After getting up early and going to buy flowers at Trader Joe’s and taking them to church where I arranged them for Sunday services, I went with daughter #1 to watch Lottie play lacrosse…
It was quite hot as you can see!
The young bud found a friend while he cooled off under a tree…
After that early start to the day, I took it easy! I read another D.E. Stevenson book (published in 1957)…
…and enjoyed it very much!
On Sunday I went to the early service so I could go to the bud’s last lacrosse game. We had a good sermon on Titus 3:1-8 and another really good Sunday School class. Then it was back to the lacrosse field to sit in the almost 90-degree heat! The bud (and most of the players) was less than enthused.
Summer in STL is upon us I’m afraid.
Meanwhile Katie and Ida were introduced to Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood–they were spellbound.
I will spare you a rant about Scottie Scheffler and the Louisville PD, but this about says it all. And this is perfect:
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, Let this blest assurance control, That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate, And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
Well, Daughter #1 here. I’ve been off for a few weeks. Work has been crazy for, honestly, the entire year thus far. Today, though, I wrapped up my final project on a long list. Hopefully, we can go a few days without starting a new list. I thought I deserved a large glass of wine at the end of the work day. Mr. Smith wanted one too.
Sadly, there is no wine on Mr. Smith’s menu. But he did get a Newman’s Own Beef Stick as a treat. Only the best for my pup.
In other news, as my Mother mentioned, I was sworn in as Chapter Regent this weekend. Not going to lie, I am fulfilling my old lady dreams a little earlier than anticipated, but at the same time, this is the closest I’ll get to being sorority president. I’ll spend the next few weeks studying this book and Robert’s Rules of Order.
Guys, why am I the coolest person you know?
Well, the mask I put on before I started drafting this has hardened and I can’t move my face. I’ll leave you with this Peanuts cartoon
Screenshot
and this song that has been on rotation the past few weeks. Happy Friday, we made it to another weekend!
The sun came out yesterday! Let the good times roll! However, the din from the cicadas has been so loud as to preclude sitting on the patio or even in the Florida room. I kid you not. When the boy and the little bud came over yesterday afternoon while Lottie was in dance class, they were totally amazed by the number in our yard, covering the ground and on the bushes and in the trees.
Meanwhile the peonies are blooming in central Illinois…
Last week you may recall that I recommended watching Tim Challies’ 10-part video tour “Epic”–a journey through Christian history. Since then, I have watched all 10 episodes: 24 countries, 6 continents, 75 flights, 80 museums! I will never travel to all of these countries, so I really appreciated the opportunity to do so–even vicariously and somewhat superficially–with Tim. Each episode is only 25 minutes long. You can do it a few days and it is well worth it.
Tim ends the last episode with a stop in Kansas City and the Spurgeon Library at the Midwest Baptist Theological Seminary. It’s right around the corner! We should visit!
(The photo at the top is the boy and daughter #1 at our old house circa 1989.)
This special art project at Katie’s pre-school seems very relevant for the week we are having in flyover country.
I watched the finale of the Westminster Dog Show last night–4 hours of over-groomed canines. The Westie did not win the terrier group.
I was not too taken with any of the contenders for Best in Show…
…and the winner was the crowd favorite (and my least favorite), the miniature French poodle–zut alors! I will refrain from commenting further.
It was fun to watch all the dogs and their special handlers–one fell flat on his face and caused quite an uproar, but his Welsh Terrier kept his cool.
And I liked this essay about Holy Ground. “He abides. On this narrow way, His presence makes all the difference, and this holy ground itself sings like a toddler in the backseat: God is with us.”
Have a good Wednesday. Pet a dog if you get the chance.
Welcome to flyover land: cicadas on gone-by Iris. Yuck-o. When you walk outside the cicada din is like something out of a SciFi movie. And we haven’t even reached our peek. I was going to take a picture of our front porch, but it is too gross. Use your imagination. (Here’s a photo from Fox2.)
The Iris were insane this year, but I have to say, I like the plainer ones. Some of them verge on the vulgar:
They are the dancehall girls of flowers.
I am not ungrateful–for weeks we have all been enjoying a really beautiful spring where the grass is green and lush and the flowering trees lovely and fragrant. But there are downsides to May. Cicadas, flash flooding and tornadoes to name a few. But we count it all joy when we meet trials of various kinds.
