Friday, February 13, 2009

Passion



I have been surrounded by the most wonderful sense of love today.
My sweet husband sent me a dozen red roses.
The roses are the perfect reflection of how wonderful my husband is.

I am more thankful each day for him and our marriage.

It is with great pleasure that I can say that although things are so good for us, I believe that things will also get better.

My sweet husband has a wonderful expectation that we can always improve.

It is encouraging to know that each year we have been together, we have only gotten better.

I love you babe!

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Dealing With Fear




I had a conversation this morning with a friend who is losing sleep over the economy.
She is afraid of being homeless.
She is also afraid that our lives as Americans are going to change so radically as to be painful.

It is possible things could get that bad. We should take nothing for granted.

Personally, I am concerned about our elderly that are trying to make it on fixed incomes. We do not take care of our older relatives like we used to and yet we expect someone is going to take care of us.

I believe we are going to learn some amazing things as Americans. Things our grandparents took for granted that we would remember.

Those in public office are being challenged to draw on the good in them, put aside the power struggles and make the best decisions they can. Will they all, probably not. Those that do will be better for it.

I read an excellent quote from Thomas J. Watson Jr. Thomas was CEO at IBM from 56-71.

"Any organization, in order to survive and achieve success, must have a sound set of beliefs on which it premises all it policies and actions. I believe the most important single factor in corporate success is the faithful adherence to those beliefs. Finally, the organization must be prepared to change everything about itself except those beliefs."

As a person or as a nation, we will have to change to survive. Where we draw the line on what our core beliefs are, what we act on despite our fears, determines our destiny.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Falling in Love With Color






It has been the most beautiful fall. I once read an article on what is needed for a great display of fall colors. A systematic chain of events occurs to help nature show off its diversity and reaction to change.

We, as mere mortals... for the most part, have no control over the events needed to give us this reminder of how glorious our world is.

I am sure the going green people would throw in some things we can do to help protect our trees.

I am sure some scientists who believe we will control weather at some point could offer their suggestions as well.

But for the most part, we are more watchers than does when it comes to this celebration.

If a couple more days, we will get to see a different display of style and color.



More masculine perhaps…we get to see the strong structure of trees without the trappings of color. We get more of a black and white view of the nature of trees.

In the last couple weeks, we have added trees to the land that surrounds our home.

This winter, on the surface, it will look like our new trees are not growing. The only visiable movement may be our trees will get blown around.

I hear this is a good thing.

The shaking loosens the soil near them and helps them put down stronger roots. I would guess most people who plant things know all this. When I think about growing things, I remember the steps.

Come spring, our trees' ability to reach new growth levels, will be in part tempored by how deep their roots have gone.

Trees it would seem....have the most innate knowledge of what they need and an understanding of the cycles and seasons.

The more I think about trees, the nature of the world and our nature, it does make me appreciate that God is truly in the details. And as this season of my life moves into the next, I need to remember I am always growing something.

Hopefully, that something is more than just older.




Friday, August 29, 2008

Wherever you go....there you are.




But what do you see when you look at where you are?

Are you at the top of your life looking down?

Are you at the bottom of your life looking up?

Or- is your vision of the world a bridge to both?

Monday, August 18, 2008

Life is Tremendous

The next book I will read will be by Charlie "Tremendous" Jones.




Here are just a few nuggets of wisdom that are tempting me to pick up this book:

You will be the same five years from now as you are today, except for two things: the people you meet, and the books you read.


Learn to be saying something positive all the time.


The first law of leadership is learning to get excited about your work.


There are three critical decisions in life: what you are going to live your life in, who you are going to live it with, and who you are going to live it for –

Thursday, August 14, 2008

A time to remember

I am thankful to see and hear from some friends that you have been watching for updates here.

I have waited to change this blog for two reasons. First, I really believe in the message of the last blog and we can not get that kind of wisdom too often. Second, the words for what to say next just would not come.

Well, that is not entirely true. They came. They were powerful for those who needed them. My delivery, may not have been the best delivery of the words you are about to read. The words below were from my part of my paying respect to my sweet father.

I thought about asking Dad how he would like to be remembered. Some of my friends had asked their parents that question. I decided against asking that question for two reasons. First, I did not want Dad to think he should give up. Second, the question I believe would have been the better question would have been; “What should we all remember?”

Dad would have rather spent time expounding on that question rather than talking about himself.

As so, here is my humble attempt to share some things Dad would want us to remember.

From a very early age, I knew that I should only invite a friend over to the house if they would respect our home and our parents. I knew it was important to pick good friends.

