(Blog 6 as I continue with stories from our trip to St. Kitts.)

You can’t visit a Caribbean island without getting in the ocean sometime during your stay.  We did just that several times and even did some snorkeling.

First I want to take you back a year to my first snorkeling experience when Ted and I were in the British Virgin Islands.  With snorkeling, one wears a mask so you can see clearly underwater;  flippers are worn on your feet so you can propel yourself; and one uses a snorkel, a ‘J’ shaped tube that goes in your mouth and sticks up in the air above the surface of the water, to breathe.  If you just relax in the water while breathing and kicking at a leisurely pace, snorkeling can be a very lovely experience.  The water in the Caribbean is warm and there are many fish and coral to see.  Now I am not the greatest swimmer.  We were at The Baths on Virgin Gorda – an area with a labyrinth of huge granite boulders along the shoreline.  As we snorkeled offshore, my swimming insecurities took over and I started kicking and breathing way too fast.  In hindsight, I realized I was hyperventilating which caused me to get dizzy as panic took over my logic.  No one else was near me.  Ahead, I saw a huge boulder that waves had carved out a concave little cubby.  I kicked and swam for it as fast as I could.  I was afraid I would either drown or pass out before I could get there.  With adrenaline surging through my veins, I made it to the boulder and hoisted myself into the safe cubby, oblivious to the coral that scraped and bloodied my legs.   I clung to the inside of my safe cubby in the boulder while crashing waves tried to pitch me back into the water.  Screaming for Ted, I finally caught his attention and pleaded with him to get the dinghy and come rescue me.  Gently, he said that he thought I could swim back to the boat and after about ten minutes of controlled breathing and my mental attempts to shake off the panic, he talked the confidence back into me.

Fast forward to this year’s trip to St. Kitts.  I couldn’t wait to get back to snorkeling.  I felt I had learned from the previous year that I need to relax and let the flippers and snorkel aid me as I enjoy the warm waters and awesome view of fish and coral.  You guessed it – I started freaking out at my first attempts.  As the familiar panic washed over me, threatening to choke and drown me, I had to get back to our boat to hold on and talk myself down.  “Relax” I told myself.  If I could just calmly trust my breathing to the snorkel and not kick my flippered feet so frantically, this could be a pleasant experience.  I finally squelched my panic and was able to enjoy myself.  I had someone on the boat toss me one of those flotation ‘noodles’ and that helped give me extra flotation confidence.

The experience brought to mind that old saying:  “Let go and let God.”  When I kicked too hard and breathed too fast in my attempt to take control of my flippers and snorkel, I failed miserably and nearly drowned myself.  When I let my body and breathing relax, snorkeling became a comfortable and peaceful experience.  In life, don’t we often try to kick as hard as we can while struggling to handle the challenging waves that daily crash over us?  Oh we of little faith!  If we surely trust in God to strengthen and guide us, then why do we panic and act like we are drowning?  We need to let go of our struggles, trust God, and let Him lead us to still waters.

Psalm7:1 O Lord my God, in You I put my trust; Save me from all those who persecute me; And deliver me.
Psalm 20:7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the Lord our God.
Psalm 36:7 How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.

So easy to preach, so difficult to practice.  I suppose those times I had to “talk myself down” so that I could calmly snorkel would mirror the necessity to talk to God in turbulent times so that He can keep us from drowning in our troubles.

Instead of panicking and losing your breath when life sends you struggles, say a prayer and let Him guide you safely through life.  Enjoy the view while you’re at it, too!

just Laurel

(Blog 5 as I continue with stories from our trip to St. Kitts.)

