book review:Kabul 24

Title: Kabul 24
Authors: Henry O. Arnold and Ben Pearson
Publisher: Thomas Nelson, September 2009, Paperback, 320 pages.
ISBN-10: 1595550224
ISBN-13: 978-1595550224


Authors Henry O. Arnold and Ben Pearson crawl behind the eyes and into the minds and hearts of the eight European, American, and Australian missionaries the Taliban held captive in Kabul for 105 days in 2001. The result is a story to which readers are willing hostages for the entire suspense-filled ride.

The nightmare begins on August 3^rd, the day Dayna Curry and Heather Mercer, two Kabul Shelter Now International workers, bring over the Jesus DVD for an Afghan family to watch. They do this after the family has expressed an interest in Christianity and asked to see the video.

That afternoon, not realizing they have been set up, both girls are ambushed by Taliban soldiers while in their taxis. By the next day eight Kabul SNI workers (two men and six women) along with sixteen Afghan Christians who also work for SNI are in prison while others have fled the country.

Their imprisonment is described in chilling detail. We do get to know each of the players a little, but the story is told mainly through the perspective of Georg Taubmann, a German who takes responsibility for the others. (Though there are 24 hostages, the story is mainly about the eight foreign missionaries; the 16 Afghans are imprisoned separately.)

Arnold’s and Pearson’s storytelling is masterful. Though we know at the outset that the hostages will eventually be freed, we are kept on edge of our seats as the eight are shuffled from one prison to the next by captors who are jittery and unpredictable with Kalishnikovs always at the ready. Things go from bad to worse after the 9-11 attack when western bombing of Afghanistan begins. The events of the eventual liberation at the end of the story are the most nail-biting of all.

In addition to being a gripping read, the book is also inspirational. The characters of these men and women come to light as they deal with their captors and each other, day in and day out, under conditions that range from extreme boredom to life-and-death danger.

Both the men and the women (who were held in different parts of the prison though eventually allowed some interaction) set up routines which include Bible-reading, sharing their thoughts and feelings, worship, and prayer.

This focus on the spiritual aspect of the situation changes the cast of even the most discouraging developments. Witness, for example, the reaction of the eight after 9-11 when Afghanistan is under foreign attack and all other westerners have left the city:

“Could their situation be any worse? How would God help them now? Who was there to turn to now? They could look at the situation before them and believe what they felt … the knife stab of abandonment. On the other hand, they could choose to believe that they just might be in the center of God’s will.

Perhaps there was a purpose in all of this. Perhaps this was not desertion. Perhaps God had designed this exact place and time for them, that no one else could see His mystifying purpose through to the end but these eight.

Being unable to depart the city meant they would be in the center of the storm and could pray for a country they loved, pray for a people they loved, pray for a work they performed that had brought so much good to so many people. No one else was better qualified to utter such passionate prayers on behalf of a nation and her people. To be present in a ‘fiery furnace’ when there seemed to be little hope of survival might just be ground zero of God’s infinite purpose for these eight people.” p. 113

The book shows how God gives strength to get through the hardest situation, not ahead of time but just at the time it is needed. And sometimes, when there is no way out or through, miracles happen. It reminds us too that not all of the enemies are the same. Some Taliban members are sympathetic and help the eight.

This riveting story will leave you hugging your flag and thanking God for the freedoms of a democratic country.  But it will also show you that God can work in places that are the opposite of free. For all that and more, Kabul24 is a book not to miss!

Kabul24 is also a movie directed by Michael W. Smith and is set to release in November 2009.  View Kabul24 trailers.

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I received this book as a gift from Thomas Nelson for review purposes.

happy thanksgiving!

Wishing everyone a happy Canadian thanksgiving. 

We have so much to be thankful for!

 Our grandson feeding the llama at the Kamloops petting zoo.

thankful #2

The evidence is in the archives - how this blog changed after May 2006. It's because in that month my hubby gifted me with the next item on my thankful list:

 my digital camera

I have never enjoyed a birthday gift more!

No gadget limited to vacations this! My camera has become an (almost) constant companion. I truck it along on all my walks, slip it into the back pocket of my purse before I go to church, and always have it handy at family do's.

