It was a special Thanksgiving as we were all together for the first time since 2003 and only the 4th time in the past eleven years. Since the day was so warm we were able to spread out. The kids ate on the front porch and the adults on the other side of the window in the dining room. Popdaddy had not been doing well on Wednesday and Alex had spent several hours in the ER because of his asthma so for only the 2nd time in memory I missed the Thanksgiving Service, my favorite church service of the year. But it was a pleasant morning preparing the house for my family. Since Carl and Kimberly wouldn't be here for Christmas we were exchanging the kids gifts and the NiNi PJ's that night--and in the hurry of getting ready for Thanksgiving I had forgotten I needed to get them labeled and stuffed in their fleece backpacks and the nightgowns for the girls wrapped so I had time to do that. Kimberly, Alex, Daniel and, of course, Samuel, were home as well so we enjoyed watching the Macy's Parade (the first time I had ever seen it) together (well, I got glimpses of it between my hustling about).
Carl was given the honor of carving the turkey as the oldest son. I had the fun of making a beautiful table this year. I had purchased pretty Thanksgiving paper plates and cloth napkins in fall colors and had them in napkin rings on the plates. I even splurged on a centerpiece. Because the table was so pretty and because we were eating at two tables, we decided to only put the turkey and the rolls on the table and left all the other food on a table in the kitchen. (Did that keep us from eating seconds and thirds? I don't think so-but maybe we got a little exercise having to walk to the kitchen for them.)
A wonderful whirlwind week! Last Saturday we finally took Jacob on his birthday outing. We visiting the B & O Museum. It was the first time for all of us and a treat. We had so much fun that we decided to join and so we will be returning several times in the next year and each time we can take four children with us--so maybe we should rent ourselves out. "Rent a NiNi"? There were both indoor and outdoor exhibits. We chose a beautiful sunny day to go so it was fun to be outside. We got a ride on a diesel locomotive, which was fun for me because it reminded me of trips I used to take with my mom to visit my grandmom in Virginia but a little disappointing as well because it never picked up any speed and only lasted about 15-20 minutes. There is an outdoor train garden that appears to be open all the time. They were constructing a Christmas garden inside while we were there. Jacob enjoyed this crane which can ride on rails. He named it a "crane train" and thought that was quite hilarious.
Afterwards, we had a late lunch at Fuddrucker's in White Marsh. The whole day was fun and we all enjoyed having that special time with just one grandchild.
Keep watching this spot for more about our "Whew" week!
Popdaddy was in a mood to share memories. He talked about working on the Skyline Drive. The way he got the job was that some men near Mom's home had rented their trucks for the use of the crew and Dad rode along with them to deliver them. The foreman said they needed a man to operate a piece of machinery (sorry I forget what it is called). But the requirement for the man hired was that he had to be able to do a 1/10th grade (I have no idea what I am talking about, just repeating the story). Dad said he got cold feet at that point, I assume that was very difficult to do. But the man told him to just give it a try since he was there. So Dad said he practiced all through the men's lunch break and the foreman never told him to stop so he got the job. The pay was 40 cents a hour.
My sister Peggy was just a few months old when he started working on the road. My mom and Peggy stayed with her parents while my dad boarded on the mountain. When Peggy was six months old they joined him--a surprise to Dad. My aunt and uncle brought them and Dad was in a nearby town when they arrived and was surprised to find them in his room when he returned.
Then he told of buying a Ford Roadster from a young man who was going to college and needed to sell it. He bought it for $40.00 and made a lot of improvements on it. It was a second car for him, he also had a Chrysler but wanted to save it since the mountain road was not very good. He told of driving the mountain road and the curves were so sharp that he had to back up and try again several times to get around some of them. He also told of a time that he and Mother needed to go off the mountain to get groceries. It was sleeting and they were in the Chrysler but as they took a slight grade the Chrysler just spun its wheels. They returned to the boarding house and got the Roadster and it took the road just like it was a dry road. Then he chuckled and said how silly they were for even going off the mountain when there was a small store nearby. I imagine Mother wasn't willing to pay the higher prices at the small store!
It is always a blessing to hear Dad pray. He expresses such gratefulness in his conversations with God. Today he even thanked God for the good health he enjoys--for his age!
In my morning quiet time I read Psalm 146 & 147 and it just so spoke to me that I decided to type them out here. What riches there are in these verses and so apropos to focus my mind on this week before Thanksgiving.
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. Put not your trust in princes (or presidents, senators, congressman), in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. Blessed is he whose help in the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keep faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed (our persecuted brothers and sisters?), who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. The Lord will reign forever, you God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord! ~ Psalm 146
Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting. The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. The Lord lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground. Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre! He covers the heavens with clouds; he prepares rain for the earth; he makes grass grow on the hills. He gives to the beasts their food, and to the young ravens that cry. His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love. Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion! For he strengthens the bars of your gates; he blesses your children within you. He makes peace in your borders; he fills you with the finest of the wheat. He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly. He gives snow like wool; he scatters hoarfrost like ashes. He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs; who can stand before his cold? He sends out his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow and the waters flow. He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and rules to Israel. He has not dealt thus with any other nations; they do not know his rules. Praise the Lord! ~ Psalm 147
Wow! Thank you, David, for putting all that down for us--who could express it better?
I really did intend to do this every day but somehow the days get away from me. It has been a rather uneventful few days--for which I am very thankful!
I am thankful for:
Sunday -
- the privilege to sit under the teaching of men who not only know God's laws but live them
- worshipping without fear when so many of our Christian brothers and sisters in the world must hide and worship in secret
- the wonder of having God's very own Word in my hands for my very own--and in several translations--when much of the world is happy to have a portion of it to share with many others
- that God loves me, not because I am worthy of it, but because He is
- time to relax and recharge for the new week, spend time with family, and just "being"
Monday -
- grace for a new week
- strength to get through a busy day
- a phone call from a friend just to see if I was having a good day
- a hubby who extends mercy when he finds out (on the way home from work) that his wife forgot to put the planned turkey tenderloin in the Crock-Pot
- that there is a Wendy's on the way home from work
- an evening of relaxation
- that I made it through the day without cheating on my vow of fasting from white sugar--and I had made cookies over the weekend!
