TWO 80th Suprise Parties: Bookend a Great 10 days

Last weekend was full of thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving for step-dad Howard's 80th surprise birthday party. He was surprised! Meeting and getting to know his dearest friends and family we don't know well, or have never met. Nice to have time with in-laws at an event that honored this wonderful man.

The Farrels, Bill, Pam and Caleb, in El Cajon: Gave Tyler private tutoring in football. Generous hosts in every way. Great conversation, ice cream, a BBQ + a blessed morning in their mega-church Shadow Mountain (which was nice when I've come away cold and disheartened from many church services so far). There was a guest classical guitarist, and a guest speaker with an inspiring message to HANG IN THERE. Both made me weep more than once!

The Farrels came to Singapore in February where we reconnected over dinner and hearing the two of them speak to singles. Being with them again, it is exciting to see their clear sense of call for building up marriages (through speaking and writing), and Pam's new minsitry to women over 40: cell groups for friends to spur one another on to love and good deeds (Heb 10:23,24). The groups are called "Seasoned Sisters." Can't wait to have a group of my own like this! The book for the first year of these Seasoned Sisters groups is Fantastic After 40! Check out the links. Wanna start one together?

Then this past week, since our trip down the San Diego area, there's so much more to be thankful for...

Cameron having a blast of a 2nd week where he's the ONLY child around. This week he's with my folks, camping in San Diego at Silver Strand State Beach. My parents really shower him with love and attention and he just SOAKS it up. (Last week, he was with Jim and I for a special "only child week" while Tyler was away on a church houseboating trip).

I'm loving the "99cent Store" and the Monday delivery of the Trader Joe's produce! PLAN: I see what's in stock before decide on the week's dinner menus. And grocery shopping elsewhere is still really fun. Stores are all as beautiful as Jason's (an upscale place in Singapore), and the WIDE aisles. I love it! I now know my way around the local grocery stores and we're trying out some new foods we've never eaten. We also now have enough quarters to do laundry (Jim went and got $100 worth!)

I wrote about tyler and football in and earlier post. I'm really proud of his determination and how he's maturing.

I'm thankful for a great meeting with the Technical Director at Pasadena City College. I really think I'm going to enjoy my classes there.

Another hike on a mountain trail near our home. Discovered a Children's Museum while wandering around a park near the famous Rose Bowl where UCLA plays their home football games.

Then this weekend I'm thankful some more....

My brother Kevin flew into town and almost made it from LAX to Maranatha High in time for Tyler's football scrimmage.

The 4 of us Creasmans strolled Paseo Colorado (our local outdoor mall) to check out the weekend nightlife in Pasadena. Such beautiful comfortable weather. At one end of the mall they were giving free salsa lessons with a live band. About 300 people were learning the steps! What a city! A young woman saw Tyler's "Maranatha" sweatshirt and popped up to us to introduce herself as a sophomore who studies there too. Sweet.

Another chance to get to know our church for the year: Lake Avenue. Attended a Sunday School class geared for Entertainment Industry professionals. Had a warm reception from them and enjoyed meeting many creative people, both in class and over lunch.

Saw an old friend perform in a stage production of Beauty and the Beast. She'd babysat the boys before we moved to Asia 10 years ago, now she's married, a teacher and doing singing and acting on the side! While congratulating her afterward, she introduced us to her good friend who is going to be Tyler's drama teacher this year. He and his wife were also there as her "fan club."

Then we bookended these two weekends with ANOTHER 80th Surprise Birthday Party: Jim's Aunt Mary, who lives about 10 minutes from us here. Had a sweet time listening to her grand-daughter tell me of her journey as an artist. I look forward to and am glad for this part of our family who we haven't known well, but now live so near.

It's going to be a fun year even if it's just a whole bunch of days like the past 10 have been: connecting with interesting people and soaking up who they are and what God is doing through them.

Game Ready? Game Exhausted!

Game Ready? Game Exhausted!
Originally uploaded by K!Mberly

This photo is my favourite of the summer. Taken in July, on the way back from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes football camp.

