Miscelleanous Diversions and LIF Day!

Up til 2:30am...Bek departs for FL today! Lists are made, details assigned, so I think we have everything under control...daffodils are blooming...right on cue....:) how nice :)

Saw 3 huge hard plastic bunnies, decorating a neighbor's home this am on the ride in...at least 4 ft tall each and the kind you put a light inside.....hysterical....
I never saw people decorate so for every holiday til we moved to Philly 20 yrs ago...those people decorate for and celebrate EVERYTHING including all major and minor holidays and some we'd never even heard of...Jamacian Independence Day???
Anyways....its nationwide pretty much now to decorate for most holidays and it is kinda fun...but 4 ft plastic bunnys lining your drive??? LOL

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I offer a toast today....in honor of my little girl who almost isn't anymore...and to the creator, originator and most wonderful Lord who dreamed up marriage in the first place.
My choice for Lyrics I Feel today is a song written in one of the churches we fellowship with. It is a love song between the Lord Jesus and His Bride...the One True Marriage....the substance from which our dim shadow is derived. It is to the tune of Greensleeves or you may know it as What Child is This. Try singing it to this tune...you'll be blown away, I promise!
Have a fabulous weekend!

Sweet Bride

Sweet Bride, my love, come away with me
Leave your cares behind, I have set you free.
The winter's past, and the rain is gone
It is time to arise and go with me...

Come, come, come away with me
Let our hearts be one for eternity
Come, come, come away with me
And we'll dwell together forever.....

At last, my Lord, I have heard your voice
It is all I hear, Oh my heart, rejoice!
You bid me come, now I follow You
It matters not where You may take me.

Jesus, my fair Lord and king
To you my heart with joy I bring
Jesus, I belong to you
For You have desired to love me.

Sneak Peek

I'm trying to get the placecards printed and my printer hates fat paper! I have to pick up another yard of periwinkle chiffon, final payment to the photographer, address announcements , dig out my white christmas lights...and the list goes on and on...but we are down to the nitty gritty details! Yeah! In 10 days...I'll have a new son-in-law, pictures of four generations together(yes, we'll have great grandmas with us) and all of the 9 cousins together (a real rarity), hopefully hear my son play his sax for his sister's special day, see my beautiful Jada and squeeze her till she begs me to let go, eat out every day for 6 whole days...yeaah!, and finally lie on the beach(although I have neither time nor money to get that new swim suit I desperately need).
2 wedding attendants have cancelled due to cancelled leave (the hazards of planning a wedding with military people in training all over the USA) and we currently have 2 more heads than we can comfortably seat in bride's preferred seating arrangement....minister is set, musicians are set, DJ is set, FOB needs to work on his speech......whew...are you overwhelmed yet? I know I am! LOL

Here's THE DRESS (for me that is :)) Kind of fuzzy but the best I could do picture wise.....good pics after the
wedding, promise!
I don't think I'm actually as wide as this pic implies....:) of course I could be in denial....

W Day approaching

Happy, happy, happy! We're getting really close to W Day! Things are buzzing at my house...news on THE DRESS...tomorrow, I'll try for pics. :)

The sun is shining in Georgia and things are looking brighter...or maybe I'm just on an emotional roller coaster...who cares...brighter is better.. :)

I have a dear friend who is quite a talented song writer/musician...I didn't do LIF last week but if I had, his song, The Intention would have been the one. Take a listen.

Pictures you don't see everyday

Found this in my inbox this morning and thought we could all use a smile. BTW I'm feeling more smiley today myself. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

Hey . shouldn't they be home baking cookies?

The hamburgerler did it, officer.

Oh come on....just one...please...

Maybe they should start with spelling.

.....looks like UPS wins this one!

