They never cease to amaze. . .

When Andrew came home from college for the summer, I fully expected him to grow his hair out "longish" like he did last summer. So you can imagine my surprise when he came home from the barber on Thursday with this haircut! I have a hunch he is going to try to grow a "soul patch," as knowing him he needs to find some way to be a non-conformist. I'm not complaining. . .

And, since it's Mother's Day, here's a shot of my daughter who now "looks down on me," especially when wearing 3-inch heels for church:

And one of my two children together, who had a lovely card waiting for me this morning--something that is more precious than a gift, especially when I know most of their money is going for GAS.

Thou art the Lord who slept upon the pillow;
Thou art the Lord who soothed the furious sea.
What matter beating wind and tossing billow
If only we are in the boat with Thee?
Hold us in quiet through the age-long minute
While Thou art silent, and the wind is shrill:
Can the boat sink while Thou, dear Lord, art in it?
Can the heart faint that waiteth on Thy will?

--Amy Carmichael

Sibling Rivalry 2008

The NEW source of sibling argument, a sign of the times:

"You can't take the Honda! I paid for the gas in it!"

Transition to summer

This is Andrew's room. Look closely. I go to pick him up from college today--he will be home working for four months, and his room will not look like this again until he goes back to school. At which time Mary Lee will re-appropriate his room and once again it will not look like this. So it may be years until we see it this nice again.

He has had a wonderful year. Maybe hasn't studied like he should have, but he has had a great time. Come to think about it, that's sort of typical of his life.

It will be another change of a summer. It will be different having Andrew "home from college" instead of "always lived here." It is the summer before Mary Lee's senior year, which also is an entrance into a new stage. Even though we will have adjustments again, I am looking forward to good times.

My Bookcase

Last week Mike finished painting the bookcase that has been out in the shop for several years. A good friend who is a cabinetmaker gave it to us when it didn't work out for a client. Finishing it up was part of my birthday from last December (but who's counting the months?). It actually came out lighter than we wanted--the first coat was bubble-gum pink, but we got the paint darkened at the hardware store. However, we've decided that it looks fine anyway and actually lightens up the room. I finally started putting books on it today (it does have shelves, just not shown in this picture), now that the paint has cured for a few days. It is wonderful to have a nice place out in the main living area to display my books, especially things like my Cherry Ames series that were a gift from my late father-in-law.

Big Night

It's a big night when your daughter goes to her first Junior-Senior banquet!

Memorial Service and Thoughts

Tonight on the news I watched footage of a memorial service at the Alfred Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, as today is the 13th anniversary of the bombing. This brings back memories to me, as Mary Lee at ages 5 and 6 was deathly afraid of Timothy McVeigh. You know how kids get things in their heads sometimes, and somehow in the years following the bombing she picked up on this story as we saw it on the news. We tried to assure her that he was in jail out west, that he could not possibly get out, but until he was finally executed she was afraid of him. I wonder how many other little children in our country were equally afraid.

A few weeks ago we became aware of another result. The girl that our nephew married back in February is the granddaughter of a couple who were killed in the devastation--former missionaries, a dental professor and his wife, an older couple who made the simple decision to take care of a business matter that morning in the Federal building. So, because of one man's twisted and sinful thinking, a lovely young lady was unable to have her grandparents at her wedding thirteen years later.

The repercussions of such a selfish act range far and wide.

Whew

A teachers' meeting, a shower I helped hostess, Wed. night church, a trip to Andrew's play chaperoning 25 students, the Junior-Senior, and a Powerpoint presentation to help prepare for the Junior-Senior. Those are the extras that I have to do this week. Other than that I just have to teach five classes every day and keep the house going.

Another letter from Selia

I got another email from Selia, my Chinese student friend, today. I sent her some little presents with the students from our school who have traveled there this month. (The "eggs" are Silly Putty, which I sent because it was the only thing I could find on short notice that was made in the USA.)

She writes me about once a month on email and often says "My dear Mrs. Bailes." I love to read her writing to observe the way she takes grammar and punctuation very seriously and really does quite well considering the differences in the two languages.

Every time I write her back, I let her know that I am "thinking" about her. Someday I hope to hear the news that those "thoughts" have contributed to another person being in the family.

My dear friend:
How is it going ? Is angthing fine with you ? I hope so!
I haven't writtin to you for so long ,and I really miss you !
I've gotten the gifts from Carl ,thank you so much ,I like the book ,it's a lillte hard but really interesting ! The socks are really cute ,I will take a picture if I wear them and send it to you ! And the things like eggs , we have these in China , but I don't know what they are in English ,sorry, they are so fun!
What are you doing these days ? Did something special happen ?
The American students have fun there ,and we had a great week ,they study Chinses and learn Chinses Kungfu every day ,and they just made kites yeaterday ,they will fly the kites on Monday if the weather is fine .
I really hope you can ccome to China ,and then I can see you again,then we can spend time together , and so on .
I can still remember you face because I keep a photo of you in my wallet ,then I can see you every time I open the wallet !
Love you !

YOURS
SELIA

Our Son the Actor

We watched Andrew play the part of Mr. Van Daan in the play ANNE FRANK last night. If I do say so myself, without any prejudice, he did a very good job!