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Showing posts from January, 2014

Help! 65 Candles and My Cake Is On Fire!

The clerk at the DMV whispered “ You do not look 65 ” when I renewed my driver’s license the other day.   I wanted to jump up over the desk and hug her!    I knew those Polish genes would rescue me someday. When my girlfriend, Lea, turned 65, she had a meltdown.   We were unable to console her for days.   But that wasn’t the way for my sister, Judy.    After her birthday, she wrote:   “You are going to love 65, retiring and entering into a whole new freedom.” My birthday is Friday, January 31 st , but I’ve been living it up all week.   A breakfast adventure with a girlfriend.   The kids made a special salmon dinner—with homemade cake for dessert.   My husband took me to one of our favorite mountain towns where we enjoyed an intimate lunch and then saw the movie, Saving Mr. Banks.      It’s not so much about gifts for me as it is quality time together, but the kids are generous.   I now have a year’s pass to the Rec Center and a new Ipod.   So how am I going to look a

We're on the Road to Skinny

The Bible tells us that when we’re not feeling good,  to call on the elders of the church and they will pray for us to get well. (James 5:14)    My husband is a healthy weight these days but just a few years back, he was severely heavy.    I worried about him and so did the kids.   The doctor put him on statins for high cholesterol.   The man is large-boned and tall and loves to cook and eat!   It took months, but h e lost over 50 lbs. by modifying his diet and exercising.   He has stellar blood pressure!   It was an interesting journey, thus far. I thought about that journey this morning when I was at the Rec Center working out on one of the machines.   Across the room, I saw my husband break from the fitness equipment and chat with an old friend.   The old friend happened to be one of the pastors on staff at a church we attended some years ago.   I remember marveling at his weight loss so I sought him out and asked if he would pray for my husband to get healthy an

Thankful Thursday ~ Protection

My car is running good again, but this wasn’t the case during the holidays.   God had His hand on me because my engine could have blown up if the gasoline I smelled would have overflowed to electrical parts. We returned home a week before Christmas and my vehicle drove nicely during those 900 miles.   A few days later, I met with one of my besties for a long holiday lunch in Sedona and that’s when I noticed the smell of gas.   But then it went away.   I remembered that my husband put a fuel injector cleaner in my engine; maybe the smell was linked to that.   The next day he smelled it too and we knew we had a problem.   The mechanic had to replace my fuel pressure regulator. I make a declaration of faith every morning taken from Psalm 91.   It’s like insurance not only for me but for my family: I am dwelling in the secret place of the Most High with (names of family)! We’re abiding under the shadow of the Almighty! He is our fortress! He is our refuge! In

The Kind of Gift You Love to Get for Christmas

My resolution this year is to remove old photos from my camera.     I deleted a bunch from the holidays but one photo has a story to it that I would like to share.   I call it “The Sookie Bucket” because five-year old Susanna, whom we call Sookie, came out of her room with gifts for me after unwrapping all the Christmas presents we gave her.   You should have seen the look on her face as she proudly handed me my present, her Halloween loot container minus the loot.   “This is for you, Groggy.   I want you to have it; I don’t need it anymore.”   So I inherited a bucket, a Lego piece and a soup can prop— treasures she parted with so I could have a present from her on Christmas.   I choked up. The incident tugged my heart the same way the sermon did on Christmas Eve.   My pastor shared the well-known story of the little girl who wrapped a Christmas gift for her father only to be chastised when he opened it and found nothing inside the nicely wrapped package.   “But there is