The Dash

It has been said that life is not in being born or dying, but it is the space in between where you do the living that matters. On the gravestone, they engrave your birth year, your death year, with a hyphen in between. That hyphen, or dash, is the sum total of your time on Earth. What does that dash consist of for you?

Tonight, we went to the funeral of a family member who was a local doctor. It was a wonderful service. The time of sharing went on and on, but it didn't feel long, because everyone had such great memories to share. MANY of her patients came to share how Lynn had helped them when they needed help. Her family members, though grieving deeply, still had smiles as they shared how proud they were of how many lives she had touched and changed.

It makes me reflect.... what will people have to say about me when I am gone? Will there be a long line of people waiting to share the difference I have made in their lives for the better, like Lynn? Or will people tend to remember the negative influence I have had on them? The angry moments... the moments when careless words fell off the tongue, piercing someone's soul? What will people remember about me when my "dash" on Earth is complete? God, give me the grace to make a positive impact on every life I come in contact with. When people think of me, I want them to say that my life pointed to you, Jesus. I want them to think of YOU. It is something I will definitely be thinking about.

Lynn, you are already missed by many many people. Thank you for the selfless love and care you gave to all you encountered.

Tidbits....

Well, I have lots to say, and at the same time, not much to say. Weird, huh? Well, there is a lot going on in my life right now, but not much I can really talk about. We have had an interesting week... getting ready for back to school (tomorrow is the first day... hooray!) and all that. We had an unexpected death in our extended family that has people a little shocked and sad. I learned at work today that I have TWO little guys to work with in the classroom this year, instead of only the one I was expecting. It's all good though. They are both sweet as pie!! Also, my husband and I are finagling (sp?) schedules as we are temporarily down to one car with two different job schedules... it's challenging, but we'll figure it out.

See? Kinda boring. I am excited to post TOMORROW after everyone's first day of school is complete! The boys are very excited about getting back to school... friends, routine, structure. They got pretty bored by the end of the summer vacation. I personally think summer break is about 3 weeks too long! By the beginning of August, most kids are ancy and ready to go back. They should consider that.......

Well, time for bed. Have a blessed day!

In Memorial...

Today, we honor the memory of a fantastic lady, Mrs. Mary Alicia Shanks. Her life was cut short one year ago on this day, and our community was forever changed. (Click here for news articles or here for my blog entries from that week).

Today, the boys and I took a walk over to the cemetary to pay respects. It will probably be a busy place today. There are already many flowers there, and there were people there when we arrived. We quietly waited our turn. We have visited her gravesite many times over the past year. She held a special place in my son's heart.

The other teacher who was shot and critically wounded (Mary Snedeker) was Adam's first grade teacher and she is returning to the classroom this week. Here is a picture of her from this week's article in the local paper.

We are so thankful for her recovery and return! I'm sure today will be a tough day at the school, but healing as well. You can read more about it here.

Be blessed today! If you would, please say a prayer for Alicia's family on this difficult day.

Ugh...

What to say? I am having a bit of a difficult day, and don't want to use my blog as a complaining board. Actually, the crushing weight of depression has been upon me in the past 24 hours, and I have no idea why. I take medication for it, and believe me, I take it faithfully. But this is soooo heavy, makes me wonder if I am supposed to be praying for someone.... I don't know who. But I need it to LEAVE me.

Anyway, I am home, as the special ed. dept in my school district decided to cancel a bunch of my inservice days, thus reducing my paycheck by half... which did not impress me in the least. But the one day I DID get to work was wonderful... it was so good to see all my work friends again! We spent lots of time getting caught up on each other's lives. And the autism training I got that day was incredible!!!!!!!!! I learned sooo much! We have an incredibly high number of autistic children in our district, and the teaching was invaluable!

Well, I am going to go play with my boys. We are going to meet Adam's teacher this evening, and I am very much looking forward to that! Sorry if this post sounded down... guess that just goes to show that an apostolic mom has down days as well as mountaintop days! Pray for me!!! Love you all!

A school night for me!

Today has been a relaxing, nice day. In anticipation of the return to work, I have been leisurely cleaning the house at my own pace. My boys have had their share of chores, and we even accomplished other things.... Nick read me a couple of chapters of his Junie B. Jones book and finished section 2 of his God and Me booklet. Adam did a whole page of math with 2 digit multiplication (which he finds terribly challenging) and did it with a great attitude! He is now off to Moo Gong Do... on his bike. Since we've been down to one vehicle, he's been forced to get himself to and from his classes on his own (by bicycle). It makes him feel very independent (although mom always sends him with a cell phone in tow....). I will now do the dinner thing... also at my own leisurely pace. Hee hee hee! Feeling a little too laid back, I think! :) Anyway, I will blog tomorrow about how wonderful it is to be back in the work routine! Tonight is a SCHOOL NIGHT for me!!!! Good bye for now.

