Due to a weekend that had me in the car for six hours on Saturday and getting home late and then a Sunday that included church and then helping to set up, attending and then cleaning up for a band banquet, that had me home in time to work on dinner and do some laundry, I have no post today. I had a great weekend doing things with and for some of the people I love the most. I feel blessed and I’m thankful, but exhausted. I hope your Monday is fabulous and that you see glimpses of God all around you.
I’m off for spring break this week. I’m planning on unplugging, taking a break and spending as much time as possible with my son who’s a senior. I hope to meet you back here in a week and I hope you have a blessed week.
My daughter is home from college for Thanksgiving this week. My senior is off this week as well. I’m taking this week off to spend as much family time as possible, so I won’t be posting anything. I hope you find this holiday full of things to be thankful for. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Due to a class reunion this past weekend, along with a weekend long slumber party with some of my favorite ladies on the planet, which included late hours and lots and lots of talking and laughter, I have no post today. I hope your Monday is fabulous.
Due to a house full of company this weekend, followed by a frenzy of activity that lasted all weekend, I don’t have a post today. I hope you have a wonderful Columbus Day!
“Three things will last forever-faith, hope, and love-and the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13
As I write this post, Hurricane Florence is bearing down on North Carolina. It’s been a strange hurricane by all accounts. It has defied the odds of even coming ashore at all, based on the position it began in. It has weakened and then strengthened and was even predicted to strengthen to a record-breaking status, before once again weakening. It has literally danced up and down the East Coast and the focus of the eye has changed repeatedly.
Forecasters are reluctantly admitting that this particular hurricane is just dependent on too many variables to predict much of anything with much certainty.
I had some friends that once had to evacuate their homes on the coast of Georgia, for a hurricane with just a few hours notice. I remember the wife telling me that she looked around her home and asked herself, what they needed to try to save. It would have to fit in their car.
She said she chose their photo albums and their home computer, which was also their office computer. Once they got their child, some clothes and their dog in the car, there was very little space for anything else.
The hurricane shifted and missed them, but I have always remembered what she told me about leaving at a moment’s notice.
Those of us who are blessed enough to live in the modern western world, have all kinds of conveniences and lots of predictability. We usually know what weather is coming, a week or more in advance. We know what the traffic will be like before we even leave the house in the morning. We have a constant flow of answers to our questions at our fingertips. We have retirement plans and health insurance. We are planners and we are prepared.
But, sometimes life throws us curve balls that we couldn’t have possibly anticipated, no matter the amount of planning we engaged in. Sometimes tragedies like sickness, or a divorce, or job loss, or even a death can strike.
Hurricanes happen.
It’s not a matter of if, but of when. And when the storm comes, how can we prepare? If we walk in faith, we know that we never walk alone. We know that Jesus holds our hand, no matter the tragedy or the outcome and that foundation can never be destroyed. If we strive to put our family and friendships ahead of our material things, we have that protection as well.
Hurricane Florence has reminded me that life here on this side of Eternity will always be unpredictable. As we pause to pray for the safety of those in her wake, may we remember that the most important things in life are not things.
Today is the first day that my son is out for summer break. My daughter came home from college a couple of weeks ago and all of my chicks are back in the nest. It’s a temporary season, but one I’m going to treasure. June at my job means ten hour days Monday-Thursday, so we can have Fridays off. The Fridays are wonderful, but ten hours is a long time to sit at a desk.
My daughter is moving into a small house next year. We are going to carve time out this summer to refinish some furniture for her. All of the pieces are old, solid and special. Her bed belonged to her great-grandparents on my side. It was their first bed. Her dresser belonged to her great-grandmother on her daddy’s side. Her end tables belonged to her grandparents on my side and her desk belonged to her grandmother on her daddy’s side.
We have been blessed with lots of unique pieces that belonged to some very special people, that also need lots of work, but restoration is one of the things I love best and she and I will work on them together.
My sister is coming to visit for a few weeks. We are taking a vacation.
With all of that said, I’m taking a break from writing on Graceful Gaines this summer. I may try to post here and there. I’m sure God has so much to show me in my furniture endeavor, but I won’t be posting regularly. I really want to intentionally take the time to love my people well this summer and to be fully present. It sometimes takes longer than one would think to write a post.
My son will graduate next year and I’m well aware that our family dynamic will soon change for good. While I’m okay with that, I’m excited for my kids and their personal journeys; I want to soak up every drop possible of the present. Time is the one thing we never get more of.
I want to thank all of my readers for reading and commenting. The encouragement always means the world to me. I pray that you have a wonderful summer and I plan on meeting you back here in the Fall.
My family spent Mother’s Day with my sweet mama at her house. We ate pizza We went swimming. We got caught up. We laughed a lot and enjoyed being with family. We even visited with a cousin I haven’t seen in way too long. We took pictures and created memories. We stayed much later than planned and we got home late. I don’t have a post today, but I hope you have a wonderful Monday!
Due to an exhausting week with two migraine headaches, I don’t have a post today. I hope you have a wonderful weekend and I’ll see you back here on Monday.
