Rapunzel's Recycled Castle

OK, so on the Wednesday before Spring Break, Anna apparently got an assignment in her reading class on Fairy Tales. They had a 500 Point project to do that would be due on the Monday they got back from Spring Break. And they had 3 days in class to 'work' on it - or have to finish it over spring break. They had several 'options' for things they could do to get their 500 points worth of credit. Anna wrote a couple of poems and then decided on making THE CASTLE. She was going to make the AMUSEMENT PARK that had to have at least 5 attractions, but when her dad started talking about making a working roller coaster and a log ride, complete with water -- well, let's just say it was all getting a little out of hand. ;-)

The kicker for me in all of this is that we had to do this over SPRING BREAK!!!!! Isn't spring break supposed to be a BREAK from school? Hello???? Am I the only one who really gets bugged by this kind of stuff!?! sigh.

Anyways, with a little help from friends - thank you Jenna and Emma! - and a bit of family invovlement (mostly dad) -- and finally a sense of humor when we were getting pretty tired of the whole thing... viola! Rapunzel's Castle. Complete with a mote, drawbridge, charming prince and Rapunzel with her hair flowing down the 'Mountainous Tower of Dew' (you had to read Anna's rendering of the Rapunzel fairy tale to actually appreciate that. :-)

I know some of you reading had to hear me complain about this already... so I just thought it was only fair that you got to see the castle that we were so affectionately referring to. And by the way, Anna got a 500 on that project! Plus a "Love This!" comment. So in fairy tale fashion, 'we can all live happily ever after.'

Undercurrents

I know I've used this picture on my blog before, but it just fit today because this is where I spent about an hour or so up on Green Mountain this afternoon, trying to enjoy what's probably the last of the sunny days for the rest of the week.

The water wasn't glassy like this, though. The wind was blowing and the water was rippling from the effects of the wind. I was trying to 'focus' and start a prayer journal that I've been wanting to do. I tend to write quite a bit in more diary type fashion - just writing about what's going on and what I'm thinking about. But today was more about writing out things I want to pray about. I did a little of that... then found myself looking around and writing about how amazing God's creation is... and then ended up writing something of a Psalm -- all stuff that's a little too personal to share on the world wide web. ;-) So I don't really know how well I was doing with my 'focus,' but then, for as scattered as I've felt lately, it was at least a start.

Anyways, as I was looking at the water rippling past me flowing to the right of me, I noticed several leaves floating on top of the water near each other. They caught my attention, because with the wind blowing the current pretty strongly to the right, I was intrigued by the fact that they weren't moving at all in that direction. Or at least not very fast. They were just seeming to stay 'anchored' in place.

Then a single leaf came floating by, much closer to the dock than the others, and it was being carried by the current and the wind as I would think it should be. But as it passed the end of the dock, it must have been caught by whatever other 'invisible' current was holding the other leaves in place, because it circled around and 'joined' the other leaves, coming to a standstill among them.

Clearly, a stronger, less visible force, was flowing just underneath these leaves and holding them in place. And it must have been flowing directly opposite to the force of the wind and what I could see as the direction that things should have been flowing on top of the water. Obviously it was all pretty fascinating to me... at least enough so that it prompted me to write about them. :-)

Anyways, I think what was happening in front of me is how it is with God... Sometimes we're tucked away into the steady undercurrant and safe from the wind and the waves trying to blow us away... and sometimes we're a stray leaf being blown quickly by and needing to be caught up again in the strength of the undertow. I could relate to that lone leaf today...

You know, all analogies break down somewhere, and as I watched my strong and steady group of leaves, a bunch of ducks decided to come swimming through them and it scattered them all about. Not quite sure what the lesson is in that, but it made me laugh. :-)

Running Update

Well, I got off to a good start posting more stuff on my blog earlier in the week, then got bogged down the last couple of days. Actually, I spent the day in Nashville yesterday, so it was kinda busy. If you haven't been to Opry Mills lately, you're missing out - that is, assuming you like to shop. ;-) I took Anna and her friend Natalie and Mackenzie and we had a fun shopping 'road trip.' It was actually all Anna's idea -- she really got it in her head that she wanted to eat at the Rain Forrest Cafe. So we had lunch there amidst the gorillas, elephants, and occasional thunderstorms. :-) The food was pretty good -- but WAY too expensive... we definitely paid for the experience.

