New Music: Awaken the Dawn

One of my great birthday presents was Awaken the Dawn, the latest cd by Keith and Kristyn Getty. The Getty's music is unique in that it reflects a spiritual depth and maturity that is lacking in so much current Christian music.

A lovely collection of celtic-flavored hymns and songs, it's quickly becoming one of my favorites. In fact, it's on my player right now.

Music is a powerful medium, and it speaks to the soul on so many levels. I've been thinking a lot lately about all the influences and distractions that compete for my attention. Nothing focuses my heart, soul and mind like a great hymn that properly reflects God's character, goodness, mercy and faithfulness. I need to be reminded of the truth by constantly preaching to myself. We can be effective in preaching to others, yet not faithful in preaching to ourselves. Music does that kind of preaching in my life.

I was particulary encouraged by the song By Faith.

By Faith
By faith we see the hand of God
in the light of creation's grand design
in the lives of those who prove His faithfulness
who walk by faith and not by sight.

By faith our fathers roamed the earth
with the power of His promise in their hearts
of a holy city built by God's own hand
a place where peace and justice reign.

We will stand as children of the promise
We will fix our eyes on Him, our soul's reward
Til the race is finished and the work is done
We'll walk by faith and not by sight.

By faith the prophets saw a day
When the longed-for Messiah would appear
with the power to break the chains of sin and death
and rise triumphant from the grave.

By faith the church was called to go
in the power of the Spirit to the lost
to deliver captives and to preach good news
in every corner of the earth.

By faith this mountain shall be moved
and the power of the gospel shall prevail
for we know in Christ all things are possible
for all who call upon his name.

Charlie purchased our cd at the Westminster Seminary bookstore - here's the link to Awaken the Dawn.

Here it is, people

Why I love my church

• We are serious about reverence in worship
• We understand the primacy of word and sacrament
• We sing hymns and psalms that reflect our theological commitments
• We do not do this:

HT: Renee Gill

Seriously: 50 Days of Glory!

Last Saturday (May 30) I stumbled into the bathroom first thing in the morning. Let me clarify that I stumble into the bathroom first thing every morning. I get up out of bed without necessarily waking up first. The cliche applies: "I am not a morning person."

However, I married a morning person. A happy, productive morning person - and he has made it clear that there are great benefits to rising early and accomplishing much. I know he's right, but it doesn't make things any easier.

But I digress. I stumbled into the bathroom with my usual bleary-eyed stupor, to see this whiteboard propped up between the bathtub and the door to the loo. " 50 Days of Glory; Lynne '09; G-Day -50; The year of the Lynne!"

So I asked Charlie what this was, though I may have phrased the question less cordially. It was, after all, 5:00.

C: "It's 50 Days of Glory, Honey. There are 50 days before your 50th birthday."
L: "50 Days of Glory is pretty corny."
C: "Yes, I know, that's why I'm all over it."

Every day Charlie updates the board (today is G-Day minus 40) and puts on new cards. Every day I stumble into the bathroom to find cards from friends posted to my birthday board. What a funny, sweet idea. You just don't know how much fun I'm having waking up in the morning to read my cards!

Thanks to my friends - some close, some very far away - who have written birthday wishes to me. Thanks especially to my best friend who masterminded the whole thing.

Graduation at UMass Amherst

Such a fun weekend! Thomas and I left Huntsville on Friday for John's graduation on Saturday.

It was a beautiful day in Amherst - and a good thing, too, because we were outside for six hours - not all of it graduation exercises, mind you.

At left is the adorable graduate.

John's view from the ground at left.

We arrived early to get good seats (we were almost the first
people in the stadium) for the 12:30 commencement. It was quite a different scene from Thomas's graduation - from 200 graduates to 4,000!

Our dear friend Evan met us at the hotel and John's girlfriend, Terri, met us at the stadium. Thankfully, both of them had their cameras. The Wingard camera was back in Huntsville, taking
pictures of Tommy's graduation from WCA. These photos are courtesy of sweet Terri.

Afterwards Evan treated us to dinner at Morton's and we ate like rock stars! The folks at the restaurant were fantastic. They even printed special menus just for us that were headed with "Congratulations on your Graduation!" Nice touch. Everyone congratulated John as we walked to our table - so sweet.

We snapped pictures of everyone outside - it was dark, but the square in Hartford was quite pretty - an old brick colonial-style building with black iron fencing surrounding the area.

And did I mention there were stocks in the courtyard? And that the courtyard was fenced in? And locked?


Yes, John jumped the fence - and Thomas followed quickly behind - for this photo op.

John, I am so proud of you (not for jumping a locked fence, though)! John worked his way through school and was awarded a degree in Sociology and Political science. And did I mention that he was graduated with honors? He was.

What I want for my birthday, Part Deux

Did I mention in a previous post that I should unsubscribe from Williams-Sonoma emails?

Well, the outdoor great room with kitchen and appropriately fabulous Pottery Barn furniture and accessories will never be complete without my new Beehive Pizza Oven!

What can I say? Charlie says I'm a bundle of needs and unfortunately, he's right. But who wouldn't want to visit me in my outdoor room while munching on pizza from a wood-burning oven? Seriously! Click on the link for the oven, and there's a nifty little video demonstration.

Traveling with Helen

My mother is a very elegant woman. She arrived in Huntsville May 6 to spend the week and attend Thomas's graduation. For those of you who have not had the privilege of knowing my mom, sorry. She's hilarious - and you never quite know what she's going to do - or say.

Sometimes you do know what she's going to do, however. For instance, when "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" plays, she ballet dances - no matter where we are. Forget the fact that she's not a ballet dancer. When she hears that music, she dances.

