real love...

ok...kleenex warning...such a beautiful example of true love...

happy memorial day...

this is a day (should be every day) that we need to stop, thank & pray for all the men and women that serve so that we can enjoy our freedom...thank you to all that have served and all that gave the ultimate sacrifice...
we salute you...

photo source

long weekend...

so...blogger has had issues this week...if you had more then one account...which i do...this one for my personal blog...and then my business blog...you could only sign in to one...mine was the business blog...which i guess is good...because if i had a choice...i would probably want to post a blog there first...

any-hoo...it is finally fixed...and i feel a bit out of sorts...not having blogged here for a few days...sheesh...

interesting week...really disappointed by some...but...as always...i just need to lift it up to Him...it is not my job to "fix" people...but i have noticed...that i am a lot more affected...when things are done or said to...or said about...those that i love...meaning my friends & family...more them then when they are done to me...

i don't understand people who lie...i don't understand people that try and get others on their side...and pit them against others...and mostly...i just don't understand unhappy people...that have nothing better to do...other then making others miserable...and mostly...i don't understand people that can turn on those that have been there the most for them...

maybe that is a question i can ask God when i get to heaven...although i think by then...it just won't be important...which makes me think...that it shouldn't be that important now...other then seeing those close to me...affected by it...

so...it's a long weekend...the weather doesn't look promising...but i am determined to be out and about...enjoying this wonderful life the Lord has blessed me with...

may your weekend be everything you hope it to be...

random...

...seems that my post on friday was the 666th...eek! =)

you would think i would have noticed...and posted something about that number...but alas...i didn't...missed the moment...so what should i talk about?

hmmm...

how about my absolutely fabulous looonnnnngggg weekend...girls weekend...in monterey/carmel...and yes...although it was a bit chilly...it was an amazing weekend...

and who would have thought that the "casita" that we were staying at...that belongs to one of my friends customer...was...a two story...four bedroom house...yes...we each had our own room...ON the golf course...in a country club...cah-ray-zee...

actually not really...God is always SO good...and sometimes...He just blesses us with things that we couldn't even imagine...kind of like this whole deal...

so...thankful for the weekend...thankful for spending time with three wonderful friends...thankful for God's lovely surprises...

living life to the fullest...

seems like i've really been on a "senior" kick lately...am i subconsciously thinking about getting old? =) hmmm...who knows...but...since we are on the subject...i thought i would share one of my favorite blogs to read...granted it is all about fashion...

but...

ari...the author of the blog...goes around new york and only photographs those that are 50 years and older...he has found some characters...but the one commonality...is their fashion sense...for one...which i have to say is pretty unbelievable...they care about the way they look...

but what really captured my heart when i found this blog...was the interviews with these wonderful elderly people...they are enjoying life...not moaning about the age that they are...

one woman...when asked if she minded stating her age said "not at all...to age is a privilege..." and to that i say...amen!

one woman...two months shy of turning 100 yrs old...still goes to pilates class...

wow...really puts perspective on living...don't you think?

i highly recommend perusing through advanced style...it will put a smile on your face...guaranteed...if not make you want to jump off that couch and really start living every moment you have here on earth...

so with that...have a fabulous weekend...enjoy every moment of it...

when are you considered old?

how do you know what year you turn old? is it the year you spend most of the time looking for your glasses...and usually find them on the top of your head? is it the year you not only lose the car keys but can't remember where you left the car? or does old look like an eighty-five year old woman on her way to paris for the fifth time?

you can join the senior citizen's center when you're fifty-five...but you can't get social security until you are sixty-two or sixty-five...so how do you know for sure when you are old?

