It has come to my attention that my book link on an earlier blog does not actually take you to my book.  After a number of questions on the issue, I wanted to post the steps to get there for you. 

Go to blurb.com. 
Click on the bookstore tab. 
Enter 'The Nature of God' in the search window. 
When the book comes up click on the cover to order. 

Hopefully that will get you there. It is about $45.  I know that is a bit high, but it is considered a coffee table book because of the quality photos.   If you cannot find it let me know and I will try another way.  All the little short cuts I have tried have not worked on this blog site....so I guess everyone will just have to navigate their way to it by following the steps I just listed.  Happy reading!

I do not know if you have seen the movie or not.  It is Jack Nicolson, and Morgan Freeman.  I knew a little about it before we went to see it.  Two older men that had a few months to live go on a trip around the world.  I do not usually like Jack Nicolson…he is a great actor, but his characters are usually arrogant and crude.  I hadn’t planned to see this movie.  But the word at school was that it was a wonderful one…not to miss, so we went.  I have to say it was a heart wrenching, tear jerker for me.  The reason was that their characters had cancer. The shaving of the hair was a bit too familiar.  There was a small of chemo footage that brought back some memories that caused my tears to flow early.  In the movie their reactions to the chemo were worse than mine (brain cancer is much more aggressive treatment than what I had), but the chills and the groaning from bone pain were all too real to me.

 Before you get the idea that it was all about cancer, let me assure you that section was brief.  Just long enough for you to connect with the reality of the disease.  Without giving away the whole movie I will say that they began their journey to live fully.  Priorities were changed as they moved through the list of things they wanted to do before “kicking the bucket.”  It was funny, and somber, and made me think about how grateful I am to have a new perspective on life. 

The people in the theatre were moved as well and you could hear the tears all around.  However, when it was over I noticed that most people just hopped right up and moved on quickly.  I, on the other hand, did not.  I was taken by the closeness of possibility.  I have lived, though on a much smaller scale, what this movie was about.  It was hard to just act like all was well for me when it was over.  Not because of the sadness but because of the grief that other people did not stop to consider the whole point of the movie, which was how are you living your life?  What are your priorities and what is really important?  The movie was a reminder that life is short and that we should stop for a moment and consider that fact.  Overall, I would highly recommend this movie.  It was moving but not so much that it was depressing.  There was a great deal of humor that needs to be seen.  Laughing in the midst of illness and the fact that life should be fun no matter what your circumstances were two of the themes of the movie.  I didn’t really intend to write a movie review but I as read over this that appears to be what I have done…thumbs up…do not miss this one.

What a glorious day.  Do not ever let anyone tell you that teachers don't enjoy a day off more than the kids.  It was so nice to sleep in and enjoy my kids in the snow.  We had a late breakfast, then headed out to war.  We sledded, kind of, not too much more than slush so it was slow going.  We ambushed one another.  Bill and the older boys took on Peter, Hannah and me.  No one won, but we all got wet and worked up a sweat. 
I needed to be doing research, but couldn't bring myself to do it.  After all, if I am living life fully that means spending time that God sends with my husband and kids.  It was a family day and with no deadlines or places to be, and it was relaxing.  God knew that I needed this kind of day.  My thesis work is heating up in grad school so I am enjoying every moment to rest and relax and even procrastinate. 
I always love the quiet mornings of a white blanket over everything, so crisp and clean.  The dirt and mud are hidden by the pure white covering.  It reminds me of Gods grace and how it completely covers... no, removes the dirt and junk.  The hymns talk of being washed whiter than snow and on mornings like this I think I can gain a deeper understanding of what that really is like.  Then suddenly there are voices and giggles and laughter, without a care in the world except creating the perfect snowball.  Running, sliding, and throwing are the order of the day.  All regular activities are suspended, and fun is wrapped in cold white snowballs.  Another glimpse into our lives with God.  We should take a lesson from snow days.  Playing and enjoying Gods grace.  Rolling in it.  Sharing it with each other and frolicking as children in the snow.

