Blogging through the Alphabet–The Letter I

Marcy from the blog Ben and Me is hosting a weekly theme Blogging through the Alphabet. This week we are on the letter I. After reading my post, visit Marcy’s blog to read what she and others have written.

I is for Inheritance. Not monetary  inheritance, but spiritual inheritance. My spiritual inheritance was brought to my mind today as we visited a small mission church.

We went to El Paso because the youth group from our church had gathered boxes of hygiene items for Ysleta Lutheran Mission. Since we only live about an hour and a half away, we decided that we should drive the items down and visit for a church service as well.

The Lutheran church, on the grounds of the Mission, is San Pablo. They are a small congregation, but one of the outreach programs is a Mariachi band. Today was Mariachi Sunday, where the Mariachi band led the music.

The entire service was enchanting. The music was fantastic, the preaching was wonderful.The sermon followed the Gospel reading from Luke 24:36-49. The Pastor brought home the point that Jesus came to wage war, war against Satan and sin. After Jesus resurrection, He came in peace. Jesus had conquered sin, death and the power of the devil. He could greet his disciples and ultimately us with “Peace be with you” because the war was over. Jesus was the victor.

As I was worshipping, I was almost overwhelmed with what a great gift God has blessed me with, a spiritual inheritance. One of the most special parts of this Sunday was walking into the little church and looking upon the Altar, Pulpit, Lectern and Baptismal Font. These pieces of furniture that decorate the front of this little church were made by my Grandfather about 30 years ago. They were originally made for another mission church and when that church remodeled they were moved down to San Pablo.

The furniture are a reminder of my spiritual inheritance. My Grandfather had a living and active faith and is now resting and rejoicing in Heaven. My Grandmother still has an active faith that she shares not only with me, her grand daughter, but also with my kids, her great- grandchildren.  My grandparents taught the faith to my mother. And my parents brought the faith to me, through the gift of Holy Baptism. My prayer is that I and my husband are teaching our children “in the way that they should go.”(Proverbs 22:6) to continue on with the inheritance.

Blogging Through the Alphabet–Letter H

I have been Blogging Through the Alphabet with Marcy from the blog Ben and Me. Visit her blog and read what she chose for the letter H, then visit  the other blogs joining in, as well.

Unfortunately I missed blogging about the letter G. Although it was a G word that kept me from blogging last week. Gastro-intestinal upsets for the entire family. “Ugh”, is about all I want to say about last week.

This week is the letter H. H for me stands for Hand bells. Our church has a Hand bell choir, which Sarah and I became members of last August when we moved here. The rest of the Hand bell choir have been playing for 4 years. This is Sarah and my first year playing. What an experience.

Sarah and I both read music, which I think is the only reason we could come in and just pick it up and start playing. I played the flute in high school and I have sung in various choirs for many years now. Sarah takes piano lessons and has for quite a few years. When we joined the Hand bell Choir, I began playing treble clef notes and Sarah plays bass clef.

Generally, my notes tend to be melody notes. I think it is fun, but very challenging to play Hand bells. You really have to pay attention. I am in charge of  bells, G, G# (or A flat) and A. You have to watch the music and play, using the right timing, when your note comes up. This is not so hard when you are playing a simple piece with a lot of half notes and quarter notes, but it is not usually as simple as that. Since the Hand bell Choir has been playing for 4 years, the music can get quite complicated.

Sarah, in my opinion has an even tougher job than I do. I can’t remember exactly which bass clef bells she plays, but I know they are fairly large. Since the bells are big, they are a bit heavy and she has to use a lot of strength to ring them. One reason I wanted Sarah to be a part of the Hand Bell Choir is because she tends to have a few problems with her timing while playing piano. Hand Bells can really teach you timing, because if you do not play at the right time,you can throw the whole choir off. I have noticed it is helping her piano playing as well. It is also a good thing because the Hand bell choir director is also Sarah’s piano teacher.

I really enjoy playing. I think it helps keep my brain active and stretching each week. I love the challenge of trying to figure out complicated rhythms and being part of a group making a joyful noise unto our Lord. That is the goal of our Hand bell Choir, to enhance the service and play praise to God.

