Learning Obedience Through Suffering

I ponder suffering a lot. Not as much now I’m on some meds that seem to be working pretty well, but I still have enough headaches that I think about suffering a fair bit.

I read the following passage in Hebrews 5:7-8 tonight.

7 During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered.

The chapter is about how Jesus was able to be our high priest and pay for our sin because he was human like us, but without sin. What caught my eye, though was the phrase “he learned obedience from what he suffered.”

I’ve given up trying to figure out all the “why”s of my migraines. I have migraines. I no longer have a medical career. I don’t know why. I have learned lots of things, but I have quit asking “why”.

Jesus learned obedience through his suffering. Have I? Have I become more obedient to God in the last several years? Or have I wallowed in self-pity? What does being more obedient look like? Every day is different. Obeying God involves different things when I have a migraine than when I’m having a good day. Am I willing to learn to obey God through this hard time in my life?

What do you think about this passage? Other ideas?

The Last of the Last

It’s done. Rosie Girl’s high school career is officially over. Tonight was the last of her high school events.

Two weekends ago, she danced in the last dance recital of high school. The week of Memorial Day was filled with lots of dress rehearsals and photos. There were two performances on Saturday, June 1 and two performances on Sunday, June 2. I made it to both of the Saturday performances and the last of the Sunday performances. Rosie Girl danced with her tap class and did her senior tap dance (to the music from Dr. Who) in all four shows. She also was in the Daddy/dancer dance and the faculty dance (since she was a demonstrator) in all four shows. For two of the shows, she was also helping the little girls in the classes for which she demonstrates.

It was a crazy, but fun weekend for all of us! And we went to Perkins on Sunday night for a late dinner or dessert. Of course, there were lots of other dancers there, so it was wild and crazy, and Rosie Girl had the time of her life.

Grams and Grandpa arrived last Thursday evening for a short visit and to be here for the graduation party. I had managed to plan the party so that we needed very little preparation time. But, Rosie Girl decided that she wanted a chocolate fountain for the party. So, Wednesday, Rosie Girl and I set out to purchase or rent a chocolate fountain. We were unsuccessful in that endeavor. After several efforts and numerous plans, we ended up changing plans and going with chocolate fondue.

So Rosie Girl went shopping with Grandpa to get everything she needed for the party and then spent most of Saturday setting up what she needed for the chocolate fondue. In the meantime, I had a migraine. That’s OK, though, because I woke up on Sunday without a migraine.

For the party itself, we had subs from Subway, the fondue that Rosie Girl and Grams had prepped, and a cake made by a friend. The only real glitch was that we burned half the chocolate, but we got it cleaned up and redone before the guests arrived! When we ran out of chocolate, we just smiled and pointed out that there was still cake. Overall, we had about 40 people here and everyone seemed to have fun. Several girls stayed till evening and one stayed overnight with Rosie Girl. And we just vegetated on Monday.

Tonight was the last of the last. It was Rosie Girl’s last piano recital of high school. She and another high school senior had a recital together. They each played three pieces and then played a duet that Rosie Girl composed last summer at music camp with Rosie Girl on ocarina and the other girl on piano. They both did an excellent job. We enjoyed some snacks afterward and visited with the other family and friends.

Rosie Girl’s high school years are now completely done. She finished her homeschooling work before Memorial Day, but it wasn’t like there was a ceremony or anything. It’s just  over. The recitals are more formal endings than anything else. And I’m kind of sad. I’m glad that she’s moving on to college, but it’s a bittersweet feeling. Part of me isn’t quite ready for this last of the last.

The Last Dance Recital

This weekend is Rosie Girl’s last weekend of dance recitals as a high schooler. Hard to believe. PWM and I have learned a lot over the last thirteen years!

When we signed her up for her very first pre-ballet/tap combo class, there were a lot of things that no one told us.

No one told us that this could be the beginning of driving to Stevens Point once or twice a week for 13 years.

No one told us that this could drain our pocketbooks if she “took” to dance (which she did).

No one told us about the long afternoons in the studio making sure all the kids in the carpool ate their dinners and made it to the right classes.

No one told us about itchy costumes (although we did discover that having the girls wear a flesh-colored leotard underneath would help the itchies).

No one told us we should learn how to do stage make-up or do up hair in a bun (my nemesis).

No one told us about the chaos that is dress rehearsal week.

