Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Rangers

Top Ten/Eleven Reasons to Love Ron Washington


Today was a tough day at work. I let 5 things annoy me. Student, parent, co-worker, situation where the school phone system put all incoming calls into my room (What???), and a "friend" who sent me a message that he thinks Ron Washington is stupid. Oh, really! The nerve of that guy who spends his time finding a friend's sports passion and purposefully routing against that team! Oh, writing is such sweet therapy! Although I would never use my blog to vent about personal stories related to my job - I will use it to reply to the taunts of a misguided sports devil!



Here's why we all should lend our support to Texas Rangers manager, Ron Washington.

11.  He reminds me of a favorite Saturday Night Live skit - baseball been very good to me!

10. He did cocaine and since decided to follow a different path.

9. He’s from New Orleans, suffered & survived loss in Katrina.

8. He gives us great quotes.

7. Here’s one of his great quotes:  Whenever one of those styles is needed, I know how to use it. If I have to take it to the opposing team, I will. If the team is going well, I'll kick back and watch them play. If my offense is struggling, then I have to do something to help get them over it. You adjust to whatever the situation is.”

6. He has wisdom, but not eloquence.

5. His players love him (leadership)!

4. He’s made enough right decisions to get my home team to the World Series 2 years in a row!

3. He has a cute booty that likes to shimmy!

2. He has joie de vie – and he lets it show all over!

1. He reminds me of our dear, departed friend, Tom Armstrong!



Romans 3:23  For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Matthew 7:1  Do not judge lest you be judged.

Acts 2:28  You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Gray Sightings

Shades of Gray


Job 12:12 Wisdom is with aged men, with long life is understanding.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 Praise be to God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comfort us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

Lately every time I buy a new article of clothing it turns out to be gray. What’s up with that? A new favorite color? Well, it does provide a nice contrast to pink, red, purple and green, orange or yellow (I don’t wear yellow)! It does blend well with black or white. It does show that something has aged to a patina, like the weathered wood of a fence or a barn. It’s not an extreme, it’s not showy – but it could be a badge of experience or wisdom.

When I was a little girl, I loved to claim the grey Fiesta dinner plate at my Mamaw’s house and match it to the almost worn smooth stainless steel Mickey Mouse spoon. In my mind they were pure silver trinkets meant for the royal princess. My mother always admired grey houses with yellow trim – they must have been a sign of happy families inside. When Darrell & I bought our first house (a vintage fixer upper) we had new siding installed to cover the outside walls – grey planks with black shutters for the windows.

How do you see the world? Black and white, shades of gray or through rosy colored glasses? I think I see the gray version with slight accents of the pink…To me, the gray version means there is a lot of good and bad mixed in together. In the confines of a week we receive criticism and compliments, we experience confusion and understanding, we witness great wins and frustrating losses in our chosen sports teams, we learn of death of one personally connected within hours of celebrating impending birth at a joyful baby shower. Through it all, God is there. He is always there wanting to make our lives richer, fuller by being more aware of his love and his constant presence. He is always there nudging us to help each other survive the troubles, blessing us as we show gratitude and toast the goodness of life. He is always there to send the rain to replenish the drought starved earth. He is always there to send the babies to replenish the families and extend the generations.

I am grateful for so much! Even though I choose to love the color gray!

Jeremiah 33:11 The voice of joy, the voice of gladness…the voice of those who say, “Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for his lovingkindness is everlasting.”


Lyrics

Paul McCartney lyrics - Ebony And Ivory lyrics

Sunday, October 9, 2011

A Good Word

Peace


And the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7

My peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. John 14:27

Glory to God in the highest. And on earth peace, good will to men. Luke 2:14



What’s your favorite word? I think mine is PEACE. It’s not too long, not hard to pronounce, not hard to spell. It has its own simple hand gesture that spreads good will. It has its own circular symbol that transcends languages. It means that all is well. Aaaahhhhh….

When do you feel peace? I find it in a lot of places. Right now I feel it while sitting in my comfy, Lazy boy leather recliner with my feet up, computer in my lap, IPad at my elbow and Bible tucked in by my hip. My view is NFL on the big screen, family photos, art prints bought from various travels. Through the glass panes on my back door I see plants on the deck drinking up the rain, tops of crepe myrtles in the Dove Loop median barely starting to leaf turn to red and beyond that giant oaks shade the monuments of Grapevine Cemetery with actual puddles brimming by their roots.

