HOCKEY on the Sabbath...

 Allow me to indulge myself a little, please....

I don't usually choose sports over church on Sundays, 

but today was an exception.

Nick's ice hockey team was given an invitation to have a little game time here this morning

He's not a picture person,

 but I got a kick out of watching him enjoy entering the stadium from the side door

AUTHORIZED ENTRANCE ONLY

DOOR 5

TEAM

I especially enjoyed the text he sent me while we were parking the car, 

"Mom, this is SO cool!  It's like the player's locker room with a lounge and everything!"

I almost missed this day.

My dad offered to take him...and I was tempted to say 

"SURE, then I'll take Emma to church"

{cause that's what I'm SUPPOSED to do on Sunday}

But today I choose to enjoy my son's morning of wonder over the obligatory Sunday morning service.

DON'T get me wrong, I happen to LOVE church.

I love everything about Sundays...

But today was about THIS  

and THIS...

 The stadium was all but empty...

Parents and custodians made up the audience...

the team was in awe of the opportunity...

and excited from their first look

 Off they go...

 what a great morning of enjoying the boys having fun.  

It didn't matter an ounce to them that there was no one watching,

it was all about enjoying the moment.

It's hard to know how to react when your COACH becomes your TEAMMATE

and loses his footing right in front of you...

DO you laugh?

DO you reach down to help?

OR do you just pretend it never happened?

 SLAPSHOT!

My traveling buddy...

always willing to ride along,

always treats me to a cup of steaming coffee,

and keeps me company...

he's my hero!

and I believe he's someone else's hero, too...

Thanks dad....

 yet again.

No doubt we would have been blessed at church this morning 

but I think possibly we had an even greater blessing by 

BEING THERE

for him...

I think Jesus goes wherever we do...

and today He enjoyed the Sabbath on ICE...

  "Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit?
      to be out of your sight?
   If I climb to the sky, you're there!
      If I go underground, you're there!
   If I flew on morning's wings
      to the far western horizon,
   You'd find me in a minute—
      you're already there waiting!"

Psalm 139

Snow...again...

Everywhere you look around here there is snow...

 It started yesterday morning, causing the buses to practically turn back around

 and pick the students back up from school to return them home..

I believe their school day lasted for about 2 hours.

 Before long we had a white coating everywhere, so in order to keep up with it, I decided we should start the shoveling between the two storms they were calling for.  

SOMEone was not very happy about helping with shoveling...

She tried to convince me, 

"I don't DO snow..."

Sorry, Chickie...neither do I, but today...

we all do!

So she got the job of shoveling the front sidewalk...

 The snow started up again later in the afternoon and by bedtime had made it's landing over everything.

I had a feeling that we'd awaken to a hard job today...

and we did...

This is some really heavy snow...

and unfortunately, I realized we only own TWO shovels even though there are THREE able bodies...

 So...off he went up to the top of the drive...

to the part that the plows dump onto, giving us even more to shovel..

 while she and I took turns with the second shovel...

 Honestly...we got about halfway done before we all decided WE QUIT...

and it sits out there waiting for us to finish the job....

which we will.

Sometime before it gets dark.

I'm SURE of it.

Meanwhile, I came in for one of these

and finished THIS...

And now, with wet hair, the last thing I feel like doing is putting THESE back on...

 But...it must be done...

Also...apparently if you are forced to stay home for a few days because your car is stranded in the driveway

you actually can change your mind and "DO" snow.

Apparently, 

because she did this....

 and this...

don't be too impressed, though

the tallest one is two feet high.

All in all, we've gotten along pretty well all trapped in here together...

We've had THIS to remind us to have a little grace...

and I guess it works when you choose to live by it.

The sun is starting to make its' way down...and if I don't make it happen now, 

chances are my car will still be stuck here tomorrow...

the time has come.

We are missing this guy who is now snowed in at school...

{picture taken as he makes a last ditch effort to finish all his laundry before heading back to school on Tuesday...}

it really does make a difference when he is here to help dig us out!

Enjoy the day off of classes, dude...

and take a look outside, there might be someone who could use a helping hand.

We love you and miss you already around these parts!

Fo' REAL!

Quoting Paris

I was stuck in the orthodontist waiting room for over an hour today and

 the book I'd planned to read was left on my kitchen counter. So, I had to resort to leafing through piles of magazines instead {while drinking office coffee with powdered creamer}.  

ANYway...

I had no idea that Paris Hilton ever said anything that anyone remembered long enough to quote it, 

but I was apparently mistaken...

She has her own quotation marks and everything on either side of a quote that goes like this:

"The only rule is don't be boring and dress cute wherever you go.  Life is too short to blend in."

I would say that she is far from blending in, she has the market on trying to be noticed and "cute"

but I have to disagree with her.  

