invisible / visible

i’m grateful for these words this morning:

‘the task of the church is to make
the invisible kingdom
visible through
faithful Christian living and witness.’

and

‘the gospel of Christ is still the gospel
of the kingdom, the good news of
righteousness, peace, and joy in the
Holy Spirit.

the church makes it message credible
by manifesting the reality of kingdom life.’

reformation study bible, p. 1489

ps -
the kingdom of God
is being defined as
‘God’s purpose for world history.’

at the ballet

visions of the nutcracker
still dancing in their heads
(sugar plum fairies + mouse kings, especially.)

oops,
a little-bitsy-betsy-fit.

(this is henry’s favorite photo.)

she wanted to ride down the
stairs in her stroller, apparently.

i’m not that talented, strong,
or willing, apparently.

(i’m slightly certain two-hours of
sitting still combined with missing lunch
played a part in this display-of-emotion.
let’s get some lunch, girlie.)

ps -
maybe we’ll keep this one on
the downlow from our teachers
as we played an entire day
of hookey.

pps -
ballet 2007
ballet 2008

luke 16, anyone?

i love that many of our community
use the robert murray m’cheyne
scripture reading calendar
as it means we’re all chewing on the same
parts of the Bible each day.

so,
luke 16:1-13?

wha?

i had to drag out the big ol’
reformation study bible this morning
(cory teases me that it’s a weapon)
to figure that first bit out
in the slightest.

(is he encouraging us to cheat? doubt it.
is he encouraging us to think shrewdly
about kingdom goals? how so?)

ps -
there are many copies of his reading
calendar online, but few include
the ‘dangers’ bit that he wrote,
which i find candid + encouraging.

‘DANGERS.

1. formality.

we are such weak creatures that any regularly returning duty is apt to
degenerate into a lifeless form. the tendency of reading the Word by a fixed rule
may, in some minds, be to create this skeleton religion. this is to be the peculiar sin
of the last days – “having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.”
guard against this. Let the calendar perish rather than this rust eat up your souls.

2. self-righteousness.

some, when they have devoted their set time to reading of
the Word, and accomplished their prescribed portion,
may be tempted to look at themselves with self-complacency.
many, i am persuaded, are living without any Divine work on their soul –
unpardoned and unsanctified, and ready to perish –
who spend their appointed times in secret and family devotion.
this is going to hell with a lie in their right hand.

3. careless reading.

few tremble at the Word of God.
few, in reading it, hear the voice of Jehovah,
which is full of majesty. some, by having so large a portion,
may be tempted to weary of it, as Israel did of the
daily manna, saying – “our soul loatheth this light bread;”
and to read it in a slight and careless manner.
this would be fearfully provoking to God.
take heed lest that word be true of you –
“ye said, also, behold what a weariness is it!
and ye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord of Hosts.”

4. a yoke to heavy to bear.

some may engage in reading with alacrity for a time, and
afterwards feel it a burden, grievous to be borne.
they may find conscience dragging them through the
appointed task without any relish of the heavenly food.
if this be the case with any, throw aside the fetter,
and feed at liberty in the sweet garden of God.
my desire is not to cast a snare upon you,
but to be a helper of your joy.’

pps -
jews were forbidden to charge interest,
so they added the usury price into the price of
the item, skirting the rules.

this manager was adjusting the usury bit
which apparently didn’t cheat his master
out of what was actually owed
thereby receiving measured congratulations
from the (now outwitted) master.

clever w/o stealing.

something like that?

west side walkabout

if you’ve got it, flaunt it;
who knew $10 bills were a big draw?

these guys have reason to grin;
right as i was walking by,
they avoided hitting the black caddy
(w/ government plates, no less)
with their gang box
by what appeared to be
centimeters.

hey, they’re professionals.

(what do i know:
maybe it looked like a near-miss to my laymans-eyes,
but in reality it was a
calculatedly precise manoeuvre.

their laughter seemed relieved, though.)

suspicious use of quotation marks.

running into friends =
the perfect outing.

cutie angela.

72/west end

what are those things
up there?

underlying meaning

oh, i get it now.

his concern over where the
christmas tree was going to go
was summed up this way:
was i moving his favorite reading chair
or not.

because that would be tragic.

crisis averted.

thanks to the sauls’ girls for the fun hairbow +
superduperthanks to grandma barb for our new (handmade) coats.

save your yuppie soul

the title is cracking me up.

an article on tim in
new york magazine,
tim keller wants to save your yuppie soul.

featuring a photo of our
very own ireland fam
(sans the lovely mama ireland).

playing favorites

henry’s unique way of
expressing his affection
for his dad?

tagging cory’s face
with those twisty-sticky-awesome
bendaroos
in all of the photos
in our hallway.

stuff(ing)/(ed)

(i glued the place cards
btwn hazelnuts.)

emily, patti, scott, hisaya, cory,
jacob, nick, sarah, barb and dick,
paul (to the left of my lens, sorry);
thanks for a lovely evening, friends.

lofty ladies:
ellie, caroline, abby + betsy

craft time, oh yeah.

betsy + quigley

sarah + nick

photocredits: the lovely sarah b, thanks.

thankful

it’s a mild new york day,
parading
and
preparing.

here’s how our group
will give thanks
before that scrumptious meal.

