97 years young!

Alice Louise Deplanty Meharry was born on July 27, 1910. And, though her body may not always keep up now, her spirit is as agile as ever. That's enough for a WOW if I ever heard one!

My Grandma has always been a picture to me of the gentleness of Christ... always caring about others... always quick to listen and slow to speak... always seeing life from a joyful perspective.

I am thankful for all I have learned from the grace with which she has lived her life and with which she is growing old. Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Bike riding

Last night, I went bike riding with my Mom. :-) You have to know a little more to appreciate that. Mom will be 74 next month. I think the last time she rode a bike was when she was a kid. But she recently found one of those big retiree-type three-wheelers... and now she acts like a kid on it! I understand the 10-yr old from across the street sometimes comes over to see if Mom can ride with her, too.

Part of the fun is seeing my Mom engage in life again, as she adjusts to this chapter of life after losing Dad, her partner of 52 years. But God is gracious, and is filling some of the gaps with new things, or the revival of old things. I am thankful.

I doubt that she'll try rollerblading... but you never know! :-)

Chocolate Warning

Ok, lest you worry about me, I am not going off chocolate again. :-) BUT, this evening, I had opportunity for dessert at Longhorn, just because it was in the area near the movie theater.

So here's the warning - the Chocolate Stampede is enough for 2-3 people, and the Ultimate Brownie Sundae would be sufficient for two also. Of course, the waiter didn't happen to mention either of those facts as Brenda and I ordered one of each so we could taste both. Yes, there is Stampede in a box with me now.

Consider yourself warned!

Paradigms

During my grad studies, I rented a room from Katherine. I remember sitting down to watch the evening news with her and realizing that we did not look at many things with the same perspective.

Again this evening I was reminded that we don't all see life in the same Light. I am learning in a new way that when we don't have seats on the same bus, we might have totally different ideas about where things are headed and which things are truly important. It was a good encouragement to be more aware and less assuming as I get to know new folks.

Today's lesson

Today, I drew a conclusion that was totally incorrect and spent most of the day being stressed about it. Spent a lot of time worrying about something that, when it was all said and done, never took place. One more opportunity to learn that I have a habit of jumping too fast without hearing all the facts.

When they are correct, some people call that intuition. I am wrong more than I would like to admit, though... one more reminder to be quick to listen... Only redeeming point of today was that at least I was a little slow to speak it out loud. Just told myself the wrong thing all afternoon. Thankful for a gentle lesson today.

To blog or not to blog...

This evening, I was encouraged to step out and see what might happen if I started to blog. The next post is my thought for the evening.

So, at least for today, the answer is to blog. :-)