Taking Boston by Storm

On Independence Day our entire conference group gathered on the Boston Commons at 8:00 in the morning. The morning was crisp and clear without the threatening heat of a Boston summer day and without the previous chill that we had been experiencing for the past couple of days.

Almost everyone showed up in costume, covering eras from Tudor to Regency to Colonial.

I got a chance to meet both Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin. They put together a film several years ago called Return of the Daughters which was a great encouragement to me at that time when I had decided to stay at home and take over the home schooling and meals for our family.

There were so many adorable little children at that parade. It made me miss all of my little siblings. I wished so badly that my whole family could have been there. They would have had so much fun.

Talk about ambitious, some of the costumes were just amazing! I don't know how the mothers and daughters found time to put all that work into the outfits, but the results were beautiful. It made me really want to go home and get out the sewing machine.

I wasn't sure at first whether I would join in the parade, but on that day, everyone, even the adults, became little kids and joined in the fun.

We marched all around the Boston Commons. Certainly a more picturesque and comfortable march than many of the soldiers faced who won our freedom in the Revolutionary War.

Below the picture shows a small section of our parade crossing the bridge.

The young men that led our parade were dressed in (what appeared to me) an almost exact representation of the old American military costume. Their mother had made their entire outfits by hand!

Somewhere near the front marched Mr. Foster, Mr. and Mrs. Phillips. (below)

We crossed the streets of Boston singing A Mighty Fortress is Our God, America, and other songs of faith and patriotism. We wanted to bring back to Boston some of the old spirit of patriotism and love for God that burned in the hearts and blood of our forefathers who fought for America. A spirit we have lost as we live on the borrowed resources that were bought for us at the dear price of the blood of our forefathers, but which we receive with little cost to ourselves and which we are far to ready to relinquish without a struggle.

Traffic in Boston was brought to a standstill as queens from the past and patriots in whose heart the spirit of America was burning still crossed the modern street that ran through the ancient heart of Boston.

That evening we went to the large grounds where over half a million people had gathered to view the Boston fireworks display. We heard the Boston Pops play the 1812 overture, the climaxes punctuated by canon shots.

The day ended with a spectacular show of fireworks on the bank of the Charles River.

Boston, Massachusetts

4 o'clock in the morning I rolled out of bed, heavy eyed and half awake, and thus began one of the most special weeks I will ever enjoy. Hurriedly getting ready and looking around to make sure that I had remembered every last important item, Daddy, Mommy, and I left accompanied by a small, brave band of well wishers (i.e. Leisel, Lynnae, and Cosette) who were willing to brave the wee hours of the morning.

The airport was bustling, despite the early hour and we arrived at security behind a line that stretched the entire length of the hallway. Thankfully, they had the early Independence Day crowds down to a science and the line moved fairly quickly. A short wait at the gate, a hurried boarding of the plane, and Daddy and I were off to Boston.

For those of you that don't know, Daddy had planned several months before to take me on a trip to Boston to a conference celebrating the 500th anniversary of John Calvin (the official birthday date is July 10th, but, oh well, when its been 500 years, a few days early doesn't really make that much of a difference). The conference was hosted by Vision Forum and, since the Reformation is one of my favorite times in history, I had looked forward to this time with great anticipation.

After a brief layover (literally one of those land and run to the next gate ones) in Sacramento, we boarded our long flight to Boston. Daddy slept for most of the time and I read. We arrived at 5 o'clock in the evening (Boston time).

Picking up our luggage we hurried out to catch a taxi that would take us to our hotel. Within minutes we had thrown our luggage in the back and climbed into the taxi. If every you have ridden in a big city taxi, you know what it is like. Careening down the road, dodging cars, avoiding imminent collisions, and going full speed ahead through one of the longest tunnels I have ever been in. You just sit still, look calm, and try to remind yourself that these guys drive all day long and they must surely know what they are doing.

The Park Plaza Hotel, where we stayed, far exceeded my expectations in terms of grandeur and style. It is a beautiful and elegant building. Our room was perfect and we had a great view out our window of more hotel rooms a few yards from ours.

Our first evening was spent in finding something to eat for dinner, picking up some bagels for breakfast, and ironing out the clothes that had gotten wrinkled on the journey. We were able to get a good rest that night so that we could start the day fresh.

After the girls came home from Williamsburg and complained about the horrible humidity, we were looking forward with a certain amount of dread to the hot, humid weather of Boston, but as it turned out, it rained for the first 2 days. We even had to buy an umbrella which we haven't owned for years (even though we live in Washington). The rain was perfect, especially if the choice was between that and humid weather. A beautiful hazy fog hovered above the city and the impressive high rises rose and up disappeared in the ethereal mist.



We took a morning walk down to the Boston Commons where the lush green grass was spread like a carpet for several acres, where shade trees lent an inviting protection from well, the rain. Standing beside the large, clear lake that stood in the center of the park, we gazed out at the ducks while a swan with a tall, arched neck floated by almost within reach of my arm. The scene is almost fairylike there. The quiet that reigns is in sharp contrast to the busy street sounds of Boston.

Our first history tour met by the Paul Revere statue. Our speakers were Pastor Brown and Pastor Davies and they spoke about the Calvinistic preachers who spoke in Boston: George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, Cotton and Increase Mather. Our tour ended by the gravestones of the Mather family in an old cemetery. It was a very inspiring time.

