His birth made today's worship song so poignant...
"You make beautiful things... You make beautiful things out of us"
Welcome baby Jonas; you are indeed, a beautiful gift from God.
#golighttheworld
A baby was born yesterday. He is perfect in every way, loved and wanted. His parents prayed for a very long time.
His birth made today's worship song so poignant... "You make beautiful things... You make beautiful things out of us" Welcome baby Jonas; you are indeed, a beautiful gift from God. #golighttheworld
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He likes to eat, a great deal. That is to say - he eats a great amount of food and he thoroughly enjoys eating. Gifted with intelligence, he loves the challenge of learning, He enjoys Saturdays and college football with his daddy so much. They plan the menu, move a second television downstairs, and banter with each other and the sportscasters from kick off at 11am to the final play on the west coast sometime after 1am in the morning.
When I hold him accountable, he, like his sister, punishes me by removing himself from my company. His daddy and I laugh at how few words he uses to communicate or how little he hangs with us. And we celebrate when we are no longer 'being punished'. However, he is in his element when he is serving. A member of student council, Wade takes his job at Union High School very seriously and becomes engrossed with each chore. One of his stuco leaders pulled me aside Tuesday just to tell me what a great kid I have and how much he, the leader, depends on Wade. Recently, Wade was nominated by his peers as one of the top ten juniors at Union High School. This is one of the highest honors our high school offers, but when Wade got home that afternoon from school after the announcements had been made - he was more excited that his friend Peyton had been nominated. I marvel at these creatures God has given to me to parent. Our son is far from perfect, but he is a perfect gift and when he told me he was more excited for his friend than he was for himself, I got to tell Wade what I admire most about him - that strong, courageous desire to serve. Your sis would be so proud of you little butt, kiddiemeal. She would tease you without mercy - but she would be so proud. So are we. #bestrongandcourageous #golighttheworld I walked into the Union Sixth and Seventh Grade Center this morning with one of our teachers at 7am having seen her face just 12 hours earlier at Roller Coaster night. She smiled and held the door open for me - probably just like she did for the 140 sixth graders she served today before hosting Roller Coaster night all over again - and what hosts these teachers are!
Roller Coaster Night lays a fantastic foundation for our sixth grade students and their families. The learning, the fellowship, the struggle, the celebration - each represent the journey these young minds will take over the next seven years. I absolutely love the “generations” of Redskins who were present tonight and last night for this endeavor. I saw babies literally sitting in boxes as their big brothers and sisters created simple and complex roller coasters. I saw elementary students’ eyes connect and shine as their older siblings mastered the looping beast of cardboard and plastic on the cafeteria table. I saw freshman and sophomore football players proudly dressed in red jerseys cheering as the marbles twisted and turned and rolled into cups; the high-fives and hoops and hollars filled the cafetorium with a remarkable amount of unmatchable Union pride. I saw juniors and seniors walking around with tape, cleaning tables and encouraging the sixth grade babies. I heard a few of them comment that they didn’t get to do anything as cool as this when they were sixth graders! I saw smiles filled with self-assurance, and I witnessed parents and children hugging as the design and the function of their creation looped and turned, bounced and flew until they finally culminated with a marble in a cup. Velocity and friction were definitely demonstrated tonight and second only to persistence and ingenuity- the kind of ingenuity that kids have when a caring, committed adult supports and nurtures them. Best of all, I saw our family, the Redskin family, committed to the idea of learning, of failing, and trying again and then celebrating together - young and old- at what our hands can do when we reach out to be all in - when we #believe. So thankful for the Sixth and Seventh Center's staff continued to commitment to learning and providing relevant, thought-provoking experiences that say to our kids, “You are worthy.” No better way to #golighttheworld The lyrics to the song filled the car after my Friday morning work out. Hours earlier, in the middle of the night, my sister had called; our father had died. It had been a long goodbye.
