The Lancaster Comedy Club

Our house is a regular laugh factory and I wanted to share.
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I came in late this evening because I had to go to town. When I arrived home I was pleased that Eric had already started the kids on their baths. Amelia was upstairs and was putting on her pajamas. I went up with Tess to get her started and to blow dry Amelia's hair. I began to comb her hair and noticed that the ends weren't dry but that her roots were.

I asked, "Amelia, did you wash your hair?"

She just stared at me (I believe pondering whether or not she should tell the truth because she might get in trouble). "I took a bubble bath, Momma!"

So, I asked again, "Amelia did you forget to wash your hair?"

She nodded her head. I told her that I would wash it in the morning.

She seemed relieved that I didn't get upset. She began to confess.

"I forgot to wash a lot of things. (Pause) I forgot to wash my whole body. (Pause) BUT, I washed my feet!"

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Tess has been really concerned lately with making money. She is constantly dreaming up new ways to earn a buck or two. She has been offering her cleaning services to anyone who will have her for $5. All I have to do is to drive her around the county to the jobs. I guess I am the one paying for the gas.

She was sitting at the table over a notebook the other day. I asked her what she was up to. She said, "I am designing things to sell in Aunt Emmy's store."

I pondered this. After Emily started knitting, Tess thinks that whatever she needs clothing-wise that Aunt Emmy can knit-up with a few clicks of the needle. Because of this, I assumed that she was referring to Emily selling some of her knitting. I said, "Aunt Emmy doesn't have a store, she just takes orders and makes what she needs to from home."

Tess replied, "I know, but they are building a store. Uncle Jason said so."

"Where?" I queried.

"At their house." she replied matter of factly.

It then dawned on me. "Tess, are you talking about Uncle Jason's shop?"

She nodded. "I can't wait to sell stuff." She grinned and she started working on her designs again.

I was sorry that I had to explain to her that the shop would be a place for Uncle Jason to keep his tools and the boat so that it wasn't outside.

She understood and wasn't too disappointed. She just said, "OOHHHH." and begain to work again.

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Just in case you missed my status post...

Ty came home from church holding a marigold planted in a styrofoam cup.

I said, "Is that for me?"

He hid it quickly behind his back and said, "No." He started rocking on his feet and looking skyward with his big brown eyes.

I asked, "Why does it say 'Mom' on the side of the cup?"

He grinned at me and said, "That's my nickname at church." And ran into the house.

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Last weekend, Eric's nephew got married. Both of the girls were in the wedding. Eric had a ballgame in Tupelo so Ty had to endure the wedding rehearsal even though he wasn't in the wedding party.

After rehearsal began, Ty leaned up and asked where the bathroom was. I asked him if something was wrong because I knew that he had just gone to the bathroom. He grinned and said, "I've got to get some tissue. I am an emotional wreck," making fun of the mommas who were running around crazy.

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Amelia was so excited about be in the wedding. She felt like a princess in her new white dress. As we were getting ready to go to the church for rehearsal, she asked, "Are we going to the wedding try-outs? I hope I do good, Momma."

I was glad to explain that she didn't have to try out, just practice, because she had already made the cut.

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Amelia has been really helpful to me lately. She has so much energy and I have so little, I just try to harness hers. I send her upstairs for things and have her pick things up for me.

At her school, her work from the day is always on the floor underneath her name. One afternoon when I was picking her up I said, "Amelia will you please pick those up for Momma? You are such a big help to me."

She said, "Yeah, Momma, I have to help you because if you get down there you may never get up!"

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Thanks for humoring me by listening to my kid stories.

Dr. Pepper Smiles

This morning I braved Wal-Mart for much needed groceries. After I filled my cart to the brim and checked out, I stepped out into the sunshine and prepared to go to the car. As I exited the doors, I had to stop before I could venture across the crosswalk. In front of me stood 5 pleasantly plump, perfectly coiffed grey-haired ladies. With carts full of giant cases of Dr. Pepper and Diet Dr. Pepper (not another thing--just Dr. Peppers), they were in an animated conversation about where they had parked their vehicle.

