Jesus, are you here?

Lucas had a bit of a bad day yesterday.  Seems that he is again, touching things that are just not his.  Really hard for an almost four year old to only touch with his eyes. (Now that is another story all in itself).

Papa Devon came home to find that one of the two Walkie Talkies that were charging on the kitchen sink was missing.

It is bright gold and stands like a soldier, one behind the other.  Now, I know that is tempting, even for me.  Papa has been trying to charge them, so we will have them all ready when we finally get to go camping.  We used to use them in the grocery store before we both had cell phones.

"Clean up on isle 4!"... lol... and "Fish slapping on isle 8". 

Well, papa asked Lukie if he know where it was.  Luke told him it was in his room and a not to happy papa asked him to go get it and return it to its proper place.

Today, Luke was having a ruff day.  He said no one likes him and I told him that when you are nice to everyone, they will like you.  He said its not easy to be nice and he had already talked to Jesus yesterday about it.  I told him he might want to try again.

I was telling Uncle Dylan and Uncle Tristan about it.  Tristan said that they had put the Walkie Talkie in Luke's room and pretended to be the voice of God.  Luke was on his knees, by his bed, praying and looking around. 

"LUKE"...."LUKE"

The poor boy kept looking around.  He keeps telling everyone he talked to Jesus.

Pretty funning having uncles who mess with you!!  Wonder how long he will remember this story.

Mrs Doolittle and her Tale of Housesitting

Devon and I live in a two bedroom apartment with two grown sons and a grown daughter, and of course, our grandson Lucas.  There are some days that you feel very closed in.  So, when our friends asked us to house sit for a few days, we jumped at the opportunity.

Just think, an entire house all to ourselves...

NOT... LOL...

One of our big responsibilites was to take care of the animals in their family. 

William is a big orange cat who loved being around Devon.  He would run in and greet us at the door when we arrived home.

Otis is a big fury cat.  Otis has asthma and it was just the beginning of the pollen season.  Cats don't weeze like you and me, they cough.  Sounds more like furball season. It was my job to make sure that Otis got his meds every morning and evening.   The first day, he was so hard to catch.  Devon suggested that I throw a towel over him to stop him in his tracks.  But, after the first day, he realized I was going to be relentless.

Earl is Earl!! 

Devon describes them as follows:  William is clingy Otis is a pill popper and Earl is his own man!  Devon is a man of fewer words than I am.

Then we have the two turtles, one Beta Fish and one Bird named Joe!!

Not that each one does not have a personality, but Joe, now he is an adventure.

Joe puts cocky into the name Cockatiel... With a beak like case hardened steel he crushes sunflower nuts as though they were Al-Qaeda tanks yet never misses a chance to wolf whistle at a fine young maiden.



...and the dog is awesome...big and fury and shedding like a clipped lamb.  Her fur made it into more places than I knew exsisted.  Of course, it molting season and was getting warm outside.  I'd brush her and brush her to make her feel better, but I think it only made me feel better.  I felt like I was helping her out of her winter coat.  But she is wonderful.

Ah yes Chloe... Ever watching and listening....Ready to protect the floor from any damage the slightest bit of food might cause by touching it.....Ready to warn you if the mailman or squirrel gets too close to the house....Bravely barking if anyone knocks then stealthily positions herself behind the bed ready to attack if they are carrying dangerous cheeseburgers...Sweet,kind and loving...


Always eager to wash your hands and keep your feet warm.
 
Keeps the cats in check by promising them that one day she will knock over Joe's cage for them...
 
Devon and I surely felt like we had everything under control.  Having a full house of critters was much better than a full house of messing children.  As the days went by, we got into a routine and everyone seemed happy.

Devon and I decided that we would barbecue.  We don't get that many chances and we do enjoy the flavor.

One evening, two minutes before nine p.m., I ran into JUST A BUCK to look for a wire brush to clean off the gas grill that had not been open yet from the winter storage.