F is for Fire Department

This week for  Blogging Through the Alphabet  is the letter F. Marcy from the blog Ben and Me is hosting this fun challenge to blog through the alphabet one letter per week. Be sure and visit her blog and read what other bloggers have come up with for their letter F.

I have chosen Fire Department as my F offering this week. Alamo West Volunteer Fire Department to be exact. The Fire Department is a huge part of our life. Both my husband, Matt, and son, Matthew, are fire fighters with Alamo West.

Matt has spent many years as a Volunteer Fire Fighter. When he was 18 and first in the Air Force, he was stationed here in Alamogordo and joined the Alamo West VFD. He spent about 5 years in the department until we were stationed overseas. After 3 years we were stationed back here in Alamogordo. Matt immediately joined Alamo West VFD again. He was even the Assistant Fire Chief for a few years until  we were stationed in another state. We spent 8 years away from NM and then Matt retired. We have moved, once again, back to Alamogordo. Matt is in the department again. A little older, a little grayer, but still with the same passion for helping out the community. 

Matt has passed his love of the Fire Department to our son, Matthew. Matthew was so very excited when we moved back here because he was 18. That meant he could be a member of  Alamo West VFD. Matthew is just as dedicated as his dad is to the department. Every Saturday he is not at work, he is at the station doing truck checks. He attends training whenever he can and is working on his Fire Fighter 1 certification.  Matthew has even earned a nickname through the department. It is a little morbid, but his nickname is Grave Digger. He earned it early (3am) one morning when he attended a call for a car accident. The girl driving the car rolled it, but was not seriously injured. Her dog, on the other hand, did not make it. Somehow the girl’s dad had come to the scene and asked that the dog be buried, so they did not have to pass by and see it lying on the side of the road. Matthew, grabbed a shovel, dug a grave and buried the dog. Listening to Mathew tell me about it the next morning, I told him what he did is called compassion. Doing something that maybe does not need to be done, but can make a huge difference to a person in the midst of a tragedy.

If you have not guessed it by now, the Fire Department is a very BIG part of our lives. It overshadows just about everything. I admit, I can get a little annoyed at the time it takes. But then, I realize just what an awesome responsibility my guys have taken on. Their dedication is amazing. They take their role as Fire Fighters very seriously, training to the best of their abilities.  My husband used to have a t-shirt with a picture of a house burning that simply said, “What if Volunteer Firefighters did not Volunteer?” .

E is for Exercise

Blogging through the Alphabet is hosted by Marcy from Ben and Me. She is blogging through a letter of the alphabet each week and invited others to join in with her. Visit her blog and read what other bloggers have chosen for the letter E.

Exercise! I have a love/hate relationship with that word. I love how I feel after I exercise, but I hate to get started exercising.

My favorite exercise is walking. I love to walk, especially if I have a buddy. For some reason it is so much harder for me to get out and get going without having someone who is counting on me. Right now I am able to walk twice a week with a buddy, my mother. We live about a half mile apart. She walks down from her house and I walk up from mine, we meet in the middle and then turn around and walk approximately 3 miles in about 45 minutes.  Boy, can we solve the world’s problems during our early morning walks. I love that I can visit with my mom and exercise all at the same time.

I also try to walk at other times than my scheduled walks. We live a little over a mile from our church. So, there are many times I will walk down to choir practice. We go to piano lessons at church and the kids and I have been known to walk (or ride our bikes, but bike riding is not my favorite activity) to piano lessons. Going to church is fairly easy, it is all downhill. Coming home is a bit tougher, since it is all uphill. For choir practice I will usually walk to the church, then catch a ride home with my dad afterwards so I don’t have to walk home in the dark.

I have also recently started an exercise class. I have found that trying to exercise at home just does not work well for me. I always find an excuse to put it off. I never seem to work as hard as if I am in a class. But the dilemma was: Where was I going to find a class? Since Matt is retired Air Force we have free access to a wonderful, huge gym. The problem is the 20 minute drive to get there. I don’t have that kind of time (or gas money). The gyms in town all cost, so not a great option.

Then in the mail I received the city’s monthly City Profile flyer. It talked about exercise and then said that the Senior Citizen Center sponsors many different exercise classes. The next paragraph talked about how if you were under 60 you could attend any of the classes for a small ($20) monthly fee. It was like a light bulb went off in my head. My mother attends a 3x a week exercise class, focusing on strength and flexibility.

