An Heir of Grace

Update: Missouri

Donna — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 09:20:46 +0000

Three seasons have come and gone since my last post. I have wondered many times if I was ready to hang up the keyboard and find a final resting place for my archives, but deep down I knew the desire to write would surface yet again—and it doesn’t surprise me at all that it happened at three o’clock on a dark, chilly, December morning. Some things don’t change.

I actually began thinking about blogging again when I met a young man who is a good friend of Bren’s from school. He has taught himself web design and I thought it would be neat to have him customize my blog for me. It will be awhile since I’m still working on the design details, but I decided not to wait for the new blog to begin writing again.

To briefly summarize the past eight months:

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It’s Here!

Donna — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 08:56:52 +0000

Spring has finally arrived :) It was 65 degrees today and the snow is melting fast. On my short drive home from work through the housing area the streets and sidewalks were alive with people and pets. Little kids on tricycles, families walking together; garage doors open, releasing four-wheelers and motorcycles from their winter caves. The Spring air was filled with sounds barking dogs, laughter, the pounding of adolescent feet on the ground; sputtering motors, water parting as cars made their way through endless puddles that reflected shimmering sunlight.

Sunday after church Bren and I drove to town in search of The Prom Dress and it was actually a very enjoyable experience. We had a lot of fun. In the past, clothes shopping with Bren never ended well, both of us were always reduced to a mess of anger and tears. The difference now is that she is no longer stuck in the No Girl’s Land that is out of the Girls section but not quite in the Juniors. My baby is almost all grown up and fitting in women’s clothing quite nicely. I would post a pic of The Dress now, but Bren would not approve. You will have to wait until May 3rd.

I Love to Sleep

Donna — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 07:07:36 +0000

I love sleep too much. I know this because whenever I get a lot of sleep I feel the need to tell the whole world. Hey! I got to sleep in today! I don’t have to be in to work until 2 p.m. but I have been late once or twice because I overslept. I think my co-workers find this amusing…or I find it amusing and they think…well, whatever they want. I hope they know that my afternoon naps are the reason why I have the energy to hang out with teenagers all afternoon!

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Quick Nightcap

Donna — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 09:40:38 +0000

Bren’s need to write a five-page alternate ending to Lord of The Flies for English tonight totally trumps my desire to blog, so I won’t complain. Maybe in the near future I’ll get a little laptop of my own and leave Brenna’s alone. She’d be thrilled.

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Hm

Donna — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:37:42 +0000

Last night’s non-existent post was brought to you by by the letter “B” and the number 15. There is a computer hog living under this roof. I mean besides me.

Man, it’s 3-below this morning and we got another dusting of snow last night. Spring, O Spring, where art thou? Did the groundhog see three more months of winter way back in February?

Hm.

Why? Because He Loves

Donna — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:05:35 +0000

You must picture me alone in that room in Magdalen, night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him of whom I so earnestly desired not to meet….I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England. I did not then see what is now the most shining and obvious thing; the Divine humility which will accept a convert even on such terms. The Prodigal Son at least walked home on his own feet. But who can duly adore that Love which will open the high gates to a prodigal who is brought in kicking, struggling, resentful, and darting his eyes in every direction for a chance of escape?
(C.S. Lewis inYours, Jack, page 9, and Surprised by Joy, Chapter 14)

Never does much time go by when I don’t wonder why God would choose to save me. After I read this passage last night from Yours, Jack I began wondering all over again. Even though I know the answer, I still ask why me?

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Prayer Request

Donna — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:40:13 +0000

This is my aunt, Janet, who is nearing the end of her tour in Iraq. She emailed the family asking us to pray for her for what sounds like a serious physical problem, so I am passing this request on to you all, her brothers and sisters in Christ, family, and friends. She’s due to come home around May 23rd. Please pray her home!

Thank you.

~ Donna

Games ‘n Such

Donna — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 09:18:38 +0000

I saw something today for the first time this winter (it’s actually Spring now, isn’t it?)—a snowman. We received two or three inches of snow last night and this morning, and it was wet snow; definitely not the norm for us. Our snow is dry and powdery and it squeaks when you walk on it. It is impossible to create snowballs and snowmen with it. Good about the snowballs (everyone and everything would be a target seven months out of the year), not so good about the snowmen. I love snowmen. The one I saw was created by a six-year-old in his yard at the end of our street. It was no more than two feet tall and had small branches for the arms. I left my camera at home, so I didn’t get a picture, but it was a cute.

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Moving — Again

Donna — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 06:37:46 +0000

Is it my imagination, or did the girls look like they had fun last night? (Hint: the bikini top-wearing fashion statement is related to me in some way). Amazingly enough, Bren got to sleep by 3 a.m. and was rested enough to keep from falling asleep in church this afternoon.

While I sat in the truck this morning waiting for Bren to emerge from her friend’s house, I rolled the window down so I could smell and feel the cold air. It hit me just how much I am going to miss about Alaska. I love the cold, I just don’t like the brutal frigid air. After I took this pic I hung my hand out the window and tried my best to memorize how good it felt. I know soon enough I will be hanging my sweaty hand out the window, letting it float on the hot Missouri summer air.

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Books & Clothes: The Sacrifice

Donna — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 11:35:18 +0000

One of the BEST feelings in the world to me is waking up in the morning/afternoon, thinking I don’t have to get up, and sleeping for another couple hours. I fully deserve any curses that come from the love of sleep.

So yeah, I did get up at noon today. Bren fell asleep on the couch last night while we were watching The Devil Wears Prada and since she had taken her contacts out, I left her sleeping on the couch when I went to bed at about 3:00 a.m.

It was heart-wrenching, but I managed to pull around fifty ~~unwanted~~, ~~unneeded~~, ~~unloved~~...I manged to pull fifty books off my shelves that I could part with without becoming emotionally distraght. My books had been sitting patiently, stacked in a laundry basket at the end of my bed for over a week, so Rick finally boxed them up and dropped them off at the Literacy Council when he went into town this afternoon. Amazingly enough Rick only joked once that I hadn’t even made a small dent in my collection by sacrificing fifty. Psh.

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