Anyhoo, she can also make it seem perfectly reasonable to do something - like place a table centerpiece on top of your head, for instance. She even persuades others to follow. For a demonstration, please see photo above with my elegant mum and handsome son at the graduates' reception at Covenant.

Graduation at Covenant College

First, let me say I love this picture! Congratulations to Thomas, who was graduated from Covenant College May 9 with a degree in Physics.

It was a great weekend beginning with the reception at the college on Friday evening. We crashed at the Marriott and had breakfast at the diner across the street. Graduation was at 10:00, and it was beautiful. It begins with a processional complete with bagpipe and drums. I was all fahrklempt as soon as I heard the bagpipes. Mom said at first that she wanted bagpipes at her funeral and decided instead to have them in her hospital room so she could enjoy them!

Kay Cole James, Director of the Gloucester Institute, was the commencement speaker, and she gave a splendid address to the new graduates.

Thomas served his country in the Marine Corps for four years and was able to attend Covenant with the Marines college fund and the GI Bill. His next big event - his wedding to Heather Wilson (see lovely young woman in photo above) on June 6.

At a wedding shower several weeks ago, one of Thomas's former roommates described him as "just a Christian guy trying to live a godly life and helping and encouraging us to do the same." I am profoundly thankful for God's faithfulness to me and my children, and am so glad I will soon have a daughter in the family!

Visualizing the Proposed Budget Cuts

Cake Pan Cuteness follow-up

The cake sure was cute. I actually made two, one chocolate cake and the other using the recipe on the box - which was a brownie recipe, really. Preparing the cake pan was tedious, which I expected. First butter or shortening, then dusting with cocoa powder. Note: If you dust with cocoa powder, you have to use a sieve to get a fine dusting without cocoa clumps.

The cakes came out of the pans just fine and when I do it again I will use a cake recipe with a fine crumb. The brownie recipe was just too much and the regular chocolate cake was too spongy.

I filled the cakes with ice cream. I lined a 9-inch cake pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil and put the softened ice cream in the pan and re-froze. This way I wouldn't be wrestling with the ice cream filling and tearing up the cake. The foil removed, I had a perfect ice cream disc to put on the cake.

Clean up was difficult. Each cake has 50 little ridges on the outside of the pan, not to mention the detail on the top. A brush did not get it clean, so I had to use a cloth and individually clean each ridge. Oy. I had brushed the pans, soaked the pans and even tried running through the dishwasher, but there was still chocolate in the pan ridges.

Bottom line: fun novelty pan for a special occasion but difficult to clean.

What I want for my birthday

Mental note: do not impulse-buy "Outdoor Rooms" while you're checking out at Walgreens. It was the "Outdoor Kitchens for Every Budget" headline that got me. Ever since I happily moved to a southern state where I could spend most of the year outside, I've wanted an outdoor room with a kitchen.

I drooled all over the magazine - seriously. It had an advertisement for a company called outdoorgreatrooms.com - DO NOT go to that site. I won't even link it, it's so dangerous.

The room above is called "The Lodge." The pergola alone is $8K. But I wouldn't want just the pergola: I want the fireplace, patio and outdoor kitchen, too. Plus appropriately fabulous Pottery Barn furniture and accessories.

Another dream crushed.

New Cookbooks

Frank Stitt's Southern Table: Recipes and Gracious Traditions from Highlands Bar and Grill by Frank Stitt





Magnolias: Authentic Southern Cuisine by Donald Barickman







I had two Amazon gift certificates, and spent them on new cookbooks. I have been a Frank Stitt fan for a long time - and I have coveted this cookbook for a long time, too. Most Alabama foodies are acquainted with him and his Birmingham restaurants, Highlands Bar and Grill and Bottega.

I know less about Donald Barickman but have heard of his restaurant, Magnolia's, in Charleston, South Carolina.

When I get cooking on these I'll post some photos. Any requests?

Spring Garden

I love to work in the garden; I love to see things grow. If you suffer from anxiety or stress, it's the best place to be.

My garden begins to bloom before it's warm enough to go outside - well, warm enough for me to go outside. Some of you hardy souls probably get out their sooner. To the left is my sage with its beautiful flowers.






This is a Zephirine Drouhin climbing rose. Photo is a little fuzzy, but the flowers are a gorgeous hot pink - and they smell, great, too. Added bonus: the stems are almost thornless!








Cute little chives.





Gorgeous Columbine.








Azaleas are on the wane, but I thought I'd show them anyway.

Cake Pan Cuteness

I was trying to decide what kind of cake to make for Tommy's 18th birthday on Friday, when PING! An email arrived from Williams Sonoma advertising the most adorable cake pan ever created. Charlie gets very nervous when I mention WS - he says he can hear a giant sucking sound every time I walk by the store. They somehow convince me that I really need something - like that Italian Panini press. Note to Charlie: I did not buy the Italian Panini Press too - please exhale.

An Oreo cookie cake pan! Who knew? I mean, you could pinch it, it's so cute. So I called the store to see if it was in stock, and the next thing you know I'm the proud owner of said cake pan.

The store manager said you could fill it with icing or ice cream - wow. So I'll be making this cake on Friday and have not decided what to fill it with. Suggestions?

Victory - and I have shoes, too!

The suit was a winner and my quest is over! What a relief to check that off my list. I even found great shoes that match perfectly, see left. An added bonus: it's not really special occasion-y looking so I can wear it again.

I love the shoes - even though they're heels they are super comfy (though I only stood in them for five minutes when I was trying on the outfit). Of course now I have to make sure my toenails are painted. Now that I live in the south, everyone has painted toenails.