A Little Tennis Anyone?

It was a slightly misty moment for me as I watched my son, Nick, walk off the tennis court last night. I've done fairly well holding it together as a mom of a senior student, but last night was an indicator that I may be losing it soon. After four years of playing tennis in high school, four years of hard work, four years of persistence, four years of sporadic playing, Nick played his first Varsity doubles match. And, it was a good night. A proud parent's dream. A true gift from God to see.

Label me sappy, but it truly was Nick's shining moment after years of being patient, years of being a faithful team member, years of working hard with not a word of complaint. He and his doubles partner started off colder than the ice in my refrigerator and lost the first set. Trust me, I was getting a little nervous. This varsity debut was not starting off well. As the match progressed, however, they began placing shots well, taking their opponents off guard and gaining ground. The second set ended 6-1. Tied at one set each, they began the third set for the tie-breaker. South teammates began to rally at the bleachers because this last set was going to seal the fate of the entire school match. If Nick and his teammate didn't win, the school would lose to our opposing team. No pressure!

In a blaze of glory, like Mavericks, they took out the other doubles pair with a 6-0 victory! Their victory gave Bloomington South their first Conference Indiana win. My boy was part of a great moment.

It's as if someone lit a fire underneath those two boys, they exchanged lack of confidence for a "we can do it" attitude, and they tore the court up. These are the beautiful gifts that I thank God for. These are extraordinary moments in my ordinary day in which I see God work. He gave Nick the spotlight, and as a parent who knows the effort and sacrifices he has made to be part of this team, it is something I will always treasure.

Grave Matters

Last weekend on our way up to Lake Tippecanoe to spend the weekend at Tony's brother's lake house, we stopped by Tony's dad's grave. Our youngest, Maddie, hadn't recalled ever being there, so we decided to show her. She's heard a lot about Grandpa Stonger even though he died years before Tony and I met and married.

As we strolled through the tiny cemetery surrounded by cornfields on three sides, we perused the graves looking at names and dates. Maddie was extremely curious why her grandpa was buried in this particular place. After explaining that the location was conveniently close to where the family used to live, she spouted, "You know where I'm going to be buried?" Wondering what that busy little mind was up to now, we asked, "No, where?"

"In the backyard!" she exclaimed. Of course, why didn't we think of that?!

Is Summer Really Over?

It's been so long since I've posted that I can't quite decide what to write about. Perhaps it's just best to keep my re-entry into bloggy world rather short and sweet. I'm fairly certain that most of my readers don't desire to hear about every little tidbit of my summer that is now becoming quite past tense. C'est la vie, as the French would say. I despise the passing of summer only because it means the inevitable is coming...WINTER! Winter and I do not have a good relationship. It's cordial. We agree to disagree, but we do not love each other like summer and I do. So, I refuse to discuss winter until absolutely necessary.


Back to summer and the myriad of topics at hand. The abbreviated version of "what I did on my summer vacation" is as follows:

• 1 week of Vacation Bible Xperience (back in my day...VBS). Lots of noise, fun and complete exhaustion by the end of the week


• 1 weekend trip to St. Louis, MO for an annual business meeting with hubby's company. Fun experiences traveling to the top of the arch and attempting to find Maddie in the City Museum. Such a surprise that she did not stick by our sides in that massive place and managed to get lost!


• 1 week long trip to Mother and Father's and M-I-L's (Mother-in-law) in Seattle, WA over the 4th of July. Way too much fun with family and friends.


• 1 week back at home with just enough time to realize my house had not been sufficiently taken care of and was in need of serious cleaning, de-cluttering, etc. But, oh well...don't have time because I'm off to another adventure.


• 1 week long trip on an amazing Mediterranean Cruise with the girls. Nick stayed home to hold down the fort and a job in addition to attending tennis camp. One of our stops was Ephesus which was truly an emotional experience. What an opportunity it was to see where Paul, Timothy and John preached...and even where Mary spent her last days! It was so nice of Nick to inquire as we were returning home from the airport if we were planning to stop somewhere on the way and eat. I thought he was truly concerned about our well-being while he simply wanted to know how much time he had to get the house back together!


• 1 1/2 weeks at home to assess how bad the deterioration of the homestead had become. Unfortunately, between gymnastics camp and other activities, housekeeping did not improve. What a pit!


• 4 day trip to the Willow Creek Leadership Conference sans hubby or children...just great girlfriends! What a grand time for absorbing, learning and processing new ideas.


• 3 day whirlwind in preparation for school beginning. Is it me, or does it seem a sin for school to begin on August 13? Again, back in my day, school officially begin after Labor Day. Our family did, however, manage to sneak in a trip to Holiday World and Splashin' Safari after the first few days of school. I'll just slip in a little Maddie aside here. As we were preparing to leave the house, I showed Maddie the pajamas she had left on the floor of her room. "You need to put these away." "Oh, mom, just put those in the hanker over there." "Hanker?" I replied. "You mean "hamper", don't you?" Just another word mishap in the life of Maddie!