This weekend had been a long one.  We took a trip to Charlotte, only this time we left early on Friday to stop by Furman on the way.  We are beginning the school search for Aaron.  Having Hannah and Aaron leave in two years time is like a one two punch.  Where Hannah has known for a long time where she wanted to go, Aaron has no clue.  And he is the analytical one so he will need a great deal of data before he is willing to decide.  We have already started looking.  He really liked Furman and is not willing to cross it off his list just yet.  After Furman we took a trip to UNC Charlotte, and it is already off the list.  He did not like the feel of the big campus.  We met up with Hannah and William when we visited some friends for dinner as a nice end to a long day.  Saturday we went to our doctors office and sat for most of the day.  Then we waited in a pharmacy line forever!!  Bill was driving Hannah's car on the way home when it had a flat tire. Since I was a few minutes ahead of him he called to tell me but didn't feel he needed me to come back.  He quickly got the tire changed and let me know he was on the road again.  Just as I was crossing into SC he called again to say that the spare had gone flat!  I had to turn around and go back almost to Charlotte to pick them up.  We had to find a place to get a tire (Thank God for Walmart) and someone to fix it.  By the time all of that was done it was dinner time and all the resturants in the town we were in had lines out the doors.  We were tired, grummy and hungry...I refused more fast food.  So we finally found a Golden Corral and ate dinner.  Much more chipper we drove home arriving around 12:30 am.  As I said it was a long weekend.  It was helpful in the college search however, and in the fact that both Hannah and Aaron got practice at changing a tire :)   Silver lining....

The new year has arrived in all of its glory.  The trees are dancing and singing today and there is a dusting of snow covering the ground.  The winds are bitter but the sun is gloriously shouting for me to take note of the clear blue sky.  It is 2008. With the arrival of the new year comes a time of resolution, usually for me that means a diet among other things.  This year, however, I am not calling it a diet.  I am going to live healthy and if I happen to loose weight so much the better.  Another resolution is to keep writing, as often as possible.  I know that my thesis will require much of my writing to be research…yuck!  But I can see the light at the end of that tunnel coming in May with my graduation. Hopefully my other kinds of writing will not go dormant in the meantime! 

I think that the new year for me is a time to take stock of life.  I try to reconnect with God during the cold winter months.  For me the dormant time of winter is a time to dig deeper in the word, and renew my relationship with him.  I am full of gratitude this year because I am celebrating one year cancer free…today…Jan. 2^nd!  My kids have named this day Mommy’s Alive Day.  And we begin a new tradition of marking this day of victory as a family.  We have done this for years for Bill on Feb. 2^nd to mark his survival of the accident.  I started it when I read in Deut. that God told the children of Israel to make memorials to remind them of God’s deliverance.  The memorials were made of stones and were erected in the desert whenever there was a significant event.  This way when they passed by the markers they could tell their children the story of God’s victory.  I began marking the years after Bill’s accident to remind us that God spared him and healed him because there is a plan for his life.  When our children got old enough they also began to celebrate this day of victory as well.  We usually go out for a family dinner to mark the day.  Now I have my own day and our kids will be reminded at least twice a year that God is powerful and he can deliver his people from disaster.  We will thank him for that today in 2008.  We will pray for a healthy year of transition as Hannah moves out this year and our lives begin yet another season.  We also thank God for all of you and ask him to bless you with a Happy New Year.

Hello everyone…did you think I had fallen off the planet.  I haven’t…I have just been enjoying a busy holiday season.  I have noticed that not as many people are reading my blog over this break so I have slacked off in writing.  It has been nice, but for me, writing it kind of like breathing.  I have to do it.  So while the break has been nice I am now exploding in my head and heart from the lack of expression!  Here is my yearly Christmas reflection.

            Have you ever lost a dear friend or family member, either by the severing of the relationship or by death?  The grief is heavy, the memories strong.  This year Mom and Dad are preparing to sell Cloudwood in Clayton.  For those of you who don’t know, my parents live on some gorgeous mountain property in Rabun County , and they bought it when I was probably 6 or so.  It has been a place of retreat and refuge for all of us for nearly 40 years.  It is a part of us.  Like a friend that you have to say goodbye to, we have all begun our grieving process and it started this Christmas.  We each wrote our favorite memory of the house to share.  Mom and Dad gave gifts with stories attached.  The bird’s nests we had collected over years were distributed, along with pottery, books, and old family heirlooms.  It was a bittersweet day with tears and laughter.  We remembered good times and told stories of the past.  From childhood games of hide and seek to adult walks through the pasture, it was a heartfelt day of emotion as we spent, what could quite possibly be, our last Christmas in Clayton.

