Back to Normal . . . Sort of

Life Lessons

The past two weeks have been very reflective after the deaths of two grandparents so close together.  They were both amazing people whom I do not want to forget.  Nor do I want to let their life lessons turn to dust after their passing.  Therefore, I want to highlight a few things that are worth remembering!

First of all, my grandpa did not gossip.  You couldn't pay him enough to even rat on himself let alone anyone else!  Although he did not talk about other people, he did spend a considerable amount of time checking on everyone he knew that was important to him.  This was evidenced by the number of people who told on him at the funeral.  Family members and neighbors recounted how he would call regularly to make sure everyone was doing alright.  He sent cards and newspaper clippings to let people know he was thinking about them.  He visited friends and family on a normal rotation.  He had no idea what facebook was; well, maybe he did, but he spent more time face to face.  What a golden example!

Lesson:  Don't gossip.  Get face to face with people!

Family Thanksgiving - a long time ago!
Dad is on the back row holding me in a red jumper.
Grandpa is on the far right.  

Next, Memaw was devout in her relationship with God.  She took it seriously that everyone needed to know God.  I remember one of her granddaughters telling me that Memaw asked regularly if they were in church and taking her great-grandchildren.  The pastor at the funeral also talked about Memaw's concern for her quilting circle.  My family attends church with our children every Sunday.  However, I need to evaluate how I present myself to other people outside my Christian circles.

Lesson:  Make sharing Christ a priority.

40 and Fabulous! 
Also, my dear sweet mom stressed to me that I need to get into shape!  She pointed out that my first grandmother died at the age of 63 with Ovarian Cancer.  My mom had Breast Cancer about nine years ago.  She recently made a plea for me to get into shape, so I downloaded a Nike app on my phone that includes workouts.  The one I tried is a fifteen minute workout with rotations of exercises each minute.  It allows me to pick my workout music too and has a guide talking me through each step.  Fun times!  I picked the Newsboys.  This album has great energy.

Lesson:  Get into shape so I can be around to take care of my parents in their old age.


In addition to getting into shape, I need to make myself presentable in shorts!  Admittedly, I don't shave as often in the winter.  And my legs are super white!  I will be shaving and using a homemade sugar scrub to help get my skin ready to be seen.  There are many recipes on Pinterst for sugar scrub.  I just use a simple one consisting of 1/4 cup of honey, 1/4 cup of olive oil, and one cup of sugar.  This helps to get rid of dead skin and give moisture back at the same time.  It is also gentle enough to use on your face.  Just don't do it every day.  Once or twice a week is plenty!

Open Book

I'm currently reading two books:


Not For Sale is about the global slave trade.  It is real!  Slavery is not legal, but it still exists.








I'm also reading The Scarlet Thread because I need some entertainment.    As the title suggests, I'm predicting some infidelity somewhere in the book; however, because the author is Francine Rivers, I'm expecting forgiveness and reconciliation at the end too!



Valentine's Date

Even with all of this going on, my husband and I were able to go on our annual Valentine's date.  We attend a local scholarship dinner which includes a steak dinner, dancing, and auctions.  This year we were thrilled to take up an entire table with our Sunday School class.  These are such wonderful people!

Crafting

I also had enough left from my skirt to make one for Model T!  Isn't she just the cutest?

See You Later, Grandpa!

Watching someone you love go downhill physically is very hard.  I wasn't even there for much of it.  My sweet parents took care of my grandpa in his final stages.  They moved him from home to home to home as they tried to find the best place to care of his changing needs.  In making the arrangements for the funeral, dad said it would be graveside and closed casket because grandpa has looked better.  Well, that's true, and I prefer to remember him when his belly actually still shook with laughter.  And, according to Heaven is for Real, he will look 20 something when I see him again.  Yes, I will see him again, and that is why we say, "See you later, Grandpa!"

