Diggin in the dirt and salt water makes it better...and running behind a mosquito truck is lots of fun!

Love to be outside...I love the smell of dirt, of fresh cut grass of honeysuckle and wysteria in the distance.   I don't mind the dirty clothes and the sweat pouring down.  Truth be told, you can get a lot of stuff figured out diggin' in the dirt. I also love salt water..Daddy always said it would heal anything and Mama agreed.  Got a sore that won't heal, or a bug bite or a cold? Go swim in the bay or gulf, you'll be all better!

I have always had an affinity for the outdoors. Of course it was much more convenient growing up, get dirty.. then go wading or swimming.  Not a problem!   I was the queen of the mud pies, get just the right mixture of dirt and water and it will actually stick to the pan like a pie.  Need something to go with it?  Make some acorn soup!  I thought it was really cool, because the acorns turned the water purple! I even tasted it once or twice on a dare.  I later learned that that was probably not a good idea and it may account for some of my current lapses in brain function! I am sure that aluminum pot I pretended to cook it in wasn't so great either.

I have also always hated wearing shoes.  Don't get me wrong, I am girly enough to like all kinds of shoes...I just don't like to wear them any longer than I have to! So, there you have it, I am a dirt diggin, acorn swilling, salt water lovin, redneck girl.  WHEW, glad that's out in the open...

Being outside as a kid taght me how to figure lots of stuff out.  Like...oyster shells hurt your feet when you walk on them without shoes; that Mama doesn't like you to come in the front door when you are dirt streaked, and smell like a wet puppy.  That salt water really does wash away a lot of boo-boos...still does.  Nothing seems so bad when you put your feet (or your whole body) in the water, feel the ebb and flow of the waves and the balmy breeze and the warm water surround you. God made all this..He can handle my boo boos too!  Dirt will not hurt you...it is what God made us from. .. and where we will go back to.  You have to bend over, and humble yourself to get dirty, but look at the rewards.  pretty flowers, a new project, cut grass...new life from the dirt! 

I also made stupid mistakes when being outside.  Like the time my sister told me to see how many toad frogs my friend Cheryl and I could collect and put in the garage...big mistake, it was in early spring after a rain..We had about 80 at last count. Boy was she in trouble!  Also...chasing after the mosquito truck so you can play in the fog is also probably not a good idea! There was a whole posse of us who would watch for the yellow lights and hear the fogger, then jump on our bikes and follow behind him all over Parker.  I still get a little "twitchy" when I hear the truck in the neighborhood.  I learned which clouds would bring rain we could wash off in and even swim in, and which ones meant a boring "inside" day.

On beautiful sunny Spring days like these, I still have the urge to take my shoes off, dig in the dirt, wade in the water and Wait...I hear it...now I see those yellow lights.. Where's my bike???

Free Boat!!!

As I was going to work the other morning I saw a large blue boat alongside the road.  At one time it must have been the envy of the neighborhood, but now, it was just laying on it's side with "Free Boat" spray painted in white along its hull. I wouldn't have noticed it if the two guys in front of me hadn't slammed on brakes to check out this marvelous find.  On each trip this week, I have noticed the boat and at least one or two people checking it out.  Then, yesterday morning I saw spray painted under the "Free Boat" sign was a new note that read, "must take all of it"!  So, I guess people were just taking what they wanted and leaving the rest.  Kind of like a "boat buffet"! THen, finally, I saw it was rescued and moved about two houses down to a new home.  I so enjoyed watching " free" enterprise at work this week! 

I've heard it said that it is better to have a friend with a boat or a pool than to have one yourself! This is probably true....swimming and fishing are fun, but waxing the boat and skimming the pool rank right up there with clipping toenails and scrubbing toilets!  I wonder when the boat quit being useful, when it quit being the entertainment for the day, when it became such a burden that it was chunked alongside the road to be scavenged for parts. Then, I was so pleased to see that someone noticed the value of it, saw what the faded boat once was and rescued it from the scavengers!

I am so glad that when I feel like I have outlived my usefulness, or that I view myself as unimportant in the lives of my loved ones and others,  that my Owner and Creator doesn't leave me alongside the road to be scavenged.  He rescues me, sees the value in me. rescues me, and restores me to my former worth and reminds me that I am His, treasured and valued.

How grateful I am for His loving care..

..thankful for another lesson from the side of the road.

Spring...It's Really Here!

Just two weeks ago, it was cold and we were grabbing for jackets and now...We girls are putting color on our toes, finding our crop pants and colorful clothes, fanning when we are outside, and  there is more good local news than bad!

 I was watching the morning news this morning and most of the reports were about festivals, and the boom that Spring Break brings to the area!  I counted about five or six local festivals such as: the Fairhope Arts and Crafts Festival, Family Funday, a BBQ cook off , and a Sausage Festival.  This list is in no way exhaustive or complete!  There are concerts on the beach, concerts in town,  and opportunities to shake off the gray of winter!'

