Random musings...

Today is my dear husband's birthday. Unfortunately, he had to work, so we celebrated Friday. I'm teaching him the joy of spreading birthday celebrations out over several days or even weeks. :-) Happy Birthday, Tommy!! I love you.

I am recovering from the worst cold I've had in a long time. It's been 12 days, and I'm still not completely well! Yuck! It came on suddenly and knocked me for a loop. Tommy was afraid I was going to suffocate, because I was making such weird noises when I slept. (Thank you, God, that I could sleep.) All that's left is a nagging cough. Back to the office tomorrow. I can hardly wait to see how much is piled up on my desk after missing three days in the office. NOT! (Thank you, God, for a wonderful, understanding boss who allowed me to stay home and rest.)

Here's a sad story of what our world is coming to. Late last Monday afternoon, I wrote four reimbursement checks for people in the office. Since I was still feeling so bad, I put them in my mailbox at home and raised the flag rather than drive to the post office. It never crossed my mind that could be a problem. We live on a quiet cul-de-sac.

The next morning just before 10, I drove out of the driveway on my way to get my hair cut and colored (you just don't miss that appointment no matter how bad you feel). I noticed the mailbox door was open. My first thought was, "I'm glad it isn't raining or those checks would be wet." Then I noticed the checks were gone. I stewed over it while at my appointment then had my fears confirmed when I returned to find that the mailman had come. Someone stole the checks!!! Talk about feeling stupid. I called the bank and stopped payment on the checks and let the guys the checks were for know what had happened.

Once again, God took care of me. If the thief had not left my mailbox open, I would not have known the checks were stolen until one of the guys asked me why he hadn't received his reimbursement. Which would have been too late. That very afternoon someone tried to cash one of the checks. The bank called my office when the check came up with the stop payment notice. The person who answered the phone is not normally in the office that day and just happened to be one of the guys to whom I'd written the checks. The thief was trying to cash the check written to that employee! He told the bank teller that the check was stolen, that he was the person being impersonated by the thief, and suggested the teller call the police. Crazy "coincidence," huh? Thank you, God.

But, it's sad to know that my trust level has been altered.

Happy Easter!!

Happy Easter! Isn't it wonderful to be reminded of what Christ did for us when we were so undeserving? As Christians, we often say "Christ died for us." My dear friend, Doug, today reminded us in Sunday School that that "us" is singular. He died for me. It was my sin that kept Christ on that cross. Humbling isn't it?

Here's a song we sang in church today. Travis Cottrell's words say it well.

Let the children sing a song of liberation
The God of our salvation set us free
Death, where is thy sting? The curse of sin is broken
The empty tomb stands open, come and see

CHORUS
He's alive, alive, alive. Hallelujah!
Alive! Praise and glory to the Lamb.
He's alive, alive, alive. Hallelujah!
Alive forever. Amen

Let my heart sing out, for Christ, the One and only
So powerful and holy rescued me
Death won't hurt me now because He has redeemed me
No grave will ever keep me from my King

CHORUS
I'm alive, alive, alive, hallelujah!
Alive! praise and glory to the Lamb.
He's alive, alive, alive. Hallelujah!
Alive forever. Amen

Worthy is the Lamb, worthy of our praise
Worthy is the One who has overcome the grave
Let the people dance, let the people sing
Worthy is the mighty King.

Grandmas ain't what they used to be

(I borrowed this post from my sister. Isn't she an excellent writer! She captured my mother to a T.)

My mom, is the new-era grandma. It's hard to keep up with her. Not that she gets lost, her children just cannot remember her itinerary.
Let's see, this past month, her sister from Mississippi came for a week-long visit, then those two and two other friends took off on a cruise for another week. That would tire me out, but no, not them. From there, they all took off driving to Mississippi to return the sister to home and visit. They went shopping, to the casinos and had a blast. On the way home, in the continuous rain, they made multiple stops, to ease the tension of a long trip, and to get one more visit in on the way home.
I called her last night to see about lunch this week. Let's see today is cards, tomorrow is doctor appointment, Thursday is nail and hair day, then we have art class, bridge and who knows what else to fit into the week. Maybe I can arrange a dinner.
It is absolutely fantastic that these ladies, in groups or in singles, can rampage through the countryside and enjoy every single second of it. Never a dull moment. When there is nothing else to do, they will sit and play Mexican Train, go to dinner, a movie, a play at the community college.
Now that may sound a bit selfish. (NOT) As they also do some charity/volunteer work. Stuffing bears for the police department, working in the historical museum in our town, helping supply gifts at the holidays to children and the seniors, and she is very active in her church.
Not forgetting that most of these ladies have had to deal with the passing of a spouse, medical issues and the like. The attitudes and outlook of these cuties is positive and happy.
Oh to be like my mom and her friends when I have passed another 20 years. I think she is the greatest example of a new-era grandma. Not sitting around waiting for time to pass, watching TV and letting life pass by. But taking charge of her life, living every moment of it to the fullest capacity. No whining about what I could of done, instead she runs the game of life, skidding around the bases, sliding into home plate yelling, "What a Ride! Let's do it again!"

Wind on Wednesdays

Two of the many clocks we have must be wound weekly. In order to have any prayer of remembering that consistently, Wednesday has become the official wind the clock day. Thus, "wind on Wednesdays."

To further complicate matters, when I go to wind the clocks, the hour or minute hand usually sits across one of the three places to insert the key. (I think that's Murphy's Law #787 or so.) I leave the clock door open and hope to remember to go back and finish the winding job in a few minutes. More often than not, that few minutes becomes an hour or so; and I sometimes come back to the same situation.

