66. How I Met Your Father

I often hear the question "how did you and your husband meet?" The boring answer is "we worked together" but I prefer "my great-grandfather pushed him down the stairs." Sure, that's not exactly PROVEN, but I'm sure he was involved.

In college I worked as a custodian in the campus administration building. Jay worked a similar job, but in a different building. His job was mainly to move pianos and chairs to turn classrooms into church rooms and back again over the weekends. The building he worked in is named after my great-grandfather (whom Thomas is named after). At the end of his shift one evening, Jay was racing down the steps in this building and lost his balance (or was pushed by the ghost of my grandfather). He tried to jump the remainder of the staircase but was unsuccessful. Upon landing. He broke his ankle.

One cannot push pianos on a broken ankle. After a couple weeks of paid leave, the head of the campus custodial department wanted to get Jay working again, so he called around to various area supervisors to see if anyone had some work a cripple could perform. Lucky for us, my boss knew just how to occupy an immobile employee. She had, after all, had one such worker only a few months prior when one of her own had injured her knee playing night games and could barely walk for a few days (guilty!). And so she hired on the gimp.

The rest, as they say, is history.

65. Beloved

You are precious.

You are irreplaceable.

You are beloved.

This is the message I heard this morning, the message God wanted me to hear. It was given to a group of thirty to forty women. They all probably needed to hear it, too. But I felt like it was for me.

I am precious.

I am irreplaceable.

I am beloved.

My Savior knows me. He knows the trials that I deal with. He knows my thoughts, my fears, my heartaches, my joys, my desires, my hopes, my dreams. He knows my past and He knows my future. He knows what I want to become and He knows what I can become.

I am precious.

I am irreplaceable.

I am beloved.

You are precious.

You are irreplaceable.

You are beloved.

61. Jericho (8)

 The Elite's words seemed to echo in the air around Orson. Could it be true? Invading another mind was not only unethical, but it was supposed to be impossible. If the Overlord had indeed found a way to force himself into a closed mind there was no longer any hope. How could they fight a man who could take their very thoughts? How could they possibly hope to defeat him?

He pounded his fist angrily on the large stone slab, making those around him jump in alarm. "Blazes," he growled under his breath. The Elite looked up at him pathetically, only infuriating him more. "How could you let this happen? I thought you were supposed to be fighting with us, not passing our secrets to the Overlord!"

"That is enough, Orson." Aurora rose calmly, her small frame tiny next to the behemoth that was the Elite giant. "Sebastian could no more fend off this attack than you could have."

Orson roared, "How do we know that? How do we know he didn't give us all up willingly? He is the reason we are all here now on the barren rock." Rumbles of agreement rolled around the room as others whispered their own conversations.

"Sebastian is one of us, just as you are," she said, her calm grating on Orson's nerves. The man was nothing like them. He was an Elite. He didn't understand the pressures or fears of Ashen life. He was bathed in luxury, not murk. They were separate in every way. "We cannot trust him. He is working with the Overlord."

A hand raised over the ring of heads around him. Mary. "Perhaps, Sebastian, you can explain more?" The woman was irritating.

"There is no more to explain," Orson barked. "That man has betrayed us."

Aurora rolled her eyes at him. "Really, Orson, if he was working with the Overlord, why has he Fallen with the rest of us?"

"He's spying. Sending even more knowledge back to kill us all."

Horatio laughed outright and Orson glared at him. "This exile is supposed to be a death sentence. The Overlord sent a spy to make sure we really do die here? Sit down, Orson, and let the man speak."

Orson huffed but was cut off from responding by a piercing look from Aurora. He slowly lowered himself back to the ground as Mary asked Sebastian to continue.

64. I am Orihah.

I am Orihah.

I was born across the sea. When I was a boy my family sailed from our homeland. Moon after moon after moon waxed and waned and still we sailed. The boats were small, warm, and cramped. The waves tossed us about. 

