Donna’s Blog

Yeahness

I learned a new word on the way to school today…..Yeahness.

We were in a line of traffic to drop Karlee off at the school.  Paige noticed that it looked like Jade was behind us.  Jade goes to our church and both she and Karlee are band members.  When Paige said, “Yep, Karlee, that is Jade behind us”, Karlee said, “Yeahness.” 

I wasn’t sure I heard her correctly.  I asked her to repeat it.  “Yeahness.  It’s how I feel when something cool happens.  You know how I love to make up words.”  No, I didn’t realize she was doing that.  She went on to tell me about “wonderlous”…..when something wonderful and fabulous happens. 

Makes me wish I could make up a few words.  I don’t have any though.  I do have my times when I pick a strange phrase to express my aggravation.  For a while it was “googly-moogly”.  Don’t ask me where I got it from.  I most often say it to myself, anyway.  Like when I drop my sunglasses while trying to put them on and driving at the same time…..if they fall and slide under the seat….”googly-moogly.”  I’m going to quit typing that word because it is looking really silly……but it worked for me.

Now my favorite phrase for times of aggravation seems to be “Jiminey Crickets.”  Again, I don’t know where I got it, or when I switched from the “g-m” to “j-c”….but there it is.  I found myself saying to the girls the other day……”Girls, I’ve asked you several times to pick your shoes up out of the living room.  Jiminey Crickets, how many times do I have to ask?”

I don’t expect to use that word any time this weekend though; we will be heading off to Destin Beach for the weekend……..YEAHNESS!

In the Clouds

Cinderella’s slipper was in the clouds.

I was driving over to the high school to pick Karlee up from band practice and noticed the clouds.  I was checking them out because it had already rained and I was wondering if it was going to start again.  That’s when I saw the slipper.  It was not only the slipper, but it was the slipper sitting on the pillow, just as it was when the Prince carried it from door to door trying to find the lady who could wear it.   As the clouds continued to take shape, it almost seemed as if a hand was forming next to the pillow, as if to remove the slipper and hand it to me.  Clouds are pretty cool things.

Do you remember afternoons just staring at clouds?  Or trips when you were in the car and you discovered a great past time was to stare at the clouds and see what images you could find?  And when you discovered a ship, or a bear, or an angel with wings, it was amazing how real it seemed.

I was thinking about that and began to think about the promise of what we are all going to see in the clouds one day….the return of our Savior and Lord, Jesus.  What will that look like?  Will the trump sound first?  Or will something be different about the sky that will cause us to look up?  And when Jesus finally appears, will He be just a small speck in the distance that grows larger and larger, or will He appear in all His glory, surrounded by a multitude of the Heavenly Host?  The Bible says that every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.  Can you picture that?  The sky becomes the backdrop for the stage of eternity and every person drops to their knees and begins to proclaim the name of Jesus!

Makes me want to sing one of my favorite songs…..”What a day that will be, when my Jesus I shall see.  And I look upon His face, the One who saved me by His grace.  When He takes me by the hand and leads me to the Promised Land.  What a day, glorious day, that will be.”

If at first you don’t succeed…..

It wouldn’t be so frustrating if it didn’t look so easy.  O.k., it doesn’t look THAT easy, but I didn’t think it would be that hard.  I mean after all, little kids can learn how to do it.  And it doesn’t help that people who can do it are telling me….just hang in there, you can do it….it’s not that hard.

To think that all this started with five little words……I want to play guitar.  I’ve always loved to hear guitar.  Let me specify—that’s acoustic guitar.  Not electric guitar or bass guitar….although they are o.k. instruments.  (Side note:  In listening to the rough cut of my new CD….I am amazed at all the notes the bass guitar played.  That guy played notes I didn’t even know could be a part of the song.  So the bass is a little more appealing to me than it was a month ago.) 

Still, I’m hooked on the cool sounds of the acoustic guitar.  A few months ago Ben and I were at a church that celebrated communion during the morning worship service.  They had two guitarists to play hymns during the communion and it was absolutely beautiful.  Simple chords….heavenly music!

