Has it really been 3 years?!!!

It's hard to believe it's been 3 years since I wrote on this blog! So much has happened that it would take so much time to catch anything up. But to summarize...

My younger daughter graduated college, got engaged, got unengaged, got a job working for American Eagle Airlines, got a transfer to La Guardia Airport and will be moving to NYC in 2 weeks!

My older daughter got pregnant, gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and has a beautiful family!

I got cancer, got nuked and now don't have cancer...for now. You never know.

My husband is going to have surgery in 3 weeks.

I've created a new ministry at my church feeding hungry people who come to the church looking for financial assistance. I continue my work with feeding people at Be Our Guest where guests come to the church on the 3rd Tuesday and we prepare a nice meal for them - usually about 150 guests come to dinner. Very fun ministry!

This is it in a nutshell. Other than this, I feel I've grown in my commitment to the Lord and am striving daily to discern and follow his will for my life.

Cat's in the Cradle

I'm reading a Bible study right now and it's talking about what God's purposes in our lives are. There is a distinction between our tasks or our jobs, and our calling. We definitely have particular jobs, some that we choose and some that were chosen for us. For those of us who are believers, we also have a calling, God's calling. The Bible study asked how I would know if God desired to redirect my assignment or mission. I believe God speaks to my heart, that I hear him. But sadly, I admit, I don't always follow his voice. I have felt him calling me to do some things in the past that I have let fall by the wayside. I didn't pursue them and they simply faded away. At times, I questioned whether they were actually for me or not. But as I look back, I think they were missed opportunities for me. It's all very Cat's in the Cradle, when you don't know it was there all the time, until one day it's gone. You don't have the chance to participate in the life of someone any longer. How sad is that? We have all had those experiences in our lives, where someone who should have been a willing participant in our lives or the lives of someone we love, chose not to engage. What if God were that way? What if you said to God, "when you coming home, dad?" and God said, "I don't know when, but we'll get together then. You know we'll have a good time then." Thank you God for not living that kind of life with us. Even though we let our jobs, our past times, our lives get in the way of seeking you, you never give up on us, you're always there for us. "I'm gonna be like him, yeah, you know I want to be like him!"http://www.birdsnest.com/catcrad.htm

Addendum to Gray!

I was glancing through a magazine and found an article about letting your hair be gray! There was a reference to a book recently written by a woman named Anne Kreamer. The book is entitled "Going Gray; What I Learned About Beauty, Sex, Work, Motherhood, Authenticity and Everything Else That Really Matters" (long title!). I just started reading it, so I don't know whether to recommend it or not yet, but it may address some of the issues I've been facing in letting my hair go gray. If you're inclined, you may want to read it.

Gray Is The New Blond!

After finally deciding to get off the hair color merry-go-round and let my hair "be", I am learning to embrace my gray. At first, I felt it necessary to point out to people that I had gray hair, not because I wanted them to notice, but because I didn't want them to think I didn't notice it. Now my gray hair is all "grown out" and my natural color is shining through the remnants of whatever the last shade I put on my hair was. Frankly, it has been so long since I saw my natural color that I was afraid I wouldn't like it more than I would dislike the gray. I thought about a rinse or something that would enhance my own color without covering the gray. In the end, I opted to just let my hair be. And I love it! I love the shade of brown that it is. And I absolutely love the gray! I feel like it's a perfect highlight job that doesn't cost me a cent and never needs touching up.


But more than that, I feel like my hair matches who I am now. As I look at the women around me, I see many who color their hair, well into their, let's say "older than I am" age. Their faces and bodies betray their age, even if their jet black or golden blond hair does not. I don't fault them for it, but I finally decided that it wasn't for me. Not that I want to look old. The natural perception may persist that someone with gray hair looks older, but frankly I don't think I look any older than when I covered my gray hair. And to me that it a blessing. I wear my gray hair with honor, because I am blessed to be old enough to have it.

You Can Never Go Home

A good friend's daughter went off to college this week and although her son left just last year, this was different. My friends tell me that guys are less communicative when they're at home and even worse when they leave. So to have one's daughter leave home is difficult, because you loose your girl to hang with, do the domestic stuff, the girly stuff with and the late night chats when they finally get home. Well, you can still have the late night chats, if you can stay up really really late!


But as hard as it is on the moms, it is, in some ways, harder for the kids. My friend said her daughter was planning on coming back for high school Homecoming, to visit friends (and family!) a couple of times in the near future. I didn't have the heart to tell her. The visits taper off quickly and then disappear completely. Their friends make other plans, more exciting things to do than go home. The kids start to change once they're on their own and many friendships can't withstand the transformations. The ones who shared so many interests just a year ago find they have little more in common than their hometown.

Then one day they are married and living in another city. When planning to come stay at your house for the weekend, they mention to their spouse that it is fun to go home. At which point the spouse replies, "We are home!"

Dallas/Ft. Worth's Got Talent!

In case you weren't paying attention, the winners from this summer's reality shows So You Think You Can Dance, Last Comic Standing and Nashville Star all claim the DFW area as home! We definitely got talent...

In a Moment

Recently, while watching a final episode of a talent-based reality show, I thought about the changes happening in the winner's life. I pondered the "reality" that his life would never be the same. I wondered what it would be like to walk in his shoes, to know that my dreams had come true and there would be no going back. It made me think about the life changing moments that occur in our lives every day. Some of them involve life and death situations: the diagnosis that means certain death, the accident that snatches a life in an instant, the conception of life. All these change someone's life forever. The ripple effect reaches beyond the immediate circle in all directions.

This is never more evident than in the decision to accept Christ as Savior. From the thief hanging on the cross next to Jesus whose soul was saved at the last possible moment to the millions who come to him today, all have this in common: life is never the same after the decision is made. In a moment, life changes forever. And although the process doesn't end with that one decision, the journey begins and the struggles, triumphs, and everything in between all lead to another moment...in which we meet God. That's a reality we can all win!