My Mother's Hands

I have challenged myself to write about the topic of My Mother's Hands and at first I was perplexed. What can I say about her hands? How to describe her hands? I know that sometimes I look down at my hands and see how they are starting to look like my mom's and I think, "Oh, no, I am getting old!!" She bites her nails so her hands are not ones with manicured polished nails. And she wears a white gold wedding band set. That's how they look, but that is not very interesting.

But then I was watching her the other day playing with Camden. She was helping him with her hands and she was hugging him with her hands and she was walking with him while holding his hand! And I have seen her with Nathan using her hands to mend his clothes and hem his school uniform and clap loudly for him as he hits the ball in baseball. I have seen her hands diaper and powder and bathe all of her grandchildren with tender loving care. And use them to open up books and read to them.

Every time she comes to my house she uses her hands to fold my clothes and wash my dishes and get them really dirty when she works in the yard with me. She still will use her hands to encourage me and give me a boost when needed. And is always ready to make a dessert for me with her hands.

Of course she tries to use her hands to take pictures, and although the number of pictures on her camera show that she has success, her hands generally have trouble getting the camera to work! And heaven help her try to use her hands to get the pictures off the camera! But she has always used her hands to sew clothes for her girls and is now using them to learn to quilt! She also continues to use her hands to make special presents like seat cushions and unique pillow cases for her grandchildren.

I have also seen her use her hands to work with her kids in Sunday School. She uses her hands to help her tell a Bible story to them; to help them glue a picture on an activity; and to give them their much desired snack! She also uses her hands to drive some children home whose parents won't bring them to church.

Her hands have worked hard over the years being a mom and a wife and a volunteer and a worker. She has always used her hands in a tender and gentle way, and even though they are showing their years, they are a thing of beauty. Next time I look at my hands and think they are looking like my mom's, my next thought is going to be, "I can only hope that they do!"

Amy

Pray for Chase

I have been reminded this year about how precious life is and how I need to constantly thank God for the health of my family. This past year, we have lost one friend to cancer and our lives have been touched by the cancer of 2 little boys. One is Forrester, whom most of you know about, and the other is our 8 month old neighbor with a brain tumor and subsequent cancer that has spread through his body. It is discouraging to hear of such suffering and although I know in my head that God is in control, I also know that evil does exist and it rears its ugly head all the time. If goodness comes only from God, then where do things like cancer come from? And why does it have to strike little children? And how does an 8 month old come down with stage 4 cancer? These are questions I cannot honestly answer and don't know if I will ever know the answers on earth.

But what I do know is that God is love and He is ultimately in control. This family is hurting and I don't know what their spiritual state is, but I know they are praying and asking for prayer and giving God the credit for things going as well as they are. Chase is home now and only has to go to the clinic one time this week! He still has a long journey, but his parents seem to be leaning on God and their family for support. This is a blessing and I pray that I can do my part in showing God to them and helping them whenever possible.

So I am asking you; please pray for Chase.

We are no longer turned off!

Last week we participated in the National Turn Off Week. It is interesting that to tell a person they can't do something makes them want to do it more! There are many regular days in which Nathan does not play the Wii or watch TV, but to say he can't do so for a week makes him very distressed! He kept trying to deal and say that he should only be restricted from one thing! And that he should be able to check his email like me-what email!! But we made it through the week unscathed! It really made for a quiet peaceful time, although we were so busy with everyday life stuff that we didn't really do extra family stuff instead of TV.

Dave and I stopped the TV (although I caught him watching the news one night!), but we did record 24 and continued to use the computer. I don't think I could give communicating with people for a week-and many were necessary emails!! I did give up writing on this blog, but since it took me until Friday to write this week, I don't know how hard that was for me!?!

Nathan stuck with it, even when his friends came over and wanted to play the Wii! He did get to cheat at his grandparents where they had on the NFL draft, though!

Camden, however, did not see the point! He kept trying to open the TV cabinet doors and learned to clearly say "Moe and the Big Exit". I almost gave in to his constant "Want to watch TV" mantra, but I persevered! As much as he says he wants to watch TV, you would think he watched it all the time! Maybe we should give it up more and he would not say it as much!

