My extended family is large and far-flung. I have 8 siblings, and all but one brother now live within 20 minutes of my mother’s home near where we grew up. The 4 sisters, however, live in 4 different states. Because Mark and I have lived far from my childhood home, we don’t get oppportunities to visit my mom or siblings often. Making the time and finding the money to take a family of 6 on long road trips has been hard for us.

This weekend, my sister’s middle son is getting married in a city only 6 hours from St. Louis, so we made the trip to be at the wedding and to see my family–my mom especially. I actually have been having a hard time figuring out exactly when we saw her last. Charis, our youngest is 4, and I think we took the kids to see my mom when she was 2, but I can’t be sure. My brain sometimes plays tricks on me 🙂

Tonight we arrived at our hotel, and then headed to my sister’s house to see the other family members who had already arrived. It is great to see my mom again, and it was wonderful to see Charis and Evangeline love on my mom when they don’t really know her well. My mom, Grandma Burkett to them, was eating it up. It made me feel like we have to work out ways to see her more often.

We also received warm greetings from the other siblings and their families. I often envy friends who have really close relationships with their siblings, but I felt tonight that although I am not close to all of mine, if I needed something, they would be there for me.

Tomorrow, 7 of the 9 siblings will attend my nephew’s wedding. That’s better than the number that made it to mine–there were 4 of us there when you count me. Despite the hassles of the quick weekend trip, I am glad we came.

The little “puke joke” happened at my office because Mark was out of town. The plan for the week originally was for me to work mostly from home. But circumstances kept mounting that made our plans change. So the kids were at work with me more than I would have liked. I can say I am thankful for an employer who allows such flexibility.

Now, on to the “flooding” story. Late on Wednesday afternoon, after a busy time of fun with friends at Grant’s Farm and then Evangeline’s softball practice, the kids were ready to cool off. So they got out the water guns and had a water war with the neighbor kids. Evangeline came running in the house headed to the bathroom. She was in quite a hurry. When she was finished, I heard her scream, “The toilet’s overflowing!” She wasn’t kidding. The water poured into the hall and down through the floor boards to the basement. I freaked out on all the kids, plunged the clog through, and with their help, we got the bathroom and basement cleaned up after about an hour. (The evidence pointed to an over use of tp.)

This all happened after the hard drive on my computer at work crashed. The computer tech was there for nearly 5 hours today, which extended my workday much longer than I had hoped. Fortunately, my very selfless friend allowed my kids to hang out with her kids at their house today. And, after my very long frustrating day at work, Mark got back to town and was dropped off at my office. After I finished up some things, we headed out to get the kids. I know lots of families have husbands/daddies who travel a lot more than Mark does. So I don’t want to complain too much. But when he is gone, I sure realize how good I have it!

So today I had all 4 kids at work with me for a few hours. Overall, they were great, but there were a couple of tense moments when I was trying to get projects completed, and I was being called to mommy duties. At one point, the girls were “playing office” in one of the empty office spaces. They had been entertaining themselves very well for a long while, and then Evangeline rushed out to me and said, “Charis threw up!”

I rushed in to her and yelled, “Oh, no!’ I found her on the floor on all fours with a round puddle of vomit under her head. When I bent down to inspect what kind of clean-up was required, I realized that I had fallen for a practical joke. The puddle was a piece of plastic puke that had been left in the office. At first I was pretty upset with them because I was trying to get work done. Then I just started to laugh. And the kids all thought it was a riot that I had fallen for it.

There is much rejoicing at our house today. It was the last day of school. After early morning dismissal for the 3 older kids, we headed to a local county park for Charis’s pre-school end-of-the-year picnic. It was a lot of fun. Charis made one very good little friend at pre-school this year, and they played together the whole time we were there. When we were walking around the park to see the various sites, the girls held hands the whole time. We do a lot for the older kids, so it is especially nice when we get to do an activity that is just for Charis.

We’re heading to a family Bible camp for the long weekend to kick off the summer! The big kids are signed up for a week-long camp there this summer, so we wanted to get a chance to check the place out. We’re looking forward to it.

Have a good Memorial Day weekend!

Ok. Time for a little parental pride. Today I was going through 3rd grade Nevin’s school papers, and I came across an index card with a poem written on it. I asked him what it was, and he said it was an assignment for school from around Easter. I was pretty impressed by it, but then again, I am his mom. Here it is:

Never has such a miracle happened.
Each Sunday feels like Easter.
Visiting Church is like visiting Heaven.
In the tomb Jesus has risen.
News! Jesus has risen.

