Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

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Saturday smiles: back to our normal edition

Major theme of the week: We’re healthy! And by “we” I mostly mean “me.” I’m learning that the old adage, “If momma ain’t happy ain’t nobody happy” rings true and you can substitute other words for “happy” like “healthy,” “calm” and “peaceful.”

So, Momma’s healthy again, which is one reason to smile, and I can eat food again, which is another reason to smile because I like food to have more consistency than Jello and more flavor than crackers.

The hubby is in the midst of his final papers and projects for seminary, and he was home for supper on Thursday, so I said I’d make whatever he wanted for dinner. We had pork burgers, seasoned fries and a salad. I’ve never made a pork burger in my life, but it was good enough that Phil said we could make them again sometime. Hitting the spot for dinner is a big deal for me. I still feel like a novice in the kitchen sometimes.

Speaking of my husband, I love watching him react to the ridiculous awesome antics on Top Gear. He’s like a little kid, and I mean that in a good way.

A friend brought this pretty lilac bundle to our house for a playdate on Monday. Their springy fragrance permeated the house all week and reminded me of the lilac bushes that lined the property between the house where I grew up and the neighbor’s. My dream house would have at least one lilac bush in the yard.

And speaking of purple, a friend and I got pedicures this week. It’s one of our coping mechanisms while our husbands read, write papers and try to figure out life after seminary. A survey of the kids for what color I should get on my toes yielded these answers: “Red!” (from Izzy) and “Blue!” (from Corban). I wasn’t initially crazy about either color, so I went for purple, which I think is a combination of the two. At least, that’s what I told them. Maybe it’s vanity, but I always like looking at my feet after a pedicure.

Corban is taking good care of his monkey named Baby. These days, he wraps Baby’s arms around his waist and gallops through the house, or down the road, yelling “Piggyback, piggyback.” One day he did this all the way to the library and back, which is a 20- to 30-minute walk each way.

After cleaning the bookshelf and weeding the holiday related books, the kids have rediscovered the recordable stories their Nana and Aunt Charlotte and Uncle Zach have sent to them. One of my favorite things they do when they “read” these books is they talk back to the voices. “Can you hear me Nana?” “Are you there, Nana?” and “I LOVE YOU!” (in response to a “We love you!” in the story from their aunt and uncle). How I wish the family could hear them from here.

And Corban is offering to pray more often at mealtime. Mostly, he says, “Dear Jesus, goodbye.”

We’ve had some good outdoors time this week, too. The boy in his truck always cracks me up.

One of the biggest developments is training wheels for the little girl.

On subsequent rides she was wearing a helmet. Please don’t report us for child abuse.

I’m off to writers group this morning, which makes me smile before I even get there because I love being with other writers and learning more about the craft and encouraging each other in our ventures.

Happy Saturday!

Anthem Thursday: If I Ever Needed Grace

I’m learning a lot about grace right now. Giving it. Receiving it. What it is. What it isn’t. The most profound truth I’ve encountered about grace this week is that I would have needed grace even if I had never sinned. (Source: Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy).

This song says what my heart feels right now while our family is in the throes of transition.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpZPycrWKWk]

I need grace. How ’bout you?

Historical imagination: author interview and review of Tracy Higley’s Garden of Madness

It’s been a year since I met Tracy Higley at an all-day writer’s workshop in the area, and I have yet to read a book she’s written that I haven’t loved. (Check out a past review here.) Her latest release, Garden of Madness, is another winner. In it, Higley takes us to Babylon during the seven years of madness of King Nebuchadnezzar. (For biblical background, see the book of Daniel.) The king’s daughter, Tiamet, finds herself widowed and a pawn in a power struggle to solidify the kingdom during the king’s mental absence. What I love about Higley’s books are that they are not direct retellings of biblical stories but are historical imaginations of events we don’t know much about. In this story, the familiar biblical character Daniel is given life, as is the prophet Jeremiah. Though we never meet the prophet, the importance of his letters to the exiles is highlighted. Sometimes, when I read the Bible, I forget that these are real events, not just words on a page.

FAVORITES: Higley writes characters who are compelling and realistic. Her books make me more interested in history especially the cultural and historical context in which the Bible was written.

