DANCING WITH ISAAC

DANCING WITH ISAAC I was dancing with my grandson today. He is only 17 months old. He wanted me to teach him. Who’d think he would be so bold? (He didn’t really ask me, it was more of an unspoken request. He doesn’t have to talk a lot, hugs and kisses still work best.) I clasped his little hands and started to sway, moving with the beat, when low and behold I looked down and he was moving his feet! He couldn’t match the beat, of course. He simply is too small. But he looked up at me and smiled like he felt 10 feet tall. I left the music behind and matched my steps to his own, and soon he was pulling me across the floor just like he was grown. He was stepping sideways and back and I just followed his lead. He looked up in amazement and filled my heart with greed. How could I absorb enough of this love and joy before adolescence plants its ugly seed? He seemed to find it so funny that I was following him sideways and back. His smile was wide from ear to ear like his face was going to crack. I turned one hand loose, held the other and told him to spin around. He smiled and started spinning then fell laughing to the ground. It seems no one has told him “That’s not what white men do.” You can move your head, you can move your hips, maybe a wiggle or two. You never pick your feet up or act like Fred Astair. You never shake and shimmy as if you haven’t a care. God forbid a Pirouette or a leap into the air. I’m glad he is too young to know these things just are not done. I’m not looking for a Baryshnikov, just a child happy enough to dance in the sun. A child left free to laugh and learn to dance in his own way, to grow into a young man with the confidence to ask a girl to dance one day. Laura Blanton August 14, 2007 http://momswhoblog.blogspot.com/2007/05/how-to-add-signature-to-your-posts-for.html

GREAT JOY WILL COME IN THE MORNING

GREAT JOY WILL COME IN THE MORNING Great joy will come in the morning when we see His shining face. Great joy will come in the morning when we reach that promised place. No tears will there be dwelling, no more sadness, no heartbreak. Great joy will come in the morning when our place by Him we take. I was thinking of my mother, of her kisses, her soft face. Great joy will come in the morning when we see His shining face. I was thinking of my daddy and those hugs that made me shake. Of the love and laws they taught me so one day I’d walk with God. To wake up in His Heaven with my name there in His logs. My mother had no concept of her beauty and her grace. She didn’t know the light shown down from Heaven on her face. She thought herself unworthy to meet God on Heaven’s shore. I knew God dwelt within her and she was His forever more My daddy was a man of God and always did his best. He worked so hard to care for us and stand up to the test. He sang us songs and taught us how to work and make our way. I know he’s there in Heaven singing praises to this day. Great joy will come in the morning when we see His shining face. Great joy will come in the morning when we reach that promised place. No tears will there be dwelling, no more sadness, no heartbreak. Great joy will come in the morning when our place by Him we take. http://momswhoblog.blogspot.com/2007/05/how-to-add-signature-to-your-posts-for.html