.    .    .    .    .

26 nov 2009
thanksgiving day @ the cates’ house

scripture  .  psalm 95:1-7

come, let us sing for joy to the LORD;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.

let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.

for the LORD is the great God,
the great King above all gods.

in his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.

the sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.

come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;

for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.

song   .  come, thou fount

come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
teach me some melodious sonnet,
sung by flaming tongues above.
praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
mount of Thy redeeming love.

o to grace how great a debtor
daily I’m constrained to be!
let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to Thee.
prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
seal it for Thy courts above.

prayer

gracious Lord,

we give you thanks for calling us out of the darkness
and into your glorious light.

when we remember the price you paid,
the death of your only Son,
we can only wonder and marvel
at the greatness of your love.

we give our lives to you, Lord,
and pray that through your mercy
you will teach us how to live
according to your will.

send us out now to love and serve you
as faithful witnesses of your mercy.

we pray this in Jesus’ name.

amen.

playful

why get out two garfield books
when you can just snuggle up
and read one aloud?

 

the last time i’ll see this sight…

harry, henry, and eli
rip it up.

we jumped for [literal] hours
last night, a farewell evening
dedicated to the good humor
and dutiful service of our
favorite bouncy castle.

we pass you on to your next home
with best wishes and
good thoughts for many more
years of happy service to children
(and small adults) alike.

good luck, friends-who-inherited-her;
she’s a gem.

we always kept the bouncy castle folded up
underneath the bunk beds,
so when the bunk beds went out the door,
we barely had to say the word,
we just nodded in agreement,

kj: bouncy castle?
c: out.

five jumpy years was just
right for us.

ps -
if you have young boys +
the floor-space to accommodate
a 6′ x 6′ square,
i wholeheartedly recommend
considering something like this for
those winter nights-with-boys;
we had seasons where we pulled
this baby out almost nightly.

squidward

cory’s spongebob breakfast
was a hit.

ps -
they said, ’squidward’
but i secretly said, ‘wall-e.’

caroline belle’s namesake

emails from my grandma,
maxine belle,
make my day.

thanks, grandma.

(she’s a gentle 95 yrs old
and lives in a sunny town
in the middle of kansas)

‘Happy thanksgiving.
We wish you could have dinner with us!!!!
I have been thinking of all the good times we had when
all you kids were here. You are all very dear to me.
This afternoon I will go with Letha to Keith M—’s
funeral at our church. He was a member of my Sunday School class
so I will miss him. It is 43 and a
beautiful sunny day. Kathleen will come after school.
Your folks will come this afternoon so I will be happy.
Every day i pray for all my family and thank God for
each of you.
Love and prayers. Grandma’

ps -
her zoo now has a bear,
if you were wondering.

and the little monkey
who was born last year,
well, he’s ‘quite a show-off’
(in a good way, apparently).

those monkeys.

proverbs

well, not the helpful kind
of proverb.

if it can be done as a group,
we’re going to do it that way.

(i mean, who would want to
play computer by themselves?)

encouragement comes in a
variety of forms.

(caroline w/ marker on white board)

jumping + shoe squeaks +
grunting + laughter
are vital parts of the dot game.

(all 3 boys are improving their times
in bigger-faster-stronger;

cory used to do this
in high school.

the boys love it.

i love hearing them
work so hard +
laugh so loud.)

when the crafting starts
before 6:30am,
it’s going to be a
long. day.

whack solution

overheard:

cory: i honored you today, hon.
kj: hmm?
c: i wore my [dress] socks inside out
so that when i took them off,
they’d be right side out.

(due to my nudging about his
countless ball-ed up inside out
stinky socks in the laundry bin)

thanks, i think.

a soccer-y saunter

go, yellow team.
go, goalie.

north meadow,
central park.

kiss that ref.

a wee bit taller than his peers;
welcome to n’s life
where he blends in more
with the grownups
than with his friends.

a private rock,
a place of their own,

running into friends @
the 100th st playground.

running into a second redeemer family
@ the same playground,
jackpot.

a boy’s priorities =
he’d rather sacrifice his body
than drop his doughnut.

our vantage point from the playground.

notice anything familiar?
look closely.

em!

it’s emily’s house.

the girl’s loot from the dollar bin
@ michael’s.

(yes, michael’s.
breathe in, breathe out,
life is good.
michael’s came to town.)

nathan chose a gag camera that squirts water,
henry chose red + green paint,
and i chose alphabet beads.

cory simply footed the bill.

[breathtaking] blessed sacrament,
the cathedral tucked in across
the street from lisa/carrie/julia’s house.

this cracked me up:
i caught cory, in a private moment
while he waited for the rest of us
to catch up, doing exactly what my
little boys do,
twirling the bolt-thing on
the top of the fire hydrant.

they all want to
twirl those things.