Anyways, before today gets away, I just thought I'd post another running milestone. I didn't really plan to do this, but I went for my run today, and I'm trying to make Fridays my 'long run' day. So I started out with the thought that I'd go 4 to 5 miles. But I felt pretty good, and my time was looking good, so I decided to go for the 10K distance - 6.2 miles. (I haven't done that since I ran the UAH race a few weeks ago.) Well, as I got past 5 miles, I realized that if I pushed myself, I could make the distance in under an hour, which was a goal I was hoping to get to sometime... well, I finished today in 59 minutes and 9 seconds. :-) yay!!!! I was very happy about that.... although now, I think I'm going to pay for that a little this weekend with sore hips and knees. This running stuff it tough on the joints. But I think I'm starting to get addicted to that 'runner's high.' ;-) Honestly, I'm still not sure I know what that is except that when you run far enough, you're tired enough the rest of the day that nothing really bothers you all that much. haha

I'm out of time, but maybe later I'll post my 'advertisements' for Brooks running shoes and Cliff Shot Bloks. My new 'tools of the trade...' I know you all can't wait. :-)

Which Came First? the Chicken or the Egg...

Just had to share a funny moment from today. I was making breakfast for Anna and Emma this morning. We decided on Cinnamon Streusal Swirl muffins (yum!) and bacon and eggs. So they were helping me make the muffins and we started gathering all the ingredients. Anna got a new carton of eggs out of the refrigerator and opened them up. I'm not sure why I did this, but yesterday at Walmart I decided to buy some brown eggs. When we lived up in the Boston area, most of the eggs you would find at the grocery store were brown, and that's what I bought all the time. Well, after I moved back down here, I realized that I was back in the 'land of the white eggs.' I have no idea why this is the way that it is, it just is. :-) ANYWAYS, Anna was a little surprised when she opened the carton because she is not used to seeing brown eggs!

So she said to me, "Mom, why are the eggs brown? Is it because they are wheat eggs?"

And yes, as far as I could tell, she was completely serious. :-) I just laughed (and laughed). It really was pretty funny -- but hey, why not, right? Wheat bread is brown.... white bread is white.... I think she was a little excited because she thought I had bought healthier eggs!!! ;-)

So we all laughed for a while about that.... until a little while later when things had died down, and she asked me, "So mom, why ARE the eggs brown?" I realized I didn't know the answer to that question, and thus had very little reason to be laughing at her earlier comment!! (pride comes before the fall!!)

So I did a little reading today about that and learned that it is a widespread myth that dark colored chickens produce brown eggs and light colored chickens produce white eggs. In fact, chickens of all colors produce not just brown and white egss, but also sometimes blue and green ones... It sounds like a fairly random thing that is just a matter of genetics... so there you have it. More than you'd ever want to know about eggs. :-)

Of course, from here on out, whenever I see a brown egg, I'll be thinking about "wheat eggs!" and will have to laugh. :-)

Girls will be Girls

Just a quick thought before the night gets away from me. You know these days it seems our kids grow up so fast. Before you know it they're texting 100 wpm on their cell phones and chatting on facebook with their 500 new friends... and wearing makeup and talking about boys... sigh. But tonight I had the pleasure of watching my 12 year old, Anna, with her BFF Emma just have some good old-fashioned 'little' girl fun - making a tent in the back yard. But better than the tent was the whole 'story' that went along with what they were doing... Complete with scientific experiments on Orangutans and not letting anything touch the 'black' part of the trampoline or it will DIE. Reminds me of when I was a little girl sharing a room with my sister and if one of us had to get up to go to the bathroom, you somehow had to get out of the room without putting your feet on the carpet or you were officially eaten alive by an alligator. ;-)

Anyway, it was nice to see them just being kids and enjoying it so much. It was even funnier when they got all excited about watching a movie out there after dark and lasted all of, oh, 5 minutes, I think, before the wind blowing against the tent sounded way too much like people coming to get them. Yes, 12 year olds are still afraid of the dark. ;-)

So the next time Anna comes downstairs with her hair straightened and mascara on and the latest cute dress that she's picked out -- and I get a glimpse of what she's going to look like at about age 17 - I'll take a deep breath and just try to remember tonight. :-)

This was when I first discovered what the girls were doing with all of my sheets and blankets - putting up 'curtains' on the trampoline...

