Woodcutters Wisdom

Once there was an old man who lived in a tiny village. Although poor, he was envied by all, for he owned a beautiful white horse. Even the king coveted his treasure. A horse like this had never been seen before—such was its splendor, its majesty, its strength.


People offered fabulous prices for the steed, but the old man always refused.


“This horse is not a horse to me,” he would tell them. “It is a person. How could you sell a person? He is a friend, not a possession. How could you sell a friend?”


The man was poor and the temptation was great. But he never sold the horse.


One morning he found that the horse was not in the stable. All the village came to see him.


“You old fool,” they scoffed, “we told you that someone would steal your horse. We warned you that you would be robbed. You are so poor. How could you ever hope to protect such a valuable animal? It would have been better to have sold him. You could have gotten whatever price you wanted. No amount would have been too high. Now the horse is gone, and you’ve been cursed with misfortune.”


The old man responded, “Don’t speak too quickly. Say only that the horse is not in the stable. That is all we know; the rest is judgment. If I’ve been cursed or not, how can you know? How can you judge?”


The people contested, “Don’t make us out to be fools! We may not be philosophers, but great philosophy is not needed. The simple fact that your horse is gone is a curse.”


The old man spoke again. “All I know is that the stable is empty, and the horse is gone. The rest I don’t know. Whether it be a curse or a blessing, I can’t say. All we can see is a fragment. Who can say what will come next?”

The people of the village laughed. They thought that the man was crazy. They had always thought he was fool; if he wasn’t, he would have sold the horse and lived off the money. But instead, he was a poor woodcutter, an old man still cutting firewood and dragging it out of the forest and selling it. He lived hand to mouth in the misery of poverty. Now he had proven that he was, indeed, a fool.


After fifteen days, the horse returned. He hadn’t been stolen; he had run away into the forest. Not only had he returned, he had brought a dozen wild horses with him. Once again the village people gathered around the woodcutter and spoke.


“Old man, you were right and we were wrong. What we thought was a curse was a blessing. Please forgive us.”


The man responded, “Once again, you go too far. Say only that the horse is back. State only that a dozen horses returned with him, but don’t judge. How do you know if this is a blessing or not? You see only a fragment. Unless you know the whole story, how can you judge? You read only one page of a book. Can you judge the whole book? You read only one word of a phrase. Can you understand the entire phrase?


Life is so vast, yet you judge all of life with one page or one word. All you have is a fragment! Don’t say that this is a blessing. No one knows. I am content with what I know. I am not perturbed by what I don’t.”


“Maybe the old man is right,” they said to one another. So they said little. But down deep, they knew he was wrong. They knew it was a blessing. Twelve wild horses had returned with one horse. With a little bit of work, the animals could be broken and trained and sold for much money.


The old man had a son, an only son. The young man began to break the wild horses. After a few days, he fell from one of the horses and broke both legs. Once again the villagers gathered around the old man and cast their judgments.


“You were right,” they said. “You proved you were right. The dozen horses were not a blessing. They were a curse. Your only son has broken his legs, and now in your old age you have no one to help you. Now you are poorer than ever.”


The old man spoke again. “You people are obsessed with judging. Don’t go so far. Say only that my son broke his legs. Who knows if it is a blessing or a curse? No one knows. We only have a fragment. Life comes in fragments.”

It so happened that a few weeks later the country engaged in war against a neighboring country. All the young men of the village were required to join the army. Only the son of the old man was excluded, because he was injured. Once again the people gathered around the old man, crying and screaming because their sons had been taken. There was little chance that they would return. The enemy was strong, and the war would be a losing struggle. They would never see their sons again.


“You were right, old man,” they wept. “God knows you were right. This proves it. Yours son’s accident was a blessing. His legs may be broken, but at least he is with you. Our sons are gone forever.”


