DWD---no more......continued

6/18/11 "Dancing with Daddy, no more"--- from my blog notes taken on a yellow legal pad on 6/15/11, the day before Daddy died.

I stood looking down at his gray tennis shoes with the velcro straps---not the familiar white strings of his Nike walking shoes that he laced up for 33 years every day but Sunday. (No walking on Sunday---his own self-imposed rule.) I puddled.
I knew he would never wear shoes again, stand again, or dance with me again.
With that thought, I felt the tightening pain welling up in my throat and the back of my jaw---almost like a constricting burning sensation. It moved forward and began to consume me. The tears trickled. My nose dripped. I wept.

The memories spilled over. Stories mother told me of dancing with her Hoptown flame at Dunbar cave in Clarksville. Memories of Mother and Daddy going to the Elks club dances, never missing a New Year's Eve one. Mother and Daddy could really "cut a rug" as they did the jitterbug.
With the big band music of Benny Goodman or the crooning of old blue eyes. Frank Sinatra, my tall, stately parents, face to face, would glide together as one. In that front hall at 2211 where I had watched them dance, Daddy, with right arm at my waist and holding his left hand out for my right hand, placed me on the tops of his shoes and taught me to dance.

With all of these thoughts tumbling in my mind, I began to smile, especially when I recalled dancing with him just 2 years ago at my 45th high school reunion, though certainly Daddy's days were not much longer on this earth.

This kind, quiet, gentle man would dance with me no more. I had to let him go so he could dance with Jesus. I knew Mother and Allyson would be in line to tap on the shoulder and "cut in" for their spin on heaven's floor because nobody can dance like "my" Daddy.

To everything there is a season.....a time to be born, a time to die, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance; ( Ecclesiastes 3:1-4)

PS I might be weeping as I type but............ Daddy is dancing in heaven.

Daddy's obit & pic

6/17/11 Because you asked...................

http://hughartbeard.com/obits/

So grateful for all the love and prayers----can't wait to "blog" all about my "first" dance Partner.

The "Celebrity" of West Meade

6/16/11 Daddy info to follow because I'm too emotional to do a blog that will do him justice at the moment.

Clifton Thacker Adams (aka Brud & Grandaddy Brud)
passed away this morning at 11:45 at West Meade Health Center in Bellevue area of Nashville with all his kids at his side & a slew of teary nurses and techs at his doorway.

Funeral visitation and services will be Monday morning, June 20 at First UnitedMethodist Church 1305 So Main, Hopkinsville, Ky.

DWD---No More

6/15/11 Daddy has taken a turn for the worse---will blog later. Would appreciate prayers for mercy and a gentle entry into God's Presence for this gentle man.

accorDANCE

6/11/11 Assume the postion for accorDANCE---if you want a 3 word answer to most of life's questions, that is! The answers to the questions that matter in life are not, do this or don't do that. Rather, according to Oswald Chambers, the answer lies in 3 words, 'Come unto Me.' (Matthew 11:28) "If I (you) will come to Jesus, my (your) actual life will be brought into my real desires.........and actually find the song of the Lord" (My Utmost for His Highest 6/11 entry)

My way of thinking about that is----if I align my will with His will, His desires will become my desires. In this dance of life, if I want to be lead by the spirit of life, I need to learn the "new" steps of "accorDANCE!

Now it's your turn to think on the implications of that verse in your own life.

On the Road Again

6/11/11 Will post when I find a computer----nursing home doesn't have much need for a computer room.
Was leaving early this am to head back to Nashville but a phone call from brother Buddy has me headed out the door with a sense of urgency. Brother Buddy & Charlotte are turning around & heading back from Louisville and Bobby and Louise are loading up for a 14 hour trip from Sanibel Island. West Meade called and Daddy has had an "event" that has caused his blood pressure to plummet and his O2 levels to fall----Hold on Daddy---we're all coming!!

Friday Fatigue---the good kind

6/10/11 So tired will post later!

PRAISE PRACTICE

6/6/11 A plethora of meds have graced my bathroom counter these last few months. All are intended to improve my physical health/well being. Finally, I’m about to get used to this routine---with hubby reminders. But….it takes practice. Daily practice.

I assume if I need these daily doses for my physical health, then a daily dose of "praise" would surely improve my spiritual health. (and yours too) I’m prescribing it for all of us as we begin this week of meditation. Psalm 5, a psalm of protection tell gives us a direction for beginning.

1.Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation. 2. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray. 3.My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.

RX for improved spiritual health for week of June 6-12

• MON. I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High. (Psalm 9:1-2) Does my heart even know how to praise Thee adequately? May I improve with practice.
  
• TUES. And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD. (Psalm 27:6) Are my enemies real or perceived?
• WED. I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together. (Psalm 34:1-3) Is my praise continual?
  
• THUR. I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD. (Psalm 40:1-3) Am I waiting on the Lord? Do others see Him in me?
• FRI. Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. (Psalm 112:1) Am I delighting in His law or trying to Make it fit my desires?
• SAT. I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever. Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. (Psalm 145:1-4) Do I bless His name everyday?
• SUN. Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness………Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD. (Psalm 150:1-2, 6) For from Him and in Him I have my being.

What’s the rationale for praising the Lord? God's Word says, "Rejoice in the Lord!" (Psalm 97:12) It’s good for the soul.

St. Augustine said it well, from the Lord’s perspective. “You stir man to take pleasure in praising you, because you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” (Book I of St. Augustine’s Confessions)

Bible-less in Bellevue until………………..

6/5/11 I found the Bible version I was looking for nestled between the Cokesbury hymnals on the bookshelf in Bobby & Louise’s computer room. Not only that, it was inscribed from Mother and Daddy to B & L on their wedding day. How perfect was that! Now, I had a special Bible to take and read to Daddy. A perfect wedding gift for them (then) and a perfect gift for me (now) for such a time as this. It even had an entire page of pictures of animals in the Bible and included the locust that I’ve been trying to help Daddy see as they buzz by his window in room 3010.

I told you it was the perfect gift.

Locust Lore (pic to follow soon)

6/4/11 Nothing like a quiet morning walk to "unmuddle" one's mind---or so I thought. It started with a droning sound from afar, progressing to a high whirring sound---a sound not likely to be forgotten. It steadily rose to a crescendo * somewhat akin to a 100 kindergarteners shaking aluminum cans filled with poptops---in both hands. (*To hear the sound, click the link & scroll down to video #6 cicada wall )

As I walked directly under a tree, my shirt became dotted with light, wispy, little winged creatures. A few "crisp" ones crunched under my feet.
"Our 13 year locust," a passer-by informed me. "The red-eyed ones are all around but a few blue-eyed ones are here too. Cicadas. Spittlebugs. Pests. " she informed me. "You Tube is full of videos of folks eating them with drawn butter or chocolate coated."

A very informative morning walk---now I had new things to whir in my mind and at my feet. Prior to these insights, my locust info came only from the Bible story of God sending the plague of locusts on the Egyptian pharaoh and the description of the apostle John in Mark 1:3-8 as one who ate "locusts and wild honey."

I picked up a locust carcass for close inspection. I gathered more. The educator in me and the "hope" in me, knows that if they come out from underground only every 13 years, then I need one for each of my grands' future 4th grade entomology projects. I envision them pinned to the poster board with the entomological name underneath and the date, June 4, 2011, Bellevue, TN.

That's my locust story, what's yours?