St. Nick

My daughter believes in Santa Claus.  A tragedy I’m sure.  I don’t know how this could have happened.   

We were at the mall a few days ago,  and Grace asked to see Santa.  I almost didn’t know what to say, I was so surprised by her question.  

Santa has never been an issue in our house.  I never believed in Santa.  I always have explained to my kids that it is mom and dad who buy them presents because we love them.  No way was I gonna give a big red stranger get the credit.  Of course I’ve explained the tradition behind Santa Claus, but my kids know that its all just a story.  At least I thought they knew.   

Blake has never sat on a Santa’s lap.  But on Monday, Grace did.  She climbed up onto the lap of a stranger dressed in a costume (although his beard was very real and nice) and told him she wanted a Nintendo DS and a hamster. 

Grace walked away from the scene with a big grin and announced that Santa was real afterall.  

Grace last summer on a pony ride with a Santa look-alike. I "forgot" to take any pictures of her on Santa's lap.

My son and I exchanged flabbergasted looks.  For a moment I was tongue tied while Blake gave her a hundered reasons why Santa could not possibly be real.  You know the ususal proof: “What about houses with no fireplaces?”

Yet, she was determined to believe.  I smiled down at her, not wanting to crush her spirit, and told her I’m glad she finally got to meet Santa. 

 

Did you believe in Santa when you were young?  Do your children (current or future) believe in Santa?

 

Merry Christmas 2008! (our Christmas letter)

Dear Loved Ones,

Our prayer is that this letter finds you healthy, happy and whole. This is the Ellison family’s first ever Christmas letter!  We wanted to take a moment to share our year-in-review with all those we treasure in our hearts.

2008 was a whirlwind of play dates, appointments, and sharing meals with family and friends. Andrew is enrolled for college again, Blake has discovered Monopoly, Grace can read, and I cut off (almost) all my hair!   You can say it: “What was she thinking?”  In other news, the kids cannot wait to meet their new pets – they both asked for hamsters for Christmas.

In May, we were blessed with a trip to Florida. We were able to visit with many of my Floridian family members. Blake and Grace spent time with my Grandpa Roney – an experience that beats sitting on Santa’s lap any day. This trip was also our first visit to Disney World.

In June, we spent some quality time with my brother Kevin and his wife Angie while they were in town from Wisconsin.  Also, our June included  a day trip to the Toledo Zoo, and a swimming class for the kids.

August brought our annual camping trip with friends at the Pinery Provincial Park in Ontario. Fresh air is good for families. J We ate more s’mores than is probably legal in Canada.

Andrew and I celebrated our 9^th anniversary on September 11^th. We are so blessed to have each other and to know the miracle of marriage.  Andrew is working for Saturn, and he tied for top salesperson in his store for 2007. Andrew also teaches middle school kids at church once a month. 

Blake turned eight on September 17^th.  He is excelling in third grade, and enjoys being on the student council. Blake played T-Ball in the spring and spent five whole days on his own at summer camp with kids from our church.  He is also looking like quite the smarty-pants these days in his first pair of glasses.

Grace just turned five on November 30^th.  She is learning all about what it means to be a Kinder-gartner. I get to help in Grace’s class every other week and see her in action as a student.  She is a cuddly, creative girl with a great sense of humor.

As for me, I have finished 19 credits so far toward my nursing degree.  My mom has been a great support, watching the kids often while I was in class. And I love my Wednesday nights, when I volunteer with the teenagers at our church.

Next year we will enter a new stage in our lives: the kids will both be in school all day.  Imagine the possibilities for Mom! Most likely that means I will be enrolling in a few extra classes. Our house in Detroit is up for sale and we are excited to move on to our next home, wherever that may be!

In 2009, we hope to continue growing in love and pressing on towards Christ’s calling for our lives. We would love to hear from you!

Warm Wishes,

        AMY

 

 

The Rooster Cup

School starts tomorrow, signaling the end of summer-time fun. 

When I was a kid, one of my family’s summer traditions was to drive four hours north to Burt Lake.  On Burt Lake there used to be a cozy group of cabins called Holiday Homes.  The reddish-cabins were a bit small and outdated, but were cozy all the same and had kitchens and fireplaces.  The huge lake was pristine, shallow and warm.

Me and my older sister, Kelly, on the dock.

Several families always went up with us.  Every year some of my Mom’s sisters and brothers (she is one of ten children) families would fill up the five cabins.  A few times my grandparents would even drive up from Florida to spend the week with us.  It was a week of potlucks, catching crayfish and toads, swinging fast and high on the rope swing, watching my Uncle Kevin eat live minnows (once every year) and singing old church songs in front of one family’s fireplace while Uncle Blake played guitar. 

