How Will You Be Defined in the Dictionary?

Kimberly Alexander -- [noun]: A beat poet working the streets 'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

I like this! It's better than the future definition of just "Kim" which was "full of bees"? What's up with that?

Chick Flicks

Okay. So, I've been thinking about this as a great blog discussion for chicks: What's the best chick flick ever? [A major problem for this post is that many of my fellow-bloggers are guys...they can feel free to weigh in on the discussion...it doesn't threaten me!]

I'll begin with what I believe to be the greatest chick flick ever: "An Affair to Remember" starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. Why is it the greatest (and by the way it is acknowledged as such in "Sleepless in Seattle")? Because it has everything a good chick flick needs: a gorgeous leading man (and he's the classiest-ever), a beautiful, believable leading lady, sexy and humorous banter between them, a near tragedy, and a romantic happy ending. Oh, and also transformation of the leading man from "bad boy" to responsible, sensitive but still sexy knight in shining armor.

And who can get through that last scene in her apartment, with the painting and the shawl without sobbing? And after all the great banter, Kerr delivers the greatest line in the movie, "Oh it was nobody's fault but my own. I was looking up. It was the nearest thing to heaven. You were there!" Can anything top that?? I invite your comments.

A Victorious Saturday

Woo-hoo! I'm thrilled. Hope, Emma and I went to a Health Expo today (it was not a chick thing but it was kind of a girls' day out, though we were accompanied by a very sweet and cute Lex and joined later by Justin). Anyway...I am proud to announce that all my screenings were in the normal range: blood pressure, heart rate, body mass index (that's a biggie!!!), bone density and blood oxygenation. In fact, my bone density was better than Hope's, though hers was good. They told me that even if I live to be 100, I shouldn't have any problem with osteoporosis!! My blood oxygen level was 100%, a couple percentage points better than both Hope's and Emma's. My BMI was the same as theirs!! That is a major accomplishment on my part. I've worked hard for about a year and a half on diet and exercise, something I haven't been successful at for years and years. And, notably, Hope's BMI was in the normal range, only 4.5 months after having a very large and healthy little baby! I'm quite proud of her! Of course, Emma is in great shape; she walks all over campus and danced 3 days a week last semester. I'm not trying to compete with them [I can't at my age] and I'm not trying to go back to my high school days but...I want to be a good steward of my health. So, I'm pretty happy!

Contentment

It's good to be home. Have I said that? Corky's feeling better. I've taken Leslie to the farm to ride Sweetie twice. Hope, Josh and Lex are back in Tennessee. Emma is home for the week-end. It feels very right.

Tonight, Corky, Leslie and I got together with dear friends and ate real Louisiana gumbo and lemon pie. We laughed and cried a little and rejoiced in where we all are in life and ministry right now.

The temperature is dropping and there may be snow on Sunday.

At my age, I've sense enough to know that it all could change in a moment. So, I've learned, or I'm continuing to learn, to savor the simple things like home, family and friends.

I love change and new adventures, but for now, I'm content.

Devotional Reading

God is Enough: Selections From Published and Unpublished Devotional Writings by Hannah Whitall Smith" Melvin E. and Hallie A. Dieter, ed.

A Year With Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Daily Meditations from His Letters, Writings, and Sermons Foreward by Jim Wallis

My Girls: Leslie

Baby Leslie is all grown up! It's hard to believe that my baby is in high school! Like her older sisters, Leslie is beautiful and witty. When she was a toddler, she looked identical to pictures of Hope at the same age. But as she has matured, she has developed her own beauty and style.(Here with PBR champion Mike Lee) As a very small child, Leslie was a great mimic and actress. That ability is a clue to another unique thing about Leslie: she is very observant. This ability to learn through observation has been a plus in the development of her passion and talent: barrel racing. From the first time she went to a "horse camp" she was able to quickly grasp the fundamentals of grooming, handling, saddling and riding. Over the last few years she's had her own trainer who's helping her to become a champion! The picture is of Leslie on her faithful champion quarterhorse, "Hugs and Kisses", a.k.a. Sweetie. In addition to being skilled in barrels, she has also won ribbons in poles and a silver buckle in goat-tying! Who would have thought it?

As proud as I am of Leslie's horsemanship, I am most proud of her deep commitment to Jesus. She is deeply spiritual and already exhibits a special anointing for ministry.

Corky and I are so blessed to have three beautiful daughters, each with their own gifts and talents. Being a mother of daughters may be a challenge (and it is!) but it is a joy!

Good To Be Home

Just returned from a two week teaching stint in New York City. I was privileged to be able to teach a Winterim course on healing for New York Theological Seminary. The course met nightly at the historic Riverside Church. I spent a good bit of the time during the day at the Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary. New York is a great city, of course, but I find that I enjoy traveling much more when I'm with my family. Having two weeks to see New York as New Yorkers see it was a great experience, however: riding the subway to work everyday, braving the winter elements, drinking coffee at Starbucks. I enjoyed a Sunday morning service at Times Square Church and a MLK Memorial at Riverside (with MLK III, James Forbes and John Edwards) But I did do some tourist stuff, some new, some a repeat of what I've done before. And I enjoyed some great food: Chinese in Chinatown, Italian in Little Italy, and thanks to the hospitality of one of my students, a pastor from Harlem, Soul Food at Sylvia's in Harlem! The tourist highlight was visiting an exhibit on Spanish art at the Guggenheim: El Greco to Picasso. I found myself quite attracted to El Greco's moody, dark work, especially the religious art.

