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Showing posts from 2015

My Nose is on Fire

Long, long ago in a far away place...we used to use VHS tape to record events.  We'd use those tapes, and then tape from the copy of the tape.  Basically, you'd see the quality of the recording go down with each generation of copies.  Yes, it was a loooong time ago. I remember one time I sat down to watch a Christmas Extravaganza that the music department had worked hard at presenting.  When you direct something like that, you don't get the whole picture - so I sat down (by myself) to watch the taped results of months of work and rehearsal and sweat and prayer. You know what I remember about that tape?  Every time the camera was focused on my face, my nose looked like a flame was coming out of the tip of it.  My nose looked like a Bic lighter.  That's all I remember - large nose - fire coming out of said nose!  The quality of the repeated copying had made this phenomenon happen.  Super great.  Don't remember a single song - just that my nose was on FIRE. I was

Toilet Paper Gratitude

I've traveled to places where there were stores, but no food on the shelves. I've been honored to eat unwashed strawberries with dirt visible on them - it was the best that that family had to offer a guest.  I ate them with joy, even though I knew my system would deal with parasites for weeks after returning home.   I've watched flies enjoy the food before we did at a picnic with abandoned children.  The food favorite was bread with meat grease spread on it.  Not a ice chest in sight.   As we start the month of November - a month given to gratefulness - I have a vivid picture of the first time we went to Romania.  Things changed as the years went by, but the FIRST time we went - the toilet paper was so rough it had splinters of wood in it.  It was ( dab don't rub ) rough....and that was in the hotel we stayed at for awhile!  I took home a roll of that toilet paper to help my perspective stay in check.   I'm a Costco toilet paper purchaser.  (I don

I Love Lucy ❤️ - The Fat Fight is ON...

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We've been going to (what is considered a large) gym in our town for about ten months.  The size seemed intimidating to me, my pre-conceived ideas of what the people would be like wasn't a draw, and even how to dress to fit in added to my reluctance. But - one day after officiating at yet another funeral - DW and I marched into the 'club' - wearing our 'we were just at a formal funeral' attire - and committed - to something, anything that seemed sane and physically wise.  Sometimes funerals motivate a person. I've treadmilled and weight machined and even been given direction from a trainer for a little while.  Then,  I decided to try joining a class - a Zumba class.  I'm trying new ways of exercise because I know I need it. Going by myself to a class that I have no backround in felt intimidating. The fact that I got flipped-off in an unique way by a lady in the parking lot didn't ease my anxiety. She was aimed to turn right but evidently re

Thank you...

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Thank you to every woman in my life that has showed me the faithfulness of God, and has been faithful in the hardest of circumstances. Thank you to every woman who has smile lines, and kind eyes. Thank you to every woman who has trusted me with their story, and allowed me the honor of praying with them. Thank you to every woman who has been through h-e-double toothpicks, kept going - finding a strength and joy and richness on the other side - and been willing to share their journey. Thank you to every woman who has gifted me with a belly laugh -  or "I can't breath, my face hurts, my diaphragm is cramped" laughter time together. Thank you to every woman who has trusted me with their tears. Thank you to every woman who has SHOWED me what, "be strong in the LORD and the power of His Might" actually looks like. Thank you to every woman who lives -  "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness."  You know who y

My bloomers surprised me

When we came home from our road trip I noticed that a plant I had (from my dad's funeral) looked to be in pitiful condition.  Plants don't last long in our home - I always apologize to plants and goldfish given to us because my track record with them is really, really not good. I am currently in a "let's get rid of things" mode, so when I looked at this plant I thought it's time had come.  I cut off the dead leaves and watered it and kept it only because there was no more room in the garbage can. It perked up. And to my amazement it actually has 2 "blooms" on it this week.  It hasn't had "blooms" since my mom died (after my dad died).  It has 2 blooms from out of nowhere...just pointing upward...randomly.  For no obvious reason. Truth is, I've watched many a plant die in my house.  My past experience was definitely influencing my anticipation of that plant's future success. This got my attention.  It's a picture of

Can You Hear Me Now?

