Youth Orchestra Concert

This year has been a good one for Katherine and the youth orchestra. She's made friends, and the cello section worked well together as a team. 

They played their final concerts on Friday night in Little Rock and Sunday afternoon in Hot Springs Village.

Listening to the musical growth is one of my favorite parts of the youth orchestra. Aaron and I are so grateful for the years we spent honing our skills and playing fabulous music in this program.

Working with the conductor, Mr. Bruce, and the team of parent volunteers has brought us much joy this year. After the concert, we gathered one more time to celebrate with plastic flutes full of white grape juice and to express our thanks to the kids for their hard work.

 

On my bookshelf

 More and more, I'm fascinated by how neuroscience affects our walk with the Lord. I've started listening to "The Other Half of Church: Christian Community, Brain Science, and Overcoming Spiritual Stagnation" and have been pleasantly surprised at the combination of joy and community and spiritual growth.

I found "No Elevator to Everest: Shift from Survive to Thrive through Spirit-Led Self Awareness" on the 1000 Hours Outside podcast, but this book also falls squarely into the intersection of where neuroscience, emotional and mental health practices, and our spiritual walk.

I'm reading this one on my Kindle App because our library is shifting more and more from paper books to e-books. Each chapter has daily practices to encourage the reader to pay attention, approach gently, and be curious about what God is doing in each of us.

Marriage Monday

"To know and enjoy someone means to get close enough to understand them. Knowledge of someone else, true knowledge, is grounded in the idea of seeking understanding. When they are a problem to solve, we don't have to understand -- we just have to fix them or move them to where they need to be. It is mechanistic by definition and not human. To know them is to understand them.

To enjoy them is to go one step beyond understanding. It is to see enough about them and their own unique image-bearing quality to experience just a touch of delight. As if your knowledge of them leads to an organic appreciation of them. This is the enjoyment of another." 

~Will Acuff, "No Elevator to Everest"

I am slowly learning the truths in the above quote. How to see each other's unique image-bearing qualities without trying to fix one another. How to appreciate and enjoy my spouse. Katherine's rehearsals have provided a weekly opportunity for us to walk a trail and to stay connected through "coffee and calendar". This weekend, we were in Hot Springs Village for a youth orchestra concert, so Aaron and I returned to Melinda's Coffee Corner then meandered around the DeSoto Nature Trail. This was the last rehearsal and concert until school begins, so we'll no longer have our automatic date time together. We'll have to be more intentional about continuing to communicate well and to carve out time to play.

Sweet Sabbath

Gentle attention is really important. I can notice my fear and come to it with anger: "Ugh, here we go again. I hate this!" But then what I'm really doing is shaming myself. If I come to it with a sense of speed -- "Let's get this over with as quickly as possible" -- I am dismissing the fear as not that important. But if I approach my fear with a gentleness and a curiosity, I unlock the chance to really deeply learn from it. ~Will Acuff, "No Elevator to Everest"

The peonies are popping. They remind me to slow down, to take the time to approach my reactions with gentleness and curiosity.

 

Infinitely More

"There will be chapters in the story that God has written for us that will be very hard. But we must remember two things. First, he has written himself into the story so that he will always be with us, giving us what we could never give to ourselves. Second, what your Lord has written for you is not less than the plot you have written for yourself, but infinitely more." 

~P.D. Tripp, "Journey to the Cross"

Lately, it seems that grief has showed its face more than usual around here. Whether it has been small things like having to cover tender seedlings from storms and watching the tornados rip through our state, or events like death and divorce that leave a bigger hole, I'm tired. My eyes are puffy red with weeping.

Three family funerals in three weeks, each one claiming somebody younger and younger. The most recent one for my cousin in his early 30's who left behind a wife and a toddler, a full church and a line that wound around the parking lot. Not the chapter I would have written.

