Changes will come soon to The Threadbare Couch. I've been a bit distracted the past few months with the arrival of sweet Eleanor Emerson, who now is able to laugh and grin at her big brother's antics. She was born during the 12 days of Christmas, mere days from her brother's birthday. My sweet girl is (mostly) sleeping through the night now, so my hands have a wee bit of time to find themselves back at a keyboard and not just patting backs to burp or changing unholy diapers.
Having children is exhausting, because to bear a child is to fall in love, and falling in love is exhausting and gives you a ravenous appetite. I'm head over heels all over again. Just a little punch drunk. There are lots of kinds of parenting. We're very hands-on. Which means a lot of beautiful, messy moments. That are exhausting.
I visited a church member recently; she was on bed rest, expecting twins, and as we chatted her muted TV streamed "special report" and we saw images of people running and bleeding and crying in Boston. The finish line had been bombed - a special kind of cruelty, in many ways. Runners are optimists, athletes train all year for events like this, and the finish line was stolen from them and lives were stolen from people cheering on the sidelines and it was ugly and disgusting.
As the country held its breath and Boston fumed the suspects were hunted down. An entire city ground to a standstill. One angry brother died, the other cowered under a boat tarp and penned a goodbye note. Their uncle raved and denounced.
Our nation is so exhausted. We're a hands-on nation, and we welcome refugees and offer asylum, and it's worth it, but the Recession and bombings and tornadoes and multiple deployments and explosions are exhausting.
And as any parent will tell you, it's easy to lose your temper when you haven't slept, when college finals sound like a restful retreat and you miss the days when you knew - or cared - what day of the week it is. Being a hands-on nation means a lot of beautiful, messy moments.
Americans had forgotten about Chechnya. Soon talking heads speculated about how a person becomes "radicalized" and what went wrong. The media barrage couldn't adequately express what we're all really feeling - tired.
So a man laid in a funeral home, with no place to be buried. He was a traitor - an American citizen had killed members of the American family. I follow current events; I'm a news junkie. But I wasn't prepared for the backlash against this dead traitor. Why? Because we hang traitors. But we treat their bodies with dignity.
To do otherwise is barbaric; to do otherwise is to inflict additional, unimaginable pain on the traitor's widow, on his child. I was appalled as cemetery after cemetery refused the remains.
There are two moments still sacred in the American consciousness - birth and death. Yes, even the horrors of the Gosnell trial are still considered horrors, shunned and rejected as taboo. Birth and death - you don't mess with those. States that execute criminals do so in conditions tightly monitored so that dignity is not compromised: we don't hang our executed criminals from the London Bridge or put their heads on pikes.
Are we so distant from the Civil War, so distant from the American Revolution, that we've forgotten how we treat the enemies on our own soil - no matter what they do to us first?
A few years ago, a terrible shooting occurred in an Amish schoolhouse. The national media flocked to the scene; donations came pouring in for the victims' families. The quiet, peaceful Amish community had been torn to shreds. But then, something remarkable was witnessed...
A line of Amish people stretched through the lobby of the bank. It had occurred to them that they were receiving all this money, but that the shooter had left a widow with children. A broken, devastated widow.
So they opened a bank account for her - and lined up to donate to it. Her husband shot their children; they pooled their resources to help her rebuild a life.
I waited from a distance in Texas, witnessing the chaos on the East Coast. "If I were a Catholic priest with a cemetery on my church property, I'd be stepping forward, offering to help," I thought, thinking of the concept of sanctuary. Finally, news came of an interfaith coalition that had worked to bury this man.
We bury our enemies.
We bury our enemies because we are a civilized society that responds to terror and betrayal with the dignity we want other nations to show our dead.
We bury our enemies because we know that in death, as in birth, we are completely vulnerable.
We bury our enemies because our Savior didn't have a place to lay his head,
because he was buried in a borrowed tomb,
and we are commanded to treat our enemies as if they were Jesus in front of us.
We don't have the option of charity fatigue, of disaster fatigue.
We do have the option of sitting vigil with the bereaved - whether they lost a child at the finish line, or a husband in a police shootout.
Friday, May 17, 2013
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Call the Midwife!
The latest publishing I've done...(other than an essay in THIS gem)
It' been garnering a lot of feedback - mostly positive.
