Twitterpated In The Spring

“Nearly everybody gets twitterpated in the springtime. [. . . ] You begin to get weak in the knees. Your head's in a whirl. And then you feel light as a feather, and before you know it, you're walking on air. And then you know what? You're knocked for a loop, and you completely lose your head!”
― Walt Disney Company

Spring is a very strange time! In Minnesota this year it has brought us snow and heat and rain. It has brought elation, crabbiness, joy and depression. We are enamored with the sunshine, depressed by the rain and at times we have thrown in the towel of despair that it will every come.

Perhaps winter will move right into summer and we will skip spring altogether we will say. And then comes a glorious spring day that turns the trees from snow to glorious green and we know that we will have a touch of springtime after all.

I'm not exactly sure what the true meaning of twitterpated is, but I know I have been so this spring. Anxious for sunshine. Restless about the darkness. Happy when daylight saving began again and despairing of too much rain. Snow in May, I almost could bear it.

But it is May 21st and June is almost here! The first day of summer is one month away, so yes we are having spring. It is raining, but sometimes the sun shines. It is green out, not brown or white. The birds can be heard chirping, the squirrels are playing in the trees, indeed spring is here.

It's time for new things. Old things. Old friends get together. All things are new again. New friendships. Time for new jobs. New attitudes. Time for new love. Old love deepened. Time for new experiences. Preparing for summer birthdays. New fitness programs for upcoming vacations. Wedding anniversaries. Weddings! Babies are born. Yes, the world is bursting with newness and we are twitterpated with it all.

Enjoy what is left of this short and crazy springtime. Enjoy your family, your friends, the Creator of it all. And get ready, summer is coming... :)

Sweet Relief!

I love the message of this song with Amy Grant and James Taylor. That we don't have to try so hard. So many times, I really miss the boat on this one. I carry the world on my shoulders. Worrying about every detail of my life as I struggle to stay in control. How futile. So many things are outside of our control, yet we try to manage them anyway.

I have so many friends I pray for. They are living lives so much more difficult than mine. One has a daughter with special needs I do not even understand. She went to the hospital by ambulance last night, yet her mom was thanking God on Facebook today that she went last night and not today in the horrible snowstorm. This friend of mine is always grateful for something. Her wonderful daughter has the same triumphant spirit. She is about to graduate college. They are living lives filled with courage. They are always giving and thinking of others. Living with faith and humor. Writing and praying for our soldiers overseas. Extraordinary people. I admire their family so much.

I have another friend whose husband has cancer. She asked me to pray for her tonight. I am praying so hard. This is the first time she's asked in the many, many months of his illness. I know she is really going through it. Really having a hard time. Yet, she admires me. I wonder how I can help. I know prayer is the most and best thing I can do...and be there when she wants to talk.

Don't try so hard. This song struck home to me tonight. I know I try in my own strength much, much to often and don't turn my cares over to my Creator. I am doing so tonight. So I can help others. So I can forget about myself and my own concerns. My issues with worry about God's provision for our family. He always provides. The Bible says every hair on our head is numbered. He cares for us so deeply. Like the lilies of the field. He clothes them in splendor. He knows every sparrow's need for food. How much more does he know we have need for sustenance? Gas and groceries have gone up, yes, but not higher than the ability of our Mighty God to provide for us!

I think working on commission is a great way to trust the Creator for your daily bread! :) Having one's own business teaches you a lot about trusting and believing. It's a good exercise of faith. Struggling against the way the Lord provides is not good for the soul. Struggling against our circumstances generally isn't. Rolling with them works far better.

All of this came to mind as I began to write after listening to this song. I hope you get blessed and some peaceful feelings from it too. Sleep well dear friends. I know I will after this lullaby!

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Father/Daughter Love

Mike and Abby

There is nothing quite like the love between a father and daughter. There is a bond so strong it will defeat anything. Mean hockey coaches. The crazy guy next door. Anybody to tries to hurt their daughter. And a daughter's love is just as ferocious. Nothing can hurt their father. Neither illness or slight, nor gain, nor a wisecrack or any kind of disrespect.

Ours was a very peaceful household. Mike grew up with parents who never shouted. And so we never did. Mine were divorced when I was young and always treated each other with a great deal of respect. My grandparents were loud and loving, but that is my only exposure to a noisy style of relating.

Abby grew up in peace. She liked it. If Mike and I even tried for an adult discussion in front of her, she would say, "Momma, Daddy-boy, please no fighting!" She didn't like to ever think we would be at odds with each other! And we rarely were. We were more likely trying to solve a problem we were having with the world at large. So we would settle it on our own, and not in front of her!

Abby was very proud when anyone said she looked like her daddy. You have your daddy's eyes they would say. Of course, she does. And his sense of humor and mild, easy going disposition, and computer-like memory.

She likes getting out and mixing with people as much as I, and is not quite the introvert her dad is. Although as she gets older I wonder...perhaps she is more of an introvert than I thought. Friendly and kind and loving like her dad. Funny and fun, but preferring small groups and one on one to the big bashes her mom likes!

They have always been so close, almost like they had a secret language. Sports. That's one. And animals. And texting. I can text, but to them it is an art form. They are two peas in a pod. She always called him Daddy-boy. He was her daddy and a boy. Her friend and the one she respected and wanted the respect of above all else and still does.

When she was a baby, Mike was so very good with her. They must have bonded strongly like baby chicks! I have an Easter picture somewhere that proves my point! She is wearing her Easter dress and hat and he is wearing my hat and his suit. They are smiling at each other and there is a deep recognition. He is holding her in his arms like he so often did at that age...father protector...daughter divine! So precious their love is and so unspoiled even now.

