Give me Sunshine!

I love the sunshine! It does something to a person to see bright blue skies and deep green grass! And those birds....watching them flit around finding bits of fluff and twigs for their nest and chirping their heads off! The spring flowers are blooming their little hearts out and I love them! I LOVE Spring! I think I could live in springtime all of my life! Every day, every minute! Let's hear it for the sun!

Priorities

We watched an interesting movie last night, "The Pursuit of Happyness" with Will Smith. (Thanks for sharing it with us, Michele & Wayne!) It wasn't quite as happy-go-lucky as I had anticipated. In fact, at times it was really depressing. It is based on the true story of a man named Carl Gardner, who struggled and struggled to keep his son and himself out of the streets and to improve his lot in life. Along the way, his wife left him because she didn't want to be part of his struggle. But he fought to be able to keep his little 5-year old son with him, even though he didn't have a job other than to sell some medical equipment that he had invested in.

Through all of his struggles, I was impressed with his determination to try to keep life as normal as possible for his son. He almost always kept his son's need to be a child as his priority. Even at his lowest ebb, he was able to create a make-believe adventure for them to get through the night sleeping in a bus depot restroom.

His resilience in the face of failure after failure is inspiring to me. We all have trials in life, and as we look around at all of the homeless and broken people, some do not make it through them very well. If we keep our priorities in order and pull from deep inside us to overcome each one, we will eventually reach our goal. One thing the movie did not portray was a faith in God. I know that without my belief in God and His mercy and guidance, I could not get through some of the trials that I have had.

I love each of you and hope that when trials come your way, which they will, that you can keep your priorities straight and be resilient, and most of all, that you can turn to Our Heavenly Father who knows what we need to grow and return to His Presence.

Take Luck!

Hi, Folks,
I had a hilarious time driving to work and back home today! I put in that Brian Regan CD....he is one bubble off plumb, I swear! I started out smiling and giggling to myself, and then as he went on I was grinning from ear-to-ear, trying not to laugh outloud. I couldn't hold it in and found myself laughing my head off, which I thought was hilarious in itself as I am driving alone and belly laughing all the way. Everytime I tried to just smile....I even sucked in my cheeks to try and stop smiling...I ended up laughing outloud! I sure hope nobody saw me!! He cracks me up!

I decided then that I just had to go ahead and laugh, even if people were looking....it was good medicine. I recommend it heartily. Laughter is good for the soul and keeps you young, something I need these days! Besides, it helps keep life in perspective and your thoughts off of negative things.

So, I say, go ahead and laugh your head off if you feel like it! Life is just too short to frown.

In Brian Regan's words, Take luck & Good care!

Coming Home

As long as there is a home to go to, I will go there as often as I can. I am looking forward to seeing my parents in a day or two. And, although it is not the home that I grew up in, it is still home to me; wherever my parents are is home. I think we all have a "bungee cord" that draws us back home. I am glad that the bungee cords in my girl's hearts are pulling them back home soon! This mom is ready to throw my arms around them, touch them, see their beautiful smiles, and look into their eyes again! Thank heavens for Michele and her constant, caring presence! I love my girls and their little families! Yeah for bungee cords!

Homing

There is something inside us that brings us home;
Like a deer drawn to a stream on a warm night.

We drink deeply, the memories soothing our parched throats;
Filling our spirit with the cool waters of belonging.

We bed down near the stream, close to its gentle sound;
Knowing that we can refresh ourselves through the night.

When dawn breaks, we sip one last time before moving on;
our path leads us away from this, our first home.

We make note of the hill close by, the forked tree
just around the bend;
Etching the scene in our mind to tuck away for
other thirsty times.

We will return to this quiet place in days ahead,
When our thirst cannot be quenched anywhere else
but home.


By Connie Pehrson
June 29, 2004