Anyone who has been on exchange, lived in another country, or moved from one place to another has experienced these pangs. Today, eighteen years after leaving Cuenca, Ecuador, for the last time, I felt the familiar tug on my heart. Where are those people I once knew? What are they doing today? It is amazing what can bring the memories. Little things, a look, a smell, a word, a song, all can cause the nostalgia to return. Today, a song sung in church made me remember the services in Cuenca.

To keep the feelings in check, I keep in contact with some of those friends from years gone by. Facebook is a great source for this. We can see each other’s photos, catch up on kids, and read about each other’s lives. For some of those friends, I’ll never know. I’ll not know if Señora María ever made a profit from her tourist shop on Gran Colombia. I have no way of finding out about street vendors who sold jewelry in Parque Calderon. It brings sadness to me to know I didn’t have a way to keep in contact with these people I’d visit on a regular basis for a year.

As I think through my friends, they’re spread out all over the world from Japan to Cameroon, from Peru to Brazil. Ecuador, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Florida, Illinois, South Carolina, Philippines, India, and Mexico all have a little piece of my heart. I often long for everyone to come home for one big reunion. I’d love for all my friends to meet each other and share their stories. Unfortunately, half of my friends couldn’t understand the other half due to language barriers. I’d have to be the translator.

As I consider gathering everyone together, I am reminded of a passage from the Bible. John chapter fourteen and verse two is a beloved verse. There’s even an old gospel song written based on the King James Version of the Bible.

I’ve got a mansion just over the hilltop, in that bright land where we’ll never grow old.

However, my pastor has explained that in essence the word mansion isn’t in the original Greek. It’s actually a word for many rooms. Now doesn’t that sound great? I’ve got many rooms over the hill top? It just doesn’t cut it. However, my pastor goes on to give this scenario. Family reunion time rolls around. Everyone’s coming in from far and wide. Where are you going to put them up? Do you have room in your house? Will someone have to get a motel? What if heaven was like a giant family reunion with room for everyone?

What if heaven was like a giant family reunion with room for everyone?

Think about it. My friends from Ecuador  would have a place to stay right alongside my friends from Japan or Washington state. No one would have to give up a room for someone else, but you could bunk together if you wanted to. Imagine the late night conversations as Kantharao from India explains his struggles in keeping the orphanage a float, and Ruth tells about her grandkids learning about Jesus. In another corner, a conversation plays out between my missionary friends in Cameroon and my friend from Michigan. No one has to say good-bye, and everyone can meet each other. While this family reunion happens, I’m then invited down the hall for someone else’s reunion. Maybe to meet Kantharao’s family and friends from around the world, or to meet my daughter’s exchange family from Finland.

As you continue to make friends, think through this idea of heaven. Are those friends going to be a part of the huge family reunion? Can you relate to my longing? If so, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to leave a comment.

Choose a Book with Appeal

When choosing a book, consider the age of the child and the attention span. I’ve read to two-year-olds. However, I chose a book that had lots of pictures and things the child could look at. When reading to my own kids, I picked out books they either recommended to me or gave them an option of several interesting ones and then let them decide.

What will appeal? Good question. For younger children, I’d suggest picture books with vibrant colors. For very young ones, the Dr. Seuss books are great for that. Another good author is Jan Brett. Her books combine great story-lines with amazing drawings. Unique books also are good. Joseph Had a Little Overcoat is one such book. It has cut outs to create the drawings. For older kids, you’ll want good stories. Think of the ones that you enjoyed growing up. Blend some of the classics with some modern day stories. A good resource for a list of books to read at different ages is Honey for a Child’s Soul.