Yellow belt ceremony

Today was an exciting day in our house... Adam received his yellow belt in Moo Gong Do. Here are some pictures from the belt ceremony.

All belts waiting for Master Allen to join them on the do jang.

Master Allen greets and congratulates the students.

Master Allen reading Adam's certificate aloud, announcing his move to yellow belt.

Receiving his certificate... a proud moment!

Face your mom and smile!

The black belts are the ones who put the new belts on the students.

Removing the white belt. Off with the old...

on with the new.

Look at that! Ain't that sharp?

Closing comments and congratulations from Master Allen.

Proud family!

The official certificate.

It will be interesting to see how he does with the sparring at this level. He really likes this. It is something HE is good at that his brother doesn't do, and it is helping to develop skills like discipline, respect, and good attitude. Together with the Holy Ghost, he's going to grow up into a wonderful young MAN! Great job, Adam! We are so proud of you!

family day!

Yesterday, we took a day trip to a BEAUTIFUL spot in the middle of VT... a place where Jason and I had spent our honeymoon thirteen years ago. It was a little different this time, as we had our two boys and Josh with us, but it was a fun day. Here are the boys swimming in the ch-ch-chilly, springfed pond.

Right here on the edge, the water was over their knees. Go about 2 more feet, and it's WAY over your head! Very deep!

Across the dirt road from the pond were some rocks.... boys + rocks = MUST CLIMB!!!!!

As we were leaving , we stopped at this beautiful waterfall.

Here's how high it was....

Boys + waterfall = MUST CLIMB! Here are the boys at the top of the waterfall.

Here's my honey in front of the falls...

And THIS.... is Adam and Josh on the ride home as they began singing 100 bottles of pop on the wall..... aaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!

Making memories. The very cool thing about this trip to the middle of nowhere it that we met a man named Brett, and he and Jason discovered they had some mutual friends. They began talking, and we found out what town he was from.... turns out we have a church there... so Jason asked him if he was looking for a church. He was very open to the idea, and we gave him directions to the church and the name of the pastor (DM). How cool would it be if he goes and gets saved???? God is good!

Adam's first Moo Gong Do test

Tonight was Adam's very first testing for his Moo Gong Do training. It was intensive and focused. He did such an awesome job! I am very proud of him! He even got his first opportunity to break a board with his foot. He was quite proud of himself! Here are some pictures from the 2 hour testing of white belts and orange belts.

Initial lineup

Outside inside block


2-1 kicks with partner

Ready stance while orange belts do their sparring

Adam preparing to kick and break his first board

Test instructors from two of the local do jangs

What a neat experience! There is much "building up" that occurs in this art... lots of confidence boosting, lots of "believe in yourself". Of course, Adam knows that his confidence must ultimately rest in Jesus, but a healthy dose of self confidence is necessary as well. That is what he is getting here. His belt ceremony is Sat morning. I will definitely post pictures, as I expect he will be beaming ear to ear when he gets that yellow belt and his sparring equipment! Stay tuned!

Dealing with reality

Sandy and I are dealing with reality tonight. My pastor says some things are just life. Ahhhhhh! Tonight at my house, my pyrex dish (9x13) exploded in a billion, trillion, zillion micropieces, making much much work that I didn't need.

THEN, Sandy went home and found out that her power was out and her freezer had defrosted ALL OVER the kitchen floor. So, she is spending the night at our place. Her other reality is that she had a MASSIVE matted knot in her hair about 1/2 way between scalp and end... I have NEVER seen a matted knot like this EVER. So I proceeded to help her get it out. She has much less hair now, as we pulled half of it out in the process, as well as breaking a comb. It took us until 1:30 am to get it out! She's gonna be toast tomorrow, I tell ya. So now the reality is that we are exhausted and need to go to bed! Good night!

Psalm 23 - Out of the mouths of babes

This is precious!

Trick photography

Adam and Nick (and Uncle George) were experimenting with some trick photography while at the campsite in Maidstone. Check out these hilarious attempts at trick photography!

This one is really good, and kinda scary......

This is Adam attempting to eat Nick's head?

This attempt at the cut off head didn't work so well....

Adam levitating.... this one got Grampa Jack good! LOL!

