My Mary Friend

Congrats are in order for my bud, Mary DeMuth, whose novel, Watching the Tree Limbs landed on the top-ten novel list for 2006 at Christian Fiction Review. You go, Mary girl!

And mark your calendar for March 22 and 23, when Mary will appear as a guest on the national radio program, FamilyLife Today, speaking on the topic of one of her non-fiction books, Building the Christian Family You Never Had:

A Rocky Beginning 3/22/2007 (Day 1 of 2) MaryDeMuth, author of the book Building the Christian Family You Never Had, tells Dennis Rainey about her rocky start as the only child of a single mom heavy into drugs. Mary tells about the abuse she encountered at the hands of neighbor boys and her eventual faith in the God of the universe.

Embracing Forgiveness 3/23/2007 (Day 2 of 2) Mary DeMuth talks honestly with Dennis Rainey about the change that took place in her life when she choose to forgive her abusers.

Commentary on the News

My friend, Vicki, wrote today and asked, "Really, is the death of Anna Nicole the only thing that has happened in the world?" Let me ask it another way. Remember in elementary school those standardized tests you used to take. Here's one for you...

Which of these does not fit?

A. Nukes in North Korea
B. Terrorism in the Middle East
C. War in Iraq and Afgahnistan
D. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict
E. Anna Nicole's death.

If you answered "D," you were correct. Everything else made headlines today.

In other news, the governor of my state recommends that girls my daughter's age (and even a year younger) get the HPV vaccine as a school requirement.

Sixth grade, folks? I'm one of those parents who is less and less thrilled about the whole less-than-thoroughly-tested immunization thing. I'm also one who feels my daughter has a right, at this stage of her life, to know what the shots she's getting will prevent. Like when she got a flu shot last month, she knew it was for the flu and not for a bronchial infection that the flu might cause. So let's imagine the conversation about the HPV cancer-preventing shot:

"Honey, you need this shot so when you have sex and you get a disease from your partner, you won't get cancer, which can kill you."

"Wait! When I have wh-h-hat?" (She still cringes and makes loud protesting noises when people on TV kiss.)

Let me say this... I think the development of the vaccine is a good thing. The Christian Medical Association thinks it's a good thing. I'm not saying the immunization itself is a bad thing. Honest. I would like to see it tested more. And then, let's leave choice in the equation, okay? I was glad to see the pharmaceutical company backed off. There's a reason this phrase is considered an oxymoron: disinterested lobbyist.

So a) let's call the vaccine what it is (not just about cancer, but sex), and b) let's back off on the whole "mandatory-for-school" thing and c) let's totally reconsider the age thing. I think a girl should be able to spell and at least loosely define menstruation, not to mention experience it at least once, before she has to consider whether to be immunized against the effects of a sexually transmitted disease.

Ash Wednesday

Today is Shrove Tuesday, and we plan to eat pancakes for dinner.

Tomorrow, Ash Wednesday, marks the beginning of Lent, the forty-day period preceding Easter. (Don't count the five Sundays, which are considered "little celebrations" of the resurrection.) It is a time for spiritual renewal, fasting, and repentance. Ashes, symbolic of penance and humanity's creation from dust, are placed on the forehead. In some traditions, the ashes are made from the palms used for Palm Sunday the previous year, christened with water sprinkled with olive oil, and scented with incense. The practice of receiving ashes on the forehead on the first day of Lent dates back to the fifth-century church.

T. S. Eliot, who won the Nobel prize for literature, wrote a poem titled "Ash-Wednesday," based loosely on Dante's Purgatorio, following his conversion. In fact, it was his first long post-conversion piece.

Traditionally Christ-followers read psalms of penitence on Ash Wednesday. Here is an excerpt from the psalm King David wrote after committing adultery/murder (Psalm 51):

Have mercy on me, O God, because of your loyal love!
Because of your great compassion, wipe away my rebellious acts!
Wash away my wrongdoing!
Cleanse me of my sin!
For I am aware of my rebellious acts;
I am forever conscious of my sin.
Against you – you above all – I have sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
So you are just when you confront me;
you are right when you condemn me.
Look, I was guilty of sin from birth,
a sinner the moment my mother conceived me.
Look, you desire integrity in the inner man;
you want me to possess wisdom.
Sprinkle me with water and I will be pure;
wash me and I will be whiter than snow.
Grant me the ultimate joy of being forgiven!
May the bones you crushed rejoice!
Hide your face from my sins!
Wipe away all my guilt!
Create for me a pure heart, O God!
Renew a resolute spirit within me!
Do not reject me!
Do not take your Holy Spirit away from me!
Let me again experience the joy of your deliverance!
Sustain me by giving me the desire to obey!
Then I will teach rebels your merciful ways,
and sinners will turn to you.
Rescue me from the guilt of murder, O God, the God who delivers me!
Then my tongue will shout for joy because of your deliverance.
O Lord, give me the words!
Then my mouth will praise you.
Certainly you do not want a sacrifice, or else I would offer it;
you do not desire a burnt sacrifice.
The sacrifices God desires are a humble spirit –
O God, a humble and repentant heart you will not reject.

Remember, David was a shepherd boy before becoming king. Shepherds taught straying sheep to stay close by breaking their legs and then carrying the lame sheep on their shoulders. That is probably what David has in mind when he speaks to God of "the bones you crushed."

For self-reflection: Do you give away to others the same degree of grace that you yourself hope to receive?

