Emerald green, White sand, Blue eyes

I've been reading a lot lately about colors in the bible.  God must love colors!  Of course we know He made the earth with its myriad of colors, and if that wasn't enough He made a rainbow to seal a promise.  He made sure that Joseph's beautiful coat of many colors was mentioned.  And then, in much detail He talks about the colors used in the tabernacle in the wilderness and in Solomon's temple. Then lastly, He talks about the colors in Heaven, brilliant colors that we can only imagine.

I am so glad that God made colors, not just one or two, but a multitude of colors that are a feast for our eyes.  People who don't have a preference about anything else have an opinion about color!
We all have our favorites, and sometimes the mere sight of a particular shade brings a flood of memories or wonderful feelings, or funny memories.

I love emerald green.  Gulf Coast green!  The kind of green like the water that I call home. So beautiful against the sparkling white sand and when the sun hits it just right it looks like emeralds and diamonds!  I also love blue.  Reminds me of my Dad and Josh's blue blue eyes!  Brown is a beautiful and warm color to me.  Reminds me of fall, and wooded lots and my husband's warm brown eyes! Comfort and love! I also love navy blue and red together? Why?  Because when our twins (who will be 23 next Sunday) were small, I always dressed Drew in Blue and Caleb in Red!

 If colors add so much to our life here and give our lives so much depth, I can only imagine what they must add to Heaven!

As I sit here on a cloudy Sunday, I am grateful for another one of the presents that will be waiting for us to unwrap.... just think of the wrapping paper!!!

"...clothed in rainbows of living color, flashes of lightning, rolls of thunder"

"If you're not allowed to laugh in heaven, I don't want to go there." - Martin Luther

"Laughter through tears is one of my favorite emotions"---Truvy, "Steel Magnolias"

     When I woke up this morning my sides were sore and I couldn't figure out why.  Then I remembered...
Our women's small group met last night and although we are serious about our studies, last night began with laughter and joy.  Not just giggles, but side-splitting laughter! In between we had some serious issues and heart felt times, but we ended with more of that deep, cleansing, belly-laughter over some of the silliest things. What a God-given gift we have in laughter!

     A couple of years ago, my friend Tracey and I were coming back from an afternoon break for a little ice cream, we boarded the church elevator and were heading back to our offices, hit the button..and nothing.  No bump, no whirr, no lift that moves your tummy a little, nothing.... We looked at each other, hit the "door open"  button and NOTHING!  We looked at each other with our melting ice cream, I pulled my phone out of my pocket, called the church office 25 feet away and told them we were stuck.  Then, the best thing happened, we looked at each other and began to laugh.  At first it was a giggle, then a laugh, then the tears started running,  and we couldn't stop laughing.  We were safe, the fire department was a block away, we were on the first floor and there were maybe 10 or 15 feet below us. I am a little claustrophobic, but not that day.  For the next 30 minutes, we laughed about the good stories we would have for our families, the nice break we were having, and other than the need for the facilities it wasn't too terrible...after all, I never heard of anybody being stuck in an elevator for days on end, we knew the fireman and had great confidence in their abilities.  When we were sprung form our cocoon by our able firemen, we walked out to all of the concerned faces, then one of the firemen said, "You two sure were cuttin' up in there", and then we laughed even harder.  I am so grateful to our God for the joy of that memory.  It could have been terrible if we had not embraced the moment and chosen joy over fear.

  
    Last night was another one of those times.  We were bathed in God's most precious gift of laughter, joy,  and the  assurance that even though each of us are facing different and tough issues in our lives, He gives us the deep abiding joy in Him that enables us to laugh, smile and know that He smiles when His children are joyful!

    How many times in our lives has God rescued a painful moment with laughter?  Given us a memory that makes us laugh just thinking about it? My friend Debbie and I can't even say the words 'super glue" without laughing uncontrollably (..miss you girl!)  God gave us laughter at one of the most horrifically difficult times!   Snapshots of unspeakable joy!

---Feel His joy in your laughter today!

"He will yet fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with shouts of joy".--Job 8:21 

When my best just isn't enough...He's there

Throughout my life I have struggled with this issue; if something is wrong I want to fix it right then and if I can't, I have trouble letting it go.  But sometimes, my best just isn't good enough.  Many times it's not even close.  It drives me crazy to know that there are just some things I can do nothing about.
The words  failure, inadequate, unlovable, heartbroken and  unworthy  cloud my heart and soul.  Instead of trying to force a solution to appear,  I need to be still and let God go ahead of me.  Much easier said than done.  I can't stand the fact that my best just isn't good enough and may not ever be in someone else's eyes.

This week, a freiend used some bible verses as her Facebook post.  I have to admit that I often do not look up verses if they are not printed plainly for me to see, lazy huh? But for some reason, I grabbed my Bible and looked them up: It was from Proverbs and three of the verses just grabbed on to me like glue:

"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." Prov. 4:23
(Interpretation from the commentary of Heather:  "Stop chewing on it, get your heart right."

"Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you."  Prov. 4:25
(Interpretation:  "You Ninny, it's not up to you, its time to move forward and get busy about the kingdom, only God can fix this".)

"Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways." Prov. 4:26
(Interpretation: "It's time to move forward, learn from the past and be faithful and authentic in all you do.")

Now, my commentary may not mean much to you, but this is the impression I felt when I read these words.  I stopped, wrote them down immediately, and thanked Monty for posting them.

Here's the kicker, she said she posted from the wrong chapter...No she didn't..that was just for me!

The things I learned this week...When my best isn't good enough, His is, and that is really all I need to know.

You're killing me, Smalls!

 I heard this the other night;  "You're killin' me, Smalls!" , and I just died laughing.
There are those lines from movies over the years that convey a message much better than I ever could!  That line is of course from the movie, "The Sandlot". a move we must have watched at least 100 times when our boys were at home.  Smalls just can't get it right, and his friends are finally fed up and use that line!   I know you all have your favorites.  Here are some of mine, oh and there can be multiple lines from the same movie:

From "The Sandlot"...


-"You're killin' me Smalls"
-"Man, this is baseball. You gotta stop thinking. Just have fun. I mean, if you were having fun you would've caught that ball."
-"If you'da been thinkin you wouldn't 'a thought that"
-"Remember kid, there's heroes and there's legends. Heroes get remembered but legends never die, follow your heart kid, and you'll never go wrong."
-"Let me tell you something kid; Everybody gets one chance to do something great. Most people never take the chance, either because they're too scared, or they don't recognize it when it spits on their shoes."

-[Smalls has lost a baseball signed by Babe Ruth] " I take it back. You're not in trouble, you're dead where you stand."

From the "Princess Bride"...

-"Hello Lady"
-"...As you wish"
-"Whoo-hoo-hoo, look who knows so much. It just so happens that your friend here is only MOSTLY dead. There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive. With all dead, well, with all dead there's usually only one thing you can do.
 What's that?  Go through his clothes and look for loose change"-"Why won't my arms move?  You've been mostly-dead all day."
-"My Westley will come for me."
-"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."
-"Sonny, true love is the greatest thing, in the world-except for a nice MLT - mutton, lettuce and tomato sandwich, where the mutton is nice and lean and the tomato is ripe"
-"Death can not stop true love.  All it can do is delay it for a while."
The Impressive Clergyman:"Mawage. Mawage is wot bwings us togeder tooday. Mawage, that bwessed awangment, that dweam wifin a dweam...
The Impressive Clergyman: And wuv, tru wuv, will fowow you foweva...
The Impressive Clergyman: So tweasure your wuv.
Prince Humperdinck: Skip to the end.
The Impressive Clergyman: Have you the wing?
The Impressive Clergyman: ...and do you,Pwincess Buwwercup...
Prince Humperdinck: Man and wife. Say man and wife.
The Impressive Clergyman: Man an' wife.


From "The Jerk"..

"All I need is this Thermos...Just this thermos...this chair.. and this lamp..."
"The new phone books are here! The new phone books are here!  I AM somebody! The new phone books are here!"
-You're a Cosmetologist? It must be tough to deal with all that weightlessness."


From "Steel Magnolias"...


"There's so much static electricity in this room, I pick up everything but boys and money."

"the nicest thing I can say about her is that all her tattoos are spelled correctly"
."I would rather have thirty minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special."

"Remember what Daddy always says - an ounce of pretension is worth a pound of manure!"
"What's the matter with you, M'Lynn, You have a reindeer up your butt?"
"Don't try to get on my good side, Truvy. I no longer have one!"
"Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion."
"The only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize!"
"I have a strict policy that nobody cries alone in my presence."
"Miss Truvy, I promise that my personal tragedy will not interfere with my ability to do good hair."
"In a good shoe, I wear a size six, but a seven feels so good, I buy a size eight"
"Honey, time marches on and eventually you realize it is marchin' across your face."

From "Sweet Home Alabama"


-" Honey, just cuz I talk slow doesn't mean I'm stupid."
-"You expect me to tell you look good? What, did they run out of soap at the Piggly Wiggly since I left?"
-"The truth is I gave my heart away a long time ago, my whole heart, and I never really got it back.'
-"What do you want to be married to me for, anyhow? So I can kiss you anytime I want."

From "It's A Wonderful Life"


-"Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?
-"You call this a happy family? Why do we have to have all these kids?"
-"Bread... that this house may never know hunger.  Salt... that life may always have flavor.  
And wine... that joy and prosperity may reign forever. Enter the Martini Castle."
-"Look, Daddy. Teacher says, every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings."

-" I been savin' this money for a divorce, if ever I got a husband."

-"Boys and girls and music. Why do they need gin?"

-"A toast! A toast! A toast to Mama Dollar and to Papa Dollar, and if you want to keep this old Building and Loan in business, you better have a family real quick. "

-"Every time a bell rings and angel gets his wings"

-"Yes, George, You really did have a wonderful life."

