We have 4 DVR's!

I was reminded recently how much of our life plays back right in front of our eyes. We kept all four grandchildren (ages 8,5,and 2-2year olds)last week and I realized again that they are all just like sponges, soaking up everything you say and do and then repeating it again when they see fit. I laughed outloud when one of the 2 year olds said "Dear...Dear, I need your help". Well, since "Dear" is one of the names I call Norbert, this was probably a direct quote from Grammie. :) We laugh...depending on what they are quoting of course, because it is cute that they sound just like little adults! To this day, my grown adult children quote us as their parents from different scenaries and tell stories from when they were growing up with us, and they have a good time laughing and making fun of us! I was thinking that our small family members look to all of us for the daily things...our routines, our responses to them and to other people, our direction in situations, our disagreemnts, etc. These little sponges in our households are exposed to much more than their little minds can or need to deal with on a daily basis from the world and our homes. Some of the commercials on TV today make me blush and most of the programming is definitely adult material and not suitable for little ones. When I see these small ones knowing more about the iphone than me...well, you get the picture. When our kids were growing up, we were pretty strict about what was playing on the TV when they were around. Don't kid yourself, they hear everything that you hear on the radio and TV even if they aren't looking at it. They hear the disagreements too and how you handle them. We really tried to keep our disagreements to ourselves and tried not to play them out in front of the kids. Of all things our kids need today, it's a sense of routine and security in their mom and dad and their love for each other. My point is this......kids, no matter how young are like DVRs, their eyes and minds record everything that goes on in your household....the good, the bad and the ugly. The time will come when what goes in, will come out and the DVR's will eventually play out what they have recorded in your house. Let's hope we like the programs that we have recorded. Grammie

A Word of Encouragement

I did not want to get up and go to church this morning! It has been a busy weekend and I would rather have visited Bedside Baptist with Pastor Sheets! I wanted to stay home.
Have you ever felt overwhelmed? It seems like not a week goes by that some type of bad news comes my way- you know them too-- sickness, relationship challenges with friends or family, divorces,the rough economy, terminal illness, and even death. None of us are immune from these life tragedies and if we are not careful they can send us into a downward spiral of hopelessness.
Recently I have been overwhelmed by circumstances and wanted to stay home this morning and just chill, but I drug myself up out of bed and went to church. Two of the songs we sang this morning were amazingly exactly for me. One was "You Are My Hiding Place" and the second one (I don't know the name)the verse went "through the storms of life, I will chose to trust you...everything works together for His good." The message was part of a series in Jude-Contending for the Faith through life's storms. Needless to say, I was reminded once again how this was God's personal watch care over my life. The whole service was to encourage me, the Lord knew exactly what I needed and His message this morning through song and word was exactly on target. What if I had missed it? What would have encouraged me? Sometimes we tend to blame God for not upholding His promises or not answering our prayers in the way that we would have them answered. But are we falling short on our end? This morning would have been my fault if I had not been in a place where God could touch me and encourage me through someone else.
Let's remember that we are not promised a life without turmoil, but we are promised that He watches over each one of us personally and will continue to all the days of our lives.
Grammie

Good Medicine

We all look forward to get away weekends, vacations, reunions, family get togethers. All of these things can be great but sometimes there is just one thing that stands out to you as a person that is like medicine to your soul. Do you have something that you do or somewhere that you go that just does your soul good? For me it is spending time at the beach. Norbert and I discovered our love for the beach when our children were small when we went to the beach with some friends. For many years Norbert and I even toyed with the idea of buying a condo at the beach because we loved it so much.
Fast forward 25 years and I can can count on one hand just a couple of years that we have not been able to go. We've never had a lot of money and I quickly discovered how to save a little every paycheck starting in January and by June or July could have enough to pay for a condo at the beach for a week. We would go out to eat once or twice and I cooked in the rest of the time. It was a relatively inexpensive vacation because the entertainment was provided once you were there. Mind you this wasn't the fanciest condo and it wasn't "on" the beach, but it was a great place across the street from the beach with a fabulous unobstructed view. Before we knew it, it was a family tradition and we were going every year. Summertime and vacation in our family meant "Destin". There have been several times that some of our close friends and their families all packed up and went with us. We all got condos side by side and had a great week together.
Since my children have grown and moved on to college and now marriage, there have many years that Norbert and I have gone to the beach TWICE in one year!! I think the kids loved these summer vacations in Destin and I hope they have fond memories of spending time together there. Several times in the last few years we have all joined our calendars and rented a big place and all the family has gone together.
Personally, there is just nothing else that recharges me like the noise of the surf, the sand on my feet and the sun on my shoulders. As I reflect back over the last 25 or so years, we didn't set out for this to become a tradition, it was just something we loved to do and it became our tradition.
Do you have traditions like this in your family? Finding something you all love and doing it is a good way to start a family tradition. These times spent together with family and friends produce memories that last for a lifetime.