            I have often heard that the only thing that remains the same is change.  I think it is true.  Change is part of life no matter how much we might wish otherwise.  Children grow up, loved ones die, children are born…time moves on.  I remember Christmas at my Aunt Polly’s house, then at my grandmothers, then to Clayton.  With each change has come the challenge of creating new traditions while not loosing sight of the old.   We have said goodbye to family members and welcomed new ones.  What has remained constant is the love of family.  William put it well when we were discussing Clayton, “The stuff doesn’t matter if the people aren’t there.  As long as I can see grandma and grandpa it doesn’t matter where we are.”  That is quite insightful for a 14 year old.

            This special place seems to have its own life.  It is like part of the family, and that is what makes it hard.  Leaving Cloudwood behind feels like a death or divorce.  If I look at it practically, it is wood and nails.  That is all…just a beautiful shelter on the top of a mountain.  At the same time it is so much more than that.  So much of my view of life was shaped there, so many memories wrapped up in the wind.  Part of me will always be there, so it is like loosing myself in some ways…an empty spot in my heart.  It’s not like we go there that often, a few times a year, but knowing that there is a place to escape to if life gets overwhelming or I just need a quiet moment, is like an anchor to my soul.  It will be hard to let this place go. Two of my favorite things are there, family and nature.  This place has been one of God’s classrooms in my life.  He has taught me and instructed me about himself, about relationships, about nature and beauty. He has spoken to me through the trees and mountains, the stillness and the storms.  This is the place I first realized that all creation worships him and speaks of his glory.  Learning to reflect on that, and to carry it with me, has been my life lesson from him. 

The grief of loosing this family-building piece of paradise will be real.  We will all miss it and grieve in our own ways.  Hannah had a dream that they decided not to move and we had to give back all of our heirlooms.  I am secretly wishing that somehow it could be turned into a retreat center and we could still reserve it for family events. Peter wants to take up a collection from our friends so we can buy it.  William wants to give it to someone who really needs a home.  We are all trying to hang on when God is requiring us to let go.  It is human nature to hang on when he says, “Let go…I have something else for you now.”  He has blessed us with the ability to remember and to treasure those memories; to share all the good times with future generations.  We can shape the future with our stories of this place and this family.     There will always be a special spot in my heart for this place called Cloudwood, but as William said, it is the love of family and friends that stands the test of time.  The place is secondary. 

I am pleased to announce my new book.  It is called The Nature of God.  I did the writing, much of it is from this very blog page.  My dad did the photographs.  I created this book for his Christmas present as a gift to him.  Now that he has received the very first copy I am letting all of my regular readers know about it. Many of you have probably recieved an email about it already. 
I have felt the Lord has wanted me to write a book and this is my attempt to obey.  I have more to write and share in the future but this is my starting place.  It is a beautiful photo book that would be a great coffee table book.  As you can imagine I am thrilled to have it published.  I could not seem to get the tag to work here so I am including a link for you to find it at the blurb bookstore online. Just copy and paste the address into your browser.  When you get to the bookstore, enter The Nature of God in the search window and click go.  When you see the book cover just click on it.  You can preview the first few pages if you choose preview.  Let me know what you think even if you don't buy it.        Do not forget...Live Fully!!!
 http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/invited/-/f3f43fdca1

My friends the Kingtons are having to be flown to Macon with their little one that has Lukemia because there are no ICU beds here in Atlanta.  Can you imagine that?  No beds for a child.  Please keep them in your prayers.  She was doing well and had made it to a lighter more long term dose of chemo, but her blood pressure dropped in the night to life threatening levels.  Pray for that family as this is a roller coaster ride of emotions.  Not to mention the fact that Kenn is still doing his job...comedy, in the midst of all of this. 
Next, please pray for all of the people in ICU.  The fact that they are flying Kennedy Grace to Macon in the middle of the night stuns me.  I cannot imagine how many sick people there are this season.  I guess my heart goes out to all of them because I am NOT sick this year.  I know all too well how miserable it is to have doctors poking and treating you.  It is a lifestyle I do not care ever to repeat.  I wouldn't wish it on anyone especially at Christmas.  Please pray for the families of those and that there would be good news in the form of Jesus this season for them.  Thank you, as always, for your regular support of the prayer needs I give...including my own.  Have a wonderful holiday with your friend and families.