"growing old is something we all think about...for some of us...those thoughts come more frequently...it's easy to think you're eternally young if you're slim and trim...with a head full of hair..but when those laugh lines around your eyes turn into crevasses and the hair on your head turns silver...then we're forced to face the reality that were not teenagers anymore" ~ bernie sheahan

general douglas macarthur once said "nobody grows old by merely living a number of years...people grow old only by deserting their ideas...you are as young as your self-confidence...as old as your despair..."

i worked for several years with seniors in various processes of aging...i think there are three very defined clues that point to a person's being old...

old is when you lose your dream...that could be at age eighty...or age fifty...or age thirty-nine...or any age at all...hopes and dreams for a bright future are what keep people young and vibrant...i know of a man who reroofed his house when he was ninety-seven...by himself...and wondered about the guarantee on the materials he used...i know of a couple who remodeled their home when they were eighty-five and shopped to get a carpet with a long-wear finish...

old is when you start turning in on yourself...when your world shrinks inward...when your own stories or daily health report takes up most of your conversation...young people...at any age...are focused outward...on what's going on around town...on the news...what's happening tomorrow...and next door...and in japan...when you're old...you let your world shrink until it is only the size of you...

old is when you look backward more than you look forward...the "good old days" are gone...if they ever existed at all...the "way things used to be" is not the way things are now...thank goodness...yes...at one time...you had to cook three meals a day on a wood-burning stove...and the only air conditioning in the home was the breeze that blew through the cracks between the floorboards...i am glad those good old days are gone forever...i don't know if i would have survived...look at how good things are now...what a great time to be alive...look forward to the best that is yet to be...

stay alive...on a moment-to-moment day-to-day basis...embrace life...accept challenges...learn something new...change...and grow...come to terms with the person you are now...whether pleasant or unpleasant...active or reflective...no matter the number of years you have lived...

now where did i put those reading glasses?

blessed are those who go forward...

one of my beautiful friends..."r" is such an inspiration to me...she has got so much love in her heart...and she is always looking for areas in which she may share God's love...how does she do it? she visits the lonely...the ones that have been left in homes...forgotten...the widowed...and on and on...when she speaks of who she visited...she doesn't do it...bragging about it...just in a very casual way..."i had a nice visit with so-and-so" and i sit in awe of this woman...who truly lives how the Lord wanted us to live...to take care of those who can't take care of themselves...or those who have no one...

when you live in a city...you don't have to look far to see impoverished areas that house enough human tragedy to keep you awake nights for the rest of your life...and if you don't see it as drive through the city streets...all you have to do is listen to the local news on tv...stories of bleak faces...tormented and demented minds...hungry children in desperate environments...older citizens stuck in decaying...filthy rooms barely able to take care of themselves...homeless women and children living on the streets...and the circumstances go on and on...

in a land where most people have so much...how can some people have so little?

to see human need is to answer human need...to follow Christ is to embrace the ugliness and neediness of the human family and to say..."how can i help?"

let me tell you how...get involved! if you want happiness...if you want an escape from loneliness and poor self-esteem...if you want true joy...if you want to know the fullness of God's love...then get involved in healing human suffering...

there are nonprofit agencies throughout your town that work every day in the human-need arena...these agencies always have a volunteer program that offers opportunities for people like you to come along...or you can go to a local school and offer your services...

babies and children in the hospital need loving attention..older citizens need meals...children need warm coats...teens need encouragement from a big sister...or brother...mothers need rides to the doctor or the grocery store...frail seniors need a friend and someone to talk to...international students need english teachers...just where can you best fit in?

i had a call this week from one of the seniors i was blessed to meet years back when i was working in the reverse mortgage business...she had been very active working at a center center with me...now she is homebound with complications from a broken hip...she called to get names and phone numbers of other homebound seniors so she could call and cheer them up..."i have a lot of time on my hands..." she said, "and i just thought i could use that time to make life good for another lonely senior..."

most of us are quick to agree that "they" need to do something about the crime and violence in our cities...but what are you doing about it? true...one person can't fix much...but...by the grace of God...everyone can do something to make the city and the world a better place for at least one other person...

blessed are those who do not turn away from the struggles and needs of the human race...blessed are the ones who go forward spreading God's love throughout their streets...the city...and the world...

dear 16-year-old me...

i think this is just too important not to share here on my blog...

a few bad days...

so blogger was down for almost two days last week...for maintenance...as a start...but as the first day went by...maintenance turned to actual...problems...posts disappeared...no one could post new...unable to comment on blogs...blah blah blah...but what hit me as funny...was how bloggers reacted to the downtime...

i took it as a mandatory two days off from blogging...as i have this blog and my business blog "fabulous finds"...two days off was a welcome sight...

