Cliques and Friendships.....

     Church can be a wonderful place to go.  In fact God wants us to go to church, not just to worship Him, but to fellowship with other believers.  And yet, church can also be a very lonely place and I am hearing more and more about cliques and feeling left out.  I thought I was the only one but, as I talk to some others, I am hearing the same story.  Most feel it is because they are not from the area and, while that may be true to a point, that is not entirely the case.  People(like myself) from the congregation who have been there longer than some of the cliques can feel left out.  For myself, I know it is because A) I am socially awkward and an extreme introvert and B) once there are several people involved, I cannot hear what is being said due to a partial deafness..... But as I hear others complain about the same thing I wonder how widespread it is.  I have witnessed firsthand how cruel cliques can be and sometimes I cannot believe they happen in a church, but, as I talk to others, I realize I am not the only one who feels this way, but, being the socially awkward person I am, I am not sure what to do to make changes. When I had cancer all kinds of people would contact me and stop me to talk.  It made me feel like people actually cared, but now that the cancer has been eradicated, all those people are gone.  It made/makes me feel like a very lonely object of peoples' sympathy. But I am challenged by what I can do to make a difference in others lives.  I realize I am not the only one and so I pray that God can show me how to be a real friend to others.  I think right now my biggest obstacle would be my schedule with my kids.  Once school is back in session I work during the day and have sole custodianship of my kids as my husband goes back to work second shift so I am the one who must be there for them at night and take them to their activities, but I also know that cultivating friendships of my own is important to my kids whether they realize it or not..... so my prayer is for God to show me how to cultivate friendships.

Our Zoo......

Coby is our eight year old chocolate lab.  He is a sweet lovable chocolate lab who is also very protective of the house.  He is often known to charge the door when the mailman brings the mail.  He feels it's his duty to keep the cat in line.  He gets very jealous if I have one of the other pets or my youngest daughter on my lap.  I told him he is too big to be a lap dog but that is where he wants to be!

We had gotten the cat for Lexi from a Pet rescue Organization.  His name is Tyson and he is a year old..  He is bad to the bone and has collaborated with the dog to get us up every morning to feed them.  It's hilarious how they work as a team. They tag team getting us up but the funniest thing was a story relayed to us how one night they went around side by side checking on all of us in bed.   Sometimes it seems like Tyson answers our questions with a MeNOOOOO or Meyeah!

Lucy, also a year old, was given to Lexi from a dear friend after she lost her last rabbit.  Lucy is extremely territorial of her cage and will not hesitate to charge at any hand she thinks will do something to her cage.

And finally Henry, the gerbil with attitude.  He got mad when Tyler went away for a week and kept making huge messes of shavings all over the floor ..... until I put packing tape around it.  Boy did that make him even more mad!  He was about a year old when we got him.  The dog and cat find great amusement watching him  especially the cat!  Below are some more photos of the pets and our kids.

   

  

Remembering Grandpa

My grandfather who passed
away last Thursday at the
age of 89.

Two little blackbirds sitting on a hill:  One was named Jack. One was named Jill.  Fly away jack. Fly away Jill. Come back Jack. Come back Jill.

That is one of my earliest memories of Grandpa.   I’m not sure if he did this to my cousins but he would sit my sisters and me at the table making Jack and Jill disappear and reappear like magic.  We would have him do it over and over and over again, utterly amazed……. until I was about 5 and figured it out. Then the jig was up!  I didn't see it too much more after that.

He liked to have fun often at the expense of his grandchildren….. He would be taking us someplace and “forget” how to get there.  He would stop and ask for direction and, at the wink of his eye, they would play right along.  My sisters and I would get so frustrated with him thinking he didn't know where he was going but once, when he did it to my cousins, Danielle and Chad, Danielle got so annoyed with him not “knowing” where he was going she jumped out of his car and ran the few blocks to their destination.  She was the smart one!

Once he and grandma were taking us back to our home and couldn't seem to remember the way so I gave him directions but, in the usual childlike ignorance, I warned him to go this one way and stay away from bumpy East Petersburg.  I heard about that for a long time!

He loved his German Shepherds.  I often remember going to the farm to see them to be greeted by Josie or Julie.  I remember when he got his hunting dog, Chrissy, and the small game hunting parties at the farm.   I remember doing corn and shelling basket after basket after basket of Lima beans.

He made grandma a large bird feeding complex for my grandma right outside her dining room window because she loved birds so much, but I think he watched them just as much as he did.  It inspired the one I had Norm make for me.

