Ballet

Miriam has been taking ballet lessons since March - just after she turned 3. We found a great deal with the city parks. It's only $5 for the whole month of weekly lessons. If you're a Tulsan with a little girl, check it out! Miriam LOVES it. Here are some cute pictures of our pretty pink ballerina.

Miriam's blanket

One day when Samuel was probably a week or two old, I was zoned out on the couch with my snuggly baby not watching my three year old very well, I confess. I knew she was doing an art project. I heard her opening and closing the drawers of our crazy-large art supplies (leftover from my teaching days...). When I finally roused myself into supervising, I found craft supplies strewn all over the kitchen floor and Miriam, looking very proud, as she showed me the "blanket" she made for Samuel. She had found a large piece of felt and decorated it with glitter, stickers, and other miscellaneous items she had glued on it. Aside from the fact that it is a chocking hazard to any baby, it is probably one of the most love filled gifts he has been given. :) I finally got around to photographing it. So, here they are, the sweet big sis and the lovable baby.


What a cutie, huh? He weighs about 13 lbs already!

Happy Father's Day!

When I married Bob 6 1/2 years ago, I knew he was going to be a great husband. What I didn't know, was what a kind and loving father he would be to our children. No one makes Miriam laugh like her Papa. I love watching the two of them together - and I look forward to watching that same loving relationship develop between Bob and Samuel. They are off to a great start. After all, he is an expert diaper changer and swaddler! In honor of Bob, and all the other great dads out there....Happy Father's Day!

Samuel and Miriam

Samuel is two weeks old already! He is growing - and we are loving him more everyday, if that is possible. :) He is a precious, precious baby. Miriam is thriving in her role as big sister. She loves to do "this little piggy" with his toes and kiss him whenever she can. My heart is full when I see them together. Being a big sister myself with a little brother, I see them and remember my own childhood. I also anticipate all the fun the future holds for the two of them.

The picture of Miriam below is on her new swing set from Pataw. We love being able to swing in our own backyard. Thanks, Dad!

Sleepy Samuel

He seems to like his fingers a lot...when he can find them!

Samuel Anthony Logsdon is here!

Mama, Papa, and Samuel, shortly after his birth

Holding Samuel for the first time

Our sleeping boy

Miriam is a wonderful big sister!

Alice, our gifted midwife, with Samuel and Miriam

As most of you know, our sweet boy was born on June 2nd - one week ago today. We had a wonderful homebirth experience and feel so blessed to have a healthy baby in our arms. Samuel weighed 8 lbs. 1oz and was 20 1/2 inches long at birth. He has some dark hair just like Miriam - and seems to have the same hairline as well. :) He is a champion nurser and fairly good sleeper, for a newborn, anyway! He was born after only 3 hours of labor, which I attribute to great genes (thanks, Mom!) and being so relaxed at home. My friend Alexis was here and was a wonderful help during labor and delivery. Bob, being the super dad that he is, was able to catch Samuel. It was truly an amazing experience. We are grateful to our wonderful midwife, Alice, and to God for working through all the folks that were a part of Samuel's birth. God has been so good to us! Keep praying for us as we adjust to being a family of four. My mom went home today, so I would LOVE any prayers lifted up on my behalf as I navigate the waters of motherhood times two! Stay tuned for more pictures!!

Teen girls

It is hard to believe I am really done with teen girls ministry. It has been an unexpected blessing in my life, but it is definitely time to pass it on to someone else. I've been thinking about how much of what I have done has been with Miriam on my hip or sitting on my lap. It's been a juggle, for sure. I feel so blessed that Kaytie is around to continue working with these girls. It makes it much easier to let go. These girls have been (and will continue to be) so special to me. I'm glad I'll be around to see the next steps in their lives.

The pictures are from our last Tuesday Bible study together. We finished our lessons on sexual purity and gave the girls an opportunity to sign pledge cards, promising to wait for marriage before having sex. Then the girls got to make bead necklaces or bracelets as reminders of this promise. Please pray for their courage in the face of temptation, and for Kaytie as she loves and listens and spends time with these girls.

Thanks to all of you who have followed this girls ministry and helped in so many ways. Your prayers have been an encouragement. May God bless you as you minister to those in your corner of the world.

We are all a little LOST

I was talking to Ric, a social worker at the hospice in which I now work as chaplain. We both enjoy watching the TV show LOST. Prior to our discussion of the show, we had talked about how people do things for a reason. There is usually a cognitive, belief statement from which they operate. This leads to the feelings and actions that flow. These beliefs may not be true. Every now and then we stop and reflect. We ask ourselves, "Why am I doing this?" As we talked about the show LOST, I shared the frustration that the characters rarely stop and say, "I am not taking one more step until somebody around here explains what is really going on around here on this strange island." The characters do, but they stop so short of what I think that I would request. I connected the two discussions and realized that I do the same. Often I just keep doing the same old stuff over and over without stopping and saying, "I am not taking one more step without looking at this."

