I want to say a little something about Easter. It's going to happen tomorrow. When we wake up in the morning it will be Easter morning. If there is snow on the ground it will be Easter. If it is sunny and warm it will be Easter. If you are alone or if you are with a spouse, if your house is quiet or filled with many voices of loved ones it will either way be Easter.

     An official definition of the day is: "the most important and oldest festival of the Christian Church, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ " 

     We don't need Easter hats as a friend and I did some 35 years ago when we were blessed to celebrate it together. We don't need imaginations as my little brothers and I did one Easter when we convinced ourselves that we saw the Easter bunny in the pulp wood pile by the driveway as we peered out the bedroom window. We don't even need fancy Easter cakes...and most of us can remember the late nights and extravagant artistic endeavors we put ourselves through to decorate such for our kids. We really just need to wake up. It will be there. A reminder, a time of celebration of the reality of the amazing gift to the world.... Christ Alive.

     

Just as we add restraints and self imposed regulations on our lives as our way of protecting ourselves from the present pandemic...we as a people have imposed self regulating behavior and restrictions on the joy of living in order to protect ourselves from the curse of death. Why don't we just praise Him tomorrow for His Pathway to Himself that we were granted access to through the Death and Resurrection of Jesus...Our longing and hope fulfilled. The promise of life, the peace of now. Whatever the circumstances.

Walking the Way

Charlene

1. 9/28/16                  Just some thoughts on Prayer #2

I said last time that Praying is something we are commanded to do.   I want to be sure of that. I think Paul tells us to and Jesus assumed that we would.  More on that later because I am so convinced it is a way of life for a Disciple of Christ I know I will come to the scripture as I go along with this.

Jesus in Matthew 6:6  said “6But when you pray, go into your inner room, shut your door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. {NASB}
He is saying “when you pray…as an assumption that we would…

Now I want to find specific prayers to use when praying for others…

So tonight the first verse is …using http://biblehub.com/

   2 Thessalonians 31Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it did also with you; 2and that we will be rescued from perverse and evil men; for not all have faith. 3But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. 4We have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will continue to do what we command. 5May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ.{NASB}

From this passage we get an example of how to pray for leaders and pastors and those sharing the word of God

. pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified,… 2and that we will be rescued from perverse and evil men

Another in Colossians

that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ,… 4that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak.

Looking at the amplified version….”that God will open a door [of opportunity] to us for the word, to proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I have been imprisoned; ⁴ that I may make it clear [and speak boldly and unfold the mystery] in the way I should.”Amplified Bible

….”that God will open a door [of opportunity] to us for the word, to proclaim the mystery of Christ, that I may make it clear [and speak boldly and unfold the mystery] in the way I should.”

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 Then an example of a prayer for each other.

 I had not noticed this wording before…

”May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ.   

That is a beautiful prayer.

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Now to 2 Thessalonians 1: 11To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power, 12so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.  {NASB}

Again another prayer for each other:

that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power,

12so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 Here is an example where Paul admonishes us to pray…and gives us advice about it then he tells us how to pray specifically for him…we can use this for our pastor, and teachers as well…

  Colossians 4 2”Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; 3praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; 4that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak. {NASB}

We are to devote ourselves to prayer and keep alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.

Well, I am going to utilize these Words some now…

That’s it for tonight
CfR

LESSONS FROM A LENTEN ROSE

Today my friend and I left the coziness of her back yard and wondered farther afield walking through some of her gardens that she had created through the years. We walked with dreams of how they would look if only either of us had the energy and health to release them from their bondage of many seasons of neglect..  It was a time of joy, yet a time of sadness.

     We found this plaque that has survived many seasons.

The joy for me, was seeing these hidden gardens for the first time up close and personal without the growth of spring and summer which would very soon hide them from view of all but my friend, their creator. 

I could imagine them in their fullness of season.  I could hardly keep myself from using the little strength I had to get down and release the edges of carefully placed rocks and bricks which were mostly buried beneath years of fallen leaves and encroaching grasses. 