Tuesday -
- a very good night's rest and waking refreshed
- a calm day (relatively)
- made it through Day 2 of "The Sugar Fast", although I did have a small slice of pumpkin bread that Sharon Huber made for the office. I think I convinced myself that she had sweetened it with organic honey.
- I did resist the glazed donut offered by a student (although I did take it--it was in celebration of getting a good grade on her spelling test--I gave it to Ryan after lunch)
- that I did remember to put the turkey in the Crock-Pot this morning and we were rewarded with a delicious dinner tonight
- that I work with such a wonderful group of people--an example of the body of Christ working together to do His will
- that I look forward to a day off tomorrow--and a day with some of the grans!
This has been a very wearying week and so I haven't spent much time on the computer at home--my eyes were blurry from spending so much time on it during the day! But the week is over and the projects completed and in the mail--and I am very thankful for that.
Things I am thankful for this week:
- that I was home on Wednesday because our refrigerator, which has been on its last leg for months, finally died. The freezer part became refrigerator temperature and the refrigerator a less than acceptable temperature for anything that could spoil easily. So I spent a good portion of the day moving things from the freezer to the freezer section of the fridge in the garage.
- that we have a refrigerator in the garage
- that I was able to get into church on Wednesday evening when the office was (relatively) quiet and make copies for the mailing that needed to go out (535 copies)
- that, even though I had neglected to check on our OBCM stationery supplies, we had enough with a few to spare
- that the copier decided to jam continually on Thursday afternoon (at the end of a very weary day). This needs an explanation (because I am not usually grateful when bad things happen--and quite frankly was not at the time, either): Pastor Dave was not in the office most of the day on Thursday and so I was not able to have him proof the bulletin before I ran it off. Since I am doing that project in the busy front office where I am frequently interrupted, it is important to have someone else (with knowledge of what should be in there) read it carefully, because there is always something to change. Because he wasn't there I proofed it myself and thought I was being careful, but I was very tired. As a result I did miss something very important. Because the copier jammed Pastor Dave was able to proof and catch the error on Friday morning before I ran the final copies.
- that the copier ran perfectly on Friday morning and I was able to print the corrected bulletin with no problem (although I had to take them home with me to stuff as I ran out of time during the day).
- that Dad made it through two days without one of his key medications and one day without another (his usual nurse was away and neither the substitute nurse nor I noticed until he was out)
- that Dad's meds were delivered on Friday before Deneen left so that she was able to replenish his supply
- that Shawn was able to be home when the refrigerator was delivered
- that my husband granted my desire to have a certain refrigerator, even though it was $300 more than the one he thought was adequate. Now I have a bigger refrigerator (20 cubic) with the freezer on the bottom--I love it!
- that the new refrigerator fit perfectly in the space we had (although I now have to find a new place to store my mops--they fit nicely between the old refrigerator and the wall)
- that the refrigerator was delivered on a Friday so that I have Saturday to move everything from the garage to the new fridge
- that God blessed our Ladies' Prayer Breakfast this morning. I really did NOT feel like rolling out of bed at 5:45 this morning. I did not have a scripture planned but God did and six ladies sat around a table and sang, discussed the Scripture I had chosen (Psalm 69), discussed what our enemies are as, unlike David, a physical person is not trying to kill us; but we all have enemies in our own desires. Each of the ladies shared a praise and we laughed and thanked God and prayed.
- for Dieter Jacob who volunteered to bring breakfast for us and took great joy in serving us. What a treat! I have never had bagels with cream cheese, smoked salmon and capers--it was good!
- for the chocolate muffin also
- that my hubby still accompanied me to the breakfast and assisted Dieter, that he didn't have to think about the menu or shop
- for the beautiful fall colors--finally!
- that God's mercies are new every morning
As Dad's caregiver, Deneen, still had a sick baby, I arranged to go into the office late. I am so thankful for the understanding and flexible staff. It was the Pastor Appreciation Breakfast and Germaine was helping with that downstairs, so she would not be in the front office as normal. And on Tuesdays, Shari has a meeting at her church and doesn't get in until 9:00 a.m. So it wasn't the best day for me to be in late but everyone rallied and worked it out--graciously and with smiles. Sherry McCurley was accompanying Dave to the breakfast and volunteered to come in with him early and man the front desk until the breakfast started at 9:00. Since I didn't get in until close to 9:30 Germaine gave up her own time at the breakfast so that Sherry could join her husband. What giving people I work with! What a blessing they are.
Because I had not been able to serve my soup to the staff on Monday as scheduled, I made another pot and completed them both at home and provided soup for the staff on Tuesday. I am thankful for their grace in my blunder on Monday and how appreciative they were to have lunch provided on Tuesday. Jill Greenlee was so excited that she sent someone out to provide bread to go along with it. So God turned a disaster into a blessing!
I am thankful also that Bill and I were invited to the Elders/Deacons Banquet at the Steak & Ale restaurant last night and that both Shawn and Ryan were able to be home with Popdaddy. It was an unexpected treat--and delicious! Since Bill no longer serves as a deacon I had not expected to be a part of that so it was really a blessing. Again I am thankful for sweet friends--as Sherry realized the situation yesterday and put the bug in her husband's ear that--"Bill and Denise should be invited!" Caring friends are wonderful.
God is so good!
What a crazy day! It started out so well, too. After a whole week of letting exercise slide, we were up and at the gym by 6:00 a.m. for a 35 workout on the crosstrainer. I had taken such care to make sure I had everything I needed to change and head to work. However, when I went to the locker room to change, it hit me that I had forgotten my shoes. I decided that I really didn't want to spend the day in a skirt, sneakers and socks. I had enough time to head back home and get my shoes, although that would mean no time to stop for a cup of tea and Bible time. So I was feeling a little grumpy as I dashed into the house. As I went through the kitchen I noticed that the message light was flashing on the answering machine. I almost didn't listen to it, thinking it had been Bill trying to get ahold of Ryan before he left the house. But I did. It was Deneen, Popdaddy's caregiver. She wasn't feeling well and had a sick baby she needed to take to the doctor. She didn't have my cell phone number so if I hadn't come home I wouldn't have gotten her message. So for Monday I am thankful for a forgetful brain blip.
