the re-membering ones

Once upon a time, in another life, I was the TA for Dale Coulter's Introduction to Theology class. While cruising along on the topic of baptism, Dale-- as always-- was giving fair treatment to the many views on the topic in the Christian tradition. I can't remember the exact content of the comment, but some student made a wise crack about how infant baptism isn't really baptism, yada yada yada. And Dale did something which influenced my entire view of the teaching craft. Specifically, he didn't deal with Smarty Pants McSmarterson directly. Instead he sighed and walked around to the front of his desk and sat down and looked at the class. He then proceeded to give the most beautiful description of what happens with infant baptism. He talked about how baptism is a recognition of faith. In adult/believer's baptism, the faith is "obviously" the faith of the person being baptized. But with infant baptism, something very different is happening. Infant baptism is still a recognition of faith, but it is the faith of the community surrounding the child. The community, the family, gather around the child and say, "Our faith will sustain her. When she falters, we will remind her." The community commits to function as a living reminder to this child of who she is, of the fact that she is loved, of the fact that many, many persons are invested in the ongoing act of creation that is her life.

It occurs to me that in the best of cases, this is the way friendships and families work. When we falter and lose that deep connection, that sense of who we are, it doesn't mean that we have to fall apart. Sometimes we get lost or lonely or we just seriously. fuck. up. But those of us who are most fortunate in this life have folks around us who remind us of who we are. It is their faith in us and their vision of who we are that sustains us-- not forever, but until we can get on our feet again. When the world seems to go all topsy turvy, we don't have to rely on our internal guidance instruments. Sometimes and maybe, just maybe, it is enough... or maybe it is just a beginning... to be with those who have known us for so long, who can remind us. They are the living reminders. When we fall apart and have dismembered ourselves, they are the re-membering ones. They put us back together by looking through the mess and seeing what was once and is always true in us.

Jonathan and I are immensely fortunate to live our lives in the midst of a strong web of connection. Every place we have lived we've worked hard to cultivate relationships. I feel like I looked through 1000 pictures tonight. There are so many faces, so many connections, reminding me if I feel lost, a glimpse of who I am is only a phone call away.

Tonight I'm thankful for the re-membering ones and I feel the beautiful heavy weight of the solemn responsibility to re-member when the time comes.

New Digs

Well, it's official. The Statons are no longer Bogart folk. Today we bid farewell to the little place that has been our home since we came back from Scotland. We handed over the keys and drove away.

We are excited about our new home, but leaving our old one was more emotional than I expected. Julian learned to walk in that house. He lived there longer than anywhere else. Chelsea's last days were spent there. We learned that Dumplin' was on the way in that house. Jonathan and I spent lots of time and energy reforming our relationship in that space. Lots of memories in 1400 square feet. ;)

We're excited about our new place. The location is awesome. We're really close to the YMCA. It only takes us five minutes (!) to get to Julian's school and Jonathan's new office space downtown. The house and yard are great. We actually have plenty of room and we're already making great use of the big yard, deck, and patio. Julian will tell you that he loves his new house. ;) Dumplin' is due to be here in about 3 months and in our new place he'll actually have a room of his own! Don't get me wrong... I'm not delusional enough to think he'll spend too much time there. For now it'll just be a holding place for all that baby stuff! We commented today that we've seen Samson wag his tail more in the last two days than we have in the last two months. Mama and Daddy are pretty happy as well. Happy family.

We're looking forward to making lots of great memories in the new place, with lots of friends and family coming our way. So if you're going to be in our neck of the woods just let us know and come see us!

Merry Christmas, y'all!

- by Beth

Here we are, on the brink of a new year. I can proudly say

that I sent not one single Christmas card, so our tradition of the last thirteen years remains intact. We went with Davey and Meredith to chop down our own tree, only to choose one of the pre-cut Fraser firs on hand. ;) We watered the tree when we got it home, and maybe once since then. We never did get all the ornaments on the tree, but there sure was a cute conglomeration of non-breakable ornaments at the 2 1/2 foot level. Seriously cute. Julian spent a lot of time transferring ornaments from the mini-tree in the dining room (lime green metallic, my favorite for years) onto the big tree in the living room.