And this was later, getting ready to watch the movie, after dad had made it home and brought out the parachute to cover the trampoline and make a pretty cool tent out of it all!

Desiring God continued...

I think I ended my blog yesterday saying that I had come to the realization that God is not disappointed in me. I kind-of hated to end there, because I always like to clarify things, but it has actually been good for me to 'sit with' that thought for a couple days myself without trying to explain it away or anything. I do that with a lot of things. Decide something is a certain way, and then talk myself out of it. ha

Anyways, to say that God is not disappointed in me, is NOT to say that I haven't done many, many things wrong. I have. And I know that those things, mistakes, sins, have all grieved God and hurt Him (not to mention many others). But I think what I'm realizing is that there is a difference between hurting someone and feeling like you are a dissapointment to someone. When you've hurt someone by what you've done, you can apologize and be forgiven and it can be done with and healing can happen. But when you hold on to this idea, as I have often done, that now you have become a dissapointment to the person you've hurt -- it's very hard to move on from that. And I think somewhere over the years, because of the things I've done, I've held on to the thought that I am a dissapointment to God (and people that I've hurt). That He had better things in mind for me if I just wouldn't have come along and messed up his plan so many times. I've even said, in approaching Him in prayer, "God, I know you must be really frustrated with me..."

But as I was reading, I came across this idea from John Piper that, sort-of like I wrote yesterday, nothing can frustrate God. He sees our mistakes and sins, and while not overlooking them - they do grieve his heart - he has the capacity to forgive and at the same time, is working all of that, the good and the bad, into his perfect plan for our lives. Here's how Piper said it:

"To put it in my own words, he said that the infinite complexity of the divine mind is such that God has the capacity to look at the world through two lenses. He can look through a narrow lens or through a wideangle lens.
When God looks at a painful or wicked event through His narrow lens, He sees the tragedy of the sin for what it is in itself, and He is angered and grieved: “I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD” (Ezekiel 18:32). But when God looks at a painful or wicked event through His wide-angle lens, He sees the tragedy of the sin in relation to everything leading up to it and everything flowing out from it. He sees it in relation to all the connections and effects that form a pattern, or mosaic, stretching into eternity. This mosaic in all its parts—good and evil—brings Him delight...

Therefore, when I say that the sovereignty of God is the foundation of His happiness, I do not ignore or minimize the anger and grief God can express against evil. But neither do I infer from this wrath and sorrow that God is a frustrated God who cannot keep His creation under control. He has designed from all eternity, and is infallibly forming with every event, a magnificent mosaic of redemptive history. The contemplation of this mosaic (with both its dark and bright tiles) fills His heart with joy.
And if our Father’s heart is full of deep and unshakable happiness, we may be sure that when we seek our happiness in Him, we will not find Him “out of sorts” when we come. We will not find a frustrated, gloomy, irritable Father who wants to be left alone, but a Father whose heart is so full of joy that it spills over onto all those who are thirsty."

Two thoughts I love in here: One, this idea that God is weaving a 'magnificent mosaic of redemptive history." I love knowing that God can redeem anything for His glory -- maybe I should say I cling to that thought. It's comforting to me in so many ways. And two, being able to picture God waiting to hear from me with a smile on his face and a heart full of joy.

This verse just came to mind...

Ps 30:5
For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may remain for a night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning.

I've read this verse and heard it so many times... but what I've really thought in my heart was, "His favor lasts only a moment, but His anger lasts a lifetime..." Of course, it's certainly not God's fault that I've thought of Him this way -- He's really done nothing but ever show me that He is "kind and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love." It's just my own rather warped way of seeing things that hasn't been right. Now I just want to get this straigtened out and really BELIEVE that I have a lifetime of God's favor resting on me... wow.

Well, in a week, I haven't even made it out of chapter one yet, so this book may take a while. But already I think it's well worth the time...

Desiring God

I missed out on posting anything to my blog yesterday, because I spent the afternoon getting a post together for a blog that my sister-in-law created to celebrate my brother's 40th birthday. It was a pretty clever idea and one I think I might have to steal in the future. :-) So if you're interested in seeing some fun pictures and hearing some stories about the Townsley family, you can visit http://mark-townsley-40bd.blogspot.com/.

