Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

Our daughter Ashley has been blessed the gift of beautiful auburn hair. Twice, now, she's given back that gift in an effort to help others who have lost their hair due to medical treatment or disease.

Most recently, this past weekend, she went to her most trusted hair designer and friend, Michelle at Laurie's Hair Salon on Wildwood Road, and had two 10" pony tails chopped off. She will send them to Pantene for use in their Pantene Beautiful Lengths campaign, where they use the hair to make wigs for cancer patients.

This is the second time Ashley has made the cut... she gave a similar chunk of hair about 4 years ago to an organization that made wigs for kids with alopecia. It's just one way she has given of herself to help others. And last fall, her husband, Nate, donated bone marrow for a transplant. While a hair cut is less painful physically than bone marrow donation, both of them are my heroes because they have the mindset, "It's not about me", ...and have done something about it.

Ash's haircut is quite a dramatic change, and while I loved her lovely, long locks, the new look is fabulous!! Here's some 'during', and 'after' shots.

"...If I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God,..." Gen 33:10

Finished WELL!

This past weekend was filled with great joy, pride, and... FUN!

Four years of hard work and perseverance came to a crescendo on Saturday when Samantha, our youngest, graduated from Grove City College. She was one of 575 students in the graduating class... the largest ever for that school. She graduated Magna Cum Laude, with High Honors in Communication Studies, and Highest Honors in French. She had a double major, and though she didn't officially declare a 'minor', she had a strong emphasis in Religious Studies as well.

Ashley and Nate were able to join us here, and Leah and Brad shared the moment via FLIX messaging.

In addition to many other activities, Samantha led the Women's Worship Team this past year, and was involved in music and theatre productions every year. She's also a member of the Mortar Board and ODK national honor societies, as well as the language, communication and theatre arts honor societies. Can you tell how proud I am of her??

The weekend was a mass of emotions! Samantha has made some very good, and very dear friends during her time there. I am certain that many of them will remain connected with each other as they begin their new adventures. Samantha's next stop along her path -- Detroit -- where, among other things, she will be involved at Church of the King, learning much from some of the best!! She and one of her life-long best friends will head there later this summer.

It was lots of fun to have Ashley & Nate here this weekend, too. They were a huge help moving stuff OUT of her apartment... come to think of it, they were a huge help moving her IN last fall, too! We caught up a lot on what's been happening, and of course... spent some time on that KARAOKE!! ;-D

You have been set apart as holy to the Lord your God, and he has chosen you from all the nations of the earth to be his own special treasure ...for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye... (Deut. 14:2 2, Zech. 2:8b )

Me and Brucie McGee

I talk a lot about our kids' musical talents. And while I can't make a similar claim on talent, I like to sing. Our kids find it absurdly amusing (???) that Bruce & I have taken to relieving the stresses of the day by........... singing karaoke together almost every night. :-0

Just before Christmas last year, Bruce found that Comcast, our cable company, has karakoe On Demand. We started off slowly, ...with a Christmas carol every night leading up to Christmas. We even let our guests join us on Christmas day, after the turkey dinner (mostly to keep them all awake!!). Honestly tho', we don't take ourselves seriously, and sing at the top of our lungs, ... and of course, laugh a lot.

Now, we've worked our way up to California Dreamin', and I've Got You Babe. Next challenge, Me and Bobby McGee. We mostly stick with the Oldies, because, well, that's what we are.

If I Had A Hammer

In my, um, younger days, I was a dancer (12 years of ballet & tap lessons). I could also twirl & toss a baton. And tho' I can carry a tune, I never could really sing all that well... but always wished that I could. So, as our kids have been blessed with beautiful voices, I know the gift is from their Father, and not from me! ;-}

With great delight, I've enjoyed watching them perform in various roles and shows. As little kids, they used to actually put together little musical 'acts' to entertain our guests at family parties, and then go around and ask everyone for their spare change as a sign of appreciation. Cute, huh???

Family accolades are great, but it's even better when your peers applaud your efforts! And so it was for Samantha this past week as she was awarded The Golden Hammer Award for Best Supporting Actress by the members of "TAP", Grove City College's Theatre Honorary. The award was for her performance as "Irene" in the college's musical production of Crazy For You this past fall.

She received a real golden hammer (their version of a Tony), and a plaque, and her name will be engraved on a plaque on permanent display at the Pew Fine Arts Center on campus.

I'm SO PROUD of her!!

