God's Word for Today

Friday, February 27, 2009

Heading to the mountain...

We leave this afternoon for the mountain.

The women of our church will gather this weekend for our annual retreat. 

The weekend is much anticipated and I look forward to rest, worship, wonderful conversation, meaningful sharing, laughter, fellowship, beautiful surroundings, lifting our voices in song (in my case making a joyful noise, not necessarily a pleasing noise), good food, reconnecting with old friends, making new friends, exploring the Word, hopefully some profound aahh moments, confession, tears, reflection, prayer, teaching and most importantly getting away with the intention of growing closer to God.

I plan to unplug from my laptop, my wireless connection and all other forms of technology for the next 48 or so hours. That may require some prayer as well!

Myself and all the other women who will gather this evening on the mountain covet your prayers for a powerful weekend of renewal, rejoicing and revelation.

Talk to ya'll on Monday, and I can't tell ya how much I need a break....words fail to fully describe.

I'm outta here, whooooo hoooooo

Blessings
Robin




Tuesday, February 24, 2009

It's not easy being me...

In my drive to work this morning, I came to one of the four way stops I pass through along my route. I pull up to the stop sign and bring my car to a complete stop. I was sitting in my car and what I realized was that I was waiting for the red light.


Let that sink in a bit.....


Saturday, February 21, 2009

Time for a change...

Several years ago I made a Locks of Love donation, I am not sure what promoted me to do it other than a desire for a free hair cut and an even stronger desire for a drastic change in my appearance.  Since then I have made a total of four donations, it takes me anywhere from 18 months to two years to grow out the required ten inches. I know on several occasions I have donated several additional inches beyond the required 10". If I had to estimate I would say that I have over all donated a total of 60" of hair. 

Fore some reason I am blessed with a very thick head of hair and it seems to grow very quickly. So whats to think about, I do not have to exert any effort to make it grow and after a time it can benefit someone else. Over all it is a total no brainer. 

Sadly I think I may have reached the threshold for my own personal well being as well as my internal temperature control. Allowing it to grow out for a fifth donation may not be the best idea. I have found that as I looked at myself in the mirror with all "that" hair I began to feel a bit foolish approaching 50 years old with waist length hair not to mention that the really long gray ones were really (really, really, really) getting on my nerves.  

So here is the new me! 

Before....
Don't ya just love those lovely gray streak down the back!!!


After....
Taaa Daaaa!



My daughter has donated twice so far. Like mother like daughter I guess. Her hair seems to grow just as quickly and is just as thick. I have to wonder if she continues to donate how many prosthetic hair pieces will she contribute to and how many children or other individuals will benefit from this small act of service. 

She did this donation in just before thanksgiving last year.

DD Before...
DD during...
DD after...
Is she too cute or what???

(edit: I forgot to mention that this is the I'm only smiling because you are insisting that my picture must be taken smile, and if you don't mind please get on with it cause I got stuff to do look!!!!)

Now that the gray are a more manageable length I am toying  with the idea of coloring it, a 7th random thing and something else I have never done before either. 

I'm gonna wash that gray right outta my hair......

Blessings
Robin



Friday, February 20, 2009

6 random things about me

Skoots1mom tagged me the other day and being the lazy individual that I am I am just now getting around to giving it a go. So here is installment #2 of 6 Random things about me. I had to go back and re-read my previous post because I could not remember the last 6 random thins I wrote down. All this randomness is stressing me out.

 

1. Breakfast is my favorite dinner. Give me plate of scrambled eggs and bacon or a stack of pancakes and I am a happy girl.

2. I have made four Locks of Love (pictures to follow in a later post) donations of 10” or more.

3. I have kept a journal since 1977. I have a large Rubbermaid container full of all my journals and from time to time I will revisit all the really embarrassing times in my life.

4. I prefer to eat an apple that has been cut up into slices, I will only eat an apple with my teeth if I absolutely have to, kinda weird I know!

5. I absolutely despise powdered coffee creamer. I will drink my coffee black if powdered creamer is the only alternative. I also do not like sugar in my coffee. I like the flavor of coffee with half & half, it is like what I imaging being in heaven will be one day…coffee with half and half with out all the fat. I have attempted to fool myself with fat Free half and half but I found that I spent too much time wondering exactly what they had to do to the half and half to make it fat free seeing as half and half in mostly fat. I think it is better off if we just don’t know certain things.

