THE IHOP MAN


Late yesterday afternoon Peggy and I went to IHOP to eat dinner.  Now I know most people go to IHOP for breakfast but they have a pretty good menu besides the pancakes.  Many time when the Grands come over and spend the night, the next morning I will make them PaPa's world famous pancakes for breakfast.  I often tell them how for years I have been recruited by IHOP to be the head chef of their pancake kitchens but part of the deal requires me to give them my secret recipe which I refuse to give to anyone.  Therefore,  the wonderful treat of PaPa's pancakes is given just to them.

Anyway,  back to the original story.   As we sat there,  an older man walked in by himself,  was seated, and for some reason I couldn't take my eyes off of him.  No,  he didn't look familiar.  I don't believe I had ever seen the man before.  There was really nothing special about the man's appearance.  He was dressed normal,  had two eyes and two arms,  one nose.  Just an ordinary man. But still there was something.  "What was it about this man?"    Then it hit me.  It was something about the curvature of his lips.  The corners were naturally turned down.  And his eyes.  Yes he had two just as you and I, but he had such a blank stare.  A stare as if he looked passed what was in front of him and saw things that were not seen by others.  There was a  sadness about him.  A loneliness.  What an unpleasant feeling it must be to be lonely.  A feeling of emptiness.  I mentioned to Peggy how lonely the man appeared, then the subject was changed and we enjoyed our meal together.

When we got home we did the same as we usually do.  We checked the computer,  watched some TV,  talked awhile,  just the everyday things we do.
Then we went to bed.  But as I was lying there,  the memory of the man at IHOP came back to me and the look on his face would not go away.  Did I see something that was not there?  Had my imagination run amok again.  No matter....Whatever it was I knew I had to pray for this man or sleep would never come.  I didn't know what to ask for,  but I knew God would know what the man needed.  And so I prayed for this stranger.

As I finished and said my amen,  I knew sleep would soon come.  So I waited,,,,  and I waited,,,, and I waited some more.  But sleep wouldn't come.  All that I could think of was this man at IHOP....."WHY GOD?   WHAT IS GOING ON?"    I thought to myself,  I've done as I should.  I've prayed for the man.  "WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT OF ME GOD?"   As I was asking God these questions,  little did I realize I was still praying.  It was as if I could hear God's voice giving me answers.  The reason I was so concerned for the
man was because subconsciously,  I have the same fears.  I don't want to be lonely.  I don't want to feel empty.  All of a sudden Isaiah 41:10 came to me................

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous."

 I thought to myself,  "What a small verse and what a big promise."  Think about it for a minute....it says.... "for I am with you"  My God is with me always.  No need to fear,  no need to be dismayed. He will make me strong.  He is my God.

As I laid there my mind went back to the man at IHOP.  I had prayed that he would not be lonely.  That God would give him friends to comfort him.  I now went back to my God in Prayer.  This time I prayed that the IHOP man would know my God through Jesus Christ.  I prayed that my God would show him,  just as He had shown me that He was real and He was present and He was righteous.  I now knew I had asked for what the IHOP man needed and I knew God was able to supply those needs.

I once again closed my eyes.  This time sleep came quickly and I rested in the assurance that my God was in control.

May God Bless You This Day...Amen

THE FLOWER


She was a fair maiden.  Not only beautiful but very intelligent.  She lived in the city and was loved and trusted by many.  In this city was located a community garden.  When you had shown yourself to be responsible and trustworthy,  a small plot of the garden would be allocated to you and on your plot you could plant what you wanted.  Some planted vegetables for nourishment of their bodies.  Others planted flowers simply for the beauty they provided.  After years of learning and maturing the fair maiden was finally allowed to have a plot to work.  It was a plot owned by a man and his wife that had much faith in the fair maiden.  To this man and his wife,  this plot was very valuable. In fact it was more valuable to the man and woman than it would be to anyone else.  By allowing the fair maiden to plant their plot, it showed the trust they had in the fair maiden and she in turn took the responsibility of this plot very seriously.