(you know what thing
i’m talking about, right?)

even the tree grates
are fancy at the dorilton.

the power of suffering

remember the part in
tim’s sermon on james 1:1-18
last night after he was talking about
paul’s thorn in the flesh
and how God didn’t remove it,

how sometimes
God is saying,

‘the grace i want
to get into your life
will get there
better
if i leave your
suffering intact.’

oy.
chills.

o, for grace to
handle our suffering
well today.

to learn wisdom,
to learn consolation + perspective,
through prayer,
through counsel with friends,
through listening to Him in his Word.

double oy.

flicks

this one’s from nathan;
happy saturday morning.

(he’s already on the soccer field.
i promise we’re leaving now
to join him.
just one more sip of coffee.
one. more. sip.)

pigeon:impossible

 

ps -
and speaking of holiday movies
(we weren’t),

please tell me you’ve seen
‘pieces of april’,
a great thanksgiving movie.

and netflix will bring us
our annual fix of
‘charlie brown’s thanksgiving’
this week.

and of course,
‘planes, trains, and automobiles,’
which my mom mislabeled on our
vhs tape, so i always (fondly) think of it as,
‘planes, trains, and cars’

you say, ‘unicorn pinata’

you say, ‘unicorn pinata’
we say, ‘of course, betsyboo’

[and we quickly google,
'how to make a unicorn pinata'
and get straight to work.]

we love you, elizabeth ann cates,
our loving betsy.

happy 4th, lovey.

partying with our co-op preschool friends;
you guys rock.

plaster bugs + ponies were painted.

(i hope cory’s doesn’t notice
we used his shirts-as-smocks.
again.)

bouncy castle bliss
in the boys’ room.

four candles
and a friend to help =
perfection.

remy’s cupcake masterpiece.

must.keep.bouncing.

thanks, friends.

ps -
unicorn pinata 101:

day 1: make balloon form + apply first round of
paper mache.
(2 c. flour to 1 c. water +
a good-sized stack of the onion.)
let dry.

day 2 + 3: repeat.

day 4:
(aka. wee hours of the morning
on the day of the party. oy.)
attempt to transform grayish-whiteish
mound of dry paper mache into
passable unicorn-ish figure.

caroline came out this morning and,
upon seeing the ‘unicorn,’
gently offered,

‘oh, mom,
i don’t think betsy will care
at all that it doesn’t have a body.’

pause.

‘and i don’t think she’ll
care that it’s white instead
of pink.’

pause.

‘i think it’ll be just fine.
good job!’

um, thanks?
i think?

(notetoself: apparently it was supposed to be
a full-bodied pink unicorn. oops.)

pps -
unicorn pinata 201, notestoself:

-start a week before you need the pinata
-mix paste well (my first layer was more water than glue)
-think strategically where you want the
candy-entrance-hole

got it.

hoary hairs?

it was such a long day
[how long was it?]

it was such a long day
that when i fell into my
chair at dinner
and started to read
catherine vos to the kiddos,

i accidentally started crying
and couldn’t finish.

‘are you okay?’
‘are you sad, mommy?’

(one sweet dinner-goer suggested,
’she’s sad about the sin in the story.’)

i’m okay.
and i’m sad.
and i’m perfectly normal.
and i’m weary.
and i love you.

all rolled into one, little ones.

so as i finish the details of today
prepare for the details of tomorrow,

i’m singing/pleading the words
of that profound hymn,

(yes, all seven verses.
this doozie-of-a-day calls for no fewer than
seven.)

how firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
is laid for your faith in His excellent word;
what more can He say than to you He hath said,
unto you who to Jesus for refuge have fled?

in every condition, in sickness, in health;
in poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth;
at home and abroad, on the land, on the sea,
as thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be.

fear not, I am with thee, o be not dismayed,
for I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
i’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

when through the deep waters I call thee to go,
the rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
for I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
and sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

when through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
my grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
the flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

even down to old age all My people shall prove
my sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;
and when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn,
like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.

the soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
that soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
i’ll never, no never, no never forsake.

an angel in my doorway

well, that’s a magical sight
coming in my front door:

lisa.

with coffee.

she works the night shift,
so she’s back in the neighborhood
almost exactly when
4 of the cates’ fam head out
the door at 8:27am,
so we like to steal a bit of prayer together
before she hits the hay
and i hit the day.

encouragement from paul:

²for I resolved to know nothing while I was with you
except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

³i came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling.

⁴my message and my preaching were
not with wise and persuasive words,
but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,
⁵so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom,
but on God’s power.

1 corinthians 2:2-5

watch your back

yesterday, cory’s colleague had
to peel an embarassing (pink butterfly?)
sticker off his back at work

and today,
they’re at it again.

sneaky, sneaky,
stick it on your back
when you aren’t looking.

shhhh,
he left w/ caroline’s nametag +
nathan’s purple bunny
this morning.

lisa peeled an orange
easter egg off my back earlier.
nice.

