Jonah

Getting pedicures on a girls’ day out

Commentator Matthew Henry on Jonah 4:5-11; in which the wayward prophet Jonah settles down in the shade outside Nineveh, hoping to watch that city’s downfall, and thereafter becomes irate not only at God’s mercy on the repentant Ninevites, but at the scorching weather and the death of the gourd plant which shaded him:

Those who have fretful, uneasy spirits, often make troubles for themselves, that they may still have something to complain of…It is just that those who love to complain, should never be left without something to complain of…

One soul is of more value than the whole world; surely then one soul is of more value than many gourds: we should have more concern for our own and others’ precious souls, than for the riches and enjoyments of this world.  

It is a great encouragement to hope we shall find mercy with the Lord, that He is ready to show mercy…Do we wonder at the forbearance of God towards His perverse servant [Jonah]?  Let us study our own hearts and ways; let us not forget our own ingratitude and obstinacy; and let us be astonished at God’s patience towards us.

 

Dog-sitting and grief

Part of a new school year means getting the church ready for a new Sunday school year—no small task after covid left everything in a state of disarray.  I brought Liz and Caleb along when I went to help with the classrooms, and happily there were snacks for the volunteers.  I took a granola bar with me on the way out when we were done, which I was eating as I drove us home.  Unfortunately, I took a sharp turn and the half-eaten granola bar flew off the cupholder where I had set it to the far corner of the passenger door.

Caleb, sitting behind the passenger seat, said, “I’ll get it!” and reached his skinny arm through the gap, but he would’ve needed Mr. Gadget arms to get anywhere close to it.  It wasn’t until I pointed to where it really was, and he peered through the crack and spotted it that he realized he would never reach it…at which point he sat back and said, “Oh. I grieve with you.”

Several days later whatever residual grieving we were doing was turned to joy, since we got to dog-sit Bear all Saturday.  (By “us” I mean mostly the girls, although Caleb and I helped a little.)  Jason only helped by making up terrible “bear” puns all day.  

I did get my granola bar back, by the way.  All it took was a stop sign and Lizzy clambering over the seat for me.  Grief averted.

First day of school 2021

“There are all kinds of courage,” said Dumbledore, smiling.  “It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.”

My busy assistants helping me with teacher inservice.

I’ve been reading Harry Potter to Jason of an evening.  He enjoys the bedtime story, and I’m delighted at how fully he’s been drawn into the story, since he’s only watched the far-inferior movies.  Dumbledore and so many other characters are full of wise remarks and the complete story is so profoundly satisfying.

At the end of the summer we spend two evenings at the county fair—one night to work in the Ruritan snack stand on behalf of the swim team, and the other to play.  (Did you know you can deep-fry hot dogs, and that they let 9-year-olds prepare the food? Totally worth the $12.)

I had child labor to help me get the school room ready for the new year—thankfully, they did a ton of work for me.

And then we started school!  We had to gather quickly before Jeddy’s 8am physics class and snap a few first day shots so he could log on, and the rest of us have embarked on school really without him.  

One leg is out of the nest.

The whole dynamic of school is changing, since Lizzy does a huge portion of her work on her own now; she and Ada will do assignments and then make me a “homework” pile of things ready for me to check when I’m done with Caleb’s lessons.  

Day one in science: we made ice cream (because chemistry).  They all three promptly decided science was their favorite subject.  That may have changed on day two when they had to look up definitions and write a report, but day one was surely a success.

Our fuzziest student.

Jeddy has an appointment in a few weeks to take his driver’s license test; Lizzy is learning to type; Caleb started piano lessons; Ada went on a youth group retreat…. And just to drive home how old I really am, a young woman who was a student in a 5th-grade Sunday school class that I taught is now teaching my child in Sunday school.  

Circle of life and all that.  You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.  Praise God that as I seem to age faster and faster, I am hurtling toward the day when I meet Jesus face to blessed face.

Also we took the kids to a Japanese steakhouse, where they cook the food in front of you and spin the knives around and all that.  And just for fun, the chef got out a samurai sword, blindfolded himself, and prepared to slice a small paper that Caleb held out.  No children were harmed in the performance of this trick.  Also, Caleb may be flinching, but he didn’t back down.

*Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

*James 4:14

Tennessee with them all, part 3

Week 2 in Tennessee was spent with Nana and Grandpa and cousins at an indoor/outdoor waterpark.   

We arrived packed with fresh groceries, sweaty from hours of go-karting and souvenir shopping, with barely-dry henna tattoos.  Six- and four-year old cousins were already there, already in their swimsuits, and already waaaaaay excited to go to the waterpark.  

We made time to check out the colorful slides and kid play zone and lazy river at the outdoor park before dinner in Nana’s condo.

