Meaningful Monday

Whispers

The man whispered, "God, speak to me" and a meadowlark sang.

But, the man did not hear.

So the man yelled, "God, speak to me" and the thunder rolled across the sky.

But, the man did not listen.

The man looked around and said, "God let me see you." And a star shined brightly.

But the man did not see.

And, the man shouted, "God show me a miracle." And, a life was born.

But, the man did not notice.

So, the man cried out in despair, "Touch me God, and let me know you are here."

Whereupon, God reached down and touched the man. But, the man brushed the butterfly away and walked on.

I think we all get so wrapped up in our problems, sadness and despair that we fail to recognize God's messages when they come to us.

Don't miss out on a blessing because it isn't packaged the way that you expect.

May your week be filled with many blessings.

Bailout......???

I am wondering what has happened to the bailout for Wall Street. J.D.'s retirement is wrapped up in company stocks. For the past year they have been bobbing up and down by ten to thirty cents in the great sea that is the stock exchange. All of a sudden they took a nose dive and has been struggling to stay afloat. It took place before we even knew what was happening. A few days ago, I checked it at closing and saw that it had gone up by $1.87. Wow...... it was finally starting to come back up. Yesterday it went down a few cents, I thought no big deal, it's just a few cents. ..........And then there was today! It sank like someone had tossed rocks on it. It was down $3.02. I thought all that money that the government was throwing at Wall Street was to help build confidence and get the stock market moving upward again. Guess what! It isn't working! Is it possible that I misunderstood what the bailout money was supposed to do? Someone please clarify this for me. I am thinking perhaps my mind was spaced out from Fibro Fog when they were talking about what the bailout was supposed to accomplish.



Today was a great day. Melody went to a Trace Aikens concert this evening and Chris couldn't leave work early to get the boys from latch key and the sitter. We volunteered to take care of them until their Daddy got home. Seth has a tendency to throw an occasional fit from time to time. Tonight was one of those times. He wanted to go outside and it was starting to get dark so he didn't get to. He did his little madman dance and screamed and cried a bit and did his dance again. We just ignore him when he is throwing these fits and they usually pass pretty quick. Tonight was different though...... Grandma and Pappaw ignored him, but Riley chose to hug his little brother and whisper in his ear over and over, "It's OK Seth, Bubby is here for you!" The way that Riley reached out to Seth and offered him comfort, really touched me. It had quite a calming effect on Seth too. Riley, you are a wonderful big brother and Grandma is very proud of you.


Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Dona Nobis Pacem

Dona Nobis Pacem (Grant Us Peace)

Reflections Of Hope

I see the reflections in the water,

as the wind dances through my hair.

The reflections of hope

that once was not there.

How desperate a life becomes

when there seems no hope in view.

When pain, despair, and loneliness

is all that is looking back at you.

I study at length,

the reflections there.

I see a world so self indulged,

that no one seems to care.

We hear children crying out

from abuse that never ends.

Lonely tears cried late at night

from broken hearts that can not mend.

We see children killing children.

It is so hard to understand.

Where is the peace and brotherhood?

What is happening in this land?

The water becomes clouded,

I then look closer to see.

I catch a glimpse of a world gone mad.

Is this what is meant to be?

The Dove of Peace flies overhead.

From its eye falls a tear.

The ripple that it causes,

makes everything perfectly clear.

The hope of peace and happiness

was locked inside of me.

I reach out my hand and take yours,

This vision...........CAN YOU SEE ?

As hand touches hand

I feel the love impart

as heart begins to touch heart.

The Dove of Peace flew overhead.

From its eye fell a tear.

The ripple that it caused

made everything seem perfectly clear.

I saw the reflections in the water,

as the wind danced through my hair.

The reflections of hope

that once wasn't there.

© 1999 Jo Riley Dupree

If Grandmothers ruled the world,

we would all know peace!

Blessings of Peace to all.....

