Christmas

Where would life be without Christmas, memories of past experiences, family, traditions, stockings, and presents.  The things we take for granted at Christmas, remind us as we get older - how precious those moments are in life.  We wake up and realize yesterday is gone, traditions are forgotten, family has moved away or is no longer with us and we ache for those memories of the past.

The joy of a child on Christmas morning as they hurry to see what Santa has left.  Stockings overflowing with fun items, candy & fruit, packages under the tree, and on the couch or beside it, the real Santa gift.  As we grow older, the things we expect soon make us realize the Christmas joy we once felt is truly meant for those that are kids and/or kids at heart.

Don't lose the joy, the fun in giving, the thought in planning, and the true meaning of Christmas.  Spend it with friends and family and never take it for granted.  Merry Christmas to all.

Hello friend

I thought back to yesterday & wondered how you were doing. I wondered if you had noticed we had stopped communicating by phone or even email. It seems time has gone by, and we didn’t notice another day had passed without a hello.



I walked last night, felt the breeze on my face and wondered where you were & if you were okay. I wonder if you remember our long conversations, our laughter at my silly blonde moments & the antics of my crazy dog. I smile at times when I think of you, and I wonder where things went wrong. We drifted apart, and after a while, we just forgot to say hello.


Hello my friend, I hope all is well with you. I hope life is bringing to you all the desires & wishes of your heart. I hope at times you think of me with a smile & I’m glad we shared smiles, laughter & tears. Always know I’m your friend, no matter how much time passes us by.


If I see you on the street, I’ll say hello, if I pass you on the road, I’ll wave and smile, and if we email or text, I’ll respond and say hello. No matter the time limit, no matter the distance, there are some people that are friends forever. Thank you for being that friend.

Beaches vs Oil

I’m a beach person. I love the beach, listening to the waves crash, the smells, the vast open space of the water, and the beauty of the sunset as it hits the water. I love seafood – grilled shrimp, crab legs, lobster, etc. I see it as a thing of the past – who wants seafood drenched in oil?


I know I’ve been going on and on about this oil spill. But the beaches I love are in my southern states. I enjoy going to Orange Beach, San Destin, Pensacola, and Dauphin Island. I’m wondering how long it will be before these areas will ever be the same. Will wildlife recover? Marshes survive? Marine life survive? I don’t know, and I know no one else does as well. The news reports are saying it’s the worse oil spill in U.S. history and the sad thing is it’s not over.


Seeing the pictures of seagulls, hermit crabs and birds covered in oil, brings tears to my eyes. These creatures have no idea what is going on and why it’s happening to them. I’m sure they sense fear and are bewildered wondering why and how.


I don’t know what it’s going to take to fix this mess, stop it, clean it up, and make sure it NEVER happens again. Every group, every force we have, every environmental group, governmental group, needs to make sure there are laws, regulations, fines, etc enforced to make sure our beaches, waters, wildlife, marine life, etc is never in this position again. Preparedness – where was it?


I hope the other companies drilling for oil in our Gulf learn from this bad situation. Take preparedness action, take your job seriously, and make sure we never have this happen again. I don’t have the answers or the solutions; I just know the fallout of this spill will carry on for a long time.


I want to walk on the beach, feel the sand beneath my feet, the breeze on my face, white seagulls diving for fish, hermit crabs crawling on the beach, and the smells of the ocean without the burning sensation of oil all around me.

Fowl cries help...

I’m a bird in the vast sky – I fly from ocean to ocean seeking food. As I flew across the Gulf, I noticed so many fish lying on the top water. Eureka I thought, wow – fish everywhere waiting for me. As I dove down to grab a bite, I in turn was grabbed by a slick wet thick dark mass. I panicked as I tried to free myself, but to no avail. It was thick like glue and soon was stuck to my feathers. I cried out a warning to my friends above me, do not come near – the ocean is full of death.

