Saturday

Remembering

 

 

Thursday

Friday

The Light

 

 Once there was Someone who said such amazing things and did such wonderful things that people began to follow Him.  But they didn't know who He was.  So one day, they simply had to ask Him.  And He said, "I am the Light."*

 

Last night at Ash Wednesday service we had an opportunity to light prayer candles for people or things that we wanted to lift up.

 

Steve and I lit three candles (OK, we lit four, but that's because we are uncoordinated).  One for each of our children.  It is a time of new beginnings. 

 

Our son and daughter will both be graduating from their respective schools in May - on the same day, 100 miles apart, naturally.  My soon-to-be daughter-in-law will be returning to college in the fall, after the wedding.

 

We prayed for their futures.  For the right doors to open.  For good judgement.  For joyful days ahead. 

 

We prayed.  Now we wait.  Ugh.  I am the kind of person that needs to know things NOW.  Uncertainty is not my friend.  I want to know what jobs are waiting, what housing will become available, what classes will be offered. 

 

There are things to do, of course to help get ready.  Courses to sign up for.  Finals to study for.  Wedding clothes to buy.  Parties to plan for celebrating these occasions.

 

And, I suppose that is the essence of Lent.  We pray, we get ready for Easter by observing the disciplines of Lent.  And we wait.

 

But we don't wait alone. 

 

After the service last night, someone extinguished the lights.  The flame from the Christ candle was replaced by curling tendrils of smoke, and "the Light is changed so it's not just in one place anymore. It can be in many places at once."*

 

The essence of the Christ candle swirls into the air and becomes part of the world.  It will never be contained in one place again, but is in all places at all times.  Thanks be to God.

 

  

 

*Purple text is from Children Worship & Wonder program.

The Elephant Rope

I love animals (don't we all?) and believe we have much to learn from them.  And so I was interested in this article I saw on Wimp.com, a website dedicated to inspiring or just plain fun pictures and videos.  

How do you control an elephant?  Turns out it might be easier than you think. 

The Elephant Rope

As a man was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from their bonds but for some reason, they did not.

He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away. "Well," trainer said, "when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it's enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free."

The man was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn't, they were stuck right where they were.

Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before?

Failure is part of learning; we should never give up the struggle in life.  Nor should we attempt to be something we are not.

It doesn't fool anyone anyway.

As the always delightful Dolly Parton says....

“Find out who you are and do it on purpose.”

You might be amazed at what you are capable of.

Truly amazed!
 

 

 

 

Check out more funny animal pics at Johnlund.com

All The World's a Stage

I know someone who owns a pair of dinosaur PJ's.  Not PJ’s with dinosaur pictures, mind you.  No. This person owns pajamas that make him/her look like a dinosaur.  I can only visualize it, not having had the pleasure of actually seeing it. 

Something like this, I guess.

 

 or maybe this

 

or, heaven-forbid, this

 

According to this person (who for some reason, chose not to be named), this type of garment is worn in Japan as a kind of robe around the house.  

Seriously?  I had to do a little research on this.  Here's what I learned....

These garments are called Kigurumi and are described as full-body hooded animal pajamas styled after animals or cartoon characters.

Sometimes called "disguise pajamas" or onesies, the clothing is normally worn non-commercially as Japanese street fashion or as sleepwear, and is not intended to function as a performance costume.

The pajama outfits are made of fleece material, usually in an oversized "one-size-fits-all", and conforms to the body in the manner of normal clothing. The hoods do not cover the face.  Kind of like Bambi mated with a snuggie.

I have to admit, I think this is totally cool!  I mean really.  Why slouch around in a ratty old bathrobe when you could be this?

Or this.

 or one of these

I wondered if I could get a Kigurumi of my favorite all time animals - a pomeranian.  I did a google image search for Kigurumi Pomeranian and this came up.

That's pretty realistic.  Hmmmm.     Maybe I'll wait until they perfect the Kigurumi Pom before I put it on my Christmas list.

