Anniversary

Strewn across the table
old notes of love
youthful
exclamation

today
years later
we text
sweet thoughts

i know our
love will be
forever fresh frightening

because a word
from you
in any form

still whispers to
my heart
rest easy

you've found
a place
to stay
the night

Revival - Remembering

Dear Mom,

Last night was one of those times I could feel your smile around me. I heard from a friend that there was a Revival service at Cove United Methodist Church, a 100 year old church in NW Georgia. I've driven past it before and I've always wanted to go inside and also explore the little cemetery behind it. My sweet Dale Allen agreed to go on this theophany jaunt with me (celebrating 32 years of marriage to this amazing man today!!) and we enjoyed the drive through the Chickamauga Battlefield on our way to the church ("always take the scenic route" is a lesson I learned well from you!)

As we walked through the cemetery filled with crumbling gravestones and Confederate flags it occurred to me that this kind of outing is something you would have loved! And you would have had to talk Dad into doing it too though I think Dale is just a little more open to the possibilities of theophanies than Dad was :-) In the quiet of that little Southern cemetery I felt your presence and the influence you had and even continue to have on my life. I know you loved old cemeteries and the stories that silently tell just as much as I do.

Pretty sure we were the only Yankees at the service and, yes, that still matters down here, and pretty sure we were the only visitors as everyone seemed to know each other. One sweet lady came up to us and introduced herself and gave us a little history about Cove church. And here is a funny little thing......she kept saying that if the mosquitos were bad during the service she would give us some Bounce and we had no idea what that meant but the mosquitos were bad because there's no air conditioning so the door was open and those were the biggest bugs I've ever seen. Eventually she went to her pew and came back with 2 Bounce Dryer Sheets and told us to put them in our pockets and they would keep those mosquitoes away....and they did!

We sang a couple of old hymns, a really good Bluegrass group played, a local lady with a big voice sang "How Great Thou Art" and then the message was delivered. I'll refrain from much comment on the message, or I should say the Messenger, but he was seriously like something out of a Southern fiction novel. He closed by singing a Kris Kristofferson song....enough said.

Anyway, my mom, it was such a random outing and one you would have loved - one we would have had some good giggles over. Thank you for instilling that sense of adventure and curiousity in me! Thank you for dragging a reluctant teenage daughter with attitude to more than one event you had seen in the paper or heard about from a stranger you met on the street. Thank you for so often making me your partner in crime for the possibility of a discovery and a memory maker.

I miss you so very much but on nights like last night I realize this...."you will always be a part of me for you were present during so much of my unfolding."

love and thanks,

maribeth

My New Title

I always enjoy the day at the office after Fall Weekend as leaders call or stop by. They respect the fact that my desk is covered with checks and cash and camp flyers as I try to sort out the puzzle of who went and who paid what but they also need to debrief a bit about the weekend.

Today one of them called and talked non-stop for 15 minutes about the ups and downs of his weekend at SharpTop and at the end of the conversation he thanked me for listening and said, "You know, Mari, you're like the Chattanooga Young Life Stress Ball."

I'll take that title gladly :-)

Big Orange Fans!!

It was so good to have some time with Kiley this weekend! As usual she was invaluable at the busses - she's great with kids and adults and efficient too! Love this girl so much! She left for Knoxville Saturday afternoon to watch the Vols game with her dad and Mr. Dale left to watch it in person!! GO BIG ORANGE!!

Race Reflections

Once a year, the fact that you had breast cancer gives you almost celebrity status when you attend the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. Survivors are absolutely spoiled rotten. Only survivors are given pink shirts for the day so your status is loud and clear without saying a word. When you stop at the booth that gives away little bags of pink M & M's your pink shirt statement gets you an entire bag of candy! At the survivors booth you are hugged and given a wonderful goodie bag full of treats. The addition of a string of shiny pink Mardi Gras type beads was a fun new touch this year - a strand for every year of survival. Some women's necks were covered in pink beads weighing them down in a wonderful way! And at the end of the race every survivor is given a beautiful dusty pink rose. Goodness!