Waiting for the baby....

I am discovering how impatient I am. Miriam was born 10 days early, so I never had to sit around and wonder if she was ever going to show up. But this time....I'm not even to my due date and I'm so restless!! Because Miriam was early, I felt the need to finish all my to do lists early this time. So now I'm sitting around with my list (for the most part anyway) completed, and wondering what on earth are we waiting for! Here's a picture of me...SO ready to meet this little one!

Congratulations, Bob!

Bob graduated from CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) training on May 15th. It was a busy and intense 9 months. It is so nice to have him come home each day and not have homework. It is also wonderful to have him home every night - no more on call nights at the hospital - Hurray! (Although, to be honest, Miriam loved that part. We'd eat dinner in the cafeteria and then she got to play in the on-call room. So much fun for a 3 year old!) The picture is from graduation day. Good job, Bob! We are so proud of all your hard work!

Bob started his new job on the following Monday. Much of his time so far has been spent in training, but so far he is really enjoying it. Praise God for his many blessings!

The Dying as Astronauts

In talking to a social worker with hospice, he said that one person likened the dying to astronauts. They look at life from a perspective that helps us see ourselves and the world around us in amazing, new ways.

The goodness of the Lord

We have shared the good news with most of you, but in case you haven't heard...Bob has a job!!! His current job is as a chaplain resident, which means he has a 9 month training job learning how to be a chaplain. Those nine months are also the same 9 months of our pregnancy, which meant right about the time baby shows up, Bob would be without a job. These last few months had some stressful moments for me, I confess! But how could I ever doubt the Lord? Just in His time, He provided. Bob had an interview a week and a half ago with a hospice here in town. By that afternoon they had offered him the job! We are so excited about this new opportunity, and so happy that we get to stay here in our home and among so many friends. We thank all of you who prayed for us, and most of all we Praise God for his faithfulness!

Letting your neighbor love back

Well, today was one of those days. Fun start. Miriam, Sarah, and I went to an Easter egg hunt in the morning. Miriam being in the older end of her age bracket, finished up quite well after two minutes or so of gathering eggs and candy. This was a classy Easter egg hunt. CHOCOLATE candy in the eggs! Fruit gummies and big suckers were on the ground as well.

When we returned home, we noticed that the ground in the front yard felt a little squishy. There was a significant puddle of water that hugged the curb all in front of our lot. The squishy pathway seemed to lead to the water shut-off valve. There I found water up to the brim. My shut-off valve overfloweth. Then the choice: Do I get angry and upset, or do I see this as something that happens in life? By the grace of God, I chose plan B. We called the plumber and found out that a broken water main is expensive to fix. Then I discovered if I could dig the line myself, I could save a lot of money.

Next two guys on my street asked about the situation. I explained that I may be having a DIG party. One offered to help whenever that happens (I still need to get the utility companies to come mark the lines.) The other offered his truck if we needed to get a Ditch Witch.

Before the plumber got there, I was reading Jesus' response to the test of the most important commandments. As you know, Jesus passed! I am reminded today that loving our neighbor is the fabric that holds a disconnected world together. I believe ultimately spirituality is built and fulfilled in community (that is borrowed line from a book called The Spirituality of Imperfection). I am excited to get some help on digging and living in the Kingdom.

Spring Break sleepover

Spring break was about two weeks ago. We'd been talking about doing a sleepover for a while, so this seemed like a good week. We had some great volunteers (as always!) who helped out. The girls and guys ate pizza and saw a movie, then split up for a sleepover. The girls went to the home of one of our volunteers. They had a great time - as you can tell from the pictures. Bring back any memories?

I don't think they went to sleep until 6 or 7 a.m. - I'm pretty sure they slept all day!

One of our teens and Kaytie, a new staff member at Contact

Two of our beautiful girls

Choir update

A small group of our girls' choir had the opportunity a few weeks ago to sing at the new children's hospital at St. Francis. They visited three floors and sang in the "play rooms" on each floor. The girls really enjoyed being able to sing for the kids -some of whom are in long-term care. See pictures below.

One of our teens visiting with one of the tiny patients

The girls singing

Miriam and I and a few patients

Another one of the girls singing

Miriam turns 3!