The old man spoke again. “It is impossible to talk with you. You always draw conclusions. No one knows. Say only this: Your sons had to go to war, and mine did not. No one knows if it is a blessing or a curse. No one is wise enough to know. Only God knows.”



* * *
The old man was right. We only have a fragment. Life’s mishaps and horrors are only a page out of a grand book. We must be slow about drawing conclusions. We must reserve judgment on life’s storms until we know the whole story.


I don’t know where the woodcutter learned his patience. Perhaps from another woodcutter in Galilee. For it was the Carpenter who said it best:



“Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.” Matthew 6:34



He should know. He is the author of our story. And he has already written the final chapter.

Year One

Dear Dad,
     Wow.  One year.  Can that really be true?  Is it possible that we haven't heard your voice, your lauahg, your walk for one year already?  I went out for coffee with Cristina last week and she mentioned that someone asked her what would you miss most about your parents when they're gone.  And today, one year later, I unfortunately have an answer to that question.

1.  I miss your BBQ sauce.  It seems silly I know.  But  recently I made grilled chicken like you did.  I bake it in the oven, low and slow, skin on and all.  And while I was letting it rest before having Jim go grill it I tried to make your BBQ sauce and I just couldn't get it right.  And I couldn't call you go see what I was doing wrong. 

2.  I miss sharing my project ideas with you.   I have so many ideas that I would love to see come to life but that I'll never get around to for one reason or another.   But I know that you would see the potential happiness that these projects would bring to all we gave them to and I'm sad that we won't be able to work on them together, in person.  You too had the creative eye and mind to take things in a whole new direction.   I have this wonderfully great idea I'd love to do for Jim for Christmas but there are some technical parts that I just can't get worked out on my own.  I know that a simple phone call to you would give me the answer that I need and that by the time I'd get off work, grab the kids and get to your house, you'd already have the project well underway because you know that spare time with kids doesn't come readily available these days.  I really appreciated all the times you did that for me.

3.  I miss your never ending knowledge on every subject known to man.  Jim and I were watching Pawn Stars the other day and I asked Jim if he thought Rick actually knew that much stuff about everything that was brought in or if he does research before taping.  Jim said he thinks he does research since there is no way anyone could know that much stuff on that wide of a variety of things.  But I know you would know what all that junk was.  Then I was watching American Pickers, a show that you got me hooked on, and the guy in the episode had TONS of World War 2 artifacts.  It made me think of you and how you could answer every question about every war, about things they used, about how things were made back then and more.  And if you were wrong or just making up an answer to shut us up (a trait I've quickly had to learn with Bree's why, why, why age upon us) I never knew it. You instilled a love of history in us and I can't wait to bring history to life for Bree and Jacob like you did for us.  Just a few more years and I think our small family is ready for a trip to Gettysburg and Hersheys Pennsylvania. 

There is so much more that I miss.  Your compassion for everyone, your giving nature, your laugh.  We've been having a rough time lately with the terrible, horrible no good three year old attitude from Bree and the endless whining coming from Jacob.  I wish I had just a small portion of the patience you always seemed to have no matter the situation.  But we are who we are and all I can do is keep in my heart the person that you were and strive to become more like you every day.  I hope I'm making you proud.

I can tell that even in my sleep I'm missing you more than ever right now even in my sleep.  For maybe the second time since she died, I had a dream about Betsy.  And instead of being excited to see her I just kept asking "Have you seen my Dad?  Have you talked to him?  Is he okay?" 

Bree is asleep right now but if she were awake I'm sure she'd want me to be sure you're taking care of Caddie.  I don't have the heart to tell her you weren't the biggest animal lover out there especially for little animals that are always underfoot but Bree insists you have her.  She keeps talking about 'Papa up in heaven coming down the hill with Caddie.'  Any clue what she's talking about?

