Coming soon...

Our daughter and her husband are expecting a baby! They’re very excited about “Peanut.” (That’s the baby’s name for now.) They already know if it’s a boy or girl and are keeping that secret to themselves for now, so Peanut is what we all call this “alien creature inside...” as quoted by my daughter from her blog at http://www.hannahandhusband.com/99-surprised/

If they tell us what names they have chosen, we’d figure out what they’re having and all the mystery would be gone. Personally, I think they’re very smart not to tell anyone what they’re naming their firstborn because people always have opinions about names. When one shares a name that they've chosen and another turns up their nose and tells some horrendous story about a person by that same name, it kind of ruins things. Parents don’t need others to weigh in on the given name, so our kids are using their noggins on this one. (I keep hoping one of them will slip and unintentionally say if it’s a boy or a girl. But they’re calling it an ‘it’ and not giving anyone any satisfaction! Ha!)

Around August 25th their world will never be the same...hence the grandparents’ worlds will never be the same. This is a first for all of us! And that due date is only THREE MONTHS AWAY! The word 'excited' doesn’t begin to describe our feelings!

Hannah and Andrew met in 2003, married in 2006, and just before their tenth anniversary, Peanut will arrive.

Joe and I were married for eleven years before Hannah was born. Everyone kept telling us things like, “Boy, things are gonna change around your house!!” or “You are in for some big changes!” Well, duh! We were married for eleven years and were ready for those changes! And she brought such fun and life into our home! What a joy she is! And now Hannah and James get to find out what joy is coming along! They’re going to be wonderful parents!

Grandparents?
Hannah’s mother-in-law, Cindy, said it best when she said this kid is going to rock our world! WooHoo! Bring it on!!!!!

I admit that I’m still wrapping my mind around the fact that my baby is going to have a baby. She’s going to be a good mom. All of her life she has exceeded expectations. From the time she was a little girl, I’ve told her over and over again, “you can do hard things” and this time will be no different.

People want to know what our ‘grandparent names’ will be. I have no clue. James called his mother’s father “Poppy” and Hannah called my father “Poppy” so I guess I’m sort of hoping that will be Joe’s name.

Poppy came around by accident. When Hannah was born, I’d call my dad “Papa” for her. She said it a few times, but then it morphed into “Poppy.” He didn’t care what she called him! He loved her so much that it didn’t matter!

I guess the baby will name me. Her parents will likely choose what we’ll be called, but ultimately the kids usually come up with what we’ll be...just like Hannah did with my daddy. It doesn’t matter. I’m so happy at the thought of being a grandmother!!!

I usually write something funny in my blog but this time I haven’t. Instead, I’ll just share this funny with you...

Remember...
If you have a pulse, you have a purpose. Make your life count!

Easter Traditions

On facebook, my friend Darlene Glick posted some sweet Easter memories from her growing-up-years and invited others to do the same in her comment section. I responded that I’d have to write a blog posting because of so many different and fun memories. So here we go... 



Typical Easter preparations, excluding egg-coloring (which was a job done on the night before Easter, with Mother using food coloring in our Boontonware teacups). 


Mother made sure there were new hats and dresses for my sister and me, new shoes and socks...and new white gloves. She also made sure we both had fresh curls in our hair, which she usually gave us by way of smelly perms on the Saturday afternoon before we colored eggs in the evening.

I remember going to Sunrise Services in our pajamas, all bundled up in blankets...and it would always be dark when we arrived. Daddy and Mother would let us sit in the back of the station wagon, with the door open...or in the trunk, where we’d listen to the music and the devotional while watching the sunrise on Easter Sunday morning.

When I became a mother, I loved getting Easter baskets ready for Hannah Beth and her daddy. And as she got older, we began a tradition that was a bit unusual. It all came about by accident, when I waited until 9:00 on the eve of Easter to begin making her dress for church the next day. For many years, that’s the way we did it. Hannah would pick out the fabric she wanted and I’d wait until the night before and stay up sewing till it was done. How did I fit it to her? She’d be sound asleep and I’d pull the cover back, lay the dress or skirt over her to mark where the hem should be...then finish the outfit and hang it in her room to surprise her on Easter morning! It was a fun tradition. I kind of miss it...



