09.01.08
Posted in Family Revelations at 8:58 pm by Administrator
I remember the first time it happened. It was my birthday and the first telephone call of the day wasn’t from my parents. Though the latter part of August was the end of summer the hot afternoon sun baked the landscape and my own heart was beginning to thirst and still no call. I pacified myself assuming they were out for the day and would call that evening. The late-night news echoed and the telephone remained silent. Feeling a bit perplexed with a hint of abandonment I thought, tomorrow they will call: they always call on my birthday. Tomorrow came and went and they did not call.
On the 26th of the month, bright and early the telephone rang. I answered and voices in unison shouted, “Happy Birthday!”
“Thank you but my birthday was two days ago.”
“I told you, Fred.”
“I thought it was the 26th.”
“No, that’s Katrinka’s birthday” I replied, resolved that I must now accept the same oversight I had endured growing up being called by the wrong name as one of them called out the list of siblings before stumbling onto my name.
The next time it happened, no call on my birthday I knew it was only a matter of waiting: two days to be exact. Years have passed and Daddy has gone on to heaven. Mother doesn’t remember my birthday. Sadly, she doesn’t remember the person that I am. In her dementia she thinks I am out to get her money, her freedom: the last two things an aging person can try to hold on to. And what do I hold onto in my sorrow of abandonment?
“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands” (Isaiah 49:15-16).
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Posted in Faithbooking Scrapbooking, What in the World? (events) at 3:59 am by Administrator
Many have expressed their opposition that Yang Peiyi was only the voice behind a lip-synching stand-in because, according to a member of the Chinese politburo, she was not pretty enough to be seen at the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
It was a paradoxical moment for Yang Peiyi to be given the honor of singing and then dishonored as not pretty enough to be seen. Lin Miaoke, the “prettier” stand-in shares the spotlight as rising stars in China. Had their not been so much publicity over the perceived deception, would the rest of the world remember Yang Peiyi after the opening ceremony? Perhaps this event turned out better for Yang Peiyi than it would have if she had been allowed to fully participate.
There are numerous events in our lives that don’t happen as we planned. Perhaps you missed out on summer camp because you got sick, or you weren’t accepted to the college of your choice but it turned out better in the end because you were in the right place at the right time.
Can you recall a time in your life when things didn’t go according to your plan? What was the result? Did it work out better than you anticipated? Was the end result soon after the change of plans, or did a considerable amount of time pass before you could look back and see a bigger picture? You may find it encouraging to write in a journal or to photo journal (scrapbook)the event, circumstances, and personal journey as you lived out a different path than you planned. Many consider this exercise as faithbooking - scrapbooking a faith journey. Future generations will gain insight from your experience.
“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails” (Proverbs 19:21).
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