Crossing the Border

We are settling into our home away from home.  The trip was long but uneventful.  On Saturday morning we crossed the border.  There is always something intimidating about crossing the border.  There are guards, and there are questions.  Since we stay all summer we have to go inside and talk to the officials in the immigration office.  Last year Phil was called back into a room for questioning because of an incident in which he forgot to declare an item with customs.  It's always a little nerve-racking to say the least.  We crossed without incidence.

While we were driving the 502, I got to thinking about our crossing.  We were following all the rules.  We were not trying to violate any laws.  And we were nervous.  But what about those people who found themselves in extreme conditions?  What about those for whom smuggling became a way of life?

I thought about Irena Sendler who worked in Warsaw Ghetto during WWII and smuggled 2500 Jewish infants and children out of the country.  Here's part of her story:

"There recently was a death of a 98 year old lady named Irena. 

During WWII, Iliana, got permission to work in the Warsaw Ghetto. 

She had an ulterior motive... 

She KNEW what the Nazi's plans were for the Jews. 

Iliana smuggled infants out in the bottom of her tool box she carried, and she carried in the back of her truck a Burlap sack, (for larger kids). 

She also had a dog in the back, that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in, and out of the ghetto. 

The soldiers of course wanted nothing to do with the dog, and the barking covered the kids/infants noises. 

During her time and course of doing this, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 kids/infants. 

She was caught, and the Nazi's broke both her legs, and arms, and beat her severely. 

Iliana kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out, and kept them in a glass jar, buried under a tree in her back yard. 

After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived it, and reunited the family. 

Most of course had been gassed. 

Those kids she helped got placed into foster family homes, or adopted. 

Last year Iliana was up for the Nobel Peace Prize.... 

She LOST. 

Al Gore won for a slideshow on global warming."

You can find out more about her here.

We were talking about this and Luke told me about Brother Andrew who became known as "God's Smuggler" for smuggling Bibles into Communist countries during the Cold War.  He continues to work to bring Bibles to countries that are very restricted.

Another story recently appeared on 60 Minutes.  It told the moving story of Nicholas Winton who smuggled 669 mostly Jewish children out of Czechoslovakia during WWII.  You can watch the story here.

What great risks these people took!  What convictions they had!  It is amazing to me.  Thinking of the nervousness I feel crossing legally, it's hard for me to imagine what it must feel like to be working undercover, doing something that could cost you your life or your freedom.

The Circle Maker

I just finished a book called The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson.  The author is pastor of the National Community Church in Washington, DC, which is a huge church with extraordinary vision.  In the book Batterson explains his journey, focusing on the power of prayer.  He practices what he calls prayer circles which he figuratively draws around whatever he is praying about.  In certain circumstances he physically spends time walking and praying a circle around properties that he wanted to claim for his church.  His story is very powerful and inspiring.  Here are some highlights:

Best Question:  "What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked this of the blind man in Mark 10:51.  He's asking this of us too.

Best Desire: "I desire that the people who know me the best respect me the most."

Best Quote on Aging:  Seventy-year-old Harriet Doerr said, "One of the best things about aging is being able to watch imagination overtake memory."  Most older people allow memory to win out and they stop dreaming.

Best Statistic:  "100 per cent of the prayers I don't pray won't get answered."

Best Practice:  "One of my responsibilities as a father is not only circling my children in prayer but also teaching them to circle the promises of God.  Parents are prophets to their children.  And part of our prophetic role is knowing the Scriptures and our children well enough to know what promises they need to circle."

Best List:  Batterson's Life Goal List which includes getting to dedicate his great-grandchildren to the Lord, hiking the Inca Trail with his son, and writing 25+  books.  There is lots of good food-for-thought in this list.

Most Inspiring:  Quoting Daniel Burnham, designer of Union Station in DC, "Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood."

A Weekend of Celebration!

This weekend was a big weekend for the Kiper clan.  We spent the day Saturday celebrating Will's graduation from UTC.  Phil and I were congratulating ourselves in our accomplishment...seeing both of our children graduate from college with no student debt.  I have told them before that they will never totally understand the gift they have received until they are putting their own children through school.  It gave me such an appreciation of receiving the same gift from my own parents.  We are so blessed to have been able to do this.

