I actually got one good photo!!!

Kamen wasn't necessarily thrilled by his mom and Nana's insistence on a photo op right after his program. And it wasn't necessarily easy to even find him amid about 150 kids or so -- give or take a few! By the time they dismissed and urged the parents to come find their kids, everything was chaotic! I'm sure there must have been some lost parents along the way.

It was pretty funny watching a couple first graders make shadow puppets on the wall as they stood, singing. Top row -- turning totally around and facing the wall. You could see the teachers on their way. Who me??? What was I doing??

I wondered what must go on in the minds of those little ones -- they had to sit for about thirty minutes or so. They amused each other or their parents -- or rather, their parents were probably not particularly amused by their antics. Yet, you could see parents waving back to the kids who loved to wave as they were singing -- on tune? Maybe, part of the time. But, that's what makes a kids' program so special. It is simply kids -- doing what kids do best. Sing a little, wave when they find Mom or Dad or Grandma ... turn around in circles a couple times, oops, losing our balance, are we? No one fell of the stage. Well, I take that back -- no one actually fell of the stage but the emergency personnel came when one of the kids barrelled down the aisle prior to the program and promptly landed (head first) on the pointed edge of one of the rows of seats. He appeared to be okay other than blood spurting from the wound.

Me? I was racing in at the last minute -- making it through Tampa traffic (a little after rush hour), dropping Shonna off and all of her belongings -- and finding a parking place at the back of the lot -- in a dark parking lot -- okay, I'm sort of adding to the story for effects although it was dark where I was parking. (I didn't mention that there were a lot of other folks arriving -- enough to have a cop directing the traffic.)

You always enjoy seeing a child who so enjoys what he or she is doing that they sing above the rest of the crowd. You are always afraid that if you laugh, you will find out that a parent of that child is sitting right next to you!!

What a neat evening! Lots of fun ... it's such a delight to watch a room full of kindergarten through third graders try to dazzle their parents. And the parents try to dazzle the crowd by dressing them to the nines in their Christmas dresses. Too bad they don't always train their girls to sit properly on a stage ... lol!! Oh, well ...

On to the good photo of Kamen and his mom ...

An unhappy Jesus ...

Teri's girls told me about their Christmas program. I'm sure there was much singing and a Nativity scene as well. Rudy played the part of Jesus ... well, perhaps he insisted that he would rather not play the part of Jesus so as the kids sang, Rudy "howled", as Teri described it! I'm sure Jesus cried as any baby would -- but his crying was not an angry cry such as Rudy's was!

What photos!!

Our friends, Bob and Roxanne Bair, forwarded these photos of their granddaughter. We've known her mommy, Kim, since she was born -- actually, (my) Bob performed the wedding of her parents. Her daddy, Bob, attended our first pastorate -- way back in 1969!! Wow! I just had to share these two when Shy was heading out on her first sledding adventure!!

I'm sure I will have pictures of Tyler in the snow as soon as they get home!! They had to buy snow boots for him in Indiana. The sun was so bright today when they were driving home that Tim had to buy sun glasses!! Go figure!

The Christmas Rewind, Part Two

Well ... sort of. Here is the inside of Roxanne's program. It was an awesome program -- filled with tradition yet also a different approach to the Christmas story. You could feel the Spirit of Christ in the service along with lots of laughter as a five-member cast brought the Christmas story to the 21st century.

Now we are in the countdown mode -- and that's a little scary to see if we can get everything done!

Be careful what you pray for ...

Be careful what you pray for ... Our son-in-law, Tim, REALLY wanted their son, Tyler, to see snow while they were in Indiana. So, Tyler, 7, did what Tyler does well ... he prays! (His prayers have been answered so often that young people have actually asked him to pray for them when taking a test!) Tyler prayed for snow! Has anyone checked the forecast for Indianapolis -- or for that matter, anywhere in the mid-section of the country? A possible 8-12+ inches of snow today and tomorrow with blizzard-like conditions tomorrow! They were planning to start home sometime tomorrow but it appears that Tyler will be enjoying the snow instead! (Probably from inside part of the time since 40 mph winds are also forecast!) God truly answered Tyler's prayer! However, I'm not sure Sandi was particularly amused when Tim told her that Tyler had also prayed for a baby sister! --Linda

What we won't do for our kids ....

