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Showing posts from July, 2020

When Things Don't Work Out Like You Planned

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I am, by nature, a planner.  I like order in everything, so if I take a vacation I'm going to research places to eat, sights to see, and things to do until I have a full itinerary when I get there.  My husband is the opposite.  He is a "fly by the seat of your pants" type of guy.  I will read blogs, reviews, and get the input of coworkers before choosing a hotel.  My husband will say, "let's go on an adventure."  I cringe when I hear him say this because this usually means I'm going to be covered in seed ticks from taking a hiking trail less traveled or bitten by sand fleas when he chooses a less crowded beach.   And yes, these things only happen to me! I remember when my husband decided to find a hotel on our way to our destination on our honeymoon. What we didn't realize was that it was the opening night of the NFL season and every hotel within 100 miles of where we were planning on stopping was full.  We prayed for a vacancy sign and finally fo

Don't Grow Weary

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I am NOT a farmer!  My husband secretly wants to be a farmer.  Because of this, every once in a while, some kind of farm-like thing turns up on my doorstep.  When we lived in the country, the house we rented had a large outbuilding.  Most people would think, "What a great storage building or garage!" My husband thought, "Why don't I buy thirty chickens, a bunch of guineas, and three turkeys and start a bird farm."   The turkeys were never eaten because they conspired to form a break-out worthy of television.  All that was left of the window was broken glass and a turkey-shaped hole.  When we moved into town, I thought I was safe to put away the muck boots.  That was until someone sold my husband another mobile chicken coop.  Suddenly, I was back in the chicken game before you could say cluck.  As I tried to gather eggs only to be attacked and pecked by the chickens I told myself that I am NOT a farmer.  There was the calf in my back yard that woke me up cryi

We All Wear Masks

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At this point in time, our world has begun to adjust to a new normal- the mask.   I love to scroll through the unusual masks some people have created.  There's the soda bottle face shield, Star War's Darth Vader mask, and the bra mask. I even saw a photo of a man with a pair of men's underwear strapped across his head.  Social distancing from him would NOT be a problem!  My husband was so excited when he found a face shield that looked just like the hats from the 80's group- Devo.  You know the one.  It looks like an expandable Tupperware bowl worn on top of your head.  I have the problem of losing my masks wherever I go.  Because of this, I'm constantly having to buy a new one.  The last one I bought was quite humbling.  I was out shopping and couldn't find my mask, so I bought the only one I could find at the store.  It was in unmarked packaging.  I thought the material looked kind of familiar.  After wearing it in Walmart, I came across some just like it, o

Going Home

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My family and I had the opportunity to take my father to his childhood hometown.  After his father had died, his mother tried to raise a bunch of children on her own, but found herself penniless and desperate.  My father and his sister ended up in a children's home, and his little brother was adopted.    As we drove through the town, he remembered the peak of poverty when rats the size of small dogs ran through his house and he had only bread and butter sandwiches to eat.  As I walked the streets of my father's hometown, I watched his reaction as he set foot for the first time in over sixty years in his hometown.  I think the culminating moment was when he laid eyes on his father's grave which he hadn't seen since he was twelve years old.  Listening to the stories of poverty and pain, I couldn't help being amazed at how good God is.  Why?  Because under the circumstances my father was raised, he should not have had much of a future.  His sister even mentioned h