These projects are for the birds!

The boys are back in town. All the male robins have arrived and are singing from the trees around our house. We are enjoying their songs until their ladies arrive. We want to keep as many birds in our yard as we can, so we are doing all we know to encourage them to settle here after they pair up.

We filled our bird feeder for the first time this spring and sprinkled cayenne pepper in with the seeds. I read that this is safe for the birds and keeps the squirrels away, but we'll have to see. We're watching out the window for proof. Usually, there is a hoard of squirrels literally hanging from our feeder and no birds in sight, so I really do hope this works.

We used a portion of a toilet paper roll and a hole punch to make a container to share nesting materials with the birds. I sliced up some fabric from my quilting basket and a piece of an old hand towel. Norah cut yarn and wrapping ribbon into 4, 6 and 8 inch strands, practicing her measuring skills. She collected an Easter basket full of little twigs and dry grass outside. We even clipped off some twine left on the poles in our vegetable garden from last summer to share with the birds.

We hope to catch a glimpse of birds flying away with materials from this container to use for their nests and maybe, this coming winter, we'll even be able to spot an empty nest with strands of our bright yarn woven in.

These projects were really messy, so we had to do a lot of sweeping. I can't bend over so well right now, being great with child, so Norah has learned how to hold the dust pan like a pro. You can see a picture of her helping me in the collage above. She's gotten so good at it and is so eager to do "big-girl" things like this, I may not have to hold my own dust pan in place for a while!

One of the other pictures in the collage above shows Norah holding two buttons I thought we'd lost in the yard this winter. We used them as the eyes on her snowman and didn't take them off before he melted and they fell into the layer of snow under him. But, Norah found them in the grass under the tree out front and was so excited, I think that was the best part of her day.

"Mom, why does shampoo have 'poo' in it?"

-Norah at bath time.

R is for Reading

You may have a tangible wealth untold
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you could never be
I had a woman who read to me.

"The Reading Mother" by Strickland Gillilan

Dwayne's back from Florida. He brought Norah a little Philly's Phanatic and she's wearing his cap this morning watching her latest Netflix "The Jungle Book."

I shudder to think I'll be one of those parents, the ones who try to relive their life through their children, the kind who get thrown out the stands at T - ball games for harassing the referees or worse, those who do the jazz routines along with their dancers from their place in the stands. As much as I want Norah to succeed, I hope she will not feel any undue pressure from me to preform for the both of us.

But, I must admit, I do live vicariously through my daughter in one lil' way: her wardrobe. I love to buy and see her in those adorable sun dresses I know my arms are way too chubby to pull off these days. And, the pants pictured above, I am not sure I would ever wear them, but I'd certainly like to be able to wear them, you know... if I wanted to.

But, alas, Norah's the only one in our family who can pull off an outfit like this. She loves it when I let her pick out her own clothes for the day. If she had her way, she'd wear hot pants everyday and furry, pink boots with everything.

Norah, on our trip to Pennsylvania Thursday.

We visited Dwayne's oldest friend, Dan Foster, and his family for a night. Before a delicious homemade dinner, our children played together in the grandparents' family room with toys Dan and Dwayne played with as boys. His wife also home schools their children, so I was able to talk to her about several resources I am considering. The visit was a blessing and I am always thankful to God for the Fosters and how much they love and cherish my husband. I am sure that a good portion of the man Dwayne is is due to the Fosters' influence.

Early Friday morning, Dwayne and all the Foster men flew to Florida for a trip to Clearwater beach, a road race, and a Philly's training game to celebrate he and Dan turning 30 this spring. After breakfast, Norah and I managed to get home on our own, only getting turned around once while trying to find the right exits through the Bronx. And, thankfully, I haven't gone into labor while Dwayne's been gone and here's hoping I won't, at least till his plane lands tonight. When I agreed to let him take this trip a few months ago, I was much less likely to deliver any second. But, really, I do hope he is having the time of his life. He works hard, rarely takes time or spends money on himself, so Dwayne certainly deserves this trip.