Voices are pretty interesting to  me.  They represent something that you just can't get from the written message - like an email or a text.  But, if I really know someone well, I can hear their voice in my head while I read their message. Our friend, Stan, used to leave messages on our voice mail.  I kept them all because they made me laugh due to his sense of humor, or cry because of his heart for God and for us.  He's Home now - no more messages.  And, some freak thing happened at some point (with electricity and our voice mail) that resulted in the loss of all of our saved messages.  Bummer.  But, I recently received a video that was made of him, right before he went Home.  It's weird, but good, to hear his voice. Our friend, Gaylon, also had a crazy sense of humor, heart for God, and heart for us.  I got to go over to he and Sally's home one evening to sing songs of worship.  After we sang, Gaylon started talking - with a wavering voice that did not match his st

Don't get mad at glitter...

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The coolest thing happened a few moments ago....                ok - maybe not the COOLEST - but pretty cool... The sun is shining through these high windows we have in the family room and for a few minutes I saw glitter on something made of wood.  Why is the cool, you ask?  Because it means that grandkids have been here!  We did stuff with glitter and it's hard to get all the glitter gathered after a project. The gentle reminder of the presence of our grands.  Smile.  Smile.  Smile.  They don't live close, so every visit is a treat. There's some green spray paint on the floor of the garage from a "make your own foos-ball" project.  Smile. Gentle evidence of their presence. Evidence of the presence of God is not always a loud shout, a mighty wind, or a pillar of fire.  Sometimes it's gentle or quiet...or just.....there. This is where I learn the most about the treasure of "abiding".  I will always be one to ask for the loud shout that I

Hammock Ninja Warrior

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Galatians 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good,  for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Hammocks are...weird.  Fun, but weird.  It sounds so romantic - "let's go read in that hammock out there."  Whatever.  First I get on, then DW gets on which means I either roll (somewhat violently) toward him or roll off the edge of the really fun looking hammock.  (Is that even how you spell "hammock"?)   Next, we try to balance so we can read.  Did I mention that I had a Diet DP sitting on the grass that I wanted to drink every once in awhile?  Or, that DW likes to SWING the hammock if we are feeling at all stablized?   The fact that we got a selfie while still on the hammock is pretty great.  (Yes, I enjoy small victories!) Maybe your tired of me talking about looking for the good....being surprised by small blessings....being intentional and grateful for even the smallest gift.   It's part of my way of fig

Boogers and Bellybuttons...

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Two of our grandkids stayed with us for a couple of weeks. So much fun. So much energy.  (Them - not me! No problem reaching my 10,000 step goal everyday.) So much laughter. So many "moments". What a gift. But I did learn some things... 1.  Kids are super honest 2.  Kids remember a lot 3.  Boogers don't bother them as much as they do me 4.  The singing bellybutton man looks better when they do it than when I do it      (and no, I will not explain what that is to you) 5.  Kids ask hard questions 6.  I want to do everything perfectly for and with them, just like I did with our kids 7.  No one is perfect After a few days it became apparent that I needed to help the kids center in on good things.  For every  negative thing they said about someone or something, they had to come up with five positive things.  Sometimes they had to really think about it - but, they couldn't go back to playing until they came up with five genuinely good things. It changed

Up-words

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I don't honk...usually

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I think there are "honking" people and non-"honking" people.  I am among the non-"honkers".  Honking rates right up there with the one finger salute to me (unless a life is at stake). "Honkers" want you to know what they think of your driving - I prefer to talk about your driving in the quiet of my car.   ( No, I don't get honked at very often... ) But the other day a weird thing happened.  I was on my way to an exercise class ( no, that's not the weird thing), driving down our road.  I saw a neighbor out walking...with her dog...off the leash like it's accustomed to doing...but she was looking and talking to something across the street.  I slowed down in case there was something exciting I didn't want to miss.  She waved...at something... and I don't know exactly what happened, but my elbow slipped and honked the horn.  I don't know if it involved a 'wave back' reflex or what, but there is was.  I honked.  

Holy Spirit by Francesca Battistelli Lyric Video

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We'll be doing this song this coming Sunday...  I've not had a song come to me from so very many different people like has happened with this song.  It's time...

