Category Archives: LIFE

Reuse, Recycle, Remove?

LIFE, Minimalist, recycle, Wishes, , , , , , ,

World-famous Crayola crayons are manufactured ...
World-famous Crayola crayons are manufactured in Easton. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I am a frustrated minimalist. Anyone who knows me would probably laugh at that statement…makes me laugh saying it. The key word is frustrated! In my mind I want to live without so much baggage….all this stuff that needs picking up and put away, stuff that needs cleaned, dusted and repaired…..stuff that fills my head with bothersome chatter.

The flip side is that I tend to love some stuff. I would rather hold a book in my hand, the glossy magazine with house beautiful stuff than the cute little NOOK that my husband bought for me. Sweet as it was, cool as it is, it just isn’t the same. I can’t smell it or should I say it doesn’t smell as good, nothing like the smell of a new book or magazine only comparable to the new car smell. And while I am on smells, another piece of stuff…new box of Crayola crayons that I must periodically buy just because…oh the smell, mmmmmm!

I also love dishes, one thing that I share with my mother-in-law. She has some great ones and I always understand her reason for buying more. I like to pick up eclectic ones, old ones, hipster styles as well as old-fashioned. I can’t ever decide on one certain kind, they are all so beautiful works of art. A beautifully set table is a stellar first impression. I love to see a pretty table set, like buying cut flowers just to enjoy, a waste of money maybe but it is worth it.

I also have a stash of keepsakes, baby quilts and first outfits, school papers, drawings and pictures. All put away for safe keeping only to be looked at during one of those days when rearranging is done…my cleaning out binge hits and I run across the treasures. Is all this stuff useless baggage or treasures? I say treasures and even though it is baggage it is important stuff. It is my memories.

The stuff that is problematic is the daily stuff…mail, dirty clothes, dirty dishes…clean dishes still in the dishwasher yet not put away, the three pair of shoes I keep tripping over, plastic glasses left all over the house by the people who shall remain nameless…grrrr! All the little silly stuff that seems to grow overnight, try as I might to keep things picked up and in order it seems to grow as fast as mushrooms…sprouting up before you know it.

Then I have the hidden stuff in my heart, the hurts and fears; disappointments and discouragements; loss of family and lost friendships…..the stuff I hold against people and the stuff I never said but should have. If I am ever successful in the life of a minimalist I hope it begins with my heart. Some days it gets overwhelming to weed through it all and make sense of the day. Life is so short and if I could wish one thing it would be to be really clear with my decisions to what is in the keep pile and what goes in the discard file.

Reuse, Recycle, Remove?

Senior Citizens aka old folks

Alzheimers, children, Family, GOD, LIFE, Old Age, Parents, , , , ,

Today I was on my way home from my Mom’s house, after enjoying the little time with her while she still remembers me, walking her yard and looking at all her many flowers. I have commented before how she is this amazing ‘flower-whisperer’ — and I do wish that was the gift that she had given me — but, NO! I do love them as much as her but the ability to stick a lone seed in the rough dirt and grow an abundance of beautiful flowers … well that gene must have skipped me! Try as I might I only have about a tenth of her success … probably because of the dirt and rain and sun, no help from me!Image It is something that causes me to marvel at her ability to get up everyday and do her chores and at eighty-three it is a blessing she still can.

This brings me to the … on the way home part! I pulled up to a stop light in the rural part of two towns that are seemingly conjoined and I spied an old man, sitting in an old school wheel chair out near the road, pulling a pretty good size tree limb as best he could. Backing up, scooting his feet backwards, hauling that dead tree limb across his yard! With each little scoot of his heel in that kind-of-high grass, he pulled with his one good arm, the other looked paralyzed, but with all he could , he was clearing his yard of debris. It seemed impossible for the wheels to turn very well and it made me tired just watching him.

So as I sat there at thisImage traffic light, in my nice car with air conditioning, a body that is without any known conditions (I am usually holding out hope for a reason for my “out-of-shaped-ness”) (besides the obvious! which is my point) and I am humbled by him. I watched him and he watched me, or I felt like he was … guilt I am sure! He had on dark glasses and what appeared to be not so many teeth and it reminded me of my own dear grandfather.