but...many bloggers were up in arms...threatening to leave blogger...annoyed that it was taking so long to fix...on and on...in over two years of blogging on blogger...i think this was the first downtime that i have experienced...which to me is pretty good...i think...

but it got me to thinking...of those things in our life...whether it is the routines...or actual tangible things that we rely on...on a day to day basis...and when that "thing"...whatever it may be...is not working...or that "person" we rely on over and over is not there...how do we react?

do we threaten to find a replacement? do we complain and complain without seeing through the eyes of the other side?

i know the feeling of "being replaced"...i know the feeling of someone only seeing things through their eyes..and not mine...and if anything...i am thankful for those feelings...because it helps me remember not to do the same thing to others...

when things are great...moving along nicely...it is easy to be kind...to be respectful...it is when things are not going our way...what is our mood...character...respect level to others...

blogger came back...fully restored...no posts were lost...just two days of being able to post new posts...all that chit chat...all those threats...for what? isn't blogger entitled to have a few bad days like the rest of us?

are you listening?

sh-h-h-h...don't say anything...just listen...what do you hear? people talking? household machines churning away? phones ringing? what?

a curious thing...listening...we have so perfected the art of selective listening that we can encounter a dozen sounds at one time but only hear one of them...somehow we have trained our brains to accept only a small portion of the many sounds that come in through our ears...that skill of selective listening can work for our good...but it can also be a problem...

for example...i remember living at my parent's house...mom saying..."someone needs to take the garbage out"...what happened? most times...no one moved...because every person within earshot used selective listening...so mom's statement just sailed through thin air...

on a hectic day...or in a large group situation...or in a room full of children...selective listening is an essential means to survival...but the trouble comes when we put selective listening on automatic pilot...let me give you another familiar example...you're having a one-on-one conversation...and you realize the voice inflection of the other person has just indicated a question mark...but you weren't listening to the words...so you have no clue whatsoever how to respond...you weren't really listening...have you been there? scary...isn't it?

it is time to reinvent real listening...to establish contact all over again...we need to listen to others...really hear the sounds and words that describe their hurts...their successes...their hopes...we need to hear the words...so we can laugh with others...cry with others...and encourage others...we need to listen with our hearts as well as ears...so that we not only hear their words...but we hear the part of the message they can't put into words...we need to really hear the fear...the longing...and the distress...only when we have the total message can we respond appropriately...to be christian is to learn to listen to people as Jesus did and to care about what we hear...

but perhaps the most significant listening skill we can cultivate is listening to God...when we are in communication with God...our prayers are usually so full of asking and giving directions that we talk right past the listening part...i sometimes picture God taking my face in his hands and saying..."listen to me!"

i was reading the story of mary and martha this morning...the biblical account of mary and martha serves us well here...martha complained that mary was not busy with the household responsibilities...but Jesus told martha..."you are worried and upset about many things...but only one thing is needed...mary has chosen what is better...and it will not be taken away from her..." (luke 10:41-42) mary was simply listening...being with Jesus...concentrating...sharing the presence of God...

to listen is to hear God's truth...to hear answers that summon us to greater commitment...we need spaces of silent attention toward God...divine conversation...are you listening?

a tuesday full of hope...

i remember hearing a news announcer say "this is a tuesday full of hope" if i remember correctly it was for some prisoners that had been released in iran...don't remember the details...but i always have remembered that phrase...

whoever heard of tuesdays having hope? sundays...maybe...even mondays might have a little hope...weekends? sure...weekends almost always have hope...but nothing really hopeful ever happens on tuesdays...

unless...of course...you expect hope on tuesdays...

so i tried looking for hope on tuesdays...i would wake up on tuesday and say to myself..."today is a tuesday full of hope"...i would repeat the promise over and over as i dressed and left for the day's activities....i put a lot of feeling into the phrase...like i really expected "hope" to happen...i left the house believing there would be bright hope for all i did that day...

what actually started happening was that i created an environment that supported and encouraged hopeful situations...and...with hope...came joy...

i can't begin to tell you what those tuesdays were like...my tuesdays were something i looked forward to each week...i started scheduling my most difficult meetings and appointments on tuesdays because i knew the chances were good that things would go well...

then i started thinking...this is too good to only practice on tuesdays...now...i've made this a practice for every day of the week...

