by Heather Plett | Jul 24, 2006 | Uncategorized
So many times, we hear negative things about teenagers – how much trouble they are, how much trouble they cause, how hard they are to raise. Having a couple of pre-teens, Marcel and I are often warned about the teen years and so we’ve assumed it was a time to dread. We’ve heard all the horror stories of teen angst, troubles in school, hormones, drug and alcohol abuse, etc., and it doesn’t look pretty. “Just you wait” is a commonly-heard phrase.
Lately, however, I’ve been struck by the number of really decent likeable teenagers around us, and I have been hugely encouraged. Last night was a good example. We were at a barbecue at our friends’ Yvonne and George’s along with a few other families. Our kids were the youngest ones there. After supper, while the adults relaxed on the deck, watching the sun set over the trees (aaahhhh :-), the kids played a rousing game of soccer in their large backyard.
Nikki and Julie played with the group of mostly teen boys, and it was a delight to watch. Either they were just exceptional teens and they would have turned out well regardless, or our friends are doing a bang-up job of raising decent teens. They were so great to our girls. And not just in a patronizing “we have to be nice to the young kids because the adults are watching” kind of way, but in a respectful, generous, “we like hanging out with these kids” way. I was really touched by it, and I know that my girls felt genuinely valued as members of the soccer teams.
I guess that’s part of the beauty of raising kids in a meaningful community, where people of all ages respect and like each other. I really like my friends’ teenage kids. They’re decent and respectful, and I’m glad my daughters have good role models. I guess we’ll just have to keep surrounding ourselves with great teens and maybe we’ll get lucky when our girls reach that stage.
by Heather Plett | Jul 23, 2006 | Uncategorized
When something crappy happens in your life that you don’t understand and don’t appreciate, chances are someone will say to you “everything happens for a reason”. When they say it, you’re usually in the middle of wallowing in self-pity and you don’t necessarily want to hear it. But usually, there seems to be a grain of truth to it, and when time finally separates you from the crappy thing, and you can look back with some measure of objectivity, you discover that the crappy thing was somehow redeemed and there was reason or at least some value to it.
Last month I told you that Marcel didn’t get into university for this coming year. Then, after we appealed to the University (and prayed about it), they changed their mind and let him in. So clearly it looked like it was meant to be. But then last week he went for his orientation session and discovered that his short daytime schedule and options for evening classes were over and he would now have to commit himself to full days EVERY day. This caused us some stress, because suddenly his time as a stay-at-home Dad with Maddie would be over and we’d have to find (and pay for) full time child care. With just over a month until he returns to school, we really didn’t know how we’d manage to work it all out.
In the meantime, my old friend Kari responded to my attempts to track her down. She phoned last week, and I invited her and her kids for an afternoon of swimming, topped off with a barbecue in the back yard. She showed up today with her two little girls, and within moments, Maddie had fallen in love with her new friend (it doesn’t take her long to fall in love, but this one was a record).
Turns out Kari is on maternity leave this year, having just given birth to her second child. And guess what – she’s offered to care for Maddie in the afternoons for the upcoming year. She thinks it would be great for her daughter to have a friend around. Wow! Feels a little serendipitous. Now we just have to try to get Maddie into the preschool close to Kari’s house, and the whole plan might fall into place.
The timing for the reunion with Kari seems almost eery. And in case you’re wondering, yes, the years did fall away, and it was just like old times. It wasn’t hard to remember why we were such good friends.
I leave you with a picture of true love. Hope they still feel this way when they spend every day together!
by Heather Plett | Jul 22, 2006 | Uncategorized
Last month, when we had our big birthday/graduation celebration, I introduced my friend Suzanne to my friends Michele, Yvonne, and Linda. Shortly after the introduction, I wandered away to greet some other new arrivals at the party. Well, by the time I returned to the conversation, the four women had discovered that they were kindred spirits (they recognized the signs when Suzanne produced a crystal wine glass so she could drink wine in style at an outdoor party) and a dinner party was well on it’s way to being arranged. Since I was the common link, I sent out an e-mail, arranged the date, and voila, it was done. About the easiest dinner party I’ve ever “organized”, considering I didn’t host it and all I brought was the bread!
Along the way, we picked up a couple of other like-minded women (Michele’s friend Glenda was visiting from Ontario, and Michele’s other friend Asha was another natural fit). My sister ccap would have been included too, but she’s traveling right now. Maybe next time.