I'll bet this is near that school that teaches Arithetic

....I think it was the FedEx driver

No comment....

or maybe it was the FedEx driver too

Keepin it real

I'm feeling kind of weird this week. Trying to keep it light but feelin that stirring in my gut, a lump in my throat much of the day. Don't worry, its not my heart...my physical one anyway. :) Millions of thoughts rushing through my mind - memories, faces, futures. Deeper thinking than I want to aspire to right now.
Do you ever just want to run away from your situation and not think or feel for a while? Of course you do, that's why we take vacations...lol
Sometimes I really just want to go out to eat or lie on a beach or drive somewhere - anywhere with someone and talk about nonsense..or maybe not, maybe talk about important stuff that we've been keeping inside while just trying to "get through it". Sigh...it seems I am not to be afforded the luxury of a dumping ground for my issues other than my poor husband. This seems to have always been my lot and those who might have qualified are named in the faces I see swimming in my brain this week. I can feel things going on in my spirit, but are they things that pertain to me? I don't know, but as busy as my mind and spirit are, I would think so. Things are stirring....
So what to do? No where to run, nowhere to hide and no one to confide in. Another one of those talk to God things. My nephew once said, as a little boy who was sick and his mom prayed for Jesus to make him better, " I want a Jesus with skin on Him"....... Me too!

The Dress

So I bought a dress for the wedding a few weeks ago...pink, sort of. A shimmery silvery mauvy pink. I can't really wear pastels, except maybe pink and what else do you wear to a garden themed wedding in the spring? Anyway...it looks pretty good. Nice style, nice color, lots of sparkle, fits beautifully.
My mom has been looking too. I think she really wanted a pink one too but wanted me to have first pick, me being the mother-of-the bride and all.

This weekend I bought another dress for the wedding. I love it! Its green, sort of deep springy, olivey color (not the fallish olive) It really pops and brings out my eyes, and my tan and, and, and....:) Can you tell I love it? I do.....
til I get it home and try it on with the necessary under garments...uh oh....cleavage....not exactly fitting right now.....can it be tailored? I don't know. I know the tailor can work on it...but then if that doesn't work...I'm stuck with the dress and discomfort. And its sooo perfect otherwise!
Should I keep it and try having it tailored? should I forget it and go back to the pink or worse yet, keep looking? We're under 3 weeks to go now, people.

Oh yeah, get this. I called my mom to tell her I had bought a green dress and she could go ahead and get a pink one with a clear conscience. Before I could say a word she says "Guess what? I bought a dress for the wedding..... Its green."

LIF - Praise You in this Storm

See my last 2 posts for the context of this song...it has had a powerful effect on me this week.

Praise You in this Storm

I was sure by now
That You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say "Amen" and it's still raining
As the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God
Who gives and takes away

I'll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
Every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember whenI stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry
You raised me up again
My strength is almost gone
How can I carry on
If I can't find You
As the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God
Who gives and takes away

I'll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
Every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I lift my eyes unto the hills
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord
The Maker of Heaven and Earth
Casting Crowns

Am I nuts?

and I give you a paradox...

In my last post I stated, "Truthfully, in Christ, what is there to fear in change?".
What? am I nuts!?

Let's just make a list here....
1) The Unknown...
2) Loss of what has been
3) Pain

I find that over the course of my life I have come to trust more and more in the unfailing sovereignty of my Lord. He knows what He is doing and He does all things well, all things work together for good, to those that belong to Him, etc. etc. These are bedrock in my spirit, what I call The Immovables....but the pain, oh the loss and the pain of that loss. These are my achiles heels.

We embrace "good" change so readily...even though we have no idea where that road will take us. Still we do not question a pay raise, new aquisitions, a pleasant relationship. We think of them as 'blessings" ignoring the capacity they have to bring us pain. Yet every positive thing, event, person in our lives has the potential to bring us loss and pain. We discovered this a long time ago when we got our first puppy and then found it struck by a car in the street.... a dramatic change from life to death...from gain to loss, followed by the pain caused by that loss.

Today there is change going on all over the world, in my city, at my job, in my own home, within my own family. Some are exciting and wonderful, others are hard and painful. ....for some, joyous newness is beginning, for others, years of involvement and connection are ending....in each situation, what has been will be no more....there is great joy, great loss, and great pain.
A dear friend once told me that 95% of all the pain in life is caused by the holding on. I have found this to be true. God help us to walk through change with grace....to revel in the joy, suffer the loss, to breathe in Christ, and to let go in times of change and fall into His loving arms. Even in the pain, to simply walk on...without bitterness, without anger, accepting the change, embracing the newness, trusting that He is working Christ into our lives in all things.

What is there to fear in change?? Plenty....There will be loss, there will be pain... but I pray that God give me courage that I may say with Paul, "I count all things [but] loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them(but)dung, that I may win Christ."

