The beat goes on

Indulge me, for after all I am still a family woman.  It has been gut-wrenching to let go of my fulfillment as a homemaker. I don't always like where I am in life and wish that my family was, at the end of the day gathered around my dining table. ...but every once in awhile I get a whiff of the high octane life my family lived and conclude that the life I now live is all I can handle.

The last two days have provided me with that "whiff". At 1 A.M. Friday morning, Son #2, Jeff and wife, Carla plus a boyfriend of a granddaughter, blew in from Sacramento for a few hours of sleep, then we loaded up early in the morning and sped to Glendora in Southern California where we picked up Granddaughter #1 who flew in from Sacramento, bought a video camera,  a floral arrangement, food for a reception, jazzy new dress for granddaughter #1,  arriving  in time at Azusa Pacific University to set up the camera, greet friends and settle in for the Senior (solo) Recital of Granddaughter #2, Lauren Elizabeth Stone.

You high level music lovers will appreciate Lauren's choices for her recital.

1)Andre' Messagers' Solo de Concours
2)Bach's Etude Double in D minor
3)Penderecki's Three Miniatures: Allegro, Andante Cantabile and Allegro ma non troppo
4)Three Gershwin Preludes: Allegro ben ritmato e deciso; Andante con moto e poco rubato; Agittato.
5) Brahms' Allegro, Adagio, Andantino grazioso-Trio and another Allegro.

Lauren, my focused, intense,  amazing granddaughter may have inherited my musical genes, but she has opted to pay the price required for gaining the highest honors possible as a musician. Last month she was offered a full scholarship in the Masters music program from Azusa. Now here's the knock- your- socks -off decision she made:  She turned it down! On the 29th of this month she will begin serving as the Director of AmeriCorps in Salt Lake City. (Look it up on the web if you want.) For years, we have observed this girl/woman reaching out to serve people who do not have shelter, food or health care. I am so overwhelmed with what I believe is Godly pride (...but who can know these things for sure?) for this granddaughter.

Another joy gift last night and this morning was this: Our dear Jesus Movement kids of the past, now pastor and wife of the Church of the Open Door in Glendora,  Ed and Judy Underwood, joined us for Lauren's recital and dinner. In the 70's they came to Christ along with throngs of other teenagers when Ted pastored Fruitvale/River Lakes Church in Bakersfield. Ted married these two, then Ed joined our two sons in the Forest Service in the High Sierras. They separated for college;  Ed served in the military in Germany, entered and graduated from  Dallas Seminary, joined us in ministry when we were in Houston, then pastored a couple of churches before accepting the challenging pastorate of Church of the Open Door, the church pastored by Talbot, Torrey and McGee that started Biola University and Talbot Seminary. Ed and Judy have been there sixteen years. I am so proud of them. This morning at breakfast it was delightful to listen to Ed and my Jeff go after God-subjects. Both are scholars, but more importantly they are bonded brothers-in-Christ.

Last night after dinner in a noisy restaurant,  I was delighted to escape with Ed and Judy to quietness and bed at their home while the celebrators documented the end of an era for Lauren.  This morning, Jeff, Carla and one of the boyfriends, Burke, drove me home, and Dee and Brent came down from the top of the mountain where they live to laugh and be family around my dining table for a half hour or so. Now they are all gone and I want to just lie down and die. ...but I won't. Being a victim in this family is not cool. They just might throw me in a rest home and to me, that would be a fate worse than anything I can think of. ... unless I develop dementia or Alzheimers and don't have a clue where I am...

Now what's ahead for me after I allow myself an hour or so of feeling sorry for myself, feast upon the shrimp I defrosted (the ones my cats didn't sneak out of the sink),  bask in the memory of a day and a half with the next and the next generation of my family and rejoice, knowing that they walk with Jesus and that one day we will all be together at His Banquet Table that will stretch for a bazillion miles into Infinity. ...then I will get some sleep in my cozy bed and tomorrow, enjoy Mike Loehrer's Sunday School class at the church Ted and I pioneered nearly thirty years ago. I can almost sense my Ted standing in the shadows.

I am so glad to have this blog to write. I needed to be doing something productive lest I let my bloomin' feelings take over!

                                                OLD  HYMN TIME: HIS WAY WITH THEE

Would you live for Jesus, and be always pure and good?
Would you walk with Him within the narrow road?
Would you have Him hear your burden, carry all your load
Let Him have His way with thee.
HIS POWER CAN MAKE YOU WHAT YOU OUGHT TO BE
HIS BLOOD CAN CLEANSE YOUR HEART AND MAKE YOU FREE
HIS LOVE CAN FILL YOUR SOUL AND YOU WILL SEE
'TWAS BEST FOR HIM TO HAVE HIS WAY WITH THEE

Love,

 Jo