May 2010

How My Son Decided We Should Celebrate Memorial Day

May 31, 2010

I’ll be honest. When I think Memorial Day celebration, I typically think cook outs and swimming pools. This year being 9 mths preggo, we didn’t really make any big plans for Memorial Day weekend. Scott grilled for us several times and even got out this smoker and cooked a chicken for Monday’s dinner. We went to the park, did a few things around the house and basically took it easy all weekend. It was perfect.

So, my plans for Monday included sleeping in, eating sticky buns, perhaps a trip to Target in there somewhere and smoked chicken for dinner.

Then, I talked with my 6 yr old son.

Me: Guess what? Daddy doesn’t have to go to work on Monday.

Son: Why?

Me: Because it is Memorial Day

Son: What’s Memorial Day?

Me: It is a day we remember the soldiers who gave their lives fighting for our country’s freedom

Son: So, what are we going to do for Memorial Day? Are we going to go down to the War Memorial?

Me: completely caught off guard…. ummmm…. I guess I didn’t really make plans for Monday

Son: But what are we going to do to remember the soldiers? Shouldn’t we go to the memorial?

Scott and I: Sure, we can do that

Son: And I think we should dress like soldiers, since it is their day, and we should bring our MRE and eat it b/c that is what soldiers eat

Scott and I: ok… sure…. sounds like a plan

So, we did just that.

This weekend my family enjoyed a peaceful weekend at home. We went to nearby parks and enjoyed the swings, kicked the soccer ball in the field and played catch. Many families might of done the same thing this weekend, only without their entire family with them to enjoy the event. Many families sacrificed their husbands, wives, sons, or daughters so that my family and yours could enjoy such freedom. As we played at the park, I never feared for our safety. I didn’t have to look over my shoulder. This is thanks to the soldiers that fought for our safety. On Sunday we went to church. The church of our choosing to worship in the manner we chose. We were able to do this thanks to the freedoms our soldiers fought so bravely to defend.

I am so thankful for the country I live in and the freedoms we enjoy. And I am so thankful my son reminded us to take the time to pause and think of the soldiers who gave those gifts to us. It was a great way to celebrate Memorial Day.

{ 6 comments }

Remembering Memorial Day

May 31, 2010

in holidays

In honor of Memorial Day, I thought I’d repost this post from Jan of 09 in which my son first learned of the ultimate sacrifice many of our soldiers make for our country. As we were discussing what Memorial Day was this week, my son asked what we were going to do to celebrate. “So, are we going to the memorial in Annapolis then?” I realized that sadly, Memorial Day typically comes and goes without much thought at all to why we have the day off. It seems to mark the beginning of summer and swim season and white shoes, but all to often we forget to pause and reflect on the reason for the holiday. May you take time today to give thanks for the soldiers who gave the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf and for those who are fighting today willing to pay that sacrifice should it be required.

A Deeper Understanding

JANUARY 24, 2009[edit]

in Weekend Thoughts

Last week in church the pastor gave an illustration in which he mentioned the number of American lives lost during various wars in our history. My son looked over at me and asked why he was talking about American soldiers getting killed.

This led to a discussion later in the week in which it was brought to my attention that my son was under the impression that good guys don’t die in war. It was a sobering discussion I had with my four year old that afternoon that went something like this…

Son: Mom, why did the good guys die? I thought they killed the bad guys.

Me: Well, sometimes they do, but sometimes the bad guys kill them first. The bad guys are trying to get them just like they are trying to get the bad guys.

Son: But Mom, they have camouflage so the bad guys can’t see them

Me: True, and that helps a lot, but sometimes the good guys still get hurt. That’s why they are heroes…not just because they hurt the bad guys, but because by doing so they are risking their own lives. That is part of war…good guys and bad guys die.

Son: But Uncle Jim didn’t die.

Me: Yes, and we are so thankful for that, but that is why we were praying for Uncle Jim when he was at war, because we wanted God to protect him.

Son: But Uncle Jim isn’t at war right now…he’s training right now to be a captain.

Much later that night when we were saying our bedtime prayers my son prayed, “please keep Uncle Jim safe.”

I found this whole incident to be quite sobering. We have stressed over and over through the years that soldiers, and policemen, and firemen are true heroes and deserve honor and our gratitude. I guess though we never stressed why they are heroes. And in the sweet innocence of childhood, my son assumed that only bad guys get hurt. Yet we live in a world where that is not the case.

And as this truth sunk in to my little boy, his response was to pray for the Lord to protect his dear Uncle Jim who serves as a soldier in our U.S. Army.

This served as a good reminder to me to continue to life up our soldiers in prayer. While Uncle Jim is home in Texas right now, we are praying for our cousin Joel who is at war fighting for our freedom. We are proud to have both soldiers as part of our family, modeling heroism for our children.

Since the original posting of this blog post, Uncle Jim has since gone back for a second tour of duty in Iraq and cousin Joel has safely returned from Afghanistan.

