Fun Times

 I love taking my grandchildren to garage sales.  They all seem to enjoy it. They can shop with quarters and dimes and have found many treasures!  Yesterday I had all four boys with me...I stopped at one sale.  The seven year old purchased a book, the five year old found a robo dog for fifty cents, and the three year old found a stuffed toy for a quarter.(most stuff animals wash beautifully) The picture is of the five year old watching TV with Robo dog laying on a pillow.  He also asked for a leash for his dog...so the dog wouldn't run off so the white thing is a ribbon leash!  Later we built a dog house out of boxes for robo dog and a bed for the stuffed animal.  By the way, robo dog dances and makes sounds when you rub his head or tickle him under the neck....two quarters well spent and a fun afternoon of memories.

Brokenness

One of my dearest friends visited today and we talked about many things as we always do. Among them we discussed brokenness. My friend is a professional story teller and collects poems and stories to use in her speaking. She shared a beautiful poem about the master searching for a vessel to use...many vessels clamored to be the one he chose. The golden candlesticks told Him of their beauty and purity and how they could shine for Him. The silver ones told Him how stately they were and what great things they could do. A brass vessel clamored loudly of his worth to serve, a crystal vessel told of his beauty and uses...a wooden one spoke too.....but the master passed each without saying a word....then he reached down and gently picked up a broken clay pot which had no hope of ever serving again and it was that broken clay pot that he chose.  It's in our brokenness that we learn to cling to Him for dear life and it is there that He restores us and makes us useful for Him....without Him, we're just like that broken vessel. Do you feel useless like the broken pot?  Has your life been shattered by loss or wrong choices?  It's you he wants to restore. It's you that He can use to do His mightiest works because brokenness humbles our heart. Cling to Him, vessel of clay.  Let Him Restore and mend your heart because He makes all things new.  Thank you, Ginger, for coming to see me.  God gave me a precious treasure when he gave me your friendship thirty-four years ago!
For those who are interested, the poem can be found at http://www.ftmagic.com/vessel.html

Memory

Don't you just hate it when you're hunting your cell phone and can't find it?  Maybe its never happened to you but a number of times I've been getting ready to leave the house and couldn't find my phone.  I've hunted everywhere only to realize, OPPPS, I'm talking on it!  Now that is a strange feeling.  Or in my recent move, I carefully put like-things together and had a plan for packing them so I could easily find them after the move.  I'm still hunting them.  I can't remember what my plan was....I'm sure it made sense at the time.
      My memory may fail but I'm so thankful that there is ONE who will never forget me and loves me with an Everlasting Love.  I invited Him into my heart many years ago and even though He's cast my sins as far as the East is from the West and remembers them no more, I'm always on his mind....as He cares for me.  THANK YOU LORD!
      

Change

     I've seen a lot of changes in my fifty-five plus years....as have you...some of it has been fantastic but much of it not has been bad.  The fact that I can publish my thoughts into cyber space for anyone to read is unbelievable and I confess that computers are much better than typewriters. E-mail is quite nice too and certainly faster and cheaper than snail mail.
     Yes, lots of things have changed but just as I look at my reflection in a 5X magnifying mirror so I can see what I really look like, I need to follow God word to live the abundant life.  Sadly our nation has gotten away from many of God's principles and has started down a path that will lead to disaster.  When I grew up, my grade school teachers started the day by having each child recite a scripture..this was public school...not private. Back then, what God said was wrong was considered wrong by the majority of people. Today things are changing rapidly and our country is resorting to doing that which is right in man's eyes.
   Our founding father's were not agnostic as some say.  The majority based their lives and the constitution they signed on God's Word.  If you want to check them out, you can.
http://www.reclaimoklahoma.org/FaithofourFoundingFathers.htm
 

Mimi's Chocolate Chip Cookies

I guess I could say this is my signature dish since I don't cook much anymore.  I almost always have this dough in my ref so I can bake up a batch of these scrumptious cookies when I want.  They're easy and get rave reviews from my family and friends.  Since  my grandkids don't like pecans, I don't put the nuts into the dough. I add them on top if I"m fixing a batch for someone else.  The above are for my Sunday School Class. 

Mimi's Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar(I use C&H)
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
21/2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 16 oz bag semi sweet chocolate chips

