It seems my glasses are always dirty. I don’t even know where the stuff comes from that makes them that way throughout the day – pollution? I often don’t realize how dirty they are until I’m looking in a mirror. Once I clean them and put them back on and everything is much clearer I realize just how dirty they were. Ahhhh, it’s so much nicer to be able to really see. That’s better! Continue reading
It’s Thursday and you know what that means – thankfulness! I thought I’d go A to Z today. I’m thankful for:
A – Apples, especially crispy, tart ones
B – Babies, baby hugs, baby smiles…babies – whenever I get a chance to hold a friend’s baby or take care of them, my troubles seem to fade for a while
C – Cats, specifically Rocky the wonder cat, except when he’s knocking things off the bathroom counter for fun at 2:30 in the morning
D – Dogs, specifically Sunny our sweet geriatric canine. We may have to put her down soon so I’m extra thankful for her and giving her extra lovins.
E – Excel. I know, weird, but it popped in my head. My work would be a lot tougher if someone hadn’t invented Microsoft Excel.
F – Farts. Just think how we’d feel if we couldn’t fart. That gas has gotta come out somehow and I think it’s great that God made it happen in a way that makes us laugh. Not sure why He made them smell so bad, though. I would have made them smell like cinnamon rolls.
G – Girls. My girls, my sister, my mom, my girlfriends, girls in the youth group at church and my daughters’ college friends. Girls rock.
H – Hair. Even though I change my mind on style a lot, I have enough hair for 10 people and don’t want to take it for granted. This has come to the forefront with so many of my friends dealing with cancer and chemo.
I – Ice cream. DUH.
J – John, my partner, love and friend.
K – Kimmi, Kaitlin and Krissy. Okay, I know that’s 3 k’s but it’s my list.
L – Leaves, especially the bright orange-red ones on maple trees in the fall, especially on a sunny, blue sky day.
M – M & Ms – my latest favorite is the pretzel ones
N – New songs – it’s so great to find a new song I love – something fresh.
O – Oreo McFlurries, snack size of course.
P – People, on the whole they’re very interesting and good company. They can also be toots but I guess that goes with the territory.
Q – Quiet
R – Really good, faithful friends (I know that should be in the “Fs” but humor me)
S – Soup – I love making soup. It’s one good thing about fall and the upcoming winter.
T – Toenails. I’m losing one of mine and never thought to be thankful for them.
U – Underwear. Seriously – we’re better off for it right?
V – Vacation – something I’d love to have right now! It’s great when it comes.
W – Water. Another thing I definitely don’t want to take for granted. Clear, clean water to drink. Running water in my house.
X – Christ (X is the Greek letter symbolizing Christ – like in “X-mas”)
Y – Yelling at a concert – I was just thinking how fun that is.
Z – Zoos. St. Louis has one of the best and it was FREE. I miss going there!
How about you? Share some of your A-Z thanks…
I still refer to it as one of the best, most life-changing summers of my life. It was the summer of 1985 and I was on staff at a family camp in the San Bernardino mountains of California. “Forest Home” was my home for almost three months and I loved it there among the tall pine trees and rugged rocky slopes. Each week a different group of families would come through so there was constant activity and life happening all around. I was assigned to the “Accomo” crew, which is short for “Accommodations”, which means housekeeping. My crew mates and I would travel by pick-up trucks to the various cabins and dorms where the people stayed, changing bed sheets, vacuuming, cleaning the bathrooms, and all that kind of stuff. We would load up with canvas bags of clean sheets, bags for the dirty sheets, cleaning supplies, vacuum cleaners, mops, buckets, you name it and work all day. It was hard work and tiring. There were times my feet would hurt from standing in showers being in tennis shoes wet with cleaning solution and disinfectant all day. I went through lots of hand lotion from all the washing we did. I did learn how to drive using side rearview mirrors – navigating out of narrow gravel driveways without going off a ledge (Actually I did go off a ledge once but no one got hurt). Continue reading
A little girl stands on the edge of a swimming pool, a little tentative and yet excited at the same time. While she stands biting a nail, her daddy stands in the water, arms outstretched, urging her to jump in and swim to him. He’s only about 4 feet from the side of the pool. A big smile spreads across her face as she jumps in with a splash and begins paddling her arms and kicking her legs, heading toward her dad. He never takes his eyes off of her but slowly steps back a little farther without her really noticing. She keeps swimming and he steps back a little more. When she’s had enough and starts to splutter he grabs her just at the right moment and pulls her to himself. They hug, laughing. “Why did you keep moving back, Daddy?!” she asks still panting a little but hanging on with arms and legs wrapped around him. “I knew you could go farther. I was watching and I was right there in case you went under.” Even though it was a little disconcerting, it bolstered the little girl’s confidence in her ability to get to Him again the next time. She could do more than she thought she could. Her dad proved He was trustworthy.