Sitting in the sea of pink as we get ready for the Survivor's picture chokes me up every time. Surrounded by so many stories so similar yet each one so unique. Each one of us at a different place on the same journey....we huddle close as we wait for the flash of the camera and in just those few moments we're together you overhear the familiar words from that new language we never wanted to learn....chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, lump, recurrence, hair loss, diagnosis, biopsy. Survivor Sisters.......

A term you hear alot is "Co-Survivor" - this is anyone who saw you through the disease. My list is long! People came out of the woodwork from far and near and supported me in so many ways! It's been four years since my treatments and I still haven't processed all of that! But my sweet, strong, gentle Dale Allen has to be my #1 pick! He saw me at my most absolute worst self and never flinched (speaking of Foxhole Friends:-) When I was hyper-ventilating from the fear of not only discovering I had cancer but the fact our insurance wouldn't cover the necessary treatment he held me and assured me "it will be all right." He was my rock in the middle of a raging stream. "For better or worse - in sickness and in health" was tested to the limits and he calmly answered the challenged.
This line from a song by Bebo Norman pretty much sums up that season of my life and Dale Allen's response...."When your faith is hard to find, you can borrow mine."

I was co-captain of New City's team with Ruth Logan. Ruth is one of the women at church who was such an encouragement when I was so scared. She is wonderful! We had fun planning for the race and I'm already looking forward to doing it again with her next year!

"Cancer is a word not a sentence." (John Diamond) I found that quote recently. It feels like a death sentence when you hear the word the first time in the same breath as your name and maybe some day it will be the thing that takes your life. But until then there is so much life to live and I intend to do just that!

"When I get a little money....

"When I get a little money I buy books, and if any is left I buy food and clothes." (Erasmus)

Or as Henry W. Beecher so aptly put it ~ "Where is human nature so weak as in a bookstore?"

This afternoon after Dale left for the Vols night game I went for a delicious visit to McKays. Delicious because I had no time constraints whatsoever so I could browse at my own pace. Pictured above are today's treasures! The item on the far right is an old VHS 3 cassette movie starring Jane Seymour which I intend to put in later in the VCR in our bedroom - cozy!

And I'm so excited to read "Gift of the Red Bird" since it's endorsed on the back cover by three of my favorite writers, Joyce Rupp, Macrina Wiederkehr and Richard Rohr! It was one of those books that I was so excited to find and I grabbed it off the shelf and tucked it under my arm protectively. It hasn't happened yet but I'm always aware that someone might want to fight me for such a prize some day....you can never be too careful. You know those used book fanatics.

Didn't get to bed till 2 am this morning after seeing the busses off to SharpTop and then had trouble getting to sleep after drinking the kup of Krispie Kreme Koffee Kiley so lovingly got for me before the kids arrived for the late bus. So it's been a sleepy good day. The weather is gray and off and on rainy - a good day to light a few candles and snuggle in with a good book and an old movie.

Fall Weekend Camp - another hurdle crossed!! October is going to bring a less hectic schedule and I am so glad! So thankful for the Lord's faithfulness and close presence through all the busyness of the past couple of months - so ready to have time to catch my breath!

Foxhole Friends

Mr. Dale is the one who started me thinking about this. Awhile back I was complaining about someone who's always at least 15 minutes late for everything and he said "you sure wouldn't want him in your foxhole."

Since that little snippet of conversation I've been thinking about his statement alot. A "foxhole friend".....someone who's got your back always....someone you can be sure of....someone you can spend alot of time with in close quarters and never tire of....someone you can depend on....someone you feel safe with...someone who doesn't need alot of words to know exactly what you mean...someone you can be completely honest with and know it will not make them flinch or run....

