Meandering Moments by Elsi

My word! We played Four on the Couch in youth group tonight—there’s no way I could keep track! Some of the kids were baffled too, but many were right on top of it. How do they do that?

Okay, so you divide into even teams; we did boys against girls. You sit in a circle of chairs, and four—two guys and two gals—(I suppose that varies according to group size; there were 15 of us) are on the “couch” (or four chairs together). The idea is to get all the kids on the couch from your team. You put everyone’s name on a slip of paper, and people draw names. Oh, and you have one more chair than players.

Now, the person to the left of the empty chair calls someone’s name. The person holding that name moves to the empty chair. In the easy version of the game, the person just sits down. In the hard version, the person who moved and the person who called now trade name-slips. Either way, you supposedly now know who has the name that was called.

Whoever is on the left of the new empty chair calls a name, and the person holding that slip moves (and they trade, if you’re a glutton for punishment). The idea is to remember who has each name, so you can call the other team off the couch and put members of your team on it.

Much laughter … much hilarity … much shouting and hinting … and total befuddlement on my part!

Christmas excitement, with parties, and presents,
And choirs, and reindeer, and cards filled with mirth,
And skating, and snowmen, and everything pleasant,
A great celebration of Jesus’s birth!

But January’s down time, low time,
No motion, no rhyme,
Just slow time.

Spring break’s in March, and then Easter rejoicing!
Birdies, and bunnies, and flowers in bloom!
Great hallelujahs we’re eagerly voicing!
For Jesus has risen! He’s not in the tomb.

But February’s sagging, dragging,
Icy puddles nagging,
Energy is flagging.

School is ending and summer is coming!
People to visit; vacations to plan!
Sunshine and beaches and busy bees humming;
Load the RV; we’ll have fun while we can!

But late winter just squats,
Plops, rots.
Boredom we have lots.

Autumn is coming, and summer’s departing!
From rest to Thanksgiving—quite an exchange!
Activities, meetings, and schools are starting!
The air will get cooler; the leaves will all change!

But here I sit in January.
Here I lie in February.
Feeling contrary, wary.

Maybe this slow time is made for regrouping.
Instead of just drooping, perhaps I’m recouping
And getting away from pervasive depression.
A time to restart, from my Lord Who is knowing
I’m desperately craving some changing and growing.
My life needs to better reflect my confession.

Please don’t let me be so shallow.
Enrich me, Lord, as I lie fallow.
My life, now hallow.

Today was the oral Spelling Bee at Elk Creek Elementary, from which I retired in 2002. They invite me back every year, and I am honored to accept. I’ve been doing the Bee for decades now, and fancy I’m quite good at it.

Which is why I was so horrified at the mistake I made! Bee administrators provide sentences for the more advanced words, but I write the sentences for the simpler words. When I finished last night, I did the following sentence for base: Amelia Bedelia thought ‘Take your base’ meant to pick it up and leave. Made perfect sense to me! Amelia Bedelia is a literal person in a series of funny, primary books, and even I know enough baseball to realize what ‘Take your base’ means!

The speller, a 5th grader, spelled bass. I said, “I’m sorry, but that’s a homonym. The correct spelling is base.” And we moved on. At a break, a parent came up to me and pointed out that bass (as in an instrument) would make just as good sense in the sentence.

He was absolutely right! The child’s dad is in an orchestra, and the sentence never mentions baseball! I apologized to the child and her father and returned the girl to the line-up of competitors. She didn’t win the Bee, but she made a good showing, and I was impressed with her ability to pull herself back together and participate after all that!

In Bible study today, we were talking about following Jesus in this new year—what does that look like? how do we know how to follow Him? and so forth. We talked about loving our neighbor (as ourself), refusing to act out of fear, spurring one another on to good works, and bearing one another’s burdens.

Five times Jesus is quoted as saying we must “take up our cross” and follow Him. I mentioned a cartoon I’d seen, showing a guy complaining to the Lord that his cross was too heavy and pleading to be allowed to cut the end off. Before I was finished, Jamela Reifsnyder (a computer whiz, as well as a wonderful mom and a superlative singer!) had found it online. So I want to share it with you: it’s well worth seeing!

{If I say so, as shouldn’t—as my grandmother used to say!}

The teens in my youth group, a bunch of regular kids in the Boulder Chinese Baptist Church, watched a YouTube video of “Who Am I” and decided to do their own version of it. It’s what I call a hand mime, with white gloves and a black light. One of the joys of leading this group is that often all I do is sit back and admire their energy and ability. This was a bit more complicated, in that I also had to purchase a couple of black lights. That’s all!

I’ve written about this before on my blog, but my co-leader Vicki taped the Christmas Eve performance and posted it on YouTube. Don’t miss it! The message is powerful, and the kids’ ability is impressive. Enjoy!

In The Bleak Mid-Winter
Christina Rosetti, 1872

In the bleak mid-winter
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winter,
Long ago.

Our God, heaven cannot hold Him
Nor earth sustain:
Heaven and earth shall flee away
When He comes to reign:
In the bleak mid-winter
A stable place sufficed
The Lord God almighty
Jesus Christ

Enough for Him, whom cherubim
Worship night and day,
A breast full of milk
And a manger of hay:
Enough for Him, whom angels
Fall down before,
The ox and ass and camel
Which adore.

Angels and archangels
May have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim
Thronged the air:
But only his mother
In her maiden bliss
Worshipped the Belov’d
With a kiss.

What can I give Him,
Old as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would bring a lamb;
If I were a wise man
I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give him
Give my heart,
Give, give my heart.

This is from a long prayer/poem/song credited to St. Patrick:

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me,

Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

squalling baby,
sour straw and blood,
unwashed bodies,
jostling, matted sheep,
shepherds coughing,
milky dribbles, sighing,
mother humming,
sleep, my baby, sleep!

pounding coarseness,
groans and gasps and cries,
angry taunts,
My Father, please forgive …
hopeless Sunday,
tears drained and wrung out,
He’s not here—
now I can learn to live!

At least, that’s what one of the girls in my car said about my Christmas lights! Vicki and I drove the youth group to see the amazing lighted trees on Baseline, and then by my house on the way back to church.

The youth group is doing a “hand mime” of “Who Am I” by Casting Crowns. You can see another group do it on YouTube. My kids figured out how to do the hands, and they did it entirely on their own. It’s quite impressive! They will perform it Christmas Eve for the church.

A college friend put up my gutter lights this evening, so my house now looks the way I want it to, with lights on the gutters and the bushes, lights in the maple tree, and my lighted nativity scene figures.

Merry Christmas!

I’m a peripheral member of Boulder Media Women (BMW); I read the emails and occasionally respond, but I don’t go to any of the activities. A few months ago Mandy Walker, another member, posted a request to interview people who’ve been divorced. I responded; she interviewed me. And the series of my interviews started today. You can read it on her blog, Since My Divorce.