I am thankful also for forgiving staff members. Monday was Souper Monday and I had signed up to bring a pot of soup. I had cooked potatoes in chicken broth all night and planned to take it to church and thicken it and add the milk to make cream of potato soup. However, there was a little miscommunication about kitchen use (and I will forgo those details) and I was unable to use the stove. So the staff had to make do with one pot of soup and since many of them were counting on soup for their lunch I am sure some went home hungry. But everyone was very gracious about it and today I am preparing the soup all at home and bringing in two pots to try to make up for my blunder yesterday.
I am thankful for our small group on Sunday and the lesson that prepared me for Monday. As I left the gym to head home I just felt overwhelmed with sadness. It just seems that I am really feeling like I can't cope with the many directions I am pulled. I really felt I was beginning to feel what it was like to be truly depressed. Because I had a little extra time at home (I called my sister, Peggy and asked if she could come earlier than her normal time and she arrived at about 9:00) I was able to have that Bible time. I remembered our assignment from small group was to have a plan to pray for each of the fruits of the Spirit. And so as I sat down with my Bible I just asked the Lord to replace my sadness with His joy. And He did--although it was tested when I arrived at school to be twarted in my soup making attempts, and I succumbed to my own spirit, He was able to send encouragement and put a smile back on my face and eventually my heart as well.) So I am thankful for friends who encourage and lift me up.
Deneen took her baby to the doctor and found that she has a strep infection so won't be here again today. So again I am thankful that I have a boss who is flexible and compassionate and is allowing me to come in late again. And providing his wife to fill in until I get there! It turns out that today is Pastor Appreciation Day at school and there is a breakfast at 9:00 a.m. so Sherry will come in with Dave and cover my desk until then. God is good! If I could just remember that minute by minute and not allow Satan to overwhelm me. I am still a work in progress!
So I am also thankful for two extra mornings with Dad this week. That time in the morning over coffee is really precious.
It has been a stressful week for a variety of reasons and I have neglected my thankfulness journey--which probably hasn't helped the stress level. I am stepping out in faith and bringing myself into thankfulness mode because I made a promise to God and because I know I need to do it. But right now I am feeling that life is overwhelming me. And so I am not going to recount those things that have me feeling overwhelmed but instead am just going to try to focus on the things I know I should be thankful for:
- I have the gift of life
- I have good health at the moment
- We have an abundance of good food to choose from
- Our growing family--both in and out of the womb!
- I am thankful, so thankful, that I am only responsible for obedience to God and that He is responsible for the results.
- I am thankful for my children who all have a personal, growing relationship with Christ and are taking that faith to greater heights than ours
- I am thankful that my daughters by love are all better homeschool teachers than I was and that my grandchildren are being so well prepared for whatever the Lord leads them to be
- I am thankful that Dad is with us and we can care for him at this stage of his life, that he came through this latest bout of illness very quickly (he was in bed for a couple of days and congested)
- I am very thankful for a day away with a friend to just go shopping, eat and hang out on Thursday.
- Also thankful for a wonderful evening with OBCA teachers at our first staff retreat. (Note to those in LIFE Ministry who will be taking the Spanish class--ask Luisa about the special meal they serve to honor people in Peru. (She had us in stitches talking about it--although your children might not think it is funny.)
- I am thankful for a husband who works hard and thrives on it--and has patience with his wife who doesn't!
- Most of all I am thankful that I belong to a faithful God who is not finished with me--by a long shot!
A busy weekend--and a lot of thankfulness to catch up on! I am thankful that I was available on Thursday night when I got a call from Tiffany that she was on her way to the ER with Quinn who had fallen down the steps and broken his arm. Brent was on his way home from Hagerstown so she needed someone to meet her and pick up the other kids so they weren't hanging out at the hospital. I am thankful that Ryan was also home because Bill was out with the Suburban and I couldn't fit all three kids in my back seat. Ryan followed me and brought Caitlin home while I brought Grant and Jacob. I am also thankful that I had been past Harford Memorial the week before and knew where it was; otherwise, it might have been difficult for us to find it in the dark.
I am thankful that I have a job that allows me the flexibility to be able to stay home on Friday so Caitlin, Grant and Jacob could spend the night rather than Brent and Tiffany having to pick them up after midnight. Another evidence of God's perfect timing was that Dad's caregiver, Deneen, came on Friday morning to find that I was still home. Her baby had had her up half the night with a cold and she was very happy to be able to go home and back to bed!
Of course, we are all thankful for God's protection over little Quinn and the easing of his pain.
I am thankful for the three days of rain that replenished the earth. And how beautiful was the sunshine when it stopped! The weather was so beautiful on Sunday that we were able to take Dad out for a drive and, although the trees hadn't really done much changing in our area, it was still a nice drive and he enjoyed getting out and enjoying the sunshine.
It was an unusually calm Monday at school which was wonderful. We had the opportunity to meet our new senior, an exchange student from China. His host family is a home schooling family who was familiar with the school because their 14 year old son takes Bill's biology class. He is a very bright young man, with an engaging smile. He will be taking the SAT's for the first time on Saturday and is nervous about the vocabulary, but plans to apply to MIT for next year. Of course, Kim Lindner was very interested to meet and talk with him. And all the seniors are excited about having him join the class. What a wonderful opportunity all around!
God is so good!
Wednesday -
Day 7
Believe it or not I was up at 5:30 on my day off. I can't believe I was able to do that but so thankful. I knew if I didn't get up and get to the gym it wouldn't happen that day and I knew I would be sorry if I didn't. So I was at the gym by 6:00 a.m. and worked out until 7:15, came home and ate breakfast and had devotions on the back porch (puppy yard time again!). I was treated to the most beautiful sky. Because storm clouds were rolling in, the sky was a beautiful gray-blue. I can't describe the color, it was not anything I had seen before. But I would have loved to take a piece of it to Home Depot and gotten a paint in that color, but I think it was a color only God could make.
Left the house at about 7:45 to drop Oliver off for grooming--his first hair cut! I got home before Popdaddy was up and read my Bible before making breakfast for him--and I ate again. I guess all the early working out made me hungry! But it was a good fellowship time. I got caught up on laundry (although I am sad to say it is still sitting unfolded in a laundry basket!).
