Ezra came to visit....

and brought his mom...


Opa and cousin, Naddie...



cousin Myrddin...



and Oma, Uncle Ian and Aunt Darlene and cousins, Judah and Raewyn. We also invited Karen and Jacob's Care Team and had a great dinner and laughter filled evening. Lots of MK stories from Karen and Ian's growing up, as well as news from Karen and Jacob's life and work, playing trains with the cousins, and of course, lots of time for Coty, lover of babies to hold and play with Ezra. A wonderful sneak preview for their visit later in the year...

We all think Ezra looks like Jacob, especially in his serious moments...



Thanks, Ray and Merle for sharing Karen and Ezra with us for the evening!

The week at a glance - Part 4

To finish off the week, we drove the Curtis family to Greenville on Thursday and then stayed overnight in SC with Granddaddy and Mamaliz. They treated us to Indian food at Saffron on Friday night and lunch at Panera on Saturday. We introduced them to disc golf!

On Friday afternoon, Joel tested out the course at Simpsonville Park while Mamaliz and I walked along and kept score. Then on Saturday morning, we took Granddaddy, too, and tried the course at Gower Park in Greenville.




Today, Coty's mom arrives for a week long visit while Bapa and the cousins continue their travels in England.

Well, that's our week....

The week at a glance - Part 3

We were the new girls in town in the ninth grade; she was Melissa Dugan and I was Gracie Mae in the fall school play. We played softball together on the Baptist church team though neither of us went to that church, climbed out of my bedroom window in the middle of the night to walk around the neighborhood and thought we hadn't been discovered, passed notes in English class, spent the night at each other's houses more times than I can count, visited each other's relatives, were in each other's weddings, and more. After college, she moved to Seattle, me to California, then Kenya, Massachusetts, and other places. Thankfully, our parents have stayed in the same small South Carolina town, making it easier for us to see each other from year to year. No matter how much time passes since we've seen or talked with each other, we pick up right where we left off, no awkward pauses, no need to apologize for the length of time between communication. And joy of joys, our families love each other and have an great time when we get together.

This week, my long-time best friend, Teresa (I've always spelled it Tresa - just a best friend thing) and her four wonderful children came for a visit. From Tuesday to Thursday, we had the Curtis family with us and it was a very special time, indeed! My stomach hurt from laughing so much, I'm tired from staying up late, we ate, played, swam, talked and talked and talked. I wanted the visit to go on and on but on Thursday, Tresa was expected at her mom's for a family celebration. But we cherished those two very full days and can't wait til the next time!

Do you know how hard it is to get a decent picture of the two of us??? Next to impossible. We thought we were looking...well...um...rather 50-ish here(Tres is and I almost am) so we kept trying.



With my penchant for closing my eyes at the shutter click,



OK, OK, I'll keep them open,



And with all the help from mischievous children...



Well, we're just happy that after many tries, on the last morning, we finally got a halfway decent picture!



A rousing soccer game is a tradition whenever the Pinckney and Curtis kids get together...



This year we added disc golf,



Upwords,



and Nertz (I don't know if that's how you spell it. It's sort of like Dutch Blitz but with regular decks of cards)



The Curtis kids



Andrew Curtis - Andrew Pinckney's language learning inspiration



Emma



Rose and...



Pastor Peter, Padre, Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater

Thanks for coming, y'all (yes, we even discussed things like grammar and the proper spelling of the word ya'll, I mean y'all). Come back soon!

The week at a glance - Part 2 - a garden path

Some people travel and bring home mugs from places they visit. Some choose T-shirts or baseball caps, books or pictures. I choose and bring rocks. Yes, rocks.

On our recent trip to Erin and Luke's, I had my eye on some lovely pieces of slate that littered the perimeters of the barn and pastures - slate that was uncovered in the clearing and leveling of the land when the barn was built. Just the thing for a garden path. When I saw it, I started dreaming about my garden path. With this slate, my garden path could connect me to Erin and Luke, to the farm and the mountains, to people and places I love. My path could be not just a walk from the bottom of the steps to the end of the rock lined raised bed, but a path of the heart, taking me along every hand-picked stepping stone to thoughts of my dear ones far away.