When we finally found land again, I became ill and weak. My body had grown used to the movement of the ocean waves. Without it, my muscles dwindled. My illness kept me from running with my brothers, from farming with my brothers, from growing with my brothers. 

Instead, I kept with the Elders, the ancient, the infirm and the weak. At first I resented my brothers and cousins. I wanted to play with them. I wanted to build our new home and participate as the other boys did. 

For a while I battled my inner demons. I hated myself and my body. I sunk into the nightmares that plagued me. Perhaps I would have succumbed to my nightmares had it not been for Malachi. 

Malachi was the oldest of the Elders. He was truly ancient, past the age when death should have met him. I sat with him many days. Malachi taught me the history of our people. He taught me to read. He taught me to write. He taught me to study the languages of our former home. I learned to account for the wares and stores of our village. I learned the laws of our governance. 

Malachi ensured that my interests were always awarded. If I asked a question, he had an answer or directed me toward it myself. 

My nightmares abated. Where my body would not perform, my mind excelled. I hungered for knowledge, and Malachi spread a feast.

Upon his death, Malachi requested that I continue my quest for knowledge. I would have done so even without my oath to him. I quickly read everything we had brought with us from our homeland. All the knowledge that our people had, I consumed. What we didn't know, I intended to discover.

I was once ashamed of my weakened body. Now, I know it is a blessing for God. My father and uncle are dying. They have led our family since our sojourn began. The people demand a king. Father tried to dissuade them, but they insist. The position has fallen to me. None of my brothers or cousins wants the responsibility. I do not want it. The rule of an evil king is why we were forced to leave all those years ago. But perhaps this is why God allowed my body to deteriorate. Perhaps he knew the only way I would be prepared as I am is by being limited. And so, I will accept the people's demand. Perhaps I may be able to form the government the people need through this role. 

I am ready.

I am King Orihah.

63. Cleaning For a Cookie

Today I posed a challenge

To my little girl and boy.

"Whoever cleans up fastest

Gets a cookie." There was joy.

The teams were made up, me and them; 

their room verses mine.

Their room was a scary sight.

Mine would take some time.

I made my bed, I hung up clothes.

The laundry I did fold,

When to my great surprise, "Hey mom,

We're done now!" I was told.

"No way," I thought. "It cannot be.

You've only just begun."

But when I went to check on them

I'd found that they had won.

I've never seen a transformation

Quite as quick as this.

Amazing how a cookie can

Fulfill a mother's wish.

62.Jessa and the Beanstalk

We all know how Jack found his way into the kingdom in the sky, but do you know the giants got there? I do.

I'm Jessa. I was once a poor farm girl, similar to Jack. I worked from morning until night to help my mother and father feed our family. There wasn't much to live off of, and, like Jack, I yearned for adventure. So when I ran across a weird old man who asked for my three-legged stool in exchange for five magic beans, I made the trade. 

I didn't want my big brother Marcus to steal my treasure, so I ran through our fields until I was sure that I was alone. There was a giant rock just on the other side of our fields that I liked to sit on sometimes when I wanted to be by myself. The weird man hadn't told me what magic the beans held, so I wrapped four beans tightly in a piece of fabric that I ripped off my dress and I hid them under the rock. The fifth bean I planted. 

The next morning I ran back out to my rock and found a giant beanstalk had sprung up overnight! It was huge! I couldn't even see the top, it was so tall. Of course, I had to climb it. It was as if it was made for me to climb. Tendrils lay exactly where my feet needed to land. Up up up I went until I could no longer see our farmhouse. Up up up I went further, into the clouds. The clouds were cold and wet. It grew dark. I couldn't see, but I could still feel the beanstalk beneath my fingers, against my toes. So I kept climbing. 

Finally, the darkness dispersed and I popped through the top of the clouds. All was white.

60. Home

Home is where your heart is

A common phrase I'm told

Home is where your rump rests

A lesson learned of old

Home is walls and ceilings

A plain and honest truth

Home is where your kids are

For every Anne or Ruth.