Posts

Showing posts from December, 2013

Last Day

Image
So here we are, on the last day of another year, and everyone is abuzz over what to do. We have to find just the right activity or party to attend (or host) with just the right people, because it's the last night of the year and it has to be special. Of course, one could argue the same for the following day; it's the first day of the new year, and we should find just the right party and just the right people to celebrate with, right? But what if, instead of celebrating because it's the last day or the first day of the year, we lived our days as if each one were our last? Maybe it's the last day we will see our friends or family members, or maybe it is the last day we will walk this earth. Not to be morbid, and expect to die any minute, but we do not know the number of our days, or those of our loved ones. What would the world be like if, instead of waiting for the big party at the end of the year, we chose to live and love everyday, as it if were the last? Not that we h

Love/Like

     Most parents would readily admit they love their children and like them as well, as if they are the same thing. But I wonder. I think loving and liking are two different things, requiring two different skill sets, and may even be mutually exclusive at times.      Now, when I say 'love', I don't mean all that gushy stuff I felt when I gazed at my precious newborns, or my cute-as-a-button 2 year-old, or my precocious 5 year-old. No, I don't mean feelings when I speak of love, (sometimes they can be a hindrance, such as trying to love a porcupine-type of teenager, or a temper tantrum throwing toddler) but they can be helpful. I mean love as an action: purposeful action to benefit another person, regardless of anything received in return. A love shown regardless of feelings. Sometimes love in action, for parents, may mean doing something nice for their kids, or it may be discipline, or even a punishment, but it is always done with the best interest of the child in mi

Christmas Eve

Image
It's Christmas Eve again, and we just got back from church. All the way home I thought about how we mark time by Christmas. Although we also mark time with birthdays and anniversaries, no other time of year seems to be as much of a benchmark as Christmas. We delineate time as BC (before Christ) or AD (the year of our Lord), both recognizing that God Himself came into our world at a certain point in history, forever separating time. Even the politically correct B.C.E and C.E. are numerically equivalent to BC and AD. With all the 'war on Christmas' talk floating around and businesses and municipalities trying to not offend the Christians and the non-Christians, torn between wishing us all 'Merry Christmas' or 'Happy Holidays', I decided on the way home from church tonight that it really didn't matter. Christ is the reason for Christmas, whether the culture says so or not. As I reflected on the beauty of the candlelight and the image of my children raising

It's Raining

I'm sitting near the Christmas tree, and the rest of the house is asleep and only the lights on the tree bathe the room. The rain is pouring, pouring in torrents. It's almost Christmas and the rain keeps coming and I think on how God has poured out blessing and mercy on me even when I didn't notice. Poured it on whether I deserved it or not, whether I thanked Him or not. The blessings keep coming even when all I see is trial and tedium and more work than I can ever tackle. Days when all I see are children misbehaving and fighting and crying and struggling to make the right choices. Days when I want to cry at the sight of 5 loads of laundry and a messy house and dinner to fix and sick children to care for. But now, it's almost midnight, and it's pouring rain and I remember a toddler climbing into my lap and telling me she loves me, a teenager mentioning that he had an opportunity to pray with his teammates before a swim meet, a young woman coming home from Christmas

Marino Christmas Letter, 2013

Image
Merry Christmas from the Marinos! Just a quick update on the kids: Ellie, 2, feels that Legos and rocks help make a well balanced diet. She loves purses, pretty dresses, and painting her face with lipstick. Overnight, she has changed from a baby to a little girl! Natty, 5, learned to ride a two wheeler and how to swim this summer. He wants to be Thor when he grows up. He spends much of his time playing chess with his dad, drawing and getting into trouble. Edith, 8, is writing her first novel. But when she's not working on that, she is reading, drawing, helping me with housework and the younger two kids, and growing up (too quickly). Jared, 10, wants to be an inventor or an engineer. He says he needs a laboratory stocked with electrical stuff, various liquids and some tools. When he is not daydreaming, he is drawing, reading and building space ships out of Legos.  Yep, I'm having a lot of fun with these younger kids... Margie, 13, started hig

Christmas Death

Image
Who would you die for? Your spouse or kids? Maybe a sibling or your parents? Someone you love, for sure, right? But what if you were asked to die for someone who hated you, mocked and reviled your very name? What if you were asked to die for someone who wished you didn't even exist? I don't know about you, but I would not be willing to die for someone like that.                                 **** The Christmas season is in full swing at our house; the tree is up, cookies will be baked this weekend, presents are hidden away, the children eagerly open a new window in the advent calendar every evening. But many people dread this time of year. So much work and effort, so much money and time spent, and for what? A big mess to clean up, kids on a sugar high from all those cookies, and nothing but an endless, dark winter ahead and a feeling of emptiness and post-holiday let-down. Bleh. **** How would you like it if you gave Christmas gifts to your friends and loved ones; g

Girls Are Pretty!

Image
     Lately, I have read that telling little girls they are pretty is harmful to their self esteem. They will grow up, the theory goes, to think that their looks are all that matter, and their brains and capabilities are secondary or even useless. We should only compliment them on how smart they are and how capable and talented they are. We should only have intellectual discussions with them, lest they start dieting at age six, become totally self absorbed with how they look, and despair at ever measuring up to what society says they should look like. There seems to be far too many girls suffering from being told they are pretty and not being told they are smart. In one article I read, the author meets a lovely little girl and wants to tell her how cute she is, but squelches that impulse and launches into a discussion about books with the new little reader.      Is it wrong to tell girls they are pretty? Of course not! I took an informal poll at my house with my 3 older daughters, sin