The Prom

This is proving to be a very wet spring for us. All the farmers are just waiting for the fields to dry up enough to plant corn. I know there are folks in other areas of the country who would love to have our rain. As much as I love a rainy day, slogging through the mud in the yard to get to my truck is wearing thin.

THE PROM. Last night was the big night, and it just so happened to fall on Jenna’s 17th birthday. Fortunately it didn’t rain.

Friday evening we were worried that Jenna would not feel like going to the prom. She started feeling sick around lunchtime. When she came home from school she went straight to bed. When I got home from work and checked on her, I found her with a fever and with a bucket beside her. She looked like death warmed over. Later that afternoon she got up to use the bathroom and was so weak on the way back to bed she laid down in the back hall and used some of the shoes there for a pillow. I had gone to bed thinking the title of this newsletter would be “Disappointment” and that I would simply write the following as the content:

Seventeenth birthday
Prom night
Sick girl
Saving dress

Thankfully the story turned out differently.

A little after I went to bed Jenna was starting to feel a touch better so she had Vicki paint her toenails in hopes that she would be showing them off the next night. Vicki checked on her again at 2:00 am and she wanted to shower so her hair would be prepped for her 8:30 am hair appointment. Jenna got up to get her hair done but came home and went back to bed until it was time to get dressed.

Vicki was Jenna’s makeup artist. Ben came through to see what was going on and seemed a bit taken aback with the transformation. Vicki then told him about the old saying that every barn looks better with a little paint on it. Once he got it he really enjoyed the joke.

Jenna wasn’t feeling 100%, but we were all glad she felt well enough to go. I know my opinion is biased, but she looked stunning.

We went up to the park for pictures and met up with her friends. All four girls--Katie, Maegan, Mackenzie, and Jenna--were beautiful.

Katie and Mackenzie and their dates left the photo shoot for dinner reservations in Nashville. Jenna and Maegan and their two guy friends, who they regularly eat lunch with at school, had dinner reservations at Montana Grill in Bowling Green.

The prom was held at the Arling at Kenny Perry’s Golf Course in Franklin, Kentucky. Everyone had a great time, but by 10:00, the day was taking a toll on Jenna. They left about 15 minutes later with plans to go bowling. Jenna, not fully recovered from the bug she had, was so worn out she excused herself and was home by 11:00.

I wish Jenna hadn’t gotten sick, but I am thankful it didn’t completely ruin her evening. She had a good time in spite of still feeling puny.

NO MORE SCOUTS. I figure that when Ben decided to end his time as a Boy Scout that Nate wouldn’t be too far behind. Once Ben was out Nate never seemed interested. To be fair, both boys’ interest had waned since crossing over from Cub Scouts. I think the two big things that contributed to this was that neither one felt particularly connected to any friends in the troop and because all the extracurricular merit badge work felt too much like school homework.

Back to Nate, I knew something was up when he said he definitely did not want to go to summer camp. Both boys had enjoyed this before. After several weeks of discussing this as we drove to and from the meetings, Nate decided to cut his ties with the troop last Tuesday.

I have mixed feelings about this. Ultimately, as I told both boys, not every good opportunity life presents you is right for you. Sometimes you have to say no to good things that come along because they aren’t a good fit. Those decisions are difficult and need a lot of prayer. For now this frees up our Tuesday nights, and Nate seems happier.

A FINE SUNDAY AFTERNOON DRIVE. Last Sunday was a beautiful day. Mom and I enjoyed the afternoon with a drive down memory lane. We got in the car and headed to Orlinda. As I drove around the town she reminisced about growing up there. This wasn’t the first time I’d heard the stories she recalled, nor was it the first time I had heard them from her in Orlinda. This just happened to be the first time I recall that it was just me and her in the car doing this, making it a much more intimate conversation. Thank you, Mom, for spending that time with me.

GOT MILK? I’ve intended to write about this since the snow that closed school for two weeks back in February. One thing I’ve noticed of late is how much milk my family consumes. All three kids love milk and drink it at most meals, but with two teens in the house milk consumption has gone through the roof around here. We’re getting to where we buy three gallons at a time just so we don’t have to go to the store daily. I certainly understand why one of our friends who has seven kids bought her own cow.

Joe

Happy Easter!

Spring is here. The trees are starting to put out their leaves and the grass is greening up. What I can see through itchy eyes looks really pretty.

