Happy Birthday Mom

My mother Christina Ann Macdonald Knapp was born on May 14th, 1949 to Don and Barb MacDonald, she was thier first child. I have heard many stories over the almost 28 years that I have known my mother and learned a great many things about her, here are some of the most memorable:

*She liked to play in the sandbox - naked (there are pictures to prove it!)

*She was grounded as a teenager a lot! Which is why she does not care for flowered wall paper, as she tells it, she counted flowers many times when sent to her room.

*She played field hockey.

*She has the same best friend today that she had in elementary school and they still live less than a mile from each other.

*She wanted to be a nurse when she was younger

*She worked incredibly hard to help her family through difficult times and put herself through college at Lansing Community College by working long hours as a cook and waitress.

*My mother met my father at a bar and did not pay much attention as her encounters with his older brother in the past had not gone well.

*They got married six short months later. (after which she learned my father was not a master skiier!)

*She took a government job so my dad could finish school and they could start a family, she never went back to her dream of managing a restaurant. She sacrificed for her family as many parents do.

*My mom's favorite color is green and sometimes yellow

*Her favorite flower is the yellow rose

*She loves the beach, reading, hockey and basball.

*She will do anything for her family

*She cannot stand injustice and fights for what she believes in

*She is always the first one to volunteer to help when someone is in need, I cannot count the amount of times she has made food, bought clothes, given money, or her own time to help a person or family in need.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Wishing you a year full of happiness and love.

I love you.

Esther Chapter 5

Yeah it's been a while. You have most likely forgotten my "crisis of faith" post from spring break. I have not, I have thought about it a lot. I have tried to sit down and write the resolution I promised several times but it was much more difficult than I anticipated. So here goes:

Esther 5: 9 says (paraphrase) Haman was so filled with rage and anger at Mordecai that he could not enjoy anything. All of his joy, even being invited to dinner at the palace was taken just by seeing Mordecai sitting by the city gates. He knew there was no way he could enjoy the dinner and complained to his wife and friends. They gave him advice to build gallows 75 feet high and ask the king to have him hanged. Haman was so excited about this he had the gallows built immediately and got ready for his dinner happily.

During the church service I was at in Texas the pastor told us that 75 feet was high enough to literally decapitate a person - not just kill them, but mutilate them - very gruesome. The point being made is that Haman was unhappy until he was able to know there was a punishment for the person he was angry with.

This made an impact on me. I don't want to be vengeful, I don't want to be out for revenge and be unhappy until I see a person punished. That is when it all came together.

I truly believe that we are put in a place, for a specific reason and God put me in Chris Osborne's congregation for a week to learn how to forgive and to remember what being a child of God means. It comes with a responsibility. A responsibility to keep working on understanding God's will and his purpose for our lives. It's not easy but those of us who work toward that end know that it is a walk on which we will never be alone and one we will never regret.

It wasn't until Easter Sunday that I realized how far I had wandered from the unwaivering faith of years past. I am working on finding it again.

It is not all resolved but I feel better than I have in a long time about faith, religion and the way I ended my years in college ministry. It took 6 years but I got there.

Too Many Directions

Here's a quick update and then I have to roll yarn for the kids tomorrow, I know but the life of a teacher is interesting in many ways!
- I do not have a job yet, however I have an interview with a head hunting company on Thursday for private school placement.
- There are 26 days of school left and I cannot wait for it to be over
- Sarah got into UCLA so we are tres excited about that!!!!
- The kids are a bit out of control lately so that makes teaching difficult - on we go anyway.
- I get to go to Michigan soon!

Yeah, not much going on, there will be more once I have a job secured and we get an apartment rented. Until then it is stress, stress, stress.