Communication

Here is an actual email received by a mother from her son:

 Subject: Laundry . . .

Would you do some of mine today? Thanks.

Makes you wonder why parents think their teenagers don't communicate with them!

Whew!

God is merciful to you, you miserable sinner!
These are the words I laughingly expressed to my son when we discovered that he does not need 4 years of math to be qualified for college admission.  We have been struggling with Trigonometry all year.  Last night I told him that I could give him half a credit but not a full credit because we haven't done enough lessons.  Today we know that 3.5 credits is enough. 
To say that he was overjoyed, elated, thrilled, and giddy with relief is an understatement.  To say that I was, too, goes without saying.
His next question to me:  "Why didn't we know this before?" 
I told him that God must have been teaching him something that had nothing to do with Trigonometry.  Did he learn the lesson?  He is learning it as am I.  We've been taught it as we've schooled together for 10 years.  He must listen to me because I am his teacher; I must hear him because he is my son.

Many are called, few are chosen

I was summoned to serve for jury duty this week.  I went in this morning and was already home by lunch.
This week is pretty busy for us as we try to get school finished and prepare for Justin's graduation next week.So I was worried that my time would be eaten up with serving jury duty for the whole week.  All I can say is: I'm glad to live in Lancaster County, SC.
The jury panel gathered in the courtroom (which is just a big meeting room) around 9 a.m.   It seemed to take a while to get started, but that gave people a chance to converse among themselves.  We were told there would be three trials this week, all traffic-related.  Then the process began for sifting out those who couldn't serve or had excuses.  After the initial weeding, the individual cases were announced and the process continued as the state and the defendants passed or excused jurors.  Each case needed 6 jurors, many of whom were selected to serve for more than one trial.  The process was very interesting to me and I'm glad I was a part of it.
Unfortunately, I was excused as a juror for the third trial.  I was presented as a juror by the state lawyers, but excused by the defendant.  This was because it was a drunk driving case and I had to say that a member of my family had been involved in a car accident with a drunk driver.  Even though it was years ago, and I said that I believed I could still be fair and impartial during the trial, I was excused. 

I just want to share some observations about this experience: 

• SC takes jury duty seriously; the judge reiterated what I read on the SC judicial website about how important it is in free society to exercise our liberties through a fair and impartial court system. Serving as a juror is a major contribution to the preservation of our freedoms.
• Some people do not want to serve as jurors.  Even the retired people were asked to please consider serving, but still 4 of them asked to be excused (you can be excused for being over 65).
• One of the important questions asked is if everyone is a registered voter.  Voting was listed by the judge as number 2 of the 3 ways you can serve your country (#1-defense/military, #3 jury duty).
• There were many people who didn't show up; their names were called during roll call but they were absent.  I don't understand why someone would put himself in contempt by not coming when called.
• The atmosphere at this government building is very different from the atmosphere at the DMV.  People were friendly and talked to each other while waiting.  It was almost like we were on the same team.  In fact, in my row, two women were encouraged to tell the judge why they should be excused by the people they sat beside who knew their situation.  In the courtroom, we were thanked several times for doing our duty as jurors. The judge wanted us to know that it's nothing personal if we are excused from a trial.  At the DMV, every one gets a number, and then it's every man for himself.  You hope you have every form they ask you for and know that you can be rejected at a moment's notice. 

 The small town atmosphere made the experience enjoyable rather than stressful. Some of the jury panel even knew the people involved in the cases and had to be excused.  The lawyers were friendly to each other and to the judge.  It was overall a positive experience to see our justice system at work on the local level.  I'm glad I was a part of the process and I'm glad it's over.

Every Other Day in the Month of May?

