Giselle

Giselle McComb

Today was the memorial service at Trinity for my daughter's roommate, Giselle. Giselle died in a car accident on December 28, two days after her twenty-second birthday. Elise spoke at the memorial service.

It's hard for a parent to see their children go through such difficult times. Elise really misses her friend and is having a difficult time coming to terms with the reality that Giselle is now in heaven.

But I am also so proud of the way Elise is handling things - if the word "proud" is an accurate word to use in this situation. Heaven is now more real than ever to Elise. When things get hard, she stops and thinks about what Giselle must be doing in heaven and how wonderful it must be to be in the presence of God.

These are the closing paragraphs of what Elise wrote and read at the memorial service today:

The loss of a best friend is unbearable and unbelievably difficult. Often, I just feel like I will see her again soon. Or like I could just pick up the phone and catch up on what we did over the holidays. Like I said before, Giselle was always busy so it’s easy to just think that she’s off babysitting or in the library studying.

But she is gone. And while I mourn for Giselle, she has left me with a gift. Because of the way Giselle lived her life, because of her relationship with God, she has given ALL of us a gift. And that gift is that we can know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, where Giselle is right now. Like the song that was played at her funeral, I can only imagine!!!

Psalm 23:6 states, “Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” Giselle declared her faith as ‘not having a religion, but a relationship with the Lord.' She made this very clear with all of the decisions that she made in her life. There is not a day that I don’t think about Giselle, but there is a humbling that comes with the mourning of her passing to know exactly where she is and Who she is with. I will miss her smile and her kind words. I look forward to seeing her again on that day when we'll all be united, spending forever together in His glorious presence!

Elise also shared about the way it baffled her that Giselle LOVED winter! Being Southern born and bred, my daughter could not fathom why anyone in their right mind would like the cold weather. But Giselle did! And I think the picture of her on a cold day captures her love of winter. Doesn't she radiate loveliness?

At the end of his beloved "Narnia Tales", C. S. Lewis describes the events that transpire as the characters in his story enter Heaven: "The things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before."

Enjoy the real story, Giselle!

The Ant and the Contact Lens

I hope you enjoy this story and that it brings encouragement for the times you are asked to carry a heavy load and wonder, "why?".


The Ant and the Contact Lens


Brenda was almost halfway to the top of the tremendous granite cliff. She was standing on a ledge where she was taking a breather during this, her first rock climb. As she rested there, the safety rope snapped against her eye and knocked out her contact lens.

'Great', she thought. 'Here I am on a rock ledge, hundreds of feet from the bottom and hundreds of feet to the top of this cliff, and now my sight is blurry.' She looked and looked, hoping that somehow it had landed on the ledge. But it just wasn't there.

She felt the panic rising in her, so she began praying. She prayed for calm, and she prayed that she might find her contact lens. When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but it was not to be found. Although she was calm now that she was at the top, she was saddened because she could not clearly see across the range of mountains. She thought of the bible verse 'The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth.'

She thought, 'Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me.'

Later, when they had hiked down the trail to the bottom of the cliff they met another party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out, 'Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?'

Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across a twig on the face of the rock, carrying it!

The story doesn't end there. Brenda's father is a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a cartoon of an ant lugging that contact lens with the caption, 'Lord, I don't know why You want me to carry this thing. I can't eat it, and it's awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to do, I'll carry it for You.'

I think it would do all of us some good to say, 'God, I don't know why You want me to carry this load. I can see no good in it and it's awfully heavy. But, if You want me to carry it, I will.'

God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.

I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.

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Today I am removing the little flag from the side of my blog. Why? Because my goal of 1,000 American visitors was reached today! Since I put it up, I have had 1,805 visitors. I also received visits from 805 people representing 83 countries. I did this just out of curiosity to find out where my readers are from. It has been fun and interesting. I even picked up a fan from Germany that put me on "Best Blog Ever Read!" How fun is that?! Thank you, my faithful readers...you are appreciated! I just wish I knew who you are (that information is never given!).
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Mink Ladies and Other Musings

Today I went to my first "Craigslist" garage sale. I kept hearing from friends about all the wonderful things they bought on Craigslist, so today I thought I would give it a try. At our house, we are training a puppy. During this stage, they shouldn't have free roaming privileges. Back in the day, we used to put up a piece of old plywood and use it as a makeshift barricade. Not anymore. Today they have puppy play yards. I had seen them in the store for $85.00. They are just pieces of heavy. molded plastic that snap together and can be shaped in a variety of ways. I found one on Craigslist, so I ventured out, looked it over, and bought it...for a fraction of the full price.

