"Devas Tags Mz. Gig"

1) How many books do I own? Approximately 35 including my Bibles.

2) What was the last book I bought? My #2 son bought “Brother Ray” for me and I bought “The Purpose Driven Life."

3) What was the last book I read? “Bad Girls of the Bible.”

4) Mention five books that have meant a lot to you that you have read more than once. “The Desires of The Heart,” “The Heart of a Lion,” The Heart of a Stranger,” all written by Kathy Hawkins, “The Red Tent.” All four of those books were Fiction/Non-Fiction books. The Kathy Hawkins novels were centered around the Story of David, and “The Red Tent” was centered around the story of Jacob, his daughter, concubines and Joseph. Also I read “The Prayer of Jabez.” I have only read each of those books once and it was surprising that I read them because my attention is normally short and I generally have a hard time keeping my mind on what I am reading or reading without getting sleepy.

5) As far as movies go, the last movie I saw at a theatre was “Ray.” Ray Charles was my favorite singer when I was a young teenager and out in the world doing my thang. I still like to listen to his music, and I got the DVD from Devas and the wife for Mother's Day.

6) As I commented earlier (Mr. Smarty Pants), I do not watch “The Young and Restless” on a consistent basis because I got tired of the character ,“Victor.” He is a self-centered power hungry individual who is feared by everyone in the town, and it seems as though everyone worships him and he can do anything and get away with it because of who he is. I do, however, read the updates on “Soap City” fairly often.

Thank you for “tagging” me Devas -- I hope all your questions were answered.

Who will I tag? Christopher - I will be awaiting your answers. :-) :-)

I've Been Tagged! Whatever That Means

Okay, okay, I know, I'm blog illiterate, but after about 10 tries or more, I may catch on to something. Anywho I'm not sure how to do the tag thang but I can tell about books I've read but I'm not sure that's how this works. Devas, I need additional help on this one as well as everything else you have tried to get me to catch on to. I'm not giving up though. Please enlighten me on what I'm to do next. I haven't watched "The Young and Restless for quite some time. I got tired of Victor being a puke and coming out on top. (I do, however read the updates on "Soap City" every now and then).

Are You Moved?

During a recent conversation with a fellow church congregant, I was asked, “have you ever been moved by anyone you have heard preaching?” “Have you ever felt moved during a sermon?” After thinking about it a minute it was apparent to me that there has been none. Over the years I have heard many sermons, some inspiring and some not. The process of sanctification and justification has been a part of my Spiritual growth. In a lot of cases gospel songs will bring on many emotional feelings, especially if I listen to the words and connect them with how beautiful the music is. There has been tremendous spiritual growth from what I have learned from attending church all those years yet it has been a mystery to think that someone who was practically born in the faith and has known God all of her life doesn’t feel moved by sermons, yet the sweet small voice deep down continues to drive her day in and day out. Sometimes she listens and sometimes not, but the Spirit of the LORD doesn’t give up on her. Many times my prayers are for the sincerity that seems to be missing; the lack of being moved, and emotions I have witnessed by people who are seem to be devout Christians. Could this be playing church on my part? I certainly hope not. It has been said that people who we think will be going to Heaven will not be there, and I definitely pray that this is not in my case.

Time With God

It’s Friday night and the sun is almost down, which means my Sabbath will begin. This is the time when everything should be “holy.” It is a day of rest and turning away from all your pleasures and just focusing on the LORD. It is such a sanctified time (that’s if you do it right). You must choose your conversation carefully so that it magnifies God. Everything we do must glorify the LORD. In the Bible it says we should call the Sabbath “a delight.“ and in a few minutes there will be prayer and some devotional time. tomorrow it‘s time to go to church. I hope all of you out there have a blessed weekend. I look forward to blogging with you again tomorrow night.

"Faith is the Substance of Things Hoped for, The Evidence of Things Not Seen. Hebrews 11:1

I received this in an e-mail and thought it would be something good to share -- This is thought provoking.