Stretch Your Child

A pet peeve of mine is when people talk down to kids. When they do this, it’s as if they’re saying the child is not of importance. I say, believe in your child. Stretch your child’s imagination, vocabulary, and attention span. Test different styles of books to read to your child. Just because it’s not in his or her age range, may not mean it isn’t perfect for the two of you to sit down and read. Often people think that children can’t understand large vocabulary. I disagree. Lemony Snicket used big words in his A Series of Unfortunate Events. Each book centered around one word that sometimes I didn’t even know what it meant. He would explain it at the beginning and then move on and continue to use it throughout the book. When I wrote the Dragon Courage series, I read it to my children who were eight, eleven and twelve at the time. The nine-year-old sat through all of them eating them up and asking for more. The other two came and went, but still have favorite characters from the stories. The series is rated at middle grade, but I didn’t talk down to them. Even when my editor pointed out words, I thought through them and often decided to keep them and let kids look them up or ask an adult what it means.

Be Active

One of my now twenty-two=year-old’s favorite bed-time stories when he was about two was the Berenstein Bears In the Dark. It wasn’t because of the story itself but because how we read it to him. We moved him around with the bears, and at the end when sister bear bends over the edge of the bunk bed and yells “boo” to brother bear, we’d reenact it every time.

With little ones, I’ve watched my mom point out the items in the pictures. She’ll ask, “Where’s the bird? Do you see the bird?” then wait until the child points with her. I’ve also used my finger to point to the words. Soon, the little ones are using their finger to follow along as well. This is not only keeping them involved, but it helps them with reading readiness which their kindergarten teacher will thank you for.

Be Creative

Change your voice around as you read. Be the different characters. Have fun with it. Kids love it when you have fun with them.

Audio books can be great at this. If you sit down and listen to an audio book with your child, you can have memories of a book read aloud that you both experienced together as hearers. From 2012-14, I had a fifty minute commute to work. I took my middle son along as he attended school where I taught. We’d use that fifty minutes one way to listen to audio books. We traveled through the worlds of Peter Pan and the Starcatchers, The Beyonders, and many more. We participated together in the unwinding of the plot and character development. We’d discuss what we thought would happen, how we’d have written it if we were the authors, and sometimes even real life values based on what we were hearing.

An alternative to a professional audio book is a self-made one. When my family moved to Ecuador for eleven months, we took the three-month-old granddaughter, and two-and-a-half-year-old grandson from my parents. They made the best of it by recording tapes of grandma reading to the grandkids. Later, when we returned, a friend we met in Ecuador sent a tape to our son of her reading his favorite books. She added a fun twist. She got books she knew he had and could follow along with. So, as she read and would get to the bottom of the page, she’d say “ding, ding, turn the page”. After that, no matter who read to him, we had to use, “ding, ding, turn the page”.  In today’s technology of recorders, it would be even easier to do this.

This all sounds nice and easy. It is. The hardest part is getting up and going to your local library and picking out a book. You can do it. Maybe try one of these already mentioned, or pick up one of your favorites from growing up. Here’s a list of my favorite books you can choose from. So, go out there and start reading to your child.

Our fascination with ChiPs came naturally. Mom and Dad instilled in us a respect for a uniform. I don’t know if it had anything to do with growing up listening to Gramps Pat share his adventures in the South Pacific during WWII, or hearing the few tales about our Green Beret uncles from the Vietnam War, or if it was just the natural respect our parents had for men in uniforms. Whatever it was, it rubbed off on both my sister and me.

On Friday, our school held a career fair. I had the privilege of listening to the Oregon State Police Game Warden give his presentation four different times. As students asked questions and as he talked, I gained a new appreciation for what all our officers do for us.

My reaction surprised me. The officer who came and shared is a personal friend. I’ve known him since he was a senior in high school. I’ve watched his kids grow from babies to rambunctious boys. Yet, when he stepped foot into my classroom in full uniform, I immediately straightened up a little taller and put on my best manners. Some intimidation came with the gear. After the three hours, though, I was able to look past the clothing and see my friend.

50% of recruits don’t make it past the physical exam.

As he shared, I learned quite a bit. I was amazed that 50% of recruits do not make it past the physical exam. Although the requirements are posted, many are not able to meet them. I wondered at that. How often do we as parents or even teachers see this? We set out the expectations, and yet they are not met. I also realized that those who serve as officers have met rigorous standards. They deserve our respect. I know I couldn’t have done nineteen push-ups or fifty-three sit ups in two minutes when I was twenty-one-years-old; nor could I have ran two miles in just over sixteen minutes!