But here's the news from tonight: Tyler was sitting at our dinner table telling his athlete tales about his making it through to Thursday of football's 2-A-Day practices called "Hell week" (2x3 hours of intense physical conditioning). Before this week started, most of the rest of the boys were in the summer conditioning program. Tyler had missed most of it because of our 4 week road trip to see family & friends. He was rightly feeling scared that the others have all played on teams before and have gotten in such better shape this summer while he was away.

So tonight, the end of day 3, He told us the way he was mentally getting through: He thought about the individual exercise at hand and tried not to think too far ahead. He said he needed to just focus on getting through that and then worry about the next one. Don't think about the practice later that day, or how many days to go. "If I didn't focus on the hard part right in front of me, I'd have lost heart." He told us he's been quoting scripture to himself: Isaiah 40, Proverbs 21:31. Praying for strength along the way (How many challenges in life he will have the opportunity to apply this lesson to?)

The JV team started the week with more kids than uniforms - 65. At the end of this afternoon's practice, they've lost 1/3 of them. We wondered how many of those guys had working parents, or little encouragement from home to stick with it. I've pumped calories and good healthy food into him all week, massaged his legs with tiger balm, prayed over him...he's really gotten a lot of TLC this week. He's hobbling around like a 90 year old man, but he's blossoming into a man of confidence and strength before our eyes. It's remarkable what a bit of encouragement can do. Well, plus the big lesson of being stretched beyond yourself to find you can do more than you thought.

One time this week, when I told Tyler how proud I was for him to keep at it, I told him I believed he had what it takes, he said, "Well, thanks mom. I'm glad you have faith in me, 'cause I'm not a confident in me as you are!"

It's not just that he merely wants to play football during his big "year in America;" he wants to play QUARTERBACK (the brains and the leader of the team out on playing the field). All through the summer I've watched him stand tall and confidently tell people that's the position he's going to play. Jim and I are wondering, "Are we encouraging him to overreach??" "Are we setting him up for failure or heartbreak?" There are at least 4 boys older than him who are also going to play the position. He's wavered thinking about it through the summer, "Am I being realistic? Should I go for one of the other positions so that I'd have a better shot at being successful?...At getting a chance to play? ...At NOT making a fool of myself?"

And I think of a scene in the movie PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS. Will Smith's character, Chris Gardner, tries to give his little son a dose of reality about his future playing pro basketball...and TOTALLY deflates him. But then Chris wisely goes for a rebound with a speech to him about NEVER letting anyone talk you out of your dream.

So Jim and I have said to our eldest: "Tyler, if you want to play quarterback, then stick with it. You never know how it's going to turn out. If you've got a dream, and you know it's your heart's desire, don't give up on it unless GOD himself closes the door. And just think how very, VERY cool it will be if he keeps it open for you!"

(and then I have to pray that God's plan is to not close the door by allowing an INJURY in this sport the coach calls "controlled violence!").

He's heading off to bathe now; repeating hIs news from the coach today: in their last full day of "hell week" tomorrow, he'll definitely be playing "scout quarterback" for the defensive teams. He's psyched! I even detect a little bounce in his hobble!

"Top 10 Questions About Life"

Have you seen the Sean Covey books?
Before their weekly guitar lessons last year, Jim and Tyler went through
The 6 Most Important Decisions You'll Ever Make
(they haven't read
The 7 habits of Highly Effective Teens
which I'm sure is as practical as his best selling dad's book).
They're really insightful and well communicated. You may like it for inspiration!

Here are my top 10 questions (well, more than 10...but who's counting?)
During College Life Questions (some I still ponder):

What's the point? Why are we here? I learned that it's "to give glory to God," but I just don't see it.
Why are people so hateful & mean to each other when being kind works, and it makes everyone happier?
Why is there so much suffering and abuse in the world? What makes people be so evil?
Why do those with the means to make a difference for good not do something to really change the world?
What career path should I choose? Can I make millions somehow so I can change the world?
How can I make a living following my heart and the things I am passionate about?
Will I be able to handle all the responsibilities that come my way?
If Christianity is true and Christians are promised an 'abundant life thru Jesus,' why do they all seem so unhappy and duty driven?
Is it really better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all?
How can truth be "relative?" that doesn't make sense.