Well, what can I tell you? It was a hoot! Suzanne has an amazing, character home that she’s put all kinds of beautiful touches into (she’s got style, that girl). It was the perfect setting for the night. We ate amazing food – barbecued chicken skewers, shrimp skewers, mediterranean rice, stuffed squash, mediterranean salad, lemon potatoes, bread, baklava – ummmmm… And the wine was flowing. Glenda brought some from the Niagara Peninsula, and Michele started raiding Suzanne’s wine cabinet when that ran out (apparently Michele has expensive tastes, because she picked the best).
What a night! Seven amazing women, with lots of interesting life experiences (and a little gossip) to share, great senses of humour, lots of wisdom and brilliance – it was a memorable night. Everyone needs friends like these!
by Heather Plett | Jul 20, 2006 | Uncategorized
Tear a page into a thousand pieces. Scatter those pieces on the floor. Some will land with the printing side up, and some will be upside down. You’ll see lots of words and pieces of words, but none of them will be connected, and so you will not make sense of any of it.
That’s how my mind feels today. Scattered.
That’s why today’s post is random.
– I remember when Marcel and I were dating (somewhere between 1990 and 1993). Operation Desert Storm happened, and he became a CNN addict. It was hard to tear him away. That was when I knew I’d fallen in love with a news junkie. Mostly, despite the fact that I sometimes grew weary of pictures of bombing and destruction, it made me happy, because I knew life would be interesting and he would teach me things. I also knew he’d have lots of interesting conversations with my father.
– The reason I bring up Marcel’s CNN obsession is that I’m suddenly finding myself glued to the internet trying to learn more about what’s going on in Lebanon. The political unrest in the Middle East has always baffled me, but this time I find myself wanting to understand what’s going on. Partly because I know a man trapped in the country of his birth and I know a woman waiting for him to return home.
– If/when I become a freelance writer/consultant, I PROMISE I will try to get things in by the deadline, I will get back to you when you call, I will not take off on an extended trip in the middle of an important project without letting you know that it will delay completion of said project, I will listen to you and try to capture the essence of what YOU want rather than what I want, and I will be friendly. Today, I’m frustrated with consultants and my work is stalled and way behind schedule because I am at their mercy.
– Is it just me, or do you find those websites that have sound that automatically starts when you open the site somewhat annoying? Mostly it’s musicians’ sites, and I guess I can understand why they do that, but I find it to be an assault to the senses. When I’m on the internet, it’s usually because I want to SEE things, not HEAR them. I want to be able to choose when I engage the other senses.
– My sister is gone for 2 weeks. I miss her. It feels like part of me is missing when she goes away.
– I’m almost finished a couple of annual tasks that I find to be pure drudgery. The annual report and annual performance reviews of my staff. The end is in site and I couldn’t be happier.
– It’s TV free month at our house. We do this every year – usually in the summer. No TV – not even for Mom and Dad (hence the internet news for the Lebanon conflict rather than CNN). Whenever we do, I find it quite peaceful and often wish we could extend it to TV free year. What’s nice is that the kids often forget after the month is over, and don’t miss it much, so it takes awhile before the TV gets turned on again.
– I am delighted with how much the kids are enjoying the cheap pool we bought. It’s only 2 feet deep and 10 feet across, but judging by the amount of excitement it has caused around our house, you’d think we’d put in an Olympic-sized pool. It makes me happy when my children still take pleasure in small things. Maybe they’re not overly spoiled after all.
– Last night I put together a 3-D puzzle with Nikki and Julie and played a My Little Pony game with Maddie. It was delicious and boring, all at the same time.
– The Franklin Graham Festival (an off-shoot of the Billy Graham Crusade) is coming to our city this fall. The week before the event, they’re getting as many Christians together as possible, cramming them onto a bunch of charter buses, and circling the perimeter of the city, praying all the way. Is it just me, or does that seem cheesy and irrelevant to you too? Not to mention that they’re wasting money and fossil fuels doing it. Maybe they could walk around downtown handing out blankets and sandwiches to homeless people while they pray.
Apparently, there are a lot more scattered pieces in my brain than I thought. I’ll leave the rest lying on the floor for now.
by Heather Plett | Jul 19, 2006 | Uncategorized
One of my colleagues is married to a Lebanese Canadian. His dad died a few weeks ago and he went back to Lebanon to bury him and be with his mom. Three hours after he landed in Beirut, the airport was bombed. Now, like all the other foreigners there, he has no way of getting out.
