Tend and Keep

When I first met my now-husband's family, we went for coffee at his grandparent's house.  After we enjoyed our coffee and treats which rolled right into lunch, hobbit-style, we all stood to clean up together. Opa (Dutch for "grandpa") was washing dishes and I was drying when, seemingly out of the blue, he turned to me and said in an approving tone, "I can tell that you have worked with your hands." "Oh!" I replied, somewhat startled. "Yes." And that was the end of that. The comment stuck with me, however, and once in a while it will pop into my mind as I'm doing the dishes, remembering myself standing in that kitchen with Opa. He was correct in his observation; I had had plenty of practice working with my hands, doing everything from peeling potatoes to pulling weeds to helping with assembly in my dad's metal-working shop. But, until then, it had never struck me as a particularly admirable trait, something of which one could be pr...

I recently re-read Farmer Boy  by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and it was a delight to return to the stories of farming and family life in 1866.  I read this book when I was little, but it hits a little differently now that we live on a farm of sorts and have a 10-year-old boy of our own to imagine through the story. The Laura Ingalls Wilder biography,  Prairie Fires  by Caroline Fraser,   suggests that this book was Laura's homage to Almanzo's childhood, which she idealized in many ways. The recurring themes of good food, bounty, a thriving farm, and self-sufficiency contrast sharply with Laura's childhood full of struggle, scraping by, and being forced to move several times. It was enlightening to experience  Farmer Boy through this lens, particularly noting the exhaustive and grandiose mealtime descriptions. For example, just try not to drool while reading of breakfast in the Wilder house: “There was oatmeal with plenty of thick cream and maple sugar. There wer...

  The photo credit for this one goes to my dad.  This was taken when I called him to say the cows were out but then it turns out they weren't.  Sorry Dad!       The barn is getting a little more crowded these days as everyone moves inside for the winter.  The sideways, golden, evening light caught my eye.

My four-year-old daughter loves to choose a board game and announce that she is going to "play" it.  She sits cross-legged on the floor by herself, carefully takes out each piece and sorts, arranges, and stacks.  She admires the colors and patterns.  She counts and categorizes.  What is most striking, however, is her complete absorption in the tasks she has set out for herself.  She will not be easily interrupted or distracted. Kids are just so good at this, aren't they?  My son can sit and look out the window, with a cat in his lap, lost in his own thoughts and observations for hours, and then suddenly ask something like, "What's a black hole, exactly?"  My seven-year-old daughter will meticulously arrange her dollhouse just so, or sit down with paper and markers to write and illustrate a book from beginning to end, or set up a classroom for her stuffed animals, all with complete focus and precision. I often envy their ability to devote complete atten...

The season of Advent starts in just a few weeks, and I'm starting to think about the books I usually read through for this season of waiting and watching.  Here are a few favorites... WinterSong Christmas Readings by Madeleine L'Engle and Luci Shaw: This is collection of poetry, short stories, and reflections that steps through the liturgical seasons of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany.  The readings are perfect for those few quiet minutes you might have with a cup of coffee before everyone else in the house wakes up.  I read this one every year, and always find truth, goodness, and beauty. Watch for the Light : This one takes a little more time each day but oh my, is it worth it.  The daily readings, each from a different author, are deep and though-provoking.  I picked this one up a few years ago and have enjoyed it ever since. Shadow and Light  by Tsh Oxenreider: Each day in this book comes with a short reading, a song, a painting, and a Psalm.  It's...

It's always hard for me to talk about my journey with arthritis because 1) I don't often want to talk about it, 2) I don't know if people want to hear about my health problems, and 3) it impacts my life so deeply that it's difficult to put into words.  This is my attempt. In the spring of 2017, I went on a trip to visit some college friends.  While I was on that trip, the chaos of my ordinary life with two small children calmed down enough that I noticed that my wrist was hurting.  It hurt so badly that I couldn't hold up my book to read on the airplane or grasp my backpack.  I had no idea what was going on and just brushed it off and hoped it would pass. It didn't.  When I got home, we all started to get sick.  Strep throat, influenza, RSV, and more strep throat made for an intense few months that wore my body down and the joint pain started to spread.  I had difficulty walking and picking up my children.  I mentioned it to a few doctors but they...

I know this is somewhat controversial, but I always enjoy the time falling back at the beginning of November.  Mostly I hear lots of complaints about it, but here are my reasons...  maybe it will help you enjoy it, too? Last week, we didn't see the sun begin to peek over the Eastern horizon until we were almost at work & school, and now the sky is already changing color when we wake up.  It makes the start of the day feel much less sleepy, and I get to enjoy those winter sunrises while looking out the window with a coffee in hand. The time change usually works in our favor at this time of year in regards to kids and sleep schedules.  After unsuccessfully trying to remedy a summer of staying up much too late, they are suddenly ready to go to bed on time and wake up more easily in the mornings. The dark evenings give permission to rest.  I enjoy moving and doing and getting stuff done, but by this time of year I am usually pretty tired.  When it gets dark...

I once read that we should think of our homes as "outposts of the Kingdom," and that phrase has come to be something of a personal mantra, encouragement repeated as I extend an invitation for supper, work in the garden, or maintain a space that serves my family well... affirming the work of keeping a home and opening it to others.   I find that I need this affirmation because this work, the work it requires to keep a home, is wildly undervalued in our society today.  Just think for a moment about what you might consider a "skill."  Knowing how to change the oil in your car?  Woodwork?  Plumbing?  Wiring up a new outlet?  Backing up a trailer? Now consider these examples: Calming a distraught child. Cooking a meal from scratch. Washing the dishes. Holding up flash cards with an encouraging smile.  Remembering to do the flash cards. Naw, you might say, that stuff's easy. Anyone can do it; it doesn't require any special set of knowledge or compe...