Thanks for sending us this awesome live-action picture Darold!
I feel bad I don't recognize which lake it is ...
but I think I'll guess Wyoming :)
I feel bad I don't recognize which lake it is ...
but I think I'll guess Wyoming :)
Monday, February 26, 2007
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Hmmm...
The last few days of February ... almost the "end" of the big push for filings due March 1 all about this huge country to the 50 states + district of columbia (fondly referred to as the 51 monkeys in my life :)
My camera to computer connection hasn't worked smoothly since post-Christmas when somebody plugged Dave's new ipod shuffle into my computer. Drew and I have tried several things to re-initiate the "I See You" connection between my harddrive and my camera, but to no avail. That's such a bummer since I love loading up pictures randomly and posting them to this, my photo journal. I can make it work but it takes work going through the backdoor of programs and such in manners that never seem replicable so must be dreamed anew each connection.
Rocky said he would help me figure out how to add video posts to my blog... I'm looking forward to that since I have lots of cool things on video. Like Dave doing a bounce-bounce-front flip-bounce-bounce-back flip on the tramp ~ perhaps the only person (other than Ingrid's friend Vince) who can accomplish that move. Dave's really awesome and cool like that :)
Speaking of Dave, we're in week three of "Heartcare for Couples" class which examines five foundations in our lives on which our relationships are based. It is really focused on how we are all designed for relationship ~ not as one of many things, not as an extra, not as it would be great to get that right but if not there's other stuff ~ but as THE thing we're designed for. We've looked at Personality styles (last week) and this week the focus is our Attachment styles. Upcoming are the Mom Component, God Concept, and Self Concept. The goal of the class is to spiritually facilitate emotional and relational wholeness. It's been awesome.
Sean's really enjoying being off-track this month. He and his friends (especially Sam) have been playing, playing, playing, playing, playing, playing. Each day we see the sun is such a gift. Our front yard is still quite deep in snow while most of the backyard has tired, dirty grass that has emerged from the melt. Thanks to all of Dave's shoveling, the backporch, basketball court, connecting sidewalks, and tramp are always snow free for great outdoor play. And throughout the neighboorhood, the sidewalks are (finally!) ice free! Celebration time. Funny to think that March is our historic snowiest month ~ but at least those big deep storms are followed by warm days and sunshine for quick melts.
Trey is doing well in middle school. His grades are high and he's enjoying classes and friends. His recent highlight was the winter retreat in Estes Park with the youth group from church. It is always such a special time of growing, building, bonding, and developing. He's growing like a weed and has just a bit more to go before he'll be passing up his mom. I'm guessing that by the time summer is here I'll be looking up to four of my five guys :) Trey and I discussed the other day how much easier it was for him to get along with Drew and Sean lately ~ it seems he's really "settling" into himself this second semester of 7th grade and that's been very nice.
We had an awesome board meeting for Int'l Bible Society this past few days and have unanimously approved a worldwide merger for the purpose of accelerating the efficient and effective translation, publication, and distribution of the Word of God around the world, especially in the Global South where God is doing mighty, mighty works (e.g., Africa, India, China, South America). 200 million scriptures to be distributed in 2 years ~ an outlandish goal that God's hand can accomplish. I've been selected to serve on the Global Board of Directors going forward and am anxious to follow the leading of the Lord as He blazes the path for His purposes. Please pray for Chairman Mike and the mestaticized spot of cancer on his liver, my eyes tear up whenever I think of and pray for this most incredible man of God.
Our church is still struggling in the aftermath of Pastor Paul & Char's resignations and we've had 5 staff reductions announced. More hurt and ouch. On the flipside, last night I was blessed by seeing "new life" from the 20-something crowd for stepping up the levels of their personal investment and service to others. Is this the life that comes from the dead seed? Glimmers of hope for my soul.
