Amazing Love

We sang a song at church not too long ago. It was a new song to me. I don't recall ever hearing it before. There are some hymns that we sing at church that cause me to look more introspectively than others. They cause me to think about what I say, how I act, whether I'm really putting God at the forefront of my life like I should. Am I truely a servant of God doing my best, not perfect, but doing my best? This was one of those songs.  Since this was the first time I had heard the song I was paying extra attention to the words while trying to follow the music at the same time. We had sung about 1/2 of the song when I stopped singing. I could no longer form the words as tears welled up in my eyes. They weren't sad tears though. They were tears of gratefulness to my Father. Those words"...that You, my God would die for me!" really struck a cord with me at that time on that day. It touched me to the core as I sat on the bench and listened to the rest of the song.

I think sometimes we're afraid to show emotion. We're afraid of what others might think. Thoughts of God and the sacrifice of His Son should cause emotions to stir within us - emotions like sorrow for his suffering, and thankfulness for His mercy in allowing us to be called children of God.

Although I've heard the song several times since that initial time, it still touches me every time...every time. If we ever reach the point where words like that don't stir emotion in us, we need to try to figure out why. They should.

I needed that song that day. I needed to be reminded to do better.

If you haven't sung or heard the song before, I've posted it below. This is the arrangement that is in our song books at Kelly Spring Rd. I understand the arrangement that we sang is different from how it was originally arranged when it was written. Either way, the words should make you want to do better.

And Can It Be
by Charles Wesley Arranged by Darrell Bledsoe

And can it be that I should gain an int'rest in my Savior's Blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain?
For me, who scorned, His perfect love.

Amazing love, how can it be that You, my God, would die for me.
Amazing love, how can it be, that You, my God, would die for me.

Boldly I come before Your throne, to claim Your mercy immense and free;No greater love will e'er be known, For O, my God, it found out me.

Amazing love, how can it be that You, my God, would die for me.
Amazing love, how can it be, that You, my God, would die for me.

You Can Call Me Granny

Aaron and his real
sweetie, Emily

Our 2nd oldest son, Aaron, will be finishing up his Bachelor's Degree in Nursing in December at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.He worked during the summer in an Internship Program sponsored by the University and the local hospital, DCH (Druid City Hospital.) Aaron had applied for the job and was happy to be one of several to receive it. That meant he could quit the job that he had been doing for a couple of years in Tuscaloosa...making sub sandwiches. There was definitely no love lost in leaving the old job. This internship was a paying job and in his field of study.  The best part was that it paid more than the job that he previously had at the Sub Shop. Life was good!

Aaron was placed in the TICU at DCH.  TICU stands for Trauma Intensive Care Unit. He quickly grew to really like that area of nursing. Aaron said that it was basically one- on-one care. He liked that. He didn't care for being stretched between several patients. As a matter of fact, that is probably his favorite area that he has worked so far.

During the summer internship, a sweet little lady was admitted in TICU. The way Aaron said would describe her the best would be to picture in your mind a little old granny. That would be her...white hair, short, sweet, elderly. As a matter of fact, if I'm recalling the story correctly, she was 88 years old. Aaron said that when she was admitted in the TICU, she introduced herself by saying, "You can call me Granny." So, that's what they did. They called her Granny.

Granny wasn't your typical TICU patient. She was able to speak easily, didn't seemed to be in a lot of pain, and had just a good attitude about life in general. Even though Granny wasn't Aaron's specific patient, he had helped Granny's nurse with Granny a couple of times. Granny took a liking to Aaron. Now, seeing that I'm Aaron's mom, I will say that I don't think that taking a liking to Aaron would be a very difficult thing to do but I am just a little bit biased in my opinion. But 88 year old Granny took a particular liking to Aaron. She even told the other nurses that she thought Aaron was cute and that he was her boyfriend. That didn't really bother Aaron though. He was happily married and a newlywed. Besides, she was 88 years old! She was definitely not a threat by any wild stretch of the imagination!

Granny was being discharged from the TICU and Aaron's work with the patient that he had been assigned was caught up so he went down to help Granny's nurse get her ready to leave the floor. Granny didn't often ask the nursing staff for things; she would tell them...and they usually would fill her request. After Aaron had helped get Granny ready to leave the floor, she turned to him and said, "Now you can give Granny a kiss." Aaron thought, "What? I know she didn't say what I thought she said!" Contemplating what to do, Aaron began to think about the possibilities. What was he going to do? He knew that she didn't have any communicable diseases. There was nothing that she "had" that he could catch, so he thought..."What's the harm. I'll just give her a little peck on the cheek. She's a sweet little old lady, then she'll be gone." So, Aaron bent down to give 88 year old, sweet, white haired Granny a peck on the cheek as she was sitting in her wheelchair before she left the TICU floor. The next thing that happened was not even within the realm of thinking of this student nurse working as an intern at DCH.  But, in his own words, "SHE WAS FAST!" Before he knew it, she had turned her head and it was no longer a cheek peck but a full mouth-on peck!!!!! Maybe no communicable diseases but OH MY!!!!