Indeed, we soldier on and enjoy the the upsides of May. It is a great month for birthdays! No one in my family has a May birthday, but lots of my favorite people do, including the Big Four: Bob Dylan (May 24), Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25), John Wayne (May 26), and Walt Whitman (May 31).
There are also these guys: Gary Cooper (May 7), Henry Fonda (May 16), James Stewart (May 20), Laurence Olivier (May 22), and Clint Eastwood (May 22).
So many reasons to throw a party! So plan accordingly.
After you’ve deadheaded all those iris blooms, take a break and watch an old movie, listen to an old song or read an old poem…
Such a busy weekend! Now I will have to recover–and it’s raining again. Well, maybe the cicadas will be washed away (I wish).
I won an auction for a dresser for daughter #2…
…so I had to figure out how to pick it up and transport it home. I traded cars with the OM and met daughter #1 at the house on Friday afternoon. We manhandled it into the SUV–we are women, hear us roar!–and made it home where we got it into the garage. Phew! We celebrated by going to happy hour. Later the OM went to Chick-fil-a and brought home dinner. We deserved it.
I know I sound like a broken record, but it amazes me how no one wants dressers anymore. Is this because everyone has custom closets? (I doubt it.) Or that bedrooms in new-build houses are too small? Anyway, it is possible to find a nice mid-century, made-in-North Carolina, wooden dresser for a song–I paid $40. There may be a few scratches, but nothing that a Tibet Almond Stick won’t fix. Certainly better than anything you can find at IKEA or really anywhere these days.
On Saturday I got up early and went to daughter #1’s DAR chapter meeting where she was installed as the new Regent…
…and awards were given to talented high school students…
(My photos are the worst, but you get the idea.) It was very nice and I am proud of daughter #1 for taking on this big responsibility.
I went to the early service at church on Sunday so that I could get an early start on the day. Our new young pastor was on fire and gave a really good sermon on Titus 2:11-15. Once again I am inspired to give up irreverent babble and pursue a self-controlled, upright and godly life in the present in-between age. The church was full and the singing was enthusiastic. I was content.
It was a beautiful day, so in the afternoon daughter #1 drove us to our favorite winery in Jefferson County. We sat in the sun and sipped wine while listening to the musical stylings of a jazz/rock (?) quartet. Listening to live music outside in the fresh air is always fun, even if it does all sound the same.
Daughter #2 and DN had the same idea…
The boy and his family watched the bud play lacrosse and then worked in their yard because that’s what daughter #3 wanted and Moms rule on Mother’s Day. I am certainly cool with that. We all had a fun Mother’s Day.
Earlier in the week daughter #2 went to a Mother’s Day tea at Katie’s pre-school where they went flyover all-out to make their Moms feel special.
Ya gotta love it!
P.S. The OM and I also went to a party for a young church friend who is graduating from WashU law school today. He is from Oklahoma and a fine young man. He gives me hope for the future.
It’s finally Friday and the sun is out, hopefully to stay through the weekend. Do you have something planned with your mother/grandmother/daughter/sister/aunt/family friend to celebrate Mother’s Day on Sunday?
If so, that’s very nice, but you could also just sit quietly and look out the window and think about all those ladies who have meant so much to you over the years and about those ladies who meant so much to them.
My mother with her mother c. 1927…
…and my father with his mother c. 1923…
Here’s my brother with our Aunt Donna c. 1951.
…and my sister with her niece (daughter #1)…
And then there are the mommies in training:
Or you could read a poem, such as “Piano” by D. H. Lawrence:
Last night as I awakened as usual at 4:15 a.m. (why?), I reached over to my bedside table and picked up The Mortification of Sin by the Puritan John Owen. (I am not ashamed to say the edition I have is abridged and “made easy to read” by Richard Rushing.) You may laugh and say, well, that must have put you back to sleep à toute vitesse, but actually I read for about an hour.
As you know, John Owen (1616 – 1683) was an English Noncorformist church leader, theologian, and academic administrator at the University of Oxford. He was also an aide and chaplain to Oliver Cromwell. The Mortification of Sin grew out of a series of sermons he preached while serving as Dean of Christ Church and Vice-Chancellor of Oxford.