I didn't want to write about it, because it seems dishonest to accept any sympathy - but the rest of my topics are falling flat on the page. The thing about journaling your honest thoughts instead of seeing a grief therapist is you have to be honest, dang it. I could never please him - whether real or perceived- this is my reality. You cannot say anything to change the story my mind has written for the last 35 years. He couldn't be pleased. Even after securing my master's degree, instead of saying "Nice job." he said, "Now don't you fail to a be mother to those children." There were always more can't than cans, more don'ts than dos. During the moments the song played.... "In the arms of your mercy I find rest/You know just how far/the east is from the west/ From one scarred hand to the other" these thoughts were given to me... Dad's death set us both free. I am free from disappointing him and falling short, and he can be free from the demon that kept him from trusting any of us. Hopefully, the fear of disappointing others who I value has died as well. At Taylor's funeral Dub (my friend and my mom's husband) described how Joey always welcomed his big girl home - opening his arms wide with a deep "C'mere baby girl". She would disappear in his burly strength, hugged like the wanted child that she is. Dub reckoned during Tay's service that God must have welcomed her to heaven in the very same way -with arms opened wide. It's a comforting image that still breaks my heart; nevertheless it returned to me Friday morning as I hoped beyond hope that my father could find that safe place, too. That's God's promise to us isn't it - that the sacrifice of his son covered it all - that besides an honest desire to follow him there's nothing we can do to earn His love. It's an important message to me because I keep looking for a reason to be punished - that Taylor's death is my punishment for not being good enough. Hard to write. Guess that's why I haven't. Honestly, it makes me angry to have to write about my daughter and my dad as if the losses can be compared. Still, on Friday morning, the song played and my heart listened and heard the word "rest". It's the last word I said to my dad when I left his bedside Thursday. "In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety." Psalm 4:8 We are loved. When the world whispers the can'ts and the don'ts, may I remember there's always a pair of arms waiting for me, to accept me, to protect me, to push me back up and out when the world needs light. #golighttheworld . On a Saturday afternoon in 1989, I attended the wedding of a high school friend. She married a boy she met in college and they shared their vows in her father's church, Sunnybrook Christian. True to tradition, Lori threw the bouquet as they left the church and I caught it. I loved that because Lori was just the best friend in our high school days cruising the exciting streets of Stillwater America, looking for the cars our crushes drove and eating pop tarts and oreos. Her bouquet represented the romantic story of her wedding and the best of our high school days. After the wedding, I placed the bouquet on the top of my dresser and dressed for the OSU basketball game at Gallagher-Iba Arena (GIA) - having no idea my life would change for absolute ever. My 501's accompanied a white plaid shirt my mother had made for me in high school; I curled the long ends of my hair under and placed a head band behind my ears. My only goal was to cheer my Cowboys, coached by Eddie Sutton, on to victory and to dance with a few boys - because boys are good for dancing. After the ball game, the girls and I went to Tumbleweed, a country music dance hall, to dance. There's nothing like two-stepping at Tumbleweeds. About an hour into our dancing adventure, a Cowboy football player wearing snakeskin boots, guess jeans and a white dress shirt charmed me into dancing with him, and I danced for the next three hours. His one-liners so sharp, his charm so intriguing, I had to keep saying yes. His dancing wasn't too shabby, either. His brown eyes danced as each new verbal barb crossed his thoughts, and gleamed when he delivered the line with skilled tactical precision. He had a deep, rich laugh and hands and shoulders that held a strength I would learn about and lean on later. When the lights came on, he asked for my number and just to match his quick intellect and wit I volleyed with, "It's in the book." and walked away - turning back over my shoulder to give a smile, an invite to say- I hope you look. (clearly phone books still existed and were used then) I never did give it to him; he did find it, and he did call. This morning that same Cowboy texted me offering this memory. "You had to be pretty impressed that I noticed you that night clear across GIA". He remembered. It is a good thing to give away your heart and have it loved and cherished so well. #onespeed #Joeysgirl #golighttheworld At each board meeting, an opportunity exists and is granted so a member of the community can address the board of education. This procedure occurs in communities across the nation every month. Listening to the voices of the people our organizations serve rests paramount to our core ideologies and our practice of serving others. I am positive school districts across the United States embody the same belief.