I think I was meant for the photography life. At least that's what a career analysis told me when, well into adulthood and disillusioned by yet another dead-end career choice,  a high school counselor who was also my cousin gave me one of her tests.  My likes and dislikes were most comparable to those of reporters and photographers i.e. a photo-journalist.

These days my journalism is mostly of the flora and fauna. Like these deer, seen one morning in front of the graffiti under the 206th Street bridge.

(click on any photo to enlarge)

Or these traps, exposed by the dew.

Or these lovely waxy juniper berries that have suddenly appeared all over the hedge just outside our front door.

Mine is not one of your name-drop cameras ("Oh, I use a Canon 5D Mark II"). Maybe someday. But so far, my 5 megapixel Panasonic DMC-TZ1 with 10x optical zoom and optical image stabilization has done me very well. The controls are intuitive and easy to use and the rechargeable battery truly does have an extended life.

My only regret is that I haven't learned to do more with it. So far I've let its little computer brain set the f-stops - venturing only as far as figuring out how to do a couple of things, like activate the timer - here's the camera's self-portrait as proof:

... and take night photos - this 8-second-exposure, malt-hued scene of last year's Christmas lights was taken without a tripod.

But I do have thousands of photos and no cumbersome albums (after '06, that is). I could flee my burning house with the record our family's recent life and my passions in a wallet of megapixel-filled disks tucked under my arm. You gotta love that!

What gadgets are you thankful for?

golden

 (Click on photo to enlarge)

Marigolds - Butchart Garden

On our visit to Butchart Garden in July, I was impressed with the multitude of interesting flowerbed color combinations. Wouldn't the above make a beautiful design for wrapping paper?

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Thursday Challenge

Next week: BEAUTY (Sunset, Nature, People, Houses, Eyes,...)

thankful #1

As so often happens these days, an important holiday has sneaked up on me and -- eek! I don't feel ready. This time it's Thanksgiving. In Canada the official day of thanksgiving is Monday, October 12th.

It's not that I'm not physically ready. I did make my Thanksgiving dinner list and hubby, our family's official grocery shopper, has most of the items tucked away in the pantry or freezer. But I don't feel mentally and spiritually ready. Because it seems to me that Thanksgiving should be more than merely a day on the calendar when we give ourselves permission to bulk up on the fat of the land.

And so, in the last few days I have put my mind on the track of thankfulness and made a list of things for which I'm thankful. In the remainder of October and into November (U.S. Thanksgiving is November 26th so thankfulness will still be thick in the air) I will share some of these items on promptings and so tune my heart and hopefully yours, to give thanks. Thank whom? Well, everyone to whom thanks is due, but most especially, thank God who "richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment."

I'll start today with the first item that came to mind.

I am thankful for the country of which I am a citizen - Canada.

Perhaps I feel so consciously thankful for Canada at the moment because I've just finished reading Kabul 24. This book tells the story of the eight hostages captured in Kabul Afghanistan by the Taliban in 2001 and held hostage for 105 days.

I contrast life in my country with conditions in countries like Afghanistan and can only give thanks for democracy, the freedom to get an education, a cultural climate where women are respected, where civility and helping one's neighbor are the norm, and where peace, safety and tranquility are (mostly) the order of the day. Here, in a climate of religious tolerance, I can worship freely and openly according to my convictions.

To my shame I do my share of muttering and complaining about many things Canadian. But when it comes down to it - I'm supremely thankful to have been born a Canadian and to have lived my whole life as a Canadian citizen.

What about you? What is your number one item of thanks?

the newest Beatle

Prime Minister Harper performs at the National Arts Centre Gala on Saturday. Here's CTV's take on it. What do you think?

book review: The Best of Wilfred Grenfell - William Pope editor

Title: The Best of Wilfred Grenfell
Author: Wilfred Grenfell, edited by William Pope
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing, May 2006, Paperback, 179 pages 
ISBN-10: 1551095815 
ISBN-13: 978-1551095813

“’To believe is to do,’ Wilfred Grenfell said, and his 40 years as a medical missionary along the rugged Labrador coast amply illustrated his words. He was a prolific writer, fundraiser and traveler but it was his faith that empowered his life and gave it meaning; it enabled him to accomplish great tasks to the amazement of others and made him a legend even during his lifetime.”