(it’s kind of obvious who drew that one,
like when betsy does graffiti on
the walls and writes ‘BETSY’
we have a general idea of
who to talk to about it.)

ix-nay the ’self-salvation project’

how about church yesterday?

seriously.
a special day.

in prep for a mom’s grp soiree tonight
(a fancy way to think about what’s really a ‘meeting’, right?),
i’m thinking about the
implications of the gospel
of grace on community life.

the gospel of grace says
we are simultaneously

1. desperately wicked + unable to save ourselves
(in need of God’s transforming grace)

and

2. utterly accepted in Christ,
(we rest in Christ’s salvation as offered to us in the gospel)

it’s imperative that our community life
reflects both aspects.

giving and receiving.
helping and asking for help.
forgiving and repenting+confessing.

i find it much easier to serve,
to offer help, to forgive
than to
receive help,
to ask for help,
to confess and repent.

but the gospel calls us
to live as a family
not as polite strangers.

oy.
and
i love it.

ps -
in sept, tim said it this way:

‘the gospel has to be constantly applied
and re-applied
to our hearts,

or the default mode of the human heart
will return to its self-salvation project.

nothing is more important than this.’

pps -
‘i ask no dream, no prophet ecstasies,
no sudden rending of the veil of clay,
no angel visitant, no op’ning skies;

but
take
the
dimness
of
my
soul
a-way.’

‘spirit of God, descend upon my heart’
verse 2, frederick c. atkinson, 1870.

very important FairyPrincessBallerina talk
in the hallway.

ppps -
‘font nerdiness’ (aka. typography) in the times.

earnest prayers

what better way to enjoy a
rainy saturday afternoon
than with a living room full of
godly women?

praying for our church,
praying for our church staff,
praying for our city,
praying for the gospel to have its
way with us.

thank you, pastors + elder’s wives,
for such an encouraging time together.

‘just as the Son of Man
did not come to be served,
but to serve,
and to give his life
as a ransom for many.’
matthew 20:28

reading tomie depaola
in the boys’ loft

b tries to be patient
waiting for our
sparkling friend, zoe.

 

dr. dodge

dodgeball tournament @ wagner
(michael’s alma mater)

go, blue sharks.

 

lofty aspirations

meanwhile, back at the ranch…

while we were parading
about fifth avenue,

my big hunky husband
was toting 2×4’s
and sawing + routing +
generally making
*magic*
in the girls’ room.

(it is magical;
it far exceeded my expectations,
which were really high.)

tuesday night, 10:06pm
unloading wood from the home depot run

(thanks for loaning us your ride, generous friends)

nathan + abe
get it done.

wednesday morning breakfast,
still designing.

i save most of his little scraps of paper
(esp during the main house renovation)
with sketches + measurements
that then become awesome realities
in my life.

when i’m old,
i’ll sit in my favorite rocking chair,
flipping through old post-its
and tattered looseleaf
remembering all of the projects
of our dreamy life together, babe.

thanks, mi amor;
and keep sketching.

j’ adore the yellow stripes.
cheers, em + meg.

the girls help carry the dismantled pieces
of their bunk bed upstairs to happily pass on
to their new owners, lyd + ez.

cory was visibly nostalgic
(choked up, perhaps? nah, just sawdust surely)
about dismantling
that sweet bunkbed one final time;

he and my dad and scott built that
dear bed eight yrs ago in our 118st apt;
morven and hannah were its first residents,
(hi, girls),

and we even built a moveable crib side that
lived under the top bunk but slid down
into a twin-sized crib, if you will,
for cutiepie little henry
w/ big brother nathan on top,

it was an awesome ride, bunkbed;
happy trails in the cho household.

when the frame was up,
he encouraged everyone
to take a ride
while he did dips and curls himself
and grinned ear-to-ear,
as he pointed out,
it didn’t even squeak,
it was so tight.

yay, physics.
yay, secure frame.

i promise i saw an actual light bulb
turn on above cory’s head
when he realized the Main Design Concept
for the girls’ loft
and it goes like this:

lag bolts.

here’s one line of the wiki-entry
about those dreamy suckers:

lag bolts are designed for securely fastening heavy timbers
(post and beams, timber railway trestles and bridges)
to one another, or to fasten wood to masonry or concrete.

railway trestles?
should be good enough for our loft.

so, the loft actually hangs from the ceiling;
the only bit that touches the ground
is the bottom of the two ladders.

it’s lagged-in to the house joist,
as it were.

(carpenters/engineers, do forgive
my layman’s treatment of this situation;
i’m just calling it as i see it.)

a coat of paint on thursday +
voila.

(did i mention that i broke my
wide-angle lens in the beginning
of september?

thus all of the close-up shots for
the past 2 months.

so i’ll have to wait for someone to
come over with a wide-angle before
i can show you the actual loft.

oops.)

we had put the girls to bed in our
room as cory was still hard at work
in their room come wednesday night,

so,
the two of us slept in the loft
the first night
and
it felt like christmas.

i almost couldn’t go to sleep
for the excitement in my stomach.

it’s two twin beds that kiss eachother,
head-to-head,
so you can just reach your little hand up
and drift into dream land
hand-in-hand
with your loft mate.

dreamy indeed.

thanks, love.
yay, girls.

betsy’s side is already full of today’s treasure:
sparkly purses + henry’s yankees hat.

for now, we have their play kitchen + table
set up under the loft along with
the yellow couch.

in the future,
i envision a white erase board (or two?),
a longer kid’s table w/ little chairs,
a school set up (we love playing school),
and possibly a chair-and-a-half
(that folds into a twin bed for guests)…

the most memorable part
of the building for me:

when we had to bring the
2 pieces of wood that comprise
the bed platforms
in from the front entryway,
through our apt,
downstairs to the girls room,
through the laundry room and
into the work room.

they’re quite big – 4′ x 8′?
and thick – maybe .75″?