Since Thanksgiving we've been through some serious health issues in our extended family, l had a not-so-nice stomach virus, and I had to go to the ER. Jonathan started a great new job with a company called Scoutware of Illinois. We survived Jonathan's week-long business trip to Chicago. (I think that was probably harder on Daddy than on Mama & Julian!) Yet we celebrated four Christmases-- traditional grazing dinner & white elephant gifts with my mom, Lake Lanier Night of Lights with my dad & step-mom, our Christmas morning at home, and Christmas lunch at Jonathan's parents' house. You can see the photo here of Julian with Santa at the Lake Lanier Night of Lights. It was a really magical night. Julian hopped right up on Santa's lap and -- with some prompting-- asked for a scooter. Then Santa hit us with a surprise question: "Have you been a good boy?" Both Mama and Julian kind of froze. We hadn't prepped for this question. Hilarious! Indicative of our family, right?!

Julian brought home an advent calendar from school. It was Santa and every day he could glue a cotton ball onto Santa's beard. When Santa's beard got all white and fluffy, it was time for the big day! We did this in conjunction with another advent calendar, in which we hid a little ornament for each day. We had lots of fun with this until the stomach virus hit... then we were much less focused. ;)

But the big guy came through and on Christmas morning Julian woke up to a scooter and a dinosaur. I think the surprise hit of the day was a parrot puppet I picked up at the MMO toy swap. This kid is nuts about puppets and costumes. He just loves to pretend. He's just now getting into (no pun intended) the puppets we got him for his first birthday, a rabbit and a hedgehog. Our collection now includes a peacock and a big bad wolf, Snoopy, and a raccoon. It's pretty great, if I do say so myself. We also added to the costume collection. Julian's been running around as Buzz Lightyear since Halloween so Grandmama added a pair of Buzz wings. Uncle Kevin and Aunt Bonnie gave Julian the makings for a robot costume. Julian is very serious about his costumes. Frequently we have to ask him, "What's your name?" because when he's in character, he doesn't respond to "Julian." Jonathan and I lucked into a new-in-the-package Woody costume at Goodwill, and that is now a staple in the costume box. Our other pieces include an old sheer curtain, which can be folded and tied to transform him into a monster, a sheep, or other animals. There's also a small white baby blanket which is either a scary ghost, a friendly ghost, a dancing ghost, baby Julian, or magic Julian. The variations are obvious only to him, hence our need to ask him his name. ;)

We saved our biggest present for last, mostly because it was

the biggest present. Like, massive.

It's a teepee. My trial run was way to small, so I doubled the pattern. It turned out a lot bigger than I had anticipated, but I love it. I am really proud of this project. Dave/Papa harvested the bamboo for the six posts and Jonathan and I found the fabric at Goodwill. Including the grommets, it set us back $15. Not too shabby! You can't really tell how big it is in the photo, but it was too cute not to include. Julian fell asleep in there yesterday. (He had a tough morning of marble track racing and Let's Go Fishing. Everybody needs a break.) The teepee is about eight feet tall and is almost as big around at the base. It's a good thing the ceiling is vaulted in the living room! We wanted it to be big enough so that Jonathan and I could get in there with Julian and not die of claustrophobia. So there you go. Julian was absolutely delighted. They have one in his classroom at Live Oak, so it wasn't a foreign concept. He kept saying, "Wook at dat BIG, HUGE teepee!."He's a funny one, that kid.

We really are having a fantastic holiday season. We've stayed close to home on every level. I'm taking time to focus and re-group. The last eight or nine months have been hectic and sometimes diluted for me, so I'm working on refocusing my energy and time. Jonathan and I have had some really good time together, long talks and working on plans for our home and family. Julian is funnier every single day, and he never ceases to amaze us. Life is good.

I hope this note finds you and yours relaxed and looking forward to the coming year. Happy Festivus to the rest-of-us!