Birthdays, Cousins, Where Does Time Go?

Today is my cousin's 49th birthday! Really? 49?
But I'm only 30 something aren't I?
How is it my younger cousin got older than me?
Ok... I'm having an extreme moment of denial, but 49? Oh my!

I took this picture with my little Brownie camera on an Easter Sunday, many years ago. It's my sis, and cousins (from right to left) KLR, KDR, and PKR.

Here PKR is, on his knees, during a performance of Godspell.

(it's the November 18th post)

You are lookin' good PKR!

"Happy Birthday toooo you!"

And, KLR took this one of me! Oh my...

Speaking of birthdays, I celebrated mine on Sunday... my 52nd! Ouch! There's a dose of reality, but the alternative to having a birthday is not so great! I'm thankful for every new day I am given, wrinkles and all!


My husband surprised my with a brand new RED (my favorite color) Kodak EasyShare Camera! And a case! I was so surprised! I've haven't had time to play with it yet, but I will be posting some pictures soon.


He baked me a Pineapple Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting! Heaven! And he picked up one of my favorite dinners, Lemon Rosemary Chicken, from Johnny Carino's. We relaxed, watched some TV with my boys, ate more cake... It was a beautiful, relaxing birthday.

Christmas Giveaway from The Charm House

Yvette, from "The Charm House" is hosting a wonderful Giveaway. It's a three piece nativity set, and it is beautiful. You can enter by going here, or by clicking the photo link on my sidebar.

While you're there, take a moment to read through her inspiring posts, and take a look at her lovely artwork. I think it will bless you as much as it did me.

Sunday Scribblings - Change

This was written on November 8, for the Sunday Scribblings prompt "Change". I had to put it on the back burner until now, so there are some posts that I wrote after this one. I hope you'll scroll on down and check them out...


I need change. After months of dealing with new MS issues, it was beginning to get to me. I dropped by my church this morning to deliver food for the members of Laurie Roberts band and the volunteer workers. I decided to pop into the sanctuary to hear them practice for the evening concert. I didn't know if I would be up to attending.

As I sat there listening, I found the songs touching me in a new way. During a break, Laurie brought her friends, Pastor LaShund and Kadesha Lambert, back to meet me. When she told them that I had MS, they said "Let's pray right now". I felt such a change pouring through me as the three of them began to pray. No, I did not experience an immediate physical healing. I had a spirit healing.

I try to keep from being negative about everything that MS has done to my life, but the truth is... some days are just so hard. It's like taking two steps forward and four back. As I stood letting their prayers roll over me, I regained some of my spiritual strength.

This week, I found a website that spoke to me. It's written by a lady with Lupus. There are so many familiarities with MS symptoms. It's here: But You Don't Look Sick... The Spoon Theory . Some days I just run "out of spoons"... you'll have to go read about it to understand what I mean by that.

After Laurie, LaShund and Kadesha prayed with me and for me, I knew I wanted to be able to come back for the concert at 7 PM. I went home and slept for over two hours. I was saving spoons... I knew I would need them if I was going to attend. I'm so glad I did! The concert was so uplifting. It was more than a performance. It was a time of worship... a time of blessing.

The change I felt was worth more than the spoons I reserved. I might have used them to clean my house, do some blogging, or run errands. I'm thankful I saved them for a time of spiritual enrichment. I am thankful for the spiritual healing. New strength to carry on. Courage for the challenges. Renewed belief in the awesome power of prayer in my life.