So badk to those five little words.  I think the deciding factor to really try and learn guitar was when I started writing songs.  We would go somewhere for the weekend, or for vacation and I would hear a tune in my head and feel like I was going to freak out if I couldn’t find a piano to sit down and play what I was hearing.  Unfortunately, most vacation spots don’t have pianos.  So I started thinking about how easy it would be to travel with a guitar.  But it wouldn’t be of much help if I couldn’t play it.  So it was time to quit whining and dive in.  So I dove.  I went and had my fake fingernails soaked and sanded off (it is as painful as it sounds!).  I borrowed my daughter’s guitar and guitar books and started practicing.

I endured for a while.  I got past the painful building of callouses on the fingertips.  Ouch!  I practiced every night.  When I felt I needed a little boost, I even began paying for lessons from a real teacher.  That worked for a while until my teacher moved to Savannah.  I was sure I would keep up with it after he left, but I didn’t.  I let the old “I don’t have time to practice” excuse take over.

I told myself I did everything I could.  I’m just too old for this.  But then there is that charm dangling from my charm bracelet.  That’s right, I bought a guitar charm for my bracelet just to celebrate the fact that I was taking lessons and that one day I would be a real guitar player.  Now it dangles next to my birthday charm, along with my other charms and just dares me to take it off and give up.  So this week I decided to give it another try.  I went to the nail salon yesterday; I didn’t have the nails taken off, just cut down to the bare minimum.  I’ll be getting the books out again and tuning up the guitar.  I’m setting my goals.  I have a birthday in six months.  Surely I can learn to play a song by then. 

So take that, you old guitar charm!  I guess you’ll be hanging around for a while!

It Is Well

Am I allowed to brag at least once a week?  I can’t help it….that’s what mother’s are for.  And it’s her fault anyway, because she simply blew me away yesterday morning with the way she sang. 

Karlee was on the schedule to sing for Sunday.  She hadn’t come up with anything all week, so I suggested we sing a hymn together.  She said her favorite hymn was “It is Well”.  So we ran through it on Saturday.  I’d do a little alto on a couple of the verses and the chorus and let her sing the lead. 

The song started just like we practiced it and we were singng along fine.  Then I heard it in her voice, she was moved by the message of the song……no…..more than moved……her singing became annointed.  There was a power and authority in the way she was singing……it’s not only a song for the congregation, it’s a testimony to the Lord.  “It is well, it is well with my soul.”

You could see on the faces of the people and by the lifting of their hands that God was moving.  How can you NOT be moved by these words…..”Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, let this blest assurance control.  That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate and has shed His own blood for my soul.”

I’m so thankful for the gift that God has given Karlee.  I’m thankful she is using it for Him.  And if there is a child, a grandchild, a neice or nephew in your life who is using their gifts for the Lord, whatever that gift may be…..give them an extra hug today….say a prayer for them…..send them a card.  Remind them they are set apart for His purposes and that He wants to use and bless them through His calling on their lives.  They need all the encouragement they can get.

It was so nice of several people to come up after the service and tell Karlee how much they appreciated the song.  One lady asked her when she was going to have her own CD……..stay tuned! 

Passing By

I feel a little like Mr. Rogers when I’m getting ready to walk.  Remember the beginning of Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood?  He walked in the door singing, went to the closet to take off his jacket and put on his sweater, sat down on the bench where his tennis shoes were neatly waiting, took off his loafers and put on his tennis shoes and finished up with neatly tied laces all timed perfectly with the ending of the song!  These same steps were repeated every day! 

It’s not quite that many steps when I start to go walking, but I do have my favorite pair of shorts and shirt that I change in to every night, and I have to grab my portable CD player, put an extra set of batteries in my pocket and do my warm up stretches.  Then it’s time to head out the door.

There are only a couple of people I see out at night when I’m walking.  There are the two elderly ladies who stroll around the block a few times.  By the time I start walking, they are usually on their last lap and I may pass them several times as they stand in their driveway just chatting.  There is the occassional person out walking their dog.  And then a few months ago, a guy started walking the block.  He was walking really slow when I first saw him.  I would guess that he had recently had surgery and perhaps been told to get some walking exercise in.  Over the last few weeks, his pace has picked up.  But he still walks a lot slower than I do.  I have this “speed walking” pace that I do.  It’s just what works for me and feels comfortable.  I figure if I’m going to be out walking, I might as well make it count.  

