Thanksgiving column

This is the column I wrote two years ago after our Thanksgiving festivities. Since you won't get this week's column until later, you can read that one here. It brings back good memories. Enjoy!

Quote of the day

The Groggy YA (not to be confused with the Shaggy DA) to me this morning after his first sip of a new french roast that a faithful reader just recently gave me: "Is this something different than the Jamaican Me Crazy (our normal brew)?"

Me: "Why?"

The Groggy YA: "Well, when I looked in the grinder, I thought it looked darker than usual. I thought maybe it was a clever ploy to get me to drink the Tanzanian Peaberry." Which,clearly, his mother doesn't like.

Two stuffed turkeys

Due to human error (sigh), the column did not run in yesterday's paper. I've been told it will probably run in Wednesday's edition. As I told the kind and gracious Editor Monica, "There will be more than one stuffed turkey on Thanksgiving Day, I'm tellin' you!"

That's what happens when your brain is going in 49 directions all at the same time.

Sighing again,

The Squaw

P.S. - Editor Monica would certainly not be the turkey of which I speak. Nonetheless, I can't help hoping they are deluged with phone calls and emails ("Where is that Schrock column?!") just to keep them mindful of who people are reading. :)

"Thanks for the entertainment"

That's what an elderly couple said to us on Saturday night after watching the six of us - The Mister and I and four active boys - having pictures taken at the Farmstead Inn in Shipshewana.

We were over in the conference center where they have a nice fireplace and a lovely Christmas tree. There was some women's deal going on close by, plus guests of the Inn were wandering through. For some reason, those passing through were intrigued with the goings on, and some of them stopped to observe for awhile.

There was jumping (see below) and chasing (not seen below) with goofy smiles, painful grimaces, and a certain amount of jockeying and posturing.

Maybe it was the size. Anymore, four children is considered a big family. Maybe it was our unique "all-boys" makeup. Maybe it was the obvious wide spread in ages. Maybe they simply found it fascinating to watch the interactions amongst them.

Whatever it was, it caught their attention, and when the one couple was ready to walk away, they said, "Thank you for the evening's entertainment!"

See what I mean? It's a circus, and I could be rich if I were only selling tickets. Forget the typing. Forget those pesky deadlines and turnaround times. I'm setting up shop and advertising our own three-ring circus, our own special branch of Barnum & Bailey's.

"Coming soon to a town near you...HURry, HURry, get your tickets here! Fresh peanuts and cotton candy..."

The ringmaster and ticket seller.


Send in the clowns!

And here are the first of the pictures to come through; anticipating more very soon from our very special photographer.

Enjoy,

The Squaw

In Thy presence

"Pursuing God is hard."

That's what a friend said to me this week. And how right she was.

Pursuing God and pursuing true life, eternal life, is the hardest thing in the world. Why? Because it is always, always opposed.

Being content with the status quo, with life as it is, is far more comfortable in some ways. And yet, there's no life in it.

Pastor Dave has said that motion by its very nature creates friction. If this is true in the physical world, it is doubly true in the spiritual world. Until we learn that we were born into a world at war, nothing in our lives will make much sense. Until we tire of living in the status quo, nothing in life will truly satisfy.

I'm on a quest. I'm on a mission, and that mission is life and healing. More than anything (as the deer pants for the water), I long to be healthy. I long to be whole. Holiness, I've heard it explained, is really 'wholeness.' That's good!

So, I'm pursuing God, and the enemy is opposing.

This morning as I was reading in the Psalms again, this is what I found: "You will show me the path of life. In Thy presence is fullness of joy." Ps. 16:11

In the midst of darkness, in the midst of poverty (whether it be a literal poverty or a poverty of spirit), in the midst of suffering, 'get thee into His presence.' There you will find abundant life. There you will find fullness of joy.