Let, then, thy soul by faith be exercised with such thoughts and apprehensions as these: “I am a poor, weak creature; unstable as water, I cannot excel. This corruption is too hard for me, and is at the very door of ruining my soul; and what to do I know not. My soul is become as parched ground, and an habitation of dragons. I have made promises and broken them; vows and engagements have been as a thing of nought. Many persuasions have I had that I had got the victory and should be delivered, but I am deceived; so that I plainly see, that without some eminent succour and assistance, I am lost, and shall be prevailed on to an utter relinquishment of God. But yet, though this be my state and condition, let the hands that hang down be lifted up, and the feeble knees be strengthened. Behold, the Lord Christ, that hath all fulness of grace in his heart, all fulness of power in his hand, he is able to slay all these his enemies. There is sufficient provision in him for my relief and assistance. He can take my drooping, dying soul and make me more than a conqueror.
Heady stuff, I know, but far superior to scrolling on your phone in the middle of the night. Sinclair Ferguson says, yes, read John Owen on the mortification of sin, but turn to your Scriptures first, and that is good advice. I am currently reading the Psalms in my reading-the-Bible-in-a-year plan. The Psalms never disappoint–especially in the dark recesses of the night.
I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.
–Psalm 34:4
And here’s good news:Epic, Tim Challies’ video series about his round-the-world three-year journey, spanning multiple continents and some of the most unusual places in the world, is available and free to watch on YouTube. In it he searches for thirty-three carefully selected objects that help us understand the long and complicated history of Christianity. I watched the first episode where he travels to Jerusalem and Rome and the second where he goes to England. In that one he visits the cemetery where John Bunyan and John Owen are buried. I really enjoyed both episodes. I hope you do too.
Oh, and the cicadas have arrived. I had to sweep a lot of shells off the front porch!
Have a good day! If the weather allows, get outside and chuck a ball around.
The tornado sirens went off at 4:00 a.m. and then I couldn’t get back to sleep. It rained and thundered, but there were no tornadoes (thankfully) in our neck of the woods. A popular local pub in Sullivan, “known for its karaoke and friendly bartenders,” was demolished by a random twister, but that was all. Spring weather–always turbulent! And you can be sure there’s more on the way.
In other news, today marks the 147th anniversary of the Westminster Dog Show. The first Westminster show took place on May 8, 1877, making it second only to the Kentucky Derby, in terms of continuously held sporting events in the United States. (Both events were held despite the Great Depression, the two World Wars, and pandemic years.) It has been on TV each year since 1948. This year the Westminster Dog Show will run from May 11 to May 14. In case you were wondering, a Westie hasn’t won Best in Show since 1962, although terriers in general have been very successful. But is this a Westie?
Yikes. This is a Westie:
He has ears.
A new statue of Queen Elizabeth II was unveiled in Rutland, England on what would have been her 98th birthday.
I’m not sure how I feel about it. She kind of looks like a Disney princess.
And once again Anne articulates EXACTLY how I feel: “And the faithful Christian, who has finally unshackled himself [from a mainline denomination], for the first time in a long time, basks in the astonishing grace of being with other real Christians. I remember the first time I recited the Nicene Creed in the company of a room full of other people who all believed it without crossing their fingers, and how I began to cry, and bite my lip, because I didn’t even know it was a thing that could be.” I know that feeling!
So if you’re lost and wandering, come stumbling in like a prodigal child…
Today we remember the Victorian poet Robert Browning (1812-1889) who was born on this day 212 years ago. He wrote many long, wonderful poems including “My Last Duchess”, “The Pied Piper of Hamlin”, “Fra Lippo Lippi”, “The Ring and the Book” and many more.
I actually had a couple of lines from “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came” on my senior page. (Yikes.) Over the years he has had many detractors but also many fans, including Jorge Luis Borges, who wrote “Browning Decides to Become a Poet”:
Today he is probably as well known for his romance with poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning as for his poetry, but c’est la vie. His poems are pretty great. You can read some here.
And if you have a mind to, you could watch one or both of the two filmed versions of The Barretts of Wimpole Street.
So dust off an old college book and read an old poem by Robert Browning (or Borges).
The lark’s on the wing; The snail’s on the thorn; God’s in His heaven, All’s right with the world!
dual personalities 