Sorting and Sharing

It all started 15 years ago when my friend gave me a ceramic church and said, “I think you should start a village. Here’s your first piece.” Over the years … with help of friends and family … my village grew to a small town … which I named Cottonwood. At Christmas time, the living room of our house became a village.

Then we built a new home. As I looked at the plans … and watched the house go up … I knew the day would come when I would have to decide what to do about my village.

That day came over the Thanksgiving holiday.

As I unpacked each piece, I was assailed with memories. Our granddaughter helping put it up. My grown daughters having a turn at arranging it. Borrowing neighbor children, when putting it up alone was no fun.

And always Christmas music and hot chocolate.

So I sorted … pausing to remember … as I released the village. The table in the front hall has some houses. The window sill in the living room has the business section … with a grocery store, dentist, antique store, book store and café. The mantel is graced with a bank, City Hall, bookstore and café, (notice I love books) a school and church. And on a table in my room is a bed and breakfast, two large houses and a carriage house.

The other half I gave to my daughter. She teaches middle school … and plans to make memories with her children as they arrange and re-arrange the village.

There will be Christmas music and hot chocolate.

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After Effects of the Holiday

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Could We Do More?

I took the day before Thanksgiving off from work. The weather outside was not delightful, although the snow was pretty to look at. I still needed to go to the grocery store, but thought I would wait until the temperature climbed above 4. So I settled down with some tea and the newspaper.

The name at the top of the obituary page caught my attention. She was only 47. And I knew her name well. She had been an employee of ours.

As I sat there … shocked … my thoughts whirled.

Had we done everything we could to help her? Could we have done more? Due to health problems, she had to quit working. But that had been several years ago. Gradually, over the years, we had lost touch.

And now it was too late.

As I pondered what our actions had been, I remembered the times we had been to the hospital to visit her, the trips to her home, helping with meals and giving hugs. We had many long talks.

The time for talking was over.

Life is like that. We never know whose name may be in the obituaries. Is there someone you need to call … or go visit?

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Thanksgiving Blessings

This year my basket of Thanksgiving is overflowing. I am so blessed … and so very grateful.

February 27^th we moved into our new house. I still walk around pinching myself to make sure it’s real. The temperature dipped to 4 degrees last night. We were warm and toasty. There are those who have no bed or shelter.

So grateful.

July 23^rd I watched as the doctor placed paddles on my husband’s chest … to shock his heart and make it stop. Electrocardioversion … a new word in my vocabulary. His heart had been beating erratically since January. None of the other options had worked. At the time of shocking, his heart was beating 140 beats per minute. Immediately upon the 100 jewels shock, his heart rate was 80. This treatment is not successful for everyone.

So grateful.

December 5^th I will turn 68. Yet I can walk, talk, hear, see, eat, sleep and enjoy life. Daily I see others my age who can’t do one or more of those things.

So grateful.

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A Mountain of Crumbs

Elena Gorokhova grew up in the USSR. She shares stories that have been passed down to her, along with her memories of life after WWII. You chuckle at some of her family life and cringe at other aspects. Her desire to expand her world leads her to marry an American … and she leaves one world for another.

Fascinating book.

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Attitude Adjustment

Shopping is not my favorite thing. I want to go in the store, find what I want, buy it and leave. Since we were planning a Thanksgiving pie social at our house, my husband, John, and I decided we could use some sturdy wooden T.V. trays. Penney’s is pretty much the only store I shop in, and they had some on sale. I enlisted John’s help and off we went to buy the trays.

We located the section of the store where the boxes of trays were stacked. But they were heavy and we needed assistance. To get to our car we would have to take the boxes down the escalator, through the store and across the parking lot.

So we sought help.

The young sales lady was less than pleased to be asked to do anything. She finally agreed to walk to the spot where the trays were on display. We explained we wanted to purchase two boxes and asked about help getting them to the car. She mumbled something about being able to take care of that and proceeded to walk back to the cash register.

Within minutes she had rung up the sale … three boxes. When I told her we only wanted two boxes, she really didn’t like that, but decided to change it. I paid the bill and then John asked about where we would pick up the two boxes.

“Kellogg.”

Kellogg is one of the main streets in our city. I thought, I didn’t realize Penney’s had a warehouse on Kellogg. As I tried to visualize where on Kellogg, John asked again, “Where?”

“At Kellogg.”

It took several tries before we finally understood she was saying “catalog.” Now we knew we were to get our car, drive around to the door where the catalog department was and pick up our purchases there.

I still don’t care for shopping.

