Hodgepodge

Linking up with Joyce for the Hodgepodge

1. Hey, it’s October... what’s one fun thing on your October calendar?

Celebrating Abby’s birthday! When kids start out, they are equal part adorable and equal part hard work (not sure if that is the exact ratio but I’m not going for 100% accuracy). You never know how they are going to turn out from what their personality is ultimately going to be, what their work ethic is going to be, what their interests are going to be, if the values they heard around the dinner table, at church, and talks during walks and car rides, are the ones that will become salient in their own lives. We can hope and pray but ultimately, that adorable little kid will become an adult with a mind of her own. And what a beautiful thing when that mind is beautiful. I am 1000% biased but I think that Abby has turned out pretty great so far! She’s a senior in college and has many decisions to make. It is a wonderful feeling to know that she will make those decisions while intently listening to God’s voice, common sense, and will hopefully be encouraged to know that no matter what she decides she could not be loved any more than she is by many. 

Abbsy Cadabsy- making October celebrations better, stages brighter, studies more successful and the City of Light shining even brighter with her presence since 2002.

2. Thursday is National Poetry Day... do you like to read poetry? If so, what's a favorite poem or whose poetry do you especially enjoy?

 I don’t seek out poetry to read as an artistic, entertainment, or educational endeavor. My favorite poems would be the ones whose words were subsequently put to music and sung as hymns.

It is Well With My Soul is one well known hymn with beautiful lyrics. It was written by Horatio Spafford in the 1800’s. Horatio was a Christian man with a great life. It’s easy to trust God when you possess the worldly definition of success which Horatio did in abundance. He was a wealthy attorney and real estate investor with a wife and five children. In the great Chicago fire of 1871, Horatio lost a lot of his fortune. His four year old son died of scarlet fever around the same time. The family decided to take a trip to Europe. Horatio sent his wife and four daughters on a ship ahead of him while he attended to business in the city. The ship his wife and daughters were on was involved in a terrible collision and many people lost their lives including all four of Horatio’s daughters. Horatio penned these words on his way over to England to be reunited with his life.

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul. Refrain: It is well with my soul, It is well, it is well with my soul. Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, Let this blest assurance control, That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate, And hath shed His own blood for my soul. My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!— My sin, not in part but the whole, Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more, Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul! For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live: If Jordan above me shall roll, No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul. But, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait, The sky, not the grave, is our goal; Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord! Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul! And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight, The clouds be rolled back as a scroll; The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend, Even so, it is well with my soul.

Things can be terrible in the temporal but a faith in God, his everlasting love for us, and a belief that we will live in eternity with God and our loved ones who have been saved can allow us to say that it is well with our souls. 

3. Tell us about something you’ve seen recently that can be described as poetry in motion

This may not be a great example but when watching football games and seeing plays where it looks for sure like the guy with the ball is about to be tackled and then somehow, he avoids the tackle and keeps going- that’s poetry in motion.

4. What’s one song on your October playlist? Do you have an Autumn playlist? If not, pretend you do. If yes, then feel free to share more than one. 

No playlists for me!

5. Share a quote that inspires you this time of year.

"All that is good is not embodied in the law; all that is evil is not proscribed by the law. A well-disciplined society needs few laws; but it needs strong mores." William F. Buckley, Jr.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Two sleep thoughts here- first, for the first time in a very long time, yesterday, I did not wake up before my alarm was about to go off for me to get up before heading to school. I normally wake up anywhere from an hour to two minutes before it is about to go off. Yesterday, not only did I not wake up prior to my alarm ringing, I did not wake up (right away) when it began to ring! Quite a turnaround... I woke up shortly after it had begun to ring and realized that my sound machine was drowning out the alarm sound (despite the alarm sound being up all the way). It was a little disarming to not wake up early... or right away. Yikes!

Second, the teacher for whom I was subbing yesterday had first period plan, but I was asked to cover for another teacher who had a meeting during that time frame. The class was a study hall which seemed easy enough to “teach” lol. Before the teacher left for her meeting, she told me to pay attention to one student who has a tendency to fall asleep during first period. Students sleeping or trying to sleep during first period is not uncommon. Several schools in our district begin their day quite early and the school I was subbing in was one of them. I spent almost the entirety of the time that I was in the room trying to keep this student awake. He was incredibly determined to sleep. In not always being able to void hearing conversations among students, I’ve noticed that many guys comment how late they stay up (usually in the context of a conversation of how long/late they play video games). I am hoping that some of their tales are tall tales meant to impress the person with home they’re  talking. But then I see a student who literally cannot seem to stay awake and I think that maybe some of them really do stay up crazy late on school nights.