Monday, May 31, 2010

Memorial Day



By Janda03


I love this holiday.  It is so important to honor the ones who give their lives, their husbands and wives, their best efforts to preserving our freedom.

The Pioneer Woman has a beautiful tribute on her photography page - it's a photo contest with the theme "Coming Home."  Be sure to click on her Photography link at the top to see all the wonderful submissions.

Thank you to all those who serve in our military and to their families.  We honor you highly!

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Slowly but surely

Things around here are changing.

Our girls are basically two years apart in age and today my middle turned 21.  So that means it's the day when we have a 19, 21 and 23 year old.  I vivdly remember 2, 4 and 6.  Or even 8, 10 and 12.  Slowly but surely Quickly and unbelievably the girls are growing up. 






This morning, after months of struggling to read the verse numbers in my bible, I had a 'duh!' moment and realized I now need the next level of magnification in my reading glasses.  Slowly but surely Sadly but inevitably my readers are getting thicker.






Tomorrow is the last day of May.  I still have an extra blanket on the bed.  Slowly but surely Eventually but taking its own sweet time, summer is coming!




Some things happen quickly.  Most things don't seem to.  Slowly but surely, I'm okay with that.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Do You Accept Hugs?

Yesterday I was in the Dollar Tree with my dad, looking for some notecards.  I didn't find any notecards I wanted but somehow I came away with a few things I probably didn't need anyway.

Oh, and one thing that didn't even cost a dollar!

While browsing in the card section, I felt a faint tap on my arm.  I looked over (down, really) to see a tiny little woman with smooth skin and a beautiful white puff of hair on her head.  She couldn't have been younger than 85. 

"Excuse me.  I'm so sorry but I forgot my magnifying glass and I wonder if you would read to me what this card says on the inside."  She smiled shyly and handed me an anniversary card from the 'Religious' section.






"I'd be happy to!"  I read the sentiment - a rhyming verse about abiding love, God's blessing on marriage and the joy of wedded bliss.

"That will be just right.  My daughter and son-in-law have just celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary and I don't know how it happened but somehow I forgot their anniversary for the very first time!"

She shook her head with a smile and laid a wrinkled hand on my arm.  "He is just like a son to me - I didn't have any boys, just three daughters."

"Oh, I have three daughters too!"

She looked at me like she couldn't believe her ears.  And then she whispered, "Do you accept hugs?"

We embraced right there in the Dollar Tree card isle - mothers of daughters, no longer strangers.  It was her daughter's anniversary and I got a gift!

Index cards, security envelopes, gift bags, ribbon:  $ 5
A hug from a sweet new friend:  Priceless

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

You were here all along!



Surely the Lord is in this place
and I was not aware of it!
Genesis 28:16

Have you ever struggled through something hard only to find out later that God was working things out in a way you never could have imagined?

Ever been overwhelmed by the hopelessness of a situation, not for the life of you been able to imagine how anything good could come of it?

Are you right now in a difficult place and you can't see God anywhere?

This exclamation of wonder, uttered by Jacob after waking up from a nap (with a rock for a pillow!), has been in my mind over and over lately.  Whether we sense God's presence or we don't, it doesn't change the fact that He is here.  Right in the midst of our situation.  He's working in a million ways that we can't see. 

He goes behind us into our past and before us out into our futures.

He has plans for us that nothing can stop and He's always working on them to be sure they are accomplished.

He is somehow able to make every single thing in our lives be a part of the good plan He has in place.  This present thing that we face is not the one thing He can't bring good out of.

Is there anywhere we can go that He's not already there?  Where could we flee from His presence?

If we only had eyes that could see the spiritual activity that goes on around us!  We would see Him arranging circumstances and people to be sure that His purposes are accomplished.  Always.  Every time.

So I love this little verse.  I don't have to wait until I can see how God is working.  I can know that He is.

How about you?  God is at work in your situation RIGHT NOW.  Can you see Him?


Friday, May 7, 2010

3 Reasons I Love Mothers Day


#1










#2











#3







I LOVE being a mom!





Children are a reward from Him!
Psalm 127:3

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Bon Bon

In November of 1994, we got a darling little West Highland White Terrier puppy from a wonderful breeder in New Mexico who 'sent' her to us via a very kind pet store owner.  I remember that day so well... we took one look at this almost hairless little thing with huge rabbit ears and wondered if we'd received the wrong dog!  She jumped all over us, kissing and nibbling on us all the way home in the van.  The girls couldn't stop giggling.  We named her Bonnie Lass.

This was the first of many Christmas photos with our fourth little girl.


Because we had a swimming pool in the backyard of our house in Palm Springs, we wanted her to know how to get to the steps if she ever fell in.  So we occasionally put her in the water and made her swim to us at the steps of the shallow end.  She HATED this.  Can you see the look of panic in her eyes?



Bonnie had the run of the backyard and she loved being outside.  She wore a path around the perimeter of that space, hunting lizards, bugs and whatever else she could find.  (That's the trademark of the breed -Westies were bred to seek out and dig for a whole variety of vermin.)  We often saw only her wagging tail sticking out of a bush.  I didn't ever want to know what she'd found.



She has endured lots of being dressed up by the girls and has also been embarrassed by a holiday hair bow or two.  Her sweet nature made her the perfect dog for active, loving little girls - she's always been right in the middle of every family activity, even helping us open gifts on birthdays and Christmas.



She is famous for finding any soft object and trying her best to fit herself on it for a nap.



Many times she didn't fit and we would laugh at her pitiful attempts to get comfortable rather than give up.  We've seen her curled up on a canvas bag, a carelessly dropped jacket and even a hand towel!



Bonnie loves to snuggle.



Bonnie has an annual Christmas tradition!  Before the gifts are under the tree, she makes her way underneath and begins to s-l-o-w-l-y creep around and around the base of the tree, with the branches rubbing her back.  She literally moves in slow motion while doing this.  It gets harder to accomplish this as more and more gifts appear but she doesn't give up!  We've never agreed on what she's thinking as she moves stealthily around the tree but we like to speculate!



Bonnie is almost 16 years old.  She can't hear at all.  But up until about a month ago, she has pretty much seemed like her old self.  She has become totally attached to me, though.  I'll admit to being a bit annoyed at how 'needy' she's seemed towards me - following me everywhere, being underfoot every time I move.  Now I know why.

Today Jeff took her to the vet (I just couldn't go) because she hasn't been eating and is having some trouble knowing where to go potty.  The doctor told us she has dementia and is losing muscle control.  He said she isn't in pain (my first concern) so we should just keep her as comfortable as possible and that she probably doesn't have too much longer to be with us.  (I can barely see my computer monitor through my tears.) 

The girls are home from college for the weekend and now I keep thinking of the 'last time' we will do this or that with Bonnie.

Why am I writing about it now?  I've wanted to tell about her for the longest time and suddenly I have to do it while I still have her with me.  I know this sounds dumb but the difficulty of death makes me wonder if it's worth having a pet.  But then I think back over the last 15+ years of this sweet girl as a part of our family and I know I wouldn't have missed it for anything - even the pain of saying good-bye.


She has been the BEST dog a family could have!  I will miss her so. 

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