{ 3 comments }

Raising Our Children to Change the World

May 28, 2010

in Book Review

Sometimes in the chaos of finding baseball gloves and missing cleats, in the midst of grocery shopping and read alouds, sometimes if your not careful, it is all too easy to miss the point. In the midst of doing so many good and important things, you can neglect to focus on the main purpose of it all.

I OMA Cover recently had a the opportunity to read and review the book One Million Arrows by Julie Ferwerda. The book is based on the vision of a man named Dr. M.A. Thomas (Papa) whose vision for ministry is based on Psalm 127:4-5, “Children born to a young man, are like sharp arrows in a warrior’s hands. How happy is the man whose quiver is full of them.” Papa’s vision is that of “one million arrows for God—one million children gathered, sharpened, and launched to make an eternal difference in their communities, cultures, countries, and even the world at large.”

Julie encourages and challenges her readers to embrace the mission as parents. She encourages us to raise our children to become arrows for Christ. She challenges us to keep that vision at the forefront of our mind and as parents to be active and intentional in our parenting. She says that the responsibility for raising our children to be spiritual champions, lies solely at the feet of the parents. She also encourages parents to have a goal oriented approach to parenting rather than a survival based approach.

She speaks with several parents who have successfully raised “arrows for Christ” and shares strategies and tips that worked well for them.

While the first half of the book focuses on raising our own arrows for Christ, the second half of the book talks about how we can support others raising arrows around the world, particularly orphans in other countries. She encourages us to invest our time, money, and prayers in supporting ministries which focus on raising arrows for Christ in their own countries.

One point she made that challenged me was when she spoke of the stark contrast between the extreme poverty in other nations and the extreme wealth and abundance in our own nation. She found herself asking God, “How could he let this happen?” She then realized that God could ask her the very same question, “How can we let it happen?” God has blessed us with an abundance and what are we doing with that abundance to help those around the world in need? I found this to be a challenging and sobering thought.

If your interested in learning more about the book, you can check here or purchase it from Amazon here.

{ 1 comment }

Whose Side Are You On?

May 27, 2010

in fashion

I’ve already confessed quite a few of my fashion fashion fo paws for you here on the good ol blog. Why not add another to the list? (I’m really just secretly hoping that Stacy and Clinton will come whisk me away and give me a brand new ward robe to enjoy with my post baby body… ah, wouldn’t that be nice)…

But, back to reality…

I am afraid that perhaps I know where my daughter got her bold fashion sense from.

Tonight after baseball practice my husband lovingly said to me, “Honey, I really don’t like those pants.” “I know,” I replied, “But, I don’t have a lot of options these days…” “but honey, you wore them in public.” “Yea.” “But they are really, um… loud.” (here is where visions of 80 year old Crystal walking around with purple hair and a bright orange hat pop into my head) I laughed it off and told him not to worry, with only a week left in my pregnancy I doubt I’ll wear them again.

I then said, “Hey, you should take a picture so I can put it on my blog…we can see if people think they are as bad as you say.”

To which he said, “No… please don’t put a picture on your blog… really you don’t want people seeing them… they remind me of those jams from the 80s.”

And with that I knew… I had no choice but to post it on the blog.

So, tell me, honestly… what do you think? I can take it, so don’t feel like you have to be polite. I know they are bright, but I think they are fun. I will concede they are a bit tight these days and probably looked better about 4 weeks ago.

You can totally side with my hubby and you won’t hurt my feelings a bit… like I said, I am fairly certain I won’t be wearing them again.

By the way, these pants were handed down to me from someone, somewhere over the years and I can’t remember who. If it was you, please know that I personally am not criticizing the pants… after all, I have worn them of my own choosing, more than once, despite my husband’s objections.

{ 21 comments }

Another Reason I Love Annapolis

May 27, 2010

in blue angels,Circus Shots,family

Each year the Blue Angels perform a show at the Naval Academy in celebration of commissioning week. Taking the kids to watch the show has become one of my favorite Annapolis traditions.

They fly so close you see the pilot!

Scott says I have to point the crazy small distance between the wings of the first plane and the cockpit of the next – They do corkscrew loops in that formation!

This one is my sons favorite. They head for each other so fast you are sure they are going to hit.

These three capture the gist of Scotts favorite trick. In the one below each plane goes on to do a full 360 loop and they all end up right back where they started.

The whole show is incredible (and free). We all love the tricks and Scott is always sure to mention what an engineering feet the jets are. While I have to agree the jets play an integral part, my favorite site isn’t in the sky.

{ 8 comments }

The Bully Years

May 25, 2010

in Circus Shots

I love pictures. I’ll often find myself just staring at the screen saver on our laptop as the pictures scroll by. These two blasts from the pasts crack me up every time they pop onto the screen. They were taken on two totally different occasions, thought it appears my son was approximately the same age in both. It also appears that his red striped shirt was his bully apparel. Does he not look like the kid who would steal your lunch on the playground?

2005 scrapbook191