He suffered a stroke several years before he died and he would not let that get him down. Papa Maxwell was a strong man, lived a hard life but took care of his wife and six (ugh!) kids the best he could. He was my Mom’s Daddy and she loved him more than anyone else, probably even more than us kids if the truth be known. When he suffered his stroke it took a bit for him to get his bearings but it wasn’t long before he was up and going. He had a riding lawnmower that he rode all over his yard and property. He even rode it up and down that old country road … everyone knew to watch for him. He was not going to be that old guy who sat in a chair and died. He was tough and he kept on keeping on until he couldn’t anymore.

Eventually he asked to be Baptized. If I remember correctly, Papa Maxwell never went to church very much .. .or ever. My Granny did, every time the doors were open but I don’t think he did (my family may correct me if needed). But at this point in his life he felt the need to do the thing he knew to do. Makes me wonder if my Granny had ever nagged him about it? Stupid question I guess, she was a wife!

My theology tells me that Baptism isn’t salvation, we must make a conscious decision in our hearts to accept Christ then be born again. Then, as a sign of what has happened on the inside we are baptized as a public confession of our faith.

I never knew if anything ever happened in that order with my papa. I wouldn’t have understood any of it back then anyway and, if he had spoken, it would have been (because of his stroke he couldn’t really speak real words) a cuss word, which he did speak, not one of the big ones, only the same one over and over.

This always cracked me up. Somewhere in my crazy mind I think if I couldn’t speak but a tiny bit, a cuss word would come in handy and I would worry about etiquette later! But, I do know one thing … GOD saw his heart and HE knew what my Papa wanted to do and say in the bowing in reverence through this baptism. And I believe HE honored him in that and my Papa is there with him now.

What does that do to my so-called theology? I don’t know but I believe it anyway!

My Papa worked hard his whole life and was good to every one. He was a fair and just man, not perfect but a good man all the same. SO, when I saw this poor old man today it reminded me first to pray for him, that if he needs help someone will come to his aid. Also, to get up off my keester and make something of my self.

Truth be known, even if someone had stopped to help that old man he probably would have said NO! That’s the way old people are. They don’t make them that way anymore. I am glad that I am old enough to know folks who are that way. I am still humbled by the older generation and the fortitude and character they have. If I could relay this to my own kids I would be a happy momma!

Lord, bless that old man and all senior citizens. They have a right to be crabby — they’ve been pulling us all along for generations!

charis@home

LIFE

As I begin to write this, I am undergoing a futile attempt at peace and quiet. It is as if the very words I typed about the blog title, Charis which is the greek word for Grace, went straight to the Internet and hit my son’s brain like a blast. I’ve been in the bonus room, on the one and only computer in our house which is in itself ridiculous!!! OMG are we the only, relatively doing okay, people in the universe that haven’t bought their teenager a computer of his own? Or, at least one for myself? I just may drop dead now.

There he stands, in the door, going on about me being in his personal space and why do I have to be on the computer NOW!

After he stopped standing in the doorway, huffing and puffing. Grrrrr. He is now on his bed making it squeeeeeeek! He complains about that bed all the time. It’s old and squeaky so now he is using it as leverage. Ha! I will not back down. I have been through three other ones just like him. Well really, he is the most master-mindful one. The others were somewhat better, though, at getting away with stuff. I recently found out about old high school capers! But, this last kid is good at using his brain not his brawn. Wearing me down. Squeeeek, squeeeek! Little does he know, I am a mother. The mother of all mothers and when I get in a zone, forget about it! I have heard of paying attention. AHHHH Grace!

Okay, now he is on his keyboard. Creative that one! This is really becoming kind of fun. He is the one kid that screaming at never helped. I could yell, threaten, ground him to no avail. He is way too brain-powered for all that. His brother says he is spoiled rotten. Well, could be true. He has been raised in a somewhat only child situation being nine years younger than that brother. I grew up that way too and let me tell you it is not a basket of daisies. It is a lonesome life at times. Yes you get away with more because the “grown-ups” just don’t want to be bothered but, lonesome all the same. AHHHH Grace! I need thee!

