Last week one of our friends at grad school was surprised to find that an old high school picture had found its way onto the cover of the weekly student news bulletin. In an effort to console him, I brought some of our old wedding photos in to show him that our “old pictures” were more embarrassing than his.

As a result of showing the photos, Mark started to tell some of the stories about our wedding (e.g. day-glo blue icing on the wedding cake). As I listened, it occurred to me that some of the stories were probably not even known by our daughters. How unfortunate! So, to remedy that situation, and to encourage others to “tell the stories” to those around them, here’s one snippet…

When we were engaged, we were living in the inner-city of St. Louis, working with a group that often took homeless people in for emergency housing. Each person working at the organization had a bedroom with a room-mate from the organization team and also some extra beds. Those extra beds were used for the “housing guests.” You never knew who you might have sleeping in the room with you. For a period of time Mark was host to an Native American guy whom we all really enjoyed getting to know. One day he up and left… leaving no note, address, or sign of himself except his boots. We were disappointed that he had left so suddenly, but Mark was glad to inherit his boots. They were a really nice pair of boots, and, hey! we were dirt poor! So they became his trademark shoes. In fact, he wore them at our wedding.

But, the really interesting part of the story is that not long after our friend left, the FBI showed up asking about his whereabouts. Turns out that he was wanted by the FBI for being involved in the 1973 Wounded Knee uprising. Yikes! Nevertheless, undaunted by the shady (and potentially criminal) past of their previous owner, Mark continued to proudly wear those boots. We even had to have them re-soled a few times. Unfortunately, somewhere along the adventure of our life we have lost track of those boots (probably in a garage sale some time ago). But we got to keep the story!

So, in honor of those boots, we share some of our wedding photos with you (for those of you trying to guess… 1977).

Photo by John Free (our son-in-law).

As we celebrate Chanukah and anticipate Christmas, I’m also reading and hope to get some reviews up soon. Stay tuned!

Just a few days after returning home from SBL, my husband was diagnosed with colon cancer (T3). These things often come as a surprise, but we knew that because of family history, this was always a risk for Mark. Fortunately, we live just down the road (literally) from Duke and they have one of the best cancer centers in the US. Mark will be undergoing daily radiation for 5 1/2 weeks, along with chemotherapy to target the tumor and make it more sensitive to the radiation. After a break from the radiation, he will undergo surgery to remove the section of his colon with the cancer. So far there is no indication that the cancer has spread to lymph nodes. We are very grateful that we will be able to travel, as planned, for Christmas to see friends and family and that the radiation treatment won’t have to begin until January 4.

I’m not going to journal about this on my blog. I won’t be giving updates or “processing” here. If you are so inclined, you can check out the Facebook group that Mark is keeping updated with details (and some pretty hilarious gallows humor).

This post was just the easiest way to let my readers know that the next few months will probably hold some uncertainty for my work, research and writing. But I won’t be completely offline and I’m still working on projects. Life goes on, and both Mark and I know that we want to keep moving forward with projects, life, and family even as we have some unwelcomed doctors’ appointments on the calendar for the next few months. We do appreciate the care and encouragement that friends have shared with us.

And now, back to your regularly scheduled blog.

Hanukkah is probably the Jewish holiday with which non-Jews are most familiar. While it is celebrated close to Christmas, it historically predates Christmas and is a very different celebration.

OK, so, we need to get some background reading for the history behind Chanukah/Hanukkah. For this, we’ll first look to 1 Maccabees. The book is considered Deuterocanonical scripture by the Catholic and Orthodox churches, while the Protestant tradition and modern-day Judaism hold it as an Apocryphal book. In any case, the events recounted are corroborated by other historical records. This book was originally written in Hebrew–we know this because of the Hebrew idioms that are translated in the text, although we don’t have any original manuscripts still in existence. What we do have are Greek manuscripts and translations. So, let’s look at an English translation (if you want Greek, let me know).

Hanukkah celebrates the victory of the Maccabees over the Syrian-Greek rulers of Jerusalem and (most importantly) the subsequent re-dedication of the Temple in 165 B.C.E. We’re going to follow the story of Judas Maccabeus, who (along with his father and brothers) led the resistance against the Hellenization of the Jews. The story climaxes at the desecration of the Temple by Antiochus IV Epiphanes when he offered to Zeus sacrifices which were abominations according to Jewish law. Ready?

