I’m Wrecked

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I’m wrecked! Derailed! A goner! Why? Because of a little “bump” in the road that changed everything….my first grandchild! Life has been forever transformed.  My priorities are altered. And my heart?  My heart literally overflows with a love like I’ve never known.  I ache when I’m away from him and joy fills every part of my being when I hold him close in my arms.  My thoughts and dreams have shifted and oh, when I look in those precious little eyes I see hope for the future. Yes, this MiMi is a wreck! And it’s a great wrecked!

You know?  It occurs to me that God knew that I’d be wrecked by this new little miracle, but even more importantly He knew that you and I would be wrecked when he sent the miracle of His son…a little “bump” that changed EVERYTHING!  The birth and death of Jesus forever transforms lives.  His sacrifice shows us  love greater than we’ve ever known and priorities are changed when we accept His gift of that overflowing love.  Thoughts and dreams shift from being ours to becoming more like Him.  We ache for Him when we drift away and the joy we experience when we’re held in the arms of Jesus defies understanding.  Yes, Jesus came to make our lives a wreck.  To stop us in our tracks, spin us around, and put us on a new course. a course that leads us to Him.  And when we look into the eyes of Jesus we too see hope.  But not just hope for the future.  We see precious hope for eternity.  Yes, I’ve been wrecked by Jesus and that’s the most wonderful wrecked of all!

~I have written today’s post as part of Live Free Thursday hosted by Suzanne Eller. Her subject today was “Wrecked”.  Check out other writers entries at www.tsuzanneeller.com

Recipe for Success

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I’ve been blessed in my life with wonderful friends. Their love, support, and encouragement keep me from going too far off track in my life’s journey.  Lately, my friend Debbie has urged me to try something new on this blog.  I liked the idea. A lot!  The problem was, I wasn’t sure I had the “ingredients” I needed to mix it up a bit. It’s taken preparation and used more brain power than I had anticipated to whip it into shape, but here I am, ready to add something new to my menu.  Debbie, this is for you:

It wasn’t long after retiring that I began to realize that the exciting new opportunity I’d envisioned being laid on my doorstep wasn’t going to be delivered.  To be honest, I was crushed.  I questioned myself and my decision to retire.  Afraid that I had not prayed hard enough or listened carefully enough I became discouraged and began to wallow in my failure and disappointment.  And oh, how I love to wallow there! We’ll save that for another post,  it was a recipe for disaster though and I’d probably be stuck there still if not for my afore mentioned friends.  Their kindness, wisdom, inspiration, and understanding stirred a feeling of peace within my soul.  I was able to relax a little, enjoy my free time a little more, begin to take little steps toward new goals, and to cook up a little challenge for myself.

I love to cook!  Watching food shows on T.V., reading recipes in magazines, and finding delicious sounding dishes on Pinterest feed my desire to be in the kitchen.  Nothing makes me much happier than preparing something special and sharing it with others!  Like most cooks, I have my tried and true, no fail, family favorites I make again and again. Thus the well worn recipe book you see in the picture above that was a bridal shower gift from my mom 32 years ago.

Not too long ago, knowing we had a dinner with friends coming up I decided to step outside the “recipe box” and try something new. Now, taking an untested dish to someone else’s table is probably not the brightest idea but I did it just the same.  I waited anxiously as everyone tasted my new creation.  It turned out to be well received and pretty tasty if I do say so myself!   That was the beginning of my Recipe Challenge.  With echoes of compliments filling my head and  recipes I’ve collected for years filling everything else, I decided to  challenge myself to try at least one new dish every week and that’s just what I’ve been doing!

 Over the past months my family and friends have graciously been my guinea pigs and for the most part the job hasn’t been too hard to swallow….literally!  So now, with the help of a little heat from a certain friend, I’ve decided to share the recipes with you. It may take me a while to get them posted but my hope is that when mealtime is approaching and you don’t know what to fix or you just want to try something new, you’ll click on the “Recipe Challenge” tab at the top of the page and take a helping from my kitchen into yours. Finding the right recipe can sometimes be tricky but you can be sure that whether it’s for a friendship or a casserole, if it’s made with love you’ve found the recipe for success!

***Click above to see my first recipe post!

Small Things Change Everything

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Our First Meeting

Our First Meeting

How can something so small change everything?

