For most people - a title like this would immediately inspire thoughts of great new ways to gain material wealth. But for my purposes, growing richer really means growing older.
The older I get, the more I realize my wealth. For instance, I have a pretty secure roof over my head....I have a storehouse of food, frozen and otherwise... and I have a closet bulging with apparel. If you check out Matthew 6:25-34 - then you know what I'm saying. And having all this wealth - I need not ever worry!
But what happens if I lose it? What if I am overcome by a flood (Gustav), War (Russia), famine (most of the third world)? Will I still consider myself wealthy?
I can honestly say yes! Because at my age, I have enjoyed all of these privileges and I thank God for that - but my greatest privilege is to be a child of God. He has always been at my right hand (Psa. 16:8) and has brought me through many storms and set my feet on higher ground.
And so, with great joy, I praise our Triune God and surrender gladly to His challenges and chastenings. May this be your experience as well.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
OUR HERO RETURNS
Hurrah! He's home! Yes, after almost eight years serving our country in the Army, Staff Sargent Jason Watson is back home where he belongs. Susie and Glenn had a wonderful coming home party for him at B.J.'s Brewery on Sunday evening and we all gave a sigh of relief.I figured out afterwards that for the last eleven years we have had at least one grandson overseas serving their country. We couldn't be prouder of them. Most gratefully, they all came home bruised but not broken. Praise God for his mercy.
Jason moved right into the home he has been financing with three friends for the last six months. They'll have a great time sharing stories - and getting on with their lives.
Jason is very shy about talking about his medals, but we understand he has quite a few that he earned at some cost. Again, thank God that he's home.
Love to all......
Friday, August 15, 2008
Our Children having children having children......
We are now a full-fledged family of four generations! It happened much quicker than I thought it would.
The first generation is us, Bob and Jaye.
Then Neil was born and we became mom and dad to three more sons.
Wes brought Andrea into the world and we became Gramma and Granpa to ten grandchildren plus 2 more by his second marriage.
And now we are GG (great gramma) and GGpa (great granpa) to eleven great grandchildren starting with David and going all the way down to Topher.
I must caution you to the facts! The kids came two years apart. The grandkids came one year apart - but the GGkids come only months apart.
As a result - I have discovered a flaw in my character! I'm just not as good at recalling all of the birthdays of all of the progeny as quickly as I used to.
You guessed it! Today is Cooper's first birthday. If I hadn't gone to Watsonsplace.com and saw his darling pictures - it might have slipped right by. For some reason - it was not in my day-timer for this year and I am utterly ashamed of myself. Please forgive me Coop - and the card will be in the mail tomorrow.
What's it like to be a great grandmother? It's just amazing. We are so lucky to have our GGs so close to us. We get to see them more often than many of our friends do and we treasure that.
At this point in time, we have the joy of seeing them grow through the stages that are so adorable - and watch their parents grow in 'wisdom and knowledge' that surpasses description. If you read our granddaughter, Jihae's blog (baby havin babies) she gives a day by day account of the joys of Lilly and Topher. She has a real gift for writing transparently and makes one feel the ups and downs of motherhood.
I often say that I have no problem with being a great grandmother! But the realization that I am the mother of three grandfathers is overwhelming.
I wouldn't trade this time in our lives for anything. We are no longer sitting in the prime section of the auditorium - the parents occupy that place now. But we're content, no thrilled, to have been set back a section or two so that we can see the whole panorama of the family functioning in their various roles, and to cheer them on.
God has so richly blessed us - and we give all the glory to Him for his wonderful generosity. Our quiver is filled.
The first generation is us, Bob and Jaye.
Then Neil was born and we became mom and dad to three more sons.
Wes brought Andrea into the world and we became Gramma and Granpa to ten grandchildren plus 2 more by his second marriage.
And now we are GG (great gramma) and GGpa (great granpa) to eleven great grandchildren starting with David and going all the way down to Topher.
I must caution you to the facts! The kids came two years apart. The grandkids came one year apart - but the GGkids come only months apart.
As a result - I have discovered a flaw in my character! I'm just not as good at recalling all of the birthdays of all of the progeny as quickly as I used to.
You guessed it! Today is Cooper's first birthday. If I hadn't gone to Watsonsplace.com and saw his darling pictures - it might have slipped right by. For some reason - it was not in my day-timer for this year and I am utterly ashamed of myself. Please forgive me Coop - and the card will be in the mail tomorrow.
What's it like to be a great grandmother? It's just amazing. We are so lucky to have our GGs so close to us. We get to see them more often than many of our friends do and we treasure that.
