Today’s post will be the first on this blog written by someone other than myself.  The author will be my 89 year old Grandmother, Alta Mullet, who very early this morning completed her brief journey on this rock we call earth and began a new one in the physical presence of her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

There are many things that my grandma might say at this moment if she had the opportunity.  No doubt if she had the chance she would be able to speak words of wisdom to which one would do well to listen too.  However she doesn’t have that chance, and quite honestly she doesn’t need it.  Because Grandma, like all of us, lived a life that spoke volumes more than any words she might utter at the end of it.  As a man who was blessed to experience Alta Mullet for 32 years it is my opportunity this morning to pass along some words which I believe were spoken by her life.

HOW TO LEAVE A LEGACY.

1) Make egg sandwiches and chocolate milk.  There is one meal  that I crave, not for it’s quality of flavor or nutritional value but for the place and time too which it transports me with each bite.  For me, egg sandwiches and chocolate milk reflect the relational investment my Grandma made in me as a child.  Even writing about it places me at her small kitchen table, as a seven years old who is jumping out of my skin over the anticipation of my pending fishing trip with Grandpa.  While I spew words a mile a minute, she answers my questions by simply placing a small white plate in front of me, on it bursting out from between two perfectly buttered pieces of bread are the lightest and fluffiest eggs one ever tasted.  By the plate is a glass, in it, a concoction so chocolaty that rather than drink it one almost needs to unwrap and take a bite. 

2) Have strawberry jam at the table.  My Grandpa was a great influence in my life.  He was a tender man in his old age in no small part to both the victory’s and tragedy’s of his life experience.  He accomplished much and lost much in his life but his most precious prize was the woman he loved and his most pressing defeat the day his body gave out and left her alone on this earth without him.  For over fifty years my Grandpa was loved unconditionaly by a woman he didn’t deserve, a woman whose spirit would not break, and a woman who thought he hung the moon.  Grandma went through periods where Grandpa worked too much, hunted too much, was sad too much, did nothing too much, but in each of these periods of his life – grandma was beside him, believing in him, and spurring him on to be whom God created him to be.  Sometimes at dinner grandpa would gruffly chide grandma for not having the strawberry jam on the table – each time my grandma’s response was simply to get up, retreive it from the kitchen and place it beside him. 

3) Play Rook every Friday.  Rook is a card game.  Like life, to be experienced fully, it cannot be played alone.  Grandma had a group of friends that for years she hosted in a weekly game of Rook.  Sometimes she would win, sometimes she would lose.  But each Rook party came complete with homemade dessert, spirited laughter, and a perfect display of arrogance from the winner.  Yes, grandma could gloat.

4) Plant a garden, then enjoy it.   When I would arrive at Grandma’s house, I would often find her not in the house.  Instead she would be found outside, planting or pruning.  When I picture Grandma I see her in a yellow sundress on her knees with a pile of freshly cut flowers or fleshly pulled weeds.  Spring thru fall, her house was filled with the fruit of her hands – Grandma could turn dirt, manure, and sweat into flowers or vegetables better than anyone I knew.

These four things are obviously not Grandma’s suggestion to you for the details of your legacy.  They do however illustrate one of the two main truths her life preached.  LIFE IS SHORT – SO LIVE IT TO THE FULLEST.  Grandma’s life spanned almost 90 years, but the truth be told, it went by really fast. 

Egg sandwiches are not Grandma’s legacy- but entertaining her Grandchildren for overnight visits and creating untold adventures for them was.  Egg sandwiches were just one of the small things Grandma did because she loved me – they just happen to be the one that I remember best.

Strawberry Jam is not Grandma’s legacy – but loving one man deeply and unselfishly for her entire life was.  I never heard grandma once speak anything but respect for the man she shared life with and for that her children rise up and call her blessed. 

Winning at Rook is not Grandma’s legacy – but a host of real and intimate friends is.  Grandma invested her life in people and tonight I will joyfully drive my family over 600 miles to join hundreds of others in celebrating her investment and her passing to join those who have gone on before. 

Gardening is not Grandma’s legacy – but pursuing ones passions with diligence and hard work is.  Grandma was not a victim of today’s fast food, instant gratification culture.  Instead she modeled the joy that is found in doing what you love and patiently trusting God for the results.  Gardening is perhaps the best illustration of God’s desire to partner with man in life – you follow his rules, faithfully do what you can, and trust him for the rest.  Grandma had this down and taught it to those who would listen.

Sorry for the length of this post – it’s just hard to pack 90 years into a paragraph.  So here is part 1 of Alta Mullet’s legacy as observed by her grandson:  1)  Be intentional about making life fun for those you love,  2) Be selfless in your love for your spouse,  3)  Be significant through a host of meaningful friendships, and 4) Pursue your passions with diligence and hard work – trusting God for the results.