I returned home after a weekend in Atlanta to immediately go to work ... for my oldest daughter!! Last week, she asked me if I would help her put together the bulletin/program for this Sunday. (Click on photo for 'full' size.) Since I spent quite a few years doing that type of thing (Free Methodist Church in Indianapolis and others), I told her I could probably handle that. So, here's the front page -- I won't share the inside until after Sunday. She has worked diligently in preparing .. I'm sure she will be ready to 'crash' once it is over!!

You might be a Floridian if ....

You might be a Floridian if...

• "Down South" means Key West" and Panhandling" means going to Pensacola. And it's about 16 hours driving time between the two!! Yikes!
• You think no-one over 70 should be allowed to drive. Well ... that depends!
• Flip-flops are everyday wear. I don't like flip-flops but my girls wear them year 'round!
• Shoes are for business meetings and church.No, wait, flip flops are good for church too
• Orange juice from concentrate makes you vomit Not vomit but it's not as good as the real thing.
• Sweet tea can be served at any meal.
• An alligator once walked through your neighborhood. We were closer to alligators when we lived in Auburndale around the lakes.
• You smirk when a game show's "Grand Prize" is a trip to Florida.
• You measure distance in minutes.
• You have a drawer full of bathing suits, and one sweatshirt.
• You get annoyed at the tourists who feed seagulls. Seagulls know how to attack food if you are not careful!! I know -- been there, done that!!
• You never use an umbrella because you know the rain will be over in five minutes
• All the local festivals are named after a fruit.
• A mountain is any hill 100 feet above sea level. Now that's funny -- but true!
• A good parking place has nothing to do with distance from the store, but everything to do with shade.
• Your winter coat is made of denim And I just bought three grandsons denim coats!
• You can tell the difference between fire ant bites and mosquito bites
• You're younger than thirty but some of your friends are over 65 I'm not younger than 35 -- but a couple of my kids are and they have friends over 65 -- many!!
• You know the four seasons really are: almost summer, summer,not summer but really hot, and Christmas.
• It's not "pop." It's "soda" or "coke."
• Anything under 70 is chilly. And Sunday it is supposed to be 68 -- brrrr!
• You've hosted a hurricane party. Done that before! Even when the power was off!
• You go to a theme park for an afternoon, and know when to get on the best rides. Yup!!
• You pass on the right and honk at the elderly. I may pass on the right but try not to honk at the elderly!
• You understand the futility of exterminating cockroaches. Horrors!! And Florida cockroaches are not little!!!!
• You can pronounce Okeechobee, Kissimmee, Withlacoochee, Okahumpka and Loxahatchee. I can do that!
• You understand why it's better to have a friend with a boat than have a boat yourself.
• You've driven through Yeehaw Junction. Anyone know where that is? If you're from Florida, you probably do - been through there several times!
• Bumper stickers on the pickup in front of you include various fish, the NRA and a confederate flag.
• You've worn shorts and used the A/C on Christmas. And had a fire in the fireplace. Now that's a little crazy!!
• You know what the "stingray shuffle" is and why it's important! Especially early in the morning!
• You know that no other grocery store can compare to Publix. There are two within about a mile of our house!
• Every other house had blue roofs in 2004-2005 We were fortunate!
• You’ve gotten out of school early on Halloween to trick or treat before it got dark That would relate to my grandkids!
• You know that anything under a Category 3 just isn't worth waking up for.
• You dread lovebug season. And they are hard to clean off your car. If you are driving through the middle of the state during 'love bug' season, you may have to stop periodically to clean your windshield! I've done that before!!
• You are on a first name basis with the Hurricane list. They aren't Hurricane Charley, Hurricane Frances...but Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. Ain't that the truth?!!
• You know what a snowbird is and you hate them. I actually like snowbirds! Except at 11am in Walmart!

Kudos to my daughter ...

For those of you who know our family, you know that we all polar opposites. Take a personality test in our family, and you will get all four personalities and various combinations of them all! (Especially when you add in sons-in-laws, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, etc.) However, that's what makes a family 'tick' well. We have our typical problems as does any family. Relationships are strained at times -- but the bottom line is that we stand together.