I never heard any names but I am sure at least one of them was Rose and another named Betty. (They just looked like ladies that would be named Rose or Betty.)

One was pointing into the distance and said, "I thought we parked over there."

Another stated, "No, I am sure it was row number 7."

One piped up, "Isn't that it over there?"

Because they looked like very smart women and there weren't that many cars in the parking lot, I felt confident they probably could find it without my help, so I smiled and went around them and went to my van.

I opened the back and began to unload. I looked up and here the ladies came. It was row number 7. They pushed their Dr. Peppers in front of them and smiled at me. One of them stopped and asked me, "Ma'am, do you need any help?"

I smiled back and said, "Thank you so much but I can do it. It is sweet of you to offer."

Her gaze fell to my large, pregnant belly, then rose again to my face. She smiled a doubtful smile and said, "O-Kay" as if she still wasn't sure I would be able to handle it but was resigned to it anyway.

I stopped loading the car and watched the group take stiff steps in their Easy Spirits up the hill to their car. I wondered who would unload all of their cases of soda for them.

As I finished, and took my buggy to the cart corral, I thought about how many able bodied young folks have passed me lately while I was loading groceries, flats of flowers, cans of paint or tile. I wonder if it occured to them to ask me if I needed help and they just didn't or if it didn't even cross their mind. Or how many times, I might not have noticed someone who needed my help.

There have been so many times this pregnancy that I have become frustrated about what my body couldn't do. I would almost curse it for not being able to climb those extra steps, or load that mulch, or carry bins of clothes to the attic. I have had a glimpse of what it might be like when I get a little older and have to concede to my limitations and ask for help even when I don't want to.

I hope that when I age a score of years or two, that I will still feel like helping pregnant ladies load up their groceries. I hope I will have 4 friends who will help me find my car. I wonder if I will develop a need for large amounts of Dr. Pepper?

But for now, I will be on the look out for people who need me. Despite my lack of muscle power, they probably have some other need I can fill. Maybe you could keep an eye open too.

Dinah Update

For those of you thinking, "Hasn't she had that kid yet?" No, I haven't. Most random strangers I meet are thinking and SAYING the same thing. Apparently, there are a great deal of amateur OB specialists in the area. For example, just today, I have been notified by 5 of these kind people in places like: the AT&T store, the Wonder Bread store, and Rib Shack that I am "never gonna make it another month". I was asked by a group of EMT's to please eat across the street because they needed to be able to eat their lunch without worrying I would go into labor.

Well, today I took it better than most days, and laughed along with them. I am rather large but my due date is still May 30th. I did have a sonogram yesterday that said that Dinah was measuring a couple of weeks ahead of schedule. She has a big head like her daddy and a big thigh like her momma. It was reassuring to know that if she did come early (as so many have predicted) low birth weight will probably not be an issue.

I am feeling pretty good these days. I am so glad for all the prayers that were lifted up on my behalf a few weeks ago when I was feeling AWFUL all of the time. I still tire easily and can't wait for that "nesting" thing to kick in. It will be so great to WANT to do all of the things I HAVE to do.

We are in the middle of redoing our house so little Dinah will not have to sleep in a dresser drawer so my pregnancy has been at the bottom of my trouble list. I have lately survived a few minor disasters and will have to save those stories for another blog post. Future titles include, "What It Is Like for a Family of Five to Sleep on the Living Room Floor for a Week" and "How I Avoided a Divorce on the Grounds of Irreconcilable Differences i.e. House Remodel".

I just wanted to let those of you who have kindly asked that she is doing well and hopefully we will have a delivery in the next month. For now, until I can walk on my kitchen floor, I have asked her to stay put. Maybe she will be like her mother and be a loving, compliant child.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and prayers in the coming days.

