She's Like the Wind

For those of you who also follow my daughter's blog, she has changed her URL. Yes, again. :-) You can now find her at the edge of everywhere (in my estimation a very good place to be, seeing as how you'll be running into a girl named Caitlin there). Link below.

edge-of-everywhere.blogspot.com

We have a winner!

For months now a certain young woman of our household has been weighing the pros and cons of several institutions of higher learning that have been vying for her matriculation. As of yesterday, we have a victor. Come August, Caitlin will be enrolling at Truman State University!

The wonderful thing about this is that Truman has mostly been Caitlin's preference all along. It is known for rigorous liberal arts, is academically strong, is on the smallish side as colleges go (6,000 students), economical by today's standards (out-of-state cost around $22,000/year), and is in the quiet town of Kirksville, Missouri (population about 17,000). It is appealing geographically (we can drive there in seven hours.) There is a Lutheran campus center and an LCMS church in town that picks up the students for worship on Sunday. Truman advertises itself as the most selective public institution in Missouri and is consistently on various national "best" lists. Throughout Caitlin's search Truman has been the most communicative and attentive, reaching out to her repeatedly with phone calls, mailings, and personal messages, including from the Director of Admissions. Truman was first in line with a clear and competitive scholarship and financial aid package, and we were tempted to have Caitlin accept it before now. But mindful of the importance of this decision, and knowing Caitlin had until May 1 to accept, we advised her to wait and watch to see if there might be something else forthcoming from one of the other schools she was considering that would put them ahead. And, of course, we prayed that the way would be made clear.

In sum, there has been nothing from any other school to surpass the offer from Truman, and a few weeks ago Caitlin received notice that they had enhanced their original offer to the tune of another $1000/year. Woo-hoo! We are thrilled, and Caitlin is so relieved to finally have some closure and to be able to start making concrete plans. Here we go again with number two and all the excitement mixed with sadness that that entails for Caitlin's parents. This week we are getting a taste of what life will be like in the fall with only me and Phillip, Evan and Grandma in the house (Caitlin is visiting friends). I'm not liking it much, but I am overjoyed for my daughter. Truman State University, a tip of the hat to you for appreciating the mind and heart of this young woman and for going to work to reel her in. We are looking forward to the next four years.

 Grim Hall, Caitlin's first choice of dorm.

 Downtown Kirksville

GO BULLDOGS!

Mega-Rehearsal!

I wish I could get close enough to capture faces, but I am usually chained to the piano. The expressions of joy, concentration, and faithfulness on people's faces are sights to behold. One lady who plays brass, rings bells, and sings with the choir in our congregation was there Tuesday night as long as Cantor (6:00-9:00). To everyone attending Holy Week services, give your faithful musicians an extra pat on the back this week. Even better, send chocolate. And pray for them, that they may have strength and health and protection from the attacks of Satan, who likes nothing better than to go after pastors and musicians right before Christmas and Easter. God bless you as we enter the Great Three Days, and soli Deo gloria!

 Rehearsing "Christ is Risen, He is Risen Indeed."

 Our wonderful choir and director.

Our "oboe" player for Good Friday.  

"You part the waters like this."

Why I Love Holy Week

There are many reasons, of course. But one big one is the lack of ambiguity. From one day to the next, I don't have to think about what to do because it's already decided. I don't have to wonder what it all means because I already know. The focus is clear, the to-do list pre-determined, and there is nothing left for me but to submit. It's like Sunday, writ large. Liturgy, how I love thee!

"Go to dark Gethsemane,

All who feel the tempter's pow'r;

Your Redeemer's conflict see,

Watch with Him one bitter hour;

Turn not from His griefs away;

Learn from Jesus Christ to pray."

Lutheran Service Book 436, Stanza 1

Le Saintes Femmes au Tombeau

William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905)

A 10-Year-Old and a Gentleman

We went to the mall yesterday, our first time since moving to Oklahoma. Mall shopping is a rare event for this family, something only done when the neighborhood stores do not suffice (read: every couple of years). On this trip we were shopping for several items for Caitlin, who will be attending a prom next week, and for Evan, who needs something decent to wear for Easter. (He is down to sweats and a few pairs of almost outgrown pants.) We had fun! It's a nice mall and it wasn't too crowded yesterday. We ate Dippin' Dots for the first time ever. There was a Dillard's! (I don't think I've been in a Dillard's since we left Texas.) I was reminded how much more there is out there than just what Kohl's and Target carry.

I was also reminded that more is not always better. As we finished our shopping and were retracing our steps to leave the mall, I noticed that Evan was keeping his head turned sideways, avoiding looking to his right. He explained, "There are ladies in their underwear, Mom. They shouldn't be in the mall. There are children here." I looked over to see--what else?--the Victoria's Secret boutique.

Indeed, Evan. There are children in the mall. And some of them have more sense than the "grownups."

Bada Bing

Yesterday, while making lunch.

