A Parent’s Love

I have been thinking alot about my parents today for in a months time both my parents have turned 80!! My Dad, on Oct 17th and my Mom today. How did they get to be that age, for I am not aging! 🙂

It just has really hit me how when you are little you think your parents are so cool. You become a teen and think they are ancient and then grow older and become friends with them and then you find yourself saying, time slow down!

I have been blessed with wonderful parents! They will be the first to say they weren’t perfect, but now that I have been a parent I know that there is no such thing as a perfect parent. It is by far the hardest job on earth!! They may not have been perfect but they are the perfect parents for imperfect me!

I know some, actually too many, people sadly have had to grow up feeling unloved by their parents. My heart breaks for them and I am very sorry if that describes your relationship with your parents. I hope that no matter how they may have made you feel that you have learned how special you are!

I think of my children and what I hope they remember! Good memories that were created and most of all I hope they understood how much they have always been loved!

I came across this video and I thought it was a poignant reminder about a parents love.

Happy Birthday Mom! I LOVE YOU! Thanks for everything!

Friday’s Super Short Stories!

Being prepared … is sleeping with one foot out of the covers … just in case a monster is under the bed!

Friendship with our furry, faithful, four legged friends, forever reminds us that love can speak volumes without a single word!

Babies bring indescribable joy! 9 months of waiting will soon be over and ecstatic expectation is in the air!

Tuesday’s Thoughts!

Happy Tuesday! I am away from my computer right now so my posts may be erratic for the next week, but just wanted to assure everyone that I didn’t jump from the ship and disappear.

I don’t have 10 quotes for you today for they are harder to find with the phone, but I do have some that had been saved and I hope you enjoy them! It will be easier to pick a favorite this time.

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In honor of….

Sometimes the day just gets away from you, and that is what happened today. I intended to write a post, but.. Life has a way of interrupting our plans!

By 8pm I had decided that there would be no post and I relaxed with my hubby on the couch for a little bit. Later I was finishing up laundry, because we all know that laundry never ends. I sat down again to relax for a moment and I saw in my email that a new post was posted.  I read it and my plan changed, I did have a post for today.

I hate war and I really don’t know anyone that likes it, but the fact is that it has happened and continues too.  The fact is that there are young men and women who bravely face the battlefield, making big sacrifices to do it. Young men and women like you and me who are doing what they feel called to do. Who face unimaginable horrors!

In honor of Veterans Day, I want to share a link to a touching poem on Colin’s blog. Please take a moment to read it.

Don’t take for granted the freedoms that we have. There were sacrifices made for them!

“A Soldier Died Today”

 

 

Friday’s Super Short Stories!

Having hope  is when there are 20 losses and 0 wins, but you still play the 21st game. 

Agreeing with someone is not a prerequisite to loving them! 

What makes you laugh out loud? Have you yet today? 

Let me help you out. Colin, from https://meandray.com/,  shared this on his blog over a year ago. For those who have already seen it on his blog, I thought you wouldn’t mind seeing it again and for those who haven’t,  you are in for a great treat! ENJOY!

 

Do You have a Dream?

 

“I have a dream”….  I have always enjoyed this song from Mama Mia. I love to watch the moonlight shimmering on the water,  Its so peaceful to just watch and listen to as I think  about the dreams that I have for me and my children.

Ask children what they want to be when they grow up and they will always have a reply for you. They have big dreams and stars in their eyes, nothing is impossible!

What happens when we grow up? Too much life piles upon us and smothers our dreams at times, but we need to keep them alive! Grandma Moses loved to draw at a young age, but as an adult she put her passion aside. When she was 78 she started painting once again and went on to have her paintings displayed in a museum , sold at art auctions and put on greeting cards.

Did you know that Laura Ingalls Wilder didn’t publish her first book “Little House in the Big Woods” until she was 65  years old, her last book came out when she was 78!

Gladys Burrill ran her first marathon at the age of 86 years old and completed the Honolulu marathon at the age of 92!! I can’t even run a mile, much less a marathon, and I am a lot younger than 86 years old. The difference is that it was a passion of hers and she pursued it. I know someone who used to be a co-worker of mine and she took up running recently, completing her first marathon. She was thrilled about it and she should be, it was hard work, but she did it! She’s not a household name because of it, but she has deep personal satisfaction and that’s what its all about.

Its not about having some grandiose dream, that makes you famous! Its about fulfilling the passion that is inside of you.

What is important is not to let your dream die, don’t give up, thinking that you reached an age where its too late to dream dreams and to pursue them! As the above examples show, its never too late to  pursue a dream! Do you have a dream?

Tuesday’s Thoughts!