VERSE: About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns toGod,and the other prisoners were listening to them. -- Acts 16:25THOUGHT:

Falsely imprisoned, Paul and Silas had been beaten "with manyblows,"placed in prison, and locked down in stocks. Under such horrible circumstances, they managed to praise God in hymns and pray to their Father in Heaven. Under this kind of pressure, their faith caught the attention of the other prisoners who listened to them. We need to be reminded that over the years of Christian witness, some of the most effective times of evangelism happened because Christians remained faithful and joyous people despite persecution and harassment. Nothing should limit our prayer and praise. God will use them to reach the hearts of those in the most difficult of places!

PRAYER: Holy Father, in times of adverse reaction against me because of my faith, I pray that you will make me a loving, respected, and forceful witness for Jesus. I ask this not so that I can boast, but so that others can more fully know your grace and come to Jesus to be saved. In the name of my Savior, Jesus, I pray. Amen.

"Bloggerholic/Jesusholic"

That’s me -- little did I know that blogging would capture my interest as it has. I enjoy writing, reading and making friends on the internet. This is great; it’s just downright cool. Reading what other people have to say, commenting, getting comments -- that’s just simply “off the chain.” One thing I really enjoy is sharing blogs with Christians. There are so many bloggers with the LORD in their hearts and I enjoy reading them. I know if I am feeling great about the spirituality that is written in many blogs I come across, just think how Jesus himself must be feeling. Good going everyone and keep up the good work. Love you all.

"Something to Chuckle About"

It’s Sunday morning and I woke up like I do every Sunday morning after falling asleep on a movie I rented the night before. This has been the Saturday night activity for years, and don’t let anyone try to steer me away from it because it won’t work. I guess this started years ago when I first got married. When we were dating, the hubby would take me to a movie or the drive-in theatre. He would watch the movie and I would fall asleep. After we tied the knot (and oh boy, what a knot), but that’s a different story. Anywho -- he would take me to the theatre, and as usual, he would watch the movie, and I would fall asleep. Only things were changed -- we got married. Soooo -- the conversation went like this, “wake up, I didn’t spend money for you to come in here and sleep!” My rebuttal to that was something like this, “hey wait a minute, I’m the same person I was when we were dating and you didn’t complain then.” To tell the truth, everything changed after the “I dos.”

I woke up this morning and as usual, talked to my LORD and started my day. I then thought about something one of my sons had done the night before and started cracking up. This is my number three son, and he was helping me to connect things up on the new computer he got me for Mother’s Day. Two nights ago, I had started re-typing my will, and because I hadn’t finished, it was still hanging on the little device that was holding it in place. After he finished working, my son turned to me and said, “and don’t think for one minute that this Will is bothering me because it’s not.” “I know that everyone has to have a will“. I said to him, how did you know that is a Will?” He said “it’s right in front of my face, I can’t miss it.” I said (jokingly), “if you weren’t meddling you wouldn’t have known it was my Will.” He blurted out the same answer as before. The funny thing of it is, I know it bothered him or he wouldn’t have said anything. In fact, he repeated the same thing several times during his visit, thus trying to convince me that it was no big thing. He tries to hide behind the faced of being strong and things don’t bother him, but he forgets; I’m his mom and I know all. It is my guess that sometime when I least expect it, he will bring it up again.

The High Rise is Over...

...and the stats are low again. The car is fixed, and no more struttin my stuff. It was good while it lasted but it’s good to be home again. Soaring with the rich and famous is okay but it can get quite stressful. Driving that 2005 Dodge was cool – yes I mean floating around town and feeling on top of things and everyone around you. After asking the dealer how to operate all of the buttons, etc. on the car, I felt, I’m ready to go! One thing, however, I forgot to do is ask for the location of the clock which was probably right in front of my face, and if it had been a snake (perish the thought) it would have bit me. So for two days, I had to guess the time because in the little ol Hyundai, the clock is ten minutes fast. So – on with my life and no complaining.

