Forgiven

Please forgive me for not blogging in such a long time. I have to be in "the mood" and my mood has been "exhausted", "concerned", "confused", even "worried" (oh, that's really bad!) It's so darned hard to let God handle all our worries! Does that make me a control freak, or human? See, now I'm going to worry about that (just kiddin'!)

Some people find it exceedingly hard to forgive others. That can just cause YOU so many problems. It will make you sick, literally. It will stifle your spiritual growth, and it just takes so much ENERGY to stay mad!

I don't know why I am the way I am. God had something to do with it, for sure! I just don't stay mad at people. I don't hold grudges. I forgive, but alas, forgetting is harder. Yes, it IS! It is almost impossible to actually forget, meaning you can't recall the incident at all, ever again. But forgetting is more like not holding it against the person, not letting it control your actions towards that person, realizing that GOD FORGIVES YOU AND FORGETS you hurt him! Wow, that's an incentive!

I've learned forgiveness from watching the Master, as I know God has truly forgiven me for some of the hideous, unexcusable, sinful things I have done in my life. If I didn't know that in my soul, I really wouldn't be able to function!

I found an interesting website with some good food for thought if you are having trouble forgiving and/or forgetting.

If you think forgiving is a sign of weakness, a sign that that says "go ahead and hurt me", then think again. It's a sign of strength, a sign that you care more about the person than the hurt, or the potential to be hurt again. And don't forget Psalm 130, my friend...

We Are Family

It's been two weeks since we returned from our 1st annual family vacation-at-the-beach, and it was an unforgettable week! I'm just now catching my breath after catching up at my J-O-B, getting Sara back in school, yada yada yada. You really can't take a week off; you just work twice as much the week before and after! Hey wait, that means I need to get paid for another 40 hours ...somewhere ...hmmm?

The attendees were (in order of beauty): Celia, Debra, Lana, Judy, Keven (okay, not in order of beauty!), Fumiko, Terry, Jimmy, Merry King, Rachael, Oliver, Grace, Justin, Sara, Tiffany, Jessica, Lucas, David, and Benjamin! I think that's it - 19 people in 6 bedrooms. It was awesome, really it WAS! We had some much fun and so many laughs! Lots of good weather, good food, good reading...just plain GOOD! I think everyone really relaxed & felt no pressure to do anything or BE anything they didn't want. Which was the purpose entirely.

We sang and danced,

We played Quiddler...a lot...

We ate, and ate,

We slept,

It was a great week with a lot of good memories (nice boxers, Justin! Nice splotches, Debra!) Anyway, if you can only go on one large family vacation in a lifetime, I'd say this was it! I'm so grateful for the time we had together...maybe the stars will align and we'll be able to do it again...

You Are The Weakest Link...Goodbye!

Boy the littlest things can be the MOST aggravating things...I am really good at a few things, fair at a lot of things, and not good at all at a few things. One of those not good at all things would be anything mechanical. Specifically, TV & stereo equipment. Now what happened to the days with no remotes and only 2 channels? Those were my good old days. Now we have about 8 remote controls in our house, no exaggeration! It's hideous, and of course I almost NEVER am allowed to have my hands on them, so it's hard to become even remotely (no pun intended) good at flippin' all the switches and understand what it all means! If I had to take a test on how to operate our TV & stereo, I'd get an F-.

So anyway, back to total aggravation. The other day I was listening to an audio book on CD on my way home from work. I was on the last quarter of the last CD when I pulled in the driveway. I really wanted to hear the rest of the CD, so I popped it out of my car and took it to my deck, where there is a boom box of sorts with a separate CD player lying next to it. Of course, you had to know how to plug them in together to get SOUND! Uh uh, wasn't going to happen. I tried every combination of plugging in wires, no go. After about 15 minutes, I decided that the CD player had dead batteries.

Okay, moving right along, I popped the CD out of this player and took it in to the house. No one was home! I thought, "hey, I'll put it in the CD player in the living room, connected to the TV & STEREO. No problem...uh uh, wasn't going to happen. Not with 8 remotes in play... I got to the point where I couldn't even get the TV back where it was. That whole thing took about 20 minutes.

About that time Jimmy walked in, saw me sweating and cursing, and took away the remote...end of story. Never did hear the end of the book that day. Why do I bother?

Under the Thunderdome

While we were in Nashville, TN we visited the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center. What an architectural wonder! It is huge and everything is inside a big dome - hotel, courtyards (many), shops, walkways, flora and hygrophytes like you wouldn't believe. And, it was air conditioned! It was a 100 degrees in the shade up there; thank goodness for A/C! No, we can't afford to stay there, but loitering inside for a couple hours is free!

We walked around inside for awhile, ate lunch and treated ourselves to some real gelato. None of that fake stuff...oh no, nothing but the best for these South Carolinians...

While we were sitting down at Paisano's Pizzeria and all of a sudden, we heard the loudest thunder I've ever heard. It was really weird because it appeared to be sunny outside the dome. Everyone stopped and looked around as if the world were coming to an end. Nope...just a bunch of dumb nuts who mistook the sound of the garbage guy, who was rolling around his garbage can, for thunder. Yes, he was redfaced when he saw 50 people looking around scared they were fixin' to get struck. Geez people, come on willya?

So, if you find yourself in Nashville, TN give it a whirl. It is especially worthwhile if you have your new grand daughter with you (had to throw that in there!)

Beautiful One

Finally...pictures of that beautiful angel from heaven, Anna Kate! We've just returned from meeting her this weekend. She is just as yummy as she looks, and we are so tickled to have a new addition to the family!

As you can see, her granddaddy fell in love with her and just stared at her most of the weekend! Gee he doesn't stare at me like that anymore... I'm glad she's no real threat =) We had a wonderful visit and enjoyed spending time with and helping mom and dad, too. Sleep deprivation is starting to kick in a bit, but really, they're doing great!

Being a parent is one of the special jobs God gives us, allowing us to take care of His wonderful creations while they are on this earth. But aah, being a grandparent (a.k.a. "Mimi") is just about as good as it gets!

Go kiss your son, your daughter, your grandchild...even your spouse if no one else is around! And be thankful...