So that was our week without TV. I think we should make this an annual thing!

Boys!

A boy is a strange animal! I know this from firsthand experience as many of you mothers of boys know. We grow up and like boys, but unless we have brothers, I don't think we really know how different they are. When dating them, they try to impress us and when we get married, they show us their true self! But it is still different than watching a boy grow up. Little boys are so sweet! They laugh and kiss their mommy and cry for their mommy, and then we laugh at them when they toot! I think that is a mistake! Yes it is adorable to see your son in the bath being surprised that a toot happened and then when we laugh, they want to keep doing it! And it is cute to hear them say "I tooted!" And we think this is great until they turn 8 and are saying this out loud in the grocery line! And then they are taught by another, older, grandfatherly, boy to blame the mom for this! Real nice!



But even at 8, 9, 10, boys can be sweet when they are one on one. I had the opportunity to have 7 boys at my house the other day and saw this phenomenon. I was talking to one of the boys and we were having a great conversation. Then abruptly it ended and he goes running back to the group with a totally different personality! He went from polite, mature conversationalist to "Hey Yolanda" as he called one of the boys a name and proceeded to tackle him! In fact, my backyard was one big wrestling pit!



But I am grateful for my boys! I have been given the awesome responsibility to rear my sons in a way that they grow up to be men, real men. Men who are responsible for their family; men who can cry, but don't do so just to be in touch with their feminine side; men who won't allow themselves to be put down and made to feel stupid just because they are a man; men who will treat women with respect and their wives as a queen; men who are leaders; and men who do scratch and burp and make all other sorts of sounds! A real man!



So I guess I will just have to let my boys be boys! Bring on the ring for the backyard, the wrestling match is about to begin!

New Life!

An exciting thing happened this Easter! My dogwood tree finally bloomed! I have been complaining about the fact that I have had this tree for about 4 years now, and it has never had a bloom. The leaves would come back every year, but no flowers to signify life! And on the weekend when we celebrate new life, I was given a gift! I have about 3 pink flowers at eye level and several at the very top of the tree!

And what is more special about this bloom is that the dogwood flower signifies the cross of Christ. Today that bloom shows the marks of Jesus on the cross, but tomorrow when it turns into a leaf, I can remember that Jesus did not stay on the cross, but that He is alive! What a blessing! A small thing like a dogwood bloom can be exciting if you look carefully and appreciate all that God has given us!

Happy Easter, Amy

Kid's Bridge Run

Nathan, Camden and I took one look at the beautiful weather and decided that we could not miss the kid's bridge run this year! Hampton Park is such a great place to have the run! Camden, my runner, who did not take a nap today, would not run in the right direction during the actual run! I think he was a little scared with all the people. I tried to get him to run with Nathan, but he just cried and tried to run into the mud puddle! After the crowd left, he ran the 25 yards several times!

Nathan signed up for the mile run and did it in a little over 10 minutes. Pretty good for an untrained runner since that is my average mile time on a long distance run! He wanted to run the real bridge tomorrow, but too many other plans already! He met up with his friend Rhen from church. He said he ran with her for a little while, then ran off thinking that he could not be beaten by a girl! He said he stuck his tongue out at her as he ran by! What a boy! Then he explained that they do that to each other all the time! I like him thinking girls are icky!!



Well, that was our fun day!! Amy

As all parents know, children grow up too soon! My baby is now in a big boy toddler bed, is trying to be potty trained, and likes to tell me what to do in pretty clear sentences! And Nathan is now 8 and acts like he should be 2-3 grades older than he is! Life just moves too fast!


But Nathan, my mature acting son, still likes to be a little boy! He wants to cuddle at night and have his favorite animals sleep with him! And now he wants to sleep in the spare bed in Camden's room!



The other day, though, Nathan was outside with Camden and I asked him,
"Aren't you glad you have a brother?" He said yes, but "I wish he would grow up faster! You told me he would grow up fast, but he isn't!"



Well, ok Nathan, he is not big enough to play ball with you yet, but if I could have my way, Camden would stay in the cute 2's! Who cares if I have to change diapers! And although Nathan has passed the cute baby stage of life, I would love to keep him in his sweet thoughtful years!