Ever had a memory that sneaks out of your eye, and rolls down your cheek?

“Jesus wept.” John 11:35 If you know me, you may realize why I used this scripture verse with this picture. Or maybe you don’t. This is a picture of my brother, Randy and his wife, Barbie, shortly after their first child Ellyn was born. Ask me about Barbie and you’ll undoubtedly see me cry. She was taken from our family by the dreaded CANCER at the young age of 33 over ten years ago. She left behind my brother and three young children…not to mention many family members too numerous to mention — she was loved by all of us.

This past Sunday our pastor preached on this very verse and reminded us all … if we’re going to be a follower of Christ, we need to connect with people and take the time to know them at a deeper level. We’ve been taught for so long not to cry but everyone needs to cry over someone. Barbie is my someone.

Barbie helped lead me to Christ. She is the first person I ever prayed over. I prayed over her during chemotherapy treatments (when I was able to be there with her) and I prayed for healing while she was hospitalized. And yes, when the time came when we finally realized that she wasn’t going to get better, I prayed for her passing.

Barbie loved her babies. She loved my babies. It’s been hard watching her babies go through all kinds of milestones without her there. I know she would have loved my grandbabies, too…and now her oldest baby (the one pictured above and to the left — kissing my son) is going to have a baby of her own. And yes, I cried when Ellyn told me that if she has a girl, she will name her Barbara.

You can’t judge a book by it’s cover and we probably shouldn’t anyway…

This picture was taken on my 18th birthday in November 1976. I know the corner of the pic says April 1977 but back then we had to take our film to a store to get it developed and then wait days to get our pictures back. And the photo developers (not your camera) stamped the date on the pics. Can you imagine? Anyway, I was a senior in high school when this picture was taken. Don’t I look young, sweet and innocent? In an effort to not embarrass myself, my mother or my kids (who may or may not be reading my blog) you will just have to take my word for it that I was a bit of a wild-child. If you knew me then you can attest to this. I was thankfully never arrested (the police were a bit more lax back in the 70’s) but the drinking age was 18 in 1976. I could legally drink my senior year in high school.  I had a few close calls during my wild youth and I thank God now that He protected me and spared my life as I did a lot of foolish things.

Fast forward to now (yes, quite a few things happened between now and then) and I find it quite ironic that this former wild-child is now a church secretary.  As I was mulling over what to blog about next it dawned on me that I spend six days a week in a church. How many of you can say that? Yes, I am a church worker. Does that make me any better than any of you who might happen to be reading this? No. I am blessed that God sought me out (and that I was listening). And I’m blessed to be able to serve Him through my work. And just because I call myself a Christian and I work in a church doesn’t mean that I am any better than anyone else. As my pastor likes to point out – none of us are perfect. (Actually he does say it a bit nicer than that. Really.) If you aren’t attending a church, I encourage you to visit one of mine. You will meet the finest people…none of them are perfect but I guarantee you will be blessed by the ones you come to know. I know I have been.

(For the record, I work at St. John’s Lutheran Church and I belong to Hope Reformed Church. Both are great places to worship.)

The best thing about being a parent…

OK…here she goes…she’s gonna talk about her precious grandchildren…you know the ones I alluded to on my first post. Well, ding-dong, you’re wrong. Don’t get me wrong, I love those two and they made it worth me not killing my kids during their teenage years. (Did I just say that?)

While having precious grandbabies is incredibly awesome and I’m enjoying them so much — that is not the best part of being a parent in my book. At least not in the chapter of parenthood I’m currently in…although they are great and they bring me great joy…and I wouldn’t trade them for the world. (Mimi loves you Jaxon and Journee!)

I truly believe the best thing about being a parent is seeing your adult children put aside their childish ways.  Think about this comment for a moment…because it’s huge.

In an effort to not embarrass my kids further (they are not so sure about the blogging that their mom is doing) I won’t go into too many details about “childish ways”.

If you are a parent of young adults I hope and pray you know what I’m talking about…my kids know how to be great friends, they work hard, they are no longer self-centered — I’m extremely proud of them both! My son is an excellent father to his two children, he treats his Jessica with respect, and he works hard at keeping his family comfortable. My daughter has grown so much in the last few years. I’ll refrain from posting her resume on here but I don’t think she has any idea how proud I am of her. But despite all they’ve accomplished and the fact that they’ve put aside their childish ways….this mother is proud. And someday my kids will know what I’m talking about when their kids do the same!

Do my loved ones truly feel loved by me?

Currently reading Dean Koontz’s From the Corner of His Eye and a quote in this book (which I’ve read before) really hit home with me. It was said by a man who was tragically killed early on in the book. He was driving his very pregnant wife to the hospital and their car was hit by someone who ran a red light. His dying words were, “I was…loved by you.” It made me stop and think if my loved ones truly know that I love them. Do I show my love for them in the things that I do and say to them? Does my husband feel loved by me? Do my children and grandchildren feel loved by me? Do my friends and family feel loved by me? If you are reading this, please let me know how I am doing. I love you, you know. ( I hope and pray that I can show and share the love that our heavenly Father has for all of us with my loved ones.)

My Parents

Anyone who knows me well is probably surprised that my first entry to my blog is about my parents…don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t love my mom and dad. I do. But I have some pretty cute grandbabies…stay tuned. I just returned home (actually a week ago Friday) from an unplanned trip to Florida. I learned on March 26 that my dad was hospitalized in Fort Myers, FL, with pneumonia (he was taken by helicopter from my parents RV Park). My dad turned 80 on March 9 and we all know that pneumonia can be a killer at his age. After mulling it over, I finally decided that I should travel down there so my hubby graciously took on the task of finding me a flight while I focused on preparing for Holy Week. Being a church secretary for a Lutheran church – this is not exactly the best time to be taking off. But thanks to my awesome co-worker, Craig, we cranked out what needed to be done in preparation for the upcoming weeks.

Just before I boarded the plane in Kalamazoo I learned that my dad had had a heart attack. After landing in Fort Myers and on the way to the hospital to see my dad, I learned that my mom had pneumonia, too…and that she had gone to the ER the week before and the doctor wanted to admit her. I thank God that she wasn’t admitted because my dad got sick after this and I found out after I arrived in Florida that he was unresponsive and the doctors thought he had had a stroke. I don’t think I need to spell it out how this could have turned out.

After a week’s stay in the hospital, they finally released my dad on Monday, April 2…after which we began our long trek home. Our first stop was in Lady Lake, FL – an approximate 5 hour drive from the hospital. This is where my mom’s sister and brother-in-law spend their winters. She also has a brother and sister-in-law who live there year round. My mom wanted to stay an extra night there so my dad could rest another day but honestly at this point in the trip I think my mom needed the rest more than my dad.

We continued on to Atlanta, GA the first night and thought we were going to stay in Louisville, KY the second night (special thanks to my awesome daughter-in-law, Jessica, for mapping out our route home) but found out we wouldn’t be able to get oxygen delivered in the state of Kentucky without a doctor’s documentation…so we traveled onto Jeffersonville, IN (thanks, son, for finding this for us) where we were able to get it delivered.

I delivered my parents home on Friday, April 6, safe and sound. Before arriving in Niles, MI, I told my dad that God must have big plans for him since He spared him. I encouraged him to continue going to church (they attended church services at their RV park in Moore Haven, FL) to find out what God has in store for him. While I didn’t pray out loud one time while with my parents in Florida and during our travels home, I was pretty much in constant prayer while driving. I thank God for his provisions during this long trip and I thank God for sparing my dad. I am very thankful to still have both of my parents. I know that I am truly blessed.