April 28, 2008

Ode to the drainage ditch

Bright rode down the sidewalk
training wheels loudly crunching
over little rocks
wearing his Lightning McQueen cap
to shade his little nose.
I watched proudly from inside the window
when I realized I never taught him
how to stop
and he was headed for the end of the sidewalk
which drops off into a drainage ditch
filled with muck water...

I snapped this picture moments later.

April 26, 2008

Daddy can do anything

Yesterday Bright's favorite toy broke. He got an aircraft carrier for his birthday that has a crane arm with a hook attached to a rope that lowers a rescue boat down into the "water." Yesterday, the rope broke inside of the crane arm and there was no way to re-spool it.

No way...unless your daddy is Daniel Rupp. Daniel calmed his heart-broken sobs with promises to fix the broken crane just as soon as he got a chance. I wondered what he had in mind. Then this afternoon, as I threw together a quick casserole, Daniel and Bright hawled out Daniel's cordless drill and proceeded to drill through the small plastic toy crane until they had sufficient access to the spool within. Daniel tied a quick knot in the rope and Bright retreated to his bedroom to play rescue ship once again.

Bright wasn't the least bit surprised that Daniel fixed the crane. I had to prod him to even say thank you. In his eyes, his dad can do anything. And even though Daniel CAN do most things, he can't do everything. But don't tell that to Bright. He believes otherwise.

April 19, 2008

Welcome, Sharlet!

My brother's daughter was born this morning, Sharlet Lyn Rademaker. 8 1/2 pounds and perfectly healthy. Isn't she beautiful?! She looks just like my brother. I have to wait a few more weeks before I can get my hands on her, but for now I'll just pray for her and love her from a distance.

Dad, bless this little lady. Cover her under your wing and protect her. Annoint her with the oil of gladness. May she stride by your side all the days of her life, knowing how powerful you are and how much you love her. May she one day become a woman after your own heart, a woman of honor and truth. Thank you, Dad, for this dear gift. Bless her and keep her forever.

April 15, 2008

A snapshot of our lives


Here is a list of everything that is presently on my kitchen table:

-two dinner plates, one with a heap of roasted cabbage still on it
-bottle of Mr. Clean Multi-Surface cleaner, 40 oz., Summer Citrus scent, unopened
-bottle of Lysol Cling Gel toilet bowl cleaner, unused
-16" bicycle tire inner tube, in the box
-two bottles of hand soap
-two baby bibs
-hair brush
-pink long stemmed rose
-my cell phone
-my Visa Mileage Plus Card
-Zion's gray sweatpants (12 month size)
-gift bag with matching tissue paper
-pacifier
-Lightning McQueen sippy cup
-5 oz. bottle of Tabasco sauce, the top wrapped in foil because the cap is long gone
-Sharpie
-magnetic grocery list pad
-three cookbooks
-stack of mail
-this computer
-my elbows

...and somehow, we all managed to eat at this table tonight, without moving a single thing.

April 13, 2008

A note to a new friend

Hello all. The following began as a comment on the blogsite of Blake, the creator of my pendant. I decided instead to post it on our site. Blake, I hope you don't mind me sharing my thoughts to you with everyone.

Blake,
I feel like I know you, now. Your blog about my blog about my pendant that is your craftsmanship blessed me more than you know. Thank you. I want to share something else.

The other day was our oldest son's 3rd birthday. He loves the movie Cars. Have you seen it? Anyway, my husband and I made a helipad cake and carefully put the movie's token helicopter toy on top. It took us nearly all day to complete. Our son loved it, and everyone at the party commented on it, but no one appreciated or enjoyed it like we did.

Later that night, Daniel uttered a most profound comment about the above scenario. "No one loves the creation like the creator.

So, my friend, though it is hard to imagine, you must love this pendant more than I do. It seems impossible to me, but I know it to be true. I feel honored to wear it, and I will wear it well, I promise.

But the most lovely thing for me to ponder is this: As I felt about that helipad cake, The Holy One feels about me. Just like me looking at a picture of the cake (before we cut it up and ate it) - noticing the colors and shapes and details - so the Creator of the universe looks at me. Pleased.

That rocks my world!

And he is pleased with you, too. He is so very pleased with you. Bless you, brother. Enjoy your calling!

April 12, 2008

Thank you, Anonymous!!!

A tiny padded envelope came in the mail today. It had no return address, and was sprinkled with stamps and stickers. Inside was a little drawstring bag, and inside of that was my pendant. I can call it mine now because it is. And fighting back the tears, I am writing to tell you, whoever you are, that I am not only thrilled to wear my new pendant, which is light and beautiful and more splendid that I imagined, but I am sincerely comforted by your love.

As you may or may not have noticed, I removed my pendant postings from our blogsite the other day and filed them away with other unpublished drafts, meant for my eyes only. I guess I got squeamish with my honesty, particularly in the second one, and I was worried that someone might misunderstand me and think me "unchristian like". And then today, tucked inside the envelope with the pendant was a note. In the note, the anonymous gift-giver wrote that he or she...admires me.

Thank you, Anonymous. I really, really thank you. I L-O-V-E it...and I don't believe I shall ever remove it from my neck!!!!

April 10, 2008

Bright's 3rd Birthday!


Bright was born at roughly 5 p.m., three years ago today. Today at roughly 5 p.m. I was adding the finishing touches to his Lightning McQueen party at Chuck E. Cheeses. I think Zion enjoyed himself more than Bright did, but we all had a great time. Happy Birthday, Bright! We love you!!!