During our visit with Jill and Andy on St. Kitts, we stayed at the Marriot Resort.  It was beautiful.  There were many buildings sprawling over several acres with palm trees and other flora planted everywhere.  And there were (only!) three pools to choose from, in addition to the biggest pool, the Atlantic Ocean.  Our room was lovely with a king size bed, beautiful ceramic tiled floor, a flat screen TV, a view, and a spacious bathroom.  The tub in the bathroom had whirlpool jets in it.  Woo Hoo!  There was a toilet (of course) and a bidet.  A WHAT?  A BIDET.  (“bih-day” for those of you unfamiliar)

(I now ask for forgiveness, in advance, for any bathroom humor this blog may contain.  But, I had to bring it up.  We disgusting Americans are just so unfamiliar with the European luxury of the bidet and, well, it’s just plain funny.  I’m sorry.)

I believe it was Groucho Marx who described a bidet as “taking a shower standing on your head.”  Okay.  They had to design it the way they did, I suppose, because the majority of people cannot stand on their heads.  The word ‘bidet’ comes from the French word for ‘pony’ … ha-ha … because you are supposed to sit on the bidet as if you were astride a pony.  (Ha-ha)  Jill and Andy checked it out.  We thought it would make a great basin for cleaning off dirty feet.  Later when I decided to turn it on to see what it did, the darn water shot up and hit me in the head!  (I guess you are supposed to sit first, and then turn on the water.)  I think it would make a great water fountain.  All snickers aside, I must admit it probably does a real fine job of getting you clean ‘down there’.  But then – it’s bad enough having to clean the toilet – if you have a bidet then there are TWO porcelain thrones to clean.  And, sure, you might save on toilet paper but you have to DRY yourself off afterwards.  Now you have more laundry to do – and poo-poo laundry.

Now I know what you are all wondering.   How is Laurel going to tie this one to anything biblical?

hahaha

Let’s talk here about forgiveness.  And having your sins forgiven.  Being ‘washed clean’.  (Hee hee – I did it!)

But seriously.  We are all sinners.  And we all keep sinning.  Even in the Lord’s Prayer, we are told to pray every day to “forgive us our debts (or trespasses) as we forgive our debtors (or those who trespass against us)”.  I like the Lord’s Prayer but I think it is too benign and general.  Like – recite a quick prayer and all is forgiven.   The prayer is usually recited so quickly with a mass of people, it doesn’t even give us a chance to think about and reflect on the bad things we really have done.  It’s like getting a spit-shine washing of our filthy sins.  Sometimes, we really need to come clean and think about where we have erred, and what sins we are guilty of.  Only when we are conscious of our sins and aware of our trespasses can we truly give them over to God for forgiveness.  It’s like the bidet – washing those private hidden areas that only you and God know about – and really coming clean.  Sometimes a ‘mop n shine’ just doesn’t do it – time for a power-washing!

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Psalm 51:2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

Isaiah 1:16 “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil.”

just Laurel

(Blog 4 as I continue with stories from our trip to St. Kitts.)

Max Lucado – “Our belief in God is not blind faith. Belief is having a firm conviction something is true, not hoping it’s true.”

Going on vacation to another region or country offers the chance to try different cuisines.  The Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis offered us that opportunity.  If you were to ask me “What kind of food do they eat on St. Kitts?” here would be my answer:  Of course lots of fish (St. Kitts is an island – duh) but they also enjoy pork and chicken – on the barbeque – and flavors of curry with plenty of rice and plantains on the side.

St. Thomas Aquinas – “To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”

On the recommendation of a friend, we ventured to Sprat Nets for dinner one evening.  The dinner choices for the evening were your pick of any two of lobster, ribs, chicken, or fish with a side of rice and some kind of corn Johnny cake.  I ordered the lobster and fish.  Well, Sprat Nets was very busy that evening and NOTHING happens quickly in the Caribbean so we sat at the picnic table on the beach and waited.  And waited.  Until it was dark and the only light came from the moon and a few lights on wooden poles – not much light at all.