Thus editor William Pope sums up the life of Sir Wilfred Grenfell. It opens the introduction to The Best of Wilfred Grenfell, a collection of eleven short pieces by this British medical doctor and missionary to Labrador and Newfoundland from 1892 to 1934.

Grenfell was born in Parkgate England in 1865. Though his father was a clergyman, Grenfell had no religious leanings until one evening when he was 20. Returning from a sick call (he was already training to be a doctor) he happened upon a large tent where Dwight Moody was holding meetings. He sat down to listen and as a result of the message that night he decided to commit himself to Christ. That decision changed the course of his life. He eventually became involved in the North Sea Mission to Fishermen but when he heard of the need for medical services along the Labrador coast, he volunteered to work there.

Along the rugged coastlines of Newfoundland and Labrador he traveled by boat, kayak, canoe or dog sled to wherever he was needed. He loved Labrador’s majestic beauty and considered the cold, primitive conditions, and rugged landscape a challenge and adventure. During his 40+ years of work he attended to the medical needs the people by traveling to them and building village hospitals. His efforts soon branched into other areas such as establishing schools, orphanages, and doing whatever he could to improve the life of the people.  

From the hundreds of articles and 33 books he wrote, the eleven pieces collected here give us a taste of his range. The stories, authored from 1909 to 1932, are not in date order. The collection begins with adventure stories like Grenfell’s horrendous experience of drifting out to sea with his dogs on an ice pan. Other incidents involving Grenfell and local characters include tales of storms at sea, a starving trapper and a fisherman guilty of insurance fraud. Reflective essays on marriage, the importance of stewarding one’s body and his manifesto of faith “What Christ Means To Me” conclude the book.

Grenfell is a wonderful storyteller. He writes with a natural sense of timing and incredible detail and specificity, speaking of oilskins, komatiks, pan, sish and slob ice with the ease and familiarity we talk of jackets, cars, and road conditions. In many places he writes conversations in dialect, giving the tales extra color and realism. Though his English in some pieces may seem complex, his archaic style reminds us that these writings are up to 100 years old. Even the bits of clay prose are worth the slog, however, for Grenfell was a remarkable man with important things to say. 

He downplays his own role in many of these incidents but the way the people respond to him show that he was loved and trusted as a leader and example in the community. Grenfell comes across as an idealist, but one who believed in working, not just dreaming. He articulates his moral and spiritual ideals especially clearly in the essays about marriage, the human body and what Christ means to him. Note these quotables from that selection:

“Christ has become to me to mean more and more doing something, anything well.” p. 156

“God’s challenge to us is only to do whatever we can. Christ’s religion is as natural as the flowers in spring, and relates to the everyday things around us.” p. 156

“A lesson much needed and one which true loved calls for, is always to be optimistic. Never again will I be pessimistic because I cannot see the Christ bringing in His Kingdom in my way. If my boy promises me that he will not smoke, and I find a used pipe in his coat pocket, I do not say anything, I just trust him.” p. 158

Black and white photo reproductions showing Grenfell in his various roles are sprinkled throughout the text. There is a map of the area where he worked and a list of his publications at the back of the book.

This collection is a treasure for many reasons. It accounts rare early 1900s stories of life on the Labrador and Newfoundland coasts.  It provides history from one of Canada’s little-known mission fields. But most of all, it introduces us to a pioneer hero whose example in character and lived-out faith are needed as much today as ever.

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More on Grenfell:

Grenfell Historic Properties

Many of the local projects that Dr. Grenfell established continue:

• Grenfell Handicrafts

• Hooked rugs

• Clothing and Accessories

October 21, 1940 Time Magazine article commemorating the life and death of Wilfred Grenfell

Wikipedia on Sir Wilfred Grenfell

spy on the hummingbirds

Watch a mother hummingbird incubate eggs, hatch then feed her young and eventually persuade them to leave the nest. The video quality is good and the peaceful classical music background (Mozart) makes for a lovely almost-nine-minute interlude.



