Only the good die young?
Not only...but it sure seems like there are a lot that do.
I am thinking of Molly Hightower, someone whose name I did not even know two days ago and now I do. I am praying for you, Molly. For your family. For your loved ones. For the least of our brothers and sisters in Haiti whom you have been serving and loving. For those who found your remains.Who called your family. Who mourn you and who celebrate you and who miss you now. And I pray for all in Haiti and connected to and helping and praying for Haiti. Even Pat Robertson.

It has been a week. The school/work week that is. It is officially over with a cozy fire, hot cup of tea in a Christmas mug, soup bubbling on the stove, the oven preheating for bread-baking, pup finishing his supper, and Philip Boulding's "End of the Day" playing on repeat for bit while I compose my thoughts.

This week, I came home to a sweet surprise package hanging from my intact front door--a bag with Christmas tea and more morning time tea. With a note from a friend. How lucky was that?! I came home to a wet basement (it is standing water now) but the rest of the house is dry, warm, and cozy. I came home to a pup still on the mend and more like hisself each day. I came home to enough in the freezer, fridge, and cupboards to fill my stomach and satisfy my brain. I managed to get out of bed every morning this week even though it was like dragging a hundred Tonka garbage trucks through a sandbox of wet sand. I haven't heard a birdcall all week that I can remember. We did manage to learn about explanatory writing, past and present tense verbs, the genre of fantasy, the cursory explorations of the European Union, the very basics of how to balance and move to reel time without biting off your tongue or gravity-vortex-diving into the guy or girl next to you, more stories of Jesus' Healing and Loving of children, and how to estimate, try, check and revise two-digit addition sums in math....once we relearned what a sum is. Some of us learned that gossip does NOT make someone want to play with us at the next recess. Some others of us learned that softballs made of hotdog foil can travel very far but don't hold up well if they fall into puddles or the hands of Kindergarten boys. Some of us learned that you don't give your new reading glasses to your best friend to take home and try over the weekend without checking with your mom first. Some of us learned that Alice means business when she says "Get off my bed, you pondscum, and leave my toy alone or you will lose your face."Some of us learned how to be part of the rat-catching terrier brigade that DID catch a rat. Some of us learned that Curves is not just about the workout but it is also about the company. The women. One was beside herself with excitement this morning. She is going to El Salvador next week with her husband. Hasn't been back since she met this husband there in the PeaceCorps b.c.--before children. Now kids are in college. The music school where she taught there was burned to the ground and all the instruments stolen during the war. She put the word out in her Circle via email asking for instruments to bring with her. (She is a 'cello teacher.) In less than 24 hours, she has 8 violins and 6 small 'cellos to bring with her to give to the children. Some of them take a bus for an hour and a half to be one of 12 students sharing ONE instrument and a lesson with a teacher. This endeavor is SOMETHING in my eyes. SO is all the aid and prayer and love and help going to Haiti.
So is seeking, finding, accepting the resources for making important wellness decisions and then trusting your own decision. Not me...a sister-friend. Another example of learning, letting go, and living this week. Now off to knead. I need it.