  I marveled as the artistry of placement placement and color and texture that Janie had woven into each little nook.  

But I became sad as I realized what she must be remembering when health and youth were hers and the sun tanned strong limbs and freckled her nose. I could feel the loss for her of these places displaying perhaps  her greatest Art.

This little diversion  through these outdoor rooms, imagined and created during a stronger healthier season of her life, brought to her more sadness than joy, I think.

But...I believe God is in the Garden...

and while crawling under wayward vines and over undergrowth I was surprised by life again....

There tucked in at the base of a tree I saw this shaggy looking plant, but didn't recognize it.  So I looked closer and saw that it had blooms which were facing the ground instead of the sky.

I reached back and turned the little drooping head upward and peered into its face. I was filled with awe.

"Oh, how beautiful!

Why are you hiding little plant?  Do you not know how much joy your beauty inspires?"

And I thought of God, walking through His gardens...

And I thought of me.

And I thought of those of you who have helped lift my head throughout this journey.

We cannot forever maintain the pace of youth.

We cannot always be planted in our "dream" spot.

Sometimes we droop.  

Sometimes our best work seems to go to waste.

But you see...

Janie knew that shaggy plant was there. 

 It had value to her. 

 She the Gardener knew it was often toxic, often droopy...

And she knew it had surprising beauty.

 I want to lift my head to the Son.

and in so doing,

I want to be the hand that lifts the droopy head.

because

I love discovering the beauty He has placed in his children.
In You.

 

 

 

My observations from the Book of Job-

  Section 3,

1-16-14

 

 I don’t believe many of us could imagine how Job must have felt when he heard the news from the three messengers.

 

 Surely it would be too much to even comprehend, especially coming one on the heels of the other.

 

But I wonder if in the back of his mind or in his heart, wherever it is our family dwells, he remained whole and very aware, with each word of loss, of a sense of relief.

 

Perhaps a physical sigh escaped after each message because he still had his family.

 

   And yet as he tried to comprehend the loss of his wealth and all means of regaining it,  a movement caught his eye and with a sinking heart he saw the fourth messenger.  This man approached with a bearing unlike the others and as their eyes met I am sure the heart of Job stopped and the world crashed for him with that sight....and he knew. 

Yes, I think he knew.

 

 And I can write no more on that because it is beyond my understanding.

When the burdened man spoke, did his words fall as words through a fire to a broken heap of humanity crumpled on the dusty ground?

 

 It may be, for we read in verse 20 that “Then Job arose…“

How long did Job remain on the ground in the broken posture of speechless agony before he arose and prepared himself to return there

in a posture of worship?

I have sat here with tears for a while now,  thinking and realizing how small and petty I am prone to be.

 A song that my husband Wayne sang many, many years ago has come to my mind.

I am including the link here and I really recommend that you take the time to let it speak to you as it has to me just now.
http://soundcloud.com/wd-tony/tall-on-my-knees


That will be the end of todays' Blog for I need to spend some alone time with Jesus and I can no longer see through these tears.


Love in Christ,

Charlene

Hi friends, You might want to scroll down to the Red text to a related Simey Story if you find my observations from Job a little tedious. 
 


 Study of Job Section 2--------------------------------------------1-14-14 and 1-15-14
Dear fellow students of the Word,
Hi,
I was thinking that unless you know that I totally believe this scripture from II Timothy, you may find my interest and fascination with Gods' Word a bit off the wall.  Actually you may find it so anyway.  But I am OK with that.

This is the basis of all I believe.

II Tim.3:15-17

  "…15and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work..."


 

Continuing on with the first chapter of Job....

     I find myself not able to just quickly read through this. I think because here we have a picture of God Almighty in conversation with Satan.

    Although I struggled to finish the book ‘The Shack’ by William P. Young,  and cannot imagine Jehovah in so small a form as depicted there, the imagery has somehow enabled me to imagine the following scene more comprehensibly than I might have otherwise.

I try to read this thoughtfully as though I had not heard it before....

Job 1:6-11

      6Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, 
and Satan also came among them.