Now she’s going to be a mother in late August and will be starting fun traditions over the years to come! She’s so creative, I can’t wait to see what she’ll do!

But the most important tradition of all...one that I learned as a child and taught to mine...is to rejoice on Easter morning for the Father who sent the Son who went to a cross and laid in a tomb and then on the third day, arose! He said He would, and He did! Hallelujah!!!





Remember...
If you have a pulse, you have a purpose. Make your life count!

The Guest Bedroom at Rivermont

Because of recent speaking engagements I’ve had the opportunity to spend a few nights at Rivermont...the home my daughter and her husband share in Knoxville, Tennessee. It’s a great big rambling house with huge rooms and a great history. The place was built around 1904 and has only had a few families make their home there. Hannah and James are currently remodeling the kitchen. (Our son-in-law is not afraid to tackle anything! And he does it all well! Can you tell I’m impressed by him?!?) If you’re interested in knowing more about the Slaughters, visit www.hannahandhusband.com

The furniture in their guest room was purchased in 1963. For a few years, it was in my parents’ bedroom...then it became my furniture! It’s built from a blonde, curly Maple that seems heavy as lead! I stood in front of that tall mirror on the dressing table to check myself out before school, church, dates, proms, etc. That table, bed, and nightstand remained in my room from the time I was a girl, and until I moved away from home. After our daughter was born, and my parents were retiring/downsizing, they gave it to her. Hannah slept in that bed for several years. She recuperated from scoliosis surgery in that bed at the age of 14…even attending classes at her middle school via the computer for three months! She did lots of studying, drawing, reading, talking on the phone, sleeping and dreaming in that bed...just like her mother did so many years before.

And now it’s in the guest room upstairs, ready to welcome the next one who’ll enjoy a wonderful night’s sleep in that bed! Pretty soon, though, it’ll be moved to a guest room downstairs because that room will become a nursery. That’s right. My baby is going to have a baby in late August.

And for a short while, that newborn baby will be sleeping in the cradle where Hannah’s paternal grandmother slept in 1915. Then, it will be sleeping in the oak crib Hannah slept in from 1985 to 1987.

We are beside ourselves with happiness for them...and for us! When they shared the news with us in February, my hubby looked down, patted his rounded belly and said, “I knew something must be going on because I’m already showing!!!”

We’re excited for our children. Wanted to share the news with you, so you could share the joy with us!




Remember...
If you have a pulse, you have a purpose. Make your life count!

Music is Powerful

Fleetwood Mac songs take me back to sitting across from Joe in a Pizza Hut in Big Stone Gap, Virginia...listening to all their tunes I’d punched into the Juke Box.

The Beach Boys’ music puts me back in McComb, Ohio where my sister and I would spray Sun-In on our hair, slather baby oil on our bodies and climb out my bedroom window onto the roof of the parsonage. The identical transistor radios we got for Christmas one year would be on each side of us so it was like listening in stereo. We’d lay there and cook (literally) till we couldn’t take any more sun, then climb back in with radios still on and dance around for a while as our skin cooled down.

Three Dog Night and Dan Fogelberg songs take me back to living with my sister in a trailer in Wilmore, Kentucky, where I’d stack the albums and listen for hours to the same songs over and over again.

The Carpenters? Well, I was a ‘Karen Carpenter wannabe’ and spent lots of time in my bedroom in Sabina, Ohio - trying to sound just like her. She was a drummer. I was a drummer (not a great one) in band, but had moved on to playing the guitar, so I tried to mimic her when I’d sing and play her songs.

I can hear songs on Sirius XM or on the radio today and tell you what years they were hits simply by going back in my mind to those years. It was a handy trick when I was working in radio and needed to know those sort of details. Now, it’s a handy trick with which to reminisce!