But I remember the ways He gives himself. Surely in the recent big celebration of Easter, but also in the delight of children planting beans. And the way the sunlight lights up the leaves of those beans. When I shared the picture of the two-week-old beans, Marin's response directed my heart to worship: "Oh, heart leaves just like I prayed for!" Infinitely more, indeed.

Easter

Easter was smaller than usual this year. Sarah brought one of her housemates to visit, and we instantly fell in love with Ruth. Saturday was full of baking coconut cake and strawberry trifle in preparation for Sunday's guests, but we found time to play Rails and Sails. It was one of the things Aaron brought back from the Solomon Islands.

The highlight of the weekend was introducing Ruth to Resurrection Cookies. 

We've been making them and sharing them for close to twenty-five years.

Sunday after church, our house quickly filled with loved ones from both sides of the family. 

Grandma didn't feel up to coming, and I keenly felt the hole of her absence. We fed fourteen this year and enjoyed the fellowship as we celebrated Christ's resurrection.

Good Friday

"O Lord, we want to skip ahead to Your resurrection, for it is painful to remember Your pain -- the torture, the death at the hands of people in power, the sacrifice of Your great love. We want to turn away. We want the storybook ending without any of the sorrows." 

~Kayla Craig, "To Light Their Way"

Good Friday was an odd combination of slow walks around the neighborhood to breathe in the newly blooming honeysuckle

and making hot cross buns as we have for so many years. Katherine played her cello for the Good Friday service at church, but Aaron and I were still reeling from our late night (early morning?), so we stayed home.

 

Marriage Monday

Sometimes we adventure together, and sometimes we need to go on separate adventures. Thankfully, we're learning ways to prepare for time apart.

Aaron's plane was scheduled to return around midnight, but it was running more than an hour behind. As his plane disembarked, I noticed one of my former bass players trudging wearily towards the exit. I snagged a quick hug from her just as Aaron walked around the corner.

We're back to cellotrio again! After falling into bed around 3:00 a.m., Friday felt foggy. We used the day to reconnect, picking up goodies from local farmers while sharing our hearts.

While we were out and about, we also took the opportunity to try a new coffee shop, Brew Yaya. Even without coffee, Aaron always bounces back from jet lag so quickly. When we got home, I planted more seedlings, and he surrounded the raised beds with chicken wire.

I have missed the many ways he loves our family through his proactive service to us. He's always looking for opportunities to make our lives better. To me, that feels like living underneath an umbrella of protection against the storms of life.

Life Lately

The plant sale was so much fun! Kids were running around playing, reminding me of how our own kids used to run around with their friends at SITAG. I covered my costs and spent time with some great people.

My Uncle Neil recently died, and I'm thankful I was able to attend his funeral. He was my grandfather's big brother. Both of these men were pastors who served faithfully for many years; they each had a great sense of humor alongside servant hearts.

Like the other branches of my family tree, the Schalchlin branch is a beautiful testimony of God's grace and faithfulness down through the generations.

 

Update from Marulaon

Aaron made a weekend trip out to the Russells to distribute trial editions of Matthew, and WOW did he have some stories to tell about God's provision and direction.

I've asked him to write down his experiences and look forward to recording God's faithfulness here soon. In just a few days, if everything goes according to plan (which it often doesn't), Aaron will be home, and we'll get to hear about his adventures face to face.

A Taste of Home

On Fridays, I make the rounds to my local farmers, including Rozark Hills for freshly roaszted coffee. On my most recent trip, I noticed they had single origin coffee from Papua New Guinea. Our son-in-law grew up in the heart of coffee growing Goroka.

I asked where the coffee was grown, and the answer was "In Papua New Guinea, near Indonesia." I explained that we had lived in PNG for a little while and that our son had grown up there, so I was curious if the coffee had come from Goroka. I went back into the large room filled with green coffee beans awaiting roasting, the woman working led me to the bag from PNG and sure enough, it was from Goroka. Then she told me they give away the empty coffee bags! Now I have a secret project to give to Connor :)

 

Planting Beans and Harvesting Bok Choy

The free package of baby bok choy that Baker Creek Seeds included with my order created a beautiful opportunity to spend time with my favorite preschoolers.