I’m going to link to the New American Bible, NAB, since it is available online.
Introduction to the Book
1. Introduction: Hellenism in Asia Minor (1 Macc 1:1-9)
2. The Maccabean Revolt (1 Macc 1:10-2:70)
3. Leadership of Judas Maccabeus (1 Macc 3:1-9:22)

If you are “hooked” you can continue reading the rest of the book:
4. Leadership of Jonathan (1 Macc 9:23-12:54)
5. Simon, High Priest and Ethnarch (1 Macc 13:1-16:24)

From the online Merriam-Webster dictionary:

Pronunciation: \trə-ˈdi-shən\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English tradicioun, from Middle French & Latin; Middle French tradicion, from Latin tradition-, traditio action of handing over, tradition — more at treason
Date: 14th century

1 a : an inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought, action, or behavior (as a religious practice or a social custom) b : a belief or story or a body of beliefs or stories relating to the past that are commonly accepted as historical though not verifiable
2 : the handing down of information, beliefs, and customs by word of mouth or by example from one generation to another without written instruction
3 : cultural continuity in social attitudes, customs, and institutions
4 : characteristic manner, method, or style

Advent is a tradition that my family has participated in since I was a child. It connects me to the river of other believers through history who have likewise used four candles (five, if you include the Christ candle of Christmas Eve) to retell the story of the coming of the Christ. It is a continuity. It is not really personal (except for my individual memories), it is more about community. And as Tevye, in “Fidder on the Roof,” came to understand, the traditions that I cling to as the “right” way to remember and live must be seen as something dynamic and living and changing. It is not so much about the details (e.g., colors of the candles, which candle to light first, what words are used to “name” each of the four advent candles) but more about the opportunity to share in community the anticipation and the retelling of the story.

For me, Advent is all about becoming hungry. Hungry for the rest of the story. Each week is an appetizer. By the time we get to the end of the month, I want to be aching for the celebration of Christmas! When I was a child the church was not decorated (save for the colors of the advent candles) until Christmas Eve. But oh, what delight when we entered at midnight on Christmas Eve! The whole sanctuary was full of the heady smell of greenery. Flowers filled the front (in memory of those who taught us our own traditions). And candles were everywhere. I can still feel and smell those memories in my mind’s eye. This is how the story was recounted for me.

As we begin this Advent season, anticipating Christmas (and that holiday’s own set of traditions!), I will look for ways to “hand down” my own “inherited” “beliefs” and “customs” to the younger generation of my family. And I’m sure they will teach me new ways of celebrating and participating in this time of retelling of the story.

Well, as part of the process of the Lumbee Tribe being recognized various people have testified before the US Senate’s Committee on Indian Affairs. One such person was Jack Campisi, an anthropologist, whose testimony in 2006 was part of the official record for hearings on S660, the version of the Lumbee Bill considered by the 110th Congress. As part of his testimony he said:

The knowledge that the average Lumbee has of his or her kin is truly astounding. It is very common for individuals to be able to trace their parents’ genealogies back five or more generations. Not only are individuals able to name their grandparents, great grandparents, great great grandparents etc., but often they can name the siblings of their ancestors, the spouses of their ancestors’ siblings, relate where they lived in Robeson County, the church they attended, and the names of their offspring. It is common for an individual to name two or three hundred individuals as members of the immediate family.

Now, I’m not writing this post to try to convince anyone to start a new hobby tracing ancestry or pedigree (although, I have to admit that I’ve enjoyed learning about some very interesting characters in my own family heritage). No, the connection between these two examples of listing family kin is just that — kinship.

It’s not so much about who was the father or mother of which children, I think it’s more about the fact that the recitation demonstrates community. A specific community, one that brings together both the mundane aspects of life (like who stood at which gate in Jerusalem’s wall or the location of where a specific family lived) and spiritual connectedness (to each other and to God). We are midstream in the history of our own clan(s). We belong. So when we read in Matthew all the “begats” we aren’t only reading Jesus’ genealogy for a history lesson, we’re being told a family heritage that we can be adopted into. That community of righteous is now our ancestry through union with Christ.

Just as the Lumbee are demonstrating to the U.S. Senate that they should be a federally recognized tribe in part because of the generations of names that demonstrate community, so we too can embrace the community of God represented by the ancestral lists in scripture. It’s more than just “me and Jesus” — it’s me and this great big family who are all related because of Jesus.

Now be sure to go back and click on that link for the “begats!”

But first, the photos.


These are lilies of the valley from Hannah’s garden in Philly. She brought them down for me to start my own bed. Lilies of the Valley are one of my favorite flowers. They will be planted in the side bed.

