My BaileyGirl

She's the light of my life, and a fun kid to be with! She came this afternoon to spend the night with me, and it's been fun, as usual. We've played games and talked away the hours like two good friends, and tomorrow we're going on a picnic!

It seems that I learn something every time she comes. For instance, I learned today that the color purple is just not where it's at any more. Her new favorite color is pink! Sigh . . . who can keep up?!

Of course, at this point in my life, it's getting hard to believe that my daughter is a thirty-something, and my son will be celebrating his 28th birthday tomorrow. Where in the world have the years gone?!

At times, it seems like the experience of raising children lasts forever, but just turn around and those little feet that pitter pattered all through the house, are now filling adult shoes. The little hands that left fingerprints on our walls are holding their own children, or at least cleaning their own fingerprints now!

Yes, it seems once again that life is one transition after another. We spend their infancy wishing that our children could walk, so that they didn't have to be carried all the time. then they begin to run, and we are weary from chasing them everywhere. Soon those feet don't want to walk or run anymore. They'd much rather take the family car!

Don't forget to slow down and enjoy each transition of your child's life. It doesn't necessarily get better or worse as they grow and move into another transition and stage of life - each stage is just different, with it's own set of joys and challenges! They only go through each stage once, so enjoy it for all that it is for the first time around, because that's all there is!

As they say, life is not a dress rehearsal. This is it, so enjoy every moment, and every transition for all it's worth, and when you look back on the years of your children's growth, you'll be glad that you did!

Happy Grandparent's Day!

Happy Grandparent's Day!

September 9th is Grandparent's Day and you know what? It doesn't matter whether you're a brand new grandparent with one precious grandchild, or if you've been in that role for years and have twenty grandchildren - it's still an awesome experience!

Being a grandparent is like no other experience in life! It is full of unexpected wonders and challenges. I remember the thrill of being invited to attend my granddaughter's birth! She is almost nine years old now, but I remember it like it was yesterday! To enjoy the thrill of a new little life without the labor and stress of motherhood was exciting and exhilarating, scary and humbling - all at once!

I can't describe to you the myriad of emotions that I experienced that day. I felt sympathy for my daughter, who had been in labor for three days, I felt joy at being able to be there in the birthing room, I felt excited about the new baby's arrival, and yet, when she came, there were complications and sudden concerns for her health and safety, so then anxiety set in. The relief of getting her to finally breathe, and the tears of joy to see the pink face of that prcious, tiny little life with such a perfect and beautiful little body, and all was well with the world! Now that little girl is rapidly growing, and we are good friends! The hours during our weekend visits are filled with games, and movies, and crafts, and sometimes just talking. What a joy those visits are!

Life is good when you're a grandparent! You learn, once again, to see life and the world, through the eyes of a child. The wonder, the amazement, and all the learning there is to do. Life through the eyes of a child is so much different. They don't have the baggage of all the cynicism and callousness that the world inflicts increasingly upon the adults with each passing year! They don't have the biases and the closed minds of those who are older and more experienced at life. To them, the world is a kaleidoscope of life and learning! There is so much to see, and do, so many things to investigate and taste and try!

Wouldn't it be fun to be young again, just for a day, and to see the world through the eyes of a child? Every day is a new beginning for children, and what a wonderful world it would be if we could live our lives as the children do! Imagine waking up without yesterdays burdens, yesterdays hurts and hates, and all the baggage that we adults seem determined to carry with us from day to day.

Life was meant to be lived through the eyes of a child. Grandparent's Day is coming soon. Grab the grandchildren, and spend the day looking at the world, and at life, through the eyes of a child who has no baggage, no biases, and no darkened lenses.

Enjoy life to the fullest and for that one day, live it through the eyes of your grandchildren!

Friday the 13th

Today is Friday, the 13th, typically a day clothed in superstition and thoughts of bad luck, etc. The fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia (a word that is derived from the concatenation of the Greek words Παρασκευή, δεκατρείς, and φοβία, meaning Friday, thirteen, and phobia respectively; alternate spellings include paraskevodekatriaphobia or paraskevidekatriaphobia) or friggatriskaidekaphobia, and is a specialized form of triskaidekaphobia, a phobia (fear) of the number thirteen.

To me, it’s simply another day that the Lord has blessed me with, and it’s one of the most beautiful days we’ve had this week. It was supposed to rain today, but instead we have blue skies with high white clouds and a slight breeze!

God gives us the choice of being free from the superstitions and fears that often plague our lives. The rituals that we sometimes go through to avoid certain situations and places that could bring us “bad luck” or difficulties, are a weight that we don’t need to carry. We don’t need incantations, or protective spirits or amulets of any kind to protect us. God’s love does that for us, and much more! All we have to do is ask – that’s the blessing of His love!

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble. Psalm 46:1

Those Special Moments

Sometimes those special little moments that we all treasure, can come upon us quite unexpectedly, in unexpected ways and places.

I have found that the people here in my new “home town” are quite friendly and seem to always be ready to help a newcomer. I’ve found them in shops, parks, and on the buses.

I remember when I was just moving here and had to take a city bus to my apartment. One of the passengers was obviously a “regular” and was chatting away with the driver. Suddenly he slowed the bus a bit and pointed out to us a white squirrel in a yard along the route. Sure enough, it wasn’t a cat or any other kind of critter - it was definitely a white squirrel. I know they exist, but as far as I knew, none had been seen in this area before, and I had certainly never seen one! What a moment that was!!

I was riding the city bus again yesterday to take care of some errands. When we arrived at the main transit center downtown, the bus driver and I had a chance to chat a few minutes, as we waited until it was time to go again. There was only one other dozing passenger on the bus at the time, so I decided to take advantage of the opportunity and ask him where I could find certain things in town, and about some of the bus rules and routes, etc.

