Helen Keller

"I am only one, but I am still one.  I cannot do everything, but I can still do something".

That is a quote by Helen Keller.  It is a reminder that everyone counts.  That each one of us amount to something, and that if we add ourselves together like bricks in a wall, we can build a house, we can hold back flooding water, we can withstand a fire.  I think her quote says two things, that even you alone can have an impact on the world if you just do something, be active, make a step.  You and only you might be the one and only one that could make a difference in someone's life.  You, on that day, at that time, might say the thing that helps a person see what they've been blinded from before.  Your hand that lifts them up, might the only hand that comes along that day. 

However, we as individuals can also build a team, each of us individually added together make a stronger bond.  Hand in hand or arm in arm we can stand for something.  We can change the world.

Scripture says in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

"Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.  For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow…if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken". 

So step forward, be the only one if that is what it takes.  Be the leader, the first one, the one that others follow.  Be the cornerstone that builds the wall. 

Just do something.

Encourage One Another

I Saw My First Robin Today

That's always my first sign of spring, that and when the mesquite and pecan trees start to bloom.  so far no blooms visual yet but with 80 degree weather forecasted this week it is literally just a matter of a few days I suspect.  I got a couple of photos on my iPhone but didn't check yet to see if they came out.  This morning on my 4 mile walk I actually saw several Robins.  They were all in desperate search for worms and bugs.  Busy they were.  I don't know where they go when they leave here, but leave here they do.  There lots of places for a little while then they go someplace else.  They have beautiful blue eggs.  Robin's egg blue they are called.  My eyes are blue and my name is Robin...a connection.  I've never seen a baby Robin.  I guess there are nests of them some where.  There are pictures of them everywhere.  I have a number of them myself.  I have one my mom painted hanging in my bathroom.  She copied a card and painted it.  I love that picture.  So did I tell you I love Robins.  I do.

Encourage One Another

I Never Grow Tired of Going "Old"

I tried to get away from it.  I haven't been to an estate sale, tag sale, rummage sale, garage sale, or thrift store in a year.  I went "cold turkey" on those.  I sold stuff, donated stuff, packed up stuff, and gave away stuff.  I tried not to look at photos of it and steered clear of most magazine harboring the stuff.  But the truth is, and I can't deny it, I still love old stuff.  It's just part of my heart.  There's a connection I can't describe.  "Vintage"…that’s' the "new" name for it.  "Antiques", "old crap" and "trash" are other names for it.  For me, I call them "treasures". 

Yesterday it all got started again.  It was my drop off day at the local thrift store.  I've been cleaning out my house (purging and staging it to sell it) for 6-8 months now.  I've been dropping things off to resale to the owner and my friend (she's become a dear friend) Bev pretty often, every few months.  I've avoided going into the store to "just look around" up until yesterday.  Yesterday I went inside.  The first thing I saw was a little brown and gold ceramic horse made in Japan .  I collect little horses (because you know I love horse).  I carried him around the entire time I was in the store.  My next find was a handmade sock doll.  I had recently taken a little interest in them and looked some up on EBay.  I "watched" a few but did not make any purchases.  This little sock doll was almost pathetic, but she had a charm I could not turn down.  When I looked at her price I knew I would be taking her home.  Next item I spied was a bright yellow Pyrex dish.  It was the perfect size for a meatloaf.  Finding a temporary spot for them I tucked the doll and the pony inside the dish I packed it around also.  I circled the store, looking at linens, books, baskets, and other items as I pondered what to keep of what I was holding.  I was struggling with "your trying to get rid of stuff; you don't need to take anything home with you; put these back".  On the way back by the shelf w/ the Pyrex dish to consider replacing it I saw on the bottom shelf a very old yellow floral covered casserole dish.  I picked it up to see the price.  It was labeled $49.95, however, this was "pink" label day and EVERYTHING labeled "pink" was $.98.  I mean really, how in the world could I pass it up?  By the end of my shopping trip I talked myself out of buying the little horse (do I really need one more horse) but I sort of tucked him away on the back of his shelf thinking "I'll be back!"  So my three treasured items cost me a whopping $3.99 at the checkout.  My previously sold dropped off items had created some credit for me in the store and I didn't even have to pay anything!  What a deal.  Still feeling a little guilty though, I walked out of the store knowing I'd be back.  Upon getting home and washing my new cookware, I was already planning what to cook in them.  I later made a call to my sister to ask her and my brother in law over for dinner tonight.  Guess what we're having for dinner…meat loaf!