These are treasured memories.  But some of my favorite Burt Lake memories were planted in my brain while standing around the horseshoe pits.  Every year, we had a horseshoe tournament.  All the adults and kids were invited to try their luck at tossing their horseshoe closest to the stake more times than anyone else.

Now, since I was a kid, and my childhood memories are admittedly a bit foggy, I cannot tell you how long a tournament lasted, but it felt like days. 

The best part: watching my Grandpa play.  He had a fun way of being competitive but not at all mean-spirited.  On his turn, he would stride over to his mark, horseshoe in hand, and get his game face on.  After careful concentration he would release he horseshoe, wait for it to *clank* around the stake and then he would let out a rooster crow!  Not any mamby-pamby rooster crow either, but from the gut and with gusto.  (Think Peter-Pan.) Even now, I can’t help but smile at the thought of grandpa and his rooster crow.

At least once, my grandpa won the tournament, and someone had the idea to make a trophy for him.  The trophy was called The Rooster Cup.  The Rooser cup was passed to several different winners throughout the years.  I’m not sure who has it now – but I hope Grandpa does. 

 

Grandpa and Grandma. My inspirations.

 

My Grandpa is still going strong.  He’s 86 and writing a book.  My grandma looks sweet in this picture, doesn’t she?  She had such a beautiful and loving heart.  She passed a few years ago.   Grandma wrote a book too, called My Lord, My Shepherd.  I am amazed when I read through it and find that some of the pages seem familiar, like they could have been writen by myself.  We must have been at least a little similar.  She was a wise woman, a gentle dove.  Although I grew up many many miles from them, and may not know them as well as I’d like, I am very thankful for them.  Their inheritance is a blessed one.  I pray that my marriage will always be as strong as theirs, and that my life will always shine of Jesus’ love like their lives do.

What is one of your favorite summer tradition memories?

 

Safe and Sound

 

There has been something on my mind.  Some of you may already know my family’s situation: We are one of those crazy people trying to sell a house right now.  Not only are we trying to sell a house in Michigan, but in the city of Detroit.  Our situation is not helped by the mayoral mess, the recent movie “MurderCity” or Oprah’s recent spotlight on Detroit:

“Talk-show host features stories of two local families that have endured tough times in the city.   By Adam Graham / The Detroit News

Oprah Winfrey exposed “America’s dirty little secret” — poverty — on her show Wednesday, and in doing so, turned a harsh light on Detroit.

The show referred to Detroit as America’s poorest big city, where one in three people live beneath the poverty line. CNN’s Anderson Cooper filed a report from the city in which he interviewed people living in freeway underpasses and spotlighted two local families and their struggles with poverty and homelessness… “

 

I imagine some of you are now talking at your computer screen as if it were me, saying, “Move out already!”  Here is the dilemma:  Detroit’s economy, major job losses and the plummeting real estate market means our house today is worth less than half of what we own it for.  Our shiny white “for sale” sign has gone completely unnoticed by home-shoppers for the last six months because why would they look at a house for 74 grand, when down the street there’s a better  house that is 25 grand? (rampant foreclosures do that.)  Thus the seeming impossibility of the situation.

Times are tough in the motor city right now.  BUT.  Hear me when I say, BUT.  I serve a faithful God, a God who has the power to do anything He wills, even move us out of this city.  I believe in miracles and a faith that moves mountains.  I believe great things happen when you believe.  

I absolutely know that my God can move us out of Detroit.

Moving out of the city has been a desire of ours for a couple years now.   I am tired of seeing free-roaming pit-bulls, drug pushers and John’s when I am unloading my groceries.  It would be nice to live closer to our family and church, to be in a place where I can feel safe letting my children ride their bikes around the block.  Right now, they are only allowed to go three houses down the right, and two houses down the left.   Tonight, I didn’t like how I felt when I had to pull them indoors because there were helicopters flying overhead signalling the stabbing and fatal gunshots that had just happened two blocks over.

I’ve heard some wise folks say that the safest place to be is in God’s will.  I believe that to be true.  I have always felt safe here.  Have there been nights when the gunshots sounded too close and I had moments of panic?  Yes.  But my fears are quickly quieted by my Father, and my assurance of his love and protection.  And in the seven years we have lived in the city, we’ve not been hurt once – even when our only car was stolen, it was returned to us within days! Someone is watching over us. If anything, living here has been good for me.  Don’t we know how much more is learned through hard times than through easy living?  I’ve learned trust.  I’ve learned love and forgiveness.  I’ve had a taste of what it feels like to be a misunderstood minority.  I have such compassion, empathy, for my neighbors who struggle to make ends meet and seem to go unnoticed by the surrounding wealthy counties.  Living in Detroit has made it impossible for me to vote for the GOP.  I digress.

