Dear Matt,

On a hot Saturday afternoon in July sixteen years ago, I stood face-to-face with you and made you a promise.  I promised to love you - and only you - for the rest of my life.  I promised that I would stand by you through all the ups and downs that life would bring us.  I promised to be your biggest supporter, your greatest encourager, and your best friend.  I promised to care for you in sickness, rejoice with you in good times, cry with you in sad times, and celebrate with you in joyful times.

Over the course of our marriage, we’ve endured every one of those times.  We’ve definitely had our good times; I think of our honeymoon and our trip to Israel, the moments we found out we were expecting, the days our children were born, the joy of moving out of our apartment from hell into our first home, the excitement of building our second home.  But we’ve also had some bad times.  I won’t recount those here - you and I both know all too well the pain of those difficult days.

We’ve had our share of celebrations in sixteen years: milestone birthdays, you passing the A.R.E., me earning my master’s degree, holidays and making our own traditions, new jobs, new responsibilities, new ministries.  It’s been my honor and privilege to share in those milestones with you, to celebrate with you, to be a part of your joy and happiness.  But it’s also been my honor to share in the sad times with you…to cry with you over the death of your parents, to grieve together the loss of my dad and grandparents, to hold one another as we said goodbye to beloved pets, to mourn the loss of friends and friendships as life - and we - moved and changed.

And I thought I’d already been down the road of caring for you in sickness.  The whole appendectomy adventure was scary enough…I didn’t want to play with fire any more.  God saved you once…I wasn’t willing to run the risk of testing Him again.  But God definitely had other plans for you - for us - this year.  I never would have dreamed of you having to face cancer like you did.  And seeing the fear in your eyes as you told me the diagnosis is an image I’ll carry with me forever.  But you faced it bravely - like you face everything in your life - in a matter-of-fact way, knowing that the future was beyond your control.  As I watched you endure chemo and all its unpleasantness, I was so proud of you.  Proud for the way you handled the difficulty with humor.  Proud for the way you didn’t let it get you down.  Proud for the way you managed to continue to work, to do projects around the house, to play with your children and be involved in their lives, and still manage to be a husband.  Proud for the way you didn’t let it rattle your faith, but rather strengthen it.

Now that we’re facing a time of “in health”, I can honestly say I’m grateful for the past year.  Even with all the difficulties, the stress, the hardship, the lingering medical bills…I’m grateful.  I’m grateful for the way this trial brought us together, the way we were able to lean on each other, the way we shared every step of the journey.  I’m grateful for the privilege of honoring those vows I made to you on that July afternoon.  I’m grateful for the lessons we learned - about God, ourselves, and true friendship - that we might not have learned otherwise.  And, strange as it may sound, I’m grateful for the possibility of losing you…because it showed me what a treasure I have in you and how deeply I love you, want you, and need you in my life.  How much I enjoy being around you.  How much I desperately want to grow old…well, older…with you.  How much I want to sit beside you as our children graduate from high school, college, and possibly even beyond.  How much I look forward to seeing you walk our daughter down the aisle and dance at our children’s weddings and hold our grandchildren.  How I look forward to someday being just the two of us again and creating new adventures together.

I’m so happy to celebrate this day with you.  I’m glad for all the experiences we’ve shared so far, and I’m excited about what lies ahead.  But for now, I’m just going to enjoy this day, this time, this moment with you.  I love you and forever will be

Yours,

Debbi

Tomorrow is our anniversary…our “sweet 16th”.  Sixteen years.  Wow.  I can’t believe we’ve put up with each other for that long.

Nah, I’m just kidding.

When we stood at the front of that church on that very hot July day in 1993, we promised our love and faithfulness to one another “for better or for worse; for richer and poorer; in sickness and in health.”  In our idealistic 20-something mindset it was easy to make those promises; much harder has been the process of living up to them over the past 16 years.  Those cliche’s were for “someday”…someday much later, when we were much older…more mature, able to handle them.  Right then, all we could see ahead of us were bright days filled with excitement, happiness, and fun.

But that was not the way it happened.  It wasn’t long into our marriage before those vows were put to the test.  And I’m grateful for the way we weathered that first storm…and the many that have come since.  I’m grateful for the happy times, the times of joy and laughter that we’ve built together.  Because both - the good AND the bad - have only served to strengthen our commitment and deepen our love.

I could spend all kinds of time recounting the memories of the good times and bad, the times of sickness and health, the times of plenty and want.  But I won’t.  Instead, I’ll make this short and sweet.