God Bless you through the changes in your life.

Winds of Change

Change...
Why does that word strike fear into the hearts of men and women everywhere? Why do we cling to the "old", hold to "the way we've always done it", or long for the "good old days"? Is it human nature to fear what we do not know? Is it natural to shy away from the unfamiliar rather than embracing the newness of change? Why do we struggle against loss of control? We want it, of course.... we all want control...at least some semblance of it. Perhaps that is not the God in us but it is in us nonetheless.
Our sense of control is a total myth, you know. We don't actually have any...if we belong to Christ...and perhaps even if we do not know Him (if you can reach there in your spirit). He is at the very center of the Universe, of Eternity and He is totally unpredictable to the human thought process...wildly free and changing moment by moment, yet ever the same. How can this be? We do find paradoxes so very hard to accept, don't we? How can two extemes be true? Yet they are true. And if we look deep inside ourselves, into the place where His spirit lives, we know it is so.
Truthfully, in Christ, what is there to fear in change?.....times, places, environment, situations, feelings, revelations, ...they are tools in His hands to shape us and sometimes even weapons of mass destruction against our spirits, souls and bodies. Still something deep within us remains the same....remains solidly His. He never changes, ....yet He is new every moment.
He is the author of our lives, the creator, initiator and navigator of our path.
Things will never remain the same....it is impossible in this life and perhaps even in the life to come...it is not His way....
So I choose...I choose not to fear change, I will embrace it. I choose not to struggle with lack of control, I give it up freely. I search for that solid rock inside that is Christ.... in so doing I am liberated to let the wind blow where it will.
Change equals New.... He is New every moment and He holds my future.

John Wooden

In honor of March Madness I thought I'd post this article forwarded to me via e-mail. Enjoy!


Written by Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated...
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On the 21st of the month, the best man I know will do what he always does on the 21st of the month. He'll sit down and pen a love letter to his best girl. He'll say how much he misses her and loves her and can't wait to see her again.
Then he'll fold it once, slide it in a little envelope and walk into his bedroom. He'll go to the stack of love letters sitting there on her pillow, untie the yellow ribbon, place the new one on top and tie the ribbon again. The stack will be 180 letters high then, because the 21st will be 15 years to the day since Nellie, his beloved wife of 53 years, died.
In her memory, he sleeps only on his half of the bed, only on his pillow, only on top of the sheets, never between; with just the old bedspread they shared to keep him warm.
There's never been a finer man in American sports than John Wooden, or a finer coach. He won 10 NCAA basketball championships at UCLA, the last in 1975. Nobody has ever come within six of him.
He won 88 straight games between January 30, 1971, and January 17, 1974.
Nobody has come within 42 since.
So, sometimes, when the Basketball Madness gets to be too much -- too many players trying to make Sports Center, too few players trying to make assists too few coaches willing to be mentors, too many freshmen with out-of-wedlock kids, too few freshmen who will stay in school long enough to become men -- I like to go see Coach Wooden.
I visit him in his little condo in Encino, 20 minutes northwest of Los Angeles, and hear him say things like "Gracious sakes alive!" and tell stories about teaching "Lewis" the hook shot. Lewis Alcindor, that is...who became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
There has never been another coach like Wooden, quiet as an April snow and square as a game of checkers; loyal to one woman, one school, one way; walking around campus in his sensible shoes and Jimmy Stewart morals.
He'd spend a half hour the first day of practice teaching his men how to put on a sock. "Wrinkles can lead to blisters," he'd warn. These huge players would sneak looks at one another and roll their eyes. Eventually, they'd do it right. "Good," he'd say. "And now for the other foot."
Of the 180 players who played for him, Wooden knows the whereabouts of 172. Of course, it's not hard when most of them call, checking on his health secretly hoping to hear some of his simple life lessons so that they can write them on the lunch bags of their kids, who will roll their eyes.
"Discipline yourself, and others won't need to," Coach would say. "Never lie, never cheat, never steal," and "Earn the right to be proud and confident."
If you played for him, you played by his rules: Never score without acknowledging a teammate. One word of profanity and you're done for the day. Treat your opponent with respect.
He believed in hopelessly out-of-date stuff that never did anything but win championships. No dribbling behind the back or through the legs. "There's no need," he'd say.
No UCLA basketball number was retired under his watch. "What about the fellows who wore that number before? Didn't they contribute to the team?" he'd say.
No long hair, no facial hair. "They take too long to dry, and you could catch cold leaving the gym," he'd say. That one drove his players bonkers.
One day, All-America center Bill Walton showed up with a full beard. "It's my right," he insisted. Wooden asked if he believed that strongly.
Walton said he did. "That's good, Bill," Coach said. "I admire people who have strong beliefs and stick by them, I really do. We're going to miss you.
Walton shaved it right then and there. Now Walton calls once a week to tell Coach he loves him.

