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Last night we went to Belmont to hear Tod Bell speak. As Don Finto introduced Tod, he said something profound:

"You cannot draw to yourself that which you condemn or criticize."

Judah Conversations (6 months ago)

January 2007

Judah accompanies his daddy to Target on a Saturday morning before heading to Publix to do their weekly daddy/baby grocery shopping. They begin to exit the van.

Judah says, "Daddy, I need a spank."

"Why do you need a spank, Judah?"

"Because I did not obey. "

"What did you do?"

"I played with the cookie bar and you told me not to."

"Oh, so what are we going to do about that?"

"Can you give me a soft spank?"

Judah Conversation (this morning)

Daddy: Judah, Miriam's eating the horse's hair! If she eats it all up, the horse will be bald!

Judah: Then he will be a daddy.

Got a lot on my mind today...

The family is asleep. It's Sunday afternoon. The house is quiet. I can write. Sigh.

I often write in my head while I'm doing mindless tasks around the house (washing dishes, sweeping, doing laundry) or while I'm push-mowing the lawn. I not only think about what I'm going to write, but also how to write it. I think about phrasing. I think about rhythm. I think about humor. I think about tact. I'm a little short on the latter. I think that's one of the reasons I married James. He has a much softer way of presenting ideas--one that's more diplomatic, more palatable. His parents grew up in Tennessee. Mine grew up in New Jersey. Maybe that has something to do with it. Northerners aren't exactly known for their syrupy sweetness (the availability of sweet tea in the South must be symbolic).

When we first moved from New Jersey to Kentucky, I was nearly seven years old. I remember asking my dad, "Why does everybody wave at us? They don't know us." He said everybody down here waved. When I reached junior high, my perception of Northerners was that they outwardly hated everyone except family and friends. Southerners seemed to like everyone except foreigners (at least they pretended to, anyway). Being from New Jersey, I was a foreigner. I talked funny. I corrected the teacher's pronunciation of certain words. I read books.

When I read Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson in the 6th grade, I fell in love. I instantly connected with the character Leslie Burke. Leslie's best friend Jesse Aarons Oliver, Jr., reminded me of my quirky childhood friend who dubbed me Her Royal Excitedness. Neither character felt as though they fit in their small town. She moved from the city to a home across the road (not the street) from Jess. She had a vivid imagination and no TV. He had a gift for art and a dad who didn't understand him. To him, Leslie was just like one of the boys (since she was, after all, the fastest kid in the 5th grade). To her, Jesse was a blank canvas on which to paint her Terabithian ideas.

While in college, "my Jesse" sent me a copy of Bridge to Terabithia in the mail. He strategically placed his handwritten letter between two pages toward the middle of the book. Before I read his letter, I knew to look at the pages to discover the reason for the letter placement. My deliberate Jesse didn't do much of anything without thinking it through first. (In fact, he stopped saying, "Hi," at the beginning of telephone conversations and "Bye" at the end because he felt as though it was irrelevant, understood, and a waste of breath. My parents called him weird. So, naturally, I liked him.) Anyway, Jess of Terabithia was trying desperately in his etchings to capture "the poetry of the trees." In the letter, "my Jesse" asked if I knew why he placed the letter in the book. Well, of course I did. It was all about the poetry of the trees, silly.

Why "Her Royal Excitedness"?

It's actually a code name used by a friend I've known since the 3rd grade to talk about me with his former roommate in college. When I created my first e-mail account almost 10 years ago, several of the e-mail names I tried had already been chosen. Her Royal Excitedness was available. I like it. I think it fits.

Another Event

Have I mentioned that I majored in communications in college? While I don't own a TV, subscribe to the newspaper, or buy any magazines, I LOVE to help get the word out about stuff that interests me. Hence, one of the reasons for this blog.

The folks behind CoolPeopleCare.org are throwing a one-year birthday party on Friday, August 17, from 7-10 p.m., and The Gabe Dixon Band will be playing (another life-enhancing discovery). To hear some of their music, click here and scroll down to "All Will Be Well"; then click on "streaming."

If you haven't discovered Cool People Care, it's worth a few minutes of your Internet time. I subscribe to their daily "5 minutes of caring" e-mails. Here's an example:

Thursday, July 26, 2007
5 Minutes of Caring from CoolPeopleCare.org
JUST SOME CRAYONS by Sam Davidson
If you're familiar with us, you should know that we believe in the power of a little thing to make a big difference. With that in mind, for many children living in homeless shelters, things like crayons, games, and toys allow them to escape the unfortunate reality that is their current situation. Usually, when we think of homeless shelters, we think about helping in terms of serving food or donating clothes. But the next time you're at the store, **grab a set of crayons** and some coloring books and drop them by a family shelter for children to use.

Read this Article, peruse our Calendar, and Support our Partners at:http://www.coolpeoplecare.org/article/513/f35bc4c6cbc0a9320a82862a3ea00042

Tod Bell at Belmont this weekend!