FAULTS: Honestly, I can’t come up with one. The only “faults” I find are that I want to read more about the time periods in which she writes and I finish the story too quickly. Those aren’t bad things.

IN A WORD: Addictive. That’s probably not supposed to be a good thing, but I find every time I finish one of Higley’s novel, I’m ready for another.

Read on for an interview with the author and news of what’s coming up next from her.

Interview with Tracy L. Higley 

Your novels are based, in part, on historical people and places. So, where do you draw the line between fact and fiction? For example, in Garden of Madness, at what point does the story become something that could have happened instead of a historical retelling of the facts?

Most of my novels brush very lightly against actual historical events. Whenever the people are historical, I try to remain true to what we know of them. But there are many gaps in the historical record, and that’s where I have fun filling in with my own imagination!

Often your characters have bold, sometimes frightening, confrontations with evil. How important is the portrayal of this conflict to your stories and what can modern-day readers learn from the stands your characters take?

Yes, the ancient world was probably more aware of and in touch with the spiritual evil in the world. I do think it’s important not to gloss over the often demonic influence of paganism. And I would hope that my readers would see that evil is something that can definitely be confronted and conquered, with the help of God.

Along those same lines, do you ever find yourself experiencing spiritual warfare or oppression when writing about good-versus-evil conflicts?

I don’t think I’ve experienced anything strange in the way of spiritual warfare, that others don’t experience. I do pray often, though, as I am exploring these concepts in my research, for protection. There are times when I am reading actual ancient spells, etc., that I get a little creeped out!

Your books and travels have taken you to beautiful and interesting places across the globe. What’s on your must-see list that you haven’t seen and/or written about yet?

I would love to visit Morocco someday. [I even love Morocco at Epcot!] I think it would be very cool to write a story set in Casablanca. I’d also like to write some stories set in the British Colonial empire – perhaps the West Indies or the Caribbean.

When you aren’t able to visit the location you’re writing about (as was the case with Garden of Madness), what are your best resources for accurately describing the setting and culture?

I take a multi-level approach to research before I begin writing, starting out with skimming textbooks to get a big-picture view of the time and place, then diving deeper for the details I need. As I write, I often leave “placeholders” for little details I don’t have at the time, then come back to those later and use the internet to dig out the small pieces.

What can we look forward to next from you?

I am just finishing up revisions on my next novel, set in Ephesus during the time of Paul – specifically during the incidents of Acts 19. It will be another story focusing on spiritual warfare and the pagan worship of Artemis, along with the early church’s victory over evil.

Connect with Tracy on her Web site and Facebook for the latest news, chances to win free books and travel journals from her research trips.

In exchange for my review, I was given a free advance digital copy of Garden of Madness from Thomas Nelson through the Booksneeze program.

I review for BookSneeze®

Crafting with kids: an overachieving mom’s guide to making an artistic mess

Last week, the kids and I were fighting spring colds, and even though the temperature outside was reasonable for spring, the wind was gusty. I opted for an in-house project instead of playtime outside.

For a few weeks, I’d been wanting to make these.

They are magazine files made from cereal boxes, and I first saw the idea on this site. I’d marked up the cereal boxes but was waiting for the best time to drag out the scissors, glue and scrapbooking paper.

My kids are 4 and 2, so art projects in our house require lots of supervision and tons of help (not to mention a boatload of patience on my part.) I like making things, but I’ve never been very good at follow-the-rules kinds of crafts.

Anyway, they didn’t turn out too bad, and I only had to threaten one time that we were going to put it all away before were done. The mess was minimal, and we made something useful.

Craft projects with kids can be intimidating, especially if you’re a control freak perfectionist like me, but it can be done, and I hope the effort pays off later in life and that my kids enjoy creating things as much as I do. (Or more!)

Here are some tips I’m learning about crafting with kids.