Today, I’m grateful for a song.  A simple song, played on the radio at just the right time.  I’m grateful for red lights and Chevy trucks and DTS parking permits and my parents’ Honda Accord.  I’m grateful for Richland College and physics classes and parking lots and lab partners.  I’m grateful for stubborn horses and fractured vertebrae and body casts and schools in Egypt and the U.S. Postal service.  I’m grateful that God orchestrated the details of bringing us together, and in so doing wove a tapestry of beautiful moments.  I’m grateful God had a plan for our lives that was bigger than either of us alone.  I’m grateful that God brought both of us to a place where we knew marriage was His will.

And today, I’m grateful for the life we’ve built together over the past sixteen years.  It hasn’t been perfect, to be sure, but I can definitely say it has been “sweet.”

We have had the rainiest summer EVER this year.  Not that I’m complaining necessarily.  But it does make it hard to go to the pool when the skies are grey and the rain is falling and the pools are, well, CLOSED.

So unlike last year, when we had the Great Pool Adventure of 2008, this year has been the year of creative indoor fun.  Yesterday we explored new territory: the National Scout Museum, which happens to be located in Irving, just a stone’s throw away in Texas geography.

We rounded up a few friends and made the drive through the rain to get there shortly after it opened.  I had never been there before and was keeping my fingers crossed that this would not be some stuffy, dusty, musty museum full of ancient relics and endless wall plaques.  I started off trying to be optimistic, taking a picture of our scouts in front of the giant BSA logo:

We then took a stroll through the art gallery.  For those that know me, you can understand my desire to get that over with first.  But what I didn’t realize was that we would get to see famous people here!  Like Norman Rockwell himself!

I mean, seriously, if I have to look at art, I’d rather look at his than just about anybody’s.  At least I understand what he’s drawing.  There is a whole gallery full of his artwork depicting scouts as only Norman Rockwell can do.  There are other works there, too: a few other artists inspired by Rockwell’s work.  But his are the best.

And then we headed into the theater to learn a little of the history of Scouting and who should we meet there but Lord Baden-Powell himself!

The boys were thrilled to meet him, despite the fact he kind of creeped them out a little when he talked and moved.

After all that educational stuff was out of the way, we headed around the museum for some FUN!  Seriously, what is a scout outing without shooting bb’s?

Or running their very own Pinewood Derby?

There were lots of other interactive games and venues, as well as a scavenger hunt to complete as you moved into the various areas of the museum.  We could hardly keep the boys from running from one area to another to see what was next and what other fun stuff they could do.  We finished the scavenger hunt and earned a ribbon for our pack flag for our efforts.  We finished off our day with lunch in the lounge, since we couldn’t go outside to eat.

The best part about it?  The museum is FREE on Mondays!  All that fun and no cost involved.  You can’t get much better than that.

POLICE BLOTTER….

Location: Fairview, Texas.  Sloan Creek Estates.

3:50 P.M.  Neighbor reports suspicious van in neighborhood.  Blue minivan with dent in right front fender.  Seen stopping in front of houses and opening mailboxes.  Appears to be putting things in some mailboxes, then reaching in and taking things out of mailboxes.  Neighbor expresses concern that this may be the perpetrator of recent mail-stealing crimes.

3:55 P.M.  Second neighbor joins the discussion.  Asks first neighbor if she called 911.

4:02 P.M.  Third neighbor joins the discussion.  Informs group that blue van belongs to substitute mailman, on duty for regular mailperson on Mondays.  Case closed.

Jay Leno would be proud.

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This seems to be the summer of death.

First it was Farrah and Michael.

Then Billy “Mr. Sham-WOW” Mays.

Followed shortly thereafter by Walter Cronkite.

And now we have…Alexis Cohen.

Who? You ask.  Let this video remind you.

According to the news, she was struck by a car as she attempted to cross a street in New Jersey.  Police are treating her death as a homicide but have very few leads.  While I still laugh at her profanity-laced rant, my heart goes out to her mother and her family.

Alexis Cohen was a genuine original. I don’t think anyone else could be quite like her.

Yesterday, the world lost some of its innocence and beauty.

Donald Zolan, widely regarded as the premiere artist of children, passed away at the age of 72 after a battle with lung cancer.