If you're as big of a fan of Tod Bell as we are, you might want to go to Belmont's service tomorrow night at 6 p.m. or either one of their Sunday morning services to hear him preach. Here are two of my favorite excerpts from his excellent book it can be done: the marketplace maximized for the kingdom of God.

Chapter 2: a macrowaved marketplace--maximizing the release of marketplace ministers
One of the members of the fellowship [Glenda & Dair Sutton's Family Affair Ministry in East Nashville] has started a fruit and vegetable stand on the corner of the church parking lot. She received a prophetic word through a worship leader during a worship gathering that she was going to pursue a life-long dream. She had always dreamed of operating a fruit and vegetable stand! The stand opened on a Wednesday, and by Saturday of that week, she had led 50 people to Jesus Christ! Fifty! Neither she nor Glenda knew when she opened it that twenty years before, there had been a vegetable stand on that very corner! The older people within the neighborhood remembered the previous stand and flooded her with business. She sold out her stock every single day, and in the process, ministered the gospel and prayed for the customers.

Chapter 3: forgiven like me--maximizing our mindset for reaching the lost
Once, when I was driving in a notorious section of Nashville, I spotted a prostitute. The Lord told me to go talk to her. When I got close to her, I realized she was no older than 20 and she was pregnant. I approached her and asked her what she was doing. She said, “You don’t know?” I then told her I knew she was selling herself for sex, but I still asked her why. She said, “I have three kids, I just moved here from Chicago, things aren’t going well. I have to put food on the table.” I didn’t know how much of this was true, but one thing was obvious, she was pregnant even then. She told me she was only two months away from giving birth.

I took $40 out of my pocket and told her to get in the car. She thought I wanted sex for that money, so she got in. I asked her where she was staying; I was going to take her there. She said, “NO! I want to follow through with this. What do you want?”

“Daughter,” I said to her (Jesus often used this expression with women), “I only want to bless you and let you know God loves you.” She burst into tears, which are never far away from anyone if you touch their heart. I said, “I only want this, to kiss you on the cheek and take you to your house.” I pecked her on the cheek (first time I had ever done that, but when you are being led by the Spirit, you just do what He says). She could not stop sobbing. Right then was the first time I had ever heard this phrase from the Holy Spirit, “Expect nothing from her; expect everything from Me.”

May I tell you that this message from the Lord set me free, right then! I did not have to see the conclusion of the matter, where this was going, how she would or would not respond! My only role was to be the vessel for the revealing of the Father’s heart for this moment. Nothing less, and there is nothing more! What a privilege.
She guided me to where she was staying and she got out, saying, “I have never met anyone like you.” I got to tell her, “The person you met that has touched you is Jesus, and He loves you more than you can know.”

Kids Consignment Sale TODAY

My friend Adina told me about an awesome kids consignment sale in West Nashville. Almost everything is half price today from 10-6. Check it out! http://www.oncearoundtheblockkids.com/

Recruiting Readers

Judah and I used to read to kindergarten and pre-K students before Miriam joined our family. We loved going into the schools together once a week. We had 15 minutes to read a book, ask questions, and interact with the students. The kids are SO sweet. And they absolutely adored Judah. Now, Love Helps, the organization behind the volunteer effort, is looking for readers:

Reading volunteer recruitment begins

Do you have a few minutes to invest in children around lunchtime once a week beginning in October? Love Helps, inc. is looking for volunteers to read for 15 minutes in kindergarten classrooms at schools near downtown Nashville for at least two months. You will work in teams, and we will provide training as well. Click here for more information about the LEADING by READING program.

School Uniforms

Yesterday I discovered that my neighbor is looking forward to the new uniform policy. Since her government-assistance budget doesn't allow for $100 jeans and designer tops, the uniforms will help to put her daughter on more of a level playing field among the other students--at least at first glance. My neighbor, who lives with her 70-year-old mother, is a single mom with two grown children, two grandchildren, and a 6-year-old. She also has 10 or 11 adult siblings. Her sister and her son have taken her daughter shopping for the new attire. I love it. I'd really like to see more families "adopt" children and take them shopping. That's what we did with our Tiffany. The experience of eating out together, laughing together, shopping together...and seeing her expression when I tell her how adorable she looks...is priceless.

If that doesn't work, then partnering with a school or a non-profit to provide clothes or money to buy clothes, I think, is the next best thing. I need to do a little research to find out which organizations are already in place with this need on their agendas. We have countless volunteer organizations in Nashville. Surely there are several who are distributing school uniforms! A website that we enjoy (and that provides a nice list of non-profits and other partners) is http://www.coolpeoplecare.org/. Check it out!

New Pictures

I just uploaded a new set of photos. Most of them are of the kids with my parents, my sister, and my niece. You can check them out by clicking HERE.

Watch and Learn

James noticed that I think a lot about how our choices will affect our family long-term. An example that I shared with my mom today:

When Judah was not quite as communicative as he is now, maybe a year ago, he hit his head on the coffee table. His Mimi said, "Did that table hurt you? Bad table!" And she hit the table.

Now, this may seem trivial. For my mom, it was familiar. But it absolutely drove me nuts. I could just see Judah playing with other children, getting hurt, and telling the kid who accidentally ran into him that the kid was bad, hitting the kid, and feeling justified.

