Five Days Left

I have a warning for all you faithful readers out there. I might not keep on topic today. Yeah, yeah, I know that surprises you, but it’s just how I am. Ha! I’ve always heard the best place to start is the beginning, so the first thing on my mind is intentions. We can have good intentions, but until we do something about them, they are as useless as an air conditioner in winter. I intended to buy buttons for my new sweater at WalMart today, but I never made it to WalMart. Intended on picking up my meds at WalMart’s pharmacy, but I nev...oh yeah, done said that. I didn’t make it to WalMart because we stayed at my in-law’s longer than I thought we would. We might have left earlier, but I didn’t know what time the pharmacy closed. I could have called to check, but I forgot the phone number. So, I guess the moral of this story is, be better prepared. Sunday School was pretty cool this morning, if I do say so myself. I got to teach a class. Thankfully, it had not been long since I studied a few lessons and could pull one out of my hat. I had two students, both boys. One was in the fifth grade and the other was in the eighth. Both did a lot of talking about football. Y’all know how much I know about football? Well, let’s just say I no nothing and keep it at that. lol I told the guys I grew up with three sisters and only had girls in my house, and the younger boy said, “Well, you could adopt a boy.” lol We sang a song during our class time, and after I mentioned this to the church during morning worship, without much prodding my fifth grader got up and came to the front, crutches and all just to sing with me. Kind of made me feel special. It doesn’t seem real that in less than a week I’ll be paired with a new dog. Sometimes, I want my new dog to look like my first one and act like him, too. Other times, I pray they give me a dog that looks and acts nothing like him. Kind of glad the decision is out of my hands. I’ve been told by those who have been to Pilot Dogs that one of the first things a student is required to do is bathe their dog. I gotta admit here, folks that my first reaction was one of horror. I mean, give a dog a bath? Before I got my first guide dog, I was terrified of dogs and knew practically nothing about them. Not a bit sorry I chose a school back then that did not ask that of me. But, having had a dog before, the whole idea isn’t so bad. I hope I’m allowed to put on a big apron or something, cause if the new dog is anything like George was, I’m gonna git wet! Something else on the brain today is trash cans. Yep, I have a trashy mind. Hahaha! One thing to keep in mind if you are new to dogs in the house is that they like to investigate what’s in your trash, so a can with a lid, IMHO is a must. planning to get some before I leave, but if I forget or don’t get around to it, hoping my hubby will get them for me. And, yes I said “them”. I’m needing one for inside and the other for outside to put my doggies presents in. Knowing how to clean up after your doggie is another must, in my book, and that crap has to go somewhere. A can with a good lid is a good idea. And, while I’m talking about containers, I also need to figure out how and where I’m going to store my pup’s grub. I used to put George’s dog food in a plastic container and store it in the laundry room. But, in the last six years, I’ve stored other things in that laundry room, and a container will no longer fit. And, when I do figure out where to put the dog food, the next thing will be to figure out where to keep the dog’s water and food bowls so that they are out of the general path. If you haven’t been able to pick up on it, yet, I live in a very small house, so where to put things is becoming a challenge. But, where there’s a will, there’s a way. Wow, less than five days! Excitement, nervousness, sadness at leaving my babies, but thanks be to God, there is no fear. TV with my man, a good tasting bottle of Cocacola, and another wonderful Sunday behind me. Sounds like I’m blessed, doesn’t it? I am, praise the Lord. And to you, faithful reader, thank you for reading. May God bless you by revealing Himself to you in a new and awesome way. Until tomorrow, keep prayin’, keep praisin’ and remember I’m prayin’ fer ye, too.

A Saturday Morning Post

Well, as y’all can tell, I didn’t get my usual entry posted on here yesterday. I sure hope this is not going to become a habit, but I had another memorial service to go to on Friday. I sang at this one. Surprisingly, it didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would. I hadn’t sang that particular song since my grandmother’s funeral, but I was asked to sing it yesterday. I practiced before I left the house, thinking that it would probably get to me, singing that song and hearing everybody cry. But, it didn’t. Does time heal all wounds? Maybe, if it doesn’t heal, it at least puts a scab over the booboo. :)

We were gone from around 11:30 a.m. until around 6 p.m. There was the memorial service itself, then the dinner at the church, and then we stopped at my aunt’s house, so my husband could look at something on her computer for her. My aunt and I chatted, while my girls took turns playing with my aunt’s foot massaging pillow. lol My 6-year-old would put it on her feet and say, “Ahh! That feels so good on my aching feet!” lol

Dinner last night consisted of sandwiches for my husband and I and Raman Noodles for the girls. I ended the long day with a cup of decaf coffee and a powdered sugar doughnut. :) All four of us were in bed by 9, and I got a whopping 6 hours of sleep before waking up at 3 a.m. I got up around 4ish, fixed a cup of caffeinated coffee, ate the last doughnut and spent some time in the 1860’s, writing on my story, “A Place called Home”.

There is nothing so wonderful as the mundane. Friday evenings at home with the family, eating poor man food and wearing fuzzy socks to keep your feet warm. And, strange as it may sound, there is something comforting in the sameness of things.

I got to thinking...and please stick with me here...that for me, there is a level of comfort in the fact that most of the funerals and memorial services I’ve been to were at the same funeral home. I’m weird, I guess, but I like to think of my loved ones who have died, resting in the hills around me. When I moved away, even though I liked it up there in Romney and would move back in a heartbeat, I never felt quite as home as I did, here in the Kanawha valley. I’ve always lived close to the railroad tracks, so the sounds of trains in the middle of the night are familiar to me. I’ve always lived near the river, so to live away from it, kind of feels strange. I don’t know what I’m trying to say, here, but these are just some thoughts that have been running around in my head.

I remember hearing a minister say once, that he liked the thought of being buried next to his wife, while they wait for the resurrection of the dead. His words startled me, at first, but then I considered them. The man’s wife had died recently, and I’m sure he missed her a lot. The thought of lying next to her and being close when the Lord comes back, filled him with peace. And, maybe, it’s the same with me.

Many family members have died. A lot of the men and women who were pillars in the church when I was a child are dead and gone. They are buried in the hills around this valley wherein I live. Someday, if the Lord hasn’t returned, yet, I’ll die. If I am put in a casket and buried, I want it to be near those loved ones. If I’m cremated, scatter my ashes over those graves, cause when the trumpet sounds and the dead in Christ rise first, I’m going to rise with those who taught me how to live for Him. Ain’t no grave gonna hold these bodies down, and when we rise to meet Him in the air, I want to rise with those who used to shout the glory down. There ain’t nobody I’d rather meet Jesus with than my grandfather’s brother, Charles who used to preach for all he was worth. There’s nobody I’d rather sing redemption with, than my grandmother who used to stand beside me in church and belt it out.

“Dust shall sing on resurrection morning. The saints will rise and let their voices ring. Those that remain will be changed in a moment. We’ll hear the shout, the trumpet sound, and dust shall sing!” Amen!