Ka-razy!

Good Monday morning to you all. I hope there was joy in your Easter weekend and everyone found ways to mark the day as special in spite of the distance between you and those you love.

Earlier in the week I asked hubs if we could get up before the birds on Easter Sunday and watch the sun rise from our dock. Our own little Easter morning sunrise service if you will. The weather forecast was not looking stellar, and he thought it would be too cloudy for any beauty to show up, yet there she was-

But only for a minute and then the rains came. Also lightning, thunder, howling winds and a couple of tornadoes. We ended our Easter Sunday sitting side by side at 3 AM in our lower level storage room which is concrete and windowless. What a day.

What a year.

What a world.

We had Sunday School with our class via Zoom and enjoyed our traditional Easter dinner (ham and pineapple stuffing) eaten on the good china in the dining room just because. We face timed with family, even getting my mom in on a call with all my sibs which was special. And we especially loved watching our grandsons from afar via pictures and video calls with my daughter.

Our little town did sustain some damage from one tornado that touched down, and sadly there was a fatality as well. Your prayers are very much appreciated as people mourn and clean up and repairs begin. Life feels a bit extra hard these days, which makes me more grateful (or maybe just more aware) than in years past for the significance of Easter and a hope that cannot be shaken.

I'm still writing each day in the April A-Z blog challenge but am taking a slightly different tack with today's letter and word.

Day 11-K is for Karaoke

This word comes to me courtesy of my sister-in-law, the one who plays the violin with an orchestra, who can carry a tune, and has that music gene in her DNA. Alas I do not. Have you seen the movie My Best Friend's Wedding with Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz? Well for those who have not, Cameron Diaz's character is peer pressured into performing karaoke, and it's not pretty but it is hilarious. 

Me doing karaoke would be similar. 

Since this word feels light and kind of fun I've decided instead of a whole post on the word I'm going to incorporate it into my Wednesday Hodgepodge questions this week . Let's see who might be a fan and who realizes they suddenly have somewhere else they need to be when a D.J. announces it's karaoke night. Stay tuned.

Also stay well-stay safe-stay home-stay happy. 

Who What Where When Why

My brother supplied the word of the day today and it's a toughie. I had to really think about how to incorporate this one into a blog post because I think this word has the potential to rile people up and I am all about not riling people up, particularly the day before Easter.

Day 10-J is for Journalism

We could ask what is journalism in 2020? What does that word mean in the era of social media where everybody and their brother has an opinion and a keyboard and a platform? Where who we look to as an actual authority on a particular subject is open for debate? 

Where we have entire websites devoted to fact checking every spoken and written word but don't know if we can trust the fact checkers? Where news people no longer make any attempts at hiding their political biases on either side of the fence? Where how someone feels about the way something is said matters more than the facts of the matter. 

Let's talk about Easter, k? Specifically this sweet picture- 

And we're going to do it the old fashioned way, using the standard 5Ws taught to high school journalism students about 100 years ago. 

Who? There's my dad with his infectious grin and my blue eyed baby girl in his arms. And there's my niece and my girl wishing mom would take the picture already.

Some things don't change. 

What? Doing what children have always done the weekend before Easter. Dropping eggs from a bit too high a distance into plastic cups of dye on a plastic cloth covered table. Raise your hand if you or a child you know dyed eggs this weekend. 

Tradition is a little bit like glue. It holds families together apart. 

When? 1991. I can still feel the sweetness from some 29 years away. 

Where? My parent's kitchen. The one where so many of my dearest and favorite memories are lodged. Where my mom cooked a thousand trillion meals. Where we were taught to 'put your napkin in your lap' and 'Mabel Mabel if you're able, keep your elbows off the table.' 

Where grace was said and floors were swept and whose turn it was to wash and dry was a debate for the ages. Or till Dad stepped in. 

Where new generations joined the party and the beat rolled on. 

Mostly life is full of change. 

Why? Why what? Why do babies grow up and move oceans away? Why do granddads leave us far too soon? Why do little girls worm their way into your heart and leave their mark in every nook and cranny forever and ever amen? Why are grown up children smart and able yet always and forever the little girls captured in a photo snapped three decades before? 

Memory and forward motion can live side by side. 