So, yes, I am attending a Senior Citizen exercise class at the age of 38. I love it. It is exactly what I need. This class is as easy or as hard as the individual makes it. We start with warm-ups and gentle stretching through Pilates moves. Then we move into upper body strength training with rubber exercise bands. Then we go to lower body strengthening with squats and lunges. Then comes the floor work. We start with work on our legs and move into some pretty intense stomach exercises. We end with more stretching. I feel great after this hour long class. Nobody seems to mind me being there and the best part is the instructor has not made me pay.

It takes a little bit of planning to be able to do this with kids home all day. For my walks, we walk early enough that the kids are still asleep. But for my exercise class, which starts at 8:30am I have assignments I expect them to complete. Ben and Rebekah have to get their math, spelling and piano practice done while I am gone. Sarah just has to work on any of her assignments. They are all supposed to be responsible for themselves. This semester Matthew does not start class early on Mondays or Wednesdays, so he is home during the time I am gone. Having an adult child  is nice for things like this. I can leave for an hour and he can take care of things while I am gone.

D is for Driver’s Ed

The letter D is up for this week on Blogging Through the Alphabet. Marcy from the blog Ben and Me hosts this weekly challenge. Make sure to visit her blog and read what other topics there are for the letter D.

Today, I have chosen Driver’s Ed as my D topic. Sarah is taking Driver’s Ed right now. She is 14, will be 15 next month. In New Mexico she can take Driver’s Ed as long as she is 15 before the class is over. Since she has a very busy summer, we decided to have her take it now, and then she can drive with us for the next year, until she is 16.

We have been through this before with Matthew. One of the differences was that he took Driver’s Ed while we were living in Montana. The class was $100 there, and he went through classroom, driving practice, and took all the tests to get the permit, plus the driver’s test at the end of the class.  Here in New Mexico, the class cost me $100. But, the fee just paid for classroom only. If I want her to drive with an instructor it would be another $100 for 5 hours. I told her she could just drive with us as I am not about to pay $20 an hour to drive with an instructor.

The class Sarah is taking is being held at the local High School. They had two sessions, an early morning session or an afternoon session. I decided the early morning session would work the best as we have no other activities scheduled for that time. So she has to be at the High School at 6:45am. She has two friends taking the class with her, both of whom attend the High School.

I not only drive Sarah, but I pick up her two friends as well. It turns out to be a fun ride each morning. The kids get in the car and then I get to hear about their dreams, what is going on at school that day, how class is going.

Sarah is having no trouble with the class. The first week, they spent studying the driver’s manual and then took a 100 question test. Sarah passed with only missing five. She could miss up to 30 and still have a passing score.

This is one of my few experiences dealing with anything having to do with the public high school. I have not been very impressed so far. The first day, a letter was sent home explaining the rules and giving an address to look up and print our own driver’s manual. I laughed at the couple of misspelled words I found. Then I became frustrated that the link given in the letter was a bad link. I eventually did a search and found what I was looking for. Another thing that annoyed me just a little is when Sarah told me her instructor said to not worry about grammar when writing their answers, as well as not to write long answers.

I was appalled by the ‘don’t’ worry about grammar” tidbit. I think grammar is very important and how you “practice” is what you will do. Having good grammar while writing answers for her Driver’s Ed class is important and I told Sarah she should try her best to use good grammar and write as long as she needs to for the answer.

So after the first two weeks in May, I will have a second child who has completed Driver’s Ed. Then the fun of sitting in the passenger seat for a year as Sarah chauffeurs us around. Good thing Ben is only 10 and I have 5 more years before this happens again!

C is for Chimes

      This week for Blogging Through the Alphabet the letter is C. Marcy from the blog Ben and Me is endeavoring to blog through the entire alphabet and invited others to join her. Visit Marcy’s blog and read her C word and then visit the other blogs that are participating.

     Chimes! This week my chosen word is Chimes. Our church has a children’s chime choir. Ben and Rebekah are members and Sarah is a helper. This has been a new experience for my kids but they really love it.