Mom asked me to come up with a few stories that I liked about Grandpa.  So . . . I remember at my wedding when the photographer said, "Show me those pearly whites!"  I started laughing because Grandpa hasn't had any "pearly whites" for a long time.  When my husband and I moved to our small town, I caught Grandpa on two dates, and he pretended not to know me!  He lived about an hour away, but he loved this small town and brought his girl friend here for the best bbq and entertainment.  On random occasions, he would send a news article to us in the mail.  It was usually just something that reminded him of us, and he wanted to share it. I also remember that Grandpa always knew Bible trivia like no one else around.

In honor of Grandpa, check out this site:

http://listverse.com/2010/12/17/10-biblical-facts-that-everyone-gets-wrong/

and a few more from http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/5869627-strange-facts-found-in-the-bible

Noah was 600 years old when he built the ark, and 950 when he died. Genesis 7:6 and 9:29.

Manna tasted just like honey wafers. Exodus 16:31

In ancient Israel, men sealed a deal by exchanging sandals. Ruth 4:7

The iron point alone on Goliath’s spear weighed about fifteen pounds. 1 Samuel 17:7

Joseph was 17 when his brothers sold him to the Ishmaelites. Genesis 37:2

The Gospel of Mark reveals that Jesus had brothers and sisters.

The term ‘scapegoat’ comes from the use of a goat that was to receive the sins of the people and be released into the wilderness. Leviticus 16:10

Moses was four months old when Pharaoh’s daughter found him in a basket. Acts 7:20-21

In Old Testament times people wore a sack-cloth so other people would know they were in mourning. 2 Samuel 3:31

Locusts, Katydids, Crickets and Grasshoppers were considered clean food for the Israelites. Leviticus 11:22

Gp playing with play-dough and Model T. 

Dad and Gp

Mi hermanita, Gp, and me (pregnant with Model C).

Gp and Model C with 90 years between them on that bench. 

A Tribute to the Legacy

One week ago, I was chatting with my friend about all sorts of things.  We talked about our kids, our hobbies, and our grandparents.  She recalled a time when she had talked with her grandmother about passing on to Heaven.  Memaw was ready, but her spirit couldn't turn loose of her body.  Monday after lunch, I started getting text messages, phone calls, and voice mails from several friends.  When I finally checked my phone, I realized that my friends were trying to let me know that Memaw finally let go.  The text message said, "Memaw is gone."  Let me tell you her story as I knew Memaw.

Today would have been her 92nd birthday.  She rejoined Pepaw in Heaven on their 74th anniversary.  She worked in food services in the local school district, taught Sunday School at church, and loved quilting and gardening.  She also loved her family and the Lord.

I was in first grade when I met her and became friends with her granddaughter, Karen.  In that Sunday School class, every student learned the books of the New Testament to a little tune.  I still sing it in my head when I'm flipping through my Bible looking for a passage.  I grew up hanging out with her grandchildren.  I knew Memaw and Pepaw through their grandchildren.  So many of my memories growing up are attached to that family: slumber parties, Sunday School, summer camp, mission trips, weddings, funerals, riding bicycles, and on and on.  I even pestered Memaw enough that I eventually got Christmas stockings at her house.  In fact so did my husband and kids.  The family counted me as the "other" granddaughter.  I don't just remember Memaw.  I remember her family.  She is a part of a bigger picture.  She is part of a family and a legacy that she helped build with a foundation of values and a love for the Lord.

Part of the foundation that Memaw built for her family was faith in God.  I loved how at the funeral that the minister pointed out that Memaw made it her business to make sure that everyone she knew had a relationship with the Lord.  He told a story about how she asked him to come speak to her quilting circle about salvation.  Even in her retired years, she was not a retired Christian!

So in honor of Memaw, I want you to make sure that you know how to have a saving faith in God.  He desires that we should all know Him and have a relationship with Him.  He made us and we need to get to know our Maker.  The problem is that we all sin.  Sin is when we do things that God did not design us to do and does not want us to do because those things are harmful to us.  Whatever those things are, they hurt our relationship with Him.  Just like little kids, there are consequences for those actions, but God sent his own Son to take care of that for us by paying the ultimate price with His life.  If we will accept what God's Son, Jesus, did for us, then we can come back into a right relationship with Him.

