Thanksgiving 2008

I have so many things to be thankful for this year. For my Savior, for a warm bed to sleep in at night and for plenty of food to eat, for my son who is intelligent and hard working and is a man of integrity, for wonderful friends, for this country I live in, and so much more...

~Bye for now.

Women of Faith Infinite Grace Conference 2008

I attended the 2008 Infinite Grace WOF Conference at the Ford Center on November 14 and 15. It is always such a fun time to reconnect with women, sing praises, laugh, cry and listen to stories and Bible lessons. Marilyn Meberg gave a wonderful talk that gave me chills. She talked about abandonment and that we were created to be connected. There is a disconnect when one is abandoned; a feeling of shame - "Wasn't I good enough, why did ___ leave me?" She noted that those who have been severely abandoned, especially in childhood, have a need to control others. And an intense need to never talk about that which they are most ashamed of - that something must be wrong with them to cause the other person to abandon them, they must not be worth keeping. The strange thing is, it is only through recognizing those hidden hurts and working through the hurts that one can heal. A couple good verses that pertain to the subject were: Isaiah 41:9 and John 1:12,13. Patsy Clairmont is such a hoot! Anita Renfroe sang a song about Spanx! And, if you go to You Tube, you can see her video that is a remake of Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats" - It's called "Before I Eat" and you will laugh until you cry. Sandi Patty and Nicole C. Mullen and Mandisa sang their hearts out. Both Sandi Patty and Nicole C. Mullen had their daughters sing with them. And Sandi Patty's husband sang with her - he sang in Italian and has a wonderful voice. One of the photos is of everyone holding up their cell phones for light. I am old enough to remember people holding up lighters.

~Bye for now.

Edmond,OK

I took this photo along 15th Street today. I love watching the leaves change color.

The other photo, of the sky, was taken an hour or so later, as the bad weather was coming into town. I got drenched by the storms later. Not exactly what I had intended, but it is good to be alive. ~Thanks for looking and bye for now.

Autumn

In honor of yesterday's historic elections, and for no other reason than that I felt like it, I took a drive today to Arcadia to visit the historic Round Barn. I spent awhile visiting with Butch in the gift shop. He is apparently always there. He told me he lives right next door. I then stopped at Pops for lunch. As we were getting some storms coming in, I asked the waitress what they do there when there is bad weather. The gas station and restaurant is almost all glass and I can't imagine being in there during a tornado. The waitress smiled and told me that they "get in their cars and drive home".