Evan: "Mom, sometimes I feel sorry for you. You work so hard."

Me: "It's okay, Evan. It's what moms do. It's why we appreciate getting pampered on Mother's Day."

Evan: "What's 'pampered'?"

Caitlin: "It's what you are right now."

Humility

Evan: "I'm nervous about my Good Friday solo. I don't know if I can sing all alone without the piano. What if I make a mistake and embarrass myself?"

Caitlin: "Of course you can do it, Evan. Trevor did it when he was younger. I did it, too. If we can do it, you can do it. You're just as good a singer as we were at your age."

Evan: "Really? Mom says I'm better."

Maybe this is why there's a plastic pirate in my suitcase.

It's one of the little pieces of the past still scattered around my house that I can't bring myself to get rid of.

I found it years ago, tucked in a side pocket. I remember when it was purchased. It was part of a set I bought at a chess tournament in which Trevor was competing. At the time Evan was a baby in a stroller. How many chess tournaments I dragged him and his sister to! We would hang out in hotel lobbies or malls or libraries while Trevor played, and I would do my best to occupy the non-chess players for the day. I don't know what happened to the rest of this set, but somewhere along the way this lone guy ended up in my suitcase. For years now that's where he has remained, a symbol of a time long past. He has gone on lots of trips with me over the years. I forget about him between trips, but when I go to pack I reach into the pocket and there he still is, and somehow there is comfort in his being, and remaining, there. I think he may stay there always, and some day accompany me when I pay a visit to Evan and his wife and children.

But for now, like the author of "The Last One," I will treasure these days of still having a boy who, even in his ten-year-old bigness, wants to crawl up on my lap, put his arms around my neck, lay his head on my shoulder, and whisper in my ear, "I love you so much, Mom." He's not quite grown up yet, Mr. Pirate Man. And somewhere inside him there will always be that little boy who repeatedly dropped you from his stroller and reached his arms up to me, begging to be lifted out. Together, we'll hold on to the memory.

Repeating History

Right now in history Evan and I are studying the seventeenth century. Our text is Susan Wise Bauer's The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child. Several days ago we read about Oliver Cromwell and the Puritan Revolution. One passage left us laughing so robustly that Evan demanded it be read again and again:

Now that Parliament had been dissolved by force, Cromwell and his army generals appointed a new Parliament, made up of 139 men "fearing God and of approved fidelity and honesty." This Parliament became known as the Barebones Parliament, after one of its members, a Puritan minister named Praise-God Barebones."

Sounds like something out of Spongebob Squarepants, doesn't it? No wonder Evan loved it.

The experience of reading alongside my child, laughing and learning with him, is one of the best things about homeschooling. I knew about Oliver Cromwell. But reading about him again with Evan, I learned some things (such as the fact above) that I never knew before. More important, as I revisited that period of history, I was struck by how familiar it all sounded. Consider this passage, just a few paragraphs after the one quoted above:

Cromwell still called England a commonwealth, but now it was being ruled by his own hand-picked men, not by the people of England. Six months later, this Nominated Assembly of men loyal to Cromwell passed a new bill. This bill announced, "Parliament now gives all of its powers to Oliver Cromwell, to act on behalf of the people of England!" 

Oliver Cromwell had become the new king of England.

He was never called "king." Instead, he was given the title Lord Protector of England. And he was supposed to call Parliament every two years and listen to what the members of Parliament advised him to do.

But Cromwell certainly seemed like a king. He moved his family into the royal palace. The ceremony to make him Lord Protector looked an awful lot like a coronation ceremony. His advisors often called him "Your Highness." And when Parliament refused to do exactly what he said, he scolded its members, telling them that he spoke for God and that they were opposing God Himself when they opposed the Lord Protector. "I undertook this government in the simplicity of my heart and as before God . . . to do the part of an honest man," he explained. "I speak for God and not for men." When Parliament continued to oppose Cromwell, he announced, "I think . . . that it is not for the profit of [England], nor for [the] common and public good, for you to continue here any longer. And therefore I do declare unto you, that I do dissolve this Parliament." 

No doubt you have heard the Santayana quote that those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it. More and more, I think that even those who do know history are doomed to repeat it. The older I get the more it seems that there are a few basic storylines that repeatedly play themselves out on the human stage, whether on the world level or in our little, everyday lives. Still, I think it's important to study history. But maybe the point of doing so is not because we realistically have much hope of affecting it, but so that we can better understand our place in it. And what is that place? I am beginning to think it is nothing more than to hold on for dear life as God tries, time and again, to show us the hopelessness of trusting in rulers, or institutions, or learning, or money, or even dear loved ones, more than in Him and His love for us. We have to function within the framework of all of those things. But our nature is to make each of them into little gods that we turn to as sources of meaning and progress for our lives. I know I keep doing that and I don't know how to stop myself. But reading stories from history that remind me of the futility of such misplaced faith tends to put the brakes on, at least for a time.