How To Measure The Span Of A Life

"Today you are you!  That is truer than true!  There is no one alive who is you-er than you!"  Dr. Suess

 I wonder if Mr. Suess realized he nailed the truth each one of us needs to hear, especially as we celebrate another birthday.

Friday marked the twenty-eighth anniversary of my twenty-fifth birthday! For those of you that don't want to take the time to add, that's fifty-three candles! My sweet, loving and thoughtful daughter-in-law knew so many candles were NOT necessary, and instead gave my granddaughter a #9 to push down into this rich, chocolate covered cake!  No regrets here.  It was so moist and delicious.

Even Though All Appears Dry and Dead

After all these years

“And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.”  Abraham Lincoln

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I turned fifty yesterday. 

For some reason, fifty isn't that old anymore.  It's almost young again. 

Sunday afternoon, Love blindfolded me and drove over to our son's home.  As the front door opened, I heard, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" 

It's an understatement to say that I was overwhelmed by the all the different people he secretly invited to celebrate me.  I could tell you of the many gifts I received:  my son, Daniel-Paul wrote me a song about living on the farm in NY...made me cry!  My daughter and her family made me a video you can watch and laugh at here, I think.  My son, Josh made another video and brought over, in the middle of the night, paver stones and flowers that greeted me when I walked out the back door yesterday morning.  My future daughter-in-law gave me cushions for my swing; there were more flowers, a homemade cake, hand-made beautiful magnets bought in the hills of Tennessee, and the list goes on.  Of course, dad outdid himself with gifts daily! But then my Love asked each one to write me a note or to speak out in front of everyone, answering the question: 

'What has Daune meant to you?'

He even called my dearest faraway friends and asked them to write him the note and then he read one at the party and another one on my birthday after dinner. 

Sweet sneak that he is!

One never knows the depth their life affects others until hearts open and love-words spill out.  There was a flood of affirmation that night that kept me drinking from the fountain of His love and awake half the night!  I seriously could not stop thinking about how much Jesus is alive in my life and the truth of His word:

 

"Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life."  Proverbs 4:23 

 And yet, even if I didn't have a relationship with Jesus, I am certain that, though there may have been kind words spoken about me, they wouldn't have had eternal significance.  What good is it to gain the whole world (i.e.- their approval, acceptance and love) and lose one's soul?

Now, at fifty, I am even more convinced of His grace and keeping of me, despite my flaws, weaknesses and shortcomings.  He has remained faithful and He will perfect that which concerns me until the day He comes back to take me home.

All praise, glory and accolades to the One who designed me, loves me, has given me friendships and uses me to further His kingdom.

I am who I am today because of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Paper Pots and Obituaries

Today began with a text:  "Can Jordan sleep at your house?" 

(We spoke last nite of the possibility because her son was not well.)

Absolutely.

My boys have both been hit with 'junk'...Isaac has a sinus infection (which means he is on steroids and we know what that does to a child!) and Caleb has had NO energy for the last two days, so having Jordan sleep in my bed until 1:30 today was no big deal.

Dad headed to the VA this morning, a stress test (the one he stressed over for three days).  Hence, my day was planned out for me before my feet hit the floor.  Care for three ill boys, keep my mother company, lunches, emails,  funnel cake making for Isaac, check math work, grammar explanation to Caleb, feed Jordan VERY LITTLE FOOD because I DO NOT DO VOMIT! 

But between these duties, I squeezed in a video on how to make newspaper pots...it only took me watching four times and making several attempts before I felt like I knew what I was doing.

With dad being gone and mom just sitting at the kitchen table, I invited her to join me outside.  She fed the hens stale bread, I constructed origami pots and the boys worked on different subjects, while Jordan slept soundly.

After a while of folding straight and not-so-straight lines, coupled by checking grammar with Caleb,  mom needed to go to the 'john', as she puts it. She teetered out of the whicker chair, my hand holding hers until she stepped up into the den and took hold of her walker. As I sat back down at the circular glass table in the shade, papers strewn, pots precariously laid underneath, I began to read the obituaries.

My first thought was, 

'These people are already deceased and now their last memory is being buried in the earth, casings for my tomato or chive plants.'

 

Wow.

Thoughts lingering, I saw a portrait of a beautiful woman that passed last week.

She was only six years older than I am.

Married thirty five years; left behind four children.

College graduate, teacher.

She just finished her Master's degree!

Died of cancer.

Wow.

A man, only thirty seven.  No words as to why he died so young, but he left a wife behind.  There were several elderly men; that made me think of my dad.  Some of the women's pictures were of when they were young.  Why no recent picture?  I know--silly question.

Of course, my next thought was of my own obituary. Many trails could be taken here, but for this particular post, I will stay on a narrow path.

“LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.   Remind me that my days are numbered— how fleeting my life is." Psalm 39:4 

What intrigues me most is how 'One Thousand Gifts'  has already begun to wreck my world...

...in a good way!

In her book, Ann speaks about living life to the fullest now.

(You'll have to get your own copy!)

I see more clearly today that living is the moment I have right now and to live it well I need to give thanks for each moment, good or bad.   I chuckle now that I think about how sweetly Daddy is teaching me to think differently, look at each moment of my days differently.

...through His lens of light, love.

So all the laundry, picking up boy socks, old man's baseball caps, breakfast, lunch, dinner planning is not time wasted, but rather, time spent living and loving. 