This is the reason for this new attempt for a therapy session by way of writing a new blog. Have I opened up the door to new ways for me to be tormented? Probably so. It wasn’t thirty minutes ago I was outside attempting to pull weeds out of the flower beds, which is very therapeutic since I always get a preach on myself about how weeds are so like sin, they grow and crowd out the good soil, now that will preach! But, I was working in the weeds and here he comes. “MA! can I make some pasta?” (Picture Will Ferrell saying that (MA…make some meatloaf! The Wedding Crashers and you got the picture!)

So I come in to make actual better for him food, get him settled, and sneak up to the quiet to ponder and — ticktock, could a called it! Here he is buzzing in my ear like a little gnat! AHHHH Grace!

Actually he is playing real songs on that key board, figuring them out, he is pretty musical that one, so if this is causing that then my job as a mother has been done.

Ain’t life grand?

Ahhhh Grace!

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Love Birds

children, enjoyment, encouragement, Faith, Family, GOD, home, humor, hope, husbands, kids, LIFE, , , , , , , , ,

If my memory serves me correctly, the old classic movie, Alfred Hitchcock s, The Birds (which by the way scared the you know what out of a whole generation, including me!) was based on a joke and these two love birds that the beautiful actress, Tippi Hedron who played Melanie purchased for Mitch, who was played by the oh so dreamy Rod Taylor who, was very suave in his flirtations and the misfortune of the young ingenue turned into a frightening twist of fate…..all because she was playing a joke. I had always thought that the Love Birds were part of the problem also and the presence of them on that island caused a stir in the atmosphere. The other birds didn’t like them! I would yell at the television…..”let the birds go”!!!!!!!! Sacrifice them, set them free, then maybe the scary birds might leave.

This brings me to my point (I do usually have one even if it does take me a while to get to it!). When there are Love Birds the scary birds try to get in between them. Something about LOVE that causes the masses to gang up and peck away….peck, peck, peck….little by little because apparently being happy makes angry birds mad! BUT….the good news is….. Matthew 19:26 –Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” After thirty years of marriage (YES…..30!!!) I can say truthfully that what started as a dare from my roommate at the time (she dared me to ask that cute blonde guy out and of course I did!) has ended up a love affair that has not ended. He was the one…..!

Our life has not been without trials and the peck, peck, peck of angry birds. No one gets through this life without them. But I know that we have always put GOD first before even our own wants and HE has kept us true to one another. We married young and stupid which was a blessing and if anyone of our kids do the same thing I will lock them in a room!! I can not even think about the horror his parents must have felt at the thought of their precious only son bringing home this scraggly girl and even more asked if I could live with them for a few months before we were married. Makes my blood pressure go up at the thought of one of our kids asking that question. Lord that would be too much! But they did it and I was so smitten with this guy I was willing to follow every rule. Soon they helped us find a little house, cheap rent and a little creepy but all ours. We were married on this day April 24, 1982 on a Saturday afternoon. Happy Anniversary my sweet husband! We were on our way!

Within a year we were able to build a little house (remember the previous scripture! It was the only way!) and found out our first-born was on the way. He would be a boy and life as I knew it would be gone. I read in a book once that stated … having kids is like a tattoo on your face…… Eat, Love Pray by Elizabeth Gilbert. Well that about sizes it up, there is no getting rid of it! A life of joy when a baby arrives and of course the peck, peck, peck of evil haters! Raising children isn’t always easy….The story goes on, more children…girl, boy then nine years later boy again and many moves and life changes. But through it all, I have laughed and loved bigger than anyone I know. This man I married gave me a life of joy and peace and love as well as knowledge of a savior for which I had ever known or been taught. This man I married led me into a world better than I could ever had thought possible. I had always, my whole life wanted to live in New York, NY but I can after 30 years say I haven’t missed a thing!

