AHHHHHHHH......Water!

Hebrews 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith,
having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

Early this morning we had the joy of going to the lake. We met family members there and
we knew we would have an exciting, exhausting, water filled time. These hopes were certainly
fulfilled.

BUT THE THING THAT WAS EVEN BETTER....was the realization that water can renew and refresh
our spirits. The waters of baptism can be revisited when we least expect it. Today when a cool
wave unexpectedly crept over me...I was refreshed and it was wonderful. I thought about the love
of our Heavenly Father to think of every little detail to make our lives better. Water was one of his
first ideas...incredible.

As we returned home, we were met by water from the skies....quick and fainting yet water nonetheless.
Another gentle nudge...another reminder...."I AM here," HE whispers. "Come and spend a moment with me.
You won't regret it."

Water is pure...may my heart become more that way in the days ahead!

Friendship- The Classic Version

"It takes a long time to grow an old friend."
- by John Leonard

Today I spent the day with my friend Ellen.
We met when she was maybe all of three years old (I was close to 10) ...and I have loved her since.
Ellen was the most adorable little girl and grew to be a beautiful woman....right in front of my eyes.
Ellen is the sister I never had....but she could go home and sleep in her own house each night. BONUS!
Ellen is funny....her laugh is contagious and she makes me want to be a better person.

I got to watch Ellen navigate braces, boyfriends, basketball, and bras. I was never prouder than to be asked to be her Matron of Honor when she and Jonathan married. Who knew where those Easter Egg Hunts of 30 years ago would end up?

Ellen worries...not the kind that is neurotic...but that she will be the BEST at whatever she pursues.
This pairs with her motivation and stick- to-it-ive-ness and of course...SHE is successful! and I, I am proud!!
Proud to call her my friend, proud of who she is, and proud of the joy she brings to our sometimes dark world!

Today as my nine and ten year olds delighted in her little ones....I was taken back. To a YMCA Pool that no longer exists and a little girl in yellow and white checked dress with AMAZING blue eyes and an angel kissed forehead... has the friendship passed to another generation? I pray to God that it is so!!

So...my dear friend. I say Thank you...for a lifetime of memories and love.
I can't imagine life without you in it! God's blessings on you ALWAYS!!

GROWN UPS?

Last night we saw the movie "Grown Ups". It made me think......

Why do we feel the need to act or pretend to be grown up all the time?
How often do we do things because "everybody else does it". That is what little kids do..NOT grown ups.
Grown ups should think for themselves, consider their options, and make a prudent and intelligent move.

Another point the movie made...the fact that our children are not given the honor of playing outside for FUN!. We plug them into every imaginable "organized" activity, play movies for them from our homes to Walmart, and encourage them to desire EVERY video game on the planet. YET...we are horrified when they will not carry on a conversation (WITH REAL WORDS) with us at the dinner table. Technology should be a tool...not a lifeline.

Sooo...I have to get off that soap box....makes my head hurt.

In any event...sometime very soon...unplug, tune in to those you love, do the things you loved to do as a kid, introduce your children to childhood....they ( and you ) will never forget it!

Blessings to you!

ALLEY CAT!

Tomorrow is a big day. My "#1 youngest son" will turn nine years old.
Alley Cat came into the world with a bang.
I refused to go to the hospital and wait around for thirty hours as I had done one year and nine days earlier.
NO WAY was I waiting another thirty hour shift at The Miriam Cannon Family Center. AND BESIDES..I really
wanted to finish seeing Jeopardy..I was winning big!
On the way to the hospital..the barometer fell and we encountered torrential rains..nearly wrecking our car.
I checked in at the front desk between contractions about two minutes apart. DEEEEEEP BREATHS were my friend.
Alex was born in triage with a desperate plea for ANYONE from our family practice or their associates to
report to my room NOW!!
I had no medicine and was tickled as could be to meet my second miracle.
Alex has continued to bless my life from that moment onward.
He sees thing with an uncanny imagination. He makes me pretend fully to be the character he assigns me.
This allows me the chance to change perspective and realize that his unsolicited hugs and kisses on my
forehead are HUGE and that stressors of life are minute and frivolous.
Alex is funny. His laughter is a melody that fills our home and makes it complete.
Alex is part me...the pouty, pooched lip child who is not happy when he does not get his way...yet forgets while he
is mad..afraid he will miss something wonderful.
Alex is part his father..never uneasy around a horse and quickly willing to assume you want to meet him. One of his first sentences was" I'm Alex Freeman and....would you like to be my friend?"
Alex is a gift and I am grateful I was chosen to receive him!
God bless you my dear, sweet one!

