silver

I made a new friend at Sukkot this year. Chaiyah is from Missouri so I don't know when I might see her again but I sure was blessed getting to know her. I'm pleased to be able to call her my friend.

a different perspective

Same Superstition Mountain from a different angle.

golden walk

Tessa, Lily, and I went for a walk, or more  accurately, they ran and I walked and snapped as the sun sank and momentarily painted the lane in golden light.

alphabet cookies

Just the other day Jay came home from our favorite discount grocery store with another box of organic alphabet cookies....just in time for Tessa's visit. Apparently she had a packet of homework from school but it never made it to my house. We sat down one afternoon for a highly motivated reading lesson. 

I pulled one handful of cookies out of the box at a time. We reviewed the letter sounds and stopped to watch our alphabet sounds video when we stumbled across a letter or two that were still giving her trouble (slippery N and Y). I put the cookies in alphabetical order on the counter in front of us, made a two or three letter word and we worked on blending the letter sounds together to figure out the word. 

Once she read the word she wrote it, then got to eat the word. Another handful of letters and on we went for a LONG time. Those cookies have amazing focus power. 

Sometime as the afternoon wound down I noticed the wonderful light coming in the window and started snapping pictures. What fun expressions. 

After we had read, written and eaten all the vowels we went back and reread each word that she had written....resulting in, you guessed it, eating the excess consonants. I was glad the cookies were organic as by the end of the lesson she had almost eaten the whole box. 

But that's what Grandma's are for, right?

 

fun on the farm

Tessa visited from New Mexico last week and spent a couple of nights at my house. She has a blast with the almost grown chicks. Natale has spend lots of time holding these babies so they are much more willing to be picked up and hauled around than my older chickens.

 

the temptation of eve

Saturday morning the 5th of October we presented the drama for the first time. I had a 45 second part at the very beginning when the music first started. I ran to the front with a large flag of The Lion of Judah with the universe as the background. I circled three times then exited stage right while God and Adam strolled up the aisle to stage left. My part was over and I stepped into the sound booth to watch the drama unfold. I had a huge grin on my face even while tears leaked out my eyes. For thirteen minutes no one in the audience moved, save grabbing a hanky, as each heart was captured by this story that is so central to our relationship with our creator.

When the music came to an end, there was a palatable silence as God, arms outspread as if on the cross, stood alone on the platform. 

On Sunday morning, I filled in for a missing dancing angel in the middle of the story. When I finished my part I grabbed my camera, snuck to the front of the room, and attempted to capture some stills.

Satin swings Eve, adding to her confusion while Adam reaches out to Eve.

 Eve examines the fruit as Satin whispers lies.

 

Eve offers the fruit to Adam. First he declines but finally agrees to join her in her disobedience.

Got reaches out to Adam and Eve but is unable to reach through the barrier that has been created.

Eve points in accusation at Satan.

Just before the drama ends. God hands Adam the skin of an animal he has just killed. As the music intensifies Adam and Eve slowly make their way down the aisle looking sadly over their shoulders as God lifts his arms as if on the cross.  Music ends. Silence. More silence.

Later during the sermon the Rabbi referred to the drama several times. At one point he choked up and said, "I saw God's heart broken here today."

dancing in eden

Back in July, the last day I had Tessa as a homeschool student, I had a new friend visit in the evening. She was a "friend of a friend".  Peggy had been given a piece of music and a vision for a drama/dance to illustrate the temptation and fall in the Garden of Eden. Peggy came to share her ideas and ask if I might come along side her to assist with the dance aspects of the presentation.

I fell in love with the dialog-less drama as I listened to the music the first time and Peggy talked me through her vision. The second time through I share what I was seeing, dancing out the parts as the music played. We both left excited about what the Father had planned.

I marveled, once again how Abba's timing is always perfect. With Tessa at my house sometimes three or four days (and nights) a week I would not have been able to take on the practice schedule the drama required. As the door shut, the window opened. When we returned from our Michigan visit we scheduled the first drama practice. We met once a week with the drama. One of the ideas I added to the 13 minute event was a circle of 6 angel dancers worshiping off to the side as God recounted his days of creation to Adam and Eve via video/slide show. The dancers required a second weekly practice schedule.

 (Me checking out the tree. Adam's dad is an artist and made the tree for us)

Last night was our dress rehearsal and the first time the drama and dancers came together from start to finish. Praise Yah for bringing it all together and may He be glorified this weekend as we share the creativity he placed in us. May the visual story impact the hearts of all who watch as we remember that first temptation and the sorrow we bring when we choose death rather than life.

doggy

Natale's doggy echos the Velveteen Rabbit story. His fur has been loved off from 6 years of snuggling. Yesterday doggy accidentally stayed behind when Natale went home. Natale was not happy with the situation at first but enjoyed the text messages I sent updating her on doggies evening. When she arrived this morning she found doggy snuggled in a blanket on the couch with a note he had written her about his adventures.