Mr. and Mrs. Blizzard

I just witnessed the lonely march of a newborn widow. Last night we were awaken by our dog barking madly, and we came to find out it was because a firetruck was at our neighbor’s house. Deep down we both guessed what was happening, but it wasn’t confirmed until early this morning when I saw our neighbor as I was strapping the boys into the car.
“Dad passed this morning around 3:00,” he said, the emotion clearly catching in his throat. He swallowed hard almost as if he was trying to undo what he just said.
“Mama will let you know how it all happened.”
“Please give her our condolences and please let us know if there is anything we can do,” I heard myself saying. It sounded hollow. Then I drove to church.
Making lunch I saw her, the woman whose marriage vow was fulfilled in the darkness of a new day. Leaning heavily upon the arm of her daughter she walked to a car. I do not know where they were going. For her, I am sure it is into the unknown. Decades of oneness have come to an end, and so she puts one foot in front of the other and just walks. She is walking through the valley I never want to walk through. The one that is dark and scary and lonely. The one without him.
I do not know their story. My guess is it wasn’t always great because what marriage is always bliss? But the point is, the stress, the hard times, the hurt feelings did not end the marriage. They walked together until the end. That is something you don’t see every day, and it stands as a pillar for me to see every time I look out my kitchen window and live. It challenges me to love patiently and passionately and fiercely until “death do us part.”

2nd Soccer Game

Max enjoyed his second game this morning. His team played against the Geckos. The weather in Columbia dropped by 30 degrees yesterday, so it took his team a while to wake up and warm up this morning. There were a lot of tumbles, running toward the wrong goal, using hands and day-dreaming. It was awesome.
Max has had a cold since Monday, so he valiantly ran up and down the field with a tissue in hand. We didn't see much action from him in the first half, but during the second half, he scored twice. Joey had the biggest grin on his face. He also tripped his same teammate twice as the little guy was trying to score a goal. He never did it on purpose. It just happened.
Max also had a guest in the crowd, namely Michael Spicher. This was a huge honor considering that Spicher had tickets to the World Cup in South Africa and ended up not going. Thanks Spicher for coming!!!
Will spent most of the game sitting on a blanket on the sideline shredding a Styrofoam cup.
In the end, the Kangaroos did it again and won 5 to 3.

Will Chad

If you have not met Will or have not seen him in a while, this picture pretty much sums him and his personality up.
Whatever he does, he does 100%.
He teases his older brother full force, but loves him with all his heart. Whenever Max is playing with trains, you know that Will will break the track at some point. But whenever Will comes to get a snack (like a cookie, a piece of cheese, etc.) he always asks for one for Max, too.
If Max is crying, Will is very distraught until Max is all better.
He has started pointing and waving with his pointer finger and saying, "no-no!" It is the cutest thing, but he says it about things he is not aloud to touch as he is touching them.
He loves the characters from Cars and Charlie the train, and dogs and chickens and babies.
Lately he is known to sneak out the front door or climb into the hen house.
He loves to snuggle and hug and give wet kisses. He loves to sing the B-I-B-L-E and shout, "Bible" at the end of the song.
He loves hotdogs and is known to eat 2-3 at a time.
So that is sweet William in a nutshell.
We wouldn't trade him for the world.

1st Soccer Game- Kangaroos!

Warming up with the team (and Will) before the game.
(Notice the kangaroo hanging from the top of the goal, so the kids knew which goal to run toward!)

A few seconds before he scored his second goal of the game.

Soccer Stud.
(for Tati)

Go Kangaroos!!

Max loved playing soccer. He broke away from the rest of the kids three times and scored twice. Joey and I were quite surprised by how well he was able to dribble the ball. Thanks to Opa, Maxi's cleats make him really fast. When he was on the sideline, he cheered his team on and was so excited anytime they scored. I have to admit, his little team is really strong and big for three-year-olds. I think the Kangaroos might be going all the way this season!
:-)

Pride

Have you ever noticed how pride can really destroy everything? Pride gets in the way of an apology, increasing the tension in a marriage; pride is the hurdle truth sometimes cannot leap over; pride does not release you to let go of whatever “it” you are holding on to. Pride is loud when it should be silent, puffing itself up out of proportion. Pride is the most deafening silence when love needs to be vocal.

I find myself in the school of humility, often unaware of and even oblivious to lessons needed to be learned. I live life day in and day out with never ending lists of demands that need my attention. Some are admittedly self-imposed. Other boxes to check off are essential or else we do not eat.

This evening, in the midst of taking a short break after my shoe-hider and furniture gymnast went to bed, I was mentally giving myself a pep talk and formulating a plan of attack on the kitchen, when I heard dishes clanking and water running. My insides turned. The only person who could be in the kitchen unloading the dishwasher and doing my job was our guest from Austria. Pride penetrated by heart and mind just as quickly as gasoline burns when a match is lit. “I must come across lazy and incompetent. I can’t even manage my own household!” were the lyrics of pride’s song.
But tonight I had the ears to hear God’s song. “You are tired and weary. Let me take care of the “to-do’s.” Child, let go and let me bless.” Clanking dishes kept beat and running water put out pride’s fire. So I joined our guest in the kitchen and worked on the to-do’s of the evening, but instead of an attack, it was more like a dance.

Rascal

Happy Fourth of July!

This 4th of July we found ourselves driving to Greenville to take our Mac to the Apple store for some repair. So we decided to spend a relaxing day there. The pictures show some of our adventures. Mick was with us, too, but he never wanted to be in a photo.
The pics are actually not in chronological order, but I don't think that matters too much. Our day ended with a drink and ice-cream break at Cool Beans, overlooking Reedy Falls Park.

Cooling off in the river. Will and Max both had so much fun. Max tried to catch fish with a cup, and Will had no fear. Joey or I had to be with him at all times. The beach ought to be an adventure later on this summer.


We also climbed the rocks around the waterfall. We all had a much needed day of fun.


Oh, I forgot to mention quite a sight. When we arrived at the mall to go to the Apple store, Joey pulled up to the entrance to let Max and me out so Max could go to the bathroom. I got out of the car, opened Max's door, and somehow a draft was created that lifted my dress all the way up in the air. Joey's comment: "Victoria doesn't have anymore secrets."