It's always too soon when you have to leave the condo and go back out into the real world, where the rules are so much grayer and the teams so much worse.
As Wooden shows you to the door, you take one last look around. The framed report cards of his great-grandkids, the boxes of jellybeans peeking out from under the favorite wooden chair, the dozens of pictures of Nellie.
He's almost 90 now. You think a little more hunched over than last time. Steps a little smaller. You hope it's not the last time you see him.
He smiles. "I'm not afraid to die," he says. "Death is my only chance to be with her again."
Problem is we still need him here.

"There is only one kind of a life that truly wins, and that is the one that places faith in the hands of the Savior. Until that is done, we are on an aimless course that runs in circles and goes nowhere. Material possessions, winning scores, and great reputations are meaningless in the eyes of the Lord, because He knows what we really are and that is all that matters." - John Wooden

Romance

My husband....sigh...
He is one of the most creatively romantic men I have ever known, or even heard of....he is truly one of a kind. In the course of our married lives he has surprised me with jewels and weekends away, with flowers, cards, poems and pedicures. He has organized time away from the kids for the two of us or me alone, shopped for beautiful occasion wear for me, contributed funds, no insisted on me going to all-girls nites and weekends, even bought me my dream house and car. He is a master at making me feel loved and appreciated, valued, not for my contributions to our family alone but for who I am as a person. He is a lover of my God, an amazing husband, a wonderful father, and a steady provider. He thanks me often for sharing his life, for making a life together with him.
He loves me.

All that said...yesterday he did something that seemed to me to be very romantic although I doubt he intended it as such.

As some of you know, he is not well physically and hasn't been for over a year. His health is improving but he is far from "back to normal". This has been an incredible strain on our life and on me. It falls to me to do almost all the chores around the house as well as errands, shopping, etc. (which I try to do without complaint but do not always succeed in)
Well we have about 30+ trees in our back yard and as you can imagine about a gazillion leaves and branches strewn around. We have let them go all winter but with spring approaching they must be dealt with. I have tried to budget for hiring someone to do the yard but to no avail (read that as "wedding") so this past weekend I mentioned that we would have to tackle the yard but that I didn't know if I could handle it all myself. I was feeling very overwhlemed....its a huge job.
Then....Surprise!
Yesterday when I came home from work, (after snapping at him on the phone in a completely different matter) half the back yard was raked and bagged. He is off on Mondays and had spent part of the day working in the yard.
I know, this sounds like a trivial thing, but believe me....as weird as it may seem, I was filled with very good feelings toward my very wonderful husband who, inspite of his health and inspite of my ill-temper, went out of his way to do something to aleviate my overwhelmedness....
I love that man!

24....OoooooHHHHH

NOT EDGAR!!

Oscar Surprise??

Did you see the Oscars last nite? I saw a good bit of them and for once I was pretty well pleased....except for that horrible song from Hustle and Flow...yuck!
Who would have thunk that "the Academy" (written with a sense of awe I assure you. :) could have dared to be so main stream! Who could believe that they would listen to the money jingling in the bank from the thousands of "Red Staters" who attend the movies each year, and steer clear from the most extremes of the nominees....So Phillip Seymour won best actor...I think because he deserved it...not for playing a"gay role" but for portraying a man who happened to be gay...as well as eccentric, talented and strange. This is more of what I would like to see in Hollywood...can we award people for work well done as opposed to lines well crossed? And what about Reese?? I was definitly cheering for her. Her portrayal of June Carter Cash was phenomenal...(I told you Southern girls can sing, Reese handled the singing very well, to not even BE a singer)...Best pic, well of the awful choices offered, I have to say "Crash" was the most intriguing, "beating out the front runner" How, pray tell, do they know who the front runners are?? Me thinks they buy their own advertisement.
Reminds me of a friend living in PA during the last elections who was completely shocked when Kerry lost to Bush, stating that he didn't know one single person who voted for Bush. I answered sassily, "apparently someone did" :).... I think when you surround yourself by a particular viewpoint you tend to lose sight of the big picture and Hollywood has a long history of this very thing.
When will they realize that most Americans are only mildly interested in pushing the envelope and could care less what politics they think are important. Maybe soon they will get back to making movies that entertain rather than make statements....nah...probalby not. :)