Twelve years ago at Christmastime, our family decided to drive through Burt’s Pumpkin Farm to see the Christmas light display. We had heard it was great for kids.  They had marshmallow roasting and hot cider, a great family set up. The main draw for us was that it was close, just a short drive to Dahlonega.  For a few years prior to this time, we had driven to Christmas at Callaway for a spectacular open air shuttle ride through the gardens.  Beyond the light show, the kids made Christmas crafts and had holiday favorites like gingerbread men and hot chocolate.  It was a wonderful tradition, but distance, and 3 kids five years old and under made it a challenge to get there.

This particular Christmas I was great with child.  I had a whole new respect for Mary, let me tell you.  Determined not to let the fact that I was huge and overdue affect our family light tradition, we set out for Burt’s. When we arrived we climbed aboard the hay ride and bundled up under blankets.  It was a lovely, short ride on a cold December night.  I was reminded of the Holy family’s journey and I was glad I wasn’t on a donkey. I had to be helped down off of that tractor as we tried to keep up with the kids. Rounding them up was easy once they saw the marshmallows.  We gathered around the fire to eat charcoal on a stick…at their ages slow and easy wasn’t a concept they understood. We piled in the car and headed for home.  It was an exhausting evening for my oversized tummy.  I fell into the bed and deep sleep immediately…until 2:00a.m. when my first contraction hit.

I woke Bill and said, “Let’s go.”  He didn’t believe me, because I was forever in false labor with all three of the others.  I, on the other hand, knew that we had to make it from Clermont Ga. to Dunwoody to the hospital there.  I also knew that this was a hard and fast contraction, not a milder early labor one. We were up and out in just a few minutes and by the time we made it to I-85 we were beginning to wonder if I would have this baby in the car.  At the hospital we waited for the doctor to arrive, thinking we were settling in for a long labor.  I kept feeling that these contractions were especially hard, but the nurse assured me that they were piggy back contractions which seem much stronger because one starts before the other ends.  When the doctor arrived he broke my water and said we were ready to go!  No time for medicine!  Yikes…so how did Mary do this anyway???  I hope that Joseph was as good at helping as my husband was.  He brought me through one contraction at a time.  When the doctor had to adjust the baby’s position, I cried out to Jesus for the entire world to hear!  It was Christmas; after all…it couldn’t hurt to remind the whole hospital at 5:00 a.m. that he still answers prayer!  Shortly, I mean one or two pushes later, baby Peter Josiah was born. 11 pounds.  No wonder I screamed with no medication!   

This year my baby is 12 on 12/12.  It is another sign that time is moving on quickly.  It is also a reminder to me that God came to the world in the form of a baby completely dependent on humans to care for him.  Every birth, especially this time of year, is a picture of his heavenly plan. 

Happy Birthday Peter!

As frustrated as I have been this year at work I wanted to share a great moment.  Last night we had our Christmas
Around the World celebration.  My classes have been working since Halloween on a project for this evening.  I used the event to teach many concepts in a unit on drama.  The kids wrote, acted in, and created sets for a reader's theatre. We researched a country and the Christmas traditions with it. The kids came up with the theme, story, problem, solution and characters.  They voted on each of these and decided what they would best like to use.  I wrote it into a dialog.  They were so excited to be a part of the creative process by making this reader's theatre. (For those of you that are not education people--That is a play that is acted out WITH the scripts in hand...it teaches students to read more fluently because they have to practice over and over) 
It was a wonderful night.  One of my classes had probably 50 parents show up the other probably had 25 or so.  That many in attendance is unheard of!  It was a huge success.  One student summed it up when she said, "This is the best night of my life!"  That, my friends, is why I continue to do what I do despite the heavy load it requires...