Get Out The Vote

Tomorrow will mark the end to this incredibly long campaign period. Did everyone notice how quickly the campaign turned to a negative smear campaign rather than two people (four counting the hopeful V.P. candidates) expressing what they want to do for our country. To be honest I think they are given far too much time to campaign. They should be able to get their promises (which may or may not be fulfilled) out there for the general public within two months. From that point on, I really do think that the largest percentage of the general public is smart enough to make a responsible decision without having to be witness to mud slinging for six months prior to Election Day.

I hope that everyone that is registered to vote gets out to vote on Tuesday. Not only will the results of this election go down in history no matter which party wins, but the end results of this election is important for our country as well as for the world. I know a lot of people that did the early voting. The news reported that people stood in line for eight hours yesterday to cast their vote early and I look for the lines to be long tomorrow as well.

I have never taken my right to vote lightly. In all of the years that I have been a registered voter, I only missed voting in one election. After watching the HBO movie, 'Iron Jawed Angels' a few years ago, I promised myself that I would never fail to exercise my right to vote unless there just was no way I could. Since the original airing of this movie, I understand that it has been released on video and DVD. I highly recommend it. If you can't find the movie, there is an e-mail 'Why Women Should Vote', that has been circulating that tells the story of the brave women that risked their lives to win women the right to vote. It is a piece of history that I think everyone should take a look at. History was a subject in school that I enjoyed. I remember learning about that time in history when women won the right to vote, but we were not taught what they went through to win that right. Democrat or Republican ...... Get Out The Vote!

I wanted to share these pictures of the boys and their Halloween. Riley was the policeman and Seth was his little jail bird. After Melody got Seth into his costume, Riley wanted to know where Seth's wings were....... Imagine, a jail bird without wings, he didn't even have feathers! Both of the boys had a great time and when the day is done, it just doesn't get any better than falling asleep hugging your little brother.

May your week be filled with blessings.

It's Me Again Margaret.......

I wanted to take a little time and let you know what is going on with Mindy. She went back to the lung specialist the other day and the news wasn't great, but it was still better than what we had feared before. She has what is known as 'Restrictive Lung Disease' . The doctor told her that he has seen this in senior citizen patients before, but never in anyone so young as Mindy. If she does not quit smoking she will die within two years. She is still struggling with this. As a previous smoker, I know how difficult it is to kick the habit. There is no cure for this disease, but if she is successful with throwing out the cigarettes, if she starts eating and resting better, then she can stop the disease from progressing. There are five stages to 'Restrictive Lung Disease' and Mindy is in stage four. The only cure for her is a transplant and until she reaches the point of taking better care of herself she won't even be considered. She was told also that she needs to be very careful about not being around anyone that is sick, if she should catch a cold or the flu and if it were to turn into pneumonia, she will die. As you can see, prayers are still very much needed for Mindy.

Just a day or two before Mindy went back to the doctor, her brother, Robert was being sent for an ultra sound of his liver. He had been to the doctor and blood work had been done. They were concerned with the results of his liver function numbers. Upon completing the ultra sound he was told that his liver is enlarged and the Doctor will probably have him come in sooner than was planned to discuss the results. Please keep Robert in your prayers as well. Bad news sure does seem to be raining down on this family.

I am feeling quite a bit better. Thank you all for your well wishes and comments while I was away from my blog. It will take me a while to get caught up on everything and everyone. Last Friday was J.D.'s birthday so the two of us went to Olive Garden to celebrate the day. He insisted on wearing his 'Birthday Suit'. I know it was his birthday and he should have gotten to do what he wanted to do, but I just had to draw the line on that one. His 'Birthday Suit' was wrinkled anyway (after all he has had it for 67 years). I offered to iron it for him, but he would have no part of that. Since Britt and T-bear were with their Dad last weekend and Alley Oop was with her Mom, we waited until this weekend when all of the Yankee children and grandchildren could be here to have J.D.'s family birthday dinner. This is the meal where I will be fixing his favorite dish, authentic Cajun Gumbo with potato salad on the side. I will also be fixing a pot of Veggie Soup for the ones that don't care for Gumbo (These Yankee children are hard to please sometimes). Instead of cake we will be having sugar free Cheese Cake. That all takes place tomorrow, except for a lot of the cooking which I will do some of today.

May your weekend be filled with blessings and happiness.