Pattering, Chattering, and Scattering
What a beautiful time of year we are entering! The sun is shining brightly, squirrels are rustling through the fallen leaves, and even as they hide their little treasures, they are preparing for a coming harvest- Waste not, want not!. You want to say, “God’s in His heaven and all’s right with the world!”
What a beautiful time of year we are entering! The sun is shining brightly, squirrels are rustling through the fallen leaves, and even as they hide their little treasures, they are preparing for a coming harvest- Waste not, want not!. You want to say, “God’s in His heaven and all’s right with the world!”
But somewhere in the back of your mind, you begin to feel the agitation and the dread, just knowing that while autumn is beautiful, you still have that other season following in its footsteps. You know the one. Yup! WINTER!!! I always dread the advancing winter weather and its accompanying frozen blast.
I often wish I could do sound effects with my writing! When my sister, Rae Jean, was with us here, I often read “Murder, She Wrote” mysteries to her of an evening. When we got to a climactic pause, I’d lean toward her and sing, “Dun, dun, dun,---DUHN!!!” And then she would do it too. It’s hard to make that understood with my trusty (?) computer.
Let’s just face it: Whether fair weather or foul, there is nothing quite as comforting as sitting down before a crackling fire and enjoying a good book. So perhaps winter is not all bad!
One writer I have been enjoying is Matthew Kelly, whose book, Holy Moments, Rae Jean and I read through several times. According to Mr. Kelly, a Holy Moment is “a single moment in which you open yourself to God. You make yourself available to Him. You set aside personal preference and self-interest, and for one moment you do what you prayerfully believe God is calling you to do.” Anyone can devote a moment. And as you increase these special times of losing yourself and participating with God, holy moments become easier and easier. And your life becomes more relaxed and meaningful.
When we look out the window to see the leaves shaking and falling tremblingly off the trees, or we lie abed listening to the roar of those cold winds, we can blend plans and dreams, thoughts and prayers, wishes and ambitions, our yesterdays and our tomorrows, knowing that they are all in God’s very capable hands.
I enjoy this quote from the Rev. Mr. Ralph Sockman’s book, A Lift for Living: May it bring you joy and hope for your pursuit of Life’s Holy Moments.
“We cannot hoard life as we can money.
When a person tries to be a miser of his health,
He usually makes himself miserable.
Mental talents, if buried and not used, tend to deteriorate.
Whoever would save his memory by not using it will lose it.
Love and sympathy are dissipated not by use, but by disuse.
Thus, in trying to save ourselves from being spent, we lose ourselves.”
Have a beautiful, spicy autumn!
Grand Adventures
Sometimes we enter our adventures from human error or lack of knowledge, thus it began of our own volition. Sometimes we enter on our adventures from an outside source, as when we get lost due to someone giving us the wrong directions. Sometimes, grand adventures just happen. We don’t need to try to carry guilt or blame to please someone else.
Photo by Artem Beliaikin on Unsplash
Sometimes we enter our adventures from human error or lack of knowledge, thus it began of our own volition. Other times we enter on our adventures from an outside source, as when we get lost because someone gives us the wrong directions. But grand adventures just happen. We don’t need to carry guilt or blame to please others.
When you begin a grand adventure, you rarely know the exact route you’ll take or even your destination. All you know is you’ve begun—and you’re never alone.
As you may know, in February I plastered my face on a gym floor, giving myself a traumatic brain injury, a couple of brain bleeds, two broken ribs, a broken sternum, and a muscle completely torn in two in my back. I hope my granddaughter suffers no long-term effects of having her volleyball tournament shut down because of my accident.
FINALLY, this coming Tuesday, I will be at Advent Hospital to repair all those little indiscretions. I feel very good about next week, but I would also love to know you are praying for me. Maybe we could all be praying that this won’t be too much of an adventure for the medical staff.
We are all on a journey.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path.”
Happy August!
Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
Open Mouth, Insert Foot?
