i so know this feeling - i have fallen in love with characters

and what the author has done to them has caused me

to SCREAM, to whimper, and cry uncontrollably; 

i often long to know "the rest of their story" and 

i think of them often. 

i miss them!

The Majesty

You Only Live Once

Aging

Is this the little girl I carried?

Is this the little boy at play?

I don't remember growing older;

When did they?

Sunrise, Sunset; Fiddler on the Roof

gratitude

Children's Sabbath - "Are We There Yet?"

Each year the Children's Defense Fund (http://www.childrensdefense.org) sponsors a Children's Sabbath program for churches of all denominations to encourage those of the faith to become informed about the plight of children and to stand up and fight for the rights of children (http://www.childrensdefense.org/programs-campaigns/faith-based-action/).


The theme for the Children's Sabbath weekend this year (which, btw, is October 15-17) is “Blessed to Be a Blessing: Lifting Up the Next Generation" (http://www.childrensdefense.org/child-research-data-publications/data/2010-childrens-sabbaths-manual.html). We at St. Marks UMC do not usually host our own Children's Sabbath so Crystal and I have been attending them at various other churches around the Peninsula District (which is now New District B! but that's a long story). For the last two years we have attended the Children's Sabbath service at First UMC in Hampton which is the second Sunday of October. I must say before continuing that Dr. Cecelia Short totally rocked as the speaker/presenter.


Ok, now here is the recap/highlights:


First UMC has a very traditional worship style and that is reflected in their selection of music, translation of scripture, media (or lack there of), and tone of voicing. Even the bulletin is traditional. The church is a very old church, way over one hundred maybe even over two hundred years old. The organ is a wonderfully sounding pipe organ that adds bravado and reeks antiquity (though it is relatively new to the church). The choir had about 24 members (including myCaroline and Miss Becky) and was about half the total number of those in the sanctuary that morning. Being VERY active in the UMW means that I have many an opportunity to meet women from around the district and so I knew three of the ladies that morning through district and conference UMW events that we've attended. I also knew one dear sweet little old lady through Church Women United (which I was president of for a mere one year stint but that's also a long story). Two ladies recognized that we were very familiar with the liturgy, litany, hymns and style so they assumed we attended the 8:30 service and they just hadn't met us yet. We understood that; if it weren't for the fact that Crystal and I attend all three services at St. Marks we wouldn't know half of our own congregation!


I won't bore you with the litany and the hymn titles and will instead jump straight ahead to the message presented by Dr. Cecelia Short.


Dr. Short works as an administrator (of some kind) at Denbigh Christian School. She began her message by telling us that Denbigh Christian School has no school nursing on staff so each staff member takes a CPR/First Aide course. In addition, the administrative leaders of the school are also MAT trained (which means that they legally can administer and distribute medications to the children when needed). Fortunately the school is only 5 minutes from Mary Immaculate Hospital if a "true" emergency need were to arise. Dr. Short gave us all of this background information to lead into the true meat of her sermon, field trips. The school has several field trips a year and a MAT trained individual has to go along. Now Cecelia loves the opportunity to go on field trips where she can interact with the teachers and children in a much more informal capacity and the first field trip of the year is always the Pumpkin Patch with the 4 and 5 year-olds and the kindergarten classes. Each year they make the preparations for the trip to the Pumpkin Patch which is always in Mathews County (why, she does not know because there are many fine patches on the Peninsula): 1st) they have to make sure that there is not going to be a lift opening at the Coleman Bridge (entertaining 4, 5 and 6 year-olds for a 40 minute bus ride is difficult enough without throwing in a 30 minute delay for a bridge lift), 2nd) packing the snacks, lunches, and medications and 3rd) loading the kids and teachers onto the bus. And finally, everybody is on the way. No more than 20 minutes down the road comes the first plaintive little plea from one of the kids, "Are we there yet?"


It was at this point that Dr. Short threw in the following statistics (yes, I took notes!):
Nationally each and every day there are about (December 2009 stats) -
- 18,493 students suspended from school (1 child every 1 second)
-  2,222 high school drop outs (1 every 11 seconds)
-  1,240 students corporally punished on school grounds (1 every 20 seconds)
-  4,435 children arrested (1 every 19 seconds)
-    337 of those are drug related arrests (1 every 4 minutes) and
-    202 are children arrested for a violent crime (1 every 7 minutes)
-     32 teens killed in driving accidents (1 every 45 minutes)
- 1 in 9 children are killed by firearms (1 every 3 hours)
-       5 children die each day through suicide (1 every 5 hours)
-       4 children die from abuse or neglect (1 every 6 hours) 
-  4,498 children born to single mothers  (1 every 19 seconds)
-  2,692 are born into poverty  (1 every 32 seconds)
-  2,175 confirmed abuse cases (and that is the reported cases!) (1 every 41 seconds)
-  2,060 have no health care insurance (1 every 42 seconds) 
-  1,210 babies are born to teen mothers (1 every minute) 
-  1,672 low birth rate babies (1 every minute) 
-      78 infants die before their first birthday (1 every 18 minutes)
-       2 mothers die in birth each day (1 every 15 hours)


