God Bless Our Troops

Friday, June 20, 2008

On the Lowcarb front:
I haven't weighed in or worked out yet today. Got a call for a heart grubby that needs to go out today so it has to be poured this morning.

Update: Got my workout in - well, most of it anyway. I about broke my neck when Harold came up behind me to tell me that I had a phone call. I screamed; thank God I was in a walk phase on the treadmill and happened to have my hands on the bars. (Shhhhhh, don't anyone tell Jillian). I weighed in and the news is getting better. I am only up .2 from last Friday so I am gaining ground. I was watching Biggest Loser season three. This was the episode where Nicole broke her tooth. But for the grace of God, that could have been me. Anyway, to my horror, I saw - after screaming - that Haold had my cell phone in his hand not 2 feet from me. On the phone was a man calling about the music for his mother's funeral. Nice.

Remember that almond crusted cheesecake I made for yesterday's cookout? It's what's for breakfast. Yummmm. I'd post a pic but it's history now.

On the home front:
The guys are finishing up the siding on the back of the house that warped when we had our barn fire. It's not a perfect match to the rest of the house but since the average person can't see the front and back of the house at the same time, I can live with it. And I got a couple of new windows out of the deal.

I hosted a Home and Garden party for my daughter, Melisa, last night. She is a "designer" for this company. I love their products and their prices. It was fun to get together with neighbors, some of whom we haven't seen in quite a while. I have my eye on some small end tables from the catalog.

Update:
Got a call from Harold a few minutes ago telling me that Sam would be taking a truck to one of the fields and I needed to pick him up and bring him back here. This kind of interruption in my day used to irritate me - this dropping of what I'm doing to shuffle the guys around. Now I enjoy it and I don't view it as an interruption. I view it as something I am able to do because I can do most of my work at home. As I headed down the road toward Lehner's place (that's how you give directions in the country - head out to Lehner's place and make a right.) I was rewarded by the sight of a white-tail deer standing smack dab in the middle of the road. He stood there as I approached and only at the last minute did he bound off into the woods to my right. This is an old running route of mine and I have had the same experience on foot. It reminds me that I need to get back into running and that I love living where I live!

On the business front:
Got a call last night with an order for 2 electric grubbies. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE making these. And it makes the house and even our musty basement (my workroom) smell wonderful.





The cool soap dishes that I ordered for th website came in yesterday. I was disappointed that some of the ones I ordered weren't in the shipment. And one of them was chipped. It's all a part of business, but not my favorite part. :)

Word of the day:
Matthew 6:19-23
Jesus said, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!"

Reflections from the cornfield:
It's funny how as we get older, our idea of treasure changes. Our little 3-year old grandson is into "bugs and creatures." His favorite thing in the world is to come to our house and lift up Grandpa's tractor stones to find creepy crawlies underneath - the creepier the better. "Oh Gwamma, bugs are very nice. You shouldn't be scared of them." Not my idea of a treasure, but Clayton loves them.

From my 5 decade plus vantage point, the perspective is a bit different. When I was a young church musician, the weddings I played for were for couples older or close to my age. Now I am playing for couples who could be my kids or grandkids. When I was a young church musician I used to hear "when I die I want you to play for my funeral." In our 20's and 30's we laughed and laughed at the thought of any of us dying. I have now done several of those funerals. My mortality is getting up close and personal and causes me to re-think my priorities. My treasure is now in the people I love. Love is one of those eternal treasures that Jesus speaks of. Of course we love our family and friends, but in our youth we take them for granted in the thought that they will always be there.


If I could change one thing about how I have lived my life, it would be to spend more time with people I love and less time worrying about things that won't matter a hundred years from now. I am grateful that God has given me enough years to be able to do the things now that I thought I didn't have time for when I was younger.

In an earlier reflection I quoted a favorite pastor and I do it again here because I think it is so important. "We take nothing with us when we leave this earth except the love we shared along the way."


Words to live by, those are.


God bless the troops!










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