Amazing Love

Yesterday, being the 20th anniversary of (as hubby puts it) Frog & Princess getting married, we celebrated with a wonderful, quiet dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant.  

This man's love for me is amazing!  Why would he even put up with me for 20 years?  First we have to go back 21 years when he actually decided it would be a good idea for me to accompany him on life's journey, knowing everything he knew about me then.  And he still thinks it's a good idea!  That's what I call amazing.
Our evening was complete with my handsome "frog" kneeling next to the table, presenting his "princess" with the most beautiful custom-made sapphire & diamond ring and asking me to marry him again and spend another 20 years together!  My response was similar to the one I gave when he asked me to marry him the first time.  (He is in so much trouble!)  It wasn't until late last night that he reminded me that I never answered him!

I'm felt a tad cheap, as my $4.99 purchase in the card aisle doesn't compare with the beautiful piece of jewelry that will soon adorn my hand (after a little sizing adjustment).  Our week will be topped off on Friday when we have a "personal chef" coming to the house to make us a romantic (onion-free) dinner.  I'll update later on in the weekend as to how it all goes.




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Anybody have any suggestions for a terrific "guy" birthday idea?  I am soooo in the doghouse!

Oh, and my answer...?  Yes, I will!

Turnaround of Hope

After a brief conversation with my very smart & handsome husband, I was informed that the garlic starts I had finally planted were doomed.  Why were they doomed?  Because I planted them upside down.  You see, planting garlic is much like planting bulbs.  You do it in the fall so they sprout in the spring.  Root-end down and sprout-end up.  Since the little cloves weren't sprouting yet, I guessed.  I guessed wrong.  So out I went Sunday to dig up all 18 cloves and flip them around.  I think they still would have sprouted and eventually the little green stem would have found its way to the top of the soil & produced fine garlic, but I couldn't leave them in the ground knowing they would struggle.  

While on my little scavenger hunt, I was thinking that isn't this what Jesus does for us?  He knows sometimes that we are struggling or going in the wrong direction, but he gives us the extra edge, just like I did with those garlic cloves.  He guides us, puts a hand on our shoulder and says, here you go... turn around and get going in the right direction.  He gives us hope to make it.  He wants us to make it, just like I want my garlic starts to produce big heads of garlic next spring.  Jesus gives us the tools and the strength to be great disciples and to live according to His word, we just need to sprout.

The next time you're struggling, lean on God.  Ask Him to help turn you around so you can "make it."

co-worker or friend?

I said I was going to make a laminated card with good co-worker qualities, and though I have every intent in doing that, I haven't yet.  Doesn't mean I'm not going to attempt (and I already have) to be a better person, I've just been a tad busy.  Something about a threat of monetary sanctions keeps me motivated to get work completed by the deadlines.

So for the benefit of those who actually read my midlife mumblings, I will share with you what some people say make a good co-worker:

• team player
• will help out
• dependable
• willing to set aside differences
• take responsibility for your mistakes
• upbeat & positive
• listens
• knows when to back off
• doesn't gossip
• keeps an open mind
• respectful
• honest
• reliable
• appreciates others' strengths & weaknesses
• understanding
• trustworthy
• patient
• not focused in their own world

I'm not sure if I just listed the qualities of a good friend or a good co-worker, but it seems there's a not of similarities.  So there you go.  Why not start today with improving on just one of the things in the list above?  I think I will.  It can only make things better, right?!

Shape & Mold Me, Please

I have been amazed the last couple of days.  I am helping conduct interviews for a vacancy and one of the questions is something like, "tell me what the best co-worker looks like to you."  uh-oh.  I've really got to raise the bar.  I think I'm failing miserably and for that, I am truly sorry.  

There will soon be a laminated card at my workspace that indicates what all those qualities are that people look for in a good co-worker, so that I can be the best that I can be.  For so many years I have existed in my own bubble, and now it is time to make a change.  

There are so many changes on the horizon.  Just like my last posting with shedding the leaves and preparing for re-birth, I will attempt to make changes in who I am as I move forward this season to make myself into a better co-worker, wife, mother, friend, and Christian.  There is always room for improvement & now is the time!

Autumn Leaves

Fall is, I think, my favorite season.

The Autumn leaves fall so freely from the trees, a shedding of the old, a preparation for what is to come.  

In order to have new life, we must rid ourselves of what we hold on to.  Let go of hurt, of pain, of grudges.  Just as the tree lets go of the drying leaves, we too shed that which causes us trouble. 

~Below is a different thought on letting go ~

Generosity has such power because it is characterized by the inner quality of letting go or relinquishing. Being able to let go, to give up, to renounce, to give generously — these capacities spring from the same source within us. When we practice generosity, we open to all of these liberating qualities simultaneously. They carry us to a profound knowing of freedom, and they also are the loving expression of that same state of freedom.  Fall, then, is the perfect season to give generously of your time and talents to others.

May you find inner peace during this most beautiful season.