It is a bright sunny Saturday and the world seems a brighter place,
too.  It is almost a full moon.  It seems that I am affected
by that.  I’ll find myself more busy and adventurous on a full
moon.  I also don’t sleep as well. 

Last night we went to my 40 high school reunion.  Nick’s van broke
down while on the highway a half hour from home. He had to do some
creative transmission repair in order to make it home.  We were
nearly two hours late arriving. It was alright though. They had a tour
of the school first then dinner in the cafeteria.  We missed the
official tour,  but the school building was still open to us so we
got to wander the halls after we ate.  I saw several people who
were friends then.  The last reunion we went to was the
20th.  Fewer people were here at this one, but they were
friendlier.  We definitely enjoyed ourselves.  Tonight is the
more dressy dinner and dance. If there is any way I can arrange it, we
will be on time for this one!

Whoever said, “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” had to
have been a young person.  You reach an age where you realize that
some things that don’t kill you can leave you crippled, not
stronger.  You realize that some battles are lost, and the
territory is never regained. It is possible to be crushed beyond your
ability to bear. Perhaps there is some kind of relief, but it is not a
victory.  It does not make you stronger but leaves you broken and
weakened. All you can do is hurt.

It must be a June thing, or maybe it has to do with ending another
school year.  I realize that my schedule still revolves around the
school calendar.  I know that is not the case for everyone else,
but it definitely affects me.  June has always been the laziest
month of the year.  I have to push myself constantly, or the days
slip by. Every day feels drowsy and soft.  Leisurely cups of tea
in the morning and sitting outside in the evening.  I even like
the oven hotness of midday cars (as long as it is followed by
air-conditioning).

Lightning bugs came out last night, filling the air with their romantic
glow. “Does anyone see me? Does anyone want me?” Darting here and there
looking for a reciprocal glow. “Ah, what lovely nymphs we can make,” he
calls with his beacon. I wonder if any glow worm ever fell in love with
a full moon with its bright constant light.  What a disappointment
it must have been to settle for a simple bug so much like
herself!  Perhaps disappointing for the moment, but certainly more
satisfying in the long run. For those glow worms of you who have fallen
in love with the moon.  Look at the fireflies around you. 
You might find a warmer, friendlier and more accessible glow nearby. I
love fireflies!!

For those of you who are not knowledgable about lightning bugs. 
The male, usually called a firefly, flies in the evening using his
light to attract a response.  The female, usually
called a glow worm, is unable to fly and responds from the deep grass
where she hides. To be technical, I think they probably don’t have
nymphs, but larva.  Nymphs sound so much more appealing though.

Surprises from God are the best!  Last summer we considered having
an exchange student stay with us for the spring semester.  Another
family in town wanted to have one for the fall only so we would have
her move to our house over Christmas break.  The girl we wanted
wasn’t able to come because of political problems in her country. 
Our other family ended up with a girl from Kazahkstan.  They found
ways to get her to school, which was the problem they had.  They
live out of town.  Then in October we were told that a girl from
Ukraine was having trouble with her host family.  We were told
that if we couldn’t take her, they would probably have to send her back.

So we opened our home to this girl.  She has been such a blessing
to us.  My husband is Russian as is her father.  She and Nick
get along so well, and I enjoy her so much too.  We have a few
idiosyncracies that I thought might cause disappointment.  One
being that we don’t watch television, only occasional videos.  It
turned out that she doesn’t like television either.  We have no
children at home, but she likes her privacy and is an only child.

She also is an artist.  She is now painting a mural for our new
church building.  What an incredible project this is!  In
only one afternoon, she “sketched” the outlines of the project with
grey paint.

This is the spring, Cair Paravel. The sketch and a week and a half later.

Below is the winter palace.

We moved on what we thought God wanted us to do and we have all been blessed!

She got off, spending an all nighter burning CDs for music on her
way.  The backpack won, but she left enough clothes behind to
cloth a small village.  It is truly dangerous to have a natural
shopper who loves style work in Gap and Old Navy. I must admit
everything is really cute.  We’ll get it sorted out when she
returns. Part of the situation is growing up and changing style. Many
things I recognize from high school days and will probably not be worn
again. They just haven’t made it to Goodwill yet. 

We got our “I made it alright” email a bit late, but I wasn’t worried.
Her professor had emailed her assuring an escort from the airport to
the language school in another city. She arrived a few hours after the
rest of the students.  We couldn’t book a flight until we were
sure of finances, and by the time we did, it was the only inexpensive
one left.

So there is only one more semester left for her after this summer. I
had been married, beat up, divorced and had a child by the time I was
her age.  How much better her life is than mine was!!  I’m
really glad for my son from that time, but I sure could have skipped
the rest!

Packing, packing, packing. Our youngest is going on a study abroad
program through the university. She leaves tomorrow for Spain. 
She still hasn’t decided what bag to bring! Suitcase or backpack?
Everyone has an opinion, and they all sound good. Surprisingly, she is
leaning towards packing light with a backpack. In addition, she moved
her apartment into our house, livingroom, spare room, her room and
every spare storage space in the garage!  Wow! She had definitely
become a household, not a kid away at college. All of this tends to
catch me off-guard. How come I didn’t see this coming?  I still
think of her as a kid.  Only in a mother’s mind is 22, or even 40,
still a kid! Hello, all you kids out there!!

The K-Love Scripture for today is “The blessing of the Lord makes a
person rich and he adds no sorrow with it.” Proverbs 10:22.  That
verse has always fascinated me. We once lived in a town of very rich
people. (We helped build their dream houses.)  Many of them had so
much sorrow in their lives. They had the money but lacked the ability
to enjoy it.

Once I daydreamed about what it would be like to win the lottery. We
were by the river here in town. My kids were swimming, jumping off the
dam, totally carefree and happy.  As I thought of how easy life
could be with lots of money, I suddenly realized that I would fear for
so much. We would have to guard everything more closely, lock the
doors, install alarm systems. The sense of fear really hit me. I
thought then, if having money means losing this, I don’t want it. Not
too long after that, I read this Scripture. This is the kind of wealth
I want, the kind that has no sorrow with it.

When my son asked, “How does a person get rich?”, I answered, “There
are three ways. They’re born rich. They totally devote their lives to
getting rich, or God wants them to be rich.” Well, the first one is out
and so is the second.  That leaves only the third.  Only the
Lord can give us the ability to do something that will make us
financially prosperous. So I am resting in that, but I must admit that
I hope it is His will that we get there. I certainly am willing to
cooperate!

Saturday night was graduation at our school.  We have a unique
situation where kindergarten through high school is in the same
building. The classes are together for years unless a student
leaves.  So last night, our graduating class had been together
since 6th grade. A few students had left, but none had joined them and
stayed. They had a  power point presentation showing their years
together. In this transient society, it is such a incredible thing to
be close for so long.
Many of our students remain close friends for the rest of their lives.