The missionaries like to visit these trolls on their preparation days, and Mark sends photos of them from time to time. These whimsical creations can be found throughout the world, including the United States. They’re kind of quirky and fun, and each has a name. The Danish sculpture artist who creates them is Thomas Dambo. You can do a Google search for his troll map. Richard and I saw one of his trolls in the Huntsville Botanical Gardens but oops, didn’t take a picture.
Perhaps you’re like me and can think of something that you lost in childhood and never found. I recall a few things that my children lost, and I found one this week as I moved some shelves in the basement. It was a very satisfying moment to reunite this piece to the set.
As I revamp our home after raising children, I remember and remember.
The words, “dismember” and “remember” can be considered opposites. To “re-member” is to be complete again. Recalling the past and reflecting on the fruits of my parenting adventures brings a wholeness to my life that I didn’t expect.
Remembering is also a religious theme. God wants us to always remember Him. It’s a key to being one with Him, complete and whole.
So, how can I remember Him (be reunited with Him) today?
During the past few days I have seen some beautiful creative work by my extended family.
My dad celebrated his birthday, so I went down to visit him and get a tour of his 20+ projects on his wooded property. Rock walls, fire prevention efforts, flowers, irrigation, weeding, building, sifting and moving rocks, digging out stumps, extending flagstone paths, revamping the woodshed, and transplanting flowers are just a few of my parents’ projects outdoors. Indoors, my dad keeps busy writing his book. My parents are always in the middle of an audio book. They are working through their collection of slides from the 1970’s and 1980’s, scanning some and discarding others. My mom is taking a piano course to enhance her skills and continues making quilts, and she and my dad are planning great things for the family reunion next month. I always come away from my parents’ house just amazed by their creativity and industriousness.
I also visited my beautiful niece Leslie at her booth within a new vintage shop. Her skill in creating inviting displays of vintage items is a joy to see. Of course I purchased something special from her booth. 🥰 I’m proud of her.
I’ve tried many times to purge the children’s art from our storage room. It’s been 20 years and I still can’t throw away this rendering of a cookie factory by a very young Daniel. (And many other masterpieces by our kids.)
Other things that I find difficult to remove, but should:
high school awards and yearbooks
unused recipe books
extra mugs
books I will not read again
plates we never use
old sleeping bags
unused picture frames
power cords collected over 30 years
cast off cell phones
old pillowcases
baby blankets
extra throw pillows
We don’t keep our clutter in the open. It lurks in our storage areas and closets. Decluttering is perpetual for me, but it really ramped up when the children left home. People don’t notice a difference when I clear a closet shelf or storage bin, but I notice that my mind is a little more free.
It seems like films are getting saltier with language lately. These are exceptions to that trend.
The Ballad of Wallis Island is an independent film with lots of original folk music and an endless stream of comedic moments along with poignant back stories for the characters. Just a quirky, sweet film.
The C.S. Lewis story is a monologue of Lewis’s writings. The actor who plays the aged C.S. Lewis walks through scenes from his life played by other actors, offering commentary about different events that led to his conversion to Christianity. The end scene that takes place in a church I replayed several times. It was beautiful.
Just look at this tiny gift! Its box is the size of a small matchbox. A friend left this for me on my porch along with some Halloween treats. My primary love language is not gifts* but perhaps there is an exception: tiny things! 🧡
*I cherish gifts, but I don’t dream of them or require them to know that I am loved.
I forgot to post the dolphins. It is hard to see them at first (so just enjoy the ocean sounds), but I zoom in towards the end.
The first two mornings of our trip we saw dolphins. I believed I would see them again and didn’t try very hard to capture them with video. There’s our life lesson for the day, don’t take any moment for granted.
Mark sent me a voice message he received this week from Emily in Denmark. In the message, she tells Mark that she keeps one of his tiny monkeys in her kitchen as a reminder of his kindness. Six months ago, Mark hid monkeys for her children throughout their home.
I’ve written before that Mark likes to hide monkeys and yes, they are pretty silly. But this small and completely authentic habit endeared Mark to Emily’s family.
The Lord translates into love whatever earnest offerings His young authorized servants have to give. To be clear, Mark did more than hide monkeys, and Emily and her family were super kind to the missionaries. This voice message reminded me that the Lord is really good at multiplying love and helping people feel seen. He can use any small thing, even tiny plastic monkeys, to accomplish his purpose to lift us.
I really like how this isolated young woman found a way to connect with others.
At the family cabin last summer, Mark hid and posed about 50 tiny monkeys for people to discover. I found one wrapped in twine attached to a plastic spider, as if it had been captured by the spider. When my mom found one in a funny place, she told me about it. I confessed to her that the whole cabin had been “Marked.”
Monkeys. Googly eyes on pictures. Funny scenes made with toys. Steadily, these things are spreading wherever Mark goes in the world. At home, I keep in place these little pieces of his humor. It is fun to be “Marked.”