I make these in my food processor.  I toss in the sugars and butter first.  (soften the butter by placing it on a plate and microwaving for about 25 seconds...just enough to soften it a little unless you are organized and plan ahead and let it soften first)  I cube the butter up and toss it with the sugars.  I process and toss in two eggs and the rest of the ingredients, except of course the chocolate chips. Make certain all the butter is mixed in.  Stir in the chocolate chips after you're done processing.   NOW VERY IMPORTANT!.....they will not be nearly as good if you cook them now.  I always put the dough in the refrigerator and let it get good and cold.  It will harden up when the butter is cold and will bake up much chewier.  If I'm really wanting cookies, I'll put the dough in the freezer for awhile.  Then when I'm ready to cook the cookies, I take a tsp of dough and roll it into a ping pong ball sized roll(don't press them down) and place them on the cookie sheet...I use an insulated cookie sheet.  I place them in a 350 degree oven and bake til the edges start to brown a little....the middle will still be soft looking and light colored.   This part you'll have to learn on your own.  I've had four different ovens in the years that I've baked these....some were done in 111/2 minutes but the oven I use now, it takes 15 mins.  Why this oven takes so long, i'll never know....but once you learn what time it takes to make them perfect, set your timer each time and you'll have perfect chewy cookies.  If you prefer a crunchy cookie, bake until it is brown in the middle.  Sometimes I double this recipe because my grandsons love to have these....they come over and it's easy to bake them fresh cookies. I'll keep this dough for a week or two and it's still good.  Sometimes I'll only bake five or six cookies if it's just for me.   ENJOY!

Moms Keep Us Young

My mom is ninty-six.  She thinks I'm young.  I like that but she does tell it like it is in some areas.  A couple of years ago she looked at me and said,  "Have you been to the dentist lately?  Your teeth are like your brother's, you've drank so much coffee that they're yellow. You need to get them cleaned."
I had them cleaned twice a year so I knew cleaning was not the ticket. And I looked at pictures of myself, and I could see my whites were not so white anymore.  I promptly went to my dentist and ordered his tooth whitening process.  My mom now approves of my smile and I check my pictures ever so often to see if I need to whiten again.  After all, I still drink coffee.  Are your teeth white?  Don't visit my mom if you don't want to know the truth.
    My teeth are white but my last visit she commented that my blouses looked a bit skimpy.  Hummm....same sized tops?  Opps, I'd better weigh.

It Was Not Just About Age

I hung a bunch of heavy pictures using an electric screw driver.  My shoulder started to hurt after I'd hung five but when I was young, I could push through the pain with nothing but a few days of sore muscles.  Well, I learned the hard way better not push my body too hard.  The next day after hanging the pictures, my arm and shoulder hurt.  A week later the shoulder was still painful.  Two months later, the shoulder still hurt.  Finally I went to my doctor...told him my story and he suspected bursitis. He prescribed a steroid shot and medication.  It helped but two years later, I was still struggling with pain in that shoulder.  DUH!!  I was sure it was my age and a part of the aging process but I finally decided maybe I should have a specialist look at it. An MRI showed a complete tear to the rotator cuff!!!  You're kidding!  I had it fixed and six months later I'm still healing.  Moral to that story is never assume something is a part of the aging process if it comes on suddenly and doesn't go away.  Better get it checked.  Had I gotten it checked early on, the recovery would have been faster because the torn tissue wouldn't have had two years to atrophy!  I know, not very smart on my part.  Don't make the same mistake.

Learning to Enjoy

 I've had to learn to enjoy this stage of life...not because I minded aging(let's face it, the alternative ain't so good and involves dirt) but because I minded giving up several loved ones including my mate of almost thirty-three years.  How about you?  Had to move forward without someone you love?  The way seems strange but it's not without hope.  Just be careful where you place your hope. If you put it in replacing that loved one with someone new, your hope is misplaced.  It'll ease the pain for a little while but it may lead to much more pain.  Let yourself heal and learn to live in your new shoes. Recognize that there is still wonderful purpose for your life...and attitude(or we could call it Faith) is one of the biggest things that will push you forward.  I share these things as one who misplaced her hope  and bore the painful results of doing so.  I don't want you to make the same mistakes I made.

1. Start a gratitude journal and add something new everyday.
2. Learn to embrace(accept willingly) this season of life.
3. Get to know the real you (I didn't really know myself)
4. Find other's that are healing too and be a cheerleader for them.
5. Realize this can be some of the best days of your life
6. Don't give up hope that number five is true

Lessons in the Trenches

I'm learning a lot in this season of life.  How about you?  I've learned that I can't really see my face unless I use a five-times magnifying mirror.  I look much younger in the regular mirror (only to myself of course) but when I use the five-times mirror...things come into focus that I didn't even know were there....like chin hairs and whiskers and trenches in my smile lines around my mouth and my eyes.  I can slather creme on the lines and hope it works but it's the little hairs I can do something about and I stalk them like their criminals.   I've never had my eyebrows waxed but I give them a regular tweezing. Then there's the coiffure....where did those grey hairs come from? There's a few wiry little guys that love to prance on top of my head.  I've found some delightful hair products that make my mane look thick and tame the corkscrews.  AND my beautician has found a process that highlights the color that remains. It's rough staying presentable in this fifty-five plus stage of life but it's worth it.  My five year old(with concern in his voice) commented to his mom the other day as they passed thru a restaurant drive thru ..."that lady looks like she is going to die soon."  She was older than me and very wrinkled....since I don't want my grandkids thinking that about me yet, I'll keep sprucing up what I can.  Any tips you have to share, I'd appreciate!