As I was leaving, I noticed some coats the lady had for sale. She had three different fur coats...one of which caught my eye. It was a pale beige fox, and I thought it would be perfect for Elise and the cold Chicago winters. She told me she bought it years ago for over $400.00, but she would sell it to me for $20.00. I called Elise and asked her if she was interested. She was reluctant. I bought it anyway. I had only $19.00, so the lady accepted my price. Nineteen dollars for a pretty fox coat!

Elise grew up in the age of PETA. Her generation has been told that wearing fur is wrong. Not my generation! In my time we had the "mink ladies". I have no earthly idea why, but back in the 50's and 60's, it was quite chic for women to wear mink. Not full blown mink coats mind you, but three or four mink pelts that were sewn together and worn around the neck. How awful was that??? But the worst part was, these pelts still had the mouth and eyes and feet still attached!! As a young girl, I was permanently scarred (and scared!) by these horrors of fashion! Imagine being 5 years old, innocently sitting in church, and suddenly having two tiny, black, beady eyes of a dead animal starring at you for an hour. I would break out into a full blown anxiety attack if Mrs. Baar and Mrs. Potts sat in front of me at the same time...that meant FOUR eyes starring!!! (Not to mention, four ears, two mouths and eight feet!!) No amount of peppermints (our approved form of church candy) could soothe me.

Ah, memories! But those little minks didn't scare me enough to stop me from buying a full length fur when I lived in Chicago. It's quite chic to be seen along Michigan Avenue wearing a full length fur. I was working for Estee Lauder at the time, which I enjoyed, but I was far from making a "full length fur" type of salary. Undaunted, I searched high and low for a cheap fur. Finally, I found one in an antique store. It was HUGE, and the fur was...well, it was fur, but I have no earthly idea what kind of animal it came from. But that didn't matter, because I felt so elegant wearing that coat! And warm!!! Oh, it was so toasty on those windy, bone-chilling Chicago winter days walking to work. Years later, I dragged that old ugly thing back to Michigan. When I had playground duty, that old coat protected me from the cold like nothing else ever could. Kids used to love to come up and snuggle around me just to stay warm. I even remember wearing it while shoveling snow off of our roof with my dad. I'm telling you, that coat was like an oven!

So, now it's time for my daughter to have some fur memories of her own. Don't know if she'll enjoy the fox...might not ever wear it...but I hope she does. And I hope she will have some fun fox coat stories to pass on to her children!

A True Companion

I always heard people say, "Today we put our dog down". I heard the words, but never realized the heart break and sorrow that is embedded in that six word phrase. Today I know. Today we had to put to rest our beloved little dog, Gracie. I never realized how hard it would be...

She came into our lives in 1997. A patient at the clinic where I was working told us about a dog his wife found in Mobile, Alabama. The dog was wandering around in traffic. She rescued the dog by placing her in the car and taking her to their home in Mississippi. They ran an ad in the Mobile Register for a week, but no one ever claimed the dog. When John asked the staff at the clinic if any of us wanted a dog, I said, "Yes!"

John brought her to the clinic a few days later. It wasn't love at first sight. The dog was a big ball of shaggy black hair, and she was badly in need of a bath and some grooming. Before leaving the office that day, I made a grooming appointment and dropped the dog off on my way home. When Elise (8) and David (12) returned home from school, I told them about the dog. I warned them not to get their hopes up too much. I warned them that she looked, well...she looked pretty "mangy".

Elise and I picked her up from the groomers. I was amazed at the transformation! It's like she sculpted a cute little dog from that straggly mass of fur that I had dropped of just a few hours earlier! Elise's eyes lit up. It was love at first sight for her. Elise promptly named the dog "Bingo". Okay, that's cute. Bingo it is!

Bingo was perfect from the get go...she was out of her puppy stage, she had already been spayed, and she didn't whimper or cry or have an accident the first night in her new home. The next morning we leashed Bingo and found that she walked very well with us. Maybe she was a keeper afterall!

That first day I had some errands to run and Elise asked if Bingo could come along with us. Hmmm...I relented and off we went. The first place I had to go was the Biloxi ball park. Elise was so proud to show off her new dog. The next stop was the church garage sale. More "oohs" and "aahs". On the way home I kept looking at the dog in the rear view mirror. I wondered where she had come from. She's such a loving dog...why was she walking around in the traffic? And now here she was with us - a whole new home, a whole new state. Once lost, but now found! Amazing! "Elise? How 'bout we name the dog Gracie? She just seems like a "Gracie"." Elise thought for a moment and then said, "Yes. And her middle name will be Marie. Just like mine. Gracie Marie."