6. I got a manicure today, the last time I got a manicure was in 2002. I am also wondering why the majority of manicurist are of Asian decent. She tried her best to make conversation with me but sadly I had a very difficult time understanding her. However my nails look fabulous. 

So there ya go…6 random things about me.


I am supposed to tag 6 people but in an effort to maintain my lazy status I will simply say “Tag you're it!” but only if you feel like it!

 

Blessings

Robin


Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Just So Ya Know!

I am proud to announce that I went to lunch with skoots1mom today after bible study and did in fact manage to make it through the entire meal without biting anyone’s head off, making any additional request or loosing my mind in any way. (If you would like a blow by blow description of my mental breakdown of last week you may click here!) I enjoyed my sushi, had pleasant conversation and managed to maintain my mental composure. I did however run over a squirrel on my way home after lunch, but in my own defense that was an accident and in reality it was the car in front of me that actually hit the poor little thing I just finished him off as I rolled over him a second time. 

Have a nice day....

Blessings

Robin

What ya’ll didn’t know!

Just so ya know: This is a warning to the faint of heart or the occasional male reader, the content of the post below contains references to some parts of the female anatomy that tend to send most men running for cover or the safety of the a really good manly man television show such as Weaponology, Weapon Masters, Future Weapons (basically anything that explodes, destroys, blows up or uses lasers or heat seeking technology in any way shape or form) so proceed at your own risk, you have been warned!

Have you ever had those moments where despite all reason and faith you allow your imagination to run ahead into the what if's of a situation.

You see 16 years ago I received a cancer diagnosis, that in it’s self is a huge praise. At the time of the diagnosis I can truthfully say that I found no blessing in it at all. However after many long years and many profound revelations Jesus met me and opened so many lessons to me about how the act of suffering can bring with is a multitude of time delayed blessings.

Confession time, I did not come to understand this symbiotic connection with suffering revealing blessings until much later. It was many many years after my recovery, and many more years of being cancer free before I was mature enough in my faith to be able to call my cancer a blessings.

I have moments just prior to my yearly, or in my case bi-yearly pap tests that cause me a slight pause to consider the what if’s of an unknown future. Yet most times I am able to place my worry and concern in their proper perspective and lay them securely in the capable hands of my Heavenly Father.

He is always faithful to meet my every need and will always remove my unfounded fears.

I have to share with you that over the last four days I have been in a place where I have not only run ahead but I buckled in the drivers seat with my foot securely pressed down on the gas pedal barreling full speed ahead into the nasty what if’s of things that might be. When there are biopsy results pending your focus shifts a bit, when you know how it feels to receive the distressing unhappy news of unfavorable test result it is sometimes difficult to simply wait without playing the what if game.

So what is the rest of the story…

I went in for a routine D&C this past Friday (what a wonderfully romantic way to spend the Valentines Day weekend not to mention Friday the 13th), dontcha just love all this girly perimenapausal crap!!! Well to make a long and unpleasant story into a short and unpleasant one, we all showed up but my cervix decided to put out the no admittance sigh and the D & C was not able to be preformed. This however did not hinder my intrepid physician from stopping to take a detailed look around where he could! 

Wooo to the Hoo, Yea right!! Not so much!!

Well my wonderfully proactive doctor spotted some suspicious looking tissue and took a biopsy. Now I know that there is always a possibility of something showing up but when it actually does it is a bit different.

I came home from work today and went about my normal everyday stuff…I went into the kitchen to get my supper ready and noticed the message machine blinking. I pressed the sweet little red button and heard the wonderful news. All the pathology result came back clear and everything is fine. I took a deep breath and quietly thanked God and then asked Him to forgive me for my weakness in allowing fear to overtake me.

What a difference a few hours can make. This morning I was contemplating my mortality and obsessing over the what if’s of life. Oh the places the mind goes when you open the floodgates of fear and give it a great big push.

What I know for sure is that in those moments when I was teetering on the abyss of fear God sent me His steadfast word to meet me.