  • Be realistic. About how much time it’s going to take. About what you can accomplish. About the amount of mess you’re going to make. I usually approach these projects optimistically thinking “how hard could it be?” or “we could totally do that” and then find myself frustrated because I had unrealistic expectations. Repeat after me: The time is worth it. I don’t have to do every project I find on Pinterest with my kids this year. Messes clean up.
  • Plan ahead. My kids have a short attention span. Case in point: Easter egg dyeing. Do you know how long five minutes is to a 4-year-old or a 2-year-old? I suspect the experience was slightly less than what they expected. With that in mind, if I can have some prep work done before I get them started, we’re more likely to succeed. For example, with the cereal box project, I measured the boxes ahead of time. I should have cut them, too, because in the down time when I was cutting, the kids were bored. Gather your supplies. Lay out newspapers (if you’re working on your kitchen table like we usually do). Take a deep breath. Dive in.
  • Take your kids shopping for supplies. Hobby Lobby with two kids under 5 is one of the scariest experiences I’ve ever had. One time we were shopping for a picture frame and my son, the 2-year-old, insisted on holding the basket. Every time he swung around, I envisioned shattered frames all over the floor. That said, when I take the kids with me to buy craft supplies, they get inspired and excited about what we’re going to do. Our next project is to glue seashells we found on our trip to Florida to small wooden objects we found at Hobby Lobby. My son picked out a train, something I wouldn’t have bought if he hadn’t been with me. Giving him a choice in what to make, I hope, will keep him interested in the project.
  • Keep it simple. I try not to spend a lot of money on arts and crafts, frankly because we don’t have a lot of wiggle room in our budget. Projects that use things you have around the house (like cereal boxes) or things you can find (like leaves, flowers or sea shells) cut down on costs. Our biggest art expenses tend to be things like glue sticks and clear contact paper. Otherwise, I look for things that are sitting around the house, like my stash of scrapbooking paper that I’m not using for scrapbooking right now, and paints I used for projects years ago before I had kids.
  • Settle for imperfect. I want things to turn out right and look good. With kids as young as mine, that’s almost impossible when it comes to craft projects. If you look closely, my magazine files are misshapen and the paper is crooked. They may even be falling apart by now. Sometimes I lose it in my quest for perfection, but I’d rather my kids learn to try things and get it wrong than be afraid of trying anything because they know it won’t be right. Besides, it’s art. That’s one of the beauties of creative projects. If you make a mistake, you can convince people you did it on purpose and it was just your creative spin on the project.

What am I missing? How do you make craft projects fun for your kids?

Saturday smiles: Uh, what day is it again? edition

I know it’s Sunday now, but I spent most of the week plagued by sickness of seemingly every common kind. Needless to say, the week was kind of a blur. I didn’t eat much of anything for three days. (Apparently that’s my new weight loss plan because I lost 3.5 pounds this week!) A lingering hacking cough has me wondering if I should leave the house for church this morning. (I promise to cover my mouth and take cough medicine!)

So smiles this week? Let me jog my memory. (Think The Princess Bride when Fezzik jogs the albino’s memory. “I didn’t mean to jog him so hard.”)

Maybe the biggest smilemaker this week was learning that I was one of 10 winners in the adult age group of the Lebanon County Library System’s annual poetry contest. Yes, you read that right. I have to read it again from time to time, too. I’m not sure I’ve ever entered a poetry contest before or what compelled me to enter this one. The prize is winning and having my poem published with the other winners in a book the library is putting together. I can also attend a poetry reading of the winning poems in May. Totally crazy but a bright spot in my week.

Isabelle watched Mary Poppins for the first time and gave it four thumbs up. We’re working our way through Disney movies after visiting the world of Disney. Next up, at her request, is The Jungle Book. I love her passion for stories, in book or movie form.

Breakfast with friends and watching the kids take over the Chick-Fil-A play area because they were the only ones in there. They actually played together pretty well, which seems rarer and rarer.

Outside time. I’m learning that the more space in which my children have to play, the less likely they are to get on each other’s nerves and fight. Hooray for nice weather the past couple of days and in the days to come!

Corban and I read a 100 words picture book one night when his sister had gone to bed early. I would point to a picture and say, “Corban, what is that?” He would reply, almost every time, with, “Um, I’m not sure. It’s a frog, actually.” So hilarious.

