Bees in My Bonnet

(If you missed Part 1, click here to go back) After some of what I picked up from Monet, I then circled back to the previous gallery where I'd missed the works of Toulouse-Lautrec.  I knew very little about him, but I saw a crowd sitting and standing around a huge painting and a guy talking about the artist and this work.  I was curious, so I began to eavesdrop, as I am apt to do. He was in the middle of showing how Lautrec had initially cut out the part of the painting with the green-faced woman in it.  She is off to the side, with a distressed look on her face, and not exactly an attractive part of the painting.  One could understand that he wanted her out of the image.  Then he went on to tell the story of who this woman was and what we know of her.  I found her story fascinating. She was a kind of show-girl - dancer, singer - stage performer, and she was out to make it and become someone - maybe sought fame or applause.  He said we really kn...

On Friday I had the privilege of joining the 5th graders on their field trip to the Art Museum.  I say 'privilege' though taking my day to go be with a bunch of kids wandering around nice pictures isn't generally my cup of tea.  I relish time away from people, and don't gravitate towards large groups of people.  That said, I do want my kids to know that I took time to be with them on days when I could, and that I entered their experiences, even if I find it a bit exhausting.  This is the introvert me talking.  There were so many things I picked up on by wandering around art, and some were quite profound.  I didn't expect to encounter so many life-truths on a grade-school field trip. We started in the impressionist department, and observed the art.  I am not one who has a deep appreciation for visual art.  I think, 'Hmm, nice painting.' And then move on.  As a side note, it is such a joy to watch the kids gaze on these historic, classic wor...

You might like to know what I think of having a family such as ours.  I think it is ridiculous.  Absolutely crazy.  Something no-one in their right mind would undertake.  And I only have 5 kids and a couple in-laws.  I told my mother-in-law when she moved in, "The number of kids we have depends on a lot of things, but a big one is how much extra help I have.  I can't do this without extra support."  And so her presence has been helpful as the last 2 of our kids were born while she has been here with us.  She was able, during those years, to hold infants, cut up grapes for toddlers, help them wash hands and go potty - an extra pair of hands and eyes (even legally blind eyes) - went a long way to supporting us in this crazy endeavour of raising a gaggle of kids.  Now it is the kids' turn to look in on her - to see if she is ok - to read aloud to her and to refill her sugar bowl.  This is how things go in our household. It is a big leap ...

Back in November I wrote a post about collecting Manna - I explained what Manna was in the Bible and how I am making a habit of observing the Manna God sends me each day.  Sometimes my eyes grow dim and it is hard to see the hand of God at work in my life.  Sometimes I jot down my days events and it is foggy looking back over the day and I feel like I am a spoiled child even wondering what God is up to.  Yesterday was not one of those days.  Nor the day before. Because God dropped Manna in my lap, and I think you'll like these accounts. The week after I wrote that, I received a generous gift - a cheque in the mail - with a note saying, 'Here's some manna to supplement your grocery budget.'  I kid you not.  It may be a helpful reference point to put this out there: My weekly budget for gas and grocery (everything except medical) is $255 U.S. (dollars, that is).  Is it crazy to think of feeding a household of 9 (including 17 year old son who can...

Someone recently posed the question about if animals go to heaven.  I'm not a huge animal lover - but I used to be, so there are remnants of that in me.  Here's my answer: I think animals have souls, but not souls like we do. The Hebrew word for soul is Nephesh, found in Psalm 23 'He restores my soul.' This word is also used to refer to animals in other parts of Scripture. However, in 1 Thess 5:23 there are 3 greek wo rds used in defining us: soul (psyche), spirit (pneuma) and body (soma) - In John 4:24 it says we worship in Spirit. Therefore, the part of us that is connecting to God, where worship occurs, where we meet with Him, is in our very spirits. Our souls are redeemed (see 2 Peter? or is it 1st - 'for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.') I don't believe animals sin or need redemption - they have an immaterial part of them that is soul-ish, but they are not part of humankind that experience rebellion or grac...

We're having family bonding watching the moon, freezing our fingers and toes, going outside repeatedly to see the progress.  So here are Caleb's pics of the moon tonight:

There was a child once born; her mother, a 19 year-old girl from the bush of Zambia.  She labored long, on a hot day in December, on a thinly padded, metal-framed, basic hospital bed - routinely checked and encouraged.  She was stoic, quiet, patient in her travails.  I watched and encouraged - I listened to her silent efforts and saw her face as she waited.  I held the Pinard Horn to detect the foetal heartbeat - the old instrument, still useful in the absence of reliable electricity, to determine if the baby is under distress.  I could hear the gentle thud of the heartbeat - faster than the mother's - and anticipated the moments to come - welcome this child to the world; even a sparse and unpredictable world, where a young single mother would face hardship in finding her way with a small infant. I had my own baby, Caleb, who was 6 months old at the time.  He was being looked after a few paces away while I assisted at this delivery.  My memories of ...