Christmas Traditions

We finally got our tree decorated!  Woohoo!  We wanted to wait until Carlin was home to do it.  It has always been a tradition for our family to decorate the tree all together.  Since this is the first year we have launched one of the kids out of "the nest", we didn't want to lose that tradition yet.  It was so nice to have Carlin home for a few days this week while he was studying for finals.  We put the Christmas music on and did it together, just like we have always done since they were little.

I was asking the kids about what they remember about our Christmas traditions.  They remember that when they were little, after we would decorate the tree, we would shut off all the lights and watch the patterns the flickering lights on the tree made on the ceiling.  They also remember late night services at Sacred Heart and lighting the advent wreath.  We also have made a habit of watching "It's a Wonderful Life" on Christmas Eve.  When the kids were little, Darrin used to say, "What's George Bailey gonna do, kids?"  So now they tease him with that before he can get it out.  But, what surprised me is that the most consistent memory they have is how every Christmas morning Dad makes them wait as long as possible to open presents by sleeping in.  They know he is teasing them, and that he is getting great enjoyment in pretending to be sooooo tired for as looooooong as possible, but they always get right into the spirit of nagging and bugging him until he finally gets up.  Then, he has to have his cup of coffee, take his time, etc.   It's in the Parkin blood to love to tease you know, and what better time than Christmas morning?

Those are the little things that bind a family together and are so precious that they are easy to take for granted.  This Christmas, it is my commitment to myself to not take one small, precious moment for granted.... but to savour each and every one.....

My Favorite Narnia Scene

I have always loved the Chronicles of Narnia.  I started reading them to the kids when they were little, and since they are teenagers now, we haven't don that for a long time.  I was hit by a wave of nostalgia today, as I saw them sitting on the bookshelf and decided to flip through.  I immediately picked up the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, because it is my favorite book of the series.  Then, I had to find my all-time favorite scene.  For those of you familiar with the stories, you may remember that annoying, spoiled, selfish Eustace gets turned into a dragon at one point in this story.  This experience changes him forever, and helps him grow up and personally mature and become a much more likable person!  I've decided to actually post the  section when he is turned back into a boy, because .... well, I just love it.....and it is meaningful to me for lots of reasons.  It is long, so indulge me if you want, and don't read it if you don't want....*shrug*   IMHO, it is well worth the read.  The scene begins with Eustace telling his cousin Edmund how he came to be changed back into a boy after being a dragon:

"Well, anyway, I looked up and saw the very last thing I expected: a huge lion coming slowly towards me.  And one queer thing was that there was no moon last night, but there was moonlight where the lion was.  So it came nearer and nearer.  I was terribly afraid of it.  You may think that, being a dragon, I could have knocked any lion out easily enough.  But it wasn't that kind of fear.  I wasn't afraid of it eating me, I was just afraid of it - if you can understand.  Well, it came closer up to me and looked straight into my eyes.  And I shut my eyes tight.  But that wasn't any good because it told me to follow it."
"You mean it spoke?"
"I don't know.  Now that you mention it, I don't think it did.  But it told me all the same.  And I knew I'd have to do what it told me, so I got up and followed it.  And it led me a long way into the mountains.  And there was always this moonlight over and around the lion wherever we went.  So at last we came to the top of a mountain I'd never seen before and on the top of this mountain there was a garden - trees and fruit and everything.  In the middle of it there was a well.
"I know it was a well because you could see the water bubbling up from the bottom of it: but it was a lot bigger than most wells - like a very big, round bath with marble steps going down into it.  The water was as clear as anything and I thought if I could go in there and bathe it would ease the pain in my leg.  But the lion told me I must undress first.  Mind you, I don't know if he said any words out loud or not.
"I was just going to say that I couldn't undress because I handn't any clothes on when I suddenly though that dragons are snaky sort of things and snakes can cast their skins.  Oh, of course, thought I, that's what the lion means.  So I started scratching myself and my scales began coming off all over the place.  And then I scratched a little deeper and, instead of just scales coming off here and there, my whole skin started peeling off beautifully, like it does after an illness, or as if I was a banana.  In a minute or two I just stepped out of it.  I could see it lying there beside me, looking rather nasty.  It was a most lovely feeling.  so I started to go down into the well for my bathe.
"But just as I was going to put my foot into the water I looked down and saw that it was all hard and rough and wrinkled and scaly just as it had been before.  Oh, that's alright, said I, it only means I had another smaller suit on underneath the first one, and I'll have to get out of it too.  So I scratched and tore again and this under skin peeled off beautifully and out I stepped and left it lying beside the other one and went down to the well for my bathe.
"Well, exactly the same ting happened again.  And I thought to myself, oh dear, how ever many skins have I got to take off? For I was longing to bathe my leg.  So I scratched away for the third time and got off a third skin, just like the two others, and stepped out of it.  but as soon as I looked at myself in the water I knew it had been no good.
"Then the lion said - but I don't know if it spoke - You will have to let me undress you. I was afraid of his claws, I can tell you, but I was pretty nearly desperate now.  So I just lay flat down on my back to let him do it.
"The very first tear he made was so deep thhat I thought it had gone right into my heart.  And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I've ever felt.  The only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off.  You know - if you've ever picked the scab of a sore place.  It hurts lke billy-oh but it is such fun to see it coming away."
"I know exactly what you mean," said Edmund.
"Well, he peeled the beastly stuff right off - just as I though  I'd done it myself the other three times, only they hadn't hurt - and there it was lying on the grass: only ever so much thicker, and darker, and more knobbly looking than the others had been.  And there was I as smooth and soft as a peeled switch and smaller than I had been.  Then he caught hold of me - I didn't like that much for I was very tender underneath now that I'd no skin on- and threw me into the water.  It smarted like anything but only for a moment.  After that it became perfectly delicious and as soon as I started swimming and splashing I found that all the pain had gone from my arm.  And then I saw why.  I'd turned into a boy again.  You'd think me simply phoney if I told you how I felt about my own arms.  I know they've no  muscle and are pretty mouldy compared with Caspian's but I was so glad to see them.
"After a bit the lion took me out and dressed me -"
"Dressed you. With his paws?"
"Well I don't exactly remember that bit." but he did somehow or other: in new clothes - the same I've got on now, as a matter of fact.  And then suddently I was back here.  Which is what makes me think it must have been a dream."
"No. It wasn't a dream," said Edmund.
"Why not?"
"Well, there are the cloethes, for one thing.  And you have been - well, un-dragoned, for another."
"What do you think it was, then?" asked Eustace.
"I think you've seen Aslan," said Edmund.

