Thanksgiving

So the subject of Thanksgiving came up yesterday. What the plans were, where we would be, who would be there....

Made me reflect on how it used to be. My extended family was not close by in childhood. We always lived away from everyone so holidays were about the only time we really got to see them. And it was always an extended occasion. We would travel to the grandparents, join up with the aunts, uncles and cousins and we would visit. Hang out. Do stuff. Then, Thanksgiving Day would arrive and we'd cook and eat. Well, they would cook and then we'd eat, I was still a kid after all. I had no real appreciation for the effort that was involved in feeding that monstrous crowd!

And then we'd hang out a couple more days and then journey back home.

It seems Thanksgiving has somehow gotten sandwiched between our busy days, our Christmas planning and it just doesn't get the focus it once had. We spend one day, or even one part of a day, being thankful, eating, visiting and then we're off! It's Christmas time, the music on the radio changes, the stores change, the news is full of shopper news, and so are the papers!

Just for the record, I don't shop the Friday after Thanksgiving. I know that surprises you. :-)

So this year, I want to do something different. I want to slow down, be thankful, hang with friends and family. I'm open to suggestions, invitations, whatever...

What do you want Thanksgiving to look like this year?

peace.

Virgin Territory

This has been a week of firsts. 


I went back to school clothes shopping for a couple of little BOYS! I'd never done that before. Are dinosaurs in? Does everything have to do with sports of some kind? Is it important to match? 


I would hate to think the clothes I purchased are the reason for some little kid (whom I never met BTW) getting beat up on the playground or jumped into a gang at the age of 5. So I tried to stay very neutral, no big logos, no big artwork...OK, there's the one with the cool dinosaur and camo shorts but other than that....and hey, does sleeveless make you a dork? I also had to buy boy drawers and socks. Sorry boys, but tighty whities is all I could muster. 


The other thing this week brings is my daughter's first wedding shower. MY DAUGHTER's first wedding shower. I'm so happy for her, but somewhere inside I'm still 20 something and this just can't be possible. Maybe that's just the way life goes. 


My body grows older, but my mind aged to the point that it was done. Maturity, wisdom, grace...all these good and beautiful gifts of age continue to grow, but my self-perception, the way I think, well....not so much. 


I kind of like it. I kind of like the feeling of youth in my head and yet the wisdom of getting older also residing there. I don't sweat the small stuff anymore, I definitely like that. Well, ok, except for this. But that's different.


I guess that is the beauty of age. The recognition that it happens, the ability to live beyond it. Pretty cool.


"Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD."
Psalm 25:4-7


peace.

Shopping

I don't know if I've ever confessed this here, but shopping stresses me out. Well, not exactly all shopping. Specifically, clothes shopping for myself.

I hate it.

It is a guaranteed moment of heart-pounding discomfort accompanied by the very obvious sweating. Very obvious, why you ask?

Well, I was gifted with the ability to only sweat from the neck up. That's right. Red face, dripping brow, soaked hair. It's lovely. Oh, but dry armpits. No stink. Great.

So picture the moment. Arms full of potential clothes, sales person in hot pursuit, asking too many questions. Awkward, sweating, red woman. Got it? Yeah, that's me. It's also the reason I do 90% of my personal shopping online.

But here's the deal. My daughter is getting married and I need a dress. I've looked online and loved several things. But this is not my usual fare and I'm going to have to go try it on. Which means I'm going to have to go shopping. My friend Barb has offered to go with me. I'm going to take her up on it. She has no idea what's she's in for. (well, she does now cause I'm pretty sure she reads my blog. So I'll just say "Sorry Barb, but you volunteered!" now and get it over with)

So if you happen to be in the store when I'm shopping, pay no attention to the red, wet-headed woman behind the curtain. She'll be fine once she's out of the store. I promise.

peace.

vintage is another word for my childhood

Or at least it seems that way some days. I love this blog from Kelly, a friend of mine who is uber-creative and has fabulous, eclectic taste.

Anyway, back to vintage...she asked the other day what the first poster I ever owned was...and it got me to thinking. I didn't really decorate as a kid, no money, no parental interest, so yeah. But as a budding teen, I discovered Tiger Beat and baby, it was on!!

So I confessed to her and now to you THIS was the first poster I ever owned.

He's done himself no favors in adulthood, but he was dreamy and cute in his teen years. (by the way, it's Leif Garrett) The poster is now labeled vintage, as I guess, am I.  :::sigh:::

peace.

It's the simple things

There is a lot to be said for the enjoyment of simple things. A clean house, a lawn that's freshly mowed, spring flowers in a mason jar, playing cards with friends or a favorite candle burning.