And then the best joy of my day--I got to help home school Caitlin and Grant. I had offered to give her a day so that she could spend one on one time with each one of her kids. And Jacob got to be first. We had lunch together. Popdaddy turned on cartoons for the kids (he always wants to turn the TV to something the kids would like when they are over) and they enjoyed watching Diego while we ate grilled cheese sandwiches. Then I got to hear Grant read and practice the guitar while Caitlin rewrote an essay in cursive. The real fun was sitting around the dining room table while they made apple pomanders and I read to them from the Light and the Glory and then from their science book about Manatees (and I got to tell them about seeing some when we were in Florida a few years ago). We had just finished that when Tiff came to pick them up. What a joy!
Another blessing of the day was that Ryan and Shawn both were home for supper at the same time and we all five sat in the dining room and had smorgasbord (my name for eating the leftovers in the fridge!) Bill and I then left for Bible Study and Popdaddy had a visit with Pat, the Hospice volunteer who comes to visit with him every other Wednesday. It was a good study although by this time I was running out of steam and had trouble stifling yawns.
What a full day of blessings!
Thursday - Day 8
Today I am grateful for:
- Being able to move after the workout I had yesterday (although I could feel just about every muscle)
- Rain--we need it so badly
- Sweet people to work with and get me through a trying day of hard-to-get along with high schoolers (a story that doesn't need to be told here!) and a grumpy husband who was having his own struggles with hard-to-get along with people (another story not to be shared here)
- A surprise from my secret pal at school--a beautiful tea cup and my favorite flavors of teas and a box of low fat cookies that were really yummy.
- Energy to get through the day when I would really rather be curled up at home with a good book listening to the rain and napping a bit
This morning I started my day by eating breakfast on the back porch while I let Oliver have a little yard time before I went to work. I was treated by a beautiful sunrise that I would have probably missed in my busyness to get ready for work--had it not been for a puppy who isn't quite housebroken yet! So I guess I am thankful for a weak bladder today! But I am thankful for a calm day enabling me to not only accomplish a lot of tasks at church but have time for some chit chat, both phone and in the office. The third grade teacher, Jolene Muckerman and I both share a love for cups of tea and she almost always comes in at least once a day to fix us each a cup. Today she had a little time to sit and chat while we sipped and, of course, since it is a school and she is a teacher our conversation went to students. That led me to reminisce about my own elementary school days, a mediocre time in my life to say the least. I remembered that I didn't test well, I guess just getting nervous and freezing up. But I apparently did well on standardized tests they gave every year. I still remember being relieved when the teacher would stand in front of the class, explaining the test and that it wouldn't count and just do your best. Apparently with the pressure of it "counting" off, I could relax and just show what I actually knew. But when my mother would have a conference with the teacher, she would explain to my mom that I wasn't "working up to my potential". I guess because my performance didn't match my test scores. My mother would then come home and admonish me to try harder and work up to my potential. I had no idea what that meant and thought I was working as hard as I could--it was a vicious cycle! I didn't hit my stride until college when I finally starting excelling in my studies--I guess because it was something I wanted to learn and I had a goal in sight. The other memory I had today was another time my mother had a conference with my 2nd grade teacher. The teacher informed my mom that I was a good reader, but had trouble "reading between the lines". So my mother dutifully came home and repeated this to me. I got out my reading book and closely examined the pages but never could find anything but blank space between the lines of print!
Today I am thankful for:
- God creating beautiful sunrises just to give us joy
- friends to laugh with
- friends to work with
- a dad that is a joy to be with
- a caring person to take care of Dad when I can't (he is getting so forgetful that he doesn't remember taking his meds only minutes after taking them--we have to really closely monitor that and have removed his meds from his room so that he doesn't accidently take the wrong medication (which he did several days ago). Deneen seems just as concerned and diligent about this as we are and I am especially thankful for that
- that Dad was finally able to see the farmer across the street harvest his soybeans last night. We missed it last year and Dad has been looking every day to see when he would come with his machine to do it. We had a joyful time just sitting on the front porch watching the farmer work his way back and forth through the field--it was amazing actually! Simple joys are so often the best.
I am thankful for:
Sunday:
- the privilege to worship God without fear
- a Bible believing church teaching the truth
- time to rest and meditate and reflect
- friends that listen, admonish with love--what a special blessing
Monday:
- the pleasure of early morning and renewed energy
- time at the gym
- time with the Lord, seeking His strength and wisdom through prayer and reading His Word
- meaningful work
- calm day
- time with Dad on the porch, simple joy of watching the farmer harvest his soybeans
Today I am thankful for:
- a beautiful fall day
- sleeping a little late
- having time to finally do a little housework--the kitchen floor is clean for the first time in a month and I found a shoe I have been looking for--buried in a pile of clothes that needed to be hung back in the closet
- time with my hubby--we went to the Home & Garden Show--and Bill didn't have to do a display there, finally we get to do Saturday things like "normal" people do!
- celebrating Cait and Jake's birthdays with a party at Brent & Tiffany's home
- being happy, a wonderful feeling
We had a relaxing breakfast with Popdaddy and Shawn--which was a treat as he has such a busy schedule that meals with him are a rarity. Popdaddy had a remembrance of when my grandfather lived with them for a bit. My grandfather was a dear man and I loved him but he was a bit of a curmugeon. I think I loved him because he didn't fuss over me but we could just "be", not chattering or interacting a lot just be in the same room quiet and about our own business. My grandmother was a sweety-but she fussed, kissing all over my face and then fussing that I didn't eat enough to keep a bird alive. My grandfather didn't say much but I can remember him doing little things for me. Like the day he walked to the corner store, Hazelback's and brought me back a pack of Dentyne. He just walked up to me while I was playing on the floor and said, "Girl, you like gum?" I said yes and he just handed it to me. I actually hated Dentyne but I knew it was something special he had done for me so I thanked him and didn't chew it.
I gave that background so you would understand my Dad's story. My Dad had his favorite chair where he sat and read the paper every evening. However, when my grandfather moved in, he took over and that became his chair. Dad said he (Granddad) also claimed first right to the paper, which had always been my Dad's routine. Dad said he would have to sneak out the back door and walk around to the front to get the paper and then find a hiding place to read it if he wanted it first. But the funny story Dad told this morning was about one time our neighbor, Mrs. Brouse was visiting. My granddad was in the bathroom when she arrived and she inadvertently sat in "his" chair. When he came out of the bathroom, he hobbled with his cane over to the chair where she was sitting and just stood there. She looked up and said, "Oh Mr. Whitten, am I sitting in your chair?" He gruffly replied, "You are." And she had to get up and move so that he could sit down.