When I needed a distraction or a sounding board I had my sisters in Christ either across the lunch table, on the telephone or holding my hands in prayer.

I had my wonderful husband to fix chicken noodle soup and ginger ale for me as I recovered on my living room sofa. I don’t know about you but for me that’s romantic, he took very good care of me!

So, if over the course of the last several days you were prompted to pray for those who were facing the unknown or going through something difficult or awaiting test results well you were possibly praying for me and didn’t even know it.

God is good!

He is faithful!

He watches over me even when I am looking at the fear instead of in His direction!

Breathing Deeply and Loving My Heavenly Father!

Blessings

Robin

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

God is faithful!

This psalm was referenced this morning in my quite time. I had to share it with all of you as it truly met me in a very powerful way. 

There are moments in life when you allow the busy-ness and the large-ness of things get in the way of relationship. Sadly for me over these last few weeks and month I have allowed my own stuff get in the way of what I know to be truly important.

God is faithful and He continues to seek after all those (me) even those who may have been to overwhelmed with life or to tired or too consumed with the big life issue that simply can not be solved.

God is faithful!

Here what He has to say today!

PS 27:1 The LORD is my light and my salvation--
    whom shall I fear?
  The LORD is the stronghold of my life--
    of whom shall I be afraid?

  PS 27:2 When evil men advance against me
    to devour my flesh,
  when my enemies and my foes attack me,
    they will stumble and fall.

  PS 27:3 Though an army besiege me,
    my heart will not fear;
  though war break out against me,
    even then will I be confident.

  PS 27:4 One thing I ask of the LORD,
    this is what I seek:
  that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
    all the days of my life,
  to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
    and to seek him in his temple.

  PS 27:5 For in the day of trouble
    he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
  he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle
    and set me high upon a rock.

  PS 27:6 Then my head will be exalted
    above the enemies who surround me;
  at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy;
    I will sing and make music to the LORD.

  PS 27:7 Hear my voice when I call, O LORD;
    be merciful to me and answer me.

  PS 27:8 My heart says of you, "Seek his face!"
    Your face, LORD, I will seek.

  PS 27:9 Do not hide your face from me,
    do not turn your servant away in anger;
    you have been my helper.
  Do not reject me or forsake me,
    O God my Savior.

  PS 27:10 Though my father and mother forsake me,
    the LORD will receive me.

  PS 27:11 Teach me your way, O LORD;
    lead me in a straight path
    because of my oppressors.

  PS 27:12 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,
    for false witnesses rise up against me,
    breathing out violence.

  PS 27:13 I am still confident of this:
    I will see the goodness of the LORD
    in the land of the living.

  PS 27:14 Wait for the LORD;
    be strong and take heart
    and wait for the LORD.

Monday, February 16, 2009

“Please Sir, may I have some more?”

Sometimes (in hindsight I have to laugh, and trust me we had a great laugh at this the next day) however in the heat of the moment I found nothing funny about it!

It happens sometime, I have these moments when the logical normal semi-reasonable person that I claim to be on most days simply abandons ship and what is left, well it simply isn’t pretty. 

The sad thing is that there are moments when this phenomenon is controllable, when I have the ability to contain the hormonally driven beast that reside within. However there are other moments when it will erupt without notice and then well the aftermath is simply frightening for everyone involved. 

It was a normal day, this past Wednesday, skoots1mom and I walked into the local Zaxby's to have lunch after bible study. I will gracefully concede to allowing my dear sweet friend to fill in her perspective as she got a wonderful first hand account to this peri-menapauseal incident if she is so inclined. 

There was no hint that the hormonal tide was about to shift however it only takes what most people would possibly consider to be a seemingly inconsequential occurrence. 

But here is the thing, sometimes a simple question is NOT a simple question. 

Here is what happened, to the best of my recollection…. 

“Can I take your order?” 

“I would like the Blue Salad with the Buffaloed chicken, no fried onions and I would like some extra lettuce on my salad please.” 

The young woman looks back at me with a start and immediately has a panicked expression on her face. She turns to her manager and says “She wants extra lettuce, what do I do?”

 At this point I am sorry that I asked. I did not know that extra lettuce was such an issue. In all honesty I have requested extra lettuce before with no ill effect what so ever, however the lettuce police were apparently in full forces on this particular day. 