Ryan has been accepted for a six-week Messenger mission trip this summer and to live in the Annex ministry house on campus next fall. He continues to spend hours upon hours daily on course work and homework (calculus, physics, and humanities) while he works making specialty rice bowls to order for the finnicky boulder crowd. He's nervous financially about God's calling to the mission field for a long-term trip this summer, especially since he's made his first funding of his retirement account and 1/2 of tuition, room, and board are a big bite each semester. He's such a hard worker, low spender, and big saver.
Drew's been accepted to Metro State College this Fall to major in business (management is his thought right now) with a secondary emphasis in technology. He's going to study and re-sit for the ACT because if he gets two additional points of score, he'll qualify for admission to the University of College at Denver which may be a stronger business school. We'll be working on budgets and plans with him for this year as he'd like to live on campus and we'd like for him to live at home the first year... an unfortunate point of some tension in the house right now, but this too will pass. It always does.
I'm considering skiing sometime soon ... which will be the first time in a zillion years. Dave and the kids have really been enjoying skiing (Dave) and snowboarding (Drew, Trey, and Sean) these past few months. It's a new season in life for our family ... the first time in many, many years we haven't had "little" kids ~ now they can all manage themselves and all their gear for such adventures. I'm a bit nervous about two things though ~ my knees and the cold. Or should I say the cold and my knees? But either way, the important thing is to push through and enjoy the time with our precious family ~ what lovely gifts they are.
Finally, I've been really pondering how thankful I am for the lovely people regularly in our lives ~ Robyn & Darold; Jules & clan; Sam's family; Sandy; Deana & crew; Rocky and his momma and dad; Inger's kiddos; precious brothers and sisters from church ~ what tremendous gifts of blessing.
Love, true love ~ we are so blessed to receive so much and to be able to share so much.
Nose back down to the filings ... Big hug and love to all!! Sherrie
My camera to computer connection hasn't worked smoothly since post-Christmas when somebody plugged Dave's new ipod shuffle into my computer. Drew and I have tried several things to re-initiate the "I See You" connection between my harddrive and my camera, but to no avail. That's such a bummer since I love loading up pictures randomly and posting them to this, my photo journal. I can make it work but it takes work going through the backdoor of programs and such in manners that never seem replicable so must be dreamed anew each connection.
Rocky said he would help me figure out how to add video posts to my blog... I'm looking forward to that since I have lots of cool things on video. Like Dave doing a bounce-bounce-front flip-bounce-bounce-back flip on the tramp ~ perhaps the only person (other than Ingrid's friend Vince) who can accomplish that move. Dave's really awesome and cool like that :)
Speaking of Dave, we're in week three of "Heartcare for Couples" class which examines five foundations in our lives on which our relationships are based. It is really focused on how we are all designed for relationship ~ not as one of many things, not as an extra, not as it would be great to get that right but if not there's other stuff ~ but as THE thing we're designed for. We've looked at Personality styles (last week) and this week the focus is our Attachment styles. Upcoming are the Mom Component, God Concept, and Self Concept. The goal of the class is to spiritually facilitate emotional and relational wholeness. It's been awesome.
Sean's really enjoying being off-track this month. He and his friends (especially Sam) have been playing, playing, playing, playing, playing, playing. Each day we see the sun is such a gift. Our front yard is still quite deep in snow while most of the backyard has tired, dirty grass that has emerged from the melt. Thanks to all of Dave's shoveling, the backporch, basketball court, connecting sidewalks, and tramp are always snow free for great outdoor play. And throughout the neighboorhood, the sidewalks are (finally!) ice free! Celebration time. Funny to think that March is our historic snowiest month ~ but at least those big deep storms are followed by warm days and sunshine for quick melts.
Trey is doing well in middle school. His grades are high and he's enjoying classes and friends. His recent highlight was the winter retreat in Estes Park with the youth group from church. It is always such a special time of growing, building, bonding, and developing. He's growing like a weed and has just a bit more to go before he'll be passing up his mom. I'm guessing that by the time summer is here I'll be looking up to four of my five guys :) Trey and I discussed the other day how much easier it was for him to get along with Drew and Sean lately ~ it seems he's really "settling" into himself this second semester of 7th grade and that's been very nice.
