Background noise is drowned out by the snowflakes hitting the ground. Snow’s arrival gives us nature’s permission to slow down, listen to our own breathing, our own footsteps. It causes us to stop running to catch up with the world, and to stop and notice our private place within the larger realm. Although … More Snow makes everything quieter.
A friend of a friend is an artist. She creates “abstract” art, which I guess is the lowest common denominator of the cliché about beauty being in the eye of the beholder. Her art is not my cup of tea (yes another cliché) but what fascinates me is that she has the confidence to put … More What is confidence, and where do I buy some?
Time itself is a strange concept. When we are enjoying ourselves, time seems to move quickly. When we are uncomforable, time seems to move slowly. When we are kids, time seems to pass slowly. Each day is so long; Christmas and Summer Vacation are always light years away. As adults, sometimes we stop and realize … More The Dimension of Time
The festivities of the holidays are over–the relatives have been visited, food has been consumed in huge quantities, eggnog has been inhaled, and presents exchanged and re-gifted. We now return to our normally scheduled life. I have noticed that every January–no matter how well planned December was-January is a squeeze! It’s supposed to be a New … More The January Squeeze
because he has to work tonite, and no joke…the guy across the street is PLAYING DRUMS. The house right across from my husband’s bedroom window. And there is a dog barking in the distance. WHY? Why does strange stuff happen?
I must admit that WordPress has the best spamfilter I’ve ever encountered. Those programmers must have been filled to the brim with coffee and donuts on a regular basis to come up with such a sophisticated filter, that actually works. I’ve experienced 99% success with WordPress finding and flagging all those annoying messages in broken English. … More Can I get a Spam Filter on My Life?
As usual, the names have been changed to disguise the guilty, because, let’s face it, I don’t want any lawsuits! In 1999 I went to Niagara Falls to visit my cousin Norm. While I was there, his half brother Jerry called. I got on the phone with Jerry and we hit it off immediately. We … More Recognizing Jerry
Life is messy. We plan, we hope, we pray, but life doesn’t always go according to plan. And many times, God will use the worst thing that happened to us to bring about the best thing that will happen to us….if we wait for his timing. Donna G. Paul’s new book, A Song in Every … More A Song in Every Silence – Book Review
Originally posted on The Year With Mrs. Whitlock:
We had one strange kid in class, his name was Charles, not Charlie, or Chuck or Chad. No nickname. No intimacy. He smelled a little funny, like he didn’t bathe very often. He didn’t really have any friends, but didn’t seem to know any better either. He…
We live approximately an hour away — so off we go –on our stay-cation! We had a nice staycation!
Although school prayer had been outlawed in 1963 (?) Mrs. Whitlock was sure to force us to say the “Our Father” every morning right after the Pledge of Allegiance. Our Father who art in Heaven Hallowed be thy name Thy Kingdom Come Thy will be done On Earth as it is in Heaven Give us … More The Year of Mrs. Whitlock -The Lord’s Prayer – Day 3 – in no particular order
Everyone likes to take, “Judge not, lest you be judged” out of context and make it mean that there can be no correction of wrongdoing. Here is just one example of the Bible telling us to judge: “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God‘s sight to obey you rather than God.” (Acts 4:19b) Here … More Judge for Yourselves…
Originally posted on The Year With Mrs. Whitlock:
We lined up as instructed, and we marched back to class. The smell of chalkdust permeated our nostrils as we headed back to our desks, and sat down. Mrs. Whitlock addressed the class, “I would like everyone who is able to donate 25 cents so that we can buy a…
* the names have been changed to protect the innocent, and the guilty…. Mike Smith had laughed out loud at the “Snoopy” noises that Doug Hershel was making. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown had been on TV last night, and Doug had perfected the Snoopy sighs and laughs. Mike yelled, “Do it again!” Doug happily complied; the kids … More A day with Mrs. Whitlock*
Whatever your opinion of Ron Paul, there is a lot to be learned by watching his supporters. The Bible instructs us to ” 15Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” Study. Learn. Ron Paul supporters don’t just repeat the Mantra, “End the Fed.” … More If the Church functioned like the Ron Paul Revolution, Jesus would be back by now!
We as humans tend to put forth Super Human strength just before the due date. If someone is running for office, there is a flurry of activity just before election day. If we have a goal such as losing 10 pounds, it makes it easier if we give ourselves a deadline, such as “June 25, … More Deadlines
My friend Darleen is on probation for 99 years in Disney World. Well, actually 34 of those years have passed, so it’s only 65 more years to go! It was on our high school senior trip that we went to Walt Disney World in Florida. Darleen had gotten separated from Maddie and I, and took … More Shoplifting in Walt Disney World.
Home bound chaos. What day is it? Thursday? Friday? Where’s my car keys? Oh, that appointment isn’t until next week. Oh no, it was yesterday! If you work from home, you know that sometimes the days blend into each other. There’s not much human contact. Night and day blend into each other. Throw a kid … More Did I take a shower today? …because I don’t remember…
Lest we forget, God has quite a sense of humor. On more than one occasion, I’ve had a problem that I saw as an immovable mountain. When I asked for help, God gave me a BIGGER mountain, which made the first problem look like nothing. Not exactly the answer I was looking for…. But the … More Shrinking Mountains
SueAnn Porter 