Sometimes I open my mouth and words somehow just come spilling out. It’s really kind of scary, in a way, because suddenly, you have put into other people’s ears your own thoughts. And sometimes you might not even know you really thought that! (Like when someone is thinking and suddenly has to ask himself, “Did I say that out loud?” If that’s not scary, then let me know, but I think it is.)
Banner Photo by Ben White on Unsplash
Sometimes I open my mouth and words somehow just come spilling out. It’s really kind of scary, in a way, because suddenly, you have put into other people’s ears your own thoughts. And sometimes you might not even know you really thought that! (Like when someone is thinking and suddenly has to ask himself, “Did I say that out loud?” If that’s not scary, then let me know, but I think it is.)
I’ve done that recently. Some of us were discussing prayer. I stated that, in our society, words had become cheap. People can say things using the same words or phrases and yet mean totally opposite things. My leading is that there are two basic levels of thought.
Thought being invisible, inaudible and,
The spoken word—audible, but also often leading to action.
Have you thought that for things to become actualities in this plane of being, whatever action is happening (reality) has first happened on another level—that of the spiritual, invisible, and inaudible to humanity? To me, that is why it is so hard for us in this day and age to understand what the Bible means when a word or phrase is a concrete, unmovable thing. We constantly manipulate words to be whatever we want them to be. And in that activity, familiarity breeds contempt.
To carry that a step further, we simply do not seem to act as though we truly understand that whatever is happening in this world has already happened in the spiritual realm. Spiritual battles have been fought. Spiritual forces have been in combat. Whatever is happening in this world, has already happened in the spiritual realm. Prayer is probably the very most important thing we can be involved in because, before anything happens on earth, it is being fought through in spiritual realms.
When we intercede for others, we are not just speaking empty words. Instead, we are activating spiritual forces, which are the true source of power, as all battles are fought in spiritual realms long before they materialize in our lives and the lives of those around us. When we are asked to pray for others, are we using those requests to truly help others? We have it in our power to mold outcomes in people’s lives because, before anything happens on earth, it is worked through spiritually.
“When we reach heaven, we will be struck with astonishment at all the power which was in store for us, and how very little we used.”
Did you ever wonder why the disciples’ prayer has the phrase “on earth, as it is in heaven?”
Is there something that you need to pray about today?
Have you plugged into your power source?
~ Katy
Adventuring Close at Hand
Adventuring Close at Hand
Sometimes the most innocent of trips develops into an adventure. I remember when we first brought our girls, Mariatu and Sia, here from Sierra Leone, West Africa, we discovered there were a couple of African stores in downtown Kansas City. That, of course, necessitated a trip or two there. So, we’d pile into my car and head for the big city. (We lived in Raymore, MO, at that time.) Prior to these jaunts, my trips to the big city usually meant to Bannister or Oak Park Malls.
This was prior to everyone carrying a cell phone, or cars equipped with GPS. I just looked it up in the phone book and off we went! As we drove (and drove, and drove), one of the ladies would sweetly ask, “Mom, are we lost?” To which I would respond with a smile pasted on my face, “NO! WE’RE GOING ON AN ADVENTURE!!!”
Now let me digress, momentarily, to state a few facts.
1) We were originally from down in the Ozark mountains.
2) The town we lived nearest had a population of 386.
3) Despite the fact that our military travels led us to Colorado Springs, Phoenix, St. Louis, etc., I never spent a lot of time “in the city”.
4) When girls were ready to shop for African food, I wasn’t supposed to waste time adventuring.
Back to present time.
Life is vastly different now. Everybody has a cell phone. Cars come with GPS. And I’m 20+ years older and feebler. Now Maria has four brilliant, talented, and beautiful children (1 graduating this year), and she gets around like nobody’s business and, if she doesn’t feel like it, her husband, Jeff, can. Sia has a lively, bright, opinionated 7-year-old daughter and not much gets past either of them. They are such free spirits that they just get up and go wherever they set their minds to go.
I had a fun ride with Sia recently. She and Malika had come up to visit for a couple of days. As they were preparing to leave, I rode down to the closest filling station to top off their tank and enjoyed laughing and talking with them.
