Thinking on these things . . .

I have one thing to say about girlfriends - you have to get one. Or better yet, get a few. And best of all, get a few girlfriends that are also friends with each other and I'm telling you there is absolutely nothing like it! nothing! There are four of us who are such girlfriends. Our kids range in age from 5 - 30. There's a scientist and an administrative assistant, an office manager and a teacher, although most of us are just being full time moms at this moment. We met for breakfast this morning and the hour and a half conversation covered a high school and firefighters graduation, the pink-dyed baby chick one girl had gotten as a child for Easter that grew into a mean hen (to which the response was, "yea, wouldn't you be if you were dipped in dye?") and when it was attacking her, her grandma had snatched it, wrung it's neck, and they had "chickin' and dumplin's" for dinner! (she's our own southern belle). We also discussed where you ca...

It's easy to focus on all that is wrong in our lives. The negative things are like dark gloomy clouds that obscure the good things. Dreary days of rain make it hard to remember what it's like when the sun is shinning and everything is bathed in its warm beauty, because during a storm even the most spectacular flower garden looks dismal. I'm a real visual person as in I have to see it to get it. Don't even think of showing me a 2 inch square paint sample and ask me how this color will look on the wall! I'd have to paint half the wall and then close one eye to tell you what I think! So I have an idea, a variation on something that's been around forever: I'm going to make a collection to help me remember the good things. I'll be using a blank book and some glass flat stones from the dollar store. Each day I want to choose one good thing, one blessing, or one positive from that day, write it down and put a stone in my jar to symbolize that. I invite you to ...

At this time of year every party store looks like the aftermath of a colorful explosion because summer is, apparently, tropical party time! Tikki torches, coconut cups, hula skirts and flowered leis, aisles of Hawaiian plates, invitations, napkins, banners and wall decorations! It makes me want to throw a party just to enjoy all this fun stuff! I've thrown a few Hawaiian parties and still have half a box of plastic leis to prove it! It’s a great party theme; all that color, in the décor and those crazy Hawaiian shirts, there’s the tropical music and all that fresh pineapple and coco-nutty drinks. It conveys a feel of being in a different place; a very special place. But, I've also been to Hawaii. So now when I look at all that party stuff, the cardboard palm trees and plastic coconuts and hula skirts, it's feels almost profane in attempting to represent what the islands are like. I remember coming home from Hawaii that summer and seeing leis at the store, the really nice f...

I put a mug (beep) of water to heat up in the microwave first thing this morning. It's still there. The reason I know it's still there is that every minute or so I hear a "beep" to remind me that there's something I need to get to. (beep) Now since that time I've gotten kids off to school, talked to a friend, talked to my husband, checked the email, started a load of laundry and hung a load of laundry out on the line to dry (after of course the hunt for the clothespins (beep) that I used last fall the last time it was nice enough to hang out the laundry). I've made my grocery list for the day and jotted down a few other errands. All of these are good things, necessary things but I've yet (beep) to get back to the microwave for my hot (?) water. Life is busy. It just comes at us. We don't have to go searching for things to occupy our time, they're all around us, sometimes screaming for our attention (beep) but in all the demands it's so simp...

Prayer is an amazing, holy and sacred thing. But at the same time, if you've been around the church for a while, it can also be a very interesting and amusing thing! Take the "announcement prayer" "O Lord, bless the youth activity this Friday at the roller rink from 8 -10 pm, for which the youth can sign up at the table in the back immediately following the service and put down a ten dollar deposit. Bless also Lord the three chaperons that are also still needed for this event." Then there's the "informational prayer" much like the announcement prayer only no sign up is required..."God we come to you about Mrs. Jones has tripped over her front porch step and fallen and broken her hip last Tuesday and is now in St. James hospital, room 307..." Along with this type of informational prayer is also the "advice to God prayer"."..and Lord we pray that Mrs. Jones son Brian would come and see her and take care of her hospital bills....

(What I imagine God doing on Sunday morning- not doctrinally accurate but an interesting line of thought) It was His favorite day of the week for this was the day that all the redeemed would gather together to praise Him. Throughout the week the praise of his children had risen to him as a sweet smelling offering, as one gets a whiff on the breeze of a far off lilac tree, and it had pleased Him and increased the anticipation for this day, when they would come together to lift their hearts to Him. He made the necessary preparations. He quieted the continual angel chorus to a murmur so their praise would not drown out that of His children. He turned His ears from hearing the incessant words of the universe, those invoking his name in anger or in falsehood. The only sound now that would register on God's ears was the heart worship of his people. The appointed hour was near. Settling Himself on His throne He watched as their cars converged in church parking lots and they streamed or, ...

It's a familiar and dramatic story. There was Elijah, the only prophet left (to his knowledge) that served the one true God and then there were all the other guys, the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah. The other guys had the numbers. They had the volume and all the attention as they chanted and danced. They had rituals as they cut themselves "as was their custom" (I Kings 18:28) They had perseverance as they continued their earnest pleading with their gods the entire day (I Kings 18: 28) And all the people of Israel were watching. On the one hand there is an old man, just standing there, insisting the God is the Lord. On the other hand there are 800+ men praying and pleading and involved in all types of ritualistic behavior. I think the sheer showmanship of it all would have been very convincing. I attended a Chris Tomlin concert at an area mega church. The concert was worshipful and God-honoring, but shortly thereafter I began getting emails from the ...

I think the only thing more prolific than bunnies are papers!! A single sheet grows into a stack overnight and by the week's end is spilling onto the floor! Where do all these papers come from....?! I'm sorting through stuff today, stuff and papers and more papers and more stuff. I have found pictures of my kids from seven years ago, various letters and notifications, programs and brochures. I also found a stack of my mom's medical bills; rehab facility, orthopedist, ambulance services, hospitals. She lived on a fixed income and paid on them little by little and was so proud of how she'd gotten the deductible she owed the hospital down by $50 a month until it was almost gone, but then, she was readmitted... These papers I now hold in my hand caused her such anxiety, they asked of her resources far greater than she had. But now she is with Jesus. None of this concerns her anymore. One day too, we will be with Jesus, and these things, these big huge insurmountable things...