For you fashion gurus...
Didn't Selma Hayek and Jennifer Lopez look stunning in their colorful gowns? The Latin girls stole the show as far as I was concerned in the fashion department. My daughter and I both gasped in startled awe as they came on camera. Wow! :)....Cute little Jessica Alba was pretty too in her Oscar gold. :)

LIF

OMGosh what a song!
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I Am -

I AM the Maker of the Heavens
I AM the Bright and Morning Star
I AM the Breath of all Creation
Who always was
And is to come
I AM the One who walked on water
I AM the One who calmed the seas
I AM the Miracles and Wonders
So come and see
And follow Me
You will know

I AM the Fount of Living Water
The Risen Son of Man The Healer of the Broken
And when you cry I AM your Savior and Redeemer
Who bore the sin of man
The Author and Perfecter
Beginning and the End I AM

I AM the Spirit deep inside you
I AM the Word upon your heart
I AM the One who even knew you
Before your birth
Before you were

Before the Earth (I AM)
The universe (I AM)
In every heart (I AM)
Oh, where you are (I AM)
The Lord of Lords (I AM)
The King of Kings (I AM)
The Holy Lamb (I AM)
Above all things

Yes, I AM Almighty God, your Father
The Risen Son of Man
The Healer of the Broken
And when you cry I AM Your Savior and Redeemer
Who bore the sin of man
The Author and Perfecter Beginning and the End I AM

Mark Schultz

Happy March!

Congratulations to Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester, the first female Silver Star recipient since WWII! Wow! I have tears of pride in my eyes!
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Today is March 1st and you know what that means.......
Let the March Madness begin!
Spending several years in Durham NC has prepared me for this annual event as no other method possibly could. Moving to this basketball mecca when my children were 5th, 7th and 10th grades was very difficult. Only my husband and son were familiar with the basketball dynastys which call the NC triangle home so needless to say, my children, especially my girls were, totally blindsided by the fact that the moment they stepped into their classrooms at school they were required to "pick a side". Living 5 blocks from the Duke campus, me working at UNC and my hubby working 1 block from NC state, made for some difficult choices. Well, not for the girls...they didn't know any better so they just "picked" a team. Believe it or not, all these years later, they all still stand by those first uninformed choices....:) ahhh childhood loyalties die hard don't they? One is a Duke fan and one is a UNC fan, naturally. :) My son...well he's not as committed and loves them all unless they are playing each other or Temple. haha
Each year my hubby, son and brother-in-law eagerly await the brackett pages to appear in the newspaper. They each fill in their choices and then call each other almost daily to compare notes and do so all the way up to the finals. Its really a blast, very exciting and fast moving...especially as teams are playing on top of each other and falling like flies. Exciting stuff! this year Duke is definitely in there as a contender, as usual...Coach K is amazing, isn't he? and UConn is very strong too. (booo)
UNC lost too many players last year to make a comeback but we're watching Villanova just for fun (did I mention my brother-in-lw was in school there during their "Cinderella" year when they won it all?) ......Yeah, come March, we're all basketball fans.
do you play the bracketts? what are your picks?

.... hang on...its always a fun ride...

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As for American Idol......
Both of our local Christian radio stations had AI contestants on the phone this morning to dish on last nite's show. ;)
As you may know, Paris Bennett and Kinnick Sky are Georgians... and we are all so proud. :) But of course Southern girls can sing!
All I can say is Paris is showing her age...and I don't think she's a very mature 17. She will be awesome...one day.
I thought Kinnick rocked last nite with her "I'm Here for the Party" perfomance and her cowgirl garb. Very cute.
I think both of them will survive this week.