 7The LORD said to Satan,

“From where do you come?”

 Then Satan answered the LORD and said,

 “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.”

 8The LORD said to Satan,

“Have you considered My servant Job?

For there is no one like him on the earth,

a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.

” 9Then Satan answered the LORD,

 “Does Job fear God for nothing?

 10“Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side?

You have blessed the work of his hands,

and his possessions have increased in the land.

11“But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has;

 he will surely curse You to Your face.”

12Then the LORD said to Satan,

 “Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.”

So Satan departed from the presence of the LORD.

This is an amazing moment in the Universe, that encompasses all time, and all people and answers in a few sentences several of the questions we ponder as we search for our own understanding of doctrines.

I don’t want to be sacrilegious or in any way take from the Glory of God by my words, but I am imagining that God set the scene here, using the ego and pride of Satan to trick him into admitting several things for all creation to hear, which Satan might not have wanted us to know.

Maybe God called a press conference. He, Our God, The creator, He who So Loved the world…could do that...

 I am going to take some liberties here and present my musings of what this might have looked like.

       Were these ‘sons’ good?
       I assume they were. In other translations they are referred to as angels.
       Perhaps when presenting themselves they spoke to God of their frustrations in watching over creation and mentioned that it seemed apparent to them that people on earth did not know about the plan of Satan to hurt God by destroying the bond between God and man. 

       Of course God knew this, but to remind all of heaven of His Omnipotence, he winked at them and said   "Fear not, watch this!"
       Then leaning over the podium he starts the conversation with Satan.
        And Satan, his ego stoked by the attention, lets escape from his own mouth statements that declare the greatness, love, protection, and power, that God holds over wee Man, and the constraining power God holds over Satan himself.
       This amazes me.
        I never realized this before.  

And I used to think that the book of Job was about the patience of Job.!

I imagine the sons of God are sitting there smiling….the Word is getting out, the cameras are rolling and here we have it. I never realized the wealth of information that these few verses hold...
What was revealed in this conversation?

1. Satan is real
2. He is cunning as we are warned, but not too cunning for God
3. He is walking around among us
4. He is considering us….and not for good….He is trying to get us to curse God. See vs.11
5. He understands our financial standing,
6. He knows our family circumstances
7. He understands our influence in society
8. He knows about the hedge…ahhhh the hedge. Had we heard of that before? Hmmm

OK, what else?

(I am thinking God gave the sons a big thumbs up about now.)

We also learn from this interview that

1. God knew about Job
2. Knew his commitment
3. His financial standing,
4. His family circumstances
5. We learn what it is that impressed God. That is amazing too. (we are not talking about salvation here, we’re talking about what God thought of what Job thought of God.) That’s how I see it.
6. We hear  that being perfect and upright impresses God,
7. that fearing God and turning away from evil impresses God. ( Perhaps that is the meaning of ‘fear God’, acknowledging that He is everything that is good and loving, and  in response choosing good over all that isn’t good.) More about that later….
8. We learn that God blesses…puts His blessing on a person, their finances, all that they put their hand to
9. We learn about the hedge…. when I hear that word and think of that concept, picturing the reality of it in my mind, I am inclined to sit back and smile. I first heard of the Hedge when I was in Bible School at Fairwood. I am getting off track again….
10. We see that Satan is not in ultimate control at all.

Truthfully, there are issues that I don’t understand still, but I am so glad to be reminded again today, as I sat with His Word, of these realities.

And in my heart I am reminded that it is very naïve to blame God when bad things happen.

I wonder how far across the globe Satan had walked before he smacked his forehead in realization that once again he had been outplayed.

Did the sons of God shout for Joy?

Did God chuckle?

　
There is a little family story, generated by our Simon. 
Yes, it’s Simey again!

He was six, we were sitting outside having a snack at the table after school. Of course we were using cloth napkins, and yes, it is important that you know that.

I was wanting a little order from the bickering between the three of them and announced that it was time to pray. All the details are not so clear to me anymore, but for sure he chided me for “always talking about ‘God and stuff“. And basically asked me for my reasons and authority for doing so!