The fair maiden decided she would plant flowers.  She was a gentle lady and loved things of beauty.  She plowed her plot until the soil was soft and smooth.  She then carefully planted the seeds.  One by one,  not to close together in order to give them room to grow.  She fertilized and watered.  In fact she watered daily and made sure no weeds grew in her plot that would crowd and smother her plants as they grew.  And then she waited with much anticipation.  And she waited and waited and waited.  Not a single flower appeared.  Weeds would grow and she would pull them up but no flowers ever broke the ground.

I often wonder what went through the fair maidens mind as she waited.  Was she disappointed?  Did it depress her that she never saw a flower grow?  Did she feel that she had failed?  After years she disappeared.  I know not where she went  but for years the plot that she had taken such an interest in lay barren. Others tried to grow things on this plot and on occasion would get a very small yield of crops but mainly the plot continued to lay barren.

And then, out of no where, a plant began to grow.  It wasn't a large plant but kind of small.  No one had ever planted these seeds on this plot since the fair maiden so it must be from her seeds.  No it wasn't the year after she planted the seeds on this plot.  No it wasn't even ten  or twenty years later but it was over fifty years later.  And then a small flower bud.  And then another. This must be a miracle everyone thought.  This defies nature they said.  Where can we find the fair maiden?  Where should we look?  Is she still alive or has she passed away? She must see this.  She must see the results of her labors. I have no idea where she is but I wish I did.  I wish I could find her.  I wish I could sit and talk to her.  Why do I wish to see her you ask?  What would I share?

It was in the 1950's.  I was far from being a good student at Kirkwood Elementary School.  My teacher's name was Ms. Ernhart.  She was special to me and made me feel I was special to her.  I hated homework.  In fact I hated all school work but even though I hated the work, she made me want to be at school.  Why you ask?  Because she made me feel that I was smart.  I can remember her telling me how good I was at spelling.  I can remember being proud and wanting to be a good speller because of this.

I remember once she gave us an  assignment  to read a book from the library and then do a book report.  She told us we could chose our own book as she wanted us to read something we were interested in.  We were to tell about the book and also about the author.  As for me,  I had no time for this book report stuff.  I had much more important things on my mind like my paper route and playing baseball with the guys.

It was the night before the book report was due.  I had a problem.  I mean I had a big problem.  I had not only not read a book,  I had not checked one out and the library was now closed.  Ohhh boy!!!!!!  How was I going to get past this.  I had really dug myself into a hole this time.  It's probably not what your thinking.  I wasn't worried about making a zero on the grade.  My problem was I didn't want to fail Ms. Ernhart.

As I sit in my room trying to come up with an excuse why I didn't have a book report, the craziest idea came to my mind.  I would make a book up.  I would write a report on a book that didn't exist by an author that didn't exist.  I even made up the copyright date and the publishing company.  Boy I thought,  "I'm Good".

A couple of days later Ms. Ernhart called us each up to her desk,  one at a time,  to give us our book reports back and discuss our grade with us.  I was as nervous as I had ever been.  Then I saw my grade.  I had made an "A".  She then told me that my report was the best story she had ever read.  She said she gave me the "A" because she knew it was much harder to make a story up than to read a book and do a report.  She then said something to me I will never forget.  She said four simple word.  "I'm proud of you".

It was over fifty years before I wrote anything else.  Are my post the best I've ever read?  Not by a long shot, but I've finally found that I enjoy writing.  I enjoy telling a story. And the most important thing...."I'm proud of me"

If you haven't figured it out yet,  in the metaphor I started this post with, Ms Ernhart is the fair maiden,  my parents are the man and his wife,  I am the plot of ground and the flower buds are my writings.  Hopefully after awhile I will improve and the buds will become full blooms. The seeds of course are the words of encouragement given to me by Ms Ernhart. 

I have no idea where Ms. Ernhart is.  I don't know if she is still alive or dead.  But I do know she touched many a child.  She was a wonderful teacher and a beautiful person.
I wish I could sit down with her and thank her in person but I can't.  If there was a Ms. Ernhart in your life and you can still thank her,  I hope you will.

God Bless our Teachers

MEMORIES LIGHT THE CORNERS OF MY MIND,

Misty water color memories of the way we were.

Scattered pictures of the smiles we left behind,

Smiles we gave to one another fore the way we were.

Can it be that it was all so simple then,

Or has time rewritten every line?

