Worktime Woes

I am usually the person Andy confides in when there are workplace issues. I knew things were bad within our company, and in our store in particular. I knew that one of our leads would be offered a different position. I knew one of our managers would be let go. I did not know how difficult it would be to say 'good-bye' to my dear friend Chris. I had begged Andy not to make Chris go. No one else knew what was happening. No one else shared my trepidation. I thought it might be Chris, but Andy would not tell me. I begged him not to let Chris go.
Yesterday Andy called me into his office while he spoke to Jill about her job being eliminated. Sweet Jill. So perky and so upbeat. It was hard. Andy was rather disoriented. He was choking up. Jill maintained her composure. When I left, I knew he called Chris. I knew it was Chris. He didn't need me to sit in while it was man to man talking. Jill was in the breakroom crying. I was in my office crying. Carlye is getting more upset by the minute. I assured her that her job was safe.
Soon Chris came into my office and in his sweet way, told me what had happened. I tried to be calm. I tried to be positive. We hugged. We cried. Carlye came by. He told her good-bye. She broke down. Chris broke down. I broke down even more. Andy called Carlye and I into his office. Andy wept. Carlye wept. I sobbed.
Chris was one of those one in a million people. He was a delight to work with. Everyone loved Chris. His love for the Lord. His sweet spirit. His servant's heart. His laugh. Oh! How I will miss his laugh and he was always laughing! Always positive. He was my Thursday night partner. He was my weekend partner. I could share my blessings with him. I could share my sorrows with him. We always called it the 'Thursday Night Curse' because things always went wrong on Thursday night. And we laughed. Chris always laughed. And this past Thursday night was especially cursed. It was the night I lost my partner, my friend, my brother in Christ.

Sanctity of Life

James
Robert

Edwin

Today is Sanctity of Life Sunday.

When Dryscha became pregnant with the boys, she was given the option of 'reducing'. You see, multiples skew the statistics of an RE. When becoming pregnant with multiples, because it is so high risk and there such a potential for an entire pregnancy loss, it lowers the success rate. Which would you choose? What would our life be like without James, our sunbeam? Robert, our little peanut? Edwin with the huge blue eyes and dimples? How could even one of those beating hearts be silenced?

Yet everyday, countless children die by their parents choice. It's just tissue. It's a boy and I wanted a girl. The other two would have a better chance without him. She has multiple birth defects.

As those boys were being woven inside of Dryscha, I am truly thankful that legally her doctor did have to present her with this option. But it was really no option at all.

Camp Grandma

Made him earn his keep by cleaning...
Celebrated pizza night!
Got creative!
Modeled a tutu I made for his female cousins. Sorry Edwin!

And tried a new 'do'.

But the nice thing about 'Camp Grandma' is that just like Summer Camp, it is fun while it lasts, but it does end!

I love 'Camp Grandma'. When my kids let their kids spend the night, it is a blessing. It makes me feel that even when I failed as a parent, my children trust me with their children. It gives me a chance to share God's blessings. To pass them to a new generation. To create memories. To teach them about God's goodness and to share with them the answers to prayers. It gives me a chance to reinforce what they are learning at home. It gives me a chance to teach them to obey and to fear God. To honor Him. That success means finding God's will for their lives and accomplishing it.

I love Camp Grandma.

Winter Wonderland

Yesterday when I went outside, I was blown away by how beautiful it was. So pristine. So pure. So fresh. I recalled the verse that said we can know some of who God is by His creation. He is pure. He loves changing Seasons. He loves for us to enjoy his creation. He loves order. He allows us to praise Him by sharing with those we meet how wonderful the Creator is. I love a beautiful Winter morning. People probably thought I was nuts traipsing through the snow with Nikon Nicky.

Being an HR specialist is often like running a daycare for large children. I have to calm them down. Set them straight. Encourage them. Love them. Teach them. Last night I was walking around the store chatting with people and two of the guys said:

'Becky, is it true that girls ages 18-24 like guys who are rude?''