We had an awesome board meeting for Int'l Bible Society this past few days and have unanimously approved a worldwide merger for the purpose of accelerating the efficient and effective translation, publication, and distribution of the Word of God around the world, especially in the Global South where God is doing mighty, mighty works (e.g., Africa, India, China, South America). 200 million scriptures to be distributed in 2 years ~ an outlandish goal that God's hand can accomplish. I've been selected to serve on the Global Board of Directors going forward and am anxious to follow the leading of the Lord as He blazes the path for His purposes. Please pray for Chairman Mike and the mestaticized spot of cancer on his liver, my eyes tear up whenever I think of and pray for this most incredible man of God.
Our church is still struggling in the aftermath of Pastor Paul & Char's resignations and we've had 5 staff reductions announced. More hurt and ouch. On the flipside, last night I was blessed by seeing "new life" from the 20-something crowd for stepping up the levels of their personal investment and service to others. Is this the life that comes from the dead seed? Glimmers of hope for my soul.
Ryan has been accepted for a six-week Messenger mission trip this summer and to live in the Annex ministry house on campus next fall. He continues to spend hours upon hours daily on course work and homework (calculus, physics, and humanities) while he works making specialty rice bowls to order for the finnicky boulder crowd. He's nervous financially about God's calling to the mission field for a long-term trip this summer, especially since he's made his first funding of his retirement account and 1/2 of tuition, room, and board are a big bite each semester. He's such a hard worker, low spender, and big saver.
Drew's been accepted to Metro State College this Fall to major in business (management is his thought right now) with a secondary emphasis in technology. He's going to study and re-sit for the ACT because if he gets two additional points of score, he'll qualify for admission to the University of College at Denver which may be a stronger business school. We'll be working on budgets and plans with him for this year as he'd like to live on campus and we'd like for him to live at home the first year... an unfortunate point of some tension in the house right now, but this too will pass. It always does.
I'm considering skiing sometime soon ... which will be the first time in a zillion years. Dave and the kids have really been enjoying skiing (Dave) and snowboarding (Drew, Trey, and Sean) these past few months. It's a new season in life for our family ... the first time in many, many years we haven't had "little" kids ~ now they can all manage themselves and all their gear for such adventures. I'm a bit nervous about two things though ~ my knees and the cold. Or should I say the cold and my knees? But either way, the important thing is to push through and enjoy the time with our precious family ~ what lovely gifts they are.
Finally, I've been really pondering how thankful I am for the lovely people regularly in our lives ~ Robyn & Darold; Jules & clan; Sam's family; Sandy; Deana & crew; Rocky and his momma and dad; Inger's kiddos; precious brothers and sisters from church ~ what tremendous gifts of blessing.
Love, true love ~ we are so blessed to receive so much and to be able to share so much.
Nose back down to the filings ... Big hug and love to all!! Sherrie
Thursday, February 22, 2007
A Father Says He could Send a Thousand Thank Yous ...
KUSA - Garrison Bingham would have been 3 years old Tuesday. His father says his enthusiasm was infectious. He was a little boy who loved books. He loved to pretend and loved making animal sounds.
"Too many people didn't get a chance to know him,” said his father, Frank Bingham. “It is tremendously disappointing that there wasn't more time together for all of us and that Macie and Garrison did not get the chance to grow up into the wonderful people they were already starting to be." Frank Bingham’s family was killed in a hit and run accident on November 10.
Denver Police say the driver, 36-year-old Lawrence Trujillo, was drunk when he ran a red light and hit the Bingham family as they were crossing the street at 15th and Arapahoe in downtown Denver. Frank’s wife, 39-year-old Becca, and his daughter and son, 4-year-old Macie, and 2-year-old Garrison, were killed. Frank was injured.