Martin Luther King, Jr. – “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”

Finally our huge plates of food were delivered to us.  Yum!  Everything was hot and smelled divine.  Now this girl from the suburbs of Detroit here was expecting a nice piece of grilled fresh fish.  Oh it was fresh enough – in fact I got the whole fish!  Now I am not grossed out by the fact that my fish still had its head on.  My problem was that it was DARK out.  As I tried gingerly with my fork to tease the lovely bits of fish away from the boney skeleton of the fish, I kept grabbing bones with the meat and kept picking them out of my mouthfuls.  Ack.  The fish was sweet and tasty, but darned if I couldn’t see to dissect some lovely bites of boneless fish.  Blindly I stabbed at my fish, knowing there were great quantities of delicious fish to consume.  It made me think, today, of faith and the saying that believing is seeing.

Pastor Tim Hall – The world says, “Seeing is believing” – Faith says, “Believing is seeing”.

If people were to ask me how or why I believe in God, I think the basis of my answer has got to be faith.  I would love to SEE Jesus – to have walked beside Him when He Himself walked on this earth.  But I believe the bible is His inspired word – so I can read all about Him.  I know He hears me when I call and when I pray.  I don’t need to see Him.  I just know.  I just believe.  He has sent me messages and answers when I call.  And although I don’t see HIM, I see Him in all His magnificent creations.  Too many people need proof.  I love the simplicity of Judy the elf in the movie ‘The Santa Clause’ when she explains to Tim Allen about believing in Santa:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8YxwlofIvQ

(click on the above to view the movie clip)

Joni Erickson Tada – “Faith isn’t the ability to believe long and far into the misty future. It’s simply taking God at His Word and taking the next step.”

Believing is seeing.  It’s as simple as that.  But when it comes to eating fish in the dark – well that’s when I think I really needed to SEE to BELIEVE that there were possibilities of eating fish without bones!

Just Laurel

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

(Blog 3 as I continue with stories from our trip to St. Kitts.)

How can I visit an island and not talk about beaches?  Oh my … the beaches we saw, walked, and visited.  I had never really thought about beaches so seriously before seeing so many KINDS of beaches on St. Kitts.

Isak Dinesen:
The cure for anything is salt water — sweat, tears, or the sea.

St. Kitts is one of a line of small islands that form a dotted line between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.  The north/northeastern shores of St. Kitts have Atlantic beaches and the south/southwestern shores have Caribbean Sea beaches.  Why is this significant you may ask?  The Atlantic beaches have much larger waves.  The Caribbean beaches have the gentle lapping smaller waves and turquoise blue waters.  The other variation seen is the material that makes up the beach.  Because St. Kitts is an island with a huge volcano in the middle, there are a lot of volcanic rocks formed from thousand year old eruptions.  On the Atlantic beaches, the forces of the crashing waves have carved many interesting rock formations.  Another beach has sand that is black, from the pulverized black volcanic stone.  When walking on the sand with the black kind mixed in, all I can say is “Ouch, ouch, ouch, OUCH!” as I hurried for shade or the cool relief of ocean water to cool my burning feet!  Still, other beaches are comprised of small egg sized stones that are fairly gently on the beach until you get ankle deep and the rocks are covered with either sharp cutting coral or slippery seaweed growth.  You’re either going to cut your foot, or slip and fall (and hurt your hind side!). 

Thoreau
My life is like a stroll on the beach… as near to the edge as I can go.

Now Laurel got to thinking about how my observation of so many kinds of beaches can birth a story that relates to us humans.  🙂

I think all of us are like our own little beach.  Some of us are made of stone and are strong and confident.  Some of us are gentle souls with soft sands.  But we all have the potential to change as we are subjected to various forces in our lives.  If life has dealt us some tough blows, like the crashing Atlantic waves, we can either crumble or accept the changes given us.  I watched the mighty waves crashed fiercely on the huge black rocks of St. Kitts and thought how marvelous it was to see the salt water spray into the air, turning the water a churning, boiling white.  There was another beach of calm waters and coral covered stone that was a great place to snorkel.  Like having to deal with a prickly and difficult person, the great challenge of this beach was getting past the ouchy and slippery parts so that you could throw your body forward into the water and get off your feet.  Then there was the beautiful sand beach with calm waves where you just wanted to lie in the sun and soak up the rays.  This beach was like that calm, serene person who holds all their anger in.  If you try to walk on them, you better have your shoes on or you will get burned!