Other than that, thankfully I've managed to avoid running over any more unsuspecting animals... ha -- but speaking of running and animals, I took Mandy up to Green Mountain a couple of days ago when it seemed like spring was finally here. (This picture of the daffodills was the ONLY indication of spring on the mountain at this point - but that also means that there weren't any bugs or snakes yet and that was nice) I ate lunch up there and then went to walk Mandy around the trail. Well, as we were getting ready to walk, I passed a woman and her dog that were obviously there for a RUN around the trail. Of course, the dogs had to have a short 'meet and greet' session and then we decided that it would probably be helpful if we started off in different directions so that our dogs wouldn't be after each other all the way down the trail. Well, I hadn't even made it a quarter of the way around on my walk, when she came running from the other direction and passed on by with her dog. A little later, I passed a couple of moms and their kids sitting on a bench. They had to taunt me a bit by asking me why I wasn't running with MY dog! (thanks a lot!) Well, a little further around, here she comes again. Lap #2. At this point I called out to her as she ran by and said, "Hey, you know you're making me look bad." She replied rather humbly that she had to run her dog because he has too much energy. I think SHE had too much energy! By the time I made it one time around, she was lapping me again for the 3rd time -- and it didn't look like she was planning to stop any time soon. And it's a 1.3 mile trail - at least. Even with this new love of running that I've found, I don't think you'll find me doing anything like that anytime soon. :-)

And now, on to what I was planning to blog about -- that was all just ramblings.... I've started reading Desiring God by John Piper. I have been off reading some Christian fiction lately that I've really been enjoying and getting a lot out of, but this book caught my attention as something that I thought would really help me dig deeper in my relationship with God. And I just wanted to share a couple of thoughts from the 1st chapter. Piper makes this claim:

"The purpose of God cannot be frustrated; there is none like God. If a purpose of God came to naught, it would imply that there is a power greater than God's. It would imply that someone could stay His hand when He designs to do a thing..."

"I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, "My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose." Isaiah 46:9-10

If you've been reading any of my posts, you know I sometimes like to share "things I learn from TV." Well, when I read this verse, I thought of the TV show "LOST." If you are a fan of the show, you know that one of the things the producers decided from the beginning is that they would limit the show to a certain number of seasons (I've forgotten now when it's suposed to end, exactly) and not drag it out and just keep it going. So they have a definite Ending in mind. This helps them with their writing, because it's a very strange show with a lot of mystery and jumping from the past to the present and then to future events. It also has a big cast of characters with a lot of intertwining story lines that just when you think you've started to figure out how they're connected, you find out you're wrong. ;-) Anyways, since the writers of the show have this knowledge of how the show is going to end, they are continually weaving the storyline of those characters to that end. From week to week, as I watch the show, I only get a little glimpse of the lives of each of these characters and thus stay pretty continually confused as to how everything fits together on this show. There are a LOT of unanswered questions -- and that's the point. It's what keeps people 'tuning in' from week to week.

So this is what I thought -- isn't it a little like this with our lives and God? He KNOWS the end of the story for all of us. He is the writer, the master story-teller. He knows past, present, and future - all the events of our lives - and weaves our lives together to accomplish the end of the story that He has planned. With our limited vision, we only see the here and now, often losing sight of the past and not having insight into the future... we just have a hard time seeing how it's all going to turn out. But God isn't at all confused. He knows exactly what he's doing and when and how the story will end.

So what this all means to me is that God is writing my story just as He planned for it to be. I wasn't supposed to be some different character in this story -- he didn't make any mistakes with my storyline -- and the newest thing I realized today -- He's not disappointed with my 'performance.' But since this is getting really long and my time is running short, I'll write more about that tomorrow...

Ironic

OK -- I didn't really expect to be making another post today, but something happened this afternoon that just seemed very ironic in light of what I wrote earlier.

I was driving home from taking Anna to the gym, coming down Taylor road and talking to my dad on the cell phone. Up ahead, I saw a bird sitting in the road -- in the turn lane that I needed to get in to. Well, you know that as cars approach, birds ALWAYS fly away, right? Well, I got closer and closer and.... the bird wasn't moving. At the last minute, when in a split second it became clear that this bird wasn't going to fly away, I swerved a bit in an attempt to miss it. I heard a 'thump' and looked in my rear view mirror to see... yeah... the remains of a bird that now looked more like a pancake. :-( I couldn't believe that I had just run over a bird, of all things! That's a first for me. I've hit a opossum before, but you know, they're a bit slow and confused -- birds aren't supposed to get run over by cars!

