Monday, April 22, 2013

Jessie-isms: Negotiating Skills

Jessie LOVES Rusty. He is just the best thing to her. And she loves to give him treats. She's gotten so good that he listens to her and is very gentle with her. Yesterday was another day that she wanted to give him treats. So, we went to the "food closet" and got the box and grabbed 2 treats. "Mommy, I give Rusty 2 tweats."

Then, after those were gone, she asked if she could give him more: "Mommy, I give Rusty 2 more tweats."
Me: "No, just one"
J: "Two" (holding up 2 fingers)
M: "No, just one treat" (holding up 1 finger)
J: "Two"
M: "Jessica, no, just one treat."
J: "Okay, Mommy, one tweat" (holding up 1 finger)

Jessie runs into the kitchen, gets the box, and runs back in. "Mommy, I got Rusty FIVE tweats!"
M: "Jessie, we said just one."
J: "No, Mommy, say 5 tweats" (attempts to juggle 5 treats in one hand and hold up 5 fingers in the other)
M: "Jessie, one."
J: "No, we say 5" and she handed a treat to Rusty, who happily ended up eating what was left in the box (many many more than 5).



Friday, April 12, 2013

Final Prayers of Lent: Holy Weekend

Good Friday

The prompt: From the scene of the place called The Skull: "The people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at Jesus, saying, 'He saved others. Let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, the chosen one!'" (Luke 23:35).  I wonder how those who had been saved by Jesus -- the man healed of leprosy, for example, or the woman whose hemorrhages were healed -- heard those words of ridicule at the crucifixion. I wonder how those who were his disciples and friends reacted to the taunt. Jesus was supposed to save them; that's what a messiah does!

Why didn’t you respond? Why didn’t you show them your power? Who you really were/are? Why did you suffer? I don’t understand why you set all this into motion, why you had to finish it the way you did. But I look to your example, I pray I remember this example, when people scoff at me, when I am tempted to respond. Be with me Lord Jesus and help me to be like you.

Holy Saturday

Today's prayer prompt stems from a scripture reading that caught my attention last night during the Tenebrae service:

"The Son of Man goes as it is written of him,
but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!
It would have been better for that one
not to have been born." (Matthew 26:24)

Did Jesus really say that it was better for Judas (or anyone one of us sinners, really) to have not been born? Such a denial of life from the One who spent his ministry affirming life shocks the soul ... and yet, oddly, I find that it suits our Holy Saturday reflection, because surely the disciples experienced a traumatic denial of what their lives had been about when Jesus died. After he was buried, did they wonder whether it would have been better to never have known Jesus?
In your prayer-writing today, consider the sudden vacuum to life -- the loss of purpose and hope -- that the disciples felt, that you have experienced, that others struggle through.

Would it have been better to not have come here?
Would it have been better to have gone a different direction?
Father, the despair that is so easy to see and feel during those difficult times,
Blessed am I that I have not wished to have not been born
For you have had much planned
If not for this place, would I have the same family?
Would I be the same person?
Thank you, Lord, for the perspective of that loss
When life has lost meaning
When the will to go on is difficult
Yet, each day, we do. We go on.
With you beside us and before us.

Easter Sunday

From Luke's telling of the resurrection story: "Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened." (Luke 24:12, NRSV) Amidst the loud exclamation points of this holy day, I invite you to be still and to find your prayer in the quiet amazement of Easter's good news.

In the stillness of the morning
Frost on the grass
Sun slowly rising
Waking the world to the new day
A different new day
A day unlike all the others
The quiet of that garden
The silence must have been heavy
Looking, hoping, wondering
The silent amazement
The wonder of what had happened
And knowing who you are
Keeping that knowledge inside
For only a short time 
Savoring the Good News
The anticipation of sharing it
In the stillness of the morning
Frost on the grass
Sun slowing rising
Today is a New Day

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Easter Weekend

For Easter this year, we traveled to Denver for our friend Dave’s 40th birthday party. While there, we enjoyed playing a bit of tourist by visiting both the Downtown Aquarium and the Denver Zoo. The girls had a blast!IMG_0262IMG_0268

Decorating Easter Eggs:

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At the Downtown Aquarium. Maggie had a blast taking pictures & making a video tour of her favorite animals at both the Aquarium and Zoo.

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The Zoo:

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Easter morning! What did the Easter Bunny bring? Where did he hide the eggs?IMG_0326IMG_0335IMG_0337IMG_0340IMG_0353

It was a beautiful, blessed Easter weekend!

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