One of the things we get frustrated about (among many things -- ugh!) is how common gossip, evil speaking occurs. Oh, we've been on the receiving end of that -- and part of me wants to shake folks and say, "Why don't you come talk to us?" It's like when there is a divorce and you listen to one side. And I've been caught up in the rumor mill at times and usually Bob is the first one to urge me to not discuss it outside our home. It's easy to get carried away when someone tells us something 'juicy'. Why is it that we seem to feed on negative things we hear about others? I guess we've lost sight of the "Whatsoever things are pure ... think on these things." I'm talking to myself, too!! I'll be honest, if I wrote about all the 'juicy' stuff I 'think' I know about people, I'd write a huge book! And it would probably be a work of fiction!

Recently, Bob reminded me of John Wesley's sermon on "The Cure of Evil Speaking" and as I read it, I had to say, "Ouch, Amen!!" Wow!!

Anyway, back to the "kudos" thing ... Sandi (on the right in the photo above) posted the following on her blog recently. I read it and knew that everything she said was true. However, one of the interesting things about this is that the youth of our church and conference absolutely love her. She may speak "truth" to them and will not listen to "gossip", but when their home is open to the young people, lots of them show up!! I remember her telling us about some issues at youth camp and when she dealt with them, the girls were issued an order which they followed -- do not talk about this especially as it related to 'evil speaking'. (I couldn't even tell you who the girls were.)

Rather than ramble on ... I am going to include a portion of what she wrote ... and I am going to strive to be more like her in this way! We have learned to 'learn' from each other. I learn stuff from my grandkids and kids! Hopefully, they won't learn the rambling technique I seem to have mastered so well!!

"I am never the first on anyone's list to ask out to dinner or the movies and that is partly my own fault. Through my own experiences and stuggles, I have developed my own set of "rules" for myself and they include not allowing gossip when I am around and never talking to someone about an issue unless they are the person involved or seeking advice only from those in my level of leadership or above. That can make friendships interesting to say the least. There are many times when I walk in a room that conversation stops. And I can understand why people would feel that I am not the most "fun" person to be around. I also made a decision about 4-5 years ago that I would rather be respected than liked. That can be very lonely place to be but I feel like it was something I needed to do and God was calling me to a different place in my relationship with Him and with others." --Sandi's blog

Hopefully, when I grow up, I will be more like her!!

I'm Dreamin' of a Warm Christmas ....

Somebody needs to write a song about this -- actually, I am going to attend Kamen's Christmas program (at Northside Baptist Church) and they usually have an interesting rendition of common Christmas songs adapted to our lovely warm weather. I think it must be warmer than usual -- it is 80+ degrees in December!! Come on! We need a little bit of snow. I think I will go back to Cracker Barrel (I stopped there yesterday) and pick up one of those snow globes -- except this was a plastic thingy which recycled the snow so that it fell throughout a song. (Isn't that an awesome description?)

After Christmas Eve service, we usually join Tim, Sandi and Tyler for a ride looking at Christmas decorations. While it may be warm here, I can assure you that there is no lack of decorating for the Christmas season. Some leave the lights up through -- maybe March or so!! I hate to take the tree down too soon!!

I haven't even picked up wood for my fireplace yet. We are still running the air conditioner. I was in Atlanta over the weekend and my brother had his airconditioner going full blast. I think he's just having hot flashes and if he reads this blog, my guest room may not be available the next time I arrive. (Then again, I help Michael with dish washing chores so he welcomes my visits!!)

While I sort of (and stress "sort of") miss a White Christmas, I can assure you that I do not miss the 'white stuff' which makes it 'white'!! I had plenty of years sliding in the stuff and trying to clean it off my car! I will happily enjoy my Warm Christmas -- while I sing about a "White Christmas" and remember that it is ONLY in my dreams!

I guess I am a true Floridian now!!

Far away yet close to home!

When I saw the news yesterday about the killings in Denver, I took note quickly that the church listed was "Faith Bible Chapel". We have visited the church several times with friends, Geof and Anjila Stimack who live in Arvada (where the church is located). I called Geof wanting to confirm that this was the church and he did. They had actually attended another church where a friend was speaking but Geof's son, Scott, called and alerted them as to what had happened. Geof and Anjila went by the church on their way home and spoke with the missions director. He gave Geof the information that later appeared on the news -- which I thought was interesting since news reports seem to always get something wrong!!

This church's focus is its missions ministry. Geof and Anjila have often hired youth with WYWAM so they wondered at first if it could possibly one of those they knew. But, they didn't recognize the names.

So sad!! So while it may have been far away from us, having been there several times made it seem like it was right next door!!!