Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Loose Ends * August 2018


I'm not done with summer.  No way.

This in-between-seasons interlude finds us pleasantly held hostage as we continue to embrace all those good things that define our own personal summertime.  I'm not at all interested in reading about {or experiencing} hand-crafted pumpkins, richly laden soups, fluffy flannel sheets, or snugly woolen sweaters just quite yet.

I'm still very much in the moment, thank you very much, and in no hurry to launch forward even though everybody and their mother is heading back to school.

*

in praise of moments with family 
Speaking of everybody and their mother, at last count I got to mingle in one way or another with about 38 family members this summer.  That included everyone from my cousin's daughter-in-law's sister to my daughter's sister-in-law's son, a variety of folks related by love and blood, genes and affection, from a couple months old right up to 88 years.

I feel rich indeed, even if we only got to chat for just a few minutes.  One of summertime's best highlights?  Watching my mother cradle her 9th great-grandchild for the first time.

Family gatherings matter.


in praise of spiritual traditions
Our 5th grandchild was baptized by her parents in Lake Pleasant, New York at the Christian camp that's been our life blood for four generations.  Praise.

To see your children baptize their own children is soul-stirring to say the least.  Glorious.  Victorious.  There are no words.  And we continued our tradition of giving a well-used family Bible to each grandchild who makes this beautiful public confession of faith.

More praise.













in praise of a $7 kite
I find it astounding that a cheap kite could provide an afternoon of total absorption and sheer delight.  It turned out to be more than just a random plaything.  The up-up-and-away sent a child's confidence soaring, her joy compounded as the string unfurled, as long streamers flew unhindered, the colorful diamond winging its way higher and higher on a golden summer afternoon.

Her grandmother took a few minutes to run down the beach with her little sidekick, kite in hand, singing 'Let's Go Fly A Kite' with more energy than she knew she had.  Fellow beachgoers had no choice but to observe this rather odd scenario.

A serendipitous afternoon for sure.



in praise of shopping local
Out of nowhere, my washer died a natural death after what may have been 18 years of faithful service.  Of course it was filled to the brim with umpteen gallons of water, heavy beach towels and jeans when it suddenly ground to a halt, with 10 days of laundry yet to wash.  But that's another story.

The point being that once again, instead of driving a half hour to the big box stores, we decided to shop local.  No jammed parking lots, no crowds to jostle, no endless overwhelming selections to wade through.  More often than not, small is better.  I'm a big shop local fan.


in praise of a way-early fall cleaning
It all started when I asked my husband to do a bit of cleaning.  The house was beginning to resemble The Adams Family homestead with far too many cobwebs dangling in space and more than a few surfaces that needed scrubbing.  By the time he was done scouring, brooming, and wiping down every floor to ceiling surface in sight, I decided that our fall cleaning was done.

Period.













in praise of worthy online reads

Tyler Huckabee

Michelle DeRusha

Rebecca Muller

Diane Langberg, Ph.D.

Lois Flowers


in praise of women and the church
This, a tender subject, a deep passion for me in recent decades.  This little wake-up invitation hit home in more ways than one ...

Dear Church,

Jesus protected women.

Empowered women.

Honored women publicly.

Released the voice of women.

Confided in women.

Was funded by women.

Learned from women.

Respected women.

And spoke of women as examples to follow.

Your turn.






*

sharing summer bliss with
Mary  .  Holley
Leigh  .  Emily

44 comments:

  1. So.much.to.love about this post, Linda. How rich your basket of blessings. Oooo...how rich. Highlights of this post, dare I even choose, are the visits with family, the picture of baptism, family, and the single leaf on the beach...and the mention of your mother. All good. All right. Enjoy His blessings today, just as you have this summer.

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    1. Oh Kristi, thank you! Basket of blessings. Yes, I am grateful ... thank you for your generous helping of kind words.

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  2. So many good memories to tuck away. Love the image of grandma singing "Let's go Fly a Kite."

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    1. Yes, we created quite a sight skipping down the sandbars, kite high, singing loudly.

      I left my pride behind long ago!

      ;-}

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  3. It's good to be with family ... and spiders. I have two large plastic spiders neatly stuck on the walls and one hanging from a very thin string from the ceiling. Cause of many an argument. No sense of humour some people.

    Why is it the washing machine always breaks with a load in it, and not when it is empty? Happened to us. I forced it open with water going all over the place. Again ... no sense of humour some people.

    God bless.

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    1. Nothing like spiders crawling 'round their webs in your living spaces to bring a sense of adventure, yes?

      ;-}

      Funny, I wasn't all that amused when the washer gave up the ghost. My humor was nowhere to be found. Maybe I can find it somewhere under the mountains of dirty clothes filling the basement, even as we speak.

      ;-}

      P.S. Delivery of new machines is due in the next few hours.

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  4. I love the family picture, Linda! What a beautiful brood you and Tim have! I can't wait until our family grows that large. You do know I'm going to be a grandma in October, right? Such exciting times! And how great is that to see your granddaughter being baptized by their parents! Gary's always had the privilege of dunking our three sons, but I love it when a church gets the whole family involved! Hugs to you, friend from afar!

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    1. Oh congrats, granny! Everything else in your life will pale in comparison. I am so happy for you. Keep me posted, ok?

      It just doesn't get any better than this.

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  5. I love everything about this. I am so glad we are both holding onto summer. Why hurry the season when we still have a month left to enjoy it? Your words today sound familiar. We both share similar likes and time with family is high up on the list.

