Lesson 50: All of Creation Sing With Me Now

Lesson 49 was for the break of day on Easter Sunday.  Make sure you check that one out if you haven't yet.  It is my hope that you've spent the day with family and friends, at church, eating, sharing, loving and hopefully reflecting on the true meaning of today.  So here is another favorite for tonight.  Again, this does not need my words to help with interpretation.  The lyrics say it all, so let the song speak for itself.  Enjoy the voices of Mercy Me and think of this as the sun sets on this very blessed Easter Sunday.  All of creation, sing with me now--even in Slovenian. ---My blessings to you, Eloise

Lesson 49: Morning Has Broken

For Jesus and for all of us.  Blessed Easter, Eloise

Lesson 48: Woman at the Well

This is a really unique clip that I thought would be great to share with you for Easter week.  Pastor showed us this in church a few weeks ago.  I thought this modern spin on the storytelling of Jesus meeting a Samaritan woman at the well was superb.  It doesn't need my words for interpretation though.  Watch it for yourself and let it speak to your soul.  You can find the reading in John 4:  3-30.  That can be your vacation reading assignment from this teacher.  Since your homework is short, you must also review the previous blog posting that is the partner to this lesson.  Also review Lesson 47:  I Found Him in Another Life to look at this story in another form.  Teachers not only love vocabulary, but they love to compare and contrast things.  Both are great.  And for my LOST friends, you won't believe the link I found.  Enjoy both posts for Easter week.  Lessons 47 and 48 are sure to stay with you.
Peace,
Eloise

Lesson 47: I Found Him in Another Life

OK, OK.  I know SOME of you are sick of the LOST references on this blog, but there are many LOST fan followers, too.  This one is just too good to resist!

When I first saw the actor who plays Desmond Hume on LOST, I felt like I had seen him before in a movie and it haunted me.  The LOST audience first met Desmond when Jack, Locke, and Kate found him down in "the hatch" after they rather rudely blew the door off and invaded his private dwelling.  Desmond was the person responsible for pushing the button every 108 minutes.  Later in the series, we found Desmond had actually met Jack while they were running the stairs at a stadium.  Because I am a teacher and love any opportunity to build my readers vocabulary, the physical feat of running all the steps in every section of a stadium is called a Tour de Stade.  Paul J. Weitz Stadium may soon hear the sound of my sneakers against the metal bleachers.  That sounds like a fun challenge to consider (IF SPRING EVER DOES ARRIVE!).   It is Desmond's character who is responsible for saying one of my favorite LOST phrases.  After a brief conversation with Jack, Desmond said as the pair parted, "See you in another life, Brother." 

Well, I found Desmond's other life.  He was Jesus!   Well, okay, pre-LOST he PLAYED Jesus.  Still a great honor nonetheless.  I recognized him from something I saw in church years before that.  Here is a clip that is another version of the Woman at the Well story.  It is from a visual Bible series that was used often in church services. 

Ahhh....that is the sound of something clicking in and finally making sense.  Did you ever have something that bugged you for years and never left you?  You'd forget about it for awhile, but something deep in the recesses your memory would always bring you back to....."where have I seen this person before."  There is a sweetness in the moment that it all comes together.  A knowledge coming to fruition.  That is how the real Samaritan woman at the well must have felt when she met Jesus and figured out he was the real deal.  How sweet for her.  How beautiful for all of us.

Peace,
Eloise

Lesson 46: 50 Powerful Words

I was explained the concept of "spiritual maturity" this past week.  It was a concept I had never considered before and was best illustrated through my son, Sam.  Hang on through the serious stuff, because you can be sure with the mere mention of Sam's name, something funny is sure to follow.

Pastor explained that we are all growing along a continuum of understanding about spirituality.  The plan is that through living and learning and loving and even suffering, we grow stronger in our faith and are continually learning new things.  There were a few things I had wrong that I thought were right and when I discovered that, I couldn't figure out how I had been so blind.  Pastor, in his kind and gentle way, assured me that making discoveries such as the ones I made that week were natural and part of being human.  He illustrated how that when we are young children we learn the "people" of the Bible.  Then we mature and learn the stories, the Commandments, and the verses that connect us to it all.  When we begin to connect the meaning behind the words and feel them in our hearts, it is then we make the big connections, when we are ready to and have more maturity.  We then just don't "go to church" but we are there and actively listening and applying what we learned to our daily lives.

Louie and I always ask our children what Sunday school was about on the way home from church every week.  Poor Ellen.  The task always falls on her as Natalie isn't a champ in the expressive language category but always manages to smile and say, "Church good.  Jesus."  Good enough for us.  The message got through.  Sam, on the other hand, usually tells us "who was bad" (never him, of course), what snack they had, and who tried to take his chair. 