Will graduates with a degree in education.  He is looking for a teaching position at the present time.  He'll spend the summer working at the Ruby Falls zipline.  We are excited that he will be joining us in Canada for two weeks.

On Sunday afternoon we spent a lovely time at a shower for Kathryn.  She and Brandon will be having a girl due on July 4th.  Lots of friends turned out for the event, and the setting couldn't have been more beautiful.  It was so nice of Brandon's mom and dad to host this occasion at their home overlooking the Tennessee River near Blythe's Ferry in Dayton.  They received many beautiful gifts and are now well stocked for the arrival of our dear grandchild.

That said, we have had many conversations about our trip to Canada and the baby arriving while we are there.  At present we plan to stay for the duration and return in August to greet this new addition to our family.  Kathryn and Brandon tell us they are all right with this arrangement, and I think we are all in agreement.  I know there are many who would not make the same choice we are making, but we have given it much thought and are at peace with it.  Of course, if unexpected problems arise, our plans would change immediately.  We would all appreciate prayers for our family during these exciting and somewhat tumultuous days.

Another Woman of Valor

“Eshet chayil—woman of valor— has long been a blessing of praise in the Jewish community. Husbands often sing the line from Proverbs 31 to their wives at Sabbath meals. Women cheer one another on through accomplishments in homemaking, career, education, parenting, and justice by shouting a hearty “eshet chayil!” after each milestone.  Great women of the faith, like Sarah and Ruth and Deborah, are identified as women of valor.”

--Rachel Held Evans

My friend Rachel, who makes her living as a writer and hosts a blog, has a series dedicated to women of valor.  I have been inspired by these stories and want to share this story as my own reflection on a “woman of valor” that I know.

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This is a picture of Lindsey with her best friend, Karlee.  They are both wonderful girls, but I want to tell you about Lindsey.  One of the best parts of my job is that I get to work with the same kids year after year, and because of this I get to see the progress they make as they mature.

When I first met Lindsey as a third grader, she was lots of fun, but she could often be almost paralyzed by fear.  She was afraid of tests and grades and lots of other parts of school, and she could often have a melt-down.

When she got to middle school she faced some tremendous challenges with her health.  She had to learn to manage diabetes, and also had to have some brain surgery for ongoing issues she has dealt with from very early in her life.  After her surgery she had to undergo some occupational therapy to regain some physical skills that she was struggling with.

She has always had a love for music and theater and over the time I have known her, I have been able to attend many of her performances at the Cumberland County Playhouse.  She competed and won the honor of being All-State in Choral Music last year.

She has always had courage.  When you have as many challenges as she does, you have to have courage.  But the past couple of weeks, I've been so impressed with how far she has come in facing obstacles.

Last week I offered a trip to visit the Tennessee Tech campus for a tour.  Lindsey signed up to come, but one of her teachers was very upset that she would miss her class right before EOC testing.  There was a time when this would have led to a meltdown for Lindsey, but after some thought and some discussion with her parents, she was able to tell her teacher she was still going on the trip.  She said, "I've got a 100+ average in this class; I think it will be okay."

Saturday I took students to the zip line at Ruby Falls.  Lindsey came along, even though she would be the first to tell you that she is not the most coordinated person in the world.  She said, "I just want to be able to say, 'I've done a zip line.'"  So even though she was quite unsure if she would be able to make it through, she stepped out onto the obstacles.  She did many of them by herself with a few words of advice or encouragement from those around her.  There were a couple that she needed extra help with, and our guide did an excellent job of getting her through the rough spots.  

I am so proud of her, and all she has accomplished.  She has a strong and courageous spirit, and I wanted to take this moment to salute her.

Eschet chayil, Lindsey, Woman of Valor!

One of my Heroes

This week I watched former president Jimmy Carter on the Colbert Report.  I was so impressed by President Carter's whole interaction with Colbert.  The 89-year-old was fully aware of who Colbert is and the schtick he engages in, and Carter held his own with ease.  President Carter was engaging and funny, and Phil and I thought afterwards that we would enjoy listening to him talk about lots of the issues of the day.

