~*~ Oh, Woe Is Me ~*~

I'm pretty good at feeling sorry for myself. I don't know where that comes from (because I have actually lived quite a lovely life) but it's true. The Bible says we shouldn't think more highly of ourselves than we ought (Romans 12:3), but I think its overall message implies that we shouldn't think too lowly of ourselves, either.

My mom told me about a friend of hers who writes it like this: "Oh, whoa is me." We laugh at that and, if we happen to be IMing one another, whining about some little thing, one of us will certainly type in, "Oh, whoa is me."

This morning during chores, while stewing about the state of my life and lots of inconsequential junk, I thought, "Oh, whoa is me." And, ding ding ding, a personal lesson popped into my head!

I know nothing about horses, but I've seen a movie or two. I know that you get a horse to stop by saying, "WHOA!" And when I start feeling sorry for myself, thinking "woe is me," then my day, my life stops! I'm wallowing in Pilgrim's slough of despond. I'm stuck.

In those same movies, one gets a horse to move by saying, "Giddyup!" How am I to get out of these murky, stagnant waters? I'm gonna have to giddy my butt up and get outside for some fresh air; or giddy some groovy music up on the stereo and sing & dance around the room; or giddy my Bible up from the table and read truth instead of believing the lies.

This afternoon I giddy my doggie up into the tub and gave her a bath. Then I giddy my 'puter up and wrote a silly blog. I'm feeling better.

Thanks for reading!

Giddyup!!

 

 

 

~*~ Old Becomes New ~*~

Have you have had this experience before? You think you know something pretty well and then suddenly, surprisingly, you see this "something" in a new light ... almost as though you had never seen it before. It happened to me about a week ago.

It felt like a hugely awesome revelation, and yet I have known it forever: 

GOD LOVES YOU!

You don't have to believe in him, acknowledge him, or even recognize the fact that he IS. God loves YOU! It's not because of anything you've done or haven't done. It's not because someone else loves you and is praying for you. It's simply because God LOVES you!

That's what God does best :-)

Author Max Lucado writes that God is crazy about you and

"If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it."

~*~ Happy New Year 2012 ~*~

Life gets way too busy! I wanted to tell you some Christmas memories from years gone by, but Christmas has come and gone, and now a new year is upon us! There there, darling. Don't cry. I'm old, so I can talk about Christmas whenever I please. Listen to a few stories from the good old days.

Let's go way back to the early 1950s. Ma & Pa owned a grocery store in Kettle River, Minnesota, and we lived upstairs. On this Christmas Eve, the most wonderful thing happened: the "Gail of the Golden West" cowgirl doll that stood on one of the top shelves in the store was magically transported to lie under our Christmas tree ... for me!!

 

Twenty-seven years later, in Brimson, MN, I was sitting up all night long, finishing a pair of homemade dolls for my young daughter. They were about 18" tall, a boy & a girl, and each had a set of clothes that could be taken off and put back on. Fortunately, my younger daughter was just 5 months old, so she was happy with a store-bought activity board that would attach to her crib.

My dearest Christmas memory from my early years in Haiti (1981-1984) is simply of the girls playing outside in shorts and sleeveless shirts. No snow, no sleds; but white Christmas trees (a tree branch painted white and stuck in a can of cement) and colorful tissue-paper lanterns lighting up the night.

The picture below was taken on Christmas Day 2002, in Charlotte, North Carolina. My grandson was 3-1/2 years old at the time.

This is what I wrote on the back of the photo: I made a birthday cake for Jesus. I asked Marshall if he remembered whose birthday it was. "Yours?" he asked. No! I showed him the snow globe. "Oh! Jesus! He's not here yet. He must be late. Maybe he'll get here tomorrow." I told him he could go ahead and blow out the candle :-)

I hope you have wonderful memories of bygone Christmases that you hold in your heart. May the good Lord bless you and keep you throughout this New Year of 2012.

P.S. The photo of Gail of the Golden West is not mine. It came from eBay and I want to give credit where credit is due.

~*~ Discipline ~*~

In my mid-thirties, I was able to attend college for two years. Wow! I loved it, but it was a lot of work. The word that comes to mind is 'discipline' - the training that produces moral or mental improvement. For the first time in my life, I wrote a sonnet. It wasn't easy, something that came naturally, but I did it!
  

A Sonnet Song

At times it seems the songs have all been sung.

The things I wish to say, the ear has heard –

Not once, but twice, or even more. The tongue,

You’d think, would tire of playing rhyme-a-word.

Just what compelling force invigorates

My soul? For in the face of discontent

A tune wells up, an echo titillates.

From where this rash of joy that’s never spent?

When thoughts, emotions, rage beyond control,

Is that the cue for heaven’s melody?

I can’t but help to wonder why my soul

Delights in song. And yet, amazingly,

I choose to sing, rejoice, and pass my days

Creating hymns delirious with praise!

Anyway, I've been thinking about discipline for the past few days. This verse came to mind: "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." (Hebrews 12:11)

Working on the dairy farm is discipline big time! It does not seem pleasant, but painful. I'd often like to quit or run away, but if I will allow myself to be trained by it, perhaps I will find my life exuding more righteousness and peace.

One can only hope ....

~*~ Winter's Cupid ~*~

Quietly ...

with no fanfare

Don't Hum with Your Mouth Full

There I sat at the supper table - one foot dangling, the other sharing the seat of the chair with my butt; right elbow resting on the knee that was now at table-level, left hand wielding a fork and digging into supper. "Don't hum while you're eating," reprimanded my Grandma Hilja. Although shocked, I took her advice seriously and, to this day, I rarely hum while eating.

However, I am persuaded that life should more closely resemble a musical than a tragedy. I've never found it odd to see characters break into song or dance at diverse or even unlikely moments in a movie or dramatic performance. Whether we can carry a tune or not, music carries us; it is woven into the very fabric of who we are.

This may partially explain why I love flash mobs (of the musical variety). Here we are, in the middle of an ordinary day, doing our ordinary stuff, and ... SURPRISE! People, real people all around us, erupting in song and dance. Pure joy!

~*~By Way of Introduction~*~

You might think that cows and cats are all I know, but 53 years of life-before-the-farm have certainly left their mark. So, you guessed it ... time for another blog. Here, I plan to give you little glimpses into where I've been, who I've become, and what craziness goes on in my head. Yikes! Sounds kinda scary!

"There are a thousand thoughts lying within a man that he does not know till he takes up a pen to write." (William Makepeace Thackeray) With that being said, I have taken up my virtual pen and only time will tell if I have anything worth saying. We are each unique and, at the same time, each alike; I'm hoping you might see yourself here every now and then. Whoa! That sounds even scarier!!

P.S. This is NOT a blog about recipes or cooking, although I may post a recipe now and then. Rather, it is simply a collection of bits and pieces from my life. Is that clear?