So we are, like a beach, and subjected to forces in our lives that can make us stronger, softer, or even change us.  At the Marriott resort that we stayed at, the beach was on the Atlantic side.  To make it more pleasant for guests, long lines of rocks had been built up diagonally to the coast so that these walls acted as ‘breakers.’  As waves crashed first against these rock walls, it lessened the force of the wave that then continued on to break on the beach.  Lesson learned – if we don’t like the forces that are influencing our ‘beach’ you can always do something to change things!

Just Laurel

Jeremiah 5:22 ²² Do you not fear Me?’ says the Lord.
Will you not tremble at My presence, Who have placed the sand as the bound of the sea,
By a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass beyond it?  And though its waves toss to and fro,
Yet they cannot prevail; Though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it.

(Blog 2 as I continue with stories from our trip to St. Kitts.)

St. Kitts is a tourist stop for the cruise ships.  While we were on St. Kitts visiting Jill and Andy there were three cruise ships that visited the Port Zante dock in downtown Basseterre.  As the tourists venture off the boat, they exit onto a lovely couple of palm tree lined streets with beautiful shops and restaurants to entertain them.  Tourist shops and cheap nick-knack souvenirs do not interest either Ted or me, but we wanted to check it out with all the other boat tourists.  The stores were lovely with their bright tropical painted fronts.  Colorful and tantalizing arrays of tourist treasures beckoned to passersby.  Jill and Andy explained to us how these streets were deserted when there were no cruise ships docked.  Many of the stores don’t even open unless a boat was in.  The bright, clean, and bustling shopping area was for show only.

Back up to a little economic history of St. Kitts.  The island originally produced tobacco but in the 1600’s switched to sugar cane with the help of the slave trade.  More than sixty sugar plantations once thrived on the island.  In 2005 the government closed the sugar industry.  Apparently sugar made in the states and elsewhere from sugar beets was cheaper than what St. Kitts could produce.  The number one industry now?  Tourism.

If you happen to be at one of the resorts on St. Kitts or Nevis Island, taking in one of the attractions, or shopping at a souvenir shop, you will see the smiling faces of the people native to this beautiful tropical island.  On a scenic tour that we took on a train, we were greeted by waving and smiling children each time we passed a school.  It was as if they were trained to greet the tourist train with happy faces as their contribution to the tourism industry.  Oh they made for a darling picture.

But because Jill and Andy actually live on the island, we got the chance to see the real lifestyle and story.  The pretty streets and shops with the smiling native faces were for tourists only.  A visitor from a cruise ship would have a very nice picture of life on St. Kitts.  In reality, it is a rather poor little island.  We saw the government housing, the crumbled buildings, the dirt roads, stray dogs, and piles of litter.  Andy told of how he has made several trips to the local grocery store.  The chatty locals shopping and working in the store did not keep up their friendly smile when it was Andy’s turn to check out.

Of course, Laurel sees a lesson here.

Do you know how people are when asked how they are doing?  The stereotypical answer is, “I’m fine.”  It is a pretty safe answer.  But behind that benign answer you may find conflict, pain, stress or sadness hiding.   Like a tourist’s visit to a tropical island.  Oh, it’s all pretty and lovely from the face view … its fine.  But beneath that glossy façade is a real island with real people who are struggling to live and provide for their families.

As we meet new people, we are like tourists who are just visiting and seeing the pretty side of our new acquaintance.  But as we get to know a person and become friends, we become privy to the real picture of what is beneath that public exterior.  It’s a good thing to keep in mind.  What you see is not always what you get.  The smile on the outside can cover what’s inside.

St. Kitts is a beautiful island of beaches, tropical plants, and smiling faces.  Beneath that show-offy cover there is a hot dusty island – still very beautiful but in a different, personal way.  It was good to see both faces.

just Laurel

Colossians 3:1-4 So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

I’m back!