All at once, history repeated itself. From the back seat, Malika asked, “Mom? Are we lost?” Sia plastered the biggest smile on her face and answered, “Are we lost? No, my dear, we’re going on an adventure!” Like mother like daughter?
Hope all your adventures are happy ones, and that you enjoy spoiling your favorite Mother in the world!
Happy Spring! And Happy Mother’s Day!
Spring Cleaning - Dontchaloveit!!!
Spring Cleaning – Dontchaloveit!!!
Actually, this title is probably more than a little deceiving. Now everyone thinks my house is getting super clean. Actually, I am cleaning out my desk and credenza drawers: a job and a half.
I did not have a blog for the month of March, as I took a bit of a fall resulting in a bruise on the left side of my had, a brain bleed, three broken ribs, and a broken sternum. The critical care team did their best and I'm recovering.
My recent MRI showed I have torn muscles in my back left shoulder: the same one I had surgery on for a torn rotator cuff a couple of years ago. Was this a waste of time? No. All the time spent in KUMC and LMH allowed me to think.
I’d never had a fall like this before. Not even last spring when I tripped over the garden hose. It had been one of those slow motion things which, praise God, did not allow me to land on my knees, which is a no-no for those with artificial knees.
I now get my 10 – 12 hours of sleep at night, plus a nap in the afternoon, I am finally able to do some deep thinking. For more fun, I decided to deep clean instead. Tackling the mess on my desk and credenza didn't cause my shoulder, chest, or ribs to hurt.
Have you found when you begin throwing old stuff away, you find pictures you can’t part with: quotes, jokes, or heavy thoughts which you might want to write on someday? So everything didn't get thrown out and the whole afternoon was wasted. Sigh. I missed my afternoon nap but the time wasn't wasted. Here's a photo showing the results.
The desk of L. K. Houk - found!
Another thing is I have a love/hate relationship with my brain now. Being from a family of people who have suffered traumatic brain injuries, I realize how serious a knock on the head is. Weeks later, I still forget names of dear, dear friends, who are right in front of me, and words that used to be mine, and dates, or days of the week. While I don’t find these serious ailments at all funny, I have to laugh at myself, because if I don’t, I might cry.
People are so nice about it though. One of my elderly (cough, cough) friends reassured me, “Just remember when you’re over the hill, you begin to pick up speed.” Or my Aunt Thelma, dearly loved and missed, would say, “Well, old age isn’t for sissies!”
As we look toward a beautiful Easter season, I hope you are well and able to stay up on two feet. Life somehow works better right side up.
Happy Spring!
Come, Walk With Me
Come, Walk With Me
“This is the way; walk ye in it.” Isaiah 30:21
I have a belly button. Do you have one? Oh, yes, you do! Everybody does. It’s standard equipment: men, women, boys, girls, everybody has one. They’re all over the place. Have you ever thought about this? I mean, we are SURROUNDED by belly buttons! Thank goodness they don’t have sirens blaring all the time. Thank goodness they don’t ache and hurt. I mean, if there are so many all over the place and, if they're causing problems, then there would be a lot of what the old folks called “bellyaching” going on.
““This is the way; walk ye in it.””
I have a belly button. Do you have one? Oh, yes, you do! Everybody does. It’s standard equipment: men, women, boys, girls, everybody has one. They’re all over the place. Have you ever thought about this? I mean, we are SURROUNDED by belly buttons! Thank goodness they don’t have sirens blaring all the time. Thank goodness they don’t ache and hurt. I mean, if there are so many all over the place and, if they're causing problems, then there would be a lot of what the old folks called “bellyaching” going on.
Well, boys and girls, this may appear strange for a February blog, which should be about love, hearts, flowers, chocolate, and sentimental stuff. But in truth, sometimes we must consider this reality: though it’s February, the month of Valentine’s Day, and though we know we also have a heart, the fact is, each person still has a bellybutton.
You think I've gone off the deep end. Not quite. I need to say, no matter your reason, no matter how great your excuse for having done something inappropriate, excuses are like belly buttons – everybody has one. But having an excuse is not the same as having the right or a license to use it to beat people over the head. An excuse is an excuse. A reason is a reason. Circumstances are circumstances. But regardless of the excuse, the reason, or the circumstance, we are held accountable to a higher standard of behavior, which is: “This is the way; walk ye in it.”