How? How do we celebrate Easter in this strange new world? How do we get back to the life that was before? Will we? Do we even want to? Will we emerge from this time of social isolation changed in some way? 

How can we not? 

Life is full of change. 

On Easter I hold tightly to what never changes-

God's love for each one of us. 

So deep and so wide nothing can ever separate us from it. 

Not our fears for today or our worries for tomorrow. 

It brings light and hope to a world full of questions with no easy answers. 

"Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face. 

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim. In the light of His glory and grace." 

I Had A Feeling

Anybody sense what today's word in the April A-Z Blog Challenge might be?

Day 9-I is for Intuition

Today's word is courtesy of my niece. I had a feeling she'd pick a good one-ha! I didn't really have a feeling. I knew she'd pick an interesting word because she's an avid reader and a fellow lover of words. In this case my feeling wasn't based on intuition, it was based on actually knowing her in person and expecting her to act accordingly. 

When I was growing up the word female was commonly placed before the word intuition, so we knew this mysterious phenomenon as 'female intuition'. I guess that's no longer pc, but women in particular do seem to have a sixth sense about certain things. 

There's loads of research and opinion on the topic, but in a nutshell intuition is when our brain uses past experience and present day cues to make a decision, all with lightning speed. So much so that we're not even aware of how we landed where we landed. We just know. 

There's also something going on inside our bodies that might give us what's described as a 'gut feeling'. These gut feelings signal the brain and also give us pause. At least they do if we acknowledge them and pay attention. 

Was there ever a time when you did or did not do something based on a 'gut feeling'? Your intuition? I can't think of something specific, but I know there have been many times I've had a sixth sense about my children. And almost always when I have a sense something is off with one of them, it is. 

I think we should pay attention to our intuition, but we also need to figure out what role our emotions might be playing too. Am I really just afraid to do xyz or is this my intuition telling me to hang on a second, take a step back, look more carefully at the situation?

I also think for Christians the Holy Spirit is a guiding factor in our decision making process, and is a more powerful force than human intuition alone. Sometimes we hear the Holy Spirit described as a still small voice, but how do we know if its something we're actually hearing or something we're telling ourselves?  For me personally, the only thing that works is to quiet my mind, read His word, and pray for direction, trusting He'll direct my steps. 

Still I don't think our human intuition should be ignored and I for one will always make that phone call/send that text asking 'Everything okay?' when my gut tells me maybe everything is not okay. 

Whew. This was a lot to think about on a Friday, wasn't it?

Holding Out For A Hero

Remember that song? I guess everybody knows it now thanks to Shrek, but who remembers the original sung by Bonnie Tyler? The video released with it was very dramatic, which fit with the 1980's and the early days of sitting around watching music videos with your friends. Then music video stations morphed into less than stellar reality TV programming and now everyone just watches youtube on their phones.

Let's hop off the rabbit trail and focus on today's letter.

Day 8-H is for Hero

My thirteen year old nephew picked this one. It's a good word, and one we're hearing often these days in reference to healthcare workers on the front line, classroom teachers who, without missing a beat, rapidly shifted gears, and company CEO's who've turned their factories and businesses into something completely new and different in an effort to provide what's needed in the immediate.

Earlier this year we cheered the bravery of firefighters around the world, and of course our men and women in uniform are often called upon to perform small and large acts of heroism in service to our country.

I'm someone who likes words, who think words matter. When a word is used too casually, it loses some of it's power. The same can be said of words that are over used to the point they become watery and then when we really need the word, when it truly fits as a descriptor of a person or situation, it doesn't get the attention it deserves. We don't sit up and take notice the way we should because we've become numb to it. I have a list of words I think fall into this category but for now let's stick with hero.

I've seen people called heroic for speaking their mind. Is that heroic? In some cases it might be brave, but heroic? Are bravery and heroism the same thing? Maybe if you're preparing to die for your beliefs, but is speaking out from behind a computer screen on a social media site in the same category as true heroism? I would say no.

I think we often use the word hero when what we really mean is role model or mentor, maybe even just a good example for others to follow. Real heroes are all of those things, but I don't think the reverse is neccessarily true. You can be a good example and role model without being heroic.

So who are the heroes?