I love walking……but I hate passing people by.  There is just something weird about walking and seeing someone else up ahead and then slowly the gap closes and before I know it, I’m passing them by.  It just feels kind of rude to walk beside someone for a couple of strides and then keep going.  I feel like I ought to slow down for a little bit and just chat.  But of course, I don’t know these people, so I keep going.  And besides, I have three miles to finish and I don’t need someone else slowing me down.

I was thinking about that last night when I was walking.  I was thinking about our Christian journey and how we are all walking this road together…..some slower than others.  Maybe my pace is faster than yours……maybe I’m in too much of a hurry to notice what is slowing you down……so I pass you by.  But what if all you needed was some encouragement?  What if you just needed me to slow down a little and match your stride?  We could talk and chat about what is happening in our lives.  We could share each others burdens and pray to gain strength on this journey.  Before we knew it, maybe we had picked up the pace a little……you were walking faster than you thought you could.  After all, the miles don’t seem so long or so hard when you have someone else to share them.

I think about Jesus and how He was the greatest example of this.  After all, he slowed down long enough to let twelve guys join him for a while.  And for the rest of their lives they tried to follow His steps. Turns out it is a pretty good path to walk on. 

Concessions Queen

I’m not sure I’d say I was “worried” about it all day, but I have been thinking about how it would run, and whether or not I’d be able to do it.  Turns out, it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be….and if it wasn’t for the two inch heels….I probably wouldn’t be tired at all.

It’s never fun walking in and being the “new kid on the block”.  But, we do have a daughter in the band now, and that means one thing….it’s time to be a Band Booster and run the Concession stand during the ball games.  How many times have I walked up to that window and ordered a coke and M & Ms and never paid attention to the hard working people behind the counter?  Last night, I was one of those people.

We did’t get any training.  I showed up at the time they told me to be there.  The hotdogs and hamburgers were sitting in coolers, staying warm.  The peanuts had been boiled, the popcorn popped and the drinks were in the frig.  One lady was hoovering near the cash register, so I figured that was HER job.  I found another “newbie” and we talked about how everything worked and decided neither of us knew for sure…..so we would probably just watch.

Watching is not my style, though.  It never has been.  It does’t matter how hard I try….I am not one of the bystanders….I have to be somewhere in the action.  So, that’s how it happened.  I was standing near the order window and as people started coming up, I just started asking if I could help them. Turns out it was a good thing.  I took the orders and filled them, the lady next to me collected the items, bagged them if necessary and the cash register lady checked them out.  Before I knew it, three hours had gone by!  At one point, the cash register lady took a little break to eat her hamburger, so I tried my hand at the register.  Not too hard either.   If they orderd a sprite, I pushed the button that said “sprite” and hit the “total” button and they paid their two dollars.  If they ordered boiled peanuts, I pushed “bp” and they paid their two dollars. 

The hardest part was that I couldn’t see the little words on the buttons and had to go get my reading glasses.  It may not be “cool”, but these are the sacrifices you make to be a Concession Queen! 

He Brews

It goes with everything.  It smells great.  It looks great.  And I have to confess, I don’t really understand people who don’t like it.  It is the perfect compliment to breakfast….what else IS there?  You don’t dare have pecan pie without it!  On an rainy day, it adds the perfect ambiance to time spent reading a good book.  And how else can friends sit around for hours and talk without it?

My first taste of coffee is kind embarassing to share, but here goes.  I was in first grade.  I couldn’t do a lot of things around the house, but I could help clear the table of the dirty dishes.  So after a big Saturday morning breakfast, after everyone headed off to do their chores, I would start to pick up the dishes.  But my first stop would be at the coffee cups that mom and dad had left by their plates.  Almost always, there would be a few sips of coffee that someone didn’t finish; it was probably their second or third cup of the morning, and so, much to my delight, they hadn’t finished it.  I would sit down (and here goes the embarassing part) and have a sip of coffee and pretend I was talking to another grown up!  Why?  Because I loved the smell of coffee breath!  So I would sip, and then, just to make SURE it worked, I would hold my hand up in front of my face and talk into my hand so that I could smell my coffee breath as it bounced back!!  I know, I know, that is crazy….but you haven’t heard the story of my crayon dolls yet.  That is for another time!