When we told Nevin that we liked his poem, he said, “I’m not going to be a poet.” We’re ok with that.

On May 8, 2003, a small tornado touched down in Oklahoma City, OK. The residents of OKC and the surrounding areas all battened down the hatches and took cover. The patients at Lakeside Women’s Hospital continued laboring as if nothing was wrong. The path of the tornado that day* was far enough away that no precautions were necessary.

There in Lakeside Women’s Hospital, our own little tornado was born that day. She was #4 after a 4-year hiatus from having babies. At last, a baby was born when the other children in the house weren’t babies any more. Mom was feeling pretty old; Dad was feeling a little stressed. The three older siblings were just excited to have a new sister.

Today is 4 years since our little blonde girl was added to the family. We have enjoyed her smile and her laughs and the way she runs the show around here. She was a welcome change of pace to what was becoming our comfortable life. We are blessed by all our children, but today we say a special prayer of thanksgiving for our little tornado. She came in spinning, and she hasn’t stopped yet. Happy Birthday Charis!

*There was a tornado on May 9, 2003, that touched down close enough to the hospital that all of the new moms and babies had to be herded into the center hallway of the building. That was probably my strangest hospital experience in my 4 stays for childbirth.

Paul talks about his thorn in his flesh in 2 Corinthians 12:7 – 9:

So to keep me from being too elated by the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

I hadn’t really paid much attention to this passage until lately when I got the idea that my thorn in my flesh is the feeling of eternal neediness. I want so much to not feel needy, that I ache. I pray and ask God to help me trust Him more so I won’t feel so needy.

Then when I read this passage, I get the feeling that the issue is a never-ending circle for me. Paul said he had this thorn to keep him from being too elated and to demonstrate God’s grace in his life. So if I feel that neediness is my “thorn in the flesh,” and I ask God to help me trust Him more, He keeps the thorn there so I don’t get “too elated,” and “so His power can be made perfect in weakness.” How can I ask God to take away this “feeling?” I am providing Him with plenty of weakness with which to perfect His power. It almost seems wrong to ask for Him to remove it.

So, I say to myself after working through this thought process, “Maybe you just need to deal with the neediness a little more maturely. You need to learn to trust God a little more silently, a little more humbly.” Ultimately, this “feeling” is just that. It is all my anxieties about life and what’s to come (or not) mixed with my horribly self-centered concern for what other people think of me. Then, after this little mental exercise, I ask myself, “Where’s the balance between soldiering on through trials and allowing God to perfect His power in us and seeking help and consolation from others?” In the midst of that conundrum, how do I handle just my normal emotional personality coupled with any variety of hormonal abnormalities?

I don’t have any real answers; I am just thinking out loud.

I guess in a sense I am being needy and self-centered on my blog, which has its own irony.

April tagged me to tell 7 things about myself that no one knows. Since my life is pretty much an open book, I doubt there are 7 things about me that are completely unknown to others. But, I’ll give it a go:

1. Both my parents were 5’2″, making me the amazon woman of my family!

2. I was a setter for my high school varsity volleyball team. That sounds more impressive than it was, and that is exactly why I am putting it on this list!

3. Mark and I went to Niagara Falls for our honeymoon. (Is that still a cliche? Does anyone else understand why I included this on my list?)

4. When I was 9, I rode to Niagara Falls from DuBois, PA, in the back of a pick-up truck with about 10 other 4th graders. Do you see a Niagara Falls theme emerging?

5. With the help of my mother, I replaced the broken back window in my 1960-something Ford Opal when I was 20. (I bet you never even heard of a Ford Opal!)

6. I met my husband in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, where I lived for 4 years.

7. I was thin for 18 months from 1991 to mid-1993. It was fleeting experience, but I will always cherish it.

Now I need to tag 7 others. Since April tagged most of the people I know with blogs, it will be a challenge. Here it goes:

Jandy (Be sure to check out her American Idol play-by-play each week. I don’t have to watch the show, I just read what Jandy has to say.)

Becky Becky doesn’t always post a lot, but she did just post this week. I am sure she can come up with something good.

Denise Frame Denise might be too serious of a writer to actually do this, but I thought I would give it a try. If she doesn’t do it, you should check out her site anyway. She is really an excellent writer.

Angie D. Angie is a funny mom whose friends with my brother-in-law’s family.

