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

BOUNDARIES

I hope you got to enjoy the wonderful weather that we did on Saturday. It was beautiful and sunny. Snow was thawing and water was rushing down the hills around us into a little creek in the field across the street. We even got out and took a walk with Riff and Roy. We could feel spring in the air!! Well, now we are back to the thirties and it has been glum, wet and rainy these past few days. I'm hoping for some dry days because four little dogs times four little paws means muddy floors, rugs, furniture, bedspreads, etc. That's just part of the Spring thaw for us, we always have to take the bad with the good.

This morning, as I took Riff and Roy out on their leashes, I let Taffy and Pepper go out on their own, figuring I could trust them to not leave the yard. Well, as I watched Pepper's little white form disappear, I hurriedly got three doggies in the house and ran down the hill after the escapee. It actually took going through the driveway gate and out onto the road to see him in front of the neighbors house. He was actually right at the side of the the road! I ran and picked him up, so thankful that no cars had come by during this Great Escape. He got a swat as I let him down to run back up the hill to the house. Funny, that he didn't even reallize the danger he was in when he left the boundaries of our yard. Boundaries, though limiting, are there for our safety. I hope we all recognize the boundaries that God has provided us with, in our Bibles.

Everyone, it seems, stood still for a moment last week and listened to one of the most famous figures of our time, as he apologized for crossing over many of the boundaries of righteous living. Although Tiger Woods has been a role model for many, it didn't take long for him to fall from grace. As a Christian, I knew it was my place to not judge him and to let God's forgiveness prevail. However, I became rather indignant when one of his former girlfriends cried about his not apologizing to her. Of course, she and the others didn't deserve an apology, they knew what they were doing when they got involved with a married man. I now realize, that I'm judging these women, when I don't have a clue about them personally, even though that really doesn't matter. God sent His only son to die for all our sins. I cannot judge anyone, I am put on the earth to love my neighbors, to be kind and compassionate to everyone.

I hope drier, warmer weather gets here soon. I also hope you take the time to seek Him out each day. Enjoy the Olympics and all your many blessings, as I will. Have a safe and wonderful day, luv, Susan

NOT ABOUT ME

I have to say, "I love the Winter Olympics". I think I've always enjoyed them better than the summer olympics. It must be because of figure skating. I remember, years ago, not liking Dorothy Hamil, at first, because I was a Janet Lynn fan. But, eventually, I became a Dorothy fan and was thrilled when she earned her gold medal. My favorite skaters of all time, though, had to be Tai Babiloni and Randy Gardner. If you're at all familiar with the sport, they were our best chance or all time to win a gold in pairs skating. At that time, the Soviet Union had dominated pairs forever. As at many olympics, drama played out, as there was tension between the Soviet pair and also an injury to our Randy. Rather than try to skate through the excrutiating pain, he got a shot to dull the pain, so he could skate the long program. Well, it not only dulled the pain, it numbed his leg and he fell over and over during the program. Tai was stunned and confused on the ice as her, previously reliable partner, fell apart, so to speak. Needless to say, they did not win gold. That went again to the Soviet Union. Randy and Tai returned to the states and joined a professional ice show. We saw them in Providence. They were wonderful, what grace and beauty, but Tai, this time fell on her butt during the performance. I still thought the were great.

This year, the head to head battle is for men's gold. I look forward to seeing Evan Lysochek, no I don't know how to spell it, and the Russian skater, I'm not even going to try, take the ice to battle it out. I remember when Brian Boitano won our last men's gold medal many years ago. Go USA!! Go Evan!!

It still looks like the winter olympics around here with all the snow, though we do have a nice dry driveway again. Mark, being from the Buffalo, N.Y. area, takes pride in being able to drive in the snow and battle the snow when it comes to his territory. He'll always win the driveway battle with snow, when he has the opportunity and the time to tackle the job.

The dogs and I look forward to spring, warmer weather and our walks. But while I'm looking forward to the weather and season change, I'll continue to seek out and rely on my reliable partner in heaven. He never falters and never lets me down. In order to understand what He's doing with our lives, we need to go to the instruction manual, the Bible. Through the book, The Purpose Driven Life, I'm reminded that our lives are really created for His purpose. We can't figure it out ourselves, we have to go to our creator to know what our life's purpose is. I'm so thankful for the many means of doing that. The Upperroom is so helpful to me when I am looking for His guidance. Each day's reading gives me the encouragement to continue to see Him at work in my life.

Last night,after Shawn White won his gold medal, he said he was going to get a tattoo with his coach to comemorate the achievement. I'm reminded in today's Upperroom reading that God has us "tatooed", in a sense, on the palms of His hands. ( Isaiah 49:16 ) Will I go out and get a tattoo to remember God? Probably not, because I hate, really hate, needles. But, I don't have to, because the Holy Spirit is there in my heart as my constant reminder of His love. ( Ephesians 1:13 )

I hope you enjoy the olympics, this winter weather and all your many blessings. I will continue to be thankful for the remarkable blessing of friends and family and the many ways we have of staying in touch. You are one of my blessings. Please stay in touch with me. Have a safe and wonderful day, luv, Susan

FORTY DAYS

It has been over eight months since my last blog. I think it's interesting that the name of that blog was "Eight is Enough". So, I guess going eight months without blogging is enough, as well. I've been going through some minor health issues which have made blogging difficult to impossible. But, I'm going to try again to get this rolling again.