What special times we miss when we think elderly people are a bother and of no further use. They add so much to our lives, even if it is just to slow our busy lives down to listen. It is a blessing.
What a difference a day makes! Today I am thankful for some time of relaxation. I was able to get up early enough (despite having a hard time getting to sleep the night before--very wired, I guess) to get to the gym for a short workout and a shower, quick stop at the coffee shop across the street for a muffin and tea to go and found Par Excellence in Havre de Grace with no trouble, even getting there 10 minutes before my 9:00 a.m. appointment. What a treat! It is a restored Victorian home, very cozy and I had a wonderful massage. I then treated myself to a browse through a couple of Antique stores in Havre de Grace (and even found a Christmas gift), then some shopping in Kohl's where the Lord led me to a fabulous sale on a much needed outfit to wear to work. I am thankful also for some wonderful hours with Caitlin. We had a very grown-up lunch at Panera Bread and then stopped off at Cold Stone Creamery for an ice cream treat before heading to my house with her. We both were in the mood to bake cookies and so we made a batch of Snickerdoodles and discussed the merits of using an electric mixer versus hand mixing the batter. (She favors the electric mixer because it is easier to mix the batter and I prefer to wash one large spoon rather than having to get out another appliance, wash the beaters and put it all away again--we are both lazy in our own personal way.) Then we got about half-way through a DVD of Swan Lake before her family came to retrieve her.
I am thankful that the Lord never gives us more than we can handle and that His mercy is new every morning! (And that my husband doesn't mind going out for pizza even when I have had a day off work!)
I am still waiting to hear someone else's gratefulness stories--I know you have them!
I was convicted by something I read in my daily devotions last week to begin a daily journal on my blog of something I was grateful about from each day. I committed to do this every day until Thanksgiving. I forgot about that promise until this morning during my quiet time and renewed the commitment to start doing that at the end of today. To be perfectly honest, this day was perfectly chaotic and it seemed nothing that I did went right. It got to be almost funny--but not quite. By the end of the day I actually was sitting at my desk in tears. Most of the mishaps were technology related--to getting to work and finding that a setting on my computer had been changed and I could not send anything to the computer. I had the bulletin and the directory to get out so I decided to print one copy at my desk printer and then take it to the copier to print in quanity. That was when I found out that my printer was out of ink and I had no replacement cartridge. A little help from my friend, Shari, and that problem was righted. But it just snowballed from there, ending with Belair Road being closed from Mountain Road to Sunshine because of a very bad accident causing utility work to be done. This meant that parents both to Bill's afternoon chemistry class and later OBCA parents either could not get to the school or were late because of detours. This was from 12:00 until 4:00. It continued into the evening. I am doing a project for Bill, making photo mugs for each of the teachers to be given as gifts at our Retreat in two weeks. I only needs to enter a few more pictures which I had taken today and one picture that Heather had taken and was on her memory stick. All went well until I inserted Heather's memory stick into my computer. It just wasn't cooperating, a box kept coming up telling me that the door wasn't closed properly (?!--whatever that means). I removed and reinserted the memory stick several times and was getting very frustrated when Ryan came into the room. He said, "Let's take it out and try again." Fine, Ryan you try it. The memory stick was stuck in the computer! Ahhhhhhh! Ryan finally got it out by grabbing with pliers and pulling. However, now the memory stick has a dent in the corner that was in the computer and seems ruined. Shawn thinks I should take it to a camera store to see if they can retrieve the photos (a lot of them--there were over 100 pictures on there).
Well, all that said, I really don't feel very thankful! My first reaction is to write that I am thankful this day is almost over! However, as an act of my will I am going to be thankful--or try! Here goes:
I am thankful that God gives the grace to endure anything He brings into my day. And that I can trust Him that He is in control at all times and He doesn't allow anything into my life that is not part of His plan--for my good and His glory. I am also grateful that I had already decided to take tomorrow off as a mental health day. Popdaddy will still have his caregiver like I was going to work but instead I plan to head to the gym early and then have a 9:00 appointment for an hour massage. (Ryan gave me a gift certificate for this at Christmas and I have had trouble fitting that into my schedule!) Then I am taking Caitlin out to lunch for her birthday and some girl time. God's timing is so perfect. He knew just the day I would need that. He truly is a good and gracious God and He doesn't waste any experience.
Okay I really do feel better! I challenge all my other bloggers to join me in daily blogging a thankful page.
For those of you who are readers of Tara's blog--this is my rebuttal to that scandalous attack on Crock-Pot beauty. Above is my beautiful well-loved Crock-Pot. Tell me-who would want to erase all those years of memories from its face? The Sauerbraten sauce dripped down the side as it was lovingly served to a sweet family at Christmas. Sweet potato casserole splashes from Thanksgiving. Even hot dog juice served to hungry grandchildren. And many other favorites--and you want to just wipe that away. I tear up as I read this. For shame! Bartender's Friend indeed!
I forgot to add this to earlier post. The waitress took this picture after we finished our meal.
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We were not going to be home on Popdaddy's actual birthday so we chose the Tuesday night before his birthday to celebrate with him. That worked because all four of us would actually have our schedule free that evening! Bill wanted to take him out to dinner in a restaurant but Popdaddy seemed a little nervous about it. However, he mentioned to me that he would really like to see Eric and Tara's home. So we loaded him into his wheelchair, switched him to an oxygen tank and wheeled him, his oxygen (plus an extra tank just in case) out to our Suburban. It was a little tricky getting him up in the front seat but he's surprisingly still pretty strong and with a little help from Bill and Shawn made it up. We drove to Eric and Tara's and pulled up their drive to find the whole family in the front yard waiting to welcome Popdaddy. Bill got out and let Eric drive the Suburban across their front yard to get close to the chicken coop. The boys all gathered a chicken and brought them so that Popdaddy could see them up close and personal. He enjoyed see all the chickens and the boys were very entertaining, showing us all how they calm the chickens by holding them upside-down by the legs (Mason's trick) or just walking around with them. Then Eric drove him over to see the bee hives and they sat and chatted about bees and honey for a while. By the time we left Popdaddy seemed excited about going to a restaurant. We think once he got out it didn't seem so scary. Eric suggested a restaurant near their house. It was a small restaurant called Ballpark Restaurant. Apparently, there once was a ballpark behind where the restaurant sits and Cal Ripkin, Sr. played there. It was very busy so we opted to have him walk in rather than travel via wheelchair. We sat at a big round table with old baseball cards laminated into the surface. Covering the walls were old pictures of ballplayers. The people in the restaurant and the waitresses were friendly and he enjoyed joking with ours. He enjoyed the food and the fellowship and it really seemed to perk him up. We were surprised at how little it tired him out. We did transport him outside to the car in his wheelchair but he walked into the house with his walker, with just a small amount of difficulty getting up the back steps. He didn't even seem that out of breath when he got back to his chair. He just made it on one tank of oxygen but was completely out by the time we got back. The next day he thanked us for taking him out and said it was a wonderful evening. It was a memorable evening for all of us.
