Hope...Very Real

Reading in Acts today and one verse stood out to me..."I have hope in God.." There's more to the verse, but that's what I needed today.

My life is good, but I still need to be reminded of where my hope lies. I also read, "Cease striving and know that I am God." I learned that "striving" means sink down, let drop, relax. Sometimes I don't relax very well.

So, I will enjoy my grandchildren today. I will drive the boys to their friend's house in Battle Ground. I will drive Annabel to a birthday party. I will pretend I'm a mommy again--though grammie is just fine too.

I will remember where my hope comes from. I will work on relaxing about my future. The song runs through my mind as I write.

Why so downcast 

Oh my soul?

Put your hope in God

Put your hope in God

I will do just that--put my hope in God!

Cousins.....Family

Tiffany and Sarah---are getting acquainted. They are second cousins and this is their first meeting. I think they're going to be fast friends. Why do I think that? They are already chattering like they've known each other all their lives. Excellent students--each of them. They also love their daddies. They like to hunt with them and each have several trophies.

I love watching my extended family learn about each other...and they will know each other in eternity...for they're also in God's fovever family. Cousins....a good thing.

Trust

I woke up this morning, depressed. Sad. All the work we did for the election for "our side" seemed for naught. We walked. We planned. We gave. We prayed. Yet "our side" wasn't elected--on nearly all counts.

What do I read this morning in the Psalms but in the 42nd and its twin, 43:

Why are you in despair, O my soul?

And why have you become disturbed within me? 

Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him

For the help of His presence.

Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him.

The help of my countenance and my God.

...plead my case against an ungodly nation;

O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man!...

And upon the lyre I shall praise You. O God, my God.

Why are you in despair, O my soul?

And why are you disturbed within me?

Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him.

The help of my countenance and my God.

Another reminded, yet again. My hope is in God, maker of heaven and earth. It is in He I put my trust. And that is enough.

She loved pink!

Mom and Erika

Happy event at granddaughter DeeDee's wedding

Couldn't find any pink roses, but this is a great representation of all the pinks

October 3, 1917 was the year my mother was born. Today would have been her 95th birthday. Longevity is a strong attribute in the Richert family. Grandpa Richert lived to be 92. Mom was 93. But this isn't a story about years. It's about a wonderful woman. My mother.

When I was growing up, I called her "mama". As I moved into my teens, I dropped that title for a more acceptable one--"mom". Mom loved pink--can you tell?

Mom was a wise woman and many people approached her for advice. When she was a pastor's wife, a teacher at school, a grandma, and at her retirement home. People flocked around her. She was always been the "popular girl".  To me she was special--but she was just my mom. Now that she's gone, I really do miss that woman of wisdom. The one who had people clamoring to be around her.

Happy birthday Mama! Greet my dear ones who are there with you, in heaven!

New Way to Think

If you look closely, you'll see a Bible there on the love seat. That's where I sit every morning to read and pray. Today's verse was thought provoking. Psalm 4:1 (KJV) "....thou hast enlarged me in my distress....." I began to think about my situation. God's word tells me--in the ancient Elizabethan tongue--"Enlarged me". It doesn't mean physical size, but the spiritual. And yes. He has enlarged me. Never have I felt the loving, comforting presence of my Comforter more than when I was in distress. Do I ask for the distress? NO! Yet, there He is. My loving God nearer to me than any family member. Any friend. He's there when I'm awake at 3:00 am in the morning. Though He is unseen, I know He is there. Sad with me. Weeping with me. Joyful with me. Life is full of "distress", yet He is there. That's all we need to know.

"It's a book!!" They said.

"Your book is now in print!" The email said. Finally, after two years of reading, re-reading. Editing. Reading. Changing some more, it was done.

You would have thought I'd be filled with joy and excitement. Kind of like when I had my babies. And I did. But I also had some misgivings and doubts. Just like when I had my babies.

What if they don't like it? What if they don't like how I described them? What if I don't like it? All self doubts. But then, it arrived. I was thrilled to hold it in my hands. It looked so different to see the print on the book page rather than the computer screen or typed out on white paper.

It's a book. But of course, I've only begun. I need to market it now. Convince other people to read it. Write more. I've already gotten some ideas.

Raising a book, like a baby, is a lifetime thing!

Here's the baby--er-- book!

Wedding Day, August 16, 2008

Today is a special day of remembrance for me. No, it is not 2008, it is 2012 and today would have been  our fourth wedding anniversary, had Blair lived.

Instead I am remembering this day by myself. I am not alone, though, for the One who brought us together is here with me. And I have my blessed memories to recall. Blair was my beloved Boaz and I'll tell you more about Boaz another time. Blair loved me in spite of my flaws--and treated me with courtesy, respect, and love. He was a gentleman who did things for me just because he loved me and wanted to please me. He was a dreamboat of a man and I was so blessed to meet him, fall in love with him, and marry him.

Some people have asked me, "Would you have married him, had you known he'd be gone in such a short time?"

I say, I'd marry him again in a hot minute! We had a seventeen month honeymoon. How many people can say that? Not many, I'd venture to say.

I have wonderful memories and I know I will see Blair again in eternity. But here, on Earth, I have more family to love. I have two more sons--and a new granddaughter, Meghan Elena.

Happy anniversary my love. I am grateful to God for His gift to me of you-- if only for a time......

I hope the joy is as evident as we felt!

Delight in our first kiss as Mr. and Mrs. Graybill