Tomorrow one of my foxhole friends is coming to town. She told me she was coming because the school where she used to do Young Life is having their homecoming. When I asked her what she was going to be doing at midnight after the game she said "standing in the parking lot at Sears Essentials with you checking in kids for Fall Camp."

Foxhole Friend.

Happy Birthday, Brea!

Happy birthday to my sweet daughter-in-law, Breann!

We love the story of how she came to be a Vander Woude - to trace the hand of God's leading her to Lee University, to the Young Life information booth, to Chattanooga YL, and eventually to Dan's heart :-) And ours too!

Bre is this beautiful combination of tough and tender, practical and whimsical. God called her name at an early age and she lives out that calling with passionate obedience.

We sure do love her alot and pray that this new year of life ahead is filled to the brim with blessings!

Survivor Breakfast

The Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure is this coming weekend and Mr. Dale & I will be walking in it! All breast cancer survivors who are signed up for the race were invited to a wonderful breakfast this morning. A string quartet played background music, beautiful table settings, fun cookies to take home, delicious food and the fellowship of a whole room full of women who have been through the experience of breast cancer. Everyone had to stand up and say how long it had been since their diagnosis and the amount of time ranged from 22 years to just a couple of weeks! Every woman was applauded for:-) Yay, God - for 4 1/2 years of being cancer free!!

It is a sisterhood you never wanted to be part of - a club you never wanted to join - but here you are and it sure is neat to look around the room and see Survivor Sisters who did what they had to do to beat this disease and now are living life to the fullest!

My friend Chris, who lost her husband to cancer recently, has started a blog about their journey and she mentioned on her first post that Cancer is no respector of persons and I thought that same thought this morning as I looked around the room and saw such a variety of women who have been affected by this insidious disease. I am thankful for the huge amount of support that's available and the ongoing research that's being done!

Rained In

Or maybe reined in is more like it.....whichever it is, it has been a good feeling today. Getting to worship at New City after 5 weeks of being other places on Sunday morning, time to nap, read, journal, cover the breakfast nook table with fun correspondence projects, make lists for Thankxmas.....

Too wet and unpredictable outside to go for a walk so perfect weather for lighting a candle and early jammie time and that's all right with me. A sweet conversation with a good friend and some silly stuff with my wonderful DIL's....all long distance, separated by lots of mile markers, but a good reminder to be thankful that distance isn't a deterrent to love.

I really, really needed a day like today and I am grateful.

"A Taste of Young Life"

Our annual fundraising "banquet" was held tonight at Calvary Church and it was a great night in so many ways. I think that folks who attended walked away with a better picture of Young Life's mission in Chattanooga. It was a really different venue and format from what we usually do. Instead of the big convention center it was held at Calvary - no convention center chicken but appetizers and desserts pretty much donated from local restaurants. This also meant that we could have leaders and high school kids help pass out the food and mingle with guests.

Our numbers were down quite a bit because of some major conflicts with other events but folks came early and stayed late. Lots of laughter and conversation!

One thing the leaders did was "One Day More" from the musical Les Miz - they did great! Joe was the flagbearer:-)

So fun to see leaders and kids serving the guests! Lots of neat interaction going on!

This picture is fun cuz it's some of the "little" girls that used to spend Sunday afternoons sitting around our dining room table! They're all in high school now and involved in Urban Young Life!

I really appreciated our committee tonight! The ladies who did the brunt of the work beforehand and everyone else who really pitched in tonight! And the leaders.....how I love these leaders, all so unique and wonderful in their own special way. And to look around at the middle and high school kids who were there and to know the effect their involvement with YL is going to have in their walk with Jesus - wow! And of course, our supporters! So many layers of Chatt. YL were represented tonight and it made me so thankful to part of this crazy, dysfunctional, graceful family!

Whoa!!

