Giving

(Source)

I was just listening to Charles Stanley and he challenged me to think about giving at Christmas.

Christmas is first and foremost about Jesus. It seems as if Christmas has become so commercialized that we lose sight of that.  But we are steeped in tradition and gift giving becomes our focus. 

This is coming from one who, a few years ago, decided that it was too much. I talked my sisters and brother into stopping the exchanging of gifts at Christmas. It had become out of hand. I stressed over finding the perfect gift, all the money that was spent. When in fact, I had lost the purpose for giving.

Giving is a great thing to do. There's nothing wrong with it. It shows that we love and care for the recipient. Giving comes from within and we should do it with a grateful heart. There are so many ways that we can give, other than heading over to the mall or shopping on Amazon.

Examples of the greatest gifts of all.....

God gave us Jesus on Christmas to be the light of the world, to be our salvation. Through Mary, a woman who gave her body and reputation to bear the son of God. The Inn Keeper, who didn't have room in the inn, but gave what he had.....a stable. The Wise Men for recognizing that the Star of Bethlehem meant something significant and traveled with gifts to give the new born King.  And, Jesus' greatest gift of all, Salvation.

I'm not trying to be religious, I just feel compelled to share this simple message with you. I want to tell you what Jesus means to me. I've never had a truer friend. He's my source of peace and comfort and He's my source of strength. We talk every day. He has been with me through all my happy times and not so happy times. He's been with me through many trials and heartaches. And yes, there will be trials in your life. We are not promised a perfect life, but that Jesus will be with us as we go through those trials. I gave my life to Jesus when I was 12 years old. I heard the Gospel of Jesus from a dear sweet lady at Sunday school and I knew that I knew that I knew, that what she was telling me was the truest, most real message I had ever heard. I gave my heart to God that day and I remember in the days afterwards that I had such a deep, profound love for Him....one that I could not explain. It was real, the Gospel was real, God was real and living in my heart. Through the years, I have gone through many sad times, had many trials and times when the only way I could get up and go was because of God living in my heart. And, I have also experienced the most peace, joy and happiness that I could ever hope for. I'm just keeping it simple and real, y'all.

If someone out there reading this blog has never experienced salvation, if you don't have a personal relationship with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, then I ask you....what are you waiting for? It's simple. You don't have to be good enough. Jesus will meet you right where you are. He's waiting for your invitation. You just simply BELIEVE in your heart that Jesus is Lord, ask Him to FORGIVE you of your sins and SURRENDER your life to him. If you do this, Jesus will write your name in the Lamb's Book of Life and will prepare a home for you in Heaven. What greater gift can one ask for?

Laurie

Christmas Low Down

 

I totally intended to make my last post of 2014 "A Year In Review", but as luck would have it, I left my life planner at home this morning. So, instead of a year in review, I'm going to give you the low down on Christmas this year. It has been one of the best I can remember in a long time, except for being slack in picture taking. I got some pictures Christmas morning with my regular camera and that was it.

Let me back up just a bit. I normally do everything at the last minute when it comes to Christmas. Shopping, baking, decorating...you name it. This year, however, I planned it just right. I started shopping around Thanksgiving. The week after, my decorations were up. And then it was time to start baking. I like to give homemade gifts and for the past few years, it has been food. This year I made chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, crack bark (OMG, you almost need to enter a 12-step program after eating this deliciousness), cinnamon rolls and pimento cheese. And it was all GOOD! I even pre-made my usual casseroles and brown rice that I would be taking to Mama's on Christmas Eve and to Cliff's sister's on Christmas Day. I had so much time on my hands that I even made some crocheted scarves for gifts.

Jason came home a week ahead of Whitney so that he and Cliff could duck and squirrel hunt. Jason needed a vacation because he starts nursing school full time, next week. He is working towards a career as a nurse practitioner. Emily, Lidia and Sawyer arrived on Tuesday. Whitney arrived on Christmas Eve morning. I was a happy mama. All my children and grandchildren were home for the holidays. Christmas Eve night, we all loaded up and headed to Mama's. All of my siblings and their children and grandchildren were there. It's been a year or so since we've all been there at the same time. It was very nice. The food, as always, was abundant and delicious. True to her word, Mama cooked her famous collard greens. I was a happy child.

