TUESDAY TREATS!

IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS: (I Thessalonians 5:18a, KJV,  emphasis mine) I know the importance of this truth.....even in the hard times of severe mercy and suffering, gratitude to our LORD is God's will in Christ Jesus concerning each one. (I Thessalonians 5:18b paraphrase)

This Tuesday circumstances had me easily overflowing with thanks.

Each a treat!

1)    Cardiology appointment was better than anticipated! 

2)    A Chick-fil-A down the "road-a piece" from doc office advertised a "limited time" Peach Milkshake! A Perfect Time for me! My fave & I only allow myself 1 a year.

30    Making it even sweeter as I slurped was a phone call from a precious friend....the only person in the world who calls me "Dorothy May" as that's part of my given name and her maiden name! A big thx to Beth for making that possible!

4) Arriving home, I found a flower fairy had left two vases of a variety of beautiful flowers on the porch! They touch every sense

along with my heart.

5)    New York son found a new plant, Great Mullein. on Long Island, NY that I was able to add to my SEEK app. 

TREATS GALORE---I'm thankful for........TODAY!

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!!

On the road again in the driver's seat of hubby's 4 Runner (GULP!) 

First time I had driven on the interstate in 2 1/2 years. Yet, so excited to join up with my ever praying Quad Squad.

But God....gave a BIG blessing of surprise en route! Who else could orchestrate a roadside meeting of a mom from TN with her New York son!

What a great God I serve whether at home or on the road!

CELEBRATION!

Celebrating Ann Martin's 1st birthday in heaven! 

A time to remember our true friend who would have been 94 today!

She loved breakfast at Perkins so we met there to pray and remember.

Trips together. Meals together. Swimming together. Singing old hymns together. Laughs together. 

• Awakening to Shirley's buttery biscuits at Blackberry, riding in the golf cart w/ her doggie Abbey, treated to Judy's crepes w/ fresh fruit & real whipped cream, rocking in the chairs with Farmer John at the Barn, campfire s'mores, 4th of July lunching on the grounds & listening to Luke Bryan's Spring Break live concert from our lawn chairs. 
• Her top level cooking from Etheline's coconut cake, her Brad's, birthday pumpkin roll and her roasted red pepper soup. Who takes time to roast peppers anymore? Lunching with her sweet Marika when she was in town.....from Napa Cafe to good ole Elmo's.
• Swimming together at the Q for years, sometimes at the office and once even breaking in to Rawl and Julie's for a dip.....by scaling the gate!
• When she had trouble speaking we could hum a familiar old hymn and she would start singing.. In the Garden, Old Rugged Cross, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus and Jesus Love Me.
• Many laughs included Mike & Larry being her boyfriends. Others are censored (per request by friends) but often dealt with food and weight and back to food....while interspersed with bodily function jokes.

Ann was a friend who gave wise counsel; Her life as a friend is clearly reflected in these verses.

A true friend sticks by you like family. (Proverbs 18:24)

Sweet friendships refresh the soul and awaken our hearts with joy! (Proverbs 27:9)

Thanks for the memories, sweet, Ann; You certainly refreshed my heart with joy even during my darkest of days!

SMILING IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL & ONE'S HEALTH

When not feeling "up to snuff" I am grateful for encouraging friends and family who know me so well.

ljj is one of those! A "friend who loves at al times....(Proverbs 17:17)

Though miles now separate us, she has sent me creative little humorous clips or cartoons since I've been in the hospital. After she heard about my hallucinations in ICU, she texted a pic of one of "my" little people participants.....a cartoon of "The Family Circus," Jeffy sittng on an exam table with a doctor listening to his chest. Jeffy asks, "Do you need me to talk louder so you can hear me?" Not exactly the Dolly, Billy, Jeffy and PJ  dancing in a circle on grass at the foot of my bed but I liked the connection and poking fun at my crazy-mixed-up brain.

Today I received this gem from her. It defines me as I'm following doc orders "to rest"!

It made me smile!

CHOOSE: FRIDAY FUN

It's easy to choose Friday Fun when you're with friends---especially when it has been Friday ever since Tuesday!

God's Word says there is a friend who sticks closer than a bother. (Proverbs 18:24) I have GREAT brothers so these special friends stick with me just as my brothers do. Friends who are there through thick and thin. Friends who "nurse" you through your cancer journey.

Friends who often put your needs above their own. Friends whose very presence blesses your that you might bless others by their example.

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 

Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 

And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. (Colossians 3:12-14)

What fun it was to celebrate Friday together for 4 days this week!

CHRISTMAS EVE TRADITIONS

The first thing that comes to mind is our annual event---"breakfast at Bryant's with friends. This year was our 31st year.
Our first year, we had 8 adults and 10 children. Now we have 8 older adults, 10 adult children and 22 grandchildren.

The 2 women in this picture were present at our first breakfast, Molly , age 7 and Carrie who was cooking our "breakfast specials" was 26 at the time.She still looks 26 to us!
The 2 young men were no where on the radar, at the time but we are so glad they are now a part of the family!

The "Earls" were both at the first b'fast event as well but they non-gray/white hair and no grandchildren. They just hauled their kids around. This year, their haul was "crunchy ice"---40 lbs a piece to take home to serve family at upcoming Christmas dinners!

It has been "31" years of a great tradition.