I think true heroes behave in a sacrificial manner, with no thought given to the fame or notoriety that may come their way as a result of their actions. Their actions change the world, or at least change the situation at hand from something dangerous-life threatening-potentially disasterous to something better.

I read about a survey conducted a couple of years ago among British children ages 6-13 asking them who are their heroes. Guess who took the top spot?

Mom.

Well Mum because because it was a British survey , but either way that answer made me happy.

If we think about what good mothers do day in and day out the word fits. Mothers put themselves last. They aren't seeking fame for their accomplishments and in fact they've often set aside their own dreams and aspirations to ensure their children grow up reaching for the stars.

Mothers can change a child's world or at least how the child sees the world and his place in it. A gentle hug, wisdom bestowed, a quiet act of kindness. With the routine sameness of always being there doing all those little things that in hindsight turn out to be not so little.

I think right now the medical people suiting up daily and marching into hospital rooms where people are sick and dying, with many unknowns still out there, is heroic. On a different scale but perhaps no less important, moms keeping in check the mental, physical, and emotional health of the humans in their care during this season of change and uncertainty might also be worthy of the word.

Hey Hodgepodge Peeps!

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge! I hope everyone is staying well and coping with this strange season we're experiencing together apart. If you're looking for my A-Z post on today's letter (G) you'll find it by clicking the link here.

Everyone is invited to join the Hodgepodge. Answer the questions on your own blog, then hop back here and add your link at the bottom of my post. Don't forget to copy the button code on my sidebar and include it somewhere in your post so your readers can join the party too. And go say hi to whoever linked before you because that's what good neighbors do.

Here we go-

1. How will you celebrate Easter this year?

Well. Hmmm. It will be different in terms of no big family dinner on the fancy china in the dining room. No Easter baskets on the kitchen table first thing in the morning.  No family sitting side by each on a church pew singing my favorite '...up from the grave He arose, with a  mighty triumph o'er His foes...' but...

Easter, 1996

BUT! It's Easter! Whether any of the above happens or not Easter morning still dawns, bringing with it all the hope our hearts can hold.

 Hubs and I will have our coffee at the kitchen table, logged in to a Zoom call with our Sunday School class. We'll have a nice meal at some point although I'm not sure yet exactly what we'll be eating. We'll count our blessings and be thankful for the gift of this new day, the significance of Easter, and the grace, hope, and peace offered to each one of us through the death and resurrection of God's only Son. 

2. Is it easier for you to receive grace offered or extend grace to another? Explain.

My answer would probably vary depending on the circumstances. If we're talking about the human state of being thoughtful and considerate I find that fairly easy. It is a little harder for me to be gracious when I feel like the offender should know better, but I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt and remind myself everyone has something they're dealing with.  

I'm grateful every day for God's grace. I'm sure He thinks quite often I should know better too. 

3. Do you say grace before meals? If so do you have a standard dinnertime grace or is it more 'off the cuff' ? Do you say grace when dining out? Do you have a favorite grace? Any special memory associated with 'saying grace'?

We always say grace before dinner at home, and we always hold hands when we pray. We have never made it a practice to say grace when we're in a restaurant, but where we live now it's common to see people praying while dining out. I'm okay with it if I'm in a group that wants to say a blessing before we eat in a restaurant. 

We don't have a standard/rote grace we say...ours is definitely off the cuff, or perhaps from the heart would be more accurate. 

As far as memories go one thing that springs to mind is summers spent at camp. Everyone filing in to the dining hall, counselors at the end of the table with their campers on either side...the 'chief' in charge would have us all sing, for lack of a better term, 'a dining room song' before we said grace. These songs were short choruses focused on gratitude and I still love singing them today...'Come and dine the master calleth come and dine...you may feast at Jesus table any time...He who fed the multitude, turned the water into wine, to the hungry calleth now come and dine.'

And then there's my grandson. The mancub. He is fascinated by the concept of saying grace, and holds out his hands for the people beside him to grab. Then we bow our heads, except he peeks and his eyes sparkle and he grins as he looks around the table at everyone gathered there. Completely precious. 

I might peek too.  