Life has been run-away train crazy busy lately and it's not quite over yet.....banquet tonight, Fall Weekend next weekend, Phonathon, Wreath sale......but I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel! And, no, it is NOT an oncoming train :-)

Last night after a quiet dinner at home we vacuumed and dusted and started the laundry and it felt so good to just be home working together! Some time in the GTCA this morning with 2 cups of Community Coffee.....ahhh.....

Yay for October through December and all the fun and family it will bring! Work stuff will slow down just a little and I can enjoy getting ready for the celebrations! So thankful for the health and strength to live this life but it is definitely time to put the brakes on a bit!

Young Life Windy Gap Women's Weekend

Just got home from a wonderful weekend at beautiful Windy Gap in Weaverville, NC! I went with two of my very Southern friends, Sally & Barbara. Every year a North Carolina YL area holds a women's weekend retreat. I've never been before but Barbara goes every year and has always wanted me to come. It's been a crazy couple of months but I really wanted to fit this event in too and sweet Mr. Dale was all for it. Lots of great speakers, delicious food, and time to be a camper enjoying all the perks of a Young Life camp!

It's kind of hard to tell on this picture but there's ladies scattered all over camp as we had 1 hour of silence and meditation. It was fun to look around and see ladies "Radically Rest" (one of the themes for the weekend).

I went for a walk early Saturday morning. The sky was misty and it was so pretty down by the horse stables with the horses dotting the hillside.

I got to do the swing twice - once with Sally and once with Barbara!

Going down the giant slide!

Being with this group of women who have some kind of association with Young Life was really fun and a neat reminder of the breadth of this ministry I get to be a small part of in Chattanooga! In almost every conversation I had with ladies we could make some sort of connection including a wonderful talk with Ann Reynolds from North Carolina. Dan was her son's Ned's YL leader when he was at McCallie!

It was so encouraging to hear so many stories of how the Lord has used YL to bring people to a saving knowledge of Himself and new life in Him! Busy week ahead as our annual fundraiser is this coming Saturday - I walk into the week encouraged and thankful!

Happy Birthday, Dale Allen!

Dale Allen turned 53 years old today on 09-09-09! Because he is always so low key about his big day I take it upon myself to advertise this fact for him which he really doesn't appreciate so very much:-)

I sure do love this guy alot and I'm so blessed blessed blessed to have him for a husband! He is one of the most honest, solid, Godly, faithful, loving, reliable people I have ever met.

For over 30 years he has remained steady and strong and unmovable as I bounce off the walls and fly off the handle. No matter how ridiculous I get or how far I try to run away he is always waiting for me when I come back to earth and to my senses.

Happy Birthday, Dale Allen! I love you!

Labor Day Weekend in Louisiana

We just got home a little while ago from a very wonderful weekend in St. Francisville, LA with Dan & Bre....and Charlo & Sparty :-)

It is such a unique part of the country and I love visiting there! Besides the usual stops of Bird Man's and Border Imports we got a peek at the place where the Young Life banquet will be held in November. At the owner's invitation we took a ride back into the property and saw an alligator eyeing an egret for breakfast and a mother boar and her three babies - pretty cool!

We also took a trip down to the French Quarter in New Orleans. Unfortunately, rainy weather kept us from exploring as long as we would have liked but we look forward to another visit there.

It was so fun to be with the kids and hear about and see their life in Louisiana. The puppies kept us constantly entertained. We're so thankful our out of town kids are within a day's drive and also for the safe travels the Lord has given us over the years!

The Youngbloods Visit

Just spent a few fun days with the Youngbloods on their way to Atlanta. So thankful their son chose there to live so we get to see them enroute! We had lots of fun together.....Clumpies, of course, the Incline Railway, playing at the Natural Bridge park on Lookout, lunch at Coolidge Park and a carousel ride, delicious dinner at the Greens, visit to the new & improved McKays....Shane is at such a fun, mobile age! Their sweet puppy, Grandy, came along too and did great! So thankful for such wonderful friends!