May 2009

It’s been a good day, though at times a bit emotional. Hard not to feel that way when you’re a mom and want to spend the whole day with your kids but can’t. I’m learning to be grateful for the time I have. The days of little kids at home 24/7 are long gone, but the joy of good relationships with adult kids is even better. Who knew?

After church we met my mom at Olive Garden and celebrated Mother’s Day and Ryan’s birthday. We had actually already celebrated his birthday a couple of times, so this dinner was really for Mother’s Day, but after all, when your birthday falls on the day, it can’t be ignored. Having a son born near Mother’s Day is an appropriate gift, I think. :)

Came home and talked to Chris via the Internet. Webcams are amazing inventions. It’s almost like he’s in the same room. Almost. The emotion comes when I think too much about the distance and the longing for a hug from him. But I’m saving them up for a very long hug when he comes home. :)

Got to watch one of my favorite TV shows (thanks to Tivo) with Jeff and Randy. Two episodes of Law & Order before I gave the TV back to Randy so he could catch up on the Red Wings game. They won!

Shadow spent some time at my side. Did he sense it was Mother’s Day? Tiger, on the other hand, did not snuggle, except later during Law & Order he sat at my feet. I tried to get him to let me hug him, but he’s been in a bratty mood today. If the fur on the family carpet is any indication, he and Shadow got into it good last night!

Randy bought me red roses, and the boys gave me a Starbucks gift card. I think the coffee place might come in handy for writing one of these days. While I like a quiet house when I can get it, sometimes the cats take up where the kids left off only worse. Last week Shadow would not leave me alone. He finally settled on the arm of the chair until he got down, only to be replaced by Tiger who likes to lay across my arm while I’m typing. Do writers gravitate to Starbucks or Caribou Coffee or Panera Bread because of the free Internet or because people are nearby but aren’t likely to bug them? What is it about human nature that wants company and solitude at the same time? Weird.

In all, I am feeling very blessed today. I hope you have too.

Selah~

My son sent me this link to a YouTube Video about Twitter. I wish I could cut the ads for the videos that follow, some of which don’t seem too appropriate. Proceed to any other such videos with caution.

But this one was pretty funny. And I wonder – it holds a ring of truth to it, does it not? I’m on Twitter, I’ll admit it. I do it to network with other authors and people in publishing and to follow some singers I like and a few friends. I already follow more people than I could possibly keep up with and that number pales in comparison to the thousands of people some Twitterers (is that a word) or Tweeters or whatever it is we’re called, follow. How is it humanly possible to follow thousands of people in a single day? I would get nothing else done – seriously!

And I’ve noticed that a number of 20-something people don’t seem to place the value on this social network that their older counterparts do. Has our social life truly become a series of 140 characters at a time? FaceBook status updates aren’t much different. And I’ll admit, if I know the person, I enjoy seeing the posts and keeping up with people this way. But if I don’t know them at all or very well, it’s hard to relate unless the post is really interesting.

But in truth, how much do we really care what others are doing each minute of the day? My life isn’t interesting enough, in all honesty, though it is tempting to tweet about what I eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, when I’m going to bed and how good my coffee tastes – and sometimes I do. (How weird is it that we sit and try to come up with what to tweet?) How do we say something that is different and interesting enough to make people care? I’m still trying to figure that out – and I’m not sure it’s doable in 140 characters.

I will admit though, Twitter has a certain appeal. It connects us in a previously untapped way and gives us little glimpses into what makes us tick. That part I enjoy because I like to understand people. So I’ll stick with it for a while. :) But I hope I never end up like the guy in this video – the one who can’t save his life for having to tweet what happens next…enjoy!

You can follow me on Twitter at Twitter/JillEileenSmith – I can’t promise I’ll be interesting, but I do try… :)

I may have mentioned here before that I would love to learn Hebrew. If I take as long to learn the language as I did to learn to write fiction, it will be a long time coming. :) But I have managed to learn the Hebrew alphabet and can say it and read it in its transliterated form. If you aren’t familiar with the transliterated letters, open the Bible to Psalm 119. This Psalm is an acrostic, each section begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet and it goes in order, like our English ABCs.

The first section starts with Aleph, the first Hebrew letter. Aleph is the “father” of the Hebrew alphabet and signifies God’s preeminence as Lord or Master. It’s numerical value is one.

Psalm 119:1-2 says:

Aleph

Blessed are the undefiled in the way,
Who walk in the law of the LORD!
Blessed are those who keep His testimonies,
Who seek Him with the whole heart!

Bet is the second Hebrew letter and means house or dwelling and represents creation among other things. It’s numerical value is two.

Psalm 119:9-10 says:

Beth (another way to show Bet)

How can a young man cleanse his way?
By taking heed according to Your word.
With my whole heart I have sought You;
Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!

Gimmel – the third Hebrew letter with a numerical value of three means to deal out, to give, or to wean. The letter symbolizes a rich man running after a poor man to give him charity.

Psalm 119:17-18 says:

Gimel (another way to show Gimmel)

Deal bountifully with Your servant,
That I may live and keep Your word.
Open my eyes, that I may see
Wondrous things from Your law.

Learning the Hebrew alphabet (found easily at the Hebrew4Christians website, helped me to appreciate this psalm in a way I had never done before. When I saw the Aleph, Beth, and Gimel, which I learned as Aleph, Bet, and Gimmel, I could hear their correct pronunciations in my mind and recalled some of their meanings (though I had to look them up again to post here) as I read. I can see the connection in the verses to the letters.

Aleph (signifies Lord) – the first verse mentions the Lord.
Bet (signifies dwelling) – the verses in this section could indicate dwelling, especially in the sense of dwelling with the Lord to follow His ways.
Gimmel (signifies deal out) and struck me most with the first words – “Deal bountifully with Your servant…”

If Gimmel means to deal out and pictures the rich man running after the poor man (Dalet – the next letter symbolizes that poor, needy man that Gimmel is chasing), then we can almost hear the Psalmist’s plea as he might picture God running after him to deal out bounty to him – as the Father did for his prodigal son – as Jesus did when He came to earth to seek sinners.

I sense there is a wealth of meaning in this psalm that I can’t begin to uncover. But just knowing those few letters (even singing them to the tune of the English alphabet song) has helped. If you get a chance, stop by the Hebrew4Christians website. There is far more there than I will ever comprehend and it is a great help in enlightening the Scripture.

Selah~

If you live in or around Brighton, MI – stop by His Bible & Book House, Saturday, May 2 between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. I’ll be signing copies of Michal for anyone who is interested. I’d love to meet you! Directions are here.

Until then…