Thankful Thursday (Even Though it's Sunday)

I saw a post yesterday titled Thankful Thursday and got permission from Misty to "steal" her idea. But Thursday, Friday and Saturday all got away from me. Here it is Sunday, but I'm going to post this anyway.

Thursday was August 25th - my father-in-law's birthday. How thankful I am for him and the legacy he left. I see so many amazing traces of his legacy in my children. He was quite a man. He knew what he believed and he stood his ground no matter what the challenges. He was a loving, caring husband and father. In fact, as my mother-in-law grew more and more disoriented due to Alzheimer's, he faithfully and tenderly cared for her. Even though he had his own health issues, he pretty much laid down his life for his wife. (He's been gone now since 1999.)

He was fun-loving and that was something somewhat foreign to me when I married into the family. My introduction the first time my new husband and I stayed with my in-laws was to find a rubber snake in my suitcase. A day or two later, it was some plastic "barf." My husband and my children have tended toward the fun-loving side often to my dismay and occasionally to my utter terror!


My father-in-law was disciplined, a trait that showed up primarily in my middle son, although the others also have traces. My father-in-law used to brag about how he would take his last hot shower of the season on a specific date which never changed, by the way, no matter what the actual temperature. Then in the fall he had a specific date to start taking hot showers again. The lawn was mowed on schedule every 5 days whether it needed it or not. He kept impeccable records of everything, even the date and type of bread he made in his bread maker.


He also had the incredible ability to juggle several tasks at once. His job as an air traffic controller required it. Even at home he could listen to one game on the radio, have another on the TV and carry on a conversation at the same time. My daughter seems to have inherited this trait the strongest. How she manages to keep so many balls in the air at one time is a mystery to me! Her granddad's legacy?


My father-in-law, although he was a man of deep faith, was also somewhat of a worry wart. If he didn't hear from us within what he considered to be a reasonable amount of time, he would go so far as to write out a multiple choice, self-addressed, stamped postcard for us to return to him with an answer to mark; 1) someone is sick and dying 2) lost all my pens 3) we're ok, just haven't gotten around to writing! Having grown up in a family that cared for each other, but not quite so overwhelmingly, that sometimes annoyed me. Not anymore though. I came to understand that his family was more important to him than just about anything.

He was an excellent provider. He was frugal and careful and a hard worker. Thanks to his careful planning, his wife has never lacked and was able to volunteer for an organization she truly cared about. That was a great joy to her. Even now with Alzheimer's, she is completely cared for. This trait was passed on to my youngest son - frugal to a fault, not afraid of hard work (but that goes for my husband and all my children) and very careful in his expenditures.

My father-in-law was also generous. He gave liberally to his church and to many missionaries both financially and by giving his time. He visited the sick and those in nursing homes, wrote caring notes to many who needed encouragement, cared for his neighbors and their homes when needed and generally was helpful to anyone and everyone. We were frequently on the receiving end of his generosity. And all of my children are generous with what they have. They too, were receivers of his generosity.

So yes, I'm thankful for a loving, caring, wonderful father-in-law.

Family Time

Unlike most American families, we almost always have dinner and sometimes even lunch together as a family. Lately we've taken to doing a Sunday morning brunch since our church meets on Wednesday evenings and not on Sundays. That has turned out to be one of the best family times. We're all relaxed and not in a hurry to go anywhere. Plus we're not exhausted from a day of work. It's just fun to sit around over brunch and talk about whatever happens to be on our minds. Usually that involves planning in some form or another. (Want to know what we've been planning?)

The menu often revolves around buttermilk waffles from a recipe in an old Amish cookbook we picked up somewhere. We add eggs or bacon or sausage to the menu, some juice and our special Brazilian coffee. Occasionally we opt for pancakes or french toast as the central part of the meal. A couple of weeks ago I was in a very energetic mood and since we still had fresh blueberries from a pick-your-own farm, I decided to make blueberry crepes. Mind you, I made that decision before looking at a recipe or I probably would have changed my mind. But I had already made the announcement and the whole family was expecting blueberry crepes. So here is the result along with glowing rave reviews and "You can do that again's."

Unfortunately, the blueberry season is over for this year. We have a few in the freezer for special occasions, but we're all already looking forward to next year's blueberry season! I'll probably indulge my family again by treating them to blueberry crepes!

Ever Feel Overwhelmed?

Do you ever feel overwhelmed? I videoed this crazy chicken recently and just got to thinking this morning that often I'm a little bit like her and could probably pause and learn a lesson. Here she is trying to incubate 69 eggs! An average hen can handle about a dozen eggs, some can handle a few more or a few less.