I was a bit amused for that was pretty much out of character for Simon, so I supposed something was going on in his heart.

Well anyway, I told him I “always talked about God (and ‘stuff’)” because the Devil was always trying to make us not think about God (and ‘stuff’)

“Well, what does the Devil do?” he asked

I told him briefly what I knew about that based on this passage and II Peter 5:8. I used the term ‘walking around’ in my description…that I remember clearly because Simey screwed up his face and looking over his shoulder he exclaimed “well he’s walking around here ‘cause he just walked by me!”

I have to tell you it was difficult to keep objective at this point, I may have even looked around too.
 Anyway, I feigned deafness just so I could hear it again and sure enough it was repeated verbatim. 
Holding myself together on the outside, I asked the boy why he thought that the devil had walked by him.
 He replied, “because I was just gonna put something dirty from my nose on the napkin…so he must have told me to do that…but I didn’t!”

Now do you suppose it was about the time I suggested prayer that he changed his little boy heart about defiling my table napkin? I like to think so…..

Well, I didn’t get too far in Job again tonight but that’s it for today.

Walk confidently in that which you Do Know: That Jesus Christ, in another great moment in time, laid down His life in response to the Great love of God for Humanity, he died there, but came alive, having paid forever every debt we had to the Law of Sin and death. He sits at the right hand of our Father in Heaven, He intercedes for us to the Father. He left behind a gift, the powerful Spirit of God to dwell in us and lead us and enable us to hear and follow and Live and be....complete, perfect, upright....

Well, those are a few of the things…

Sitting back smiling…

Charlene

This year, it is my goal to come into His Word in quietness and meekness, as a child listening as I did the first time I heard the story of say, when my brother fell out of the hay mow and missed the horns of the cows, or when I watched a calf being born or discovered that there is a blood/brain barrier;  tiny little pumps that allow some things in to the brain, but close other substances off..

I want to sit at His feet. I want to sit by the lake and listen to the Words of Jesus. I want to experience how the Holy Spirit applies Gods’ Word to me, so that my life, like Jobs’, will be exemplary.
 

 

 

American Standard Version Job 1:1

There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and turned away from evil.

As I read the Bible this year, there are some topics that I want to grow in understanding of..

The first verse in the book of Job touches on five of those issues in the first five verses.

1. What does it mean to be perfect
2. What does it mean to be upright. And are those two different.
3. What does it mean to fear God?
4. What exactly is evil now…today
5. How to pray, what prayer is, how we should pray, when the answer is NO, etc..

      Some of my friends and I have finally admitted to each other that we have these questions and many more.  It was very freeing to realize that these questions that we hid with shame, are common, and perhaps essential to revisit occasionally in our lives, much as our offspring do as they come ’of age’ and we label them rebellious.

      Of course we now Know that we know, and have lived and seen Gods’ personal reality and His involvement in our lives, but the nature of change around us, the Super Grace theories, the ridicule and rejection of everything that speaks of authority and absolutes, even in the Church, sometimes leaves our heads spinning and sometimes our hearts wondering.*

 

      I was excited to read this first verse about this man,  because I am thinking that if God himself used these very words to draw a picture of Job for us to take an example from,… “a perfect and an upright man, one that fears God, and turns away from evil,” then Jobs’ life will be very helpful to us as an example as we study it.

It is apparent that Job was not just talking about being perfect, upright, fearing God and shunning evil…..he had actually been doing it.  God could see too...imagine that! 

American Standard Version Job 1:8
And Jehovah said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job? for there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and turneth away from evil.

 

 

Perfect

and an

upright

man

one that

fears God

and

turns away from evil.

 

 

And here is the beginning of a search for application of that state to our lives.

You where you are, in the ministry you are in, with the personality and strengths and giftings that are yours;  and I where I am, in the ministry I have, with the personality, strengths and giftings….and weaknesses that are mine.

And this is where we humble ourselves and pray for His Word to be made alive in us.

