Season Change

In Judaism, immersion (similar to the more familiar "baptism") can be done for a number of reasons, one of them being a season change.  And when Eric and I participated in our community's immersion service a few weeks ago, the change into a season of understanding Jesus as a Jewish man and the centrality of Israel in the redemptive plan of G-d was a large part of our motivation.  (In case you're not a frequent reader of Lauren's blog, here are a couple of pictures.)

This season change has been a long time coming -- several years now, in fact.  With that long of a wait, there are many ways in which the immersion was just an outward sign of the change that had already happened in my heart.  But I think that only deepened the significance of actually going through the steps of the immersion service.  As I was sitting in our worship service last night, I came to the best summary I can think for this season change.  We were singing the line, "I finally found where I belong," which has resonated with me from the first time I heard the song.  But now, after immersion, I think I know why.

In keeping with the theme of season changes, Eliana took her first verifiable steps on the same day as our immersion, December 5, 2010.  I don't have any pictures to share, because she's rather difficult to capture on camera these days.

And just a short note on my African violet.  All of the blooms of the previous post had withered and been removed by the time we left for North Carolina.  So there it sat, the same old green plant it has been for most of our relationship.

But after a full week to itself with no tender care or even water, my African violet greeted our return with these little beauties and two more about to open. 

I'm starting to get the hint.  I think it likes its space. 

Sometimes people do too, the L-rd is telling me.  May He bring beauty out of dormancy, wherever He finds it in my life.

Just a few highlights from our Thanksgiving trip to North and South Carolina to see Aunt Sandy and Uncle Tom:

We went to the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte.  It's more of a museum that tells the story of his life, and it was really moving.  Neither of us had a strong connection to Billy Graham before we went, but being on the property and going through the tour touched both of us at a deep, spirit level.

Watching  rafters and kayakers hitting the rapids

Eliana and Opa had a good time smashing their faces on the windows

He looks like he's whispering sweet nothings in her ear, but a few minutes later he was putting lemon wedges in her mouth every time she screamed

On Friday we drove down to Callawassie Island, where Eric and I have been several times since we've been married.  This is just in case you forgot how beautiful it is down there.

Eliana's first trip to the ocean, safe in the arms of her great aunt

Sea kayaking - my first time in a kayak

Normally I wouldn't include a picture of us on very little sleep, but check out Eliana's expression. 
Despite the stern look, she did great on all of our flights.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Pea!

Eliana's first birthday was on Thursday. Since I didn't post on time, here are some pictures from her party.
A huge thanks to Lauren for all of these. What a blessing!

Eliana had a balloon theme, which was a big hit.

A PBlake sandwich

Her latest facial expression is the squinty cheeser grin.  She does it to be funny and make us laugh - her first joke.

Not too bad, even if Mama did forget to add the sugar to the whipped cream.

A fantastic knit hat from Kate

Favorite gift of the night?  Tissue paper.

I had to include both of these pictures with Papa. Too cute.

Also on her birthday, Eliana walked more than she has in her whole life, pushing her baby stroller.  I posted a longer video of the walking on our YouTube page.  But here's a short clip of her using her new balancing skills.

Celebrate the Light

In Jewish thought, every soul is a unique expression of the light of G-d. 

So today we celebrate the light. 

Happy Birthday, Wy-Guy.

This is Eliana after she figured out how to open the screen door by herself.  I think she's checking to see if anyone is going to stop her daring escape.

The picture is unrelated to the rest of my post.  But if I don't include a picture, who will read it? Now, on to the real topic(s).

Windows 7 has this great feature called Sticky Notes. Now I'm just a few taps and clicks away from capturing anything that strikes my fancy. The question is, then what? My sticky notes are taking over. So in order to declutter, I bring you random quotes:

A natural solution for teething: For general discomfort you can use one drop of clove oil in 25ml of pure grapeseed oil. Keep this in the fridge and rub a little on the gums at three hourly intervals. (an email from the Simons) 

feel the sunlight.

let it warm your heart.
listen as it tells the story
of hope that comes,
radiant,
shining its warmth
on everything.
(our very own Stephanie Griggs)

To isolate ourselves and live in an individual bubble or even a community bubble is to miss entirely the plan that God has for us as believers.(from Tikkun's newsletter)

With a true friend, one can negotiate a path through the most intense circumstances. The foundation of love and concern for the other partner is strong enough to maintain the structure of the ever challenged and evolving friendship throughout the years. (also from Tikkun)

With the Goldstone-Tomuschat and flotilla resolutions, the Human Rights Council maintained its record of having adopted more resolutions and decisions condemning Israel than all other 191 U.N. states combined. (from an email article from a family friend)