Aaron said that once little old Granny left the room, he immediately went over to the sink and used a lot of soap and water on his face and mouth! Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, washing your mouth out with soap, huh?

According to Aaron, there are some patients that just leave a lasting impression on their nursing staff because of their personality, their illness, their compliance, their grumpiness.  Granny will definitely be one that leaves a lasting impression on Aaron as she welcomed him into the world of nursing in a way he never expected...with a kiss!

How to Live a Happy Life

This is definitely one of those, "I wish I had said that" posts so you'll find that it has made its way to that page also after being on this "hodge-podge" home page.

We get caught up with life way too much, worry way too much about things that don't matter and don't work enough on the things that really do matter. Maybe sometimes we need to press the reset button and refocus on what's important. I know I surely do.

How to Live a Happy Life

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight, and height. Let the doctor worry about them. That is why you pay him/her.
2. Make most of your friends the cheerful kind. The grouches pull you down.
3. Keep learning. An idle mind is the devil's workshop.
4. Enjoy the simple things. That butterfly outside your window on the bush really is a thing of beauty.
5. Laugh often, long, and loud. Laugh so that others will know you by your laugh before they see your face.
6. Tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on.
7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it is family, pets, keepsakes, music,plants,whatever.
8. God only gave you one body. Don't abuse it. Cherish your health. If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.
9. Don't take guilt trips. Go to the mall, the next county, a foreign country, but not to "guilt country." You cannot change one thing by feeling guilty about it.

Letter to the Editor...

I wrote the following letter to the Editor of the Huntsville Times in Huntsville, AL after becoming aware of the new dress code for the county school system. It was posted in the Huntsville Times on July 24, 2010.


School Dress Code

As a parent of four children who have attended school in the Madison County School System for grades K-12, I have observed in shock the way students have been allowed to dress while attending our county school system. Totally inappropriate would be a good way to describe some of the clothing and accessories that have graced the hallways of our schools. Exposed cleavage, sagging pants, body piercings, vulgar and sexually suggestive T-shirts are just a few of the ways that our kids have been allowed to "express themselves".

Everyone does not want to see your cleavage, girls, but when you wear a spaghetti-strap sundress or top so low that your breasts are barely covered, you leave others no choice when they glance your way but to see your cleavage. Everyone doesn't want to see your boxers or briefs, guys, but when you not only sag your pants but sag them so low that you can hardly walk, and at the same time expose your boxers, you leave others no choice but to see them when they glance your way. The same goes for the filthy, suggestive language that can be found on some T-shirts.

Shame on us for teaching our children that how they present themselves to others doesn't matter. It does matter.

Although I am sorry for the added work to enforce it, I am thrilled to see the Madison county School Dress Code for 2010-2011. Thank you, Superintendent Terry Davis, and Madison County Board of Education.

Beverly Smith
35806

Homemade Cold Chocolate Goodness

A sweet friend of mine, Gena, told me about this recipe the other night.  I have tried it and believe me,  it's a real winner! Just dump the ingredients in a ice cream freezer and plug in or start cranking. I personally like the "plug in" kind.

Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream

1/2 gallon chocolate milk
1 large container of Cool Whip
1 can sweetened condensed milk

The Easy One

Today, our youngest child, Mikayla turned 17. She'll start her final year of high school in about 10 days. Kids come in different shapes, sizes, genders, personalities. If you have more than one child, you quickly realize that children from the same 2 parents can be very different but at the same time, you wonder how that is possible! Regardless, nothing is any more true than that with my four biological kids.

Mikayla has pretty much always been an easy kid for the most part, pretty self-sufficient, one who marches to the beat of her own drum, both figuratively and literally. She's a self-motivator, a non-complainer most of the time, a no-nonsense kid with her dad's dry sense of humor. She came into this world as the smallest, physically of my 4 biological kids but hit the ground running and hasn't slowed down since! At times, I wonder if she keeps us young or is adding to the "making us old" bit.

The neat thing about her as well as my other kids is that I not only love her (I kind of have to do that!) I also like her.

She's my only child to get a penny stuck in her throat when she was 3 years old, have to be taken to the ER by ambulance and into surgery to have it removed! She's my only one to be hospitalized for an intractable migraine last fall. Those 2 events probably added a few years to the "making me old" bit. She's also the only one to threaten to "tell daddy on me" when she wasn't happy with something that I had done when she was about 3 or 4. I told her bigger sister to tell her that that just wasn't how things worked. Even though there have been a few bumps in the road, for the most part, she has been an easy one.

