The Mighty Weeping Willow

Isaiah 44:3-5 (King James Version) For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.

One of my favorite items in nature is the weeping willow. I grew up playing under one in my grandmother's yard. They are a thing of beauty and of wonder.

I want to be like the weeping willow. They sway and bend as the mighty storms of life blow around them. Their roots will travel to the nearest water. Their branches may get old and gnarled. They will twist and turn. They bend with the wind, but their strength never falters.

My prayer for each of you today is that you will be like the mighty willow. May you bend with whatever life tosses your way, but may it never break you. May you stand strong through the test of time. And may you have deep roots that are forever nourished by the living water.

Have a blessed and happy day!

The Runaway Goat

Allow me to introduce you to Boomer Lloyd. Boomer is a mere 7 weeks old and is a Pygmy Goat. Adorable isn't he? My sister, Rachel, has two daughters who have no children yet so they provide her with numerous granddogs, grandcats and now yes a grandgoat. Since he is a baby, I argue that he is technically a grand"kid". But what do I know.

Well, a couple of days after Boomer went to live with his new Mom and Dad, (Darin and Amy), Amy went out to feed and water him. Being the frisky little kid he is, he proceeded to prance around Mom and was able to escape his pen. Before Amy could grab him, he took off barreling at high speed like hounds were on his tail.

Yes, high speed... over the hill, through the yard and right smack dab in the middle of the neighbors double plated window. Glass shattered everywhere, little Boomer got caught in the mini-blinds.

The lady next door said not to worry about the window, it wasn't any big deal. Of course, when her hubby came home, he informed Amy & Darin that it had been a double plated window and he expected a double plated window to be put back in. As if they would do anything other than that.

Anyway, that was just the beginning of poor Boomer's dilemma. He was cut pretty bad and bleeding. Amy and Darin doctored him as good as they could and called the vet the next morning.

Believe it or not, but most vets do not doctor goats. It was a mess. They finally got him taken care of and I'm sure he is going to be fine. I'm sure there is a moral in here somewhere, but I'm not sure what it is.

Goats are great. But at least children don't plow through the neighbors double plated windows.

A day of rest

It seems like everywhere I turn over the past month or so, people have been discussing Sunday being a day of rest. I had a discussion with a dear friend recently about the fact that we all seem to fall into the trap of using Sunday as a day of catching up on things, going to the store, out to eat, whatever we didn't get to do during the week. Yesterday on Facebook, one of my dear friends brought up the question of how many of us will actually "rest" on the Lord's day. I had made plans Saturday night that after church on Sunday, I was going to pick up the house just a little and check emails to get a jump start on next week. Then I went to church Sunday and heard an awesome sermon. Many things hit home with me and as I got to thinking about just exactly when and how often do we seek the Lord when things aren't going our way? He has set aside a special day for us to rest from all we go through and yet we find things to do to keep us busy on His day. The ONE time He has basically told us to take it easy. So I came home, had lunch and relaxed all day yesterday. I watched a little Andy Griffith reruns, read a little, and took a long nap. When I woke up I took a long bubble bath and read some more. Then we had a light supper and I headed back to the couch with my pillow and blankie to watch the Next Food Network TV Star show. Talk about restful. It was AWESOME. I got up this morning at 6:00 and can't remember the last time I started my week by feeling so refreshed. It is 6:46 and I have already cleaned house, set up my work day, checked my Facebook and wrote my blog. There really IS something beneficial about resting on Sunday's. As always, God knows what he is talking about. We just need to learn to listen.

Update on the past week

It has been a full week. My mother and sister have been down on vacation. I kept meaning to put something on my blog every day, but we have had such a full week that I just wore myself plum out as we say in the country. Mom turned 80 on Thursday and we had the best week. We went to Cades Cove, Dollywood, shopping, Apple Barn, Old Mill, and much more. We had a blast. We are going to a cookout at my daughter's tonight. My son and his family are getting home from the beach today and I can't wait to see them there. I'll get back to my regular postings tomorrow. I have missed posting and have missed your comments. Have a great day.

It's moments like these....

Life can get you down, people can get on your nerves. Things have a way of coming at us from all directions that make us just want to scream.

But in the midst of all the turmoil and toil, a little 5 year old granddaughter can hold your hand and say "This is going to be the best day." And when you ask why, she answers "Because I'm spending it with you."

Melt my heart!!! I love my grandchildren. It's moments like these that make everything we do and everything we are worthwhile.

Thank you Alexis Caroline for making my day. I love you.

What will they think of next....

Well, I bit the bullet and upgraded my cell phone yesterday. OH MY GOSH! It is one of the hottest new ones on the market with US Cellular. There are so many bells and whistles that it will probably be obsolete before I figure it all out. It is one of those touch screens and it slides open to expose a full QWERTY keyboard, just like a computer. No more hitting function to type my numbers in text messages. It is a Windows phone. So not only do I have a "My Documents" folder, I now have Outlook, Excel, Word and yes...even Power Point. ON MY PHONE! Is that not awesome. Owning my own business, it's a dream come true. I am totally mobile. I can sit at the beach and sign up new clients, check emails, type contracts, everything. And the best part about it...it was on sale if we renewed our contract AND had a $70 Visa Card rebate. You know I love a bargain. It accesses the internet just like a computer does and even has a tilt screen so it feels like a mini little laptop. Am I high tech or what? Of course, I'll have to call in the Brain, my nephew-in-law, Eli. He's our family techi and he helps us with all our modern techonology. It just amazes me that we have such technology right at our fingertips.

Seafood

As we think of summer and thoughts of the beach, many turn their minds to seafood. They love the all you can eat crab legs, lobster tail, shrimp, not to mention the many varieties of fish available. I have never been a seafood lover. If we go to a Calabash style restaurant, I have chicken. If we go to Long John Silvers, I have (you guessed it) chicken. I'm sure fish and crab legs are delicious for those who can stomach the thought of eating something that lurks below the murky waters of rivers and oceans. However, I have loved Mrs. Paul's fish sticks since I was a little girl. I realize this is not considered as seafood to those who love the many creatures of the deep that are created into culinary delights. But to me, Mrs. Paul's products are the epitome of seafood for my soul. Now you might ask how I can eat those "cardboard" fish sticks when such succulint seafood is in abundance? You might wonder what makes them acceptable when other fish will not do. The answer is simple, I believe that sweet, little ole Mrs. Paul raises these fish in a cute little aquarium at home just to make fish sticks for picky eaters like me. That is my story and I'm sticking to it. Please do not burst my bubble.