(which equals h e a v y)

em + meg were amazing.
and it took all four of us
working hard to maneuver and handle
the situation. whoanellie.

and when we got to the workroom,
we hoisted them up on the table saw platform
and realized that wasn’t going to work,
so we left them on the platform and
used the hand saw
(read: deafening. oy.)
to cut them down to size.

imagine our excitement when
we dropped those turkeys into
place in the waiting frame,
*whoosh*
perfection.

‘I will lie down and sleep in peace,
for you alone, O LORD,
make me dwell in safety.’
psalm 4:8

veteran’s day parade

the 90th annual veterans day parade,
fifth avenue,
new york city.

thank you, service members + families.

and a special thanks to
my little brother, scott,
(usmc pilot, hmx)

and
cory’s little brother, jacob,
(usna grad currently @ mit).

waytogo,guys.

hot chocolate was an important part of the day.

by the third hour of waiting for our turn to march,
we were eating goldfish out of our hats
in desperation.

and spending obscene amounts
at the local hot dog vendor.

i was sustained entirely by
emily, anne marie + margaret’s
good humor.

these darling girls were perched in the
back of their red convertible the
entire three-plus hours we waited.

just itching to wave those pageant arms
and greet the crowd.

time to shine, baby.

up fifth avenue
from 27th to 58th st.

eli’s feeling it.

by the time we actually
began marching,
henry’s flag didn’t even have
a stick left,
as he had been playing with it
for three solid hours.

honor, betsy + daniel
were such troopers.

go, ez!

(i loved that we walked by the
christmas windows @ saks and lord+taylor.)

eli

42nd + 5th

i choked up at this point,
when the firemen were cheering
for the boy scouts.

2nd story observers

henry, eli, adam + ezra

(see the 3 mama’s behind?
that’s how we rolled.
am, me + madge.
and i’m talkingtalking in every shot,
oy.)

when we marched by st patrick’s,
archbishop dolan and another clergyman
(and not a few security personel)
were out front in their beautiful black robes, waving,
and
daniel asked if it was batman.

i could hear the 30Rock
opening music playing in my head.

we were followed by motorcades
of pageant girls and the drivers
kept honking their horns in
parade-speak cheering

which mainly just felt like normal
pedestrian harassment to those of
us walking in front of them.

more:
hey, lady, outta the way!

less:
yay, veterans.

i’m so proud:
this is the one photo
that i’m not wide-mouthed yapping in.

we did it!

a morning’s prayer

guard me from distraction, Lord;

prevent me from duplicity
as i face you
in your scriptures.

our God is a God who saves,
from the Sovereign Lord
comes escape from death.

psalm 68:20

grandma carole + grandpa glen

congrats, kleinknecht + wilbourne families
and
hooray for baby jack.

oh, those divine cheeksies.

 

the office

not the show, silly,
cory’s real office.

apparently they paste up
big posters to announce
their new releases?

i should try that
at home.

i can see it now,
sexyposters in our hallway
that say,

‘have no fear,
mom did all of your laundry.’

and

‘lasagne on tuesday.‘

ps – congrats, locus team.

mental ratatouille

the bits + ends of conversations
that are rolling around in my
mind today include:

on parenting,
‘we’re not their savior
and
they’re not our righteousness.’

on christianity,
‘community is strengthened through
common service.’

on friendship,
‘…learning to limit myself
for the benefit of others.’

on community,
‘to live counter-culturally in the city,
seek to live a relationally-intentional,
slower-paced life.’

and then thinking through what
really fits into
‘relationally-intentional’
and
’slower-paced.’

love it.

kathryn’s baptism

i love it when they get to the part
where they ask us to respond:

‘do you as a congregation undertake the
responsibility of assisting the parents
in the christian nurture of this child?’

we do.
we do.

congrats, david + felicia.
congrats, sweet kathryn isabella.

so nice to have mr. grant here
all of the way from sydney.

felicia’s uncle + aunt and david’s dad;
we’re so glad they could come.

what a special day as a family.

awwww, newlyweds.

on repentance

my favorite report from the boys’
camping weekend came as cory
and i were cozied up
telling stories last night,

and he mentioned that
the three of them
‘really butted heads’
the last 30 min of the wknd,
as they were packing up
and getting all of their
gear ready to go home,
but
that they apologized quickly
and
forgave each other.

that’s huge in my book.

esp. cory and i have lately
been begging God,
as individuals and as parents together,
to teach us how
to confess,
to repent,
to forgive.

quickly + repeatedly + often + genuinely.

i want to learn to do it well,
but in my pride,
i resist, resist, resist.

i mistakenly believe that
when i confess + repent,
God and/or the person i’m confessing to
is going to grab the mic and shout,
‘that’s right, you did that and that
and here are six more things you did
soooo baaaadddly.’

that confession leads to condemnation.

instead of the truth,
that it leads to freedom.

last week, nathan, chose this verse
to write + post next to he light switch
in our hallway,

‘for I did not come to judge the world,
but to save it.’
Jesus, in john 12:47

thanks, lovey.