    I just read the article "Learning to See Your Single Neighbor". Whew! The author did an amazing job of describing exactly what this looks and feels like. I am going to ponder her words for a long time. Thank you for this beautiful look back over August.

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    1. Yes, Holly Stallcup really hit it out of the park. I want all my single friends to know they're not alone. I want our communities to respond to our single sisters and brothers with an authentic warmth and grace that could care less about marital status.

      Mary, thanks for your input.

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  6. The warmth and love shine through your words.

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    1. God's keeping you and Barbara on my heart, Andrew, and I am praying for you every time He brings you to mind.

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  7. So many beautiful things here, Linda. Ah, the joy of those little loose ends. They make life worth living! And this: "her 9th great-grandchild for the first time." Such a rarity!

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    1. Yes, Lisa! We're appreciating every good thing, every sweet moment the Lord lends us. He is so very good and we are so very grateful ...

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  8. I definitely agree about not rushing into pumpkins and everything else fallish, but enjoying the rest of summer. We don't have any school-age kids any more - my youngest takes classes online year round. So we miss some of that back-to-school excitement, but we're enjoying the respite until my grandson starts school.

    What wonderful family times you've had this summer! A treasure trove! We just came off a week with all ours here. Much fun and love.

    I think "Let's Go Fly a Kite" is my favorite song from Mary Poppins! My grandson just watched that movie for the first time last week.

    I enjoyed the article about driving with the radio off. I do like the radio or an audiobook on in the car, but I treasure silent moments in other parts of the day.

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    1. Thanks for taking the time to chat, Barbara! These posts are some of my favorite to write ...

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  9. Hold onto summer, hold onto family, and hold onto such sweet and precious memories . . .
    Blessings, Linda!

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    1. Memories are made to keep forever, aren't they, Martha ...

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  10. What a summer full of blessings! I can see why you are not ready to let go...and what a wonderful exercise to rehearse and remember all the joy just one season held! I'm hanging onto summer as well. I'm sure fall will have its share of joys, too, but I'm going to keep juicing these sweltery days for all they are worth!!

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    1. Yep, I love fall, just like you, Jennifer! And it will come soon enough and we'll have a ball with it. I'm glad you're here with us today ...

      ;-}

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  11. This is a beautiful recap of the summer, Linda! I love the picture of your mom with her great grand-child, and what a privilege to see your grandchild baptised! I love your tradition of giving them a Bible. As soon as you started talking about the kite I had the song from Mary Poppins going round in my head, so I'm glad to see you're a fan too!

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    1. Amazing what songs pop into our heads even if we haven't heard them in forever ...

      ;-}

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  12. What wonderful heritage. Love the photos.

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    1. Hugs to you guys for letting me show off Grandma and your beautiful son. Makes me melt just to see him staring at her with his big beautiful eyes.

      God is so good ...

      x

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  13. I do love shopping local too, or at least places with few lines and fewer people. Many memory moments you've had this summer Linda! I'm one who does relish fall yet inspired to stay in the moments of summer as you say!

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    1. Fewer people, open lines, great bargains, quality stuff!

      I'm there!

      ;-}

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  14. Love the pictures throughout the post! Great family memories were made this summer - thanks for putting them all in one spot!

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    1. I've got some pictures of the kiddos and mom printed up for you. Surprise!

      ;-}

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  15. I loved every.single.word of this post, sweet friend! Thank you for sharing your summer!

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  16. Aw, Linda ... I love this! We are already thick into algebra struggles and cross country meets and practicing choir parts before school, but I can see why you want this season to linger on for awhile. :-) Hometown furniture stores are my favorite place to shop local. And that song from Mary Poppins? I have precious memories of my girls singing the chorus over and over and over when they were little (I may or may not have joined them). :-) What a sweet surprise to see my little list of loves on your link list ... it did my heart good to write it, and I'm so thankful for your words that got me going!

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    1. Yep, if I had kiddos in school, I'd be feeling the autumn crunch. The grandkids are too far away for me to be personally involved, so I still toss on my t-shirt and flip flops and pretend that it's still all about summer.

      Maybe I'm in denial?

      ;-}

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  17. Beautiful words... Your thoughts on family gatherings and spiritual traditions made me reflect with wonder on my own. Thank you for that gift. It's nice to see you here at Emily's.

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    1. Thank you for seeing my efforts as a gift, Kelly. I really appreciate that kindness ...

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  18. I have to tell you how much I enjoyed seeing your family picture and reading your peaceful words of celebration.

    {via email}

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    1. And thank you again for taking the time to track me down via email. What an encouragement that was this afternoon, Michele!

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  19. Wonderful memories!! How blessed you are!! I’m happy for you that the summer has been filled with lots of joy, and the weather forecast is for more summer weather to come!

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    1. Dear Nancy ~ I cherish those leisurely days we had together. It meant the world ...

      x

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  20. Beautiful post and pictures! Here in the South--summer is certainly NOT over!
    Blessings, My Friend!

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  21. LOVED your post from Carlos A. Rodriguez. That was breathtaking. Looking forward to looking up the blog posts you recommended.

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    1. Yeah, it kinda knocked me sideways, Megan. I hope you find the links to be worthwhile.

      So glad you've joined us!

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  22. Linda, what a delightful summary of your month! I especially liked the quote about women from Carlos A. Rodriguez...so much that I went to his Twitter page to "follow" him. Thanks for helping us focus on all the many blessings we all have each month! Many more blessings to you for September!

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  23. Beth, thanks ...

    Glad there was something here that blessed you! And your blessing has encouraged my spirit this morning.

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