Storms

Hurricane Irene has started me thinking about past storms in my life. I was in a typhoon when I was stationed on Guam. I was in a couple of hurricanes in Florida. I remember a gully washer in Guam where I was stuck at a traffic light in my little VW and a news photographer caught my picture, with water up to my bumper.  That was a wild time. (the next morning, there were dead frogs all over the roads, bellies up and legs in rigamortis - weirdly amusing)

I remember the EYE OF THE STORM as being the weirdest part.  Here we had just sat through howling winds, rain, things blowing around outside and hitting the walls of my home, or breaking windows and other sorts of fearful things. THEN there was QUIET. Not just quiet.  Eerie silence, deafening in its own right. And the thing we were waiting for was the OTHER SIDE OF THE STORM to arrive. And it did, with the same fury the first side had.

The quiet before the storm has become cliche  but is very real. There is a quiet before every storm and we KNOW that the storm is going to hit. We don't know when but we do know.

Life has its storms and it also has its quiet. That deafeningly silent time when you can wait and...prepare.

I have been thinking about how I get complacent in the eye of the storm. Or in the quiet before the first side of the storm hits. I know from experience and observation that in this fallen world, storms are brewing constantly. BUT I have also learned that I don't need to FEAR the storm.  But neither should I lapse into complacency. There is always preparation to be done.

In Guam, we taped windows. put all objects inside that could fly around and damage something. We stocked food and water and candles for that inevitable power failure. We prepared as best we knew, as we were instructed. In Florida, I was hustled into a building with a few hundred other Navy women and waited out Hurricane Frederick in a darkened hot crowded building with too much estrogen in it. (I think being OUT in the hurricane might have been preferable - just kidding)  But we prepared ourselves.

For the storms of life - I prepare by taking shelter in my Savior. By sealing the leaks in the windows of my soul. By taking in the food and water of the Word. By taking all the precautions that my Savior has given. By following all of the instructions ahead of time from His Word.

But even when I have failed to take all the necessary and commanded precautions, He allows the eye to pass. Where a quiet exists and allows a chance to make some adjustments, to embrace His instructions, to trust that He is in the storm and knows what I need. And then to wait out the rest of the storm in His lap, sharing HIS power because mine has gone, knowing that His provisions are all around me, no matter how long the storm lasts.

Isaiah 25:4 - "For Thou hast been a defense for the helpless, a defense for the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat; For the breath of the ruthless is like a rain storm against a wall."

I want the hurricanes of life find me prepared in Him.

Wishing you good storm preparations and happy times in the Savior, janet

It's in the Bag

I found a really fun pattern to use to make these knitted drawstring bags. These would work well as jewelry bags for traveling or for scarves or any little thing that might need protecting. I am eager to make more of these for Christmas gifts this year and am trying to decide what goes INTO them when I send them off. I am also planning to embellish the outsides of some of them.

Christmas doesn't seem far away anymore, except for the fact that I want to see Elizabeth and Kyle so much that the time will drag. All the more reason for me to GET KNITTING!

Have a super time planning your own Christmas gift list!

Sophie's Response to Madigan

My Auntie Elizabeth has a dog named Madigan. She sure is something. She has her own "sub-blog" and everything. She is really very witty. I think she takes after Auntie Elizabeth. I am not witty like that. I am steady, loyal, faithful, precious, loving, and really, really cute. But not witty. (See http://loveisadventure.blogspot.com/)

But Madigan today was discussing CATS. Now I do have an opinion on cats. They are self-serving and arrogant and they think everything revolves around them. They don't think they have to share. I mean, seriously, why would anyone want to have his/her own chair when you could share it with a warm cuddly human? Case in point...

Cats don't think they have to be nice, either. I mean, they say, "take it or leave it" human. If they don't like you, they don't even PRETEND to be polite. Have you ever heard a cat hiss? Well, believe me, it is a daunting sound. One that will keep you up at night just worrying about it.

Then cats feel free to be stupid and think no one will notice. Cats actually believe that no one will consider that they are stupid.  I mean, they can be so stupid and actually think that humans are amazed and excited and astonished by their antics. When all the while they are actually being rather weird and stupid.