‘but with you there is forgiveness;
therefore you are feared.’
ps 130:4

‘God’s kindness leads you toward repentance…’
romans 2:4

‘Jesus said, ‘does no one condemn you?’
‘no one.’
‘neither do i,’ said Jesus,
‘go on your way.
from now on, don’t sin.’
john 8:11.

fingers-crossed i’ll be quick
to repent as i head out into today.

ps -
phase 1 of the girls’ room
is well underway.

photocredits: caroline

try-as-we-might,
we cannot get that goofy
halloween tattoo to
come off of her
rosy cheek.

pps -
now that the paint is up+dry,
i got a word of advice from wendy
that i badly needed 2 days ago:

‘yellow is tricky.
always choose it from
the white card.’

that’s what i needed to know.

alas, i will choose to embrace
the yellow that i have chosen.

lovely, sunny (albeit a bit *bright*) yellow.

human popsicles

the boys and cory,
a tent,
two nights + one day,
with a low of 45 tonight =

hope it’s a great boy scout camping wknd
and
glad the girls and i are all
snuggled indoors.

ps -
bethany’s learning to cook.
(good news)
and lisa’s her teacher
(even better news)
and we benefited deliciously
from the first lesson.

corn chowder with bacon
and
pb+j bars, a la ina garten.

pps -
what’s that smell, you say?
smells like paint?

that’s right.
something got stripe-y today, folks.

mad thanks to meg + em,
my painting partners in crime.

a ticker-tape kind of day

canyon of heroes, 1996.

they’re selling cheesecakes @ fairway
with this logo on the top of the
actual cake.
betsy finds them amusing,
i think they look crazy.

michael + sara

cory + ted

parade route @ 11am

ps -
the boys made signs to hang on
our apartment door to
celebrate the occasion.

nathan’s said,
(cute, hand-drawn yankees logo on the left,
words on the right)

‘yankees rule’
and
‘who’s your daddy?’

you should’ve seen me choke,
wha?!

and nathan was completely
confused by my
‘that-is-highly-inappropriate’
response
?

surely nathan wishes cory
had seen the sign first and
spared him a, ahem,
brief-but-candid
speech about a woman having
sex with two people and being, well,
uncertain as to who the child’s
genetic father might be.

apparently,
pedro said it.

(‘i tip my hat + call
the yankees my daddy.’)

oops, i didn’t know that.

i might’ve overreacted.

he drew a different sign.

pps -
this is our 5th ticker tape parade
since moving here in ‘96.

go, yankees.

counseling 101

i don’t know what cory said,
but those word were
magic.

ps -
from an email from good friends
traveling in southeast asia;
‘burmese cates’,
cracking me up.

‘Speaking of which, we went to this little tiny hilltop village in
Myanmar like 100 people in the whole village.  A family invited us in
for pickled tea and while we were sitting around chatting and eating,
little by little about 30 people slowly and casually filled their
living room.  It was like the village nightly gathering spot because
they were the only family with a TV.  Everyone sat around chatting and
watching together and the family was serving everyone tea.  We decided
they were the Burmese Cates’, everyone seemed to “have a key” and was free
to walk in and out as they pleased.    And even though everyone was
staring at us the entire time, we also felt very welcome, like we
belonged.  Pretty sweet.’

love you guys,
be safe.

pps -
we don’t have a telly,
but i can work on my
pickled tea recipe.

ppps -
three words:
ticker.
tape.
parade.

see you there.

nospacebarneeded

henry’s message to cory:

DAD = #1(soismom)DadisgreatHEtellsMETHINGS I DIDN’T KNOW!! (but!!!!!itNOTso prettyifyougetintroublewith him. no offenseDAD)

saucy liturgy

the other night,
an teasingly-alarmed henry announced,

‘i got sauce on the creed.
sauce on the creed!‘

spaghetti sauce on the apostle’s creed, that is.

let me rewind for a moment:

1. i love a good project.

2. when we’re in colorado
for the summer i tend to take on
a project i wouldn’t attempt here,
in my real life.

3. two years, i made
our a-z hymns books, vol 1 and
the following summer, vol 2.
and last year, i made our
redeemer family songbook.

4. this summer, i made placemats
that take us through the matins (morning) and
evensong service,

introducing them in an elementary way
to a special part of God’s work in
our lives, daily spiritual disciplines.

henry reads the opening collect aloud.

(as importantly,
see sara’s famous sausage pie?
you want to go to there.)

circus side – evensong

starry goodmorning – matins

the evening service, in a nutshell:

1. a one-sentence invocation,
(o Lord, make speed to save me, make haste to help me)

2. a collect,
(almighty God,
grant that we may love the things that you command
and desire the things you promise;
that whatever the circumstance our hearts may be
fixed where true joys are to be found;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. amen.)