Sorry, readers, for being away for so long.  Life got really busy with looking after Amanda, keeping tabs on my dad and his post-heart surgery medical issues, a garage sale (lots of work), extra days of work at the surgical center, and finally getting away on a vacation!  Ted and I were so tired of working and being busy with ‘stuff’ that it was a good thing we had planned this trip and were forced to get on an airplane.

So, where did we go, where did we go??

St. Kitts, of course.

Where is St. Kitts, you may ask, and why did we go there?  Saint Kitts (also known more formally as Saint Christopher Island – named after its discoverer – Christopher Columbus) is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean. Saint Kitts and the neighboring island of Nevis constitute one country:  the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis.  Ross School of Veterinary Medicine is on St. Kitts and that is the school my daughter, Jillian, attends.  Jillian and her husband Andy moved there in December.  We had to visit them!  It was a wonderful six days.  Out of this trip, I’ve collected many topics to contribute to this blog so look for a couple weeks’ worth of stories that will educate and inform you about this interesting island and our vacation experience.

If you are familiar with Disney Land and the “Small World” attraction, then you know how that song “It’s a Small Word After All” can be so annoyingly repetitious.  That was almost the theme song of our vacation as that song kept echoing in the back of my head each time we made a new connection with presumed strangers.

On our first flight from Detroit to Miami, I started chatting with a lovely woman from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.  She had three daughters, we have three daughters.  She and her husband were sailors (yeah – us too).  She went to Hope College (hello – that’s where Jill and Kristen went).  And her children enjoyed many summer camp experiences at Springhill Camp – yes, the same camp our daughters attended and worked at.  (It’s a small world after all, it’s a small world after all….)

After changing flights in Miami, we were on a Boeing 737 packed full of people heading for St. Kitts. “I wonder why all these people are heading to St. Kitts” I mentioned out loud to the guy sitting on my right.  “Well my wife and I are going because I won a trip though my company” the guy replied.  “What company?” I asked.  “Oh, you wouldn’t know it – it’s a small company called Henry Schein” he responded.  OMG!  Of course I knew of that company, it is a dental supply company and I worked several years for a dentist.  I explained to this guy that I DID know his company and told him of the dentists I’d worked for.  OMG – he KNEW the dentists I worked for!  This ‘guy’ was now “Bob” and his wife “April” and we shared some good conversation as we flew towards St. Kitts.  (It’s a small world after all ….)

Those two meetings were already good stories to tell of how small a world we live in.  But then …

Walking on one of the beaches on St. Kitts, we passed a sunbathing couple.  The male half of the couple noticed Andy’s University of Tennessee shirt and called out “Hey – the Vols!”  Andy replied, “Yeah – did you go to UT?”  The guy replied that he did not but that his brother did.  The conversation continued with the typical “Where are you from?  Why are you vacationing here?”  We found out that this couple was newlyweds on their honeymoon and that Fort Wayne, Indiana was home to them.  Jillian piped in, “Oh, my friend just moved to Fort Wayne and is marrying a guy from there.”  “What’s his name?” the newlyweds asked.  Jill told them and jaws dropped.  Yes sir.  They knew the guy.  Good friends actually.  We were all stunned.  What are the chances of walking a beach on an island only 65 square miles in size, in the Caribbean, on April 26^th, 2013, with Andy wearing just the right shirt, and this guy looking up at just the right time, all from different states, and then discovering this common connection?  (It’s a small world after all, it’s a small, small world.)

Although we were far from home, the world itself seemed smaller as we connected with people with similar experiences and shared friends.  Of course, the best part of the trip was being with our daughter and her husband.  But to cross paths with people like that and experience a linking of lives was (as Ted would say) UNBELIEVABLE.

It’s a world of laughter, a world of tears
It’s a world of hopes, a world of fear
There’s so much that we share
That it’s time we’re aware
It’s a small world after all
There is just one moon and one golden sun
And a smile means friendship to everyone
Though the mountains divide and the oceans are wide
It’s a small world after all.

just Laurel

It’s been a ‘not quite right’ couple of days.