It' been garnering a lot of feedback - mostly positive.
Follow the link!
Friday, November 9, 2012
2012 Holiday Giveaways Round-Up
A few years ago, when we were unemployed and I was pregnant and sending out so many cover letters and resumes and CV's that I lost count, I had time. Not money. But time. And I found online giveaways.
Most are found in what I (tongue-in-cheek) call the "seedy underbelly of Mom Blogs." So, there is no seedy underbelly of Mom Blogs. But there is a world of Mom Blogs, where they review products and host giveaways from corporate sponsors on their websites. I say Mom Blogs. There are a few Dad Blogs out there, too.
A few things I won? an XBox360 gaming console, a gourmet rum cake, a toy vacuum cleaner, a gift credit to Zutano, a Fierce Mamas maternity clothing package, a gift credit to a gift giving website, and an alphabet print to hang in kiddo's room. I think there were a couple other things. Ah. A shower curtain. You can see there's a huge range represented here - baby items, clothing, food, tech gadgets, art, household items, toys, etc.
In my search, I discovered prizey.net, a hub that listed giveaways and links to the giveaway sites. It was awesome.
It's closing.
Lots of folks in our country are hurting right now - layoffs, multiple generations under one roof, hurricane damage, underemployment, the list goes on. Some of you don't have money, but you do have time.
So here are a few places you can enter giveaways.
A word:
1.) Most blog giveaways work like this: you get a basic entry, like for visiting a manufacturer's website and commenting on the blog about a favorite product. Then you get "extra" entries. They may be "follow me on Twitter," or "enter another of my giveaways," or "follow me on Facebook." Obviously, the more entries you gain, the better your odds of winning. I usually chose the extra entries that didn't involve me being annoying to my Facebook friends or Twitter followers. Also, most "Mom Blogs" have a list on a sidebar of ongoing giveaways, so visiting a Mom Blog for one giveaway will often lead you to more.
2.) Depending on your preference, you may want to set up a different email address or Twitter account to use for entering. Many sites offer extra entries for subscribing to their daily email updates. That can clutter your inbox quickly. On the other hand, it can keep you updated on new giveaways to enter.
So here are just a few links to giveaways that would ship in time for the holidays...please feel free to link to additional giveaways in the comment section!
Most are found in what I (tongue-in-cheek) call the "seedy underbelly of Mom Blogs." So, there is no seedy underbelly of Mom Blogs. But there is a world of Mom Blogs, where they review products and host giveaways from corporate sponsors on their websites. I say Mom Blogs. There are a few Dad Blogs out there, too.
A few things I won? an XBox360 gaming console, a gourmet rum cake, a toy vacuum cleaner, a gift credit to Zutano, a Fierce Mamas maternity clothing package, a gift credit to a gift giving website, and an alphabet print to hang in kiddo's room. I think there were a couple other things. Ah. A shower curtain. You can see there's a huge range represented here - baby items, clothing, food, tech gadgets, art, household items, toys, etc.
In my search, I discovered prizey.net, a hub that listed giveaways and links to the giveaway sites. It was awesome.
It's closing.
Lots of folks in our country are hurting right now - layoffs, multiple generations under one roof, hurricane damage, underemployment, the list goes on. Some of you don't have money, but you do have time.
So here are a few places you can enter giveaways.
A word:
1.) Most blog giveaways work like this: you get a basic entry, like for visiting a manufacturer's website and commenting on the blog about a favorite product. Then you get "extra" entries. They may be "follow me on Twitter," or "enter another of my giveaways," or "follow me on Facebook." Obviously, the more entries you gain, the better your odds of winning. I usually chose the extra entries that didn't involve me being annoying to my Facebook friends or Twitter followers. Also, most "Mom Blogs" have a list on a sidebar of ongoing giveaways, so visiting a Mom Blog for one giveaway will often lead you to more.
2.) Depending on your preference, you may want to set up a different email address or Twitter account to use for entering. Many sites offer extra entries for subscribing to their daily email updates. That can clutter your inbox quickly. On the other hand, it can keep you updated on new giveaways to enter.
So here are just a few links to giveaways that would ship in time for the holidays...please feel free to link to additional giveaways in the comment section!