A Short-term Snob

Hello dahlin – Mz Gig has recently acquired a slight rise in status. Here’s how it came about:

A couple of weeks ago, a co-worker came to me informing me she had hit the front of my car and dented the fender on the passenger side. I was grateful to her for being honest and letting me know. At that time I got some estimates. Since the dent seemed to be of a minimal size, my co-worker thought she could pay for the damage out of her pocket. To our surprise, all three estimates were in the thousand dollar bracket. We selected a body shop and made an appointment to get the car fixed. Today was the day to put the car in the shop. The company made arrangements to rent me a loaner. As far as I was concerned it was not going to be a big deal, probably some little old car that will run fairly good. That’s okay, I can handle that, after all my car is a 2003 Hyundai Accent and I would probably get a 2000 smaller car with thousands of miles on it. BUT, in a couple of days, I will be back into my Hyundai Accent again, and feeling just a little bit like I have some status, after all, the Accent was brand new when I got it.

The dealer and I drove to the rental place and there in the front of the office was a nice shiny navy blue car. I passed by it thinking; this car probably belongs to one of the employees here. We went in and the dealer walked me through the paper work process; I signed the papers and it was now time to get the car. I’m so nervous, I’ve never rented a car before but not to worry, this car would be just an ordinary little rental to drive over the next couple of days. We headed toward the nice car I spotted when I arrived. The manager who was handling my account told me that this 2005 Dodge Neon would be my rental. Wow, I’m going to drive this! -- as far as I’m concerned, that is definitely a step up from a 2003 – right? I drove it back to the office, all the while thinking all of these people out here are probably envying me and thinking – that lady must have some money. I continued to drive back to work with my head up high. After I got there, I informed everyone that I had just gotten a rise in status and to forgive me if I happen to act a little uppity over the next couple of days because I would be driving a 2005 Dodge Neon. Most people would probably think – “that’s not the kind of car to make you feel as though you are a candidate for the rich and famous. BUT, where I’m standing, any 2005 vehicle is a rise from a 2003. Do you get my drift? Oh by the way, I'm really not a snob but it feels good to pretend every now and then - but that's all good.

About My Post on Profanity...

Before I actually got a chance to start blogging, I thought up this post. Not to sit in judgment on anyone but to share my curiosity with other bloggers. I have often wondered about the origin of profanity and how it got started, just as I sometimes wonder where certain slang words/phrases come from -- who starts it -- how does it manage to circulate around the world? I suppose that these days it could come from certain stars on T.V., However, in my day, there were no programs such as what we get today. I also wondered how different dance steps began and was amazed at how everyone everywhere were doing the same dances/slang talk, etc. I think deep a lot, therefore, a person would never even guess what is going through my mind. All of you bloggers/friend out there -- do your thing -- be yourself -- I may be a Christian, but it says in the Bible to never judge anyone -- cause you will be judged for the same thing. Get my drift? I’m enjoying this blogging thang. Love you all much and keep up the good posts… And that person who wants to tell me what or what not to put in my blog or anyone elses -- All I have to say is “You run yo mouth and I’ll run my business bebe.” Can I get a witness!

A Student Asks: What Advice Would you Give to Me About My Life?

Wow, I had to think about that one. A student had an assignment to intervew someone at the job. She chose me. Wow! I was so excited and had no problem answering her questions until I got to this one. This is what I said:

One of the most important things in a person’s life is their spirituality. This gives you a sense of love and caring, not only for yourself, but for others, thus, preparing you for a bright future with healthy realistic goals and morals.

My advice to you is to follow your dreams and do all you can to achieve your goals in life. Respect yourself and those around you, especially those in authority. Pay attention to anyone who is a positive role model, figure and/or mentor to you. Those people will show genuine interest in your well being. They appear in your life for a purpose and that is to lead and guide you in the right direction. Many times we think they are wrong, that we know better than they do, they are mean and cruel and are against us; however, sometimes we make bad choices and have to pay the consequences for those choices, as receiving the better things in life for good choices. You get out of life what you put into it.

Get a good education, avoid people, places, activities, things and peer pressure as they become roadblocks. Most people don’t realize until it’s too late that bad choices can influence their entire lives.

Profanity or not???

