Still Waters

"You look so lovely today." Those were the last words my dear friend Kim spoke to me, last Sunday in church.  She passed away suddenly yesterday morning from a recurrance of cancer, taking us all by shock.  She taught Sunday School and led worship Sunday morning, full of joy and anointing, with not the least hint that by the end of the week, she'd be gone. My heart is so heavy for the family.  She and her husband have five lovely children whom they've homeschooled from the beginning, the first to graduate next month and the youngest just seven.  Her dad is pastor of our church and I can't imagine how difficult it will be for her folks to carry on the ministry without her very gifted and loving presence.  Ours is a small church, so she leaves a very large hole. Kim and I hit it off the first time we met years ago in our homeschool support group.  Later, when she left the group, we would run into each other at conferences or fairs, and always it was as though

This breathtaking sight greeted us earlier this week, a Colorado spring snow in the morning sunrise.  We dashed out so as not to miss our chance with the cameras, knowing that in just a few hours, it would be melted and gone.  It was. Just as the ups and downs in our weather, so it seemed to go with other things this week.  My two sweeties were both sick with colds, which made it hard to get anything significant done.  School was choppy, events cancelled, and surfaces disinfected...over and over. Thankfully, the patients are mostly better, and I had the joy of cleaning and setting our life to rights again today. We've just finished reading To Kill a Mockingbird  in our literature study.  Wow, I'd forgotten what a powerful book that is!  It prompted some wonderful discussion, not only the issues of prejudice and injustice and so on, but also Harper Lee's incredible, funny, moving writing. To top it off, we checked the movie out from the library and watched it last night.

Yesterday I sat in our homeschool teen public speaking class, checking off kids' names as they did their presentations and marveling at what God has done in them over the years they've been in this class.  One young lady did an amazing dramatic interpretation of four different poems; another, a riveting persuasive speech on the power of media's influence on a teen's mind and heart.  One young man presented a colorful and intriguing story of the pyramids of Egypt (some amazing writing), and his brother gave a clear and compelling case for "one race" in humankind based on genetic and Biblical evidence.  And for a lovely ending, we enjoyed a young lady's mini-musical on her pedal harp, and her fascinating information about it.  I was so proud of them all! I've helped moderate or teach this class since my daughter was six years old...nine years of fun and blessing as my friend Yvette and I have coached and challenged these kids how to become great com