The event we attended on Saturday, had an overall theme of "Balls". There were inflated soccer balls, baseballs, big balls and litttle balls. The room was decorated with ball shaped balloons. All of this was in honor of Leo, age one, who says one word....."Ball".
Guests at the party, held at a local pizza parlor, were his mom and dad's friends and assorted relatives. Being the paternal grandma, I knew all of the relatives.
However, it was the parents' friends that held my attention.
Our youngest son's friends, the same rug rats that wrestled in our family room twenty years ago and played monopoly until the wee hours of the morning, came to the party, toting their own little ones. I was fascinated.
A couple of the toddlers were carbon copies of their dads. Another one resembled his grandpa. Some of their personalites were reminiscent of their elders.
What a great time I had. And, what great memories seing those little ones evoked.

Lord God. Life does go on, in spite of us. Little children are so precious. Help us, as adults, to us remember our responsiblities toward them. Remind us to savor each and every minute of a lifetime, because all to soon, those babies become teenagers, then parents of their own babies.
We are blessed.

Happy Trails to You.......

As I write this, my husband is stuck in Tulsa. This morning he left Kansas City, to travel by plane, to St. Louis. He intended to return home tomorrow, but because all of his meetings were cancelled, he booked the last flight back to Kansas City, this afternoon. Well, our airport was iced in. Closed for the remainder of the night. So, his plane was diverted to Tulsa. A one hour flight became a two hour flight and then became a point of no return.
Life is a lot like that, I think. Our plans become way laid, and we end up somewhere we never intended to be. How many of us planned to be where we are today? (I had briefly planned on becoming a nun, but had settled on the life of a cowgirl......they had the cooler outfits. Nuns didn't wear cowboy boots and leather fringe!)
Life just never works out the way we plan it. I like the phrase, "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans." Truthfully, just as life has its disappointments, it also has it's mountain top experiences.
But, I have come to this conclusion. No matter what the route, I intend to enjoy the journey.
Oh, and I hope Scott finds his way home,sometime soon. I intend to be like Motel 6, and "leave the light on for him."

Great and all knowing God. You travel with us on this journey of life. Help us to remember that we are all, every last one of us, on the same journey. Allow us to release our burdens to you, and remind us to travel light.

"And the skies are not cloudy all day."

My home state, Kansas, has a birthday this week. She's 150 years old, which isn't very old, of course, when you compare her to the really old states of New York and Rhode Island. But, believe me, I'm thinking Kansas is pretty darn old, because I remember the big celebration when she turned 100.
Back in 1961, I marched as a high schooler, in a parade to honor the Centennial of the Sunflower State. I remember witnessing the speeches and all of the hoopla. I seem to recall it was quite a big deal. There were time capsules unearthed and new ones buried. New songs were written, played and sung. Streets were renamed or created with the name "Centennial." Our classmate animated a cartoon movie entitled "The Kansas Kitty".
All of that was fifty ago, which is so hard for me to believe.
Time flies. It really does. And, it flies whether or not you are having fun!

"I was born in Kansas. I was bred in Kansas. And when I get married I'll be wed in Kansas. There's a true blue (Crimson and...) guy, who promised he would wait. I'm his Sunflower from the Sunflower State." Rock Chalk, Jayhawk. KU.

Holy Lord. We are truly thankful for whatever time we have. Our blessings are great and our burdens are small. Teach us to use our time wisely. Guide us along a path that will allow us to experience the richness of life and to savor your great universe. We are thankful for our years of life.

Letting go and letting God

Along about the time your child turns two, you began to realize that you cannot make every decision for for him or her. All through the growing up years, one of the hardest jobs to do, as a parent, is to stop rushing in to try to "save" your kids from making choices that you know are going to be disasterous for them. I'm not saying that you should let your 2 year old ride his bike down the middle of the street (if you can help it). But, when your nine year old insists on wearing his roller blades, indoors and out, on pavement or grass, in sunshine and snow...who is it going to hurt? Only the kid when he falls down, (I did tell him that roller blades were never intended to work on sledding hills coverd with ice, but I knew he was going to try it anyway.) will he know he made the wrong decision.
So, kids, don't be too hard on the old folks. We're not perfect. We have made a lifetime of decisions, good and bad. So, you think it's hard now, chasing after that toddler or teenager, but believe me, you haven't tried anything yet.