Last week we told Sam before he trotted down (scratch that--ran down) to the church basement for Sunday school, that he needed to listen and think about the lesson, and tell us about it when he came back up.  He looked up at us with those big, blue eyes and nodded in his fake-angelic way.  After church we were waiting for him in the narthex and we saw the double doors burst open.  Flying through it at top speed was Sam, carrying two cut out figures glued onto Popsicle sticks.  He crashed into me at top speed, almost knocking me over, hugging my legs and poking my butt with the ends of the wooden sticks.  "Mommy, I paid attention!" he cried. 

The figures appeared to be of Peter and the rooster.  We assumed the lesson was one leading up to Easter, about Peter denying Jesus three times before the cock crowed.  When we asked Sam to tell us about them he exclaimed with great excitement, "This is a guy and this is a chicken!"  My family and everyone in earshot got a chuckle out of that one.

This showed me that Pastor is right--we do all grow.  I cannot expect Sam to understand all of it at this level of his maturity.  I am happy with where he is now---the guy and chicken stage of development.  He's learning the people, then the stories, then will come the verses with lots and lots of words.  It is when he begins to connect meaning to those words through good teaching and guidance that the realness of it all begins to happen.  From there his heart will change as well as his thoughts, words, and deeds. 

This has led me to thinking a lot about words this week.  I suppose that is because I write lots and lots of them between my job and my blogging hobby.  Words are only just letters put together, sometimes phonetically (remember, I speak English, Slovenians, our language doesn't always make sense), and are essentially worthless unless truth and meaning are behind them.  Otherwise they are just letters on a page. When words connect to meaning, and the understanding brings about living, breathing actions--that is where we can begin to really live by our words and more importantly The Word.

I found this youtube clip and it is one of my favorites.  The 50 Powerful Words that Uplift and Inspire deserve some recognition on my blog.  Since you know that I have a "thing" for numbers, you sense the message must be timely for me to post them as Lesson 46 instead of waiting until Lesson 50.  I felt a sense of urgency to share them; they couldn't wait.  Many of my followers are "wordy" people--obviously because you like to read and are enjoying this blog.  You will surely love this.  But even for you logical-mathematical minds who would rather solve an algorithm, you may enjoy the nature footage.  We surely do live in a world full of beauty.  Take some time to watch this clip.  Watch it twice if you have to--once for the words and once more to soak in the beauty of nature.  There is something for everyone on this clip.

From my reflections this week I have learned that I am nothing but a work in progress, no matter how high of standards I set for myself.  Just another flawed human on the continuum of spiritual maturity.   I am learning and growing and loving and making mistakes.  Through this process I believe that by including these words in my vernacular, more growth will come.  So, I will do what Eloise does best--learn new vocabulary in the way I encourage my students to.  I am going make my own copy of these words and post my list in a very special place so I can refer to them again and again until they become part of me. 

Hmmm...... decisions, decisions.  Where should I put this very special, life changing list?  My special place needs to be somewhere I frequent and I go to every day...... Got it!  They are going on the 'frig.  Perfect.  (Don't judge, Slovenians--it is just what we do--Americans, like our language, are hard to understand, too).

Peace--which means state of tranquility; freedom from disturbance (Sam's in bed, so I can write this in truth),
Eloise

Lesson 45: War and Peace

I know what you all are thinking.  No, it's not.  I think you all did a double take, but this is not a picture of my father.  It is a picture of Leo Tolstoy, supposedly the author of the best novel ever written.  I've always been curious about the dude, and have been reading about his life much as of late.  War and Peace is his greatest known work and many cultural and literary references are always made to it.  Listen for it; you'll hear it often now that I mentioned it. 

So, who's brave enough to try to tackle the book?  Me.  Yep.  I'm going to do it.  Something I've always wanted to do--read War and Peace, cover to cover, to see what all the fuss is about.  I am taking my own advice, for once.  I tell my students that if they want to learn to be good at something, they have to find people in the field they are interested in and apprentice themselves with them.  Seek out the best in the business and watch them.  Learn from them and do what they do.  Ben Franklin did just that and look how far he got in life.  So, it is time for me to read Tolstoy. 

Obviously, I'll be busy for awhile, so if you don't hear from me, this is what I am doing.  I'll give you updates every now and then to let you know how the story is unfolding.  And in case you are wondering, the book is about Russian history and my copy is 1,386 pages long.

I am not sure how this will go over with my 46 Russian followers.  From what I've been reading about Tolstoy he got mixed reviews from the government at the time.  He doesn't look like that happy of a person, but made friends with Gandhi during his lifetime and became a devout Christian, so he can't be all that bad.  I guess it is time for me to find out.

Mir (that's Russian for peace),
Eloise

Lesson 44: For Four--Fore!

