Song for Kristal

I love the words in this song and the reminder that God is all powerful to move mountains and calm oceans. What's hard for us to understand is that He won't necessarily calm the waves all around at all times . . . but He can calm our soul in the midst of the storm and give us assurance of His love and perfect plan.

My thoughts are with several of you my dear family - these words are for all of us - but I dedicate this song to you, Kristal and Shaun, as you are at this crossroads in life. My heart's cry is that you may know that God is with you and will perfect His plan in your lives as well as in the lives of those affected by the circumstances you find yourselves in.

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross . . . Consider Him who endured such opposition . . . so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." Hebrews 12: 2,3

You are not alone, the Lord your God will go before you and He will carry you when you get too tired to walk.

On my Lounge Chair in P.S.

One of my favorite things about Palm Springs has always been the sunshine. This was the first time that I also went and got a pedicure while there. It was only $18! If I’d only known sooner!
So, with the pedicure done, I was ready for some time on my chair on the deck with some magazines. Trips and waiting rooms are about the only time I check them out, so this is obviously the much preferred option. I can't believe I'm actually looking at a magazine that doesn't seem to have any recipes!

Check out the view from the deck !

The view looking up and the nice view to the side . . . oh, he's gone golfing! The chair is empty, so sit down and let's enjoy some frivolous girl time.

Do you remember how I wondered how the little ones can wake up looking so fresh and beautiful in the morning? Well, wouldn’t you know it, this magazine has a solution for that . . . You simply mix a drop of self-tanner into your night cream and you’ll wake up looking beautiful! Amazing! Who thinks of these things?

The thing I notice very quickly is that the one shoulder dress is IN! Well, I do have a big mole on one shoulder that the grandkids always notice . . . but I'm still not convinced about this style for me.

A top American designer, Michael Kors lists 12 secrets of new rules for classic style. I’m not sure if it’s anything really new, but some points are good to remember:
* Avoid disposability. Don’t go and buy the the new hot print of the moment, because you will soon be over it. (oh, but sometimes it’s fun … maybe if it’s almost free?)
* Don’t race through your shopping, because the result will be racks of clothes you don’t wear. (I hate it when I’ve made too quick of a decision about something . . . can I wear those jeans for half a day and return them if they bag?)
* Accessorize on the spot. ( I like that idea.)
* Buy things that will hold their shape easily. (I would add that if they don’t, return them as soon as possible for a refund.)
* Try on different sizes of the same outfit, just to see which one feels best. No one is always the same size. It’s fit that matters, not what the size says. Yes!! (sometimes even the same size in the same outfit can fit differently)
* And last, but not least, check your basics before buying new pieces. Look in you closet for staples that ground them.( He recommends white jeans, ribbed turtlenecks, flat knit v-necks, fitted pencil skirts and a fresh white shirt . . . but it also depends on your style.)

Okay . . . here are some ideas for storing jewelry. Hang your necklaces on decorative drawer pulls affixed to the closet or other handy place and lay other pieces on a tiered stand.

I could go on about Hilary Duff's hobo bag . . . OR do you want to see these great color charts where you pick your 'basic' wardrobe color and see how you can 'spice' it up? I'm still in the tans and browns - maybe because you can add any color or maybe because you can just blend into your surroundings . . .

So, what are you reading? That Italian Cooking magazine looks great! I wish I could take it home, but it belongs to the condo.

(Ideas and photos taken from the April Issue of In Style)

The Playground

Before the grandkids came to join us last week we went looking for something we have not looked for, while in Palm Springs, for a long time - if ever. There! Do you see it through the interesting cactus plants? It was the perfect spot to take the kids on a date.

So much to see!


Landon could have just sat there and looked around for a long, long time.

Interesting merry-go-round

swing smile

Natalie even found a new friend! I couldn't help but take a picture to show her Daddy later. You should have seen the look on his face. Oh Dad, the time will come too quickly! I love to tease him about the Canadian boy that will sweep his little girl off her feet one day.

And I couldn't resist this crop! Who is smiling harder?

Palm Springs

This post includes some family history, which you might want to skip, but to me it is just a record of some of my thoughts sometime while we were travelling or settling in at home again last week. Now that I’m at my computer again, I will make this a little more detailed than I would have from the condo.
For anyone who has never been to Palm Springs, I know that pictures can give you the illusion that you are on a beautiful beach, but this is not the case. It is an oasis in the middle of a desert. I gather that the name gives away the reason why there is such beauty in this place and that there must be springs abounding, because water does not seem to be an issue. Anything that gets watered grows beautifully. The golf courses are among the top in the world and the landscapers take a lot of pride in creating the most amazing flower gardens.
I am not quite sure why we first decided to see this place, but it all began with a road trip in 1977 . . .



We went back when I was pregnant with Julene the following year and again when I was a couple of months along with Kristal. When Ben was a baby, we took the girls and left him with Oma and Opa. (The trip when one of the girls insisted, "I miss Benji RIGHT NOW!")

