A Bit Misty

When my heart with sorrow swells
When my eyes with tears do tell
Longing from so deep within
To find a place secure again

This I know, my Hope is sure
For my life is His to lead
When my works are finally done
He will know my heart was pure

"Grace"

Wrap Me, Please

There is a balm in Gilead,

to make the wounded whole,

there is a balm in Gilead,

to heal the sinsick soul.

~

There is a balm in Gilead,

to make the wounded whole,

there is a balm in Gilead,

to heal the sinsick soul.

~

Sometimes I feel discouraged,

and think my work's in vain,

but then the Holy Spirit

revives my soul again.

~

If you cannot preach like Peter,

if you cannot pray like Paul,

you can tell the love of Jesus,

and say, "He died for all."

Was It Monday or Wednesday Nights?

DJ is in the family room putting the exercise equipment to good use. I'm here, however, exercising my fingers once again. In the midst of trying to reach 223,000 on Tetris Marathon, I heard an old familiar tune from my childhood on the television.

Isn't it amazing how certain sounds can take you right back to 1967 or 1973? Hearing the theme song, I was immediately in the living room of my childhood home, snuggled up with Lucky #2 (We had three different Lucky dogs in my childhood ~ don't ask) and Carol Burnett was coming on CBS with her weekly variety show. I could practically smell the slight fumes from our floor furnace on those cold Oklahoma nights...

I honestly can't recall a program our family enjoyed more. Dad would laugh from the bottom of his soul and Mother would often need to grab a Kleenex as her eyes were full of tears or worse... Do you remember the Tarzan yell? Or how about the stairway scene in the parody of "Gone With The Wind?" And of course, there was Mama of "Mama's Family" notoriety.

Thanks Carol. We loved you then and we still do. If you're ever in Sunny, I'd love to introduce you to Max. Although I might slip and call him "Lucky."

Yes, I'd Like a Box

As you can guess...I've been to the Big Box store recently. I'm trying to use the bags so many stores are selling to help save on the use of throw-away bags. But somehow, they're usually not in the car when I decide to stop in and shop. Oh, dear!

Yesterday's adventure found me at the checkout counter with a shopping cart full of the larger-than-needed sized items. The nice young man helping me asked with complete innocence, (I'm trying to come up with creative ways to answer this question, by the way...) "Would you like a box Ma'am?" The only reply I could come up with was a swift, "Sure." In reality, I wanted to answer with, "No, I'd rather just carry each item into the house one at a time and pretend I'm getting ready to supply Noah's ark with laundry soap, treats for the puppies and Clorox." But I didn't. I just said, "Sure."

Upon arriving at the car, I found he had left the 2 gallons of milk in their box next to the box of fizzy juice sodas. On top of those was ONE BOX. One box which held the irritating package of individually wrapped chicken breasts, puppy treats, frozen fruit, cereal, bulk peanut butter, a grand package of pretzels stuffed with peanut butter, Thai peanut sauce (gallon sized), salad mix for Camp Pendleton, and oh yes, the chocolate sandwich cookies. After I carried each item in two-by-two I looked a bit closer at the cookie box. Much to my relief I saw that they are not genetically engineered. I'd never even inquired if my cookies were genetically engineered before. Who knew?

I think I've figured it out. If you bring your own bags, they have to put your groceries in them. It must be part of the incentive plan to only give you one crate if you request a box for your groceries. It certainly is reason for me to try to go green. I won't even begin to discuss the situation of trying to open the door from the garage to the house with my arms full of the pretzels, peanut sauce, salad mix, frozen fruit and puppy treats. You'll just have to imagine it...

Shhh...

DJ's prayers may have been answered...I woke up this morning and my vocal chords seem to be paralyzed. Max is quite confused and he keeps coming up to sniff my legs as if he's asking, "Where's my real Mom? You don't sound like her at all."

Regardless, I met two lovely friends for lunch and realized my pantomime skills are going to improve rapidly. Oh, God is so good. Imagine if we had no hands. Imagine if we had no fingers with which to point at our throat when the cashier keeps asking, "What would you like? What would you like, Ma'am?"