There are so many devotionals, so many words of instruction, suggestions, exhortations, (and here I write even more) that we can easily depend on the Word God gave to someone else, as good as that was for them, to fit us.

I would love to generate comments and discussion after this posting; that would appeal to my ego frankly, but I truly prefer that you are encouraged, and maybe even exhorted to pick up your Bible, and after sitting quietly in His presence, ask the Holy Spirit to make the Word of God alive to you…Alive, to YOU.

This would mean then, that you might find an example to follow in a persons life, you might be encouraged to get outside by reading Davids’ words:

 

. The heavens are telling of the glory of God;

 

And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.

2Day to day pours forth speech,

 

And night to night reveals knowledge.

Ps.19:2

And you will say to yourself…”It is?, well then, I am just gonna go outside and look and listen…”

And your life is renewed because the Holy Spirit made the word of God Alive…to You.

Some of you might be excited to look up the historical time frame of the events in Jobs’ life. You might suddenly understand a different thing about the personality of God. Or the personality of Job.

 

For instance…and totally unspiritual and unsanctified, is my amusement at the art of sarcasm, (which art I have perfected on my dear husband,) that Job employs on his ‘encouragers.’ I am working on destroying my accomplishments in the sarcasm department though, because other scripture came alive to me, and I heard the pleas of my beloved hubby finally.

So there are many ways the Word can come alive to us....

As I go on...I do get sidetracked, I am looking up information on the meaning of these words and descriptive phrases, I am finding that each one is a complete study in itself.

I will be continuing that search as we go on with this study, but the one that I think surprises and relieves us the most is the intended meaning of the word

 

PERFECT:

complete,

entire,

not wanting in any respect

I have known this for some time, this meaning, and when I first became aware, I was so ingrained by ages of misinformation, that I actually thought my friend had gone off the deep end into apostasy. So, I did a little research in an attempt to save his soul, and was surprised by joy to discover that completeness, lack of want, were all things that the life of Jesus in me provides.

 

Rom. 8:11

American Standard Version But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, he that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall give life also to your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

　

Col 2:8-9
American Standard Version Take heed lest there shall be any one that maketh spoil of you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ: for in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily,

Col. 1:27
American Standard Version
to whom God was pleased to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

 

Is not fullness and completeness the same?

I read in a commentary…I myself being no scholar…that…the area in which Job lived was not anything like the Bible Belt to say the least. It would not have been easy for Job to practice his faith there. I have used the reckoning myself that it would be easier to live ‘right’ if my circumstances were different.

The statement that spoke to me was…..

”…and though it might be distressing and afflicting to the good man to live in such a country, as it was to Lot to live in Sodom, yet it was an honor to him, or rather it was to the glory of the grace of God that he was religious here,…

”Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

 I would substitute the word Christian,…or even more descriptive of our ultimate goal…Christlike for the word religious.

 

There is so much more to these subjects, but I sat down to do this study alone, then decided to share, and now, 6 hours later…I need to close and finish up. But first I just wanted to identify number 5 a little more completely.

Talking about prayer…faith…communion:

American Standard Version Job 1:5 And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, (his seven sons and 3 daughters) that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt-offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and renounced God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.

 

 

Job apparently, even during prosperous, busy, productive days, took his parental fears and concerns and placed them on the alter. They were burnt there. Gone…given to God.

I am pretty sure that he stoutly presented, and stoutly believed that as he came to God with this physical offering for the possible sins of his family, that his God looked down on his children with renewed favor. Because they were now clean…by the shedding of that blood. Because Daddy Job believed God.

How much more…..

…when we anguish now, in 2014 AD, because our offering is the real, spilled blood of sinless Jesus Christ, perhaps we would do well to stoutly bring that offering to God, sometime during our day, and stoutly walk away.

This would be a working relationship with God. We, doing what we can (handing our concerns to Him)….Him doing the rest.(saving, changing, renewing, drawing, comforting…etc.)

　Thanks God for including the Book of Job in our Bible...

I was going to look into these attributes of Job that were of so much value that all heaven and earth became involved in their proving.