I don't know, tho.  It might be worth the look on Steve's face to have this to wear around the house.  At least every now and then!

Zippy



One of the nicest things about my workplace is the break room which has floor-to-ceiling windows.  It's pretty awesome. Most days, on our break, we stand with our granola bars, coffee, or what have you, and look out.

 

The view starts in our parking lot, extends across a busy road and carries over to the property surrounding LexMark.  Sometimes we speculate on the number of cars in the parking lot.  Often we search the sky, like sailors, wondering what weather is coming our way.  Lately, the subject has turn to fall colors and which trees are showing their glory.

 

But almost always, there is Zippy, or talk of Zippy.

 

"I see Zippy!"

 

"Don't see Zippy today.  Must still be sleeping."

 

Zippy is a groundhog we have all become rather fond of.  He/she apparently lives under a large shrub on the LexMark property, and is a source of entertainment to us.

 

We see Zippy in the morning.

 



 

And in the afternoons. 

 

He's too far away to even notice us.  At least, we assume so.

  

 

I was watching Zippy this past Monday on my afternoon break.  It was probably 3:20 or so.  He sat beside his bush as usual.  It was obvious he put on weight.

 

 

A lot of weight.  Getting ready for winter.

 

 

As I left work that same day at 5:30, I pulled out of the parking lot and onto the busy road.  Ahead, I spotted a large brown lump in the middle of the street.  A groundhog. A big, Zippy sized groundhog.  Dead.  Not squished or anything.  Like it had just walked out onto the road, laid down, and died.  (The same could not be said when I drove back to work the next morning - but we won't go there.)

 

I frantically called my co-worker in the car behind me.  Then, at the next light, I texted other co-workers. 

 

ZIPPY IS DEAD ON THE ROAD :(

 

We all sighed sadly.  Sure, it might be another groundhog.  It's not like he wore a collar or anything.  But no matter how often we looked the next morning he was gone. 

 

At lunch, no Zippy.

 

I took a later lunch that day and decided to walk.  When I rounded the corner and saw Zippy's shrub, there he was!  I couldn't wait to share the news.

 

I grabbed my phone, opened the camera and took this picture, which I texted to my friends with the caption HE LIVES!

The real Zippy.

 

Is there a point to this story?  Obviously a groundhog died on the road, like so many do.  Just not OUR groundhog.

 

I don't know, except sometimes it's the little things that make us smile.  I enjoy the little spark of life that we call Zippy and we are glad he is still with us. 

 

At least until hibernation.

 

 

Disclaimer.  It probably goes without saying that all of these pictures, except one, were obtained from a Google search.  Not my property :)

“Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.”

 

I stole this quote from my daughter.  She borrowed it from F. Scott Fitzgerald.  And I assume he came up with it originally, because he is, after all, F. Scott Fitzgerald.

I think it was by design that God wove new beginnings into our lives.  These are some of my favorite new beginnings.

 

Mornings..  Even when they come with the 5:30 a.m. alarm.  The smell of coffee and the wag of Bella's tail make it a happy time for me.  Right now I'm waking up to pumpkin flavored coffee - it's almost like pie.  Almost.

Birthdays.  Don't be a grumpy cat.  Might as well love them!  Embrace your age...it is who you are.

 

A new job.  I have a new job this fall!   Actually, I've had a new job every fall for the last three years.  I always make friends and learn new skills.  But this time I think I have found a home until retirement.  Of course, there is always the saying, "Man makes plans and God laughs".  I will try to keep my hands off the steering wheel.

The first day of a new school year. Back when I was in school, that meant a trip to Louisville (the BIG city) with mom to get new school clothes. We rode the Greyhound bus. Mom didn't have a license. She got one when I was about 15. Then I turned 16, got my license, and she pretty much never drove again.  She was an excellent backseat driver, tho!  I miss her alot.

So, I hope this is a time of rejoicing and new beginnings to my friends and family.

 

A quote from one of my all time favorite movies regarding this time of year.  As Tom Hanks wrote to Meg Ryan in You've Got Mail....