If he sticks with me for another 30 plus I look forward to even more love and fun and passion and he still is the man of my dreams. We are two LOVE BIRDS that are loving life in our cage, protected from all the angry birds out there. We have probably broken a few records, I know there were people who sat in the church and watched us marry who felt confident we wouldn’t make it and to be honest…who knew we would? I know I was determined to go longer than my own parents and back to that scripture again…HE was on our side! So for anyone who has hopes of marriage and the chance of it lasting….look up. It can and will be the most fun, aggravating, frustrating, laughable, scary, meaningful decision you may ever make. I am not sure if we had counted the costs and really planned so much if we would have either one followed through with it, we just went with our hearts and I knew I had found a keeper!

I am thankful for him and his life lived before me and our children as a testimony of faith and he still makes me blush my heart leap. No one ever loved me the way he does and I him and forever will I be thankful for the life we have had.

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Oh Brother!

brothers, children, enjoyment, encouragement, Family, husbands, kids, LIFE, Mothers, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

ImageGrowing up in a large family can be at best, the most awesome time of ones life and at the worst, the most awesome time of ones life! I can speak of this first hand since I am the youngest child in a family of five kids. Yes the answer is clear now……the reason why I am what I am….I am the youngest child which makes me….the BABY! The last and bottom rung of the ladder….the bottom step in the stair steps of young uns’ in our family. But, someone had to be the first step…the jumping off point, if you will, to the beginnings of our clan which brings me to my thoughts for this day.

This is the special day that my big brother was born…nine years before me…the leader of the pack! I can not even describe the amount of adoration I have always had for my brother. It was borderline sheer worship at different times in my life…..who could blame me? He is the only son, my only brother and as old as he is in reference to me…that nine years was a huge gap. A gap that has always been more like a “grand canyon-esque” hole and I spent most of my teenage years yearning for his attention. Sadly he wasn’t there….at nineteen he volunteered and entered the Vietnam War.

Needless to say It was very hard to see him leave. Timing is everything. This exodus coincided with the season of change our family was in. My father had left us, high and dry, so to speak, they sold my beloved farm and my Mom, Me and two sisters moved “to town”. Since we lived in the country it was a big deal, at least to me. City schools and city kids and a world of adventure as well as fear.It’s tough on those mean streets!

My brother went through all his basic training and ended up becoming an ARMY helicopter pilot which no one was more prouder than me. But he gave up so much, he was in college, left his home and family but to him he probably chose the lesser of the two worlds. Life was hard for the oldest child back then, this beautiful boy who grew up fishing and hunting as well as being made to work like a mine mule. I think he was living the dream on one hand on our beloved farm but still having to “man up” to my father’s demands.

I was always intrigued by his bedroom and always wanted to sneak in there and see what secrets it held. I was reminded of his room many years later when I opened the door of my eldest sons room and there was an undeniable “boy scent!” It took me straight back to those days of standing at my brother’s door daring myself to enter in……chicken as I was I never did, but that scent of sweaty man boy was the same. Funny how things like that stick in your mind or should I say senses, just like the fact I can’t pick up a book without smelling it. Yep, I am weird! His kingdom was one that I had never trod but I desperately wanted in. The next few years were filled with anticipation and fear. I can not even bear to feel the pain our Mom must have felt knowing her baby was so far away in a War. This is one emotion I never want to feel. Breaks my heart for her but he seemed to take it in stride and had a big adventure….in case anyone ever wondered…he was the one who saved so many people as well as single-handed kept the bad guys at bay. He was/is an American HERO and there has never been any question about that.