Some 93.5 percent of Americans believe that the US should be concerned about Israel's security. Whereas the Obama administration is unconvinced that the Palestinians need to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, 77% of Americans believe that they must do so. Only 6% of Americans believe the Palestinians shouldn't recognize Israel. And not only do Americans support Israel, they expect their leaders to support Israel as well. Some 50.9% of Americans are more likely to vote for a staunchly pro-Israel candidate, and only 25.2% are less likely to do so. Fifty-three percent of Americans say they could not vote for an anti- Israel candidate even if they agreed with the candidate's positions on most other issues. As for Obama's treatment of Israel, some 42.7% of Americans believe that the president's Middle East policies harm Israel's security, and only 29.6% believe that they are improving Israel's security situation. Some 51.6% of Americans believe that Obama is less friendly towards Israel than his predecessors have been. Only 35.4% believe that he is as friendly towards Israel as his predecessors were. No less noteworthy than the poll's exposure of the massive support Israel enjoys from the American people is what it tells us about the relative strength and weakness of that support along the partisan and ideological divide. As the Emergency Committee for Israel's Chairman Bill Kristol summarized the poll's findings in The Weekly Standard, 69% of Republicans are more likely to vote for a pro-Israel candidate, while only 40% of Democrats are. Furthermore, a mere 15% of Republicans are less likely to vote for a pro-Israel candidate while 33% of Democrats are less likely to vote for a candidate who strongly supports Israel. (from http://www.carolineglick.com/e/ - if you don't read Caroline Glick's articles here or on JPost, you should)

And while the other notes will probably now be cleared from my desktop, this traditional Jewish  condolence will remain:

"May the L-rd comfort you with all the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem."

Hats Off

I have two things to share that make me smile: 

First, here is Eliana crawling across her very own quilt from Patrick and Ashley Weekly, good friends of ours.  Patrick helped pick out the fabric, but Ashley did all the work.  It's so cute.  The back is a print of flowers that match the colors on the front.  We love it!

The second thing that makes me smile was our trip this weekend to the good old Family Tree Nursery.  Not only did I get to show Eric around my very first place of employment, but they also put together a fabulous fall event, complete with Big Cass helping at the pumpkin table.

Meeting the animals at the petting zoo

Noah and Eliana playing in the corn bin

She's sharing - isn't that sweet?

My favorite picture from the day.

So hats off to the Weeklys and to FTN.  And thanks for the smiles.

Time

I have had this African violet for 3 or 4 years now.  It sat on my desk at the apartment, stretching its little leaves to gobble up the sunshine coming in from the windows on either side.  Then it made the move with us to the MBlakes, where it sits on a fabulously sunny ledge.  But it never blossomed.  Not even once.

Until a couple of months ago, when this little guy popped out.  And it's been blooming ever since.  I have three blossoms on it right now.  The weird thing is that nothing changed.  I'm not watering it any more or any less.  It's getting the same amount of sunlight that has for the past 9 months.  But here they are, nonetheless.

I feel like it's supposed to teach me something, my perseverant little African violent.  It reminds me of Arthur Burk's story about Psalm 1.  The psalm talks about a man who delights himself in the law of the L-rd, that "he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season."  The L-rd asked Arthur what the fruit-bearing season of a tree was.  It's a bit of a trick question, you see, because it depends entirely on what type of tree it is.  I think about this question.  I wonder what my fruit-bearing season will be.

It certainly isn't a fruit-bearing season right now.  It's the type of season that will be noticeable when the tree is cut and the rings are examined.  They'll recognize it by the signs of forest fires and lightning strikes.  Hard, trying times.  I know, I know.  These are the times that drive the roots deep.  Try telling that to the tree after the fire rages, when its bark is burnt and there are trees missing in its forest.

But still, my African violet blossoms are an arrow of hope.  When it seems that there is nothing, sometimes there is a miracle of life just beneath the surface.  And in His timing, Life can spring forth.  Come quickly, L-rd Yeshua.

Love to Eat

I love to feed people, and I love to eat. Maybe it runs in the family. Here is Eliana and her 18-month-old cousin, Cailin.

We had a really great time with the Blake side of the family, too.  (My excuse for posting so many pictures is that I have lots of old posts without any pictures.  I'm trying to balance it all out.)

Here are a couple of pictures of Eliana with her Cass.

We were reading a book together.  She loves reading.  Or at least the camera.

Some cuddle time on the porch with Grandma and Cass.

This was her first time in pigtails.  Now that I write it, that seems . . .unclean.  But how could something that cute be unclean?

And our trip down to the river.  She loves the cold water. 
She would have gone all the way in if I had let her.

On our first trip to the river, Eliana was at home taking a nap.
Check out that view.

The view at the river was amazing, but the path down to it was another story.  Steep, muddy, overgrown.
I did it the first day in flip flops.  Not too pretty.

On the second day I wore my Aqua Socks (I'm assuming that's a proper name).  Impressive, I know.  You thought Aqua Socks were a thing of the past.  They solved the mud issue, but they didn't keep me from falling into the river.  There's a video of my mishap, but it doesn't seem to do it justice.  I didn't get washed downstream, exactly, but I got plenty wet.  The rescue involved a large tree limb and Big Cass' leg.
This picture, which you might recognize from Leah's blog, was taken just moments after my river escapade.

A few more pictures from our time with Eric's family

(Create your own caption here.) 

Sportin' the shades on Pikes Peak 

Each family took an evening and provided dinner.  I planned to grill Greek burgers and asparagus, but it was Eric and Brigitte who braved the rain.

Watching the hummingbirds with Opa

A friendly little game of Catan.

Eliana loves the water. Even icy cold water.

 Eric and Brigitte