"TO HAVE AND TO HOLD..."

This past Memorial Day weekend, my parents celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary! Months before this special day, planning began to gather family and close friends from all over the country. Invitations were sent, a lovely reception hall overlooking the river was rented, centerpieces were designed using photos of my parents' wedding and cheerful red roses, and balloons were hung in big bouquets around the room. My niece even recorded music from 1954, the year my parents were married!

What a wonderful celebration it was! And most special of all to me was hearing from so many guests who came forward to share. One after another, they talked about how they'd been blessed by my parents and their marriage. The Lord had used Mom and Dad over those 55 years to care for so many people! What an amazing thing to hear how lives had been changed and people brought to know Jesus... all because my parents had held firmly to their faith and to each other!


Lord, thank you so much for Mom and Dad. May you use my husband Joe and I in our marriage to honor You all of our days!


The picture above was created by me in celebration of my parents' anniversary. While deliberating on a border to frame the piece, I could think of nothing better than "Rol hearts Joan hearts Rol hearts Joan..." forever! :)

LOVE ONE ANOTHER

"Love One Another"

I've been wanting to update my blog for the month of February... something appropriate for Valentine's Day, something "meaningful and insightful", perhaps some whimsical story or "fresh new take" on what it means to LOVE (and YES! I have been waaaay over-thinking this blog post! ;) ).

But in the end, I've returned to a favorite portion of Scripture that best sums up Love for me. From I Corinthians:13...

"Love is patient,
love is kind.
It does not boast,
it is not proud.
It is not rude,
it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered,
it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil
but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects
always trusts,
always hopes,

always perseveres.
Love never fails..."

I Corinthians 13:4-8 NIV

Please love those who cross my path each day with YOUR perfect love, Jesus. Help them to experience YOUR love for them through me... Amen.

JANE AND THE BEANSTALK

I've found there are many times while taking care of little children when I'm called upon to put aside my "big people" pride and practice some "little people" humility. Recently, I had just such a humbling experience...

On an excursion to our local Childrens' Museum last month, Jane (now 3 1/2) decided she was up for the challenge of climbing the Giant Beanstalk. She'd been thinking about climbing it for a very long time, and finally she'd summoned up the courage to do it!!

The Beanstalk is a steeply sloping stairway with netting around it that winds its way up from the museum's ground floor to the second floor. With great excitement, Jane slid off her tennis shoes and began her climb to the top...

Somewhere about two-thirds of the way up, I realized something was definitely wrong... Jane was stuck!! Without her shoes she wasn't able to get the traction she needed to keep going up, and she was too afraid to crawl all the way back down.

...And so, there was nothing to do but to climb up the Beanstalk myself and rescue her!

Looking back on it now, I know I must have been quite a sight! ~ a 51 year old babysitter (not as thin or as agile as I used to be) holding my bulky purse and a pair of little girl's tennis shoes tight and making my way (with great difficulty!) up the Beanstalk. But, to be honest, I really didn't care about what I looked like or what other people might be thinking about me. All that mattered was calming a little girl's fears and encouraging Jane in her climb to the very top!

As I've thought back on this, I have to admit that I sometimes feel just like that little girl, perched precariously and in need of rescuing. And Jesus comes into my situation with me. He stays with me in my predicament. He brings with Him just exactly what I need, and He cares for me. He calms my fears and then He encourages me forward.


Thank you, Lord, for little children, who teach us so much about humility and so many profound lessons in life about being loved by You.


edited by Patti Moore ~ Nov. 14, 2007

YOU'VE GOT MAIL!!

Owen is my little buddy who lives with his mom, dad, and a great big dog named Floyd two doors down from me. He's a 3 1/2 year old blonde haired, blue eyed, fun-loving charmer who adds a whole lot of joy to my life!!

Owen has been coming to my house since he was a baby -- he knows where I keep the cookies and the dog treats and all the "cool" trucks (leftover from when my boys were little). I love the way he walks right in and makes himself at home! If he's curious about something, he just comes right out and asks his question -- "Why is Salem a barking dog?"..."Can I have that orange?"..."Can I play with your video game?"..."Do you have any more cookies?"...

One of Owen's favorite things to do is to bake cookies with his mom, and then get on his "bike" and deliver his sweet packages to all the neighbors (as you might imagine, Owen has made a lot of friends on our block!). Or, if cookies aren't available, a good second best is to deliver one of his recently handmade preschool masterpieces. The other day, I was surprised to hear a little knock, knock, knock on my front door, followed by loud barking. Not seeing anyone through the window, I opened the door and there was Owen with a big grin on his face! He had come to deliver some artful "email"; but try as he might, he just couldn't reach my mail slot. I mistakenly thought he would just hand me his picture while I "Ooooo'd" and "Ahhhhh'd" and thanked him profusely -- silly me!! Instead, Owen got me to shut the front door and then lift him up high so he could slide his "mail" through the slot. It was so much fun, we had to do it over & over again! The best part for me was the big hug that my little "mailman" gave me!

What a great reminder to me, Lord, to give out of love, with joy and simplicity!! Thank you for blessing me with my little friend, Owen!

Written 2/16/06