Books, Books....Oh, How I Love Thy Pages...

My most favorite aisle at Costco is the book aisle. No matter what is on my shopping list, I always have to stop and browse the books. My cart just automatically goes there!

I love to read. I attained that love during my childhood years. Growing up on the homestead, we didn't have electricity for many years. So, that meant we had no TV. Nor did we have a telephone for that matter.

I would lay on my bed (my bunk) for hours and read away. I read every Nancy Drew book at least 3 times. I remember reading "Christy" and had to reread it over and over. I couldn't put "Gone With The Wind" down, it was so captivating.

A good book is one that you don't want to end. Sometimes when I am in the middle of a book, I will comment to my hubby, that I am sad, because I am almost finished with the book and I want it to go on forever and not stop :}

Right now I am reading, "Killing Lincoln" by Bill O'Reilly. I love history and what an amazing leader Lincoln was. So much we can learn from him.

There are so many other books I would love to read. I pick them up at Costco, then put them back down and always say, "I need to finish the books I have, before I buy another".

Books about History (thank you Mr. Schroer) are my favorite. But almost any book can capture my attention. Well, with the exception of anything that has to do with cooking :{

I am thankful that my granddaughter, Taylor, has my same love for reading. Books are an incredible gift, and the ability to read, is a gift, too!

A Man Child Was Born.....

32 years ago today, November 11th, 1979, the Lord blessed us with a son. He came out the "roof", as he was an emergency C-Section. He weighed 10 pounds, 12 ounces and was 23" long. The same day he was born, a lady also had a set of twin boys. The 2 twins together didn't weigh as much as Mike did. They were in the hospital nursery side by side. Jim was standing outside the nursery glass window, admiring his son, when he heard someone beside him say, "look how BIG that baby is"!

The day I brought him home from the hospital, I fed him cereal. Of course, it was all watered down in his formula, but he was hungry, and has not stopped eating since.

There is a special bond between a mother and a son. I so love my boy.....Here are some things that come to my heart as I think of him.

my only boy

tenderhearted

kind

giving

strong work ethics

tall

basketball

calling Ulmers

sensitive

a wonderful brother

fishing

saying goodbye at Safeway in Soldotna

crabbing

loving his niece and nephews

integrity

loving his family

I can't imagine loving him any more than I do now. He is a delight to my heart. Many millions have seen him on TV, but to me, he is my boy and always will be. His tender heart has captured mine from the beginning. I am so incredibly proud of him and all that he has accomplished. He married a wonderful girl, whom we love.

I know that the Lord has a special calling upon his life. I remember very vividly a Sunday evening long ago when the Lord was speaking to his very tender heart.

I am so thankful for my boy. I am a very blessed mother.

In A Single Moment, Our Lives Were Changed Forever....

November 27th, 1992. We were at the church setting up for my sister's wedding that was to take place the next day. Enjoying the day, and the phone call came that forever would change each of our lives.

My 54 year old mother, who was on her way to the church to prepare for her daughter's wedding, had just been killed in an automobile accident in the small town of Clam Gulch, Alaska. Her little blue Honda 4 door, got caught in the slush of the road and she went over to the other lane and another car hit her and she was killed instantly. My two little nieces were in the car and hurt, but survived.

It seems like yesterday, at times, and then it seems like another world ago. So much has happened since that day. So much my mom has missed out on that I know she would of loved to have been a part. So much each of us have missed out on, knowing she would of invested so much into our lives in these last years.

I wept. I still weep. No one can ever take the place of your mom in your life. We can have others step in and be like a mom to us, but no one, takes her place.

One word that comes to mind that describes the life of my mom is GRACE. She knew the grace of God abundantly in her life. She left us such a legacy......

Tomorrow is her birthday. Oh, my heart and eyes are weeping. Mom, you left a family that loves you dearly. You were taken at such a young age. We don't understand or have all the answers BUT one thing we do know is that we will trust God with the reasons why.

12:13pm Alaska Standard Time on Nov 27th, 1992.... my mom entered into the presence of the Lord that she loved.... I know she will be waiting for each of us, with open arms and a warm embrace. I have a lot of living left to do, and things I want to still accomplish in my life...but when I get to the end, I look forward to her embrace and her mommy hug again.... I love you mom...

What a gift to our family....

28 years ago the Lord blessed us with a precious baby girl, 9 pounds, 12 ounces and a head full of black hair. We named her after my mom, who was there for her birth. Laura Marjorie. She is the only grandchild that carries my mother's name and that is a special gift to my heart.

She was a planned C-section and I wanted her to be born on the 10th, which is my mom's birthday, but the doctor had a golf game scheduled and said he would do the birth on the 8th. We didn't know we were having a girl. Back then, we had to wait till the birth to see what the Lord had blessed us with. I knew if we had a girl that we would give her my mom's name. :}

Here are some things that come to my heart when I think about my girl...

she was my only child born with hair

my baby

long hair and braids with ribbons

sucking her finger with part of her monkey sock in her mouth too

crumpling like a piece of paper

basketball

Winkie

YWAM

moving from Alaska

Azusa

College Graduation and Master's Graduation

Counselor

a soft heart

loves to laugh

her family means everything to her

idolizes her brother and her sister

great Auntie to Taylor, Tanner and Tristan

beautiful smile

gorgeous

beautiful heart

kind

steadfastness

thoughtful

cherishes her friends

loyal

I love her to the moon and back and back again! She has blessed our lives and given us so much joy! So incredibly proud of her and her pursuit of the dreams that are in her heart.