When he came back from defending the American Way (Superman wasn’t the only one!) he went and met a girl and got married! About the time I thought he was coming back home…to ME! he gets married!!! Who does she think she is….. this hateful girl…I was not happy about this news and I was in a pout for a good while…even when I went to the wedding, I acted okay but I was mad on the inside. I had lost him for ever! I was never going to really get to know him. Probably a good thing because if I had ever learned of his frailties or human-ness I may have been crushed. In my world he is larger than life. Nobody had a greater big brother than me and if they ever tested that fact I would prove them wrong….I had my list of his bravery! I did get a few bonuses…the time he came home in his Shelby Cobra and he picked me up at high school….boy was that a thrill and I had to be the coolest Oakland High School girl ever! I eventually accepted this chick who stole my brother…..truthfully, I LOVED HER! She was kind and very sweet to me, I couldn’t keep from loving her. A few years later they made me an aunt and I was even more enamored with this beautiful little boy. Then they had another boy and these two were precious.

Later on they were transferred to a base closer to home which was great. I was able to go there to visit, stay the weekend and one time I was invited to go on base to a dance with them. Although I was a little disappointed because none of the guys gave me much attention…someone said it was because I was his sister and the word was…steer clear! So in that case, I wasn’t offended….even though I thought I was pretty cute back then…(ha-ha) it was even better that he was being protective. Ahhhh the best feeling ever! Though I think if my memory serves me I ended up figuring out how to bypass his protection….I was in college for Pete’s sake…a gal’s gotta flirt!

I have always been a little sister and have been blessed with great siblings who never really picked on me, they always nurtured me and looked out for me and my love for them all is BIG. My brother was always kind of mystery which probably was a preview to marrying a man…..seems like they all are a mystery to some extent. I always compared every guy I ever dated to my brother. Sadly my father wasn’t my role model, I loved him but he was absent enough to not be first and foremost. My brother was the perfect Man in my world. Oh the mocking I have endured because of my gushing about my brother. I just take it in stride and proudly laugh because I know he is amazing and I don’t care who I tell.

The years have kept us apart but he was there for me to walk me down the aisle on my most important day. The sweetest part was when I stated, as we were nearly walking in that…” I didn’t want to do all this!” meaning walking in and being stared at (the most embarrassing thing on earth) he quickly responded…”if this isn’t what you want we can go right out the back door!” AWEEE how sweet! “NO” I said, “I want to marry him I just don’t want to be stared at!” I really was bashful way back when!! So after I explained, we were good to go. he held my hand and I was so proud to have him by my side. It was just like I was a fairy princess. My favorite man was taking me to my new favorite man….it doesn’t get much sweeter than that. There have been other times in my life since then that he has been there for me…I have called him to pour out my heart, ask for help and counsel and sometimes just to shoot the breeze. Not that he is a big talker…but he is a good listener…not that he could get a word in edge wise with me anyways!

Distance and time has been the enemy of our relationship as it is for most siblings. We grow up and away, create new lives apart from our childhood, but I cant help but feel like the squirt kid sister when I am with them all at one time. I bow to their pecking order, keep my place and enjoy the placement of my step in this stair step world of brothers and sisters. We know each other in a unique way…we know each others history, real or like-real in our own minds. I know my fantasy life I built around my brother is mostly just that. But it is my memory and I can keep it in my heart just the way I want to.

Happy Birthday Big Brother! I love you and am proud to know you. You have enriched my life more than you will ever know.

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Dear Diary

animals, dogs, Exercise, humor, LIFE, pets, , , , , , , , , ,

Dear Diary!

20120420-090733.jpgDay two walking around the block with Buddy … oh boy! I was dragging my big feet along only to be shown up by this skippy little friend of mine … ugh, man’s best friend my foot!

He could have cared less that I was in mortal pain and, as much as I want to blame it on my bum foot, I really can’t. It’s my pumpkin shaped, lard filled, jiggle-jiggle body! Dear Diary…..must loose weight!

We actually walked twenty-five minutes this time, went wild and did a random cul-de-sac which Buddy thought would have some interesting smells, but to his disappointment, in the same way Yukon Cornelius from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer responded … th, th, th, nutin’! He literally seemed disgusted. But hey, we got five more minutes on our “walk one hour a day” goal.

20120420-090757.jpgI must say my zeal wasn’t like it was yesterday. It was windy. Yep, that was it, it was the winds fault! That works for me. As I sit here unable to move … ugh!, and I think I am smelly … time for a shower, this leading by example part is a killer. I have committed to taking an active role in my health and well-being.