4. What are some challenges you think the next generation will face? (Generation Alpha-born between 2011 and 2025)

I think they're going to be smart, perhaps the brightest generation yet. Completely comfortable with all sorts of technology that doesn't even exist in 2020. Connected in all sorts of ways, but hopefully still occasionally in person. Will we ever lose our need for face-to-face conversations? I hope not. 

I imagine Generation Alpha will face the usual challenges though, challenges every generation has faced...how to get along with your fellow man and those living in your own home, how to spend/use their time-money-talents, how to make the world a better place...

Time and technology move forward with alarming speed, but we humans are still human. 

5. Share a favorite quote or lyric featuring the word faith.

'Faith sees the invisible, believes the unbelievable, and receives the impossible' 

Corrie Ten Boom

6.  Insert your own random thought here.

These are my peeps. 

The originals. 

Easter memories from my childhood are all wrapped up with these kids. New dresses...white gloves...chocolate bunnies in wicker baskets...a photo after church...a baked ham dinner eaten on the good china, and enough love to make the world go round...

Wishing you all a joyous Easter Day! 

Two For The Price Of One

I've gone back and forth about how best to handle these next two letters. Somehow my blog has gone from almost no content to a flood of posting, which is a good thing but does require a bit of managing.

Some weeks I may combine my Wednesday letter with the Wednesday Hodgepodge, but mostly I think I want to keep them as separate entries, which means two posts on Tuesdays and two posts on Wednesdays. That's a lot for me, even with all this 'free time'.

You probably don't need to know all this, but writing it down helps me see what makes the most sense. This week I think what makes the most sense is writing a single post combining the letters F and G (you'll find this week's Hodgepodge questions in the post before this one).

I gave those letters to my sister and brother-in-law and they sent me their words separately, but were definitely thinking alike. In my mind these two words go hand in hand so I'm going to put them in a single post. Plus it's Easter week which also relates so you're getting a bargain here today.

Day 6-F is for Faith

Day 7-G is for Grace 

I'm just going to put this out there. Most of my posts are not that deep. Ha! Just keepin' it real. They are meaty in their own way, and I do like to make people think, but they're not deep in the way some writers are deep. My blog is more of a 'hey I feel the same way' kind of blog and I'm okay with that. More than okay because those are the kinds of blog posts I like to read too. 

But then there are words that don't feel light. Or don't feel like they should be written about lightly, and faith and grace are two such words. 

I don't classify myself as a Christian writer although I am a Christian and I do write. But I'm not the person who is going to delve into scripture on my blog and tell you what it means, or dissect difficult passages of the Bible, etc. What I like to write, and what I think people relate to here, is when I tell my own story. Share my own experiences in the everyday ordinary of life. 

Faith and grace are part of my story. 

Honestly in the crazy-mixed up-confusing world we're all living in today it's faith in the God who laid the foundations of the earth that keeps me grounded and hopeful. I'm fortunate to have grown up in a home where my parents taught me at an early age to 'cast my cares on Him'. To treat others the way I would like to be treated myself. 

To accept grace that's been freely given and extend grace freely in return. 

Grace is love shown to the un-lovely. The undeserving. The short tempered, the rude, the mean-spirited people we encounter online and less than six feet away from us in a store queue. 

Less judgement more grace because everybody has a story. 

When the world is topsy turvy (and can we all agree that's the case right now?) when the ground shifts daily and the waves crash round we reach for an anchor. 

Faith is my anchor. 

Grace is the hand lifting me up saying come stand here. 

The ground is solid and there's no need to fear.

Easter is where faith and grace collide. Intersect. Are woven together for eternity. 

Easter is what makes it real and true and ours. 

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 363

Here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here tomorrow to share answers with all your friends and neighbors. From a safe distance of course!

1. How will you celebrate Easter this year?

2. Is it easier for you to receive grace offered or extend grace to another? Explain.

3. Do you say grace before meals? If so do you have a standard dinnertime grace or is it more 'off the cuff' ? Do you say grace when dining out? Do you have a favorite grace? Any special memory associated with 'saying grace'?

4. What are some challenges you think the next generation will face? (Generation Alpha-born between 2011 and 2025)

5. Share a favorite quote or lyric featuring the word faith.

6.  Insert your own random thought here.