Integrity: The quality of being honest and fair; firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values; incorruptibility

Merriam-Webster dictionary

Another thing that struck me was integrity. The whole paper application process and interview is based on truthfulness. If an applicant hides the truth, tells partial truths, or outright lies, it causes problems and usually results in not becoming an officer. As I consider teaching or even parenting, this is one area I try to stress—integrity. Can my word, or the word of my student or child, be counted on? I would hope so, but often in this world, I am seeing less and less who hold truth as an absolute.

As I go about my days as a teacher and a parent, I want to hold my students and kids to the same rigor as the State police. I want to set expectations and hold students and children to them. I want them to reach high, to go for the gold. I also want them to be young men and women of integrity. It seems to be a lost art these days which once was the foundation of the old west. To do this, it means I have to hold myself to these same standards. Kids can spot a hypocrite a mile away! If I say one thing and do something else, they know it. I’m trying. Sometimes I fail, but if I admit it and get back up, brush myself off, and keep going always striving to succeed, students and my children will see it.

What about you? Do you struggle with this? Do you have any suggestions for how to hold your kids to high standards and integrity? I’d love to hear from you. Share your ideas in the comments.

Okay, let’s back up six years ago. I was in the process of writing what would become the Dragon Courage series. My husband asked the question, “What would happen if a dragon rider didn’t want to become a rider?” As I mulled over the question, a story formed. As the plot line moved along, a group of people came into it seemingly of their own accord. Slave traders. At the time, I hadn’t heard a thing about modern day slavery. It didn’t seem to even be an issue. However, my heart said it was a story worth pursuing.

This last Saturday, I began preparing for a Facebook party for the release of a book through Gravity Imprint of Booktrope called The Sad Girl. It deals with human trafficking. As I created my resources, I began to mull over the consequences of human trafficking and the reality of it. Sunday rolled around, and I went to church. While there, the song Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) was sung as special music. As the haunting words of the old hymn took on new words from the artists, I began to think of the original writer. He was a human trafficker. His life was drastically changed when he came to know Jesus Christ. After returning to London, he wrote the lyrics to the song, Amazing Grace. As I heard the new rendition, I wondered what a song would sound like from a modern day human trafficker who had been saved by grace.

My chains are gone
I’ve been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy reigns
Unending love, amazing grace

Monday came and I participated in the Facebook event. It was a fundraiser for Operation Underground Railroad. As I waited for my turn to present information, I was staggered by the following graphic.

It struck me to the core. I believe people have been created in the image of God. They have intrinsic value because of that. Therefore, to use something created to be loved is just wrong. I sat staring at the computer screen with tears in my eyes.

I continued on my way, feeling the issue, but not knowing what to do about it. Then I saw that Bob Mueller was donating a part of the proceeds of his new book sales to Operation Underground Railroad. I decided I could do that as well. I figured one day would work. I was wrong.

I continued to work my way through the event. I shared how the different characters in book four respond to the human trafficking. Duskya and Kyn become angry. When they witness a slave auction, Duskya’s righteous indignation gets the better of her.

“I’d like to take down the whole system!. Wing, tail, and horns. From the sellers to the traders to the buyers.”

The riders took action. But what could I do? Not much. Another graphic caught my attention.

Did I care enough to do something? I considered it as Monday turned into Tuesday. I was asked if I would keep donating part of the proceeds of The One Who Sees Me to the fundraiser. By then, my heart was softened enough to do something. I said yes.

That evening, I received another punch to my gut. I participated in a Twitter chat with authors Jenna Zark and Joe Yeager. Joe wrote a book Digital Parenting and warns parents of the online dangers to children. The connection came knowing that 76% of transactions for sex with underage girls is conducted over the internet! It made me sick to think about it. I learned that even I should be more careful about my internet friends and what all I share. I came away from the event slightly nervous.

