Wednesday, July 27, 2011

A song in Time

Have you ever noticed that just when you need a boost - a few words of encouragement, the listening ear of someone who "gets it", an offer of help even though it's reality may be impossible - that help arrives, and usually just in the nick of time?

Today was not one of my better days. I'm coughing like crazy and feeling generally awful; I guess from that horrid Arizona dust storm we came through last week.  Sure enough, when some allergen from the outside or some nasty bug is floating around, it'll go to my compromised lungs. Add to that, computer frustrations and trying to accomplish some work, and I was close to my wits end!

And the phone rang.  I answered and a little voice that at first I did not recognize inquired about how I was doing - and what I was doing. Once I recognizedthe voice, and I had coughed a couple of times, the caller quickly got the message that my answer was - "not too great."  "What do you need to do for that cough?" she asked."  I assured her that I was taking all the "stuff" I could and probably just needed rest.

"Well, can you do that? Can we come and help you?"  WHAT?  That person lives a nine hour drive away! 
"No", I replied, "Really, the work we are doing is stuff we have to do ourselves, but thank you."
"Why do you have to do it?" she asked.  Well, we are preparing for our new seminar and have to do this because we want to be ready for it, and quite frankly, we need the added income," I answered sheepishly.
"Well, would you let us send you a bit of money?  You know, we think so much of you and of your work, so we would be happy to send a little to help you."

I was overwhelmed!  Just when I needed a shot in the arm, God must have spoken to her and prompted her to call.  The "shot in the arm" wasn't her generous offer of time or money, it was just the fact that she had called, was concerned, solicitous and kind, and that God had answered my prayer for a boost even before I prayed it.

It is so true, that God gifts us with the desires of our hearts, when we don't even know what they are! When her kind words were spoken, they went straight to my heart from the heart of my friend.

One of my favorite sayings . . . A friend knows the song in my heart and sings it to me when my memory fails.  Thanks for singing today, Katydid!  and to you Priscilla and Donna for all the songs you have sung to me in the past!

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Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Tradition . . .

Do you have a cherished tradition? I have a few, actually very few, but the ones I do have are oh-so-special!


At Christmas there’s Auntie Helen’s Cardamom Coffee Bread and a Christmas Eve gathering of family and friends, usually with a unique menu that includes that scrumptious coffee bread. For Thanksgiving, Donna and I get together the day before and make the grandest Pumpkin Pie and a few other pies too. For supper we make homemade Pizza and Salad, and perhaps for dessert a piece of her fabulous fudge. It seems that whenever she and I are together, we cook or bake – just our thing, and we have a way of enjoying ourselves, chatting and singing while we “work” – as we consider it, having fun.

Today, I am at Donna’s house, which is unfortunately a nine hour drive from ours. They remained in Arizona when we made our move to the mountains of New Mexico, but we find any excuse we can to get together. Last time, it was a Julio Iglesias concert near our place, and this time we are in Arizona because Ron has been accepted into a national study for Parkinson’s, and they even pay our transportation here – what a blessing in more ways than the one!

So what do you suppose we are doing? You’ve got it – we are doing our traditional cooking. She is making a potato salad to go with supper, and because my market had fresh rhubarb, I brought some to make a couple of strawberry-rhubarb pies. So tonight will be a grand feast; the product of a wonderful day of chatting and our time-honored tradition.

I sit here with computer before me, wondering if you have traditions that are precious to you. If you do, won’t you make a comment, sharing yours with all of us? Thanks!


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Monday, July 11, 2011

Frustrating Days

I’m sure that you have ‘em too; those days when you sorta’ wish you’d never gotten out of bed! Today was one of those days for me.

First of all, when I awakened and did get out of bed, my Hubby was nowhere to be found. It took a couple of minutes to remember that he had an early morning appointment for our car, which, when you put on the brakes makes a growling sound, and doesn’t want to stop properly. So I figured that since our early morning ritual had been interrupted by needed car repair, I would scrape the peeling paint off of our two door trims, and repaint the trim.

Well . . . I did the scraping, and then went to the shed for the primer. No primer. Couldn’t find the exterior paint either, or the “good” paint brushes. Oh well, the scraping done, I opted for another chore. Pull back the gravel that had snuck out the end of our driveway, but halfway through that job, I was beyond exhausted, and my back was screaming. “So what,” I thought, “it’s half-done anyway.”

So I returned into the house, overheated and back aching, and decided to sit with an ice pack, a bowl of cereal, and my computer. I’ll write the blog, I figured. Cereal devoured and back pain easing, I tried for the blog, but couldn’t get on the spot for blogging.

After a brief rest, I opted to get out the paint I bought weeks ago for the new color on the Living room walls (two of them) and painted two large spots. Figured I’d better wait until Ron came home to love or hate the color. He likes it!

Ron came home with the news that the AC had also gone out on the car – oh the virtues of living on Social Security with no extra cash for such pricey problems, but the Lord will supply, I keep telling myself. Know why? Somehow, He always does, and at the end of the day, some of the painting is done, and half the driveway, the blog is written, and the rest will get done when it does. In His time, In His time. He makes all things beautiful, In His time.

Tell us about your days . . .





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Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Rushing to Judgment

How quick we are as humans to rush to judgment without knowing all the facts or the ins and outs of a person's life experience.  We look at an unshaven homeless man standing on a street corner with a "will work for food" sign, and we automatically assign him a label - LAZY BUM.  We see a discheveled woman pushing an overloaded shopping cart, and we figure that she never did amount to anything much.  How WRONG we are to pass judgment when we have no idea of the circumstances of that person's life.

Why write about this now?  In the news yesterday and today is the result of the famous Casey Anthony case. I'll have to admit that when I learned she had been acquited, I yelped - "What?"  But the real truth is that I don't have all of the facts, and quite frankly I have been to pre-occupied with other things to watch the trial or read about it either.

You know what?  That's how we are with most people we meet.  We make value judgments based on appearance, conversation and what seems to be their attitude.  We sit near people in church and make those conclusions based on what we see on the outside, and the reality is that we have no idea what hereditary and life experience factors have created the person.  Those who dress the snazziest and speak with the most polished diction can be covering up a life filled with abuse and pain.

Most of the time we choose to not get involved, to not care to inquire about a person's life or to get to know them beyond a casual "Hi. How are you?" and we hope they really will answer with the proverbial, "Fine thanks, and you?"  Seldom do we want the real truth.

Do you think that Jesus would have engaged people like we do?  Did he want to know the truth or a convenient lie to make his life easier?  If we are Christians (followers of Christ) what should our engagements with others be like?  As for me, I have found that the reply, "Fine," often hides a multitude of pain.

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