My connection to Donald Zolan began when I was in college.  Someone – probably my parents – gave me a calendar of his artwork to hang in my dorm room.  As someone who has worked with children since I was barely out of childhood myself, I have always had a tender heart toward the pint-size set.  His artwork mesmerized me, captivated me, touched my heart.  He truly captured the beauty, the innocence, the wonder and curiosity of young children.  Those who know me know I’m not much for art, but I quickly became a huge fan of his work.  It’s beautiful, magical, emotional.

Shortly after I graduated from college, my oldest brother got married.  Come to find out, my sister-in-law’s cousin was married to none other than…you guessed it…Donald Zolan.  I still have the autographed calendar I received for Christmas that year.

He had a gift.  An ability to see inside everyday events.  Through his brush and paints, he was able to translate that vision to us as well.  He allowed us to remember, to celebrate, to cherish the little things – and little ones.  He invited us to view the world through a whole new set of eyes.  His art invoked the wonderment, the exuberance, the absolute rapture of discovering our fascinating world.

The man may be gone, but his images will live on.  These are some of my favorites:

“Waiting for Daddy”

“Christmas Prayer”

“Touching the Sky”

(I love it for the name alone!)

“First Kiss”

(I just love where their lips ended up…so precious!)

“All By Myself”

(it looks like me…and it looks just like my daughter.)

“Waiting to Play”

(another one I love for the name alone!)

Rest in peace, Donald Zolan.  You will be greatly missed.

Warning: this is a brag post.  Shameless, unabashed, over-the-top bragging.  Maybe even a little boastful.  But I’m okay with that.

Because it’s about a card.  Not just any card, but a card that I made.  And you see, I don’t make cards. It’s just one of the quirks that makes me so lovable.

But I made this one.  It’s for the son of a friend of ours.  Possibly even Crisana’s future husband if he has his way.  So he’s a pretty special kid.  And he deserves a special card.

So here it is.  First the front:

Then the inside:

Am I good or what?

Just because I have nothing creative to offer today, and because I thought this was funny…probably because it would happen to me…

I was stopped for speeding the other day. I thought I could talk my way out of it until the policeman looked at my dog in the back seat…

One sign you’re driving too fast….

This is a great summer recipe as it is chock-full of summertime vegetables.  We ate it for breakfast, but it could easily be a light summer supper as well.  We found this to be incredibly filling - so you may want to adjust on the smaller side.  With the corn, this would be a good Phase 2 recipe, but on Phase 1 you’d need to leave the corn out.

DELUXE SCRAMBLED EGGS

Recipe from Taste of Home Quick Cooking Annual Recipes 1999

1/2 C each chopped green onions, zucchini, green pepper, and sweet red pepper

1 T vegetable oil (I used olive oil instead)

1 C fresh or frozen corn (I used canned corn)

1/2 to 3/4 t salt

1/2 t dill weed

8 eggs, beaten

1 C (4 oz.) shredded sharp low-fat cheddar cheese

pepper to taste

In a large skillet, saute onions, zucchini and peppers in oil  until tender, about 5 minutes.  Add corn, salt and dill; mix well.  Add eggs; sprinkle with cheese.  Cook and stir gently until eggs are completely set.  Sprinkle with pepper.

Yield: 4 servings

I know, I know.  It’s been awhile.  The blog has been silent - especially on Thursdays - for a long time.  I’ve had plenty of things to be grateful for over the past three months.  I’ve just lacked the motivation, the time, the mental capacity to put it all together, I guess.

But something happened this week and I know I need to say my gratitude out loud:

I’m grateful for Matt’s job.

As a nation, we’ve all experienced the effects of this economic recession in one form or another.  Daily, it seems, I hear of another friend who’s lost a job, another company who is laying off employees, another business filing for bankruptcy.  Each time, I wonder, when will it be our turn?

A few weeks ago, SHW had a massive layoff, sending a quarter of the North Texas studio packing.  Thankfully, Matt was spared.

On Tuesday, there was an emergency meeting for the partners at his firm.  Both Matt and I instantly began praying…not necessarily that God would spare his job, but rather for God’s provision regardless of the outcome.   Personally, I laid it all out on the table: my desires, my wishes, my hopes.  I earnestly tugged on the ear of my Abba, my Father, and poured out my heart to Him…yet recognizing and submitting to His sovreignty.

Turns out, one of the uppity-ups was involved in something not-so-ethical and was removed from the company, along with several of his compatriots.  While the shock of this revelation means some instability and a definite time of transition, it also means that Matt continues to have a job for the time being.

A paycheck.

Benefits.

Health insurance.

A week at the condo in South Padre.

For his job - and all the perks it provides - I continue to be grateful.