When Spring Comes Again

I love to see the daffodils blooming. It seems to be the first sign that spring will make its appearance. As a girl, we were allowed to pick all of the daffodils we wanted because there were so many of them in the fields around where we lived. We would fill any container we could find with the flowers and decorate our home. Their bright yellow would light up any room. Now that I am older, I don’t pick them as much, I just enjoy the fact that they bring color to the bleak, brown landscape from the long winter months.


This year the blooms have emerged in March. A couple of years ago, due to an unusual warm spell they were out in February. The day of my son’s funeral was overcast, cold, and misty. As we drove to the cemetery, I noticed the daffodils lined the roadway. It felt good to see them, but I wondered at them being out on a day like that.

In the coming months, one of songs I listened to the most was “Worship in the Waiting” by FFH. The chorus to the song is this:


I WILL WORSHIP IN THE WAITING
I WILL WALK WITH THIS SAND BENEATH MY FEET
THOUGH THE WINTER WIND IS BLOWING
THE GROUND IS NOT FROZEN UNDERNEATH
I WILL WORSHIP AND NOT GROW BITTER
CAUSE I KNOW YOU SEE THE END OF IT ALL
AND WITH THE SPRING WILL COME THE RAIN
AND I'LL SEE WHAT WAS GAINED
IN THE WAITING



Those days I walked a lot outside and listened to music. I was able to watch spring come into its full glory. The dead leaves and broken branches were replaced with bits of green and dogwood blooms. Wisteria, tulips, azaleas and daffodils graced the scenery beautifully. God used His gorgeous earth to show me He loved me. Each blossom whispered comfort. Even though I was walking through a winter in my life, spring would come again. The ground, so frozen and hard, was not dead. It held life beneath it and with time and God’s help; I would bloom again as well.

So daffodils have become my own personal rainbow and I don’t mind sharing it with you. No matter what difficulty you are enduring in the present, nothing on this earth lasts forever. It will pass. He may not change your circumstance but He can change you in it. So even when you feel you can’t, worship Him and don’t grow bitter. Lean on Him and grow in wisdom. Then someday, when spring has come again, you will be able to look back and see how far He has brought you.



I’ve seen the red sea part, I’ve seen the mountains move
But now it seems so dark, I can’t even feel you
If you chose to be silent I’ll be silent too
I will worship in the waiting, quiet before you
Until your voice like manna from the sky falls

I WILL WORSHIP IN THE WAITING
I WILL WALK WITH THIS SAND BENEATH MY FEET
THOUGH THE WINTER WIND IS BLOWING
THE GROUND IS NOT FROZEN UNDERNEATH
I WILL WORSHIP AND NOT GROW BITTER
CAUSE I KNOW YOU SEE THE END OF IT ALL
AND WITH THE SPRING WILL COME THE RAIN
AND I'LL SEE WHAT WAS GAINED
IN THE WAITING

I’ve seen the blooms of spring, new life in everything
But now it seems so grey, bright colors fade away
This winter seems much longer and colder than before
But I will worship in the waiting, expecting something more
Until the sun shines warm upon my face again

He Leadeth me He leadeth me
By his own hand He leadeth me
His faithful follower I would be
For by his hand He leadeth me

Love Fest

I’ve been thinking a lot about love lately. All different kinds, but mostly the kind of love Jesus commanded us to have for one another. Over a year ago, I was really burdened by the “Love Chapter”. Yes, the verses I grew up seeing in cross-stitch on the wall, the verses I had heard so many times and thought were beautiful, made me sad. I knew I had not been living those words.


Not just in that chapter, but in many, many verses, God commands us to love one another.

“Love your enemies…” Matthew 5:44

“Love your neighbor as yourself”- Matthew 22:39

“You yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.” I Thessalonians 4:9

“Above all things have fervent love for one another” I Peter 4:1-8

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I go around hating people. I generally get along with people. I like to do things for people who need things. I try to be kind to others even when they aren’t so nice to me. But I had to ask myself, “Do you love others like He wants you to?” The answer was plainly no. It is awful to see flaws so clearly. And as I read in I Corinthians 13, it doesn’t matter what good I do, even with the best intentions, if I don’t love the ones I am doing it for.