And if we had the chance to do it all again,

Tell me, would we? Could we?

Memories may be beautiful, and yet

What's too painful to remember

We simply choose to forget,

So it's the laughter we will remember

Whenever we remember the way we were.

I posted a piece on facebook the other day titled "Things I've Learned."
It was to me a very inspiring piece and got my mind to running. Of course I have a very hyper mind so it doesn't take a lot.  If I was as hyper physically as I am mentally I would weigh 99 pounds.  Not sure if that would be a good thing or bad.  Anyway as my mind was running amok, it quickly went to things that I had learned and things that make and have made me happy.  The more I thought and the more I pondered what has and still does make me happy, the more I realized it was simple things.  Inexpensive things.  In most cases free things.  These things and experiences made me smile.  Some even made me laugh out loud.  Others brought a tear to my eye and some even had me sobbing.  But they were happy tears.  Tears that made my heart feel as though it may burst at any moment.  Memories of childhood,  memories of my teen years,  memories of young adulthood and memories I've built while I was  getting older.  I  of course can't tell all here I hope at least one of the things I've learned through   my memories will turn the key of your memory bank and make you smile.

I've learned that if I can hold a grand child tight against my chest while he sleeps that the child's unconditional love and trust permeates between our bodies and I am a happy man.

As I remembered playing outside as a child, I learned that the smell of an afternoon summer rain refreshed me just as the rain itself, refreshes the earth.

 I remember as I would walk to school at a young age, that when I waved to another child,  that small gesture made the child smile, and when the child waved back at me, it likewise made me smile.

I learned that the best way to make me happy is to make someone else happy.

I learned when my best friend Jeff moved away that a letter or a card sent by snail mail was priceless.  It still is and can't be replaced by an e-mail or a text.

I've learned that even though I can't sing or carry a tune, that when I sing  "Amazing Grace" and contemplate the words a tear still comes to my eyes.

Almost exactly one year ago I learned that sometimes we get a second chance at life.

I've learned that prayer works.  I have many memories to prove this.

I've learned that even at my age,  I can learn things from a child.

Although I would not advise it today,  I have many memories of hitch hiking.  The people I met,  the things I learned and the places I went.

Ohhh the memories of hopping on my Cushman Eagle,  the freedom I now had,  the wind blowing in my face.

 I loved riding downtown Atlanta just at dusk with the top down and the smell of the city in my nostrils.

My first trip to New York City.  I couldn't believe a place so big with so many people.

The memories of the first time I stood at the edge of the ocean,  the waves washing over my feet and the sand around my feet being returned to the sea.  As I gazed out to an endless horizon I think this is the first time I contemplated infinity.

At a young age I learned not to judge people.  At an older age my children and grand children retaught me this valuable lesson.

The best swimming is done in a wide place in the creek.

Thinking back at my memories,  I realize my life is the best.  Thank each of you for making it so.

I've learned I love each of you.

God Bless

WHAT'S IN A NAME


"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
by any other name would smell as sweet."
AWWWW...One of the most famous quotes in literature.  Have you ever wondered what Shakespeare was thinking when he wrote it?  Did he think this quote would start so many brains to start working?  Why do we call certain things what we call them?  Is there really any rhyme or reason behind names of things?  Why do we call a cow a cow?  Why not call a cow a dog?  If a cow was called a dog, wouldn't the milk still taste as sweet?  Of course it would.  Seems we just accept the names given to things in stride and go on with our everyday chores.

But how about the names we give people?  Have you ever thought about all the effort that was given to naming people.  As soon as we find out a new baby is on it's way,  the first thing we do, as far as parents, is think about names.  I wonder how many books there are about baby names?  I googled baby names just out of curiosity. I got 63,700,000 results in .17 seconds.  If you really got into a deep search for a newborns name, the poor kid could would be dead before you came up with the right name.

Notice the last two words of the previous paragraph.  "RIGHT NAME."  Have you ever noticed how sometimes a perspective parent will tell you what their new child's name is gonna be and under your breath you will quickly find yourself saying a prayer for this unborn child.  You very quickly know this child is going to have an awful life with that tag attached to them for the rest of their lives.  I have also noticed that even though the name in no way fits the child,  Like magic,  the child usually grows to fit the name.