Well, I am two days past my 57th birthday and even as I write that it doesn't seem possible. It is weird to feel like you are in your 30's but have three children who are that age. When did they catch up with me? I have never had a birthday that bothered me, 40 didn't depress me and neither did 50 but I have to admit that 60 sounds ominous. I don't think I am going to like that one! It sounds like a grandma age--oh yeah I am one already!
The earliest memory I have is of being carried down the steps from the upstairs attic where I probably slept in the same room with my parents. I must have been really little and I remember the unpleasant feeling in my stomach as my mother walked quickly down the steps. I remember sleeping in a crib but then I was in one until I was about six years old, sleeping in it with the side down so that I could climb in and out. I remember one night I was in bed and my mother was in the same room (actually the attic in our Cape Cod on Emerald Road) in their double bed. I told her, "Don't tell Daddy I am awake. I am going to pretend I'm asleep." I guess she promised but then when my dad came up and got in bed she quietly told him, "Denise is pretending to be asleep. She told me not to tell you." Now that I am a parent I understand why she did that, she thought I was being cute. But at the time I felt betrayed and sad. I also remember bouncing a ball in my sister, Janet's bedroom, where I guess she was trying to do her homework (or maybe writing a note to her boyfriend--with a pen and paper, this was before IM). She got annoyed with me and fussed at me to get out of her room. The only other memory I have of my sisters living at home was a time my sister, Peggy stayed with me while my parents went on a trip to NYC. That is vague and mixed up with the time I got measles. I don't know if they happened at the same time but I remember thinking for the longest time that I got the measles from grease spattering on me from a hot skillet. I think that probably was because when I first started breaking out they thought that is what had happened, or maybe how they described what it looked like to someone. Funny the memories you keep in your brain. I am sure more important things happened that I don't remember at all.
School memories: My first teacher was my sister, Peggy, who taught kindergarten at Open Bible. At that time it was full day and we were considered very progressive as the public schools didn't offer kindergarten. Peggy was also a very progressive teacher, actually teaching us our letters and numbers and colors! I can still remember her holding up pieces of construction paper for us to give the correct color. I also remember that we had rest time in the afternoon on little blue cots. One day, Peggy had to leave the room for a few minutes while we were resting. I stood lookout while the rest of the kids got up and started bouncing on their cots. When I saw her coming back I hissed to everyone, "She's coming!" and we all lay back down like little angels! After that I went to Villa Cresta Elementary through 6th grade. In 3rd grade I had a little accident in my seat and the teacher publicly rebuked me and sent me to sit in the boiler room to dry. I was so bewildered, wandering around the hallway wondering where the boiler room was. The vice principal found me and asked what was wrong. I told her and she called my mom who brought me dry clothes. That vice principal was the sweetest lady. She knew every student by name and even years later, after I was married, I returned to the school with Carl to their annual Fiesta and when she saw me she knew me and greeted me by name! That day she made me feel so comforted and loved. I have a feeling that 3rd grade teacher heard from the vice principal. What a horrible thing to do to an 8 year old! I loved the 6th grade because they were trying something new. We changed classes instead of having the same teacher all day. My reading teacher was a man, I can't remember his name but at the end of the year he resigned to become a priest! I loved that class because we could go at our own pace, working through booklets and testing and then moving on to the next book. I loved that because I loved reading. Arithmetic was another story. I didn't do so well and again I had a teacher who was not understanding. At one point she made me stand up as she announced to the rest of the class the failing grade I had made. I think she thought she was encouraging me to do better by shaming me but it didn't work! I didn't like math until I got to Algebra. I loved it because it was like figuring out a puzzle. I always said it was numbers that confused me, letters I could understand!
One last funny story from grade school. Apparently, a boy in my class learned that my parents were older than most of the other classmates and that my sisters were teenagers when I was born. He teased me that I was a mistake and I went home crying, "Mommy, was I a mistake?" I remember her smiling and saying, "Oh no, honey you weren't a mistake. A surprise--but not a mistake." Then I was happy because after all surprises are good things, aren't they?
I wish I had a picture of this one--but sometimes even advid scrapbookers get caught up in the drama of the moment and don't think to grab a camera!
On Tuesday afternoon, before I got home from work, our next door neighbor, Rick, came over with a present for us. He had gone crabbing that afternoon and wanted to share his bounty. When we arrived home Shawn asked each of us if we liked crabs. Bill answered in the affirmative and I answered in the negative. Shawn asked if I had ever tasted a crab and actually I have only tasted crab cakes, not steamed crabs. I never could get past the nastiness of the process of picking them, having watched my father as a child and being repulsed by the sight and smell of it. Then Shawn pointed to a bag in a corner of the kitchen and told us of Rick's present. I said I wouldn't even have any idea how to steam crabs and Shawn proudly started reciting the process. It seems Rick had even been so kind as to share his recipe. Bill and I looked at each other and then he said, "I'll put them on the porch and take them to school tomorrow." We decided we should call my sister, Janet, who was coming the next day and see if she would like to have them. Well, that was actually the last time I thought about the crabs in the bag on the porch until last night. Bill and I were watching a movie and during a commercial I decided I should take Oliver out for a quick visit to the yard before putting him to bed for the night. We have a light on the back porch with a motion detector so it doesn't come on until you actually step out onto the porch. I opened the door and stepped out onto the porch and stopped dead in my tracks when the light came on and let out a surprised yelp. Just inches from my bare toe was a very feisty crab waving his pinchers at me threateningly! Bill heard my yelp and came to rescue me. I do wish I had grabbed the camera because it was very entertaining watching Bill (from behind the screen door) trying to grab the crab without getting pinched! He secured them but the next time I took Oliver out (I decided to wait until the next commercial--when my heart rate was back to normal) I was a little apprehensive and waved my foot out the door to get the light on before venturing out. All was clear as Bill had moved the crabs to a cooler and secured them by placing a bucket on top. They were gone this morning so I guess he took them to school. Anyone interested in some crabs for supper?