the world is filled with wonder and mystery...we are surrounded every day by so many beautiful surprises...but without hope...we tend to pass right by without even a glance...

on the other hand...we also encounter fear...anxiety...worry...and threats of personal defeat...but i found that all of these encounters pale in the face of hope...fear and hope cannot coexist...

share my tuesdays full of hope...walk in the new light of Godly expectation...

cherishing the moments...

had a lovely day yesterday celebrating with my mom...even though i think every day should be "mother's" day...they do so much for us...i also realize the older i get...that my days with my mom are numbered...and no...i am not trying to be morbid...or constantly think about death...but it is a reality...

i mean...who really knows...i could get hit by a bus tomorrow...and my mom out-lives me...what i'm trying to get at...is that we really are not promised tomorrow...and although i try and live my life in the present...and cherish every moment that i can...sometimes...well..life gets in the way...and we think...well...i can postpone the family dinner till next week...or next month...

personally...the older our parents get...i think the most important thing we can give them...is our time...when they've settled into routines...it is easy to feel forgotten when the world is flying by...and evryone has their plans...and there they sit with their regular routines...

it was nice to hear my mom laugh yesterday...and she got what she loves the most...the family around the dinner table...and although not everyone could be there...she was touched...she was happy...she felt loved...she felt appreeciated...

and that...is what was most important...

no love like a mother's love...

wishing all the mom's out there a wonderful mother's day weekend...
to my mom...
i thank the Lord each day for you...
i love you...

No Love like a Mother's Love

There is no love, like a mother's love,
no stronger bond on earth...
like the precious bond that comes from God,
to a mother, when she gives birth.

A mother's love is forever strong,
never changing for all time...
and when her children need her most,
a mother's love will shine.

God bless these special mothers,
God bless them every one...
for all the tears and heartache,
and for the special work they've done.

When her days on earth are over,
a mother's love lives on...
through many generations,
with God's blessings on each one.

Be thankful for our mothers,
for they love with a higher love...
from the power God has given,
and the strength from up above.

by Jill Lemming

words...

a few weeks ago...i was just mindlessly looking out the window of an airport watching a few seagulls dart about overhead while airline workers were busy loading bags...nothing about the scene outside the airport window spoke of danger...but then suddenly i remembered the flight from new york a while ago that was brought down by a few geese...that seagull that faded into the background just moments before became a point of extreme interest to me...what if?

it's amazing if you stop to think about it that a huge airplane could be brought down by just a few birds...

birds...who would have thought? it makes me think about other seemingly small things that can cause great destruction as well...

words vented in frustration can seem so small...

slightly disrespectful attitudes can seem so small...

complaining about lack of finances can seem so small...

but each one of these seemingly small things can so easily and tragically wedge itself into the core of a relationship...and more importantly...in between your relationship with the Lord...and send it screaming toward destruction...

i pray the Father help me to realize that with each word i speak...i am making the choice to bless or to curse...and that even when my emotions run high...i can still speak words that are pleasing to Him...

five things...

...i'm thankful for today...

the Father's amazing love for me...

my incredible family & friends...

health...

freedom...

and the amazing "summer" day in spring that we were gifted with today...

circumstances may or may not change...sometimes it is the circumstances of others that remind you of what you have...

this is your life...

precious moments...

you know those days where you are on the go...all day? and you know that when you get home...there is still a list of things that needs to be done...

but...i had given my word to my dear papacito to help him out with his new phone...and a trip to costco...no...not my ideal for a long day...

but...he's my dad...and although i knew that i could easily call him...and postpone it for a day...or two...or even a week...i knew that it was important to him...so...in my car i got...drove over...and set out to do what i said i would do...

after fooling with the phone...we headed to costco...chatting it up...laughing...telling stories...and then...finishing up at costco...we get back in my car...and we are about 2 exits from his house...and he...mr spontaneous...suggests we go to the fish market...for dinner...just us two... =)

now...i'm tired...we were right by the fish market...and now we were almost at his house...and i'm thinking of the long list of things i still need to do tonite...but..this is my dad...my papacito...it was a no brainer...i exited...drove to the fish market...had the most enjoyable dinner with my dad...just he & i...

those moments are precious...and you grab them every chance you get...