet presence of select friends

Laughing

Flowing streams

Campfires and grilling out

Old hymns

Birch trees

Wind rustling the leaves

...to be continued

What I Learned In Chapel Today

Our History teacher's wife is having a baby. They have chosen not to know its gender ahead of time. Our principal took an informal poll to see how many students thought the baby would be a girl and how many thought it would be a boy. When he asked if anyone was willing to say why they chose the particular gender for which they voted, one student raised his hand and stood up. "Well, Mr. L is a very decent man. Therefore, he deserves to have a boy." With a satisfied smile, he sat down. Disconcertingly, from my American viewpoint, none of our international students seemed bothered by this rationale.

**Moral of this story: If you are a girl you have less value.

The principal continued with his chapel message by talking about what makes a person successful. Perfect opportunity to teach these students who come from very wealthy families the difference between the world's definition and the Lord's definition, right? Ummm...no. According to our fearless leader, success is attained when you have found "the one" God created for you, begin a family with "the one," start your career and earn a lot of money.

**Moral of the story: If you are unmarried and do not have children you have less value. The Lord is choosing not to bless you.

Wow...am I glad I didn't skip today. I needed that reminder of my worth. Here's to being an unmarried, childless female. Let's hear it for the losers.

The Reason For My Hope

Avogadro's Number

I was thinking about Avogadro's number the other day when I told someone I loved them more than 6.02 x 10^23. How big is this? Well, let's see if I can explain. I know someday I'll come back and read this to remind myself. I even had my kids do an experiment so they could see the enormity of the number in comparison to everyday objects. We usually use the number to explain the quantity of something very small - atoms specifically. For instance, if I had 6.02 x 10^23 atoms of gold, their mass would equal 6.9 ounces collectively.

To put this in perspective:

If I had 6.02 x 10^23 split peas, their mass would equal 220,000,000,000,000,000 (120 lb.) people. The world's population is about 6,920,000,000 (6.92 billion). So, 6.02 x 10^23 split peas would equal the world's population (if everyone weighed 120 lbs.) multiplied 31.8 million times.

Avogadro's number is huge. Atoms are small. That's what I learned from this mathematical exercise. Loving someone more than 6.02 x 10^23...is loving someone A LOT!

**220,000,000,000,000,000 is pronounced 220 quadrillion

Bye. Enjoy. Hurry Home.

Missing someone gets easier every day because even though it's one day further from the last time you saw each other...

...it's one day closer to the next time you will.

Disconsolately Despairing

I am heartbroken. Inconsolable. Crushed. Desolate. Grief-stricken.

I accidentally erased all the text messages from my inbox. Some of these were very meaningful. I had the first text my MI mom ever attempted. The first text my WA momMA ever sent. I had sweet notes, ILU notes, funny notes, oops notes. Messages I scrolled through and read when I was sitting in a restaurant by myself or in the Dr.'s waiting room. Messages I would read at night before I went to bed if I wanted a nice laugh or a warmed heart. They are all gone. How did I do that?

In a strange way, I feel relief. I have tried so hard for so long to keep them safe that it became almost an obsession. Now, as dismaying as it is, they are gone. I don't have to worry about them anymore. There is nothing I can do. MI mom and WA momMA will have to send new notes to replace my favorites. Maybe I can teach myself to erase them as they come in instead of hoarding them for years.

Monday, thou art not my favoritest of days.

You Can't Eat Just One!

This weekend I experimented with a recipe I found on Joy's Hope. These little morsels of deliciousness are called Puffs. For complete directions go to I puffy heart puffs. Yummy.

Whiffle Ball Teams Announced!

Friday, May 13th, is SCS's annual school BBQ and 1st time Whiffle Ball extravaganza. Here are this year's competitors...

Sharks

Red Rockets

Monarchs

and the inevitable, unquestionable future champs...

Lightning Bees

Happiness Is...

...being greeted by freshly cut tulips sitting in a cup outside your classroom door.

"Look, Ms. P! White, red, and pink. Just like we studied in genetics...incomplete dominance!"

I love my kids. Thanks Gabe!

Lap Quilts and Prayer

I sometimes have a hard time focusing. Not all the time. I can be the most one-tracked, obsessed person there is - depending on the day - but there are definitely large chunks of my life that just seem to flit around. When my thoughts get like this, I've found the best thing to do is to keep my hands occupied. It works in church every time. If I can't concentrate on the sermon, I start to draw. Just like that, I'm tuned in to what the Pastor is saying. If I'm watching a movie and my interest is wandering, I start to crochet. Immediately - I'm back with the plot of the story. So when my WA mom told me Grandma #2 was back in the hospital, I started to pray. The only problem was I couldn't get my brain to stay on one topic. I was all over the place - so I decided to complete the project for Gma2 that I started at Christmas...her lap quilt. I was instantly soothed. As I put blocks together and listened to the sewing machine hum, my prayers started to make sense. I entered a real conversation with my Father -- not a spastic, uncontrolled, verbal overflow. I've often heard about things being "stitched with love." Well, this lap quilt will be completely "stitched with prayer." Every moment spent working on it last night was a moment spent talking to the Lord about Gma2's health, feelings, relationships, care...my sweet momMA...other family members. My jumbled mind was able to sort itself out as I sewed order into the blocks.

Oh, and there's love in those stitches, too.

Some Of My Investments