Over breakfast this morning I told Dad about my encounter with the crab. He laughed heartily and then told me about a Emerald Road neighbor of ours, Mr. Rogers, and his experience steaming crabs. Apparently the lid of his pot was not secure and a crab escaped causing him to chase it around the kitchen. That led to another story about crabbing with Mr. Rogers. Apparently you can set five traps without a license which they did. However, the professional crabbers didn't like them infringing on their territory and would actually try to swamp their boat! He said they learned which areas to avoid.
He went on the share how he had stayed in a boarding house in Dundalk when he first came to Baltimore. That being an area where much of the population was Catholic, no meat was served in this boarding house on Fridays. He remembers that they mostly had oysters and they were very generous with them. He apparently thought this was wonderful but it doesn't sound appealing to me. I am, sadly, not much of a seafood lover, although I loved when my mother fried fish fillets. But my mother could fry anything and make it taste divine!
I shared with Dad that the only seafood I had ever tasted that I loved was shrimp. On the night of Parkville Sr. High's 1968 senior ball a group of us went to Jade East Restaurant in Towson. (Sadly, it is no longer there. It is the place where Bill proposed to me, presenting the ring just as the waiter arrived to ask if we wanted dessert. He made a hasty retreat when he saw what was happening!) Anyway, the restaurant brought out a tiered tray with all sorts of appetizers before the meal. There was one appetizer in particular that I was drawn to--again and again. I kept remarking how good it was and made a pig of myself. I had no idea what I was eating but many years later, after we had been married a few years, we were visiting friends and somehow the conversation got around to shrimp. I said that I had never tasted shrimp. Bill gave me a little half smile and said that indeed I had. Then he told me that those appetizers I had loved at Jade East had been some kind of battered and fried shrimp. When I asked him why he had not told me (because I was very conscious of following the Old Testament food laws), he answered that he didn't have the heart to tell me because I was enjoying them so much! Dad roared at that story also! Then he told me that when I was little and he was working for Gaines & Boutz (this was several years before Dad and Lee Gaines started their own company), he was sent by Mr. Boutz to Wilmington, Delaware for a job that was to last a few days. He ended up being their for almost a year and only came home on weekends. But he said there was a restaurant in Wilmington that served shrimp cocktails that were very good, although he had them rarely because they were rather costly.
For some reason I now have a craving for fried shrimp. Go figure! (But I'm still not steaming those crabs.)
This morning I was home and was able to sit and have a leisurely visit with Dad over a donut and coffee (for him), tea (for me). He was in a mood to think back and it is incredible how he can remember towns he lived in and even correct dates. What a marvelous organ is the brain God gave us!
He started talking about coming to work for a company here in Baltimore during the war. Sometime in the early 50's I guess a young guy who had been working for the company for about five years came to him with a proposal. He had been working for the company in order to learn the business well before getting his own company started. He wanted my Dad to come with him. He offered him either the option of being an employee or a partner if he wanted to put some money in the company. He said, "You know your mother and I had always been conservative in our spending, so I had a little money saved." He decided to invest in the company. He has told me before how nervous he was about that venture but God blessed it and enabled him to make a good living. He laughed and said that he worked hard to start that company. When it started he drove the bulldozer and supervised the job and then after dropping the men who worked for them at the "car line" (streetcar) went back and operated the backhoe to fill in the ditch. I feel so lazy after hearing Dad's stories--what diligent, hard-working people my parents were! And how blessed that I had some a comfortable life because of their hard work.
Dad then started thinking back to working in a town near Punxatawney, PA. They moved around a lot, often in boarding houses and this time they rented a bedroom with kitchen privileges in the home of a family. My dad had a 1939 Studebaker at the time and they had their possessions tied to the top when they pulled up to the house. The grown daughter of that family lived next door and later told Dad that she was worried that gypsies were at her parents house. In this home was a telephone switchboard that the mistress of the home operated. One day she had to go out and asked my mother to operate it. (This was in 1939-40 so my sisters were about 5 or 6 and 3 years old at the time.) One of the calls she had to connect was a farmer calling the veterinarian. The line wasn't very clear so mother had to convey information back and forth from the farmer to the vet and back. In this way she helped the farmer deliver a new calf! Dad then laughed and told me about a time that mother was calling the grocery store to order supplies. They were on a party line and mother could hear other people picking up the line to listen in. Mother said, "It's okay, you can hang up. I'm only ordering groceries." That reminded Dad of how feisty my mother was and he remembered that people in that little Pennsylvania town thought my mother's Virginia bred mountain accent funny. One little Jewish lady told my mother one day, "Don't worry, honey. When you have lived here long enough you will sound just like us." My mother shot back, "Well, I hope I don't live here that long!" Mother was never shy about telling people just what she thought!
Thinking about cars, Dad remembered how scared he was when on a trip one time with Mother and my two sisters who were about 6 and 9 at the time. The doors of cars at that time opened the opposite way that today's cars do and as they were driving, my sister Janet must have been playing with the door handle and it swung open. Dad said he saw a glimpse of it opening and Janet flying out onto the road. (This was way before seatbelts were thought of.) He went back and found her, very nervous about what he would find. Of course, my sister, Peggy, who saw her sister flying out the car door, was now hysterical. There must have been angels protecting her that day because she only suffered a broken collar bone.
We then went on to a discussion of the merits and disadvantages of seatbelts and our opinions about whether government has the right to legislate their use. I sometimes forget my dad is almost 96 years old. He still is very much a logical thinking person with definite opinions. I am so grateful for his wisdom and his presence in our home.
