My Dad

In honor of Fathers Day I wanted to re-post a memory I wrote about my dad a couple of years ago.  I feel so blessed to have such wonderful men in my life like my dad and my husband.

One very special memory I have was of an event that occurred when I was a young adult, just 18 years old. Ironically, it happened when I was suffering from Hepatitis A (the non-chronic form of Hepatitis) that I had contracted while working in a day care center. After about 3 days of puking my guts out, my dad entered my room with a book and began to read to me. The sound of his voice reading aloud to me was so soothing — like oil to my soul. I honestly have no idea even what book it was; I was so out of it. What mattered most to me and what created the special memory was the gesture.

 Dad

It had been several years since my dad had read aloud to me, but this had been a regular nighttime routine throughout most of my childhood and even into my teen years. I remember either he or my mom would come into my room or my brother’s room and we would read a portion of a book together as a family. When we were young, of course, we read picture books, story books, poems, and nursery rhymes: The Pokey Little Puppy, The Little Engine That Could, and other Golden books, Child Craft Poems, How Can We Get to the Zoo?, Yuri & the Moonie Goats, Grimm’s Fairy Tales and my favorite – Mexicali Soup. As we got older, chapter books replaced story books. Some of the more memorable titles we read together were The Lion the Witch & the Wardrobe, The Wizard of Oz, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, The Prince & the Pauper, & Swiss Family Robinson.

I don’t think I really appreciated this small, yet significant sacrifice that my parents made until I was older and had kids of my own. My dad worked hard when I was growing up. He was an Engineering Geologist for City of LA. Every day he commuted two hours, round trip, into the City and back, braving the traffic on the Southern California Freeways. I’m sure he must have been exhausted by the time he got home and ready to just veg for a while in front of the TV or indulge in some other form of escape rather than read aloud to us. I so appreciate however the consistency of my parents in making reading aloud a priority.

Now that I have kids of my own, this is a nightly routine that we have incorporated into our own family as well. At night, we gather in one of the rooms of the house, either a bedroom, the family room or living room (we like to mix it up a bit :0) and read a chapter book for the older two girls and a story book, poems, or nursery rhymes for our youngest daughter.

I cannot even begin to list all the benefits of reading aloud. Aside from the obvious academic advantages of literacy and vocabulary development, are countless others. Some of the reasons I value this routine so much are because it is a powerful way to develop family connectedness/bonding, create memories and establish a family identity (i.e. "This is what our family does"). Many times we will be living life together and something will happen or someone will say something, or we will be observing something and one of the kids will say "Hey that reminds me of the time in ___ book when the ___ character did ___ ". We also find that some of our best discussions as a family come while reading aloud. We will often stop and ask the girls why they thought a character did something or what they think will happen next or what could be the result of a decision or action of a character or how the actions of the characters compare to a Biblical world view.

I am grateful for the memories I have of being read aloud to by my parents. Thanks Dad (& Mom) for setting an example of a routine that was so special and memorable.

Walking with the Wise: Emma's Blessing Ceremony

Today we celebrated our daughter's upcoming 15th birthday with a "Blessing Ceremony ".  This is a rite of passage ceremony that is inspired by the Latin American and Jewish “coming of age” traditions of the “quinceanera” and “Bar/Bat Mitzvah”. It acknowledges the beginning of the process of preparation for the transition from childhood to adulthood. This ceremony has two key components: the recognition of mentorship and a spoken blessing.

I came across this idea a while back when I was listening to a podcast on Oneplace.com.  Since my husband and I had worked in Mexico for 17 years, we had become familiar with the Latin American tradition of the quinceanera, an elaborate "coming of age" rite of passage that takes place on a girl's 15th birthday.  Although we never planned on having something as involved as a traditional quinceanera, we had always wanted to do something special to commemorate our girls' 15th birthdays.  When our oldest daughter turned 14, I began to wonder what we would do for her quinceanera.  When I heard Jim and Janet Weidmann interviewed on the podcast telling about the Blessings Ceremony they planned for each of their kids, I was thrilled.  I knew that this is was the very thing I wanted to do for "Emma's" 15th birthday.

Unfortunately I didn't download the podcast.  I couldn't remember the authors' names so every Google search I did to try and find the podcast or book in which this ceremony was described left me empty handed.   I eventually did find the book online, but despite the promised delivery date range, it  arrived yesterday afternoon --  after the ceremony.  I'll look through it, though, and see if there is anything I can use for  Marianne and Lizzy's ceremonies in a few years.  The two key parts of the ceremony I did remember from the podcast were recognition of mentorship and a spoken blessing.

Mentorship:  The need for wise counsel is a repeated theme in the book of Proverbs. As Emma approaches adulthood, Eric and I would like her to realize the importance of developing the lifelong habit of seeking and recognizing godly role models and counselors. For the past several years, I have prayed that God would bring iron-sharpens-iron friends and mentors into  Emma’s life.  About 6 months ago, I asked Emma to be thinking about  women she would like to recognize as mentors who have made an impact on her and whose lives demonstrate a strong commitment to Christ. I asked Emma  to chose 5 ladies who fit this description. As mentors, we asked these ladies to be available to Emma to teach, counsel, exhort, correct, advise, and encourage her in her walk with the Lord as He leads.

I invited these special women to a tea and asked them to bring a blessing, prayer, scripture, or poem to read to Emma during the ceremony. The importance of blessing is emphasized throughout the Bible. It is also a key component in rite of passage ceremonies in many different cultures.

My mom, Eric's mom, Emma's godmother, and Eric and I also prepared blessings to read.  Eric's mom and Emma's godmother couldn't be at the ceremony because they live out of state, so they sent theirs via email and Lizzy and I read the blessings they prepared.

I thought it would be good also for Emma to write something to read to each of the mentors, telling them why she chose them and letting them know the important role they have played in her discipleship. She printed these off, cut a decorative edge around each one and tied it to a yellow rose.

A few days before the ceremony, we went shopping for a special outfit and for a special tea pot.

I got the idea of choosing a special tea pot from a blessing ceremony I read about on another blog.  This was a lot of fun.  After two days of looking,  Emma ended up deciding on the very first teapot she came across. We call it the "Minnie Mouse tea pot".  Emma says she chose it because it makes her smile.   The fact that it makes her smile makes me smile.

I feel so blessed by the Lord that Emma has such wonderful ladies in her life that care so deeply about her and take time to invest in her life.

He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm. ~ Proverbs 13:20