Lifestyles...

I recently connected on Facebook with someone I was close to and have not seen for about 40 years. I went to her photos with excitement to see how she looked now compared to when we were children. I sat there and stared for a good 5 minutes. She had on her sleeveless t-shirt, biker leather jacket, doo rag on her head, tatoos on her arm, beer in one hand and cigarette in the other. My first thought was "Train up a child in the way he(she) should go, and when he(she) is old he will not depart from it.: - Proverbs 22:6 Then my second thought was "Judge not, that ye be not judged." - Matthew 7:1. I'm not condoning her lifestyle nor am I condemning. I'm simply saying that it is amazing to me how two people, so close, from similar backgrounds can turn out so differently. The choices we make in our lives make us. They are the cornerstone of who we are; the very essence of our being. Are you making the right choices? Are you living the life God wants you to live? When others look at you what do they see? It's not just our actions but the way we dress, the way we carry ourselves that let's others see into our lives. Make sure you are setting the example you want to set.

Why women talk so much..........

My whole life, the women in our family have been more outspoken than the men. I've often wondered why. You hear many reports of women talking more than men. After pondering the situation, I have come to my own conclusions. First off, I think part of it goes back to the 50's when women stayed at home. They were there all day with the kids - listening to bickering, answering a million questions, settling arguments. They lacked for adult conversation. So the husband comes home after being at work and talking to people all day. He just wants a cup of coffee, his newspaper, his favorite slippers and a quiet evening. The wife wants to talk. She's stored it up all day and it comes gushing out. Details, details, details. We move forward in time and women start moving into the workforce. They start sharing stories with other women about kids, husbands, co-workers, etc. Women are more detail oriented than men so they have much to say. For example, a man and woman go out to a new restaurant to eat. The next day their friends ask how it was. The woman's answer: "It was so nice. The atmosphere is really good and it has a wonderful ambiance. They have everything you can imagine on the menu. We had the best potato skins I've ever eaten anywhere. They had this awesome dessert concoction with ice cream that I just had to have. It was enough for two people. I just loved it. We'll go back again for sure." The man's answer: "It was pretty good." See what I mean, women are more detail oriented. I have a sister, two aunts, my mom and six female cousins. We all love to talk. One time we were together and one of the females said "Did you all ever notice that we all married men who don't talk much?" My cousin Nancy's husband Jerry summed it up nicely, "It's because the women we married don't quit talking long enough for us to get a word in edgewise." Made sense to me.

Sweet, sweet rain.....

The rain beats on my rooftop like the pounding of a thousand little feet. I hear the thunder rolling in like the beat of a hundred horse hooves. As I lay in bed this morning, I thought about being lazy and snuggling down deep in the covers and sleeping in. But I knew I had a busy day ahead of me and decided to get up and get an early start. Once I was up and wide awake, the rain and thunder began. I love laying in bed listening to a nice storm, but it seems like it holds off until I am up and past that sleepy stage. Or, even worse, it will hit about the time I need to run errands and stop the minute I return home. If we could schedule a summer storm, I would schedule it for early morning when I'm still in the bed, but not so sound asleep that I can't lay and listen to the storm. Or I would have it arrive in the early evening before dusk sets in. At a time when my hubby and I are both home but it is still daylight enough to watch it roll in. But we cannot schedule the rain so I think I'll grab a cup of hot chocolate and sit here at the window and enjoy the show.

Walking by Faith

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." - Hebrews 11:1 I love that word. It is, for me, one of the most beautiful words in the world. Five simple letters with a world of meaning. Faith is a belief, a dream, a hope. It's a promise of things to come. It's love; it's life. It's holding on when things get tough. It's the driving force behind our goals. Without faith, how can we pray? Without faith, how can we let loved ones go without the promise to see them again some day.? Without faith, how can we exist? I cannot imagine living without faith; without the knowledge that there is One who cares for me and knows my every need before I do. Some people think they are week in faith, when in reality, we all exercise faith every day of our lives. We go to bed believing we will awake to a brand new morning. We work every day believing that pay check will be there on Friday. We place the key in our car and don't even think twice about whether it is going to start when we crank it. We do so many things without even thinking about it because we KNOW already that it will happen. Then why do so many of us have trouble placing their faith in the one who controls everything. Why is it so hard to let go and give it to God, with faith believing, that He will handle it. If you can place faith in that little car key turning that huge engine over, why not place your faith in God and let him turn over the challenges in your life.