In our early teens, we all got the “Drive”. We all were taken on a drive to an area where the families seemed to be less fortunate than we were. We were taken down two different streets of homes both built at the same time. One street was well-maintained and one was in pretty bad shape. On the drive we all learned two things. Take care of what you have and stay thankful.

My senior year in high school I was asked to represent our school at Glidden Durkee. They were starting a science “think tank” of ten local high school students from ten different high schools.

Dad was so proud of me. He thought this would be a great opportunity. I might get a scholarship. I would learn interesting things and meet new people. Dad told everyone in Rotary, everyone he played golf with, everyone he played bridge with and everyone he worked with about my being chosen for this great honor.

After a few weeks of participating in the “think tank”, I knew that although I loved science, I was probably not going to become a Chemical Engineer. We worked in the lab for 5 hours at a time and it was very quiet. The thought of eight or more hours a day in silence, did not sound like something I wanted to do. We were a family of talkers and somewhere in me I knew that whatever I did with my life, being quiet was not going to be a strong part of it.

It hurt to think about telling Dad. I knew he was going to be disappointed. When I told Dad, he asked why I thought this career choice would not work. I gave him my reasons. Although you could see he was disappointed, he never said so. He instead said, “I have always told you kids that I do not care what you do for a living, but I expect you to be good citizens. I expect you to give back more than you take from this world.”

In my 20’s I did not ask for a lot of advice. Big mistake.

Consequently, in my 30’s life became a teacher of humility.
It was in my 30’s that Dad began to give me my best advice.

Dad’s wisdom on how to handle heartbreak, take long walks. Moving large muscles increases your endorphin levels and sitting around thinking about it is never going to help.

Although he did not tell me this, I imitated his love of gardening. There is something about growing things that helps you see beyond today.

Dad’s wisdom on parenting teenagers was to pick your battles. Remember that your children need to push against you and share their ideas. This will help them later in life.

In my 40’s, Dad gave me great wisdom on parenting kids in their 20’s. He said we should remember that people can change their lives. Everyone is motivated by something. Find what motivates them and you can help them change.

Then he went on to tell me something that really surprised me. At 26, Dad did not have a lot of self-confidence. In fact, one night he took a look at his life and decided that if he kept making the decisions he was making that he would end up a loser.

Let me assure you that Dad was quick to let me know that he had not done anything morally wrong and he had always worked hard. He just did not feel successful.

So, I asked Dad what he did. He said that he went home from work that night and wrote down all his decisions and what he thought were the consequences of those decisions. Then he wrote down all of his parents’ decisions and what he thought were the consequences of those decisions.

Then he wrote his list on what he wanted to change in his life. After that night, he said things began to get better.

Dad believed we could all do the same thing.

In this last year Dad gave me some lessons on love.

Micheal and I were staying with him a year ago. On the second day of the visit, Dad told me he thought it was good that Micheal and I were still holding hands. He was encouraged by this. It is good to be affectionate with one another.

He went on to say that he had made a decision to change something about himself. He was telling me about this decision because he did not want me to think he was making this change just because he was getting old or because he was losing it.

I said, “Ok Dad. What do you think you need to change?”

Dad said that he had been talking with a friend who was encouraging him to tell his children that he loved them more often.

Dad went on to tell me why he thought he was not good at this.

I told Dad, “It is ok. I know you love me. We all know you love us.”

Dad said. “No, Linda. It is not ok. I have made up my mind that this is something I am going to change. Whenever you call, before you hang up, you always say I love you. From now on, I am going to say it back. Who knows, I may even get so good at this, that I start to say it first.”

For the last year, the last thing I said to Dad before we said good bye was “I Love You”.

Dad always said it back and sometimes he even said it first.

Dad at 78 was still giving more than he took…still giving great lessons.
Pick Good Friends
Stay Thankful
Be Good Citizens
Pick Your Battles
Be Affectionate
Say I Love You

And we should never miss an opportunity to encourage someone as people can change their lives at any age.

We all loved you Dad and we know you loved us back.

Monday, June 16, 2008

S.O.B

We heard a sermon yesterday that was worth sharing.
It was a Father's Day message.
Our pastor stressed the importance of staying.
Honoring your promises.
Not staying for the kids, but staying because you told God you would.
Obey
Obey his word. Do the right thing.
Believe. Stand on his promises.
Such simple wisdom.
Stay, Obey, Believe.
Even if you think it may be too late.
Even if you think the grass may be greener.
That the pressure you are feeling would be released if you walk away.
Stay, Obey and Believe.

For all who are reading this now.

If you are thinking about giving up,
please do not.

Know that Micheal and I are praying for you and we do not believe it is too late.