When Peggy and I realized we were going to have a son,  one of the first things we knew we had to do was pick a name.  I joked that we, needed a good southern name, and my first choice was "Billy Bob."  Peggy hated it but for seven month before our wonderful son came into this world he was known as "Billy Bob."  Every time I would call him "Billy Bob",  Peggy would let me know in no uncertain terms that we were  not going to name him "Billy Bob."  The day of the birth finally came.  We were in the delivery room.  The birth went great and all of a sudden we were the proud parents of a 10 pound 1 and 1/2 ounce boy.  That's right, a TEN pounds ONE and a Half ounce son.  The Doctor looked at Peggy and upon congratulating us asked her the all important question....What are you going to name him?  At this time we still weren't completely sure what his name would be but Peggy knew it wouldn't be "Billy Bob."  She looked at the  Doctor and said  "We might name him after you......what is your name?"  The Doctor looked at Peggy and his response..................."William Robert"...........or Billy Bob.  Later that day our son was named Joshua Kyle and he grew into his name very soon there after.

Some of us end up with what is called Nicknames.  All of my three children and seven grand children have their own special nicknames.  I don't know if they like these nicknames or not but they are terms of the deepest affection when I call them by these nicknames.  As for myself I have been called by many names in my lifetime,  some of which I like and some that are not printable in this post.  Some of my nicknames have been Wes, JW,  WD, Stonk, and Catfish.  I'm sure you have had nicknames also.

Our names are special to us.  Even though someone else may share our name,  our name is still unique to us.  My first post and the name of this blog is about my last name.  "Daniell."  This name is very special to me and not just because it's spelled with "Two Ls."  It is special because it tells where I came from.  It tells of family before,  the good and the bad.  It tells me of people that came before me that helped form this land,  this country,  this state and some of the different towns and cities.  Of people that worked hard,  had strong beliefs and stood up for these beliefs.

You too should be proud of your name.  You are special.  You are unique.  It is estimated that there have been more than 107,602,707,800 people born on this earth, and out of all these people not a single one is or has been just like you.  Stand up straight.  Stick you chest out.  Hold your chin up.  Your name means something special.  You are special.

Many times we are asked if we could change our names what  our new name be?  For me,  I'm happy with my name.   I'm even happy with my nicknames.  In fact there is one name I'm called that always makes me smile and sometime brings a tear to my eye.  What is that name you ask?  That name is "PaPa."  If you have this same name or one like it,  you know what I'm talking about.

God Bless

DO YOU EVER WORRY ABOUT GETTING LOST?


Have you ever been somewhere and thought to yourself,  "It seems I've been here before but things look different."  The other day Josh and I went downtown to the Dome to buy some tickets.  I drove as Atlanta is my home town and I know how to get around.  As we were on our way home Josh asked,  "How do you remember all these streets,  you always go a different way every time we come down here.  It got me to thinking about the changing of Atlanta.  Oh sure,  the main streets are mainly as they were in the 50's and 60's but so much has changed.  And when I say the streets are the same, I mean they are in the same place but so many have been given new names.  Cain Street is now International Blvd,  Sewell Street is now Benjamin Mays Drive,  Bedford Place is now Central Park Place, and Bankhead Highway is now called Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway.  Even my beloved Boulevard Drive,  the location of my first paper route, is now Hosea Williams Drive.  And this is just a sample of the name changes.  There are pages and pages of them.  Of course as with most things there is good news and bad news.  The good news is I can pronounce most of these new names.  The bad news is if our country keeps going as it is now,  the next name changes will be Chinese names and I will have no idea how to say the street names.  I hope this name changing doesn't catch on.  If all my friends change their name, I'll never be able to remember them at this age in my life.  I guess I can call them all "Hey you".