　
Let’s try tomorrow... 

Say goodnight Charlene

Nite..

 

 

 

Two feet off the ground.

Memories of Simon at Disney World

 

  For Simey, gravity is something to be scorned, ignored or conquered.  He may not think that through;  we do.
   When we cannot find him, we first look up, checking anything that could be used by him as a ladder to some higher plane that he seems drawn to. 

   When he was very little, just walking, he and his big brother developed some sort of deal....even without benefit of language.  Simey would venture bravely into dark closets, under the deck, between the trees and retrieve toys while his brother barked orders and manipulated him by stroking his ego with the title of "Simey the Brave".
  Well it was cute then.  Now that he is seven, too old to carry or tuck safely into a stroller, keeping track of him at Disney proved a stressful ordeal indeed, for Simey chooses to respond to no amount of barking. 

 

 So we arranged a plan. 

 Each adult kept a kid...

but we all three kept Simey....within arms length, within sight. 

  This actually worked pretty well. 

 We only lost him 34 times. 

   Of course to him he was not lost and always reassured us with perfectly logical explanations like "It's OK Poppy, I was just chasing that bird, or I was just trying to see if I could scale that stone wall to the top, or I wanted to feel the waterfall on the other side of the three foot gap that spans that 40 foot drop. Well, it seemed like 40 feet to us!

 

Ok, I know I should have rescued him before taking the shot...but...then I would not have the proof.  We had inadvertently left only one adult in charge during restroom break....see what I mean?

 

 or...I was following the map.....????

 

   But those occasional moments when he got tired, or was totally immersed in the magic that is Disney, we were treated to the magic that is Simey. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   We discovered that he is our hat boy. Mommy knew that, but Poppy and I didn't.

 

 

 This kid voluntarily laid out 78'9% of his total discretionary  spending money on a hat.  

 He looked at it

, wanted it,

 agreed to wait till later to see if he really wanted it,

 decided an hour later that he did,

and

after several financial sessions with Poppy,

 he bought it,

 wore it proudly all day.

 

As far as I know, he never doubted his hat purchase.

  That is cool to me. 

 At seven, he has a signature style.

 

 

.

   There were other hats

 

 

 

He just wanted a picture of himself in them though. 
 I would see him looking at them and remind him that Thursday was shopping day.

 

 "OK, he'd say, just take a picture of me wearing it then Nana."

 

 So I did 

 

     We discovered just how uniquely manipulative he is though.

and now...

 His adorable smile will never so completely fool me again.

 

(maybe) 

 

When we returned to our rooms, he started to make us think he was deceived by us and that we were guilty of grave financial injustice and therefore owed him hat money.

 

 He has the makings of a lawyer, I  tell you...sorry to all you attorney friends...for he almost convinced each adult, at different times and in different ways...to pay for his hat, therefore freeing up his 78.9% for the shopping on Thursday.  

(Almost I said.) 

 We put our adult heads together, heads that were by then swimming in confusion, instead of the nice pool 13 floors below,

and 

we took a united stand.

    I love the little smile that crossed his face when he realized he had been discovered.

 

  He admitted defeat very graciously.

 I think he was proud that he had engaged us and had been rewarded with our attention. 

He had been listened to. 

 I really think that is all he wanted.

 

.  It is only when he is ignored or misunderstood that he becomes rebellious and falls into a heap.

    I loved his random dancing whenever a tune distinguished itself from the general cacophony around us.
    We saw this at his brothers football games too.  Simey was supposed to be the water boy...a privilege given to him by a hopeful coach.  But his job should have been entertainer because when the victory music was played after a touchdown and the time was right for the water boy to dash out to rescue the parched players on the field with water,

 Simey would be seen Dancing.

  Totally unaware of his responsibilities

just dancing to the music. 

 And so he did at Disney. 

 

 

 And this I will remember, for I am overjoyed when my offspring exhibit freedom of expression...that expression I so sorely lacked as a young person.

 

He was the first of the three to engage the juggler,

                                and after his turn with him, continued to enjoy the act to the end.

