A Belated Memorium, and the Promise of an Introduction

Did you know that author Madeliene L'Engle died this past fall? Apparently this wasn't a happening that made the radio, but for those of us who have been shaped by her writings, this is indeed news-worthy!


Hmm... for those of you with a pull toward the creative, read Walking on Water if you've not yet. Madeliene takes on faith, art, the work of the Spirit in and through us...


I mean it! For those of you who don't already love her works, be inspired to discover the gift that her writing is!


Here is a better source of inspiration-- a beautiful NY times obit. I mean that seriously. It communicates something of the honor due:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/08/books/07cnd-lengle.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&ref=books

My first reading recommendation is Walking on Water, then A Wrinkle in Time and its companions, then A Circle of Quiet. Actually, those are the only books of hers that I have read, so to be honest I guess that isn't a very encompassing recommendation. What I've read, I've liked, and perhaps if you choose something of hers, you will enjoy it, too...


Read! Read the NY Times piece, then one of Madeliene's books. At a future meeting, I will acquaint you with a dear friend of hers and mine, Ms. Luci Shaw...

Baby Garden

Look at the cute counter! Thanks due to Naomi and the link from her blog...

We're Back!

It's seems to me that my friend Amy or my friend Mel would give good advice about not blogging about not blogging. In the same way that they give advice about not talking about the camera when someone is video-taping you. It is an archiving no-no. But, well, I haven't blogged in a while, and feel compelled to acknowledge that.

Oh, glad change of topics. A man behind me just walked into the library and said, "Where's she at?" But it didn't sound the way it probably sounds in your mind. Use your best Southern and try it again. Do you hear it? When he said it, my Northern language processor heard, "Horse ****!" Of course that doesn't make sense, and I figured it out when the woman behind the desk said, "She's in the back."

Much, much more importantly, if you haven't heard already...

We're having a baby! The newest Norquist has an estimated delivery date of September 28th, 2008. We are, of course, quite excited. Aren't you??? We had an ultrasound at 7 weeks (now at 9 weeks, 2 days) and saw the little arm and leg nubs and heard the heart beat. It really sounded steady and strong. By now the baby has all of its parts, they are just really, really, minuscule. There is a lot of growing left to do, but it is pretty neat to think of all of the crafting God has already done!

I can't say much to follow that up. Oh, here's a beautiful book with beautiful images of fetal development (the text isn't my thing, but the illustrations/photos are like no others):

From Conception to Birth: A Life Unfolds

by Alexander Tsiaris

Semester 2

Well, it's back to work for us this week-- the county schools are in session this week, so I am back in the classroom, and Ben has been on campus at Bryan preparing for the second semester, which begins next Monday. I'm pretty excited about the classes Ben is teaching this semester (he is, too)-- The Church as a Global Community and The Gospel and Human Trafficking (I might have the title of that one a bit off). As busy as the semesters are with our day jobs, evening classes, retreats, etc., and as much as I've enjoyed the winter break, I must say that I miss the students and all of the happenings on campus. All will be back in full swing soon enough! Bryan kicks off the semester with their Christian Life Conference Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of next week with Nick Nowalk presenting about Jonathan Edwards' theology of the trinity in chapel and evening sessions. We are praying that the Holy Spirit will move the students' affections to adore God in deeper and life-altering ways.

Contacting the Norquists

Ok, altogether, Ben and I have 4 cell phones. How many did we bring with us for these hours of driving and weeks' long trips out of town? None. Ugh. So call our parents to find us. Or email us. We are truly sorry. I mean, truly. All I can say is this is something we would do. You can say that, too, I bet.

Nunna daul Tsuny (The Trail Where They Cried)

Last night our neighbor, Dave, came over for a visit and brought a gift of two arrow heads that he found recently here in the cove where we all live. He pointed out the differing colors of the arrowheads and explained that the darker flint is made from a local stone, and the lighter tan colored flint is from farther north, so it was probably traded for.

Dave says that the Trail of Tears came through this area on a path just behind our property, as in, you can see it from the back of our house! I knew that the Trail came through Dayton, but did not know its specific route. I am so motivated to find out more of this... And a little humbled. I confess that I have harbored a little bit of attitude against the invisible "powers that be" of Dayton who have not done much to acknowledge or remember the forced relocation of the Cherokee through our area. Couldn't they have put up some sort of display or memorial plaque or something, somewhere in town? Now I feel a little pang of guilt over my judgement of whoever they are that didn't made a big enough deal of this, and a genuine desire to know more about this history that literally walked through our back yard...

