Miss E's Big Day

Of course this baby would be a boy - that's just what Creasys have. Except that this baby was a girl. Half an hour after the doctor declared I wouldn't be going into labor anytime soon, I went into labor. Another half hour found us holding our daughter. That determination is a trait she continues even today. As soon as they cleaned her up, the nurses put a pink bow in her hair and she's been "all girl" ever since.

We named her Elizabeth, following the family tradition of naming the first daughter that. She is Elizabeth VII. It wasn't until the hospital insisted we give them the rest of the name for the birth certificate that we finally came up with the rest of her name three days later. Emma Elizabeth, named after my great-aunt and a special woman that took us under her wing in college.  We had a boy name picked out, but had never discussed the possibility that it could be a girl!

"Miss E" was "Daddy's Little Girl" as well as "Angel-Girl" to her grandma and "Prissy Miss" to her granddaddy.  Yes, she was spoiled, and relished her position as the only girl amongst all the boys for a long time. We kept saying, "Wait until she starts school and sees the whole world doesn't revolve around her. That'll be an eye-opener."  Well, on the first day of school, like all the other little girls, she wore her favorite pink outfit and had a pink back-pack.  But alas! The teacher pinned on a YELLOW school bus with her name on it to her dress! That would never do - it didn't match her outfit at all! But did the teacher say, "But Elizabeth, everyone else is wearing a yellow bus and that's just the color the buses are?" No, she made her a special pink bus.

It's been a long time since that first day of school, with many lessons, both a part of the curriculum or a part of life. Along the way, she started going by Emma, and added a husband and an adorable son. Today she completes a big step, participating in the commencement exercises at the University of Louisville. She's earning her degree and has already been accepted into graduate school. When she did her internship last fall, she was impressive enough to be hired to fill a position that opened up, even though she did not yet have all the qualifications. She enjoys her work in the Homeless Prevention Program, helping people get their lives back on track. I'm just glad she enjoys her work, though also love that she's doing something that will make a difference to others. Now that she knows her calling, hopefully, she'll enjoy future jobs as well.

Congratulations, "Miss E!" We are all so proud of you!

Season of Change

The earth is displaying a bounty of green, from the trees that have burst forth with leaves overlooking the grass below, to the plants that sprouted from the ground.

It is the season of change, as lives are on the brink, wavering between the past and the future. Lives stretch out beyond us with an uncertain future. We don't know where the path may lead, how long it will continue, or the twists and turns along the way.

Students, have worked hard with the goal of graduation standing like a beacon before them. They've reached it, so now what?  While the graduate, from high school or college, expects to be at this point, often, others are hesitating on their journey as well. Surprisingly, there are as many questions by those nearing the end of their lives as those starting out.

Questions fill the mind, as possibilities dance through the mind. Some thoughts come in and wait, while others flit through with abandon. Each one is an opportunity for growth, for contribution, for service, or of receiving... and any of the options could be the correct choice for the moment.

Ah, that's the significance, isn't it? The "for the moment" nature of the possibilities, our choices, and our actions propel us along our path.  What seemed so right at one time, and indeed, probably was, is not necessarily what is right for all times. Seasons change, and with them, the needs of the moment.

My own "for the moment" situation finds me wrestling with this just as urgently as I have at other turning points in my life. However, the options do not flood my mind, but dangle just out of reach, as I pray for discernment. They peek out seductively, yet scurry back before I can grasp them.

There is a time for everything, 
and a season for every activity under the heavens.  
He has made everything beautiful in its time.  
Ecclesiastes 3:1 and 11.  

For this reason, I am sure that it is the time for something, yet I do not know at the moment, what that something is.
 Turn, Turn, Turn

There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die, 

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,  

a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh, 

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, 

 a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, 

a time to search and a time to give up, 

 a time to keep and a time to throw away, 

a time to tear and a time to mend, 

 a time to be silent and a time to speak, 

 a time to love and a time to hate, 

 a time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8