-"Atta boy Clarence."

Everyone has their favorites, and there are many more that come up in our everyday lives.  But these just make me smile.  They give our conversations flavor and often conjure up pleasant memories, or great mental pictures.

Have a wonderful day and share some of your best movie lines with me!

Unclaimed Baggage? I don't think so...

Just came back from vacation last week.  It was awesome in an ordinary sort of way....which is good.  We  spent two days with each of our sons, with their families in and near their homes, relaxing, hanging out, celebrating and doing life together.

They were gracious, allowing us to be in their homes and sharing their lives with us.  One of the places we went was the Unclaimed Baggage Center in North Alabama.  It was a fascinating place, anything you can imagine that could be left on an airplane was there.  Bottles of tylenol, Persian rugs worth thousands of dollars, artwork, neck pillows, clothing from all countries, wedding gowns, art work,  cell phones, a power cord for any device,  you name it!  It kind of makes you wonder about the history behind some of the things left behind or lost.  One thing that struck us as "odd" was that attached to one end of the building were the gates to a cemetery... Unclaimed Baggage?  A cemetery? a correlation?  could be............

I know, I feel that I am always trying to place a spiritual implication on everything, but how many people live their lives right alongside us, and in the end, have never been claimed by anyone?  They have been cast aside as useless,  unclaimed by family, friends, or discarded in some way.  Maybe someone even gave up on trying to find them.  Maybe they thought they were living lives of purpose, but were unclaimed by those they thought they were made to serve.

There are days when I feel like "unclaimed baggage" , and if you're honest with yourself, I bet you do too, sometimes.

The other thing that amazed me was how much fun it was finding a "treasure" amidst all of the baggage there!  The person that cast it off, or left it, or lost it, may have forgotten about it, but someone else saw it as a treasure, a remarkable find, a new purpose to an old object....no longer unclaimed and cast off, but having truly found a new purpose!

Of Course, our God claims us, redeems us in Christ, gives us, a new purpose and makes us His own.  But in another sense, it is our responsibility to make others feel claimed, loved and worthy of a place in God's world.  God intended that no one should end up in a cemetery having lived a life of unclaimed worth or purpose.  It's our job to show them God's love through us, to make them feel worthy, and to point them to the one that will claim them forever.

Yes, I have days when I don't understand my worth or value to anyone here on this earth, but then I remember that I am not Unclaimed baggage, I am of value and worth to my Lord and it is my job to help others find their way to the best baggage handler of all!

 

Off the porch, now where is my hat?

Haven't felt much like blogging lately.  I guess I have been lulled into the complacency of Summer and not really feeling like I have had a lot to share.  But now, I feel energized!  My true love and I are hopping off the porch swing, dusting off our gnome hats and hitting the road together.  Our destination?  Seeing the boys and their families of course, and ending with the baptism of Baby Jeffrey on Saturday!

We have been to see our children before, but this will be the first time that we will have seen all of them in their own married homes. another view from the porch swing.

Seeing Baby Jeffrey's baptism, has is really been that many years since his sister Layla's?  Another rock of the swing?

Our family shifts, it changes, that is the nature of this fluid life we live.  It grows by leaps and bounds.  In one blessed year, we have a new baby and 2 new daughters-in-law, blessings abound and the swing moves again.

The constant?  We are all Hamiltons..we may have different zip codes, different goals for our lives, different friends, differences of many kinds, but from the first rock of the swing, nearly thirty years ago, we were boud together by a single thread, and the love of our Heavenly Father.

So, I am  ready to put the gnome hat on, put our over stuffed suitcases in the tried and true mini-van and hit the road with the love of my life.  I look most forward to sharing our thoughts and feelings, catching up, and just being near to him as the miles tick away!

I also look forward to coming home again, taking off the Hamilgnome hats again, and enjoying our lives from the view of the swing!

Happy trails!

Good Morning!...

I came across a verse last week that brought this home to me; "Let me hear of Your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting You.  Show me where to walk, for I give myself to You!  Psalm 143:8

How do your mornings start?  Mine usually start quietly, but good.  Although I am grateful for each day, there is always a little hint of sadness as I leave the comfort of home.  I guess I am a homebody.

I could be a very good Dorothy from the wizard of Oz.. there's no place like home ( I know that I've talked about that before), but in the leaving there is also the anticipation and joy of coming home.

We always say things to each other like, "Be Careful",  "Hurry home,"  "Love you,"  "Take Care",  "God Bless",  when we are leaving.  After reading that verse, it is like God showing us His unfailing love each morning.  Those words of Goodbye in the mornings are like blessings sending us on our way, reminding us of the love that God gives us through each other here on earth, that commend us into His hands throughout our day.   From now on, I will try to think of them as "Farewells with a purpose!"

.... and maybe, leaving in the morning isn't so bad, when I realize that I am sent off with a blessing, and a promise of His love, and at the end of the day,  there is still...no place like home. 

Thanks for your unfailing love each morning....and for the Journey that leads me home each night.