Light and Happy Endings

I never watched the season 3 finale of Downton Abbey. I heard rumors, spoilers, of what may or may not have happened. The penultimate episode of season 3 ended on such a great note, a happy ending. I've decided that is the ending I want. 

So I didn't watch the final episode and I'm not sure if I ever will (at least until season 4 comes out). 

Call it denial. 

I'm okay with that. I want my happy ending!

Sometimes I wish I could fix the endings in real life as easily. If I stay inside, concentrate on my family, block out the rest of the world, then maybe I can pretend away the hard, painful things. If I ignore them they don't exist.

But life doesn't work that way. I only have to take one step out of my front door to find people struggling with hard things. Hurt is all around us. 

And while the hurt and pain can make the world look like an awfully dark place, it also creates a greater opportunity for the light to shine. Jesus did not hide from the painful, ugly things of the world. He walked right up to them and offered a hand. He brought light. He is light.

It is easier to ignore the pain, but as a Christ-follower, that is not what we are called to.

We are to be the light. 

I'm not always sure what this looks like in real life. What does it mean to be light? While the doing may look different in every situation, the motivation I think is the same. I think it looks like love.

Love that comes from knowing Christ and spills out of us as light. Love directed by the Holy Spirit as a prompt to bring a meal or babysit or pray. It means getting out of your comfort zone, getting your hands dirty, and hurting with those who hurt. 

The world is full of darkness. We need to let a little light shine.

This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine.

Hide it under a bushel, no, I'm going to let it shine.

Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Catching Spring

So. I have been thinking about the change of seasons. I don't want to miss spring this year. I want to distinguish the last winter frost from the out-of-season one, the frost of spring. I want to be there on the spot the moment the grass turns green. I always miss this radical revolution; I see it the next day from a window, the yard so suddenly green and lush I could envy Nebuchadnezzar down on all fours eating grass. This year I want to stick a net into time and say "now," as men plant flags on ice and snow and say, "here." But it occurred to me that I could no more catch spring by the tip of the tail than I could untie the apparent knot in the snakeskin; there are no edges to grasp. Both are continuous loops. 

-taken from Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard 

It's not the Best Nest, trust me.

I've read The Best Nest by P.D. Eastman hundreds of times, so I thought I knew how this whole nest-building thing worked.

The bird gets discontent with a perfectly good birdhouse and tries to find a place to build a better nest. The raccoon already lives in the tree and the foot chases them away from the shoe.

Even when they think they've found "the place" and actually build an almost perfect nest, the tolling of the bell chases them away.

The key here is the speed at which they leave the less than perfect places. They don't second guess. Instead, they accept the fact that the mailbox was not meant for them and they MOVE ON.

Apparently the robins in my neighborhood have never read The Best Nest.

I understand why they think the light by our front door would be the "perfect" nesting place. It's dry and close to a warm house. BUT, there are also people moving in and out of the door ALL the time. 

It is NOT a good place for a nest.

Every time Mr. Robin starts to build, I knock it down. In the book, this would have only had to happen once. For all their dis-contentedness  Mr. and Mrs. Bird were smart enough to know where they were not welcome. 

Mr. and Mrs. Robin, not so much. We have been duking it out for WEEKS. 

They start to build, I sweep it away. 

I have turned the light on it's side, put objects on top, and read The Best Nest to them anytime they are close enough to listen. For some reason, they DO NOT get the hint.

I'm not sure what else to do. I can, however, guarantee that I WILL win this war. 

I am committed to knocking that half-made nest down as many times as it takes.

It may sound cruel, but I really have their best interest (and mine) at heart. I WANT them to find the perfect place to roost... somewhere away from my front door. 

And when they do, we can all sing together that song made famous by Mr. Bird:

I love my house, I love my nest
In all the world this nest is best. 

Mr. and Mrs. Robin, your perfect nest is out there. PLEASE, go find it!!

For the Love of Books

I love books.

I love collecting, discussing, decorating with, sharing, but most of all reading books.

Sometimes I get the question, "How do you find time to read?"