However, he says his physical injuries are nothing compared with the wounds to his heart. Bingham says it is still hard to think too much about the fullness that made his family so special. To think about it magnifies the depth of what has been lost. "I had a wonderful marriage to a fabulous woman and we had smart, healthy children,” he said. “I really try to be thankful for that. It's not much of a balance against the loss but I certainly wouldn't undo it all, even if I had the chance. Becca was an amazing person. She was a very loyal friend and always had a deep sense of sincere kindness for everyone. She was a committed mother. She loved being a mom. People who know the kind of mother that Rebecca was have commented as to how difficult it would have been for her to survive had the kids not.”
"Too many people didn't get a chance to know him,” said his father, Frank Bingham. “It is tremendously disappointing that there wasn't more time together for all of us and that Macie and Garrison did not get the chance to grow up into the wonderful people they were already starting to be." Frank Bingham’s family was killed in a hit and run accident on November 10.
Denver Police say the driver, 36-year-old Lawrence Trujillo, was drunk when he ran a red light and hit the Bingham family as they were crossing the street at 15th and Arapahoe in downtown Denver. Frank’s wife, 39-year-old Becca, and his daughter and son, 4-year-old Macie, and 2-year-old Garrison, were killed. Frank was injured.
However, he says his physical injuries are nothing compared with the wounds to his heart. Bingham says it is still hard to think too much about the fullness that made his family so special. To think about it magnifies the depth of what has been lost. "I had a wonderful marriage to a fabulous woman and we had smart, healthy children,” he said. “I really try to be thankful for that. It's not much of a balance against the loss but I certainly wouldn't undo it all, even if I had the chance. Becca was an amazing person. She was a very loyal friend and always had a deep sense of sincere kindness for everyone. She was a committed mother. She loved being a mom. People who know the kind of mother that Rebecca was have commented as to how difficult it would have been for her to survive had the kids not.”
The rest of the story is in the comments ...
Monday, February 19, 2007
Currently Reading ...
The most recent book from my amazon.com delivery fits amazingly well on the heels of Pastor John's sermon from a week ago. I am just started reading Heaven by Randy Alcorn.
In the foreword by Dr. Gene A. Getz, Director, Center for Church Renewal; former pastor, seminary professor, and author of Sharpening the Focus of the Church, "Randy Alcorn's Heaven is biblically thorough and helps bring together loose ends on this very encouraging subject, This is a great book!" Hank Hanegraaf, president of the Christian Research Institute International and host of the Bible Answer Man radio broadcast writes, "When Randy Alcorn speaks, I listen; when he writes, I read. This is not only because Alcorn is a uniquely gifted communicator but becuase his walk matches his talk. To put it plainly, he is the real deal!"
In this blog by Sherrie with some paraphrase from the book's preface and introduction, "How much easier it is to be eternally minded when we give attention to the place where we will live forever with Christ and his people - the New Earth, in the new universe. This eternal Heaven is the central subject of this book... a subject that is fascinating, thrilling, and life-changing. This book promises to reveal from Scripture an exciting yet strangely neglected truth - that God never gave up on his original plan for human beings to dwell on Earth. In fact, the climax of history will be the creation of new heavens and a New Earth, a resurrected universe inhabited by resurrected people living with the resurrected Jesus. (Revelation 21:1-4)"
It looks like this book will be a great adventure ...
In the foreword by Dr. Gene A. Getz, Director, Center for Church Renewal; former pastor, seminary professor, and author of Sharpening the Focus of the Church, "Randy Alcorn's Heaven is biblically thorough and helps bring together loose ends on this very encouraging subject, This is a great book!" Hank Hanegraaf, president of the Christian Research Institute International and host of the Bible Answer Man radio broadcast writes, "When Randy Alcorn speaks, I listen; when he writes, I read. This is not only because Alcorn is a uniquely gifted communicator but becuase his walk matches his talk. To put it plainly, he is the real deal!"
In this blog by Sherrie with some paraphrase from the book's preface and introduction, "How much easier it is to be eternally minded when we give attention to the place where we will live forever with Christ and his people - the New Earth, in the new universe. This eternal Heaven is the central subject of this book... a subject that is fascinating, thrilling, and life-changing. This book promises to reveal from Scripture an exciting yet strangely neglected truth - that God never gave up on his original plan for human beings to dwell on Earth. In fact, the climax of history will be the creation of new heavens and a New Earth, a resurrected universe inhabited by resurrected people living with the resurrected Jesus. (Revelation 21:1-4)"
It looks like this book will be a great adventure ...