Things that rhyme with fifty-nine~

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What rhymes with fifty-nine?????? mighty fine   blood line   benign   divine                 align    intertwine    shine    a sign   unique design                                     foul line   front line   goal line   finish line                                                   recline    draw the line   redefine  streamline                                                            shoreline      shoreline      shoreline                                                                    shoreline                                                                                                              I am trying to find something fun about turning 59.... 59.... 59  There has got  to be something fun about this.  I have gifted friends who I'm sure will be of GREAT help on FaceBook. Although fun doesn't seem to be my theme this year, there are some things that are solid - things represented by the words you read at the start of this blog.  Truth.  Mir

I wonder...

I wonder... Am I like my mom? Why does my chin hair grow so fast but my eyelashes don't? Is it okay to wish that patience wasn't so important? Do they make toilet seat covers differently these days?  It seems like I have to punch out the middle part more deliberately than I use to. Is the skin on my fingers really loose?  My grandson said it was - there's a lot of "loose" on my body these days, but my finger skin?   Really? Why do people break their promises? Is it normal to stash cash in my underwear drawer?  I found some cash there that I don't remember hiding.  It was a nice surprise - like finding $5 in your coat pocket but....huh.     (Of course I can't do that anymore since I've now announced it here on my VERY popular blog.   All three of you now know that there MIGHT be some cash in my underwear drawer!) Why does it bug me so much if someone blows their nose onto the ground, but it doesn't bother me to blow the contents o

Brown is the new orange...

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Just want to check in and report that orange spray tan DOES EVENTUALLY fade.  When last we 'talked', I had just tried my first spray tan because my whiteness can be scary on many levels.  Okay - my first premise might be a bit imaginary but - I think cellulite looks better with a tan on it.  There.  I said it. The orange glow was only present on my hands and feet - the rest of me was reasonable.  I scrubbed my hands in a variety of creative ways to some success of fade.  But, my feet....oh my feet.  After our flight landed in Maui I took off my shoes, whipped out my flip flops from my backpack, and rolled up my pants that can magically turn into capris.  Oh my stars.  I discovered there is an advantage to fog.  My feet looked orange in GP, but in the Hawaiian sun light they looked just crazy.  Dennis' parting comment (in between laughing episodes) was to point out the stripes (which were below the leopard-like spots on the back of one leg).  When Dennis laughs hard it sc

Spray Tan Debacle

There are many things in life that don't go the way the directions suggest they will. In preparation for a break time we are looking forward to, I decided to try spray tanning.  The white of my legs could scare small children and it seemed like an easy fix.  A fix that lots of people take advantage of.  You know, all those Olympic ice skaters and such.  I can do this. I didn't want to have a real person.....spray me.  Somehow asking them to close their eyes didn't seem wise.  So the answer was this automated spraying deal.  It talks to you from the moment you step in the room.  Let me describe how this goes down... You are directed to put protective lotion on your hands and feet - which I did liberally.  Then you step into the time travel machine and wave your hand to indicate to the machine that you are ready.  There are numbers on the floor.  You can see those numbers clearly when the time machine isn't filled with fog but once the fog starts spraying it's k

I am not Mother Teresa

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I want to be like Mother Teresa - today I am not so much. But you know what encourages me?  Scriptures that have words like, "line upon line, precept upon precept"...  or ..."His mercies are new every morning , great is His faithfulness"....   Scriptures that give permission for process.  It's really not about perfection, it's about the journey. Romans 14:4 - Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand. "For you see, in the end, it is between you and God.  It was never between you and them anyway."   ~Mother Teresa

Why I'm married and still smiling...

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This week will mark our 39th anniversary.  Yep, crazy. Things about our "us"-ness that makes me smile... A couple of weeks ago Dennis decided to teach about truths found in the song, "Hark the Herald Angels Sing".  That's fine.  They were good truths brought out of the FIVE verses of the "Hark"song.  He wanted me to sing the entire song at the end of the sermon.  I have a thing about Christmas carols and Easter songs....I always mess them up when I play them.  It's a psych thing, I'm sure, but it's what happens.  I almost made it through the song.  It was the last verse that got me, and my hands basically played the chords to another song while I sang the final "Hark" verse.  He closed in prayer and turned around and started laughing at/with me.  He knows I give it my best shot but sometimes... I smile cuz he eats whatever I cook - for the most part.  He does get super excited when we get invited to eat at someone else