The little package produced enough plants to fill up a raised bed, so Marin, Elliot, and their beautiful mama, Lauren, came to help Katherine and me harvest the cabbage.

Both of the little ones were so careful, it was clear that their parents are training them to be comfortable outside in the garden.

I had been soaking the bush beans, so after we tossed all of the cute little cabbages into the basket, 

we poked holes in the ground and dropped a couple of seeds into each hole.

The cabbage cooked down so much that Katherine and I only got a few bites each, 

but I anticipate sharing our beans with this sweet family in a couple of months.

I love seeing through the lens of preschoolers. When I sent pictures of me cooking the cabbage, Marin was amazed at how much the greens cooked down.

Then her little brain connected the dots, and she said, "It does make sense because spinach disappears when you cook it!"

Sweet Sabbath

  "One of the signs that an object is functioning as an idol is that fear becomes one of the chief characteristics of life. When we center our lives on the idol, we become dependent on it. If our counterfeit god is threatened in any way, our response is complete panic." 

~Tim Keller, "Counterfeit Gods"

Sometimes, the smallest things surprise me by the grip they can take on my life. I might as well buy a little gold statue and call them what they are, idols! Most recently, I realized my little seedlings have been growing little roots into my heart while they expanded into their pots. I wouldn't have become aware, but Katherine helped open my eyes when she accidently backed the van over several trays of tomato and pepper seedlings sunning in the driveway.

My response shocked me. Why was I so upset about plants? Because I had invested money and time and energy for the last three months, and that investment had just been crushed. The upcoming plant sale might be threatened. The Lord graciously revealed my heart. He also provided many other sources of joy in which I had no way to take credit. These beautiful yellow irises were gifts from my friend, Lauren, several years ago. 

Babies and Spring

This time of year, babies seem to be everywhere! At church, one of the families just had a new baby, and the signup sheet to bring meals filled up quickly. My mom lost her beloved Roxie last year, and she was finally ready for a new puppy. Sassy and Katherine hit it off on their very first meeting. Puppies, really babies of any kind, bring so much joy!

The long beans are sprouting, creating cute little baby plants. These slow growers will thrive in the heat and humidity of late summer as they climb the trellis. At least we don't have to worry about the pesky parrots eating the beans out of the pods like we do in the Solomon Islands.

It's time to plant the first round of bush beans in the ground, so I'm soaking them overnight. I'm trying some new varieties, and I have some joyful little helpers coming to assist me :)

Spring Blossoms and Berries

My favorite time of year is here! Spring always dazzles me with its flowers and sunshine and FRUIT! Local strawberries have no equal. I hope to gorge on fresh strawberries and freeze and dehydrate the rest, bring on the flats and flats of berries :)

Katherine joined the other homeschooled students in our county for a Spring Formal. She also made cream puffs with a mixture of homemade chocolate pudding and whipped cream filling to share at the after party. She's turning into quite the chef!

Our apple tree is full of blossoms this year. We're hopeful that the torrentia downpours for three days didn't prevent pollination at a crucial time so we can harvest a bounty of Arkansas Black apples in October.

 

Update from the Solomon Islands

Aaron is certainly enjoying the view from his apartment in Honiara. It's the highest on our branch's property, has a huge veranda, cathches the breeze, and gets beautiful sunrises AND sunsets.

The team has been putting in long hours to finish the group checking of Matthew. They hope to take trial editions out to the villages in time for Palm Sunday and Holy Week, make any needed changes, and finally finish checking with a consultant within the next few months.

Aaron has also been helping the team with any IT problems they may be having and teaching them how to keep their equipment in the best shape possible. Prayers appreciated for the trip out to the Russell Islands as Aaron reconnects with Marulaon Village and distributes trial editions of Matthew.