It’s a question I’m asking myself because life as I’ve known it has been permanently altered by a tiny baby being born….my grandson!  This little guy with perfect fingers, soft hair, and a cute nose has made most everything else fade into the background.  My priorities have changed and things I used to think were important aren’t now. My heart is overflowing!  Yes, one gaze upon this small miracle has forever redefined who I am.  I am still a daughter, sister, woman, teacher, friend, wife, and mother, but now for the first time I am “Mimi”!   All the paths I’ve traveled have been leading me to this destination.  I’ve had no map.  It’s been a journey of hard lessons, great happiness, accomplishments, disappointments,  adventure, heartache, forgiveness, and strong love.  Step by step, climb by climb, slips, slides, and sometimes by just hanging on for dear life I’ve gotten to this place of overwhelming joy.  He is my child’s child. She, who I held in my arms, now holds the future in hers.  The depth of emotion I’m experiencing leaves me breathless and my prayers for them roll down my cheeks.

I know I’m not alone.  Maybe you are also a new grandparent or parent with a wee bundle of your own.  Maybe a minute spot on an X-ray has changed everything.  Maybe a tiny seed of friendship has grown to true love. Maybe a still, small voice has guided you on a new path.  Small things DO change our world.  I’m reminded now more than ever that God knew the effect of small things when he sent his Son, a tiny baby to change all of us.  What a gift!  Perfect little hands that would one day be nailed to a cross. A miracle that would redefine who we could be and change our priorities. A life’s beginning who’s journey would be full of overflowing forgiveness and great love. I look at the world around me now and I wonder what the future holds for my precious grand baby. I don’t know of course, but what a comfort to know that He, the creator of all small things holds it and us safely in His arms and THAT changes everything!

A Teacher’s Heart

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Teaching is a Work of Heart!

Teaching is a Work of Heart!

To all my precious Teacher friends out there…Happy Teacher Appreciation Day!  Never forget what an important job you do and how much I admire you!

A Teacher’s Heart

It started when I was very young,

A seed began to grow.

Crayons, scissors, glitter too,

Went with me where I’d go.

Sunday School, babysitting

Camp counselor and more,

Time with children anywhere

Caused my heart to soar.

It took hard work along the way

And several interviews

With love and support of family and friends

I stepped into my teacher shoes.

Those poor first students who had to teach me

Time and time again

Lessons tried, lessons failed

Lessons that should never have been.

Through it all they didn’t give up

And thankfully neither did I,

When I think back on those precious first years

I truly want to cry.

I’ve put my heart and soul into

My classrooms and each child,

Each day a new adventure

Some good, some bad, some wild.

Thirty-two years of my life

Living out this dream,

The ups, the downs, laughs and tears,

The times I wanted to scream.

The teacher’s day is never through

It’s hard to understand

The patience, the strength, the prayers it takes

To embrace a job so grand.

The seed has grown and blossomed

Its roots have gone quite deep.

In my heart are memories

A treasure I’ll always keep.

Little did I know back then

Long ago when this did start,

That God’s perfect plan all along

Was to give me a teacher’s heart.

Once a teacher, now a teacher

it’s what I’ve always been

Looking back I have no doubt

I’d do it all again.

Home

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"There is more than enough room in my Father's home. If this were not so would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am." John 14:2-3 NLT

“There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.” John 14:2-3 NLT

I got up this morning, poured my cup of coffee, and sat down in my chair at the window to watch the activity taking place at the bird feeders.  This is my routine pretty much every morning I’m home, however, this morning was a little more exciting (in the bird world, at least) because the Wrens are back and building a nest in the bird house.  It’s an amazing thing to watch as the tiny bird approaches the small opening in the bird house with a GIANT stick, often three times their size and yet, it still manages to maneuver it through. All the while the other half of the couple is chattering anxiously and excitedly flitting here and there. It’s hard work creating a home one stick at a time!

Home……it’s what’s been on my mind lately.  I recently traveled to help my mom prepare to move into a new home.  It’s a lovely condo with lots of light and storage. But even though it’s a positive move it has still caused her feelings of doubt, anxiety, and heartache.  At the same time, she’s experiencing excitement about redecorating, the joy of having friends close by, and a peace knowing she’s found the right place

In a few weeks my daughter, who I can still picture smiling up at me with a toothless grin and a head full of curls, is about to have a baby of her own.  She and her husband will be navigating their way to recreate their home as a family of three instead of two.  Doubt? Anxiety? You know it!  And as a parent I know that there’ll be some heartache too, but right there mixed in are great excitement and abundant joy!  (I can hardly wait!)

