Kajsa and Wilbur

Click here to see an adorable photo of Kajsa and Wilbur, a very soft bunny who is looking for a home. Pawsibilities, an animal shelter close to where we live, is having a Spring 2011 fundraiser for the rest of this month. Don’t feel any pressure. But if you want, vote for Kajsa’s photo–or someone else’s photo–and make a donation to Pawsibilities.

The shelter has many many animals up for adoption, and they’re doing good work over there. If you live in the Harleysville area, and were just thinking to yourself, “Hey, I’d like to adopt a cat… or a bunny…” then stop by Pawsibilities!

Thanks!

Day 40: you’re taking me where?

youre taking me where?

Donkeys are supposedly stubborn. At least that’s the stereotype. So I wonder how much resistance the two disciples met with, when they untied the donkey/colt from wherever it was tied up, and took it to Jesus. I don’t know that I’ve ever been responsible for leading a donkey anywhere…. I can’t think of a time. But obviously the donkey ended up going on the journey, carrying Jesus into Jerusalem. So, stubborn or not, the donkey played a key role in what we call “Palm Sunday”.

I’d love to know (a) what that donkey was thinking as it was being led to Jesus, and (b) what it had to say after the day was over. And, maybe (c) if Jesus and the disciples talked to the donkey at all. or rubbed its nose… or fed it anything.. or scratched its ears…

Day 34: donkey and a king

donkey and a king

I am not kidding when I tell you that yesterday (Monday, Day 34) as I read through Matthew 21:1-11, I thought to myself, “So, I need a picture of a donkey. Where am I going to find a donkey?” I wasn’t thinking of a donkey picture for Day 34… more like the end of the week. But, as I walked into the church where Jim and other Christ Covenanters were playing volleyball last night, there was this car with this image on the back.

I’m not sure what the image is supposed to mean. Obviously, something to do with a woman I presume is Mary, an animal that I’m hoping is a donkey and not a horse (hoping so that it fits better with this Sunday’s text), and the cross. A bit odd… not the normal three images we think of together. But for me, it is a reminder that the events in Jesus’ ministry over the past several weeks, and the one of this coming Sunday–these all lead to the cross. And, ultimately, the empty tomb. But for now, the cross.

In the Matthew 21 passage, Jesus sends the disciples to find a donkey and colt, untie them, and bring them back to Jesus. Why? To fulfill Old Testament prophecies about the coming King. Jesus.

The crowd at the original “Palm Sunday” has my sympathy: throwing their palms down, in celebration of the coming king… hoping against all hope that he would finally be the one to overthrow the Romans… and then they would realize, before long, that he was not who they hoped him to be. Their dreams might be dashed.

Jesus isn’t always who I hope he will be for me, either. I’m a little more realistic than to expect him to answer all my prayers all the time in the ways I want.. I realize that’s not practical. But I wouldn’t mind a little more help in some areas. Help as I define it, of course. Yet the Jesus of reality, the Jesus of my faith, the Jesus who rode into Jerusalem on a donkey in the midst of “hosannas”… would die on a cross. For me. And for you. And sometimes that’s a little hard to fathom.

August days

Abby loves her sticks!

the "minture" horses --some of our animal neighbors

a bit scary, but also a fun picture...

Kajsa on rollerskates... Abby sees her stick

Abby tries to get Kajsa's stick

Abby tries even harder to get Kajsa's stick

Mommy distracts Abby.. Kajsa keeps the stick

strike a pose…

"my fun dancing outfit"

I helped her get dressed today, choosing the leggings to match the top–sort of. But Kajsa insisted on wearing her dancing skirt. As the day progressed, the whole outfit became known as  “my fun dancing outfit”.  Then when we went to the 4-H Fair later on, I tried to convince her that she might be hot, but she wanted to wear the same outfit–I managed to get leave the scarf behind, though, concerned that my daughter might end up in a pool of sweat… Because, by the time we left for the 4-H Fair, she was sweating from dancing around inside.

the adorable cow and kid

The 4-H Fair, in Creamery (Skippack) was a blast. How could it not be, with all the animals and with a giant “Clifford the Big Red Dog” inflatable bouncing thing, and with the people we ran into. The cows were adorable, clearly.

And, finally, this last photo is Kajsa after

Spelling in the driveway

spelling “Daddy” and “Mommy” in the driveway. Jim took the photo, after she had asked how to spell all these names. Last week she spelled her first word : DeeDee… and then her second: JoJo. Her interest in spelling has taken off, now, so it’s fun to be a part of this learning season in her life.

Caught up… and couldn’t resist

couldn’t resist

Originally uploaded by cathyse97.