Samantha Sings

As a parent, some of my favorite moments have been watching my kids 'perform'. Whether it was soccer or basketball games, dance recitals, musicals, talents shows or school plays, to the best of my ability, I made it a point not to miss one of them. It's such a thrill to watch them blossom and shine, and use the wonderful gifts God has placed in each one of them.

It's also especially gratifying to see them 'grown-up', and being each others' biggest fans and 'bestest' friends. I was a little slow with this blog post, and Leah sort of beat me to the punch on it... but it's all good, because she, too, is braggin' on her baby sister.

Over the past 2 weeks, we had the pleasure to see Samantha perform. Brad, Leah & Ashley all came in for Samantha's Children's Theatre rendition of Cinderumplestiltskin. It was fun to see, and so great to have the kids around... Nate was working, and we missed him!

This past week Samantha sang at a coffee house at Grove City College and Bruce & I were blown away by her performance, once again. She sang 4 songs and my personal favorite was a unique rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Uncle Tom lent me his video camera so I could tape it and share with her sisters, and now... with you!!



Here are the links on YouTube if these videos don't play for some reason.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLU2vXVo6Ic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1mmeMqm1kQ

Girl Talk 'n at

With our 3 daughters geographically scattered, I've determined to make it a point to visit with them regularly. Bruce & I sometimes drive the hour to Grove City to take Samantha out to dinner. A few weeks ago, we had a wonderful time with Ashley & Nate, and last weekend, Samantha & I had a glorious day of shopping!

This past week, I was able to take a quick trip to Michigan to spend some one-on-one with Leah. Brad was out of town for a few days. It was loads of fun to hit a couple of the many shopping malls in that area. They are some of the nicest I've ever been to. I really enjoyed the opportunity to spend quality time of easy conversation and laughter. And, of course, we topped the evening off, with chick flicks!

Some of my best memories are of the occasional times the girls and I would stay up all night with a Jane Austen movie marathon! We also watched our share of Steeler football, and NCAA basketball (Bruce, too, for those), but there's a certain ... bond... that's formed in the unified assurance that Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett will get past their pride and prejudice, or that Joe and Patricia will finally find a home for their luggage.

I am especially looking forward to this weekend, when we are all going a GCC Children's Theatre musical performance of The Stinky Cheese Man, with Samantha in the role of Cinderella! They say, One whiff and you'll never be the same again.

Last year she had a role as Snow White. She's a princess, for sure, but I hope this doesn't make me the wicked Step Mother or Nasty Queen Mum!

It's a bird; it's a plane; it's ????

I recently read on interesting article titled, Leadership Heroes!

The article is written by a guy who is a Leadership Coach and has discovered the powerful role 'heroes' play in our lives. Chad Hall begins his coaching relationships with the question, "Who are your heroes?"

The article got me thinking about who my heroes are.

Hall has made some observations regarding the impact heroes make in the way leaders define themselves through their role models. And because we all 'lead' something, his observations likely apply to you and me...

It's healthy to have heroes. Having heroes demonstrates that we've thought about what kind of person we want to be. Our heroes embody traits we already have, or want to have. This self-awareness becomes the fuel in us for our 'journey'.

Hall cites four categories of heroes: Familiar, Famous, Faith, and Fictional. Having personal heroes in 2 or more of these categories provides balance. With a little introspective effort, we can list the qualities and characteristics we admire most in our heroes, and adjust our 'thinking' and 'doing' as a result.

And, he recommends regularly spending time with them... whether it be reading about them, or watching them on the big screen, or browsing old photo albums, or visiting them.

Hall says its beneficial to share who your heroes are with a spouse, or a friend. My spouse is actually one of mine!! ;-)

Who are your heroes? I hope you have some! Better yet, I hope you are one!

Over The Rainbow, Way Up High

April showers... yep! We had some doozies here on Friday. I happened to be driving in one of them. Hadn't heard those claps of thunder, or seen those sizzles of lightning in a while. At times, it was actually hard to see due to the very heavy rain.

I was driving on I-79, headed north to Grove City College, where our daughter Samantha was leading worship with the Women's Worship team in a special event that evening. The rain had let up just a bit, but the sky was still very black with storm clouds. I was concentrating on not hydroplaning in the ruts of the road, and as I rounded a bend, I was startled at what I saw. A huge, double rainbow, with the most vivid, brilliant, living colors I've ever seen in a rainbow, was right before me, highlighted against the backdrop of the black clouds. To the west, the sun had broken through as the clouds were yielding to blue sky.

