Don't Forget to Say THANK YOU!

This came to me in an email from my aunt.  I know personally there have been a lot of prayers going out for various illnesses, sadness, hurt, etc., but I also know that I forget to stop and say THANK YOU when things are going well.

I dreamt that I went to Heaven and an angel was showing me around. We walked side-by-side inside a large workroom filled with angels. My angel guide stopped in front of the first section and said, ' This is the Receiving Section. Here, all petitions to God said in prayer are received.

I looked around in this area, and it was terribly busy with so many angels sorting out petitions written on voluminous paper sheets and scraps from people all over the world.

Then we moved on down a long corridor until we reached the second section.

The angel then said to me, "This is the Packaging and Delivery Section. Here, the graces and blessings the people asked for are processed and delivered to the living persons who asked for them." I noticed again how busy it was there. There were many angels working hard at that station, since so many blessings had been requested and were being packaged for delivery to Earth.

Finally at the farthest end of the long corridor we stopped at the door of a very small station. To my great surprise, only one angel was seated there, idly doing nothing. "This is the Acknowledgment Section, my angel friend quietly admitted to me. He seemed embarrassed."  How is it that there is no work going on here? ‘I asked.

"So sad," the angel sighed.  "After people receive the blessings that they asked for, very few send back acknowledgments"

"How does one acknowledge God's blessings?” I asked.

"Simple," the angel answered. Just say, "Thank you, Lord."

"What blessings should they acknowledge?"  I asked.

"If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy. "

"And if you get this on your own computer, you are part of the 1% in the world who has that opportunity."

"If you woke up this morning with more health than illness...You are more blessed than the many who will not even survive this day.”

"If you have never experienced the fear in battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation ... You are ahead of 700 million people in the world."

"If you can attend a church without the fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death you are envied by, and more blessed than, three billion people in the world."

"If your parents are still alive and still married ...you are very rare."

"If you can hold your head up and smile, you are not the norm; you're unique to all those in doubt and despair......."

Ok, what now? How can I start?

If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you as very special and you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all.

Have a good day, count your blessings, and if you care to, pass this along to remind everyone else how blessed we all are

ATTN:  Acknowledge Dept.

"Thank you Lord, for giving me the ability to share this message and for giving me so many wonderful people with whom to share it."

If you have read this far, and are thankful for all that you have been blessed with, how can you not send it on????  I thank God for everything, especially all my family and friends!

New Found Blog...

A friend of mine pointed me toward a new blog that she found. It's a crack-up! Check it out over in my "Who Am I Following" section. It's called CATALOG LIVING.

Writing from a Cousin

I am the first grandchild on both sides of my family.  On the maternal side of my family, over nearly 27 years there came to be 20 grandchildren.  Janel is #20.  There are nearly 27 years between us.  I have to admit though that this “kid” has really impressed me recently.  She has become a lovely young woman, a good wife to her husband Michael and a loving mother to her son James.

Janel has been writing periodic posts to her family’s blog and several have touched my heart.  I want to share one with you (click here).  As she says, she was raised on the land that her paternal grandfather owned, so she’s a “country girl.”  There was a wonderful old barn that stood on this land.  Recently it has been coming closer and closer to falling over.  A few weeks ago there were some big winds that blew through the valley and sadly the wind was strong enough to blow the old barn over!  You can see from the pictures though how easy that would have been.

Thank you Janel for sharing this wonderful insight to a piece of your life and those that love you.

These are my pictures of the barn that I took a couple of years ago.

Goodbye Grandpa

Last weekend, May 22, 2010, my Mom’s family all gathered in their home town, and celebrated the life and passing of my Grandpa, Cletus Turner Rogers.  He had just turned 96 years old on May 6.  His passing came exactly 24 years and 11 months to the day after my Grandma, his wife, Mary Luella Rogers.

I know this may sound cliché, but my Grandpa was a wonderful man.  He and Grandma celebrated their 44^th wedding anniversary just a couple of months before she passed away.  They raised 6 children, and had one that passed as an infant.  From those 6 children, they have 20 grandchildren, of which I am proud to be the first, and 36 great-grandchildren with another one due in July.

Grandpa’s service was truly beautiful.  Eric Smith, a dear friend of the family, delivered his eulogy.  My Mom spoke, as did another friend of the family.  There was a musical number presented by 2 of his sons and a few of his grandsons, as well as one presented by a grandson-in-law and his brother.  It was a song that I had never heard before, but it was lovely.  It is called “These Hands.”  Here is a youtube.com version by Johnny Cash.  It brings tears to my eyes hearing it again.

After the service, the funeral procession was escorted through town by the Alamosa Police.  I was so touched to see the officers as we passed by standing outside their patrol cars with their hands placed over their hearts.   Adding to the small town, country feel, drivers traveling in the opposite direction on the highway would pull over and stop as we passed.  This was a 23 mile trip, so there were quite a few that stopped.  Such respect! 

Grandpa was buried beside Grandma in the Manassa Cemetery.  Although it was very windy that day, it was still beautiful out there, very simple, quiet and peaceful.

Later in the afternoon, the entire family went out to Peggy and Carl’s home in the country.  We all thoroughly enjoyed spending time together and having fun.  Some rode the old tractor.  Some rode the motorcycle, while others rode the ATV.  The kids played on the trampoline and the 2 tire swings.  It was a great time for the adults to visit and for the kids to get to know cousins that they see all too infrequently. 

I am so grateful for the family that my Grandma and Grandpa started.  I pray the we can all continue to make them proud.  I thank my entire family and my friends for the love and support that they continually give me.

Grandpa, you will be missed but I love you and am so glad that you are free of your tired old body.  This separation is only temporary.  I know we’ll all be together again some day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TREVOR!!!

Trevor is the BIG 5 today!!!!  What is so magical about that number?  He is excited to be 5 and I know that we've all been building him up for it too.

Casa Bonita tonight for dinner then back to Papa & Mimi's for cake and presents.  The big birthday party is a week away at Chuck E Cheese.

Happy birthday Buddy!  Have a great day.  Auntie Roo loves you!!!

And happy anniversary to my Mom & Dad!  49 years.