This morning I awoke at 6:00 a.m. in time to say good-bye to my hubby. It was wonderful, a beautiful morning so I took Oliver (the new puppy) out on the porch, had a little playtime with him and settled down with my Bible. I was feeling a little overwhelmed with my "to do" list, I think feeling a little cheated that I had so many "non fun" things to do on my day off work and feeling convicted of my ungratefulness at the same time. As I sat there trying to get into praise mode it hit me out of the blue how different I am from my mother. She was a work horse and I'm sure never got down with all the things she had to do; she seemed to love the grocery shopping (even going there to browse when she didn't really have anything she needed to buy), cooking meals for her family or anyone who dropped by or had a need and just piddling around doing "stuff" around the house. And it came to me how much different her childhood was than mine. Her mother gave birth to eleven children, only eight surviving childhood. Her mother was very sick and my mom pretty much raised the last two or three of her siblings. She told me one time that she had to cook meals for the family (on a wood cookstove, with no indoor plumbing) at such a young age that she had to push a chair to the stove so that she could reach the pots! And this wasn't just helping mommy in the kitchen, this was being in charge of feeding a large family. She had to drop out of school in the 8th grade and told me once that they were just starting to teach Algebra (this was in a one room schoolhouse) and she had really found that interesting and was disappointed not to continue with it. She never owned a doll until she was an adult and probably had little time to play. Contrast that with my childhood. I was the third child but raised almost like an only because my sisters were teenagers before I came along. I came at a time in my parent's life that they were finally financially comfortable, had purchased a home for the first time and they doted on me. My mom never gave me many chores to do because she said she wanted me to have a childhood (I am tearing up as I write this). When I got married I didn't have a clue how to shop or clean a house for that reason but I had a wonderful childhood! No wonder my mother loved doing the things she did--it was all she knew and it must have seemed like a vacation after the way she was raised. Supermarkets with large varieties of everything, automatic washers (although she never owned one until after I was married but always used a laundromat), electric vacuum cleaner, hot and cold running water and a car to take her anywhere she wanted to go. Suddenly, I have a different perspective on my life and how grateful I should be for the ease I have and the joy it should be to serve my family and make a comfortable place for them.
By the time I finished my Bible reading and prayer time, Popdaddy was stirring and I went in to have breakfast with him. What a joy that was. He was in a mood to travel down memory lane and I am going to take the opportunity to tell his story so that it is recorded. I told him of the trip we are planning in October to take Carl's kids camping on a lake near them. We started talking about swimming on the lake and how much the kids enjoy it. He started reminiscing about going swimming as a boy with his brother at a swimming hole in Lucasville. And then he told of living in Buena Vista, Ohio (about 20 miles from Portsmouth) on a bluff over the Ohio River. There was a houseboat tied up to the shore and he and his brother, Charles, loved to dive off the houseboat into the river. However, this was strictly forbidden by his mother and unfortunately for the boys she had a good view of the river from the house since it was situated on a bluff. And also unfortunately there were willow branches nearby which she used liberally when she caught her boys disobeying. Popdaddy said that, willow branches not withstanding, diving off that houseboat was just too much fun to resist. Then he told of a showboat that would come to that area every summer and was the highlight of the season to all the kids, although he didn't think they got to see very many shows as there was an admission price. He also told of getting a ride across the river one day on a boat with his brother by the postman making his run to pick up mail from the train. Somehow the postman forgot about them and they were left there all day until he came back for his afternoon run. Popdaddy said that he and his brother thought they were starving and raided a farmer's corn field and ate raw corn! He told me how the mail was picked up. A bag of mail was placed on a arm that extended over the track and as the train came by it dropped onto the train. The mail to be delivered to that town was tossed off the train and onto the platform.
What a different life my parents led! I am grateful that I had the opportunity to visit their farms as a child. I got a glimpse of how life was in "the olden days" by having to bathe in a metal tub, pump water from a pump in the yard, use an outhouse during the day and a chamber pot for those calls of nature in the middle of the night. But my favorite memory was having no toys to play with--that didn't seem to bother me at the farm. I can remember going outside and digging moss and pretending it was all sorts of pretend foods and setting up house under their big pine tree, using Grandma Whitten's broom to sweep the pine needles, using them to make a pretend bed. I loved to walk down the hill to the road and wait for the postman to bring the mail. And I loved to bring the farm cats into the house (much to my grandmothers chagrin--but she was a grandma and so allowed me to do that, although she thought it was funny that I wanted to.
Ahhh, memories! I go into my day of washing clothes in my electric washing machine, vacuuming with my electric vacuum cleaner and driving to the store in my gas powered car with a much different attitude. Thank you, Lord!
Well, summer is over and it is time to get back in a routine. I only worked three half days a week this summer but somehow I didn't manage to get much done at home either! I am making a note to myself to make a routine for myself in the summer. The most frustrating thing was how hard it was to get my quiet time with the Lord in. During the school year I have to get up at 5:30 in order to have time with the Lord before leaving, but somehow in the summer, even though I leave at least an hour later, I struggled getting that in. But we did manage to get in two camping trips this summer. Ryan was able to go with us once and the second time Carl and Kimberly were able to meet us and spend the night tent camping with us. It was a joy to take Carl's kids camping at the campground that we always enjoyed going as a family when their dad was growing up. Carl was able to show them places where he enjoyed having adventures. Since it was their first time on a mountain it was fun to see their first reactions to looking down from the height of a mountain overlook. Alex especially was excited about that.
Other joys of the summer were sitting on the front porch enjoying the view with my dad. On August 12 we celebrated his first year anniversary living here with us. It has been a blessing to have this opportunity to grow closer to him and to here all his memories--and he has a bunch!
NiNi Camp is always the high point of my summer and this year was no different although it came during a stressful time. Dad was not doing well physically, struggling with a viral infection in his lungs and was two weak to get out of bed most of the two weeks that Carl's children were visiting. I wasn't able to relax and enjoy the grandchildren to the usual extent because of my concern for Dad.
But now it is time to concentrate on the year ahead. I am resolved to get back in God's Word on a daily basis and spend time with Him before all else. Also resolved to get back into household routines, especially spending time in my "zones" each week to keep from getting overwhelmed with things to do. And then there is making the time to exercise and try again to get this weight off, a continual discouragement to me.
I am reminded that God is still sovereign and nothing is out of His control, that He has all wisdom and freely shares it with me if I will just ask and that His love is perfect, even when mine is not.