Hymns and sacred songs take me back to special moments, too. “Just As I Am” takes me to the age of 20 and an altar where my daddy knelt in front of me and asked if I was ready to say “yes” to Jesus. I was. And I did. Most recently, I’ve been singing around the house the song, “No One Ever Cared For Me Like Jesus.” You see, the last time I sang that song was in a trio with two special friends, Deb DeFine (left), and Ellen Seymore (center).

We grew up together attending a yearly campmeeting in Ohio. For friends who only saw each other once a year, we were pretty good to pick up right where we left off the last time...and run with it! Much laughter abounded when we three got together! It's in our DNA!



Here are the lyrics to the song:

I would love to tell you what I think of Jesus,

Since I found in Him a friend so strong and true;

I would tell you how He changed my life completely,

He did something that no other friend could do.



No one ever cared for me like Jesus,

There's no other friend so kind as He;

No one else could take the sin and darkness from me,

O how much He cared for me.



All my life was full of sin when Jesus found me,

All my heart was full of misery and woe;

Jesus placed His strong and loving arms about me,

And He led me in the way I ought to go.



No one ever cared for me like Jesus,

There's no other friend so kind as He;

No one else could take the sin and darkness from me,

O how much He cared for me.



Ev'ry day He comes to me with new assurance,

More and more I understand His words of love;

But I'll never know just why He came to save me,

Till some day I see His blessed face above.

No one ever cared for me like Jesus,

There's no other friend so kind as He;

No one else could take the sin and darkness from me,

O how much He cared for me.



The words in the 3rd verse are the ones riding heavily on my mind today. That’s because Deb, whose voice is absolutely incredible, is getting to “see His blessed face above” this very day. She drew her last breath this morning just before 10:00, but her beautiful voice wasn't silenced. In fact, Deb is now blessing Jesus with her voice in total praise!

She hadn’t been sick long and this disease took her from us too quickly. When we talked on the phone last week for a bit, she asked me to pray with her before we said goodbye. I’m so thankful for those moments now! The song will now take me back to sweet memories of a dear friendship that’s lasted more than 50 years! I’ll bet my sister, Vangie, was waiting close by when Deb came through the gates...arms outstretched with a “Hi, Honeeeeeeey” for our buddy! She left too soon, as well. They’ll have lots of catching up to do.

Music is powerful.
Let music take you places...
Let music remind you...
Let music heal you…that's what it's doing for me today.




With every blog, I close with this challenge: If you have a pulse, you have a purpose. Make your life count!

Christmas 2015

As I begin writing this post, there are only about 40 minutes left of Christmas Day, 2015. 

Isn’t it funny how all the preparations we do to be ready for December 25th take so long...and then it’s over in a day. Well, not ‘over’ over...just done.

It’s kind of like a wedding with all the plans that are made, people involved and details worked out only to have the wedding ceremony over with in about 20 minutes (and a reception that lasts a couple of hours). Then it’s over. And then, the hard stuff starts like being married “...till death do us part.”

But I digress. (I’ve noticed that I do that a lot when I’m writing these blogs. My mind digresses a LOT! If you could see inside my mind, it would probably look like a jukebox, a playground at McDonald’s, with lots of DisneyWorld thrown in.)

When Christmas is over, sometimes all the joy and season’s greetings can seem to be over, too. People seem to be a little friendlier during the holidays...wishing total strangers to have a merry Christmas!

Generosity comes a little easier. The bell ringers find the red kettles a little heavier when they remove them from their stands because folks dug deep into their pockets to share their loose change to help The Salvation Army.

Goodwill toward men. We need that all year long.

I’m a Christian...and I try to have goodwill toward others on a daily basis, but some days are harder than others and I find myself not always living out what I say I believe. Thankfully, I serve a forgiving God who knows I’m gonna blow it and offers me second, third, and more chances to make it right.

