July Bounty

Oh, July bounty poured in from every corner.  Our beautiful farmers market, Hannah and Benjamin's wedding, our anniversary, so many birthdays.

I made my mom a birthday cake (well, really it was four layer delight, which in my book is a million times better than cake) and we took it out to where she was camping for the weekend.

I found this treasure and just had to add it to our Arkansas home.

We discovered a text after church from one of our adopted kids asking if he could spend the night on his way back to Dallas, and of course we said yes!  The Choate Bed and Breakfast is always open for visitors.

This new-to-me dynamic duo of author and illustrator popped up in one of my professional development sessions, and now I can't get enough of these guys.  Books like "The Smart Cookie" and "The Bad Seed" help children and adults engage in meaningful discussions.

I finally took the plunge and registered for grad school.  Slowly but surely, on both sides of the ocean, I hope to continue to build my tool chest for teaching stringed instruments.

Twenty-Five Years of Marriage

We celebrated small and hidden, just like most of the work that has gone into our marriage of twenty-five years.

A little cabin nestled in Oark served as home base as we searched for more waterfalls, 

and traipsed around portions of the Ozark Highlands Trail.

We took time to continue working our way through Chip Ingram's study "Experiencing God's Dream for Your Marriage"

but we also made time for personal reading.  I haven't read fiction in such a long time, but the new book "The Murder of Mr. Wickham" was the perfect quick and enjoyable read as Jane Austen characters all gathered into one book!

We only took two nights away, but we crammed lots of beautiful hiking and sweet remembrances into our celebration of God's faithfulness.

I'm still in awe that He could take two people as night and day different as we are, and could forge a strong and growing marriage.

When we returned, we asked Katherine to join us for supper.  She is the best third wheel!  Our moms were very generous and provided a fancy meal for us to cap off our special time together.

 

The day after the wedding, my siblings and our kids who were still in town gathered to enjoy AdventureLand.

I've said it before, I'm a firm believer in the old adage "Families that pray together, stay together."

But I also hold to the tenet "Families that play together, stay together."

We live so far away from each other...the families that played together were from St. Paul, Minnesota; Portland, Maine; Conway, Arkansas; and Dallas, Texas. 

And we momentarily added a spunky little girl to the family when we asked her mom to pause and take our picture!

We laughed and roller coastered so very hard.

It was the perfect way to spend the day between the wedding and the long road trip home.

 

Sweet Sabbath

Yes, we need the rudder of the left brain, but without the current of our right brain, our boat goes nowhere. ~Curt Thompson, M.D., "The Anatomy of the Soul"

With all of the left brain tasks to be accomplished and long "to do" lists looming, sometimes I need the reminder to allow my right brain to soak up and enjoy God's creation of so many beautiful things.

Wedding Weekend

 In an age hostile to the keeping of promises, 

may you stand side-by-side, defending always and with great passion your holy pledge to one another;

 and may your souls be shaped, through joy and sorrow alike, 

by long obedience to those good promises.

May your love for one another overflow in blessing to all who have the joy of knowing you.

May the world be better loved because of your passion for each other.

May the flame of your love never wane, but burn ever fiercer across the years,

that even in old age you would remain well springs of one another's delight.

May your home be ever a haven of tenderness.

May you never retreat from one another in your woundedness.

Rather, when you feel most vulnerable, when you feel most hurt, 

may you learn in those moments most of all, to lean in to your love, 

holding it all the more precious for the sacrifices it requires.

May your shared story be one of courage and creativity, 

of conviction and compassion as you co-labor in the light of that better kingdom of which you are true citizens.  

Along your path through this life, may you build together bright beacons,

 that those generations still to follow might one day walk 

in your illuminated footprints towards that eternal city.

from "Every Moment Holy"

Prelude to a Wedding

I will argue that it is only through this process of being known that you come to know yourself and learn how to know others.  There is no other way.  To be known is to be pursued, examined, and shaken.  To be known is to be loved and to have hopes and even demands placed on you.  It is to risk, not only the furniture in your home being rearranged, but your floor plans being rewritten, your walls being demolished and reconstructed.

~Dr. Curt Thompson, "Anatomy of the Soul"

Staying an entire week for the wedding festivities was cheaper than only five or six nights, so the Monday before Hannah and Benjamin's wedding we hit the road for Des Moines.  Our first stop was to eat lunch with Bree, my friend and personal trainer.  Pho Thanh provided a refreshing visit!

We always look for local coffee shops for pit stops along the way, and we found a cute one in Butler, MO, Cafe Affogato.  Coffee and ice cream are always a good combination.

Speaking of ice cream, another good place for a stretch is the tried and true Dairy Queen.  Their mini blizzards were exactly right to refuel and hit the road again.  I always get the turtle pecan cluster, but Aaron tried the very cherry chip and Katherine enjoyed the drumstick Blizzard.

We stayed in an old house that reminded me so much of the one in which I grew up, with push button lights and creaky floors.  The Air BnB was on the same property as Dogpatch Urban Garden, so we had fresh, local produce at our fingertips!

Nearby, a "rails to trails" conservancy gave us a beautiful place to go move each morning.

The rest of family joined us on Tuesday, which isn't a small thing, considering several of them are taking classes and working this summer.  Our time together was precious.

And fun.  And full of more ice cream.

More friends and family began to trickle in,

and wedding preparation began in earnest.  Hannah and Benjamin kept everything simple and easy, and one of my favorite things was to get rid of the traditional first dance (father of the bride/bride and mother of the groom/groom) and replace it with their arrangement of a popular song.  Hannah's dad and I played along as Hannah and Benjamin sang.

But at our first rehearsal, I realized that my rockstop was still in Arkansas.

Thankfully, Becker Violin Shop had them in stock, and their store was close to our Air BnB.

Katherine and I drooled as we admired all of the beautiful instruments on display.

 

The days leading up to the wedding were full of food prep for the rehearsal dinner, 

trips to the gym wth my favorite exercise buddy,

more rehearsals,

a baseball game with my brother and sister-in-law,

who came all the way from Maine!

and carving out pockets of time for those who needed to log some office hours.