Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Speak Less and Study More ~

It's important that we literally stop and smell the roses!
Don't miss what is before you...

~

So often I am made aware of those around me who take everything on.
I know I've written of this before...
I also believe their intentions are good !

As a result of choices made, they continue to be frazzeled, and
exhausted, 
so much so they are missing out on that which is under their own roof....
moments that are gone and can not be recaptured...

I would call those lost moments, regret.
It's why I continue to write about it....regret is not something
one really wants in the end...

I just read this morning that Billy Graham was quoted as saying that if he had
it to do all over again he would "speak less and study more".
Wow that was big!

I read of another man who involved himself in every project he came across, 
then realized
how his family had suffered such loss in his choices to do so.
A week at home without a project of any kind is what allowed him to see
how his life had been blowing by him and explained why his wife was so lonely.

It's a tough pill to swallow, having someone to share your life with,
 yet
experiencing loneliness as if you were but one.....
I've been there and it's such a sad place to be.
When we marry, isn't it about companionship,
 having someone to 
share
our lives with?

We don't marry with the intention of becoming strangers that pass in the night,
yet it happens.
If only one would stop and consider, 
who is getting most of you?
If you were to lose the person(s) your committed to,
would you have regrets of where your energies and time was spent?
I pray not....

~

Quoting Author Frank Boreham, 
" It becomes a question of fruitfulness, and sometimes, a question of character.  It may be tempting to believe your own press and think that the world of speeches, sermons, noble causes and 
community  projects would be utterly impoverished without you
 (if they could survive at all).
But its' a mistake to spread yourself too thin."

~

Quoting Author Jim McGuiggan,
In the end, "nibbling on the run" destroys the effectiveness and fruitfulness of a teacher or
a speaker.  It robs others too.

Like maybe our families?
I'm not willing to miss out on this...










Maybe we stop saying were going to slow down and actually do it?
Not after this week, month or year,
but now before more moments are lost....

Hopeful that we learn to say no more often than we do,
and yes to those we call our families....
There was a time I couldn't say no...
so much less stress once I learned it was okay to
do so!
                                                                                             I wish I had learned this much earlier in my life....

~
Something doesn't have to be going on all the time, really!
Take more time to be a family with your spouse, children and grandchildren.

I'm choosing that my family not receive me as,
leftovers....

Time spent is what echos from my heart today

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Thankful for Friendships ~


A sweet friend of mine has recently turned 40 (just a baby)....
She chose to Seize 40, in fact made it the birthday theme.



She rented a beautiful lodge in our local mountains and invited 18 of her gal pals
for four days of relaxation....

The Birthday girl Lori :-)

Each guest had a little gift bag waiting for them, in it candies, tissue, sterling sliver forks with
grateful imprinted on them, three recipes(two of which would be made over the weekend).



 The steps leading up to our time of rest and joy filled memories that were to be made...





















 Our own mason jar glass ....one of so many special touches.....



 Surrounded by beauty, and perfect southern California weather...


























 Below is Lori to me :-)





 Out my bedroom window ~







 Food prepared for us.....
snacks surrounded us at every turn...



 Love the special touch below...



 Many conversations going on in every corner of the house.
Lori invited her friends from church, friends from her job and friends from her childhood.
It was amazing to me that it felt as though we all had known each other,
 it didn't feel new, no one felt like a stranger to me.
  All of us though different, had something in common other than a friend in Lori, I'm just not sure 
what it was....but it was there...


Surrounded by the awesomeness of the beautiful lodge...no television, no laptop, no cell service
 to speak of...I had found the quiet I've been searching for.
Quiet, relaxation in a house full of women?
Yes, and no, I can't explain it, but it was quiet and peaceful.
~
It was as though we gathered from all over  not even aware of how much we needed
this time... a time of friendship with honest, transparent
women in need of rest, conversation ...pajamas at 5:P.M. !
~
Conversation that didn't require explanations..."it" was just understood.
Laughter was ever present....tears that often come with sharing...
sharing that which filled our hearts. 
 Our truths of pasts that didn't always work out as we thought they might,
yet in each situation joy seemed to follow when the fog broke,
showing the promise of brighter days.


 Lori led us in the making of Creme Brulee and it was good!!




~

We had moments deep in meaningful print...much that we shared, the stuff that made you think, deeply.










 She was seizing 40 yet I think we all felt as though the four days was just for us.
Seeing us happy and pampered filled her up!








We ended one evening with a photo shoot !















 

Oh what I learned from these genuine women who could have been strangers, but they weren't..




Friends caught up, 
Friendships made,
Oh, the friendships of women....
I'm hoping we have a reunion,
soon!

Thankful for every woman I shared even a moment with....
God is so good.....it's what echos from my heart this thankful Tuesday.