Never Quit Trying!

I have just watched the most amazing video called "Are You Going To Finish Strong?" by Nick Vujicic.

There are times when I get discouraged and tend to whine a little, at least to myself. Then something comes along that puts everything right back into perspective. This video did that with a BANG!

I recommend viewing it!!

Always a Child

I have have been blessed with two wonderful sons! They are both amazing to me and I love to watch them with my "mother" eyes. They are grown up now but if I look at the "man" in just the right way I can occassionally glimpse the "little boy" that depended on me so much at one time and that I watched grow to be this "man."

I have one daughter. OK, daughter-in-law. I could not love her more if I had watched her grow from a child, which I did in a way, from afar. She loves me(!) and thinks I'm a wonderful cook (I make a really mean Kraft Macaroni & Cheese!) and asks me for advice! She is a wonderful Christian and loves my son and gave me the greatest grandson in the world.

Recently, my daughter was very, very sick. It seemed to make time stop and made me want to trade places so I wouldn't have to watch my "child" suffer. Nothing else seemed important. There was a lot of prayer going on and I praise the Lord that she is finally out of the hospital and doing much better.

The thing is, no matter how old you get or how empty your nest is, your children are always your babies. It reminds me of a song titled "You'll Always Be a Child in My Eyes" which speaks of God watching us grow from birth to old age and talks about Him always being there, watching us with "Father" eyes. What a comfort that is to know! Even when we are old and grey, He is watching the child grow and loving that child every step of the way! Wow!

...and two weeks later, it's tornadoes!

Here I was just complaining about ice and the Oklahoma weather throws us some tornadoes in February! I think I'd better quit complaining right away.

The past two weeks have certainly been dramatic and very tramatic in more ways than one. With uncertain and rapidly changing climates in our government and economy, our daily lives are definitely reflecting the weather changes here in Oklahoma.

Last week, we experienced "downsizing" when suddenly and without any warning or chance to say goodbye, we lost some members of our "Christian Family" community of employees. Each one was very special and had a special testimony and Christian witness and many, many friends here. It not only hurt to lose them but it also made us feel vulnerable and betrayed in some way. Someone has said the word "downsizing" is a much less emotional word than "layoff" but it certainly didn't seem that way to the ones who were told to leave or the ones who remained and had to deal with the loss. I know we will all adjust and move on with the help of the Lord, but it's just hard to accept.

This week, the atmospheric conditions on the inside were certainly reflected on the outside with the first tornadoes of the year...in February! It was very chaotic and disturbing arround here and again there was loss for people to deal with in the form of damage to buildings and homes and greater still in the deaths of eight people. Again, there was no chance to say goodbye! I did not know any of those people but I do know that no words will make it better or less emotional for them. I do pray God will help them to find comfort in the love of friends and neighbors and strangers who come to help in the recovery!

So, are there lessons to be learned here? The answer is, there are always lessons to be learned. In situations like this we are often amazed by how much we have taken for granted and quickly realize what is most important to us and what we can easily do without.

It also helps to remember that even in chaotic and uncertain times, some things never change. God is always there when we need to go to Him. Hopefully, we haven't been taking Him for granted.