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
I have a friend who says, “I hate it when you tell me this: ‘You don’t have that option.’” My dear friend, I didn’t say you didn’t have justification to misbehave. I said it is not one of your options to exercise. In spite of how you feel. No matter what someone else has done to you. Irrespective of your indignation. You don’t have that option. You are a Christian. Christians are held to a higher standard. “This is the way; walk ye in it.”
One of my “pet” sermons to my children when they were growing up was along these lines. (I don’t remember the sermon number, but I am sure even as grownups they can recite it for you, if you ask!) Do your knees hurt? Don’t take it out on me. It is not an excuse for you to batter me over the head with inappropriate behavior, simply because you have an excuse. You have PMS? My dear, that is a PERSONAL problem. It is not your license to lash out at society, other drivers, or whomever has the misfortune to cross your path on certain days of the month. You have a lot of stress from responsibilities right now – with a lot of pressure and not enough hours in your day? Well, welcome to the world of the living. You don't have the right to explode all over anyone who places the last straw on your camel’s back. And you are restricted from expecting others to make allowances for you.
You want to make concessions for pain? Next time you think one and all should tolerate your grief, think about Christ’s pain, bearing the cross that all humanity should be saved. You want all people to make exceptions for you because you’re crushed beneath a load of unrealistic expectations? Think about the crush of humanity that constantly followed Christ with expectations of healing, sight, freedom from demons. You’re feeling stressed out and unnerved with no time to accomplish your plans? Think of making an entrance into a ministry of redemption and restoration and salvation and sanctification in a hostile milieu of self-centered sinners knowing you have three years to accomplish your goals. And then you die.
How do you think saints are made? From reasons? From excuses? From always having wonderful circumstances? Saints come from hardship and trials and pain and suffering and misunderstanding and humiliation. And they come from these things without taking it out on everyone else around them. They come from bearing those crosses without murmuring and complaining. They come from a total and complete acceptance of a higher way; it can be taken, and they are exhorted to walk in it. No excuses. No reasons. No circumstances. No allowances. "This is the way; walk ye in it."
Want a hearts and flowers, Cupid, and valentine blog? Not this year. Not this time. Not this writer.
And, no, I'm not contemplating my navel. I just feel the need to share this message with you.
And so, I did. 😉 No excuses.
But please know, I do wish you a very happy Valentine’s Day.
Love,
Katy
Photo by Denise Johnson on Unsplash
Words! Words! Words!
Sometimes they are good and sometimes they are bad. Sometimes useful and sometimes not so much. Sometimes kind and caring, but others are hurtful and unkind. I have been thinking about words a lot lately. Can you tell? 😊
My Sister, Rae Jean, who lives with us, just dearly loves to have me read to her. Sure, she can read, and books are always available, but she always prefers for me to read aloud. She almost always says, “I remember when Mother used to sit down and read to Geniece (another sister) and me when we were really little. I love to be read to!” So, we have been doing a lot of reading these past 15 months.
We’ve read all the Nancy Drew mysteries. (“Remember when we would walk from school to the Bentonville City Library and check out stacks of books every week?” [Actually, no, that, too, was Geniece. I was too young.] We’ve read, I believe, all the “Murder, She Wrote” books. Of course, Reader’s Digest magazine. Dear Friend/Sister Sharron saves her daily papers for us, since Rae Jean was used to having her daily paper to read.
I’d gotten rid of numbers of books when we moved from the ranch over across the lake to our retirement home. But recently I found one on my shelf I didn’t recollect. I pulled it down and offered to read to her. Though I remember reading Marjorie Holmes’ books, poetry, magazine columns, etc., I didn’t recall this particular book. I decided we’d read it, thinking perhaps it was one book that was left here in this house when we moved in.
Talk about a surprise! I opened up You and I and Yesterday and found the following inscription:
“Christmas 1974
Dear Nana,
We hope you enjoy this book. Marjorie Holmes is one of my favorite writers. Have a Merry Christmas and many, many more!
