Giving Thanks

I planned on posting a list of things I'm thankful for today. I ran through several ideas in my head as I was going through my morning routine.
Then I received a call that a friend went to be with the Lord this morning after a long battle with cancer.

Char has touched the lives of and influenced many, many children and families through her ministry of Small Wonders Child Care. She is an amazing Christ follower who now sits at the feet of our Lord completely healed and whole.

While we rejoice for Char because she is no longer struggling with the pain of cancer, we grieve with her family and loved ones. Please lift up in prayer those Char has left behind. She will be greatly missed.

I guess this post is about thankfulness. I am blessed and thankful to have known Char. I am thankful she is celebrating her first Thanksgiving in heaven free from the cares of this world.

Here It Comes!

On December 5 and 6 Crossroads Community Church volunteers will take part in Project Share: Food. Love. Hope.

This project will touch the lives of 1000 families and countless others in and around Lenawee County through the simple delivery of basic food items. I say countless others because not only will the family members of food recipients be touched but the lives of our volunteers will be changed... for good.

Helping with a project of this proportion is undeniably a rewarding experience. Rewards that are seen on the face of an elderly woman who answers the knock at her door to see a teenager standing there with a box in his hands, smile on his face and a "Merry Christmas" on his lips. Rewards felt through the tears of a single mother picking up a food box at the Daily Bread - the heat in her tiny apartment has been shut-off, she is faced with the dilemma of buying medicine for her sick baby or food for her 3 other children. Rewards for the little girl who gives up the annual Christmas party at her father's workplace to pack boxes with food for hungry children, possibly children in her classroom at school. Rewards expressed by the touch of a veteran's trembling hand as he reaches to take his box of food from a joyous family who is sharing this experience for the first time. Rewards for the countless Crossroaders who will make untold sacrifices to pay for the food we will pack into 1000 donated boxes.

Get ready, here it comes. It's going to be incredible and God's going to get all the glory!

Noteworthy quote...

I ran across this quote a couple of weeks ago on a blog that I read. I've been holding it in my email inbox until now. It arrived at just the right time and seems quite apropos to my life right now...

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to ruin it. If you think about that you will do things differently.” - Warren Buffett

See, I believe I've done things differently, guarded my reputation, taken steps to be careful and cautious. Still someone seeks to ruin my reputation. Sad, really that someone can speak harmful words allowing them to spread to others; burning with the flames of deceit. Sad that others would listen, people who know me, and not put out the wildfire. That's gossip, ugly gossip... and it spreads and changes and spreads some more.

So, I am faced with defending my honor against an unnamed force. But when I know their name...oh, when I know the name of my accuser...

I will have to forgive them for their ignorance, forgive them for the hurt they've caused me and my family, forgive them for spreading such a lie. It won't be easy to forgive because my nature says to lash out, destroy, to get even, and never trust again. God's nature however, tells me to forgive and walk away.

Notice I didn't say forgive and forget. I'm not God. I won't forget, I can't. That's probably the worst thing about this type of rumor, it can't easily be forgotten. So it will remain in my mind but not my heart because once I've forgiven, it's gone from my heart.

So, read that quote again. Let it be a reminder the next time you listen to or are tempted to share a juicy piece of gossip. You could be destroying a reputation... your own.

Tribute

My niece Rebekah, put this tribute to my parents (her grandparents) together on youtube. She did a great job and I thought I'd share it with blog world. (You might have to copy and paste the link into your browser, I had some trouble getting the link to work here)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsXY-ePbTkk

Rhyme and Change of Time

Daylight Saving Time always does weird things to Diego. Sometimes he gets downright naughty, other times he is plain silly. After coming down with a cold this weekend, Diego has been a bit of both naughty and silly.

This morning as I loaded the washing machine, Diego was supposed to be getting dressed and ready for school. I turned to see him standing in only his underwear in the upstairs hallway. With arms raised and hips wiggling he said, "Mom, I have something to tell you." Now, that's not always something I like to hear and in his chosen attire... I just wasn't sure what he would say.

His rhyme went something like this:
"I have a mom, she's so cool;
Now it's time for a little school."

Classic after time change FAS moment!

Halloween

Diego usually doesn't get into the Halloween thing but for some reason this year he asked (a lot) if we could transform our front lawn into a grave yard. Well, we didn't do that because I think it's plain creepy to do but Diego did get to play a ghost for Halloween.

One of our 8 trick or treaters (you read that right, we had a grand sum of 8) thought that Casper lives at our house. At least they were old enough, and not too old, to be out trick or treating. I was very surprised at the number of costumed infants being pushed in strollers and/or carried by a parent (probably 6 out of the 8 who visited our house). There's no way they were eating the candy we handed out... I guess that's part of the 'trick'?

Here's a pic of my little ghost. I had cut a hole in the middle of the sheet so Diego's head could show but decided to sew it back up because he refused to wear make-up on his face. Without the make-up he would have looked like he was wearing a white poncho! Yes, there were eye holes so he could see where he was going.... don't email me and tell me how dangerous the costume could have been...