     Ben and Rebekah love to go to chimes. They run in, see their friends, play a little bit, then get to work. The Chime Choir this year is a very young one. They range in age from 6 to 11. The  two 11 year olds have played before, but the other 8 are brand new. The director is gently teaching them the staff, what notes are on the staff, music timing, and watching her. It is so fun to hear the Chimes  play, and see the smiles on the kids faces when they  get to the end of the song.

     Because the players are new and fairly young, we usually have a couple mothers and my daughter Sarah around to help. Sarah plays piano and Hand Bells (can you guess what my H word will be). The little girls who are six love to have Sarah help them.  The Chime Choir director, who is also my kids piano teacher, the Hand Bell Choir Director and Pastor’s wife, relies on Sarah to help both before and after Chimes by getting out and putting away the chimes and music.

     Chime Choir has really stretched Ben and Rebekah in their music playing. They both take piano lessons, and chimes is another way to access their musical training. I like that some of the problems they are having with timing while playing the piano can be worked out through playing chimes. Learning to count and stay in rhythm is learned through chimes. If you play your note early, you mess the rest of the choir up, so timing becomes very important. My kids have learned to watch their music and follow along so they know when it is their turn to play their note.

     The best part of Chime Choir though, is that the kids have the opportunity to add to the church’s worship through their music. They are learning reverence and the joy of raising songs of praise to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Chime Choir is one way that this is accomplished.

B is for Birthday Blogging Through the Alphabet

     For this week my Blogging Through the Alphabet post I am choosing B to stand for Birthday. I have a very special reason for this as today is my son Matthew Jr.’s 19th birthday.  Marcy from the blog Ben and Me hosts  Blogging Through the Alphabet. Be sure to visit her blog to read her B word and then visit a few others as well.

      I asked Matthew the other day how it was to have been and adult for a year now. He said it was mostly good with only a few problems here and there.  This birthday for Matthew is also a strange feeling one for me. I was 19 when I had Matthew, so it is strange to think he is that old!

     Matthew is also one very busy guy. He is going to school full time, taking 17 credits this semester. He is also working at a local grocery store as a stocker. Most weeks he ends up with 30-36 hours.  He is also a volunteer firefighter. All of this means he really has to budget his time to get it all done. I am amazed at how he does it all.

     I am very proud of him for many reasons. He works hard at whatever he is doing, whether school, work, or firefighting. He also regularly attends church, when he is not working, all on his own. He will take the time to visit with his grandparents and great-grandmother. He even took the time to go shopping for great-grandma while I was gone for a month.

      This is not a post to say that Matthew is perfect. He is definitely not. If you need proof, just look in his messy bedroom or at the cracked tail light on my car.  But, all in all he is a pretty great guy! I love you Matthew! Have a great birthday!

A is for Aggravation Blogging Through the Alphabet

     I decided it might be fun, and a good way to prompt me to write on my blog, to join Marcy of Ben and Me in blogging through the Alphabet. This week we are starting with the letter A.  Make sure you visit Marcy’s blog and read what other people chose for their letter A posts.

     So for this week I choose that the letter A could stand for Aggravation. I tried for two days to think of a good topic starting with the letter A. Could I do it? NO! I could not seem to come up with one A word that would create a long enough blog post.

     I asked my husband, he said apples. Huh! I did not think I could wax eloquent about apples. We are coming into Spring, not Fall. Apples are not on my mind right now.

     As I am running through a list of A words in my head, I had no idea where some of my thoughts were coming from. Aardvark popped into my head. Aardvark? what would I know about those animals. Aliens? Well, I do live in New Mexico, but not in Roswell, so there went that strange topic. Authority? This came up as I had to tell my daughter she was not the mother, I was. But definitely not a topic I wanted a whole blog post on. Awesome? I think my husband and kids are awesome. but a whole post on that might be insipid for others to read.

     So I ended up on the topic of Aggravation. I am aggravated by not being able to think of some wonderful, awe-inspiring A word topic. But it sure got my brain thinking. I was thinking A words as I was doing dishes last night. A words were popping through my head as I was getting my hair cut today.

      And not only A words, but I was able to create a list of words for other letters of the alphabet.  I have a pretty good start on what to write about for the next 25 weeks. Although, I am still not too sure about Q, and X, but I am sure something will present themselves.