Christmas has been a little different for us this year:
We had two deaths from our congregation on Christmas Day, and that’s an especially hard time for families to lose loved ones. It’s also hard on pastors who need to share family time and church work.
I got sick with bronchitis and a sinus infection. When I spoke, I sounded like I was going through puberty...and I was unable to sing the solo I’d been asked to share at one of our six Christmas Eve services at church.
We moved into a new (to us) house the same week as Christmas. (Not something I'd do again. Kinda like the car ads where the little disclaimer comes up: "Professional drivers on a closed course. Do not attempt." This was not one of our best ideas.) Joe was busy as usual with church matters, yet was able to do a lot toward our move, too.
There are so many boxes stacked around our house, it almost looks like a warehouse.
I’m still trying to find things that I need, but it’s been an adventure unpacking boxes that have been stored since our 2012 move!

Things have been quite chaotic at times, and in the midst of this move during Christmas week, we’ve seen The Church in action! Volunteers from our new church (First Broad Street UMC) came to help us move, paint, unpack, and feed us. One guy in particular fixed so many things in the house that I told him we’d never be able to thank him enough for all he’d done...so we’d just have to adopt him!

Where am I going with all this? Let’s keep this good stuff going. Christmas cheer can last all year! Hey, that rhymes!

Let’s say it together now:
“CHRISTMAS CHEER CAN LAST ALL YEAR!”




With every blog, I close with this challenge: If you have a pulse, you have a purpose. Make your life count!

Discombobulation

Have you ever driven to a store or mall to shop, then walked out to the parking lot afterward and not been able to find your car?

It happened to me the other day. When I couldn’t spot my Honda CRV, I felt this burning sensation inside.

Was my car stolen?!?
Of course not! I have an alarm system!

But what if it didn’t activate?!?
Of course not! The alarm system works just fine! Sometimes it goes off when I’m sitting in my car, unknowingly hit the remote door lock when I’m fumbling around with something, and then put the key into the ignition to start my car!!! Sets off the alarm every time...and boy, that thing is loud! It won’t stop until you unlock the doors...and you have to do that with the remote!

Maybe I probably just went out a different exit than where I entered. Nope. Can’t be. Lowe’s stores only have entrances and exits in the front.

I was in a fix. My car was definitely gone. I figured I should call the police, then call Joe and tell him what happened. Oh dear.

I couldn’t believe my car was stolen from a Lowe’s parking lot! It’s the holidays! And we’re in the midst of moving to our new home! This was a lousy time for something like this.

...and then I remembered.

Joe and I traded cars with one another earlier that day so he could get my tires checked before our Christmas trip. In all the scenarios I imagined, I forgot to imagine that maybe...just maybe...I was looking for the wrong car.

Just another day in the life of a discombobulated woman.




With every blog, I close with this challenge: If you have a pulse, you have a purpose. Make your life count!

A lot adds up in 41 years...

Joe and I have 41 years of marriage together.

We have 1 daughter, who gave us a son-in-law and a grand-dog

We've lived in 6 parsonages, along with serving 6 ministerial appointments...McClure/Clinchco/McCowan’s Chapel, Dryden/Seminary, Ft. Oglethorpe, Central, First Alcoa, Cleveland District, and currently First Broad Street UMC

We've driven 3 VW Bugs, 3 VW Rabbits, a beautiful 1968 Chevrolet with an 8-track player, a Ford Windstar, 1 Toyota Celica, 1 Toyota Camry, 2 Honda Accords, 1 Honda Civic, 1 Honda Odyssey, and 1 Honda CRV

Owned 7 guitars

Raised 3 Toy Poodles: Gabriel, Abraham, and Obadiah (aka Gabie, Abie, and Dobie)

Eaten at least 3 meals a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year for 41 years (I must admit I didn’t cook all of them)

And of all the meals I did cook, I can count on my fingers the number of times I absolutely burned the food. That’s not a bad track record for 41 years.

But tonight, I must start counting on my toes because I ruined dinner. Burned. Charred. Blackened...and not in a flavorful way.

Guess you could say I adore my husband so much that I gave him a 'Burnt Offering.'

I hear charred things can be good for digestion.






Remember...if you have a pulse, you have a purpose. Make your life count!