I have often thought how profanity got started. Who determined whether or not a word is profanity? It could, however, depend upon how you say it, but NO! profanity is profanity, no matter how you look at it. Take the word “ass.” How did that little three letter word become profanity? after all it’s in the Bible. An ass in the bible is referred to as a donkey, however, how does the word rectum relate to a donkey? When you get frustrated or out of sorts, the first thing you do to express yourself is to exclaim a word of profanity. Why, can’t you just firmly tell the person you are frustrated with them or don’t appreciate their character? Because the world thinks it’s cool to just “cuss” someone out. It makes you macho to call someone a “Bitch,” or “MF,” or just plain say “F” you. That really calms you down doesn‘t it-- right? You barf out a profane word to someone, thus relieving yourself of stress, only to pass it on to the person who was the recipient your profanity. “Oh boy.” you think -- “I just cussed him/her out,” I feel like I’m on top of the world now.
Take the word “damn” -- (damn)? That’s something in the river, so how did this become profanity? To add insult to injury, man has decided to disrespect God by putting his name before a profane word. People actually enjoy disrespecting the LORD. Did the fact that there is a “n” on the end of the word make it a cuss word? How about “hell?” this word is in the Bible to describe a fire that will burn forever. Adam named the animals according to the Bible, BUT, he didn’t invent profanity? So again I say, “how did it come about?” How come we can’t just say -- I have to urinate instead of “piss?” or the profane word for defecating, not to mention flagilence (the art of breaking wind) instead of using the word “fart.”
Essay Sample on "Evolution of Profanity: From Shakespeare to Everyday Modern Speech"
Evolution of Profanity: From Shakespeare to Everyday Modern Speech The evolution of written profanity began roughly in the sixteenth century, and continues to change with each generation that it sees. Profanity is recognized in many Shakespearean works, and has continually evolved into the profane language used today. Some cuss words have somehow maintained their original meanings throughout hundreds of years, while many others have completely changed meaning or simply fallen out of use. William Shakespeare, though it is not widely taught, was not a very clean writer. In fact, he was somewhat of a potty mouth. His works encompassed a lot of things that some people wish he had not. "That includes a fair helping of sex, violence, crime, horror, politics, religion, anti-authoritarianism, anti-semitism, racism, xenophobia, sexism, jealousy, profanity, satire, and controversy of all kinds" (Macrone 6). In his time, religious and moral curses were more offensive than biological curses. Most all original (before being censored) Shakespearean works contain very offensive profanity, mostly religious, which is probably one of many reasons that his works were and are so popular. "Shakespeare pushed a lot of buttons in his day- which is one reason he was so phenomenally popular. Despite what they tell you, people like having their buttons pushed" (Macrone 6). Because his works contained so many of these profane words or phrases, they were censored to protect the innocent minds of the teenagers who are required to read them, and also because they were blasphemous and offensive. Almost all of the profanity was removed, and that that was not had just reason for being there. Some of the Bard's censored oaths are; "God's blessing on your beard" Love's Labors Lost, II.i.203 This was a very rude curse because a man's facial hair was a point of pride for him. and "to play with someone's beard" was to insult him.