“Couldn’t Resist”… that’s the name of this photo. I couldn’t resist taking it, and I couldn’t resist blogging it for today. Back to Isaiah, again, Isaiah 43:20… “The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert”. Ok, so it’s not an ostrich, it’s an emu. But emus are also big birds, like the ostrich. This is one of the two emus that lives behind us. I love watching them, photographing them… and I can’t help thinking, when I see these funny creatures, that God has a sense of humor. And creativity. To imagine these creatures “honoring” God is a bit strange… but I wonder what that would look like, and if they are right now, and we just don’t know what that looks like?
I don’t know. But I couldn’t resist…

joy… celebration… spring?

Spring seems to have arrived-almost. Enough that even I, full-fledged-snow-lover, am ready for Spring. I got a taste of the warm weather and sunshine last week, and it was beautiful. The spring-like fever grew for me as I noticed the lambs (I think) at the farm behind our yard/the church parking lot.

Wed., March 10th

I actually saw them from my office window yesterday, but paid more attention today. And took some photos. These three lambs jumped, ran, ran into each other, leapt over things I couldn’t really see.. they were so full of fun and joy, that I felt joyful myself. I felt like praising God, just by observing the frolicking lambs. Even the miniature horses seemed to be playful and joyful today.

Psalm 32:11 says, “Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.” This follows verses about living righteously, trusting in God, confessing our sin to God. While I don’t subscribe to the theology of “Trust in God, and everything will turn out well for you”, I do believe that when we are honest with ourselves, others, and God… (confession), when we praise God, when we trust in God despite what’s happening.. when we do these, God gives us the strength to be joyful, to trust, and to keep being faithful.

It’s easier to think these things on a spring-like day, when lambs are jumping, when the weather’s warmer, when I’ve seen the emus, when we had fun swinging with Kajsa, when it was overall a good day. But even if it was a bad day, hopefully I could be glad in the Lord, and rejoice.

from Abby

Hi, Jen… and others who have wondered if I’m still here. (Jen posted a comment on Cathy’s last blog, asking about me….) Yep, I’m still here. Not nearly as photographed, or blogged-about, as I used to be. This kid has pretty much taken over… everything. Food, kitchen, fridge, bed, playtime, walks…. yep, she pretty much thinks she’s top dog. She walks around the house dragging her backpack and other bags, over-stuffed with who-knows-what?, and frequently forgets that I’m even there, dragging the bags right over my tail. If she’d put fewer items in the bags, maybe she could lift them… but hey, I’m just the dog.

Of course, I know that Cathy & Jim still adore me, which is what really counts, but jeez…. a few more appearances on the blog or camera wouldn’t hurt too much, would it?

The good things about having this kid around are: I’m pretty much guaranteed scraps from the table, I get lots of toddler hugs each day, when they leave the house, Kajsa gives me a treat, because Kajsa needs some running-around time in the early evenings, Cathy and Jim are playing a lot of hide-and-seek.. and I get to participate as well. There are a lot of paper scraps to shred, thanks to Kajsa making lots of drawings. And then giving some to me. Kajsa also occasionally opens my food bin and gives me a handful of my food–which works well, until the adults figure it out.

Today Cathy and Kajsa made Hot Chocolate, and had a “HC Party” with Kajsa’s tea set. I ended up licking up all their plates and cups, and even got a bit in my bowl.

I still get to hang out on the bed sometimes, even though it’s crowded. But when Kajsa’s in her crib at night, I get Cathy & Jim back to myself. It’s good to have that quality time, still. At the end of the day, I’m pretty exhausted, though. It is exhausting trying to keep track of a toddler. Good thing there are three of us trying to keep track.

So, thanks for thinking of me. I’ll remind Cathy to mention me more often.

-Abby

Minnesota State Fair

Last week we did our annual Minnesota State Fair day.. it’s so fun. Only this year, for some odd reason, I wasn’t as hungry, so didn’t eat a lot of the fun fair food. That said, I did have my share of the good stuff.. just not as much as usual!

My favorites? The Tom Thumb Mini Donuts, and the Dairy Barn Raspberry Sundae.  We did try the chocolate covered bacon… which was ok. Not great, but ok.

Kajsa loved the animals, the baby animals, the adult animals… trying to pet them, etc. Some of them liked her, too. It was cute. And, of course, Kajsa LOVED the John Deere tractors. Fun.

Wildlife Cruise

The Wildlife “cruise” was not a waste. Of time or money. Which is always good, as one never knows with this kind of thing–at least so I’ve heard. We didn’t see everything we had been told we might see, but saw more than expected, too. Thanks to the Lawrence clan, Jim and I got to go on the boat without Kajsa. I would love for Kajsa to have seen the wildlife.. but the parents with small children on the boat didn’t seem to be enjoying it nearly as much.

in front of a glacier... a bit hard to see in the picture, but it is there.

a sea lion colony

the funky bird frenzy.... the ship captain and park ranger and intern had never seen this before. Common Murre birds going crazy, making lots of noise. They think it could be because of a Coast Guard chopper on top, doing some research by the bird nests

a whale! a whale! a whale tail!!! We ended up seeing probably 10-13 whales... just the backs and tails and sprays... but sooooo cool!!!