Sunday, February 18, 2007
#29 ~ Kevin Harvick ...
In case you were wondering,
Yes, my favorite driver did take the Daytona 500 win
(You'll probably like the video on the link)
.
More precious than the race was celebrating Robyn's birthday...
We had a great, fun, relaxing, exciting, awesome party for her.
Lots of friends, food, drink, visiting, gifts, and memories.
Thank you to everyone who warmed our hearts
while the drivers burned their tires!..
.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Bouncy, Bouncy, Bouncy, Bounce!
They made it!
With school out, early yesterday morning, Drew & Brit, along with Rocky, Freisy, Matt & Tyler headed to Keystone for a day of snowboarding. The morning was 30 degrees warmer than the day before (a heat wave! It was 39 instead of 9) and all looked like a perfectly lovely day for the slopes.
Hmmmm... well about that global warming and all the snow and cold weather we're having here in Colorado this winter... I-70 (and every other mountain freeway) was closed down most of the day due to snow, winds, ice, and ground blizzards, stranding our teens in the high-country. Of course every hotel and condo was sold out due to President's day weekend, and all our calls and internet searches turned up no available lodging.
Just as the group was getting settled in to spend the night in the youth room at a great church in Frisco, so kindly opened to them by one of the elders (a friend of a friend, just have to love the Body of Christ), waa-laa ~ the roads were opened back up.
As the teens started their adventure down the mountain, all the parents met at Grace to unlock the teens' cars to get out their luggage to send up on the busses with the huge group of teens headed up to a 4-day retreat in Estes Park. So off went the luggage and our other kiddos (it is Trey's first winter retreat which is known far and wide as "the best of the best" ~ guys with shirts on their heads ~ and we also drove over Hanna & Ingrid), along with Rob, our new youth pastor, Becky, Dan, and our great collection of interns and assistants.
There was so much excitement and energy in the youth center last night ~ it was amazing. It was good to hear from them about 7.30 that all the junior high vans and high school busses arrived safe and sound along with our snowboarding teens to the mountain retreat. Let's be praying for a meaningful time for them of growing closer to our awesome God and having their hearts and lives transformed by unfathomable love.
What a mystery and adventure this life is!
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Heart Health ...
KUSA – Just four months ago, someone very familiar to 9NEWS viewers suffered a heart attack. On October 7, retired 9NEWS anchor Ed Sardella finished a bike ride and started to notice some unusual symptoms. He says his pulse wasn’t slowing down, he was still sweating and after about 20 minutes it wasn’t getting any better. Ed also felt his arms tighten. He compares the feeling to that of a blood pressure sleeve pumped up on the arm. Just 10 days before this happened, Ed had been doing some research on heart attacks for a speech he was about to give to a group of seniors. That information turned into a check list of sorts for Ed as he faced his own coronary event.
After calling for help, he was taken to the hospital where he had an angioplasty. Ed is now in cardiac rehab at Rose Hospital in Denver. His heart attack certainly came as a surprise to anyone who knows him. Ed has been exercising all of his life. However, he says he needed to lose some weight and he needed to dramatically change his diet. Since then, Ed has become a student of labels. He has cut his sodium intake, limits his sugar, and eats more fish and less meat. Ed considers himself an example of a society that is “out of whack.” He hopes we can all learn from his experience to make positive lifestyle changes that can protect our hearts.
February is dedicated to “Heart Health.” Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both women and men in the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports almost 700,000 people die of heart disease in the U.S. each year. That is about 29 percent of all deaths. The most common heart disease in the United States is coronary heart disease, which can lead to a heart attack. 9NEWS has 9 Easy Steps to a Healthier Heart. They come from Dr. Michael Roizen, the author of the well known real-age books. He shared them in Reader’s Digest:
1) Walk 30 minutes a day, every day, no matter what. Walking daily decreases the risk of having a heart attack by about 30 percent.