Life is so busy that I often forget to pause and enjoy.

I want to make the time to take time. I know, sounds redundant, but think about it. If I actually scheduled my down time instead of letting it be stolen by whatever, I might find everything else a little more peaceful, tolerable.

So I'm going to do just this. My art room is clean, I will go make art. And I'll be doing that from 5-7 this evening. Leave a message, I'll get back to you. :-)

peace.

It's been awhile...

But the last month has been crazy...crazy good!

We're planning my older daughter's wedding and it is so fun. Proposal was on June 12, wedding is October 10. Doesn't sound like a lot of time, but God has been very good to help us all along the way.

We have the venue, the dress*, the photographer, the invitations, the flowers and the people. All the big rocks are in!

It is so wonderful to celebrate love. Renews in me the sense of being a bride. Hopeful, excited, anticipatory, loved.

For as a young man marries a young woman,so shall your sons marry you,and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,so shall your God rejoice over you. 


Isaiah 62:5


peace.








*did you really think I'd show you THE dress?  :-)

body troubles

One day I awoke after a fitful night's sleep. One eye opened the other refused. "I'm not awake yet, don't bug me", it said. Stretching my arms, I found one wanted to go one way and the other one the same way. "Why do I always have to be the left arm, I'm tired of the view. I'm going to the right today, deal with it."

So with both arms on one side and one eye closed, I sat up. Throwing my legs over the side of the bed, I stood up and quickly sat down. "We tired of supporting all of you other body parts, we're taking the day off," they said. "Get yourselves around without us." 

As I now struggled to the closet to dress for the day, I wondered to myself what was going on? How had the parts of my body ceased to work together? How had they forgotten their common purpose and goal? Where had they gotten so separated from each other, that none of them worked well on their own? 

Then I really woke up, realizing that God must ask himself the same thing every day. And although He knows the answer, we've obviously forgotten it.

Romans 12

¹ I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.² Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. ³For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. ⁴For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, ⁵so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. ⁶ Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; ⁷if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching;⁸the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.  ⁹ Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. ¹⁰ Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. ¹¹Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. ¹² Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. ¹³ Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. ¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.¹⁷ Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. ¹⁸If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. ¹⁹Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." ²⁰To the contrary, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head." ²¹Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

1 Corinthians 12

¹²For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body— Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
    ¹⁴For the body does not consist of one member but of many. ¹⁵If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁶And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? ¹⁸But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. ¹⁹If all were a single member, where would the body be? ²⁰As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
    ²¹The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." ²²On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty,²⁴which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, ²⁵that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. ²⁶If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

Can we get back to being the body of Christ? Working in unison and grace for our Father's purpose? Can we let go of the colors of the carpet, what kind of music we sing, special recognition for financial generosity and all the other things that have bogged down doing the work of the Kingdom?

Will we?

peace.

My thoughts on Advice

I love the 3 Stooges and sometimes, I just wanna be MO!!

Advice


We've all given it, we've all be given it, but here is my rule of thumb on advice.

If you ask me for my opinion, I will give it to you. I will try to be honest, but kind. If it is a matter of consequence, I will try very hard to pray, listen and only share what I believe the Lord would have me share or I will share out of my own experience.

I am not perfect, but this is my guideline for myself. Because....

Advice not asked for is just meddlesome!

That is also my opinion. I have found in life that I am much more receptive to other people's input when I'm at a place to ask for it and receive it. Other than that I am not ready, willing or able to accept someone else's opinion simply because they have one. Don't we all?

I'm a processor. It takes me time to realize what I'm feeling and work through it. It takes me time to decide a course of action on any given situation. For all those who mean well, please give me that time. I need to hear God first and foremost.

OK, so this is a rant. I still love you all. And in my humble opinion, you are all terrific!! Not that you asked for it, but my advice is... stay terrific!

peace.

Kind of Weepy

I found myself kind of weepy this weekend. I don't think it was this and if it was, I don't want to talk about it.

I think it was the Father's Day thing. Now please understand, I don't have the beaver cleaver kind of experience with my dad. But he was my dad and he's gone now. I think I was sad for the loss of opportunity. While he was alive, there was always hope. Hope that he'd come around, be a good dad and even at 46, yes I wanted that. But his choices and eventually Alzheimer's stole that hope from us both.

I was given some sweet time with him over the last 3 years of his life. God's gift to me. My heavenly Father filled many holes left by my earthly father. I have always known I was loved. Even in the times my earthly father failed, my heavenly Father never failed. I am so blessed.

When I finally figured out that I was just a little sad about dad, I got better. After all, my girls were in town and we celebrated their dad, the love of my life.

But it took being quiet with my heavenly Father to finally hear. There's my real challenge, being quiet. But I don't want to talk about that now either. :-)

peace.