She loves Audrey Hepburn, dinosaur stickers, the old TV show - Boy Meets World and playing the bass drum in her high school marching band. Her greatest love probably is reading. Even though her spare time is little now, if she has any, that's what you will find her doing.

Mikayla asked for a Bible for her birthday, an ESV Bible. Being a Christian as a young person in the world that we live in today is no easy thing. The world for the most part has forgotten about their Creator and that has definitely trickled down to the young folks. I'm thrilled that she is not ashamed of who she is, spiritually, but works to let her example speak about the One she serves both at school and at work. I am also thrilled to be her mom.

A VERY MERRY UNBIRTHDAY TO YOU..YES YOU!!!

Homemade Mocha Ice Cream

A friend of our youngest one, Mikayla, is allergic to eggs. Because of that, I was looking for a recipe for homemade ice cream that had no eggs.  Well, I came across a basic one online and tweaked it a bit coming up with this recipe for Mocha Flavored Ice Cream with Chocolate Covered Peanuts and I must say, YUMMMMMM!!!!! It's good. You can use the basic recipe and add the ingredients that you choose to make it your flavor. I just chose to make it a mocha flavor with chocolate covered peanut chunks.  Try it!  It's a winner!


Basic Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

2 cups of whipping cream
4 cups half and half
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tsp. vanilla extract

I added 1/3 cup Hills Bros. Instant Cappuccino Mix, Double Mocha flavor plus 1 1/2 cups of chopped chocolate covered peanuts. The easiest way to chop the pnuts is in a food processor.

Pour into ice cream freezer and freeze according to directions.

Add any extras to make the flavor you choose. 

Some Possibilities:

2 cups pureed strawberries
2 cups pureed peaches
2 cups Oreo cookie crumbs
1 - 6 count pkg. reg. sized Butterfinger Bars, crushed
1/3 cup Hills Bros. Instant Cappuccino Mix, Double Mocha flavor plus 1 1/2 cups of chopped chocolate covered peanuts
1/2 cup Nestle Quick Chocolate Milk Mix plus 1 1/2 cups finely chopped milk chocolate
and on...and on...and on...the possibilities are endless.

Waiting To Go Home

I don't like funerals, never have. I guess I can honestly say that I don't know anyone who does. It's a place where I don't feel comfortable. It's not that I'm afraid of the dead body; it's just that more times than not, I don't know what to say. "I'm sorry" seems so insignificant. But I go anyway like many of you, to let the family know that I love them, that I'm thinking about them, that they're not traveling this road alone.

When one that's so special to you leaves this life, it's a difficult time. It's a journey as a spouse, a parent, a child, a grandchild that carries with it a mixed bag of emotions. It has a sadness that's indescribable, probably a sadness like you've never experienced before. At the same time, there's a gratefulness to the Father of all because there really is comfort in Him for the child of God. As a matter of fact, He is the only real comfort during this time.

The mind's eye can give us a clear picture of what it will be like for those servants of God when they leave this earth. The one who has had such difficulty doing the average, everyday things, the one whose body was sick or diseased, the one whose thoughts were jumbled, will no longer have to struggle with those physical ailments.  All of that will be gone. They will be in a place of peace and comfort for the time being, waiting on the return of their Lord.

When speaking of his wife after her death, one elderly gentleman said that he knew she wouldn't come back to this earth even if she could. The place where she was resting was so much better.

Our daughter that we were privileged to gain when our son married last year lost her grandpa recently. Two of my sweet friends, her mom and her aunt, lost their dad. Her grandma lost her husband. He was a good man, a godly man from what I knew. I felt their sadness, relief and gratefulness all at the same time. Even though the emptiness that was left by his death is prominent now, it will begin to fade with each passing day and will be replaced by good memories and funny stories of the one that they loved so. More importantly, they will now think of their dad, their grandpa and husband in a different light - not one whose body is frail and whose mind is confused but one who is in Abraham's bosom waiting to go home and be with his Lord...just like my mom. A more precious thought doesn't exist.

Mom, Did I Ever Tell You About the Time...

Monrovia Middle School

As our kids have gotten older and all but one have left home, a few things have come to light. The things that I'm speaking of would be things that happened during the time they lived at home but were not brought to our attention at the time.