Direct-from-Company Daily Giveaways:
Tea Collection $100 credit (children's clothes)
Etsy $50 Gift Card - winner drawn every day in November
(I suggest the entry option that does not require you to subscribe to Martha Stewart Living)
Mom Blog Giveaways:
November giveaways include Fossil handbag, Green Earth Bamboo $50 Gift Card, and Melissa & Doug Doorbell Dollhouse...
November giveaways include Baby Authority crib bedding set, Zonderkids Christian Childrens Book Set,
and $75 credit to Zutano...
Big November/December giveaway: iPad loaded with kids' stuff!
Here's the link to their other giveaways...
November giveaways include Melissa & Doug Trunki Suitcase, several Cloth Diaper giveaways, and La Bella Donna Artful Lips Colour Compact...
November giveaways include a new Graco carseat...
November giveaways include $50 Minted Holiday Card credit and City 'n Move Stroller...
November giveaways include World Vision Artisan Beaded Necklace and
Sibu Beauty Men's Shaving Kit Gift Set...
November giveaways include CrockPot and La-Z-Boy Furniture...
November giveaways include Ava's Flowers Fresh Bouquet and Stompeez Kids' Slippers...
Finally: I must include in my round-up that Mega Blogger Herself, Pioneer Woman. Back in the good old days, my friends and I would enter her tantalizing giveaways with not-too-bad odds. She's so popular now that she'll have 15,000 comment entries for a knife set. Her giveaways are occasional, set up without warning, and last only a couple of days. But they are always awesome.And I love P-Dub, and I live in hope.
These are just a very few of the giveaways whirling around Ye Olde Internet these days.
So patch your threadbare places with an online win or two...you never know when a serendipitous "you won!" email will show up in your inbox. And these days, we all could use a win.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Only God Can Save Us Now: Wheelchairs and Wonder
The first time I heard this song, I knew exactly what the imagery portrayed. Anyone who enjoys poetic lyrics knows that occasionally a song comes along to which you can't quite find the key. There's something being described that you understand, if only you know the password.
But after my time spent serving in a nursing home, I grasped these lyrics immediately with a jolt of surprise - after all, how often does one hear a song about, well, long-term care? A beautifully executed song, at that?
Beauty, melancholy, faint absurdity - these echo through this tune like the ringing call bell buzzing down the hallway.
Another way of saying "only God can save us now"?
"Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy; Lord, have mercy on me."
Sometimes grief wears funny, lopsided, feathered hats.
Only God Can Save Us Now
by
Over the Rhine
Margie struck Geneva with her baby doll
Barb knocked off the med cart comin' down the hall
Bob leads the congregation when he sings
How Now Brown Cow
Only God can save us now
Jean says Fuzzy wuzzy fuzzy wuzzy was a bear
Miss Cleve sings Hallelujah from the choir in her chair
Behind his busy apron Raymond's naked standing proud
Only God can save us now
Who will save me
From myself
In the night?
When my time has come and it may be comin' soon
Don't mind me if you come to find me howlin' at the moon
I'll need a busy apron and a half-sedated crowd
Only God can save us now
A baby doll some chocolates and flowers made of silk
A clean room with a window and some Prozac in warm milk
And sneak us in some whiskey 'cause it's prob'ly not allowed
Only God can save us now
Barb knocked off the med cart comin' down the hall
Bob leads the congregation when he sings
How Now Brown Cow
Only God can save us now
Jean says Fuzzy wuzzy fuzzy wuzzy was a bear
Miss Cleve sings Hallelujah from the choir in her chair
Behind his busy apron Raymond's naked standing proud
Only God can save us now
Who will save me
From myself
In the night?
When my time has come and it may be comin' soon
Don't mind me if you come to find me howlin' at the moon
I'll need a busy apron and a half-sedated crowd
Only God can save us now
A baby doll some chocolates and flowers made of silk
A clean room with a window and some Prozac in warm milk
And sneak us in some whiskey 'cause it's prob'ly not allowed
Only God can save us now
Wanna take a listen? The songwriter first explains that her mother, a nurse for many years, had a stroke at a relatively young age and now require full-time care. In the course of visiting her at the nursing home, Karin met some other colorful characters - the ones described above.
Wanna hear just the song without the explanatory intro? Here it is (video quality better on this one):
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