My daughter and son are trying to post something to their blogs 'Every day except Sunday for the month of  May'.  So I thought I would join them.
The problem:  it's already May 4 and I haven't posted!
The solution: I've tweaked the mantra to suit my own procrastinator nature (although, as you can see, I'm still not on track).
My goal is to be forced into a habit of writing that hopefully will continue past May.
My posts will be more like journal entries, but that's ok, I guess. I'm sure they will be works in progress.  Even short posts seem to take me a while to write.  Maybe I'll review the day's highlights/lowlights and comment. Maybe I'll just write to say I wrote.  This should be an interesting experience for me as a blogger.  I'll actually have to 'blog'.

New Beginnings

  Although this week I've fought a cold and loss of energy, I feel like I am starting over again with many areas of my life. We've finished one commitment for school and it is very freeing; it gives me time at home that I haven't had for months.  I am so happy to be home again.  I can't say how much I missed being home during the day, in the evenings, on Saturdays.  I missed planning out our school days, reading and discussing our books, cooking dinner for my family, sitting quietly in the evenings with a hobby, book, or movie.
  So I begin our home routines again.  I look forward to being home on Saturdays, even if it means I'm cleaning the house.  I've used this week as a catch up on sleep and recuperating from a cold, but I know that I have the rest of the month to get back to normal.  I'm excited about normal days of home life.  I missed them.

Reflections on Motherhood

I've been thinking lately about what is involved in mothering.  So when I read the daily devotion from Elisabeth Elliot today, it impressed me.  She writes of Mary, the mother of Jesus.  She paints a picture of a woman who humbly served our Lord by undergoing a relationship with Him that no other person on earth before or since has had: she mothered Him. I want to share here what Elisabeth Elliot writes:  

  Hers was a hidden life, a faithful one, a holy one--holy in the context of a humble home in a small village where there was not very much diversion. She knew that the ordinary duties were ordained for her as much as the extraordinary way in which they became her assignment. She struck no poses. She was the mother of a baby, willing to be known simply as his mother for the rest of her life. He was an extraordinary baby, the Eternal Word, but His needs were very ordinary, very daily, to his mother. Did she imagine that she deserved to be the chosen mother? Did she see herself as fully qualified? Surely not. Surely not more than any other woman who finds herself endowed with the awesome gift of a child. It is the most humbling experience of a woman's life, the most revealing of her own helplessness. Yet we know this mother, Mary, the humble virgin from Nazareth, as "Most Highly Exalted."
 Author: Elisabeth Elliot
Source: Keep A Quiet Heart (if you want to read the full devotion, you can find it at "Back to the Bible")
A humbling experience, the most humbling experience, the most revealing experience of our helplessness, yet one of the most rewarding experiences a person can have: to be a mother.   I am not mothering any perfect children--sometimes I wish I were--but I can look to Mary as an example of a woman who knew she was serving the Lord her God in the every day routine tasks of serving her children.  She kept silent, she pondered (and prayed) , she marveled at God's goodness and majesty in choosing her, and she was with her Son until His death.  She was faithful to God in the task He entrusted to her; I pray that I can be faithful in the same.

Consistency or Constancy

I am struggling with writing.  I have lots of things in my mind to write, but little time to develop them into a worthy missive. Sometimes I don't even have that much going on in my brain that I would like to put down on paper. And many times I'm just too tired to write or think about writing.  But if I am completely honest, I must admit that I enjoy writing and wish I could do more thinking and reflecting that would lead to a topic for my blog.
Because of a desire to be more consistent in putting thoughts to paper as it were, ( a blog is completely-tree-free) I want to attempt to write shorter but more frequent prose.
My daughter has this ability down-pat.  She writes about her day, posts photos, and tells stories or posts poems.   By reading her blog, one can see a glimpse into what makes her happy, sad, frustrated, or excited. She even posted a blog 'every day for the month of May'.  I won't pretend to aspire to that dedication, but I would like to emulate her by making my posts a little less intimidating to me by writing in a less strict style; with consistency.
Maybe by posting regularly and with greater constancy, my desire to write and post will directly correspond to the time I have to reflect on my day or the topics that interest me.