Red Hobbit columbine from my sister, Barbara (for my birthday). They are a beautiful two-tone color and will look nice with the other columbine that I am cultivating.

Here’s our garden on May 9, 2009. Four weeks after it was planted! See what it looked like only a month ago!
We’ve been eating lettuce for dinner salads for about 2 or 3 weeks. The zucchini has some flowers now. All the tomato plants are taller than the kids and have blossoms (and even a few green tomatoes). The broccoli is beginning to form a head, but something else is eating its leaves. The sugar snap peas are grabbing onto the trellis that we made of twigs.

We put the mint in a large galvanized bucket so that we could contain its invasive habits. In the middle of the three varieties of mint we have a pepper plant.

We grew some sunflowers from seed and they are starting to come up near the shed.

Here are two of our three rainbarrels that we hope to use to water the gardens with during the hot, dry summer. Durham encourages residents to use rainbarrels, which is the exact opposite of what happened to this one poor farmer in Colorado.

I always thought Tulip Trees were so named because of the shape of their leaves. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I was wrong when I walked outside and saw this sight in our neighbor’s yard.

In addition to gardening, yard maintenance, and general household chores, I’ve been swimming at a local indoor pool (and have even started working out with a Masters’ team… which includes anyone older than 18). Ethan, Maggie, and Ruby have all been to the pool with me (Ruby is a natural fish and loves the water). We’ve discovered LocoPops, Parker & Otis, the Durham Farmers’ Market, and some local color. In fact, we will soon need to find some black and hot pink for Mark.

We do “work” too (maybe that should be “work for money”, since I certainly have been “working” quite a bit outdoors). I just finished teaching another semester of a distance learning course for UVA. And I’m also writing, researching, writing, researching, and more writing… but as you may have noticed, not writing so many blog posts. I’ve got other deadlines looming, so please forgive the dearth of posts here. I guess you could say I’m living life more than documenting it right now. I’m also doing a lot of private thinking which will eventually (hopefully) be cogent enough for public. So, I’m saving up ideas and memories for the future. Stay tuned.

Éva is seeing lots of family these days. And lots of tears. But not a lot of Olivia, her aunt who loves to share ballet with her. She’s been praying for Jesus to make Olivia better. What can a four-year-old grasp out of this situation? A lot more than you might think.

In the middle of dinner last night she looked up at everyone and said (rather matter-of-factly), “Olivia’s going to die. We’re all going to die. Olivia is going to go to heaven. Jesus will take her to heaven. I’m going to heaven.”

A bunch of stunned adults looked at her. She’s right. Olivia is going to die. And she’s also right that we are all going to die. That actually should come as no surprise, but we rarely live like we are going to die. Somehow we often think we are insulated from death. For Éva and for Olivia (and for all believers) the true sting of death has been removed by Jesus’ death and resurrection. Éva’s got her theology in place.

What she doesn’t have yet, is the experience of how sad it is for those who remain when a loved one is released from this fallen and cursed world to be welcomed by their Savior. There is great sadness. We can imagine for her all the things that she will never experience with Olivia. We can imagine all the memories that will not be made. That is where the sorrow lies.

But perhaps Éva is actually more wise than her four years might seem to hold. She is focusing on the inevitable death of the body, but also the definite hope of the resurrection. She doesn’t use the word “resurrection” but her words about heaven are much more real than some adults would express. She is (in a way) untainted by the experience of sorrow so that she can see clearly the hope in this situation.

I know she will eventually be sad as the reality of the days and years ahead unfold. But for now, I’m comforted and challenged as I sit at her feet and hear her talk about death and Jesus and heaven. Right now, she takes the cake over any theology class.

Please do pray for the Walden family as they walk through this time with Olivia. And pray that the medical team is able to relieve Olivia’s pain.

It comes from the Hebrew verb ??????? (yir’eh) which is a qal imperfect (3rd person, mascular singular) form of the verb ??? which has as its first English gloss “to see.” However, the semantic range can extend from that basic idea to mean “to look out for; to see to it; to provide.”

In Genesis 22:8 and 14 (in the story of Abraham offering up his son Isaac) we see the form that Hannah and Philip chose for Jireh’s name. In those passages we read:
Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. (Gen. 22:8, ESV)

So Abraham called the name of that place, ‘The Lord will provide‘; as it is said to this day, ‘On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.’ (Gen. 22:14, ESV)

The Lord has provided this special son to Hannah and Philip, and He will continue to provide everything that Jireh will need in his life.