I found discovered this via twitter and the very informative blog of New England Birdhouse (Bill Askenberg).

art

(Click on photos to enlarge)

 "West Coast Roots" by Lynn Kingham

Part of the Eagles in the City project. 

This eagle stands on the walk that circles the Victoria, BC Inner Harbor.

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Thursday Challenge

Next week: GOLDEN (Gold-colored, Gold Plated, Yellow, Sun Flowers, Jewellery, Blonde, First-rate, Special,...)

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More eagles from the "Eagles in the City" project:

• Vancouver Island Gallery

• Vancouver Area Gallery

Eagles In the City is a Lions Club project (similar to the previous Orcas in the City and Spirit Bears in the City projects). In the spring of 2010 all the fiberglass eagles will be auctioned off to raise funds for kids with disabilities. 

happy birthday B!

Twenty-four years ago today a very special person was born. Here he is with his big sis. Happy Birthday B!!

And now for a little praise report. He was at the ophthalmologist's yesterday - the one who examined him in the hospital after his accident. The doc said he had never seen an eye recover as well. Thank you Lord! (Also, his cast came off last Friday.)

welcome baby david!

We have just returned from a delightful ten days in Kamloops, welcoming the newest addition to the family.

(Click on photos to get a larger version)

Baby David Matthew was born on September 14th. Here he is at six days old.

At 7 lbs. 10 oz. he was a pretty average size, though felt really tiny after his brother Liam, who was over 9 lbs. at birth. (Hubby's arm gives a sense of his size.)

Here are a couple of photos of the two little boys getting acquainted. The fact that baby David has big brother Liam's white blanket piled on top of him is pretty significant, as this is Liam's blankie which he drags everywhere with him and won't give to just anyone.

 

Though we all took our turns cuddling the new baby, mommy is definitely the winner in that department...

with the swing a close second. What a blessing is that battery operated baby gadget!

I spent a lot of time in the kitchen too - making food. Though the weather was hot in Kamloops this week, I cooked a turkey, made several soups, buns, cookies, stew. Lots of fun! (Hopefully it will come in handy for my girl, when life with two little ones plus a part-time job gets too hectic for kitchen duty.)

All the best to the gorgeous little family!

bottles

Bottles

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Thursday Challenge

Next week: ART (Paintings, Drawings, Murals, Graffiti, Crafts, Brushes, Pens, Pencils,...)

fresh

Rose (Butchart Garden, Victoria, BC)
(Click on photo to enlarge)

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Thursday Challenge

Next week: BOTTLES (Containers, Cup, Mug, Vase, Beverage, Cosmetic, Ornamental,...)

nesting - grandma style

This morning we got the joyous news that our daughter delivered a healthy boy - her second. Little David weighed in at 7 lbs. 10 or 11 oz. 

Saturday on her FB page, daughter talked about the lasagna and pumpkin pies she was making - and someone called it 'nesting.' Well, after today's news, I kicked away from the computer and did a little nesting of my own - grandma style. I made soup and cookies to bring with us when we make trip to her house later this week. Now to do a little shopping... (books - I need books for the toddler, plus newborn stuff, plus something to make the new mommy feel special - and I'd better not forget about the new dad either. I am so not a shopper, but this demands a break from my customary avoidance of the mall) and we're good to go.

mural monday

It's been a while since I've had a mural monday. But if you like these audacious street paintings as much as I do, you'll want to wander over to my mural blog and feast your eyes. I'm currently doing a series on the murals of Vancouver's Commercial Drive (new postings every Monday and Thursday until the mural well runs dry).  

Here's a sample. Is it  gorgeous or what? Love the colors, love the location. Doesn't it just make you want to get out there and buy potatoes and green onions?

(Click on photo to enlarge)

when discouragement hits

In Psalm 43 the writer is in trouble again (sounds like a David psalm but the writer isn't named). He feels misunderstood, caught, struggling in the dark, discouraged, God-forsaken, alone, hopeless.

He prays for God's help:

"Vindicate me...plead my cause... deliver me.