I read an interesting supposition in a book the other day: that God answers prayers more readily for new followers/new believers because they are so fresh in their faith and need frequent reassurances to build trust. The author proposed that as we grow and mature God doesn’t answer as quickly because He wants us to seek Him, to press in harder, sometimes even reaching the point of desperation for Him. He knows we can go farther. What do you think? Continue reading
Sometimes cheerleaders need a cheerleader themselves. Sometimes those who are often strong need someone strong. Sometimes those with deep convictions need reassurance. Even those with strong faith face times when it’s harder to believe, or at least harder to stand up tall and declare with confidence that God is at work. Getting through life sometimes feels like I’m a scrawny rookie football player trying to make it past a line of huge linesmen pumped up on adrenaline and ready to take me down. As I run I get bumped from side to side, tripped, flipped over, even knocked flat once in a while. When that happens there are times I jump up, impassioned, fueled and motivated to run even harder. Then there are times when I just lay there looking up at the sky.
I was looking up at the sky today. Continue reading
This morning I realized that I forgot Thankful Thursday again! So instead of TGIF, today I say TGYWTT: Thank God Yesterday Was Thankful Thursday.
This time I want to thank God for the things I usually think of as negative or unwanted in my life. I know He uses everything to help us grow, to strengthen us, to keep us humble, to help us remain desperate for Him. Thanking God even for the awful things you encounter is a way of saying “I trust You, God, and still believe that you’re good. I believe what you said about causing all things to work together for good.” (Romans 8:28) Like the Psalmist said in chapter 118, “Thank God because he’s good, because his love never quits.” (The Msg) I thank God because He’s good and that never changes….so I can always be thankful.
As a follower of Jesus I say that I’m content whatever comes my way because my life belongs to Him and I trust Him. Can I take it a step further and actually be thankful for the hard stuff that comes my way? Sometimes I can. I try to. I guess that’s what the song means that says “we bring a sacrifice of praise.” Being thankful can actually feel like sacrifice. We may not feel thankful but we choose to be. So here goes… Continue reading
Never underestimate the power of a touch, of holding a hand, of a really good hug.
We went to see my grandmother today. She’s 96 1/2 and making the most of her days. Today she advised us to try writing with our left hands so that if we ever lost the use of our right hands we’d be prepared. (She has lost the use of her right hand due to a stroke) She also told us her thinker wasn’t fast enough as she was having trouble getting the words she wanted to use to surface when she talked with us. She grinned a lot as we sat on the front porch of her nursing home, enjoying the autumn sunshine and breeze. She always asks us what we’ve been doing and didn’t disappoint today. The girls shared about school, boyfriends, hobbies, etc. Grandma always asks for them to bring her pictures they’ve taken or drawn, come play music for her, share and leave bits of themselves with her to enjoy when we’re not there.
You need to know something about my grandmother. Continue reading
For a long time there were gray lines on our brightly colored, floral kitchen wallpaper. My brother, sister and I were always eager to compare the measurements dad had made the year before and see that we had grown. Sometimes we couldn’t wait a year and asked him to check us more often, hoping to see a change. We’d check to make sure everyone had their heels on the floor and stretched our necks up as straight and high as we could. Just having that little pencil-line proof gave us a little boost of confidence and made us smile proudly. Of course, inside we hoped to end up taller than the other two siblings. Continue reading
It was not how I had planned the day would turn out, not in my weirdest dreams. The girls and I made a spontaneous decision to go to Six Flags because we had a family pass and we could. It was still summer and since John was working we headed out the door, just the four of us. Of course, every good amusement park aficionado knows you should visit the bathroom before starting your adventure around the park so that’s what we did. First thing through the gate we visited the nearest ladies’ room. We were pumped. Roller coasters and log rides, here we come! If I remember correctly, Kimmi was 10, Kaitlin 8 and Krissy 6. As I walked into the bathroom stall I closed the door by holding onto the top of the door and pulling it closed without noticing that there was a bar across the top of the doorway. I smashed one of my fingers. It hurt! Wow, did it hurt. I sat down and thought to myself, “I’ll be fine. The pain will pass. This is no big deal.” I shook my hands, rubbed the sore finger, and then started getting light-headed. Continue reading
Can you stand it? More beautiful?? (3rd post in a row with “beautiful” in the title for those who wonder what the heck I’m talking about)
I’m thinking of a song I love tonight as I’ve been listening to God tell me that there’s no need to panic when those I love make choices I wouldn’t want them to make or seem to be struggling a little to “find their feet” on this path. He is able and He is watching. He’s never distracted or bewildered as to how to help them or draw them near. He loves them, so much more than I do, which is hard for me to grasp when I feel it so deeply from my insides out. Right now, though my first impulse was to talk and try to control I feel God telling me to be quiet, to watch and see. I’m praying and trying to stay so close to Him so that I can hear whenever He prompts me to speak and help, but in the meantime I can almost see him wave his arms out in a flourish with a big smile and say “Watch what I can do! Out of the ashes, out of blunders, out of missteps, I will bring beauty, healing, and wholeness.” I’m watching, Papa. Please handle with care. You know how much she means to me.
Along the Narrow Path 