Some people tell me that God wants us to be happy and safe and we should give our house to the bank, no mater how it hurts our credit, just to move away – asap.  But I am safe.  No matter how much longer I am in Detroit, I have a Holy Father who knows I am here.

Still, there are times when I wonder.  Why am I still here?  Are we SUPPOSED to leave the city right now?  Perhaps there is more for us to learn, or better yet, perhaps there are more lives for us to touch here.

Ah yes, there is that.  What am I called to do again, Lord?  Love my neighbor as I love myself.  Preach the gospel to the ends of the earth.  John 1:9 says that Jesus is the true light that gives light to everyone. Everyone?  Even murder city?   Matthew 5 tells me to let my light shine before others that they may see my good deeds and glorify my Father in Heaven.  Is God trying to gently help me become better at shining my light in all circumstances, even when the surrounding culture is so cold and foreign? How can they see my light if I am running away to the suburbs?

I am (slowly) reading a book called Peppermint-Filled Pinatas by Eric Michael Bryant, a pastor in Los Angeles.  In a nutshell, it is a book about going beyond tolerating those who are different than us, and embracing them in love.  Wow, does it hit me at a nerve.  Some excerpts:

“Where we live provides natural opportunities to engage with others. Over the past few years, I seem to be meeting more and more people who choose their neighborhood as a place for ministry rather than simply a place to have a house and catch some sleep at night.  On the other end of the spectrum, too often I meet Christians who are just like everyone else, choosing to live in the places that provide the greatest safety and convenience or have the highest rated school districts.  Then, as we have more income, we move out of our current locations so we can have even greater safety and convenience and even better school districts.  This very natural way of living, sadly, has a way of circumventing the impact we can have in our neighborhoods.  We end up looking at out neighborhoods for what we get rather than seeing them as places where we can find opporunies to give and serve.  We should think more like John F. Kennedy thought: “Ask not what your neighborhood can do for you, but what can you do for your neighborhood.”

“In our attempts to become holy or “set apart,” we have mistaken a call for “living with a different standard” with “living in a different place with a different standard.”  We want to live in an environment where the laws or policies enforce our beliefs and morality rather than engaging a lost and broken world where they live. ”

“Rather than creating communities that exclude those who do not believe the same things we believe or act the same way we act, we should infiltrate communities to become light in that part of the world . . . there are too many inner-city, suburban, and rural churches acting as places of refuge from the world.  We need more churches that see themselves as lights in their communities wherever they might be . . .  We need to create genuine relationships with those near us, and we need to be near to those who need us.”

For now, I am not sure what we are doing.  I am praying for discernment and wisdom.  Will we short-sell, foreclose, or wait it out?  I don’t know.  But I am counting on Someone who does.

 

Visits

What a weekend.  An incredibly wonderful weekend, I should say.  My beloved brother, Kevin, and his wife, Angie, were in town for a brief visit.  We had such a good time playing euchre and eating cookies, and laughing.  Lots of laughter.  I am so happy they are married.  Just over a year ago they said “I do.”  What do I get out of it?  I love to see my brother love and be loved in the deep way that only marriage brings.  Also, the fact that I now have a married sibling hopefully means that maybe my children will have cousins before they’re old enough to drive.  

Andrew’s aunt and uncle also are in town, and we had a great family BBQ last  night.  The Ellison family is a friendly, close-knit group.  No one ever feels like a stranger visiting the Ellisons. 

In fact, we met a Foreign exchange student, Ala (pronounced Ah-lay) from Tunisia (northern africa) last night who will be our adopted cousin for the next year.   It was interesting talking with him.  He lives five minutes away from the Mediterranean sea by foot.  Nice, huh?

Things that struck me about Ala:

He seemed amzed at how much we were eating.  He was full after the hors d’ouvres of fruit and chips.  When they brought out the burgers his eyes widened as he realized we werent done eating yet.  You can imagine how he must have felt a bit later when we pulled out the cupcakes and ice cream.  Yes, I said, Americans eat too much.

Later he glanced at a calendar hung on the wall with daily schedule things scribbled on it.  He seemed baffled.  “Does everyone do this,” he asked?  Yes, I told him, Americans are too busy.  We schedule so many activities that we have to write them down or we’ll miss one.