He prays for a sense of God's presence:

"...Send Your light and Your truth. Let them lead me; Let them bring me to Your holy hill and to Your tabernacle."

He ends by doing a little self-talk:

"Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me
Hope in God
for I shall yet praise Him"

This psalm tells us that even spiritual giants like Bible writers sometimes feel alone, discouraged, misunderstood and down. Can we learn from what this one does about it?

- He asks God for help.
- He plans to go to the place of worship.
- He takes up his musical instrument and plays a song of praise.

In other words, he acts himself out of his funk. He does what he knows to do, realizing his feelings will follow.

Lord, help us not to feel guilty when we struggle with negative feelings. Instead help us do what David does - pray, meet with God's people, dust off that old harp and praise God, even if we don't feel like it.

exposed!

Exposed


Through the summer night and day

Spider spins her life away,

Weaving gossamer entrapments

For her unsuspecting prey.

Threads from clothes upon the line,

Between my beans upon the vine

And when I go through my front door,

I break more threads ticklish and fine.

Until one frosty day in fall

From tiny shrubs to pine tree tall

Each lacy trap in white is sketched.

The frost has come, exposing all!

© 2002 by V. Nesdoly 

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This poem came true today - only it wasn't frost that exposed the spider webs, but dew. I have been waiting forever to see this phenom again with just the right lighting and camera in hand (I wrote the ditty after the first sighting some years ago). Today was my lucky day!

langley good times cruise-in

This is the weekend of the famous Langley Good Times Cruise-In. Tomorrow (September 12th) the downtown Langley section of Fraser Highway will be a parking lot of vintage vehicles with people by the hundreds, food, entertainment and a generally good time being had by all. (Elvis always makes an appearance at this event).

If you live in the area, check the Cruise-in website for times and location - then pay a visit!

This is a slide show of last year's parade (intersection of Glover and Duncan Way). Sorry, I don't even pretend to know my vintage cars - just the impressions they make on me.

(Slide show doesn't seem to be working in Firefox - but it does load in Safari. What gives with FF lately?)

flight

Bird's eye view of the Canadian Rockies

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Thursday Challenge

Next Week: FRESH (Water, Fruit and Vegetables, Flowers, Clean, Air, New,...)

is it lunch yet?

I have a new food obsession - pickled hot banana pepper rings. They're sour and salty, hot and delicious, and  so non-fattening - 5 calories for 15 rings.  My fave is to put them between halves of a toasted whole wheat bun together with a poached egg and cheese. Docile egg and dairy never had such zippy company!

easing into fall

 Bedford Channel - Fort Langley, BC

It's been a lovely, lazy weekend - with rain and cool temperatures. Despite the showers, we've fit in our walk each day. Yesterday after the early service at church we drove to Fort Langley and walked part of the Fort to Fort Trail.  The Bedford Channel looked like jade. After our exercise we indulged in a delicious lunch at Beatnik's and then lazed at home - napped and read.

I was pretty unmotivated today too. Did the laundry, watched a half of football, Toronto vs. Hamilton, did a little blogging ahead, but not much else. (Somehow my Wordpress blog dashboards aren't working in Firefox with only a fraction of the tools displaying above the edit box. In Safari it is fine. What gives?)

I'm trying to psych myself up for tomorrow - and the official beginning of the fall season. When the kids were off to school, the division between summer holidays and fall was such a line in the sand. Without school, not so much.

But it's hard for me to get into new projects because I'll soon be interrupted again. It's an interruption I'm looking forward to -- visiting my daughter after the birth of her second baby. She's due this week!

in shock

I'm in shock.  This morning I heard that my neighbor of 24 years died last night.  We lived next door to each other from 1983 to 2007, saw each others kids grow up, chatted over the 'garden gate' - though we didn't have a gate, just a hedge - or caught up on each others lives beside the hydro kiosk between our two properties. Each year we remembered each others' birthdays and exchanged Christmas goodies (I bought her birthday present a week ago, for crying out loud).

