Then End of the Beginning

http://tinyurl.com/4vp2adr
ETSY
I could literally spend all day just looking at the handmade things on this website- check out these snowflake earrings.
The end of January can be tough for me. Where I live everything is grey and wet. No sparkling white snow to take the edge off. By this time I am beginning to see that this year will probably be just like most and every resolution will take hard work.
But I also noticed something this month- really upbeat people often have harder lives than me. Watch an episode or two of Undercover Boss. Most of the time the most amazing employees, who are just glowing at work, have personal tragedy in their lives. They seem so aware and appreciative of the small things. I see it everywhere- happy people who don't on the surface have much to be happy about. The secret to Joy seems to be having a source of Joy independent of your circumstance. A sure thing in your life that is the rock when, as it always does, sorrow comes.
Count your blessings today- take note of every thing in your life that you know another person somewhere does not have. It could rock your end of January.
My Dad's birthday was yesterday. He is 65. I count him as one of my best blessings. He has Parkinson's disease, triple bypass with heart damage, lupus and a mild form of skin cancer. He has been a peaceful, gentle man his whole life and showed me what a real and abiding relationship with God looked like. He never wavered in his joy or trust in Jesus. From day to day, for real, he made me want what he had. Thanks Dad.

Airing the Laundry

Okay so- sharing, it's something you learned as a kid right. Wrong. I am not talking about toys or the last cookie here. I am talking about revealing something about yourself you have kept hidden. I know the old addage is "don't air your dirty laundry" and actually I agree. I say air your clean laundry. Dirty laundry is for your confidant or mentor. When something bad has happened and you have made peace with it, share it with anyone who needs it. Marriage struggles, medical problems, money problems, addictions etc... people need hope. People need freedom from shame and you might have the key to their release. I don't believe things happen by luck or chance. Yesterday I spoke with a friend who was having struggles in her marriage. I just worked through a tough time in our marriage so I shared how we got through. Knowing that I also have a dark side, faults and yet I also have joy in my marriage gave her release. Today I read a blog I usually read and surprise, surprise he was writing about the very same idea- sharing a meaningful story and how he had done that: http://www.joemckeever.com/mt/archives/001560.html . Another blog that I follow regularly and never fails to make me glad I read it is Enjoying the Small Things and one of the most beautiful things I have ever read in my life is her story of the birth of her daughter. http://www.kellehampton.com/2010/01/nella-cordelia-birth-story.html
I dare you to read it- you should, it's totally worth it. Turn on the speakers because the sound track is amazing.
If you want to continue the story help, to celebrate Nella's birthday-
http://ndss.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=461377&supid=318966917

A love story

So it's like "Letter's to Juliet" but with food. When I was three years old my mom made for me my first Peanut butter and Jelly sandwich. Awww- how cute, you might say but wait. I soon began to swell up like a puffer fish- my ears turning bright red and protruding wildly from my head. Several doses of benadryl later my mom was convinced I was allergic to Peanuts. So from the time I was 3 years old until the age of 33 I lived in mortal dread of peanut products. I did from time to time accidentally nibble a peanut butter cookie but no major episodes. I had never even tasted a peanut. At age 33, a married mother of two who regularly drooled over the fabulous smell of creamy peanut butter, I got up the courage to go get an allergy test for peanuts. I took a blood test and the results came back no reaction to peanuts at all! So I began slowly to try out all things peanut. Reese Cups are a thing of beauty, Peanut butter ice-cream pie a masterpiece and the classic PB& J, a simple pure Venus de Milo of foods.
Spanish peanuts are a daily snack these days for me. I think I will always value the lowly peanut a little more than the average person. I am glad after all these years we were reunited.