If I Have Not Love, I Have Nothing

Mark and I just got back from a trip to Florida. We took Dustin and two of the dogs, the older two, Taffy and Pepper. It was a good trip. We always enjoy geting down to see Mark's parents and his brother and sister-in-law, Scott and Judy, and their three kids. It's always difficult living so far away from family. But, it was a nice trip and Mark got to go out fishing on the ocean a couple times and I was able to walk the dogs in a warm and sunny climate.

It's also good to be back home, get reunited with Riff and Roy and spend time with my family here in Kentucky. It was exciting following the Kentucky Wildcats these past weeks, too bad it had to end the way it did. We could really tell that UK was simply not meant to win their game against the Mountaineers. It didn't seem that they could muster up their A game, or their B or C game either. We can be thankful, as fans, that we had a successful season and were able to enjoy so many exciting games and entertaining players. I think we have a pretty special guy as the coach as well. I would love for the college players to come and spend their four years, but in the present climate of college basketball, if you want to win National Championships, I guess you need to get some of the players who are not gonna stay very long. It would be wonderful if they did. In the meantime, I'll be watching the women's team tonight and rooting them on against the Oklahoma Sooner squad. The Lady Cats looked good against Nebraska the other night. I hope they continue to do well.

My sister lost a very dear friend last Sunday. It was so sudden and unexpected, I know the family is still having problems coming to terms with her absence. However, because she was such a wonderful and faithful Christian, we all know she is in heaven where we all hope to be one day and again see that beautiful, cheerful, and special friend again.

Because of my procrastination, I am only on Chapter 23 in my Purpose Driven Life book. After learning overall why we're here, for God's purposes; and the first purpose of our life, pleasing God; and the second purpose, being part of God's family; now I am reading about the third purpose, becoming more like Christ, our ultimate role model.

Rick Warren directs us to four places in the Bible where Jesus' character is revealed to us. Jesus relates a followers traits during the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew. The Beatitudes from Matthew 5:1-12, beginning, "Blessed are the poor in spirit", illustrate some wonderful traits we are to have. Peter's list of characteristics of an effective and productive life in 2 Peter 1:5-8 stresses seeking faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love in increasing measure. Also, the chapter of love, written by Paul, and recited at so many weddings, is so valuable to read. It is 1 Corinthians 13. You may be familiar with the beginning, "Love is patient, kind, etc.", and the end, "These three remain: faith, hope and love. The greatest of these is love."

The last suggested reading to reveal a Christian's character is the fruit of the spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23. I have this written on a glass light in my kitchen. It states: "The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. We can see many traits repeated in these scriptures, especially love. Because after all, that's what Jesus was all about, loving God and loving each other.

I hope you are enjoying this week leading up to Easter. Time for the doggies to go out. Have a great day, luv, Susan

Temporary Home

Spring has decided to wait a bit before it makes it's complete arrival. Last Tuesday was so nice, but cooler temps and cloudy skies have mostly prevailed since then. My four furry friends have managed to bring in their muddy paws and this place is really going to need a good cleaning soon.

If you've been watching UK play this past week, you have seen some amazing basketball. I remember years back when we were in Rhode Island, I watched a Bobby Knight coached Indiana team, with Steve Alford, win a game in the closing seconds. I honestly didn't understand how they came back and won it like that. Well, if you watched the SEC Championship game, it was the same kind of situation. I truly believed that there was no way the cats could come back from five down with so little time remaining. I'm glad to have the ability to record and rewind the final minutes and seconds of the game or I wouldn't have believed the outcome of that game. It was absolutely unbelieveable. If you watch SportsCenter, it did indeed make the top play of championship week.

I will definitely be watching the cats as they begin play on Thursday in New Orleans. I hope they do well.

As I make my way through the forty chapters of The Purpose Driven Life, I'm always wondering what is best to share with my friends. This morning as I sat at the computer, Carrie Underwood came on CMT singing her latest music video. It's called Temporary Home. It's a beautiful song and follows circumstances of a foster child, a homeless single mom and a hospitalized elderly man. They are all experiencing the idea of their present surroundings being only temporary.

Rick Warren explains this beautifully in his book and calls it our temporary assignment in this world. We, as Christians, must continually remind ourselves that this is not our home, we are "citizens of heaven" and that is our ultimate goal. But while here, we have those five purposes to remember. There are many places in the Bible that stress this fleeting inhabitance of earth to us. I especially like how Paul says it in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal". When we understand and belive this, we no longer have to fear anything we face on this earth.

I'm enjoying all the little critters out back this morning. Squirrels, chipmunks and many birds are feasting at the many feeders Mark has kept filled out back. I hope you will enjoy all that God blesses you with today. Stay safe and have a wonderful day, luv, Susan

THE RAIN MUST FALL

Tuesday was a beaautiful day, today, not so great. Early this morning, the sun was coming out and it looked pretty good, but as I went out to get the paper, little drops began to fall and a dark threatening sky appeared in the west accompanied by a roll of thunder. So, it has been raining off and on. I actually needed an umbrella when I strolled down the hill to the mailbox. But, I know the rain is neccesary for all the plants and trees that will be budding and blooming soon. I'll especially look forward to seeing my new October Glory Maple tree start to bud new leaves.

March is a fun month again, this year. Last year was difficult for us, the Kentucky basketball faithful. This year, we get to enjoy a possible run at the SEC Tournament Championship, after clinching the regular season crown. We also hope to make a real impact at the NCAA Tournament. We are constantly reminded of how young and inexperienced our team is, so anything can happen. But, we are hoping for good things ahead.