Yesterday as I surfed Facebook, I came upon another graphic. This one with a statistic that turned my stomach and made me angry enough to say something. “The average age of a human trafficking victim is 12 years old.” Pictures flashed through my mind of my students. Precious twelve-year-olds! Then it dawned on me this is the average! That means there are children younger yet! This has to stop! But I felt like the characters in Dragon’s Cure. What could I do?

“No, we have never seen anything like it,” Kyn agreed. “It is awful, but there is nothing we can do. We do not have enough money to buy her, and then what about the next one? What would you do then?”

I decided, I could use my small voice to shout like one of my dragon rider characters, “I won’t have humans treated like this on my watch.” I could give to organizations that help trafficked people, and to those who help keep kids off the streets so they aren’t trafficked. I could also let others know what is going on. You see, if we sit back and don’t say anything, then the world goes on blindly unaware, or ignoring what is happening. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter.” I choose to not be silent. What about you? 

Share how you will speak up in the comments.

First off you will need your photo for your background. You can use your own or one from a free source such as unsplash or pixaby. Deviantart also has good free stock, but make sure you check each artist’s guidelines for using their work. (Some are free no matter what, while others want you to credit them or only use on Deviantart.) What kind of photo do you need? Actually, any with texture. I am using one that has barnacles, sand, rocks, and even a chiton. What would create texture? Grass, small leaves, pebbles, concrete, shingles, wood. Really, anything with lines in it. It won’t be the main picture so you’ll be okay with just about anything.

Step 1: Set up your canvas

We want to open up a new image in Photoshop. Go to File>New.

It will open up a dialog box.

Now is when you can choose the layout of your final image. If I was going to do a flyer for an event, I would switch the pixels to inches and use an 8X10 format. Be careful where you put your numbers. Width comes first, so this formatting would be a landscape layout. For a Twitter image, I keep it at pixels and use 880×440. Your resolution will be important as well. How large are you wanting your image to be printed? If it is just a Twitter graphic, 200 pixels/inch is fine. If it is going to be an 8×10 flyer, you may want to bump that to 300-600 pixels/inch. I’m going to use a Twitter graphic as an example. Once you have all the boxes how you want them, click okay.

Step 2: Opening a new image and pasting it as a layer

You now have a white background the size you had indicated. We’re now going to work with layers. A layer is almost like a separate piece of paper on top of your background. The paper itself is clear, but whatever you put on it, will cover up the layer, or paper, underneath. So, all that white that is showing right now, is going to disappear when we bring in your photo. To bring in your background photo, we are going to open it in another tab. Go to File>Open.

You’ll need to find where you stored your photo. Usually, that’s in pictures. Once you have your photo open, you’ll use the select tool. It is located on the side tool bar and is the second tool down.

There are two ways to select your photo. You can either click and drag the crosshairs tool that you now have until it covers all the picture. Or use Ctrl (or Command on a Mac) A. It will select everything. You will now have a white dashed line around your image. Use Ctrl C to copy it. Click on your tab with your white background that is your drawing page.

Use Ctrl V to paste the image into your workspace. Now, if your image is like mine, I suddenly only have a small part of my image available to view.

Step 3: Scaling an image

I have several options. I can leave it like it is, or I can scale my photo or move it around. To scale the photo, go to Edit>Transform>Scale. You now have little squares at the edges of your photo. You can click and drag them to size your image and you can click in the center of your image and move it around. Adjust your image to the size you want it and then click the check mark at the top of the screen.

Now, you have just your normal photo sitting in your image at a size you want to display or print. It isn’t ready yet, but we now have an interesting background, but it isn’t ready to have any print added to it, because you wouldn’t be able to read it. So, we are ready to change that. Now, you’ll need to know what you want to do with your image. Do you have another photo that you want to use to display with your words? For example, I wanted to do a quote from author Niki Krauss for a Twitter chat. I used her book cover as the base color for my photo and the color of her text as the color of my text.

Step 4: Working with colors

How did I get the color? We’re going to use another tool, the color picker. It is the sixth tool down on the sidebar.