I should actually back off a bit here and say that if someone as fascinating as Sarah has cats, then there MIGHT be something to cats. But I doubt it.  I'm thinking that Sarah just has this rescue thing going on and felt sorry for those cats, Pippin and Leo. I mean, really, at least Leo wasn't so 'OUT THERE'.  Pippin now, wow, who really believes he is all that and a can of tuna. Oh yeah, PIPPIN does!

That is all I have to say on the matter. I mean, I couldn't just leave it alone. Usually, I can just let those things slide. But I know how many bloggers read Auntie Elizabeth's posts and I just had to say my piece. I am a pretty peaceful girl, after all.  But this, this was too much, Madigan.  Too much.

As Madigan would say, "Stay Excellent".  I say, "Stay warm, cozy, and happy with a puppy on your lap."

Love, Sophie

Christmas Bells Are Ringing

One of my current projects, the one that keeps my hands busy when nothing else does, is knitting up hundreds of these little bells.  I attach them to gifts, to homemade goodies, attach three together as a small gift, leave one at the table for a great waiter or waitress with the tip inside. They are fun, colorful, and quick. I love being able to just hand one to someone at random, or to employees at some of the companies I serve. I sent 12 to Elizabeth for a Twelve Days of Christmas giveaway on her blog. Just plain old knitting fun.

24 Years Ago, in Korea, There Came a Baby Girl

     24 years ago I was in labor. Hard labor. Foreign labor. No one except my doctor spoke English and when the nurses tried, it was, "No short pushy! Long pushy!" That is a subject for another time. But at the end of this labor, I gave birth to one of the most extraordinary people I have ever met - my daughter Elizabeth.  It is extraordinary to have a child, anyway. But Elizabeth is fascinating.

     Elizabeth is exuberant about life. She always has been. She has never done anything by halves. Elizabeth knows to LOOK for the adventure in life. She creates the adventure. She is one of those people who HAS to have something to look forward to and if there isn't anything in particular, she starts looking around and makes a plan. She chooses to have fun in the smallest details of her life as well as the big ones.

     LB (for short) loves to learn. Her mind is constantly busy and seeking new ideas, new knowledge, new skills. She loves to research whatever she finds interest in. One of the early research projects took place when we first moved back to the US from Germany. She began listening to the "oldies" and fell in love with the Beatles. She can probably tell you every trivia item about the Beatles. When George Harrison died, her heart was broken.
     Far from learning trivia about the Beatles now, she finds subjects and says, "I just want to know about..." and off she goes. Always learning.  (I think that is from the Thimell side of the family)

     LB is loyal to the core. The depth of her commitment is quite compelling and no one is her true friend who has not had that loyalty directed toward them. She is THE friend to have. Thankfully, she chooses her friends in a careful and wise manner.

     LB is a worsdmith. Read her blog (http://loveisadventure.blogspot.com/) and you will know what I mean. Her words flow with humor, depth, pathos, thoughtfulness, creativity.  This is one of the things that I admire most about her. I guess we knew this would happen, though. When she was two I walked into her room and found her surrounded by dolls and stuffed animals. I asked her what she was doing and she said, "I am just getting my babies situated." When she was five, she asked, "Mama, how do I ask Jesus into my heart without using a lot of complicated words?" When she was three, after having read all of the LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE books out loud to her, I heard her "reading" to her babies. "Pa went out and shot a deer and came home and Ma cooked it in the microwave."  She loved listening to her daddy read the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy when she was five and only later did she tell us which parts really freaked her out.
     LB addresses her fears. She says she does things because she has either never done them before or is scared to do them and so does it to get over the fear. This inspires me to do the same.

     LB is beautiful. But then lots of us have beautiful daughters. I used to ask her, "Is it more important to be pretty on the outside or pretty on the inside?"  She knew the right answer but the fact is that she is just as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside.
     LB is not afraid to dance with her mama in the kitchen. That is how I KNOW she is extraordinary.
     Committed, tenacious, persevering, willing to learn, willing to humble herself, gracious, hospitable, loyal, a good cook (which she had to teach herself seeing as how she IS my daughter), a creative and artistic decorator, talented, musical, intelligent, thoughtful of others, a lover of Jesus, a superb wife and MY DAUGHTER. I could go on and on shamelessly.

     Elizabeth inspires me to be better. I think that is what she does for everyone who comes around her. I am so thankful to the Lord for giving me the privilege of being Mama to this one very extraordinary person and it all began 24 years ago at a hospital in Seoul, Korea.