Love,
Lonny and Katy”
This was a book I had given to my Nana (grandmother) almost 50 years ago! I didn’t even know I had it! I think that when Rae Jean and Aunt Tez were selling Nana and Aunt Thelma’s home after they were gone, Rae Jean must have sent it in one of the number of boxes designated to go to us. Somehow it had missed the chopping block on our last move!
Funny thing. I don’t think I had ever read that book. Funnier yet, I’d totally forgotten about Marjorie Holmes. And so here we are now, about the age that Nana was when she received this book, reading about life in the “Good Old Days” when Marjorie was a child growing up in the small town of Storm Lake, Iowa, in the 1920s.
That reminds me: this is 2024.
I’ve often talked about my great leap forward with the old New Year’s Resolutions conundrum. For many years, I, as do so many others, had assiduously sat down at the first of the year with the task of setting forth my New Year’s Resolutions. (Fanfare, please.) The problem, I realized some time ago, was that what I was actually doing was setting myself up for failure. Let’s face it, it’s going to take more than ink on a sheet of paper to perform all the resolutions that are on that list year after year after year….
So several years ago I chose some scripture verses and used them as my touchstones of encouragement for the new year. My memory improved as I read them, usually, every morning and every night, and I am sure I am better for it. But THIS YEAR, this year, 2024, I have another plan. As I told our Ladies’ Bible Study group, I am taking one specific admonishment from the Bible, and I am using it as a framework to build my year on. Are you ready for this? I think you’ll love it a lot.
Speak the Truth in Love
(It’s from Ephesians wherein our Ladies’ Bible Study is studying now. If you’d like to join us, we meet on a conference call Tuesday mornings from 9:00 to 11:00. We’ll be happy to send you the number.)
So many people are delighted to unload their take on world events, churches, other people… whatever. But they seldom have the truth, much less are they speaking in love. Those who are trying to browbeat other believers with their brilliance and erudition need a clearer understanding of Love.
I wish you a bright and happy New Year.
You’re invited to join me in my new motto, and “Speak the Truth in Love”.
(Or don’t speak at all.)
Home for the Holidays
Photo by Paige Cody on Unsplash
Home
Home. What a wonderful word. Just mentioning it brings thoughts of warm apple pies, a cheery fire in the winter, or maybe a family game of bocce ball in the summer. Just saying it feels good, doesn’t it?
I have a friend who once said, “Home is where the mattress fits!” And I think we can just about all agree with that…there’s just no place like home! Especially on the holidays! Of course, we all know that there are places where people live together as families that don’t have that “homey” feeling. Where harsh words and abuse are the norm, rather than hugs and support. But what does the Bible tell us our homes are meant to be?
I would submit to you that the home is the first institution mentioned in the Bible. I think God did that on purpose to let us know that the home is the most important institution in His Creation. He didn’t create Adam and Eve and then give them the institution of the church, or the government, or even the Ten Commandments. He instituted the home. And in Deuteronomy, He gave us this admonition:
“Thou shalt teach them (God’s commands) diligently unto thy children and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in the house; and when thou walkest in the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up…And thou shalt write them upon the post of thy house and on thy gates.”
Maybe that’s why the home is so important to God, because it is the very center of learning about God. It is our job to teach God personally, intimately, and continuously to our children, and not just to our children (or grandchildren) but to ourselves.
Perhaps this is something we should especially consider during the wonderful Advent Season and Christmas. I’m very pleased that our son’s family celebrates a Shepherd’s Supper on Christmas Eve, reading the true Christmas story, eating the foods that the shepherds might have eaten, sitting in their bathrobes in front of the fireplace with no electric lights. I think that is wonderful and meaningful. Do you have a family tradition to share with others? There must be a meaningfulness in the things we do, be it lighting the advent candles and reading the Bible, or softly singing Christmas carols. We can make this time rich, special, and memorable. We can make it homey.
I pray this Christmas will be a joy-filled, meaningful season in your life and in the lives of those you touch — neighbors, friends, relatives, or unknown folks in the stores or in the street. Let the joy of the season fill you to overflowing and then spill out to those around you.