It was sudden - way too sudden. The dreaded C-word was first uttered in April. What was to be a simple course of radiation, then surgery, then getting on with life turned deadly when breathing complications surfaced at the beginning of August. I saw her last on Monday - and she looked better than she had on Friday. There was talk of her going home midweek. 

Today I cooked soup. E. made a batch of buns. Now I'm planning to bake a some cookies. Then it's off for a sad visit to the old neighborhood.

Listen folks, the Bible isn't kidding when it says our life is short and uncertain - like grass, a mist. So don't waste a minute. Don't put off till tomorrow what you can and should do today.

is summer over?

So, how are you liking September so far? It's early days to be asking, I guess. But here, as if to prove that more has changed than just the page on the calendar, today turned cloudy and I definitely felt a tinge of fall in the air as I walked to and from the library just now. We got a few showers so everything smelled fabulous. Along with the smells of damp earth and rain-soaked yellow grass there is always, when one walks in town at least, the perfumy fragrance sometime on one's walk, of dryer sheets. I know it's not a smell of nature, but I love it!

Now, back from the library, I feel rich. For I have returned with three (count them) novels which are not new and waiting with bated breath to be reviewed and have their names splattered all over the internet, but old (in the case of Marilynne Robinson's Housekeeping - 1980, and Ken Kesey's Sometimes a Great Notion - 1964) and new but by an established writer (Execution Dock - 2009 by Anne Perry - the Brit. writer who wrote the foreword to Donald Maass's Writing the Breakout Novel). No one of these writers gives a fig whether I review their books or not I'm sure.

One of my summer pleasures -

watching these Hibiscus flowers open up.

Trouble is, they only last a day or so.

So, until my next shipment of review books comes, I shall be reading for sheer pleasure - while I enjoy the tail end of summer and the first cool breaths of fall.

get paid for online writing

Turn your online writing into a little cash. I blog about how to do just that today at my writerly blog Line upon line (and I'm not talking Google ads):"Write 'free' content and get paid for it." 

update on the kid

A month from Monday (July 31st) my baby looked like this. What happened? Read about it here.




Yesterday he looked like this. Isn't the improvement incredible?! How amazingly God made the human body to heal. We're so very grateful.

tranquil

Victoria, BC - outer harbor

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Thursday Challenge

Next week: FLIGHT (Birds, Insects, Kites, Helicopters, Jets, Boomerang,...)

promptings potpourri

I haven't posted this kind of link love for a while. I'd say it's about time!

Recently Judith Millar, fellow Canadian and British Columbian has started blogging. Millar Lite is her humorous take on life where she tells on herself doing things like stalking Prince Charles on twitter and ramming her kayak instructor during a lesson. Check back each Wednesday for your weekly laugh.

Do you love the hymns? Then you'll love Robert Cottrill's Wordwise Hymns blog. His posts are a hymn-lover's almanac of sorts with all manner of hymn-writers' birth and death dates, along with their contributions to the world of religious music.

Do you or does someone you know suffer from chronic pain? Then you'll want to read "Heather's story: Healing Chronic Pain and Chronic Fatigue - 'My Experience, Strength and Hope!'" - moving and insightful.

Very soon it will be back to school. If you work in a school office - here's a message suggestion for your school answering machine.


Finally, kudos to me. I finished this afghan for munchkin number two a few days ago - and just in the nick of time. Baby is due in early September!

(Dimensions: 32" wide x 42" long. I initially blew it by making it too narrow, so added the borders on each side. It works, don't you think?)

rare visit with the Africa crowd

We had a visit with our nephew Chris, his wife Jane and their five sons on Saturday. Chris and Jane are in Canada on a short furlough from their work in Uganda. They are missionaries under Equip Canada and in Uganda Chris works on farming projects with several NGOs, including Orphans Know More, Bushfire and Farming God's Way. His website - Sperlings in Africa - explains these projects more fully.


A couple from their church offered Chris and Jane to live in the upstairs of their spacious house. The house comes complete with a large covered deck right off the kitchen where their active little boys can play ball hockey and generally be boys. In the back yard there's a swimming pool!

Jane grew up in Uganda. She tells interesting (and sad) stories from her childhood and growing up years. Several of her sisters have experienced tragic illnesses and premature deaths in their families. It's the kind of thing one typically hears about Africa - only it hits closer to home when it affects someone you know and love.

