Once upon a time, a gal named Jane ran a lemon orchard. She cultivated the soil, tended to the trees and harvested the fruit when it was ready. She also made a fine pitcher of lemonade. Her fresh, homemade lemonade was so good, in fact, that she won 1st place ribbons year after year at the county fair. That was, until this year.

The time of the fair rolled around, and Jane brought a gallon of her lemony goodness to share with the judges. The first judge — an old codger who had served as a panelist for more years than any living person could recollect — complained that the lemonade was too tart. The second (who felt the need to complain so as to be in agreement with the first judge) wrinkled her nose and said it was too sweet. The third — an out-of-towner — said that lemons were old news; limeade was what’s cool to drink this year!

Dejected, Jane took her pitcher home, invited some friends over and shared tall glasses of ice-cold refreshment with people who didn’t judge, grade or criticize her.

I can only hope to someday have the seamless command of plot and character development that appears effortless in George R. R. Martin’s work. I’m on book three in the Game of Thrones series now: A Storm of Swords.

If the battles were raging before, they are really heating up now. The twists and turns in the storyline keep me glued to the book. Some books come across as very predictable, but not this series! I’m not quite halfway finished with it, because I’ve had to set it aside for days at a time to work on my summer courses. I’m 99% finished with those two classes, though, so I’m looking forward to some downtime in the next few weeks to read A Storm of Swords.

Birthday countdown: tick,
tock … Tomorrow’s the big day!
He’s [“Finally!”] eight!

Yes, my middle monkey boy turns eight tomorrow. We are going skating, and he has been counting down for at least the past month. When I woke him up this morning, he rolled over and said with a yawn, “Tomorrow’s my birthday!”

I couldn’t resist re-posting my poem from Haiku Friday:

Watermelon ooze
dripping down their bare tummies –
Seed-spitting contest!

So many fart jokes!
At these times, I wonder why
God gave me all boys.

Today’s haiku may not be deeply meaningful, but it sums up this long weekend. The boys are bouncing off the walls, and I had to ground three of them from video games all day yesterday. I’m ready to get back into a routine tomorrow.

My life is an open book, in many ways. I try to be relatively transparent because I realize that it’s part of my ministry to let people see me be human. I’m not perfect. I’m not Super Mom. But, if someone finds encouragement through my frustrations, through the goofy stories that I tell about my boys, and even through the grief that I’ve exposed over the past few years, then I feel like it’s worth sharing.

What about the times when I don’t want to share? I’ve been thinking a lot lately about public figures (not that I am one, by any means, but I think there are similar struggles in our efforts to balance openness and privacy). Does the elected official have any hope of hiding her child’s mug shot from news reporters? Does the Hollywood star have any chance of downplaying his crumbling marriage? Does the professional athlete really think that no one will find out about his drug use? These are the makings of the evening news, sure, but what about issues on a smaller scale … between “little” people like us?

Sometimes, my heart is heavy and I write about it. Other times, my heart is heavy and you may never know. Therein lies the challenge: transparency vs. opacity.

In a world of news at your fingers,
Privacy is just a setting:
How much do you share with whom?
Transparency crowds out
Personal space and
Opacity
All that’s left
Is just
News

My dad lives in a rural county that was devastated by a wild fire yesterday. The latest report said 3,600 acres and 30 homes were lost. Praise God, he evacuated in time, but we’re still waiting on word about his house. As of last night, they still had the roads blocked off, so he couldn’t go check on it to see if it was even still standing.

Because my heart is heavy for him, today’s haiku is about fire:

Quick! Get out! Wild fire!
What is important to you?
Grab it and go, now!

On a related note, are you prepared for disaster? Whether it is a hurricane, drought, tornado, etc., do you have important papers locked up in a firebox? I encourage you to make a disaster plan today. Don’t put it off, because if the day comes to need one, there won’t be time to get it ready on the fly.

I received [an autographed copy of!] Max Lucado’s book, Fearless, as a gift but haven’t carved out time to read it until recently. My Tuesday prayer group decided to read it, so I am finally getting into it. I love Max Lucado’s work, and so far, Fearless lives up to everything else I have read of his.

I love the way that Max Lucado introduces nuggets of theological expertise (like sharing the root word seismos as a descriptor of the storm on the Sea of Galilee) without making the reader feel stupid.

One impression that we held in common after reading just the first chapter so far is that we all have so much fear in our lives that we often don’t realize (or acknowledge) is there. I recommend Fearless — and all of Lucado’s work, for that matter!