"Nice Guys Don't Finish Last, They Just Finish

As I wrote in an earlier blog, I have a problem saying “no” to people, and when I do, I usually cannot make it stick. It is because when a person asks something of me, it’s usually one of those requests that says to me (it’s something that HAS to be done, and if you don’t do it, it won’t get done); therefore, I feel compelled to do it.
A person who has been attending our church recently requested that I provide a ride for she and her son to Sabbath School each Saturday morning. Upon realizing that I teach a class and have to be there early, I decided that this was the Christian thing to do, after all, it would impress upon her to continue to come. The first time I was to pick her up, I arose early that morning and was ready in plenty of time to get her. I phoned her apartment several times and no one answered. I then went over there, telling myself that she and her son may be waiting outside for me. When I got there, they were not outside so I rang the buzzer and no one answered, so I went to church. Later on in the week I called her to find out what happened and she told me she was asleep and had forgotten. Thinking of my Spirituality, I decided that the Christian thing to do would be to just tell her we would try it the following week. I contacted her the following Sabbath and she informed me that she and another older member had been talking about me the night before. She explained to me that the older member was wanting to get to church earlier than the van could get her there so I was asked if I could pick her up also. The older member lives on one side of town, not too awfully far from me, and the newcomer lives on another. I reasoned with myself -- how can I refuse to get this lady when she desires to get to church earlier? If I don’t do it, no one else would and again, this is the Christian thing to do. I then proceeded to tell my friend that I would probably not be able to do it because it would throw me late and I have to be there at 9:30 a.m. to teach a class. She then told me that because I was such a “sweet and nice” person, they both thought it would be good to ask me. Later I ran into the older member, feeling guilty, I apologized that I couldn’t get her but would see if someone could. She then told me that the newcomer had told her the night before that “we have a ride now,” and guess who she said would pick her up? I often wonder why people always come to me with requests (usually those requests that are really not convenient). I got the answer first hand. I am running around with a smile on my face and the word “pushover” on the rest of me. It seems as though at church sometimes I show up on the scene just in time to be put on the spot, such as, I will be busy either getting ready for my class and either my dad or his wife will ask that I go home and get something important (that they just have to have). Even though I obliged, I explained to them that I cannot continue to do it. However, I have been asked over and over again to do this. Because his wife is an Elder at our church, she feels she cannot leave, therefore, it’s up to me.
After my mother died suddenly in a truck trailer accident ten years ago, I became an A number pushover for my dad. It’s almost as though people can read me “hey you, take advantage of me, I’ll do anything for anyone to make everyone but myself happy.” I lived in a sort of prison, being afraid to tell my dad “no” because if I ever said “no” to him, he may die and I would feel guilty. I never had a close relationship with him like I did my mom, but I quickly set out to make it up to him. Even though he did a lot of things in his life that were not acceptable, he continued on right after my mom passed away. I was constantly upset, but afraid to let him know because I didn’t want him to pass away if I disappointed him. He caught on and has run away with it. I continue to give in to him for the same reasons. I have tried in my own way to tell him that I love him but get bogged down with things he does. He apologizes, or acts as though he can’t remember and will turn around and repeat the same behaviors.
This morning, I had the privilege of talking to one of my grandchildren who told me that a former boyfriend of hers who treated her very badly and was unfaithful had explained to her that he treated her that way because she was gullible and too nice and put up with him and the awful things he did. Years ago, I had a very good friend who married a man whom she really loved. She was good to him, but he was not faithful and treated her badly. He said the reason was because she was too nice and gullible.
Now that you have put up with my whining -- I will end this conversation and thank you for reading me today.

This is soooo me!

Following is an e-mail I recently received. I got a big kick out of it because it is definitely me.

Recently, I was diagnosed with A. A. A. D. D. - AgeActivatedAttentionDeficit Disorder. This is how it manifests:I decide to water my garden.As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my caranddecidemy car needs washing.As I start toward the garage, I notice that there is mail ontheporchtable that I brought up from the mail box earlier.I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.I lay my car keys down on the table, put the junk mail inthegarbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full.So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take outthegarbagefirst.But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailboxwhen Itakeoutthe garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.I take my check book off the table, and see that there isonly 1checkleft.My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go insidethehousetomy desk where I find the can of Coke that I had beendrinking.I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to pushtheCokeasideso that I don't accidentally knock it over. I see that theCoke isgetting warm, and I decide I should put it in therefrigerator tokeepit cold.As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke, a vase offlowers onthe counter catches my eye--they need to be watered.I set the Coke down on the counter, and I discover myreading glassesI decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'mgoingtowaterthe flowers.I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a containerwithwater and suddenly I spot the TV remote. Someone left it on thekitchentable.I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I will belookingfortheremote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table,so Idecideto put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'llwatertheflowers.I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of itspills onthefloor.So, I set the remote back down on the table, get some towelsandwipeupthe spill.Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I wasplanningtodo.At the end of the day:the car isn't washedthe bills aren't paidthere is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counterthe flowers don't have enough water,there is still only 1 check in my check book,I can't find the remote,I can't find my glasses,and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today,I'mreally baffled because I know I was busy all day long, andI'mreally tired.I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to getsomehelpforit, but first I'll check my e-mail.
Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, your day is coming!!GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL.LAUGHING ATYOURSELF IS THERAPEUTIC.

