Calendar Smiles.

This picture is extra special to me. You know why?

It’s because my mom took it! 

She’s never been big on technology but when I recently visited my family in Wisconsin, I handed her my Nikon, showed her where to push the button and voila! She got the shot! (Good job, Mom!)

I stayed at my sister’s house during my visit and I happened to wander through her kitchen one morning and notice what she had written on the calendar for the day they were to pick me up from the airport. .

A smiley face!  A calendar smiley face!

I thought, “Whew!  I’m sure glad she didn’t decide to put a frowny face next to my name instead!”  Wouldn’t you just hate it if someone put a calendar frowny face next to your name?  

Being in Debbie’s lovely home is always a smile producer for me; she has created a peaceful dwelling place and she is a top-notch, thoughtful hostess.  I’m also thankful for my nephew, Caleb, who gave up his room for me while I was in town and as a special bonus, also gave me a piano concert. He sings, plays piano, trumpet, drums and bass guitar. He’s also a whiz at math—unlike his Aunt Becky whose fear and loathing of math are legendary.. 

I was especially happy to see Caleb on the platform at church with his mom and dad Sunday morning, singing right along with them.  Makes my heart happy.

And speaking of music, Debbie and I went out one afternoon to do a little shopping and found a gift shop with miniature instruments. Are these darling, or what?

And furthermore, as I continue to write further on the subject of the furtherance of music being furthered, this lady right here is my musical inspiration. When I was a little girl, I would sit on her lap, put my hands on top of hers and “ride” along as she played.

And then one day when I was about elven, after I had sat and watched my mom’s mom play some hymns on the piano, something in my brain suddenly clicked. When Grandma got up, I sat down in her place and started to play!  Not well, and not wonderfully, but the chords and the melodies were suddenly, inexplicably there! And I haven’t stopped playing since.

I’m so thankful for a mom and a grandma (and a dad) who sent music on down through the generations—to me, to my sisters, and to our children.

And while musical talent is wonderful to have, my sister, Ruth, is also the possessor of other kinds of talents, especially those of the crafty type.  (It is quite clear to me–and everyone who knows me–that The Craft Talent Fairy swooped right on by me when those kinds of abilities were handed out.)

For example, Ruth has created many dozens of these Dish Towers out of dishes she picks up at all sorts of yard sales and thrift shops–they are wonderful for setting in sun rooms, in living rooms, in gardens, etc.

Each one is different and each one is lovely. 

Her house is always a beauteous feast for the eyes.

I love seeing  what she does with the yard sale/thrift store/cast off pieces she finds and transforms.

Amidst the beauty and the music and the creativity and the calendar-drawn smiley faces, one of my favorite parts of my visit to Wisconsin was walking by mom’s room early one morning and seeing her sitting on her bed and reading the Bible.

She has started every day that way for many decades and it a heritage that I treasure. When I sit in my recliner in the early mornings with my own Bible open, I am extra thankful for her and for her example. (Of course, when you have six children in the space of ten years like she did, you need all the extra help, wisdom, and patience you can possibly come by!)

I so appreciate the gentle, considerate, godly, loving mom that she’s been to me for the past fifty-one years that I decided to give her a little surprise box filled with all sorts of goodies–she absolutely loves opening presents and shows the greatest appreciation for the smallest of gifts.

I am so blessed by family and smiles and the gift of sharing life with these special people for five decades.

To close, I’d like to share a story about my brother-in-law Randy, who is a pastor. I was sitting beside mom in their morning service and Randy referenced her in passing and then added, “You always hear all those sarcastic mother-in-law jokes but truthfully, I have no idea what those jokes are all about. I have the best mother-in-law in the world.”

Oh my. That brought tears to my eyes. Randy and Debbie (being the family who live closest to mom) care for her with the greatest tenderness and respect and honor. They invest in her life with generosity of spirit and time and energy and she invests in their lives with her constant prayers, her sweet, quiet spirit, her words of affirmation and her listening, compassionate heart.  (Mom just happens to be one of the world’s best listeners.)

Is our family perfect?  By NO means. We have our dysfunctions—some major, some minor—just like every family has had ever since Adam and Eve strolled the streets of the Garden. But when there are so many people in this world who are almost completely without family of any kind, I am extra thankful to have a group of people to call my own, people who know me well and love me anyway.

I’m thankful to have a mom who loves her family and prays for them faithfully, brothers who have shared the ups and downs of life with me, a sister who creates beauty wherever she goes and another sister who writes my name on her calendar . . . and adds a smile beside it.

Family ties. Calendar smiles.  It’s all good. Very, very good.