Heart of a Friend

Ah-h-h friendship---the best bouquet of all.
Character traits of good friends are highlighted in scripture.
"A friend loves at all times"----even when I don't make sense or repeat myself, she listens. (Proverbs 17:17)
"Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person"---she's one of the the calmest gals I know. (Proverbs 22:24)
"Walk with the wise and become wise"---accepting a job at Houston High was a wise decision because I walked the halls there with Drenda. (Proverbs 13:20)
The flowers are still there. 1456 is still on the mail box.

But......the heart of the home now resides in Kansas City and she took a bit of my heart with her.

KINDRED SPIRITS

Kindred Spirit---a noun. Plain and simple. A person whose interests or attitudes are similar to one's own. The work place often pulls folks together with similarities---but then sometimes it ends there. Work often tends to be the only connection.

Relationships can be guarded.....with communication on the"virtual plane" easier than face to face, even from the next cubicle. Real relationships are rare.

How blessed I have been to have had relationships that have blossomed, even in the early days of my work as a school librarian. ljj is one for whom I thank God for having her as a part of my “life’s journey.”
We were like an old married couple---acceptance, listening (she did it better than I) often finishing each other's sentences, understanding, (my circular thoughts and idiosyncratic lesson prep), together calling our students "friends" (3 John 1:14) and willing standing together year after year and serving 1,000 + cups of hot tea during "National Hot Tea Month" because together we "get it!"

Morning at ljj's new  home---served with tea and devotion.

Now we are separated by miles but the kindred connection remains. Devotional times, tea times with Mary Alice Hadley (Ky pottery) and a Lucado book. My teacup is from the "Delta" where ljj's  grandaughter, Lila, lives. 

ljj will pass on the new Gloria Houston book, Miss Dorothy and Her Bookmobile, because she knows my real name and we both love the premise of Houston's  My Great Aunt Arizona, who hugged her students when their work was good and she hugged them when it was not. Hugging encourages.

Book and cup are reminders of the importance of keeping up and staying close regardless of miles.

It's what kindreds do. As close as flesh and blood. 

When the spiritual factor is added it deepens and widens the relationship to a "kindred spirit."

Calculated Splurge

Only 2 a year---that's the deal! Chick-fil-A milkshakes that is.
After untold numbers of Chick-fil-A milkshakes during my 2009 cancer battle when eating could only be done thru a straw---I developed a "taste." Since life was more important than worry about weight gain, it worked. But....after that the 520 calories a "pop" began to take its toll----thus the rule. Only 2 Chick-fil-A milkshakes a year.
Wisdom finally set in and 2x earlier this year I had only 1/2 a peach milkshake and 1/2 a strawberry one. I love friends who indulge me and share with me to "enrich" my goal. So.....I had one whole one left for 2015 and sweet friend Drenda treated me to it.
A Peppermint chocolate chip milkshake with 2 cherries!!! YUM!! (
(I actually drank, ate and slurped mine before remembering to take a pic, so I borrowed one.)

Sweet friend. Sweet treat. A calculated splurge comes to fruition in the best way possible!!

Thru the seasons of friendship…..

1/12/12 From faculty wives' meetings and Campus School PTA to weddings and births of grands, there are some friendships that just span generations along with several house moves. Sally is such a friend. A friend in the faith. Hubby still pesters her for her strawberry salad which is his fave. She brought it to him in 1974 after the diving tragedy. It was one of the few things he could even eat because his grief was so deep. She and I have also shared “C” journeys, though hers was much worse than mine.

Nowadays we share the “funeral factor” as we have buried our parents. But how blessed to be there with each other during those times. Today I had the privilege of being on “kitchen crew” at her house just as she did for me when Larry’s folks passed away. Her daddy, Frank Smith, was such a fine man and a great storyteller, so it was a privilege to “man” the kitchen in his honor…. and fun to laugh at the precious retelling of little Mason’s comment, “My grandpa’s in that box right there, but his soul is in heaven.” Smart youngster!

That’s what friends are for…..being there---in every season of life, especially the hard ones.

SHOW CANCELED

2/25/11

That’s what the sign taped to the door said. Disappointment. Having a production cancelled is not the end of the world……but it’s still disappointing. I had arranged everything---yea, right. Guess who is not in charge of the world? I had so wanted to have the perfect time with my T-Cup friends by treating them (thanks to HF) to dinner and G’town Community Theatre’s production of Dixie Swim Club, which focuses on the friendship of 5 women that spanned 33 years. The blurb says---their lives unfold, the years pass, these women increasingly rely on one another, through advice and repartee, to get through all those challenges life flings at them….as they rally around each other with strength and love—a hilarious and touching comedy about friendships that last forever.”

Disappointments over shows/plans cancelled are a part of life---and in the scheme of things, I know this was not major. Yet, I felt bad for them and they probably felt bad for me---because we had really looked forward to sharing this “event” together.

I had to ask myself once again. What are the life lessons in this?

Immediately I Thessalonians 5:18 came to mind. “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Thank you, Lord----

· for a hubby who helped “prepare” house for “company,”

· for friends who finish setting a table & find the glasses because I completely forgot to put them out,

· for “watched & unwatched” bread that didn’t burn, for friends to remind me to serve said bread---halfway through the meal,

· time to share a meal with friends, times to celebrate over births, baptisms, successful surgeries & anticipation of more grandchildren, time to grieve a parent’s terminal diagnosis,

· friends to listen & advise about challenges with economy,

· safety from unknown reasons as a theatre is renovated at the "last" minute

Shows/plans canceled are a part of life---but they’re not an end all---they can just be an opportunity to thank God and to be joyfully expectant for Act 2 or Plan B.