To update you on my current circumstances, I am still in Scott County with a busy, working husband who is away some due to his job. I am here in the country on a big hill with four dogs . As the rest of the central Kentucky area has experienced, we have had lots of snow of late. Currently, there's about eight inches of snow out there. Mark and I enjoy the wildlife of the area, so we make sure there is food out for the critters. Birds, squirrels, chipmunk and deer are frequent visitors to our back woods.

A week ago, my dogs alerted me to a hole in hollow tree just off the side of the driveway at the bottom of the hill. I stealthily peeked into the hole and saw lots of leaves inside. I eventually also noticed black and white fur under the leaves. The fur was going up and down, as this little critter, was breathing deeply while in slumber. As I only know of very few critters who are black and white, I quickly ruled out the possibility of either a zebra or a penguin being asleep in the hollow tree. I stepped back quickly and quietly as to not wake the sleeping skunk. Over the next week we would see him occassionally and I had to start taking the dogs out two at a time on their leashes for potty breaks to avoid what turned out to be the inevitable. So, last Monday, after coming home from town, I let the dogs out after surveying the yard for Stinky's presence. I guess I missed seeing him on the other side of the driveway, but the dogs didn't miss him. They all four ran and surrounded him. It was a fiasco, with four little white furballs barking at the little skunk who did a sprinkler impression in the middle of the fray, covering the ground and the little noses in range with his stench. It seemed like forever before I could get all four away from Stinky and into our new garage. The rest of the day involved a lot of tomato juice, shampoo, soaking wet dogs, baby powder scented grooming spray, lots of towels and a lot of laundry. Thank God, we survived the ordeal.

Enough about dogs. Today is Ash Wednesday. Easter can't be too far away. I've decided, at this time, to get out one of my favorite books, The Purpose Driven Life, by Rick Warren, and read it during the next forty days. It has forty short chapters and is a wonderful way to learn about what God's plan for our life is. It helped me years ago, and I know it will help me again.

I hope you make the most of these next forty days of lent. I want to experience the most meaningful Easter ever, as I hope to with each passing year. May you have a safe wonderful day. luv, Susan ps, avoid those little black and white critters.

Eight Is More Than Enough

I've been having a hard time blogging lately. It may have something to do with dogs and puppies. Last time Taffy had puppies, I only had her and Pepper. She had a litter of three, that made five altogether last summer and it was , I seem to remember, manageable. This time around, however, I have four dogs, Taffy, Pepper, Riff and Roy to begin with. They can be a handful on their own. Then five weeks ago, Taffy gave birth to four male puppies. It was the first time she had four. So, let's see, four dogs, four puppies, guess that makes eight. Yep, I've had my hands full. Taffy's a good mommy, but that doesn't mean that I'm sitting around twiddling my thumbs while she does all the work. We're even splitting the feedings now as they're adapting to moistened puppy food. She and they are having problems with weaning, but I know it will all work out.

Yesterday was an especially challenging day for all of us. As I let the dogs out to do their business, while I tended to the puppies area and their overnight business offerings, I had no idea what those four were up to outdoors. When I let them back in, I started noticing clumps on the floor. Upon closer examination, I realized that Taffy and Pepper had brought in clumps of clay mud encrusted in their paws from the area where we are having our garage built. I then started to notice a strange smell and took a closer look at Riff and Roy. They both had dark greenish black streaks around their necks. That means they had discovered some delightfully fresh deer poo out in the yard and had rolled in it. They were a mess!! That was around 6:45, I think in the morning. By 11:00 I had bathed and groomed four dogs. When a neighbor stopped by for a visit later, he even commented how wonderful they smelled. This morning I took the dogs out on leashes for their business as the puppies cried in the background. Eight is certainly more than enough for me. Three more weeks before the four little ones go to their new homes. I pray God will help me with those decisions that aren't obviously apparent right now.

In the news is another story of eight. Jon and Kate Gosling, the parents of twins and sextuplets have had an entertaining and educating reality show of how they raise their large brood. I've enjoyed it and learned from the Southland Hour on tv that Jon Weece, senior pastor there, is addicted to the show. How sad to see that the Gosling marriage is in jeopardy and the media is having a shark type feeding frenzy over their problems. I was troubled to read that the Gosling's church has abandoned them because of all the bad publicity. This may be untrue, after all, I read it in one of the magazines. But, I hope and pray this couple gets the Christian counseling that can save their marriage and family. Apparently, Jon is the more faithful parent, again, I read it in one of the magazines, but I just hope we, the Christian community keeps this young father, mother and family in our prayers.

I also noticed in the news that Forbes has out it's new list of successful, wealthy, most influential people. Angelina, Oprah and Tiger are wordly individuals who the world measures by money and fame. I would love to see a list in the news of those individuals whose success is measured by their positive influence on people's lives, most importantly, their spiritual lives, their eternal lives. Maybe that list would include Rick Warren, Billy Graham, Chuck Swindoll, Beth Moore, Joyce Meyer and a whole list of others.

I continue to gain daily wisdom and encouragement from my UpperRoom devotional. The reading yesterday was so relevant to something in my life right now. It's funny how God can speak to us, especially when we open ourselves up to spiritual and Godly instruments. I hope you give God a chance to speak to you just the thing that you need to hear today. I thank God for speaking to me daily and all the blessings in my life, including eight little furballs. You have a great day, luv, Susan