One of the  other things that has changed are Landmarks.  Compared to other large cities in the United States,  Atlanta is a relatively young city.  As I think of this it amazes me how many of our landmarks, our first mansions and first buildings are gone.  We call this progress.  I don't want to be included in this "WE".  I had rather think of some of this progress as dumb.  In fact I may start using the word progress as my new word of profanity.  A good friend of mine,  Tim Cole is a fantastic photographer.  The other day on facebook he posted some pictures of the Fox Theater.   Do you ever think about how close we came to losing this treasure.  The Fox was saved but think of the ones that were lost in the name of "progress".  How about the Lowe's Grand and the Roxy Theater,  or the Peachtree Arcade.  Atlanta was built because of the railroad.  If you notice most large cities have river ports or ocean ports.  Not us.  Atlanta was railroad,  and the most famous railroad building in Atlanta, Terminal Station, is gone.  What a lost treasure.  And what replaced it?  The Richard Russell Federal Building.  I understand sometimes some things have to be torn down, but before we do it we need to really think if what we are doing away with is worth what we are replacing it with.  We have become a "throw away" society.  I love the old neighborhoods in Atlanta.  The Inman Parks and the Ansley Parks.  The Grant Parks , the Kirkwoods and yes  even the Cabbagetowns and Reynoldstowns.  I don't know.....Maybe it's a "getting older thing" but just walking through  Piedmont Park and Oakland Cemetery or just riding past Grady Stadium and remembering high school football games.  Just walking down Peachtree Street,  thank God it still has that same name,  or riding through the tree lined streets of Druid Hills.  These are the blessings of a man in his forth quarter of life.

Sure progress is good.  Where would we be without computers and the advances of medicine.  And  we can now go to California as easily as we use to go to Mississippi.  I realize we need to go forward but we must realize that going forward doesn't require us to destroy the past.  Some of us came from the past and is was a great place.  A place to be revered,  a place to be honored,  a place to be loved and a place to be remembered. 

One day you will want to look back at a place called yesterday.  I pray your yesterday will still be there.  I pray your past will put a smile on your face and a tingle in you heart.  I pray you will be able to say thanks to your generation for not destroying your past.

God Bless you All.

DON'T GET AHEAD OF YOURSELF!!!!!

I must have been eleven or twelve years old.  Mom was going to teach me how to iron a shirt.  Now at that age, learning to iron was not  one of the things on my  "Things I want to learn to do list."  I tried to tell her I had no interest in learning how to iron any dumb clothes, and besides,  ironing was  woman's work  and I wasn't a sissy.  Of course my mom was hard headed and wouldn't listen to the good reasoning of a twelve year old.  She began to tell me that it would be a good thing to know how to do in years to come.  Little did she know that I would grow up with the attitude of "I don't have to impress anybody" and ironed clothes would never be at the top of any list I ever had.  But to make a long story short.....At the age of twelve I learned to iron.

I would grab the shirt, lay it on the board and just start ironing.  Mom would say  "NO NO NO....You have to do it in certain steps.  You must start with the shoulders."
Then  she would then gently place the shirt on the Ironing board and smooth it out with her hands first,  then test the iron with her index finger, which she had stuck into her mouth to get wet, by touching her wet finger to the iron and listening to the sizzle to insure it was hot enough.  This was my favorite part of ironing because it involved what I determined to be danger.....A manly thing.  As I would try to iron,  my first priority was to get finished.  Outside there were football games to be won or wars to be fought.  I didn't have time for all this girly stuff, but I can still hear mom's voice saying  "slow down,,,,,hold your horses,,,,Don't get ahead of yourself!!!"

 Patience and order have never been a virtues of mine.  I've always been a "let's get finished person."  When I was a kid they said I had ants in my pants and couldn't sit still.  I had to be going all the time.  If they would have had Ritalin back then  it would have been my number one food group.

I say all this just to let you know, I once again have gotten ahead of myself. Sometimes I forget important lesson I've learned in the past. You see two days ago I wrote my post for the New Year.  Now I always publish my post as soon as I get through writing them.  Of course I usually get Peggy to do some proof reading first, but they are published within 30 minutes of writing.  For some reason when I finished the New Year post I just saved it.  I didn't really know why.  Peggy asked...." Do you not want me to read your post today?" My reply was  "I'm not going to publish it right now,  you can read it later.  I may change some things."  The New Year post is just that....It's all about the coming new year.  I think what I'm trying to say is "It's great to look ahead, but in order to look ahead with the right attitude,  we must first look at the past.....When I wrote the new year post I had got ahead of myself.