So I got to thinking. Hmm... Maybe I'm a little too much like this hen with a few too many projects and passions on my "plate." In my zeal to accomplish much, too often little is really accomplished. I hate to admit it, but maybe I need to learn a lesson from this hen and concentrate on doing just a few things really well.

Now for the stickler! How do I choose? God's help and guidance is the obvious answer. Perhaps there is another lesson the hen can teach me. If I only had 3 weeks left in my life (about the time it takes to hatch out a batch of chicks) how would I spend my time. Aha! There is a key - although I doubt I could accomplish all I want to in just three short weeks.

I would definitely love my loved ones more passionately - and I would write furiously in an attempt to get everything down in print before my demise. And I would try for all I'm worth to bring more people into God's Kingdom. That's what my writing is all about anyway.

I'm sure there are more things I could learn from this crazy hen, but I think I'll mull that over for awhile! Don't you just wonder what must have gone through her mind?

What do you think? Is there a lesson here for you? Please share if you will.

Planning Ahead

Some people are natural born planners. They prefer to have everything planned out months in advance. Last minute changes drive them crazy. I have a few people like that in my circle of friends.

Some people plan ahead for certain things, but are also open to spur of the moment changes to those plans. Probably the majority of us fall in this category.

Then there are the people who like to fly by the seat of their pants. They are natural born adventurers and turn life into a great adventure for everyone around them. My husband happens to be one of those. Since he rarely plans ahead (notice I didn't say never) the story I'm going to tell may seem quite out of character. But it's because of his "character" that I am anxious to share it.

Every school has its bullies and the junior high school my husband attended was no exception. One day the class bullies cornered him in the restroom. He certainly had not planned out this scene in his head and did not know ahead of time what he would do if confronted by the bullies. But motivated by a higher desire to do what was right and stand against them he did what he did. These particular bullies had planned out what they were going to do and they were united in their purpose. They were determined to bring my husband down to their level that day.

They backed him into a corner, crammed a cigarette into his hand and said, "You’re gonna smoke this, or else!"

The young man who is now my husband held that cigarette for a moment and then pulverized it into the commode saying, "No I’m not!" He then shoved his way through the group of bullies and left the restroom.

I have a feeling that their reaction was one of shock and disbelief as they stared at my husband's back and watched him grow another inch in character. And in case you're wondering, they never bothered him again.

Planning ahead - although it may not involve absolute specifics, if we want to maintain our integrity and act according to the principles we have chosen for ourselves, there must be some planning ahead. We must know where our personal limits are and how we plan to uphold them.

For me, long before I started dating, I already had determined my limits and absolutely nothing was going to make me change them. I had planned ahead, not necessarily HOW I was going to enforce the limits, but knowing where my limits were.

I know my son John had that same kind of mentality. He had often heard his dad's story of the bullies in the restroom and each time he heard it I'm sure it reinforced his determination to be a man of integrity himself.

Have you planned ahead in a similar way? Would you mind sharing your experiences?

Planning for Generations

My mind took off in overdrive today as I was listening to a mentoring/coaching call. What I was hearing made me sit up and take notice. The basic question in my mind was, "Do I have short term thinking or long term thinking?" I had heard the concept before but never in quite this way. But that's always the case, isn't it? What we hear and how we hear it depends on all of the other circumstances taking place in our lives at any particular time. This time it hit me hard especially as I've been dealing with challenges of teaching and training or at least helping my daughter teach and train her son. I'm beginning to see attitudes and behavior that if not nipped in the bud now, will produce fruit we don't want in the future.

So I admit it, many times I suffer from short term thinking. I concentrate on the simple task of getting through the day with my sanity intact or getting past the next bill that is due. But concentrating on the immediate can and does often sacrifice the future.

No more! I am now determined to make a conscious effort at planning not only for my grandson's future, but the future of his children and his childrens' children. I need a 100 year plan that will positively impact generations beginning with this one.

One way I can do that is to get the story of our lifetime in missions written. My daughter mentioned just the other day that she was going to be extremely disappointed if my husband and I didn't get all of our "stories" down on paper while we still remembered them. So that is a way to get started. Both of us read all kinds of missionary stories when we were young and they all impacted us and gave us direction for our lives. How we would love to have that kind of an impact on many others!

Do you plan for the long haul? If so, do you have any practical ways of implementing long term planning and thinking? If you do, please share. I'd appreciate it and I have a feeling my other readers would, too.