Christmas morning started the same as usual. Santa Claus had delivered and was ooohed and aaahed over. The rest of the gifts were opened and everyone was happy and appreciative. Do you remember a couple of years ago that I really wanted to go on a Woman's Bike Tour? I never went because I started training for some running races, in particular a half-marathon. Well, 4 half-marathons under my belt now and no plans for a full anytime soon, I now have time to train for one of those tours. And, it's a good thing because that's just what Cliff gave me for Christmas this year. I am so excited! Woman's Tours and the Teton Valley.....here I come. After training, of course. In light of this new development, my posts this year will most likely be heavy on my training and progress. OMG, I can't wait. I'm pure giddy!

Monday, Cliff and I decided to do something a little differently. We roasted oysters.... just the kids and us....oh and Cliff's mama came over, too. This may be a new tradition. Time will tell.

Sadly, Emily and Matt had to go home yesterday for work. I'll see them and Lidia and Sawyer again this weekend. But even more sadly, Whitney and Jason had to go back home to Colorado, today. I won't get to see them for awhile. A total BUMMER!

This was such a great Christmas....one I'll remember for a long time. I just hope it's enough to hold me over until all my children and grandchildren are here with us again. As 2014 quickly comes to an end, so does the busyness we experienced this year. I hope 2015 brings us as many blessings, if not more. I'm certainly thankful for each and everyone of them. I look forward to a year full of exercising and continued good health, new adventures and I can't wait to tell you about some exciting family news. But not just yet, you'll just have to wait a while longer.

Until then......

Happy New Year,

Laurie

The Perfect Gift

Christmas 2014

 

I remember as a child the anticipation I felt waiting for Christmas and Santa. I didn't worry about shopping for that perfect gift for anyone. The beginning of the Christmas season was not marked with sales and shopping at the mall. Nope....for me it was the night that a Charlie Brown Christmas came on TV.  From then until Christmas Eve, I marveled in the lights and sounds and smells of the season. As children, we were wrapped in the knowledge of our Savior's birth. I had such warm feelings in my heart.  Today, I believe that feeling to be the love of Christ and the feeling of goodwill.

Some years ago, I wrote a newsletter for our Sunday school class. And as I sat here this morning, looking at my Christmas tree, I remembered a short article I wrote for one of those newsletters pondering the same thoughts and feelings.

From the Agape News, December 1995:

CHRISTMAS

 

The mere utterance of the word conjures up memories of the sights,

Christmas goodies and turkeys roasting in the oven.

The clatter and clanging of the malls.

The hustling and bustling to buy that perfect gift.

But as good as the memories may be

and as we prepare and anticipate another Christmas season,

ponder these questions for a moment.

What does Christmas and the Christmas spirit really mean to you?

Is it really all of the above?

Or, could it be that the true spirit of Christmas,

the way you feel at Christmastime, good will toward others,

is the way God's Spirit really is?

We hope that as you celebrate this holiday season,

you truly understand the real meaning of Christmas.

And that your homes are full of love for your families

and for the Wonder and Awe of our Lord and Savior's Birth.

 

THE PERFECT GIFT!

 

**********

 

 

I have so many reasons to be happy this Christmas and I will wallow in them all. My children and grandchildren are on the way home to spend Christmas with Cliff and me. I can't wait to wrap my arms around Lidia and Sawyer.

 

Last night, Mama and I were discussing the menu for Christmas Eve. She said that she was thinking about not cooking collards this year, which is her specialty. I nearly went into convulsions! She then told me that she thought better of it and that she would add them to the menu. I exclaimed, "Good, because no collards at Christmas would just be blasphemy"! She giggled and we hung up. Well, I just got a call from her and she said, "I just want you to know that there will be no blasphemy at my house on Christmas Eve, I just finished cooking the collards".  Ha!  She so gets me!

 

Well, wrapping up, I just want to wish you all a Christmas full of peace and joy, love and goodwill. And, I hope that your new year will be filled with abundant blessings.