Sometimes you don't have to dress cute to be noticed....

just ask this guy

Even without his bling he is not likely to go unnoticed. 

And sometimes you can just try way too hard....

and, though you may get noticed, it's really not for your charming beauty.

Someone PUHleease tell Paris that sometimes less is more 

{but NOT when it comes to modesty}

and a little blending in could do you good, girl...

I need to think about leaving a book in my car...

Today is the day Alex heads back to college.  It's been well over a month that he's been home and I've enjoyed every minute.  {Even with all his LATE hours.....LATE to bed, LATE to get up}  He is becoming a great young man and watching it happen is a joy to me.  He's had some rough hurdles in school this year...in his own words he has a love/hate relationship with college.  I'm a little sad about sending him back today, I think I'll miss him skulking around these parts at odd times during the day.  But, he's ready and it's time...you can read his thoughts about it HERE on his blog.

He doesn't know it yet, but I'll be taking some pictures a little later on.  

I am realizing how fleeting these years are and how bad I am at capturing them...

{don't tell him, he hates my camera}

He just walked in the room to convince me we should lunch together at Panera...

he knows my weak spot...

In a perfect world...

I would stop HERE every day

Eat a dozen or two of THESE

 and THESE

And not need one of THESE

Also, I just saw a commercial for a show called "My Strange Addiction".  Up next, a guy who is addicted to a blow up doll.  I'm not kidding...it's his friend...and he has no idea it is weird. 

 Really, we have become quite a society when we start showing stuff like THIS 

on tv and call it worthwhile.  

In a perfect world this would just not happen.

God help us.

FAST

{Word-less Wednesday} Art in a cup...

{Pictures from Google images}

Coffee?

I think 

YES!

A life celebrated....

"Helen D. Cook Astfalk, 93, of Homestead Village, passed away peacefully into the arms of Jesus on Sunday, January 9, 2011.

Helen was preceded in death by her first husband, Robert Cook, who died in 1987. Her second husband, Walter Astfalk, preceded her in 2006. She and Walter were married for ten years.

Born in Great Bend, PA, Helen was the daughter of the late Willard and Mabel (Reinhart) Alexander. She and her husband Robert moved to Lancaster in 1976 to be near their son, Robert, married to Sharon (Edgett) Cook, two grandchildren, Tammi Hoke and Terri Hershey, both of Lancaster and nine great-grandchildren. Helen is also survived by three stepchildren, Deb Moshier of Lancaster, Craig Astfalk of Michigan and Reneé Vosburgh of Tamaqua. Helen was preceded in death by six brothers and sisters.

Helen was dreaming of Heaven more and more as her health was failing and she wanted nothing more than to see Jesus. She spent the majority of her life seeking the Lord and now she has found him. She spent hours upon hours sharing her heart with Him and now she’s talking to Him face to face, for her life has just begun."

Today we celebrated the life of my grandmother with those whom she loved and those who loved her back.  Of course, there were tears...she was a pretty cool lady, which was evident by the sweet comments that were spoken of her.  As I listened to many of her loved ones speak so highly of her life, I couldn't help but feel a sense of awe all over again about the kind of woman she was.  

I want my funeral to be just like hers....

and I have 54 years to learn how to be the same kind of woman that she was.

  Our children had the privilege of being the pall bearers 

{I hope these pictures don't offend you...bottom line is, they wouldn't offend my grandmother-

she'd get a big kick out of it, actually!}

We came home exhausted...and did absolutely nothing.

Until I decided that in honor of the fact that my grandmother LOVED her some desserts,

I'd cut up some of these...

...put it in one of these...

bake it...

 and partake in a 

GREAT

BIG

PIECE.

 Thanks, Grandma, for a day of celebrating YOU,

For leaving us with something to STRETCH towards

and reminding us that life is nothing without 

FAMILY

FRIENDS

and a deep love

 for JESUS.

"You honor me by anointing my head with oil.
      My cup overflows with blessings.
  Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
      all the days of my life,
   and I will live in the house of the Lord
      forever."

Psalm 23:5,6

{Word-less Wednesday} "Blanket the earth!"

"He orders the snow, 'Blanket the earth!'
   and the rain, 'Soak the whole countryside!'
No one can escape the weather—it's there.
   And no one can escape from God...

When blizzards roar out of the north 

   and freezing rain crusts the land.

It's God's breath that forms the ice, 

   it's God's breath that turns lakes and rivers solid.

And yes, it's God who fills clouds with rainwater 

   and hurls lightning from them every which way.

He puts them through their paces—first this way, then that— 

   commands them to do what he says all over the world.

Whether for discipline or grace or extravagant love, 

   he makes sure they make their mark."

Job 37:6-8

learning lessons....