I love the promise and the color of spring!  Azaleas are covering their bushes, the Bradford pears and dogwoods are gorgeous, and even the fruit trees are budding.  New life always follows the dead of Winter.

Thank you God, for dressing the earth up so beautifully, just for our pleasure!  You are a marvelous God!


¹¹ See! The winter is past;
the rains are over and gone.
¹² Flowers appear on the earth;
the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
is heard in our land.

--Song of Songs 2:11-12

When Silence Speaks the Loudest

There are times in our lives when silence speaks louder than words ever could....
 Silence is often feared in our culture.  We don't know what to do with it. so we fill it up with "white noise" like fans and fake ocean breezes and all kinds of things to avoid it.  I am just as guilty as anyone of avoiding the quiet at times, but there are so many things we learn through quiet....If only we are still.  The God who made us and loves us does His best work in silence...it is then when He tells us to "Be still and know that I am God."

Here are some of the times in my life when silence is speaking loudly:

...The morning after a night time snow.  The whole earth seems hushed in a blanket of white.

... Watching.a sleeping baby...all seems right in God's world.

...The calm before a storm. The sky is a strange color, it is eerily quiet, even the birds have hushed.

....The calm after a storm.  You know the One that made you covered you once again under his wings.

....Sunset on the water..why speak?   There are no words.

....Waiting up at night for answers that aren't there to find.

...Waiting for a call that can't come soon enough.

....Sharing a look or a smile that needs no words.

....Feeling a loved ones arms around you

....Holding your sleeping child for the first time

....A wink from God.  Just a little snapshot only for you. A moment frozen in time.

....That moment of utter silence immediately following a wonderful piece of music...aahh!

....Those rare times when I am silent enough to hear the mighty and calm voice of the Savior.

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 A favorite quote on the blessings in the quiet times...

"Place your ear against the chest of the Savior so that, when troubled times come, you may not know what will befall you, but you can hear the steady pulse of the boundless love of Him who holds you."--Praying God's Word by Beth Moore 

Have a great day






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Boxes

I have seen my share of cardboard boxes....until I was 20, I didn't have much need of them at all.  I lived in the same house for my first 20 years. Then, when I finished community college, it all changed. Boxes for college (back and forth, in the summers), boxes when I finished, boxes when we married and started our own home, ...didn't need boxes when the river took our stuff away, though!  Then, boxes back home a few months later, and then a few years later. ..and then, the big move halfway across the country!  A break for a few years, and then the boxes reappeared.  Then they spread to our kids, when they moved back and forth to school, when we moved back and forth to new Pastorates, then, as their families increase and they move forward with their lives, more boxes are required.

Cardboard boxes have a particular smell all their own, They are kind of a necessary evil.  They have come to represent the fluidity of life to me, and for someone that fights change with her every fiber, they are an just an object which I can rail against!  NO, I am not packing now, but in the last few weeks there were boxes to move my mom, boxes to help our children pack for a new move, and a couple of lingering boxes around my house.  I know that I am grateful for the "stuff" that goes into the boxes, but there is more to it than that... See? Boxes equal change!!!

There is a song on the radio right now that really speaks to me... the chorus goes something like this:...

"All I know is I'm not home yet,
This is not where I belong,
Take this world and give me Jesus
This is not where I belong"

Kind of brings perspective, doesn't it.  Glad that as I go through life, the boxes will become less plentiful and eventually, I won't need them at all!

Thank you, Lord, for the boxes and also for the fact that I won't need them when I finally make it Home!

Blessings come in many shapes............

So many blessings in one week...So many tears....of unabandoned  joy, and of quiet acceptance. Last Friday, the most wonderful of miracles happened! We were made grandparents again to a beautiful little 9lb 13 oz boy named Jeffrey Isaiah! You see, he is the second child of our oldest son.  Of course, he is perfect in every way just like his sister!  We were blessed enough to be able to spend a few days gazing at that gorgeous new creation and  to spend time with that sweet family.  God's blessings are amazing and astounding.

But before we could see that beautiful face, there was a task to be done, one I have dreaded for many years. As the disease that is stealing my mother's mind has progressed to her body, there was another life event that had to be attended to. Since she can no longer do even the most minimal things for herself... as she nears that shore where Jeffrey just came from, she had one more move to make...  On Saturday, my sisters and I and some other loved ones moved Mom into a full time skilled care setting.  It all seemed so final.  removing the things she once treasured so but no longer recognized....it was the full realization that this really is the final leg of a long, long journey.

So much emotion in just a few days.  On Sunday, I returned home, unpacked a suitcase, put away the memories of Saturday, and my raw emotion of that day, and packed for a brighter one...a new soul to see, a new life entering the world bringing hope and promise.  

As both a mother, and a daughter, and now a grandmother again, I feel most privileged to have had a front row seat in these wonderful lives....those leaving the shore, those returning to the shore, the ebb and flow of life.

I can hardly wait to see God's plan unfold, it is scary, exciting, and wonderful..but the best thing about it is to know, that amist the tears of joy and grief , that we are all in his care, and our destination is sure.

Thank you for all of the blessings.