3. the apostle’s creed,

4. a closing collect
(o God, from whom all holy desires, all good counsels,
and all just actions do proceed—
give us that peace that the world cannot give,
that our hearts may be set to obey your commandment,
and by your protection we may live in peace,
through the merits of Jesus Christ our Savior. amen.)

the morning service is similar:

1. a one-sentence invocation,
realize his presence,
ask for his nearness,
repent for coming to him for anything
other than his beauty,

2. pray aloud one of three verses i printed out (psalms),

3. pray the Lord’s prayer together,

4. a closing collect.

praise be to the Lord,
to God our Savior,
who daily bears our burdens.
psalm 68:19

ps -
in general,
we end up using these goofy placemats as
placemats more than order-o’-services.

at this point, we go through the service
maybe 3 out of 7 nights.

the other nights we’re just
shooting the bull  enjoying eachother
and then we read catherine vos.
(they almost beg for that book,
they love that book.

it took us 18 months the first
time we read through it;
this is only our 2nd time through.)

and i haven’t figured out if the
matins part is going to be
helpful or not,
because the morning is
cory’s time to shine.
(aka. engage us sleepyheads
with the word of the living God.)

no extra-anything needed there.

anyway,
it’s there if we ever want it.

inspiration

a rousing ‘thank you‘
to nathan’s sunday school teachers
last night;

that scroll project was so inspiring
that the boys spent the majority of
their morning-before-school
making additional scrolls
(read: chopsticks + paper + tape)
and filling them with scripture.

albeit, henry’s were more of
a graphic novel version of
scripture.

love it.

and yes, we wore
baseball hats to
school today,
it seemed appropriate.

go, yanks!

ps -
random monday train ride reading:
steve jobs’ stanford commencement address, 2005,
stay hungry,
stay foolish.

26.2 mi

off to volunteer @ the marathon;

go, runner friends.
go, boy scouts.

ps -
settlers = genius.
via merritt,
via wired.

favorite day of the year

i love the time-change
when we gain an hour
to enjoy this
Lord’s day.

the soundtrack to our
cheerycrafty morning:
high school musical.

cory + bets are downstairs
watching, giggling (b) and dancing (c + b),

a great way to enjoy
the sabbath, indeed.

(we are not our own,
we were bought with a price,
let’s glorify the Lord
by boogeying down together, no?)

reenacting their hsm dance for us.

sabbathday yardwork?
we might be pushing it.

ps -
get ready for some
rad worship together tonight;

word on the street is
we’re singing
‘come christians, join to sing’
‘in the presence of a holy God’
and
‘here i am to worship‘
+
scott’s sermon on
hope for the church.
(hebrews 10:19-35)

an evening’s prayer

‘o Lord,
open my lips
and my mouth
will show forth
Thy praise.’

thy praise,
not my praise.

may the words of my mouth be
few, sweet, honest,
wise and life-giving.

few
(because i don’t need to show off),

sweet
(because i’m happy enough in grace
to be filled with love for anyone i meet),

honest
(because i’m not scared of human approval),

wise and life-giving
(because i’m learning from God),

at home,
at work,
with friends,
with strangers.

thanks, tim.

‘absolutely necessary’

bonhoeffer totally nailed it.

check him out:

‘when a family lives close together
in a constricted space
and the individual does not have
the quietness he needs,
regular times of quiet are
absolutely necessary.

‘after a time of quiet,
we meet others in a different and fresh way.

‘many a household fellowship will be
able to provide for the individual’s need
to be alone, and thus preserve the
fellowship itself from injury,
only by adopting a regular order.’

tim encourages us to consider
three parts to a daily quiet time:

1. bible study – read a passage of the Bible
and try to get the gist of
what it means.

2. prayer – talk to God by praising him,
confessing sins, and
asking for things.

3. meditation – a cross between prayer and Bible study,
a blend. to ‘pray the truth into the heart.’

meditation being, perhaps, the most crucial,
‘praying scripture until the Truth
bursts forth in our hearts.’

‘absolutely necessary’,
i love it.

eat more chikin

wha?

my parents are wha?

camped out overnight @
a chick-fil-a in denver
to win wha?

free meals each week for a year?

it’s 28 degrees there now.
they’re in a winter storm warning +
expecting 20+ inches of snow.

they crazy.
and adorable.

love you guys.

hi, julie, kristen + brandon;
wish we were there to
whoop you @ the bean game
play games with you.

ps -
they have to stay there until 6am to win.

they’re hearty-folk + i have no doubt
they will win.

and you know what i’m going
to be using when we’re there
next august?

ohhh, yeah,
that free-chick-n card.

pps -
you know cc was the actual
c-f-a cow in the 2008 calendar, right?

famous, he is.

dude, did you get free chicken for that gig?
i might need to borrow your
free chicken card.

getaway

the mama’s stole away to
for our annual
worth-its-weight-in-gold
24 hrs in p-town this past weekend;

prayer, tears, perspective, laughter;
and that was just the
car ride there.

thanks, friends.

and a huge shout out to my mom + cory,
james, tim, jordan + jason,
for manning the homefronts.

he came right up to the house,
love it.

how cute are her pumpkins
in her flower urns?

too clever, j.

a two-product day

jeepers.

today’s rainy+humidity combo
meant that after putting
pretty-please-hair-stay-down product
in my wet hair this morning,

i hesitated,
headed back to the mirror,

and grabbed a second dollop of
cory’s product, too.

