My daughter's poem - A Slice of Heaven

I walked through the door last night after work and my daughter handed me this poem:

A mom is nice,
A dad is good,
Daughters are pretty,
Sons are understood.

Pet dogs are wonderful,
Pet cats are colorful.

But if they are all together,
they are fantastic no matter what the weather.

I love this.  Not only because it was from my daughter, but there is an underlying truth that rocked me. 

All daughters need to know that they are pretty, and all sons need to know they're understood.

At some point I may get creative and wrap this into a song (I'm terrified I'd wreck it); but for now it can stand on its own merits.



 

Old Wisdom - Hosea 11

I was listening to a Thomas McKenzie sermon ("Insulation") and he pulled out a portion of Hosea 11 that hit me.

It was just full of images of God loving his people in a very personal and real way.  It isn't something you see as often in the OT, especially beyond Psalms.

Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk;
I took them up in my arms,
but they did not know that I healed them.
 I led them
with bands of human kindness,
with cords of love.
I treated them like those
who lift infants to their cheeks;
I bent down to them and fed them.

Then he acknowledges how Israel has strayed and the anguish that causes.  It is just some great stuff.

Mostly I wanted to capture the thought somewhere before it runs away. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=hosea%2011&version=CEB

Uke Can Call Me Crazy...

Sometime back in February I shot an e-mail to Brad Donaldson to get on the list for one of his ukuleles.

I've noticed that somehow I reside in the purgatory between "jack of all trades" and "jack-wagon".  I have a tendency to get neck deep into projects and hobbies and churn/burn long enough to remove the magic of how it works.  Then I'll flit onto the next interest.  They've been unicycle, juggle, disc golf, soccer, ultimate frisbee, mountain biking, guitar, kites, theology....

I'm now nearly 2 years into ukulele and I still love it.  It is just so easy to pick up and strum.  Guitar took some setup time, space and hoping kids would show up with roaming interrupting hands.  Ukulele is just quick, easy, and the learning curve matches.  It's fun and happy.

We'll I've gone far enough that I'm taking the plunge into it being the next level of hobby.  I have a Kala CEM which is a beautiful concert size Mahogany.

Brad is building a tenor size, Bearclaw spruce with myrtle sides and back.  It has been a long wait and I hope to have it before Christmas.  Here are the few progress pics I have, I'll post final pics when it's in hand.  Enjoy!