I got permission to pick up some slate and just smiled at the teasing of family members who wondered at my rock collecting. "You brought ALL THAT all the way from NEW YORK??" "Yep," I replied with purpose.

Well, after the Goudas kiddos left on Monday, Andrew, Joel, and I got to work on the path. I selected and placed stones, Andrew dug out spots in the clay soil so they could nestle securely, and Joel brought load after load of mulch for filler.



Now because a path needs a stopping place along the way and because garden design calls for focal points, I grouped some of the stones midway. Then, I brought the rusty old green metal chair and placed it just beside the stones. Yes, I know that chair needs some loving attention. My parents gave it to me a couple of years ago - at one time it belonged to my grandmother, Mom. One of these days I will look in the yellow pages and find someone who can sandblast it so I can repaint it. Maybe...or maybe not. That old rusty chair makes me stop along Erin and Luke's stone path and think about Mom. She was the one who always had plants, who loved her garden, and who, I think, is the one most responsible for passing on this love of plants to me. So, I may just leave it as it is. It says, "Mom, old, remember." It is a good place to stop and sit in thankfulness for the blessing of family, living and dead; to ponder heritage and legacy; to breathe in the sweet scent of honeysuckle and rosemary and offer a prayer of gratitude for a grandmother who loved God and people, far more than she loved plants, and to ask for the privilege of passing on such love to my own dear daughter.



The reality of my new garden path has far exceeded what I dreamed it would be when I was picking up pieces of slate that misty, cool day in New York a few weeks back. I am very happy with our work of Monday evening. This path beckons me to walk, then stop, sit, and focus. When I do, I feel very thankful for tangibles like rocks and chairs that are for me links to intangibles. I see the slate stepping stones and think of Erin. I sit in the chair and think of Mom.

I am praying that God will use the occasion of making this path, of thinking about stopping places and focal points to remind me to stop and rest in Him; praying that He will continue to sharpen and focus my spiritual eyes that look at the visible and tangible, and see beyond to the realities of life in Him, discernible only by faith.

The week at a glance - Part 1

It's been a quiet week on the blog but quite a full one at home. We began the week playing grandparents to Emma (6), John Thomas (3), and Garrett (1) while their parents and our dear friends, Lillian and Leon, traveled to Pinehurst for a job interview. The kids arrived Sunday afternoon and were with us til late Monday afternoon.

I think the highlight for the kids was our walk around the neighborhood on Sunday evening. When we came to the spray painted driveway of a neighbor up the street, the kids were invited to join in the fun and spray paint a picture on the as yet unpainted portion of the driveway up near the house. Now every time I have walked or driven past this driveway, I have thought, "Oh, how ugly, weird, strange...you couldn't do THIS in most neighborhoods around here with the home owner's associations and covenants." I have thought of it more as an eyesore than anything else. Well, I have softened a bit after spending an hour in Janey's driveway. She cheerfully invited the kids, who were transfixed by the pictures on the driveway, to come up to the unpainted area at the top and help fill it with color by adding their own pictures. She gleefully pulled out can after can of spray paint and Emma and John Thomas had a blast spray painting smiley faces, lady bugs, and random swaths of color across the driveway. Turns out lots of the kids in the neighborhood have contributed to this driveway art. As I watched Emma and John Thomas spray painting away, I started thinking about creativity and the freedom to explore different ways of expression, and how kids are excited about just about any opportunity to try their hand at a new medium. It was a happy hour watching and helping them create. It ended with neighbor, Charlie, gently cleaning John Thomas's red, spray paint covered fingers with paint thinner. I was slightly alarmed at this since John Thomas loves to put his middle two fingers in his mouth. But I told him he had to keep his fingers out of his mouth til we got home. He happily complied and we scrubbed and scrubbed when we got home. It was not until bedtime that he finally asked, "Can I put my fingers in my mouth now?" "Yes, sweetheart, they're clean." Fingers went in the mouth, eyes closed, and one contented three year old slept peacefully allll night long.

On Monday, we visited the playground, swam, jumped on the trampoline, played with cars, Legos, and trains, and felt very thankful for little boys who took long afternoon naps. Emma enjoyed the quiet time to roll the dice for Coty and Joel's backgammon games and I even made a trip to Tarheel Bark for hardwood mulch...but more on that later.

