Pondering and Reminiscing

Pondering. That's a funny word to me. I know it means "thinking" but "pondering" is not such serious brain work as "thinking. Not to me anyway.
Pondering is a light-hearted kind of wondering. It is a thinking with a smirk or a laugh or two about the way your thoughts are going. It denotes a thoughtful wandering.

Now "reminiscing", I know, is the same as "remembering". But, for some reason, it does not mean the same thing to me at all. Remembering is...to remember to clean the cat box, to remember to read your bible daily....serious stuff.
But reminiscing is the fun stuff of memories. Of "pondering" things and happenings and events of the past. It is like rereading a journal you wrote on one of your vacation trips or of just sitting and sharing with a friend about the school days....or of recalling the family gatherings. The things that were not funny when they happened, like during a camping trip where you ran into deer ticks and it poured cats and dogs the whole weekend. Certainly not funny then, but hilarious now. Can't believe my husband wanted to do it the next year too. But I think he would have been alone.

That's what happens to me this time of year, every year. I start pondering and reminiscing...of so many things.

This time I have been thinking of my family. I guess because I have a birthday coming soon.
I think the older you get the more you think about these things.

There were six children in my family. Now there is only my sister Es and Me.
I never really knew my mom very well; she died when I was only seven years old. I went to live with one of my sisters F and my sister Es went to live with the oldest sister E.

I owe alot to my sis F for taking me in like that. It could not have been easy for her. She had gotten married to a soldier and they had a 3 month old baby and here comes this nine year girl...who was now going to live with them in the house they shared with her husband's mom and dad. My sis F was only 12 years older than me. I am not sure I could have done that. I am thankful for them, that is for sure.

I never got to see my sisters and brothers much because we all lived in different states...so far away...and there was not much money, but F and I talked about them all the time, sometime not so pleasantly. Family is like that.

I think the weirdest thing I remember from childhood is how, everytime I pulled a 'stubborn' or did a stupid thing, my sis F said...you're just like your sis E. Never did undrstand that because we were separated so early, but I just accepted that I was like sis E. Really wondered what it meant.

The first time my whole family (well, I can't say whole, because sis E would not leave the state where she lived) got together was when I turned 40 years old. Amazing! And we seemed to pick up the conversation where it had ended 33 years before. How do families do that? but it is a blessing.

The only time all four of us sisters got together was one time when I lived in south fla and they all came to my house for a week. I really felt sorry for my husband and I assure you he was not at home much. ha ha
Anyway, during that week, we all laughed, cried, pondered, and reminiced together all week.
Then one day, as I was sitting there, just enjoying being with MY SISTERS,...what a joy that was.....I began listening and eavesdropping .....and, do you know what I found out????

My sis Es was like my sis F and I was like my sis E.
I cooked like her, liked the same songs, the same movies, liked the same foods....and, believe it or not, she and I are the only sisters in the family that are prone to fainting. Isn't that weird? Guess F was right.

So, my prayer is that my two kids will take the time when they get older to ponder and reminisce about their happenings during there times together.

To me, this is what makes family so precious....those special "bonding" times that nothing can erase or take away from us....those special times....serious and catastrophic at the time....but now are funny and are to be talked about, shared, and laughed over. What a blessing!

Thank you, Lord, for the memories. Some of them are learning times from You, some of them are things that we have to turn loose of and forgive and forget, some of them are just plain dumb, and some of them are brilliant times we've shared together.

But all of them are wonderful.

Another lesson learned

Hey everyone,
Cannot believe what I did the other day....Life really is a learning thing....but, my word, how easily I slip into the dumb, forgetful part. ha ha
I had typed the funniest "blog" yet, pulled it up to read it in the final printing, and sent it, I thought, but, instead I erased it. Crazy!
But you would have enjoyed it.
I enjoyed writing it and laughing as I composed it.
Oh, well, such is life.

But it was partly about my cat. That sweet loving creature that has completely trained me to do his every wish and to be his constant companion.

The event took place last week when I had some friends over for supper at my house. We had a wonderful time and laughed so much together that our ribs were sore. It was a good night.
They left about 8:30 in the evening, and I forgot to close the heavy front door. I have that solar film on the glass door and it reflects at night like a mirror.
Anyway, I was sitting in the tv room when I heard this terrible cat "yowl" coming from the living room. Now you have to remember that my cat is very quiet and docile and has a peaceful personality about him. He doesn't even "mew". He hisses like a vampire instead and I realize now that I should have named him Dracula instead of Thomas.
Anyway, back to my story.
After hearing that yowl three times, I went in to see what all the commotion was about.
There is a big black snake that lives in the bushes in the front of my house and I was afraid he had gotten into the house and he was scaring the cat. That was scaring me too.
I went to the door and there was Thomas...with his back arched as only a frenzied cat who is going to attack can do, and starring out the front glass door.
Then I realized he was looking at himself in the reflection. I understood the feeling completely, maybe that is why we get along so well, somedays I don't like the way I look either.
I picked him up, closed the door, and soothed his feelings.
Then we went back to the tv room and he did not leave my side the rest of the evening.
Now I know where they get that expression....Scaredy cat.