That's it in a nutshell. My summer recapped in the short and sweet version. Many are breathing a sigh of relief even now that I didn't relate the interesting details of each port of call we visited on our cruise. They are clapping for joy that I didn't discuss the highlights of each of the speaker's topics at the leadership conference I attended. You can thank me later for sparing you the saga of my summer including the laborious details of juggling the car between my son and me in which most of my brain cells are now permanently fried due to the intense mathematical equations required to determine workable scenarios. It's okay if that last sentence didn't make sense. I'm convinced my hubby could probably commit me to the mental ward because of this car drama!

It's a great thing that I am not in school any longer to write the annual, "What I did on My Summer Vacation" paper. Either the teacher would fall asleep in complete boredom or recommend me for some serious counseling. In all honesty, my summer was exciting and fast-paced, and most definitely too short. I enjoyed time with friends and family as well as much-needed unscheduled time hanging with my children. Thus, I would say that these short few months were rich in relationships, and that's all that matters.

Thought for Thursday

"I have gotten to the point in my life where I am rarely surprised by my sin, just saddened by it. Surprise indicates that I did not think I was capable of such wrongdoing. I now know that is rarely the case. Sadness helps me understand my need for Jesus. Sadness at my thoughts, behaviors, actions--or lack thereof. Sadness helps me understand that without Him, I am lost."

Looking for God by Nancy Ortberg

Ordinary Days

My blogging days have been sparse to say the least. With school out, well, dang it all...if that doesn't put a cramp in my ability to post. Then there's those blasted trips out of state that'll seriously dampen one's blogginess. Some of my friends are fortunate to own a laptop and therefore, they can simply sit in their house by the beach, mountains or hotel room and type away. Still, I wonder how much relaxation that can be. "Sorry, honey, can't walk on the beach right now, I've got to blog." I wonder how frustrating that might be for familial relationships. I'm just thinkin' that my hubby wouldn't take too kindly to me saying I couldn't hang out with the fam because I must be about my bloggy business. Just a thought. Guess I'm glad I don't have a laptop. I'd hate to allow my blessed computer time trump my real life relationships.

Perhaps that's another reason my posts have been so few and far between. I've been out living life with flesh and blood folks. Oh yeah, and running children to summer activities. As my cell phone message says if you call and leave a message, "I'm out gallivanting around right now..." Not only that, I've been vacationing forever it seems. Well, according to my husband it was forever since he didn't fly with me to visit my family in Washington state. He had to stay home with our son, Nick...not because Nick needed a babysitter, but just because hubby couldn't take the time off from work.

To him, it was an agonizing nine days without me. To me it was a meager eight days...nine if you count the day spent flying home. I choose not to count that. He missed me immensely. I missed him too, but well, hmmmm, how do I say this without sounding cold-hearted? I love my hubby; I always miss my hubby, but in light of spending time with my family, enjoying conversation and catching up with my brother's and sister's families, I'm thinking I didn't miss him, miss him if you catch my drift. So, when he was hugging me after we reunited at the airport, telling me he missed me and loved me, my little, squeaky, "I missed you, too," sounded totally false.

That's not all. Truthfully, I wasn't ready to leave my family. I know that all good things must come to an end, but why? I absolutely love and treasure my family. We all get along, including the out-laws! The cousins love playing together. Amazingly, I don't believe one squabble erupted amongst them. How can anyone fight hanging out at grandma and grandpa's lake house? The 4th of July is spent around a bonfire roasting marshmallows for s'mores, singing patriotic songs and blowing up the lake, aka lighting off fireworks. We talk and talk and talk s'more. In fact, I'm pretty sure I used up my allotment of words each day and then some. My dad specifically told me that he overused his words. He probably had to take a couple of days rest from talking after I left. Sorry, Mom!

We also celebrated birthdays in big fashion. To those on the outside, we probably seem heartless and cruel in the way that we poke fun at our relatives. We royally roast our relatives so that they know they are specially loved. Three momentous birthdays occurred this year, and because we all live far enough away not to be able to join together on those days, we do our dirty work during our annual visit. With Mom turning 65 this past February, and my brother and his wife hitting the big 4-0, there was no escaping this rite of passage. My sister, aka "the creative writer genius", composed three songs in less than 5 hours during her trip over the mountain from Spokane. She always gets any skit-writing/song-writing gigs by default because she knows...a. that anything I would come up with would be lame (and I agree), and b. that anything Toby would come up with would be less lame, but still not creative enough. With two full-time careers and finishing up her M.B.A., Tricia works great under pressure...so we siblings felt absolutely no guilt giving her this task. She's always up for a challenge. Might I say that once again she was absolutely brilliant. With the lake as our backdrop, we dudes and divas crooned Tricia's creative words to the music of the karaoke machine. While no one chanted for an encore, the uproarious laughter and deafening applause caused us to consider perhaps taking our show on the road. Beware Partridge Family: you may be overshadowed by the Weston Family Singers.

