Season Premieres

My daughter, Kaitlin, and I watched the season premieres of "Person of Interest" and "The Mentalist" tonight.  We had seen the ads for the new show and had watched and rewatched every "Mentalist" from last year.   Last night we set the DVR for all of the new shows we want to try.  We were ready to embrace the new.  There is a feeling of anticipation as we hope to find some exceptional entertainment this year.

As I started making my hats for this coming season, I had that same excitement, that same anticipation.  I've got a pretty good start on the season.  I've made and given several hats already.  It's football season, so I've made several hats in our school colors of gold and black that look similar to a football.  It seems owls are popular this year and I've made several of them, also.  I still have several more to make. 

I like doing hats because they are fast and (most of the time) fairly easy.  I can usually whip out a crocheted hat in a day's time.  You have the gratification of quickly completing a project. 

I started a new Bible Study last week.  We are studying the book of Matthew and using the Serendipity Bible as our study guide.

It is with excitement that I have approached this study.  This is the season premiere of this group.  This is a group of women that I have known for quite some time, but I look forward to becoming better friends, sharing with each of them and learning more about them. 

Life is full of change.  There is constant change.  Nothing stays the same. 

I've read several complaints this week on facebook about them changing the layout once again.  The funny thing is that when they changed the layout to the one before this one, there were the same complaints.  And, they were probably from the same complainers, if you want to know the truth. 

People seem to resist change.  They have a fear of the unknown that makes them dig their heels in and want to keep everything as it is. 

Life would be a lot less stressful if we would just learn to embrace the changes in our lives ..... feel the excitement and not the dread .....

Ecclesiastes 3:1-3 (NIV)

A Time for Everything

 ¹ There is a time for everything,
   and a season for every activity under the heavens: 

 ² a time to be born and a time to die,
   a time to plant and a time to uproot,
 ³ a time to kill and a time to heal,
   a time to tear down and a time to build,

And, in the beginning .....

I have thought about starting a blog for some time.  I've tried to think of a catchy title.  I've tried to decide what my main focus would be.  Should I treat it like a journal ....... or treat it like a mission field?

Finally, I decided it was time to just start.  I don't know where I'm going with this, but I do know I feel like there is something that God wants me to do with this blog.  It may be something so simple as to organize my thoughts (I'm pretty disorganized) or as grand as trying to help other people.  But, for now, I am just going to start.

Ignoring those whispers .....


Have you ever ignored those whispers from God?  There have been times that I didn't recognize them.  There have been times that I just didn't stop long enough to listen to them.  There have even been times when I didn't want to do whatever it was that I was being encouraged to do.

I've finally learned that it's the wrong thing to do.

Other than family, two of the most important people in my life were a couple who lovingly guided me over a period of 14 years.  He was an authority figure in my life, she was his wife.  They guided me through some pretty tough times.  They loved me when I wondered if I was worthy of their love.  And, they helped me to celebrate the good things that happened in my life.

Fred H. and Margaret Shaw were not public figures.  Margaret didn't carry a tiny, expensive dog everywhere she went.  Fred didn't hold any high office in Washington, D.C.  But, in the realm of Missouri's mutual insurance industry, they were both well-known and highly respected.  When Fred gave someone advice they listened.  Fred had lost a finger at some point in his life.  I can only remember one time having the stub of that finger shook at me.  That was enough!  I didn't want to let him down again.

I worked half-way across the state from them.  Fred was the President of our board of directors for many years.  He and Margaret would just drop in on occasion.  They usually had another destination in mind, but they planned enough time so that they could come by our office and mentor us.  They wouldn't have called it mentoring, but that is what it was.  They were seeing how we were doing.  They were taking us out to lunch.  But, they loved and mentored me for all of those fourteen years.

The company relocated in 1999.  I occasionally heard news about Fred & Margaret.  I got a letter from them each Christmas.  I was invited to a wedding anniversary party and then a birthday party.  But, they were 250 miles away and I was busy with my family and my life.  One week-end I couldn't get them off of my mind.  I kept thinking that I would call them, this voice inside my head just kept urging me to call them ...... but life is busy and I didn't get it done.  It would have been 10 or 15 minutes out of my week-end, but I didn't get it done.

That next week they were traveling in their vehicle and were involved in a head-on collision that killed them both.  That next week-end I drove the 250 miles to go to their funeral services.

I ignored that urging from God to call them.  It would have meant the world to me to be able to hear their voices one more time.  I may have gleaned just one more gem of wisdom from one of them, had I just listened to that tiny voice.  I loved them dearly and will always regret not calling.

"Let us be silent that we may hear the whisper of God."~-Ralph Waldo Emerson