My Life's Investments, Gregg and Jason

The best accomplishment in my life is my children.

They are truly accomplishments.  They are not rich, fameous rather they are increbible friends, honroable men and fiercely loyal to thier own bleiefs.  Gregg is a teriffic Dad and both have become thier own men in thier own ways.

These two men are vastly different in thier lives in an outward manner.  They live thousands of miles apart and lead totally different life styles.  Yet they share a fierce love and loyalty for each other and share that loyalty for friends and family. 

TO say I am proud of them is a gross understatement. I was never a paragon of ideal parent.  I struggled with my own personal demons for years as a single parent, yet thought the Grace of God and the prayers of many people known and unknown kept us together and from any major disasters.

I do know that my love for them never wavered, nor did my belief it their ability to be first class people.

They value friendship and this is demonstrated by the long term friends they have, when I lost a friend of 50 + years , I realized they are both on their way to this kind of relationships.  I did not teach them this, but they both seem to understand  the value of people. 

They are caring and kind.  They will both think this is sappy but perhaps secretly think it is sort of OK, but I am proud of them and  feel that they make a difference in our world in a positive way, a little bit each and every day.

I am Blessed and they are indeed my best work. 

I will write later about my amazing Step Children, I am equally proud of them, thier Mom as a single Mom has done an amazing job as well. 

single Moms have a tough road to navigate, but many of us guided by God suceed beyond our dreams. God is there each and every day, we need only to listen,  


More on the this later

Returning to Trust ( Nouwen)

Returning to Trust
In my own life I well know how hard it is for me to trust that I am loved, and to trust that the intimacy I most crave is there for me. I most often live as if I have to earn love, do something noteworthy, and then perhaps I might get something in return. This attitude touches the whole question of what is called in the spiritual life, the "first love." Do I really believe that I am loved first, independent of what I do or what I accomplish? This is an important question because as long as I think that what I most need I have to earn, deserve and collect by hard work, I will never get what I most need and desire, which is a love that cannot be earned, but that is freely given. Thus, my return is my willingness to renounce such thoughts and to choose to live more and more from my true identity as a cherished child of God.

This struck a definite cord within me and I willcomment on this topic later this week. Feeling loved and undeersanding that weare loved is a complicated human thing.  God does love us unconditionally but accepting ourselves as loveable is a true challenge.

I shall come back to this later this week, but wanted to think this over before furher dialog.

Change, an Invitation to Life: Final Sermon and Challenge to Trinity Episcopal Ch...

Change, an Invitation to Life: Final Sermon and Challenge to Trinity Episcopal Ch...: "Epiphany 7, Feb. 20, 2011No Love, No Nothing O Lord, you have taught us that without love whatever we do is worth nothing: Send your Holy Sp..."

Question is there such a thing as failure?

I spent part of this afternoon thinking about someone who told me this week that they think they are a complete failure.  I certainly had to disagree, but I patiently and thoughtfully listened.  I did not really comment, but did question.  What we both learned is that much of what she defines as failure is really expectations that others seem to have set for her.  She is journaling today to define goals, hers alone.  this requires some work.

Now just thinking can anyone really fail?  I have my opinions but would like yours.

Winter wears many faces, as do we all

I just spent nearly three weeks traveling.  Only from Ohio to Minnesota at the farthest but the diversity of the land, weather and people I encountered is amazing.
I saw:
 snow banks taller than single story houses.
 a village of ice houses and trucks on a lake
 a full size hockey rink on a lake, complete with bonfire area
deer eating bark from trees
an eagle soaring high in the sky
hawks waiting for their prey
squirrels eating and drinking from a heated bird bath
birds splashing in the heated bird bath with 6 inches of snow on the rail it sits on
people in long trains of snowmobiles
people shoveling, plowing, blowing snow
people walking their dogs in the snow, like it was a spring day in the South
the might Mississippi frozen solid, just waiting for the thaw to spew millions of gallons of flood waters
along its course
trees beginning to bud here in Ohio
people from all over the world, representing so many races and nationalities I cannot count them

This is just a small part of our world and it is as full of wonder for me as it was when I was a child,

What are their stories?  What are they doing, where are they going?

My imagination has been spinning and now Lent has begun and we are reminded to remember the commonalities of our world, creation and frailties.

I have much to think about and much to remember