Laughter! and REALITY!

Last night my mother and I saw the show "Girls Only". IT WAS FABULOUS!
It felt good to laugh. My face hurts. My head hurt last night...from lack of oxygen.
The actresses/ comedians celebrated women. WITH ALL OUR INSANITY!
It was lovely and delightful.
The best part was sharing the fun with my mom. She is the best and I am grateful to have her in my life.
Often as women, we get too caught up in competition and play the 'my problem is bigger than your problem" game....or we have a brag fest about how wonderful things are. GET REAL PEOPLE...if I came to your house right now....would the majority of those things be true...or is it how we WISH things were?
How much better would we be if we admitted our difficulties to one another and helped each other through them?
What if for once we said...I am having a crazy day...my kids are driving me nuts, my husband does not care about what color I want to paint the bathroom, and even the dog does not want my attention.
DID YOU NOT LAUGH? WHY? Because you totally get it...
So my challenge for today...be real...tell the truth..and learn to LAUGH about it!!

Thanks be to God for the women in my life...you force me to be a better person!

FAMILY ROOTS

Today is Father's Day. I am blessed to have a wonderful father. If you don't know my dad... let me share a bit about him.
He is a smart alec...a little sarcastic. I think I may have gotten that gene...
He is smart. I can never, ever beat him at Jeopardy or Trivial Pursuit (even when I tried to memorize the entire deck of cards).
He is funny and mostly puts on his happy face. I know several nursing units over the past couple of years that have been genuinely sad to see him get better. He does not complain and "grins and bears it" through most trying situations.
My dad is a wonderful encourager. If you ever think you can't do something...his first question will likely be WHY NOT??
My dad is spontaneous. As a kid, he would call Mom and I and tell us to pack a bag...we never knew where we would end up...but he almost always made sure we had a pool. THANKS! He continues this tradition when he "kidnaps" the boys. They always come home with a Papa story!
My dad is talented. He has a gorgeous voice. NO ONE on Earth can sing The Lord's Prayer like he does.
My dad is unique, wonderful, and UNFORGETTABLE!
Do you know him? If not...you need to!

Thoughts for Summer

Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

This summer, my goal is to make this verse my mantra. My prayer is that through thinking of these things....negativity will have no room in my world. I have been given the gift of time. That time is called summer vacation. Time to reflect, rest, relax, and make lasting memories with my family and friends.

I only have this moment and all too quickly it will vanish. I am required to make it lovely, excellent, filled with honor and worthy of praise. This may be a difficult task..but I think it can be accomplished.

Today is a new day...I am off to make it praise worthy! God's blessings to you and those you love!

For Jessica

1 Timothy 4:12
Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. (NLT)


Tonight is my cousin Jessica's high school graduation. I had the pleasure of having lunch with her and her family and could not be prouder of her.
I have memories of this beautiful brown eyed baby eating lemon upon lemon at her Uncle George's wedding rehearsal party. BOY....what faces she could make.
Jessica was cute and funny and lots of fun to play with.
Jessica was the flower girl in our wedding. She was gorgeous and perfect and floated down the aisle as she carefully placed each and every petal.
How can it be that she is nearly eighteen years old? And heading off to college?
I have enjoyed viewing her journey.
I have enjoyed watching her grow.
I am pleased to call her my friend.

I know that God has amazing things on her horizon. She is beautiful. She is intelligent. She is determined and strong.
She has a love for the Lord. I admire who she is and what she stands for.

I love Jessica for all that she has been and all that she will be!
God's blessings sweet girl!! It is your time to shine!!

RELIEF

Today...I was once again myself after a sequence of days which would label me names not very complimentary. Our school changes were announced on Monday and most of us were moved to new rooms. Many were teaching new and undesired subjects and life was a menagerie of chaos followed by conflict sparking what? New chaos? It was an unhealthy and dysfunctional cycle that could not really be broken.

Last night, I gathered on The Patio (yes..it deserves a proper noun demarkation) of a dear friend and vented, laughed, and purged myself of the nasty negativity that inhabited every cell. At 12:30 am when I arrived home, I had a skip in my step and had found that wonderful..."nothing you can do or say to me will bring me down" groove going on.

Today has been fantastic as well. I have clean clothes, a cool home, and the knowledge that Monday there is very little left for me to do to finish the year. I am joyful, full of anticipation of rest and laughter that is sure to come this summer with my boys. I am free...and I thank God for that!