OK. I'm officially old.

The recession hits close to home

Matt and Amber came to visit last week. Yea!!! It was the first time they'd been in Utah since they came for Trevail and Laura's wedding last June. And, the first time they'd visited as a married couple.

An unexpected treat was the opportunity for Matt and Amber to join Tommy and I at the 85th birthday celebration of a friend from a former church. We ran into several people who had not seen Matt since he was about 10 years old. (Why do we always picture the children of friends in our mind as they were when we last saw them even as we watch our own children grow up?) He loved the shocked look on faces when people figured out who he was--and the extra surprise of getting to introduce his wife.

Unfortunately, they were able to come because Matt was let go from his job. Since it was also Amber's spring break, we thought it might be good for them to get away for a few days. I think they did enjoy some time from the stress of "what now." They visited their Utah friends, went to the zoo, and shared some laughs and good talks with mom and dad. I know we loved having them here.

My heart hurts for them as they face the uncertainties of the future. It's hard when your children hurt and you can't fix it. Yet, I rejoice knowing God is in control and in seeing Matt and Amber acknowledge that. There are blessings in the midst of this time of adversity--good friends to lift them in prayer, an unexpected temporary part-time job to provide some extra income, and even a forgotten gift card to Wal-mart that surfaced the day Matt lost his job.

God is good! All the time!

Birthdays

My birthday was last week. I LOVE my birthday!!! It's getting to hear from friends and family that makes it special. It's also fun to spread the celebration over several days or even weeks. And this one was great.

As a Facebook newbie, I was surprised to get lots of greetings from friends I normally would not hear from. Those one-line well wishes were nice to read. My kids called. My boss took the office staff to lunch to celebrate my and a coworker's birthdays. The mailbox held cards from friends and family for over a week. A friend who shares March as a birthday month met me for lunch another day. We recently reconnected after many years. It's so nice to catch up with her and her family. Tommy took me for a steak lunch at Lonestar. It doesn't get much better for a Texas girl!

Thanks to everyone for remembering me. And, in case you're curious, I don't mind telling you I celebrated the big "double nickle" (as my sister so cleverly reminded me).

Girlfriends

Several years ago, my church grouped the deacons into teams. Each team was composed of four deacons and their wives who would be "on" for a week. It would be their responsibility to answer ministry needs that arose during the week. It's really a great plan and is a great way to keep the deacons from becoming overwhelmed with responsibilities.

Who knew, though, that a byproduct of that arrangement would be a group of amazing girlfriends!

My original deacon wives' team included me, Penny, Valerie, and Linda. Quite a diverse group--12 years separate the oldest from the youngest; a stay-at-home mom and three working women; a laid back California earth mother, a southern belle, and two Missourians. But there were similarities as well--we love God, we are all moms, none of us is originally from Utah, and the military played an important part in our lives. The military moved Penny a few years ago, but she is still a part of the "girlfriends." We added Chris--a great Christian, the horse lover, a mom, not from Utah, and influenced by the military--to round out our local foursome.

Looking back it's hard to remember exactly how the girlfriends came to be. The deacon team (also known as "the gang") got together for dinner and game nights to get to know one another a little better, so it must have evolved from that. But, I cannot tell you how thankful and blessed I am to have my girlfriends.

We laugh a LOT!!! Last night we went to dinner at Applebee's and spent four hours catching up. We laughed so hard people from other tables were staring at us. Somtimes we also cry a lot.

We've traveled together for girlfriend get away weekends and completely filled the back of my MDX with luggage and shopping bags. We've kidnapped a friend's doll and photographed it in a cornfield, at Wendy's headquarters, and sunbathing (complete with sunglasses) poolside. We've asked strangers to take our picture looking through an iron gate at a rest stop in Nephi, Utah. We've slept five to a room and watched the Westminster dog show on Sunday morning television.

We are great event planners. Five of our children have married in the past five years. The moms not related to the bride/groom have hosted showers, set up and taken down rehearsal dinners, and manned the serving tables at receptions so the mother of the bride/groom could enjoy the event. All the Utah girlfriends even traveled 12 hours to Arizona to attend my son's wedding and help with the rehearsal dinner last July. (We missed you, Penny.) It takes dedicated friends to willingly travel to Arizona in July!!

The bridal shower for my future daughter-in-law, Amber, saw the debut of the Utah Tribal Moms. Creative Chris made each of us neclaces with stickers to depict the previous weddings and a grandchild. She, Valerie, and Linda put their necklaces on as the shower drew to a close and each introduced her "tribe" to my future daughter-in-law while dancing through the room waving mardi gras beads (they're cheap). The beads were then put on Amber who also got a kiss from each mom. Hilarious! Amber loved it.

At the wedding, these dear friends talked the DJ into playing "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," sat Amber and Matt in the middle of the dance floor, and again danced around them waving the mardi gras beads while their husbands and other Utah guests stood around the edge of the dance floor playing various instruments from the dollar store. Again, hilarious! (Although the New Mexico guests might have wondered what their daughter was getting in to.)

We have a hysterical retirement plan (if our husbands die before we do). Not morbid--just practical. Think "Golden Girls" on motorized scooters. Watch out world!

We are family. Not only because we all are a part of God's family, but because none of us live near our biological families. We share secrets, call on each other for advice, for help in time of need, when we need a shoulder to cry on, when we need someone who will pray for us, for recipe advice, etc. We've even promised to make sure each other's homes are clean if we die. I may be a horrible housekeeper but I don't want anyone to know that. :-)

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 says, "Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken."

How blessed am I to have four braids. Our cord is definitely not easily broken.