A New Day by Dr. Heartsill Wilson

This is the beginning of a new day.

I have been given this day to use as I will.

I can waste it, or use it.

I can make it a day long to be remembered for its joy, its beauty and its achievements, or it can be filled with pettiness.

What I do today is important because I am exchanging a day of my life for it.

When tomorrow comes this day will be gone forever, but I shall hold something which I have
traded for it.

It may be no more than a memory, but if it is a worthy one I shall not regret the price.

I want it to be gain not loss, good not evil, success not failure.

Life Is......by Mother Theresa

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.

Life is beauty, admire it.

Life is a dream, realize it.

Life is a challenge, meet it.

Life is a duty, complete it.

Life is a game, play it.

Life is a promise, fulfill it.

Life is sorrow, overcome it.

Life is a song, sing it.

Life is a struggle, accept it.

Life is a tragedy, confront it.

Life is an adventure, dare it.

Life is luck, make it.

Life is too precious, do not destroy it.

Life is life, fight for it.

Success

For many years, I have had a square magnet hanging on my refrigerator. It serves as a reminder to me that the small things count. It contains a quote from the literary author, Ralph Waldo Emerson. I would have to say this is one of my favorite quotes of all time. Sometimes we get so caught up in the big stuff, we forget about the small things. And I'm at the top of the list of the guilty. Every time I walk past my refrigerator and read this, I smile because it reminds me of all the small things that I really love!

Success:

"To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty,
To find the best in others,
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.This is to have succeeded."

Special Dedication

On Saturday, the 22nd of January, my beautiful mother turned _ _ yrs old. :-) I'll let you guess!

I was running like crazy on Saturday and failed to sit down and write a beautiful post about her, etc.... I figured since I didn't, I would dedicate this little clip to her - since this is what makes her happiest! Not the injuries! Just the humor in them!

Mom, this is for you!! And Happy Belated Birthday! You know I love you!

Priscilla Memorial

Since the previous post had some information regarding the McGruders, I would like to provide a link to all of the people who read this blog who might be interested in seeing a new Tribute video that is currently available for the fans of Priscilla McGruder. This video is currently available on a website that I've never embedded from, and to be frankly honest, I really like it and don't want to do anything that might get it pulled off of the internet. I'm not sure it's posted with permission, so I'm not going to take any chances of getting in trouble along with whoever else may.....however, for the moment, the memorial can currently be seen in it's entirety HERE! It appears it was posted 12 days ago and has not had many hits, so if you want to see it, you better watch it while it is available.

Be prepared, it's 30 minutes of the songs that were some of the signature songs that Priscilla sang. The first one they kick it off with happens to be one of my dad's favorites, "Since He Gave My Life A New Start."

From My Hobby

As you've probably noticed, the link to the other blog that I moderate is listed here on my site. I've told you all about my hobby over on the other site and my passion about the late, great Lady McGruder. I recently wrote a post for that blog that prompted me to write this post. Being the fan of their music that I am, I always a little apprehensive to hear someone else sing their songs. I am always worried that something someone else does with their songs may injure what I consider to be the sacredness of it - as corny as that sounds.

Not very long ago, some friends from Alabama, (the Newberrys) stopped by our church while visiting some family members. The wife of this couple was asked to sing, and began the lines of one of my all time favorites of the McGruders, "I Can Go to the Master." I found it interesting that after church, I had two or three of my close confidants who asked me how I handled it that she sang that song. I got a good laugh out of it, and the truth of the matter was, I am confident that I probably enjoyed it more than anyone in the building.

For DAYS after she sang that song, it got stuck in my head and wouldn't go away. On a whim, I ran across this interesting video of someone across the world singing that same song. I immediately fell in love with this version. Although, I will be quick to admit, Priscilla will always be close to my heart in every way possible - no one can sing it like she could - but the others have definitely hit the mark in their versions of it.

If you're interested, this is a video of that same song, being sung by a group from Solomon Islands in Africa from a Seventh Day Adventist Church. Their names are "Echoes of Innocence." And my goodness - they are superb! The harmony is phenomenal and just makes you need to stare and listen to it again and again. If you get time, this is for your listening pleasure. I promise you, it is worth the few minutes it takes to watch it.

Christmas in Alabama

Christmas in Alabama pictures

My little girl is 4!

Pictures from Addison's 4th birthday!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Well it's only been approximately 2 months since I've even said hello on this site. I really do apologize. I hope to do much better in the next little while. It's been a crazy ride since the last of November, when I last posted, but I'm back, so hopefully life will slow down a bit.

I could rant about all the happenings since then, but it would probably bore you, so I'll spare you. However, I hope everyone is kicking off the new year in a good way and are finding ways to be less busy! I'm trying. I'm actually making myself sit down this morning and catch up on a few things. I have a list a mile long I need to be working on. And will begin it shortly.

I didn't even write a list for new year resolutions.....first I just want to recover my house from the last month of chaos. I'm working on it, but it's a work in progress. I'm loading stuff for the Goodwill as I go along, so it's taking a little longer than normal, but I really hate clutter and it's been bothering me long enough, so I'm trying to shed it as I clean up. Once I get my house in order, maybe I'll have time to sit down and catch up on my posting. Fortunately, I got a new computer for Christmas, so I can finally once again have decent internet access without having to sit down and it take me a week to get one post accomplished. It's such a beautiful thing when the computer works right!!

Like I said, I won't get sidetracked by the events of the past month and a half, but for those of you who keep up with me (whether it be family or friends) from various sections of the United States, I'll show you a few pics taken in the last few weeks. Because of the way this computer works, I'll have to post the pictures in a separate post, so they will actually appear before this post. By the time you read this, you'll already have seen them!! Oh Well!!!