Promises, promises....We said we'd update the blog regularly but several people have commented that they've seen no postings since we travelled up north. Our friend Calum, who used to visit us from Scotland would say we're "savoring the moment". I used to wonder if that was an excuse to avoid taking pictures but now I understand that sometimes absorbing the present and transferring it to memory is enough.
Though we have precious few pictures to prove it, life has been full to overflowing.
We love our refuge here at Kuyper--our 2 bedroom apartment in an idyllic setting. It is a gift from God. The sights and sounds are all so familiar and comforting....the smell of the apple turnovers as we hike across the orchard to the donut shop, the deafening roar of the waves along the shore at Lake Michigan, Starla's squeal of delight as she puts her penny in the pony at the local grocery store and rides (when I watch her I see 3 other faces smiling gleefully in my memory), Louie beginning each sermon with "turn in your copy of God's word to..."
Brian is pounding the pavement 6 miles many days doing his summer weight reduction/fitness program. He plays "Mr. Mom" while I play daughter many days. He's busy writing his next book and studying the US constitution.
Angela is BUSY! She's volunteering at the local library in the kids summer reading program, volunteering at the nursing home painting a beach scene wall mural, studying Shakespeare with a friend and she just finished a weeklong Worship Arts Camp at church.
Lily recently celebrated her 11th birthday and enjoyed her 3rd annuall roller coaster extravaganza day with her dad at an amusement park. She and I just completed a cake decorating class. Her lofty reading goal for the summer reading program is 65 books and she's already completed 34.
Robyn and Starla found baby raccoons one night last week and tried to feed them graham crackers. They feed the chipmunks on our patio and climb the mulberry trees to find the best berries. They are employed by our neighbor to water all the flowers around our building and she pays them 10 cents each per day.
We've all celebrated wedding, birthdays, graduation, meal sharing, walks and play dates with friends. Much is good in our lives and we are grateful people.
The bittersweet part of the return has been walking alongside my mom as she approaches death. I never anticipated becoming so intimately acquainted with the local hospital. Recently, she stablilized the very same room that my dad breathed his last on this earth. Her body continues to weaken under the strain of congestive heart failure and every night I go to bed wondering whether my phone will ring with a message of crisis before morning. I long for the day when her suffering will be over; still, the unknowns of "walking through the valley of the shadow of death" to get there is what she and I both dread.
So there's our June in a nutshell. As for the weather, it started out and ended feeling more like fall than spring--cool and crisp. But we also enjoyed many "perfect" days and even a couple of scorchers (by Michigan standards).
About a month ago, Angela observed that the walls at the nursing home were "not very cheerful". She had an idea to change that by painting a mural. We approached the owner, who after seeing pictures of her previous 2 projects, was enthusiastic to accept her offer to volunteer for the job. She decided to do a beach scene and started to work. What an amazing process! She had all sorts of adventures during the 15 hours she spent in the dementia hall painting. Residents watched her. Some thought she was a naughty girl for painting on the walls. One resident asked her "How much money do I have to pay to get out of here?" Some admired her work and told her "You're doing a beautiful job honey!" Employees came to see her progress. Visiting family members praised her talents. When she finished the picture, she took her fine paintbrush and black paint and wrote in the top corner "Painted by Angela Webster in loving memory of Irvin P. VanderMeiden." We both stood back and inspected her work for a few moments. She spoke first saying "I'm happy with it." As for me, words failed to express what I felt as a I gazed at her accomplishment. I'm amazed that she is so gifted. I'm proud that she would choose to invest her time and energy into such a worthy endeavor. I'm grateful for her art instruction through Mrs. Kunkel who taught her drawing for 5 years. I'm reflective as I recall my Dad's encouragement of Angela's earliest attempts at drawing. In my mind's eye, I can still see the two of them sitting at the kitchen table drawing together. In that moment I found myself saying silently "Oh Dad, I hope you can see how Angela honors you today." Psalm 103 talks about the blessings that are passed on through godly heritage to our "children's children" and I saw living proof of it today.
As a bonus, my college roomate Laura and I ran into each other completely unexpectedly in Subway during the lunch break. I haven't seen her in 5 years and had no idea we were both at the conference. 