The Goudas kids headed home late in the afternoon on Monday and we shifted gears that evening with a garden task that has been in the conceptual stages for a while....

Right Sacrifices

Tuesday morning's reading took me to Psalm 4 where I read:

"Be angry and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the Lord."

How often I fail to obey those verses. How often I let my anger or agitation lead to brooding in my own heart. How often I awake in the night, and instead of hearing the 2 AM call of the barred owl in the woods by the stream as a call to prayer and silence, I choose instead to brood and fret over some troubling affair of the day. The pondering of Psalm 4 leads to rest in God, silence; troubled brooding leads to noisome thoughts of rebellion, cynicism, and fear. The remedy is so clear and so simple to understand, but so doggedly hard, in my sin to do, day in and day out. Offer right sacrifices, trust in the Lord.

What are those right sacrifices? Surely obedience, thanksgiving, praise, our bodies, good works and generosity, love.

Though we've never met, and only communicated by email once or twice, I think of Ann as a friend. I read her posts everyday. Tuesday morning when I visited her blog, Anne had captured for me the essence of how in our brokenness, we offer the sacrifice of love. You may want to read her whole post, but here is a small section:

How does a broken mother parent in a home of brokenness? As He does. Bend down to gather up the broken. Draw close our fractured (raging, selfish, stubborn, proud) beloved ones. Forsake fixing. Love the wounded, kin of our own brokenness, the fruit of a fallen, skinned world. And pray for Jehovah Rapha, Healer, to come to “bind up the brokenness of His people” (Isa. 30:26). He, and He alone, can fix the “broken cisterns that can hold no water” (Jer. 21:13).

I want to ponder and practice - obedience, praise, thanksgiving, good works - to offer myself, my loving from a broken, contrite heart. Right sacrifices. Trust. And then joy.


A note about my Bible reading plan:
I have told several folks lately that I just finished my one year Bible reading plan...in a year and a half! So, now I am starting a new plan. I feel very strongly that having a plan is important. If I didn't, I probably would not be nearly as consistent in my reading. Because I have one, I never wonder what I should read each day and I am very often amazed at how the planned reading for each day is exactly what I needed for that day. So, if you aren't using a Bible reading plan, I strongly recommend it. Check these links for a couple of options:

Coty designed this Bible Unity reading plan several years ago. It is mainly a chronological reading plan. This is the one I just finished.

This is what I'm using now, which is the Discipleship Journal Bible reading plan used by Bethlehem Baptist Church.

Fuchsia (yes that's how you spell it - I looked it up) salad

Last night as we sat down to dinner, the doorbell rang. Our friend, Gretchen, walked in and immediately, upon spying the contents of the blue pottery bowl said, "Fuchsia!! Wow, what is that?!"

It was a beet salad, and if you like beets, you'll love it. If you don't like beets, you can do what Gretchen said she'd do, "Just look at it and digest."

Here for Amber,who asked for the recipe, is the how-to:
Boil 2 or 3 fresh beets til you can poke a fork in them.
Take out of the hot water, run cool water over them and get ready for the fun part. If you've never peeled a beet, you just pick up the beet in your hands and sort of squeeze it. The peel will come slip-sliding off and you'll end up with a lovely peeled beet and pink stained hands. Never mind, it will eventually wash off!
Next, chop the beets into medium size chunks.
Add enough yogurt to cover, a handful of coarsely chopped walnuts, a tablespoon or so of brown sugar, and a few snips of fresh dill. Refrigerate til chilled.

I found a few other recipes for beets here. I'll be trying the Roasted Beets with Blue Cheese Sauce and Spiced Walnuts next. And I think I'll plant more beets when it's time for fall planting!

Burkina Faso pictures

Both boys are feeling much better today. We have enjoyed seeing their pictures and hearing their stories. Here are a few for you to enjoy.

Coming and Going

All I have to say is that there sure is a lot of coming and going around here these days! Not that I didn't know the summer was going to be like this, but I'm starting to think of erecting an Arrivals/Departures sign over the front door. Last night was T and A's arrival and this morning, Joel departed for a week at Camp Caraway. I'm just glad Thomas and Andrew got to be with Joel for a little while before he left. Coming and going.