I began to pray and ask God to help me love people. Even the ones that don’t deserve it, the ones I don’t want to love, the ones that need it. I put I Corinthians 13:1-3 on my refrigerator and told God “Send the Love!” Did a love fest ensue? No, not really. I became aware of what I needed to be feeling and thought about it a lot. I kept on loving the people it was easy to love, but with the awareness, brought more prayer and conscious effort. I didn’t want to have to TRY to love people though; I wanted it to flow out of me.

Recently, Bro. Dennis Smith has been talking about love too and teaching about what God has to say about it through His Word. One night he was teaching from the “Love Chapter” and told us to take I Corinthians 13:4-8, the portion of the chapter where God explains what love is, and to replace the word “Love” with “Jesus”. Jesus is love.

JESUS is patient, JESUS is kind. JESUS does not envy….

Then, because our goal should be to emulate Jesus in every way, Bro. Dennis told us to put our own name in the place of “Jesus”.

….Anna does not boast, Anna is not proud, Anna is not rude, Anna is not self-seeking…

Then at the beginning and end of each day we were to think of being what LOVE is and then evaluate the outcome.

Okay, basically, I STINK at loving.

Even though my actions might be right some of the time, my heart is often far behind. I am not even loving my family and friends properly. I thought they were the easy ones! But, instead of giving up, I am trying to see my mistakes, ask forgiveness, and am seeking to do better next time.

Most of you know I am a nurse. Nearly all of the patients I take care of are a joy to be with. But…sometimes…those challenging situations come along. I usually start with a good attitude but by the end of my shift, my good intentions have gone down the drain. While I feel I am never rude to my patients, I don’t always think the nicest thoughts.

Last night, I helped a fellow nurse and friend deal with a difficult situation. Her patient became very confused at bedtime. She did know who she was, where she was, or what day it was. She began to pick and pull at all of the lines and tubes that were in place to make her better. No amount of reorientation, explanation, or instruction did any good. My friend was exhausted from trying to keep the patient from harming herself. I was able to assist my friend in caring for her. After we had completed the necessary procedures at the time, I told my friend that I would stay with the patient while she took a much needed break. The patient had a one sided weakness, so I only had to take care of one hand to keep her from undoing her lines. We dimmed the lights, I held that hand, and sat with her. At first she pulled away, then, she began to squeeze my hand like it gave her comfort to have it there. After a few minutes of quiet, she dozed off to sleep.

For about 30 minutes, I held her hand, prayed for her, her nurse, and her doctors. At times my other hand rested on her chest to help me count her shallow breaths. But mostly, during that interval, I just loved her.

God allowed me, for a short while, to experience what I want to become all the time. That woman had done nothing to deserve my love. She had not endeared anyone by her actions or attitudes. I did not just care for her because it was my job, or because I felt sorry for her. I cared for her because I loved her, not just as myself, as but more than myself.

By God’s grace and power, this work in progress, has made a little progress. My plan is to keep at it, and maybe one day before I go to meet my Maker, I might one of the main participants in His love fest. Oh, that I might one day become so filled with His love, that it oozes from my pores for all to see and give honor to Him!

But until that day, I will be repeating over and over,



“Love is patient, love is kind.

It does not envy, it does not boast,

It is not proud. It is not rude,

It is not self-seeking; it is not easily angered,

It keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil;

But rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts,

Always hopes, always preserves.

Love never fails.”

I Corinthians 13:4-8a

Hankerchiefs and Tears

This morning I put on a jacket and put my hands in the pockets and
pulled out a wrinkled ball of white linen. It was one of the hankerchiefs
I am forever misplacing. I know that it is a bit old-fashioned but I
like to use handerchiefs instead of tissues (unless I have a cold). I have
always been one easily moved to tears, so it is almost necessary to
keep one on hand unless I want to be dripping all over my sleeves.