Unfortunately, many times the opportunity to speak is requested and granted to by someone who is unhappy. Oh how we all love to put together a good rant! I have one in my document file that I open every now and then and edit just to see how right I am again. Ha! I haven't convinced myself to share it because really I haven't convinced myself that a rant ever really changes the behavior it addresses. It makes the author feel good - but we are so desensitized to the emotions and polarizing opinions of the folks with whom we interact, I am not sure that we do any more than receive the praise of those who already think like we do.. You could feel the board room brace Monday night as the President of the Board called her to the podium. A lovely lady with salt and pepper hair coifed with precision approached the microphone. She introduced herself as a graduate from the class of 1964 (I think). During the next three minutes she took the time to thank Union's Board of Education and the administration for allowing her class and FIVE decades of Union alums to use our facilities for a reunion. She noted that even a graduate from 1937 was in attendance. She marveled at the tour, the beautiful spaces our patrons support through bond elections, the ease with which every one worked with their group in planning the event, and the incredible learning opportunities we offer students today. Her words described the great pride she holds as a Union alum and celebrated the growth of the district. She didn't just come to brag, though. Their alumni group had a remaining balance left in the reunion fund and the group voted to give it back to the district in the form of two gifts. The first gift is a $500 scholarship for a graduate from the class of 2016. The second gift- they urged the board to consider using to rename the old football field located south of the Sixth and Seventh Grade Center. She asked that the facility be named after the football coach from the sixties who had led the Redskins to our first football state championship in school history. Her fond remarks about the gentleman moved me to small tears as this coach, teacher and administrator had poured into enough children that even half a century later his students chose to honor him. I am inspired by the responsibility this alumni felt toward Union High School felt to give back and to honor. It was a stark contrast to some of the noise we hear today. The greatness she described manifested itself again last night and again tonight. We asked our admin team to be present at the board meeting and to be fans at our students co-curricular activities - and in full force they did. What an honor it is to be a part of team, part of a legacy, who is and always has been 'all in". #relentless #believe #golighttheworld Friday and I did not get along.
At every turn, I saw failure. Then, as I approached the door to Union's basketball facility, I met an elderly couple and a student athlete. We all arrived almost at once -except the elderly couple tried opening locked doors. The young man who could have just opened the door and entered, paused instead. He said, "Here you go ma'am." and held the door open for the couple and then me. Simple, yet powerful, this one act raised my heart from the hole into which it had fallen. I wished I had gotten his name - Instead I thanked his coaches, the men who teach this young boys about character. Tried to tell them how good a thing it was... #golighttheworld This is my place... when the rest of the world must move on... when tomorrow will come despite the fact I am in a hole entitled - this cannot be true -
This space is my place to post Taylor's picture and stop pretending that I am handling this. Here's to the throwback when you would both fit on my lap and when happiness had no filter. Tomorrow, we will be strong, and we will share light. Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." #golighttheworld #bestrongandcourageous Union has a fabulous partnership with Tulsa Community College that enables students with a qualifying ACT score to take college classes concurrently on the campus of UHS. Taylor took advantage of this program earning 12 college credits before she graduated high school.
I ran into her college Speech instructor today. She, Mrs S, is simply the loveliest woman - mostly because she loves our students at Union High School; she loves teaching our kids and growing them into college students, and I have always loved her for that. Pour into my kids, my biological kids or my school kids, and I am a fan forever. Mrs. S. taught Taylor's college Speech class, and when I saw her today, she offered me a hug and then these words. "I wrote something about Taylor when we lost her. I would like to share it with you. It didn't seem right before, or I didn't know if it was right, but I would like to share it with you now. Would that be okay? Is your email the same?" I assured her that the email was the same and replied, "I am just so thankful you will say her name." The cruel reality is that we go on, the world goes on - we have a purpose to fulfill, a job to do, a mission to complete. I can understand that even when I can't accept it. Never hearing Taylor's voice again is unjust; never hearing her name ..... She was here. She laughed; she loved; she was lazy and driven, thoughtful and sassy, witty and irreverent, messy and brilliant. So when you say her name, my heart warms and I am thankful for the courage it took. I have friends facing the death of parents, the death of friends and colleagues. We are not immune from death's grasp - and while the world should stop for these families - it won't. Help me remember - with intention - to say their names - because only the light can outshine the darkness. "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it." John 1:5 #golighttheworld Words have always been my friend, my solace, my place when logic and reason have shunned me. I wrote this poem decades ago, stitched and framed it for my mama. I had her send the words to me so I could share it with a friend in need. Like most lessons, it's one I am still learning and I am thankful that long ago on a front porch in a small town I dreamed of writing and my mama and her father told me I should... ********** ************* ************ ********** The morning light awakes the hills as angels invoke the day, And peace abounds and then instills a longing for me to stay Beneath a golden dawning sky amidst the fields of home- My heart succumbs to a needed cry and I remember all I've known. I lift up mine eyes unto the hills whenever I feel afraid, And there I'll find my help, my Lord, when on earth my paths have strayed. I lift my voice unto the hills the angels' song of morning praise, And lift my soul to higher hands to be held in His always. And as the morning orchestrates a light within me shines To share with those who watch and wait the secret that is mine- For in these blessed rolling hills I've found strength on which to draw - in words like "Peace. Be Still - and you will know that I am God." #golighttheworld |
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