After sending Caleb to bed, Jeddy took a walk around the complex with me to try to get my bearings (Nana has taken my kids there before, but it was new to me).  We discovered an on-site Starbucks where I bought a $6 decaf to drink while reading Jason’s Harry Potter bedtime story.

On Tuesday I got up early after a good night’s sleep and made my way to the exercise room, where I enjoyed the remarkably sturdy industrial-sized treadmill that is neither designed to fold up nor placed on a scattering of Legos.

Jason went with the girls (who were sleeping in Nana’s room) to the indoor park while I waited in our condo for the boys to wake up.  Caleb was plenty ready to see the novel indoor park after breakfast, so we rode the slides and then I sat and watched them play in the wave pool for a while, at which point Caleb was already begging to go back to the outdoor park.

After lunch Jason took Caleb outside but the girls and I opted for the hot tub instead, followed by card games in our room.  

Angie made a ginormous and delicious Mexican spread for dinner—and brownies.  All was a hit.  After dinner Micaiah taught me to play Sleeping Queens and we taught them to play Cover Your Assets.  After little cousin bedtime, Kevin started a game of Dominion with the big kids, but Jason took me for a walk to get ice cream instead, after which I was too tired to follow the game and went to bed instead.

Wednesday I slept in later and woke up to a text advertising free hot waffles in Kevin’s room, which seemed a good enough reason to skip the industrial treadmill.  

Waffles and the cloudy, rainy weather seemed like a good occasion to also procrastinate waterparking.  It was too cold to really enjoy, but I hadn’t tried the rainbow slides yet, so I eventually steeled myself enough to dash up there (there was no line, being cold and rainy and in between thunderstorms) and zip down the rainbow slide once and the Wall once, and then rush to get in the hot tub with the girls.  

After putting in a frozen pizza for the kids’ lunch, Jason and I met back in the waterpark for a gigantic margarita and curly fries at the poolside bar, after which we took a lovely rainy-day nap.

Being our night to host dinner, Jason gallantly went to pick up barbecue while I beat the kids at Spoons several times.  That night after dinner and bedtime, Angie came back to our condo for a spa and pedicure à la Lizzy, because, as Lizzy said, “Angie works really hard with the boys and deserves a spa.”

On Thursday we started in the indoor park, and at one point my four children all rode a four-person ride together, which warmed my mama heart and may have brought a little tear to my eye.

It was no longer rainy so after lunch we hit the outdoor park, where I rode the rainbow slides again, and the lazy river, and took some pictures before returning to the hot tub.  

After a potluck dinner in Kevin’s condo, we took the kids to an indoor climbing structure that was so cool and extensive that they persuaded me to climb inside it myself.

The next morning was checkout, followed by the drive home in which I mostly slept in the backseat, unhelpful road tripper that I am, and that evening at home we had one last hurrah by watching the Olympics in our own living room while eating ice cream.  

Thus ends the Millers’ epic Tennessee vacation, and pretty much ends our summer vacation, as we returned only two weeks before school starting.  

Tennessee with them all, part 2

On the Sunday of our epic Tennessee family adventure, we slept in practically til noon, after our very late night at Ole Red, which was capped by an immorally large brownie sundae, which had me waking up with a deserved stomachache.  

We didn’t even try live-streaming the Sunday service from church back home, as we had spent a week already fighting with and complaining about the internet in Pigeon Forge (Jeddy tried continually to Google “Why is the internet in Pigeon Forge so bad?” but the answer would never load).  So we looked up the sermon passage and songs from the order of worship and had cozy family devotions instead.

After that, Jason made his usual famous Sunday omelets, which we ate with fruit platters and muffins from the grocery store bakery.

Then I took a long nap.

Vacation is great.

When I woke up I made the kids turn off their electronics and take a walk by the stream.  Their grumbling became half-hearted and eventually faded away after they waded into the water and looked at the ducks and geese.  They discovered if they threw pebbles in the water the birds would rush over every time to see if it was food.

When we got home we thoroughly enjoyed the rest of our vacation Sabbath by making frozen pizzas and chicken Caesar salad, and eating in front of the Olympics while playing Minecraft and Hay Day.  

On Monday morning we were up early to have breakfast at the Old Mill.  We were assigned to a very lively waiter who told us enthusiastically that he drinks no coffee but extolled the complicated scientific virtues of some “natural” energy drink.  When Jason asked, “So it has molecules?” he responded “Yeah!” like he was thrilled that someone finally gets it.

After breakfast we poked around the shops, doing a little shopping and watching the potter work at his wheel, until we realized it was about checkout time.  For our second week we were switching hotels, so between checkout and check in we were homeless for several hours.  We hit up a souvenir shop, took one last round on the “elevator track” (Caleb volunteered to be the photographer/videographer from the sidelines), and finished at a second souvenir shop by getting henna tattoos before loading up on groceries for our second week at a new hotel.