No one told us that our child would out grow their dance shoes 6 weeks before recital. And then out grow that pair of shoes 6 weeks into the next semester of dance.

No one told us how complicated dance shoes would get. Rosie Girl’s last pair of tap shoes that she ordered had to be split sole jazz tap shoes with tunable taps. And that’s just for tap! I can’t even think about pointe shoes or hip-hop or jazz shoes, too!

But, also,

No one told us how we would believe that our child was the best and most adorable dancer the first couple of years even if she was the one who sat on stage and didn’t dance.

No one told us how proud we could be to see our little dancer on stage concentrating so hard on the movements that she didn’t even have a nerve cell to spare on smiling!

No one told us that a piece of our hearts was up there with her.

No one told us how all these years of dance have translated into such poise and grace whenever she’s on stage or talking to strangers.

No one told us how attached we’d get to all the wonderful teachers we’d get to know over the thirteen years.

No one told us how every year, we’d be proud to see how much Rosie Girl had grown, but miss a little bit the little girl she was last year.

No one told us how hard the last recital would be. How hard it would be to see the last dances and know that this is the last year.

No one could have known when she was four that she’d still be dancing at seventeen. But, she is. And, she’s beautiful.

What an experience the last thirteen years have been! And none of us would change it for anything!

Lagniappe–May 29, 2013

It’s been a while since my last post. You might suspect that I’ve been incredibly busy or that I’ve had a run of bad headaches. Actually, I’ve just rediscovered Sudoku. And, with my current batch of medications, a medium level Sudoku can be pretty challenging for me.

But, onward! Yes, I’ve played entirely too much Sudoku, but there have been other activities going on around here. The headache situation is unchanged, so keep praying.

Wild Man played in the jazz band Friday night at the public school Art Show. Sadly, we got mixed up on our times, so PWM, Rosie Girl, and I only heard the last four or five notes. Let it be known that those were some seriously excellent notes!! And the rest of the art show was great – the students really worked hard and produced some high quality work.

Last Sunday was Youth Sunday at church, so Wild Man, as leader of the youth worship band, was instrumental in leading worship. Pretty cool! And, yes, I was one proud mama!

This is our last week of homeschooling (except for math, which Wild Man will keep working on all summer). Being such a rigorous educator, I’ve made Wild Man watch Mythbusters and a documentary on the Manhattan Project and do some math. Rosie Girl and I watched a couple of Dr. Who specials today and she’s been working on the last of her math. Yep. We’re a bunch of homeschooling die-hards around here.

Wild Man and his girlfriend are making progress on earning money so that she can come to family camp with us. Hopefully, we’ll have a couple of dry days next week so Wild Man can continue to do yard work at the apartments next door. (I’m still having trouble saying “Wild Man” and “girlfriend” in the same sentence.)

Rosie Girl is in the middle of dress rehearsal week for dance recital. Last night, she had two dances and tonight, she had two dances. On Friday, she has to be there to help out with the classes for which she is a dance demonstrator. She’s busy and tired, but she’s loving it. There are four shows over the weekend and she is in four dances in each of the four shows. I think she’s going to be fried by Monday.

And the grandparents start arriving this week! Grandma (PWM’s mom) gets here Friday and my parents arrive a week from tomorrow. Crazy!!

And all of this is happening while we are running a yarn shop. Well, PWM is mostly running a yarn shop because I’m either having a headache or directing teenagers.

Random thought: Whoever carpeted this house clearly did not plan for having teenagers running in and out. Even with regular vacuuming, I’m already seeing wear. When it’s time for the carpet to go, I want hardwood. Put out some throw rugs. Sweep every week or so and life is good.

My current material desires in life:

1. Dishwasher

2. Washer

3. Dryer

4. Air conditioning

5. new ipod or ipad or ipad mini (there is such a big gap between 4 and 5 that this is more of a dream than an actual desire)

It is stormy this week which means headaches. Ick. I get to go talk to my neurologist on Friday and tell him that my headaches are better on Botox but we still haven’t reached “good”. And once we reach “good”, we should probably see about getting normal brain function back. Seriously, I am terrible at Sudoku – and I used to be so good. God is teaching me humility.

What’s up where you are? Share all the news!

