Gail

Dec

14

Tidings of Great Joy

I’m still ten feet from the classroom door, my arms full of musical instruments, when the potent smells of cuisine from Mexico, Iraq, and Afghanistan accost me. Nine AM is a little early for raw onions and garlic, coriander and cumin, but today is the Christmas party and the beautiful women I am about to meet in this room have spent hours preparing their best and most festive dishes. My son Jonathan teaches an English class for adult immigrants, and he has invited me to share some different musical instruments and to sing for them the Christmas carols that are part of our celebration of this holiday.

Each day 40 adults, many of them refugees, enter Jonathan’s classroom eager to learn the language that will help them unlock their dreams of freedom and prosperity in their new home. As I look around the room I notice most are women, some wearing headscarves, and all dressed professionally. They take this opportunity seriously, grateful for the chance their new country is giving them to improve their lives. One smiling woman tells me she is from Afghanistan; another man cheerfully corrects my pronunciation when I repeat the name of his country, Iraq. They tell me what a wonderful teacher my son is, and I beam with pride as I see him living CrossWise, reaching out a hand to help these men and women, most older than he, with the difficult transitions they are experiencing as newcomers to our nation.

Dec

11

Little Giants, Going Down!

CrossWise Living Posted by Gail

After an hour of sorting through the overstuffed iPhoto folders clogging my computer, I accomplished some necessary deletion and some happy recollection of the wonderful places and people I’ve seen in the past year. And I will admit it freely— if I found a picture where my actual weight and/or age were undeniably obvious, I hit delete. If you were standing next to me and looked fabulous, I’m very sorry.

As the year draws to a close, it’s good to spend some time taking inward inventory, reflecting on goals attained and accomplishments that should be celebrated. Today as I perused a year’s worth of pictures, what took shape for me was a list of things you probably wouldn’t have guessed I’ve battled this year. Since I am a musician, a teacher, and a writer, you might assume I do these things with complete ease. Not so. I call them Little Giants, and I am naming them because I want to acknowledge that God has continued his work in my life this year, helping me win some small but significant victories over various forms of fear.

Dec

07

CrossWise Friendships. Part 2 of “A Simple Feast of Friendship”

CrossWise Living Posted by Gail

I would like to introduce you to my friend Mandy Gervasi Thomas—photographer, nurse, poet, wife, and mom. I asked Mandy to collaborate with me on Chapter 9 of CrossWise Living: Navigating Transition. I pick up the chapter where I left off last time and Mandy’s voice will finish it.

The Story Continues

A few years later, the phone rings and I hear the voice of Mandy, one of my visitors that pleasant evening. Married now for two years, she’s back in San Diego with her husband David for a short visit and wants to drop in for a few minutes that morning before they leave town.

Mandy and David arrive a few hours later with their new baby Judah, who has both a full diaper and an empty tummy. Things always seem to be going crosswise when there’s a new baby, and they’re running late. I suspect they might be hungry, as it’s way past lunchtime, and I’m pleased that they accept my invitation to join Jeff and me for a quick bite before they have to be on the road again. Fortunately, I’ve developed a new habit now that I’m cooking for just two—whenever I make soup, I double the batch and freeze it.

Dec

04

Simple Feast of Friendship

CrossWise Living Posted by Gail

May the meals that I prepare, be seasoned from above,
With Thy great blessings and Thy grace but most of all, Thy love.
So bless my little kitchen, Lord, and those who enter in,
May they find naught but joy and peace and happiness therein.
— Kitchen Prayer

A Simple Feast of Friendship

It is the day after Thanksgiving. What will I be grateful for at the end of this day? Hordes of bargain-hunters have set their alarms for the wee small hours of the morning and have arisen with a mission. I’m not above such frenzied commerce, but today I nod in its direction and am able to pass it by. Today is a blank check, and I will not spend it in spending.

What business would you have me about today, Lord? I’m mindful of the message from last week’s sermon: what will I choose to do today that will outlive me? The rest of my family members all have specific plans today—to see, to do, and to accomplish—and I’m now alone and wondering how to best use this treasure of an unscheduled day.