Grammie

Safe Harbor

Memories overwhelmed me on Sun night late as we learned that the person whose forces attacked our country 10 years ago was dead. Ten years ago, I heard on the radio at work that a plane had hit one of the twin towers and I remember thinking, man is that a horrible mistake. That morning Norbert was having a new tire put on his car and was in the waiting room and as we were talking about the plane hitting the tower, Norbert exclaimed another plane just hit the other tower! and that it was a commercial plane! Fear came over me and immediately I ran to a co workers office and we watched online as those towers burned. I work in a 3 story building and have gone down the stairwell many times. My heart sank as I thought of all the people trying to get down 80 plus flights of stairs, as well as the firefighters trying to get up the stairs to put out the fire. I made calls to my kids and family to make sure all were OK. Watching hours of video and programming on TV that evening of all of the destruction, I just shook my head an cried in disbelief that anyone could do such a horrible thing. Come to find out the ones that carried out the tragedy were all living amongst us here in the US as our neighbors. The next morning listening to all of the coverage on the radio on the way to work, I just cried and was overwhelmed with the fact that my kids and their future children would have to live in the shadow of this attack and the new type of enemy we were facing.
Were we all fearful? yes. Were we prepared to fight the enemy that had come to our shores and attacked us? yes.
Well, finally now after 10 years, we find out that the US special forces found him and killed him. While it is a relief, it will not bring those 3000 people back, and sadly will probably not stop the forces that live to destroy us. However, we must not live in fear, we must remind ourselves to trust the safe harbour that we say we have faith in....our life is in His hands and He will not let the enemy prevail. He is our Safe Harbor.

Life is short, make the most of it

Recently I kept one of my grandchildren (22 months) while her parents went on a short 3 night weekend. They live within a mile from me so we spent a lot of the day at my house and nights at her house so she would be in her own environment and routine at bedtime. Part of her night time routine was bath, run around naked, get pjs on, listen to Grammie read a few books and then sit in her crib which is now a big girl bed for 20 minutes or so and look at books before lights out. Then it was lights off and hugs good night. Sitting outside her room waiting for her book time to be over and listening to her turn the pages of the books, I was suddenly overwhelmed and moved to tears. After all, it only seemed but just a few years ago that I was putting my own children to bed and now.... THEIR children. So many things have happened in the past few months that were part of bringing me to that sad moment. My life seems to be moving at a much faster pace now more than ever and everyday brings different reminders of how short life really is. So, instead of dwelling on the things that seemed to overwhelm me at that moment, I purposely started to think of the MANY blessings I do enjoy, and thanked God for His personal care that has brought me to this place in my life. Life moves on whether we are ready for it or not, so make the most of everyday that you enjoy it....and thank God for His provision in it. Grammie

Drive Time...It's an Opportunity

When our kids were growing up, in middle school and high school for the most part, my husband used to drive them to school everyday. Being blessed with the gift of teaching, he found this 20-25 minutes of uninterrupted drive time to be a prime time to impart his wisdom upon his captive audience of three. :) Yes, there were many theological, political and practical lessons taught during these morning jaunts and hopefully some of the things talked about stuck in those teenage heads. To this day the kids, who are grown now, still joke about the drive time lessons, but..... they remember them!
Of course, this was many years ago before cell phones and ipads were the companion and distraction of choice. How do you feel when you are with someone who is always on the phone or distracted by their iphone? Left out? How are your kids feeling when this is their drive time story?
We were not experts by any means, but here is what we learned, parents--mom and dad- turn off the radio and DVDS in your car. Don't use your drive time with your kids as your phone time. Rather, use your drive time with your kids, young and old, to talk about the day -what's happened and what's coming. Make it an opportunity to listen to your kids talk to you and to each other. You will be surprised how your child will become engaged with you in conversation if given the opportunity. There may be silence at first but believe me, talking will become the norm and you will be amazed what you learn about your kids and that your kids are opening up to you.

Grammie

Live in the Moment

"I wish vacation would hurry up and get here"...."I can't wait till Susie starts walking"...."I can't wait till my kids are old enough to drive!" Do these phrases sound familiar? How many vacations have you looked back upon and wished it wasn't over yet? Isn't it true that half the fun of an event is the fun and anticipation that you have when you are actually planning it?

Last year I helped plan my daughter Lizzy's wedding and the events around it since she was in Germany and unable to do much of it herself and it was a lot of work! Along with working a fulltime job, there were SO many calls, appointments, shopping, addressing envelopes, flowers, etc. My brain was on overload for months trying to think of every detail, every possible thing that could go wrong and how to prevent it, and just endless hours of details and trying to balance the costs with my bank account! I purposely tried to focus and "enjoy the moments" that I was in for those months of planning. My goal was to make it as nice as I could for Lizzy. Looking back, all of the work and effort was well worth it. It was a beautiful night and a wonderful memory for me and her dad, and one I hope Lizzy treasures for a long time. As I think back now almost a year later, I realize that the anticipation and planning of the event was a wonderful time of healing and reflection in my own life and that it was well worth all of the effort that I expended on it.

All of that said my point is this, try not to miss the moments that you are in daily--- enjoy the time planning your vacation to make it the best one ever, enjoy that crawling sweet baby as long as you can and enjoy and take advantage of those rides in the car with the kids....time is fleeting, so live in the moment.

Grammie