My answer: I make time.

I think most people make time for the things they love. If you don't, you should because life is just too short not to.

Sometimes this means other things get neglected. Sometimes, when I am lost in one of those books that are so hard to put down, I neglect things I shouldn't. Like my kids.

Thankfully, this is the exception and not the rule. My normal reading times are during "quiet time" and in the evenings before going to bed.

Every once in a while, guilt will creep in if I spend an entire quiet time reading a novel when I "should" be doing other things. I try to snuff those feelings out fast. Some may say that reading novels is pure entertainment (a valid argument I guess); on the other hand reading novels teaches you about the world and human nature in a way nonfiction never will.

My fallback when pressed is that Jesus taught through stories (aka fiction). So there.

That said, I like to read a lot of different things. Fiction and Non, Novels, Memoirs, Self-Help, Young Adult, Classics. I think variety is good thing.

The books I have been working my way through (or will be) are:

The Emerald Atlas and The Fire Chronicle by John Stephens
The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency and Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
More or Less by Jeff  Shinabarger
The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart
The Unburdened Heart by Suzanne Eller

If you are interested in reviews of the books I am reading, find me on GoodReads. It is a social media site for book lovers.

Before you go, I'd really love to know, what are you reading these days?

Sketches

Have you seen the new Dove video that has been popping up all over Facebook?

I finally watched it the other day. If you haven't, I think you would be glad you did.



Happy Weekend Friends.

Lessons from a Casual Calorie Counter

I am what you could call a "casual" calorie counter, thanks to my smart phone.

What that means is this: periodically I am motivated to count calories. The motivation usually lasts for at least a couple days before I either 1.) lose interest or 2.) eat more calories than I should and become unmotivated.

If my phone was any dumber, I would never count calories.

But the apps these days.

Currently I have My Fitness Pal loaded on  my phone. It allows me to scan the bar codes of food I am eating for a quick count. I can also add recipes or there is a large bank of foods already entered so while the food I log may not be exact and the calories not completely accurate, it gives me the general idea.

It also helps me calculate how many calories I should eat each day if I wanted to say, lose a half pound a week and never exercise.

Smart.

So while my calorie counting days are few and far between, they are still beneficial because awareness is a good thing. I have found that even if I only count calories for one day, the awareness continues for much longer and I always learn something. This time I learned:

1. Moving from a Grande to a Tall and changing the milk from 2%  to skim can take off close to 100 calories on my favorite Starbucks drink.

2. A little cardio exercise every day adds enough calories for an extra snack (I didn't really learn this, but it is always fun to see the number of calories I get each day jump up after a little exercise!)

3. Adding creamer to my coffee in the morning adds A LOT more calories, like over 10 times as many as are in the coffee black.

So there you have it, lessons from a casual calorie counter. It may not work for everyone, but it works for me.

An Update on Zak

It is crazy to me that we have been home from China for over a month already.

Zak's transition to our family has been amazing.

You could call him the "rock star" of the family (he pretty much has us all wrapped around his little finger). He is often sporting the sunglasses to prove it. Yesterday at church I looked over at him and he had a bright red glove on one hand and his sunglasses on. He was rocking it Michael Jackson style.

Going right along with the rock star theme, the kid loves to sing. He is often found humming a tune as he goes about his day, most recently Jesus Loves Me has been a fav.

Other things he loves: noodles, baths, going outside, saying the word "no."

He loves his siblings too, and they love him. Sometimes, however, they don't feel the love from him. I think every one of them has come to me in tears at one point telling me that Zak does not like them.

Even though he really does.

He still grieves periodically. He gets into it at times with his brothers and sisters. He knows how to manipulate. He can be stubborn. He pouts. We have had to break-out the "time-ins" and he is learning the word "sorry," although it is definitely not his favorite.

But, overall, he is a happy little boy who is oh-so-easy to love and love him we do (like crazy).

We weren't planning on adopting again, but I am so thankful God had another plan. He has only been with us a month, but if feels like longer. I can't imagine our family without him.

He fits like a bright red glove. Perfectly.