Happy Birthday

Today is Larry's birthday. I asked him if he felt different today. That is kind of a joke in our family because since the boys have been little on their birthdays I ask them if they feel any different on that day. They always laugh and say I knew you were going to say that. Usually the answer is no but occasionally I get a yes. In my head I have kind of tracked the times that the answer is yes. These are the major yes years. Sometime around 12 or 13, 16, 20, recently 26 was added and this year 47 also made the grade. If you look at those ages with maybe the exception of 47 there are new things to look forward to during those millstones. In our family at 12 or 13 you are going into youth and you can officially be called a teenager. I almost forgot 14 because you can get your drivers permit. Then 16 and you can drive alone. For most of our boys this means you can get a job. At 20 you just sound older. When people ask you how old you are there is no longer a teen on the end of the number and somehow it just makes you feel older. When I asked Layne the other day if he felt any different now that he was 26. He said it seemed weird to him that a quarter of his life was done. And now Larry and I are saying that yea 47 feels different. The age of 50 is closer, not the quarter century mark but half a century. A knew time is ahead for us. Kind of like a 18 year old who has their whole future ahead of him. We have a whole knew era ahead us or rather we can see it.
We all mark time. We use watches, calendars, seasons, meals, events, sizes, etc. etc. etc. and yes birthdays.
Oh if we focus on those sometimes it can be depressing. For God there is no time. I think he marks things in our lives by growth. How much more we look like him and reflect his nature, his character.
A 10 year old child can look like a 50 year old if his character looks like Gods.
Since this is a continual track that will not end until we are with Him then we are all young. And the events we celebrate do not mark physical age but transformation and we do not attribute the changes to time but to the goodness of Jesus. And for that we give God all the glory. Only God can take a heart of stone and make it soft and pliable. And that happens regardless of age. It happens for young and old alike.

So maybe Larry and I really can feel like teenagers again if we look at time like God does. He has a great measuring stick.

Just"B"

I DID NOT DO THAT

Did you see the mistakes from yesterdays post. I don't know how that happened. I transferred it from word and there it was. I didn't even check it once it was published because I did all my checks while I still had it in word.

I just had to make sure you knew I didn't do that. I even went back to try and edit it and that was taking forever and not working like it should so my frustration level was at its peak and I called it quits.
I am not a techno girl and so when this stuff happens I call for one of the kids.
They were all outside playing in the snow.

Just a short story about the snow. Kinzie has really enjoyed this snow. Her Mom got all her supplies for playing in the snow. Snow pants, play coat, gloves, a hat. We found some boots in the basement and she was set to play in the snow. Then, no snow. Which was fine with me but not so fun for her.
So yesterday she finally got to play outside in the snow. She loved it and first thing this morning she was after her Uncle Brenny to go sledding again. I couldn't really understand what she was trying to say at first so she got down on the floor to demonstrate her sledding pose.
Well Brendon was all for a morning slide so they got on there gear. I had forgotten how long it took to put all that stuff on and remembered the old saying" you stay outside until you are completely done because once you are in, you are not going back outside."
Well I didn't say that. But I thought it.
A little while went by and I heard Kinzie outside the front door saying "Anna" over and over. I went to the door and she said she had an accident. I felt so bad for her. I felt partially resposible. It never occured to me to make sure that was taken care of before she got all those cloths on.
So we had to take all of the clothes off and she wanted to go back outside. I told her I didn't have any other play clothes for outside and she couldn't wear these. They were wet.
I looked at her and said "Wait a minute". She took that to mean I had a solution and said "You got an idea."
When she said that and I looked at her face I had to come up with something.
So we quickly dried the snow pants and found some pants that would work, got some of Brennys socks, put all the layers of clothes back on and out she went while I got to admire the big N on my shirt for Super Nana.

STREEEEEEEETCH

That is what is going on with me right now. Stretching. But you know what is unusual in this stretching time I am in is that it is not making me crazy. It is uncomfortable but not unbearable. I am a person who works best under pressure. I actually think I enjoy the adrenaline rush, the rush to make it all happen. I know people who are not like that and I admire them but that is not how I am and I am finally ok with that. I have always been like this and it doesn’t seem like it is going to change. Probably because I don’t mind it. I actually enjoy having several balls in the air at one time. You would be surprised to find that when I do have the juggling to do I do better in other areas as well. My other responsibilities, house, laundry etc.

What is stretching me right now? Preparing to preach next week. It means a lot of studying but that is not necessarily what I feel either it is more the responsibility that comes with what you are doing. I don’t take it lightly. I have done it before. This is the third time I will preach at church. The last time was aweful. I thought it was. But I learned a lot. This time I am going to be more myself. It is hard to resist the temptation to try to be like others you have heard but I need to be myself.

Had a VBS meeting last night. I feel good about where things are at and there are many things to do. Last night was just a small group of people who I gathered for their counsel. I believed in my heart that I knew what we are supposed to do. So I gathered a small group together to see what there hearts said. There were some very good questions brought up. I appreciate the way other people look at things it brings balance. Not everyone thinks alike. I used to have a diffacult time with people who had a zillion questions when I presented an idea......then I married Larry. He is the master question asker. I now realize it is good for me as I tend to be one who charges ahead without totally counting the cost. Larry really can’t help it. It is his nature. I recently heard a minister do a teaching on the motivational gifts and when he taught about the motivational gift of the teacher it was like getting a free session at a marriage counselors office. The motivational gift of a teacher is a born question asker. They want to know the hows and whys of everything. Now me, that is not me. I am motivated differently. Since I am not made like that it can kind of drive me crazy when I don’t take the time to remember that they are not out to prove that your idea is not going to work but to add clarity and definition to what you are posing. Now I don’t all ways remember that right away when these things come up but I am trying to remind myself more and more.

It snowed today. What can I say but it is the first full day of spring and this is yucky. There had better be some green grass under this when it is all melted. To be fair the timber or woods if you are from up north looks beautiful and the sun is out making great shadows on the snow.

Alex is coming home this weekend. I will enjoy that. He will be home a month later for the summer. Actually the school year went pretty fast considering that when he left I thought the world had come to an end.

We had dinner on Saturday night with a couple from church. We had such a nice time.
I will make this short and maybe not so sweet. This couple sacrificed a year of there life so he could serve in Iraq for our country and experienced things that a human being should not have to experience. Things that he was not able to leave there when he came home. They are deeply etched in his memory. His wife was alone for a year with out her husband. Dealing with being alone. She had great support but still she was without her husband. And try as we might we cannot comprehend what that year was like for either of them. Especially the soldier. We can’t!.

When I hear people who so boldly speak out and dishonor our soldiers and the sacrifice that they have made it makes me sick. I am sick in my heart and would not want to be that soldier who is home now hearing this. Most of these men have time left in the service with the possibibilty of returning or going or being called up somewhere else is not out of the question. I listened to this couple and will not forget the look on his face when he was talking about the difficult adjustment he has had to make and is still making. And they are doing it together. I thanked him. Just a simple thank you. What else can you say. There are no words that can express the gratitude we should have but sadly many do not.

Just my rambling thoughts for today, the first day of spring.

Just "B"