Tomorrow is Part two – hope you can come back.

God is good – Grandma’s are almost as good

Josh

Halloween is not usually my favorite holiday, however after Christmas and New Years this year I am having fond memories of what I have often considered the black sheep of the holiday family.

From this picture you can see that Halloween came complete with a princess bride, mighty spiderman, and thing 1 and thing 2 all seated peacefully upon the laps of their smiling mommy and daddy. 

If one had been so unfortunate as to have snapped a holiday photo of the Clark family at either Christmas or New Years the scene would have looked quite differently.

Let me paint you a picture.  Christmas Eve and Christmas day would have excluded Daddy, that is unless of course the rest of the family had piled in bed with him as he battled (or whined) his way through the much touted H1N1 virus.  A personal record was set by the family patriarch as he slept for over 40 of the 48 hours of those two days.  But in spite of their fathers weakness, the family had fun, mom read the Christmas story, Santa showed up, and the kids opened the presents, and dad slept through almost all of it.

Then the day after Christmas, after a not so brief visit to the local urgent care by Daddy and his little princess, off the Clarks went, loaded with antibiotics and presents for loved ones in distant snow covered Ohio.

The day after arrival a visit ensued to Mi-Ma’s place where an uncle (who will remain unnamed) was the silent carrier of another strain of that dreaded family of viruses called flu.  Unknown to him, this was not H1N1, but the more traditional variety that brings with it total loss of control over bodily function.  After a fun filled night in which he held and kissed everyone of my kids (he’s a great uncle) we went back to Grammies house for the night.

Two uneventful days later the dawn broke with the news that this beloved uncle lay sick in bed after a night of multiple unpleasantries.  I looked at my wife and verbally repented of traveling to see my family after such a brief time of recovery from the swine Flu – hoping that by some chance – the Ghost of Christmas present might pass this new virus right over our house and onto some family who deserved it less.

My hopes however were unfounded and I got what I deserved.  For rather than being the carrier of the dreaded H1N1 to those I loved and cherished I and my family were the recipients of some dreaded Ohio strain of the common flu.  That night Jake (thing 1) woke up in a pool of vomit, the next day Grady (thing 2) joined the party. 

The following day, with both the twins feeling somewhat better and no longer projectile vomiting we embarked for our journey home.  We have the trip down to a science, I have blogged about it before and will spare you the details of the trip, however let me just say that we have never had four of our family members get violently ill while we were in the midst of the 10+ hour drive home.

With over half the trip to go, Rylee lost it – all over everything.  After a pit stop, change of clothes, filling of two kitchen garbage bags (which I paid $3,000 for at a gas station somewhere in Kentucky) with a variety of puke covered items we got back on the road.  Rylee feeling terrible and her parents feeling worse for her.

Then one hour later Kade joined the party, suddenly and without warning!  So two more garbage bags later (no further cost as I got 15 bags for $3,000) we got back on the road – two kids moaning and two parents wishing we could take their places.

But don’t worry – we both got too.  I will save you any more details as this has been a fairly disgusting post.  Let’s just say that Daddy got what he deserved.  Mommy got sick for the first time in our eleven year marriage.  Then we somehow managed to juggle two healthy twins and two sick kids from the time we got home at 3am on Sunday morning until we both felt quite a bit better this morning.

Suffice it to say – I miss Halloween. 

I’m also grateful for health and for my wife because truth be told – I think the only thing I did yesterday to help out was make a piece of toast.   Which I then ate.

God is good – especially when he allows little things like the flu to remind you of how good you have it.

Josh

Click Here to Watch Video with Sound (sound doesn’t work on video below)

Click Here to Watch Video with Sound (sound doesn’t work on video above)

Our family is very musical.  Please note that I didn’t say musically talented – just musical. 

We love all kinds of music.  So most evenings find the living room alive with jumping children (and daddy) grooving to a quite diverse arrangement of artists and styles.  My son loves David Crowder and Matt Redman (like his daddy) – he also loves Journey and The Beatles (like his daddy), he also loves Green Day, U2, and for the last week Tokio Hotel (like his Daddy).

This last group was accidentaly discovered at the tale end of a musical event we recently DVR’d.  Quickly came the Itunes download and in true Clark tradition we have worn it out.  So much so in fact that yesterday my son came downstairs mic in hand complete with a spiked head, eye makeup, and shades.  The above video is the result.

Hope you enjoy watching it as much as we enjoyed making it, and yes we washed the eye makeup off

God is good – I can’t believe He enjoys me as much as I enjoy my children.