19 months going on 6 years ...

What a week this has been! Lucy turned 19 months old on the 23rd -- and she's going on 6 years old (or so she thinks).  This little girl never ceases to amaze her grandparents.  This week has been a huge development growth spurt. She started saying phrases like all done, up high, I pee.  And two of my personal favorites:  Nanny hep! I only had my back turned on her for two seconds when she grabbed the refridgerator handles and started to climb.  I climb she giggled to her Granddad later that evening as she looked at me and laughed at Granddad's disbelief of her new climbing hobby.  The girl is fearless.

Today was the ultimate heart-grabber.  We had a family celebration in honor of Mrs. GI Joe.  Her book is finished!  Countless drops of blood, sweat and tears ... years of formulating and creating ... and many many words reliving her & GI Joe's first year of marriage --- the year he was in the sandbox.  Now, back to the family celebration --- and Lucy:

The ' Joe's were trying to put Lucy in her car seat in their truck, when she started squealing Granddad! Granddad! So, her Daddy walked beside her as her little legs ran as fast as they could in the gravelled driveway to ride with Granddad and Granny to the restaurant.  Her Mommy then came over to our truck to give me some of Lucy's snacks -- and Lucy still wanted to ride with her Granddad.  It was monumental to us.  But, this gave the ' Joe's time to talk and relax since Mrs. had gone full-steam ahead all week to finish this book.

' Joe will get new military orders soon, so Granddad and I are enjoying these moments as often as possible.  I've told 'Joe to tell his commanders that he needs to be stationed within driving distance so that Lucy can come and visit us often.  Well, a Granny can pray and hope ...

Monday morning God-moment Part 2

Prescript --- I probably should explain that Lucy has been cutting her eye teeth, so she has been in a lot of pain lately. Her nap schedule is changing and she is in another growth spurt. So there's a lot of changes and growing going on right now.  Sweet little baby-girl.  It really tears us grandparents when our little ones are in pain.

Now, to continue my Monday morning God-moment --

Not only did God have Kutless on the radio as soon as I turned it on, but He also had another blessing for me (with only one song in between).  When I first heard Tenth Avenue North's Hold My Heart a few months ago, I connected to it.  Sometimes we just don't have much left to give to God.  But we have just enough to question Him   how long must I pray to You    and   how long must I wait on You?  ...  if You're everything You say You are, could You come close and hold my heart?  To some, that may seem like we're testing and tempting God.  Giving Him an ultimatum ... even being sarcastic.  But I don't look at it that way at all.  I believe that God understands that there's some things we go through that are just too much for us to handle on our own.  We have to hit the point where there's no other way to look but up to Him.  I really never knew what affect this one song would have on me until this past month.  Could the Maker of the stars hear the sound of my breaking heart? ... So many questions without answers, (but) Your promises remain ...  God is close and is waiting ...

 

Monday morning God-moment

I woke up this morning around 3:45am to the sound of Lucy crying.  So, from 3:45 to 5:45am, I drifted in and out of sleep.  I was dragging myself out of the house by 7:15am to go to the church office (I love being able to help out by volunteer work).  No caffeine (a very bad habit I need to get out of), so I turned the radio on to our Christian station, hoping to hear something that would get me going.  This song had been going through my head all morning as I tossed and turned in bed.  Only God could have orchestrated this morning.  What Faith Can Do by Kutless ...

It's just who we are ...

I was never so proud to be a military mom than yesterday evening.  Granddad and I took the kids out to dinner.  Our daughter & I were walking Lucy the restaurant before our dinner came, and two ladies started talking to them. Turns out that one of them was impressed with Lucy's "baby bag" and was asking questions about it.

When I saw them talking, I decided to go up front with them in case Lucy was getting restless.  As we were talking, I told the ladies that they all live with us for now as our son-in-law is in the military. Immediately one lady said "Oh, I should have saluted him and thanked him for his service."

So, the conversation continued for a few more minutes, and when it was ending the lady came back to her comment.  "I just have to go salute him and tell him how much I appreciate all he's done." I continued to walk Lucy around, and could see this lady at our table talking to GI Joe.  I could also see the pride in Granddad's eyes as this stranger thanked his son for protecting her freedoms. (Yes, GI Joe is more than our son-in-law. When he said "I do" to our daughter, he became our son.)

I've read so many awesome Thank You stories from Mrs GIJoe  and her military community. Thank you's are such a simple gesture, but can confirm to the military families that their service is not in vain.  This lady's simple "thank you" yesterday evening meant so much to me as a military mom.  Not for praise, not for glory, not for recognition.  It's just who we are as a military family.  Or, as GI Joe would say "it's just my job".

My Six Words ...

Taking the six word memoir challenge was not an easy task.  How could I sum up my life in just six little words.  Okay, some words have more letters than others, but they're still just letters that make up words.  What six words would fit me? Wife, mother, mother-in-law, Granny, daughter, friend  But wait, I'm also granddaughter, sister, aunt, niece, cousin and the list could on.  I'm also God's child, church server, prayer warrior ...