 

Merry Christmas,

Laurie



 

 



 

It's Nearly Over....

2014, that is. It's been a crazy busy year. I've found myself putting things on the backburner and this blog caught the brunt of it. I was even asked the other day if I had quit blogging.

No way!

So.....to avoid making this novel length, I'm going to sort of bullet the last month's or so memorable events with pictures. And it will be picture heavy, I promise.

Remainder of October 2014:
 

Sawyer turned 8! Here he is in his Korean Tae Kwon Do Dobak (uniform)

eating birthday cake in a sombrero at a Mexican restaurant. He's multi-cultural!

 

 

One week after my last half marathon, I'm pretty sure I broke my toe.....so I haven't run since then. Bummer! I'm actually going in the morning. I think it has healed pretty well. Could have been because of the great care I took of it with the cast and all...

 

Lidia was Cat Woman for Halloween and Sawyer was some sort of Action Figure. I couldn't tell you which one, even if you tried to beat it out of me. And from the looks of that thing behind him, he may have to do some....well, you know....action.

 

Lidia's class went on a three day field trip to Seabrook Island near Charleston, SC 

concentrating on environmental education. She's a smart girl!



Lidia and Sawyer's last fishing adventure at the lake. It looks wicked cold, doesn't it.

 

Sawyer has been practicing with his bow and arrow. He's pretty good, too. Bless it, he's still sort of snaggletoothed. I love him!

 

In case you don't know where I've been......Sawyer wanted you to know.

 

 

November 2014:

  

It snowed at the lake on November 1st.

 

It was gorgeous! But only lasted a few hours.

 

 

Sawyer's artwork was chosen as one of twenty from hundreds of students at his school to be displayed in the Chapman Cultural Center. It's of a superhero, of course. He's very talented!

 

Lidia and Sawyer took away some major trophy's from their Tae Kwon Do event. I wouldn't cross them, if I were you!

 

Lidia and Sawyer earned their Green Belt with Blue Stripe. Black belt, here they come!

 

Remember this picture from this post? The cotton popped! Isn't it beautiful? I just love living in the "land of cotton"!

 

 

December 2014:

 

Alas, we are in December. I love December for many reasons......

1) It turns cold.  2) It's my birthday month.  3) It's Christmas, and 4) It's family time.

I'm so excited because all of my children will be home for Christmas this year. And then, there is Ms. Bones. You remember her, don't you? Please don't get the wrong idea....I am not macabre! 

She's just been a part of our family, since I was in x-ray school.

Her outfit changes seasonally. Ha! Here she is.....dressed for the holidays.

Isn't she elegant?

 

 

Unfortunately, we did have some sadness just before Thanksgiving. Cliff's step-father passed away. The family, though sad, is celebrating his life and memories. And we know he is in a better place.

 

Speaking of Thanksgiving, Mama spent it with us at the lake. I really wanted her to just rest and take it easy. Y'all, the woman wouldn't sit still. She has helped me cook, washed every dish in the house, swept and taken out the trash. I had to make her go sit down and rest. Hope I'm that active in my 70's.

 

And finally, Lidia was baptized the Sunday after Thanksgiving. We are so proud of her and her decision to follow Jesus. She is so sweet. I can't wait to see how the Lord will use her. She was a little nervous that morning. On the way to church, she asked us if the water in the Baptistry will be warm. We assured her that it is heated and she said, "Alright then, I'm good to go". I love her!

 

 

Merry Christmas,

Laurie

 

 

 

 

Christmas Revisted...a liar and a thief

Running stats.....in case you were wondering.  

Total miles today: 4.2

Total miles run hurting: 3.2 (Something going on with my left knee and hip. Need to figure it out....don't want to be sidelined.)

Total miles walked: 1 (trying to recover from the pain)

Ran with: Whitney (Priceless)

Run route: The track at my old Alma Mater...Andrews High School

 

This is my daddy. This makes the 5th year that he has spent Christmas in Heaven. And this Christmas, he may have turned over in his grave. Because...................

It's official. I'm a liar and a thief. All I can say about that is that drastic times requires drastic measures.