RETIREMENT. I want to recognize a retirement here, at least a semi-retirement. Bill and Anna Chatman live across the field from us. They are fine people and Mr. Bill has been raising the crops on Mom’s farm as well as Jackie’s farm for practically my entire life and has done an outstanding job. This year he has decided to retire, at least from the row crops (corn, wheat, and soybeans), though he is going to continue with the tobacco for a while longer.

I wanted to mention Mr. Bill here because he is one of the men I worked with on the farm when I was the age Ben and Nate are now. He was also an example to me of what a man should be as men were a bit scarce in my home. He does not know this, but Mr. Bill is one of the reasons I write the Swann Family News. His part of it came from a well timed conversation we had when I was returning a tractor and field mower. He mentioned that he had kept a diary and that he and his family enjoyed getting the old books out and reading what they had done in the past. On behalf of my family, including those not yet born, thank you, Mr. Bill, for that nudge, and for your example.

ZINGER. Yesterday Ben and I pulled into the driveway after the Good Friday service at church during a big downpour. Neither of us were too excited about running through the rain and mud to the house. As he looked out the windshield he said, “It’s raining.”

“It’s pouring,” I replied.

“The old man isn’t snoring,” was his comeback.

“How do you know that?” I asked.

“Well,” he quipped, “you’re still awake!”

TEACHER’S CHOICE AWARD. East Robertson High is doing something new this year. Thursday night they held an award ceremony where each staff member got the opportunity to recognize one student for something special. Jenna was nominated for an award by Ms. Kevi Moore who had the following to say when the award was presented: “Jenna is an awesome young lady who is kind to everyone she meets. She is very helpful to all students, and she is a great Christian example.” What makes this so special is that Ms. Moore does not teach any classes that Jenna would take. She only knows Jenna from observing her in the halls at school.

PROBLEMS. I’m still trying to figure out what’s happened over at Mom’s house. Last weekend the poor woman had no end of problems. The first she noticed was the washer. It overflowed a bit when draining water. Then the same thing happened with the dishwasher. Next the TV quit receiving about half the channels it normally gets, and they happened to be the channels she likes to watch (we were cord cutters long before it was in vogue). Then there was the hot water heater. Next she noticed the microwave had died. Finally, one of the garage door openers quit working.

I’m currently suspecting some sort of power surge for most of these problems. Fortunately some of them were easily fixed. The breaker for the water heater needed to be reset and fixing the garage door opener was just as simple. The microwave was old so we just replaced it. We called a plumber for the drain lines, but I suspect the logic board in the washer needs to be replaced as well. The TV had me most perplexed as it was mostly working right, but since it won’t get the stations with Billy Graham, Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, Hal Lindsey, etc. it wasn’t getting the job done for her. In the end I get her a new set. Now she picks up more stations than we do!

EASTER ACTIVITIES. I have always found it interesting to hear what different folks do to celebrate Easter, and Vicki has read a few things that people have shared on Facebook this year. Looking back some of our customs have changed a bit. For example, we used to have joint Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services with other churches in the community, currently we do not. Our kids used to hunt Easter Eggs. They’re a bit old for that now. Otherwise things are about the same.

Last Sunday we had a “He Lives!” celebration complete with an Easter Egg Hunt at church. We had a cold snap going into last weekend but it wound up being a perfect day for the festivities, and the event was well attended. We were all involved to varying degrees helping Vicki. (The boys and I ducked out and took Mom to Tesha’s for lunch while part of these activities were going on. We did happen to drive back in time to see all the kids actually hunt for the eggs.) We had a Good Friday service at church yesterday, and will have our Easter service tomorrow. This will be followed by an Easter dinner with Mom.

One really special thing we did as a family last night was to have a Passover Seder. We had done this a couple of times at church about ten years ago and it was a very meaningful experience. Our family has been doing a weekly Bible study for the past several months so we decided to have our own Seder meal this year. Now, someone who really knows what they are doing here would probably chuckle at our attempt, but we did the best we could with what we know. The boys even attempted to sing a couple of the blessings in spite of the fact that we had no idea what the tune should be. Our meal lasted two and a half hours and we really enjoyed it. If you’d like to read the Haggadah we used I am providing a link below.

http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Holidays/Spring_Holidays/Pesach/Seder/H4C_Passover_Seder_Print.zip

For myself, the Seder meal has enriched how I view Communion significantly. I had a lot of questions with no satisfactory answers about this for most of my life. There are things that make sense to me now that no one could ever answer in Sunday School. I could try to explain that here, but I think it takes experiencing the Seder meal to really see the beauty of the Christian ordinance.

At any rate, I hope you have a wonderful Easter as you celebrate the death and resurrection of our Messiah.

Joe