life is an adventure

It's been a busy few weeks and I determined that last Sunday, April 7, I would have a quiet restful day after church. I had nothing planned for the afternoon or evening and I just wanted to read or sleep or just be HOME!

Well when we got home from church a DHS worker who was on call for the weekend was trying to call. She wondered if we would be able to go to hospital that afternoon to pick up a newborn girl. I was neither expecting nor prepared for a newborn girl. We were a boy home with boy clothes and boy toys! We said yes and my mom, Daniel, and myself went to the hospital in the afternoon to meet the caseworker and get the baby.

The early part of the week was filled with adjusting to round the clock feedings...I love to sleep so this has been pretty crazy! But I have found that the times that I get up with her--usually once or twice, although it has been more on occasion--are delightful! Other than stumbling around in the dark trying to change diapers and mix formula, I really find it quite enjoyable. And God has given the grace so that I really don't feel too exhausted in the daytime! (It's a little hard to get up in the morning but thankfully my mom takes care of the early morning feedings!)

Daniel was initially intrigued by such a tiny being. He has been very gentle and for the most part patient with sharing our home with Baby B...although he finds the flood of pink in our home a little strange!

As we have been enjoying Baby B this week, I found out through the local news that our last foster baby (toddler) Little N was brought back into custody last week for physical abuse after being returned to his original home. After he was moved from our home, it was only a matter of a few weeks before the court returned him to his mother. Now she is charged with felony child abuse after he was found with more severe injuries than the first time. I was in tears as I read the news story. I don't understand why things happened the way they did. I don't understand the pain in the world. I hate what sin does to people, especially the most vulnerable.

I can't save the world, but for today anyway we can open our home and arms to a tiny one and trust God for the future.

always reading...

I went to the Christian bookstore tonight to get my son his very first Bible, now that he is reading. Of course I had to browse the bargain book section and this book jumped out at me

I started reading the book tonight and was in tears. Not tears of self-pity but just like wow, it feels like this woman is writing to me personally. I love having a boy. He is a delight. But I struggle with so many worries about how to raise him to be a man. I highly, highly recommend this book for any single mother raising a son or for anyone to read just to get a glimpse into what kinds of things single mothers of boys face. It is definitely a book full of hope.
And I love the picture on the front! It totally captures the essence of my life!

So now the stack next to my bed is growing...!

fiddling again

I decided to deactivate my personal Facebook page for a time....maybe a few days, maybe a few weeks. I have no set time in mind. So in this time without the temptation to check it just because I have time on my hands, I decided I would take the opportunity to catch up on reading the stack of books next to my bed, maybe do some blogging, do some personal inventory about where I'm at in life, and play music!

When I first start teaching fiddle lessons I used cassette tapes as a large part of my instructing. Since several of the tunes were taught either by ear or with tabs ("music" that just showed the finger numbers but without the rhythm) I would record myself playing the tune slowly and then up to speed to that my students could listen to it during the week and be able to learn the song. After a few years, most of my students no longer had cassette players and now, many of my younger students don't even know what a cassette tape is!

So one of my students suggested that I create a YouTube channel and upload videos of myself playing the tunes that I teach. I could direct my students to the particular song that they were supposed to be working on and they could hear me playing it the same way that I was teaching it.

Last night, in the absence of the time waster known as Facebook (!), I tried my first video. I still feel a little awkward in front of the webcam. Hopefully as I do more I will loosen up and maybe do more talking/instructing.

So here it is....the sound quality isn't the best and I am highly critical of every less than perfect note! if you have any suggestions for improvement, please let me know! (Click on Ashoken Farewell below...I haven't figured out how to actually put the video on this page! still learning!)



Ashoken Farewell