Days gone by......

I remember as a student at a Christian boarding school waking up on leisurely Saturday mornings to the newly birthed, clean fresh morning with the birds starting to and proceeding to welcome the new day flittering about and greeting the beginning of a new day with their musical chirps and singing. As I headed out from my dorm, the crisp, cool morning air did it's job in waking me up from a warm slumber, but in a welcoming, let me just give you a gentle jolt way. How I miss those mornings, How I miss being a high school student and only having to worry about that day's events, which were usually getting some breakfast, usually pancakes with sorghum, getting back to the dorm and getting to work on time. Funny how those responsibilities seemed big enough for me at the time, And now those tasks seem so small, trivial, and trite compared to the life that I have now with a mortgage, two rescues ( my "kids" ) who constantly need me, working daily on my 21+ relationship with my husband and the ever present "What the hell am I going to do with my life"? question (tongue in cheek, of course) ;-p

I remember my best friend, Chuck, who loved working at the sorghum mill proudly enjoying dispensing the light "maple syrup of the Deep South" to the groggy, half asleep students in the chow line. He, wearing his usual dark denim overalls. You could tell he was half asleep himself because during the breakfast ritual of serving others some of his beloved "craft", only one strap of his overalls was attached to the rest of his country jumpsuit. I remember as the morning continued, and folks were finishing up their last swallows of food, and the serving was done, the silver worn sorghum syrup pot had completed it's use for day and was taken away from the serving line to be washed and put away, that Chuck would then attach the 2nd and final dark blue strap of his denim overalls. He had completed his job at the dining hall and had now finished getting dressed and was now ready to head out to work at the sorghum mill on that day.

I remember that Nature must have been at it's finest there because the sounds of Nature were so prevalent there, a place where I don't ever
recall a helicopter of plane ever flying overhead. I remember that Nature was the dominant sound source there, heck, I think that the sounds and beauty of Nature were the dominant everything there EXCEPT for the unmistakable fact that GOD was everywhere there.... I
learned so much about Him there, and the greatest and best thing that I gleaned from being a student there to finish my schooling was the planting of eternal scriptures into my heart and soul. Scripture that I still hold unto, sometimes with the gentleness of holding a child's hand to the intense GRIP of a rock climber that is holding onto his rope like the safety of his whole body depended on it.

What this blogger is grateful for is that we can always take a mini-vacation. We can take some time to "check-out" of our current day to day frazzles long enough to go back in time, go back to a peaceful or fun memory in our mind and enjoy it again, kind of like being there again. I savor that ability, and I cherish those moments.

Thank you, God, for that unspeakable gift. Thanks, Chuck for being such an awesome presence in my life back then, and Thank you, Linda Spencer, for teaching me Scripture and simple music being put to Scripture to teach me to create my own " handle on life"

Where is the Norman Rockwell picture perfect family?

Does anyone know of a family that is so picture perfect that Norman Rockwell, were he alive today, would rush over to their house with his paints and paintbrushes in hand, and start creating more of his famous "art" about the wonderfully non-dysfunctional perfect family? I certainly don't. My biological family is definitely not a picture of this old-fashioned "Walton"-type existence. I have been to several holiday gatherings over the years in the homes of others, but everyone seems to put on that holiday cheerful "happy face" so they look good to everyone around them. After all, it is all about "spreading that holiday cheer", right? I see that in churches also. Think about it, do we, those that are churchgoers, ever see anyone yelling, arguing, or cussing at church? I never have. I see people all spiffed up, looking upbeat, and walking around like their "glass is half full". If Norman Rockwell painted "real" families, and churches are filled with such "happy" people, then what do we need police for? Why are there so many counselors listed in the phone book? Yessiree bob, the population of the United States definitely is all about the "games people play" as the song goes written so long ago. But, we can make a difference in the world around us, we can change and not buy into the lie that others are buying into. We don't have to be arguing or yelling at people, but we can be human, and show others that it is okay to be human. It is okay to tell someone that you are not doing well when they ask you how you are doing. I think that the word "fine" has got to be one of the biggest and most popular words used in lying to others when they ask us how things are. If you feel like crying, it is okay to say that you feel sad, and that you feel like crying.... Who says we have to put on a facade for the rest of our lives anyway??? Jeremiah 29:11

March 6, 2010

It used to be a diary, then a journal, now a blog, the name might have changed, but the idea is still the same, isn't it? It is really about sharing yourself, whether with a locked book, which was usually kept private, or with all of cyberspace, because of advancing technologies....

The photo is one of my mother, who is on the right hand side, and her younger sister. Wow, now that I am an adult, and I "put myself in their shoes", I realize things I never saw before, how their lives were so different than how mine turned out. My aunt doesn't know Jesus, and doesn't read the bible (to my knowledge), and my mother has passed away, but not without my husband leading her to the Lord, Thank God!

But they didn't know Jesus and The Bible, and how believers can pray and ask for hope and encouragement during tough times.

They both came from other countries to America, the "Land of Opportunity", without knowing Jesus.....

Without knowing Jesus, WOW, that is so huge..... If you know Jesus, you know so much hope....... and power...... What an amazing storehouse that your soul has to access to ~ Forever..

JOHN 3:16