What a picture of the changes of life. As I read it, I thought of the change of the relationship in marriage as the years go by. My husband was more attractive to me after forty years of marriage than when we married. I appreciated Don putting it poetry.
I spent Thanksgiving with my daughter and her boys. One of the things I am thankful for is that they live close enough that I have the opportunity to visit them often during the year. I am thankful too that I can live through the sibling rivalry and brother-wrestling! It is quite different from the quiet lifestyle I have living with my sister and her husband, both retired.
My husband I raised two daughters and it has been interesting to watch my grandchildren grow. My husband used to say people lied to him when they said girls were quieter and ate less than boys; he said that until he had grandsons! Then he said, “They didn’t lie!” He was raised as an only child and a quiet one at that. Being with his grandchildren sometimes was a challenge for him!
I love being a Grandma. Although I am glad to be back to my quiet lifestyle, I always cry as I leave and miss my grandchildren when I’m home. I wonder where life will take them and if I will be able to see them often as they grow older. I wonder if I can have an influence for good in their lives. There are lots of temptations out there to pull them off track. So I pray for them, that no matter what happens, God will use it to draw them to himself so I can see them in heaven!
I look forward to spending Christmas with my second daughter and her four! I will be glad to get back to my quiet lifestyle, but I will cry when I leave them and I will miss them. I guess that’s what being a Grandma is all about!
2014 Thanksgiving Day is over. I had given thanks for God’s many blessings. It was a good day.
Does it end there? Do I go back to taking things for granted now that the legal holiday is past?
No. In the days leading up to that good day, a friend gave me a book, One Thousand Gifts, by Ann Voskamp. I was challenged to write 1000 things I appreciated as gifts. So I began. The sky was especially beautiful one day. One night it was very cold and I was thankful for a warm bed and fuzzy socks to keep my feet warm. I was thankful for God’s forgiveness when I had sinned that day. There was the bird that sat in the bare branches of the tree and the moon’s glow on the snow. I am over 400 now!
As I expressed thanks, He gave me joy and peace. My trust in Him grew. The God of the universe loved insignificant me enough to give me gifts, especially the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ. Could I not trust Him to lead and care for me?
He has given me so many gifts. Should I treat Him any less than I would anyone who gave me a gift? Gratitude should be an ever present part of my life.
Ah, the good things often are the hardest to take learn and take care of. That’s the way it is with my blog! I’m having trouble with getting my ages to display. My menu keeps doing its own thing. I hope those who are following me will be patient with me during my trying time. Guess I should stick to posts until things work right!
I was looking out my window yesterday, and I saw white snow dots blowing around. It reminded me of one day a few years ago when I went out when the snow was falling in my black winter coat. As the flakes fell on my coat sleeve, I was amazed. I could see the intricate patterns of each snowflake. They reminded me of paper snowflakes I have made, except they were so much smaller and much more beautiful, laying there on their black background. I stared at them as they melted. Their beauty was awesome. I was sorry to see them disappear. The Creator who made such intricate, awesome things was One who deserved my praise.
As I look around and take note of what I see, I realize there are many things that are beautiful, things I often take for granted and never say thank you to the the One who made them, this One who loves beauty. As I have begun to take note and realize how blessed I am to behold God’s gifts, I am finding joy. When I face the bad things, I think of the gifts He has given me and I find I can walk through bad things with Him.
I’m sitting at my computer, looking at emails and blogs, deciding who I should follow, what I should write. I pause to look out the window. It’s open, letting the cool breeze blow items off the window sill. It’s gray outside, but I don’t mind. It’s neat to look at the tree in the back yard with its autumn yellow leaves dancing to the music of the wind. The leaves are so beautiful, but they are facing their last days, in the throes of death. I am reminded that even in the autumn of my life, there is much to be thankful for. So often I am ungrateful because my body’s aches take my attention from God’s goodness and faithfulness, and the many blessings he has given me. So I make a commitment to let praise and gratitude spill from my mouth, for then my body won’t have the last word and there will be music in the wind for me as well as for those beautiful but dying leaves.
I have 7 grandchildren, six boys and one girl. This is how I felt when I watched him coming into the world.
GRANDCHILDREN
How magnificent to see myself
wrapped in the soft pink skin
of my newborn grandson.
In him I see the dawning sunrise
of hope released in
the squinched blue eyes and tiny fists.
With a squall, he grabs life
and demands his place by his mother,
taking sustenance from her body.
How marvelous to see
the flesh of eternity
bound in the seed of love.
Darlene Estlow
I am looking forward to publishing my ideas, my poetry, perhaps my pictures! I look forward to the fun of writing as well as reading the posts and pages of others. I hope you will be part of my future blogs!
darlenescorner 