Unbelievably, our little girl turned 3 on March 21st. These past three years have been an amazing experience - learning how to be parents to this special little person, watching her grow physically, seeing her personality emerge, growing into a family together. I can't even imagine how much we all have to look forward to in the next 3 years!

Grammy and Pataw and Auntie Rachel all made a special trip to Oklahoma. We also had a few friends over to celebrate the big day. Here are some pics from the birthday weekend.

Friends and family at Miriam's party

Miriam and Grammy

Miriam and Auntie Rachel

Miriam opening presents - very excited about new paint!

Miriam and Pataw in fun party hats!

Miriam in her new wagon from Grammy and Pataw

Miriam and Papa in her new princess castle from Grandma and Grandpa Logsdon

The birthday cakes! Miriam wanted a green ladybug cake...so I made a red one too so it would be recognizable as a ladybug!

Ash Wednesday

Growing up church of Christ, Ash Wednesday was not really a part of my vocabulary, let alone the yearly calendar. After Bob and I married however, we started trying to practice Lent, quietly and within our new family. We liked the idea of a yearly rhythm with God. Making Easter less about chocolate bunnies and egg hunts and more about our faith appealed to us. I think each year we've benefited from whatever small sacrifices we chose to make, but it has been challenging since it was something we did, for the most part, alone, and not as part of our faith community.

Bob's job as a hospital chaplain this year involved providing an Ash Wednesday service, along with the other resident chaplains, to anyone at the hospital - patient or employee- who desired to participate. I decided to show up, along with Miriam, for one of the services. Despite the whispers of the nearly-three year old beside me, it was a really meaningful experience. Scripture reading, singing, prayer, and then the opportunity to come forward and be marked on the forehead with ashes. "This is to remind you that from ashes you come, and to ashes you will return", is (I think) the phrase Bob spoke as he made a cross on my head with ashes. There on my head was a tangible reminder of my mortality, my humanity, my sinfulness. As I wore the ashes down the corridors of the hospital, as I saw people glance at the "smudge" on my head, I was very aware of God's presence and God's plan for myself and all of His lost creation.

I am prayerful these days. They are pretty uncertain ones for our family! I am pregnant. I am facing the end of my time as youth/children's minister at Contact. Bob and I are completely unsure as to where he will work after May, where we may need to move, what major changes our expanding family may have to face. I am hopeful though. As we enter the Lenten season, I feel sure that just as God has always had a plan for humanity, He has a plan for us - for me, for our family, for our new baby, for all the kids and families we love here in Tulsa. And for you too.

Saying goodbye

Today I went to a funeral for the grandmother of several of our Contact kids and teens. She was only 54, but at the time of her death she was living in a nursing home. Two strokes and stolen her ability to communicate or do much for herself. I honestly had no idea she was so young. The last time I saw her was when the choir sang at the nursing home where she lived. She could have easily passed for a woman several decades older. When I received word of her death last week, I was sad for her family, and so glad that the choir had chosen to sing there first. If we had waited even a month it would have been too late. You could tell, just be watching her, that she loved seeing her granddaughters sing.
Please pray for this family as they say goodbye to their grandma.

Choir lock-in

Our annual lock-in is over... and everyone seems to have survived! Lock-ins are one of those events loved by teens and dreaded by adults. Staying up all (or nearly all) night loses its appeal sometime after 18, I think. So I am especially grateful to the three ladies that did the hard work of chaperoning this event: Kaytie Jo Stinson, Devin Dupre, and Dalene Lawrence. The lock-in was for all our choir girls - 3rd grade through high school. Eight of our girls were able to make it, an equal mix of both elementary and older girls. We planned this event with the idea that our girls needed some time to have fun together and perhaps develop a greater unity as a singing group. I showed up for a little while in the evening, and then came back in the morning with doughnuts to take the girls home. From what I saw, it was a really positive evening. We took the girls to Cici's and filled them up with pizza, then on to a late movie ("Hotel for Dogs"). By the time they got back to Contact it was late, but the girls were still energized enough to stay up most of the night doing hair and nails, singing karaoke, eating snacks, and enjoying the free reign of the building. I'll attach a few pictures of this event soon. Thanks for lifting up these special girls in your prayers!