At this point in time, we have the joy of seeing them grow through the stages that are so adorable - and watch their parents grow in 'wisdom and knowledge' that surpasses description. If you read our granddaughter, Jihae's blog (baby havin babies) she gives a day by day account of the joys of Lilly and Topher. She has a real gift for writing transparently and makes one feel the ups and downs of motherhood.
I often say that I have no problem with being a great grandmother! But the realization that I am the mother of three grandfathers is overwhelming.
I wouldn't trade this time in our lives for anything. We are no longer sitting in the prime section of the auditorium - the parents occupy that place now. But we're content, no thrilled, to have been set back a section or two so that we can see the whole panorama of the family functioning in their various roles, and to cheer them on.
God has so richly blessed us - and we give all the glory to Him for his wonderful generosity. Our quiver is filled.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
I'm not really an outdoorsy type of person but I do remember when I was!
We lived in a suburb of New York City when I was about eight years old. After school, and especially in the summers, we rarely saw the inside of our house. My mom's favorite greeting was "change your clothes and get outside in the fresh air". We never disagreed because 'outdoors' was where life was really taking place.
We lived within walking distance of a huge 'lot'. This lot was fairyland - outer space - the wild west - and in the winter - igloo heaven. We always had games to play and they all began with "let's pretend......". And we had imaginations - let me tell you. Sometimes the 'we' was my sister, Ronnie and me but more often it was my friends, Bunny and Madeline.
We were instantly transposed into ballerinas, detectives, pioneers, movie stars or whatever. We just had to say "Let's pretend....." And we took off from there.
In the winter, our call home was the streetlights turning on. We knew when that happened that dinner was probably almost on the table so our games ended abruptly and we ran home knowing that we would get the strap on our legs if we kept Mom waiting. In the summer - we would try to have at least one watch between us. Usually it was Bunny's mom's because we couldn't afford such a luxury, and she was a very loving mom.
On Art Mohler's program today he mentioned a survey that said young kids today spend the major part of their day in front of some technological gadget. They either text each other on their cell phones - watch tv - play on their computers - or whine about having nothing to do. How sad!!!
One of our big games was to define the characters sent to us through the clouds. We'd lay on our backs in the grass and identify horses, dogs, soldiers, ice cream cones and anything else that appeared feasible to us. So much time to just think....dream....create...compose. But never time to be bored.
I pray that my great grandkids are spared the distactions of technology until they have had time to develop their own skills of creating, imagining, and dreaming. May they hear the music of the insects as they go from flower to flower.....and the whooshing of the wind through the trees - and the smell of good fresh dirt just ready for planting... and the voices of other kids nearby playing ball of some kind. Life is to short to be enslaved by technology. Save that for the adult years - they last a long time......
.
We lived in a suburb of New York City when I was about eight years old. After school, and especially in the summers, we rarely saw the inside of our house. My mom's favorite greeting was "change your clothes and get outside in the fresh air". We never disagreed because 'outdoors' was where life was really taking place.
We lived within walking distance of a huge 'lot'. This lot was fairyland - outer space - the wild west - and in the winter - igloo heaven. We always had games to play and they all began with "let's pretend......". And we had imaginations - let me tell you. Sometimes the 'we' was my sister, Ronnie and me but more often it was my friends, Bunny and Madeline.
We were instantly transposed into ballerinas, detectives, pioneers, movie stars or whatever. We just had to say "Let's pretend....." And we took off from there.
In the winter, our call home was the streetlights turning on. We knew when that happened that dinner was probably almost on the table so our games ended abruptly and we ran home knowing that we would get the strap on our legs if we kept Mom waiting. In the summer - we would try to have at least one watch between us. Usually it was Bunny's mom's because we couldn't afford such a luxury, and she was a very loving mom.
On Art Mohler's program today he mentioned a survey that said young kids today spend the major part of their day in front of some technological gadget. They either text each other on their cell phones - watch tv - play on their computers - or whine about having nothing to do. How sad!!!
One of our big games was to define the characters sent to us through the clouds. We'd lay on our backs in the grass and identify horses, dogs, soldiers, ice cream cones and anything else that appeared feasible to us. So much time to just think....dream....create...compose. But never time to be bored.
I pray that my great grandkids are spared the distactions of technology until they have had time to develop their own skills of creating, imagining, and dreaming. May they hear the music of the insects as they go from flower to flower.....and the whooshing of the wind through the trees - and the smell of good fresh dirt just ready for planting... and the voices of other kids nearby playing ball of some kind. Life is to short to be enslaved by technology. Save that for the adult years - they last a long time......
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