Luke 19:10 says, "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."
John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the World, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life."
John 3:18 says, "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe is judged already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
John 10:10 says, "I came that they might have life, and have it abundantly."
Acts 3:19 says, "Repent therefore and return, that your sins maybe wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord."
Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Romans 10:9-10 says, "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."

Model T talking to Memaw

All of the grandkids and spouses.  Memaw in the middle.  

If you have personal questions about your relationship with God, please let me know how I can help you.

Every Area of Life in a Salad Toss

Do you ever feel like there are so many things going on in life that you are just a day short each week?  Yes!  That's me!  I'm so glad that my department is giving a diagnostic this week so I can relax for half a second while the kids are taking it.  Of course after that, I have to figure out how they did and how to focus my teaching until the state test.  And then there are my personal kids, my husband, extended family, friends, neighbors, Sunday School class, my personal books, books for school, books for kids, laundry for me, them, and everyone else, and, and, and . . . Toss it altogether and this is my life.

Book Talk
 Today I finished reading The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas.  My students told me it was sad.  They warned me multiple times.  The book was great.  The perspective of a German child during World War II was very interesting.  The end was a complete shock.  I teach literature and can often predict and plan an outcome based on certain formulas.  Not this one.  I had no idea.  This book was completely worth it!  It is easy to read, but the concepts run deep.  Good literature pulls at you emotionally.  This book got to me.

What book are you reading?  Do you have one that I really need to add to my list.  My list is long, but I love a good recommendation!  

40 and Fabulous
I am not there yet.  I'm 38.  Yes, I just shared my age.  I love my age.  At the same time, I know that 40 is coming.  Right now, I'm at the heaviest I've ever been aside from pregnancy.  Right now I'm pretty darn close to that with no excuse of a little person inside to blame for it.  My friend challenged me to no sodas for the three weeks leading up to a Valentine's Event.  I had one tonight.  Just one 8 oz. Coca Cola in a glass bottle.  I did not drink a 12 oz. can.  I think my bigger problem right now is chips.  I can eat an entire can of Pringles without a second thought.  That may be part of the problem.  I need to give things a second thought.  And a third thought.  Online there are several calculators that will tell you an ideal weight for your height and age.  According to the silly thing, I'm between 2 and 23 pounds overweight.  Just a few pounds doesn't sound bad, but when you put 20 pounds on a short person, I'm overweight by too much.  So, no chips and no cokes.  One step at a time.

Thesis
This is a confessional series for sure!  I missed the deadline to graduate last semester.  I've been working on this degree for way too long.  I have enough hours for two MA's I bet.  I need to finish.  What's more is that I think God is ready for me to be done.  I know my husband is ready.  I haven't touched it in over a month, so tonight I'm going to get it out and revisit it to see what I need to do.  I dread it at this point.  Getting the ball rolling is always hard, but here goes.  Again.

Learning Opportunity

My dear ol' dad asked why my blog was called "Growing Grey Hair."  I explained that growing grey hair is a sign of wisdom.  He should know because he has plenty and Mom is a gorgeous silver head of knowledge!  I'm slowing joining that group too.  However, my biggest learning challenge right now is raising my own children.  Although I'm a teacher, my personal kids are not the star students in class.  In fact, Model T is just a normal kid.  She is full of her own personality, quirks, and struggles.  Struggles build character, but I don't want them to beat her down.  I don't want her to lose heart. Last week I received an email from K5 Learning with a request to evaluate their program.

K5 Learning has an online reading and math program for kindergarten to grade 5 students. I've been given a 6 week free trial to test and write a review of their program. If you are a blogger, you may want to check out their open invitation to write an online learning reviewof their program.

So here goes my investigation!