Simple Girl

We celebrated Easter away from our home church and apart from our extended family in an historic part of Williamsburg, Virginia.  We were reminded that even the early settlers of Jamestown, amidst their toil and hardship, took time to gather together to worship our risen Lord.  Despite their meager existence, these early colonists would have made a special meal to celebrate Easter.  Living in our shiny, new suburban neighborhood, it is easy to forget the sacrifices that were made for our religous freedom. Living 2000 years after the death and resurrection of Christ, do we remember the sacrifice that was made for our spiritual freedom? Williamsburg Baptist Church, which we attended Easter morning, was built directly across the street from the College of William and Mary, the country's first college.  Below is The Wren Building.  Erected in 1695, it is the oldest college building in the U.S.  It was interesting to walk around the side and look into the ...

I was born and raised in the Midwest – a place where one’s social standing wasn’t determined by the car they drove and where being frugal was as virtuous as sitting in the back church pew on Sunday morning.  Imagine my confusion, then, when I moved to an upscale neighborhood in the suburban south.  A place where affluence was as apparent as fuzz on a peach, where tennis was a right of leisure, and where acrylic nails grew faster than kudzu along the highway.  Suddenly, my house didn’t seem big enough, my hair didn’t seem blonde enough, and my nails, well, let’s just say that, given 30 minutes and $15, I would choose a car wash over a manicure any day. So what caused this social difference?  Was it a product of the booming economy, or was it something deeper?  Was it “new money” out to prove itself, or was it genteel history being passed down to yet another generation?  Maybe a little bit of both.   It was during a visit to Colonial Williamsburg ...

The question begs an answer.   Why Jamestown?    With an eastern coast that stretches over one-thousand miles – why did the original English colonists choose to settle here?   Did they know what they were doing, or did they just stick a flag in the first rock they found?   Even with today’s modern conveniences such as gas stations and paved roads, Jamestown was not an easy place to find.   Driving down a dark, two-lane curvy highway through the forests of Virginia was akin to a ride through Sleepy Hollow, a gauntlet of terror between oncoming traffic and would-be road kill. J ohn Smith:  The colonists' fearless leader. So why Jamestown?   A 70% mortality rate that first year might have led anyone to believe that they had made a mistake.   Some careful excavation, however, gives us clues as to why the English settlers may have thought that, what we now know as Jamestown, would be an ideal spot for a military fort.    Fi...

Five suitcases, two coolers, three bags of snacks and six people squeeze into a Ford Expedition for a long day's drive and one anticipated spring break adventure.  Destination?  Our country's first permanent settlement (Jamestown, Virginia), Colonial Williamsburg, and our country's capital, Washington, D.C.  Will such fascinating history be a match for iPods and Nintendo's?  Only time will tell....

Sometimes during life's most ceremonial moments, God speaks to us directly - a newborn niece is baptized, a cousin is married, we bury a neighbor and friend. It was during my son's first communion that I was reminded how individually God has called me - not as a member of a church or of a school or of a family, just me.  He knows my name.  He knows my gifts.  He knows my weaknesses.  He doesn't call me to be anyone else but the me whom he created.  Isaiah 43:1 says, "But now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you.  O Israel, the one who formed you says, Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine." As our creator, God knew us before we were even born.  He had a plan for us from the very beginning of our lives.  How cool is that?  Jeremiah 1:5 says, "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart." As I was talking with my son before he went to bed the o...

So I volunteered for two class Easter parties on perhaps my busiest day of the year - EVER.  Realizing, however, that my class party days could be over in a mere six short years (apparently middle schoolers are not allowed an egg hunt!), I decided to make the best of it with an old favorite, a new idea and a few shortcuts. Peep Cupcakes Here's the old favorite - the one my kids beg me to bring to all the Easter parties. How cute are they?  The great thing about these cupcakes is that they are so much easier than they look!  Just start with a batch of cupcakes, add some tinted frosting and top with a Peep! The key to making these cupcakes look impressive is to match the frosting to the Peeps.  Today I did three colors:  yellow, orange and purple.  I used Wilton food coloring.   Go ahead and use your 40% off coupon at Michael's or JoAnn's and get the biggest box of assorted food colors that you can.  It will last you forever.  As they sa...

This week we are leaping out of the Baroque period and back into the twentieth century.  Rhapsody in Blue , by George Gershwin, is a musical composition for solo piano and jazz band.  Written in 1924, it combines elements of classical music with jazz-influenced effects. George Gershwin 1898- 1937 Rhapsody in Blue was commissioned by jazz band leader Paul Whiteman who would premiere the piece in a concert entitled An Experiment in Modern Music .  Although hestitant, Gershwin was eventually persuaded to write the piece, and with only five weeks left until the concert, he began composing the piece on his train journey to Boston.  He told his biographer Isaac Goldberg in 1931: “It was on the train, with its steely rhythms, its rattle-ty bang, that is often so stimulating to a composer – I frequently hear music in the very heart of the noise…And there I suddenly heard, and even saw on paper – the complete construction of the Rhapsody, from beginning to end....