It all began three weeks ago, when we found out that my daughter, Whitney, was able to come home for Christmas, after all. She wanted to surprise her grandmothers, so she asked us not to tell them she was coming. I had to shush Cliff a couple of times. He almost let the cat out of the bag, but not me.....I lied like the best of them. When Mama and Mrs. Wanda asked if Whitney was coming home, I told them no because her husband had to work and she didn't want to leave him alone. They said things like..."I am going to miss Whitney this year, I sure wish she and Jason could come home for Christmas." I tried to console them as best as I could...while lying through my teeth. I really started to feel bad for them; they were genuinely sad that they were not going to see Whitney and Jason this year.

Christmas Eve, Whitney was scheduled to leave Denver at 5:10 pm. I had already been glued to the Weather Channel to follow the news of the snow in the Midwest and the rain and tornado warnings in the east. I was concerned about the weather causing delays or even cancelling flights altogether. And, as luck would have it....her flight out of Denver was delayed. Now, she had a connecting flight in Chicago that was scheduled to leave at 8:55 pm. But because Denver's flight was delayed by 50 minutes meant that she was going to have only 5 minutes to change planes. It was down to the wire. She arrived in Chicago at 8:50 pm. For some reason, the flight leaving for Charleston was being delayed by another 5 minutes....so she had a slither of hope to make the connection. She said she came off the plane with about 15 more people RUNNING. An airport employee asked Whitney if she was running to catch the flight to Charleston and she said, "Yes". The employee told her that they were holding the plane for them. Thank heavens for Christmas miracles. She made the flight with no time to spare.

Christmas Eve dinner is always spent with my side of the family. And then my children always spend Christmas Eve night with us and even Santa Claus visits my grandchildren on Christmas Eve at my house. So....I was busy all day Monday cleaning, making the beds with fresh linens, baking and cooking the dishes I was taking to mama's that night and wrapping last minute gifts that FedEx had delivered that day. I did not stop to take note of the toilet paper inventory. And, as luck would have it.......I ran completely out. I didn't have time to go to the grocery store to buy more....I had too much to do. Aha, found a box of Puff's Tissue that would work until I could get to the store.  OMG! These tissues have Vicks Rub in them. Well....we'll just have to grin and bear it. Drastic measures!!

So, off to dinner at mama's with all my family. We visited and caught up with each other, ate and opened gifts. Cliff and I had to excuse ourselves a little early, but couldn't say why. I lied again, making up some kind of story. All the while, Cliff was tracking flight times on Southwest Airlines from his phone. So off to the airport we go. I was so excited that I nearly forgot about the toilet paper emergency. We stopped at two stores on the way to the airport and both were closed. OK, so what now? I sure hoped the Puff's Tissue, albeit a little infused with Vicks, would last through the night. We got to the airport with less than 10 minutes to spare before Whitney's arrival. So, I made a quick potty break, which reminded me once again of the lack of toilet paper back at my house. I never saw it coming, but right there, at 11:50 pm on Christmas Eve, in the Charleston International Airport bathroom, I made the decision that would forever label me as a toilet paper thief. I roped off  three or four feet of airport toilet paper and stuck in my pocketbook. I was desperate and it was so easy. I walked to the gate to meet Whitney and no one was the wiser.

Christmas morning....that toilet paper came in mighty handy. Emily never knew the difference. Holla!!  My grandchildren were surprised by Whitney. We told them she hitched a ride with Santa. Whitney also surprised her grandmother's. They both were so shocked. I don't think I've ever seen Mrs. Wanda jump up out of a chair as fast as she did, when she saw Whitney walk into the room. And the next day, when we visited my mama, she looked like she was going to faint..like she had seen a ghost or something. It sure was a successful Christmas this year. We pulled off three great surprises and a major toilet paper emergency was averted. I spent awhile trying to regain my status as a "truth teller" and begging forgiveness for taking such drastic measures as stealing toilet paper from the airport bathroom.

I'm wondering if I need therapy.

Time will tell.

How was your Christmas this year? Did anything exciting happen at your house? Tell me about it in the comments below.

Hallelujah! I have been reformed,

Laurie

Introducing Miss Bones and Our visit to the dentist......

