Happy Birthday Sweetie Pie!

Open Letter to my Sweetie Pie

Grandson...

Today is your birthday!

You are in Texas and I am in North Dakota

1200 long miles of road separate us.

I am so, so sad

that I can't be there.

Papa is sad to be missing the fun with you, too!

Have your mom give you a big hug from us.

Tell Dad to do something silly together today.

and have some fun with little sister!

Make today a homework free day.

Remember that you can climb every mountain

because you are stronger than you think.

Be the king for today

and when we get back to Texas,

we'll take you out to eat - 

you get to choose

(unless it's Chucky Cheese - which I

think you've outgrown).

And I will bring you a big lipsticky-icky

Nana Smooch.

Are you rolling your eyes at me?

Oh.  I forgot to tell you.

Your birthday gift probably won't make it there today.

It takes about 14 years for mail to go that far!

So....Celebrate all week!

Have a Happy Birthday!

Happy! Happy! Happy!

I love you more.

The Junk Drawer

Disclaimer:  This post is written from my IPad, as a test, sort of an experiment.  

The photos were also made with the same device.

Things don't work exactly the same as they do on my computer.  

Let me know how it looks.

 Sooooooo.....here goes.....

Today I am sharing this incredible moose with you.  

We found him in Montana.  

He hangs majestically over a fireplace in the lobby of a hotel.

 At first glance, he's just a hairy old moose.

He is incredible!

But look closer!

His creator must have raided my kitchen junk drawer,

Papa's box of broken stuff he might need someday, 

 and the sticks in the yard (that I didn't get raked) from

the cottonwood tree.

There's a picture frame, a broken compass, a totally worn out paint brush, 

cloud photos, a postcard, and a light switch plate among other

worthless junk that I couldn't identify.  And fallen sticks.

He is the unltimate in mixed media art.

There's a quote out there that's been around forever:

"God don't make no junk"

It's true.  God didn't make us junky.  We do a pretty good job of making our own junk.

And sometimes, life just hands us junk.

Our junk drawers are full of broken dreams, broken promises, 

broken expectations, and stuff we will probably never be able 

to fix on our own.

But if we'll just let him have that junk drawer - He will turn it into

something amazing.  Like junk to jewels.  Trash to treasures.

Beauty from ashes (Isaiah 61:1-3).

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, 

and are called according to his purpose."  

(Romans 8:28) 

Give Him that junk drawer!