Do you remember the scene from the movie “Oliver” where he meekly approaches the headmaster and asks “Please Sir, may I have some more?”  Well if you saw the movie you now what happen next. 

The second employee comes over and the girl behind the cash register again says, “She wants extra lettuce, what do I do?” 

The day manger (I am assuming this was who she was) looks at me an says “Ma’m we weigh our lettuce,” 

Now I am wondering exactly what weighing lettuce has to do with my request. 

Again I say, “I would just like a little extra lettuce on my salad!” 

I can feel my composure slipping, and again I am told that “Ma’m we weigh our lettuce.” 

Now if she had just stopped right there this incident could quite possibly have been avoided but as most things go it always gets worse. 

The next words that came out of her mouth were the tipping point for me. 

“Is that not enough for you?” 

After this I simply could not be held responsible for what happen next. 

Under normal circumstances I am a reasonable person, nice even, compassionate and forgiving. But these words floated in the air around my head “Is that not enough for you?”

“Is that not enough for you?” there are starving people in Ethiopia you know!

“Is that not enough for you?” there is a recession on and your extra lettuce request could just possible drive us out of business.

I was standing dumbfounded.

All I wanted was a small handful of extra lettuce and apparently this was causing a major incident. All semblance of reason left my personality and something else (something dark and evil) took over. 

I was standing there and I looked at the both of them and screeched in my most effect hormonal shrew imitation “IS IT ENOUGH FOR ANYBODY!” 

Skoots1mom would later inform me that this mental breakdown I was having reverberated all over the restaurant as she was a few people behind me in line. 

Well the look upon my face sent these two young women scurrying with great haste for extra lettuce. They began to break out in a cold sweat in fear that I was about to jump over the counter in search of the extra lettuce myself. 

In my defense I did say that if it was going to be a problem that it was really no big deal, I would settle for the meager application of lettuce that they meter out in their salads. I did try. 

However the beast had been loosed and there I stood shaking my head and regretting even wanting a salad for lunch. 

The girl behind the counter was so fluster that she immediately rung my order up and I did not have a chance to order my drink. I had to place a second order and pay for my drink separately. Finally having paid for my salad and drink as well as the right to feel completely ridiculous, I went to me seat to wait for my order to be called. 

My number came up and I went to retrieve my salad. The poor woman looks at me and cowers that I will scream at her again and demand more slice tomatoes. 

But she simply says “is that all right?” I snatched my salad away and gave her a cursory “That is just fine”, all the while seething. Seething first for the ridiculousness of it all and secondly that I had just bit the head of this poor girl over a handful of lettuce. What was wrong with me????? 

I settle in to try to enjoy my lunch and skoots1mom arrives with her chicken wings (if only I had ordered the wings, yes... chicken wings would have saved me the humiliation... hindsight is in fact twenty twenty all of this could have been avoided if only...) 

I look at her and say “Well my sarcasms was showing wasn’t it!!!” or something to that effect. 

Now here is the wonderful thing about accountability.

She very coolly looked at me and says “Yes, yes it was!” her eyes said you went over the top, her eyes said you lost your cool, and I knew that she was right.

As I ate my lunch I ruminated over the lettuce debacle and it was a major topic of conversation between skoots1mom and me for several minutes. 

It was nearly instantaneous as I was sitting down that I realized that and apology was in order. The conviction of the Holy Spirit is an uncomfortable place to be in while you’re trying to digest your salad. 

As we were leaving the restaurant I went to refill my drink and found that God took pity on my weakness. The poor woman whose head I had bitten off was at the counter alone. I walked over to her and gestured to her to come over to me. She briefly hesitated, I am sure she thought that she was about to receive yet another tongue lashing over my dissatisfaction. 

I reached out and touched her hand and simply apologized. I said I as sorry for loosing my temper and expressed to her how hard her job is and when the customers make it more difficult for her to do her job, well it was uncalled for. 

I smiled at her and refilled my drink and left the restaurant.


Blessings

Robin

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

She would have been 95 today!

Today would have been my Grandma's 95 birthday!


She has been hanging out with Jesus for six years now and I had the great privilege to be sitting at her bed side when she drew her last breath and Jesus came to usher her home.