With the weather striving to be warmer and more spring-like, I have been trying to get outside to walk/run and work off some extra winter pounds.  Along with that, of course, is the attempt to squelch my sweet-tooth and eat less and eat healthy.  But every time I run down a certain street, the wind seems to blow just the right direction and carry the delicious smell of pizza from the local Little Caesars to my nostrils.  It’s not fair!  That sinful smell of cheesy, pizza goodness is not the kind of encouragement I need right now.

And then the other day it was time to switch the bathroom towels around and throw the current ones in the laundry.  I pulled some fresh, clean, blue-striped towels from the linen closet and got nauseous.  Why?  A few years back when Ted was living and working in Indiana while I lived here trying to sell the house, these were the towels he had in his Indiana apartment.  We hated living apart.  I hated having to visit Ted on weekends in his Indiana apartment.  Those towels brought back memories of a not so pleasant time and place.  I hated those towels.  I surprised myself at the wave of sad emotions those towels created.  It was just not right.

At work this week we had two doctors operating on the same day.  The first doctor had only two patients.  The two patients each needed a prescription from the doctor.  Nurse Laurel had the prescriptions all neatly written and signed by the doctor.  Patient number one went home with patient number two’s prescription.  Argh!  How did I do that?   Mixed those up?  It was a little mistake that made for a big mess of work to straighten out.  Patient one had to be called, pharmacy numbers had to be obtained, more phone calls followed.  <sigh>  Doctor number two had us running with fifteen patients and this prescription snafu just complicated the day.  It was not the right thing to have happened on such an incredibly busy day.

And then today.  Oh Lordy.  At work we have a small locker room where staff changes into scrubs.  Many times after a person exits the room, the door stays locked and the next person trying to enter the room to change gets locked out.  Several times, I have been called on to fetch the key and unlock the door.  Our head nurse came in a few hours after we had already gotten several patients through surgery.  She headed for the locker room and was locked out.  “Laurel, could you get the key and come unlock this door?  Someone locked it again.” She called to me.  I quickly grabbed the key from its secure hiding space and met the head nurse at the door.  With a quick turn-key motion I unlocked and pushed open the door.  Helloooo Dr. Martin!  (Name changed to protect the innocent!)  The door was locked because Dr. Martin was changing his clothes!   Oh dear, my face must have turned beet red, head nurse shouted an apology, and I pointed to her and said, “She made me do it!”  Oh that was just not right.

Fortunately, all the quirky ‘not right’ things that happened did little damage.  I smelled the lovely pizza, but did not buy one!  I was able to deal with the blue striped towels.  Both patients got the right prescriptions phoned in for them.  And Dr. Martin was almost done dressing with just a zip and a buckle to take care of and we all had a good laugh.

Bombs and a marathon?  That was so not right.  Just thinking of all those runners and spectators who were gathered for such a wonderful event only to have lives and limbs shattered.  It’s going to take a long time to get that mess sorted out.  Many people will never be the same again.  There will be nothing to laugh about.  That was not right at all.

Tears, hugs, and prayers to all those affected.

Psalm 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds.

just Laurel

Tom Wilson:
Wisdom doesn’t necessarily come with age. Sometimes age just shows up all by itself.

It was a day of many flavors.  I shall begin with the middle part of the day before I tell you the best and first part.  I went with my Mom and Pop to a Polish restaurant that we’ve wanted to try for quite a long time.  Now I must first give some background for you to better understand.  While growing up, my family and I lived in the very ethnic neighborhood of Parma, Ohio.  There were Italians, Ukrainians, and Polish people as well as other ethnicities.  Every Tuesday the little old Polish women worked in the church basement kitchen to produce the best pierogi in the world.  Since then, we have always searched for a similar delicious version with that as the standard.  Our lunch today brought back Parma Polish Pierogi memories!  Pop and I ordered the Polish feast plate that included a meatball, stuffed cabbage, city chicken, 2 pierogi, and dumplings with gravy. Oh Lordy it was good!

