Need Washing?

I have a wonderful cousin that I haven't seen in years! I spent a lot of time with her as a child and teen. Some of my most memorable years were with her and the antics we created. We keep in touch via email. She always sends me "mail" - some funny (hysterically), some sad, some serious, and some everyday news. She sent this email this morning - and since I am in one of those "what am I doing?" moods, this really touched me. Thought I would share it:

NEED WASHING?? A little girl had been shopping with her Mom in Target. She must have been 6 years old, this beautiful red haired, freckle faced image of innocence. It was pouring outside. The kind of rain that gushes over the top of rain gutters, so much in a hurry to hit the earth it has no time to flow down the spout. We all stood there under the awning and just inside the door of the Target.We waited, some patiently, others irritated because nature messed up their hurried day. I am always mesmerized by rainfall. I got lost in the sound and sight of the heavens washing away the dirt and dust of the world. Memories of running, splashing so carefree as a child came pouring in as a welcome reprieve from the worries of my day.The little voice was so sweet as it broke the hypnotic trance we were all caught in 'Mom let's run through the rain,' she said.'What?' Mom asked.'Let's run through the rain!' She repeated'No, honey. We'll wait until it slows down a bit,' Mom replied..This young child waited about another minute and repeated: 'Mom, let's run through the rain,''We'll get soaked if we do,' Mom said..'No, we won't, Mom.. That's not what you said this morning,' the young girl said as she tugged at her Mom's arm.This morning? When did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?'Don't you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said, 'If God can get us through this, he can get us through anything!'The entire crowd stopped dead silent. I swear you couldn't hear anything but the rain. We all stood silently. No one came or left in the next few minutes..Mom paused and thought for a moment about what she would say. Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly. Some might even ignore what was said. But this was a moment of affirmation in a young child's life. A time when innocent trust can be nurtured so that it will bloom into faith.'Honey, you are absolutely right. Let's run through the rain. If GOD let's us get wet, well maybe we just needed washing,' Mom said.Then off they ran. We all stood watching, smiling and laughing as they darted past the cars and yes, through the puddles. They held their shopping bags over their heads just in case. They got soaked. But they were followed by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the way to their cars.And yes, I did. I ran. I got wet. I needed washing.Circumstances or people can take away your material possessions, they can take away your money, and they can take away your health. But no one can ever take away your precious memories...So, don't forget to make time and take the opportunities to make memories everyday. To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven. I HOPE YOU STILL TAKE THE TIME TO RUN THROUGH THE RAIN.They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire life to forget them. Send this to the people you'll never forget. If you don't send it to anyone, it means you're in a hurry.Take the time to live!!!Keep in touch with your friends, you never know when you'll need each other -- and don't forget to run in the rain!

A Strong Hold

I enjoyed yesterday's message in church. It was from Philippians 3 on things we should be striving for Biblically. Somewhere around the third point or so, Pastor Sansone gave a visual on holding on to God's Word. Since I am a visual learner, the illustration was great and really made me look at how I am living. He used the hand as the illustration:

• the pinky - hearing God's Word
• the ring finger - reading God's Word
• the middle finger - studying God's Word
• the pointer - memorizing God's Word
• the thumb - meditating on God's Word

I am sure you could put these in any order, but the point (no pun intended) was to show that without all five fingers "holding" onto God's Word, it was very difficult. Each finger used alone was not very effective, but combined you get a strong grasp on the word of God. Pastor Sansone added a 6th element - obeying God's Word. To me this was the sum of the five equaling a two hand grasp which is by far more effective and secure than one and isn't that what God wants - a secure hold on His word? I don't think I will look at my hands quite the same way again. Knowing that each finger has an assignment attached to it will certainly make me more aware of what God wants from me and what I want from myself.

Sun Kissed Tree

As everyone knows, I love this time of year. Earlier this week I was standing at my kitchen window and noticed the way this tree was changing colors. I thought it odd that only the top tips (at that time) were changing. As I was looking again, earlier in the morning, I noticed as the sun came over the post office, the only part it touched was the very top. The same in the evening when the sun went down behind the bank on the opposite side of the street. It's as if the sun was "kissing it good morning and good night"! God does leave a sense of wonderment about everything He touches and sometimes I think He does it so we can use our imagination!

Happy Birthday, Ben!

Ben,

It's hard to believe you are 22 years old already. Where did that little chubby baby go? It was just yesterday you graced our lives with your presence and now look at you - you've grown into a fine young man.

Happy Birthday!

I love you!

MOM

Be Still My Beating Heart!