Holiday Celebrations

My precious brother, Steve holding my equally precious niece, Kimberly. The supreme Slaughter in front is my nephew, Jason Slaughter. I've got to see if I can work my great-nephew, Cameron into this picture. Yesterday was difficult for me. Though I still have some family here and I find great joy in, and with them, so many memories assaulted my senses. We have always been such a close, loving family and our celebrations were filled with love and lots of good food. NOTHING tasted good yesterday. I miss my mother, daddy, Steve, my grandparents and aunts Lora and Mary who have gone on to be with God. I miss my uncles Jerry and Oscar who are with Daddy in Heaven probably still arguing over the potato salad and ice cream. I miss my brother Kevin and his wife Chris who live 10 hours away and my Aunt Betty DeFoor Reed in Georgia. Sometimes I wonder if happy memories that make us yearn for the past are good or bad. I know the answer - it is better to have loved and lost..... I wouldn't wash the memories away for anything. It just hurts. I have lots of cousins who are feeling these same pains. Some much fresher than mine. I love you all and hope that you can find comfort knowing we will all be united in Heaven with God one day. My blessings are many. I have a wonderful husband at my side and two sweet daughters I love as my own. They will never fully realize how much I love them and how empty my heart would be without them. Krista and Candace also gave me the joy that is being a grandmother to three wonderful grandsons. I don't have to tell any of you what that means to me. They are gifts straight from our God. Bill also shares his mother with me and she is priceless. She treats me as a daughter and calls me her "daughter-in-love." There is nothing I can not ask of her or say to her. I also have my brothers friends who grew up with us and are my brothers along with their families. They look after me as my brothers would if they could be here. They share their children and grandchildren with me. Most of the time I can concentrate on the ones here and not let my grief take away the blessings I have. Yesterday just wasn't one of those days. I have two foster puppies here from a raid on a horrible "shelter" last Friday night. They are so sweet and good, but just too big and untrained to be in the house. Last night they were afraid when the fireworks started so I went outside to sit on the deck with them. One at a time I rocked them and sang to them. I thought, "Huh. I'm doing pretty good. I can sing to them and not cry." They seemed to like it and all was well. (I haven't had any complaints from the neighbors, so maybe the fireworks covered my singing.) Even singing Daddy's favorite, "Fill My Cup Lord", wasn't making me cry. Then a vision of our home flashed into my mind. It was full of family and friends cooking and eating and telling jokes and I was down for the count. Tears flowing and no more words could get out of my throat. The puppies looked at me with great knowing and just snuggled in closer. Sometimes I think God puts a special part of Himself into dogs so that they recognize our pain and try to heal it. Eventually the three of us calmed each other down, I came in and they curled up and went to sleep. They are on the deck playing without a care in the world. I didn't mean for this to turn into an essay, but that happens a lot when I sit down to write. The words just fly from my brain to my fingers until they are spent. I started out meaning to share the picture and it grew from there. Several people yesterday were moaning about being apart from family and friends on yet another holiday. This is part of life. Bill and I spent the day alone and that was fine. Families grow and join to other families and things get busy. I have spent many holidays away from family and I survive still. What hurts is knowing there are so many we will not see again until God calls us home. I will have lots of fun times with the ones still here. It may not be every holiday or as often as we would like, but I know they are alive and well and I can get to them if I have to. The rest is up to God. We must live our lives in a way that is pleasing to Him and make the most of our time here. Enjoy what you have and "Don't worry. Be happy!" http://momswhoblog.blogspot.com/2007/05/how-to-add-signature-to-your-posts-for.html

WHAT HAS HE GIVEN ME? He won’t come home with roses and boxes of chocolates are not his thing. Expensive dinners and movies are as likely as big diamond rings. For years I wondered why I was not honored on important days. Then I saw how our money was growing and decided I would try it his way. With two daughters growing and needing support, we passed up tickets to sit on the court. No football tickets or concerts downtown. More fun to pack a picnic and eat on the ground. There are lots of free concerts in parks and malls. Bach and Beethoven beat games with balls. We don’t run to theaters for opening nights. I haven’t yet seen the last Twilight. The dollar menu was our best friend. You could have a meal out with little money to spend. It’s the company that counts with the one you love. We are blessed to have each other by God above. Why pay more and have less to eat? Food at home is better and steak is a treat. We mistakenly think we are entitled to all things. Young people must own homes before they exchange rings. A new kitchen, new bathroom, the old must go. My parents were in their 40’s before home ownership they would know. What did I receive for Christmas, time with boys and girls. He gave me this gift of two girls with golden curls. One Christmas Eve night after candle light service, he asked me to share his life, to be part of his world. The girls gave us three boys of utter delight. Our lives are so full and all is right. My niece and nephew are more gifts from above. There is also a great-nephew to hug and love. One brother is still a part of my life and his friends are my brothers and for sisters, their wives. Though my parents are gone, I have a mom indeed - a mother-in-law with no malice or greed. No jealousy or resentment, no guilt or coercing. She takes only what we offer and understands when we are working. What has he given me over the years - a house full of joy, though not without tears. He has given me companionship, love, laughter and teasing – some bossing, some nagging, but happiness without ceasing. You see, the best things in life really are free. So what if there is a great big world we’ve yet to see. Not one cruise or long trip have we made, but the table of our life is heavily laden. Our family is well and there is food to eat. We are not rich, but life is so sweet. It is sweet with loved ones and the security of salvation. It is sweet with little debt and the comfort of home. Sometimes we look back and say we have sacrificed much to be where we are, but where we are is a very good place. The best place by far! Laura Blanton Copyright February 1, 2013