Alas, as I said before, all good things must come to an end...and they did. Is there any wonder that I had difficulty re-entering real life? Back to routine, laundry, cooking, carpooling...ugh! I admit it. I was in a bad, bad place when I returned. No, I didn't need to be committed, but I had an Attitude with a capital "A". Topping it off were the things that did not get done while I was gone. I'm not mentioning any names, but apparently when momma leaves, life stops. I was awfully quiet and on the verge of hysterical crying, but I managed to contain myself and for once, keep my flippin' trap shut! This is good. You see, I knew that I was not in a good place in my mind and that I had a stinkin' attitude. My feelings were a jumbled mess and frankly, I needed to sort some things out before I started pointing my finger and naming names and their sins against me. What kinds of unrealistic expectations had I set up? What was so awful about the items on my list not getting crossed off that was causing the world to end? I just needed to get over myself. So, today (for once) I am pleased with myself. Every time Tony asked to 'talk about' what was bothering me, I said, "No." Now this isn't the "nothing's wrong" syndrome I don on occasion. Basically, I needed to figure it all out in my mind and determine if there was truly anything valid to say...otherwise I knew stuff would spew, and it wouldn't be pretty!

So, there you have it, beauty of celebration with family and ugliness of self all in one post. I'm back to ordinary days of life...filled with husbands and kids and dirty laundry and fixing meals. These ordinary days of life include celebrating birthdays with wonderful friends, as I did today, as well as rushing off to carpool girls to gymnastics. Most of these days are not wildly exciting, but that's okay. I know that even in these ordinary days, I have purpose even if it doesn't seem very grand or important. In God's eyes, it is important; my ordinary days do have value. I love what I read this morning from Nancy Ortberg's book, Looking for God that confirms this thought.

"Ordinary gives us a sense of purpose even in the mundane, a kind of freedom that releases us from the need to be important--a need that can weigh us down and sink us into our own pitiful selves. Ordinary gives a peace and joy and centeredness that turns us toward God and builds him deep inside of us."

"I wonder if we miss him sometimes because we miss how often the ordinary shows up--and the fact that God is there also."

Ordinary defines most of my days. I pray that I see God in all the ordinariness of doing laundry, feeding my family, spending time with my husband and children, meeting with friends and driving the kids' activities circuit. Whether or not my name is ever in the spotlight, God has given me a purpose to fulfill within my own family. It certainly has its many mundane moments, moments in which I question my value and whether something greater might be "out there" for me. Still, I know in my heart of hearts that this job he has called me to for right now is grander and more important than anything I could achieve for myself. And, this job of being solely a wife and mom in ordinary, sometimes bland days is more challenging and requires more focus on my Savior than anything I have ever done. I will keep looking for God to show up in my ordinary days of my ordinary life!

A Dozen Eggs We Won't Be Eating!

The count is in...12 eggs total in three birds' nests in our yard! Peering through the deck slats, Maddie counted 4 eggs in the barn swallow's nest. Mommy bluebird is sitting on 5 eggs (and they are blue)! We were very sorry to have disturbed her tending to her eggs when we opened the bluebird box. There are 3 eggs (I think) in a nest we just found tucked into the corner of our arbor, hidden by our Wisteria. I don't even know which bird formed the perfectly round twigs, but it's most likely a Robin's nest. So, there you have it! We have a bird sanctuary right in our own backyard.

Not only that, but just a few short weeks ago, my hubby built a waterfall/pond for us to enjoy, complete with water plants and goldfish. After looking at the design of one at our local nursery, he built it in two weekends. It helps that we live in limestone country and can simply pick up rock anywhere. It beats buying flagstone at $4 a piece! Take a look at our lovely new addition to our backyard. It's not a pool, but at least we have a water view!

Maddie Moments

One morning a few days ago, I came into the kitchen after finishing my hour of shower and primping. It was extremely quiet which is very unusual when one has a constantly chattering child like Maddie. I was just wondering where in the world she could be when Maddie nonchalantly appeared in the kitchen. Instantly, I was suspicious. "Where have you been?" I asked. "Putting something away in Nick's room," she answered. "Oh," I said as I turned to make lunch. After a pregnant pause, Maddie confesses, "And, then I accidentally started messing with Nick's stuff." Yep, I'm sure she could hardly help herself and just tripped into checking out the things in his room...quiet as a mouse she was!