Here is a special one for Sam's fourth birthday on March 27th.  And how diabolically perfect is it that I happen to be at blog post 44?  So, for four I am screaming, "Fore!"  The on line dictionary worded the perfect definition for "fore."  Don't think in terms of golf though, think Sam-- "Fore!" is shouted as a warning during a golf game when it appears possible that a golf ball may hit other players or spectators.  Perfect.  Kids at Milestones Early Learning Center, take cover.  Here come Sam's fourth year--FORE!  He's been known to throw a few chairs every now and again.

Sam has been the comic relief of this blog, and I thank him for that.  When I took writing classes in college from my favorite professor, Roger Solberg, he used to tell me it is all about balance.  You have to have laughter where there is pain.  That is why Shakespeare used comic relief, and why the LOST writers included Hurley.  After I've written too many serious and thought provoking blog posts, I always insert one about Sam for the good of the order.  They always seem to bring the most responses from people.

I've told you stories of the potty training, the stubborn streak, and the famous one liners.  But I haven't given enough cyber space to what a wonder my boy is, and how thankful I am to have him.  Even with the girls, as happy as I was with the two of them, I always felt like there was someone missing.  I was not actively seeking another child by any stretch of the imagination.  So it was a blessing when I found out I was expecting him.  Especially so as I had just recovered from a miscarriage and was feeling that emptiness one feels after having one.

Sam's birth day was one for the record books.  I fought long and hard to get that baby out on my own.  I was bound and determined to do it with no drugs this time.  I was toughing it out.  I even tried bouncing on that birthing ball, something my friend told me sped up her labor lickety

split.  All it really did for me is bring on harder labor pain while sitting on an unsteady, rubber sphere.  I haven't been able to look at a yoga ball the same way ever since.  

My sister Karen could not wait for this last hurrah.  At 36, it was clearly going to be my last baby, so she wanted to be with me to relive the process one more time.  I heard her and smelled her before I even saw her.  I was laboring in the bed when I heard the tell tale clickety click of her high heels and jangling Silpada bracelets coming up the hall.  She  

was already chattering away to the nurses.  Upon entry of the room I smelled her perfume and something else.......  In a sing-songy voice she exclaimed, "I brought Starbucks!"  She had a four pack carrier and gave one to Louie, two to the nurses, and kept one for herself.  She pulled up a chair, grabbed my hand, and started her coaching.

The early morning turned to late morning, then to early afternoon.  As the later afternoon was creeping upon us, Eloise was giving out, but baby LaFuria #3 was content as ever to push the other way.  An omen? Perhaps.  The pain was intense and the room started to gray around the edges.  Voices started to sound far away and I was getting tunnel vision.  I remember praying to Jesus out loud.  Karen must have overheard me, because the next thing I could see was her face inches away from my own.  It sounded like she was talking in a bucket.  She said to me, "Do you SEE Jesus?"  I think she was the one who really got the show on the road.  Remember this--when you are too weak to advocate for yourself on your own, have your sibling do it for you.  They have a way of making things happen.  Within minutes I was down for an emergency C-section and my bouncing baby boy was born on March 27th at precisely 3:27 pm.

They say that everyone needs a Bible verse to adopt as their own.  I'd tell you mine, but I can't, because it is my password for everything.  Some people are lucky and have a cool name like John.  If your birthday was August 28th, then you could adopt John 8: 28 to be your verse.  I thought, "Cool, Sam will have a Bible verse from the Book of Samuel.  Neat."  Later that week when I looked it up there was no verse 27 in the third chapter of Samuel.  But I was in luck!   There are two books.  I checked out the second book, and as with most things with Sam, I wished I hadn't.  Here is the verse:  2 Samuel 3: 27--Now when Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the gateway, as though to speak with him privately.  And there, to avenge the blood of his brother Asahel, Joab stabbed him in the stomach, and he died.  NICE!!!!!!!!

In the above photos you'll see Sam during some of his finer moments.  He loves football and didn't seem to care that the Steelers lost the Super Bowl.  He only wanted Jack and his friend Adam to try to tackle him.  Much to his father's pleasure, Sam loves to fish and happens to be a left handed bowler.  You can take Sam anywhere, from a playground to a party to the church preschool, and he me makes friends.  He is friendly and open with people, which was in stark contrast to his older sisters.  For years people made fun of me as each was stuck to a leg much like a barnacle would be on a boat's bottom.  And mine at the time was about the size of a barge--that's what having kids does to a person. 

You will also see that Sam does not like to dress up in formal attire.  He prefers jerseys to neckties and that is fine by me.  You will also see him crying over a pull up.  If you look closely, Eloise played another dirty little trick on her son.  I told him he is getting too old for pull-ups and he needs to get up at night to go pee and not pee the bed.  He of course, was not too keen on this.  So I did what any good mother would do.  Bought him his pull ups again, but told them that the only kinds they had for four year olds were pink, had Dora on the front, and the backs were covered with hearts and flowers.  I know, mommy issues.  It explains a lot.  But my response to you all is "FORE!" because that was a 200 yard drive for me. 

4 cheers for four!

Eloise