Friends

In the last two days I have been blessed by phone calls from two long time girls friends. Having a girl friend for 20 to 30 years is a long time, but that does not make them or me old.

One called to check out my trip to Africa and to get some details. As we chatted, she shared that she and her husband were going on a cruise for the first time in the spring with family. How fun and exciting it was to share our joys and anticipations for our upcoming adventures. Plans were made for a gathering of picture sharing and laughter later in the year.

My other good friend called on her way to another trip to be the caregiver to her in-laws who are in failing health. We are in that generation where we have parents who are presenting health problems and some are greater than others. She has already cared for her own parents and lost both of them not long ago. Now she is caring for her in-laws and it looks as if one will be lost soon. She has been my encourager many times in the past and I am so glad that I can be there to hear her concerns and encourage her.

Friendships are one of life's greatest blessings and make every day a great day!

I am going to Africa!

The end of December all Durham District members received an email from the District Superintendent offering this opportunity to all of our churches to send workers to this field of mission. Since I do not pastor a church right now I felt like it was a unique opportunity for me to follow. We are a small group of seven going to Nairobi, Kenya for two weeks starting 28 February. We are going under the missionary arm of the United Methodist Church, Volunteers In Mission (VIM) and taking food to feed children in some schools with the Stop Hunger Now program. This is a group that has gone many times before so they are continuing a relationship with these schools, teachers, and children. I am very excited to be a part of this endeavor.

We have lists for everything to include how many changes of clothing to bring. We even need to bring underwear and socks for the entire two weeks!!  Well, this made my day yesterday. After a cancelled appointment near Crabtree Mall, I went and had breakfast among the walkers at Chick-fil-A and had my Monday morning chat with Mary. I then headed out to find undies. Now, this might not thrill all of you, but some of us care how our undies fit.  When you find a brand, style, and size you like it is like winning a jackpot. Well, I have found all of the above, but do not have enough to make it through the two week trip. I started at one end of the mall and shopped all the way to the opposite end to find enough pairs to make it through the two weeks and even found some on SALE. My favorite four letter word or at least one of them. I even walked the length of the mall and back so I exercised. Ah, progress.

I ate,
        I shopped,
                        I exercised,
                                          what could be better.

Five Months Ago Today

It really has been five months since Ray said these title words to us in the hospital.  It was the last day he was able to talk to us and the day before he died.  It was not unusual for him to think it was a good day as for Ray, every day was a good day.  The nuance was the idea of writing it down.


Now that the new year has begun it is a good time to write down what I see has made each day a good day.  Sometimes it is hard to see the good in every day, but if one looks hard enough the good can be found I do believe.  The more we look, the easier it will be to find the good in each day.


I hope you will come along and share your good days with me.