Each Sunday morning I find peace in the sanctuary of the church. We sing the songs of praise; we hear words of scripture and words of a sermon to give us questions and meditations for the week ahead. We receive comfort and encouragement from friends’ greetings, we join in communal prayer for those names listed in the bulletin, and we become a visual, physical presence of the body of Christ. Today we reflected in the light of colors from the newly installed and dedicated stained glass panels. They are beautiful reminders of God’s call to us to join him (Jesus calling the fishermen to be his disciples) and God’s promise to take care of us (Noah and his family bringing animal pairs to the ark). I really like the dogs waiting at attention in the corner of the window and I think of Chelsea when I see the elephants.

Back in July when we were visiting at Travis and Chelsea’s house in Redstone CO, I jotted notes in my Ipad while sitting outside. Those thoughts seem to fit in this piece: Peaceful, easy feeling – go to bed at night with windows open listening to the quiet sounds of the Crystal river full with melted snow rushing over granite boulders. Daytime peace is found sitting in the hillside garden wild with flowers and dive bombing hummingbirds while dogs nuzzle under your relaxed hands begging for love pats. Thunder pulls your eyes skyward where grey clouds merge into a triangular ceiling between surrounding peaks. Don’t really want to leave this place but my other life will call me too soon.


Other places of peace: Grapevine Lake (not on Labor Day or Fourth of July), wherever a baby is sleeping, Grapevine Botanical Gardens – with its flowers, fountain, koi pond, ancient oak tree, a library, golf courses, spas, bath tub, pedicure foot soak and massage chair, art museums, the land at Throckmorton with its open fields and open sky, mountain scenes, desert scenes, wildlife spotted in the wild.

Join me in enjoying my favorite word. Find your favorite locations for peace. Go there again in person or go there again in your mind.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Awareness

What is etched on your heart?

Proverbs 15:23 How delightful is a timely word!

Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you…

Until I attended the Dallas Cowboys/Washington Redskins game, I was not aware that it was Hispanic Heritage Month! Part of the event’s surrounding fanfare was former Cowboy player, Tony Casillas, serving as honorary captain, Ballet Folklorico from San Antonio performing on field in their dazzling costumes, and Los Lonely boys singing a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem. Sometimes things that are important to others escape the smaller circle boundaries of our own personal day-to-day existence…

Because of friends and family who have been touched by a terrible disease, I am aware that we are now in the month of Breast Cancer Awareness. We lost our Aunt Patty years ago to this illness. We never got to meet Erica’s mom, Charlene, due to her passing from this illness during Erica’s teenage years before she came to join the Green family. Last weekend, I attended the funeral for my friend Connie’s daughter, Carolyn, who had breast cancer take her away too soon from her husband and three children. And now, the beloved associate pastor of our church has been diagnosed, had surgery to remove a tumor and is waiting for her radiation treatment to be scheduled. Dear God, please help her! I have “cussed” for her before, so here I go again – Damn It!

I am also glad to see my friends who are survivors – Diana, Janet, Judy, Pat – you are true blessings to have in my life!

So what do we do? We wear our pink. We walk the walks. We donate to the cause. Most of all we offer our love, support, prayers, visits, cards, notes, food to those who need it when they need it.

It’s a rare treat when I get a solid night’s sleep. I blame the female hormones (or lack of them) that often make me hot and sweaty and wake me in wee morning hours of darkness. I used to get very restless and annoyed, worried that I would not have enough energy to do my work the next day. Now when I wake up in the night I try to pray for someone – usually my children or other family members. Last week, my “wake in the night prayers” were for my pastor Cindy. The next day I read her journal entry on the Caring Bridge website. She wrote about having nightmares of sharks attacking her, waking her up in terror. She was able to easily interpret the dream. These are the words she used to conclude that journal entry:

In the moments after I woke up and realized it was "just a dream", I remembered this scripture, When you walk through the waters, I will be with you. (Isaiah 43:2) I let those words lull me back to sleep.

This morning I read The Message version of that same passage: When you're in over your head, I'll be there with you. When you are in rough waters, you will not go down.

In the middle of the night, when things got dark and weird and scary, I was really glad I had a verse of scripture previously etched on my heart. It made all the difference when the sharks showed up.