"The Box"

Last Friday after work, I ran a few errands and went home. Upon arriving -- I discovered a nice sized box on my doorstep. I was excited. Knowing who sent it, I went into the house, put my purchases away and started toward the box. "I thought to myself "self" today is not mother's day yet and I walked away thinking "I will wait until Sunday." I started to the kitchen and stopped, peering at the box as it sat in the living room. "No, I will not open it'" I thought. "Well, maybe I'll shake it to see if I can guess what's inside". "Don't go near that box!' exclaimed my inner thoughts. I backed away and again and started toward another room. "Oh it won't hurt to take a peek," But... oh no, it seemed as though there was a little man standing on my shoulder reminding me that Mother's day is two days away. I walked past the box and glanced at it making an effort not to let my curiosity get the best of me. I left the room again and to my surprise the box began to call to me, "come back," come back," I stopped, turned around and walked past the box again. "No, I'm not going to do it." I will wait until Sunday.... but but "I don't think my son and his wife would really mind if I opened it today", I reasoned to myself. Should I or should I not open this box. The box said "yes -- go ahead." The little man on my shoulder stated "not yet, wait until Mother's day, besides on Sunday rolls around, you will not have the pleasure of opening your gift I turned again, and then all of a sudden I quickly ran over to the box and grabbed it as fast as I could so as to not talk myself out of it. I hurriedly opened the box and peered inside -- "nothing" I exclaimed! What's up with that?... "is this a joke or what?" "Why did they waist stamps on an empty box?" My son is quite a jokester and he would get a kick out of playing this trick on me and watching my reaction -- right Devas T?

Ha, ha, I fooled you didn't I? Actually, there were several very nice gifts inside the box. One of the gifts brought tears to my eyes, tears of joy. It was a little book called "Crazy About my Mom." On each page the author writes "I'm Crazy about my mom because..." Mr. "Smarty pants" wrote some funny comments under the saying on each page; he also wrote some very cool things too. He's "Off the chain." For the record, I got spoiled by his other brothers too. It's really nice being loved so much by four successful young me.

Okay, okay, I exzaggerated the story above a little to make it more fun to read. Actually, I did think at one point to wait until Sunday, but actually after telling myself that my son and his wife wouldn't mind if I opened it early, I quickly opened it about 10 minutes after I got it. Thanks to my sons and their lovely wives for helping me to have a blessed Mother's Day.

Four Comedians

How could this possibly happen? I gave birth to four comedians. Could it be that they are chips off the old block, which happens to be a chip off of two old blocks. Even my one sibling is a clown – a real clown. To my surprise, my oldest son, who has always been very quiet and sort of serious (so I thought) is turning out to be full of laughs. Has he always been that way? He has never shown me that side of him before. He carries himself in a professional way (at least around mom).

About the magazine with his picture on the cover. The first thing I thought when I saw it was “I want one” how can I get one? After reading the whole blog about “A Big Time Celebrity” I’m not sure the magazine is real. He has blogged three stories, and all three made me nervous while reading them until I read the whole thing. Do I risk calling my own son “a dork?” Okay, so I have four Dorks, and I’m mama dork.

Sunday is Mother’s Day; hope you all have a blessed day and that you get what you want. You deserve it.

"WILL THE REAL KID PLEASE STAND UP?"

This past weekend, two of my adorable grandchildren came to Des Moines. My youngest son was here for the Drake Relays and I had the mere pleasure of visiting with the kids. One is 11-years-old and looks to be about nine and the other is seven. They are happy-go-lucky, flighty little girls who love to play with grandma. Did I say PLAY with grandma? Yes, I did. WE play with dolls, preferably Bratz. They brought all of their little dolls in a bag or case and the fun began. This one has a boyfriend and that one does too. We start in with our little story line which is usually two of them having a disagreement or maybe one is in trouble for some reason or another. We make things up as we go along, talking for each character. There is a playroom in an upstairs bedroom for my grandkids to enjoy when they come and visit. After playtime we go downstairs, maybe watch a little T.V., and this time it was “Veggie Tales.” We sang and danced to the music – oh yeah, the most important thing is that we went to church. They love to go to Sabbath School with grandma because I teach a class and they enjoy it (even though they are too old for my cradle roll class).

