Thursday, February 28, 2013

Sammy...

I've never met this family, but they live a few short blocks from where I live, and they are friends and former neighbors of our kids.  Last Saturday, one of her 2 brothers found the body of little 3 year old 'Sammy' (Samantha) in their swimming pool..

I, like probably most of the people in our city, have shared their grief and prayed without ceasing for this family during these days. Today at 1 is the funeral at Lakepointe Church. As I was out doing errands this morning, I drove past our church and couldn't stop the tears as I thought of this mom and dad and the tiny casket that would be there in just a few hours.

As I thought of them last night, I began a note to let them know that I am praying for them. What God gave my heart as I prayed, was this...


"God knew exactly to the final second, how long Sammy's life would be, long before she was born. He also knew what parents and brothers she would be entrusted to for those short years. They would have to be very special, as He knew how deeply loved He wanted this child to be, and how short her time on this earth was going to be.

Doug & Ann, you were hand picked to be Sammy's mommy and daddy. What a life changing privilege for both of you, to be her parents, to love and cherish her and to be her family. Bryan and Ben, God knew Sammy would need 2 very special boys to be her brothers, and He put this exact family together... the family He chose. He could have chosen anyone, He chose YOU, all 4 of you.

Somehow, in all the pain, I pray that your comfort will also be that last Saturday, when Sammy went to be with Jesus, to be held in His loving arms, was the exact day that He had planned. Not a minute or hour sooner, or later. Nothing could change that, God had already ordained it... He knew.

The heart of our Father also understands the deep grief you are bearing. When He sent Jesus, He sent His only son, and He felt the pain of a fathers heart. He holds every tear that you shed, in a special place with your names on it.

Sammy will always be your little girl and your sister. When you get to heaven, you will be the ones she runs to."...

Somehow just sharing this helps. I ask for your prayers for this family. Pain strikes the grieving heart without warning, and they  will have a long road ahead.

Knowing God, and knowing that He holds all of life in His hands, the beginning and the end, is going to be their strength, as it is for each one of us.


Monday, February 25, 2013

It is no secret...

"It is no secret what God can do,
what He's done for others, He'll do for you"...

It's funny how hearing a song can take you back many years, to the time when it was written and you sang along with it.

Stuart Hamblen.

Stuart and Suzy Hamblen were friends of my parents as we were growing up. Stuart had been a country singer and spent some wild years before becoming a christian. Some of his best songs were written after he was saved.  "It is no Secret what God can do"," This old house", and "Just a closer walk with Thee'...

When I think of those old songs, it always reminds me that his daughters clothes were given to us when they had grown out of them. We were the preacher's kids, (not the affluent preacher's kids.) Suzy knew that, and she loved my mother. They spoke together at women's conferences and formed a real bond as friends.

The thing is... those clothes were ultra stylish (ok, awful!)...

They lived in Hollywood, in the middle of fashion and glitz and labels. We lived in Pasadena, an hour away in miles, but 1000 miles from the styles of those clothes! Even though we didn't have a lot of money, we felt like what we wore was pretty cool... 

I remember seeing that big box and thinking 'oh boy, this is going to be good!' I pulled one thing after another out, and got to the bottom of the box and couldn't imagine wearing any of it. The heart of the gift was real, but the gifts themselves didn't fit us at all, not size-wise and not the style either.

Even though the heart of a giver may be exactly right, as it was with them, sometimes the recipient of the gift isn't on the same page. 

So, to this day. I still love to sing along with Stuart's music, as I think of 'the box'...



Thursday, February 21, 2013

Sven's Bakery...

Today's thoughts are a brief detour, not permanent, just a visit...

My focus these days is healthy, exercise and eating better and less, as I journey along to lose those extra pounds that have gathered... So of course I am thinking about Sven's Bakery...

Growing up in Pasadena, California, we had a bakery on Colorado Blvd., the street where the Rose Parade travels.  Our home was about 6 blocks south.  Sven's was a big bakery, right on the main corner. It smelled unbelievable, it was always busy and bustling. When you tasted what they baked, you would know why. The thing I loved the very best was an almond paste filled coffee cake. It was round and fresh and just melted like butter when it hit my mouth.

One day, years after I was married, had 3 kids, and we had moved to Texas, I was back in California, visiting my parents. They had since moved down close to the beach in San Juan Capistrano, but we spent a day in Pasadena. We stopped at Sven's, it was still there! We bought 2 of those coffee cakes, placed on white paper doilies into their nice boxes. Each cake served at least 8 to 10 people. 

In the hour and 1/2 it took us to drive back to San Juan, I sat in the back seat and one pinch at a time, ate one whole coffee cake, down to the last crumbs. I had some explaining to do when we got home.

This detour today is very real... so real that I can almost taste it!  Now Sven's has changed ownership, it's called 'Federico's', even the name sounds wrong, more Italian than Scandinavian... so probably that coffee cake doesn't even taste good anymore!

These days as I am intentionally eating healthier and less, it is not vegetables that I dream about... it's Sven's. 

Speaking of exercise...

Did you see the funny quote in Good Housekeeping?... 


"Why are my arms so weak? It's like I did that push-up last year for nothing!"...

Okay... end of detour ... think of all the calories I've saved today by writing about it instead of eating it! That thought makes me almost as happy as taking a big bite of it would... almost.

Monday, February 11, 2013

Keeping it real...


Even at the age of 4 or 5 years, our grandkids have amazed us with what they say and the way they think.

I'm thinking of a certain day a few years ago, and one of our granddaughters  was riding in the back seat all buckled up, as she and I were heading down the road. 

Out of the blue this 4 or 5 year old said...

"God's faithfulness endures forever!"

I was thrilled and quickly chimed in to agree and elaborate, thinking this was a perfect spiritual teaching moment.

Before I could get more than a sentence out, she added...

"And Mimi... I know how to shake my booty!"

There you have it! Those 2 random comments, coming out of the mouth of a small child with very little pause between the statements. The tug of war that begins early and continues until the day we will see Jesus.

And yes, I had to laugh at the time, and it still makes me smile when I think of it...

Isn't this a classic example? On the one hand, she has Godly parents who are investing their lives into these girls, and instructing them daily about Jesus.

And on the other hand, tv, movies, other kids at school, magazines, etc.... are trying to win them over to the system of this world at an accelerated speed.

It's a good thing that we know who is the winner in today's world, and what the final outcome will be. In the meantime, there can't be too many prayers lifted on behalf of all of those that we love. 

Monday, February 4, 2013

A funny thing happened...

A funny thing happened when I closed my blog...

I kept writing it anyway!

I didn't plan on that.

I thought there was enough going on in my life that it would be good to let the blog go for awhile.  But whenever I got a new thought or idea, I punched it out quickly on my computer and just let it sit, unread, and unpublished.

So I kept writing, but there was something missing...

Fellowship with all of you!

So here I am again. I may do less blogs than I used to, but I am definitely back! Probably you are rolling your eyes and saying, 'that's just what happened to me, she must be a slow learner'... :) 

So here's to all of you, the friendship, fellowship and fun that you bring! And here's to this former blogger re-joining the ranks!