Little Reader

My son sent me this picture of Ollie reading Little Bear to himself and Ryan remembered that Little Bear was one of his first independent reads too.  Its so exciting when you can leave behind the predictable readers at school (there are lots of good ones but they are still readers) and start to pick your own books from the library! Not just books you want someone to read to you but books you can read to yourself.  For all of us that love reading this is such an exciting step.

Little Bear to Magic Tree House to Geronimo Stilton to maybe the Joads!  I hope Ollie finds John Steinbeck someday.    

I have read a lot of books in my life and most of them have come from a public library. I have vague recollections of picking Dr. Seuss books from a small library when I was young.  I read almost every books in the small libraries at the back of my classrooms and I remember checking out books from a surprisingly good selection the town library in Boyden.  I read Arthur Haily's Airport  and  Hotel when I was in Seventh Grade!  I'm sure the librarian and my mom didn't know the steamy scenes in those books. 

I know Ryan and his family use their town's library a lot and that often they have to limit the number of books and DVDs that leave with them. Whatever he picks, I hope Ollie gets to love the life in books as much as his dad.  A legacy worth passing on.

Read good books!

Yesterday I shared with a colleague that I was tired because I read so late the night before and this started a discussion on fiction. I had just reread A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle and told her how much it impressed me.  Immediately her comment was that this wasn't a christian book.  I have to admit I bristled.  I have read a lot of books by Madeleine L'Engle, fiction and non-fiction, children's lit and adult, and she writes in her later memoirs how much having her faith questioned by evangelical Christians pained her. It is a wonderful book written by a thoughtful and intelligent person who is a Christian but Madeleine L'Engle does not write books that would fit into the Christian Fiction section of rapidly disappearing bookstores or that drop down menu in Amazon.

I cringe when the term Christian is used as the first filter for choosing a novel. It is condescending and assumes that the Spirit working with in us is ineffective. When I read a novel I want to be entertained but also I want to be challenged in my world view. If I read only what I perceive to be safe or what is labeled safe by others, how will I grow?  How will I gain insight into the opinions of others that may differ from mine but still deserve my respect and consideration?

I can think of many authors and books that have had an influence on me and how I view the world. From Gone With the Wind to I'll Love You Forever  by Robert Munsch.  I wept over Katherin Paterson's Bridge to Terabithia and couldn't put down Winds of War  by Herman Wouk. I have read and reread the books of Carol Shields, Roberson Davies and Marilynne Robinson and learned a lot of the heart of the aboriginal community through In Search of April Raintree and the deeply thoughtful books by Joseph Boyden. Other titles and authors just keep rolling through my mind.  They have all shaped me and helped me grow as a person and a follower of Christ, even if they did not themselves have a christian world view.

We need to be careful but we do not need to be fearful.  All good literature is searching for the the truth and with the help of the Spirit we will be able to discern this truth in what we read. Or be dismayed at the opposite.  There is so much powerful and beautiful prose in our world, lets keep reading it, sharing it and growing from it.  Its another great blessing from the Word.

Bless the little ones

It had been a long day which was lengthened a bit by having an enjoyable dinner with my daughter-in-law.  Getting home at 8:00 isn't normal for me and I still have to bake something to take to school tomorrow.  So when I saw the message light on the phone blinking I groaned inwardly.  I don't know why I dislike listening to voice mail but I do. I punched in the buttons and then heard, "Hi Grandma.  I was just wondering how you were doing. Bye."

I stopped smiled and actually teared up a bit. My grandson is a very concerned and considerate boy.  Its always nice to know some one is thinking of you and to know they care.  I felt sad because it was too late to call him back and I haven't had the chance to celebrate the loss of his second tooth.  I have been blest with many little ones in my life from dear nieces and nephews to the vulnerable students I work with and I love them all in a special way but I had no idea how much my four grandkids would come to mean to me.  It is truly a special relationship.

I also felt sad because I have to bake tonight because of a tragedy in the Winnipeg area.  On Monday most of us in the city and surrounding area stopped and were silent when we heard that a young girl was mauled to death by the dogs of a family friend, pets she had played with.  I can't bring myself to even try to comprehend the sorrow and the horror - my mind and my heart just won't go there. But today someone at work sent out an email that her mother knew the family and was arranging the baking for the funeral. Would we help.

I signed up immediately.  Its like laying flowers on a sidewalk, its something I can do.  Any death makes us feel helpless but especially the death of a child.  We pray, we talk, we shake our heads but we really want to do something.  Will brownies help ? Not the family.  But they may help me. I'll bake and I'll pray.  Bless this poor grieving family but also bless my precious crew of little ones. Keep them safe and protected.  There are no guarantees but there is also no where else to put my trust.  That's a good thing.

Lord, bless all the little ones, whether we are grown up or not.

