Bob and Shell

They are my goldfish.  Actually I bought three of them and thought of names like Moe, Larry, and Curly, or Winken, Blinken, and Nod.  They are for when my grandchildren come over to see us.  Before the kids ever saw them, though, one died.  He looked weak from the beginning...kind of frail, and he was white - probably on his death bed when I brought him home.  Anyway, he died right away.  So I am left with...Moe and Larry, or Blinken and Nod, or whoever.  The gold one and the blonde one.
Emma has taken the most interest in them and she named them.. Bob and Shell.  "Bob and Mi-chelle?" I asked.  "No," she said, "Just Shell."  I do not know which is which.
So there they are, in my kitchen swimming around in a fish bowl.  Their home gets cleaned weekly, by me.  I have put it off all day today.  While washing the dishes this evening, I glanced over and took pity on them.  "Okay you guys, let's do this."
Why do things sometimes happen all at once?  I mean, when you can't possibly do two tasks at once that need your undivided attention - why?  That seems to happen to me alot lately.
I was finished cleaning the bowl and rinsing the marbles - (don't you just love marbles in a fishbowl or in a glass jar in the window?) - and I was putting the fish back into the bowl and one slipped out and went down the garbage disposal...and the phone rang, and rang.  Tommy yelled from the other room, "It's your mom."  As he is talking, I am frantically sticking my hand down into the disposal.  Have you ever done that?  Try it.  I am feeling around for a fish - in the hope that he is still wiggling.  Now the black icky thingy is around my wrist like a bracelet and the fish is in my fist.  I am trying to find the phone.  It is not in its home...
I look down at my Bob or Shell and he/she isn't moving.  I rinse him under the sink - yes, him.  After thinking about it, Shell would never escape into a garbage disposal.  I drop Bob back into his bowl and watch.  He swims!!  He survived and is following Shell around the bowl, telling her about his adventure.  I put the disposal thingy back in place (gross) and take pictures of my two fish that I have suddenly grown very fond of.  We have bonded.
During all of this, Tommy is telling me that I can get another and I realize how much I love these fish.  We get attached to things we take care of, don't we?  Some things just need caring for.  Some people do, too.

Campfires

Giant marshmallows

Recently, Tommy, my mom, and I went to Hardin, Texas to spend the evening with my brother and his family.  They have some acreage and whenever the temperatures drop, a campfire appears.  What is it about fires that is so appealing?  They are mesmerizing and make you just want to sit in front of them for hours...which is what we did.  Out came marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate.  My mom thinks chocolate is one of the main food groups, so she was in heaven.  Stars filled the sky.  Why are they always so vivid in the country and absent in the city?  I really do know the answer to that, but still....
Molly, their oldest, is a firebug.  She was the keeper of the flame all evening.

I have always lived in the city, but sometimes I hear the call of the wild. I want the best of both worlds, I guess.  Maybe someday, when Tommy's preaching days are over, we could make a change like that. Until then, we have relatives we can visit.  Nice.

What Lies Ahead...

It's not about being "here"...  It's about being "there".  Do you have struggles?  Well, I do too, and mine are mostly with myself. 
Nothing happens by chance.  I truly believe that. I also believe that my struggles are designed, hand-carved so to speak, just for me, by a good and loving God. That makes them alot easier to deal with. 
Nothing comes my way without having passed through His hands first.  This is a lesson I have tried to hang on to...though at times it has been hard. We cling so ferociously to this life and we want all it has to offer. We forget what lies behind the curtain...glory. 
Learn to live your life with a purpose...not to gain all you can, but quite the opposite.  Giving all you can to what God has for you to do...yielding your life for others and gaining an eternity of blessings.  How often I forget this jewel of wisdom.  It is not about me.  It is not about me.  It is not about me....or you either, by the way.  It is about giving God glory for it all...the good, the bad, and everything in the middle.  
Ask yourself this question when facing a task - Will this matter one hundred years from now?  Will it count for eternity?  It can, you know.  Do your best for Him and learn to see the trials in your life as refining tools - to make you stronger and more useful to His kingdom - knowing that the smallest kindness done in secret brings Him MUCH glory.
So as you and I go through our days, doing the next thing on our lists, just remember to store some things up for heaven and that life is not lived for today, but for eternity...
Trust Him as your only Hope...because He is.  