+  = 

and i doubt even that
gel-ly-double-shot
will prevent my
hair-as-a-weapon up-do.

hope you brought your golashes.

from eden to zion

mom + nathan just burst through
the door returning from the
open forum on the east side.

here’s what i heard:

nathan:
tim did this whole sermon on, like, new york
and how a lot of people come here to gain something
and that’s really not how you should do that.

and he did a lot of talking
on how a city is made
and what it needs
and how it thrives.

my mom:
what are the four things it needs?

njc:
political stuff,
economical stuff,
homes and residential stuff,
and
safety.

my mom:
and how did he define a city?

njc:
a dense population that can walk.
like, a mixed-use zone that you
can walk to wherever you need to go.

the world started in a garden
but it ends in a city.

ps -
mom was raving about
michelle + mindy + george
(she didn’t know the other two singers, sorry)
and
their songs.

sounds spectacular.

she said mindy sang
‘another hundred people’;
love it.
love her.

and george sang,
‘there’s a boat that’s leavin’ soon for new york’

and michelle sang
‘the girl in 14G’
oy! fab.

some people are just
too talented
for their own good.

pps -
come on, yankees!

cozyrozy reading snuggle

a post-co-op-preschool
snuggled up reading time
with my mom and betsy,
perfection.

ps -
i was off duty for preschool today
so mom and i grabbed the train,
hopped off at christopher st
and sauntered our way uptown.

two hours,
four cups of coffee,
popping in and out of
every store that caught our eye =
superperfection.

benediction

some ‘good words’ for this friday,
as we put the week to rest +
chill-ax a bit this wknd:

‘may the Lord Jesus Christ himself
and God our Father,
who loved us and by his grace
gave us eternal encouragement + good hope,
encourage your hearts
and strengthen you
in every good deed + word.’
2 thess 2:16

‘may the Lord
direct your hearts
into God’s love +
Christ’s perseverence.’
2 thess 3:5

ps -
have you seen ‘a serious man’ yet?
the new cohen brothers movie?

they totally nailed it.

i only laughed maybe four or five times during the actual show
but came away thinking it’s one of the funniest,
most brilliantly written + cinematically spot-on
shows i’ve seen.

lincoln plaza cinema;
you want to go to there.

pps -
congrats, boy scouts.

adam, eli, ezra, harry, taj, kino, nathan, henry…
hooray + way to go.

and welcome, mitch.

fall award ceremony

ppps -
i hope i haven’t mentioned that

is in our boy scout troop, right?

because that would be tacky of me.

friendly natives

thursday’s reasons

reason no. 86
on why i love our cvs
across the street:

when we skipped up to the window,
our sunshiny pharmacist said,
‘hello, betsy!’
and
b replied,
‘i’m betsy, and i’m three-and-a-half!’

to which lydia added,
‘and i’m lydia, and i’m three-and-a-half!’

and charmingmegan followed suit
by responding,
‘i’m meagan, and i’m twenty-eight!’

as she handed us
henry’s amoxicillin.
(sayonara, ear pain)

reason no. 885
on why i love our neighborhood:

when i popped in to the carpet store
(aka. rosenhaus + sons)
to return a sample he loaned me,
alan
(aka. mr. rosenhaus) said,
‘you’ll see me later,
i’m delivering something
to your neighbor upstairs
this afternoon!’

i love that we’re known in
relation to our neighbors.

reason no. 284
on why i love fairway:

not only do i like seeing the staff,
but it’s a great place to run
into neighbors +friends
and catch a quick chat.

(you know i’m looking for you,
right?
i might look like i’m actually
scanning for broccoli,
but the truth is
i’m looking for friends
who are shopping at the
same time as me.)

reason no. 389
on why i love new york:

when i was out front washing the
boys’ windows this morning
(in excited-preparation for my
mom’s arrival this afternoon),
i only received
ONE
criticism-guised-as-a-suggestion.

three ‘hello’s’ from passing neighbors
and
only one
‘you-know-you-should-use-
newspaper-and-not-your-dust-cloth, right?’

those are nice odds there, 3:1.

i would expect it to swing the
other way, like,
2 hellos and
2 critiques.

everyone’s a critic in ny.

even if they’ve never
actually
washed a window.

ps -
did you catch that?

my mom’s coming today.

mom’s coming today,
hooray.

pps -
grandma,
i can’t even guess how many times
i’ve made your apple cake
over the past 13+ yrs here
in new york.

it’s always a crowd-pleaser.

love you.

my grandma freiheit’s
fresh apple cake
via my lovely gretchen.