Honestly, Native American history was not that interesting to me until last spring, when Ben and I read a history of Minnesota. I don't recall the title.. something about a tour of Minnesota historical sites or something? The author spent a lot of time on the history of relations between the pioneer settlers and the Native peoples. Learning those specific stories really piqued my interest in the vast (in some ways merely unknown, in some ways unknowable) history of the Native American peoples. This furthers one of the lessons I learn over and over again in life-- that if I just take the time to get to know a person (or in this case, about people groups), I will truly care for them.

Maybe we should put together a little local history to accompany our artifacts... And seek out others' stories-- the Lord will teach us much about Himself if listen to the story of His works and love those whom He loves.

Check back for Cherokee history...

Thanksgiving

We are in Hudson, enjoying time with family after our Norquist Thanksgiving dinner. Niece Sophia is indeed adorable, and very content and happy. We love her.

Yesterday we spent time with the Harms side, hearing stories from Grandma Harms about the family rabblerousers-- my dad (who once stole a pumpkin?) and grandma's uncle Fred, who owned a nightclub in Hollywood during prohibition, and wrote one letter home to the farm in Illinois which read, "They're after me." A new story to us. Grandma definitely surprises us sometimes.

Tomorrow we head back to Tennessee, certainly full of good family time. Being away from family these past few months really helps one to savor even a short visit like this!

Northward Ho!

This afternoon we will begin our Thanksgiving journey.
We have hummus, pita chips, cupcakes, oranges, apples and almonds to sustain us, and a AAA triptik to guide us (FYI you can get your own, even non-members at AAA.com. Major upgrade from mapquest. Actually, too much of an upgrade if you're just trying to find the opthamologist. Unless you are planning to camp nearby.)
We have Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community and War as our quite-relevant audio book companion and a backlog of about 2 months worth of periodicals which we've not had time to read.
Our schedule is as follows:
Tuesday 3pm depart Dayton, TN
Tuesday 11 pm arrive Paducah, KY?
Wednesday 3pm arrive Pecatonica, IL to pick up Grandma Harms
Wednesday 5 pm arrive Sun Prairie, WI
Friday, 7 am depart Sun Prairie, WI
Thursday, 11 am arrive Hudson, WI
Saturday, 2pm depart Hudson, WI
Sunday, 7pm arrive Dayton, TN

Yippee! We'll see some of you soon!

Way More than Twice the Stars...

I can't figure out how to add this site to the favorite sites list, so here it is:

http://hubblesite.org/

I relate to those who don't really believe that the space program exists, or that man has never really been to the moon. I mean, I believe it, but perhaps just barely? Take a look at some of these photos taken by the Hubble. Aren't they incredible? It is pretty neat to think that all of these things are out there, and God has always enjoyed them as part of his creation, and now we can see little glimpses, too! And to think that these wonders are out there almost without limit, and that the microscopic world is just as amazing as the telescopic universe! And all of this is meant to point us to the reality of God! And these are just a shadow of His real glory! I think that the many exclamation points in this post are indeed called for.

Twice the Stars

Tired! We're tired. I'm tired. I came home at 12:00 last night after a late meeting with students--the meeting started at 10:00 PM because college students are so busy that there was no other time to meet. So we met at 10:00...and I tripped into my house just in time to pass out next to my already slumbering Ariel. One thing has become painfully clear since my rebirth into life at college: I'm not a college student anymore. It used to be that the night only got started at 11:00 PM. 12:00 was a nice time to brew another pot of coffee and start a movie. Bed time wasn't until 1:30 or 2:00. When I hear myself recite this schedule in my head I can only respond What was I thinking!

Last night the Rwanda team came together again for the first time since our return, a nice brief evening to chat about how we'll tell our stories and report on the good work of the Lord when we stand before the student body in chapel in a few weeks. The main thing is going to be conveying to students who haven't personally been there what we saw the Lord do in our midst, and then inviting them to be impacted in their own spirits by what they've heard us report. If that can happen, then the chapel presentation will have been quite significant.

Well, we're close to completeing the move--we've got just a few boxes and a few loads of laundry left at our old (I say old...we've only been there a few months) Bryan Village appartment. I must say, the benefits of our new place are already presenting themselves. Let me count some of them:

• It's quieter in the cove
• It's darker at night in the cove
• It's got wood floors
• It's got a killer front porch with a killer view
• It's got a guest bedroom so we can properly host you when you visit
• In the morning, before sunrise, I can see twice as many stars, and they're brighter!