Andrew's response to the economic crisis

Andrew clearly feels that the Christison household doesn't have any real extreme money issues at the start of 2009. He has his own wallet and his own money. The other day, Kathryn caught him with a pair of scissors, trimming a dollar bill very carefully so the money would fit in his wallet...

Strange New Worlds

To boldly go where no Dad has gone before.....

There is a strange planet on the galaxy of Lynnhaven Mall, called Buildabear...

In this alternate universe, girls take their Dads to a strange initiation rite. Girl picks up carcass of animal skin, then pluffs it up with stuffing, breathing life into its inert form with white foamy bits! Dad looks on with silent awe... Then girl takes a still beating heart, rubs it skillfully in her fingers, kisses it with reverence and then boldly thrusts it into the animals belly! Dad gapes in perplexity. Then girl proceeds to dress this newly animate animal in all kinds of colorful dresses and boots, finally choosing a flowery pink number with sparkly belt and snug beige booties.

After some pressing of strangely symboled buttons and swiping of credit cards, the animal is gratefully housed in a perfect box, a birth certificate miraculously supplied and dazed Dad and proud animal owner stride back to the car, our of the planet's warm and expensive atmosphere and home to safe galaxies called Chesapeake and Greenbrier....

You Just Gotta Laugh!

Here's the cover of the latest Discipleship Journal:

Most of our dear readers know that we've felt led to go live in Europe and have indeed made a couple of attempts which have so far come to naught.  As we have just recently returned to the drawing board and have been busy looking for the chalk (ah yes, some will ask "What is chalk?"), we have been looking at different avenues of job searching - more than we've ever considered looking at before.  We've been praying for what seems like ages for God's direction and guidance.

And here comes the Discipleship Journal with God's voice practically speaking - I think chuckling - from the cover.  The title of the special section is Decisions, Decisions, but inside the titles of the articles are "Guidance Systems", and "If Only God Did Skywriting".  What a sweet sense of humour God has sometimes - esp. since I usually think He delights in roller coasters instead.

New Year at the Beach

Tradition for us - to start the new year at Kitty Hawk....

Where are we right now?

Well, it's one year on from our first blog posts, my first online grading as a teacher without a full-time office job, one year on from that year of new possibilities. And we're still in Chesapeake, still dreaming about Europe and listening to God's voice for the New Year.

Of course, the days zip by and it's already the 10th of January. Our days have been filled with: getting Emily to school and helping her with her homework; connecting with friends and doing Trinity worship; lusting after and finally buying a Samsung flat-panel! Andrew's currently watching some "Indiana Jones" on it, while Emily and Kathryn and at "High School Musical 3" at Cinema Cafe, Greenbrier....

My days have been filled with times at the library, grading my papers and brainstorming on what could come next with the "trek to Europe" saga. Listening to Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" on my new red Nano. My car also pulsing to the beat of the soundtrack from "Slumdog Millionaire"...

This post is pretty off the cuff, just a record of a moment in time. Talked to my Dad today, and enlisted his help in looking for job opportunities in the UK. Kathryn and I had a great date last night, seeing "Benjamin Button" at the Commodore in Portsmouth. Before it started, we compared notes on our brainstorming on what to do next in job/ministry hunting. Kathryn had a 1 page mind map. I had 13 sides of scrawling, semi-legible notes. This is our different styles! 

It's a time of tension, as we're eager for God to give us our marching orders. But also an interesting time, when I'm praying more than I have in a long time, feeling the heat of spiritual battle, and also laughing unexpectedly more often (usually by a comment from Emily or Andrew!). 

I have so much to be thankful for, I can't even begin to put it in words.....

Andrew's Theology

Well, sometimes I wonder what God's going to do with Andrew. So much potential, so much energy!

He sometimes comes up with theological statements out of the blue. The other day, for example, after a reasonable silence in the car seat, he states to me, quite matter of fact:

"A Chinese yoyo protects you better than God".

Yesterday, it was:

"In heaven, God will be on the ground. And there will be lots of grass - fake grass, like a golf course..."

Confidence

Where do I find confidence for the start of 2009?

In my own abilities, talents and undoubted charm? In my well-adjusted family? In my investments (exactly half the size they were this time last year!)

Here's what I'm going to do:

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5)

AND

"The Lord will be your confidence" (Pr. 3:26)

I don't need to feel confident. God will be my confidence. Promise. End of story...

My Husband Thinks I'm Weird

Yes, I know.  No one's husband - or wife for that matter - has EVER thought the other one was weird!

Well, last night we just had our latest instance of it...

Dom and I were in Itunes where you get songs that are supposed to be similar to whichever song you have highlighted.  One of the songs Dom didn't know, but I did.  I never cease to amaze Dom and my knowledge of song lyrics (not that I know all of them to any song, but still).  Just take me to the Silver Diner sometime and put in a few quarters...you'll know what he's talking about.  I figure it's because I grew up in a small town where there wasn't much to do, so you listened to the radio in the car or when you were trying to get that elusive tan each Spring.

Then I did a doozy.  In the 4th grade we had a record player in our classroom where after lunch we'd play a few 45s before we started class again.  One of them was called "The Lord's Prayer".  I told Dom we should try to find that song.  Well, it wasn't in Itunes, BUT we googled it and lo and behold there it was.  It was SO hokie! OMGosh!  But it was funny.  Sister  Janet Mead was the singer.  Weird and wild.  Mind you,  doing this sort of thing on a Friday night in Chesapeake doesn't rate much higher on ANY scale than listening to your radio incessantly because there's nothing else to do in your hometown!  Boy have I "moved up" in the world!!!

The Three R's...and Science

This evening we were asking Emily if she was looking forward to returning to school on Monday.  She said no.  She only liked her resource classes (music, computer, PE and art), recess, and her friends - ie. resource, recess, and relationships.

We told her about the 3 R's in school - reading, writing, and arithmetic.  She piped up that writing didn't start with an R...we never got to arithmetic!  

Free pleasures from a good God

Just a few from the top of my head to start a new year. The pleasures are familiar but still as fresh as the first time!

1: Savoring the first cup of tea of the day and reading the bible in the bedroom before the kids wake up...

2: The smell of toast and marmalade permeating the house...

3: The wind waving through the tops of the pine trees...

4: The first deep drink from your favorite pint...

5: A smile from your daughter!

6: Connecting lips with your wife!

7: The energizing rush of listening to a great album for the first time...

8: Fascinating patterns of fast-moving clouds...

9: The beauty and satisfaction of narrative power and visual images from a new novel...

In the spring of her 22nd year, Sumire fell in love for the first time in her life. An intense love, a veritable tornado sweeping across the plains - flattening everything in its path, tossing things up in the air, ripping them to shreds, crushing them to bits. The tornado's intensity doesn't abate for a second as it blasts across the ocean, laying waste to Angkor Wat, incinerating an Indian jungle, tigers and all, transforming itself into a Persian desert sandstorm, burying an exotic fortress city under a sea of sand. In short, a love of truly monumental proportions...

10: An unexpected phone call from good friends...