Scrapbook

typing & thinking......brace yourself!

Yesterday I had the rare pleasure of dropping my babies off at my MIL's and heading off for a mani/pedi!

I didn't go to the place I usually do and wasn't really thrilled when I was assigned to this older Asian dude for my spa treatments. And right off the bat, I could tell he was gonna be a talker. GREAT! I don't want to talk while I get mani/pedi's. I want to veg out. Is that too much to ask?

Turns out, his conversation wasn't bad at all. He asked me about this and that, and then if I had children. We talked about that for a bit. Then he told me that he'd left his country because he was exiled 27 years ago and had never seen his parents again. He went to visit their graves when he visited his homeland. He went on to say that he'd married and had 3 children and 4 grandchildren which he rarely got to see because they were so busy and lived a few hours away.

The lady beside me talked to the person doing her pedicure about her granddaughter and the new great grand baby she was about to have. She said that she'd battled breast cancer 3 years ago and prayed that God allow her to live to see her granddaughters have babies.

Today I had the pleasure of attending the wedding of my 2nd cousin, Yolanda. She is such a beautiful young woman, and of course she made an incredibly beautiful bride! It was a lovely ceremony with a whopping 7 bridesmaids and 7 groomsmen! BIG wedding party! Beautiful reception!

Yolanda's dad, Lamar J., is my 1st cousin. We share a really cool bond. I was born on October 9th, 19??, Lamar's 13th birthday! He has always told me that I was the best present he ever got! I agree! HA!

Yolanda told me after the wedding that she almost cried all the way down the isle. Her dad said to her right before they entered the church "I'm not ready to give you away." How sweet is that??? I, as well as most everyone else at the wedding, almost gave way to tears when as the ceremony began, the minister said that there was love felt both present with us and in spirit.

Yolanda's sister, Jill, passed away just a few short months ago at the age of 30. Derek, the groom, lost both of his parents suddenly and tragically about a month apart just a year or so ago. They had a table set up with a picture of Jill, and of Derek's parents in memory of all of them. Jill's son, Alec, 12, was an usher. He did such a great job and looked incredibly dapper, I must say! His mom would have been so proud of him!

I watched the 10M Olympic Diving medal competition tonight. The guy from Australia finished with a perfect dive only to dash the hopes of the Chinese in sweeping the gold medal in the Diving competitions. As I watched that young Chinese athlete, whose hope of gold had just been crushed by that perfect dive, in the background of the Aussie who was in shock at his own perfect performance, I wondered what the consequences of this would be for the Chinese diver, as far as his Olympic team, his country for that matter.

I thought about the old man at the salon yesterday, about how much he must have missed his family both then, and now....

I thought about that great grandmother who this very Sunday will be attending a baby shower for her granddaughter who in a few short weeks will be having her second great grandbaby...

I thought about the hopes and dreams of every Olympian in Beijing these last weeks. How they spend their ENTIRE lives preparing for that one moment......to have their efforts rewarded with gold,....or dashed by the agony of defeat.

I thought about the wedding today. How the families of both the bride and groom must feel such happiness for the new union formed in the house of God, mixed with a bit of sorrow for those they've so recently lost.


"I have choices, every second of the day, to serve my Lord. To honor Him with my speech and with my thoughts, with the way I love those around me and the way I worship Him. Every moment, there is another opportunity, and I want to use as many of them as He will allow. In fact, Scripture tells me that one day I will stand before Him, and I will (symbolically) hand the King of all Kings a tattered scrapbook of my days. It is up to me to decide what the pages will reveal."

(This is from a blog I read often. Bring the Rain. From the post entitled "Blink" . Since I read this about a month ago, it has spoken so strongly to me. )

As I read it again now, I think of all the random scrapbook pages I talked about above.......then I think about my own personal "scrapbook" of my days. Will all the pages be full? Will there be some empty ones on which days I did nothing to honor Him?

I want my pages to be overflowing with entries of service to my Lord and Savior. Not for my glory, but for His......

I am so thankful for the blessings He has given me, and I am so humbled when I think of what an awesome God I serve.