Father's Day

This picture was taken last year as we walked in the Alzheimer's Association Walk in Bricktown in honor of my father who passed away in November. You can read about that here.

The reason I picked it for this post is this...my husband Jim has shown me how a dad impacts the lives of his children. How he shows them the love of God, how he protects and provides for them.  These were not things I experienced with my own dad, but I'm so blessed to have experienced them through my husband.

You may not know that Jim's dad was not a part of his life for most of his life. Jim didn't have a healthy upbringing to show him how to be a dad. He didn't have fatherly wisdom imparted to him on a regular basis. He grew up in a single parent home with a vacant father. He saw him rarely, lived with him only shortly, and until a few years before his dad's death, didn't have a relationship with him at all. 

But my husband loves God. He has grown, studied, humbled himself, changed and through all of this, God has blessed him with a father's heart. My daughters have seen it happen, just ask them.

So Happy Father's Day, Jim!

peace.

I've always loved Fiddler on the Roof

Do You Love Me?
Jim and I crack up at this one. "I'm your wife! I know! But do you love me?"

Sunrise, Sunset
And I love, love, love this song. So much joy, so much celebration, so much remembrance all rolled into one. I think I understand it now more than ever. One day, I would love to play the role of the mother in a stage production. Can't you just see me? :-)

peace.

so many surprises

We made a wild trip to Texas, party van of 8 including me, jim, adrian, jenny, michael, brandon, emily and gammaw! We were going for Andrea's 26th birthday and unbeknownst to almost everyone (yes, we knew and didn't tell anyone!) a surprise engagement too! These 2 videos are a little bouncy, but you'll get to share the surprise, the joy and the love that surrounded this very special event.

peace.

Surprise Birthday Party!
and then...!!

love love love

My heart is full today. I'm thinking about my older daughter, tomorrow is her 26th birthday. We're going on a road trip to celebrate with her. And I found this wonderful site for incredibly creative, beautiful jewelry. Life is beyond good!! Enjoy.

peace.

Road Trip!

White Sands in New Mexico.

The last time I was here, my children were 13 &10 and my mother-in-law was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. We're hoping this trip will be less eventful. The white sand is magical, go see it sometime.

peace.

Weddings

I always cry at weddings. They make me happy, they remind me of the blessings in my life.



My older daughter sent me this picture the other day. I will be a complete puddle when the day comes.

peace.

love creative things

These are amazing! Click Here to see more.

Maybe this is the answer to the bad hair day!!

peace.

Pondering

a moment in Mombasa, Kenya

I read this today and it has been rolling around my spirit most of the day.

"We are always in the presence of God...There is never a non-sacred moment."

Always and never are words I reserve mostly for God. Man is so fleeting and fickle I can't believe always and never would really ever apply to us.

I love the thought of always being in God's presence. But some of my moments are far from what I would consider sacred.

Maybe it's my definition, maybe it's my sin nature, maybe it is truly a testimony to God's ultimate grace and mercy. Maybe, it's all of the above.

So, how does the presence of God feel to you, you're in it right now ya know.

peace.

confessions of a mini van mom

I admit it, I had one. A bright red Ford Windstar. Loved the space, loved the ride, hated the image. I'm an SUV kind of gal, but when I had kids at home who didn't drive, it sure was convenient. I had no idea I could've been this cool.



peace.

Time, she is a flying

I am looking at my calendar and just needed to breathe.

Time passes so quickly these days. I remember when days would seem so long and I have to admit, I rarely have that experience any more.

I'm trying to make sure I put the big rocks in first. Have you heard this one?



It's a great reminder of how to bring order to our lives. Granted the little rocks are always present and pretty demanding, but if the big rocks are in place, their demands aren't nearly as loud.

What are your big rocks? Mine have changed slightly over the years. Adjusting as life has changed. I'm reassessing my rocks right now. And it's good.

Ecclesiates 3:10 "God has planted eternity in the hearts of men."
Isaiah 41:13 "I am the Lord your God, who holds your right hand, and I tell you, "Don't be afraid, I will help you."

So I'll do a little waiting, a little listening and God will help me identify my big rocks.

On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand...

peace.

One of my favorites

I love Shel Silverstein. Every bit as much as Dr. Suess. Here is one of my favorites and something I really needed to hear today.

God's Wheel by Shel Silverstein

GOD says to me with a kind
of smile, "Hey how would you like
to be God awhile And steer the world?"
"Okay," says I, "I'll give it a try.

Where do I set?
How much do I get?
What time is lunch?
When can I quit?"

"Gimme back that wheel," says GOD.
"I don't think you're quite ready YET."

peace.