To add to the winterness of the day, tt's raining here again. I've made a pot of chili using my mother's recipe. DJ likes it, and so does Max. We'll all enjoy a bit of solitude tonight... listening to the rain and snuggling.

Just like the T-Shirts say, "Life is Good."

Happy Valentine's Day!

The sun has returned and all is well here in Sunny. It's a bit too damp for DJ to mow the lawn, which is good news for me and not so good news for Max. We've put the fixin's in the bread machine to have oatmeal delight later this afternoon. I should find our good maple tea from Canada to accompany it. Come on over!

Our Saturday paper has a religion section with news of who's doing what where to help people serve God. So during breakfast, I try to keep up with the competition ~ oops, sorry ~ the other churches here in town. We are all on the same team. Well, mostly... I read one ad that peaked my curiosity. "Gathering of Goddesses" ~ it gave the time and location and instructed all who want to join in to bring a drum or percussion instrument of some sort.

And to think, I used to chuckle at the older ladies who wanted to sit up front on Sunday night and play their tambourines... I wonder if these gals have rules on make-up, dresses, pantsuits or earrings. I'll bet the Goddesses an interesting time together. But somehow, I don't think they'll be pulling out the book of James or looking into 1 Corinthians, Chapter 13 to hear about love the way we did when I was watching the tambourine ladies.

Sometimes I forget how much variety there is in our little town. The people in line next to us at the Big Box store may have an entirely different world view. Perhaps I should invite a few neighbors over for some oatmeal bread with jam and hot tea this afternoon. It seems like a good way to celebrate Valentine's Day.

Yes, That's Right

It's been a bit crazy around our house in Sunny. For one thing ~ it's been raining. This should not happen. Max may have a bladder issue of some sort as he is petrified to go outside in the rain. We have to push him out the door. And then he looks at us with those large brown eyes that ask, "What did I ever do to You?" But rain is a good thing! We desperately need it this year as we're facing water rationing soon.

We've had good friends in town for a week or so to attend a conference for children's pastors and I had encouraged them to "come on out" to attend it and stay with us. Hence, major cleaning of the house was in order as well as a few extra brushing sessions for poor Max. He is not sure the Furminator is his friend. But it was worth it as he got in extra cozy time while we were at the conference from dawn till, well, until the wee hours...or so it seemed.

Saturday we had our first major training for the Children's Ministry team and it was delightful! To see a room full of older teenagers, busy moms, busy dads and realize they'd come out in the midst of a rainy day when we all would rather stay in and snuggle a couple of extra hours....well...it just warms your heart. We played games, laughed, shared ideas and learned a little bit more how precious children are to God's heart. Good times.

Tuesday, however. (I think we have far too many Tuesdays in life.) On Tuesday I returned a call to a sweet woman who'd left a note expressing interest in joining our ministry team. She was a precious lady with years of experience teaching school. I couldn't wait to meet her! I suggested we get together for coffee soon. We set the date and then began discussing a location. "Where do you live?" she asked. I mentioned that I am in the office every day and a Starbucks close by would be the easiest spot to meet.

"Oh. So you have an actual job there?"

I've been thinking of taking Max in with me once in a while. I suppose I should leave him home when I'm set to meet this sweet new friend. She might think I was just out walking the dog for the morning... :)

Foibles

Actually, this title "Foibles" may not be a legitimate word. It's the term I've given to things I see on Facebook that irritate me. You know, little social errors. I've always had a bit of a pet peeve to hear people speak of dinner engagements or parties in front of those who've not been included. Poor JJ, he was raised forbidden of speaking of classmates' birthday parties. That can be quite challenging for a 2nd grader.

I understand the desire to share life, its joys, challenges, humor, etc on the ever-so-frequent status update line on Facebook. But to read of friends receiving Christmas cards and hearing comments of how cute their children were in the holiday photo, seeing other friends' plans for dinner and movies, seeing the photos of the parties for which we've missed invitations...I find myself sighing. And hoping I don't do the exact same thing. Most certainly, I will try to extend grace. Maybe their mamas weren't as neurotic when they were in grade school...