May you find blessings in abundance and troubles within your management level. Happy Weekend!

Satisfaction!

Today was the day before the last day of school. I was supposed to be packing my room to move to another part of the building. I did not do so and am sorry for clogging the well oiled machine of change.
BUT YOU SEE..... this is the thing...I had some very important business to take care of.

Instead, I shared sickly rich morsels of caloric delights with my students. I read to them and entertained them with my crazy antics...just one more time. We laughed and smiled and enjoyed one another as good friends so easily do.

They should have been bonkers...but each time I paused they were spellbound by the novel and begged me to keep reading.

These moments are the ones I will treasure. When they linger and wait around for just one more hug or high five, yelling "BYE MRS. FREEMAN... I love you!! I will come find you in August."

At this moment.... I am satisfied. My weight, messy home, crazy gray hairs, or the fact that world peace does not exist...can not steal my joy! And for this moment...I am thankful to have been blessed to be a teacher. Praise be to God for his unending love and guidance.

Friendship

"Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep."
Romans 12:15 New King James Version


Tonight my Circle from church went to the Fresh House in Locust, NC.
I highly suggest you go there. IT IS DELIGHTFUL.
Take a large pocketbook. You are going to want to make more than a few purchases.
I am again elated upon return home. WHY? You may ask.
IT IS SIMPLE...
We are a group of women ranging in age from 24 to 79 (I think...no one is telling for sure).
We have a wide array of careers and life experiences that bring opportunity for excellent stories.
We LAUGH LOUDLY when we are together.
We CRY FREELY when we are together.
WE CELEBRATE life's joys and MOURN life's losses.
WE ARE FRIENDS.
WE choose to develop relationships with one another.
We are gathered in HIS name.
It is perfect. It is lovely. It is delightful.
PRAISE BE TO GOD!

“A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.”

Happy Anniversary

One should never know too precisely whom one has married. ~Friedrich Nietzsche


June 7 is our wedding anniversary. It seems insane that thirteen years could have passed. I find myself saying REALLY? Already?
Through these years there have been many unexpected events. Some certainly wonderful and undeniably blessings. Others..not so wonderful, yet still blessings. The most intriguing thing to me is that I still ask myself..who is that man? He never ceases to surprise me...again in many good ways and still other times not so good.

I know our union was ordered up special by our creator and it is through relying on him that we have been brought to this great occasion. I thank my husband for the many days I have laughed until I cried and cried until I laughed. I pray that he will be blessed and that our life together is a blessing to him. I pray that I find myself saying fifty years....REALLY?? Already?

God bless you dear Shrek. I love you very much!

Reflection

This morning the sun is shining on the dog's bucket of water. It is reflecting on the ceiling of my den in an awesome swirl of activity. When I look long enough patterns are repeated. It draws me in and I find myself spellbound by the movement. Occasionally, the reflection is clean and bright and other times is dark and subtle.

I am reminded that reflection is a good thing. I must take a careful introspective look at the person I am and the person I want to be. I need to celebrate my moments of brilliant clarity and critically scrutinize those darker moments. Reflection gives you a lift, a downer, and eventually a plan.....where will I go next? How will I get there? What will I do along the way? How can my life make a greater, more positive impact when I leave others behind?

The most important step in reflection is letting go. Take the good and trash the bad. I've got a plan...and I pray I am led to greatness for me, for those I love, and for those I may have the pleasure of impacting. God bless this great adventure I am calling life!


Go on...pick up your mirror. Celebrate your journey and make a plan!!

RESPECT!!

I love Aretha Franklin. You know...R-E-S-P-E-C-T!!
Oh and who can forget...."You better think..."?

These two songs bring to mind the way we SHOULD react in all situations. I am bothered to discover how little respect
is awarded by adults to adults. I also am concerned at how rarely we THINK before making decisions of how to handle
one another. We all too often jump to conclusions and ONLY desire to see how we are affected by external stimuli.


This time of year is insane in my work environment. Sadly...respect and thinking fall to the wayside and emotionally
charged craziness ensues. Rumors fly, disrespect flourishes...and we damage one another needlessly!


I pray that for the next 12 days I will be the person I always want to be. I pray that adults will act the way we should....or at least the way we expect children to behave! Let's lose the "do as I say not as I do" attitude and take care of one another and LISTEN fully with our hearts!

AND YES....Aretha will have to be stuck on replay in my mind!!

Thank you Motown for your infinite wisdom!