Blindness

Suda Mae is my mom.  She is the one who made me hang up laundry, do dishes, and other mean things as a child...but I have forgiven her (smile) and I am glad...now.  She has always been my number one cheerleader. A few years ago, she began to go blind, having macular degeneration along with glaucoma.  It is very rare...especially with this particular combination of both.  There is no cure or operation left to be done.  My brothers and I took her driver's license away from her about three years ago.  She was not a happy camper, but the decision had to be made.  I became her taxi, "go pher", and...her wheels basically.
Every day, her sight changes.  She is eighty-one now.  Some days are a lighter shadow than others, but none are good.  I am amazed at the transformation she has gone through....from anger to joy...from frustration to peace.  My mom did bookkeeping and taxes for many, many years.  The loss of her eyesight has taken the work from her that she loved to do...but she is learning to be content right where she is.  It is a process.
I imagine myself in her shoes.  Would I be so positive? Would I get up, get dressed, and put on make-up? (we have laughed about that one more than once).  She often has on earrings that do not match, shoes of different colors, and brown pants that she thought were black...but she still smiles about it and we both can laugh.  My job involves reading and looking for lost things on the floor.  We have developed a system that works for us in any given situation.  
She cannot see faces, and identifies people from their voices, or perhaps their height.  So far, she is able to stay in her house, as she has it memorized.  We plan for her to live with us in the coming future...a time we do not talk about for now.
My mom has taught me many things in her life, but the most important lessons were not the things she thought she was teaching me...but from what I have observed - her attitude, her love for family, and her ability to hope for better things to come.
I am thankful to God for all of this.  It has made us both stronger, and me more caring.  God means all things for good to those that love Him and are called according to His purpose...so Your will be done, O Lord, not ours.
She and I recently talked about her not being able to see the faces of the ones she loved...but the next face she does see will be the one of her Savior, Jesus Christ.  Perhaps that will make her joy with Him extra sweet.

Affordable Tidbits of Fall

These are random Fall encouragements I wanted to fit somewhere in my blog without writing paragraphs about them, though I could.  Be glad I didn't.

1.  If you have time, watch Alfred Hitchcock's "The Trouble With Harry".  It is a delightful spoof.  The scenery is gorgeous. Really gorgeous.
2.  Personally, I don't care for coffee, but the Pumpkin Latte from Starbucks is yum.
3.  Go to your local feed store and take pix of your kids on hay bales with pumpkins.
4.  Find those pumpkins in #3 at a local pumpkin patch.  Many churches will have them in their yards at affordable prices.
5.  Make cider.  The simplest way is store bought apple cider and a bag of red hots or a box of Aspen's Mulling Spices.  Yum.

6.  Put orange Christmas bulbs in your nightlights.  If you don't have nightlights, make your own with a clear plain votive.  Glue orange tissue on the outside of it in overlapping small pieces, and drop a tea light in.
7.  Make soup...and listen to Christmas music.
8.  Fall is the best time to plan for the holidays ahead....while listening to Christmas music.
9.  Read more...outside.
10.  Go to Galveston and walk on the beach before our rainy winter sets in.
11.  Spray paint a gourd black and tie an orange ribbon around it.
12.  Candy corn in little bowls.
13.  Open your windows and freshen your house.  Amazingly pleasant.
14.  Bring out oranges and browns in any way you can...blankets, pillows, dishes, etc.
15.  Put colored lights in your fireplace or in a basket of leaves.

Vacation 2010 - Tommy and Matt with kids....and story teller.
If you are looking for a trip out of town - Go to Mountain View, Arkansas.  Lovely little town.  Every night, pickers gather round campfires near the town square and play bluegrass music til the cows come home.  (I don't know when cows come home, but I give in long before they do.)  If you don't like bluegrass, don't go....cuz it's Arkansas and that's what they do. Take note of fiddles on the back wall.

Froberg's

Have you ever been to Froberg's in Alvin?  It is a farmers' market...kind of hidden away on the back streets, but such a refreshing reminder that good things come from nature...in a nature setting.  Recently they added more parking (which was much needed) because the traffic was backed up with cars trying to get in.  Hey,  maybe you have been there.
For most of the year, strawberries grow in the back acres.  Come spring, you can grab a bucket and pick to your heart's delight, paying by the pound when you are done.  Too bad for them that they don't weigh us before and after we pick! Kids of all ages are out there grabbing the yummy red fruit as fast as their fingers can work.

Not only is their produce fresh from local farms, but there is usually someone handing out samples of sausage from the little smokehouse next door, enticing you to visit.  So after making your veggie and fruit purchases, walk over to Greak's and grab something there.  My favorite is a chopped beef BBQ sandwich, a bottle of coke, and maybe a bag of chips.  Tommy loves their turkey jerky.  Either works and there is so much more.
Outside the market are picnic tables, sinks to wash your hands or whatevers in (perhaps you want to rinse those fresh picked strawberries), and they have the ever lovely blue port-a-thingys ....should you be desperate enough.

       


Anyway, this is an unpaid advertisement.  It is about an hour from where I am, but you may be closer.  Look them up, and then go.

Shuttle

Today, while driving south on 45, all of a sudden all the cars started pulling off the freeway and onto the grass or the shoulder of the freeway.  The traffic just stopped moving.  And then I saw it.  The shuttle was flying over.  People were in awe, some holding cameras and camera phones and some just staring.  It was really quite moving.  I too, grabbed my camera and took some pictures.  Thought I would share.  Have a wonderful day.