I believe that everything we say and do teaches our children. When Judah walked in on me recently with my hands in the air, my eyes closed, and tears streaming down my cheeks, he said, "Is that a tear? Why is that a tear?"

I said, "I'm crying because my heart is so full. I love God and I love you and sometimes it comes out in my tears."

A few days later, Judah whimpers in the car. I look at him, and he says, "I'm crying because I love God."

See.

They pay attention to EVERYthing. They're brilliant little creatures who soak it all in, just waiting for an opportunity to show us what they've picked up from us. There is so much I didn't know about myself until I began to see it in my son.

He got me.

NOTE: This is a guest post from MH (Mr. Honey, a.k.a. My Husband). I'm SW (Sweet Wife).

Judah and I were up late because we ate at the salty-bread-place (Macaroni Grill) and rode on the carousel and pet the stingrays.

As I put him to bed, both SW and I asked him to be very quiet because Miriam was already sleeping.

After I tucked him in, he grabbed his birthday bear from Auntie Bec.

The birthday bear is a handsome beast with a 700-watt THX Bose Surround Sound with Subwoofer in his arm that plays a knockoff song to “Happy Birthday” (you know, just different enough from the standard to avoid paying royalties).

Judah then looked at me slyly and said, “I want to push the bear’s arm.”

Of course, that would have awakened Miriam (and the neighbors across the street).

Before I could tell him to stop. He began squeezing the bear’s arm.

I must have had a panicked look on my face because he smiled at me and said, “That is the arm that doesn’t play.”

That boy. He got me. He really got me.

Our Tiffany

Tiffany is Judah's best friend. She's eager to please, kind, helpful, and a delight to have around. When she comes over, I actually get housework done and have the motivation to pull something together for dinner.

When I read about Davidson Co. schools switching to Standard School Attire , I immediately wanted to take Tiffany school shopping. We've known her and her family for two years, but this is a first for us. Tonight we bought a navy blue jumper and a white blouse at Wal-Mart (after walking the Cool Springs Mall to no avail). Before school starts in mid-August, I'm hoping to find a couple more outfits--at least two shirts and two bottoms.

When I took Tiffany home tonight, her mom mentioned some other needs (for the first time in two years): a box springs and frame for Tiffany's bed (which is on milk crates right now), a small or adjustable dining room table (which is wobbly), a couch that doesn't show stains easily (their couch is sinking), dressers (which they don't have), and a computer (especially for her 16-year-old so she doesn't have to go the public library where there's often a wait as well as a 1-hour time limit).

Tiffany's family has been living in an apartment (in a sketchy neighborhood) since September, and everything is still in boxes because of their lack of dressers. I told her that most of what we own is handed down and that oftentimes people just hang on to furniture until they know of someone who needs it. I'll be checking Craig's list for free items, but I thought I'd post about it in case someone I know has something they can use.

After seeing how happy and absolutely adorable Tiffany looked trying on her new clothes (new clothes!), my head is swimming with ideas for helping low-income families with the new SSA. Anyone else interested in this topic?

Explain and Learn

I'd like to preface this one by saying that I live in a predominately black neighborhood. There are actually people who won't come to my house anymore because they don't feel safe. My neighbors had a Gospel meeting at their house last week and a community fish fry this week. I'd like to know how many "safe" white neighborhoods are gathering their neighbors, worshiping together, praying together, and sharing food together. Ok, now that I've got that off my chest...

My neighbor Gwen invited me last week to a "Gospel Meeting" at her house. She said it was her sister's idea, but that she ended up doing all the preparation. She cut out huge blue letters and attached them to her chainlink fence: THE WORD 7 pm. She told me twice to invite anyone who might want to come. Her sister bought some tiki torches and citronella to try to deter the mosquitos from showing up in droves.

"Sister Can't-Remember-Her-Name" came with a keyboard, microphone, and speakers. She preached stuff I hadn't heard in a long time--stuff that is foreign to me now but that was once familiar (in summary, get your act together or God's gonna getcha). I'll probably write more about that later.

What I'm thinking of now from that night is that after the second or third song, Judah turned around and said, "I worshiped God." He had been sitting in the seat in front of me banging a tamborine on his leg. I shared with one of Gwen's sisters what he said. She responded, "I hope these other kids know what they were doing. They probably don't."

Later I thought, Judah only knows what I tell him, show him, read to him...he learns through observation. He asks a lot of questions. We worship and pray at home. He constantly asks me what I'm doing, and I tell him. I explain everything. I don't expect him to figure it out on his own. I believe it's fully my responsiblity to "train him in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." He tells me he is a worshiper. And when we finally made it on time to Grace Center on Sunday, I was able to say, "You know how we dance around and worship God at home? That's what all these people are doing. You can do that, too. We can all worship God together."

I was raised in a home that expected the local church and public school to disciple and train their children. I'm raising my child in a home that takes full responsibility for his discipleship, training, and education. Anything we get at Grace Center, in a classroom setting, or in our neighborhood is a bonus.