Luther's Evening Prayer
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have graciously kept me this day; and I pray that You would forgive me all my sins where I have done wrong, and graciously keep me this night. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
Beautiful Photo
I follow the royal family of Sweden. What a gorgeous photo of Princess Estelle, second in line to the throne:
Irritation
Not sure why, but I've been in a complaining mood lately. Is it the weather?
Sometimes I long for the politeness of Texas drivers. If you signal a lane change there, others usually let you in. In Chicago, my signal is often followed by the other car speeding up.
Is it really worth the extra moment gained, to make those around you irritated?
Ugh
Some things really irritate me--for example, when a child exhibits the same behavior that they have yelled at another child for doing!
Musing
Went fishing today. Cast my rod several times, but came up short. In fact, the fish took the bait.
Coincidence?
As of two days ago, January 12, I finally finished "festival season." It starts in late October with Reformation, spans All Saints and Thanksgiving, and intensifies with Advent and Christmas. Then the pressure lessens, but we still celebrate New Year's Eve, Ukrainian Christmas, my birthday (January 8), and Jonathan's birthday (January 12).
Happy January! A time of normalcy and recovery.
Since I've been too busy to blog very much, here's a topic that was more suitable to December:
The music community at Concordia has included several women over the years, both as faculty members and faculty spouses. For many years, it has seemed to be almost a prerequisite to have a Christmas-related name. Here are some examples:
Natalie
Gloria
Evangeline
Julia (as in Yule)
Mary
And the best name of all--No
ël. In fact, Carl Schalk used his wife's name in an anthem, as the only word in the entire piece! My choir performed this work as our processional this year for Christmas Eve. It's also the signature ending for Concordia's Lessons and Carols performances every December.
Yikes!
There are a few aspects of practical life that hit like bombs: We took our car to the mechanic on Monday for a quick oil change and new backup lightbulb. Our car left the shop two days later, accompanied by a bill for $1700. We have an honest mechanic, and the repairs were necessary, but it's still a shock.
What They Notice
We celebrated Ukrainian Christmas Eve last Wednesday by attending the orthodox church in Ukrainian Village. Among orthodox worship services, the Christmas Eve vespers is on the short side--about 1-1/2 hours. Then our entire group of family and friends traveled to the northwest side of Chicago to eat Slavic food at a Polish restaurant.
The next day, one of our children wrote the following to a friend who joined us for the occasion:
"Thank you for coming to the Ukrainian service and standing with us."
Aging
Fifty-five years ago today, I was born on a cold January morning in Madison, Wisconsin. My mother had finished the fall semester of teaching elementary school, and my father, a graduate student at the U. of Wisconsin, juggled the tasks of completing his dissertation and interviewing for jobs.
My maternal grandmother made the long trip from Texas to help my parents care for their first-born child. Can you guess my grandmother's age at the time? 55!