Well I better be going.  Jim and the kids are in bed and its the only time to attempt to get caught up on housework.  But then again maybe I'll just go to bed since Jacob is finally sleeping through the night.  I just wanted to let you know that we're doing okay down here.  We've hit a few big bumps in the road and are really unsure of what the future will bring but I know you'll give us a few gently nudges in the right direction and everything will work itself out.  Don't hesitate to visit us in our dreams.  Its like waking up with a new memory of you.  Such a great way to start the day.  Miss you Daddy.

                             Rachel

Happy Easter

First failed attempt to get a decent Easter picture this year was at Becki's house.  I asked Bree to give me a nice smile and I got a semi-cheesy one.  After many more attempts with the smile getting more and more fake with each passing second, I gave up.  Didn't have Jacob in the picture anyways.



Second failed attempt at a decent Easter picture was at Jim's parents house.  Hoping to get a picture in before the chaos (and mud) started flying I plopped them down in Papa's chair and said "Smile" and instead she tried biting him.  Not sure why.  Didn't matter.  Picture was blurry.

Third failed picture.  Jacob discovered the computer mouse on the arm of the chair and Bree was trying to hold him still.  Didn't work.

Fourth failed attempt.  Jacob is within arms length of the getting the mouse but someone walked in the door catching his attention causing him to lean even further away to see whats going on.  Thats okay, the sugar from breakfast kicked in and Bree can no longer sit still.

Fifth failed attempt.  I don't even know what to say.

Sixth attempt.  Not sitting beside each other but no evil eyes, cheesey smiles or panties are showing so I'll take it.

Happy Easter!



A make-up artist we are not

No she doesn't have two black eyes.  My daughter decided to do her makeup herself.  Its so true: if your kids are quiet, they are usually up to no good.

So Long, Farewell

Goodbye worn-down, weathered shed,

Goodbye unsightly woodpile,

Goodbye pine tree that caused me many scratches while trying to mow around you,

H-E-L-L-O new shed mini barn!

Thanks Aunt Becki!

Growing Up

Whatcha talkin about?  I don't need a haircut.

I rock this mullet.

And I can see out my eyes...as long as Momma pushes the hair aside.  But I don't need a haircut!

And if I cut it, sissy won't be able to brush it or put clips in it or try to put hair ties in it or bubble style my hair anymore.  On second thought...

Yes, yes.  This is much better.

Plain and Simple

There are so many different ways I could have written about these next two pictures but quite frankly it comes down to this.

The Bree you see:

The Bree I see:

Enough said.

Once upon a time...

...in a room not far from my own, there lived a very cute, very special, very loved three year old.  Now this three year old was also very spoiled.  She owned more clothes than her mother and father combined.  She had a book collection that compared to the local library, more blankets than the Eskimos and more Barbies than Wal-Mart.  

One day, to her parents great delight, this very cute, very special, very loved three year old was playing contently in her room by herself.  When she voluntarily requested to take a nap on the floor of her room, her parents thought nothing of it.

"Why of course you can take a nap and anywhere you'd like," they responded cheerfully.

Little did they know that this very cute, very special, very loved three year old had emptied nearly every dresser drawer, unloaded every bookshelf,  undressed every barbie, and pulled every blanket off her bed and had nestled herself down right smack dab in the middle of the mess.

Because, once upon a time, there used to be a floor in this room.

The End.

A Boy and his train

This video was orginally supposed to be part of the video week I was posting last month but youtube was giving me fits and taking 3 hours to upload one thirty second video so I just had to give up.  I bring it to you now...

For Christmas Jacob was given a VTech Alphabet Train.  It sings.  It lights up.  It spits out blocks.  The caboose comes off.  Overall, I have to admit, its a pretty cool toy.  Here is a video of Jacob playing with it like a pro after having it only a week.  He knew what to do with the blocks even if he couldn't make his hands cooperate.  I was so proud of him.




So now that the novelty of the toy has worn off and he's (almost) mastered putting the blocks into the spaces on the front, its time to find new uses for the train.  And that he has.  And I think he's mocking me.