Nov

30

Starring the Sun

CrossWise Living Posted by Gail

For the Lord God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory.
Psalm 84:11

They call the high cost of living in San Diego a “sunshine tax.” We pay for the privilege of hearing virtually the same weather report everyday—70 degrees and sunny. The downside is that we face a looming water shortage, and many of us are now having to transition from lush green lawns to water-wise xeriscapes.

I’m not going to lie; I’m mourning the loss. I grew up in New Jersey, where playing on the soft and fragrant lawn lingers in my memory as one of childhood’s most sensual pleasures. There is something in me that recoils at the sight of rocks and bark and scraggly native plants. But times change, and so must we.

Nov

27

Nighttime Prayers

Family / Poetry Posted by Gail

Today’s guest blogger is my beloved brother, Dr. Ed Nelson. He is a research chemist by profession, but has the soul of a poet and the heart of a servant. He and his wife Janis demonstrate what it means to live a life of love as they selflessly care for their aging parents.

The piece featured below is especially meaningful to me. Many years ago, Irene prayed for the salvation of her daughter’s boyfriend, and then later, his wild -child sister. I am eternally grateful for the role she has played in my life as a spiritual mentor.

Nighttime Prayers

by Ed Nelson

My wife Janis desperately needed a night off, and so I encouraged her to take our daughter Corrie out to a movie. This left me with the job of putting my mother-in-law Irene, afflicted with Alzheimer’s, to bed. I pointed her toward the bathroom where she dutifully went in and brushed her teeth. It was sort of a messy business— I had to help her turn on the electric toothbrush and clean it and turn it off when done. Old age was taking its toll on her mind, and she was becoming less able, less aware, more confused with each passing day. I reminded her to put on her pajamas, and I went to repair her toothbrush.

Nov

23

Stitching a Work of Art

CrossWise Living Posted by Gail

When I say I’ve been a quilter, I mean I’ve enjoyed the social aspects of meeting together with other women in the church basement, learning how to turn old scraps into something warm and useful. During the years when I was home with small children, I enthusiastically churned out a succession of amateurish patchwork quilts for friends and relatives. I loved doing it—I just never got good at it.

My husband and I still cuddle up under a now-ragged patchwork quilt I made nearly 20 years ago. It was never flawless enough to be mounted and displayed, but its blunt and unmatched points never prevented it from keeping us warm and cozy. They say Amish women would deliberately sew a mistake into their quilts as a reminder that God alone is perfect. I never had to be that intentional about it.

Aug

16

The Letter P

Bible Study Posted by Gail

The ribbon in my Bible directed me to the place where I had left off yesterday: 1 Samuel 16:14. Lately, I have been in a bit of a dry place spiritually, with no new Bible teachers on the horizon to bring me exciting news from the front lines. This is evidently a season when I have to renew and embrace with confidence the notion that God can and will speak to me directly, purposefully, and personally. Over the years I have amassed a shelf full of Beth Moore workbooks, and most of the blanks are actually filled in. I have Experienced God, Bible Study Fellowshipped, and spent years marking my second-best Bible with colored pencils and symbols inspired by

Aug

14

The Six Pillars of Character in 21st Century Newbery Fiction

Publication Posted by Gail

The Six Pillars of Character in 21st Century Newbery Award Books

I have just finished my Doctorate in Education (Ed D) and have a link to my dissertation. I loved my research on 21st century Newbery fiction and character education. You can read it for free at the Liberty University Digital Commons. Let me know what you think!

Read Gail’s Dissertation Online

Mar

16

Welcome Back!

Music Posted by Gail

I have let this blog go by the wayside for quite some time. I have been writing my dissertation on children’s literature and character education. Between that and FB status updates, my writing energy has been exhausted.

But I have just launched a website to support my growing music ministry and this space will be the forum for me to make updates, announcements or to respond to comments from you.

I invite you to scroll back through some of my postings from the past, when I had more time to think deep thoughts and to write about them creatively rather than academically, which is my current lot in life 🙂

For those to whom I promised the lyrics to the second verse of More and More:

God, O Great God you are proud of the meek,
And your strength flows to those who admit they are weak.
Spirit, Holy Spirit, you set my soul on fire
But then the peace that you bring is my heart’s true desire.

I will be posting the video of the song from Daniel 2:20-22 as soon as I can. Keep checking back.

Blessings,

Gail

Gail

14

Tidings of Great Joy

11

Little Giants, Going Down!

07