I have been busy this week. It is raining a lot now and it is difficult to get the walking in so I have been using the treadmill. It feels good to be home but I miss the townhome and my new friends down there too.
I have reached out more to my friends here than I had in the past and it makes a difference in my energy. I have been going more with them and calling them more often on the telephone.
You truly have to keep in close touch with these people that are so important in your life.

I have missed my daughter and her family too. Seemed so nice to just drop over to her house or have her come by my place. I could get used to that, but I would also miss the place here. What to do????
But it will all work itself out, I know. In God's time, that's for sure. Just have to stay so tuned to Him that I know when that is. He already has it all planned out. Exciting to see what will happen, when it will happen, and how He will use me for His purpose. It's so good to know He is always there.

Am going to get to be with my family from NC this weekend, minus a son, but I will enjoy being with them. Everytime I am with any member of my family, I truly count it as a blessing. I guess part of that is coming from my getting older and more appreciative of the love I receive from all of them...and the joy they bring me.

Funny! When I start these "posts" and get into them, it seems I always come around to my family and to my Lord. Guess, when I think about it, that is where my heart and my love lies,
those are the important things in my life.

Life changes, and I have learned so much, and I continue to learn new things....but most of all, I have learned to love my family more each day and I praise the Lord for all of them.

Life goes on

What a beautiful morning it is! Did some walking and am now back home with my cat.That cat of mine is so funny! I would say"unique". So well-trained, never gets on the furniture unless invited, is very clean, and is very loving to me, and to anyone else that comes into the house.
Last night I had some friends over for dinner and forgot to close the heavy front door, so the glass door with reflective solar film was visible and it was dark outside.
All of a sudden, I heard this terrible cat "yowl"!
Now you have to understand that my cat is very quiet. He hardly even mews. He kind of "hisses" like he has a bad throat, but he doesn't. He should have been named Dracula, ha ha. Well, anyway, he let out three of those terrible yowls and I went to see what on earth had scared him so badly. He is such a "scardy cat" anyway...and there is a black snake that likes to live in the bushes in the front of my house and I thought, horror of horrors, that maybe that snake was in the house. Then I would do the "yowling", that is for sure.
When I got to the front door, there was my cat....back arched like only cats can do when they are defensive or in "fighting mode"....starring at himself in the reflective glass. He was looking at himself. So funny! Guess he didn't like what he saw. I know that feeling. ha ha
I finally had to pick him up, give him some loving, soothe him down and take him into the tv room with me. He did not leave my side the rest of the evening. What a guard cat he is!
The same thing happened in my townhome when we were down there last time.
At 2 AM one morning, he came running into the bedroom, yowling, and I went to see what was the problem. He took me back to the door area that scared him, and smelled the area and kept looking at me., his protector.
I told him to come back to bed, I was not going to open the door to see what was out there. He just mewed as if he agreed and followed me to bed and snuggled closely.
So I guess I have a Guard Cat. What a sweetie he is! But how funny, too.

I have been taking pictures this morning to share them with my granddaughter from NC when I see her this weekend. She and her husband are in the process of buying a house and it is a huge place that will need lots of furniture to fill it. Perfect timing!
It just so happens that I am in the process of moving to another city to be closer to my daughter and her family (heaven knows when that fulltime move will take place though) and I have furniture and stuff I will not need. I am truly "downsizing". This when you find out or face the fact, that you have lots of "stuff".
As I took the pictures today, it brought back so many memories.
I know I am going to have to fight these feelings until the move is final.
I am so happy that our belongings will go to J and D....Their grandpa would love it.
And I am happy about it too. Because part of him is there with them. And when I visit them, I will see those memories again and again.
Not sad memories but funny ones of how those possessions came to us. The thoughts that go with all of them. so many. And I cherish each one.
But when I give (finally) all of these things to J and D, I will not be concerned for their care for the "stuff". I know they will care for it properly and they will remember Bops too. That is all I ask.....the memories for the family and the closeness and bonding of our "group". That is what family is all about. Loving, sharing, and doing for each other. I praise God for all He has done to keep this family together and loving each other so closely.
God is good, isn't he? All the time!
Well, back to the picture taking. see you!

Being a Mom

I was so fortunate this past weekend to be able to be with one of my children on Mother's Day.....My daughter. Surely did miss my son, though.
What a treat that would have been to have them both there with me.

What is it that brings that longing for your children out in moms on Mother's day? Is it because we want everyone to see what wonderful children we have been blessed with? Partly. I think that it is just a good excuse to be with your family. A good reason to remember to praise the Lord for them. To remember how much He has blessed you.

I sometime say to my daughter that I have been so blessed to have such wonderful children and their families and she says to me....so if moms have children with problems or with health problems, they are not blessed??? And I assure her that is not what I meant. We, as moms, are all blessed in different ways. I just praise the Lord for the family that He gave to me.