Day off

I just not feeling deep or profound tonight. I was home most of the day because I have Tuesdays off this year.  I slept in, made some good coffee and read the paper.  I almost got the New York Times Crossword filled in perfectly and caught up on some email.  I did the laundry, had lunch, made some plans for my Friendship group and finished rereading A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle.  I had forgotten how deep and profound she is. She makes me want to look into physics. I wonder if kids are still reading her books.

I went to my massage therapist for my monthly tune up.  He hurts me but in the end it helps the headaches stay away so its worth it.  He works out of his home just down the block so I catch up on the news of his family and often others in the neighbourhood.  Came home and made a pot of Tuscan Soup - HOT Italian sausage, potatoes, kale and beans.  Then off for a hair cut and home for our dinner of soup and whole wheat buns.

The laundry is folded, the bed remade, the dishwasher running. Hank is gone to another meeting so I have a quiet night too.  That was my lovely day.

Going Home 2

Hank and I spent the weekend in Iowa with my mom.  I kept saying to my colleagues that I was going home for the weekend.  I must have sounded like an ancient college student but even though the house I remember as a child no longer exists and the house my parents built when I was in high school no longer houses a family member and mom left behind the house in town where my kids went to visit Gramdpa and Grandma for a 55+ apartment about 18 months ago, I went home.

As we walked across the parking lot, we met one of my mom's gang.  This is a group of women who have known each other for a long time and in the past 10 years they all have lost their spouses.  Two of them, their second husbands.  They play games once a week and a group of them goes out for dinner most Saturday nights.  Loneliness seems to be a part of the aging process but they all really appreciate the companionship that their ongoing friendships bring. I got a big hug from Joyce.  "Boy is your mom excited that you are here."

Then we walked past the room in the senior's apartment where there is always a puzzle on the go and my mom's former neighbour was at work.  "Is that Carol!  I need a hug."

It was good to see Mom.  She isn't walking well and experiences pain in her hip but her mind is sharp and she was fun to be with.  We watched the boys basketball team from my old high school win the state championship - again.  Something we never thought would happen when I went to Western Christian High School forty some years ago!  We went to get her new glasses, visited an aunt and uncles and bought some new clothes.  We were her out for dinner group on Saturday night.  It was a good visit and I know she enjoyed it.

I left Hull almost forty years ago but as I walked around the I constantly heard echoes from my past.  A former high school friend was dispensing in the pharmacy and she wondered how I survived the cold winter in Canada.  At church on Sunday, I connected with cousins and friends and friends parents.  It seems that even when you grow up and move on and form a life in another country, you still belong to the soil in Sioux County.  I felt connected.  It felt like home.

Going Home 1

I love our house. We moved to Winnipeg in 1988 and lived quite unhappily in another house for about 18 months.  I really thought that you could be anyway with your family and the house would be OK but that didn't work out with our first place.  It just didn't suit our family and the lay out of the house kept making us frustrated to we took a financial loss and ended up finding our Hazel Dell Home.

This house has been a blessing to us since we first stepped into it and once we found it, we also fell in love with Winnipeg.  It's in a neighbourhood - The Fraser's Grove area.  We are surrounded by giant American Elms and are only a block from the Red River so we really live in a park. The neighbours are friendly and don't move much so we look after each other. We've watch each other's children grow up and our grandkids now trick or treat at our neighbours because they remember Ryan, Kayla and Scott knocking at their doors.

The house was built in 1949 and was only a year old when the Great Flood of 1950 hit Winnipeg.  It was filled with water up to the window sills on the main floor and we have an interesting horizontal crack that runs through our kitchen because of the repairs done to it after that.  We have had ceilings fall because of water melting from the attic,a flooded basement in 1993 due to sewer back-up and various other minor catastrophes that are the bane of all homeowner.  The best thing we ever did was had our sunroom about ten years ago and it has become the new hub of our family gatherings for the warm part of the year. And for all who know our driveway, I only hit the tree once.

Best of all, it is a haven.  We have weathered many storms in our dear house.  Tragic deaths, depression and the worry of sick friends and grandkids.  But there have been joys too.  Engagements, weddings, Christmases and just the everyday blessings that keep us all going. We just love to be home.  Its safe and comfortable and often after a busy week the only place we want to be.

I was thinking about this as we drove to Iowa this weekend.  I love going home to my Winnipeg home but I was excited to go home to Iowa too.  Homes.  A good thing to think about for awhile.  I am thankful that I have known safe homes all my life.

Dry

The well in my brain seems dry tonight.  I have started several times but nothing is coming together.  I may have to accept that fact that some days, the words aren't going to flow into something profound or funny or even interesting. Part of the problem is that I have school things on my mind and I just don't feel comfortable musing about the ups and downs of the students I work with.  If I try, I spend so much time trying to hide the situation in vague language that the story doesn't come through and the lesson I learned gets lost in ambiguity. I think tonight I need to think and muddle through some of the concerns from school. Tomorrow I will try again.