Angie B. Angie B. is a virtual friend with a great sense of humor. Her humor blog is well done and a lot of fun.

Ann B. Ann B. tells some great stories about her life with 5 males. God has a special place in His heart for women like her who exist in a swirling pool of testosterone!

Mark Well, I don’t have enough bloggers to choose from, so I have to tag my husband!

We were able to go out to dinner tonight with friends who have better taste than we do. They took us to this great place in south St Louis city. I felt like I was on the Food Network when I saw our entrees.

The name of the restaurant is the Sidney Street Cafe. The food and the service were excellent. The meal started out with terrific appetizers. I had lamb chops served with mashed potatoes and baby carrots. I also had a beet salad that was really pretty on the plate and very tasty. Mark had whiskey steak with some sort of potato cake. Our friends had Tuscan Sea Bass and Steak Wasabi. We were all happy with our choices. YUM!

Messiah College, my alma mater, is in the news. What has caused the spotlight of the national media to shine on this little-known institution of higher learning? Scandal. At least, liberals are calling the firings of 8 US Attorney a scandal. I actually don’t know what to think about the whole thing, yet. I admit that firing 8 US attorneys at once does seem unusual. But calling it scandal is over the top for me.

So what is the connection between the recent political brouhaha in the US Attorney General’s office and my humble alma mater? Monica Goodling. The senior-level aid in the Justice Department who has stated she will “plead the fifth” if she is called upon to testify, is a 1995 graduate of Messiah. She went on to get her law degree from Regent University in 1999.

What’s really odd about this whole thing is that people who know very little about the varying degrees of social liberalism and conservativism in the evangelical world today are taking shots at Messiah College on many levels. The suggestion that Messiah College is somehow similar to Regent University is just ridiculous. I think Regent is a fine school, but on the spectrum right wing political positions, Regent is far right and Messiah doesn’t even make it on to the spectrum. Messiah is now a non-denominational Christian college, but it started as a Brethren in Christ institution. The BIC broke from the Mennonites. The BIC still has a good relationship with the Mennonites, and they are very big on social conscience issues. If the people who are writing about the fact that Monica Goodling went to Messiah College would take the time to find out something about the place, they would probably find they have more in common with the college than they would imagine at first glance. For instance environmental issues were big among professors and students at Messiah when I was there.

When I was a student at Messiah in the 80s, we held a mock presidential election. Eighty percent of the student body voted for Ronald Reagan. Fifteen percent of the faculty and staff voted for Reagan. So the students at that time were obviously more right wing than the institution itself. One statement in the Washington Post article that just floored me was this: “Goodling majored in communications at Messiah College, a Christian school in Grantham, Pa., that does not have co-ed dorms or allow alcohol on campus.” Hey, these kids don’t fry their brains on alcohol every weekend and they don’t have the opportunity to cohabitate. How can college students learn anything in a place like that?!

This blog got me fired up when it referred to Messiah as “fourth tier.” I was just a little insulted. This is not the only place where you’ll find questioning of the school academic credentials. Everyone wants to make out the school to be sub-standard. The truth is, it is academically rigorous. The average SAT score for first year students is 1190. That’s not too shabby. It compares with an average SAT score of 1434 for first year students at Harvard and 1210 at Penn State University. This shows that Messiah’s standards for entrance fall in line with other 4-year college programs. I read some blogs that suggested professors were not required to have doctorates. Not only do most professors at Messiah have doctorates, unlike many large universities, you’ll never see a graduate student teaching a class. Students at Messiah College have a lot more interaction with well-educated professors who have a genuine interest in their students than many students at large state universities.

Ultimately, I am not just trying to stand up for Messiah College here. I really want to point out how the media (and bloggers, apparently) takes a stereotype and runs with it. Despite talking with people from the college, the press still painted the picture they wanted to. They didn’t really listen to faculty and staff who told them facts about the school. They just assumed that Messiah is a right-wing Bible thumping school with poor academics without checking out the real facts about it.

That being said, they also painted Regent University as a school with poor academics. I don’t know anything first hand about Regent, but I have known people who have graduated from there. I know that it is more conservative politically and a different type of Christian school than Messiah. But both of those things have nothing to do with the quality of education its students receive. I have known of many lawyers that went through Regent’s law school. Ultimately, it seems to me that if the graduates of the law school pass the bar exam, then the school must have some academic rigor. Once again, the media seems to be saying that if there is some religious element to the education, it must be somehow substandard.