God, will you give each of us, no matter what our age or stage in life, the wisdom of silence? Help us to keep our opinions to ourselves, especially if what we say will cause lasting hurt to others. Let us rejoice in the decisions of our children, friends and even those whom we chance to meet.
Remind us that Your wisdom will prevail and that all good things come from You.

Wearin' of the Red

Proper attire for everyone in Kansas City, this past Friday, was bright red. That's the only color for fans of our local National League Football Team. Everybody was wearing red, because, this year, after a very long, win less drought, we are in the post-season playoffs.
Our team has STUNK for a lot of years, so this winning season has everyone stunned. We have cried and whined about how bad the Chiefs are for so long, we are having a hard time believing they can be winners.
The last time the Chiefs won a play-off game was seventeen years ago. This morning, the Kansas City Star ran a picture of a young man, a high school junior, who was born on the day of the last post-season win for K.C. Like I said, we are all having a hard time believing we can win.

Lord, I am not naive enough to think that if we "believe" enough, the Chiefs will win the Super Bowl. But, I do know that all you have required of us, as travelers in this life, is to believe in you.
Sometimes when the "going gets tough", it's hard to keep the faith. We want to give up. Often we put our faith in something or someone else.
But, when we truly believe that you will always be there for us, the "going" gets so much easier. Jesus, you make us winners.

"Boughs of Holly"

I have a new meditation area. It's my drive between the school on Woodland and the school on St. John. It's become the stretch of commute where I do by best thinking.
Now, I have to be pretty careful about deep ponderings, as I drive this stretch of city streets, because I have to watch out for copper thieves, possible dead bodies, police cars and the dreaded "traffic circle". It's a rough neighborhood, folks.
Anyway, earlier this week, as I drove along the Avenue, I noticed piles of colorful material spread out on several lawns. It took me a minute to realize (no flashing lights or visible crime tape) that they were the deflated remains of Christmas Inflatables. And, a morose sadness overcame me. I almost had to pull over and stop. But, given the wee hour of morning and the desertedness of the street, I sensibly kept on driving.
Anyway, in the daytime, the lighted night-time blow-ups of Santas, Snowmen, and even Nativity Scenes are just piles of sad and limp material. Isn't this the way we often feel when the holidays come to an end?
We've worked days and days on the preparation, the presents, and the food. Then suddenly, it's all done. Stick a fork in it.
Now what? It's back to everyday life. The lights and fans are turned off. We've lost the Christmas Spirit.

Tiny Baby God, help us to keep the Spirit of the Season year round. You don't leave us. Why should we abandon you? Just because the radio ceases to play Christmas music, doesn't mean that the true meaning of Christmas is over.
God, can you remind me, every so often, to "Deck the Halls"? Just a nudge would keep me INFLATED for the next 10 months or so. I am truly blessed.

"Angels we have heard on high..."

Several years ago, I informed some close girlfriends that I did not believe in angels. Well, they were horrified and they proceeded to relate personal encounters with their "guardian angels". I was more than willing to listen to their stories, but I told them that I just couldn't attribute "godlike...savior like" qualities to anything but God. At the end of the discussion, we agreed to disagree.
In recent weeks, I have decided that angels do exist. According to the original Biblical definition, angels are messengers sent by God to tell mortals things that God wants us to hear. Humans don't really react well to burning bushes or direct words from God's mouth. So, God sends us messengers.
In my opinion, an angel can be anyone. They don't have wings or halos. An angel can be a preacher or a salesclerk or even a grandchild. But, they do bring messages. Often times, the messages are silent or are shown to us by example. But they are there.
Sometimes the message is... wake up and smell the roses! Or, maybe it's.... slow down. Or maybe it's....enjoy today. That message could be....accept. God tells us many things by using his angels.

Happy birthday, Jesus. Your messengers are all around us. Guide us to be receptive to your messages. We need to listen.