Suffice to say that I was hooked on coffee at a a young age.  I didn’t get serious about it until college.  Of course that’s when I discovered that coffee doesn’t keep me awake.  We’d be studying in the dorm and someone would make some coffee so we could stay up late.  We’d all have a big cup, and then I would yawn and go straight to sleep! 

My worst coffee moment was when I was on a plane with singing groups from Trevecca.  We were on our way to General Assembly in Anaheim, CA.  It was the first flight of the morning with a long day of flights ahead.  They were only going to serve us a beverage because the first flight was a short one, so of course, I ordered coffee.  It was a steaming, hot cup of coffee. I pulled the tray down so that I could stir in the cream and sugar and while I was stirring, I tipped it over.  The hot coffee came pouring out of the cup, down the tray and straight into my lap.  Of course I tried to jump up but couldn’t get up because I was trapped by the tray that was lodged in the down position!  We finally arrived at the airport and had a few minutes of lay over time before our next flight.  Several friends went with me to the bathroom so that we could rinse the coffee out of my dress.  Each of my friends took out their hairdryers, we plugged them in and then stood around my dress to dry it.  I guess it was too much for the airport bathroom…we blew the circuit….the dryers stopped and the lights went out!  I finished the trip, wrinkled and wet!

My favorite coffee memories are when I discovered the joy of “coffee parties” instead of tea parties when I was a stay at home mom.  It was fun to have friends over and pull out the teapots I collect, and then put coffee in them and serve in pretty teacups to my friends.  The aroma of coffee still brings those “warm fuzzy” feelings of sharing a cup of coffee with a dear friend and as well as sharing my heart with them.

Now the big thing is to have a coffee shop at church.  You can only imagine how much I LOVE that idea.  I was in a church the other day that had the most creative coffee shop name I’ve seen to date.  It was called “He Brews”.  I LOVE that!  We currently don’t have a coffee shop.  This makes me very sad.  I just know we are missing a blessing because we aren’t brewing!

Straw chairs and cranks

It was a Sunday night tradition in 1969 at Jason’s Chapel Church of the Nazarene.  After the evening service, we would walk down the gravel driveway of the church, past the outhouse, and on to the dirt road that led to the Lee’s house.  It wasn’t too far of a walk……just far enough to work up an appetite for ice cream.  Not “Ben & Jerry’s” or Bryers, I’m talking the good stuff…..homemade ice cream.

I don’t remember how many people would gather for the treat; it always seemed like a crowd to me.  I mean, who wouldn’t want to come to an ice cream social?!! Of course I wasn’t interested in who was there, only that it was time to run and play until someone yelled that the ice cream was ready.  We knew we had a little while to play.  These weren’t the electric churns, these were the hand-cranked churns.  So the ladies would put all their secret ingredients in the canister, the men would load the canisters and surround them with rock salt and ice and start turning the crank. 

Meanwhile we spent our time chasing the boys who pretended they didn’t want to be chased.  Every so often we would wander on to the porch to check out the progress.  The boys and some of the girls might even try their hand at a few cranks.  But ice cream churning is a hard business.  At first it is relatively easy…but everyone knows that the closer it is for the ice cream to be ready, the harder it is to crank the handle.  And pretty soon someone would yell that the first batch of ice cream was ready.  They never had to call us twice!

We’d all gather around the porch and grab what seats we could find and enjoy a dish of ice cream.  I’ll never forget the night when as we were sitting and eating our ice cream, the straw bottom to one of the chairs broke and the sweet lady that was sitting there, fell through the chair and her legs ended up straight in the air!

I thought about all this last night as we were enjoying a dish of delicious homemade peach ice cream.  No, we didn’t hand crank it and we didn’t even sit outside (too hot!!) in straw chairs….but the ice cream is still something you can’t beat. 

I think it might be time to plan an ice cream social………….

Snapshot Moments

I call it a “snapshot moment”…..when something happens and I just know the “picture” is forever framed in my memory.  One of those moments was Sunday.  I was taking the girls over to Nana’s house for lunch.  I was driving the truck and since Nana lives around the corner, the girls love to put the tailgate down and ride on the tailgate to her house.  So I was watching them in the rear view mirror to make sure they were holding on and not horsing around and then it happened….that snapshot moment. 