Leon Trotsky:
Old age is the most unexpected of all the things that happen to a man.

Our next stop was the Italian bakery.  My folks picked up some pizza dough (yummy and yeasty – to make their own pizzas!), some bear claws, a wonderful hunk of some hard Italian cheese for grating, some pepperoni, and prosciutto.

H. J. Byron, An Adage:
The gardener’s rule applies to youth and age:
When young “sow wild oats,” but when old, grow sage.

After that, they dropped me off at my house.  I ran inside to get the sticky buns I had made for Pop.  I started last night with dough that I kneaded and kneaded.  After the first rise, it rose a second time in the fridge and this morning I formed it into 8 big swirled cinnamon sticky buns.  A third rise and they were baked.  Pop always complains that you can’t get good yeasty cinnamon rolls.  I hope they pass the test.

Chinese proverb:
Men grow old, pearls grow yellow, there is no cure for it.

The day featured the flavors of Polish food, Italian food, and cinnamon sticky buns.  So what happened in the morning?  In the morning Pop had a visit with his cardiologist.  For those of you who haven’t been reading, Pop had heart surgery in March and had his aortic valve replaced.  There have been a few set-backs, but the cardiologist told Pop that everything was just as it should be today.  He told him he could “Do anything you want to do.”  Pop had the taste of good health today.

Malcolm Forbes, The Capitalist Handbook:
By the time we’ve made it, we’ve had it.

But the icing on the cake today (another flavor!) is the fact that it was Pop’s 85^th birthday!   That just may explain to you why I have so many old age quotes on this blog – just for fun!  I particularly like this next one:

Arabic proverb:
God gives nuts to those with no teeth.

I’m not sure what that proverb means.  Ha!  But it was a fine flavorful day and it tastes good to see both Pop and Mom doing so well.

Now what’s for dessert?

Psalm 91:16a with long life I will satisfy them.

just Laurel

My daughter Kristen and her husband Ric have lived in Portland, Oregon, for almost two years now.  Although it is a beautiful part of the country, they have not found the people to be as desirable.  Here in Michigan when you walk down the street and someone is coming at you from the other direction, you can be almost certain that your eyes will meet and one or both of you will nod a hello.  Kristen tells me that in Portland, people do not make eye contact.  They don’t look at you.  Weird, huh?  With my job as a recovery nurse to patients having eye surgery, you can be sure I spend my day looking into plenty of eyes.  But even when I’m not at work, I tend to always catch the eye of the person I walk past or the service person or waitress who is speaking to me.  I love how, when eyes meet, I can smile at that person and instantly a smile appears and reflects back at me.  I think God created us so that our eyes were meant to connect.  Unlike most all the other mammals I can think of, we are the only mammal that show the whites of our eyes.  It makes the dark center of our eyes stand out.  It is easier to see where someone else is looking.

Our eyes can convey so much:  they give away our emotions and can convey attentiveness and an intimate bond when eye contact is made.  By a look into someone’s eyes you can tell if they have shifty eyes, bedroom eyes, sad eyes, a sparkle in their eyes, kind eyes, or eyes that are glazed over.  There is a Romanian proverb that states, “The eyes have one language everywhere.”  No words needed here – just look into someone’s eyes and you will know a lot about them.

Psalm 119:37 tells us to “Turn my eyes away from worthless things.”  Yeah – we are what we look at!  What are you gazing at on that computer screen?  Are you staring and lusting for some expensive, unnecessary bauble or fancy item?  Are you stuck on looking at the past?  Do you see the poor and needy as dirty and worthless or do you see the pain and their needs?   As I gave more thought to the non-eye-contact Portlanders I realized what may be the cause.  Portland just about caters to the homeless and offers food and shelter to thousands.  You could say it promotes the homeless lifestyle.  On most any street you walk in Portland, you will find people asking for money.  Perhaps this has caused the general population to turn away and not make eye contact with anyone so they do not have to encounter and dismiss another person with their hand out?