Anyways, for some reason, I carried right on in the conversation with my dad and didn't even tell him what had happened... I think I was just stunned. It took me a minute to process the whole thing. But I felt really bad. I hate killing things.... even bugs and stuff. Unless, of course, they're like termites or something invading your home and getting in your space -- now that's a different story! ;-)

But as I was thinking about how strange it was that this bird just sort-of sat there and got run over, I thought of the poem and it's symbolism of hope being like a bird. And honestly, as much as I do believe what I posted earlier about hope, I had to laugh a little at the reality of some days where it feels like 'hope' just gets absolutely flattened by a speeding car... that happens sometimes.

So that's my rather morbid 'rest of the story.' I'll end now with my apologies to the poor bird and anyone reading who has a soft spot for animals...

Hope

I realize that I haven't been posting a whole lot lately on my blog. It occurs to me that I've maybe been doing more running than writing. ha Actually, I've been writing, but just not on my blog. :-) Anyway, I'm going to try to do a little better about posting more. Hopefully that doesn't mean I will be running less.... I'm still trying to get myself ready for that crazy hill in the Cotton Row 10K!

So what was on my mind today was a research paper that Mackenzie just had to turn in for her English class. It was, of course, due on the same day that her major History project was due (yesterday) -- so that made for a really fun weekend of work for her. (not!) My part in all of this was the proof reading of the paper, and I thought I'd share some of it with you because I really liked some of the things she had to say. The title of her paper was "Hope" and it was written about an Emily Dickinson poem called "Hope is the Thing With Feathers."

'Hope' is the Thing With Feathers
by Emily Dickinson

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

"The themes of nature and identity personify the meaning of hope through a bird. Birds are known to be encouraging, loud when necessary, and territorial when it comes to protecting their eggs. In that same way, hope is encouraging to people by showing someone a brighter future. Hope can be loud through the storms and trials, but only when need be. Hope can also be territorial. It may seem strange, but hope protects its space in the soul. It won’t let other hurtful emotions push it into the shadows of the soul. Hope is a universal symbol for making the world a better place. If there is hope then there is something to look forward to. It keeps a person optimistic and open-minded, which keeps the world going when it seems like there is nowhere to go. Emily Dickinson could easily relate to the trials and tribulations of life, and needing the reassurance of hope in her life. In the midst of those tragedies, it seems that her poetry is what kept her going. That and the hope that she kept alive in her soul."

I think my favorite line in what Mackenzie wrote is "hope protects its space in the soul." I think that's pretty insightful. It reminds me of Psalm 42:11:

Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.

Despite our difficulties and ever-changing feelings and emotions about our lives, there's this little 'space' protected by our hope in God that lives on in the soul. I'm thankful for that and "will yet praise Him" for setting that hope in my heart...

And the Winner Is...

...um, well -- not me, exactly. It was a 19 year old kid from Pell City who ran like the wind and finished this race in about half the time that I did! BUT, the 'winning' for me was in the finishing, which I did in a time of 1 hour, 2 minutes and 7 seconds... that put me coming in 13th out of 15th in my age group and certainly gives me some room for improvement. But I'm SO happy that I ran and finshed that race. Running into the 30mph wind gusts was crazy -- and I have to thank my husband for running ahead of me the last 1/2 mile to try and block that last brutal headwind and make it a little easier for me to get to the finish line. It was nice to have him run with me and keep me company on this first race -- much to the sacrifice of his own finishing time in a race that he could have run much faster than me! But what a great feeling to accomplish that goal. :-) I really never thought I'd be able to run a 10K -- or to run for an hour straight for that matter! I think I need to learn to run faster just so that I don't have to run for so long! haha But now that I've done it in the freezing cold and wind, I'm actually looking forward to a couple of months from now when the weather might be a little kinder, to see how that will feel... I imagine it will still feel like 6.2 miles. ;-) But right now I'm just grateful for the good health that God has blessed me with to get through 2 months without being sick and without getting hurt... and the strength that I needed mentally to see this thing through. So all the glory goes to God. :-)