He spends his summer days at the beach.  Where he lives, no one stays in the house during the days, ever. Homes are for sleeping.  Teenagers do not sit around watching TV, or playing video games.   They are outside, active.

Once again I am reminded at how much excess my life holds, and I long for a simpler life.

 

CO2 buildup and mini-vacations

almost ninety degrees today! all i want to do is be able to wear a sweater and jeans, and cover up – but instead it feels like beach weather in october.

funny: on tuesday my bio. lecture touched on the greenhhouse effect and global warming, and my son read a book about global warming that night.

also: i am so happy that someone offered to scholarship me for our church’s women’s retreat. next fri-sat. i have been saying a lot lately that i just need a day off. this will be good. waking up in the morning with no one to look after but myself – with friends around too!

last: my dad’s surgery is in two weeks, on the 18th. please be praying.

 

thank you.

once upon a time, i prided myself on my independance. mistakingly, i assure you. i am not independant, but completely dependant. mostly, i depend on god, and my husband. but lately, i have needed to depend on almost everybody else i know. it is stretching me. humbling me. i cannot do it all. i am not superwoman; i cannot do everything.

going to school while my children are young is a balancing act. but i was thinking the other day, as much as i sometimes say i wish i had gone to school before having babies, perhaps this has worked out even better. had i first gone to school and begun a career, i would have felt more pressure to return to work after a short maternity leave. and i have so cherished these last seven years home with them. so, going to school now will allow me to move right from my degree into working without a long break on my resume. this is good.

i think all this will work, but not on my own account. it will be because of the many family and friends who gave of themselves to allow me the priveledge of returning to school. those wonderful angels i know who have driven my kids from here to there, or cared for them when i just couldn’t. i won’t credit the source, but it does take a village to raise a child. i don’t deserve help – and that’s probably why it’s so humbling to accept it. and i seem to need so much of it lately, that i feel it’s unlikely i’ll ever be able to repay everyone. but i am so thankful, because without you precious people, i’d have to put off schooling, and the hope of doing something i love and earning income, for years.

so, i feel like shouting from the rooftop, from the bottom of my heart, to all who have helped, and you know who you are: thank you!!!

 

the assignment:

write 4-6 paragraphs in thesis support format, in third person, using semi-formal word choices.

the product:

Rewards of Parenting

Parenting is one of the most selfless paths in life. Rearing children and equipping them for life is truly a difficult task. It is a job that requires sometimes unimaginable strength, patience and perseverance from the parent, yet offers no material compensation. There is hope, though, for these sometimes exhausted individuals who are charged with the awesome responsibility of shaping the generations to come. Parents who are careful to invest in their children’s lives will indeed reap great benefits.

Quality parenting often involves large quantities of time spent with the children, and this time can be as rewarding for the parents as it is for their children. While interacting with their youth, parents often watch in wonder at their children’s little faces, and almost be able to see the learning and growth happening right before their eyes. As parents teach their five-year-old to read, for example, they reap the satisfaction of knowing that through such a relatively simple act, they will have opened countless doors of opportunity for their child. It is a magical time in a child’s life, and a treasure to take part in. Additionally, children who are confident in the love of their parents, in part due to the parents investment of quality time, will not hesitate to let that love shine right back through them. Every spontaneous hug and “I love you,” swells the parents’ hearts. And with every carefully scribbled drawing that is given to a parent, children demonstrate their love. These are gifts to be cherished and rewards of the hard work that is parenting – gifts that will be missed if the parent isn’t around to receive them.

Another benefit of a strong parent/child relationship is the trust that ensues. Children are taught to trust their parents through receiving consistent love and discipline. These essential practices allow the children to feel safe in coming to their parents for advice throughout their journey to adulthood. In times of distress, these children have security in knowing they can come to their parents for acceptance and help. Earning the trust of a child rewards parents with a lifetime of conversations that may otherwise have been nonexistent.

At times parenting can be quite difficult, but parents who work hard at giving their children what they need to feel loved and to be successful in life are ensuring a bright future for them. Indeed this sort of relationship will almost certainly produce a well-adjusted, contributing member of society. It is not difficult to find examples of this; words of thanks from a son or daughter to sacrificing and supportive parents can be heard at a graduation ceremonies or on televised award shows. Alas, well-loved children eventually grow up, and leave their parents to form a life all their own, but the sacrifices and gifts given by their parents will not be forgotten. No, they will likely be devoted children for the rest of their lives. And one day, when they become parents themselves, they will have all the tools needed to successfully raise their own young ones. Great parenting from birth is the beginning of a beautiful chain reaction.