One weekend, the kids were home for a weekend visit from college life. We were sitting at the dinner table carrying on normal conversations. (Yes, it is possible to have normal conversations with your children at the dinner table. If you're not there yet, hang in there. You'll get there.) One of our kids referred to a time in middle school and said, "Mom, did I ever tell you about the time....". The immediate thought that came to mind was not one of comfort. It was one of "Oh my - not sure I want to hear this!" But, without slowing down to give me a chance to wrap my mind around all of the possibilities, he proceeded. "Mom, did I ever tell you about the time that I got a paddling at school?" Paddling? Did he just say paddling? I'm confident it wasn't paddling. I misunderstood. My ears were not clearly hearing what he was trying to communicate. "What?", I said. He responded, "A paddling - Did I ever tell you about the time that I got a paddling at school?" After picking the lower half of my mouth up off of the floor, I replied, "No, I don't recall your bringing home that little tidbit of information when you were still in school here! A paddling? *****Smith !" With every word, I'm confident that the pitch of my voice got just a little bit higher. It was at this point that a little smile came across this child of mine's face.

The next logical question had to be asked even though it was one that I really didn't want to hear the answer to. "What did you do to get a paddling?"  As far as I knew, none of my kids had ever been paddled at school before.  My kids were far from perfect...FAR FROM PERFECT. They definitely had their share of troubles but they were basically good  kids. I just could not imagine what he had done! What could he have done to earn a paddling! One of the ground rules that we had in our home for our children was that good behavior was expected of them at school. As a matter of fact, they knew that if they got in trouble at school, they would have a another dose of it when they got home. Misbehaving, especially at school, was just not okay.

Back to my question. "What did you do to get a paddling?"  He revealed the cause of the infliction of pain on his backside.  "I laughed." Now, I realize that those two words make up a complete sentence.  It has a subject and a verb. But I knew that there was no way that it was a complete answer.  I KNEW there was more to the story than that. "What?  You laughed?"

It was then that we were given just a little bit more information to fill in the missing pieces to this paddling puzzle.  It seems that this child and a buddy were laughing...a lot and had been doing so in a previous class.  When they arrived at this particular class, the teacher asked them to stop.  Well, the laughing had already reached maximum proportions and was going ahead full steam. There was no stopping it.  That's probably stretching it.  If someone were holding a gun to their heads and said stop laughing or I'll shoot, they probably would have stopped.   I think we've all had those moments when we've started laughing at something and couldn't stop. (It usually happens at the worst time and place like school or church!) 

On with the rest of the story... When the kids didn't stop laughing, they were sent to the Assistant Principal. At most middle and high schools, the Assistant Principal is not the nicest member of the school faculty.  As a matter of fact, he/she is usually the disciplinarian.  He's a "no bones about it" sort of person.  He doesn't smile a lot and most of the kids know that they really do need to steer clear of him if possible.

Upon arriving at the Asst. Principal's office, these two kids were asked why they were there.  They replied to him that they had been laughing.  (Now, you just have to wonder if this man at the time didn't scratch his head just a bit, and think, huh? Laughing? Aren't there just a few more serious infractions that we need to be dealing with than laughing? )  But then I'm sure he probably also thought that it had to be more than just laughing or the teacher wouldn't have sent them down to him in the first place. Time to get down to the nitty gritty. Time for the punishment to be doled out for such an infraction.  "You have a choice, boys.  You can either have after school detention or a paddling."  The decision was an easy one for the Smith kid. He knew that there was no way he would take the after school detention. That would mean he would have to stay after school.  If he had to stay after school, that would mean that mom and dad would find out! Easy decision! No staying after school for him! So, the Smith kid took door #2 - pain infliction to his backside as his prize, I mean punishment on that day. I'm sure it didn't feel good at all. I'm also pretty confident that he probably didn't laugh a whole lot in that teacher's class afterwards either.

Years later, I guess this Smith child thought that it was safe to reveal his well kept secret at the dinner table.   I'm sure he thought that the statute of limitations on double punishment had run out.  Tim and I just kind of shook our heads still in disbelief.  You never know...you just never know.

What are the lessons learned from this one you ask? The obvious one for kids is this -If your teacher tells you to stop doing something, YOU REALLY DO NEED TO STOP. To this child in particular,  it was a story that you lived to tell but you lived probably because you didn't tell it when it happened. I'm just not sure how your dad and I would have reacted to that one.  Finally, to parents, sometimes ignorance really is bliss and in this case, it definitely was!

Easy, Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

Looking for a quick cookie recipe? If you like peanut butter, this one will make the list. It has only 4 ingredients and both comes together and bakes in a very short amount of time. I don't remember where it came from. It's just one of those easy recipes that I've had forever!  I was asked for the recipe after sending it to a young people's study that Mikayla went to. So, Dave and Lisa...this one is for ya'll. Enjoy!

Bev's Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
1 cup self rising flour
1 cup peanut butter
1 egg

Mix together well and roll into approx. 24 equally sized balls. (If dough seems to be "crumbly", add 1 teaspoon of water at a time to the dough until it sticks together so the cookie dough can be rolled into balls.)  Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten down by making an X on the cookie with a fork. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. This recipe easily doubles to make 4 dozen or triples to make 6 dozen.