She Laughs at the Days

I'm neck deep in event planning again. The Charis Comedy Night is this Saturday. If you are in San Diego come out for the show, and let me know you're coming so I can be sure to say hi. I apparently have to talk and stuff, before the funny bits start, so you can heckle also.

Pretty

Little is currently the most productive member of our family, among the children. A while back she did a bit of modeling for this new clothing line called Daisies Clothing. She got to keep a lot of the dresses and last week we finally picked them up from the photographer Natalie Warr.

She's so tiny that most of the clothes had to be clothespinned in the back to look right for the shoot, which means she's earned herself, and her sister, new clothes.



I say she should keep this up and I won't ever have to buy them clothes again. :)

Also Pretty, this mural painted by this guy Steve, who says he doesn't know how to paint, didn't have permission to do this, and didn't have a plan wh…

He couldn't know that the glass he broke was something thrifted, or from the dollar store, I don't remember which. And as a first time dinner guest at my in-laws house he was busy apologizing over the wine glass and offering to replace it, not really believing my mother in law's gracious edict not to worry about it.

I could see he was still worried, this friend of ours. So I beckoned with my head and said, "Come on. Let me show you what they do with broken things around here."

My mother in law saved broken dishes for several years, some of them wedding treasures, some of them dollar store purchases, but she saved all the pieces and then with a few friends created this fantastic mosaic from them all.

It was an accidental phrase, "This is what we do with broken things." But as I stood there  I realized just how true it is. Not just what they do with broken things, but broken people as well.

Here they gather up broken pieces, broken lives, and help lay them…

I let the tears flow, under the cover of darkness, while I lay on the girl's bed listening to them pray. Aaron's arms wrapped tight around me as we listened, as if he could feel the tears I wanted no one to see.

I let them flow for distances that may never be bridged, for the home I want, and the home I miss, and the weariness of the journey.

I'm from a giant family. My dad was the 2nd of 11 siblings, my mother the 2nd of 8.

And most of them still all live within a few hours drive of each other. Many, if not most, in the town where I grew up.


 They all like each other, and get together for big celebrations, like the annual Canada Day weekend camp out at my grandparent's farm.


So when my aunt Carol, 3rd youngest of my dads' family and a fabulous photographer, posted all these photos from the annual gathering I had to spend the rest of the night wiping tears away.

 The simple version is that I get homesick, every so often. That place, and those people, they are my …

I have not done one of these posts in ages! But I have a pile up of interesting things I wanted to share in my browser cache so welcome back to 7 quick takes Friday, hosted by Jennifer @ Conversion Diary.

1. Be The Adult by Noel Cordle

You may have seen the video of the bus monitor who was being verbally abused by a groups of kids and how a bunch of people felt sorry for her and sent her money. I was so happy to read Noel's take on the story because she asks a question that no one else seemed to ask. "Wasn't it her job to be the person in charge there and put a stop to their behavior?"

2. Riverside Girl Trapped in Tijuana Child Sex Trade

This article is frustrating because it doesn't fix anything, it just tells you what the reporter saw. And I share it because it's something we can't ever forget. This happens, and we can do something about it. If you live in CA be sure to vote yes on 35 for the California Against Sexual Exploitation Act.



I'm never pol…

Aaron is in town longer than 7 consecutive days, for probably the last time in 2012, so we went camping. It was amazing, exactly what we needed.



I accidentally booked us at this place that is basically a camping resort. I was really just looking for the next closest place that wasn't booked already that weekend and swallowed the price, $35/night, so that we could be sure to get away as a family our one chance this year.

After getting lost and going to the wrong campground, twice, Aaron was getting kind of grouchy. (Don't trust the GPS on your phone in Idyllwild, just FYI.)



 Imagine my surprise when we arrived at this campground and they told us where the pool was, and about the free showers, and the lodge,

 cafe, family game room, amphitheater, fenced in playground,

and gave us a schedule of activities for the weekend. Let's just say it did not suck.

So we pitched our tent in a beautiful spot. Woke up to deer and raccoon tracks just outside.





 The kids got filthy, and mosqu…