I was thinking at that point, that there's some kind of significance in this majestic sight. I relaxed my grip on the steering wheel and grabbed my cell phone and took a few pictures as best I could while driving. You can't see the second rainbow very well in this photo, tho', but it appeared almost as an echo of the other one. After a few minutes, I'd passed through it, and it was behind me, but I thought about it the rest of the drive to Grove City.

The girls did a beautiful job of leading worship. The combined sound of piano, guitar, violin, flute and bongo, accompanying the tight harmony of about 10 rich and strong voices, was in itself an inspiration! The second song we all sang was a favorite of mine... Revelation Song (Kari Jobe) ... and the second verse came alive for me...

Clothed in rainbows, of living color

Flashes of lightning, rolls of thunder

Blessing and honor, strength and glory and power be

To You the only wise King

The lyrics are taken from the book of Revelation (Chpt. 4), and describe what John saw as he entered the throne room of God.

My mind immediately skipped back to my sudden encounter with the rainbow. It became a word-picture to me, and it made me smile. Jesus is on His throne, right smack in the middle of our torrential moments. We can't always see it, but when the Light of the Son challenges the darkness, at just the right time, and at just the right angle, His Promise suddenly materializes, tho' it was there the whole time. And it's accompanied by flashes of lightning, rolls of thunder, blessing and honor, strength and glory and power!

A rainbow is caused by the reflection and refraction of the rays of the sun infused into falling rain. When God infuses His energy into a situation, it becomes jaw-dropping awesome.

The name of the worship event that evening ... Infusion.

Gen. 9:13 "I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth."

There Are Giants in the Land

This past weekend, Bruce & I took a quick trip to visit Ashley & Nate. It is CHERRY BLOSSOM time in the capitol, and the Tidal Basin area was like a fluffy forest. It was raining, but, think... pretty-in-pink.

Washington is a beautiful city. I think that every American should visit Washington D.C. once a year just to visit the monuments, to remember the tenets our nation was founded upon, to meditate upon the great words of former leaders, and to honor those whose lives were lost in service to our country. The city has such a concentration of 'historical markers', that I was inspired again as I read the words of Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson and FDR. Words that were spoken in critical times for our land, and words that stirred my soul. Those men now seem like larger-than-life giants of courage and insight, tho' we know they were ordinary men, just like us. Many of the monuments testify to a deep faith in God as the foundation for leadership and hope. The monuments cause us to remember our roots, and challenge us to get back to what we aspire to be.

In our Wednesday night small group study, we've talked about how important it is for families to have their own 'historical markers'. It's fun to celebrate and remember happy events... like birthdays and wedding anniversaries. And it's paramount to mark the milestones of the journey God has walked with us, to remember the times He has intervened in our family affairs, often miraculously. In Old Testament times, at significant moments, God told the people to build altars... monuments... so they would remember, and tell their children the story of their lives and heritage.

Brad has begun a series of messages entitled, Epic -- The Story We Find Ourselves In. The messges are some of the best I've ever heard, and I don't say that because he's our son-in-law. ;-) His messages have been 'wowwing' me before I'd even met him. I'd sure encourage you to take the time to listen in. You can hear them as podcasts (Brad Leach) on iTunes, or on the Church of the King website.

Sunday In The Park With Bruce

This morning, Samantha and I crawled out of bed, ...early... about 5:45 a.m. We hardly spoke as we dressed in layers of hooded sweatshirt, turtlenecks, wool socks, glovies, scarves, and warm boots. It was dark, but the full moon lit the sky as we slid into our rather chilly Honda Civic, dragging our blankies and mugs of hot tea along with us. We weren't headed to the slopes, or to the wooded areas hunters frequent. We were headed to church.

A favorite ritual, for us, is Easter Sunrise Service at Hampton Park, which we've attended all but one Easter Sunday for the past 23 years. The kids were very small when we first went, but it was always such an adventure to wake up in what seemed to be like the middle of the night, and ...go to church, outside!!

The weather most of the time is not pleasant. We've sat through wind, rain, and snow over the years. This morning I think it was about 20 degrees. But we love to watch the sunrise over the hill, and imagine what it must have been like to greet the dawn and find Life where death should have been, but not longer ruled.

It's been extra special for the past three years as my husband, Bruce, has delivered a fine and insightful Easter message. This morning, he did it again. He spoke about Joanna, a woman mentioned in Luke's Gospel (24:1-9), who was one of the women who traveled to Jesus's tomb on that first Easter morning, to do her duty, to go through the motions, to work through her grief and disappointment. The women were met by angelic beings who reminded them that Jesus had told them what would happen to Him, and had made them promises He would keep.