Encourage One Another

From Sea to Shining Sea

I really don't know, but I think so, that my father actually did go out on a big boat of some kind when he was in the Navy.  My parents grew up in the same town, Waco, Texas, went to the same school, and lived on the same street.  They knew each other a long time before they ever started dating.  My mother was a couple of years younger than my dad.  My dad was the middle child of three boys; three typical troublemaking, mischievous boys.  If I were guessing, I suspect that when they started dating my grandparents said "oh my word, not that rowdy boy!"  In the end though I know my grandparents were saying "thank you Lord for blessing our daughter with a God fearing, loving husband to our daughter and father to our granddaughters".  That I know for sure.

Anyway, my parents started dating sometime in high school.  I'm sure there were rules about dating and curfews and double dates.  Both my parents had lots of friends so double dating was a frequent occurrence.  So out of high school, even though he and my mother were "an item", my dad enlisted to keep from being drafted, he and a bunch of his friends.  He joined the Navy.  While I don't know a lot about his time in the Navy (a regret I have that I never asked him), I know he was a Pharmacist's Mate First Class and was stationed in Nouméa, New Caledonia at the USN Mobile Hospital #5.  I know this because my brother in law recently researched it.  During World War II, Nouméa served as the headquarters of the United States military in the South Pacific. New Caledonia is an island in the South Pacific 2080 miles west of Australia .  Nouméa is 7395 miles from Waco.  It actually looks like a beautiful tropical island.  I don't know how long he was there.  I never bothered to ask him where he was, what he did, how long he was gone.  I never bothered.  I wish he were here now for me to ask him.  Oh, my there is so much I want to ask him.  He and my mother wrote endless letters to one another.  They were truly in love.  My father eventually returned home and he and my mother were married.  They both attended Baylor University.  Even though times were tough and money was tight, they both managed to obtain college degrees.

Recently, the Houston Stock Show and Rodeo held a special military honors day for all military personnel.  They were served lunch and free entry into the rodeo grounds as well as tickets to the rodeo.  My family donated to this event in my father's honor.  His photo was displayed on a display board for the current active military men and women and their families who were there, to see.  I saw it too.  It made me very proud. It made me cry. It makes me very sad that I never asked him about his service, that I never really honored him for it.  They played taps at his funeral.  They gave my sister and me the flag that draped his coffin.  The Naval officers thanked us for his service and expressed sympathy for our loss.

Daddy I always honored you as my father, today I also honor you as a man of service to his country, a man who believed in freedom, a man who served his country, a man of honor.

Encourage One Another

"Sometimes the Hardest Thing and the Right Thing Are the Same Thing

"Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same thing.  I read this on a friend's Facebook.  It really hit home.  It is just so true.  I really struggle to "do the right thing" or the thing I think God is leading me to do.  I try to listen for a "word".  Sometimes I don't like what I hear....cause it's the hard thing, you know, the right thing.  Sometimes I want the easy road, the road most traveled, the way that causes no pain.  Ok, all the time I want the easy way.  I don't want any pain.  I don't want to learn the lesson.  I don't like those things...

On the other hand...

Scripture says our trials are our paths to or back to God.  They are where he teaches us to be the best we can be; where he teaches us to minister to others by our own trials; where he blesses us.  So in clear thinking, I do not want to be without those lessons.  I certainly don't want to be without God.  And he is in all things.

Encourage one another

Houston, Correction

OK, I have to say, there is more to Houston than concrete and pavement.  It's already spring here.  Yesterday afternoon there were singing birds everywhere.  The dove in the trees were singing like a choir.  I didn't recognize the song but it was pretty.  Mockingbirds were claiming the tallest trees.  Squirrels scampered everywhere.  I saw a couple of blooming redbud trees.  Today I walked to Hermann Park. Jasmine were climbing fences.  Pansies had been planted in many flower beds.  The gray squirrels have taken over the park and Rice University.  They were so cute.  The oak trees are huge and fabulous, some over a hundred years old.  The cover the trail and provide lots of shade.  The temperature was about 67 degrees today.  Runners and walkers, dogs and bikers were all over the place.  Most were smiling.  Some were in a hurry, some were just ambling along.  Me, I'm someplace between a hurry and an amble.  I try to walk between 15 and 16 minute miles.  I usually walk 2 to 3 miles at a time.  My walk today was extremely pleasant.  This kind of weather and scenery make walking so much more enjoyable.  Helps me know that walking for my health is a good idea.  So spring, even tho you are 15 days away, bring it on.

Encourage one another!