My mid-40 questions:

Am I doing enough, or the right things, to significantly make the world a better place?
Am I giving the children adequate experiences and education to find their calling in life?
Is my healthy diet enough, or do I have to buy organic foods in order to not poison myself?
How can men (and my boys) stay sexually healthy/pure when sensuality and sex is so unavoidably in our faces all the time?
Am I too old to take a dance class?
How should I prioritize the competing demands of life - what, of all the good things, should I focus on?
What will it be like when my parents health starts to fail?
Since I got boys as children, will I get any girls as grandchildren?
How will I die?
Will I outlive my husband or will I go first?


[The above was in response to cousin Carl E. Creasman's query: Hi there, family—I need your help.
Would you please send me a “Top 10 Questions about Life” that you are facing. What are the most important things that you are dealing with now, or say over the past few years? These could be things that, now, you believe you have satisfactorily answered.]

Pasadena City College Wanderings

A very productive, enlightening, strides forward kind of day.

Finished up Tyler's registration process at his new school. My "baby" is off houseboating and waterskiing and wakeboarding and possibly flirting somewhere on the Sacramento River Delta. Our home church's version of Camp. 13 houseboats. 200 kids. You can call in a number everyday and get an update from the youth pastor. Today he reported that they'd tied the boats all together to make "Water World" with a big open space between them to jump off the roofs of the boats into. SO, in honor of how I'm feeling, I'll post a picture from about 10 years ago:

Today I also went over to to MY new school: Pasadena City College.
Prayerfully wandered around the music department, theatre dept, foreign languages, bookstore (where I overheard 2 students speaking Chinese), and administration. You can learn a lot about the ethos of a school by doing that...and reading what's on the bulletin boards. After a couple hours there, I feel less nervous...more at home.

Spent more time looking over my class options and figuring out how a schedule might work. The person from the technical theatre department was not able to meet me today afterall, so I'll go see him at 10 tomorrow a.m. I've asked to meet with him to prioritize my classes and give advice about what will be offered next semester.

Took to admissions the copy of my CA tax returns and copy of driver's license (the original got packed to storage in Singapore). Good thing i took one of those emails seriously....you know the one that says, "Stop what you're doing right now and go make a copy of all the items in your wallet." Only I scanned the items and that act, and the resulting copy of my CA driver's license is saving me $150 a unit because it's spirit-of-the-law 'proof' of my CA residence.

While waiting for the theatre teacher, a young woman who'd driven from hawthorne wanted to borrow my course catalog and my pen. She's going to have another go at trying to take some college classes. She's tried before, but had to drop. Before she left I asked if I could pray for her. She said yes so I prayed right there for her: to be successful in her time management of work and school, in helping keep up her motivation and dedication to sticking with the work, and in knowing God's great love for her and his guidance for her future. It was kind of fun. She walked away grinning.

(A few weeks ago I decided that I'm going to be actively looking for opportunities to pray with people, strangers or not. And especially every week at church - do my part in making sure that at least one person's effort to get there is blessed by a personal caring touch of a prayer. I know it sounds a little kooky, but I'm comfortable with it, people seem to like it, and it's about the only thing lately i've sensed that the Lord is truly calling me to do.)

Disappointed by my discovery that the Chinese Department teaches the Taiwanese traditional script (and not the easier script used by 1/4 of the world's population!!) I wondered what we're going to do as a family to keep up with the language if taking a class here is not an option. Then I saw 3 Chinese speaking students in admissions who were obviously a little lost as to what to do next. I was able to come alongside them and help them out by translating the instructions about ESL placement. That was fun too. Give them some real help and encourage them too as we left the building together, "i've been in your shoes in Kunming, so I know what it's like to be confused and unable to read!" and "Just think, in 2 years you'll be able to speak English better than I speak Chinese!...But, that will only happen if you don't hang out only with Chinese friends!" we parted ways as they headed toward the ESL dept.

and then i had an idea: 1 for 1 hours of tutoring for all of us with a Chinese national, then having them stay for dinner. OR hosting an "English Corner" in our home once a week. It would be pretty easy to get students out just by posting a notice in Chinese on a bulletin board in the ESL dept. Something to definitely pray about! Will we do it or is just one of the many ideas that enter my mind in a day?