I was just looking at the back of their heads and noticed how tall they were getting.  As they sat side by side, and laughed as their hair blew in the wind, I thought about how quickly they’ve grown.  And my mind did an instant review of the last 10 1/2 years. 

Karlee was four when Paige was born and I “pulled” out the snapshot of Karlee holding Paige in the hospital.  She had climbed up into the recliner chair that was in my room and we let her hold Paige.  She so carefully cradled Paige’s head and looked up at us and smiled.  Snapshot.  Karlee and Paige drawing pictures on the driveway with their sidewalk chalk.  Snapshot.  Karlee and Paige playing handbells at church.  Karlee in the back row with the big kids holding two bells (because only the big kids get to do that) and Paige in the front row with the little kids.  Snapshot.  Karlee playing video games in her room while Paige is on her bed, fascinated by just watching her big sister.  Snapshot. 

And now, just seeing them enjoy something as simple as a ride in the back of a truck and knowing that all too soon the picture will change again, makes me want to close my eyes so that I can hold the picture still in my mind.  No, I don’t want them to stay 10 and 14 forever……it’s really o.k. that they are growing up.  In fact, it is the greatest blessing to watch as they grow and see all the gifts that God is developing in them.  But at the same time, I don’t want to miss any of those snapshot moments.  I want to save each one and enjoy it now and not look back and wonder where I was when it was all happening.

Tonight they are tucked in their beds, snug under their blankets…..Karlee’s blanket covered with purple and green flowers, and Paige’s blanket covered with lady bugs……snapshot!

Girls Night Out

It was unplanned and spontaneous and that made it so much fun!  We were having lunch on Friday and talking about the beach trip we never took this summer.  How do four busy women, with family, work and several other responsibilities just up and run off for the weekend?  We were lamenting this fact while having lunch at Applebees.  We couldn’t believe the summer had come and gone and we never quite made it out of town.  That’s when the brainstorm hit.

My mother-in-law just had a pool house built in her back yard and it miight be available….we could try that one weekend.  It wasn’t the beach and it wasn’t out of town, but it was a place we could get together and have a slumber party and stay up late and watch movies….and that’s what girls night out is all about.  So we started thinking about what weekend we could go.  Or how about tonight?  And one by one we recited what we had to accomplish and decided it could all be done and we could meet at the pool house by 9:00 PM. 

I got there early to make sure the VCR was working.  I put the tape in and I thought it started to work…I heard some noises….but then the movie never started.  I hit eject and then reinserted the movie again and still nothing happened.  I hit the eject button again, but the movie won’t eject.  After hitting the eject button for twenty minutes, I decided to run home and bring back one of ours.  I waited for someone more mechanial than I am to arrive and decide to let her hook up the VCR.  Yeah, it works!

All the girls arrive and it is party time!  We get out the snacks first….very important…..popcorn, chips and of course lots of chocolate!  Then we watch Bruce Almighty.  That movie is hilarious!  I won’t even go into my favorite part, because there are too many scenes to describe.  If you haven’t seen the movie, you need to rent it!

After laughing so hard, we decided we needed something really scary to watch.  It was only 11:30ish so we still had time to run to the video store before it closed at midnight.  We hunted for a scary movie and then headed to Wal-mart to pick up a few things.  I won’t even describe what kind of people you see after midnight at Wal-mart.  Suffice to say that we felt a little out of place because we didn’t have black t-shirts on and weren’t wearing chains on our jeans.

When we got back from the store, someone suggested we take a little midnight swim.  Of course by this time, it was a 1:00AM swim.  Still a lot of fun and very relaxing.  It’s amazing what silly things you will talk about in a pool at 1:00 AM. 

I won’t bore you with all the details, I think I finally went to sleep about 5:30 Saturday morning.  We slept in and then hit the pool and enjoyed some time in the sun.  My sweet husband called and asked if we wanted some grilled hamburgers for lunch.  How nice was that?  We had poolside service for lunch!  We floated in the pool and soaked in the rays. Then reality began to sink in and it was time to go home.

It was a total blast.  I love hanging out with awesome women.  I love watching scary movies till all hours of the night.  I love eating a whole bag of chocolate covered raisons. 

If you haven’t tried it, you should!  Everyone needs a Girls Night Out!!