Yael Naim - Far Far

I was introduced to Yael Naim by a good friend on a bike ride...you may have heard her song "New Soul" on 92.3 in Indy. I also hear it is on some apple product video, but we don't have a TV hooked up right now-and haven't for quite some time-so I'm not up to date on those types of things.

Anyway, her self-titled album is a beautifully orchestrated of acoustic instruments mixed with her sweet voice. The songs in Israeli are interesting and hold your attention while the songs in English are melodically interesting, well written, and cleanly recorded.

Micah and I have listened to the album a few times in the past 2 days and both highly recommend it! (Which is something coming from a couple music snobs like us...)

peace.

Kinderchildren

I get to teach today! I had 4 classes this morning and will have 2 classes this afternoon. On a "normal" Friday I will also have a lunch duty and a 45 minute "special" class. I think it will be a kindergarten instrument class in the fall and folk dancing in the spring. :)

I had the most delightful children today. I just LOVE teaching the kindergarten children. They are so alive and joyful. We sang songs and did the chicken dance. I hear it was a hit, though one girl (who kept interrupting me) told her teacher, "I think I've had about enough of music class for the year." :) AND there was a boy who cried for his brother the whole class.

So, there you go. I had 2 kindergarten classes this morning and two unhappy campers. I'll take that as a successful day.

peace.

back to school, back to school...

My teaching schedule is still a mystery to me on the 2nd day of teaching.  This is not unusual, it is just hard since one of the many reasons I became a teacher is because I love children.  And not having my own classes in which to see them makes this difficult.

So today I decided to help in a kindergarten classroom that is without an assistant.  It was awesome!  I loved getting to spend time with the kids, getting to know them, hear their funny stories (they were on a Grandpas with beards kick this morning), and see their faces light up when they discover something new.

I met a boy who has two siblings in our building that are behavior issues with academic struggles.  He was bright and vibrant and fun.  He was polite and loved to learn.  And he has the most beautiful almost black because they are such a deep brown color of eyes. 

I met a little boy with aspbergers who would respond to me if I talked to him.  He has glasses and wears a very serious look on his face.  He is smart and organized.

And I met a little girl who reminded me what it means to love like Jesus.  She is bald from the chemotherapy treatments she receives for leukemia.  She is shy to the point where her parents call her a "selective mute."  And while I didn't pressure her to talk, I persisted on loving her to a point where she could be comfortable asking for her needs.  About 2 hours into the morning she came to me and started telling me about how the doctors put her to sleep so that "it won't hurt."

It just was a wonderful moment to have a little girl going through such devastating circumstances share those with me.  So I can be a part of her journey and love her through it.  Like Jesus who is loving us through this journey.  He will not forsake or leave us.

I love my job for lots of reasons, but mostly I love getting love kids like Jesus loves us.

peace.

Weight Watchers

Well, it is the first day of school with students and I'm STARVING so I'm about to head to lunch. It has been a whirlwind of activity the last few weeks with getting back into the groove of school and seeing friends. Even though I see Micah in the evenings, I miss him. During the summer I would have lunch with him a few times a week and we could e mail throughout the day. But times, they are a'changin'.

But back to a hungry tummy...I blame it all on Micah. You see, I don't struggle with my appearance in the mirror. Most people see themselves a lot larger than they really are-but I see myself much skinnier than I really am. And as long as my clothes fit, I'm a happy camper. UNLESS I step on to the scale, then I get all frustrated by the numbers flashing at my toes.

So, I have done weight watchers several times and have only been really successful the first time (I lost 30 pounds and kept 20 of it off!). I have tried 2 or 3 times since, but haven't really been successful or completely dedicated to the cause.

Right now, I am on weight watchers. I was on it before the wedding and then just dropped it for a few weeks afterwards for the honeymoon festivities. I decided to start back up 2 weeks ago and found it incredibly difficult to be married and be on weight watchers. When Micah wants a big bowl of ice cream and I get a half cup of the low fat kind, it is a little depressing.