2) Know your blood pressure and do whatever it takes to get your blood pressure down to115/75. The best way to do this, get a little exercise and lose some belly fat.
3) Eat an ounce of nuts a day. Nuts raise HDL, good cholesterol and decrease inflammation.
4) Learn your HDL number and do what you can to raise your HDL to 50, through exercise and healthy fats.
5) Eat 10 tablespoons of tomato sauce a week. It is loaded with blood pressure slashing potassium.
6) Floss your teeth at least every 24 hours. Avoiding periodontal disease prevents inflammation in the arteries which helps you head off heart disease.
7) Eat no more than 20 grams of saturated fat a day and as little of Trans fat as possible.
8) Read labels and throw out all food that has sugar in the first five ingredients.
9) Eat nine servings of colorful fruits and vegetables a day.
After calling for help, he was taken to the hospital where he had an angioplasty. Ed is now in cardiac rehab at Rose Hospital in Denver. His heart attack certainly came as a surprise to anyone who knows him. Ed has been exercising all of his life. However, he says he needed to lose some weight and he needed to dramatically change his diet. Since then, Ed has become a student of labels. He has cut his sodium intake, limits his sugar, and eats more fish and less meat. Ed considers himself an example of a society that is “out of whack.” He hopes we can all learn from his experience to make positive lifestyle changes that can protect our hearts.
February is dedicated to “Heart Health.” Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both women and men in the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports almost 700,000 people die of heart disease in the U.S. each year. That is about 29 percent of all deaths. The most common heart disease in the United States is coronary heart disease, which can lead to a heart attack. 9NEWS has 9 Easy Steps to a Healthier Heart. They come from Dr. Michael Roizen, the author of the well known real-age books. He shared them in Reader’s Digest:
1) Walk 30 minutes a day, every day, no matter what. Walking daily decreases the risk of having a heart attack by about 30 percent.
2) Know your blood pressure and do whatever it takes to get your blood pressure down to115/75. The best way to do this, get a little exercise and lose some belly fat.
3) Eat an ounce of nuts a day. Nuts raise HDL, good cholesterol and decrease inflammation.
4) Learn your HDL number and do what you can to raise your HDL to 50, through exercise and healthy fats.
5) Eat 10 tablespoons of tomato sauce a week. It is loaded with blood pressure slashing potassium.
6) Floss your teeth at least every 24 hours. Avoiding periodontal disease prevents inflammation in the arteries which helps you head off heart disease.
7) Eat no more than 20 grams of saturated fat a day and as little of Trans fat as possible.
8) Read labels and throw out all food that has sugar in the first five ingredients.
9) Eat nine servings of colorful fruits and vegetables a day.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Friday, February 02, 2007
The Prayer of Saint Francis
May our days be filled with peace, love, forgiveness, faith, light, joy,
consolation, understanding, giving, and pardoning...
The Prayer of Saint Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where this is doubt, faith;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.
consolation, understanding, giving, and pardoning...
The Prayer of Saint FrancisLord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where this is doubt, faith;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.
Minus 9 Degrees
Oh baby ~ it was minus 9 degrees when I awoke! Last Friday we had about an inch & a half of snow, another half inch on Wednesday, and last night about inch ~ so we're up 3" more to bring us to a total of 75" since a couple of days before Christmas. It seems that of late, the deep snow has been replaced with a deep freeze... it's been a week since we last saw temperatures above freezing and we still have several more days of even more bitter cold to go... It's so so cold that there's ice on the inside of our sliding glass door (behind the honeycomb blinds that were closed all night). With the space heater and my office door closed, I'm fortunate to be working in the tropics of 78 degrees! Ahhhh ...Warm hearts & Much Love, Sherrie
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Projection ...
Yesterday I had a great talk with a friend about projection... how we take our own experiences, our own temperment, and our own reality to process circumstances and situations and how we then project what WE think about those circumstances another person is experiencing onto the other person ~~ creating disharmony in our relationship.