So as the darkness gradually succumbed to the sun's light, Bruce encouraged us that even when it's dark, and cold, we need to remember His words, to remind ourselves over and over of His promises, until we experience the resurrection Power of the Risen Christ in all of our life's situations.

Indeed.

Luke 24:8 Then they remembered his words.

No Guts, No Glory

I love news stories that feature unusual events, daring escapades, or people with guts. Ashley told me about a story on the front page of today's Washington Post that I want to share. It speaks of family loyalty, of upholding tradition, and of... muskrat love.

About 60 miles outside of Washington, D.C., a small Chesapeake marsh town, Golden Hill, MD recently celebrated their 63rd annual National Outdoor Show. Each year, the weekend celebration kicks off with the World Championship Muskrat Skinning Contest. The criteria for winning the contest is "Fastest time, clean 'rat'." The event also includes a beauty pageant for Miss Outdoors.

Participation in both contests has somewhat foundered over the years. Young people in the area are more into a pop culture mentality, which "places little value on small-town pageants, and zero on muskrat skinning."

Motivated by a "strong attachment to a fast-changing place, and the fear that someday people here might not care about beauty queens or know the smell of muskrat guts", one of the beauty pageant contestants decided to honor both traditions. After performing a flashy costumed 'dance-number', and completing the interview portion of the pageant in her smart beige suit, Samantha Phillips donned her jeans, plaid shirt and hip waders, and emerged on stage for the talent portion of the beauty pageant, and plopped a fluffy football-sized muskrat on a table.

Ms. Phillips then inserted her very sharp knife into the tail of the dead beast, and sweetly said... "You want to take your knuckles,... and separate the meat from the hide, just like this." The judges recoiled; a young boy in the audience screamed out in disbelief; and an older woman in the crowd loudly commented, "She's good!"

Phillips didn't win the pageant. She was first runner-up. But she did win the trophy for the talent event. She competed the next day, too, in the Muskrat Skinning Contest, taking the trophy for the beginner's division.

Incidentally, the winner of the beauty pageant, Dakota Abbott, competed in the Muskrat Skinning Contest, too. Miss Outdoors also won the women's junior world championship by skinning two muskrats in 1 minute, 42 seconds! (My world's too small!)

These girls raised the bar in beauty pageants!!

I would bet that both these accomplished young ladies can even locate the USA on a world map.

Unlike Miss Teen South Carolina... Ouch!

Outer Space or Inner Space?

I am fascinated by things relating to 'outer space'. When I was in high school, I considered an academic pursuit of astronomy. But, later I decided that too much math was involved and I redirected my path. Perhaps that's why I am such a SciFi fan.

I love to visit the Hubble Space Telescope website and look at the photos taken of the universe. I understand that the next generation telescope to replace the Hubble (James Webb Space Telescope) will produce even more fantastic images of 'what's out there'. I also love the fact that the more they discover via these great inventions of man, the more they discover that previous theories (often cited as 'fact') were wrong. Perhaps we aren't as smart as we thought we were. The whole thing kind of puts 'mankind' into a new perspective.

I was struck by the similarity of some of these telescopic cosmic photos to those I've seen of itty-bitty micrscopic stuff. These huge stellar entities look like some sort of microscopic bacteria.

These photos are of The Crab Nebula and the Helix Nebula.

What strikes me as fascinating, is that the telescopes take photos of reallllly big things, and make them smaller for us to view. Conversely, these microscopic photos of bacteria take realllllly small things and make them bigger to for us view. Interestingly, this bacteria looks more like something out of Star Trek than something out of Innerspace.

Several years ago, I saw a fascinating presentation at the Carnegie Science Center Buhl Planetarium called "Journey into the Living Cell". It used the 'sky show' technology to demonstrate the intricate design of single human body cell, using 'stars' as parts of the cell composition. It took up the whole dome, and once again, put 'mankind' into a new perspective for me.

All of this screams to me that Creation is no cosmic accident. Looking at a bigger (and smaller) picture lends continuity and creativity beyond my imagination. I would find it much harder to believe that it WASN'T designed and created by God.

For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Romans 1:20

MVem JSun P

M Vem J Sun P. That's not the revised name of a famous rapper. That's the little mnemonic I invented in grade school to help me remember the names of the NINE planets in our solar system. Mercury, VenusEarthMars, JupiterSaturnUranusNeptune, and... Pluto.