Baby Henry and Grandma Newlywed

You asked for photos, so here they are. Grammy became a great-grandmother within two weeks of becoming a newlywed. She's seen here with her then groom-to-be, Harold, and my sister-in-law, Tannie (newly grandmothered), going goo-goo over photos of the new baby in the family. Isn't he just sooo cute? This makes me great-aunt Sandi. Not to be confused with great aunt Sandi. (Hyphens rule!) Though hopefully the niecekins and nephkins consider me both.

Valentine's Weekend

I finished the first draft of the novel. Hurray! And just in time...

The relatives start arriving tonight. We'll have four until Sunday night if all goes as planned. They're coming for a wedding. Yes, my mother-in-law is marrying her 91-year-old beau. Great guy. She's 76, so she is totally too young for him, don't you think? The little sneak got engaged around the first of December but kept mum about it until after Christmas.

My hubby is giving away his mom. My brother-in-law, a pastor, is performing the service. I'm matron of honor. Tomorrow night we're having a meet-the-other-family dessert here, so when the twenty-four guests attend the wedding, we will all have at least some clue as to each person's identity.

At the beginning of the month, my niece Katie (nee Glahn) made me a great aunt for the first time when we cheered the arrival of Henry McClain. He was earlier than expected, and we rejoiced that he finally got to go home yesterday--a wonderful Valentine's Day present. Her mom had been home (to suburban D.C.) from Philadelphia only 45 minutes today before she called to find out the temp in Dallas before turning around to catch a flight with her family tonight. Can you imagine?

In the course of two weeks, we have added two family members who virtually span a century--an early infant and a 91-year-old grandfather.

Women in Black

Yesterday goes down in history as my most productive writing day ever.

I've had a daily goal of 2,500 words to finish the first draft of my novel, Informed Consent, by last night. But last week all three members of my little family got this respiratory crud going around, which knocked me out of full productivity for a few days. (I told Gary that having the whole family home for four days while trying to write is like trying to get a lot done on take-your-husband-and-child-to-work week.)

Yesterday I was thrilled to somehow make up for lost time by writing 3,800 words between 8 AM and 6 PM...just in time to go celebrate Mary DeMuth's (middle) 40th birthday. (To her left is my bud-of-20-years, Pam LeTourneau.)

And what a party! My husband made his karaoke debut with "Born to Be Wild," later joined on vocals by Patrick DeMuth. I made mine with "You're No Good."

Afterward Pam asked, "So...if we put these two songs together, what does that tell us about your marriage?" Scary, huh?

We Three Things

Three places I've lived: Salem, Oregon; Arlington, Virginia; Garland, Texas.

Three animals I have loved: My collie, Folly; my cats, Jellico (well, he's really a dog-cat; he greets strangers) and Peaches.

Three mentors who have helped me: Jim Dubbs (youth pastor); Elizabeth Inrig (the woman thing); Reg Grant (writing).

Three things I love about my upbringing: A huge garden that included fresh asparagus; breathtaking views (we lived on the Willamette River with a view of Mt. Hood from the living room window); and clam digging on the coast.

Three things my parents taught me to make: Apple cider in a big cider press, a dress, and a book.

Three more things they taught me: To canoe, to hike, to make stained-glass windows with crayon shavings.

Three favorite places in Oregon: Fort Stevens near Astoria (see photo); Mt. Hood including a stop at our cabin on the way; tie between Cannon Beach (where we fell in love) and my cousins' place on the river in Lebanon, Oregon (the inner tube float trips we took as kids--cold but unbeatable!)

Three instruments I can play (more or less): Piano, autoharp, viola.

Three vacations I'll always remember: The two-week vacation in the Tetons when I was 13; backpacking the Grand Canyon (the things you do for love!) with my husband, dad, and in-laws when I was 27; the Greek cruise/Ephesus trip Gary and I took for our 25th anniversary.

Three more vacations I'll always remember: Orlando with our friend, Kelly, and his kids; the Oregon-Washington-British Columbia trip we took with Kelly and my sister, Mary's, family during which we had no rain for nine days; last spring in Europe when we stayed with friends instead of in hotels and got a much better sense for how people really live there.

Three ministry trips I'll always remember: Our first trip to Russia/Belarus in 1992 (I'd never seen people lining up for milk); our first trip to Culiacan (Mexico) in 1995 (we met our friend Carlos); my trip to do a women's retreat in Munich last November (singing the Doxology in something like fourteen languages).

Three days I'll never forget: Our wedding day, our first pregnancy loss, the day our daughter was placed in our arms.

Tell me three things about you. Three books you love? Three things that bug you about winter? Three fave restaurants?

Deep Thoughts about Super Bowl XLI

The Super Bowl went swimmingly, huh?

In our house we have already dubbed this year's SuperBowl with some nicknames: The Rain Bowl. The Drop Bowl. The RainDrop Bowl. The Skid Bowl. The Fumble Bowl. The Greased-Pig-Skin Bowl.

Just a few things we want to know...

. How is it that we can build a stadium that holds more than 200,000 people, but we can't keep pouring rain off the field?
. Who chooses the half-time performer, anyway?
. Why pay for HDTV when the lens has water drops all over it?

Our fave commercial: Class Mencia. The auctioneer wedding was funny, too. Both from Bud Light. The beer-makers clearly have the best ad agencies. Reminds me of a birthday card I once saw: "Happy Birthday, and may you have as much fun today as the people on beer commercials."

What were your faves?