1. Entertain guests often
2. Care for your elderly parents
3. Buy gifts for people
4. Have your cuboards stocked with beverages
5. Dry your wrinkly clothes in the dryer for a
   couple a minutes than hang them up, still damp
6. Visit the sick and the widows
7. Make your mashed potatoes a day ahead
8. Read to your children
9. Volunteer
10. Dance in the kitchen

circa 2009 when Madi was born

My mom is the “giving-est” person I
know.  I grew up hearing from my friends “Your
mom is so cool.”  I didn’t really
appreciate her “coolness” at the time,(and I never told her my friends said
that) but the older I grow, the more I aspire to be like her.

She is a server who jumps up and gives food and drink to people in her
home.  Often her spare bedroom is full
with this out-of-town guest, or that missionary family.  She is the one who whips together a meal, and
I wonder how she does it all.  When we
visit her home in Ohio, early Sunday morning I can hear her footsteps pounding
upstairs in the kitchen while I lazily stay in bed.  (I’m sure her heart is brimming with pride as
her grown-up daughter reverts to a spoiled teenager whenever we visit)

When my sister brought a family home from Wal Mart (true story: She met
strangers at Wal Mart and brought them home with her) Mom opened up her home
for a week.

I don’t remember her being sick.  I don’t
remember her being down or depressed.  She
has a penchant for volunteering.  When I
was young I used to go with her as she drove people to doctors appointments,
grocery stores, and whatnot.

I remember last Mother’s Day something happened that stuck in my mind.  The family was together, but something happened (don’t remember what) that mom had to pack up in middle of our “celebration of her” (which was Sunday Dinner, and at most, a hanging plant or filled cake from Litty’s) and go take
care of her own mother or Mom-in-law.  
And I thought: the cycle never
ends does it.  This motherhood thing, you
give to your own kids, and when they are grown you give to your parents.

That’s what I’m learning from my mom, to keep going. And to keep giving.

So now I’m trying to wrap this up and realizing, how impossible it is to nail a
person down in a post.  I know her well
enough to know that she doesn’t take herself so seriously to get her panties
all in a twist about how she is portrayed. 
I know she is now blushing and clucking her tongue over my language
choice. (Don’t worry Mom, I didn’t learn that
from you)

Love You!
Your Daughter
Andrea
(the one who always painted her toenails)

At a Casting Crowns concert last Friday night, both Gene
& myself found ourselves interested/mesmerized by a girl who was doing
worship/dance/artistic expression in the stands.  I can say I have never seen anyone that stood
out so much. (Just describing) Huge arm motions, huge leaps (as opposed to
hops) and some stuff that looked like kick-boxing.  What I was the most interested in was that
she was sitting beside someone very stoic. 
And I wondered if he was: annoyed/amused/enthralled/angry.  What are the boundaries in this kind of
thing?  Gene & I discussed this at
length, (of course) and we decided if we had been in stoic man’s place maybe we
would have been annoyed that the lens of our experience would always have the
kick-boxing worshipper invading our view. 
I need my space.

************************************************************************************

Question: Hunger games? Is it worth the raving and the teen
mania?

Answer: Yes it’s that good.

I never bit when something was huge.  I
hated being e a follower that way.  So
you know, I never read Harry Potter, I never read Twilight. But I will be an
unashamed fan of the Hunger Games. 

Full disclosure- Of Course there is a
love triangle, but I felt so mature and matronly when I realized that it
totally was not my favorite part of the series.  But they are YA books, and you gotta get those
fifteen year olds to read somehow.

*************************************************************************************

On Monday there was a fundraiser for Gene’s
nephew.  A lot of Amish came and helped
out.  Amish can get a bad rep, with the bonnet-wearing
and buggy-driving they do.   When it comes
to things like helping out neighbors, my heart swells with pride that these are
the people I come from.  I truly hope I
can pass this kind of Amish-ness to my kids.


More about the Amish.  Gene was telling
me about our neighbor (most of our neighbors are Amish) who was showing him (Gene)
some of the apps on his Ipad.  It seems
like a lot of our neighbors are business or retail store owners and its hard to
do business by mail order these days.  The
Ipad to the rescue.  I wonder if late at
night my neighbor and his wife watch downloaded movies by the light of the gas
lantern. 

*************************************************************************************

This weekend is Easter.  It’s safe to say
that this holiday means more to me than it ever has before.  Jesus risen. Death conquered. To me Easter is
all about Hope. 
*************************************************************************************

At the end of this month is our tenth anniversary.  Marriage has been on the mind.  A lot. 
What has worked? What needs changing? What used to work, but doesn’t anymore?
Can two last-born screw-ups change their ways? 
How did these ten years go by so fast?



And I say good-bye, and have a wonderful Easter weekend.
Andrea

“You are so mean!” She yells, and then adds “So so MEAN”.   She stomps upstairs crying.  I sigh and roll my eyes.

My day had been busy.  It had ended with
a call to Gene reminding him that we forgot we had PTF that evening, and the
decision that I would be the one to go.

Quesadillas were fried, and flopped on the table.  I started eating without telling anyone, because
that’s how badly I wanted silence (plus I was running late).

I had sneaked into the gym late, and casted my votes for the fundraising
committees. (It’s simple, if you don’t know the candidates, always vote for the
person who’s name has a nice ring to it)

I had come home and thought my days duties were done.  It turns out that my duties are never done,
and I keep forgetting that lesson.

I had been short with her, I admit.  I
gave her attitude that said, “My stuff is so much more important than your
stuff, and I don’t have time for your stuff anyway”.  When a mom gives a little attitude, it is
returned to her in three-fold, another lesson I keep forgetting. 

So while she was taking a bath, I went in and made my things right with
her.  With red swollen eyes she forgave
me, and understands that moms get grouchy too sometimes.

This morning it is all forgotten.  While
I was combing her hair she was telling me about the boy who is always hugging
her.  “Every time I walk by him he hugs
me, everybody knows that he likes me mom.”

Giggle.

So life keeps unfolding, and I know someday I will look back on these times
with such nostalgia, and wish I had been more patient, more loving, and not
been so overthinking about
everything.  I know that in our family we would be lost without forgiveness,
it makes everything go around.

That was my Super Tuesday, How was yours?