I really do have the best kids in the whole wide world! I wouldn't trade them for any others I know.... and I know a lot of great kids :}

This mom's heart is thankful for the Lord's faithfulness in her life.

I love you Laura!

Your mom forever...

Dreams, Sarah, and a Memory.....

One of the items on my "bucket list" is to meet Sarah Palin.... I didn't go to bed thinking about it last night, but I dreamed about it. I found myself at some kind of meeting and Sarah was there. Of course, in my dream only, (haha) I ran up to her and hugged her and asked if I could have my picture taken with her. So after about 10 pictures that I had a friend take, I proceeded for the next hour or so to just talk with her. I was asking her all kinds of questions and then telling her how much I admired her and the things she stands for.

When it was time to go, I said goodbye and she said "let's keep in touch" my heart was full. I had met her! A dreamed fulfilled and she was just as wonderful as I imagined. But, as I was walking out of the room, I saw her plop down on a chair, next to one of her crew that travels with her, and say something like "that girl talked my ear off and plumb wore me out!"..... Needless to say, in my dream, I slunk out of the meeting, feeling very humbled and embarrassed.....

When I woke up this morning, I was musing the events of my dream. I still want to meet Sarah, but I hope I tone it down when I do, so there will be no slumping down in the chair on her part. I do admire her for what she stands for and the convictions she lives by. I think if we would of been in high school together, we would of been very good friends. Maybe BFF's.

So, onto the "memory"... In processing the dream this morning, a painful memory came back to me from about 20 years ago. Isn't that interesting..... I never think about it, but this dream spurred the incident in my mind and in my heart.

I was sitting around with about 25 to 30 ladies and we were drawing "secret sister" names in our ladies group. A secret sister, is someone that you pray for and encourage throughout the year and send little gifts to, and like the name says, it is done in "secret".

As we were drawing names out of the basket, I just happened to glance across the room. I remember this one lady, that when she drew the paper, with the name on it, she rolled her eyes and gave a disgusting grimace. After the meeting was over, I went up to her and said " I could tell you weren't too thrilled about the name you drew." I can't even remember the answer she gave, and I didn't pick up on any clues.....until........

I realized some months later, that she had drawn my name.

Many years have passed and the little sting of pain remained in my heart this morning at the freshness of that memory.

I realize that not everyone will like you, and whatever the reasons were, the one who chose my name, was not "thrilled". I have to let that go, and this morning I gave it to the Lord to cover. I am thankful that when the Lord sees my name, I am accepted and loved! It is a good teaching lesson for me. I am me, in process. The Lord is working in my life, and I want to be more like Him. Sometimes in our processes, we aren't very pretty in the inside and it is portrayed in many ways on the outside. My desire is to leave a fragrance of the Lord on the people I touch.

So, I am ready for a fresh new day. Maybe I will meet Sarah.

Instant Maturity.....

"We often want to be called of God, then ushered painlessly into a position of service and honor, miraculously possessing the character our callings require. God doesn't work that way. Our appointments are not about glamor. They're about glory. God's glory". Beth Moore.."David, Seeking a Heart Like His"

In this "instant" world, we are not accustom to having to wait...We get perturbed if we are in the drive thru for more than a few minutes. We are living in an age, where entitlement and expectations are high. Why should we wait? I want it now and now is when I need it!

While we may get what we want in this world, in an instant, that is not the way our Heavenly Father has planned for our lives to receive from Him.

Yes, we receive forgiveness the instant we ask for it. We receive salvation, the moment we ask.... but when it comes to forming us into His image and molding us and working in us, to fulfill the calling He has placed upon our lives, that is not instant. It is a process. In all honesty, sometimes the process sucks....:}

Wouldn't it be wonderful to wake up fully mature and His character built within us? I am sure David, was wondering what in the world was going on in his life as Saul kept on pursuing him. He was suppose to be the next king and he found himself hiding in caves, always being pursued by the enemy.

Most of us will never find ourselves physically hiding out in a dark and wet and gloomy cave, but emotionally we will probably find ourselves there at times. Feeling as if we are all alone, and wondering what in the world is happening in our lives? I thought the Lord had called me, we say?

Little did David know that the Lord was molding him and preparing him for the calling He had placed upon his life. Just as the Lord is molding and preparing us to be fruitful and to bring Him glory and not ourselves.

It is not "instantly" but it is His faithfulness that works in us, as we remain obedient to hear His voice and walk in that.

The Oldies Were Once Young....

Last night I am driving home from work and I found an "oldies" radio station. Who would of ever thought that the songs I listened to in high school would become oldies. How can that be? Listening to those songs brought me back to so many memories, such as...

riding the bus and listening to them on 8 tracks (Mr. Knodel, you were the best bus driver ever!

thinking of all my classmates and how close we were (38 in our class)

Mr. Schroer, my favorite teacher

driving around in Doug's new VW getting ads for the yearbook

driving around in Eunice's VW (forgetting to put oil in it!)

laying awake at night and listening to the KFQD radio

buying some of those songs on cassette tape at Homer Rexall Drug Store

sitting at the Parfait Shop with Nan

wondering if he "liked" me? and crying if he didn't....

remembering the innocence of childhood and youth

FATCATS

Looking forward to our 40th class reunion in Sept 2012 in Homer, Alaska~