Lars' buddies

Our church has a committee called the BRE Committee, which stands for "Belonging is a Religious Experience." It helps make church, religious education, and all church-related activities accessible for children and adults with special needs, and provides support for the families of these folks. In our case that has meant that Lars has had a buddy with him every week for the 11:00 service so that I can go to church and not worry about him, and this semester it has also meant that he's had another buddy with him for the 9:15 service because I was teaching Sunday school. That's a huge commitment. I wish I had pics of all the buddies, but here are Jan & Emily: and wait- I know that hand! It's Ginger!

phone pix

this morning

let it snow!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

an evening

it's a bird...

it's a plane... it's... Larsman!! or is that Snuggleman? the buttons form a capital "L" in braille

You may recall Larsy got a buzz cut back in the beginning of May. His hair has not been even trimmed since then (soon!) I just love the curls he still has right after a bath

proud to be amazing

Emily: enjoy!

h2o

Be Like Water:
run deep
run clear
fill any space to its own dimensions 

respond to the moon,
to gravity

change colors with the light 

hold your temperature longer than the surrounding air
take the coast by storm
go under ground 

bend light 

be the one thing people need, even when they're

fasting

eat boulders,
quietly

be a universal solvent
-Kendra Ford

to remember

Found this poem & instantly liked it. Among other reasons, the end reminds of one of the many gifts Lars brings us: the guy knows how to lay back gently & float, letting the world support him. Such a beautiful thing.

A Kol Nidrei by Mark Belletini

Let’s set it all down, you and me.

The disappointments.

Little and large.

The frustrations.

Let’s open our fists and drop them.

The useless waiting.

The obsession with what we cannot have.

The focus on foolish things.

The pin-wheeling worry which wears us out.

The fretting.

Let’s throw them down.


The comparisons of ourselves with others.

The competition, as if Domination

was the best name we could give to God.

The cynical assumptions.

The unspoken, shelved anger.

Let’s toss them.

The inarticulate suspicions.

The self-doubt.

The pre-emptive self-dumping.

The numbing bouts of self-pity.

Let’s sink them all like stones.


Like stones in the pool of this gift of silence.

Let’s drop them like hot rocks

into the cool silence.

And when they’re gone,

let’s lay back gently, and float,

float on the calm surface of the silence.

Let’s be supported in this still cradle

of the world, new-born, ready for anything.