A Few More Quick Takes

1) I went on a field trip with my daughter's class to our state capitol. I've been there many times, but I am always struck by the symbolism built into this building. The varied forms of art--mosaics, paintings, carvings--appear EVERYWHERE and is truly amazing. One could spend hours taking it all in. Quotations etched in stone and busts of people important to the state of Nebraska grace the halls. All of these represent who we are and where we have come from. The one I found most interesting was a saying carved into the wood behind the Supreme Court bench. It read, "Eyes and ears are poor witnesses when the soul is barbarous." What does that mean? You can't trust a witness with evil intent?

The visit made me appreciate the thought which went into designing our state capitol building and glad that art is an integral part of it. Who says Nebraskans are simple and uncultured?

2) Speaking of being uncultured, in college I went on a band tour that took us to the East Coast. We stayed with families in the communities we performed in along the way and people in Pennsylvania actually asked us if we had running water! This was in the 80's, people, the 1980s! They honestly thought of Nebraska as a pioneer state. Still. They wanted to know if we had run ins with the Indians and such or saw tepees. We don't have the kind of encounters they were thinking of, but if you ask my sister about this, you'll get an earful!

To those who have never visited our fair state, rest assured we have all the amenities you do. We no longer use outhouses and horses and buggies are a thing of the past (unless we're trying to make a wedding more romantic). Believe it or not, we have Starbucks and malls AND clean air to boot.

3) Why are we mothers so hard on ourselves? I cringe when I hear my kids say something which isn't too pleasant and realize they got it from me. I blame myself for their bad habits or irresponsible behavior. But when they do something good, I think, "Wow, God, You've done a great job on them." I take credit for the bad, but not the good.

Maybe it's because I know myself. I know there's nothing in me that is good, except for God's work in me. So any good is to His credit, right? In the long run I guess it really doesn't matter who gets the credit as long as they are good kids who love God and enjoy an authentic relationship with Him.

4) My daughter got her driver's license about a month ago and the poor girl got into an accident already. She wasn't seriously hurt and it wasn't her fault, but her little car was totaled. Even though both cars were towed off, everyone walked away unharmed.

It was pretty upsetting to her, but she's a tough cookie, never one to let something get her down. She got home and immediately asked if she could use the van because she had to be back to school in 15 minutes. I knew she was merely trying to put up a good front when her dad offered to take her and she accepted without discussion.

Thank the Lord she was okay and is getting over the shock of it quite fine. She is an awesome, awesome kid.

5) Did you fall for any April Fool's jokes? I was surprised to see a Facebook notification that I was a fourth cousin to Barack Obama. When others in the blogosphere were mentioning it too, I got the joke. My son went onto YouTube to find all the letters upside down and backwards, like he needed to put it up to a mirror to read it. A youth group sponsor from our church posted that he totaled his truck, which gave my daughter a kindred spirit until he admitted it was a joke. He may have to be hit.

6) I have been overwhelmed again this week by the suffering around me. I look out at our congregation and see people in treatment for cancer, people whose jobs are tenuous, whose relationships are difficult, people who grieve, who try to live life on their own terms without regard for God's plan, people who lack hope. It is so very sad and I often wonder what God is thinking. My heart hurts for them, and I feel helpless. All I can do is pray for Him to bring good out of the pain. How do people make sense of it all apart from God? How do they persevere without knowing there is a bigger picture?

7) I've been a little under the weather this week which is pretty unusual for me. I spent nearly all of Thursday in bed. Maybe this is why I was cranky earlier in the week, ya think? Anyway, it made me appreciate flexible schedules and a husband who knows how to pick up the slack. And a quiet house all to myself for a whole day--GLORIOUS!

There's my week in a nutshell. I hope yours was good too. Be sure to pop over to Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes. Have a terrific weekend, people!