And that was the beginning of a beautiful relationship. Gracie was a wonderful member to our family. She never barked, she never growled or nipped at anyone...she just seemed to be the perfect dog. Often over our thirteen year relationship I marveled at how well her name suited her...she exuded grace. Somehow, it always came across like she was thankful...sort of like she knew she had been rescued and she just wanted to live her whole life to please us, simply because she was so happy to have a home.

She did have one bad habit. She was an escape artist. If the door was open and she could get out, out she went! Man, could Gracie run! She seemed as swift as the air! Soon it made sense to me why she was lost. She probably darted out of her home in Mobile and simply couldn't figure how to get back. Thankfully, when she would escape out our front door, she somehow always made her way back home to us.

I'll never forget the day she bolted out the door on a Saturday morning. She took her sweet time to return and I was getting worried. Suddenly, there she was, running home. Running so fast that her little ears were blown back. She was carrying some huge object in her mouth. And she looked so proud as she ran towards the front door. But the closer she came, I was able to make out what she was clutching in her mouth...an animal leg!!! The leg of a deer. Ewww, Gracie!!! Apparently one of the neighbors had gone deer hunting and Gracie thought this was the perfect gift to share with us. We returned the leg to the rightful owner...

So many memories. Her snaggle tooth. Or how she would hear the school bus and race to the green chair so that she could see out the window, making sure Elise and David made it home from school safely. The way how she loved to play with David's old socks. Or how she grieved when our family cat died.

Gracie was a part of the family. She evacuated with us for Katrina. She spent many months in her cage when we lived in our friends tiny accommodations above their garage. And she made the long trip from Mississippi to Houston.

This past year, it was obvious that Gracie was getting older. Her eyes were clouded over and gradually it became apparent that she had also lost her hearing. Blind and deaf, but still wanting to be a part of everything.

Then things slowed down. She never ran out the door. She no longer could jump onto our bed. She started bumping into things. Her once black hair was now more gray than black. And then, slowly, she withdrew from us. She no longer wanted to sit in our laps. She didn't really care much to be petted. She spent most of her hours just sleeping.

We often discussed when would be the time to just let Gracie rest...none of us wanted to think about life without her. But Gracie seemed to let us know. Life had become hard for her. She had bladder cancer. She became incontinent. It was time.

On Friday morning we took Gracie to the vet. They gave her a sedative and let us spend as much time as we needed to say our goodbyes. We each took turns holding her. It felt so good to nuzzle with her again - it had been a long time since she had wanted to be held. She laid in our arms as we tearfully told her what great joy she had brought to each of us. And then it was time...

Gracie, you were, as Bill often said, "the best dog we ever had!". You shared with each of us such unconditional love. We miss you, Gracie. We miss you so much...

Frugal

I think this is so cute! And so, with love, I post this for someone very special in my life...you know who you are!

Mary's fourth grade homework assignment was to make sentences using the words in her spelling list, along with the definition. Coming across the word "frugal" in the list, she asked her father what it meant. He explained that being frugal meant you saved something.

Her paper read:

Frugal: to save

Sentence:

Maid Marion fell into a pit when she went walking in the woods so she yelled for someone to come get her out.

She yelled "Frugal me, Frugal me!"

Living in HOPE Amid The Disappointments Of Life

For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

Welcome to Blah, Blah, Blah! Some of you are my faithful, daily readers. Some of you are new to this blog. I welcome you with open arms and thank you for sharing a few minutes of your day with me.

For those of you who don't know me, I'm just a very regular person sharing my perspective on the things that come my way. I don't know everything. I don't have the right answers. I'm just a regular person striving to bring glory to God .

One thing that I love to do is share with people. I believe God has gifted me in the area of public speaking, and my heart's desire is to share my story with people. This isn't a new desire...it's been burning and churning in my heart since I was a young girl. God has blessed me with many opportunities to share my story with many different groups. I've done Bible studies, topical studies, conducted retreats, and have spoken to various groups on different topics.

In this new year, I hope to speak more and develop more topics. I also hope to write and publish study guides that correspond to my topics. i recently contacted some publishing companies and am excited about the prospects!

One of my first topics for this new year deals with the ways we handle disappointment, grief, and/or despair. Shattered hope is part of the human condition, isn't it! We all have experienced hurts, disappointments, and grief on this journey we call life. How do YOU handle it? Could you share with me what has helped. What hasn't helped. Your experiences, your answers, will help me so much as I begin formulating outline. You can leave your comments here, or email me, or message me on FB. Thanks in advance for you help!

Time's Top Ten Photos

Sometimes it is good to look back~to remember all that can happen in a space of 365 days. I found this as I was aimlessly roaming the internet today. I hope you enjoy a short look back... (And if it says "unavailable", click on the green words at the bottom)I will post more later today about my New Year thoughts...
TIME's Top 10 Photographs of 2010