Naivete so fresh and sweet.

A 5-year-old girl gave me flower today and said, "This is for when you get married."

"But it'll be dead by then," I said.

"It's for when you get married," she repeated. "When you marry your dad."

So innocently simple and full of hope.

Getting advice from Pastor Ed and Karen

"Nat, I love you on St. Patrick's Day."

- green post-it from Mom today

"Taco tuesday tonight with the rents. Wer leaving from the house at 7. Whos down?"

-text from Melissa this week

My Sisters

Elona, Melissa, Jessica

Laura's effect on men

My friend Laura and I were at the store when she got thirsty and asked a worker if there's a "drinking fountain."

She is very pretty and he got flustered and said, "In terms of a water fountain?"

Yes, in terms of a water fountain!

Retreat

"The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace." - Numbers 6:24-26

The Lord bless you and keep you. During our church retreat, we drew a picture of a time when the Lord blessed us and kept us. Mine is a picture of my time in Israel. I am lying on large rocks on top of a hill. With my hands behind my head, I am looking up at an eagle high above me. Though at that time the country was in upheaval, my personal months there were covered in peace. I was living and working on a kibbutz - and only later discovered that kibbutzim are the most secular segment of the country. Yet I was in a blanket of prayer that covered every part of my soul - both spiritual and tangible. In all my experiences in Israel, in every aspect of everything, I came home without a scratch.

The Lord turn his face toward you. Then we drew a picture of a time the Lord turned his face toward us, and saw us when no one else did. Mine is a picture of me at a youth purity seminar several years ago. It is a picture of a multitude of people, the faceless heads of a large crowd. There is an arrow pointing randomly to one of the heads . . . me.

I was just one in a crowd that day, and no one knew me there. That seminar was not even meant for me; it was meant for high school kids. But it was I who ate up every word. I was lost in a sea of faces that day, but the LORD saw me there.



You are with me. My life was Your idea, Your wish. I entrust my relationships to You. And I receive the emptiness that You brought into my life.

At our retreat we each went on a prayer journey in solitude. The first part of the journey was about loss and suffering. I prayed for God's grace to receive the emptiness that He has brought into my life. To receive it as a gift.

Then, we called God by His names. Some of my favorites were:

Jehovah-shammah (The Lord is There)

El Roi (The God Who Sees)

Jehovah-nissi (The Lord My Banner)

Jehovah-jireh (The Lord Will Provide)

Qanna (Jealous)

Jehova-mekoddishken (The Lord Who Sanctifies You)

"Piece of cake"

-text from Dad yesterday, after his first court assignment as a Plautdietsch interpreter

Late night ice cream run

A Tuesday Evening at our House

I just finished reading A Severe Mercy, an autobiography about a man and his marriage, and later, his wife's death. I have been reading for hours. First, I was laying on the warm rocks outside. And then as the sun began to set, I took the book into my parents' living room, where I am still sitting.

Most of the family is here. Mom is on the couch, mending someone's jeans. Dad is at the dining table, looking at his itinerary for tomorrow. (He'll be interpreting for a Plautdietsch immigration case in Dallas). Elona and Jessica are doing homework.

We have a boy at work with a severe skin disease that is not only unsightly, but also has an overwhelming odor. As you can imagine, the staff are very kind to him, always trying to draw him out and make him feel welcome. Yet this special attention is still attention, and he seems tired of it. When spoken to, he continues to avoid eye contact, as though to say, "Please, just don't look at me."

He Feels like a FREAKSHOW

People have recoiled from him.
They constantly stare at him.
Everything hurts. Just to get dressed
is a painful ordeal for him.
Where can this boy just find some rest?
Oh Jesus, please come and heal us.
For you've come that your joy may be in us.