There are no clear instructions on how to be a good parent. It is a balance that has to be learned for every unique child / parent relationship. What is clear is that when parents follow their instincts and strive to do their best – pouring love and attention into their children – they themselves benefit from the process. Author Sonia Taitz put it well when she said, “What children take from us they give… We become people who feel more deeply, question more deeply, hurt more deeply, and love more deeply.” Being a parent has a way of grabbing hold of a person, and has the capability to change a person for the better, in ways they never thought imaginable.

and she got an A.
end story.

 

i’m still alive.

promise.

i finished my first college essay tonight. my sister teases me that i am only so excited because my school expreience is just begining… she assures me that in a few years, lectures wont be so interesing, and homework wont be as fun… but gee… i hope that’s not true. as much as studying in itself is not something i enjoy, while i am doing it, i am deep down excited to be learning, and using brain muscles that have been dormant for a long while.

tomorrow my son turns seven. he’s had one rockin birthday weekend extraveganza. yay! happy day, buddy.

my life is turning – again. i suppose our lives are always shifting and changing. well… with school started, and our house hopefully selling this school year, i know some changes will hit our family a bit. and then there’s church. ah, yes. church. it’s quite the subject eh? we could talk for days on this subject, and yet in the end, is there really anything to say about it at all? it is what it is.

my husband has a change of career on the brain too. please keep him in your prayers. selling cars is not a career he wakes up excited about, and it’s not the best job in this economy for a single income family. we have been praying and feel that his going to school would be good, maybe a computer related track- but the guy works all the time, so that will be very difficult to say the least… sigh….

anyway. i am hopeful for the future, it looks good to me.

 

dear blog.

i have some friday night unloading to do.

what a day, huh? i say that a lot. the complexities and sress of life never cease to amaze me!
here i sit with my ultra-cold, slightly skunky german beer. my husband will buy any beer that has a german name – skunky or not.

we got new carpet installed today. well, sort of. they were three hours late and didnt have time to finish, so our steps are still bare. what?! three hours late to work and they didn’t have time to finish? that’s crazy. ummm…. can’t people in other jobs get fired for that sort of thing? and unfortunately i couldn’t argue with them very well because english was barely their second language. ugh.

in the middle of this crazy day, i got a phone call. my sister called to update me on the results of the angiogram my dad had today. this was a routine test to check on his burst anurism that was operated on in July. and the news isnt the best. the coils they placed inside the anurism to cause the blood to clot have shrunk, and thus, are not helping clot as much as needed, AND the anurism has grown. he is scheduled for brain surgery.

are you kidding me? i couldnt believe it. i was so certain that this test was going to confirm his smooth recovery. so i stood in my torn apart, half-carpeted house and cried for a brief second. the future is uncertain. i know i’ll survive, and come out stronger. *i dont think he is dying soon* but if i’m wrong, Lord, i’m not ready for my dad to die.

——

part II of my thoughts tonight is so completely polar opposite of the sadness and stress of the previous paragraphs.

i am so freakin busy ! woo hoooo! but it’s not without purpose. i love this busyness. i love love LOVE being a student. i love having to study. i love listening to lectures. i have had so much fun at school this week. oh! yesterday i got to use a great microscope. just practicing with it of course, but MICROSCOPES are SO COOL! i want one. i got 10/10 on my first bio. assignment. so far so good.

and my english instructor is a dream! he is seventy years old, and has been teaching at OCC since it began in Royal Oak. I love his approach to teaching, and his sense of humor. i think i smiled through most of his class. he totally reminds me of a masculine grandma barbara (my husband’s paternal grandmother.)

so, while i am crazy busy, i am somewhere deep inside having fun.
those are my thoughts tonight, dear blog. tomorrow i go to my dad’s all day to spend time with him ( he needs company for 24 hours after his test…) and then off the grandma barbara’s 79th birthday party. Sunday however, is MY day. well – OUR day. andrew and i will have all sorts of anniversary fun on Sunday.

“itinerary for 8th anniversary celebraions!

sat
8pm- drop off kids

sun
8am- wake up!

8:45-9ish- breakfast at waffle and omelette cafe in plymouth

10:30-11ish- IKEA madness and swedballs

1pm- real seafood co.

2:30-3ish- go to the arb, window shop, etc.

5:45pm- dinner at melange

8pm- ??? movie? two days in paris.

10ish- go home and collapse in a heap

xo”

—

i know. he’s a catch. i love him. so much.