Back in time

It's not every day that your daughter sends you pictures of herself that look more like your ancestors than your descendants. 

I told her she's wearing too much jewelry, but other than that, her Heritage/Immigrant Day at school look turned out pretty well. She's sporting her great grandmother's covering, her great great grandmother's cape dress, and a King ancestor's shawl. 

Comfy, ja?

A baby, a new house, and a new job, oh my!

Well, you know how to fill a year with goodness. A new baby, a new house, and a new job. We are so happy for the two of you and love seeing you often. May this new year be filled with more joy and blessing. Happy second anniversary!

 

Almost birthday buddies

I always write a post when it is my child's birthday. It might just be "Happy Birthday!" and a picture or two. It might be more, but I'm really not into sap or sentimentality. It might be in the morning and it might need to wait until the end of the day for me to find the time. I even have to admit to not getting around to it until the next day once or twice or maybe more.

Mariana's 24th birthday was on Saturday and I had a post all ready to go. Until somebody messed up that post by deciding to wait another 24 hours to appear.

When I first got the call on Friday morning that it was time to head east for a delivery, I thought that I had mistakenly set my phone to a school day wake up. But when I rolled over to turn off the alarm, I realized that it was Mariana and Jake calling, not an alarm. When I arrived, we talked about the possibility of a Birthday Buddy for Mariana, assuming that this first baby would take a long time to arrive, and giving him two days to make the journey.

Well, we were right about "a long time" but we were so wrong about the day! Mariana and Jake soldiered through at home and then at the birthing center. It was a joy to watch the two of them in this miraculous process of bringing my grandson into this world. Mariana was so in tune with her body, Jake was so in tune with her, and I assisted as needed. I think we made a great team!

As Friday turned into Saturday and Saturday turned into Sunday, it was difficult to watch their discouragement and exhaustion, but they hung in there. We had some tense moments when it looked like they might be sent to the hospital, but God intervened each time and allowed them the birth they had desired (minus the length!).

At 11:34PM last night, I wondered if we were going to see another day arrive before the little guy, but he finally took that eviction notice seriously, and entered this world at 11:47PM on 5-22-22. His mom forevermore can tell him that he owes her some pretty awesome birthday gifts to make up for the one where he refused to cooperate.

Mariana Christine, you gave me great joy the day you were born, and another kind of joy the day (okay, three days) you and Jake allowed me to join you in this most miraculous of journeys.

Luka Joseph, you are so welcome and loved already. You have great parents, an army of extended family members, and an awesome cloud of witnesses to love you, to shepherd you, to teach you about your Savior, and to watch you grow in favor with God and man. Thank you for the joy and honor of witnessing your three-day journey, and celebrating this day with the three of you.

Team Baby Kurtz

Go Team!

It's a ...

A Winnie the Pooh/What Will Baby Bee? theme was planned for the shower and gender reveal. 

The commitment to the theme might have been a little over the top.

With both sets of parents, grandparents, cousins, and family friends sharing the load, it turned out beautifully.

Since the parents-to-be already knew the gender, they asked the grandparents to do the honors and cut the cake...

It's a boy!

Already not yet

 If Advent is preparation for Christmas, what do you call preparation for Advent? This season of remembering that we live in the limbo of "already, but not yet" has never been more real than in the past few days.

Being allowed to participate in DJ's first birthday party,

enjoying the continuing excitement of the anticipation of another little one,

watching both Mariana and Isaac live out their life's story,

waiting for Andrew and Sarah's move to DC (and a whole lot closer to "home"),

and the heartbreak of witnessing Grandmom's stroke, difficulty in communication, yet clearly articulated desire to see her Heavenly Father. "I want to go home," she says again and again. "Can we sing about it?" I asked. "Yes, please do," was her reply. As we did, each song brought her peace from her agitation and she sang along. When we stopped, the requests began again, "I wanna go home...Father take me home...Just let me come over..." This is the reality of the "already, but not yet" that we live here on earth. Joy and sorrow. Pleasure and pain. All at once. Wanting to go home. Wanting to stay. Wanting loved ones to stay just a little bit longer. Come, Lord Jesus. He has come, but we wait with expectation for His second coming when all sorrow and sickness will be gone. Already, but not yet.