Disclaimer: Please do not assume that this is a thesis on everything I believe about a woman's role. I have much to say on this topic, but I am keeping this short (and a little irreverent) for the fun of it.

Sometime ago, I read a book called Lost Women of the Bible by Carolyn Custis James. In it, she explores the meaning of a word Christian women, like me, hear all the time, a word we think we know so well: helpmeet.

Keep in mind, though, that helpmeet is not a Hebrew word, rather, it was translated or chosen from English to represent the original word "ezer." And, the fact that most English-speaking people have no idea what the word helpmeet means until it is defined for them by someone else who had it defined for them by someone else... is, in my view, part of the problem with any definition we've always accepted for this word.

Custis James explains further, "Throughout history the church has always zeroed in on 'ezer' (pronounced azer, with a long sounding a, as in razor)..." to define a woman's role. Custis James points out that, as it often happens when words are translated from the ancient texts, "The meaning of ezer was diminished when translators rendered it 'helpmeet' and restricted it to marriage..."

So, a responsible study of the Bible, especially in matters as important as defining a woman's place in Creation, must include an honest look at words like this, to see if there are hints that would help a person come up with a more thorough definition of what the word meant in its original language.

Custis James goes on to say that is exactly what has happened with ezer. "Thinking regarding ezer began to change when scholars pointed out that the word ezer is used most often (16 out of 21 occurrences) in the Old Testament to refer to God as Israel's helper in times of trouble. That's when ezer was upgraded to "strong helper," leaving Christians debating among themselves over the meaning of 'strong' and whether this affect's a woman's rank with respect to the man...

Further research indicates that ezer is a powerful military word whose significance we have yet to unpack. The ezer is a strong warrior, and this has far reaching implications for women, not only in marriage, but in every relationship, season and walk of life."

Well, I confess, I have not looked at the Hebrew for myself, just yet. But, I have a mind to, because what Custis James has said about ezer is messing with my head. With her words in mind, I reread that text I've read countless times before, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper (ezer) suitable for him" and a whole new set of images flood through my mind. I often think in pictures anyway.

To me, it is amazing to consider that God may never have meant to say, "I'll make someone dressed in homespun cloth wearing an apron who is capable of bending over to pick up what Adam leaves behind him on the ground" or rather "what Adam doesn't even realized he dropped."


It's revolutionary to think that God might have actually meant, "I will make a she-warrior capable of covering Adam's back like no one else."



Perhaps we Christian women are actually supposed to be more of what Trinity is for Neo?

Talk about revolutionizing our matrix!

Before my understanding of “ezer” was challenged like this, if the scenes of my married life were scripted then filmed for a movie, I probably would have had to throw off my high heels, reluctantly, to run after Dwayne and away from the bad guy. I probably would have agreed to carry Dwayne's extra ammo in my purse after he said something sarcastic that made the audience laugh, but I would have taken the extra clips from his hands with two manicured fingers, like they were diseased or something. And, in the battle scene, I would have hunkered down behind something and yelled to warn Dwayne that someone had a gun pointed at his back. And, hopefully, I would have done this in time to prevent him from being shot. But, it isn't likely. He probably would have ended the movie in an ambulance with a bullet in his shoulder and me fussing over him.

But, my old, comfortable understanding of “ezer” has been somewhat... assaulted, as of late, and not just by this book, but from other very reliable sources as well, including my own husband! So, the scenes of my life, if filmed for a movie now, would probably look very different.

At this point, if I were a character in an action adventure, I would feel free, no, I would feel obligated, to take up weapons of my own. I'd bring extra ammo for myself and certainly throw a few clips his way if Dwayne happens to run out in the middle of a show-down. And, most importantly, I would not even hesitate to shoot the guy who threatens his back and I'd do it before Dwayne even knew he was there.

I guess I can adjust to this new, fuller definition of the word "helpmeet." But, I am not sure I will ever be okay with wearing squeaky, tight, black vinyl pants.