Indiana Bible College Choir

This song is so powerful... it declares God's glory back to Him, and that pleases Him more than anything! You'll feel God's presence as you listen to this song!

north, south, east, west

Okay... it's late, and I know I need to be in bed. But I can't stop thinking about what I heard tonight... the incredible amazing-ness of my God. So I have to blog it.

There was a speaker at NAYC this year who was sort of a stand up comic. His name is Jeremy Foster. He has a regional television show down in the LA, AR, MS area. You can go to his website http://www.jeremyfoster.org/ to watch many of his shows in their entirety. So tonight, that is what we did. One of his shows was called "Do Over". It was about forgiveness... how God gives us a "do over" and wipes away our sin and removes it from us as far as the east is from the west. That is something we church people hear quite often. But I have very obviously never sat down to THINK about that. Because Jeremy DID think about it, and his explanation blew me away! He said:

Why did God use east and west instead of north and south? I mean, what's the difference? They are both opposite of each other. But when I really sat down and thought about it... if you travel north, say to the north pole... you will eventually hit the pole, and then begin travelling south. And when you hit the south pole, you will begin going north. BUT... if you travel east... you will continue to travel east FOREVER unless you TURN AROUND and go west. East goes on forever... you never REACH west. You can't say that about north and south on our planet.

How amazing is that? Think about that one for awhile. I had to get it out and on the blog so I can SLEEP. Check out Jeremy's website when you have the chance. He's funny, but extremely relevent and to the point.

True friends are forever!

Back in July, the highlight of my month was when my dear friend Britt came to visit from Mississippi with her beautiful daughter Kelsey. We got together for a lasagne dinner and lots of catching up, reminiscing, and making new memories. I love her to pieces. True friendship endures the test of time, separation by hundreds of miles, and all that. I haven't really posted much about it because it was actually intensely personal... I miss Britt so much that sometimes it still hurts. But I know that if I ever needed her, despite being so far away, she'd be there. And I would do the same for her. In a heartbeat. Here are a couple of pictures I took of her with my friend Claire's camera the day Adam was baptized... Claire just had the opportunity to print these pics for me and give them to me yesterday.

Britt... I want you to know that except the obvious (Jesus and my husband), you are the best friend I have ever had, and I love you! Thanks for coming north and spending time with Jason and I... we cherished it!

New baby in my family!

Ladies and gentlemen.... introducing the newest member of my family! Hayden Irene Wakefield was born to her parents, Jim & Jen Wakefield Aug. 10, 2007 in York, Maine at 12:59 PM. She arrived at 7 lbs. – 11 oz. And 19 inches. Jim is my cousin, and I am soooo happy for them both! Hooray! Welcome little Hayden! I can't wait to come to Maine to meet you in person!

NAYC 2007

Here is a feast of pictures from our youth group's trip to North American Youth Congress 2007 in Charlotte, NC. They had a phenomenal time, and came away with a lot from God. I am expecting to see some incredible spiritual growth in our teens this year as a result! :-)

Jason drove the van down, sharing driving responsibilities with Dan.

It was a reeeeaaalllyy long drive....

Here's a picture of the entire gang representing our youth group from Jericho VT!

This is perhaps the largest apostolic gathering in North America. There were between 17,000 and 20,000 teens and young adults at this year's youth congress! Awesome!

Did I mention there were LOTS of people there to worship the one, true God, Jesus Christ??

Our teens KNOW how to worship God!

I particularly like to see our young MEN worship... there is something extra mega powerful about MEN worshipping God...

Our teens having fun during a day session.

Jason and Ben praying together...

Our teens getting ahold of God.... beautiful!

Binding together in prayer and worship.

Of course... NAYC is also about building relationships with each other as well, not just God. Here are some pics of the teens building their friendships up!

Grace and Sandy

Heidi and Ali

Grace and Grace

Heidi Ali Travis and John

Here is evidence that our teens got something from God while there. Last night (Sun evening) was their first service in VT since returning. We had a visiting preacher from Canada who came and presented a VERY powerful message on brokenness and the Holy Ghost moved in an incredibly deep way. I was praying, and I had noticed before I got down on my knees that God was moving on my son Adam. When I was done, I looked up and saw two of the teens (Travis and Chris) praying with my son and the pastor's son David. Both David and Adam prayed through and got a special touch from the Lord because Travis and Chris were willing to pray with them until they touched God. THANKS GUYS! You are such a great example for our children... they really look up to you teen guys... stay close to God and don't be distracted. God wants to use you mightily!