You will need to open up your image that you are using as a sample color. Just follow the steps for opening an image up above. Once you have it open, position your mouse over the color you want and click.

Now you will want to go to the third tool up from the bottom on the sidebar. You will see two colors in little squares with an arrow at the side. You will notice the first square should be the color you chose from your image. You will need a second color for your text. So, click on the arrow and the colors will switch spots.

Now you can click on another area of color in your main photo to choose a text color. I chose a color from the path in my cover. You should see that the square box with color is the color that you picked. If the top square is not the color you want your background to be, click on the arrows to make it come to the front. I notice that we now have three tabs open. You will need to go back over to the tab with your image on it. It should be the first tab.

Step 5: Brushes

Next we are going to use the brush tool. It is two below the eyedropper or the eighth from the top on the sidebar. Once you click on it, you will see that the top toolbar now has several different things on it. We want to make our brush big. So, at the second tool, when you click on it you will have the availability to adjust the size of your brush.

Slide the little arrow over to the right. As you slide, you will see that the numbers get larger or smaller. You want a brush size of at least 116 px.

Step 6: Layers

Now, we need to create a new layer. The easiest way to do this is to use the keyboard. Press Ctrl (Command on Mac), Shift, and the letter N all at once. Or you can go to Layer>New>Layer. Now you have a dialog box open. You can put a name in the box like background color and click okay.

Nothing seems to have changed. We’re about to change that. Use your mouse and click on the image. Hold the click and move the mouse around to completely cover your image in your chosen color. My color looks very similar to our original, but you’ll notice on the far right side on the bottom it shows my layers. I have three.

Step 7: Layer Opacity

We’re now going to change the opacity of our background color layer. It will enable us to see what is underneath it and still give us some color as well. To do this, go to the bottom right corner. You will see the layer’s menu. At the top of the layers menu, is a section called opacity. When you click on it you receive a slider bar. We are going to slide it to the left now. If you slide it all the way to the left, you won’t see your color at all. Experiment with what works for you.

For my photo, I think 83% opacity is about right. However, I’m not liking the chiton right there in the middle. I think I am going to go back and adjust the scale.

If you want to do the same, you will need to click on the layer in the layer menu marked layer 1. Then go back through the steps to adjust the scale.

Step 8: Text tool

Now that I have it the way I want it, I am ready to start typing in my text. You will want the tool that has a T on it. It’s eight up from the bottom.

You will need to now change the little square color boxes at the bottom of the side toolbar to the color you want for your text. Click on the arrow to switch them around. Once you have clicked on the text tool, the top toolbar changes. You will notice a color box at the top. It’s third over from the left.

Click on it and a dialog box opens up. Move your mouse around and you will see it is now the eyedropper tool. Go to the square at the bottom of the side toolbar and click on the color you want for your text. Then click okay in the dialog box.

Now you are ready to move the cursor down to your image and click where you want to insert your text. You can adjust your text to be left, right, or center aligned by the tool buttons beside your text color. Play around with it. You may also need to adjust the font size. You can highlight the whole text by using Ctrl and A or by selecting it with the mouse. Then you can adjust the font size just as you would in a document. As you can see, I need to make mine larger.

Now, that I’ve adjusted my text, I found that it was very light. My problem was in the order of the layers. Since I had gone back to fix the background image, when I clicked text, it put it under my background color. So, I simply clicked on my text layer, and drug it up in the order on the layers menu.

Now, I’m ready to add one more image and call it good. I will add some text to give my website and be done. I will use the same steps as above to copy my image, paste it into the new graphic and then size it. I will use the text steps to add my webpage to the bottom. My final step will be to save my project. File>Save saves it as a Photoshop file. I’ll do that so I can open it up and adjust it later if I want to change the quote or something like that. Then I will use File>Save As and choose jpg out of the dialog box. That way I can share it online.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I’ll try to walk you through your issues.