Merry Christmas and a meaningful, happy new year to one and all!
Photo by Paige Cody on Unsplash
Lura K. Houk (Katy)
Think on These Things
Think on These Things
I heard a story of a doctor who had completed a routine examination on a child when the mother mentioned her concern about her son’s craving for junk food. After thinking for a moment, the doctor asked the boy, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
“I want to be a doctor,” the boy replied.
“And what would you say to a boy whose mother complained about his wanting so much junk food?”
The boy quickly answered, “I’d say, ‘It’s all right, Son. I ate junk food when I was a kid and look at me now!’”
Photo by Elijah Hiett on Unsplash
Think on These Things
I heard a story of a doctor who had completed a routine examination on a child when the mother mentioned her concern about her son’s craving for junk food. After thinking for a moment, the doctor asked the boy, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
“I want to be a doctor,” the boy replied.
“And what would you say to a boy whose mother complained about his wanting so much junk food?”
The boy quickly answered, “I’d say, ‘It’s all right, Son. I ate junk food when I was a kid and look at me now!’”
“You are what you eat” is a cliché that has been around a long time. Nearly everyone in this nutrition-, calorie-, exercise-conscious society knows that you cannot feed a body on junk and expect that body to perform as a healthy specimen of humanity. Try to find a magazine that does not carry an article, if not a regular column, on health, fitness, diet, or exercise. Do you ever wonder where they come up with them all?
Photo by Elijah Hiett on Unsplash
As Christians, knowing our bodies are temples of God, we must not neglect caring for them and properly maintaining His temples. But we must be as conscientious about our spiritual nutrition as we are with our physical. Christians are aware of and concerned with the final abode of the soul. They accept God’s gracious invitation to believe on Him and become followers. But all too often, following salvation, we forget that it requires daily maintenance. There are causes and effects for our souls, just as with our bodies.
Back in the beginning days of computers (No, dear, I did not ride on a dinosaur.) there was an acronym, GIGO, which meant “Garbage In — Garbage Out”. It meant the input had to be right for the output to be right. (We all know I’m not a computer person, so don’t give me a hard time about that bit of information.) It’s the same with our souls. Our subconscious does not filter the input we expose ourselves to. Anything that goes into the subconscious stays in the brain. The subconscious does not discern right from wrong or make character judgments — the conscious mind does.
We discuss this often in our Ladies’ Bible Study. What kind of music or programming are you inundating your senses with? “I don’t pay any attention to the words” doesn’t keep your subconscious from appropriating worldly lyrics or conversation. Just because you looked at, but didn’t see, or listened to, but didn’t hear something doesn’t mean your brain did not store it away for your soul to feed on.
How can our fruits be love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance when we have actively or passively dined on filth? What Olympians our souls would be if we took to heart Paul’s Philippian admonition:
““Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things.” ”
As for my thoughts about this coming of November, with colder weather, with the gladness and gathering together of Thanksgiving, I have to say that the reason I love November is because it begins the Advent season. I hope we are all preparing our hearts and lives not just for the feast of Thanksgiving, but also for the upcoming holy season of advent.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends and look forward with great expectancy!
Add My Newest Book to Your Christmas List
A Story of Humility…
One of the saddest aspects of our time is the lack of respect for elders. Dancer is a fancy young pony who is full of himself and ready to put down others with a shake of his head.
He has judged the old work horse, Dan, as a useless has-been, and disrupted the easy-going life at the farm. Tom T. has a story to tell him. When he meets and falls in love with Lacy, his new owner, he learns a lesson in humility.
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Mission Impossible: Time and Expectations
Mission Impossible: Time and Expectations
Hello, my friends, I know we are all getting geared up for a beautiful October morphing into a spectacular fall. Most people get to October and immediately equate it with Halloween. I don’t think, “October = Halloween”. I think “October = crisp apples, cider and donuts, beautifully colored leaves raining down like multi-colored blessings from above.” But then, that’s just me.
Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash
Mission Impossible: Time and Expectations
Hello, my friends, I know we are all getting geared up for a beautiful October morphing into a spectacular fall. Most people get to October and immediately equate it with Halloween. I don’t think, “October = Halloween”. I think “October = crisp apples, cider and donuts, beautifully colored leaves raining down like multi-colored blessings from above.” But then, that’s just me.
One thing that comes to mind from year to year is from the kids’ childhoods. When my daughter was in 3rd grade in a great Lutheran School that we loved, the week of Halloween the teacher handed out papers to be colored. As soon as she sat back down, my Princess was at her side, handing her an uncolored page. Miss P. asked if she hadn’t understood that she was to color it to put up on the wall. Yes, Ma’am, she understood. Did she take her crayons home and forget to bring them back? No, ma’am, she had her crayons. Well, then, why was she turning in a blank sheet? The girl quietly looked her in the eye and said, “Miss P., I can’t color this picture of a witch’s black cat. We don’t believe in celebrating the high holy day of Satanism.” She turned and walked back to her desk, only to be followed by her teacher with a beautiful picture of autumn leaves and fall flowers for her to color! What a beautiful way to acknowledge a child’s beliefs and keep her included in a fun project! We loved her teacher.
Another wonderful thing about fall, for me, is that we can turn off the air conditioning and open windows and hear the coyotes singing in the night air. It’s not that they only sing in the fall, but that until we get the windows open, we just can’t hear them! Unfortunately, winter follows fall, and we have to close them again!
But as I wrote last month, I have s-l-o-w-l-y been doing this or that job without thinking that I must do it all in one fell swoop. I am pleased to report that I have just three more windows to wash, and my screens will all be on for the first time since we moved here. That’s exciting!
Then I found a script I’d forgotten about that my son recorded for me to use at a women’s retreat. It made me laugh to think that 25 or 30 years could make such a difference! The script, beautifully read, needless to say, follows.
Photo by Alex Guillaume on Unsplash
Mission Impossible
Time and Expectations
Good evening, Mrs. Houk,
Your assignment, should you decide to accept it, will no doubt seem monumental. Many agents have attempted and failed, and many others have rejected this project out of hand. It has gained a reputation for its impossibility. That is why it has come to the auspices of this agency.
For this assignment, you will basically undertake an undercover operation of an average American household. But don’t be lulled into a sense of false security with this homey setting. The task may very well prove daunting.
Please access your information packet. You will notice the first folder contains photos of the people who will be your primary operatives. You will not only be living with them and interacting with them, but you must also be covertly training them, so that they can carry on this mission, should you become no longer operational.
The second item is a job description. Please notice that the following may be required of you at any time, and some of them concurrently: wife, mother, sister, daughter, granddaughter, niece, aunt, neighbor, acquaintance, friend, teacher, church leader, community citizen, school supporter, cheerleader, chauffeur, beautician, banker, barber, masseuse, nurse, tutor, preacher, social secretary, informed voter, employee, historian, chef, receptionist, physical therapist, janitor, photographer, maid, organizational consultant, group leader, guidance counselor, coach, handyman, gardener, architect, scholar, policeman, writer, dietitian, waitress, purchasing agent; laundrymaid, housekeeper, investor, carpenter, interior decorator, manual laborer, secretary, bookkeeper, psychologist, veterinarian, entertainer, mentor, and prayer warrior.
You will, needless to say, be expected to perform flawlessly at all times, including those times when you are ill, depressed, tired, over-worked, underappreciated, abused, overestimated, and underpaid. You will, of course, as with all previous missions, totally memorize this publication, prior to swallowing it. Remember, the success of this mission depends entirely upon you. Any slight inattention to detail could mean an aborted mission, or even the loss of an agent.
As in all previous assignments, should you or your colleagues fall into enemy hands, or if you should fail in the course of this assignment, this agency will disavow any knowledge of you.
This tape is programmed to self-destruct.
Good luck, Mrs. Houk.
Oh, by the way, this self-destruction process typically results in quite a little mess. If you decide not to accept this mission, just leave it. Someone else will come along and pick up after you.
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