Sunday evening I begged Micah to give me permission to go off weight watchers before going to hang with the girls.  He loves the way I look, but knows how down I get on myself about the scale.  I was so upset that he wouldn't support my decision to leave the weight watchers lifestyle and left the house frustrated.

When I got back to the house, Micah was entering points into the computer as he explained to me that he joined weight watchers as well.  It was simultaneously the nicest and most horrible thing anyone had ever done for me!

So now we are on our 4th day of weight watchers and all is well-even though Micah needs to eat ice cream every night to fill up his points value for the day.  I get 24 points a day and he gets 35.  The last two nights he has had 24 points left at dinner time.  That is the equivalent of 3 servings of ice cream with all the syrups and whip cream your little heart can fathom...I enjoy watching him eat his sundae while I drink my diet soda.  

Today I have used 3 points so far and am going to go fill up on 5 more now!

peace.

As We Forgive...

I heard about this on the Diane Rehm Show on NPR today...anyone want to organize a screening with me?

www.asweforgivemovie.com

I tried to download the trailer, but an error kept appearing...sorry.

peace.

This week...

This past week was a big one for Micah and me...Micah likes to refer to our stumbles as trifectas because they always seem to come in sets of 3. Like the time I got upset with him for playing garage band instead of calling me or the time I talked to my roommate for a good 5 minutes while he was on the phone and then quoted scripture to him when he was sharing a struggle with me...all understandable stumbles that were magnified by their trifectaness.

It's really a classic story...an extreme extrovert (me) marries a moderate introvert, where is the happy ground in this? How do we balance my desire to see everyone multiple times a week with Micah's need to have quiet time at the house to reenergize?

I don't really know the answer, but we are working our way through it. I have a feeling it is going to be a lot of touch and go and week to week assessment, but I can let everyone know that we worked through it unscathed...yes, some tears were shed, but once we really heard and understood each other's needs...well, we have both had moments that certainly surpassed our initial, "how can I possibly love you more than I do right now?" moments.

The shifting and shaping and growing of love is pretty grande. (British spellings always seem to add gravity to a sentence...)

So, almost a month into it, I can share with everyone that our love has grown immensely and we become more and more excited to live into the life God has planned for us...now if we only had the blueprint...

peace.

our children

I have had several conversations recently about what it means to be a mother and who our children really are...Micah and I are blessed to be a part of a community that desires to give the lonely and abandoned a family, a community that seeks to love the "least of these."

We have seen multiple families adopt from places as close as Reilly Hospital or as far as Ethiopia and India.  We see their families love them as children of God, as if they have given birth to these children themselves.  I even just got done reading our friends' (and marital counselors) blog about their three year pregnancy waiting for baby Grace to come home from China.

And yesterday, I read this:

But being born Israelite in the flesh, Jesus insists, in not of concern.  God's people do not grow by having sex and making babies.  They grow by the Spirit of God weaving into and renewing identities and hearts, making them beat with love.  As with Abraham and Sarah's children, it is the child who is born of miraculous means and God's initiative who carries the blessing.

In addition to these words from Shane Claiborne, comes this footnote:

The people of God are created through a multiethnic gathering, as opposed to mono-ethnic progeny, is evident throughout the Hebrew Scriptures and is not just a New Testament theme.  The exodus was more than just the Hebrews but was enjoined by "a mixed crowd."

Reading these thoughts yesterday gave new breath for me what it means to have a family.  I am not being so bold as to say that everyone should adopt, but I believe that God has created me to do so since the first time my ability to have children was questioned at age 15.  

My interpretation of someone else's interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures seems to point to the notion that God created us to be a wide collection of people since the beginning, since He scrambled us at Babel.  He desires for our dinner tables to be filled with a rainbow of people and for us to love each as He loves them.

Children without parents are born of miraculous means.  A child born in Africa without proper health care, is born of miraculous means.  Children who survive the birthing process and are sent to orphanages are born of miraculous means.  And those who get to be their parents receive miraculous gifts.

peace.