Be Happy

"Be of cheerful countenance, and the first thing you will notice is that people approaching you on the street are smiling."~Robert Brault

So true and so well put!

Here's wishes for a happy weekend.

I'm Thankful for Air Conditioning

It's hot here in Austin. And normally, I'm good with that. I'd much rather be hot than cold and I remind myself of that fact often -- especially often as the temps here have been over 100 for a zillion days in a row now.

So yesterday, I went down to set up the Primary room and realized it was HOT in there. Well, duh. I knew what to do about that. I went to the back of the room to turn on the AC and got nothing. No lights came one. No cool air. Nothing. My next thought was to grab Mark [who supervises the buildings and their maintenance in our stake] and have him come see what he could do - - which turned out to be nothing as well.

End result? A room full of Primary children [and teachers too!] from 3 - 5 p.m. on a sweltering Sunday in Austin, Texas. Hot, sweaty, lethargic -- all of us!!

We did OK though, really better than I thought we would. Our Primary kids and teachers are champs.

But I am now even more grateful for AC than ever before.

Facebook

I'm as big a fan of Facebook as anyone, but in the past few days, I've been 'friended' by people I can barely remember. [barely being the operative term here]. As I rack my brain to try to remember who the heck they are/were and what they might have meant to me, it sort of takes away some of the joy and fun I've experienced as I've re-connected with some people from the past that really were my friends.

This one spoke to me today!

Friends

"In friendship . . . we think we have chosen our peers. In reality, a few years difference in the dates of our births, a few more miles between certain houses, the choice of one university instead of another. . . the accident of a topic being raised or not raised at a first meeting -- any of these chances might have kept us apart. But for a Christian, there are, strictly speaking, no chances. A secret Master of Ceremonies has been at work. Christ, who said to the disciple "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you," can truly say to every group of Christian friends, "Ye have not chosen one another but I have chosen you for one another." The friendship is not a reward for our discrimination and good taste in finding each another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each the beauties of others." (C.S. Lewis)

I'm quite sure I have posted this quote before, but it was long ago and it has been on my mind again lately. As I muse about my life, there are so many things that seem to have happened by chance, whether it is the fact of meeting someone that the likelihood of it happening seems low, the actuality of living somewhere seemingly completely foreign to you and your experience in life, or being able to find common ground with someone that truly surprises you. It's pretty amazing to find someone either a fair bit older than you or younger and become great friends. You wonder why would that be - after all, with an age difference that great, it probably shouldn't have happened.

The concept of the "Master of Ceremonies" is a sweet one to me -- because that's exactly what is in place. He is our Master, He does know us and love us, and He puts us in places where we can learn to know and love others.

And I am grateful.

photo by Greg Olsen

If only . . .

Nothing more to add. I do wish!!

Frustration!

OK, so how often have I made a run to the grocery store and realized my list was still at home SITTING ON THE COUNTER!? So frustrating.

It definitely would be better to bring the list that I so painstakingly made.

Sigh. Someday. I comfort myself with the knowledge that at least I made the list.

Choosing People

"I may be justifying my pockets of chaos, but I will always choose people over perfection and the heart over task and tidy." ~Betsy C. Garman

Oh, how I love this statement. I definitely have pockets of chaos [more than pockets, I'm afraid!] in my life, and if you look at my house, it's clear that I do choose people over any kind of housekeeping perfection.

I think that's why I feel so strongly about children, both in my family and in Primary. They are people, individuals, and each has a place in my heart. The knowledge I have that God knows each one of us individually leads me to ponder the importance of knowing others as individuals as well. And knowing that, I can't even imagine choosing a task or tidying over a heart-felt feeling of love for someone.

Pockets of chaos? Sure. Many of them. But people and hearts always matter most.

Optimism

Optimist: someone who isn't sure whether life is a tragedy or a comedy but is tickled silly just to be in the play.

Optimist: someone who believes that after the fat lady sings, the dead lovers do an encore duet.

Optimist: someone who figures that taking a step backward after taking a step forward is not a disaster, it's a cha-cha. ~Robert Brault

Speaking as a person who sometimes takes the most dire outlook on things [you know -- "oh, no! the world is coming to an end!"], I loved these. I want to be that optimist -- to have that positive, happy outlook on life.

The cha-cha! I love it!

Great Weekend

We were silly at the Rainforest cafe. [At least Mason was! Grandpa would have been proud to see this one].
Mason even sat on the frog's lap!

We rode ponies -- [Maya, with Uncle Wissy and Daniel at her left]

Maya loved her pony. Having some purple on there makes all the difference.

We rode scooters! [What? What's Uncle Wissy doing on that scooter?!]

And we rode trains [and not just any train - this is a Thomas train!] Mason, Maya and Daniel all loved it.

We had a lovely weekend in Grapevine, with Chris, Tara and their boys, and Chris, Natalie and their 3 kiddoes. What always amazes me is how these kids just jump back into their friendships, even though it's been months since they've seen each other. They love doing things together -- riding trains, scooters, bikes, carousels, and they love playing the Wii, playing with the Thomas train set, building with Legos, and bouncing on the trampoline. I think mostly they just like being together.

We loved spending the time with family - -thanks, Chris and Tara, for the fun time! It was a great 4th!

Happy Canada Day!

For those of you who don't 'get' this one, it's OK. They are definitely Canadian things.

Just know that today is the Canadian equivalent of July 4 here in the USA -- so celebrate!!