I was pretty teary yesterday morning.  Even though I fully expected my grandmother's death, and even wished it for her-because she was so ready and it had become just a matter of waiting....but even then, I couldn't help but get all leaky all morning long!  My mom, sister and I went to the Home to clean out her room.  

Throughout the last few years she has widdled down her possessions to next to nothing...what she kept ended up in my parents basement.  But at 93 there's not a whole lot that you need.  Someone else feeds you, clothes you, changes your sheets and escorts you everywhere you want to go.  Your needs are pretty meager.

And that's what I've been thinking about the last day and a half.  I'm thinking about how many hours, weeks, months and years we spend in our lifetime just trying to reach some level of importance.  Whether it is financial, vocational or in relationships, we're always reaching for something more.  And yet, at the end of our lives we ALL end up on the same playing ground.  We die...and our stuff is distributed to someone else.

In my grandmother's case, we packed up two garbage bags of clothing for Goodwill and three boxes of her belongings.  That's it.  She didn't live a life in pursuit of things...her desires were mostly relational....not "stuff-related". 

 Imagine that she HAD lived her life in pursuit of the next best thing life had to offer.  Imagine that her home was filled with toys and gadgets, blings and baubles.  

What would yesterday have looked like???

I venture to say it would look EXACTLY like it did.  We would have needed more garbage bags, a bigger uhaul for Goodwill, and a few more boxes of stuff to distribute.  But, we would have been doing exactly the same thing, which is my point.  No matter what we pursue in life, at the end of it all we take with us is our reputations and our legacies. 

 WE CAN'T PACK ANYTHING ELSE UP IN AN OVERNIGHT BAG AND TAKE IT WITH US!

So, we have two choices to make:

1) Live a life in pursuit of temporary happiness, accumulating all that our houses can fill.  Busy ourselves with the fullness of all the world has to offer...

OR

2) Live a life in pursuit of eternal happiness, love on the people around us, deny our own selfish gain...and just live simply.

At the end of my life, when my children are tidying up my belongings, distributing them amongst themselves, I hope it takes about an hour.  I hope that they find boxes and boxes of pictures filled with memories of TIME spent together.  I hope they look back on my life and see that I've loved people more than STUFF.  I hope they find a legacy that they want to pass on to their own children.

I take note here because I need a reminder.  I need to refresh the screen often and remind myself to stay on track.  I have a lot of work to do...a lot of "house" to clean.  

This will take a LOT of effort, people! 

 It won't happen by accident...

An intentional life happens only when we make it happen.

At home...

I got the call this morning that I knew was coming soon.
My grandmother has been dreaming of heaven for years.Having lived a long and full life, she wanted nothing more than to see Jesus face to face, and be reunited with her two husbands who've gone before her.
Last night she breathed her last breath of earthly air,
and woke up in heaven.

It's beyond me to really grasp that.
 I know it is true...and so did she.  She longed to leave here and move to her permanent heavenly address.  I'm trying to picture her this morning...
such a different picture than when I last saw her to say "good-bye for now".
Her form was so frail and thin....
Today she's free of pain and restlessness...
and she might even be doing a little dancing!

I'm not sure I've ever seen her dance, but I've witnessed her singing many, many times.
For the last few years it was rare that she'd be able to get to church, but on those Sunday mornings I'd watch her sing...she'd lift her hands and her face to heaven and SING with her whole heart.
I vividly remember her singing "How Great Thou Art"... 
She didn't need the words, they were embedded in her memory.
She sang like there was no one else in the room but her.
 
I see her singing this morning....
she's only been in heaven for about 8 1/2 hours...
but I'm pretty sure her first words came out in song.
I wish I could have seen her entrance into heaven....
wish I could have seen the joy on her face as she recognized the One she's lived her life for.
I wish I could have seen Him embrace her and whisper "Well done!" to her.

She lived much of her life wanting approval and to know that she mattered to those around her.
I believe she understood how much she meant to us.
How much we loved her and appreciated her.

But, today, I think all that matters to her is that she didn't waste her life chasing things that are temporary.
The few temporary things she accumulated are still sitting in her empty room.
And I'm pretty sure she's not missing them.

She spent the majority of her life seeking the Lord.
And now she's found Him.
She's spent hours upon hours sharing her heart with Him.
And now she's talking to Him face to face.

She is our last grandparent to finally see Jesus...
and she is the last of a generation that we know prayed for us daily.
I'd like to think in some way she will continue to speak to Jesus daily on our behalf...
being that she'll be spending so much time with Him and all.

She's left us with heavy hearts...

but just thinking about her life today, compared with yesterday...

Life for her has just begun...

  "For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands.  We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing.  For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.

  So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord.  For we live by believing and not by seeing.  Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord."

IICorinthians 5:1-10

 Helen Cook Astfalk

 October 21, 1917 - January 9, 2011

"This is the true joy of life, the being used up for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one."
George Bernard Shaw