It is quite possibly one of the sweetest moment she and I ever shared together.


I woke with thoughts of her on my mind.
Since today was her birthday she has been on my mind all day. 
I have been pondering on all the things she taught me and all the time I spent with her.


This is my grandma, I don't remember her in this was, young and beautiful. 
She has a look upon her face that says to me that she is thinking about something lovely or remembering a time when something wonderful happened.



This photograph is how I envision my grandmother.

In my childhood memories of her she look like this.



This is the face that used to pull the hams out of the oven, scoop the vanilla ice cream and pour us icy cold seven-up out of green glass bottles. This is the face that used to have our favorite cereal in the cabinets when we would come for a visit, and this is the face that would always have an ample supply of modeling clay and coloring books for us to play with.

In my adult years this is the face I remember.



The soft wrinkled skin, beautiful silver hair and the gnarled finders.

The gnarled fingers that still managed to peel the occasional peach or fry and egg and even though in the last few years the roles of care giving were reversed she was still a fount of information. She would direct our movements in the kitchen from her chair, we would occasionally take a pot over to her for her to inspect just to make sure it was coming out like it was supposed to. Not so much because we did not know what we were doing, but because we knew it would give her the sense of being necessary and included in the process she so loved to do. A process that was so much a part of her life.

She would talk for hours of all the pancake suppers she oversaw at her church, all the meals she delivered to shut ins, all the sofas she re-covered, all the gardens she planted and then harvested, chickens she raised and then chased down and well you get the picture. There was not much that in the 89 years she was on this earth she did not know how to do as far as keeping a family well fed and clothed.

In closing I share this picture, it is possibly my favorite photograph of me and my grandma, it is a very simple picture. She and I are standing on the deck of my old house. What strikes me about this picture, and I noticed it the very first time I looked at it, is the fact that we both are holding our mouths in the very same way.


That is what family is all about!

Blessings
Robin

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Happy Birthday Skoots1mom!

It was a big surprise for the big 50!

Happy Birthday to my dear friend and sister in Christ Skoots1mom!

We Had...

Lot's of Hugs...

Lot's of Friends...
Lot's of Cake...

Lot's of Food...

Lot's of Chocolate...
What a wonderful evening full of surprises, friends, laughter and hugs!

We can all breath  sigh of relief that we pulled the surprise off and rejoice that a good time was had by all!

Blessings
Robin

Friday, February 6, 2009

Surprise!!!!!!


GOMER SAYS.....SURPRISE....SURPRISE....SURPRISE

It was time to party, to laugh, to confess all the fibb's we had to tell.....

A good time was had by all, 

Happy Birthday to My Sweet Friend and Sister in Christ skoots1mom, there will be a few pictures to follow, but it is well past my bed time, I may turn into a pumpkin!

To pooped from partying!!!!

Blessings
Robin





Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Squall Line....I had to get this of my chest!!


(Edit-I forgot to mention Beverly @ Dancing with the Daffodils host Squall Line on the first and third Tuesday of the month so go over and check it out!!! )

I have been blog hopping for that last several minutes in the hope that I would find a germ of an idea or even a tiny spark that would blossom into a coherent thought or even a humorous recollection. You all are wonderfully witty,inspired, thought provoking and I was with great hope wishing  it would rub off on me, alas I remain hopelessly uninspired so I decided that whining was preferable to remaining silent. 

One of my favorite lines from Steel Magnolias "You know what they say? If you don't have anything nice to say, come sit by me!

So here goes, I have found myself growing quite tired of all the Jenny Craig, Nutri-system commercials. 

The latest from Jenny Craig has sent me over the edge. I am sure you have seen the new campaign with Phylicia Rashad, we should all wish to look as good as she does, I find it very disturbing that now they are placing the image of someone who clearly has no need to loose any weight in front of us to convince us even further that no matter how we look we can always look better, that no matter what size we are we will always need to be a size smaller. 

I for one am fed up with this obsession we as a culture have with trying to fit into a mold that has been shoved down our proverbial throats. 

I feel much better now that that is off my chest!

I have one final thought, Jenny and Phylicia, ya'll need to get a grip "Bless your Heart!"

Blessing and "Bless Your Heart!"

Robin

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