Fun Saturday

Here are some pictures from a visit to my Aunt Janet's house on Saturday. Playing ball in the yardThrowing sticks in the fire ringStill cute, even though it's out of focus! Isaiah and Papa The boys and great-grandma The boys and Papa A rousing game of UNO

Out to eat

Brave

Today in the car, Isaiah was telling me about a small roller coaster he rode with my mom at the Saxonburg carnival a few weeks ago.

Isaiah: It looked like a lot of fun to go on. But when I got on it, it was pretty scary. So I pushed my brave button.

Me: And did that work?

Isaiah: Yes. I just put new batteries in it.

So if you're feeling afraid, maybe your brave button just needs new batteries.

Dedicated Prinicipal (Three Cups of Tea, 4th and final post)

Traveling through Afghanistan post 9/11, Greg Mortenson met Uzra Faizad, the dedicated principal of the Durkhani High School in Kabul. Classes had been suspended because the school's walls had been blown to pieces. The roof had caved in. "Still, she was coming to work every day and putting the place back together because she was passionate about education being the only way to solve Afghanistan's problems."

Would this happen in the U.S.? Hopefully we'll never be in the situation to find out. But I hope that everyone who educates children, whether teachers, principals, or guidance counselors, would strive for her commitment.

Erie Adventures

Last week Dan directed a week at Edinboro Youth Camp. Isaiah was sick over the weekend, but we managed to make it up there by Tuesday, which was also our anniversary. All the junior high kids were so cute! They kept wishing us happy anniversary all night.
We went to Waldameer amusement park. The weather was cool but fairly nice, and Isaiah and Sam had fun on the rides.

I had done some research ahead of time to find some indoor kids' activities, knowing that it was going to be a rainy week at camp. When we got tired of being in our cabin, I took the boys to the Erie Children's Museum. They had a great time.

Gifts for the Widows (Three Cups of Tea post 3)

On September 14, 2001, Greg attended an inauguration for the Kuardu school in Pakistan as the world was reeling from the events of September 11. The local religious leader, Syad Abbas, was the speaker that day. He said, "We share in the sorrow as people weep and suffer in America today as we inagurate this school. Those who have committed this evil act against the innocent, the women and children, to create thousands of widows and orphans do not do so in the name of Islam... May justice be served against them... I request America look into our hearts... and see that the great majority of us are not terrorists, but good and simple people."

Greg Mortensen says, "It was an incredible speech... I wish all Americans who think 'Muslim' is just another way of saying 'terrorist' could have been there that day. The true core tenets of Islam are justice, tolerance, and charity."

Following the ceremony, the widows of the village "pressed eggs into Greg's hands, begging him to take these tokens of grief to the faraway sisters they longed to comfort themselves, the widows of New York village."

These Pakistani women cared so deeply about people they had never met, Americans, yet we dismiss them, lumping them together with the extremists, the enemies of America.

Very eye-opening and humbling.