That afternoon the conference began with an introduction by Doug Philips. It was a delightful beginning for a wonderful few days.

Update

Well, things have certainly busy these past couple weeks and I have woefully neglected my writing. First, Leisel and Lynnae went to Williamsburg, VA with Grandpa and Grandma. They had a wonderful time. I am going to make them do a post on here about their trip. Then the girls pushed to finish school so that we could say we are done for the summer. We finished last week and have been enjoying the freedom of schedule, although we need to get into some sort of summer routine or we aren't going to get anything at all done except for morning devotions and three meals a day :-).

Daddy and I are preparing to go on a trip to Boston with Vision Forum's Reformation 500 celebration. We leave on the 30th and come back on the 5th of July. I am really looking forward to the trip. This past week I have been working on making a dress for the parade that they will have on the 4th of July. I will try to post a picture of it when I get one.

Today we went to the mall and got Austin fitted for a tux. He is going to be ringbearer in a wedding. It will be so cute.

I will try to do several more posts soon. I need to push the girls to get that Williamsburg post written. :-D

It's Difficult to be Good Looking

Yesterday Daddy, Jonathon, and Austin went to the barber shop in downtown Camas for a much needed haircut. It is a special little outing for the "guys" that Austin looks forward to every month.

This time, before he left, Leisel told Austin to ask Daddy if he could get a military cut; she was half teasing him. When Austin returned from the barber shop, his entrance was greeted by loud exclamations and girlish cries of admiration. Mommy, Leisel, and I were upstairs packing away winter clothes and getting out spring clothes from the attic when Austin walked in with a brand new military cut. The girls were still crowding around him, oohing and aahing over his fashionable hair do. Finally, Austin exclaimed, "I'm going to die with all of these women rejoicing over me."

A Visit to the Portland Zoo

Well...I have not posted for a month, but my very good and plausible excuse is that Papa and Nana have been here for nearly a month. After not seeing them for almost two years, I wanted to spend every spare moment with them, hence the neglect of my blog.

During their visit we did a number of fun things not the least of which was sitting around the breakfast table with steaming cups of coffee in our hands and our mouths running a mile a minute. Ok, so we did go on some outings: we ran to the produce store to get some fresh cilantro and apples, and then maybe a trip or two to the grocery store to pick up some necessary ingredients, but other than that we had very little turmoil in our normally calm schedule. :-)

Alright, so we did make one trip to the Portland Zoo, which you could consider quite an outing for a family with several "loose cannons " (as Daddy would call them) among the younger branch of the family tree.

If it's true that a picture is worth a thousand words, then this post should be very informative without my narration. So I decided to download several pictures and let them do the talking.

Plagiarism

About a week or so ago, Annalise told Mommy that when she grew up she was going to write a book called Reformation Heroes. Mommy informed her that she could not write the exact same book as that particular one had already been written. Later that evening, Annalise was telling me about a story she was going to write about a large family. Austin piped up, announcing that he was going to write a story also.

Annalise asked, "What are you going to write about?"

"I am going to write about Jesus dying on the cross," Austin answered.

With great condescension, Annalise rested her elbow on the table where Austin sat and explained, "That would be stealing an idea. You'd be stealing John's idea and Matthew, Mark's, and Luke's."

Church Historian in the Making

Annalise is a little scholar. She loves to learn anything she possibly can about everything from Science to History. Her favorite subject, however, is the Reformation. Her interest began with bedtime stories that I used to tell her about Martin Luther and the Reformation in Germany. From then on, her favorite bedtime stories have centered around Reformers and godly preachers of the past. This past year, for Christmas, Daddy and Mommy bought her a book called Reformation Heroes. It was written for more of a teenage audience, but Annalise's understanding is definitely equal to that of most teenagers. That book has become a special book that she and I read together at bedtime. She has shown an amazing comprehension and recall of each of the stories that I read to her.

One day Jonathon asked her about Martin Luther and she answered that she liked Zwingli better than Luther. That was a surprise, as Luther has been her hero for a long time. When Jonathon asked her about it, she replied that, "Luther believed something a little funny about the Lord's supper." I had previously tried to explain to her the various beliefs held about the Lord's supper; the concepts are difficult, but at least she seemed to understand to some extent. I am still trying to get her to learn all of the terms: transubstantiation and consubstantiation etc. :-)

A few days later Jonathon started to talk to her about Edward VI. In the course of the conversation, he mentioned that Edward became king when he was only ten years old. Annalise's eyes widened and she exclaimed, "That's the same age as King Richard." When Jonathon told me about her comment, I wasn't sure what she was talking about, but I looked it up in the book and found that sure enough, Richard II, husband of Anne of Bohemia (whom we had read about a while before) became king when he was 10.

Another night, not that long ago, I was reading to her about John Foxe. She turned to me and with a matter of fact air began to reel of the timeline, "So then it is Peter Waldo, John Wycliffe, Anne of Bohemia, John Huss, Martin Luther, and then John Foxe." I had to look at the timeline to check her out on her order and she was right.

I am thrilled that she is picking up so much of this information, but the real acievement is not in the attainment of vast knowledge just for knowledge sake. We are surrounded by "so great a cloud of witnesses" and my hope is that the study of the godly lives of those who have gone before will ever serve as an encouragement to her to "run the race" with perseverence. I want their lives to point her to the God who is "the same yesterday, today, and forever".