I could see the shoreline in the distance and the waves carried me away. I struggled to free myself, but nothing could free me from this dark mass. I could hear people talking nearby and heard them say words of an oil spill. I didn’t know what it meant, but I knew the Gulf was not the same. As I drifted towards shore, I saw people looking with tears in their eyes. The thick mass had reached the shore, the sand glistened from the oil, the marshes were slowly dying, and you could see the destruction all around.

I don’t understand why someone would do this; it doesn’t make sense to me. I’m just a bird in a vast blue sky, but now I’m stuck in a dark mass of oil. Help me to understand, save me and my friends, fix the waters and fix my habitat, because this is MY home. I’m meant to fly, not drift in this dark mass – make my waters livable again.

Oil and water doesn't mix

I'm just a fish in a vast space - filled with water. Today as I swam, I noticed something different - something that felt strange & scary. I looked around me and noticed how it was affecting those swimming with me, they were having trouble breathing, and soon they floated to the top. I thought they were going to get a look at what was transpiring, but then I realized they weren't coming back.

What could it be? Who is doing this? And … why. I swam closer to the big objects in the water to see if I could find the answers. I heard people talking about an oil spill, I wasn’t sure what it meant but I knew it had to be the strange feeling. I heard them say it wouldn’t hurt the wild life, but I wondered if they had seen my friends floating nearby.

I hear talk of blame, I hear excuses, but it doesn’t change the feeling, it doesn’t bring back life, and I still see the dark ugly spill all around me.

I’m just a fish in a vast space, but this is my home these people have invaded, and it’s my home that’s being damaged. Do they care? Or is it okay to lose a few fish, a few birds, and other living creatures? It matters to me, this is my home – this is my vast space.

In preparing for seasons, we get ready. For summer, we make sure the air condition, the ceiling fans, and all areas of coolness are ready. For winter, we make sure we have fire wood; we make sure the heaters are ready to be turned on for the cold blistery days. For spring, we start getting ready for the upcoming summer months. There are still days we need the heat, and there are days we’ll need the AC. For the hurricane season, we prepare our evacuation routes, we buy bottled water, flashlights and all essentials needed to sustain us. During a tornado season, we ready ourselves and family by getting in a closet, having a radio tuned to the latest news and weather reports. To prepare us for an oil spill … where is the plan of action? What measures are taken and why isn’t there “OIL SPILL PREPAREDNESS MEETINGS”. It seems we have so many groups, so many plans, so many people – but no action of how to prevent such things, how to prepare for them, and how to stop them from happening.

We can’t always predict the weather, the path of a tornado or hurricane, but from past weather disasters, we’ve learned to be prepared, we’ve learned to be on top of our game and learned to take immediate action.

It’s time we learned from the weather. It’s time for a plan of action so they’ll be no more loss in the water. It’s time to take action. No more excuses – just get it done NOW.

The Sun & the Moon

As I was driving home tonight from a long trip, I thought about life & how it compared to the road I was traveling. If you've never driven on the Natchez Trace, then you've never experienced the amazing sights of nature and the solitude of the drive. I thought about life, events going on in my present world, and how the road reminded me of situations in my life. Traveling on the Trace there are no street lights, no stop signs, traffic lights, stores or gas stations. There’s nothing but trees, animals and at times just wide open spaces.

As I looked out my window, I could see the moon shining down on me and it made me think of God, and despite the time of day, He shines like the moon and the sun. He's always watching over us, guiding us, and lighting our way regardless of the road we're traveling.

Life has unexpected bumps in the road, unexpected turns, and even the occasional traffic jam. There are times as we enter a "curve" we have no idea what's around the bend. When we face a "hill", we don't know what's going to meet us on the other side; we just faithfully follow the road and observe all the obstacles around us. When there are herds of deer on the side of the road, I slow down wondering if one is going to jump out in front of me or even collide with the side of my car. There are things in life just like the deer, there are situations that force us to slow down, be observant, and cautious.

