Kwestions from Kelsey

These came from Kelsey’s Questions from Alabaster post.

1-If you could be any movie or literary character who would you? What is it about that person which appeals to you most?

Off the top of my head, I would have to say Anne Shirley. She was bold, intelligent and made big, usually public, goofs. I could easily be friends with someone like her. I also appreciated her drama and word usage.

2-As a child, which person in your life had the greatest impact on you either for good or bad?

My mother, without question.

3-What values or characteristics do you admire most?

In a Christian, godliness. In a Christian and everyone else, honesty, self control, self discipline, faithfulness, boldness, thoughtfulness.

4-Would you rather be smart or have common sense? Why?

I would rather have common sense. I know people who are very smart and have no common sense. How smart is that? They parrot facts and figures but can’t seem to attach relevance to those things in the everyday. People with common sense are more capable of increasing in wisdom and knowledge.

5-Which is the most apt to touch you deeply, poetry, music, or a picture?

Assuming the exposure to both being equal, there would be a tie between music and a picture. Under everyday circumstances, it would be music because I hear it more. I love music and I associate most of the music I’ve heard with certain life events or time periods.

By the way, Kelsey, I’m very sorry that Mother’s Day holds such awful memories for you.  I’m so sorry about that whole situation.  May God give you that peace that passes understanding.

A breath of fresh air

Mr. Nicklebee went on a mens retreat at Lake Ann Baptist Camp this weekend. I’m really glad he got to go. He works hard and I can’t remember the last time he went away and did something that wasn’t work or military related.

Oh yeah. It was the same mens retreat a couple of years ago. Duh! He enjoyed it back then, too. I miss him when he’s gone but I’m always glad when he gets to do something fun and refreshing. He actually came home and told Homer he wanted him to go to camp. I believe his words were, “You’re going to camp this summer. How do you feel about that?” lol Homer was kind of surprised! He laughed and said, “Oooookaaaay. I don’t want to but I will if you really want me to.” It has been our experience that that’s his way of saying, “I would like to try that but I need you to give me a shove.” We’ll see. It’s certainly not cheap.

Mr. Nicklebee said that he got to talking to a guy in our Sunday school class about motorcycles. Mr. N said, “You know, ____’s wife has her own Harley.” I have this issue that is either related to panic or equilibrium, I am not sure which, and I have NO desire to risk my life on a motorcycle at this juncture, thankyouverymuch. I can see myself doing that sometime down the road but no time soon. I can see myself doing a lot of things in the distant future.

Mr. N told me the other day that he felt kind of bad about a situation. It’s more like a non-situation. I won’t share the details except to say that sometimes people disappoint us, whether because our expectations are unrealistic or the people really are disappointing. Mr. N wasn’t losing sleep over it; he just felt like this person might’ve handled something a certain way considering their position, and they hadn’t. The person is an influence in our lives and a godly man who wouldn’t hurt a fly. Mr. N was wrestling with whether or not he should feel slighted. Mr. N is not an emotions driven person by any stretch of the imagination but this has been bugging him for several months, though he has downplayed it quite a bit.

For those of you who believe in the spiritual realm spoken of in Ephesians 6, you will understand what I mean when I say that I think that whole thing was an attempt by the enemy to drive a wedge between a very solid and loving Christian elder and Mr. N, or plant a seed of bitterness or something.

I told Mr. N my opinion of the situation, that I know that whatever he thinks, the person is not that way. I also told him what I just said about the enemy. The man is a godly man and he’s just the kind of elder that would be a threat to the devil, as he is always on the offensive, invading hostile territory with the truth of God’s word and prayer and with God’s love towards those around him.

The man was at the retreat.

Oh, by the way, I was informed a few years ago that men do not go on retreats. They go on offensives. lol

So anyway, the guy was at the offensive. Mr. N said that the guy started talking to him and before he knew it, the truth of the situation came to light without the guy ever realizing Mr. N had an issue with him! lol Mr. N had misinterpreted something and the Lord had straightened that out first thing this weekend. God is awesome like that. He knows about the things that hinder us and provides a way to resolution.

Well, we’re almost ready for church tomorrow and dinner is in the crock pot. I can’t remember the last time I’ve had dinner going, or a solid plan in place, the night before! I love going to church and it so much nicer when I have my act together.

Have a great Sunday morning!

 

Mark 6:31

And He *said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.” (For there were many {people} coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.)

Search Engine Terms - Sports Parents

Stuff like this always breaks my heart:

“parents laughing at my kid baseball”

I’m sorry to hear that. I hope that you are the only one who realizes that and that your son is too busy playing ball to notice.

The best thing you can do for your child is to teach him that his value is not found in his abilities but in being created and loved by God. While you’re teaching him that, it certainly won’t hurt to help him improve his game. Eteamz Tips and Drills (For that matter, I’m sure Eteamz has “Tips and Drills” for other sports besides baseball.)

If you are part of a Little League organization, you do have the option to talk to someone on the Board of Directors about this if it keeps happening. If it’s some other organization, you can still talk to the leadership. Anyone running a good program will want to make sure everybody feels respected.Our organization has adopted a customized “all purpose” version of this: Little League Parent Code of Conduct. Our parents and players are required to sign it and turn it in to their team manager, who will keep it in his or her manager book for the duration of the season.  If a parent has to be talked to, it is with the understanding that they have no excuse but to know what’s expected.

Good and Bad Sportsmanship spreads like grease in a clean kitchen. Poor sports in the crowd can really be a drag but enthusiastic encouragement is contagious. The people who matter will follow suit so be a cheerleader for all of the kids. Learn the game and praise good work. Don’t make general statements like, “You’re a great player, Billy.” Say specific things like, “Way to back Johnny up”, “Nice throw home”, and “Good hustle!” Don’t say things that aren’t true. Clap for every batter, even if they don’t get a hit.  And never contradict the coach in from of the kids.

“One man practicing good sportsmanship is far better than 50 others preaching it.”
-Knute K. Rockne

Baseball Season

In honor of baseball season, we rented Little Big League the other day. It’s a cute movie. Ivan Rodriquez (see also The Pudge Foundation) is in it for about 3 seconds–just long enough to be recognized as the Tigers’ catcher in his pre-Tigers days. **The Tigers are 7-5, by the way, after their unfortunate loss to the Canadians yesterday.

So the Nicklebee children have started baseball practices. The first practice for one of them was in March, when we were still having some decent weather. It’s a beautiful day today. Hopefully it’s the start of a trend. It sure is cold practicing outside when it’s snowing.

All of the kids had practices on Saturday. For those of you who don’t follow Michigan weather and/or who don’t live here, Saturday was a terrible day for a practice. I think the kids all learned that Mom isn’t a paranoid freak when she says, “You had better take your jacket, just in case.” Well, I should say they were reminded. They already know from personal experience that it’s about 20 degrees (F) cooler at the fields than in the back yard. There’s always some tough guy not wearing a coat to practice on cold days, but everyone was dressed for winter by the end of practices.

Here are a couple of pictures from Saturday.

Three Boys

Lefty

Serendipity

A Grouchy Goose

I thought this was funny. (It was definitely funnier to be there witnessing the whole thing than to look at a split second of it.) See the goose heading out of the picture on the left?

There’s a reason he was getting out of there. This guy (below) had an attitude problem since coming out of the creek. Apparently ducks aren’t phased by Canada Geese, but the other Canada Geese sure are. There were five or six others that you can’t see ahead of the one on the left (above), all making their way away from there.

If I had only had fully charged camera batteries … ! I definitely didn’t plan well!  I was only going to take a few pics of the Little Man, not birds.  Oh well. Live and learn.