They'll be taking a road trip in September, visiting the churches that support them in B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan. (It will be quite an adventure, traveling all those miles with five little boys!)

Andrew (Chris adopted him when he was a baby)

Kenny (5 or 6)

Albert (4-ish - and looking not very happy. He ended up feeling sick.)

Isaiah (about 3)

Ezra (11 months) and mommy.

(If you think of them, pray that some immigration documents Jane needs are processed in time for them to return to Uganda at the end of October.)

a thought for your day

on usefulness

Photo: planters on a dock - Victoria B.C.

"If I say -- I wonder if I am of any use -- I instantly lose the bloom of the touch of the Lord. 'He that believeth in me, out of him shall flow rivers of living water.' If I examine the outflow, I lose the touch of the Lord.

Which are the people who have influenced us most? Not the ones who thought they did, but those who had not the remotest notion that they were influencing us. In the Christian life, the implicit is never conscious; if it is conscious it ceases to have this unaffected loveliness which is the characteristic of the touch of Jesus. We always know when Jesus is at work because He produces in the commonplace something that is inspiring."

- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

new poetry portfolio

In the last while I've been mulling over the idea of assembling an online poetry portfolio. I love other just-poetry sites that I often visit - sites like Poems by C. Van Gorkom, Christian Nature Poetry, and Real Poems.

Recently Kimberley Davis, a writer I follow on Twitter, wrote a blog post about doing just that as well. Her thoughts echoed many of my own feelings (positive about posting the poems with images, for example - her portfolio is here).

And so in the last two days, I've taken the plunge and put up Violet Nesdoly / poems. I will mostly put up poems that have already been published in other places. Of course it's not complete. I have yet to add more tabs, with pages for links, and other poetry-related goodies. I'll be adding a new poem about once a week until I run out of 'stock.'

So, if you enjoy poetry, I'd love it if you came by for a read!

curved

Swan family

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Thursday Challenge

Next Week: TRANQUIL (Quiet, Peaceful, Still, Calm, Serene, Garden, Forest, Beach,...)

a prayer meditation

Just over two weeks ago our son had a scary fall from a roof, 20 feet down onto concrete. You can probably imagine the frantic prayers a parent prays at times like this. In fact, the hours of the first few days and nights blurred into one long prayer.

It's at times like that I really appreciate a little book I bought some years ago. Praying with Fire by Barbara Billett is a collection of prayers based on Scripture. The prayer for children is one I've been reading/praying over and over.

In the last few days I've also been meditating on the Bible passages these prayers are based on (they're listed at the bottom of each prayer, in the order they occur). Isaiah 54:13 is one of those verses:

All your children shall be taught by the Lord,
And great shall be the peace of your children.


ALL YOUR CHILDREN - children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren...

"TAUGHT BY THE LORD" - how does He do it?
- through nature.
- through the Bible.
- through the experience and counsel of others.
- through their own experiences - including tragedy, loss, sickness, disaster - and good times too.
- through miracles - dreams, visions, miracles, healings.

"AND GREAT SHALL BE THE PEACE OF YOUR CHILDREN."
That's an interesting outcome. Not wealth or intelligence, favor, or joy but peace.
- A state of mental or physical quiet or tranquility; calm, repose
- Absence or cessation of war
- Public order - freedom from riot or violence
- Reconciliation after strife or enmity
- Freedom from mental agitation or anxiety


Lord, teach our children. Bring peace to them - and us. Amen.

A sampling of the prayers in Praying with Fire is on The Miracle Channel website. Here is the "Prayer for Children". Other prayers are linked at the top of the page.

home again

Here's the kid on Thursday, two weeks after the accident. What a change when compared to the photo here.


Also on Thursday his friends from town came for a visit. Here they are, watching a movie on the ibook.


Yesterday included a visit to the cast clinic. The doc took out the staples, outfitted B. with a cast and then we moved him back to his city digs...he insisted he was ready, had stuff to look after, etc. (Sigh ~ at some times it's harder being a mom than at others)