Not hilarious is the fact that I’m sure this boy is going to land us in the emergency room for the first time. Because of him, I’m needing to acquire the skill of getting blood out of clothing (he plays hard) and yesterday I learned that the little flap of skin that connects your mouth to your gums is called a frenulum.  I know this now because he tore his after he hit his head on something in the living room. I freaked out. Phil googled it to convince me we didn’t need to go to the ER. He seems to be healing just fine, though when I ask him how his lips are, he says, “Not good yet.” That didn’t stop him from eating everything on his plate for supper last night plus an extra helping of frozen yogurt. Some things only sons can teach you, I guess.

I wish I had some pictures from this week, but it was not a very picture-worthy week. (Actually, I have a few but I’m too lazy to share them this morning.)

Keep smiling!

Anthem Thursday: “Scientists in Japan”

This video showed up in my e-mail inbox today. I love Sara Groves’ music and think she’s super talented. I mean really, not just anyone can write a song about bioethics and science fiction and have it be catchy and thought-provoking. Here’s the video.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir5RhjnSRF0&feature=relmfu]

And here’s the story behind the song, which helps put it all into perspective.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeYWxRhJwiQ&feature=relmfu]

A gem on the bookshelf: Review of God Gave Us Love by Lisa Tawn Bergren

Our kids love books, consequently we have a bookshelf lined with kids’ books. It overtook the adults’ collection of best-loved books more than a year ago. They have their favorites, too, and I find we’re often drawn to the same ones over and over again.

A few weeks ago, I pulled this one off the shelf. And I was pleasantly surprised by the message, illustrations and overall story.

My biggest pet peeve with children’s books is when the  message feels forced, and I don’t get that at all from “God Gave Us Love.” In it, a young cub and her grandpa are on a fishing trip when some otters disturb their day. That leads to a conversation about love, all different kinds of love, including the kind where we love people but don’t exactly like them at the moment.

Bergren writes a fun, faith-filled story that illustrates a great lesson about love. She has other “God Gave Us …” themed children’s books that I’m eager to check out. And illustrator Laura J. Bryant captures beautifully this discussion about love with polar bear cubs in a variety of family settings. The pictures are simple, clear, fun and realistic.

Sometimes I think writing a children’s book might be easy, but when I see the difference between an okay story and a great one (like this one), I change my tune.

Ours is a hardcover, but the author recently released this as a board book.

I plan to pull this one off the shelf more often.

Along for the ride

“Hey, wanna go for a ride?”

I looked up at the sound of the familiar voice, startled to find him behind the wheel of a — how can I put it nicely? — clunker.  Whatever its color used to be, I’d call it “rust” now. The car, if you can call it a car, was followed by a cloud of black smoke. I’m no expert on cars, but was it supposed to sound like it’s choking?

“Um …” I said, hoping to come up with a valid-sounding excuse for why I couldn’t. I glanced back toward the house. The kids were inside playing while my husband read a book. Wait, what was I doing outside by myself anyway?

“The kids are fine,” the driver said. “Hubby’s got things under control. C’mon. It’ll be fun.”

Did he say “fun”? Fun is what you promise when you pull up in front of someone’s house in a convertible on the first nice day of the year. I looked at my friend’s ride and pictured us broken down on the highway, in need of help and unable to get home to safety.

I hesitated further but my friend didn’t push me. He didn’t say a word. He didn’t have to. The man had saved my life and in return, he asked me to trust him in every situation. Even ones like this, where getting in the car made no logical sense.

Before I knew it, I was in the passenger seat. The smile on my friend’s face was as comforting as the car was unnerving. He put the car in gear and pulled away from the curb. I stole a glance at the house, wondering if this would be the last time I saw my family.

“So, where are we going?” I asked before we’d reached the end of the street.

“Check the glove box. There’s a map in there.”

I opened the panel on the dashboard in front of me and found a single sheet of paper folded in half. I unfolded it and turned it over in my hands.

“This is blank,” I said.

My friend just smiled.

“Is this some kind of joke?”

He continued driving.

I wadded up the “map,” threw it back in the glove box and slammed it closed.

My friend reached over and gently touched me on the shoulder. I shrugged him off but his hand remained.

“It’s going to be okay,” he said.