He was a nice personable man and I enjoyed his company. He was very helpful and even went out of his way to show me where to get off to get to particular stores, etc. After leaving the transit center, I knew I had a while to ride yet before reaching my destination, so pulled out my book and got comfortable.

Suddenly the driver spoke up and said “Look at the deer!” There we were, only blocks from downtown and standing in the open, in a partially wooded area were two deer! What a neat surprise for this city-living country girl!!

Man and nature coming together, if only for a short while. As we continue to infringe on, and take over their homeland, more and more creatures are coming closer and closer – both in fear, and out of need of space and food. Yet, it created a very special moment for those of us just riding a city bus to somewhere.

Two very special moments, in two very unexpected places . . . another of God’s daily blessings!

It’s Spring, and that always holds the promise of very special moments, in very special times and places. Watch for them, with family and friends – and even with the occasional stranger!

This is the day which the Lord has made;

We will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

A Future Full of Hope and Promise

I have finally moved forward through the transition of relocating to a new home and new life in a new town! In answer to many prayers, God has led in this transition, and it just feels right!

My new home is in a nice, quiet neighborhood. It’s a friendly apartment complex where neighbors look after each other – like the good ol’ days! Friendships seem to be easily made, and some have been nurtured and treasured for years!

Life here is quiet and peaceful – flowers blooming outside my window, and birds singing away throughout the day! It’s a bright and beautiful day out today, and there is happiness in my soul. I see a promising future with new friends to add to the longtime and treasured friends that I’ve collected over the years.

Now comes the time for unpacking and settling in for the long haul. There’s a true sense of satisfaction in being able to get my own creativity flowing as I decorate and set up my new home in a way that reflects who I am, and what I like! Hopefully my new apartment will soon be my own little haven of serenity.

God has truly blessed me with wonderful friends who have been very supportive during this transition, and I think there will be more treasured friends in my future! God is true and dependable in His leading on our paths along life’s journey. We can rest assured that in our relationship with Him, we will always find a trusted Friend who blesses us each day with His Presence and guidance in our lives!

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord,
thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah 29:11

Who Am I?

Have you ever had an experience that makes you feel like you’ve just had the rug pulled out from under you? Maybe it was a hurtful experience, or a shocking experience, or maybe a revelation about your life that just seemed to come out of left field.

We generally move through childhood believing what we are told by our parents because, after all, why would we not believe them? It’s a well-believed thought that they know more about us than anyone, and why would we think that we would not be told the truth?

All of this is generally true, until you consider the life of an adopted child, which is often enshrouded in mystery and secrecy. There again, the child is left with no choice but to believe, or at least accept, what they are told by social workers or the adoptive parents. You grow up with all the usual questions: Who am I? Where did I come from? Who is my family? While these questions are not really an issue for most families, for the adopted child it stems from a deeper curiosity of wondering “Why was I given away? Who are my ‘real’ parents? Didn’t they love me? Why didn’t they want me anymore?” Within that child is a very real need to know.

It’s up to the adoptive parents whether to be honest with this child about the details of the adoption, or to sugar-coat the situation, or to just avoid the questions altogether! Each choice has lifetime consequences in the life of that child. If you are honest with the child, the child learns to trust and knows that you care and understand about his or her feelings. If you sugar-coat the situation, and the truth comes out later, then the adopted child feels that maybe their whole life was a lie. For the adoptive parents to avoid the questions, leaves a child wondering, “What is wrong with me? Why CAN’T I talk about my ‘real’ parents? Why are there secrets about my adoption? Was I bad? Were they bad?’” The questions that go through a child’s mind are endless.

When those answers come to light later in life, and they are different from the answers that were given throughout the life of the child – chaos reigns within that child, even as an adult. It can be a very overwhelming experience to find out that you aren’t at all the person you thought you were. It doesn’t really change your character or your personal integrity, or even who you really are inside, but it changes how you look at yourself, and once again, it creates more questions than answers.

Transitions can be good, or they can be bad. Sometimes they are neither good nor bad - they’re just transitions. Life is full of transitions, and how we handle them, no matter how much they may shake our world, is important to our well-being. Can we stand strong, in spite of the often overwhelming changes these transitions bring to our lives, or will we cave in to what seems like an absolute shattering of everything we have ever known or believed.

The choice is very personal and differs with each individual, but it’s a choice that will have lifetime consequences.

Very Special Treasures

I think most of us will agree that friends are a valuable part of our lives. A good friend shares our joys, our sorrows, our ups and downs – sometimes for only a short time, sometimes for a lifetime.

I have been reminded though, that there is nothing more precious than a friend who will pray with you. I received a phone call today from a friend I had not talked with in quite a while, and she had called to check on me and see how I was doing – both emotionally and physically.

We talked for a while about things that have been going on in our lives – then came the best part of our communication. Before we ended our conversation, my friend asked if she could pray with me before we parted once again. It really meant a lot to me that my friend had not only called to check on me and encourage me, but that she also wanted to take the time to pray with me.

I have some very special friends who have found some very unique ways to pray with me - and for me. Some, like my friend today, have called and prayed with me, and some have sent me very special prayers through e-mails. I have even had friends awaken in the middle of the night and pray for me while I was on the road traveling.

Praying friends are an amazing source of strength and blessings!!

Praying friends are special treasures sent to us by God, and He has richly blessed me with a strong and caring group of these "very special treasures". They have brought a lot of peace, comfort and encouragement into my life.

I pray that God will bless them as richly as He has blessed me - by bringing some “very special treasures” in their lives also!!