Isn’t a migraine just a headache? According to Migraine Research Foundation a migraine is a neurological disorder that affects over 10% of the US population! That means that 1 in 4 homes have someone who is affected by a migraine. Another website, Migrainedisorders.org, lists thirty-five symptoms of a migraine. The most common symptoms, or the ones that I have heard repeated by friends and family who have suffered migraines are acute headache, nausea, visual spots, light sensitivity, and sensitivity to sound. This last one I had I was light-headed with it.

What triggers migraines? Good question. Again, the answer is as diverse as the person. Some people avoid foods–chocolate and caffeine being the big ones, but I have heard cheese, nuts, and citrus fruit as well. There was a time where I would look at a delicious brownie or other chocolate delectable and ask myself, “Is this worth a headache?” The answer would be a disappointed, “No”, and I would move on to something else. I have had migraines from my neck being out and most recently from TMJ (joint of the jaw) disorder.

One of the frustrating things with migraines besides their complexity is that the very thing that could trigger a migraine could cure it. Yes, you read that correctly. Chocolate not only can cause a migraine, but could help relieve it as well! The same is true for caffeine. In fact, the medicine of choice for a migraine is Excedrin which has caffeine added to it. So, what do I do when I have a migraine, besides curl up in bed and try to sleep it off? I pull out 7-Up or more recently Ginger Ale and peanut M&M’s. The two help the symptoms. I also use Migraine Formula Acetaminophen. It can help curb the pain but not always. When those don’t work, I use some trigger points. The fatty part between the thumb and the forefinger works as a tension reliever. Massaging it helps. The big toe has a point on the pad that helps relieve migraines as well. A hot bath with an ice pack on the back of the neck works wonders, too. I can remember doing homework my freshman year in college with my sunglasses on while in bed at night. I had to get the assignment finished, and my eyes couldn’t handle the light. The sunglasses came to the rescue. They also helped me on New Year’s Eve this week.

I know there is a ton of information out there on migraines, but maybe this will help you understand a little bit better when a friend says they have one. Or maybe you can gain a few ideas on how best to tackle your next one. Either way, I wish you don’t need this information–that means you aren’t in pain. If you find yourself dealing with one of these booger of a headaches, reach for some peppermint tea, ginger ale, and M&M’s maybe they will help.

“Dad, will you sing Oh, Holy Night?” Mom asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Please, Gramps?” We pleaded.

“I don’t know the words.”

That was what Mom was waiting for. She produced from behind her back a cookie tin. “Here, Dad,” she said as she handed it to him.

With curiosity, he took it and opened it. Inside were several slips of typed paper. Gramps’ deep hearty laughed followed. Mom had typed up the words. Never again could he have the excuse that he didn’t know the words. He sang it every Christmas after that until 1999. In April of 2000, Gramps took his singing voice to go sing for Jesus in heaven. Every Christmas since when I hear Oh, Holy Night, I think of him. The first ten years or so after, I would break down and cry at least once in the season when I heard the song.

I thought I was past that stage until tonight. As I was at the art gallery, a man came in with one of the artists. As he waited for her, he sat down and began to sing, Oh, Holy Night. I paused in my steps and listened, a wistful look on my face. What a joy to hear a grandfatherly man singing Gramps Pat’s song.

What about you? Do you have any special song for the holidays? Any song you have to hear before it’s the season? Let me know in the comments.

The first student to fall and have to bring a surprise brought in homemade cookies for the class. The next brought in a box of CapriSuns. The students appreciated these surprises, and it made for a fun day. After that, the students have become even more creative. They have brought in surprises that were free.

A seventh grader took me back in time to when my grandpa was still alive. My grandpa fought in WWII on a navy ship in the Pacific. One day, a lone fighter jet followed the airplanes back to the ship and let loose one bomb and skedaddled back to his base. That one bomb hit the munitions dump and blew things to pieces. My grandpa received shrapnel in his hand and had a scar to prove it for the rest of his life. A little seventh grader brought that story to life by bringing in a shell casing from a WWII ship gun.

This last week, after a boss battle that caused several students on one team to fall in battle, a student shared one by one how she appreciated each student. She told of fun times in volleyball, good times to come in basketball, and shared experiences through the years. With each telling, she looked the person directly in the eyes and relived the memories.