Add into the mix, my son, who is about to be married and join two lives into one home.  Again, its a time of mixed emotions. There are so many questions to be answered, plans to be made, and priorities to set. If ever there’s a time with a myriad of feelings, it’s planning a wedding, but the promise of this new love brings such delight!

My home was built over one hundred years ago and has seen better days. Now common sense would tell you that we have enough going on in our lives right now, but I’m not always sensible, SO….my husband and I have been looking into making a change in our home too.  We’ve given consideration to building a new house, one board at a time….. TOO STRESSFUL! Tearing down our family home and putting in a modular has been an option….. this caused me some heartache, though.  Remodeling where we’ve called home for many years is still being considered.  All three options are exciting and all three have also caused my husband and me a great deal of anxiety!

Home…..some of its definitions are:  shelter, a dwelling place or retreat, any place of residence or refuge, a place in which one’s domestic affections are centered.  These are all so true but for me there’s something more about home which cannot be defined.  It is that gravitational-like pull that draws me back. It is memories of times past and hope for times to come. It is love.

Yes, every emotion on the spectrum is experienced in a home…some good, some not. It is where we teach and learn about life.  It isn’t perfect but it’s where we begin and where we end. And in the midst of it all we have the promise that a Heavenly home awaits us. A place where there will be no more heartache or anxiety, only excitement and joy as we have never known before!  They say “Home is where the heart is”.  I have definitely put my whole heart into creating a home for my family and more importantly into building in us, one prayer at a time, hearts of faith, so that on some sweet day we will all finally be home together, forever.

Poetry Here, There, and Everywhere

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I have arrived at my first destination safely and I’m excited to say that even tho I am tired and my mind is not working on all cylinders, I still have a poem for you tonight.  It is written by my sister, Barbie….oops, Barb to her friends. What a gift it was to receive this today. Also, if you look in the comments for yesterday’s post you will find another special poem written by my friend, Robin! Poetry here,  there, and everywhere! Just how I like it!

 

 

So I admire my sister for her wisdom, faith and kindness. So here is a little poem to help at least one more day!
ODE TO CINDY

My sister is a writer extraordinaire
She has admirers everywhere

I will miss her poems everyday
But busy she is with that grandbaby on the way!

I encourage her to continue on
And don’t make us wait too long

I love her dearly she is my sister and friend
I am not the poet in the family so this is the end.

I Hope It’s Not My Last

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At the beginning of the month I challenged myself to write a poem a day in April as a way to celebrate Poetry month.  It’s April 14th and I am pleasantly surprised to have made it this far. April’s not over yet, but my poetry writing days may be.  I have lots going on in my life right now and I am about to head out on a little trip.  I’m not sure how being out of my routine, having lots of fun with family, and poetry writing will fit together. We shall see.  So, with thirteen poems down, here’s one more before I hit the road.

I Hope It’s Not My Last

I almost made it halfway and  that’s good,

But, I may not make it as far as I should.

Life is moving at a rapid rate,

Poetry writing may have to wait.

I’m packing up and leaving town,

There may be no time to write things down.

I hate to think that this poem’s my last,

But if it is, I’ve had a blast!

Thank you for your patience with me in posting a poem a day. It really has been fun!  Is there anyone out there that would like to pick up where I’m leaving off?  Day 15 awaits!

My BETTER List

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My BETTER List

Songs and music of every kind,

All the seashells I can find,

Chocolate, Coffee, an Easter Peep,

Hallmark movies that make me weep,

Birds and goats and each Grand~Dog,

Standing on a mountaintop above the fog,

The sound of a wave crashing on shore,

My children arriving at my front door,

The flowers and trees around my yard,

Finding someone just the right card,

Comfortable shoes that are stylish too,

Projects that take glitter and glue,

My family, my faith, and my dear friends,

A really good book I hope never ends,

New recipes and eggs straight from the nest,

These are the things that I love best!

My List

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Still Waiting!

My List

Folding socks, mopping floors,

Opening broken garage doors,

Putting away groceries, buzzing flies,

Eating right, and EXERCISE,

Liver, tomatoes, stinky cheese,

Skirts that show my wrinkly knees,

Snakes and bats and curly hair,

Closed in spaces with no air,

Getting up early, packing a lunch,

These are all things I dislike a bunch!