In Virginia there are (November 2008 statistics) -
- 1,826,179 children listed in the Virginia State Registry
-    233,841 children live in poverty (13%)
-       7,843 are in foster care
-       6,413 abuse cases were reported last year
How are we doing? "Are we there yet?" 


Dr. Short continued her field trip rendition. During the trip we pull out snacks (since the children will miss snack time at school). We always pack a snack that is difficult to chew and swallow so it takes a long time for the children to eat. And then we begin to sing, "The Wheels on the Bus". We sing all of the familiar verses and we have to get creative and add some new verses to the old. "The fish on the bus go glub glub glub" disregarding that fish are on a bus. We continue along in this way adding additional verses as needed.


Here Dr. Short talks about several of the organizations that were founded to help the children of Virginia. 

• Someone saw a need for children of incarcerated parents and the All God's Children Camp came into being. 
• There is great poverty among the residents of the Eastern Shore and so another creative mind opened the Henry Fork Service Center. 
• In Portsmouth, the UMW saw a need to improve and enrich the lives of children and the Wesley Community Service Center was founded. 
• One voice cried out for the health care needs of children in Virginia and saw to it that Virginia developed a health insurance program for children of those who do not quite qualify for the state and federal social welfare and CHIP was developed.

These are great "familiar" verses however we need to be open to creative ways to help children, we need to sing "new" verses. "Are we there yet?"


Finally, Dr. Short continues, we arrive at the Pumpkin Patch and we know that we have arrived because there is a great big sign that says "Welcome to the Pumpkin Patch". We park the bus and as we begin to get off we are greeted by people who are wearing pumpkin shirts, pumpkin hats, or pumpkin costumes. We know we have arrived because we can see all of the pumpkins in the many fields. When it comes to the welfare of children it is much more ambiguous to know that "we have arrived". There are no signs, no one dressed in funky clothing or wearing hats. So how will we know that we are there?


"I have a friend who works in the school district" relates Dr. Short, "who was working with two children where there was suspected abuse in the home (which was confirmed). The children were sitting in her office and the little girl, who was 3, was sitting in the chair just sobbing. Her "big" brother, who was 4, reached over to her and said 'It's ok Sissy, you can tell them now. You can tell them everything that has happened. They are going to make sure that it never happens again.'"


Maybe that is how we will be able to know that we have arrived - when all of us can reach out to a hurting and scared child and say "It's ok. You are going to be alright. We are going to make sure that you are not hurt like that ever again."


My eyes were damp with tears and I wanted to leap up and applaud (though that would have been highly inappropriate in such a traditional church setting. myTed said that I should have if I felt led to do so - "What could they have done, thrown you out?" Always practical myTed is.


So, what can we do to help? First, PRAY for children and those who work to improve their conditions. Second, CONTRIBUTE resources and funds to the organizations that are already in place that work for the welfare of children. Finally, DIALOGUE and discuss. Sit with people who work with the economically distressed and talk about ways to improve their lives. Challenge political leaders to move aggressively to aide and support child health and welfare programs. Work with social service agencies that have the monumental task of reaching troubled families before crisis situations arise. Together we can hear that small furtive cry and can say to that child "it will be ok, you won't hurt any more."

mid-morning medicine

sick ...

crawling back into bed - midmorning.

pull the covers up to my neck,

 h    e        h    e

s   v         s   v

  i     r         i     r

               R     I

            !!     B    G

               T     H

closed eyes

silence

music drifting softly

lyrics barely audible

purring in my ear

from little kitty on my chest

jingling collar jingling

as annie spins behind me

finding the perfect spot

to lay

        kcab - back

comfie

Voices rise and fall

Neighbors by their back door

Lawn Mower Motor Rises

Rumbles Over The Din of conversation

JET NOISE

the sound of freedom

soars over head,

one

     two

   three

        four

F-22s, fourship,

launching into the mid morning sky.

lawn mower rumbles to silence

neighbors door slams

    conversations ceased

gently breathing from behind

as annie deeply slumbers

joined by little kitty

curled against my tummy

lyrics float into my head

as the laziness of the day takes over

silent

dead

sleep

mid-morning nap