But, it's true, there's no place like home. And for me, home is not a state, as I've lived in quite a few of those. Home is where my family is. It was wonderful to be hugged, kissed and greeted by Corky, Leslie and Little Missy!

What I Should Be When I Grow Up

Your Career Personality: Idealistic, Service-Oriented, and Future-Oriented

Your Ideal Careers: Alternative health practitioner Architect Environmental lawyer Librarian Magazine editor Museum curator Novelist Nutritionist Photo journalist Playwright

The Quick and Dirty Career Test

My Girls: Emma

Let's see. When she was younger we called her Emma the Dilemma (that name was even painted on her bright yellow soapbox derby car....in which she placed 3rd!). Lots of her friends call her Mema. Quite a few old people have called her Emmer. Other people mistakenly call her Emily. But to us, she is our lovely middle child, Emma Catherine.

What's in a name? Her first name, Emma, means "nurse". And Emma has proven to be a loving, sweet, caring person. She was named Catherine for co-founder of the Salvation Army and Preacher Catherine Booth. Though Emma is not as outgoing and bold as her namesake, she is a firmly committed and determined woman.

She's a beauty. An Audrey Hepburn look-alike. She has style, poise and exotic dark features. She's fun (and funny). Everyone loves being with Emma. As a young chiild, an extremely young child, she played practical jokes: pretending to be asleep when she was about 18 months old; hiding and jumping out and scaring her father when she was in kindergarten; and the most incredible, notorious joke: when she was about 3 she pushed straight pens down into my stick deodarant!

Emma is talented. She has a beautiful voice (a great ear for alto, a family characteristic!), and she's a great dancer (a talent she did NOT inherit from me).

Some of my fondest memories of times with Emma are of us snuggled up together in the chair, eating Doritos and watching old movies (especially Doris Day-Rock Hudson, or anything with Cary Grant!).

It seems amazing to me that my tiny, loving, dear little girl (with perfect hair!) is all grown up! But she is quite a young woman; studying nursing, working with developmentally challenged adults, managing her academic, family and social life and still managing to look like a movie star!

Emma is a gift of God to me!

What's Goin' On?

All day long, I've been singing Marvin's lyrics:

Mother, mother
There's too many of you crying
Brother, brother, brother
There's far too many of you dying
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today

Father, father
We don't need to escalate
You see, war is not the answer
For only love can conquer hate
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today

Words are everything. We choose them carefully, because we don't want to mis-communicate, because we want to be understood, or......because we want to hide the truth. So, today it's a surge of troops. 90,000 over the next five years; longer tours of duty. That's what I call "Escalation".

Just Read

I've just finished Anita Shreve's "Light On Snow", a short novel about a father, a daughter, snowstorms, an abandoned baby and a remorseful mother. Shreve is the author of many books; I've read "The Pilot's Wife", an Oprah choice. She has the amazing ability to captivate the reader from the first pages of her books. I like the way this story is told from the 12 year old girl's perspective. One reviewer describes the plot as the whole lot of them being "thawed", a pretty good description.

I like this paragraph: "My father sits at the head of the table, Charlotte and I across from each other. For a few seconds the three of us look at one another and at the stack of pancakes, as if we are a family pondering whether or not to say grace. Sitting at a table in our kitchen feels both strange and familiar. It is a simple thing, but my father and I have gone a long time without it." (p. 251)

I love reading fiction, but don't do it a lot BECAUSE I am so captivated by it. It's very hard for me to stop reading a novel, once I begin. Normally, I reserve fiction reading for vacations (summer and Christmas). What I should do, is read one fiction book and one non-fiction (theology related) per week. Then I could feel good about the fiction. But somehow, fiction and discipline don't go together well.

My Girls: Hope

My most rewarding, but most difficult job is parenting. In six years, when the last daughter is no longer a teen-ager, I believe that I may be decorated by the Queen (no doubt she will still be on the throne!). Mothering, even with all the instincts which come with the job, is still the most demanding of all that I do. A mother knows that she must add to instinct, medical knowledge, psychology and the wisdom of all the mothers who've come before (and believe me, they are glad to share it with you!). But at least once a day, a mother (and a father) have to "make it up" on the spot. My first experience with being a mother was one of those situations.

Hope was born in an unexpected way, with serious health issues which threatened her life. None of the books or childbirth education classes had prepared me for the words from the doctors and nurses. I had to make it up on the spot. My instinct was to nurture and fix things for her. But I couldn't. Hope taught me to trust God for her healing.

Hope has continued to teach me, especially about God. I've learned about His great love for us, because of my great love for her. I've learned about His pride in His creation. I've learned about His continued nurture and care (Deists must not be parents!).

My firstborn, Hope, is a lovely young woman, a wonderful wife and an amazingly caring and nurturing mother. She is creative and talented, a wonderful conversationalist and writer. She is a woman of great conviction (she has to be, given her genetics)and passion. And to add to her complexity, she has a great sense of humor! Oh! and did I mention, a fabulous sense of style?!

I'm proud to be Hope's mom.