It is amazing how much thinkin’ you can accomplish out there on the walking trek … which is probably why I like it so much. Sometimes I nearly drive myself crazy thinkin’ so much. The only person I know who seems to be like me is my youngest son and he chatters like me too, we are quite a combo!

Dear Diary, tomorrow is not a school day and I don’t have to be up early. Lord, help me get up and walk!

I guess I do owe it to Buddy! We are gonna have to go a different direction for some new smells and some pretty flower specimens, though. There is always something for both of us!

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Twenty minutes of heaven

animals, dogs, Exercise, Family, humor, LIFE, pets, , , , ,

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“They” say that to begin on a fitness path it begins with the first step…..but for my scruffy dawg it begins with the first sniff….sniff, sniff! My faithful friend and I made a conscious choice for our collective health and well-being, I have noticed his self loathing and secretive trips to his bowl late at night! Bless his heart. So for twenty minutes this morning he was in heaven!
I have to be his support system, I know what it is like to feel out of control and if I can be an encouragement to him then I must. What kind of friend would I be if not.
So right out of the shute he heads straight for the monkey grass, he ponders there a little too long, think he likes the feathery feeling as he walks over it…then he relieves himself….then to the rose bush…hmmm better just sniff that one!

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Then to the gutter drain for which my son and his cohort lost the frisbee in, for which they used “duct tape” to retrieve it and then proceeded to use tape to cover drain…with no thought mind you of the next big rain and the back up of water when it can’t drain properly or actually maybe just the debris! The logic of teenagers!
So we walked the neighborhood and I have never seen a dog more happy …..he sniffed and tinkled and etc more than I could ever imagine, he’s a little punk dog so I am not sure where he puts it all….not to worry now he’s good for the day!
Somehow it is more enjoyable to walk with this fella, not so lonesome dragging my out of shape(I have a shape, it is just like a big ole’ apple!) body around the block. I did good for my current foot condition, nine days after face planting on the stairs at the Curb Center. My foot is still painful, green and purple… Swelly and ugly but I have had a hanker ( a southern word by the way) to start walking again. At my present size it is the one thing I can do.
Take care of your body people!! I was told that a million times and now I know why….ugh!
The walk was good though, I love to look at the houses and the flowers and this one tree was covered with ivy for which I think is beautiful, although it appears to be a great place to find snakes sooo I will just admire from afar!
It is very relaxing to walk (listen to me waxing poetic about how enjoyable walking is…..see if I do it again in the morning!!! I crack myself up!) the neighborhood and look at all the houses which is the best part. My scruffy friend would probably disagree, he seems to love the smell of every single mailbox and to mock all the other dogs that are trapped behind the fences like he usually is. He appears to walk or strut a little taller when a neighbor dog starts barking…. and I guess it makes me walk a little taller knowing this is one thing that makes my Buddy happy! Not that he asks for much…he’s a very sweet friend and a good frisbee player by the way!
After twenty minutes of walking at a pretty brisk pace we are back home only to come back to the same silly rose bush…..still prickly Buddy! Good walk dude!

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“falling” for Jesus!

Christianity, enjoyment, encouragement, Faith, GOD, humor, hope, LIFE, love, Old Age, , , , , , ,

