THURSDAY THOUGHTS: Catch Up

The past several weeks have been full of ups and downs.  

My grandma passed away on March 4.  The funeral went well, although the Father's eulogy touched me greatly when he said that my grandma was a great cook throughout her life and that God will be able to use her talents to prepare a great feast for us when it is our time to join her.  Then it was announced that we would sing Amazing Grace and I lost it.  I can't even hear that song on a good day without crying, and I didn't know it was part of her service.  Before the first word was sung I started bawling and fought the urge to run out of the church.  My niece, Erin, and my brother, David, held me up from each side and made me feel loved.  I had to take many deep breaths (and try not to listen to the song) in order to make it through.  It is one of my favorite songs, but I find it incredibly personal and that I am not worthy of God's grace.  The last song they sung was another of my favorites, How Great Thou Art, which I listen to every morning on my musical angel that my other grandma had made for me.

It was wonderful to see a few of my relatives that I hadn't seen in a very long time.  My cousin, Dan, in particular.  He is such an adventurer and has accomplished so much in his life that I felt like I was meeting a celebrity.  Even though we were close as children I was nervous and had trouble even approaching him.  He did approach me, however, and we were able to catch up a bit (and I didn't act like a tongue-tied fool).  I feel blessed that I had a chance to see him again.

On the same day my son had his strings recital.  I felt bad for missing it, but Hubby did videotape some of it for me.   When I asked my son later how it went and if he had been nervous, he said "A little bit, but once the music started it was like I was in my own little world."  He got lost in the music.  That strikes me as an unusual comment for a 10 year old to make and further solidifies my sense that he has some great natural musical abilities.  

We had my Hubby's 40th birthday party.  It was a disco theme and he had set up our garage to be one big dance floor.  He draped black plastic on the walls, hung a disco ball and strobe light, and put in a black light.  He also had a bubble machine going.  The music was pumped and we had a blast.  (The kids later asked that we do it again for their birthday in July.)

My Hubby dressed the part, as is his custom.  He had a huge afro, a silver sparkle scarf tied around it, an exceptionally appropriate patterned shirt, black leather vest, plaid pants and big sunglasses.  We weren't able to find big jewelry or 70's style shoes but he looked great without them.

We had expected a bigger turnout so we were left with a lot of leftover food.  I think this will be one of his more memorable parties.

Last night my daughter and I went to see the Hunger Games.  She read all of the books some time ago, but I haven't.  The movie was awesome!  The lead character, played by Jennifer Lawrence, is incredibly beautiful.  I am not sure that I've seen her before but I plan to watch her other movies now.