I'm just me --- being where God needs me most.  This may not make sense to many people, but I believe God has me exactly where He needs me most.  Some people may not understand why I do what I do.  Some people may say that I really don't do much at all.  But I believe that I'm doing what God needs me to do in this season of my life.

I would not trade anything right now for the time I get to spend with my granddaughter Lucy.  She is just so amazing!  At almost 19 months old, her vocabulary is growing daily.  The words of today were help, swim and bed.  She knows sign language for please, thank you, you're welcome, I love you, ball, more.  And probably other words that I don't even remember right now.  My heart melts when I hear Nanny!  And that smile and giggle that makes me laugh because she's laughing ... Oh, Lucy! You are such a delight in our lives.

God also has me volunteering at our church office.  I'm basically doing what I was doing in the business world, but I'm getting so much more than monetary value out of it.  My hope is that what I do matters (straight from our pastor's messages and appreciation talks).  I want to make a difference in people's lives and in God's Kingdom.  God has His people in every sector of the world.  From the business world to education to white collar to blue collar and every other collar and non-collared job/trade/profession a person can possibly think.  But we all have the same desire to make a difference.

 

Sometimes God has had me at a place where I would rather not be.  I was at such a place various times in my career.  But I always told myself that God had me there for a reason.  Most of the times I had no idea what that "reason" was, but I knew I needed to trust Him.  And that's what has brought me to where I am today.  I like to refer to myself as a stay at home Granny.  The kids and Lucy won't always be around here, and that time is approaching pretty fast.  So, I am taking advantage of the time I have to spend with not only Lucy, but her parents as well.  I'll admit that I love spending time with my family.  It's been a blessing to see our granddaughter grow over the past 19 months.  And I wouldn't trade this time for anything.

Being where God needs me most ... I wonder where that will be next?  No matter the where but more importantly is that I'm doing what He needs me to do.  There's so much that I want to accomplish so that I can make a lasting difference in my family's lives:  strengthening relationships (my Granny always said that relationships were the most important aspect of life - and I believe her), write (memories, stories, poems), organize our photo-history (to make sure generations to follow knows their heritage).  So much to do, but only in God's timing.

In the next few weeks, I really want to write down some of my earliest memories.  God has truly blessed me beyond my imagination throughout my life.

The Little Gray Notebook

So this is the first time I've checked my blog-site in several days.  I had really wanted to do some different writings on here, but I'm at a mental road-block.  Last night I was excited about a new posting:  since being in a bit of a creative standstill, I knew that I could pull out my old gray notebook that still has writings in it from my high school days.  I knew that I could easily find it, and at least post something from days gone by to fill up a little bit of space on this empty site.  So, the search began ...  my nightstand -- not there.  Granddad's nightstand -- nope.  Closet shelf -- no such luck.  Entertainment center -- what, along with all of Granddad's music stuff?  (I sure wasn't thinking on that one.)  So, I started singing "Oh where oh where can my notebook be, Oh where oh where can it be?"  After about 30 minutes of the song going through my head, I gave up looking.  Besides, I will find it tomorrow -- how hard can it really be to find a notebook that I've had for ... uummm , a few years.

Now I am at that "tomorrow" ... and still no notebook.  I've searched the desk, buffet, under the bed (ugh the dust!), the closet (even more dust!).  My conclusion --- my little gray notebook is becoming a writing crutch.  I had actually thought that it would motivate me and I could post some old writings for Lucy to have as she gets older.

Maybe I'm putting too much emphasis on that notebook.  Would I still love to find it to read through my old writings?  Yes.  Is finding it so important that I need to put everything else in life on hold in order to get fulfillment from reading from the past?  No. Do the writings from days gone by have an affect on my writings today?  Possibly -- but that's up to me.  I have a choice on whether I will allow them to affect me or not.  Quite honestly, I've matured since I wrote anything in the notebook.  And my writings hopefully have matured over the past years as well.


A wise man once said that (para-phrased) sometimes we romanticize the past as to the way we want to believe it really happened.  As Shawn pointed out to Juliette, too many times we look back on certain occurrences and see them through our rose colored glasses.  Yes, Shawn from Psych was that wise man.   What does Shawn's deep philosophical revelation of the past have on my little gray notebook?  I'm still figuring that out.  But, it's a really neat concept if you think about it for a minute.  I'm sure there's a correlation somewhere -- afterall, it's Shawn!

I am determined to find my little gray notebook.  I think I may need a good laugh.  Or maybe I'll shriek in horror and say "did I really write that!"  Or, a long-shot possibility, I'll say "not bad".  But, no matter how I react, I'm very thankful that God has allowed me to mature over the past years.  After all, He designed me, He guides me and He walks beside me.  I'm still growing and maturing ... and thank God, He's still with me.  My Granny would always say "When I've stopped learning, then I'm with Jesus."

A wonderful THANK YOU to Mrs. GI Joe for the new blog look ... I love my daughter!