But that got all messed up about a year ago when scientists decided that Pluto was no longer a planet. So that changed the ditty to MVem JSun noPe.

NOW, I read that some 4th grader has recentlywon a contest to come with a mnemonic to help us remember the ELEVEN planets in our solar system. Huh?? So, we lost poor Pluto, and now we've gained THREE more, and no one thought to tell us?? I checked the Hubble Telescope website, and THEY didn't even know!! And, ... to add to my confusion, some articles indicate that there are TWELVE planets. It's really hard to find a photo rendering of the new, improved solar system.

Seems that now, we've added three 'dwarf' planets to our solar system (with the potential for one more). And Pluto is making a come-back! The three dwarfs are named Dopey, Grumpy and Doc... no, um, sorry. Their names are Ceres, Pluto and Eris.

The contest winner's entry was My Very Exciting Magic Carpet Just Sailed Under Nine Palace Elephants. I don't think I could ever remember that one. These 4th graders are way outta my league! So, I must adapt my original mnemonic to something even a 4th grader would like for Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Ceres, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and Eris: M Vem C J Sun PE.

No worries, it will likely change again soon.

The Wedding, Part II

We got back last evening from a fun weekend in Michigan with Leah & Brad and Brad's family. Brad's mom & dad hosted a second wedding reception at their church for the folks who weren't able to travel to PA for the first one!

The reception was Saturday afternoon, and was honestly wonderful!! The food and decorations helped us all to celebrate once again what God has done to bring us all together via the marriage of popcorn-girl and "the marshmallow-eating pastor" (click the link to understand that one ;-D).

We met many lovely people from Michigan and Church of the King. I loved being able to go to COTK for the Sunday morning service. 'Pastor Brad' is an eminently gifted communicator. That, combined with a profound insight into Scripture, and a genuine compassion for people, make him a dynamic, relevant, and inspirational tool in the Hand of God. His message made even me want to shout, "indeed" a few times (if you know my husband, you'll get that!). The worship and leadership team at COTK are also outstanding, and I pray that the folks in that area will be drawn there to be blessed, as we were.

The weekend gave me the opportunity to watch God's plan for our daughter defined in new ways. Of course, we miss her, but I was delighted to see her so happy and filling the role God has written on her heart. God continues to wow me with 'above and beyond' what I could've imagained or hoped for her, and I'm full of peacipation (peace & anticipation) for what He yet has in store for them as they trek this new adventure together.

NOT Lost

If you've ever heard of Henry Blackaby, or done one of his studies on Experiencing God, you will be familiar with the statement, "Watch to see where God is working and join Him."

The first time I read that, I thought to myself, "I don't want to 'work'... I want to get something good for myself out of this study... enough about 'work'... what about ME???" But, by the time I finished the study, I understood and embraced the perspective that I have a God-given purpose and when I line up with that, I will thrive.

A few years ago, I was talking with a friend I ran into at the mall. Her daughter was about to get married, and I said something like... "Oh, aren't you going to miss her? How are you dealing with that?", thinking, of course, how I might feel in a similar situation. She smiled, and with great wisdom replied, "Sure I'll miss her, but I'm truly happy for her and that makes me happy. Because, it's not about me."

The moment she said that, it sunk in. It was as if a light went on in my brain, and a new truth became part of my own gray matter. And it's a truth that has stuck.

I think we have a bent to view things from our own little world. If something doesn't effect our daily lives, we hardly pay attention. Our perspective often revolves around what we think will make us happy, what seems good for us. But, Henry Blackaby, and subsequently my friend at the mall, opened my eyes to a better reality. There's a bigger plan afoot. There's a greater drama unfolding. My part in that is important, and will be stellar, as I follow the directions of the Director. It's kinda like when actors are part of TV series, like Lost, that aren't privy to the episodes beyond the ones they are filming. They know the general direction of the show, but they have to wait for their next script to see how they fit into the bigger story.

When our daughters each went away to college, I leaned on that truth. Two of them have also married and 'moved away', and when people say to me, "Oh, don't you miss them? How are you dealing with that?", I can honestly identify that God is at work in bigger, and better, ways than I can imagine. Because I trust God and His Plan, I know it will be a great adventure for all of us. Sure, I miss them, but I'm truly happy for my daughters, because they are happy. Because, it's not about me.

At Leah's wedding, I was able to share with my friend how her statement has helped me deal with things over the years. Wish I'd met her long ago... those 'first days' to kindergarten were really tough.