If those are the things that are on my newspaper clipping after I'm gone, then my life was spent well because it was the life He gave me and I served Him well.

I recognize that there won't always be socks laying under chairs, baseball caps scattered everywhere or three meals a day to plan.  But these are the days I'm living in now and if I miss seeing them as they are: a gift from Him, then what am I saying about the Giver of good gifts?

Wordless Wednesday

A new Year and reflecting...

Whew...Initially, I didn't think I'd ever be able to get back to writing here because the sorrow I'd seen in Haiti was so overwhelming and even now, if I see my pictures from the trip, my heart begins to weigh heavy in my chest and I almost can't bear the memories.  For the week after I returned, I felt like I WAS stuck there because I was editing photos and each picture took me back to that moment. 

But the holidays came on the heels of my return and that meant I needed to shift gears.  My mother has a way of making it impossible to forget that the decorations need to go up as soon as the calendar turns to December.  She'll ask over and over, not because she's nagging but because she's forgotten that twenty minutes ago she asked me when the tree was going up or when are we  going to bake cookies and am I going to make a cheesecake for Christmas and what am I making for the Christmas dinner? 

These are the every day questions that need answering until the decorations are up and the cookies are frosted and the addresses are given so she can mail her cards.  It's just what happens when you're turning eighty-three and there isn't anything spectacular on television and your children far away don't call often and nothing happens anymore to spark your life.  Yet, she's alive, still thinking, asking, planning and interested...and  that is cause to celebrate, decorate and enjoy one more Christmas with mom.

As soon as I returned from Haiti, I took my camera in to be cleaned.  I was told it would be ready in ten to fourteen days.  That was fine, I figured.  It would be back in time for Christmas.  Well, after ten days I began to call every day.  Then, on day fourteen, I was asked to take some photos for a family who had lost their daughter and wanted some shots from the memorial service to remember the day.  I immediately contacted Best Buy to see if the camera was back yet   No camera, despite telling them I needed it for a funeral service.  The following day, I called again and they told me it wasn't ready and they informed me that the part they needed was on order from Thailand and with the problems from the Tsunami they had no idea when it would be ready..  I hung up and began to pray, mostly for my heart to let go of fretting about it~!

Less than thirty minutes later, Best Buy called and apologized.  The manager said he'd heard about my situation and was deeply sorry.  He also informed me that they were giving me a BRAND NEW CAMERA!  I was beside myself with delight. 

 Note to self:  trust Daddy! 

He has good things in store for those who fear Him and trust Him!  We hopped in the car, headed over and got me an upgrade, complete with video, which I didn't have and a new zoom stabilizer lens!

He is my joy!  He delights to bless His kids and I am living proof!

I also had committed to making my gifts, along with orders to fill in order to help my Love head to Orlando for the SHINE 2012 event for AMTC.  That meant long hours at the sewing machine and prayer for wisdom on how to make things I'd never made before. 

I watched Daddy hold me near Him and I learned better how to listen, especially after everyone went to bed and I could actually think clearly...peace and quiet!

We had a Christmas party with over forty people.  The topper for that night was heading out with at least a dozen others to go door to door caroling.  One neighbor I'd never seen, was sitting in her car when we began and when we sang, "We wish you a Merry Christmas", she got out of her car and told us that was the most Christmas spirit she'd had all year!  That was awesome! 

Christmas eve we headed to church.  Our pastor reminded us that our life is God's gift to us; what we do with it is our gift to Him. 

Then on Christmas morning, the gang (our older sons, along with Josh's girlfriend and her two little ones) headed over for breakfast.  A pleasant morning opening gifts.  My favorite part was when the big boys opened the same gifts from me and were shocked.  I'd made them each a soft guitar case, covered with canvas so they could paint it to their liking!  That was one of those projects Daddy HAD to help me with...and He did! 

My sister and her family came over for dinner, we played the White Elephant gift game and then they headed out.  Long, but great day. 

Yet another party to plan for:  New Year's was on the way!  We bought balloons, made party hats, put up the mirrored ball, I sprinkled glitter EVERYWHERE...down the sidewalk to the street, along the front walkway, on the entrance carpet, on tables, spread confetti on the tables, and hung "Happy New Year" all over the house, too!  We put up a canopy out back, complete with flood lights and had a bonfire to boot!  There were only about twenty five people that night and the midnite light show was unbelievable.  I think firecrackers, fireworks and such went on for an hour straight! People were so grateful because the 4th of July had no fireworks due to the drought and the fire hazards!!!  Our home is high on a hill, so we had a spectacular view!  But I was ready at 12:05 for everyone to leave~

Then on the 2nd of January, Love boarded a plane to Florida and returns on Monday.  The boys and I got to go to a house on the river in the town of Seguin.  Click here to see some photos from that trip.

Wow, this month has zoomed past, leaving me little time to process my trip.  But, honestly, I am thankful for the gift of each day and because I've had time to recuperate, I am excited to go back and ask Daddy what I need to do now with the experiences I've had.

To wrap up what I believe sums up my month since Haiti is what I observed this past week while sitting on the dock looking out on the river.  I saw the water moving, sometimes more swiftly than other times, but it didn't change the reflection of the sky and trees.  It wasn't as clear when the current was swift, but it was still reflecting what was above it!  My life is going to reflect something.  What is it that I am reflecting?  May the current not change His image in my life, no matter how fast it moves.