When Family Becomes Your Friend

An ordinary Thursday night.

 Flowers delivered to my doorstep by my DIL's mother.

"The best part of life is when your family becomes your friends, and your friends become your family."    Danica Whitfield

Thank You Mimi! 

I LOVE BEING A NONNY with you!

The Important Things

I read this on Facebo*k. Not sure who wrote it, but I loved it!

The Mayonnaise Jar and Two Cups of Coffee

When things in your lives seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things--your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions--and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.

The sand is everything else--the small stuff. "If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

"Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first--the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked.

It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

They Call Me Andy!

This is an Andy Warhol painting.

Cool huh?

Last night some friends went with me to a painting class.

NONE of us can paint.....like NOT AT ALL!

We wanted to join our artist friend, Lauri, who has started a fun business:

Bottles and Brushes!

Here is what we did:

Aren't they fabulous?

They don't call me ANDY for nothing!!! :)

Proud Of My Friend

Have you signed up to be a Bone Marrow Donor?

Have you ever thought about what it would mean if you or your child or your husband or your grandchild or your dear friend were hanging by a thread for his/her life?

Do you know that a lot of times what it takes to keep them alive is YOU being willing to donate?

Do you have any idea how simple it is?

A few years ago I sent off for a kit; swabbed my cheek;mailed it back in......that's all it takes.

To SAVE SOMEONE'S LIFE.

That's what my dear friend is doing Monday.

In a simple, one day procedure, she is saving someone's life.

Proud of you my friend.

Check it out here

www.marrow.org

You would want someone to do it for you.

Happy 50 Years Friends!

It's so rare to know people who have been married for 50 years.

In recent years we have, through our business, become friends with Thomas and Doris.

They celebrated 50 years December 16. Last night we were invited to a celebration for them.

The invitation was adorable. I love an old wedding picture. So classy!

 They stopped on the way to their honeymoon and stayed at the TROT MOTEL!

This was a post card she sent her mom from there!

They still had it after all these years!

What a sweet night celebrating sweet people.

They had couples stand up showing how long they had been married. 

There were two couples there that had been married for 61 years!!!!!

So nice to see that marriages DO last.....and they get sweeter with time.

Congrats Thomas and Doris.

Thank you for being an example to so many.

May God bless you with many more wonderful years together.

Queenie

The children in her life call her QUEENIE.

She's my good friend, Robin.

Robin lives in Tennessee and is an RN/Lactation Consultant.

She has helped all my girls with questions about nursing their babies.

She visited for a few days recently to help the twins' mommy nurse two babies.

What a blessing Queenie! Thank you for loving us!

*I Pray Just About As Much As I Breathe*

I have a friend who is going through a very difficult season.

Because I love this friend dearly, I have been on my knees for her and her family.

I try to check in with her daily just to let her know how much I care.

As I talked with her this weekend and asked her how her day had been, this was her reply:

"I pray almost as much as I breathe."

Whoa.

"I pray almost as much as I breathe."

Not only did that describe her hurt and her pain, it described a heart  for Jesus.

It described the way He wants our hearts to beat for Him. 

It described her longing for Him to intercede.

It described  how much we need a Savior. 

My friend's words reminded me of how pleased my Lord is with her

......and how we should all

"pray as much as we breathe."

Will you join me in prayer for my friend?

Met My First Blog Friend!!!!

Met my very first blog friend this morning!

Melinda, from Tales From My Empty Nest, and I live only about thirty minutes apart. We have tried for a while to get together and we finally met this morning at Cracker Barrel! It was fabulous!!! She is such a great person and so easy to talk to. It is obvious she loves her family, her job and Jesus.

Thank you Melinda, for a wonderful breakfast! 

Let's take that trip together!!! :)

ummm....Melinda, why didn't you tell me my hair was so flat??!!

I Have A Missionary Friend

...........YEP...I do! 

Her name is Karen and I adore her. 
I could listen to her stories for hours. That says a lot for me because I am NOT a good listener. 

I'm not proud of that. 

But, it IS what it IS!

ANYWHOO.

Karen has been in the states on furlough and is headed back now to 

West Africa.

Can I just say, not even for a visit.

Not even for a friend.

Would I go to West Africa.

I guess I'm selfish like that.

She loves me anyway.

That's why I love HER.

She and I had lunch together recently and I asked her:

"Just exactly what will you be doing when you head back?"

This was her reply:

We are moving to Mali to live in a Muslim context...with hopes of impacting our community with Christ (oh, that they might know Him!).  We are highly relational in trying to make the most positive and lasting impact possible.  We have also seen a decrease in people willing to come and those able to stay long term.  Because of this, we are opening our "home" (although they won't live right with us -at least that's not the plan right now!) for those who are willing and able to come from 2 months to 1 year and live like we do.  They will learn language (Bambara and possibly some French as well) and study things like "Islam", "Personal Spiritual Formation", "Contextual Living", and such things to become effective in this type of setting (Muslim).  Our goal is to prepare and equip people to move out and live in areas like Mali (not necessarily staying right there in Mali)....for others to see the great need of the Muslim community.

WOW. Just WOW.

I pray this prayer every morning:

Lord, what can I do today for your kingdom?

She's doing it.

Thank you Karen.

Love you friend.

P.S.  *Cousin Camp* just ended @ my house. Post will be up soon!

Lifelong Friend!

I met my good friend *Mother T* when we were nine years old. 

That's been a few years.

We live a couple of hours apart now, 

but boy,do I love to see her!

She is GiGi and I am Nonny.  

It's a role we embrace.

It's a reward for the aged.

We played recently with our *littles* at Chick Fil A.

I love you friend.

Here's to lots of  dates with our *littles*.

ALL ABOUT THIS WEEKEND!!!

To explain this coming weekend, I have to go back three years.

Well, I really have to go back 40 years!

Here goes.

Me, and two great girls I grew up with, turned 50 three years ago.

(I am in the middle)


A *new* friend, (Robin) we had met a few years earlier,
threw us a 

Happy 50th birthday party in the NC mountains!!

Here is where we stayed:

We had such a great time!!!

Mostly we sat in front of this:

And did a lot of this:

NOW, it's our dear friend Robin's 50th birthday!

We are treating her to a weekend at the beach.

 

(that's Robin on the far right.)

I cannot wait to meet up with them on Friday.

We will have a blast!!!

My Dear Friends

My dear friends, Bill and Beverly.

Bill lost his mom last night.

Suddenly.

Bill's mom knew Jesus.

They know she is in His arms.

But they are sad.

And they miss her.

Please pray for my friends.

They are so very dear to me.