Helen Keller once said that, “Of all the senses, sight must be the most delightful.”  I would have to agree.  I would rather lose my hearing than lose my sight.  Poor Helen had neither.  You’ve heard the expression in describing something gorgeous and lovely as being “a feast for the eyes”?  I hope sweet Helen had a banquet waiting for her in heaven!

“My eyes are ever on the Lord” is the wise advice of Psalm 25:15.  Yes, we must keep our eyes away from worthless things and look for direction from the Lord.  He is our ultimate example of how we should live.  And although we should try to keep the picture of an empty Easter tomb fresh in our minds, I understand the challenge of keeping our eyes and minds set in the direction of God’s way and plan.  It’s all about faith as 2 Corinthians 4:18 tells us how we must, “…fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.”

And finally, I must share these two wise quotes I found about eyes and seeing that I discovered today which offer wise marital advice:

“Keep your eyes wide open before marriage and half-shut afterwards.” said Benjamin Franklin.  Ah yes, wise old Ben!

Haha

And my favorite:

“Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes.”  –  Jim Carrey

Love it.

Just Laurel

I do not like going to garage sales.  I really don’t need somebody else’s stuff – I have enough of my own stuff that I can do without.  Fortunately, twice a year our city has a “Citywide Garage Sale” and I love HAVING a garage sale.  It’s a great way to purge and get rid of stuff.  Not only do the closets and drawers get cleaned out, but I make a little money as well.  And what doesn’t sell I take to a thrift shop.  It’s a win-win for everyone!

The citywide garage sale is in two weeks.  I have been busy pricing stuff (the part I don’t like).  As I sorted through a box of cast-offs from the cleaning-out efforts of one daughter, there were some textbooks she no longer needed.   I decided to check with some websites that buy back college textbooks.  There was a biology book, a chemistry book, and a calculus book.  All three looked practically new – and one was even still in plastic shrink wrap (wonder why she never opened it? – oh well, too late now!).  Not one book buy-back website wanted any of these three books.  Huh?  Has biology changed?  Did chemistry get re-written??  And are the rules all new for calculus?  How could these three subjects have changed so much that they had to print a new edition of the book and declare the older one outdated?  Grrrrr.  I don’t understand.

One of my ‘to-do’s’ today was to finally get to the secretary of state to get new plates for the Chevy Cobalt parked in my garage.  It’s Jill & Andy’s car – in storage while they are living on their island – and it still has Tennessee plates.  Well I thought I was prepared with all the paperwork to take care of the task, including a signed consent that gave me power to make decisions on the Chevy while the kids were out of the country.  (after all – the car IS taking up residence in MY garage)  “I’m sorry ma’am but the instructions have changed,” the nice secretary of state lady explained to me, “and we will need a photocopy of Andy’s driver’s license.”  Really?  All that time waiting for my number to be called at the secretary of state place and now I have to go back??  Again?  (By the way – Andy if you are reading this – I need you to fax or email me a photocopy of your driver’s license please.)

Why must people always change things and rewrite the rules?  I can accept that there are changes and new discoveries in biology and chemistry – but to have to produce a new book to replace one that is only a few years old?  Please.  Science basics have not changed.  And calculus?  Explain to me how that can change enough to require a new book.  And the secretary of state?  Ehh…that’s government run.  Rules and regulations are always changing there.  I guess I should have expected that one.

Malachi 3:6 says “I the Lord do not change.”  Hurray!  So nice to know we have an unchangeable God!  His rules do not change and His book is not outdated.  Jesus told us that whosoever believes in Him can have eternal life.  He does not change the rules.  He did not add to the requirements for salvation.  Hebrews 6:17 tells about God’s “unchangeable character” and how He promises and then fulfills His plan and purpose in our lives.

In life we must accept the fact that there will be rewrites, new rules, a different version, corrections, additions, and modifications to instructions we must follow, directions we are given, and guidelines we must adhere to.  Confusing, huh?  James 1:17 says our heavenly Father is one “whom there is no variation.”  Unchangeable.  That’s nice, God.  I can deal with that.

Just Laurel