Mom's Brag Book

My daughter Ashley is getting married next June (have I mentioned that before?)  She and Daniel recently had engagement photos taken by Daniel's best man, Andrew Guerra.  

This is the post where I unashamedly and without reserve, show off pictures of my beautiful daughter and her handsome fiancee.  This, after all, is the reason we have blogs and go through all the fuss and bother of getting on the internet in the first place.  

I think Andrew did an amazing job.  All of the pictures were beautiful and I had a hard time choosing - but these are a few of my favorites.  Enjoy!

If music be the food of love, play on.

William Shakespeare

It is difficult to know at what moment love begins; 

it is less difficult to know it has begun.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

For, you see, each day I love you more,

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow.

Rosemonde Gerard

Love is a great beautifier.
Louisa May Alcott

Brief is life but love is long.

Alfred Lord Tennyson

Life is a flower of which love is the honey.
Victor Hugo

 

Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens,

       your faithfulness to the skies.

Psalm 36:5 (NIV)

Autumn Reverie

Oh, Fall!  I miss you.

I know, it actually is fall here in Orange County.  The weather is even trying to cooperate, with cooler, overcast days and some rainfall thrown in for good measure, but it's just a fake California version of what fall should really be.  It's missing all the bells and whistles - that certain 'something'.  I must admit, even though I love living in southern California, every year, right around this time, I get nostalgic and think back on those beautiful fall days we enjoyed when we lived in Canada.

I guess it's a bit harder this year because Steve got a chance to go back and visit and he was bragging on the phone about how beautiful it is - how perfect the weather is, how spectacular the leaves are, how crisp the air is - yaddah, yaddah, yaddah!  Sure Steve, rub it in.

That, and the fact that he's spending time with my his family, who I am dying to see.  I promise you, I'm happy for him, really....no, really!

Anyway, back to fall.  I think, next to summer it's my favorite season.  It may even be tied for first place.  If we could just have fall, then summer, then fall, then summer, that would be perfect!

Winter - forget it!  You can have the snow, the cold, the slush, the gray.  I've lived most of my life without white Christmases and I don't dream about them.  I know, there are some hardy souls who genuinely love winter, but most of you who live in colder climes will agree, after one snowfall (two at most), that white stuff loses its charm.

Spring - we get flowers year-round - lots of flowers.  They are beautiful and I love them, but I think you have to survive the muck and slush of winter to really appreciate spring.

Summer - we invented that in California.  I love it and we get plenty of it.

Fall - sigh!  This is what I think back on when I start reminiscing.

This is my firstborn with her dog Fred.  She is now an adult woman, engaged to be married, but when she was a little girl, we lived in Canada.  Back then we only had one child - she was it.

We lived in the city but Steve's parents had a beautiful home on a large piece of property out in the country (that first picture is the lane leading up to their house).  We loved going out there on weekends, especially in the fall.  I would cut big branches of fall leaves and bring them back to the city to decorate our downtown apartment.

First, there are the autumn smells - the acrid smokey scent of fires burning in fireplaces, the musky earthy smell as the leaves pile up on the ground, not to mention the cinnamon aroma of apple pie baking in the oven.  There's that feeling in the air, that snap of cold that makes you pull your jacket closer and reach into the back of your closet for your favorite pair of boots.

Then, there are the sounds - the satisfying crunch of leaves under your feet as you stroll through the fallen leaves,  the swish of the rake as you gather them into a pile, and the squeal of laughter as the kids leap into the mounded piles of leaves.

But, most of all, it is the sights - the glorious sight of those leaves on the trees- crimson, orange, scarlet and yellow - a truly magnificent display.  It is awe-inspiring and breath-taking and I miss it!

Our ladies group is doing a wonderful study on the names of God called "Knowing God By Name" by Mary A. Kassian.  This past week, one of the names of God that we discussed was Yahweh Borey - Lord Creator.  We talked about the fact that God created this incredible world for his pleasure and for ours.  So often we take for granted the beauty and the majesty of the world around us.  It's just there, the sky, the trees, the ocean, the mountains.

We were challenged to really take time to pause and look around, to develop that sense of awe and wonder.  That a God so powerful would take the time to create so much beauty for us to enjoy, is an incredible thought.  That is how much he loves us.  I don't know about you, but I am determined to appreciate his gifts more, and if you are blessed with those spectacular fall leaves, send pictures!