I thought for a moment and said:

'Well, my oldest daughter always said she was attracted to 'bad boys' and she ended up marrying one. Of course being a cop doesn't help the attitude.'

As I walked away I could hear them murmer, 'See, I told you.' Wonder what they have in mind?

Juliet is TWO!

She loves snow!
She loves food!
She loves Bitty Baby!

When Jordan was expecting Jocelyn, she asked if I would be her labor coach. One of the 'conditions' I set was that after I took pictures of their family together, I would leave so that they would have that time together. I did that, and no one could have anticipated the issues that arose due to Jordan's pre-eclampsia. She wished I would not have left so that I could have been her support while Patrick was involved with Jocelyn.

We knew Jordan would have to have a C-section with Juliet. She called me two years ago and said they had to be at the hospital at noon. They drove over so that I could follow them, arriving together at the same time. I told Jordan that only one person, Patrick, could be with her in the OR but to ask if I could wait and when he left recovery, I could stay with her while he was with the baby. As we were waiting in the room for the time to get her ready for surgery, Deb Smith walked in. She asked if I was going in with Jordan and I told her no, that Patrick was. She asked if I wanted to and I told her I assumed only one person could go. She told me not to assume and with Jordan and Patrick's permission, I was also allowed in the OR.

It really was ideal. Patrick and I would alternate between Jordan, who was slightly out of it, and little Juliet. Juliet Rebecca Katherine. Now it doesn't get much better than that!

What Came First.......

...the chicken or the egg?

Job 12:7 says. "But ask, now, the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee."

Amazing. It certainly takes more faith to believe in evolution than in creation.

The egg has 10,000 pores in it to let in air. It has three parts - the shell, the yolk, and the white. When you hard boil an egg, you notice an airpocket in one end. That air pocket has actually gotten smaller each day. The chick is in the egg for 16 days and on the 17th day, uses it's special tooth to attempt to hatch the egg. It has 6 hours to accomplish this or the air space will be too small for the chicken. That 'substance' between the egg and the shell is not to help the egg peel easier. It actually connected 3 membranes that attached to the chicken.

With evolution do you know how many eggs a chicken would have to lay to get an egg with 10,00o pores so that the chick inside could survive? Now I ain't the brightest bulb in the box, baby, but I know that chicken would be long gone before that could happen.

Creation. What a marvelous thing that we witness each day. Through it we see a little bit more of God and learn or His order and preciseness. Yes, the beasts, fowls, and fish certainly do teach us and how I love those lessons.

Heavy Burdens

Last Fall Bob started this project of moving rocks out of the woods at our cabin. What a burdensome thing to do. Up the road there was this huge bolder that Bob and Patrick were determined to move to the cabin. Patrick was trying to come up with all kinds of schemes as how to get it there.

Burdens, like rocks, are so heavy. Sometimes we have to scheme as to how to move them. How to rid ourselves of them. They are too heave for our weak bodies. Just as this bolder was too difficult for Jocelyn and Juliet.

Burdens can be financial troubles. They can be health issues. They can be marital problems. What is a burden to one person may not be to another. So often we feel inadequate to deal with them.

Traveling light means laying aside those burdens that beset us. Allowing Christ to carry them. To remove them, or to move them. They can be heavy too. Not something you want to bear when traveling light.

Traveling Light

I am not a 'resolution' maker. I do much better with 'goals'.

The Bible tells us that we are sojourners here on earth. This is not our home.

When someone travels, a good traveler knows how to travel light. There are limits as to what one can take with them. In a sense, I am just a visitor here on earth - a tourist, waiting to go home to Heaven. My goal this year is to travel light.

I am more people oriented than possession oriented, but I do still like those clothes and accessories that make me feel good. Do I really need all of them? I jokingly say that I would have made a good Shaker because I like simplicity. But still, I do like some pretty things sitting around. And then there is that weight I am carrying. Yep. Since not going to weight watchers, loosing some of that would definitely help me to travel lighter!

This is a phrase I want to embed in my mind this year. Travel light. Help me to see that this is not my home, I'm just a passing through.........