Gabrielle Elizabeth,

What are you doing?!?!

"I'm a doctor."

Wow.  No more renaissance programs on the History channel for you.

Birthday Boy

What kind of birthday dinner do you throw a one year old who owns more Detroit Tigers clothing than his father??

A Detroit Tigers Dinner, of course!

Happy Birthday Jacob!

Do-do-do-do-dora

There's no doubt about it. 

Bree Loves Dora

Here she is at Christmas sporting her new Dora backpack:

However, as much as she loves Dora, I'm not entirely certain why she felt compelled to color her this way.  Because, quite frankly, its a little creepy seeing this red eyed, green monster staring at me as I watch TV, cook or sit in my chair reading.

But who am I to stop creativity?

March New Years Resolution Review

In March, I gave more,

• turned in 44 box tops to my local schools.  How many did you turn in?  Its the simplest way to help your schools.  Add in a little smart shopping and the use of coupons and the box top products end up cheaper than the store brands.  My kids got to eat yogurt to their hearts content, we dined on cinnamon rolls every Sunday morning, I experimented with new recipes for crescent rolls and used the best of the best toilet paper for our bums, all while giving back to the schools.  Everyone wins.

recycled more,

• recycled 7, yes S-E-V-E-N, plastic shopping bags FULL of other plastic shopping bags.   I guess you could also say I went green this month as well.  Although truthfully, I always do recycle them.  I was just extra cautious about not throwing any of them away just to forever lay in our landfills.

and donated more,

• donated three times as much as usual to Scouting for Food due to my couponing.  Heck, most of the stuff I donated was free or less than 50 cents!

• donated two large bags of gently used stuffed animals to the hospital.

But most proudly this month I completed an unofficial challenge bestowed upon me by my mother in law.

Around Christmastime, my mother in law became involved in a local charity called the Beach House.  Its a non-profit charity that helps place homeless men- women- families back into homes, jobs, society.  You can read more about it here.  As she read about my frustration this Christmas at the ever growing epidemic of the season meaning "bring me, give me, leave me, I want, I want, I want" instead of "I'm blessed, I'm fortunate, I've already got more than I deserve", she presented me with a gift- a gift of opportunity. 

She handed me a prepaid visa card with the instructions of purchasing items on the Beach House's donation list through couponing and deal searching.  It was an opportunity to help people by providing every day things that they need without having to front the money, which at the time was tight.  Diapers, baby food, formula, Christmas expenses and more makes giving as much as I would like quite impossible.  However, what did I know about couponing and finding the best deals?  Money for me wouldn't be so tight if I had a clue about such things.  So I guess I have her to thank for my new obsession hobby....  Anyways, the rest, they say, is history. 

On my mother in laws behalf,  I was able to purchase all this for the Beach House:

I'd take the time to list all the products but I've got two hours to get this blog posted to meet my Aprils New Years Resolution so I'll just hit a few of the things you may not be able to see.  Two boxes of diapers, six jumbo packages of feminine products, four airwick freshmatics with six refills, deodorants, cleaning products of all sorts, shower gels, disinfectant wipes and more. 

Guess how much I paid??  I'll give you a starting base.  If I would have paid full price, it would have come to a whopping $350.67.

Come on.....take a guess.....  How much did I end up spending?

Okay, okay, enough suspense.  I paid $184.91.   That's a savings of $165.76!  Plus I got four free Suave Professional hair styling products and a free $10 Meijer gift card.  And the best part of all this.  I did it all in 2, yes T-W-O, shopping trips.  One trip to Meijer.  One trip to Rite Aid.  Many people benefit.

So once again, to all of you who think couponing isn't worth the time, go back up and reread the numbers.  Aren't these all products you use?  Are you really paying full price for them??  I'll help you see the error of your ways and teach you the valuable resource that is using coupons.  I'll even be generous and split the savings with you.  75-25, okay?