In fact, Jimmy Carter is one of my heroes.  I am not a person who writes fan mail to public figures or celebrities, but recently I sent President Carter the letter that follows (in part).  Although most people think he was not an effective president, he has made the most of his post-presidency years, and leads initiatives around the world that are informed by his Christian beliefs.  You can find out more about the work of the Carter Center here, and the work of The Elders here.

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                                                                        January 19, 2014

Dear President Carter:

            Tonight as I sat in church my pastor spoke from Matthew 5 on the Beatitudes.  He focused on the third statement in this list, “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.”   As I thought about meekness, you were the person who came to my mind.  The night before I had just watched the movie Argo, so I had reason to have you on my mind.  But I made the connection because your actions in the Iranian Hostage Crisis were a display of meekness not often seen in a leader who has such power.  My husband and I discussed what an amazing thing it was that you lead us through that crisis without taking us into a war (which puts you in line to come to my mind when the pastor preaches on peacemakers). 

            I was a young college student at the time of this event, and I really did not understand what you were doing.  I was living in the middle of the Christian right culture that seemed to live by the motto, “Might makes right,” even though that isn’t in the Bible.  It is only as I have aged that I have come to see the courage and character it took for you to do what you did...

Finally, I appreciate your work with The Elders.  Thank you for uniting with others to use your experience and influence to make the world a better place.  You are truly an inspiration to me, and I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you so.

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Recently, I received my letter back in the mail with this notation at the bottom:

Phil and I examined it, and it is actually signed by President Carter.  This just bumped him up a few more notches in my book.  

     

Lift Up Your Heads, O Ye Gates

Today in Sunday School we were studying Psalm 24.  The second half of the psalm goes like this:

Lift up your heads, you gates; 
    

be lifted up, you ancient doors,
    

that the King of glory may come in.

Who is this King of glory?
    

The Lord strong and mighty, 
    

the Lord mighty in battle.

Lift up your heads, you gates;
    

lift them up, you ancient doors,
    

that the King of glory may come in. 

Who is he, this King of glory?
    

The Lord Almighty—
    

he is the King of glory.

This is called a song of ascent and scholars say it was written by David to celebrate the return of the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem.  You can read the story here.  This is also a Messianic psalm, and it was played out on Palm Sunday with Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

But today the thought that really grabbed our attention was the thought that this psalm played out again the day that Jesus ascended into heaven.  Just imagine the heavenly host assembled to greet our great Savior as He returned triumphant from the grave, to take once again the throne that He alone is worthy to occupy.  

He is the King of Glory.  He is the Lord mighty in battle, God of the Angel Armies.  He came to Earth and defeated the enemy, conquered death, and freed all the captives.  Not one part of His mission was left undone.  

Imagine the celebration of that moment!

I am so glad to acknowledge once more that Jesus is my Savior, that He is alive and He lives in me and through me.  I opened the gates of my heart, and He entered.  And I have never been the same.

A version of these verses featuring Mahalia Jackson

These verses set to music in Handel's Messiah.

My Dear Children

It's the season for birthdays in the Kiper household.  Both Kathryn and Will were spring babies; spring is such a great time to be born!  These two people changed my life when they entered it, and they continue to make me change and grow.  I am thankful for the great relationship we all have and the wonderful people they have become.  They make me very happy!

As in most families, we take time on birthdays to remember the day they were born, often retelling the events of the day and the excitement of their arrival into the world.  This year we broke out old pictures and looked again at what precious children they were when they were little.  Here's a sampling:

Roarrrrr!
I have always loved this picture of Will.

Kathryn in one of my favorite outfits on her.

Kathryn with one of her teddy bears.
She had one that played music that shc called "Singing Bear."

Will's newborn picture
He says, "Hi!"

Both my kids are on the brink of new chapters in their lives, Kathryn as a parent, and Will as a college graduate.  I look forward to seeing what the future holds for both of them.  They are my dear children!