Warning.....for those who read between the lines: This post, while some truth does lie here, is merely a what if scenario.

Most of you know her, but for those who don't....I would like to introduce you to Miss Bones. She has lived with me now for 4 years. She was my constant companion in X-ray school.  For a while, she just bore it all. Had no shame....just walked around the house naked as a jay bird. But then she started reading the fashion magazines and decided she liked what she saw. In no time at all, she was sporting the latest in fashion trends. Miss Bones loves to dress for the holidays and Christmas is no exception. So without further ado, I present.....Miss Bones a.k.a., at this time of year, as Mrs. Santa Claus.

Miss Bones dressed for Christmas toting her new Thirty One Bag

Miss Bones prior to her dental work

Miss Bones recently had some dental work done. For the longest time she had a silver tooth. Neither one of us thought too much of it. But, when she heard I had to visit the dentist, she asked if she could come along.

Well, we both thought we were getting the royal treatment when we heard the words...Crown, Porcelain, and Diamond burrs. I mean, really? A Crown?!? Ok, let's do it then. So we made appointments, had our temporaries made and then rescheduled to have the permanent crown placed; which is where this post picks up......

Just a little background information....I had a bad experience at the dentist's office as a child. I had to have some fillings and of course, when there are fillings, there are shots. My dentist, at the time, was an elderly white-haired man with hands as big as they come. And I know he tried to get both of them in my mouth a time or two. But that's not the traumatizing part. The traumatizing part were the shots! Oh my sweet mercy, those things hurt!! I carried that experience with me into adulthood.

Fast forward to some 30 plus years later. I'm still geechy from the dental experience I had as a child. But the more I visit my new and improved dentist, the better I feel (actually, he's been my dentist for many, many moons now). Anyway, my appointment was yesterday to have the permanent crown placed. Now, I have already had the temporary made and yes, I had to get shots in order for my dentist to do the work without having to peel me off the ceiling. And you know what? I didn't feel a thing that day or this!! He was so gentle...the only thing I felt was him holding my lip out of the way. Ok, he did squeeze my lip a little, but I handled it. Now for most people, a couple of shots of Novocaine or Lidocaine would work fairly quickly, but no.....not me. I had to sit a few minutes longer so the Novocaine could really kick in. Mind you, this is by no means my dentist's fault, it's just how I'm wired. Did I mention that my dentist is uber gentle? So, for the appointment yesterday, I needed  a couple of shots of Novocaine so that the Dr. could remove any material left over from the temporary. Again, I felt nothing. Now, I had the luxury of sitting and waiting to get numb. They asked if I wanted a magazine, but I declined on the grounds of I'm half blind without my glasses, which I did not have. Miss Bones was as content as can be out in the waiting area reading Vogue and Oprah magazines.

Anyway, here I am sitting in the operatory, waiting, waiting and just waiting. Well...........a girl's mind begins to wander. I started to wonder.........what if my dentist drops the crown in my mouth just as he's about to place it on and OMG, I swallow it? Ewww, cold chills....shutter! Get that thought out of my mind. Because then, what would have to happen next??? I'm just guessing here.......but can you retrieve a swallowed crown? To save somebody some money? Oh my gosh....Laurie....change the subject.  Next, I wonder...what if my dentist accidentally poked me in the lip with the Novocaine? Ewww, cold chills....shutter! I'm sure that would hurt. Oh wait! What if you could use Novocaine or Lidocaine as a cosmetic filler for the lips? You could call it Pucker-lip-ocaine. Get it?  Lord, I'm gonna be rich when I tell my dentist this idea. We can market and sell this stuff. Women would pay good money for it. Uh oh, I hear voices. Voices! They're getting closer! Oh, it's just my dentist and his sweet assistant. Heart attack scare averted!  They want to work on my tooth now. Sorry, I have to go.

In the end, God love her, Miss Bones got a shiny new porcelain crown...no more silver tooth for her. And I got my shiny new porcelain crown......shined up real purdy with my dentist's diamond burr. Ah....the joys of keeping up your appearances.

Miss Bones with her shiny new porcelain crown

Laurie