Both of these last two acts cost nothing but time and thought. The one took the time to double check that he could bring something to school. His treat brought history alive for his class and his teacher. The other cost a bit of humility to get up in front of the class and talk from the heart. It also took a bit of thinking to decide what would be meaningful for each and every student and the teacher. These are both gifts that can be shared this holiday season.

As we think of Black Friday and the gift giving season, think of those gifts that cost nothing. Sometimes this are worth more than those that cost a fortune. What can you give today that is free? Will you take the time to share memories of times past to make history come alive for a younger generation? Will you tell someone what you appreciate about him or her? These are simple and yet profound gifts. Gifts that anyone can give.

Our family has had a fascination with theater since my husband and I were in high school. We spent our honeymoon at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Each year or so we would return to see a play or two. Eventually we introduced the kids to Shakespeare. By the time our youngest was old enough to join the family for a play, he had been counting down the days to seeing it. He has been bitten by the bug and has been involved in local theater for the last two years and has participated in three plays. He has been rehearsing for his fourth one coming up this weeke

As a teacher, I have gone through several classes on teaching students about literature. My favorite genre is fantasy. One thing I learned is that the main ingredient for a fantasy tale is magic. As children we can believe in the possibility of magic. We look for it in every nook and corner. As we grow older, we lose that sense of wonder. We may gain a little of it at Christmas, but for the rest of the year, we are tugged down into the humdrum of life. This week I have had the privilege of watching some real life magic.

Our family has had a fascination with theater since my husband and I were in high school. We spent our honeymoon at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Each year or so we would return to see a play or two. Eventually we introduced the kids to Shakespeare. By the time our youngest was old enough to join the family for a play, he had been counting down the days to seeing it. He has been bitten by the bug and has been involved in local theater for the last two years and has participated in three plays. He has been rehearsing for his fourth one coming up this weekend.

As I sat this week in the sometimes darkened sometimes fully lit theater, I began to make some connections. As the curtain is closed and the lights dim, suddenly, adults are transported to a point where they can believe in magic again. The lights come up, and the curtain opens. At that moment we are taken on a journey through time and space to a place the playwright has created and planned. Magic happens.

This magic though is created with much hard work. That work begins many weeks or years earlier when the writer sits down and pens the words to the play. Later, tryouts are held. Once the group of people have been chosen, the real work begins. Each member of the cast must learn his or her parts. That isn’t the full work, though. There’s blocking and character development. The stage crew has the job of creating believable scenery and props. Once all of that is together, then it’s time for lights and tech. They add an extra dimension to what’s happening on stage. When opening night comes, and the curtain opens, all the hard work is rewarded, and  magic takes place. The real magic is that dead words on a page come to life as the actors portray them.

As the holidays come, you may have an opportunity to see some magic. As you do, revel in it and enjoy. Then thank those who made it happen. They spent hours on end to give you an hour or two of magic and entertainment.nd.

As I sat this week in the sometimes darkened sometimes fully lit theater, I began to make some connections. As the curtain is closed and the lights dim, suddenly, adults are transported to a point where they can believe in magic again. The lights come up, and the curtain opens. At that moment we are taken on a journey through time and space to a place the playwright has created and planned. Magic happens.

This magic though is created with much hard work. That work begins many weeks or years earlier when the writer sits down and pens the words to the play. Later, tryouts are held. Once the group of people have been chosen, the real work begins. Each member of the cast must learn his or her parts. That isn’t the full work, though. There’s blocking and character development. The stage crew has the job of creating believable scenery and props. Once all of that is together, then it’s time for lights and tech. They add an extra dimension to what’s happening on stage. When opening night comes, and the curtain opens, all the hard work is rewarded, and  magic takes place. The real magic is that dead words on a page come to life as the actors portray them.

As the holidays come, you may have an opportunity to see some magic. As you do, revel in it and enjoy. Then thank those who made it happen. They spent hours on end to give you an hour or two of magic and entertainment.