Tears formed as I stared out the window, trying not to hear the confidence in his voice, the gentleness that first drew me to him. I wanted to be mad that he’d duped me into taking a ride to nowhere with him in a sorry excuse for a car. I didn’t have time for this nonsense.

“What are you afraid of?”

He’d nailed it, like he always did. I wasn’t mad. Or annoyed. I was afraid. Why did he have to know me so well?

“You really want to know?” I said as the tears spilled out of my eyes.

“You know I do.”

Those words undid me. I covered my face with my hands and let the tears roll, the sobs escape, and somewhere in the noise of my agony, I heard my friend’s voice.

“I will never leave you or forsake you.”

“I am the same yesterday, today and forever.”

“I am the way, the truth and the life.”

My friend parked the car. I looked up and we were back in front of my house, almost as if we’d never left. I stepped out of the car and back into my life, where not everything makes sense all the time. I turned around to wave to my friend and found the car gone without a trace of smoke or rattling metal.

I sat on the front step, wondering if I’d just dreamt the whole thing. Or hallucinated it. Lack of sleep and too much coffee makes a person prone to both, I think.

The sound of my kids laughing and my husband provoking them to it drew me back inside. I glanced over my shoulder one more time and wondered if I was crazy.

“Mom, mom, you got mail!” my 4-year-old daughter announced with delight as she bounded toward me.

She handed me a postcard. I wrinkled my brow. It was blank except for four words: “Wish you were here.” No signature. No postmark. Not even a stamp.

I flipped the card over and dropped to my knees. The picture on the front was of a shiny red convertible zooming along a coastal highway on a sunny day.

A Bible verse flashed through my mind.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Forgive me, Lord. I don’t know where we’re going, but as long as You’re driving, I’m along for the ride.

Saturday (okay, Sunday) smiles: spring edition

We went to a wedding last weekend, probably the first that Isabelle will really remember. We’d been back from Florida and Disney for less than a week, so it was no surprise that when we greeted the bride, Isabelle sidled up to her as if they were going to have their picture taken together.

“We just went to Disney. She thinks you’re a princess,” I explained. What bride doesn’t? It was cute and memorable.

Later that day, seemingly out of nowhere, Isabelle asked, “Mommy, who do you think I’m going to marry when I’m older?”

Oh, Lord, I thought we had much more time before these types of questions began.

Here are more reasons I’m smiling this week:

My husband spent most of Saturday in the kitchen making the food we’re eating for Easter today. The way to a man’s heart may be through his stomach, but the way to a woman’s heart definitely starts in the kitchen. For lunch we ate deviled ham sandwiches (they were heavenly!) and for dinner we’re eating lamb stew, both firsts for our family. So far, I’m not disappointed.

Playing Easter Bunny. We’re usually with our parents on Christmas, so Phil and I miss out on the Santa role, and neither of our kids have lost teeth yet, so no Tooth Fairy either. Easter, though, is ours. It’s fun to surprise your kids with the unexpected, part of the message of Easter, anyway, right?

To give Corban his equal cute-kidisms time, here is a transcript of a typical conversation when either parent is leaving the house or at naptime or bedtime.

Mom: Corban, do you have kisses for me?

Corban: Nope. (with a shake of the head) They’re all in dad’s mouth.

Mom: How about hugs?

Corban: Nope, they’re all on dad’s neck.

Mom: OK, I guess I’ll go get some kisses and hugs from Dad.

Corban: Wait, I have to put kisses in your mouth.

He is cute, which is trouble, because when he gets in trouble, I think it’s cute. Sigh.

I mean, how do you say “no” to this?

Or this. (His dad had a hand in the bathtub masterpiece. “Mom, look at my mohawk!” Oh, Lord, we are in trouble.)

I know there’s a lot of kid stuff on here, but they provide numerous reasons for smiling. (And plenty of reasons for not, but focusing on the positive keeps me saner.)

It was also great to see some friends who graduated from seminary last year directing and starring in a Good Friday drama at their church.

And the best reason of all for smiling this week — Good Friday is not the end of the story.

He is risen! (I love this song … my favorite for Easter.)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3kc1jDahU4&feature=artist]

Happy Easter from our family to yours!