JEd's first recording- "Jesus Loves Me"

Enjoy!
No matter how you sing it, the message is always true!

Challenging the Waves

My son has begun a new phase of his life: the water-loving phase.

We were worried about this for a long while, because while he would play in VERY shallow water, he would have a screaming fit if we tried to get him to float, swim, or do anything that involved water above his waist.

But this is a new day.

He has taken swimming lessons, and he has developed confidence.
My husband was eager to see how this translated from a pool to an OCEAN.
So they went yesterday to the beach, only 1.5 hours away.

And the most amazing, hilarious, and inspiring thing happened:

Our son was loving playing in the water, the waves, even slightly above his waist. My husband could hear him saying something, seemingly to the waves, over and over, but he couldn't make out the words. He just let the boy play.

AND THEN THE BIG WAVE CAME. IT KNOCKED "JED" DOWN, UNDER THE WATER.
Suddenly, my child was completely enveloped in the wave, pulled totally under water. My husband was certain that he would react the way he always had: coming back up, crying, wanting to pack up and go home.

BUT THIS TIME WAS DIFFERENT.
As "Jed" came up, my husband watched him turn again to the waves. He pointed both of his fingers at them and said,
"Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!"

My husband was so proud; he has turned a corner.

We later found out, as they were telling me the story, that what our son had been saying to the waves as they hit him, before the "big one" came, was
"C'mon now, waves, you gotta do better than that if you wanna knock 'Jed' down!"
[he actually said his full name in that sentence :-)]

I've been thinking about this ever since. My son was challenging the waves.
The things that had always come and knocked him down, making him fear the power of the ocean, throwing him off-balance...he was challenging them! He was ready for whatever knock they would bring, and he knew he could get up. He was confident.

I wonder...do we have the confidence to "challenge the waves?"

Those things that have been able to knock us down in the past, that have caused us fear, can we look at them and know that they really have no power over us? Can we be like the "virtuous woman" of Proverbs 31, who, because of her trust in God and her wisdom in living, could "laugh at the time to come?"

I'm so glad my son learned that, no matter what waves came at him, or how big or strong they turned out to be, he could have confidence that he could and would get back up. The courage he has gained has come through learning, trusting. I pray that, in faith, we too can learn and trust that the God within us is stronger than any waves, so we can confidently say:

C'mon now, waves, you gotta do better than that to knock [insert your name here] down!

Mommy's Kisses vs. Daddy's

We've had a big weekend.

Yesterday we went to one of our beautiful state parks: on Lake Marion in Santee. The boys had been there several times before; I hadn't. So they took me in our canoe along the shoreline from the boat ramp, to the isolated place they had named "Little Frog Beach," owing to the fact that there had been scores of little tiny frogs there the last time they'd been there. I re-named it "Stinky Beach," because while I saw no tiny frogs, I did see quite a few fish skeletons, and I did smell quite a fish smell.

However, I also got to watch my son splash in the water and quite enjoy himself, so it was worth it.

You can imagine that after such a day in the sun, no one was interested in cooking that evening after we got home. We decided to go get a pizza instead. So while we were at the restaurant, "Jed" bumped his elbow on the table. It hurt. He started to whimper.

"Let mommy kiss it," I offered.

So he showed me the spot, and I kissed it. At least I thought I did. He said

"No, mommy. Right here."
And he pointed to a new spot.

At that, he frowned. It was obvious he was still hurting.

"I guess mommy's kisses just don't really work anymore," I said to him, sadly. I was secretly lamenting the fact that my son is growing up as he opened his mouth again.

"Well, sometimes they don't," he said.

At that, my husband said, "Let Daddy try."

So "Jed" offered his elbow. My husband kissed it.

"Jed" thought for a second, looking at his elbow.

"OK," he said, with a lift in his voice, "Daddy's kisses kinda make it worse!"

CHALK ONE UP FOR MOMMY.

A "Jedism" Kind of Weekend

I really need to be catching up on work, but since Jim shared with me this past week (at our Board of Camps and Retreats Ministries meeting at Asbury Hills UM Camp, about which I will blog soon) that he liked my sharing of my little boy's humor, I thought I'd relay a new "Jedism" from Thursday night.

When I got home from that overnight meeting, "Jed" and I had some quality time together, the latter part of which involved cleaning his mess from the den. You need to know that his best little stuffed friend is named "Lambie." Lambie is, of course, a lamb. Well, Lambie was on the floor, as were many other things. "Jed" couldn't get them all, so I offered to help him.

"Would you like for me to carry Lambie?" I asked helpfully.

"Yes," he said, absently.

We took a few steps into the hallway, at which point he actually noticed for the first time that I had picked up Lambie. He put out his little arms as if to stop me from moving.

"Oh, Mommy, Mommy," he said, "I meant 'no.' No, you can't carry Lambie."

"Why not?" I asked.

"Well, because you have to be special to carry him."

"Am I not special?" I asked, trying to hold down my smile.

"Um, well, you are special," he replied, "just not really quite special ENOUGH."

Gotta love the possessiveness of a four-year-old for his best friend!

Six years ago today...

I married this man.

We were standing in the small Memorial Chapel within the massive and gothic Duke University Chapel. I promised, with newer vows from our United Methodist Book of Worship to "encourage the gifts of God in you," or something like that :-)

Today, I still love to hear him play the piano, the organ, the trumpet, the fluglehorn. I love to watch him play with our son. I am thankful to have a husband who supports my minstry and who understands its demands, even when those demands interfere with our family plans. I even love that he wants to spend our anniversary evening walking in the Relay for Life. So that's what we'll do tonight, even as I give thanks for the gift that my husband is.

Happy anniversary, honey!

Death...and LIFE

We've just walked through the journey of Holy Week, moved from death to life. The journey was pretty amazing here... Above is a picture of what Good Friday evening looked like.

Our church shared the Holy Week journey (Maundy Thursday and Good Friday worship) with three other churches: another UMC, a Baptist (Cooperative Fellowship) congregation, and a PCUSA church. The four ministers led the services, and a combined 80-voice choir sang at each one. These two were the last of a series of four services, which also included Ash Wednesday.

We also shared the Lenten journey with four other UMC's, joining together with them each Sunday evening of the first 5 weeks of Lent. This brought together United Methodists of all backgrounds and several ethnic groups.

These services that have brought together followers of Jesus from many different groups were a tremendous source of joy, hope, and life for me throughout the wilderness journey of the 40 days of Lenten fasting....but now

Easter has come!!

This 50 days is about LIFE...NEW LIFE!

To the end that we might experience the power of Jesus' resurrection as a church family, I am looking forward to two things:

1. Dr. Kennon Callahan, author of Twelve Keys to an Effective Church WILL BE COMING TO HELP OUR CHURCH DISCERN GOD'S VISION FOR OUR FUTURE. He will be here on Saturday, May 16, and I hope that our church family will be as excited as I am that we are going to be able to glean from his wisdom and experience as we seek God's guidance for the church's LIFE in the future.

2. WE ARE GOING TO START A NEW WORSHIP EXPERIENCE! Look for details in a post to come very soon. The date to begin this source of new life is June 9 (and yes, that's a Tuesday).

In summary, I want to thank the Church Council of my congregation for their "leap of faith" in the two areas mentioned above. And I'd like to invite all of you readers to be in prayer for our church family as we undertake this new ventures. Please pray with me that they will indeed be signs, symbols, and means of God's power of resurrection here in this place!

I found this quite...overwhelming. And what does it all mean for church?

Did You Know? from Amybeth on Vimeo.