Eclectic Momma: June 2020

Sunday, June 28, 2020

Bible Study on the Trail

Last night, Tera planned and led our Bible study on the trail. We went through The Beatitudes as we hiked Meadow Loop trail at Fort Loudoun State Park.

Stopping for blackberries...

Someone stopped for a longer time than the rest of us...

Friday, June 26, 2020

Change

Shame

Condescension

The "enlightened ones" say:

"How dare you..."

"You don't have a voice in this conversation..."

"You cannot stay silent, you MUST speak..."

"I can't believe you would think xyz or abc, you must be a...."

STOP! Be quiet!!

The barrage of sharing opinions with the public on social media platforms is more widespread than the pandemic we are living through. I have had enough!

You don't know MY story, yet you judge me based on your own preconceived notions about how life has treated me or what I choose to believe about an issue or by what I look like. You think shame, condescension under the guise of educating the public will change the people you interact with on social media?

Change happens when we stop sharing our opinions about what OTHER people should do and start LISTENING, SHARING our stories with each other, REACHING out to others IN PERSON...on a PERSONAL level...in REAL life!

THAT is when and where change happens!

In your own heart,

In your own family,

With your own friends,

In that group of people God has placed in front of you that you have actually invested time in their lives.

NOT the all-too-often pseudo-friendships of social media where we can say whatever we want behind the safety of our computer screens while we wait to categorize our likes and dislikes.

That is not when and where change happens.

Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Karate belts

Michael has earned quite a few belts since he started as a Tiger in karate when he turned 6. I have researched creative ways to display his belts, because I refused to pay $20-30 for the belt holders they sell. Over the past year, I have found THREE different belt holders at thrift stores for a whopping total of $12! (We found two just this week!) So, now all his belts are organized and displayed. I do need to come up with some kind of topper for the two new ones. I'm thinking about commissioning my expert painter, Tera for that in the near future.

Father's Day 2020

Tera made homemade turtle biscotti for JP and Chocolate Delight dessert to go along with our BBQ and brats dinner. The dessert was for sharing; the biscotti was not.

The World's Greatest Dad being goofy...

It was a low-key Father's Day weekend. Daniel worked all weekend, so we had dinner together Saturday night after he got home. Tera and JP went out exploring early Sunday morning, but other than that we just chilled out.

This and that

We've had this cactus for years and it finally bloomed.

Michael and I have been going on a weekly hike. It's been humid and hot, but I'm starting to get used to it. It's not always pleasant but it's bearable.

One of Michael's Lego challenges--make your favorite food out of Legos. Can you guess?

Answer: Chicken leg, French fries and ketchup (on the plate and coming out of the packet)

Michael did some drawings of Daniel--this was not his favorite (aka "best", according to him) but to me it looks so much like Daniel that I love it!

Clover Bowl celebration time with an ice cream sundae bar!

Daniel's graduation present--

Tuesday, June 16, 2020

Red Belt

Michael was scheduled to test for his red belt back in March the week the world shut down here in our neck of the woods. He finally tested this week during class time for his red belt. THREE class times for his belt test. He worked HARD!!

On Tuesday, he demonstrated his judo techniques; Thursday--tae kwon do techniques and board breaking; and Saturday he sparred with two other students in his "Black Belt Club" and his teacher.

I have to admit I was a bit nervous since this was the first major human-to-human contact Michael has had besides family since Covid-19 started. I survived and so did he.