Jesus Saves

When you feel like you're drowning in life, don't forget that your lifeguard walks on water.

May You Find Peace Within

I came across this quote in a friend's Facebook post and loved it.

May today there be peace within.
May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others.
May you use the gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content with yourself just the way you are.
Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of us.

Being that I like to reference an author when possible, a quick Google search found this version below, attributed to St. Theresa of Lisieu. Choose the version that speaks to your soul. The one that inspires *you*.

May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into your bones and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of us.

An Earthly Desire

I desire to mirror what is "good” and reflect God’s light so that one day, when breath leaves my body and my firstborn son embraces me again, I will stand before the Lamb of God to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.” (Matthew 25:21 NKJV)

Just a Coincidence?

I spent last Saturday working on our 2010 taxes. After I finished I pulled some older, no longer needed, records from the filing cabinet to shred. One of the folders contained copies of Tommy's tax returns and the other contained his elementary, junior high and high school IEP (Individualized Education Program) Goals. Shredding the tax records was easy but working my way through his life as a child was harder and I felt my throat tighten up more than once. Memories flooded my head and tears blurred my vision as I silently fed them to the shredder.

Lost in my thoughts I reached for the next piece of paper. My hand grabbed a card instead. Blue, with a yellow rose on the front it read, "It isn't easy for you right now . . ." I opened it. ". . . just remember someone cares." I read the signature and sobbed. "I Love You Mom, Tommy"

What it was doing there, I don't know.

I told David about it yesterday and shared that I don't ever remember receiving that card from Tommy. I said, "I can't even tell you when he gave it me", to which he replied, "I can Mom. He gave it to you Saturday." I cried again.

There's This Boy

There's this boy who stole my heart. He calls me Mom.

Crocheting a Prayer Shawl

A Prayer Shawl is a tangible reminder of God's love.

I use a J hook and three skeins of Lion Brand Homespun yarn. It creates a great variegated look and each shawl is unique.

Ch 63. In the 4th chain *dc, ch 1, dc into the same chain stitch*. This completes one V stitch. Skip two chain stitches and repeat * to * until the end of the row is reached. Ch 3 at the end of the row, turn and place a V stitch into the last V stitch of the previous row. Repeat across row. Repeat rows until desired length. Finish off ends with a border of dc, ch 1, dc, ch 1.

It will look something like this:

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

February 27

Thinking about our wedding day in 1998. Warren's sister, Kim, sang Celine Dion's "Because You Loved Me" during our ceremony.

Heal Me Lord

My son, my friend, my firstborn, and my angel

Thomas Jeffrey Clements

October 23, 1976 - August 21, 2009

Invitacion Fountain

Let all who are weak

All who are weary

Come to the Rock

Come to the Fountain

All who have sailed

On the rivers of heartache

Come to the sea

Come on, be set free!

If You lead me Lord,

I will follow

Where You lead me Lord,

I will Go

Come and heal me Lord,

I will follow

Where You lead me Lord,

I will go

I will go

Let all who are weak

All who are weary

Come to the Rock

Come to the Fountain

Let all who have climbed,

The mountains of heartbreak

Reach to the sky

Come on, and give your life

If You lead me Lord,

I will follow

Where You lead me Lord,

I will Go

Come and heal me Lord,

I will follow

Where You lead me Lord,

I will go

I will go

Heal me.

Heal me.

All who are weak

All who are weary

All who are tired

All who are thirsty

All who have failed

All who are broken

I Love You So Much

One day after loading his kids into the backseat of my car and distributing kisses, David hugged me and said, "Mama, you know how you always say, 'I love you so much'? I really didn't know how much so much was until I had kids."

Gondola Getaway

I remember the night that Warren proposed. It was September 26, 1997 and we had enjoyed dinner at our favorite Japanese restaurant. Afterwards he took me to The Gondola Getaway in Long Beach and pulled a beautifully decorated basket out of the back of the 4Runner that held a bottle of champagne and crystal glasses. He had secretly hidden it there and I knew at that point that something was up. We were listening to soft music and sipping champagne as our gondola circled Naples Island when he pulled his grandmother's wedding ring from his pocket and asked me to be his wife. I said yes, he laughed and dropped it in my champagne. After fishing it out and putting it on, we were serenaded by our gondolier who stopped under moonlit bridges to sing Italian love songs.

Warren

I've heard it said that love happens when you least expect it but when I left my job at Harland in March 1996 for a position at RCS in Santa Fe Springs, I hardly imagined that it would bring romance into my life. With a new route to work, I began stopping at Coffee Depot in Yorba Linda to grab a quick cup in the morning and then again on my way home to chat with the local crowd that gathered each evening. I met Warren in June and thought it kind of funny that he was always outside the coffee shop when I stopped on my way home. He would be sitting there with his sunglasses on, smile at me as I went in, and then get up and come in after a few minutes for more coffee. He says he was hooked the moment he laid eyes on me, confessed it was my red dress that caught his attention and that he asked the owner who I was. That's how he knew what time I came in each day. I always wondered about that. Our first date was October 5, 1996 and we've been together ever since.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

I Love My Baby (My Baby Loves Me)

I sing this version of the 1925 song I Love My Baby (My Baby Loves Me) to my grandchildren and sang it to my boys when they were little. We substitute names for the word baby ♫

I love my baby, and my baby loves me,
There ain't nobody as happy as we;
When we're together, we're great company,
I love my baby, and my baby loves me.

To My Middle Child

For my David. I came across this poem years ago in a Dear Abby column and gave it to him - my own sweet brown-haired child.

My darling, I had presupposed in dreams
your hair would be a brightly polished crown.
Like sunlight spun to gold on mountain streams,
yet soft, beneath my hands, as ciderdown.

Sometimes I fancied you with raven hair,
but when you came, above the nursing gown
there were no tresses black or flaxen-fair
your pixie face was fringed with tufts of brown.

You are my middle love, my brown-haired child.
Not first or last, encircled in my arms.
But child of many moods, like a bracelet styled
enchantingly of most delightful charms.

And so my darling, never, never think
you are less loved; you are our magic link.

-author unknown