Good morning all...and it is indeed a good morning. The kind I have every six months when Gene has his cancer check-up and then calls (when I've not been right there with him) to give me the news that he's all clear for another six months. Woo hooooo!
He wanted me to let everyone here on Boomer know. Thanks to all who were upholding him in prayer at this time.
Gene arrived on the train here Monday evening and left Wednesday morning. We had a great time, talking non-stop when he wasn't out walking with Pippen. There's nothing like the friendship we share. We are very blessed.
Admin Tom picked him up at the train station and Gene spent the night at his home and then Tom drove him in to the VA hospital in Ann Arbor this morning. Gene said they had a great time.
I hope each of you have as "sunny" a day as I will have.
I watched an older woman, A bit now past her prime. She gazed into a mirror, Searching for lost time. She turned her head this way and that And tilted up her chin, Then mustered all her confidence And displayed a winsome grin. As she turned and walked away, I noticed in her eyes A sad and soulful longing for Her beauty now hidden inside.
It's said that one is only as old As heart and feelings tell, But few the men who care to look Beyond the external shell. To take the time to delve within To find that precious jewel Is more than most men will invest. First glance is near a rule. So sits that gem, cold and alone, As she upon her chair, Gazing out the window As she brushes out her hair.
As the year 2008 nears its end, leaving its highs and lows to memory, we each have hopes and dreams we long to see become reality in the New Year.
They are hopes for peace and harmony throughout the world, for a better economic condition for all so affected by the past year's financial upheaval, for changes in how our country addresses the interest of the common man related to health care and needed jobs and homes that are affordable.
Many of us also have hopes that are more personal, for improved health for ourselves or someone we hold dear, for the ability to afford life, for the emptiness where loved ones once graced our lives to be filled with comfort and peace, for the void we feel for companionship and love to be filled with a special someone with whom to share our days.
Whatever your hopes and dreams, my prayer for each of us this New Year's Eve is that we will find the year 2009 to be one in which these hopes, these dreams, come closer to being realized and that our God will give us patience, encouragement and faith for whatever He has planned for us.
I leave you with the old poem below which uses the image of a weaver creating a beautiful piece of cloth on a loom to inspire us to trust God even when we do not understand His purpose.
And I wish each of you the best of God's blessings in the coming year!
Love, hugs and blessings,
Janet
My Life is but a weaving between my Lord and me; I cannot choose the colors He worketh steadily.
Oft times He weaveth sorrow And I, in foolish pride, Forget He sees the upper, And I the under side.
Not til the loom is silent And the shuttles cease to fly, Shall God unroll the canvas And explain the reason why.
The dark threads are as needful In the Weaver's skillful hand, As the threads of gold and silver In the pattern He has planned.
He knows, He loves, He cares, Nothing this truth can dim. He gives His very best to those Who leave the choice with Him.
I know we all have finished our Christmas shopping (I HOPE! LOL) but I wanted to share something I had not been aware of with all of you for future reference.
I don't know if I have ever been in a Hobby Lobby store. They are in almost all of the states but there are none really close to me. I learned that Hobby Lobby is a very special company you should know about. Each Christmas and Easter, CEO David Green and Hobby Lobby place full-page ads in newspapers all across the country. He has been doing this since 1997.
This is the Christmas ad for 2008:
These ads have a single purpose - to spread the good news of Christ! These ads cost Mr. Green's company hundreds of thousands of dollars. Such devotion to the gospel message is worthy of your support of his company.
See the ads. Hobby Lobby allows you to print them from their website.
Marty’s blog today in which so many Boomers shared their Christmas memories has been absolutely marvelous to read! Don’t miss it! Thank you to each and everyone for sharing your Christmas memories and especially Marty for making it all happen.
Naturally, the procrastinator that I am, I never did send Marty a memory of my own. I joined the Thanksgiving Memories group in November and never submitted anything for that either. *sigh* Maybe next year...
But, seeing as how Christmas hasn't come yet, I thought I'd share about one Christmas we spent in two different countries.
The four of us then, including my 7 and 3 year old sons, had gone to Mexico early December 1978 to visit my husband's family in Mexico City and then, after celebrating the traditional Mexican Christmas which is the 24th, we flew back Christmas day to spend our traditional American Christmas with my mom and my side of the family.
In Mexico from December 16th to the 24th they celebrate each night with what is called Las Posadas [the inns]. Each night one neighborhood home will have the posada at their home. The neighbors walk from home to home as peregrinos singing a pilgrim song as they ask for lodging at various homes and are turned away, just as Mary and Joseph were, finally ending at that night's designated home where they are welcomed. Outside the home a piñata is strung up, and, if it is in a smaller town, the streets are so narrow the rope on which the piñata is hung will be stretched from one side of the street to the other. Two men, one on each rooftop, hold the ends of the rope to lift the piñata up and down. The children, blindfolded, take turns batting at the colorfully decorated piñata as a traditional song is sung by all, encouraging them to "not miss the target." When the piñata finally breaks open and spills its contents onto the street, it's a free for all of children scrambling on the ground for all the goodies they can scoop up. For birthdays a piñata usually holds candy; for Christmas it is traditionally nuts, oranges and other fruits and pieces of sugar cane the children enjoy sucking on. Then that night's hosts offer refreshments to all.
We participated in one of those "posadas" and also in one at a very elegant home, much different and, I must say, much less traditional. Somehow I enjoyed the way the poorer side of town celebrated more than I did the rich.
The next morning, blurry-eyed, we flew home to Chicago to be greeted by the aroma of turkey and stuffing to spend Christmas Day at my mom’s home. The plane felt almost like our private jet as few seats were filled, everyone already being where they wished to be for Christmas day. The pilot acted as our tour guide over the intercom, telling us what we were passing over periodically throughout the flight and the flight attendants were especially cheerful and attentive. A Christmas to remember…
I was completely horrified to learn from a CBS investigation that our diligent efforts to responsibly recycle such things as old computers and monitors so as not to pollute the environment has had a devastating effect overseas.
