Boojoyful

Happy Birthday to Miss Dimples today! I'm going to miss this one! September 29 Four years ago today my sweet Daddy died at 93 years old. It's amazing how much I still miss him. Three years ago today, God gave us this precious granddaughter.  My daddy would have adored her and she would have loved loving on him.   " Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." 1 John 4:11 Everywhere I went with this little one, she walked right up to strangers and inquired, "What's your name?"  Each time the individual chuckled because number one, she's so cute, but number two because it felt good to be noticed and valued by this child.  Whether it was Bob, the construction worker,  Missy, stocking shelves in Michaels, Ally, the restaurant hostess or Shana, our waitress at dinner, they all answered her inquiry and then engaged her in conversation.  She noticed so many people I would have walked right by. There is someo...

Olympic Park  September 28 Coming across Hebrews 12:2-3 in The Message really fired up my faith the other day!   "We'd better get on with it!"   Whew.  Just chew on this "He (Jesus) never lost sight of where he was headed-that exhilarating finish in and with God-he could put up with anything along the way." Read this passage and get fired up!  " Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on  Jesus , who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s  there , in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that...

We are still experiencing new highs with God!  He is amazing. September 27 Saturday was our 39th wedding anniversary!  I thank God for giving me a man who has loved me well and prayed us through all those years. One of our children graciously offered to treat us to an anniversary dinner, but I said, "Save your pennies, we don't really celebrate anniversaries."   Three of our children have September/October birthdays and my husband was a college football player, so fall weekends are focused on Saturday football games. We just never made time to celebrate. That had me thinking about celebrations in the Bible. Off the top of your head do you recall any anniversary or birthday parties in the Bible? Pharaoh had a birthday party where he had the head baker's head impaled on a post and Herodias's daughter danced her way into Herod's favor at a birthday celebration in a fashion that cost John the Baptist his head. Not such nice parties. Most celebrati...

September 26 There is an intense joy which comes from watching our children enjoy places which hold sweet memories for us. My father received such joy when he would take his children to PA and show us his old stomping grounds.  That may have been usurped by the joy of taking us to attend VA Tech sporting events and hearing the stories of his days in the Corps of Cadets just before WWII.  He could describe the dances in detail, right down to the names of the bands and the songs he danced to. Now we have the privilege of watching our children bring their children back to the Lake and pass on such a heritage.  My husband and I grew up here too, so we have tales of our own to tell. "Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward." Psalm 127:3 . Jesus has left us stories rich in heritage. " But when the time arrived that was set by God the Father, God sent his Son, born among us of a woman, born under the conditions of t...

This one face timed the other day and we all laughed until the tears ran down our cheeks. I have to share his church experience that week. September 25 Laughter is so good for the soul and I thank God for the sense of humor our children have and how they like to share their "funnies" with us.  This one lives in New Orleans and he and his wife moved to a new neighborhood and decided to try out a neighborhood church.  He said there were only about 20 people in attendance and a lady was giving the announcements. Her message made them chuckle out loud. "You know we have a fish fry coming up and there will be plenty of fish. And Carl's son (Carl interrupts and says, "Grandson") just caught a 12 foot alligator, so we will have plenty of alligator too!"  Then our son's wife looked down at the bulletin and the title of the sermon for the day was "One Big Tuna."  He didn't say whether they were going to go to the fish fry, but I...

Sitting on our beach under what we call our umbrella tree. It protects us from the sun and the rain. The wrong focus. September 22 Here at Shiloh, there is a private little beach and shallow cove area. It's the perfect respite spot and even comes with an umbrella tree for shade and protection from unexpected drizzles. Invariably, when I go there, click on the pause music and seek the Lord, the enemy distracts me by having me focus on the dead limbs that need pruning. The other day while gazing up at these limbs, I was reminded of how quickly we are to find the small faults in people instead of focusing on all their attributes.  LOL.  The other day my husband and I were sharing about our day and we had both encountered people we described as "a little different."  After our third person who was "a little different" I laughed and said, "Possibly, we are the ones who aren't normal!" As we look at people today, let's zoom in on how ...

We are 60! September 21 We used to live blocks away from each other and could walk everyday after we got our children off to school. Now we live in different towns, she's back working full-time, and it's a juggling act to get together.  Monday ended up to be the best day for us and we were meeting at our regular halfway point restaurant, when she had the brains to call and see if they were open and Mondays. They were not. I had the brains to grab a picnic basket and we found a park and had a most delightful lunch by a pond! We choose what we want to make work and what/who is of value. Where does Jesus rate in our "make time with someone special" scale? "Who is the man who fears the Lord?  He will instruct him in the way he should choose." Psalm 25:12