7 Quick Takes Friday–May 17, 2013

 

1. Big news! Wild Man has a girlfriend! I am so not ready for this. PWM and I really like the girl. We’ve been friends with the family for a long time, too.

2. Wild Man would like for his girlfriend to go to family camp with us in July, but we’ve said that the two of them have to come up with the money themselves. Guess which two teenagers will be working hard over the next couple of months?!

3. We went to a wedding reception tonight that was held in an old barn. It was lots of fun. The food was all potluck, so there was plenty to be had with lots of variety! We got to visit with lots of friends, but finally had to leave about thirty minutes after the dancing started. The music and lights were starting to do a number on my head! But, we had a great time while we were there!

4. The renovation on the new shop is coming along well. One interesting thing is that they found a door when they tore down a wall. A door in the wall. That went nowhere. Interesting.

5. I’ve finished two knitting projects – a baby cardigan and a shawl – except for weaving in the ends. So, of course, I’ve been knitting a pair of socks. I guess I’d better tackle the ends tomorrow.

6. Rosie Girl and I spent last Sunday in Appleton shopping for some sandals for her and then hanging out in Barnes and Noble. I do love bookstores.

7. Wild Man’s band concert was Tuesday. I missed it because of a headache, but PWM said they did quite well. Sigh.

So, how are things in your part of the world? Check out 7 Quick Takes Friday to see what others are up to!

Rambling

It’s late on Wednesday night and I’m the only one still awake. Insomnia can be really annoying at times.

I’m listening to Mansfield Park by Jane Austen on my ipod. I just listened to Edmund explaining why he wants to be a clergyman to Mary Crawford. It reminded me that Jane Austen was the daughter of a clergy and she saw the clergy as a positive force in society. While the clergy in London may have been seen as just giving a couple of sermons a week and presiding over weddings and funerals, the clergy in the country were part of the lives of their parishioners. Which is really as it should be.

We hired a general contractor to do the work on the new shop building (which is the building in the back of the property which is quite old and even used to be a blacksmith shop!). They’ve been tearing up floors – where they found wet wood which explained the musty smell. They’ve been tearing into walls and found a door in one of the walls. Apparently, they didn’t want to move the door during that remodel and just left it there as part of the wall. Interesting. We are very excited to see how things look when they’re all finished. And, since we’re using a contractor, he’s the one who has to talk with the inspector and make sure everything is up to code!

I spent almost all day today at the shop so PWM could set up his lathe so he can be doing woodworking very soon. I only made a few small mistakes in counting and pricing yarn. It was a good day.

I’ve had readings from Ezekiel in the Daily Office readings for the last few days. God sure gave Ezekiel some strange visions. Or Ezekiel ate some not-so-safe mushrooms right before God talked to him. The Book of Ezekiel – inspired by God, helped along by psychedelic ‘shrooms. Was that blasphemy? Maybe so. I guess I’ll be praying for forgiveness over that tonight.

Tomorrow, Rosie Girl and I need to make more plans for her graduation/birthday party. It’s going to be small, but we want to have it planned out so we can all enjoy ourselves instead of being all busy during the party.

That’s all my rambling for tonight. Tell me what you’ve been rambling about in the comments!

7 Quick Takes Friday–May 10, 2013

 

1. We celebrated Mother’s Day early by going out to eat at Menasha Grill!! Legit Cajun Food!!

2. The romance of doing laundry at the laundromat is wearing off. I’m ready for a washer and dryer. But, we need to get the electrical done first because we don’t have the right kind of plug for a new dryer. At least one and maybe two more laundromat visits. . . .

3. Rosie Girl’s graduation mortar board cap and tassel came in the mail today. She doesn’t want a ceremony during her graduation party, but she does want the cap and tassel. So, I bought her (at her request) a dark green cap with silver tassel.

4. As we get closer to dance recital, Rosie Girl has practices for the Daddy-daughter dance and for the faculty dance (which she’s in since she’s a demonstrator). The last week of May is when things get really busy for her.

5. Wild Man is also staying busy with playing in the teen and adult worship bands. And, the teen worship band is leading worship for the main worship services on the first Sunday in June.

6. I need to clone myself in order to keep up. And it would be nice if the clone me didn’t have headaches.

7. And we have a contractor who’s about to start the renovation work on the cottage to make it into the shop. Fun!!

What’s up in your part of the world? Check out 7 Quick Takes Friday to see what others are doing!!