Checkers……………. he was a wicked checker player!  He and grandma loved games.  It was where my sisters and I learned to love Scrabble.  We also played a lot of Uno and grandpa taught me how to play the wooden peg game, backgammon and carom. 

He loved hunting and fishing.  Always a fish story! He loved fishing so much that Grandma would often bring a bunch of fish to our house just to get rid of them because they had so many.  Sorry, Grandpa, I still have yet to learn to like fish.

His first two grandchildren were girls so when my mom and my aunt Linda were pregnant together again in 1971 he rashly promised $50 to the first grandchild named after him hoping for a grandson.  So when mom had another girl in October she discarded the original name she picked out and changed her choice to Glenda…. that granddaughter was followed shortly by Aunt Linda’s daughter.  It was a couple more years and two more granddaughters before he finally got his grandson.

Music.  I remember at holidays we would gather around the piano with hymnals and sing hymns, mostly southern gospel.  They both loved to sing!

I was looking at his obituary in the paper and at his picture and the first thing that popped into my head was Grandpa looking at it and saying, “Now there’s a handsome fellow!”

Grandpa, I will miss you but I know you are in a better place and I will see you again sometime!  

I Cried

I Cried

Verse 1:

Nine months of carrying you inside of me

                Pushing for hours to set you free

                Cradling you gently inside my arms

                One hour old and you had me charmed

                Incredible joy filled me inside

                And I lay in my hospital bed        

                And I cried

Chorus: And I cried

                Swelled up with pride

                So deep in my soul that it tore me up inside

                And I cried

Verse 2:

Fast forward to your first day of school

                Your preschool years were so short – yet so full

                You pause and hug me at the front door

                I just want you to stay and hug me some more

                I felt I was breaking up all inside

And I went home to your bed

                And I cried

Verse 3:

You’re graduating from high school tonight

                Your years going to school seemed to take flight

                Your face lights up as you walk down the aisle

                You’ll be off to college in a very short while

                Pride and sadness mixed up inside

                And I went home to your bed

                And I cried

Verse 4:

                A beautiful day as wedding bells sing

                I watch as you give another a ring

                A smile on my face as you recite your vows

                As flood waters of tears threaten to spill out

                Joy and sorrow jumbled inside

                And I went home to your bed

                And I cried

Bridge:

                Gone were the days you would hold my hand

                Time slipping by like drifting sand

                Years of protecting you from all harm

                I just want to hold you inside my arms

© 2012 DLD

How a Mom does (not)get some sleep......

     We come home from a small group gathering.  My sinuses have been bothering me a lot lately so I head up the stairway for a dark, quiet corner of the house.  It ain't long before the chocolate lab comes bouncing into the room.....and onto the bed...... flopping himself upon me to garnish some attention.....then the hubby comes dancing into the room, sees the dog, and says, "Who invited you?"  I thought to myself, "The same person who invited you." Shortly the husband leaves and 14 year old son comes into the room with dog.  He sees the compress on my eyes and runs to get himself and the dog a compress so they can lie on the bed and make fun of me.  They both disappear down the steps and are followed by the 10 year old daughter who proceeds to ply me with 101 questions....... finally left alone, I remove the, now cold, compress on my eyes and fall asleep. An hour or so later I hear the dog come bouncing back despite being scolded by the 10 year old daughter. He decides enough is enough. Mom must be awake. 

*****

     Next week we bring my oldest home from college.  We(hubby, 10 year old & I) went yesterday to a concert and brought home some of her things and spent a little time with her. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

*****

SPRING!From my garden...

It's Been a long year

     We moved back into the house after the flood and tried to resume a life of normalcy.

      Nicole graduated from high school in June. So hard to believe!

     Lexi's bunny, Snuggles, died on July 4th from the heat.  Friends got her a new bunny that she named Lucy.

     Nicole started college in August.  She is a music major and hopes to go on for a degree in Music Therapy.  Here she is with the color-guard.     

     Norm and Tyler built a fire pit and  lot of time is spent having cook-outs and enjoying the outdoors.

     Lexi donated her hair to Locks Of Love

Crazy Tyler keeps life interesting.....

Got Lexi a cat for Christmas. We got him from a Rescue organization and his name is Tyson.

Lexi's basketball team won the Championship.

     Nicole will soon be ending her first year at college and it is so hard to believe!  We will be going to pick her up next Thursday right before Easter for the weekend and then she comes home for the summer in May.

     In January Norm had to have more surgery to repair his hernia. I am hoping we don't have to go through this again.   

And that would be the highlights for the past year. I am hoping to  start blogging again and maybe even revamp this a bit.