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…
1. How did you start blogging? I began blogging in March 2005, as Terri Schindler-Schiavo was dying. I lent support and some assistance to her parents as they fought to…
My entry: During a visit home from college around 1978, my mother asked me to clean some things out of my room so that she could use the space. I…
Eccentricity ~ Write about eccentric people you know or have heard or read about ~ My mother was the original “pack rat.” I refer to her as the “Mrs. Winchester…
Another shot of my father taken the same evening the photo contest entry . . . modeling some of my “spare hair.” We convinced him that it wasn’t a good…
Appetizer
Fill in the blank: The best thing about where I live is _________________ . . .
. . . the fact that I don’t have to wonder about the home’s history such as when certain improvements were made or why repairs were done a certain way. Since my parents built this house in 1959, I know all of that information — and have all of the paperwork, too.
It began with “Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?” in 2000. Before long, that stunning media debacle was matched by “The Bachelor,” “The Bachelorette,” and “Average Joe.” And now, premiering…
“Faith never knows where it is being led,but it loves and knows the One who is leading.”~ Oswald Chambers ~ The concept of faith is a fascinating one whether you…
What is the most difficult and challenging aspect of your job? For many people who are required, as part of their professional responsibilities, to draft coherent written reports, summaries, memoranda…
AppetizerWhat do you consider to be the ultimate snack food?These days . . . rice cakes.SoupOn a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 as highest), about how popular is…
“The Sopranos” is simply the best show ever in the history of television. There is no series that compares or, for that matter, even comes close. There has been no…
“What used to make us stumble, God can use to make us stand. What once made us bow our heads in shame, He can use for His glory.” ~ Joanna…
We’ve all had the unfortunate experience of being an audience member when a speaker is struggling to get through his/her presentation or, worse, doesn’t realize that he/she has lost the…