His mother’s house overlooks the Beirut airport. My colleague talks to him nearly every day, and when they’re on the phone, she can hear the bombing in the background. Always. He has helped his sister escape to her home in Jordan, and has helped other family members get out of the country. He does not want to leave, though, without his mother. The streets all around them are being bombed. They don’t know how much longer they’ll have a source of food and water.
If you’re the praying kind, feel free to add them to your prayers. All of our other worries seem so petty when you don’t know whether you’ll see your family again. It almost seems like too much to bear when you’re in the middle of grieving your father/husband’s death.
by Heather Plett | Jul 18, 2006 | Uncategorized
Dear Dad,
I wish I could talk to you, Dad. I wish I could hop in the car, drive to the farm, pull up a chair at your kitchen table, and talk to you, while you fried yourself an egg, or ate one of mom’s buns with jam. There are so many things I’d bring to the table, Dad – so many things I’d like to hear your opinion about. We’d talk about the kids, the farm, and the state of the world. I’d show you some of the stuff I’d gotten published lately, and you’d smile your sideways smile as you bent your head.
Here’s what’s been on my mind lately, Dad – it seems so unfair that, shortly after you died, I got a job that has so much to do with who you are and how you raised us. It’s all about farming and stewardship and generosity and helping those less fortunate than us. It’s also about diverse faith groups finding a way to get past their theological differences and work together to do what God calls us to do – end hunger.
You would have smiled at me, Dad, if I’d told you what I did last Friday. I went on a field trip – a LITERAL field trip. I visited some farm groups and stood out there in their fields, admiring their crops of wheat and oats and soybeans. I listened to them talk about this year’s growing season – they’ve had too much heat and not enough rain. I let them teach me how, if you rub the husk off a strand of wild oats and then spit in your hand, the wild oat seed will begin to twist in your hand. Imagine that – the child you thought would be least likely to end up standing in a field talking to a farmer, working in a job where farming is part of my daily conversations. I even read farm papers these days, to stay on top of the issues and find out how the crops are doing. Strange, isn’t it?
The farm groups we visited were community growing projects that get together to grow a crop which they donate to our organization so that we can ship food overseas to provide food to people who are hungry. Last year, Dad, I got to go to Kenya and Tanzania to see where some of that food gets shipped. You would have loved it, Dad. It’s an amazing place to visit!
It’s all great stuff, Dad, but there’s something that’s been troubling me a bit lately, and I wish I could bend your ear for awhile and hear what you have to say on the subject. You see, the fields we visited on Friday, well, there was something just too perfect about the crops on those fields. We stood there listening to the farmers tell us about the process they go through to prepare the land, fertilize it, spray it, plant it with perfect seed (some of which has been genetically modified) and then spray it again so that it all dies at a uniform rate and is all ready to harvest at the same time. Maybe it’s all okay, but there was just something so clinical to it – so methodical. It didn’t seem rhythmical, the way nature is meant to be. It didn’t seem entirely natural.
Do you think we’re doing the right thing, Dad, with all these chemicals and genetically modified organisms? Do you think we’re treating God’s green earth the way we’re supposed to be treating it? I think of how you struggled to grow a decent crop, how you spread manure on the fields, how you let the land rest now and then, how you taught us to be good stewards of all that God has entrusted us with, and I wonder what you’d think of all this big-business farming now.
I know there are no easy answers in all of this. People need food, and, the truth is, North Americans have gotten used to perfect, pretty food, so they don’t necessarily want the stuff that’s grown the way nature grows it, with imperfections and all. Beyond that, though, there’s also the fact that we need to share our food, and according to some of the experts, there’s no way to end hunger in the world without the use of chemicals and GMOs.
I guess it just doesn’t sit right with me all the time. God created a bountiful world. God doesn’t want people to be hungry. God wants his people to figure out how to bring balance to the world where all have enough to eat. So wouldn’t God have designed the world to be able to produce enough food without all the tinkering we’ve been doing? On the other hand, maybe God made us with scientific capacity to figure it out with science and not just nature. I just don’t know.
I know you don’t know the answers to these questions, Dad, but it would have made for an interesting conversation, wouldn’t it? If only I could sit at your table and talk with you again.
Heather
p.s. Thanks for leaving behind those pictures, Dad. We all really appreciated them. I’ve got a couple of them hanging on my wall. I guess it’s those pictures and what they represent that makes me think that a man with so much respect for God’s creation (including dandelions) would have a few questions about how much we seem to be acting like owners instead of stewards of the earth.