I am not going to go into a lengthy explanation of why that scene is so powerful to me, but would love to hear other's comments.  It gives me hope, yet reflects what is real.  That's my kind of story.

"Mom, what should I eat?"

Since cereal seems to be a favorite snack in my house, no matter what time of day or no matter how many times I have tried to restrict its consumption....       I thought this flow chart was perfect for those "ever so important"  questions I hear on a daily basis:   "Mom, what should I eat?"  or    "Mom, I'm hungry... what's in the house to eat?"   Now, I can simply refer to this handy-dandy little chart..... lol  (By the way, if you just click on the image to the left you will get an enlarged version that you can actually read!)

"Destiny's Pub"

Darrin and I are so proud of Carlin, who recently had his short story published in a book published by Young Writers of Canada, called Dreamscapes. Carlin gave me permission to put his story on this blog:

"Did I ever tell you about the time that old Nelson McNealy made his own homemade bio fuel? I finally was right, after years of telling him his truck was full of s---!" The crowd of regulars let out a hearty laugh. Kenneth Wallace leaned back and drained the last dregs of his ale. It was a good day. The sun was in the sky, a gentle breeze glided through the front door, making the air at the Orkney Pub a little less stuffy, and both Ken and the regulars were too drunk to notice that everyone heard the bio fuel joke on a regular basis. Ken always felt at home in this pub, surrounded by a "support group" of middle-aged Scots. They all shared the same mentality that they had fallen into the rat trap of boring, everyday life. Some blamed their wives, some blamed their parents, and some blamed the same alcohol that was knocking down their social inhibitions and freeing them to talk about it. It was in this environment that Ken realized he wasn't alone in his regrets. His father had spent most of his time in this very pub, telling jokes and reminiscing. Ken hadn't seen much of his dad, even in the moments when he had needed a father figure the most.

Ken had vowed that he would be an involved father. He would right his father's wrongs. Yet here he was at thirty-two, with young impressionable children who barely knew him, and an uncanny resemblance to his father. Despite all his fear, he had become his father.

Ken turned to his old friend Duncan. "Have you ever felt like you had no other option than to become what you are? Like it was your destiny?"

Duncan turned. "Well, I don't exactly know, Ken, but Angus over there believes in destiny, and that in itself was a choice."

Ken looked out the window on the quaint little town he called home. He couldn't pinpoint a choice that made him who he was, but he could make a choice now.

That day, he left unfinished ale on the counter.

written by Carlin Parkin at age 17.

The Older I get, The Less I know...

In working with people, and often in experiences in my own life, I am struck by circumstances in which there do not seem to be clear answers. We wonder why some people have had to endure certain circumstances, or others seem to never catch a break. We wonder why children get cancer, or evil acts are committed against innocent people. We wonder why we experience circumstances in our own lives that don't make sense and are not fair. I used to always look for the "why's" in life. I used to want the answers. Sometimes I still do. The not understanding or being able to make sense of things is unsettling at best, and devestating at worst.

But... I have realized that the older I get, the less I know. Sometimes there are not answers that make sense or that are satisfying. Platitudes and cliches don't cut it when people are in emotional pain. Maybe there are answers, but they are just outside the reach of our limited human brains... I don't know. But, that's just the point: I don't know.

Here is what I do know. It's not much.. but it's enough for me. I believe there is a God who loves me. And, I believe he gives me a gift in each moment I am alive. I am trying to live in each moment, and see it as a gift. Really, that's all we ever have. We are never guaranteed another moment past the one we are presently in. When you recognize each moment as a gift, the answers don't seem quite so pressing.

So... I just breathe....and live....and love, to the best of my limited ability. That's all I know.

A great thought for Thanksgiving:

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." Melody Beatty

To Brighten Your Day... :-)

A little something for you if you need some encouragement today...

www.blessyoumovie.com

It is my wish for you... :-)