Memorial Weekend
I'm updating the blog a lot this week because I'm in need of some serious distraction as I await word on whether I will be offered this Associate Pastor position at church. The waiting is killing me. I did hear from someone who is not on the Search Committee that, in fact, they did not make a decision on Saturday and will meet again on Tuesday night. So at least I know not to expect to hear anything tomorrow. It's those little details that are so helpful in waiting this out.
This weekend our old friend Adam Schneider has been visiting with his girlfriend. I'll have to get a picture up later, because I don't think we've taken one yet. It's been very good to be back in touch with Adam as we kind of lost track over the years...Adam was on staff with Seth and I (and our friend Michelle) the summer of 1998 in Campbell County, TN when we all worked for the Appalachia Service Project. It's been ten years...hard to imagine that, and yet it does feel like a lifetime ago. So we've been enjoying learning about Adam's work with Health Care for the Homeless in Baltimore. We've also been remembering some of the more interesting stories of our time together on staff. Like the time we had a van that backfired and fire literally came out of the exhaust pipe as it made a noise that sounded like a shotgun. I'm sure we made such a good impression on the community with that one...
My sister just posted a piece on her blog about her 6 month old, Finn, trying his first solid foods. She was talking about how fast babies grow up, and it reminded me of this excerpt from my May 3rd journal entry which I thought I'd share:
"I had a really sweet moment with Myles today. He was going back and forth between the living room and the office, bringing me books to read. At one point he was headed into the living room and he paused at the door, turned back to look at me and laughed--and I saw echoes of the hundreds of times in the future when he will walk over a new threshold with that gleam in his eyes, that joy and excitement in his being, glancing back at me as he goes. It broke my heart and I cried, right there on the floor. Two minutes later he returned with a book and I gave God thanks that he is still small and in need of the very bodily love and affirmation that I am so eager to offer him."
The sweet little one is up taking his morning nap right now, and I'm going to try to clean up and get some work done while he sleeps. Happy Memorial Day...or maybe I shouldn't say "happy"...there are so many young people who are over in Iraq and Afghanistan, putting their lives on the line, and even though I think this war is unjustified and unjust, even though I think that violence is never a helpful way to work out conflict or create positive, lasting change, I do remember those who are far from home on this Memorial Day weekend and pray for an end to this war. Not only would I like to see those soldiers come home, but I would really like to see us improve the kind of care we offer to veterans when they do return, health care and mental health care and job training and educational opportunities. I think we owe this to those who are willing to risk their lives for our nation, and I'm glad to pay taxes when it goes to things like benefits for veterans. I do hope that as we are running about today enjoying family and beautiful weather and food that we will remember that we are a nation at war, and it seems that the cost of this war is falling more squarely on the shoulders of some than others. But I do wish you a good Memorial Day, because it's good for the soul to be grateful for the moments that we have with family and friends.
This weekend our old friend Adam Schneider has been visiting with his girlfriend. I'll have to get a picture up later, because I don't think we've taken one yet. It's been very good to be back in touch with Adam as we kind of lost track over the years...Adam was on staff with Seth and I (and our friend Michelle) the summer of 1998 in Campbell County, TN when we all worked for the Appalachia Service Project. It's been ten years...hard to imagine that, and yet it does feel like a lifetime ago. So we've been enjoying learning about Adam's work with Health Care for the Homeless in Baltimore. We've also been remembering some of the more interesting stories of our time together on staff. Like the time we had a van that backfired and fire literally came out of the exhaust pipe as it made a noise that sounded like a shotgun. I'm sure we made such a good impression on the community with that one...
My sister just posted a piece on her blog about her 6 month old, Finn, trying his first solid foods. She was talking about how fast babies grow up, and it reminded me of this excerpt from my May 3rd journal entry which I thought I'd share:
"I had a really sweet moment with Myles today. He was going back and forth between the living room and the office, bringing me books to read. At one point he was headed into the living room and he paused at the door, turned back to look at me and laughed--and I saw echoes of the hundreds of times in the future when he will walk over a new threshold with that gleam in his eyes, that joy and excitement in his being, glancing back at me as he goes. It broke my heart and I cried, right there on the floor. Two minutes later he returned with a book and I gave God thanks that he is still small and in need of the very bodily love and affirmation that I am so eager to offer him."
The sweet little one is up taking his morning nap right now, and I'm going to try to clean up and get some work done while he sleeps. Happy Memorial Day...or maybe I shouldn't say "happy"...there are so many young people who are over in Iraq and Afghanistan, putting their lives on the line, and even though I think this war is unjustified and unjust, even though I think that violence is never a helpful way to work out conflict or create positive, lasting change, I do remember those who are far from home on this Memorial Day weekend and pray for an end to this war. Not only would I like to see those soldiers come home, but I would really like to see us improve the kind of care we offer to veterans when they do return, health care and mental health care and job training and educational opportunities. I think we owe this to those who are willing to risk their lives for our nation, and I'm glad to pay taxes when it goes to things like benefits for veterans. I do hope that as we are running about today enjoying family and beautiful weather and food that we will remember that we are a nation at war, and it seems that the cost of this war is falling more squarely on the shoulders of some than others. But I do wish you a good Memorial Day, because it's good for the soul to be grateful for the moments that we have with family and friends.
posted by Seth and Mandy at
6:22 AM
2 Comments:
Mandy, you ought to consider writing as a second job. You write so incredibly beautiful. What you wrote about Myles was heart wrenching and brought me to tears...yet it was beautiful and touching all the same. Your words are so provoking. I know EXACTLY what you mean. I stand here sobbing as I write this to you. Thank you as well for your reminder of those far from home on a day that so many are together. I feel the same way you do about the war. I'm now running off to go cradle and hold my two sons!
Your entry also brought me to tears. I look at my son and cannot imagine the day when he might go abroad to fight a war that doesn't bring us any more "security" than it did at its inception and creation. I think there must be a much better way to solve our world's problems than to kill a nation - to permanently wound a generation. My prayer is that we raise a generation of boys that are not willing to take the easy, most violent, way out; and who are willing to TALK instead of fight. It is only though us moms and dads that we can accomplish this.
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