Sometimes I wonder, when I get myself in theses situations what is the deal? I try to live a good life, not just good but a life given to Christ, HE is my Hope! So when I am given an opportunity to experience GOD through a worship service with an awesome praise team….Jesus Culturehttp://youtu.be/JoC1ec-lYps ( jesusculture.com)… I am honored. But in my own distinct way….yes, wait for it….”falling for Jesus” takes on a whole new meaning!
Yep, there I go….literally tripping down the first step into the arena!…The CURB Center at Belmont University, Nashville, TN…….SPLAT!!!! “falling” on my face, BAM right against the hand rail my face, big bump starts to grow immediately, for which I missed holding ….rolling my left ankle, CRUNCH….AAAWWWEEE! of course the next few minutes of hoping against hope nobody noticed!! No such luck! My poor friend was so scared for me, I hate that and even more ruining the evening and then a person who works there and a couple of nice men to help forklift me up! UGH! Really need to work on that diet!
Could I embarrass myself more! Yes I am vain enough to think of the embarrassment more than the fact I nearly died of blunt force trauma to the head wounds! Dying would have been a plus at this point…kill me now, Lord! But no, I recover, get my big self up, shake off, swear I am fine and as best as I can look like I am not in awful pain I hobble down to my seat where a few of my friends are watching in shock.
Yep that was me who face planted up there! Oh no I am fine…..”only a flesh wound!” (holy grail reference, btw) but as I sat the more I hurt. Then the medic comes …..ugh! Everyone staring….ok just so we got this straight, If I am entertaining a crowd in some funny way with my obvious Wit then I love it…look on, love me! But when I am in this compromising situation all vulnerable …eeek!
The EMT guy was very sweet, he knew I was embarrassed ….looked at my head, my foot, gave me a ice pack, took my BP, through the roof of course! Offered me transport to hospital, I decline( later I thought I may should have gone as my pain worsened and I have never gotten to ride in an ambulance!) “please sign this release ma’am”, translation ….so I don’t sue them( not their fault I am a klutz !).
Finally he left, stop blocking the isles, I could chill. The sweet young guy in front of me asked if I was gonna live, offered to pray for me, which was soooo sweet and cute, he did ( we were in a room full of Christians, glad somebody thought of it!) and then the music started. Everyone stood nearly the whole time!!!! I attempted to show a good front, stood up too.. …ok not for long, reminding myself I believe in healing, began to convince myself of that fact.
I enjoyed the view from my perspective, a sea of worshippers….beautiful! I found a ridiculous way to “fall” for Jesus but I got to watch thousands of people, primarily 20 to 30 year olds falling too! Sometimes worship can be a spectator sport, not my first choice but good all the same. Gives one hope to see people still hungry for God.
Now I know why I am an indoor person, it’s not safe out there!
http://www.jesusculture.com/events

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Flower Whisperer

Alzheimers, Family, humor, hope, LIFE, Mothers, Old Age, Uncategorized, ,

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Today I found myself amazed once again by the ability of my Mom in the area of flower growing. My whole life she has had a green thumb. In reality I think she has green all the way to her elbows! She is the flower whisperer!
 I have to admit I have always been jealous of her for this one, it appears she doesn’t even try….not even the look of wonder on her face! Will they grow….will each one of those seeds actually bloom? Never a question in her mind……HOW DOES SHE DO IT?!!!!!
 So annoying! I have killed more plants than she has grown….yet I keep on trying, every year, over and over. Only to see a few of them actually survive. I think one clue is patience….which pretty much explains it. This is the missing gene in me and the same reason I can not keep from burning cookies and bread in the oven. I walk away, impatient….ugh!
 Working in her garden is like her Zen, her place of peace. Pulling weeds, planting rose bushes, Marigolds and zinnias all of which grow bountifully. This is her special joy and at this time in her life when her thoughts are fleeting as soon as she thinks them, this gardening is still with her feeding her soul.
 Thanks for the heritage you are leaving me, I too adore flowers and I never think it a waste to buy fresh-cut flowers for someone. Maybe she will leave this gift to me, somehow the gene I was born without may stir up in me. And maybe that flower whisperer power will jump on me. I fear it won’t though since my oldest sister seems to have gotten it! Bummer!

Easter Eve

Christianity, enjoyment, encouragement, Faith, Friends, GOD, LIFE, Old Age

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Sometimes ya gotta just jump out there and make it clear where ya stand…like it or not!

I believe in GOD and his Son JESUS and I try to live my life as a reflection of HIM. Living a Christian life is a road less travelled and the only road.

On this Easter Eve….I pray any person who reads my words will take a moment to pause on eternity. Choose life not death!

There are options!

In love.

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