This morning as I smoothed and refolded the cloth, I thought of my
second son, Jack. I realized I had not worn this jacket since a few
months after his birth. It isn't quite maternity but it is larger than I
usually wear so that is why I was wearing it then and why I am
wearing it today. I was still crying quite a lot those days. A thought,
a kind word, or a mother and child, would trigger a flood.

This month, on the 19th, my Jack would have been 2 years old.
The first year moved by so slowly but this second year has flown by.
Today, as I reflect on where I was then and the place I am in now, I
am so thankful. It took me a good 6 months to be able to even walk
by the baby department at the store, much less go into that section
and buy something. But, by and by, when it was required, as with
each step I had to take, God supplied the strength to do it.

Today, I go to visit my OB to check on the little one growing inside me.
She likes to move around a lot. Which is such a blessing because I
can not help each time she somersaults inside me but think of the one
who was perfectly still. Each kick and turn reminds me she is okay.

Lots of people who talk to me ask me, "How many is this now?",
referring to how many children we have. I always say five. Then,
"When is this one due?" I reply, "May."  The next question is
almost inevitably, "How old are they?" I then go down the
line: Ty (10), Tess (8), Amelia (4), and Jack who would have
been two this month. The reactions I receive vary. The ones I
have a hard time with are the ones who say, "So this will be the
4th, then", as if they need to correct my math. Or, the ones that are
so uncomfortable with me talking about him, that they change the
subject or end our conversation abruptly.

I understand there are people who don't want to talk about the
children they don't have here on earth anymore. I wouldn't
judge what is private or painful enough that they don't
or can't speak of it. But I am okay with it. I think of Jack daily
and he isn't less my child, just because he isn't with me here on
earth. The child I carry is my 5th child and I
will continue to refer to her as such. I hope that you won't be
made to feel embarrassed or uncomfortable with me. I hope that
you will feel the joy I have about being blessed with 5 children,
living here or in heaven. And if I cry a little, and have to pull out
my hankerchief, don't feel bad, just know that you were a part of
an intimate moment of memory for me. This is not a reproach, just
a gentle reminder to take the cue of the one you are speaking with.

God is using my openness to help others who have been in
similar circumstances. I won't ever be ashamed of sharing my
feelings if it assists others as they wade through their pain.
I am so grateful that as his birthday approaches that I am not in
the depths of despair, but I am also thankful that I am able to think
of him, remember, and have a heart tender enough to shed a few tears.

Are You Getting Excited?

THE OLYMPICS WILL BE HERE IN ONLY 9 MORE DAYS!!!

For as long as I can remember, I've loved the Olympics. Winter or
Summer, I don't care. It is all fabulous. But since it is winter, lets talk
about those.

I remember sitting cross-legged in front of the TV in awe of how
beautiful the ice skaters were. Despite never seeing any ice except
in the freezer, and on the rare occasion the pond in the backyard
froze over in an ice storm, this Mississippi girl dreamed of gliding,
smiling, jumping, and spinning someday for these United States
of America. It was difficult practicing my routines in my tennis shoes on
grass but that didn't stop me. You should have seen how well the Janzen
kids could bobsled in a laundry basket on the the living room floor.
Four of us-just the right number. What a team!

Speed skating, skiing, curling, luge--I watch them all with wonder. To not
be much of a sportswoman myself, I sure do appreciate their athleticism.
If I only had one tenth their drive and discipline, oh, what I would achieve!

I think another reason I like the Olympics is that I associate it with family.
We always watched it together. There weren't any other TVs, gaming
systems, or iPods to call us away. There were hardly any other channels
for that matter. They were an event to look forward to together. So
now, even though my children have plenty of other options, I force them
to enjoy the events with me. Maybe they will look back and have a
few fond memories also.

I have been a weekend nurse for almost 5 years now so I have missed
the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics the last two times.
This year it will all be different. We have a DVR!!! I will be able to
record every moment!

So, gather up your red, white, and blue and get ready to cheer.

USA! USA! USA!