Appetizer
On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being highest) how much do enjoy watching sports on television?
6.
I watch very few sporting events . . . I really enjoy ice skating and basketball. I will watch a few other Olympic events, just for fun, if I happen to have a few free moments.
crunk DVR flex-cuff ginormous gray literature hardscape IED microgreen perfect storm RPG smackdown speed dating sudoku [tags]Thursday Thirteen[/tags]
I have a very good friend of more than thirty years who is single (divorced). She recently went through an unfortunate break-up with a guy she really cared about and…
We all make mistakes. But if you want me to answer you, don’t ever call me “Jane.” And if you address or refer to me as such in any written…
In this 1984 photo of my parents helping their first grandchild learn to walk, he appears fascinated with the shadows on the sidewalk in front of them.
It reminded me of this poem by Robert Louis Stevenson from “A Child’s Garden of Verses” (I still have my copy from childhood . . . do you?):
Appetizer
What is your favorite fruit?
Oh, I can’t pick just one. I love bananas, oranges, peaches, apricots, grapes, plums, watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberries . . . ((Living here in California, we are blessed with many varieties of fresh fruit all year long. I grew up with peach, orange, lemon and apricot trees in the backyard. Plus, Lodi is wine country so we always enjoy luscious, delicious grapes.))
Dogs are easier to raise than children because they:
1. Eat less than teen-agers;
2. Don’t ask for money all the time;
3. Don’t ask for the car keys all the time;
4. Are easier to potty train;
5. Normally come when called;
“Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing yet had been done.”
~ C.S. Lewis ~
Why do we have to start from scratch every morning in exercising our faith? That’s the question this quote made me ponder.
Two thoughts keep coming to me. The first is a cliche, but true: Every day is a blank slate. And that cuts both ways.
Two weeks ago, I wrote here about my friend who was nearing the end of her days here on earth. She did cross over into eternity last Saturday, June 30, 2007, and this past Saturday I attended the memorial service held in her honor.
I knew the woman in question for about as long as I can remember — at least since seventh grade — but we were never real close friends. We hung out in the same circle of friends, but did not seek each other out individually. Whenever “the gang” was gathered together, we were both there. And we kept up to date on each other’s lives via the other members of our group with whom we both interacted individually. We were always happy to see each other, though. Friendships often work this way.
I really enjoyed reading your responses to my post last week, “What would you do?” I promised that I would tell you this week how I handled the situation. Here’s…
School is out for the summer and my youngest son’s report card is posted on the front of the refrigerator. I can at long last write here about something that…
This Week’s Theme: Sweet My sweet boys paused on the stairs leading to the beach from our favorite hotel in Pismo Beach to let Mom snap their photo.
Appetizer
How many pieces of jewelry do you wear most days?A minimum of four: 2 earrings in each ear, although I actually have 4 holes in each earlobe, so most days I wear 8 earrings. I also wear my favorite necklace and a watch. I infrequently wear rings because I have carpal tunnel syndrome which causes my fingers to be tingly and somewhat numb all the time, so rings bug me.
How do you pray for others? Do you pray for a specific result?
For instance, if you have a friend or family member who is ill, do you pray that they “get well,” “recover fully” or use similar verbiage?I took a class on prayer a few years ago and the facilitator taught us something very simple, but profound. We say the Lord’s Prayer which includes the words “thy will be done” but we otherwise don’t seem to pray that way. Instead, in prayer, we say things like “let me get that job or raise or . . .” or “please help ______ get better soon” or “please give me . . .” Garth Brooks sang about lost love and, of course, many of us recited all too often the familiar words, “please make ______ love me . . .”
In reality, what we should always pray, according to that teacher, is a request that the Lord’s will truly be done. That’s a harder thing to do because it requires us to step outside of our self and self-centeredness to surrender to another’s will. That’s a hard thing to do, especially if you are a Type A person who is used to being in charge of your own destiny and unaccustomed to giving up control about major aspects of your own life.
Cancer has or will touch all of our lives, either through our own struggle with the disease or that of a friend or loved one. As I get older, more…
Do you remember Night Shift, a film starring Henry Winkler and Michael Keaton? There were a couple of scenes in which Keaton’s character drives Winkler’s to distraction by incessantly talking…
This week’s theme: Shiny BigBob’s shiny new* ride! (*2007 Toyota Tacoma)
Appetizer
Name a funny habit you have.
I think with my tongue. I don’t even realize I’m doing it, but when I really concentrate or exert, I stick my tongue out. My friends in water aerobics class were laughing at me the other day because I was doing it while pumping weights.
Looking to beat the heat by relaxing with a DVD for a couple of hours this weekend? You might want to consider some of the following films that I have enjoyed and would watch again or, in some cases, again and again and again . . .
1. Romantic comedy: “Must Love Dogs” or “Shall We Dance”
2. Historical Drama: “Sophie’s Choice,” “Anne of the Thousand Days,” “The Man in the Iron Mask” (Richard Chamberlain t.v. from the 1970’s or Jeremy Irons film version — both are very good) or “The Count of Monte Cristo” (again, the Richard Chamberlain t.v. version from the early 1970’s is a classic, but the Jim Caveziel film is also excellent)
“As Christians, we are called to convert our loneliness into solitude. We are called to experience our aloneness not as a wound but as a gift–as God’s gift–so that in…
I attended a writing course recently and was introduced to a concept that is not new, but was certainly new to me: Mind-mapping. I grew up in the age of…
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