The Messiah has come. He fulfilled all of the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah. Every December we decorate our homes, we sing carols, and we hear the stories repeated in church. We know He lives in our hearts and He changes our lives. But we also know that He has not yet come the second time as He promised. We eagerly await this second coming. As a member of the "Already Not Yet" Club, am I living in such a way as to represent the One who has come but who has not yet come again? Does my life represent His saving power as the fulfillment of His first coming? Do I live with the urgency of His second coming? May I be a light this coming Advent season, and at all times, to point others to membership in Jesus' Kingdom, the Kingdom of Already, Not Yet.

Let me introduce you to little Covid

 Well, I'm thinking that at this point, you pretty much have to name your first child Covid. 

Covid heavily influenced your wedding plans.

And caused a change in your honeymoon plans, including a continued postponement.

Then Covid was instrumental in a career change. 

And then popped in for a personal visit to celebrate your first anniversary. 

I'm sure you've grieved, but you are living your story well, every twist and turn.

But isn't that what makes a story great? Who wants a boring, cookie-cutter, you-know-what's-coming-next kind of story? I don't. And I don't think you do, either. 

(And apparently you need to be sending me more photos of the two of you because apparently, that's all I've got from the last year.)

She graduated!

Graduation was supposed to be yesterday.

So we prepared for our own version of Marymount Manhattan's graduation for one.  But then it rained (of course). And it was nice of Tom to move us to yellow just in time for graduation. He really does care.

Plan B a day later was just as fun.

Cap and Gown and Socks and Mask. The new normal graduation uniform. Everyone's doing it.

The most obnoxious Pomp and Circumstance we could find and a lovely processional

The Pledge of Allegiance with the flag holder (Victor) in absentia because he declared at the last minute that he was not participating.

The singing of the alma mater.  It was beautiful even though no one knew the tune. We didn't know the words, either, so we just used the words from the high school alma mater.

Special music by one of the seniors, remotely, of course, but the technology never did work.

And a senior speech, remotely, of course, but the technology still didn't work.

And another senior speech, but again, the technology didn't work.

Some people dressed up more than others

The president decided to forgo the usual president's message since there wasn't much of an audience in attendance.

But the guest speaker was absolutely amazing. The best graduation speech ever. Very relevant for these unprecedented times.

“Thank you to Reverend Dr. King, Provost King, Dean King, and all the Professors King in the audience today. 

These are unprecedented times...

Imagine if you will…a world where Cinco de Mayo falls on Taco Tuesday
only to be ruined by a virus named after a Mexican beer.

The new normal

We’re in this together

Alone together

We’re stronger together

Even though we’re not together, we’re here to keep you connected

To all the heroes keeping everyone running.

For all new moms in quarantine, you’re not alone.

These are extraordinary times and there are extraordinary people
working in the healthcare industry.

So to all our graduating health care workers and teachers,
who are about to be on the frontlines, we salute you. To everyone else…

…...Where was I?

...Our world has changed drastically, but you know what hasn’t changed?

We’re all in this together!

Being on your side means staying home.

The challenges are what motivate us. We’re doing everything
we can to get you what you need.
And we’re doing everything we can to keep you safe.

While not able to touch each other, there are still ways to touch each other.

Connect with friends and family. Have fun. But stay at home.
We will help you get through this.
But stay at home.

Because now, more than ever, being a good neighbor means everything.

It’s been a crazy time, but we’re all in this together.

In closing, I’d like to thank all of the corona commercials
and memes for the inspiration
and words needed to make this graduation speech possible
and my apologies for all of the copyright laws broken
in the making of this speech.”

And then the part that gets so long...the reading of the names...

Aaron Adam Anderson, in abstientia
Babbette Beatrice Beardsly-Brown, in ababsientia
Christopher Camron Christianson, in acksentia
Davida Danielle Dennis, in absentiensia
Esther Evangeline Edwards, in absence
Farnsworth Frederick Funkhousen-Fritz, in abystentia...

Some of us did not graduate with theater degrees

and have just a little trouble staying in character...

and trying not to pee our pants

Justin Joseph Jones, also not here
Mariana Christine King - finally!

"To the graduating class of 2020, please stand.

Okay, Mariana, you stand.

As a symbol of your accomplishment, please move your tassel and throw your caps in the air."

She did it and we are so proud. And personally, I think the length of this ceremony was just perfect. Like you.