We continued driving down almost every Spring Break that the kids had, usually stopping off in L.A. to visit Knotts Berry Farm and/or Disneyland.
By the time the kids were in high school we had figured out how to make it down in a day and a half. The highlight was to come to the school with our car packed and the kids all skipping their final class so that we could make it to Medford that night. There were no bathroom breaks unless the car needed filling up and we could squeeze in a meal . . . maybe I could run across the street to order while the car was being filled up. We had a system going that the kids will probably laugh about now. Sometimes we met up with friends or family.

In some ways you could say we were spoiled and that we spoiled our kids, but it was still an economic way to do a vacation in the sun and a wonderful way for us to get away from the family business, which is hard to get away from when you stay close to home.

It didn’t come as a huge surprise to us when Kristal decided to do her final two years of study at Azusa Pacific University in Los Angeles. This is where she got to know Shaun. And one day the call came . . . you know the one . . . (daddy, I met a man in . . .)

In the Spring of 2002 we went down to meet him and we spent a few days together in Palm Springs. On this short trip, we celebrated Easter with them at the Marriott Hotel where he had been asked to lead worship for an outdoor church service. We were quite impressed!

Oh . . . and on this same weekend Shaun asked us for Kristal’s hand in marriage! I still can’t get over the whirlwind experience of that one! But another memory was made in Palm Springs!

A few years later, in 2004, Julene and her husband Chris were preparing to go overseas, and the base for their mission agency happened to be not far from Palm Springs. With Kristal and Shaun living in L.A. and Julene and Chris studying in Redlands, we decided that Palm Springs would be the final place for all of us to celebrate Easter and so we did!

It was later that year when Julene and Chris left for Indonesia with two little ones. And so 2004 was the last Easter that we were all together.

So, maybe knowing all of this makes Palm Springs a little more than just a holiday destination. It’s a place where memories have been made. Last week Shaun and Kristal joined us with their two little ones. It was a little like having them home. We cooked breakfast and lunch in the condo and enjoyed some dinners out. The grandkids were probably a bit confused about why we were living “somewhere else” ( in fact, Natalie did say that she liked our "other" house in Canada better) but the smiles we got from them, non-the-less, when they saw us were priceless!

If we had known 30 years ago . . . I don’t think I would have been able to process all of it. It’s a good thing God gives us one day at a time.

Beauty

At the time this dialogue was going on, my daughter and her family had been doing almost a year of language study in a poverty stricken place on the island of Java. Her response to my thoughts about clean windows (previous post) was:

Mom, I needed that encouragement today. After living one year in this kampung, I sometimes feel a little guilty for all that we own (relatively speaking). But beauty and making things beautiful is encouraging to the soul and I think moving to the soul too. When I go to a beautiful and comfortable home, I come away renewed and refreshed. I needed this reminder today.

Part of my response:
It's interesting that the things you mentioned about "beauty" are things I read yesterday. The authors (John and Stasi Eldredge) mentioned a number of things about what beauty does:
It speaks. It can tell you that all will be well.
It gives rest.
It invites. It draws you. It's captivating...like beautiful music or a beautiful sunset.
It nourishes. (a woman nursing her child)
It comforts.
It inspires. It makes us want to be better. (Mother Teresa)
Beauty is transcendent. It pierces us with longing for the life that was meant to be and speaks of heaven to come.
God created man and woman in His image. Women bear the beauty part of His Image in a way that only the feminine can speak and tell us more about God.
God loves beauty. The whole earth is filled with HIS glory!
I think about the dirt, and the kampung setting that you are living in or the way that the enemy has twisted or destroyed so much of what God has meant to be beautiful, and I realize that he (the enemy) wants to destroy any evidence of God's Image.
May we ask God to wash the windows of our soul, so that His light and beauty can clearly shine through.
I love you, Jules. Thank you for inspiring me.

Clean Windows

As I was cleaning up mail on my computer, I came across an email I wrote to my daughter back in 2005. I had forgotten about this dialogue and found it interesting. In a way it has confirmed the in me the value of keeping some kind of record of what we learn. Life is a series of events and seasons that change and if we don’t remember what we learn from them, how will we grow? Later, this week I will share my daughter’s response and more of what I was reminded about. So here’s the first email:

I'm sitting and reading "Captivating", a book Kari bought for me. What just encouraged me about God is that He loves beauty. It doesn't have to be practical, it can just be beautiful. I love it, because sometimes I almost feel guilty for liking beauty.
That brings me to my clean windows! I looked up and just enjoyed having clean windows.
(We had them professionally cleaned this week) I love clean windows! When my windows are clean, my whole house feels clean. The leaves on the trees are gently waving with the breeze,
and the sun from behind the trees is casting all kinds of "sunny, shadowy" dancing shapes on my coffee table and different places in the room. It's a beautiful feeling.
If I had a blog, that's what I would write today.