I wish Heaven had a phone so I could hear your voice again.. Thought of you today, but that is nothing new. Thought about you yesterday, and days before that too. I think of you in silence, I often speak your name. All I have are memories and a picture in a frame. Your memory is a keepsake, from which I'll never part...God has you in his arms..I have you in my heart.

Cusp of joy

I live at the cusp of joy every moment. 

Treasuring people in life is so important. It all boils down to relationship for me. It is too easy to get caught up in the daily routine of life that we forget the best gifts are the people. It is the greatest treasure we have.
I enjoy photos that capture special moments. Sometimes it helps to have a real image in our hand of what we hope with our heart is true.

Photos

I have dashed through life.  It seems I did my best to skim past the annoying times and somehow landed with some fond memories of my kids, especially when they were 4 or 5 years old.  Those memories make me grin from ear to ear when I think of them.  Those little helium voiced angels would say the most honest, loving, fearless things and melt my heart.  How I long for those words again!  Why did I think they would always be there?

Time passes by like a blip on the radar.  I've gotten older, slower and I forgot what the race was all about. Thank God for photos.  I study that moment in time once again and relive the energy and joy I took for granted. 

Thank you dear Lord for the blessings you have bestowed on a wretched creature like me.  Please help me to never take another moment of life for granted again.

Anger

Some people actually enjoy feeling angry.  It makes them feel powerful, it makes them feel greater control, and they appreciate it for just that reason.

There are people out there who don’t want to talk about things—ever. When something bad happens, they shut down. They harbor all this anger or resentment or sadness and can’t—or simply won’t—discuss it. If you happen to cross this person’s path at the wrong time and speak or act out of turn, look out…because chances are you’ll get kicked to the curb with no explanation. No communication. No opportunity to fully understand what you may have done or how to repair the damage. All these people know is that you have harmed them—but chances are it’s not even your fault. They were already walking around with a victim mentality.

And that’s precisely why silence stinks, not only for the person who remains silent, but also for the person who wants to talk about it.  Nothing gets resolved, nobody learns or grows, and everybody loses.

Tears

I noticed years ago, when my eldest son was at the tender age of 6, he would get so worked up about little things.  Inevitably he would cry just a few tears then fall asleep, exhausted.  Allowing himself to let his tears come had an instant relaxing effect on him. 


There is a sacredness in the power of tears.  Instead of a mark of weakness, it is the amazing strength to let go.



"It opens the lungs, washes the countenance, exercises the eyes, and softens down the temper; so cry away." Charles Dickens

Confusing Wants vs. Needs?

Expectations are somewhat dangerous.  We feel we are entitled to what we want and when we want it.  Very dangerous.  We are actually spoiled children - amazingly blessed, but not entitled. 

Challenge: Do you take things for granted? Change your attitude to gratitude and life will
never be the same. 

"Before you try to keep up with the Joneses, be sure they're not trying to keep up with you." Erma Bombeck

Life

"There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children."  Nelson Mandela

"A loving heart is the truest wisdom." Charles Dickens

"It is not until you become a mother that your judgment slowly turns to compassion and understanding." Erma Bombeck

"The giving of love is an education in itself." Eleanor Roosevelt

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." Albert Einstein

Thomas Edison on Work

• I never did a day's work in my life. It was all fun. 
• Results! Why, man, I have gotten a lot of results. I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.
• I have far more respect for the person with a single idea who gets there than for the person with a thousand ideas who does nothing.
• Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.
• Pretty much everything will come to him who hustles while he waits. I believe that restlessness is discontent, and discontent is merely the first necessity of progress. Show me a thoroughly satisfied man and I will show you a failure.

Just do it!

I envisioned by this time in my life I would be taking my grandchildren places and spoiling them rotten.  Such a nice dream! Since the grandkid thing isn't happening anytime soon, I thought ..what the heck....I'd bide my time doing something exciting and productive.  So.......I'm happy to say I have been accepted into the Master of Science in Instructional and Performance Technology degree program and the Human Performance Technology certificate program at Boise State University.  This field of study has been an interest of mine for a long time.  I love technology and I hope to be able to tie everything I learn into so many areas of my life.
   
"Each day is a new canvas to paint upon. Make sure your picture is full of life and happiness, and at the end of the day you don't look at it and wish you had painted something different." Author Unknown

"I don't care how much power, brilliance or energy you have, if you don't harness it and focus it on a specific target, and hold it there you're never going to accomplish as much as your ability warrants. ” Zig Ziglar

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. 

It is about learning to dance in the rain.
   
Does this sound too cavalier?  I think not.  We are only 15 years old for a moment, only 27 for a moment, 39 for a moment.  Do you have 50, 75, 100 years to live?  Thank God for today and live happily in the moment whether it is raining, snowing or sunny.  We don't grow in contentment, but adversity.  So thank God for your trials today, pay attention, learn from them or you may face them again.

Dreams

We spend most of our lives cutting down our ambitions because the world has told us to think small. Dreams express what your soul, what God is telling you.  As crazy as your dream might seem—even to you—you have to live that out. 

Leaders

Humans are ambitious and rational and proud. And we don't fall in line with people who don't respect us and who we don't believe have our best interests at heart. We are willing to follow leaders, but only to the extent that we believe they call on our best, not our worst.

The most important things are the hardest to say because words diminish them.

My first blog.

Many people want to serve God, but only as Advisors.

It is easier to preach ten sermons than it is to live just one.

When you get to your wit's end, you'll find God lives right there.

The task ahead is never as great as the power behind us.