This was a life moment for me. I had an attitude problem. My thoughts: I really like Penney’s. Why would they hire someone like that? With all the people needing a job, I’m sure they could find someone nicer … who cared about helping us.

And just as quickly, I knew I needed to adjust my attitude. I have never walked in that sales lady’s shoes. She eventually did help us. I made the purchase I wanted.

What was my problem?

Life is like that. Our attitude is a moment by moment decision.

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Laughter is a Life Moment

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My Guide Has a Name

We have a new house … which came with a new garage. J So it’s taken me a little while to get comfortable driving in. I have only inches to spare on each side of the car … or I lose a mirror.

Right in front of my car is the furnace. I’ve chosen to use it as my guide. There is a small notch on my windshield wiper blade. That notch needs to be just at the left edge of the red box on the furnace. And to make sure I am in far enough, the hood of my car goes right at the bottom of that red box.

It works every time.

Life is like that. We need a guide … a focal point … to help us as we take this journey. If we get too far to the left, we lose something. If we stray too far to the right, we are in trouble. We need a guide we can count on to always be there … in the same place … every time.

My Guide has a name … Jesus.

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Hungry?

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A Picture of Terror

I was listening intently to the pastor as he described Heaven. Totally focused on visualizing a cube 1,500 miles wide, deep and tall, it took a moment for the anguished crying to penetrate. Suddenly a little girl appeared, running down the aisle. When she reached the front of the church, she turned facing the congregation. The look on her face was one of utter terror. The sound coming from her throat was indescribable.

She didn’t know which way to go.

After pausing for a moment, she … and the sounds she was making … ran back up the aisle toward the back of the church. I heard later that she was on the wrong aisle. It took awhile for her family to get to her.

As I looked at her face, I understood that expression. I’ve been there … utterly terrified and not sure which way to go. It’s a horrible feeling. Sometimes life throws us such a curve that we run madly to and fro, not sure which way to go. We can’t make decisions. Our mind gets fuzzy and sleep eludes us.

Maybe it’s your finances, or your marriage. Perhaps the doctor has said the word cancer. What do you do when terror takes over? Some people turn to drugs and drinking. Others become a recluse and shut everyone else out.

Some of us turn to God.

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Does This Look Peaceful ... or What?

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Do You Hear the Sirens?

Yesterday, as I ran errands, I ended up first in line in a middle lane at a red light … at a very busy intersection. I heard sirens. Turning off my music and putting down the window, I could tell they were headed my way. But from what direction?

My light turned green.

Since there were cars on my right, I couldn’t pull over and wait. I glanced around the intersection. No one was moving. The driver of the car behind me blared his horn. Other cars in other lanes were honking their impatience. Still no one moved.

I was uncomfortable as I stood my ground … not moving. But I could be T-boned in the middle of the intersection if I moved forward.

Finally, the emergency vehicles passed me in the left lane, turning at the intersection. The light had turned red again.

As I sat and waited for another green light, I wondered about the people in the cars with the honking horns. Had their music been too loud to hear the sirens? Or had they heard them, but were too impatient to care?

Life is like that. Sometimes we hear sirens. Oh, they aren’t audible to others, but we feel them in our being. It’s difficult to stand up to another person who has no patience for what we believe. Or maybe they have their own agenda and just really don’t care. Others may have such heavy peer pressure that to put us down is the only way they know how to behave.

Stand your ground. It may be more than your life you save. 

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We can never repay them.

Thank you to my brother, Bob, who fought for my freedom.

Get your Kleenex box.

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I Fought For You By The Sound Tank

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I'm Having Fun ... Are You?

Still learning.  Been playing with this site for awhile. Some of you are having trouble knowing how to leave a comment. I added some instructions, but I think you need to click on "comment" to get to them. Hope you are having a blessed day. Please keep in touch.

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Opera Company of Philadelphia "Hallelujah!" Random Act of Culture

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My First Baby Step

Here we go! This is a new adventure for me … one I’ve looked forward to for a few years. My hope is that as you read the words I post, you will take the time to pause and let the meaning sink in. If just one person leaves this website with a little different understanding about their life … with just a little bit more hope … a clearer direction, then my dream will have come true.

Let’s start off with a video … but don’t get used to that. The timing was perfect for this to come to me in an email, just when I’m trying to start a blog on Life Moments. This is a perfect example of a “life moment.” If you had been a shopper, would you have paused … lingered … and listened?

And now I have to figure out how to put the video here. Let's pause for a commercial.

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Testing

This is exciting!

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