For some unknown reason, Helena has been terrified of Christian. It didn't matter how hard he tried to win her over, she would have major melt downs. She would walk out of her way to get somewhere just to avoid going near him. She wouldn't talk to him, sit near him, or even look at him at times. He has NEVER yelled at her, scolded her, fussed with her or even teased her.

So when we found out he was coming here for fall break, we pondered how to tell her. We pondered so long, as a matter of fact, that I didn't tell her til she got home from school toady. Predictably, she had a major melt down. (Bob had wanted me to tell her this morning, but all I could think about was her crying all day thinking about him being here and her poor teacher not having a clue as to what was going on!) So Jenny - being the wise mom that she is (most of the time - tee hee) called Christian (he was at Lowes with Ben) and told him to bring her favorite Slurpee home from Royal Farms. That broke the ice! I suggested she give him a hug and thank him and she graciously obliged! JOY - JOY - JOY ! ! But I was still a little skeptical. So I went outside later and asked her to hug him again - and guess what? ? ? yep - by George, I think we've made it! ! ! I asked her why it was different this time, and she said it was because she is 5 now! ! !

World Card Day - Heidi Style

Yesterday was World Card Day. And in celebration of that, Heidi invited several gals over to "play" in Narnia. (She has a "wardrobe full of all things wonderful in the world of stamping.) According to her, she had enough paper for everybody in the world to make a card. That's pretty deep. So we came to the aid of our dear friend - not to let it be said that we sat idly by and watched this dear stamper get buried under mounds of paper, ribbon, glue, glitter, stamps, ink, and all kinds of doo-dads! No sir - we jumped in, both feet, holding hands and breath and eyes sparkling with excitement and challenge and did our best to help her break free of the sticky hold that paper can sometimes have on us! ! Never once did we let the fact that we, too, could be buried ourselves -consumed - nope - we sacrificed, toiled away at the stacks of paper and all the trimmings that were there, doing our best to lighten the "load" for our friend in need, and she was just so gracious - she just kept sharing ideas on how to use that paper and all those bobbles - unseemingly endless possibilities on the crafting of paper. By the end of the evening some of the ladies were so driven that they were even finding ways to utilize the shiny and sparkly stuff in ways that we didn't think possible with items that you would never imagine. Just think of it - glitter, shiny,sticky paper and packing tape - now tell me - how many people are going to come up with Christmas ornament ideas using those items? ? ? Well it happened, right before our eyes! ! How did we manage to toil all those hours - "wading" thru the treasure trove of stamping paraphernalia? We were very well fed - yep, that was the reward for our "labor of love". Chili, mac-n-cheese, apples & dip, yummy garlic crackers, pretzels with kisses :), brownies, cake, coffee, teas, and juices - oh my word, we could have "worked" all night. But even our toiling had to come to an end - as with all good things. So we gathered the results of our labor - our very own hand made treasures, bid our good nights and gave our hugs, and on the way out of Narnia, looking over our shoulder at the small dent we had made in the paper and bobbles, hid our smiles, for we knew we would be back to tackle the task again - someday! !

Mama Said There'd be Days Like This!

1. The girls were late getting here this morning to get on the bus - so late, as a matter of fact, that when Kenny pulled into the parking lot they literally had to run to get to the bus stop.


2. Generally Ben is not here in the afternoon when the girls get home (except for Fridays). But today he was so I asked him if he would like to go with me to meet the girls.


3. After getting off the bus, Helena took it upon herself to run ahead to the house - no problem - right? Wrong!


4. She ran back to meet us and proudly announced she had locked herself in! (I'm thinking - what?)


5. So as I am pondering this, I look down at Rease's feet and she has on MY crocs!

Conversation: Me - "Rease - are those my shoes (duh) and did you wear them all day? (I was secretly praying she changed them on the bus) Rease - "yea (giggle, giggle)" Me - "Why?" Rease - "Because my sneakers were here, and we were in a hurry and I had to run to catch the bus!" "And I couldn't take gym today!" (yikes) - How did she have my shoes in the first place you ask - she wears them home each night (her feet are hot when she gets home from school), wears them back the next morning and changes into her sneakers for school.

6. So we get to the back door, and sure enough, Helena has locked us out. Ben says - no worry. He will just pop the screen and drop Helena thru. Helena has an instant melt down. She burst into tears at thought of being dropped into the house. But - she went and - ta da - here we are.

Mama said there'd be days like this, Mama said. . . . .

Happy Birthday, Daniel!

Happy Birthday, Dan! !

I can't hardly believe how everyone is growing up on me?

What happened to that toothless little boy with the little freckled, chubby cheeks?

I know . . . . he grew into a handsome, wonderful young man! ! !

Hope your day is as great as you are.

Love,

Aunt Crickett