 

How I loved the expressions on their faces as they became lost in the imagination of Walt Disney that was present around every corner

 

I watched their Mommy about thirty years ago as she too was exposed to this happy place.  The expressions were the same.

 

 

 

After hours of taking this little distracted bundle of joy by the shoulders and guiding him off railings, and fences, stonewalls and flower beds, I gave him a chance to sit independently on the ride.  I told him it was OK if he sat quietly and proved what a big responsible boy he was.

  He was delighted. 

 

He turned to me and said proudly, "Nana, am I proving myself?"

Wayne and I nudged each other in amusement and I replied "yes Simon, you certainly are proving yourself. 

 We are so proud of you."

Simon  beamed

 

 

And Simey likes tradition

 

The morning coffee or orange juice on the balcony was not missed by him.

 

 

 

 

 

He initiated the cheers, so smiling over this re-discovered treasure of 7 years, we joined in...coffee cups engulfing his innocent juice glass.

 

 

    Two feet off the ground is not a bad thing. 

 

Dancing "like no one is watching" is exhilarating for those watching,

and smilingly acceptingly when caught in the act of selfishness is childish maturity. 

 

I will cherish these memories.

  Simey knows how to live,

 how to chill,

 how to love.

  When we listen to him, he listens to us. 

 I love the lessons this boy teaches me.
 

Charlene...proud Nana

A Pirates Life...not for me either!

So, here we were at Disney World two weeks ago.  Wayne and I, our daughter Laura and her three children. 

 

I am going to talk about the oldest grandchild...Percy Lee III

He turned 9 just a few days ago.

 

 

 

We took the ride on a boat through the caves of the pirates.  Of course the ride was spectacular like all Disney attractions. 

We floated among the caves, dwellings and stomping grounds of various pirates.  It was cool and damp, the scenery lighted by campfires and smoldering buildings and dingy lamps.  Pirates lounged in filthy tattered clothing occasionally raising a booze bottle in a drunken cheer.  Some sprawled happily in pigpens, some against trees, all incessantly singing

 "Ho, Ho Ho, Ho, a pirates life for me!..." 

 

The music made me feel a strange sensation of romance and exhilaration and I found myself anticipating joyous grand dancing halls,  luxurious gowns and black shiny buckled shoes gliding across polished marble floors.

But in reality, the words of the song, which I just now read...and will not post here, speak of looting and pillaging, ravaging and squander.

That is what we saw depicted there in the caves.

In spite of the seemingly joyous promise of the catchy familiar tune, the intelligible message was deceptive.

Even when we turned a corner and saw  the Captain with tables piled high with gold and every manner of trinkets and baubles, the deplorable scene remained.

 We emerged from the attraction, squinting into the sunshine of the real day, Wayne and Percy Lee and I, and chatted about the amazing artistry and creativity of it all.

Then Wayne expressed what we all had been thinking when he said

 "It doesn't look like such a fine life to me though."

 

And that is when we discovered something wonderful about this little big boy of ours;  He surprised us by saying

 'Yes Poppy, I do not understand why they think the gold is enough!"

 

He is growing up, he is wise and perceptive for a 9 year old I think.

 

How often we grand parents worry about the future and how these little ones will cope with the world they are growing up in.

How can we teach them all they need to know and warn them against all the evils and the "second-bests?"

 

 

 I think we should stop worrying.

  God has put in their minds and hearts the ability to figure some things out.  As they grow and mature and move into discipleship with Jesus, the Holy Spirit of God will be faithful to teach and guide. 

 

I was worried a little about the influence of the pirates, but I need not. 

 Percy saw the truth. 

 Perhaps it is the influence of family values repeated continually;   the life of satisfaction with daily frugality and the joy of extravagance on vacation and special days. 

His Poppy is a good example of that.

  He lives in freedom and pleasure of spending with the family, in the brightness of  a special day that which he earned honestly on the other days.

Yes Percy Lee, you are right;

 the gold is not enough.

 

 

by Charlene...proud Nana