It was a wonderful day. In fact, I spent the whole week at my new "part time"home in lp, and I enjoyed it very much. It's still a little frightening. A complete new world. But God is opening it up to me, bringing me new friends and new ideas, new areas for growth.

I could not help but sit in church and think back over the years to the memories of other Mother Days that I had. Wonderful ones. Wonderful memories. Funny memories.
The times that the children would cook breakfast for me and serve it to me in bed. I had to remember to stay in bed so that they could do that. The foods that they served me...burnt toast, REALLY crisp bacon, hard-fried eggs, orange juice with roughage of seeds in it, strong coffee, and always a flower in a vase on the tray.
And it was all delicious. I had to eat every bit of it. What a treat. What a show of love from them. What a wonderful blessing.

And the presents they gave me....the ones that were "home made". The things that they had purchased themselves...the ones they had thought of for me....the love they showed me...their own handmade cards. The love. Always made me cry. And it still does.

I especially remember one mom's day when my son gave me a rubber snake. I was a little surprised. I remember how his dad kind of chewed him out because that was not a gift you gave to your mom on her day. but I cherished that snake. I knew when he gave it to me that it was because he thought of me as his friend, not just his mom. I can not tell you how many places that snake showed up. In the dresser, under clothes, hiding....in a box in the garage when I was looking for something.....hanging down a little bit from a high shelf in the garage....in the washing machine when I put in a load of wash....and one time under the covers of the bed when I pulled back my blanket one night....that one almost did me in.

But we had fun with it. and, would you believe, the snake was finally used in the garden, where I had planted squash and tomatoes?? It kept the birds and rabbits away. Worked wonderfully.

I guess the memories all kind of jumble together in my heart and mind and they all blend as a wonderful time in my life. A time that was full of love, laughter, and screams and shrieks, but a bunch of wonderfully funny memories that I will cherish as long as I live.

As I listen to these "younger" moms now, it is a whole new way of life that I am seeing in them...a new era...a new way of raising children....new ideas...wonderful new ways to educate them while they are still so young and are like little sponges and soak up every word that mom says to them....new improvements on the ideas we used in the "earlier"days when we were young moms. I truly admire these ladies that I see. So many of them work outside the home, and some of them are single moms....man, my hat goes off to all of them....and yet they are raising those sweet little children with every bit of the love, and the patience, and the energy, that God supplies to them. He is truly blessing them and they are leaning on Him. They are raising the Christian Leaders of the future. Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord for all the moms who let the Lord guide and use them. Thank you, Lord, for the blessings you have given to me.

Close Friends through the Years

So much new has been happening in my life lately that is so very wonderful.

Making new friends here in LW, having coffee with them, giggling, and maybe making a new male friend. First male friend..he wants to have lunch with me...so it is not a group thing like I am usually involved in. A new experience. But just a friend. We talk often on the phone and it is forming a friendship between us.

Walking daily with another friend and she has become very dear to me. She's such a special lady with a wide world of interests and knowledge and I can never quite understand what she sees in me. But she says I always raise her spirits. She certainly raises mine.

Going to friends' family reunions and meeting their families; that means so much to me.... for them to love me that much to include me in their family reunions.

Making new friends in the new home place of LP. Being introduced to everyone by my daughter and knowing by the way that she is received that they love and respect her, so that gives me respect from them before they even know me. It certainly paves the way for new friends. Welcomed so lovingly. Thrills me to see the reaction people give to her and to her children.

Then seeing my old friends from school that I went to,,,, in the small town only five miles from here. Friends that I have known from the fourth grade. They know me and still love me and call me often. How wonderful that is.

Then to be loved by all my church friends. You know that they have seen you through all the changes that have happened in your life, all the sad things and the great joys, the ups and the downs....and we are still there praying for each other daily.

It's almost too unbelievable to have this much love and caring in your life. You would think that this could, and would, possibly make you "proud" but it is completely the opposite. I feel so very humbled to be loved this much. I really don't know why they love me.

The only answer is that they are truly gifts from God. Their kindness, their caring, their sympathy, their empathy, their love....have been gifts from God. And, so, in return, it opens up my heart to others that I meet. To total strangers, who may never be friends of mine, but people who I know need someone to say hello to them, to smile at them, and to wish them a happy day, to cause them to laugh with me. This is what it is all about. Passing love around that God has so freely given to us.

It makes your day complete. You feel like you have represented God's love in such a simple way....just by being a friend to others...the way people are being friends to you.

I challange you to speak to someone the next time you are waiting in a line to check out and, in some way, ask them how they are or if they know "your" Jesus, and then share something wonderful He has done for you recently....something you could not have gotten through without His help. When I do that, nine times out of ten, THEY are the ones witnessing to me before it is over with.,,,something that they would not have done if you had not opened the door for them to do it. It always amazes me! It's another "God Gift".