For example, when I was pregnant with Sean, several people made insensitive and somewhat bizzare comments to me about having a 4th child. My reality was that we always wanted four children and had worked :) quite diligently to have Sean. Most people's realities were that four kids was way-over-the-top and a handful they couldn't imagine. I finally realized that their odd comments (actually, many were quite rude) simply reflected their personal reactions to the thought of themselves having a 4th child. I figured this out in an unusually powerful and revealing conversation I had with a woman about 15 years my senior in the Oahu airport in 1997 ...
.....Me: Those are beautiful flowers ~ where's home?
.....Her: Cincinnati, our friends took a collection and purchased this vacation for my husband and I. It's been the first time we've been away alone without our kids in 25 years.
.....Me: How many children do you have?
.....Her: 19 ~ 9 of them biological and 10 of them foster or adopted.
.....Me: Wow, that's very cool. Just before we came on this trip I read an article about a family in Colorado that has 22 kids, I think 9 biological and the rest foster and adopted. It's quite a commitment of love.
.....Her: 22 kids! Oh my gosh - what were they thinking??
Okay ~ my thought had been that once you get far past a dozen kids, then there can't be a big difference between 19 and 22. Thus, her reaction really shocked me. And as I pondered it, I realized that her reaction was simply her internalizing the thought of having 3 more kids than she already did and it must have sounded overwhelming. Ah ha! Through her unexpected reaction to the story of the family with 22 kids, I realized the root of the insensitive comments I had expereinced during my last pregnancy ... people were just projecting their own feelings on to my situation. Their comments came across as being insensitive to me but the reality was they were simply a reflection of how they felt about themselves having a 4th bambino.
This morning, I awoke considering the socratic method and how it can be effective at helping to avoid issues of projection in relationships. I was reminded again as the Lord revealed some specific things to me that, as an expressive teacher type, my tendency is to do a lot of "telling" and I must keep in my mind, as well as my actions, that more "asking" would be of greater value.
For example, when I was pregnant with Sean, several people made insensitive and somewhat bizzare comments to me about having a 4th child. My reality was that we always wanted four children and had worked :) quite diligently to have Sean. Most people's realities were that four kids was way-over-the-top and a handful they couldn't imagine. I finally realized that their odd comments (actually, many were quite rude) simply reflected their personal reactions to the thought of themselves having a 4th child. I figured this out in an unusually powerful and revealing conversation I had with a woman about 15 years my senior in the Oahu airport in 1997 ...
.....Me: Those are beautiful flowers ~ where's home?
.....Her: Cincinnati, our friends took a collection and purchased this vacation for my husband and I. It's been the first time we've been away alone without our kids in 25 years.
.....Me: How many children do you have?
.....Her: 19 ~ 9 of them biological and 10 of them foster or adopted.
.....Me: Wow, that's very cool. Just before we came on this trip I read an article about a family in Colorado that has 22 kids, I think 9 biological and the rest foster and adopted. It's quite a commitment of love.
.....Her: 22 kids! Oh my gosh - what were they thinking??
Okay ~ my thought had been that once you get far past a dozen kids, then there can't be a big difference between 19 and 22. Thus, her reaction really shocked me. And as I pondered it, I realized that her reaction was simply her internalizing the thought of having 3 more kids than she already did and it must have sounded overwhelming. Ah ha! Through her unexpected reaction to the story of the family with 22 kids, I realized the root of the insensitive comments I had expereinced during my last pregnancy ... people were just projecting their own feelings on to my situation. Their comments came across as being insensitive to me but the reality was they were simply a reflection of how they felt about themselves having a 4th bambino.
This morning, I awoke considering the socratic method and how it can be effective at helping to avoid issues of projection in relationships. I was reminded again as the Lord revealed some specific things to me that, as an expressive teacher type, my tendency is to do a lot of "telling" and I must keep in my mind, as well as my actions, that more "asking" would be of greater value.
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