There are times when life is like a nice country drive, little or no traffic, animals are where they're suppose to be (out-of-sight), and there are no dangerous curves or steep hills to climb. Put the car on cruise; enjoy the scenery and just drive. We're at peace, all is well, and we can just reflect on the joys of life.

Then ... we come to road constructions, traffic piled up, people switching lanes, frustration all around us, and we're stuck waiting and wondering if we'll ever get to our destination. Life is just like this, there are events and situations that force us to slow down, force us to decide whether or not to move ahead or detour another way.

Regardless of our roads in life, God is forever shining down upon us as the Sun and as the Moon. He can see the distance, he knows the road, and he knows the outcome. All he asks is our faith, the kind of faith that can move a mountain, part a sea, and the faith in knowing he loves us unconditionally.

What separates us from God is sin. There may be days we can’t “see” the sun or the moon because the clouds seem to hide them. But just like God’s love, the sun and the moon are behind the clouds waiting for the clouds to move away. God is always waiting on us to seek him, to ask forgiveness, and to glorify his name. God doesn’t leave us even when we walk away from him; he continually loves us and watches over us.

The next time you travel remember God's love, his guiding light, and know that he's traveled these roads, protects us as we head to our destiny and he knows what road we need to travel in life. Regardless of what we encounter on our life road, God is with us always and forever.

Unconditional Love

As a child I heard many times about God's unconditional love. I was at church almost every day of the week, Sunday School, Worship Service, Choir Practice, Training Union and evening worship - that was just on Sunday. Wednesday nights meant potluck suppers, and prayer meeting to follow. Thursday nights were youth Bible Studies, Friday night - skate night, Saturday mornings - Bus Ministry, and Saturday nights - skate night again. I knew God loved us in spite of our actions.

Until I became a mother, I didn't fully grasp what Unconditional Love really meant. You love your child in spite of the terrible twos, the independent 3's, and the endless questions of "why" at age 4 and 5.

I remember an incident with my son when he was in the beginning stages of the terrible two's. We are at the grocery store and he wanted out of the shopping cart, and I gave in to his demands. Big mistake, he threw a fit - laid on the floor and I calmly walked over him and continued shopping. I was hoping no one was watching and no one knew it was my child. Within moments he jumped up and ran screaming after me, so much for me thinking no one noticed. It was about a year before I ventured back into that store. I figured my picture was posted with a sign stating "mom with uncontrollable child".

It seems all through the beginning of your child's life you're trying to get them to talk, to say "mama", "dada" and all the words to every animal and color. My daughter loved to talk, she would come home from day care and school hoarse from talking all day. There were times when I picked her up I'd drive home and have no recollection of any of the trip excepting arriving home. She had talked non-stop about EVERY thing that happened that day. I knew every incident with every child and everything that had transpired that day.

As our children grow up, enter the 10 almost 20 age, hit the teenage years where they know everything there is to know about everything in their world, they become different creatures. It seems at time that aliens have arrived on earth, either replacing our children or turning them into creatures we don't recognize or remember. Our thoughts go back to that happy, giggling baby and we reflect back on - what in the world happened?

As a divorced parent and raising two kids on my own, I reflect back to events and situations and wonder was it something I did? Am I to blame for this alien living in my house? This is where unconditional love comes into my mind and I know how God feels when we mess up, we walk away, and we ignore his words. He loves us in spite of the way we act, the way we talk, and the way we live.

God doesn't give up on us. There are times as parents all we can do is just love our children, and to let them go, let them make their own choices and decisions and trust in God to protect them and guide them. Even when dishing out tough love, our unconditional love continues.

If God had human form, I'm sure there would be many days he would have circles under his eyes, worry lines on his forehead, and feeling tired and drained. God promises us he will never leave us or forsake us. God gives us freedom of choice, freedom to choose right or wrong, and loves us unconditionally.

I pray for my children daily, to make the right choices, make good and smart decisions, and to seek God's guidance in all they do in life.

Unconditional love - a love that never stops, never gives up, and a love that is in spite of.