The call

I have to share with you a funny call I received the other day. Here are the players: Diana - my daughter Shelby - my granddaughter who will 2 years old in 13 days and is pictured above. Don't let the darling little face fool you. She can be "you know what" on wheels when she wants to be Myself - Known to most as Mamaw B and occasionally shortened to Ma B The phone rings and I answer it and the following conversation occurred: Diana - "Mom, I'm sending a 2 year old little girl to stay with you." Me - "Uh oh. What did she do?" Diana - She has smacked Caleb, pushed him and now she bit him." At this point, I hear a little girl's voice yelling in the background "I tell Ma B! I tell Ma B!" So Diana hands Shebly the phone and I hear "Ma B, Caleb (jabber, jabber, jibberish) Mommy (jabber, jabber, jibberish) Soooooo I mad Mommy." Then she hands the phone back to Mommy. How funny is that. We are not quite at 2 yet and it is going to be a LOOONNNNGGG year once those terrible 2's hit for the Princess.

Getting past the hurt....

I'm sitting here this morning with a glassy eyed stare and am astounded at something that happened this week. In the overall scheme of life, it was no biggy. But in my own little world, it is unbelievable that some people can make hurtful remarks and not even realize they are being hurtful. I won't bore you with details, but suffice it to say it is true that we may forgive, but we never forget. I was hurt by words over 25 years ago and the person didn't even realize they were being hurtful. I let it go, I moved on, but I have never forgotten the incident. This week, the same person did almost the exact same thing, using almost the same words, causing the same pain. Well, let me tell you, it didn't hurt any less this time than it did 25 years ago. I guess we think we put things behind us, but we really never do. They are lurking below the surface, just waiting to sneak up and get us again. Whenever something like this happens, I have to vent and get it off my chest and stand amazed and astounded at the things people do or say to others. Then I use my normal philosophy of "Oh well" and move on. So, oh well. Thanks for letting me vent.

A celebration of life

I attended a very unique funeral yesterday. It was not the usual funeral. There was grief and there was mourning. But moreover, there was a celebration of life. Rob was a very down to earth person. He loved hunting, fishing, hiking, camping and most importantly his family. He and his wife had discussed the funeral in great detail and they had very specific ideas about how they wanted everything. The viewing room contained many side tables. Each table was covered with either picture frames or picture albums of Rob’s life. Through each and every photo, his love of his family and his country showed through. From his days in the Boy Scouts through his time in the service, from his days as a newlywed through his days as a father and grandfather, each picture, each moment is filled with his love for life. There was a viewing room sit up that had a TV which played non-stop video of pictures of him with his family. The music selected were country songs that meant something to him and his wife, such as Garth Brooks and The Dance. When it came time for the funeral, the initial song was a love song “I’ll Keep on Loving You” by Reba McEntire that his wife had played to honor the memory of their life together. That was followed by Brad Paisley singing The Old Rugged Cross. The preacher spoke a few words then his oldest son did the eulogy. It was a wonderful tribute to his father and the man he was. It gave you a great feeling of love that runs deep throughout the family. Then Rob’s best friend since his teens spoke. The preacher closed with a few more words and Amazing Grace with bagpipes was played. Though I walked away with tear-filled eyes and a deep grief in my heart for the loss of a very special brother-in-law but with the wonderful feeling of knowing he had spent every minute of those 49 short years loving his family and leaving them a living legacy of the type of person they wanted to be.