Category: Grandpa

Attitude, Devotional, Grandpa, Joy

Serving with a Smile

Ali

As I’m sitting here reading in the Word this morning I received this Verse for the Day in my email; how appropriate for me as I think about my day and how would the Lord have me to serve others today.

Today we are spending the day with our 16 yr old girl, going to go walk along the beach to enjoy God’s splendor and run a couple of errands. All with a smile of joy on our face.

Yesterday when we left the grocery store, our girl said “that cashier was pretty grumpy ~ did you see her just tossing our food?” I said yes, but did you see that even though she was grumpy towards us, we both said to her “have a great day” and smiled ~ though she probably couldn’t see our smiles on our lips but hopefully in our eyes.So I am thankful for this verse to continue to remind me to serve with a smile and joy no matter what I am dealing with especially since we never know what someone else is dealing with.

My daily devotional also included Romans 11:1-12

and

are the two verses that jumped out at me….the first question “has God ever rejected his people (me)? and then followed up with verse 12 where we are told “God has never rejected his people (me)! I have often felt rejected by people in my life…people are human and so yes they can reject me…

has never rejected me!!!! Sadly, I have rejected Him at times but HE never!!! And for that I am so thankful. Ron and I have done a lot of reflecting over our lives, maybe it comes with our age and birthday’s – two of our grandchildren turned 13 in the past two months!!! How can that be? Weren’t they just little babies who were snuggle bugs ~ oh how I miss those times!!!

But I digress…rejection by others…so painful and sometimes very hard to deal with but remembering that God has never or will He ever reject me brings me comfort and peace!!!

I’m not even sure where I was going with this but reflecting back on the conversation with The Girl yesterday about the grumpiness of the cashier and how we can be different and be more Christ like is to give a smile and share joy with those we come into contact with even when we are having a hard time as we never know what someone else is going through…so smile through your mask

and share the joy of the Lord wherever you go today!!!

Blessings, Family, Friends, Grandpa, Grateful, Memories, Travel

G is for Grateful

Ali

G is for Grateful

Grateful = Gratitude = Thankfulness

The definition of Grateful: 1.  warmly or deeply appreciative  of kindness or benefits received; thankful   2.  expressing or actuated by gratitude   3. pleasing to the mind or senses; agreeable or welcome; refreshing

I am grateful for my hubby and the upbringing he had.  I am grateful he had Christian parents to raise him into the wonderful man, husband, father, grandfather and friend that he is to so many.  I have been thinking of his parents a lot today.  33 years ago today his dad, Pete, went to be with the Lord after a long fought battle against cancer.  I remember that day so clearly in my mind.  It was a day full of crazy happenings: first I got my wedding rings stuck on my finger and had to have them cut off (Ron’s first trip home from work), then Anne (Ron’s mom) called and said Pete wanted to speak to Ron ~ kinda hard because Pete could not speak above a whisper so I called Ron’s boss, told him what was going on and he sent Ron home for the second time in less than two hours.  After making arrangements for a friend to keep Jamie (2 1/2 years old), packing a suitcase for us and Brandon (almost 2 months) and getting the truck loaded we headed from McChord AFB to Blaine, WA.  About 3 1/2 hour drive.  We had reached Everett (half way) and made one of our usual stops at the rest area.  Ron’s driving was pretty erratic  so I told him I would drive.  As I began driving towards Blaine I prayed “Lord, please let Pete still be alive or have him pass at least 15 minutes before we get to the house.”  I think I said that prayer over and over all the way to Blaine.  Selfishly I didn’t want to be the one responsible for Ron not being able to see his dad one more time.  God is Good and for that I give thanks – Ron was able to have a few minutes alone with Pete before he breathed his last.  And in sixteen days it will be five years since Anne was reunited with Pete.  And even though his parents and I didn’t always get along, I am so grateful for their parenting of Ron, their love for us as a couple and parents and for our children.  One happy memory I have of Pete is him babysitting Brandon.  At meal time, we would put Brandon on the bed next to Grandpa and Grandpa would keep an eye on Brandon.  Another memory is when we were visiting at their home when Jamie was 15 months old and I was scolding Jamie for climbing on the coffee table and Grandpa telling me “Jamie can climb on table it is not going to hurt anything.” And once Ron was scolding Jamie for throwing his paci on the ground and Ron telling him he was going to spank him if he did it again and Grandpa Pete saying something about spankings not really being necessary and Ron telling him he should have thought of that 20 years ago when Ron was a little one.

I am also grateful for the people God has brought into our lives over the years.  I am grateful for friends who encourage me in new adventures and remind me that God has never failed me yet and that He also meets all of our needs.  Today we were blessed by some friends here in Branson and so grateful for their friendship ~ we will miss you Jw & Wanda!!  We have many friends in our life who have blessed us time and time again and we look forward to making more friends as we continue working and traveling around the USA.

What are you grateful for today?