Devon brushed and cleaned it off and then lit is up to burn off the bad stuff.  It was not difficult to light.  As a matter of fact, it lit right up.  Flames reached as high as the garage roof.  Smoked filled the air.  All I could think of from inside of the house was, this smells like a good barbecue..

When I went outside to check, I saw rolling black smoke like a tire factory hit with napalm that smelled like porkchops....With the roar of a 757 jet and the heat of a blacksmiths forge.

Okay, it really did not go that high!!  Devon turned off the gas and put the lid down in order to smother the fire.  Twenty minutes later, the fire was still burning.  We actually cooked steak and burgers with no gas on.  Good thing to, as we were not sure how much gas was in the tank.

We truly enjoyed out time there.  Peace and quiet.  Just the two of us.  Okay, two of us, one grandchild, one fish, three cats, one dog, two turtles...and OH, By the way...there were 5 crabs no one told me about!!

Children may be short, but their memories are not...

It has been almost a year since we had VBS (Vacation Bible School) at State Road Community Church.  If you were there, you have met my grandson Lucas.

Lucas was three at the end of May and he has energy that we all wish we had.  The boy ran a mile and talked about dinasours the entire time and then went to VBS.

As an incentive to settle down and listen, one of the adults told Lucas, for every right thing he did, she would give  him a sticker.  But if he acted up, she would take a sticker back.

Everything was going great that day and Lucas was racking up the stickers on his right chest.  He was very proud of them.  Them the unthinkable happened.  He yelled at his momma.

The worker proceeded to come up to Lucas and had the audacity to remove ONE of the stickers.

Lucas was furious!!  He has been furious for almost a year.  No talking would loosen his lips to where she was concerned.

Tonight, almost a year later he not only talked to her, but he asked her where she was going and suggested she come back!!

WOW...times heals all wounds and the worker and I are jumping for joy!!

...maybe turning four at the end of May means he is growing up a little.

How Small is our World

Yesterday was a visible God day!! PTL...I had met two wonderful people when I was a little more than 18 years old.  Soon after, Barb and Eddie Henderson were married and I had Jason just before Barb had her son Nick.  We became fast friends.  Soon after, Eddie and Barb moved west and we continued to write letters and made just a few phone calls.  Long distance was ver expensive then.  Many years past, and many things happened.  When my daughter Melissa was about 13, they came to Cleveland and visited family.  We spent just a few valuable hours together. 

By this time, Barb and Eddie had excepted the Lord and were writing wonderful things about what Jesus was doing in their lives.  Their family had increased and God was helping them all along the way.

Within a year or two, they moved south and I moved out of my Parma home into an apartment with my daughter and her daugher, Jacqueline.  Communication stopped as our lives changed.

Every so often, I would look on the internet or try to find them, but I never forgot them, not for one minute.

A few days ago, one of my young friends from Caravan and Vacation Bible School, asked to be my friend on facebook.  First I was thinking, "This child can not be old enough to have a facebook account!!".   I, of course accepted.

To my surprise and joy, I saw my friends picture on this young girls account.  How could she know her?  Where did they meet when there are so many miles between them?  I was more than just curious, and a little concerned!! LOL..

So, I wrote my friend Barb a message and asked her all those questions.  It was a matter of seconds before we were excahnging phone numbers and pictures and memories.

Well, it seems that Barb is the aunt of this young girl. 

How awesome that God would do all this for me.

...and once again, I can share and communicate with my "old" friends.

God is Good, all the time.

Always an adventure when you drive with me...

Each morning I get up first.  I make hubby coffee and most of the time, try to find something for his lunch.  I pack mine and sip the coffee that does not fit in his cup and then I'm on my way.

This morning, I did not need to drop off my friend for work, which is our normal practice. It is just my daughter Melissa and I.

It is a bright and sunny, early spring day and I am enjoying ever minute.

I get to work and realize that TODAY IS MY DAY OFF!!  Geezzzzz.....so, I drop off Melissa and head home thanking God for the wonderful sunlight.

Well, at least I'm up and ready for a new day.