Our activities for the weekend included not only McDonald’s Play land but Chuckie Cheeses, visiting around, going to a portion of the relays with daddy (who was supposed to be getting a break from the kids and mom was going to have them the whole weekend to herself),

At one point, the seven-year-old went upstairs and started to play music (did I say music)? Let’s just say “started to play” a little organ I have in the playroom. Grandma joined her with a bunch of teddy bears lined up like a choir. We pretended they were singing and grandma was directing. If anyone had come to visit, I might just have ended up in the nut house or something like that. All in all, it was a blessed weekend with a touch of Ernie from Sesame Street who kept looking for his pal, Bert, who I have not purchased yet, but fortunately “Rubber Ducky” was there to comfort him. (I love it).

I had an opportunity to talk to them about why they should eat healthy fruit such as vegetables and fruit, and how eating hamburgers and French fries all the time is not good for them – so I took out the Bible and read in Genesis, the six days of creation. When I got to the third day, I attempted to give a lecture on how God created vegetables and fruit for us to eat and how those things are better for them and will keep them from getting sick. So, the 11-year-old tells me – “Grandma, I told Mommy that potatoes are fruits that are good for you.” (This was an attempt at trying to persuade me that French fries are good). I said to her, “well you should eat things in moderation so too many fries are not good for you” – she replied “you mean like eating too many carrots are not good for you either?” That one stumped me, but I answered by telling her how potatoes can turn into sugar when they get into the stomach, and she was okay with that one. It was a great weekend and as usual it is hard to see them go. Now I look forward to having Mr. Kolby down in June – that will be another story as Kolby is a character. Dat’s all folks (it’s enough – eh)?

THE LOVE OF MY LIFE

As I was driving down the street the other day, my mind drifted to my blog. “Sharon” I thought – “you have been blogging for over a week now but not one word about the “love of your life, your whole reason for being” – so today my conversation will focus on my love for Christ. He came into my life at a very young age. As a little child, my brother and I were taught about God on the laps of our parents. Those were some very enlightening sessions as my dad not only read the Bible and talked to us about its contents but he had a blackboard he also used to teach us the fundamentals of the Bible. My mom taught us religious songs by singing them to us, and by the time I was three, I was singing in church, and shortly thereafter, I could recite the books of the Bible. We had devotions at home with my dad leading out with songs and prayer.

Even though over the years I backslid, joined the world and did my thing, (which is pretty typical), I never left the LORD complete alone. He was always there in the back of my mind, reminding me of His presence, trying to steer me in the right direction, and all along I had two special angels to help him see me to adulthood, my parents In the Bible it says to “train up a child in the way he should go and when he gets old, he will not depart from it”. I lived that scripture – yes, even though I walked away for a while, HE called me back to the fold. My parents were not perfect, no one is, but they did a pretty good job with us, and if “child abuse” laws were as strict then as they are today, I guess my parents would be guilty, but believe me, my brother and I are much better people for it, and if you ask anyone in my generation, they would agree. I am not by a long shot supporting child abuse, but I do support parents taking charge and letting their children know who’s boss by using good healthy discipline with love, and being supportive of their children by always taking time with them and being there for them in a positive way; letting them know why they must be punished.

Faith and belief have become essential in my walk with Christ, and that is something I live by; it carries me throughout each day and night. Every morning when I awake, the LORD is first and foremost in my thoughts and the first conversation of the day is with Him.

Knowing Christ does not exempt me from problems, struggles, worries, and stress. Believe me like anyone else I have my share of trials and tribulations but they are a way of life and we are strengthened by them, helping us to realize each day how much we need to lean on the LORD and to allow Him to direct our steps.