The word on Matthew and the hikers in England is that they have stopped hiking for now. They were experiencing the worst rain in 20 years in the area of their hike. On Friday, when they came to a rain swollen torrent that was too dangerous to cross, it was time for a change in plans. So, they are now doing the "tourist/sight seeing" portion of their trip and plan to start hiking again in a week or so. They may change their hike destination as well and are thinking about hiking the Robin Hood Way, through Nottinghamshire. Yes, it starts at Nottingham Castle and goes through Sherwood Forest. Only problem is they didn't take their green tights! This is only a 100 or so mile walk so they are investigating other trails as well. For now though, they are off to Durham, Stratford on Avon, Stonehenge, the Lake District, and I don't know where else.

Lastly, if you think Thomas looks a little skinny in that last picture, you're right. He lost about 8 pounds on the trip. Even though he wasn't sick, I don't think the diet was very high in calories, and it was hot, hot, hot so he said they sweated a lot. One of my goals over the next few days is to put some weight back on him. To that end, I'm off to the kitchen to bake.

Home

We're home. It wasn't easy to come home this time. I could have stayed with Erin and Luke up north a whole lot longer. It's just that wonderful up there and that sweet to be with them. But Andy and Laura's wedding this weekend, the third and final wedding of the summer, was a very good reason to come home.

And now the boys are home, too!!!! Thomas and Andrew arrived about 6 this evening. They drove from Orlando today even though they were both a bit sick. It's rather ironic that the whole time in Burkina Faso, they were completely healthy. On the flight back, they had a layover in Atlanta. They ate at an airport restaurant and unfortunately both ended up with the "throw ups" last night and today. Thomas was so eager to drive home today that he bought and drank a whole bottle of Pepto Bismol this morning. That was before he read the directions that said not to take more than four doses in 24 hours! I'm not sure what the after effects of that are going to be, but I'm pretty sure the Pepto is what made him able to drive the 8 and a half hours and get home today. Andrew was feeling too sick to help with any of the driving. He's still a bit punky, but hopefully a good night's sleep, some food that's easy on the stomach, and Gary's dirt flavored Chinese medicine will help.

I am so happy to have my guys home, I am almost giddy. I can't go to sleep which is why I'm sitting here blogging at this late hour. I am so very thankful for their safe travel, but more than that, I am thankful for the ways God has answered our prayers for our young men on this trip. We have seen some of the pictures and heard some of the stories, but there are more to come, I'm sure. I'll have some pictures for you in a day or so. For now, let me just thank those of you who have been praying and and praise my heavenly Father from whom all blessings flow. I feel like I'm being drenched in the downpour of the blessing of these sons, these gifts from God who are stepping out and following Jesus...even to remote places among the poorest of the poor. Yes, I am a very thankful mother this night.

Stepping back in time

We had a history afternoon on Sunday. After worshiping with Erin and Luke's new church family at Coila Church in the morning, we headed home to make a picnic lunch and then out for an afternoon of area history.

First we visited the Bennington Battlefield, which is actually in Hoosick, NY. This battle, won by the Patriots, kept the British from capturing the weapons and ammunition stored in Bennington, Vermont, weakened the British forces, and led to the defeat of the British at the Battle of Saratoga, which was a major turning point in the struggle for independence. We had a picnic on the hilltop where the battle was fought.



Then we headed to Bennington to visit the Battle Monument. We took the elevator to the observation deck and took in the views in all directions.









Then, Monday night we stepped back in time in a different way. When was the last time you went to a drive-in movie??? I think I was nine years old and the movie was Born Free. Well, here in Erin and Luke's little town, there is a wonderful drive-in theatre that shows two movies a night. And Luke has a big old pick-up. I was picturing blankets spread in the bed of the pick-up. We added wicker chairs and foam carpet pads and with the tool box on the back, had stadium seating, pick-up style. It was A LOT of fun.





People there take their drive-in movie watching seriously. We laughed so hard when we saw a little car pull in with a couch on top. The couple proceeded to unload their couch and enjoy the movie in comfort!