Abby and I are close, but she and her dad are something special, father and daughter...sports watchers...texters...dream sharers...family history buffs...bookends...twins of the soul.

Love you both so much!

My Daughter is a Source of JOY!

Look at this kid! Isn't she incredible?!! I guess we could all put up pictures of one of our kids and say how great they are!

But really, what a face.

This is my daughter, Abby, 30, kickin' back in the locker room during a very long Hockey Tournament this past weekend in Duluth, MN where she played goalied for about 5 games!

Did they win the tournament, no...was she extraordinary? Yes! She and her teammates ran the tourney. She is the backup goalie. She usually skates out. She was born to play goalie, so makes no excuses, just plays her heart out and does very well.

But she does have new goalie pads that are hard to break in when you don't play every game! That's the momma making an excuse. I wish I'd been there. If I weren't in the throws of a recent fall that gave me a brain injury, you can be sure I would've been.

I love to watch Abby play in the net. She is fast. She is determined. She is focused like no other time in her life. She plays for WHAM, Women's Hockey Association of Minnesota, where a lot of former college players play.

She is awesome, but not just at hockey. She is a wonderful human being. With a sweet and generous spirit. A lot of love for her friends and family. A true joy to being around.

I miss her way up there in Duluth. It's only a three hour drive, but I just don't see her a day. What would be enough? Oh, I don't know...every day! She is one of my all time favorite people. If you knew her she would be yours too. She is a Geek Squader at Best Buy and going to college at Lake Superior College for Computer Networking.

She is a terrific person. I guess that's Abby. Her basic stats. Her personhood, you have to meet to believe. My husband and I named her Abigail, her father's joy or originator of joy in the Hebrew.

We were right.

Healing One Week Out!

“You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching,
Love like you'll never be hurt,
Sing like there's nobody listening,
And live like it's heaven on earth.”
― William W. Purkey

One week to the day of my fall on the ice, my husband Mike and I went to the Neurosurgeon's office. First I had another cat scan and then we met with the Neurosurgeon. Needless to say we were a bit nervous. I had a good week of healing, I had followed instructions: rested, not fallen ;). The Subdural Hematoma, or brain bleed should have continued to heal.

My worst complaint had been room-spinning dizziness. My brother had driven me earlier that day to a Physical Therapist for an adjustment to correct that problem. That had worked quite well. I was feeling pretty good.

Nothing would have prepared Mike and I for the pictures we saw in the Neurosurgeon's office. She pulled up three. One taken right after the fall. One taken the morning after. And one taken the day of the appointment, Friday, March 1st.

She pointed out the white area that was the blood on the scan. The first one didn't look so good, but as she said it was contained. The second one was no worse, which is what they were looking for and why they let me out of the hospital, that and the rest of my neurological signs were good.

Then we looked at the scan from that day. It was beautiful. There was just a tiny, tiny speck of white. She said, many people would not follow up on a scan looking this good. My body has healed the hematoma. THANK YOU DEAR HEAVENLY FATHER, HEALER AND LORD OF ALL! But, she said, I am very conservative. Come back in 4-6 weeks and I will do one more scan, you can say good bye to me then!

We were so happy and relieved! So very thankful and grateful! We thanked her and went out about the day with a spring in our step.

I think you can see the joy in my face in the picture above. This whole experience reminds me of the Irish Blessing, "May the Road Rise with You! And the wind be always at Your Back. May the Sun shine gently on your shoulder until we meet again." See you my friends, and I hope the same for you Libby

Relationships That Last Forever!

This Chris August Song "Restore" got me to thinking about my own marriage. Wow, we have had a great run! 33 years and counting. We will celebrating our 34th year of meeting this month on the 14th. We are in some ways very much the same people. Mike has a quirky sense of humor. I love to play and steal his french fries.

What is different? We love each other so much more! And know each other a whole lot better. I know that we can still surprise each other, but it's rare. My smile just turn up in one corner. My husband is really full of surprises. His wit, humor and the way his mind works never cease to amaze and amuse me.

I'm sure I am in many ways still a bit of an enigma to him. But he has a nickname for me from the Little Rascals and I know if I do something zany, he will simply smile, shrug his shoulders and say, that's ... (no I am not telling you which character I am)! lol

We are a team and a strong one. With God at the helm and my husband at point guard. I run interference and try to balance the grocery budget, without dropping too many cans. God calls the plays and we try to run with the ball without fumbling too much. The fact that I can write in sports analogies is testimony to our 33 year long marriage and the many football games we have watched together. If it didn't make any sense, that's the part where I wasn't paying attention.

I love my husband, Mike. He doesn't bug me, nor is he disrespectful or derogatory or rude. I have nothing bad to say about him and a lot of good to say. He is caring, a wonderful partner in laughter and fun making and love and all that sort of stuff. He's not a bad cook, he can do laundry, clean floors and bring home the bacon. He loves God, small children, dogs...gee I don't know what more you could want in a guy!

He is not critical of me. There I guess that's enough!

I try always to respect him. That means a lot to men and other living things. I honor him with my words and the way I conduct myself. I don't flirt with other guys. Well, I try not to. And I love the things that he loves. I love our daughter always. I love the way he makes me feel about myself.

How do you build a relationship like this? You should be lovers. And, I know you should be friends. Always live with lots of love. Faith. Be good to each other and unselfish. And it doesn't hurt to recite I Corinthians 13: The Love Chapter of the Bible to each other at your wedding, verse by verse, back and forth and try to live the words as you have spoken them. With God's help, of course.

Also, listen to this video my Chris August, it'll help put you in the right frame of mind. Have a lovely day! Lib