A new perspective on old stories

In the fall, our girls' Bible study group began studying women of the Bible. It seemed like up until this point we had done more topical studies, so I thought it was time to just start with basic Bible studies of women and see where it would lead us each week. I hoped the girls would benefit from it, but I honestly never expected how much I would enjoy it! Most of our girls have such weak Bible knowledge, so almost every story was new to them. We started with Eve, which they knew pretty well. But from there it was all new territory. Miriam, singing and leading Isreal, then struck with leprosy. Deborah, the judge and prophet, leading Israel with the courage the men of that time couldn't match. Jaal, the gutsy woman who killed a king. Hannah, the prayerful woman of God, waiting for her son, then giving him back to God. Esther, an obscure Jewish girl made queen, who prayerfully risked her life to save her people. Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah who was seduced by David, lost her husband and child, but went on to mother Solomon, the wisest person ever. Wow! When you haven't heard the stories before, they are full of surprises. Every week I heard the girls gasp in wonder, surprise, bewilderment, horror...just from straight readings of the word. I look at all these women of the Bible with fresh eyes now too. And I look at our girls with a new perspective too. I can't dismiss them, or any teens, as not caring about the Bible. Given a chance, they'll eat it up - and teach me a lot along the way too.

ICE!

Tulsa got hit by the ice storm moving across the country this week. After last winter's crazy power outage (we had no power for an entire week) this seems like nothing! Only a few lost power, which I attribute to the fact that there were no trees left to fall on power lines. It was insane how many trees fell last winter! The piles of debris looked liked small mountains. Anyway, the roads have been icky, and the kids are out of school for the third day in a row. Yesterday a couple teen girls who live pretty close by walked over to the house. They were so bored that they were ready to brave the cold to have something to do. As I watched one of the teens chow down on the popcorn I fixed for a snack, I wondered how all the moms were feeding their kids. So many families rely on school meals to feed their kids breakfast and lunch, how are they making it during this ice storm? Here it is the end of the month, money is probably tight, and they have to feed their kids 6 extra unexpected meals. The girls stayed for dinner, and I felt good about making sure they had at least one square meal that day. But what about all the other kids I know? In these uncertain economic times, everyone is starting to feel the budget crunch, but hard times always hit the poor first and hardest. When you don't have disposable income, what can you cut from your budget? Hard choices are made - electric bill or food? Medicine or rent?

The ice is supposed to melt today, but the hard financial times will continue. What can we do to help our struggling neighbors?

Late Christmas post

Well, I'm only a month late, but here are a few Christmas pictures - from both Contact and our family.

At Contact, our annual Christmas store was a few weeks before Christmas. Toys are donated by area churches and individuals and then sold to needy families at a drastically reduced rate (generally 75% discount). This allows families to have the dignity of shopping and buying their own children's toys. This year was a great success, with lots of families and children served. The day before the store, Miriam and I had the fun of shopping for toys with $400 of donated money. I don't think I've ever spent so much money at Walmart! Our cart was loaded with stereos, jewelry, dart guns, and more. During the store on Saturday, our teen girls helped by providing childcare for our members who were working at the store. We also took care of a few children whose parents were shopping. We decorated cookies, painted, made bead jewelry, played with play-dough, watched movies, and managed to keep the kids occupied for several hours. (See picture below.)


Our family went to AR for Christmas to be with my parents, siblings, and grandparents. It's usually a once a year event to get my sister, brother and I all home, thus making it a special time, even if all too brief. Miriam had lots of playmates (and being the only grandchild) received lots of attention! See a few pictures below.

Miriam and I with Aunt Rita and Uncle Jason


She loved the piano, and entertained us greatly with all the different songs she made up to the tune of "Jesus loves me"!


Pataw "rescued" her from the "fire restaurant" (Asian grill restaurant where they cook at your table.) Miriam was terrified, until Pataw found the ice cream!


Grammy, of course, read lots of books.


Auntie Rachel is so funny! :)

We hope your holidays were special, and that your new year has begun in a blessed and beautiful way!
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Choir

Today the girls' choir went to a local nursing home and sang for the residents. The girls sounded lovely, and the elderly people responded with applause and smiles. It is always beautiful to see older and younger people connecting, and I was encouraged by what I saw today. One of the residents is a grandmother of several of the girls in the group. A stroke has taken away much of her ability to communicate, but you could see in her eyes how happy she was to see her grandaughters and how proud she was to hear them sing.

This was only the second time our choir has performed. The girls sang at Christmas time at Contact. Their first performance was received with lots of encouragement by our Contact family. (See picture above.) Our goal, now that we have a few songs under our belt, is to sing the last Sunday of each month at nursing homes, hospitals, or possibly other locations too. While the girls are still learning the fine art of staying on key and singing together, I think the most important part of choir is the process. Learning to listen, to be a team, to help the younger girls, to hear the very words they are singing as words from God....these are lessons that I hope will begin to seep into their hearts. Please pray for these 3rd -high school age girls! (And pray for the adults who help them...we're planning a choir lock-in soon!!)