I'm still reading through my Purpose Driven Life book, though I'm not nearly as disciplined, as to say I'm actually reading a chapter each day. But, I do hope to get through the forty chapters by Easter. After discovering my supreme goal as bringing glory to God, this book helps me to break down how to do this through five purposes. They are revealed in the Bible and highlighted in Rick Warren's book as worshiping God, loving others, becoming Christ-like, serving one another and telling others about Him. I just finished the second five chapters which helped explain to me how to worship God by pleasing him. Noah's life is a wonderful example of how to do that. He was able to "make God smile" by doing the following: loving God, trusting God, obeying God, praising God and using God given abilities. These are all forms of worship when they are done for God's glory.

I will strive to do these things by keeping them always in my mind and heart. I hope you have a great day today and I look forward to better weather and opportunities to get out again for daily walks soon. luv, Susan

Remembering His Loving Example

Spring is finally arriving in our area. It's time to adjust my routine to include taking the dogs for their walks, something I haven't done for some time due to the weather. But, thankfully, it appears to be a general warming trend and that means walking daily again.

I received my Christmas gift from Mark yesterday. I've been driving by it for months now, but it was actually delivered and is part of our yard now. It's called October Glory and it's planted out in the front yard. I've always enjoyed seeing beautiful orange maple trees in the fall, but never had one in our yard, so that was the one thing I could think of for a perfect Christmas gift. I look forward to seeing it become green and leafy along with all the other trees that surround us here.

We said goodbye to a dear friend where I volunteer in Georgetown. Mr. Mac had owned a grocery store in town and when he retired, he began to help at the Amen House stocking the shelves of the food bank and running errands, shopping and doing anything that needed to be done. We knew he hadn't been well for sometime, but he continued coming in and doing his job, always whistling and staying upbeat. After two or three weeks of being unable to come in, he succumbed to his health issues and passed away quietly at the VA Hospital in Lexington last week. We will miss him terribly, and will try our best to accomplish all those things that he did for the house and it's clients.

Mr. Mac's son is going to donate a wonderful picture of his dad, that was on display at his visitation, to the Amen House. We will have a reminder of this special man, and hopefully, continue to feel his presence, as well as his love and devotion to his fellow man. We were so blessed to be able to work side by side with him and hope to continue to bless others with his spirit of generosity. We also look forward to seeing him in heaven some day.

Well, if I am going to get our walks in and start some spring cleaning, I better get started. Have a wonderful and safe day, luv, Susan

Mistakes, We All Make Them

Last night was a lot of fun for me. I was able to meet with two of my highschool friends and visit and reminisce about the old days. Looking back seems to be in vogue these days. I am always getting things from friends about the past, letting us relive old games, songs, and the things we used to do in a simpler time. Even on the morning news programs, they're bringing back the casts from some of the old shows. This morning they had the cast of the Partridge Family. It was fun to see them, although, my family didn't get the channel their show came on way back then. But I still enjoyed seeing them. The "kids" were all together except for Susan Dey, and they spoke out to her directly that they love her and miss her. I thought that was really nice.

It's wonderful that we can always reach out to old friends and family members these days, we have so many ways! I've been watching the news coverage about the awful accident that happened at seaworld. Mark and I took Dustin and Christina there more than once. They would rather go to SeaWorld than Disney, Epcot or Universal down in Florida. And, the Shamu show was the most exciting part of the day. It was so sad that the trainer died doing what she loved most in life, working with these beautiful, massive creatures of the sea. Right now there's a lot of finger pointing, finding blame and the like. It's, to me, really simple. This trainer merely forgot who, rather what, she was dealing with. She loved these animals so much, she looked at them as beloved pets, and no longer saw them as wild animals. It was a costly mistake on her part, but it was her mistake, one that cost her and her family dearly.

I thought it was amusing that someone even said the orca had acted out in premeditated murder. I really think the only beings capable of such an action is the human species. This poor animal seemed to really love his trainer and, I think, was just wanting to play, simple as that. I'm glad the park is resuming it's shows and also glad they are revamping their safety measures. The trainers can't forget that these are wild animals, after all.

I'm really enjoying Rick Warren's "The Purpose Driven Life". I'm reminded that the supreme goal of our lives is to glorify God as stated in Romans 11:36, "Everything comes from God alone, everything lives by his power, and everything is for his glory". That was His purpose in making us. It is further described in Rick Warren's book that we can bring glory to God by doing all he tells us to do. Furthermore, he does this by summing up how to do this in five acts of obedience on our part. They are worshipping God, loving other believers, becoming like Christ, serving others and telling others about Him.

It's a lot easier said than done, but when we attempt to do those five things we are fulfilling our purpose here on earth. Whereas, our fulfilled purpose by the world's view may be financial success, material wealth and career fulfillment, by God's view, it has so much more to do with our relationship with Him and others than material wealth and prosperity. It's difficult to be successful at achieving both. A successfully lived life, in God's eyes is often seen very different through the world's view.

The Upperroom was again enlightening to me today. I read yesterday's verse from 2 Timothy. This happens to be one of my favorite books of the Bible. Written by Paul, near the end of his life, he was trying to pass the torch, so to speak, on to a trusted friend, one he had mentored along. It's full of all those last minute instructions you give, like before you leave the babysitter with your children.

Well, my dogs are reminding me that I need to get on with my day. Again, it's a muddy mess out there this morning and I have lots to tend to around the house and yard. I hope you have a wonderful and safe day, luv, Susan