"I don't think the way you think.
   The way you work isn't the way I work.
         God's Decree.
For as the sky soars high above earth,
   so the way I work surpasses the way you work,
   and the way I think is beyond the way you think.
Just as rain and snow descend from the skies
   and don't go back until they've watered the earth,
Doing their work of making things grow and blossom,
   producing seed for farmers and food for the hungry,
So will the words that come out of my mouth
   not come back empty-handed.
They'll do the work I sent them to do,
   they'll complete the assignment I gave them.
So you'll go out in joy,
   you'll be led into a whole and complete life.
The mountains and hills will lead the parade,
   bursting with song.
All the trees of the forest will join the procession,
   exuberant with applause.
No more thistles, but giant sequoias,
   no more thornbushes, but stately pines—
Monuments to me, to God,
   living and lasting evidence of God." 
 ^{Isaiah 55:8-11 (MSG)}

Personal Heroes - Eleanor & Aleisha

Yesterday I watched a video that somebody posted on Facebook.  It was incredibly disturbing.  I can't get it out of my mind.  Here it is.



This video is upsetting on so many levels.  The whole interview is not available to view but apparently Ms Ironside, throughout the course of the interview, lumps "the fatherless", and "the disabled" into the category of unwanted children.  In her pro-choice worldview, this is all it takes to deem a child unqualified to live.

I hardly even know where to begin with this and I have to admit, I had to pause and take a moment to breathe and reflect so I could prayerfully respond to this woman's foolish remarks.  Instead of spending my time pointing out how (deeply) flawed her reasoning is, I thought I would, instead, draw a contrast and use this as an opportunity to highlight a couple of my personal heroes.

Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless;
       maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.
Psalm 82:3 (NIV)

I have had the great privilege of knowing many disabled and special needs people throughout my life.  They are a constant source of inspiration as they meet life's challenges with a sense of joy and wonder and overcome the obstacles of everyday living.  Behind the scenes, tirelessly cheering them on, is a team of parents, teachers, and caregivers who are devoted to caring for these precious souls.  One of these was Eleanor Prime.

Eleanor was a force to be reckoned with.  She devoted her life to caring for the developmentally disabled and worked as a special education teacher in Orange County schools for over thirty years.  When she retired she came to her pastor, my dad, and asked what she could do to help serve in the church.   They discussed the great need for a ministry geared toward developmentally disabled adults.  At the time, no such ministry existed in a church in Orange County and Eleanor knew how desperately the families of these precious people would benefit from such a program.

The call went out from "Mrs. Prime" and before long former students and their families were gathering together on Sunday mornings and throughout the week for various social events.  We never imagined how much these incredible people would impact our congregation and they became vital, integrated members of the church body.

As an extension of this ministry, Eleanor wanted to build a group home to house these adult children in the event of the death of their parents.  So many of these parents had expressed their fears to her over the fate of their children as they were aging.  With tireless determination, the Eleanor Prime Group Home became a reality.

There are some people who you expect will live forever.  Eleanor Prime was such a person.  Her sudden illness and death left a gaping hole in the lives and hearts of those who loved her and knew her best.  Personally, she helped me navigate the maze of 504's and IEPS's within the public school system.  She was someone I could always count on for sound advice, a helping hand and a warm hug.

Mrs. Prime is with her heavenly Father, but she lives on in the Eleanor Prime Group Home and the sweet group of ladies who reside there.  When we are privileged to have them join us at church on Sunday, I see the legacy of my dear friend living on.

We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
I Thessalonians 1:3


My other personal hero is my niece Aleisha.  She is a non-stop OMG on-fire ball of energy~ LOL!  She doesn't answer a question in single syllable responses - ever, but in rapid-fire stream-of-consciousness dialogue.  BTW, she is beautiful, sweet and generous, to a fault.

Aleisha is an Educational Assistant (EA), and works with kids who have special needs or learning disabilities.  She is also a respite caregiver to one very special boy.  His name is Caleb and he is my nephew and her cousin.

Caleb is autistic and Aleisha is the angel who provides Nadine and Randy with the much-needed breaks that every parent of an autistic child so desperately needs.

Aleisha is a miracle child.  She beat the odds when she was born severely premature and despite the doctor's dire predictions for her health and her life, is a living, breathing testimony of God's answered prayers.  She should not have survived her mother's traumatic pregnancy.  She was not supposed to survive the first days of her life.  I remember her tiny little body in the hospital and how we all prayed every day that she would make it through one more night.

 

Clearly, Aleisha made it through.  She's a fighter and now she is fighting for those with special needs and the disabled.  She's an Eleanor Prime in the making.  

The contrast is clear between my two incredible heroes and someone like Virginia Ironside.  She is to be pitied and to be prayed for.  She lives her life with hopeless resignation and fatalism.  My heroes have lived and are living their lives with faith in the One who gives life, with determination to make others lives better and make every life count.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. 

John 10:10 (NAS)