Good Morning! Hope your week is off to a great start. I do like it being lighter earlier in the morning now, makes it easier to get up early. My Dad was one who always liked early mornings and he still does. When teenagers and wanting to sleep in on Saturday’s,  we were often told not to waste away our day by sleeping in. I remember feeling proud of myself when I was younger and it was easy to get up early, as my sisters still laid in bed. Dad would be sitting at the table with his cup of coffee, and he would have some stickers for me, since I was up early. Yes, simple stickers brought joy!

You probably really don’t want to know how many stickers I had in my sticker album. Puffy ones, shiny and sparkly ones, scented ones, animals, hearts, you name it, I had them. Today kids send out all kinds of emojis to their friends. My bestie and I would get together with our bulging sticker albums and trade stickers. Like one trades baseball cards, though stickers definitely rated higher to us than baseball cards. What is something you remember collecting as a child? Feel free to share it below, along with your favorite quote/quotes. Enjoy!

 

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Matters of the Heart

Many stand with  protest signs against abortion, LGBT, religion, war,  and so many other things. We all are very good at finding things to disagree with each other about, right? But if you are thinking that this is a post debating about hot, controversial topics, sorry, its not.

I can be quick to jump in with both feet to engage in a battle of wits, (which doesn’t always end well for me…) But standing up on a soapbox and engaging in a debate over a hot topic  is something that I am much slower about doing.

This post isn’t about the issues that face us, its about the faces that we need to see.

Its about the scared. teenage girl who hides in the school bathroom stall holding a little stick in her hand that has just changed her life!

Its about the runaway who lives on the street, because they are willing to risk the horrors of the street if it means they don’t need to face the horrors at home. The runaway guy or girl, who you may very well march right by with your protest signs.

This post has to do with the homeless guy who you may stumble over if you aren’t looking, as you march on with your signs.

The young soldier out on the battlefield who is like you and me with hopes and dreams that he hopes he lives to see.

We get so caught up in protesting and making our voices heard, that our ears can become closed to the voices that should be heard ringing in our ears.

The voices that cry, “Look at me! Listen to my story. Don’t just throw a label on me.”

We carry signs that talk about valuing the sanctity of life, but what about the sanctity of life outside the womb as well. How much do we value that?

This post isn’t about the issues, its about looking past the issues, into the person’s heart.

Its not just about saying that every life matters, its about showing that all lives matter, because in God’s eyes, ALL lives do!

 

 

She wasn’t real!

I have mentioned before how I have loved to read since I have been very young. I always had a book pretty much everywhere I went. I remember visiting with my parents when I was younger and sitting in the middle of a room with adults conversing about things I didn’t understand. Didn’t bother me a bit, for I just would lose myself in a book. Books were a constant friend of mine and they continue to be to this day. Just don’t have quite as much time as I had a child to read them!

I could never be a contestant on the Jeopardy show. I am nowhere close to being an expert on different kinds of trivia. My brain has way too many other things to remember! But now when it comes to books that is one category that I feel I can sometimes be pretty good about knowing different facts. I know the authors of well known books, well … at least I thought I did!

Tonight I learned that “Carolyn Keene” really doesn’t exist, the author of the Nancy Drew series that I read when I was young. Here I thought it was cool that the author was named “Carolyn”, but nope, the real person with the idea for the Nancy Drew mysteries wasn’t even a woman! It was Edward Stratemeyer.

I claim to know a lot about books, but yet I didn’t know this! I am ..smacking my head… for the 2nd time today.

Apparently he was the man behind a lot of other books as well.  He was also behind the series that I loved as a child, “The Bobbsey Twins”. That was another series where I remembered the author’s name all these years, “Laura Lee Hope”, but once again there really is no one with that name!

Yes, I know ghost writers have been around for a long time, but I just didn’t know it about these specific series. Plus this wasn’t just an author that used a different name. Both of these series were written by several different authors. Edward started them off, but then hired lots of different writers to continue with the series. He would write a 3 page outline about what he would like the book to be about and then he would hand it over. He would pay the writer between $50-$250 for each book, and he would collect all the royalties.

Perhaps this isn’t news to anyone, for I am used to being in the dark abut things, but I would like to think I enlightened someone. 🙂

Is there some new trivia fact that you have learned that you didn’t know before, feel free to share below!

 

Friday’s Super Short Stories!

I know lots of artists, and I know lots of songs …  just may have trouble playing a matching game with them.  If only the artists knew all the songs I have given them credit for.

Don’t let November’s chill cool your heart … Protect  your heart with layers of gratitude and love!

When the mountain ahead looks so steep … but than you find yourself looking down the mountain, and your heart filling with joy at how far you have come.