What made me think of this was a phone call I got yesterday from my Brother-in Law Julian.  Now a phone call from Julian isn't unusual.  Julian and I talk on the phone three or four times a week for an hour or two each time.   Julian and I have what most people might consider a unique relationship.  Let me start by saying when we met I was around the age of twelve and Julian was around twenty two.  Right off the bat we had something in common.  We both loved the same girl,  my sister Dianne.  Another thing we both had in common was we reached the age of adulthood in the same year....I was 35 and Julian was 45.   We thought we had done pretty good because Julian's uncle Jack didn't grow up until he was 85 people said.  We were way ahead of schedule.  When Julian came into the family he was a member immediately.  He was always like the older brother I never had.  We have had some times in the past that would be good reading for maybe an adult blog but it would probably be best not to write about them here.

Well,  getting back to the phone call,  we were talking about different things and he brought up some things about this past year.  He mentioned about the death of my cousin Stuart and the deaths of some other friends.  We talked of getting older and not being able to do things we use to.  We talked about the health of some of our family members and we also talked about some personal problems some of our family members have had and were having.  Now you can look at the things we talked about and it may start to get you down.  You may say to yourself how depressing all of that is.  but I say to you think a little deeper.

I can remember bad times in my life.  I can remember decisions my children have made that most people would call mistakes.  I can think of many things I've done that most if not all of us would say were bad decision or poor judgement on my part, except.......except....those decisions,  those mistakes,  those poor judgements weren't the end of the story.  Life went on.  Those bad judgements made us stronger people.  Sometimes those mistakes changed our priorities in life.  Sometimes they set us straight.  I've always liked the saying "What doesn't kill me will make me stronger."

Yes,  Julian and I talk of getting older.  We talk sometimes of our ailments.  We talk of our kids and grand kids.  We talk of times when we were young growing up in Atlanta.
We talk about Kirkwood and Grant Park and Cabbagetown.  We talk like I said sometimes for hours.  Julian is always nice to me because he says he's afraid no one else will talk to him as often as I do.  We talk about the past and the past is important.  It's important because it has helped to determine where we go from here.  And going forward isn't a depressing thing.  It's an exciting thing. so sit back and enjoy.........and

Don't get ahead of yourself!!!!

DO YOU HAVE NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS?

Well friends,  Christmas is gone for another year.  My hope is yours was a great celebration with family and friends.  I know mine was and I thank God for another year of life.  But now we ask ourselves.... "What now?"    Sometimes it's hard to slow down after all the excitement we've just come through.  I believe that's why we have the New Year so soon after Christmas.  New years is different things to different people.  Some look at it as a time to party.  Some of us love to shoot off fireworks.   To some it is all about football and the bowl games and to some it is again about eating.  Have you every noticed we Americans are always able to make eating the center of all celebrations?  And no!!!!!!!  this isn't another post about eating or food.  Another thing we think of when we think of the New Year is resolutions.  Now I have made plenty of those in the past and again this year I will think of something to change about me in order  to make my life better or to make me a better person.  Will I keep my resolutions?  I have no idea but I will promise to keep at least some of them.  Some of them you say....Yes some of them....There will be more than one.

Every year I do an art show in Brookhaven which is a community in Atlanta.  This year as I was sitting up my birdhouses,  a young lady that is also a vendor came up to my tent.  She looked familiar to me but I couldn't quite place her.  This happens often and usually after we talk for a few minutes I can remember them.  That was the case with this lady.  She told me she lived just south of Chattanooga Tennessee and that the year before she had bought one of my birdhouses.  She said she had bought a birdhouse from me that looked like a traffic light and she wanted to see if I had another like it.  Most of my houses are one of a kind but the traffic light is one of the few I duplicate because I sell so many of them.  As I was hanging the birdhouse from the top of the tent,  she looked up at the traffic light and the biggest smile came to her face.  As she looked up at the traffic light birdhouse she said  "I want to tell you a story about the house I bought from you."   As she went on she told of taking the birdhouse home.  She told of hanging it in a tree in her front yard and about birds nesting in it.  She told me about how all her neighbors and friends just loved the house and about the wonderful comments she had gotten about it.  She then told me about the tragedy that had struck her family.  She told me about the tornadoes that had come through on April 27th.  How her house was gone.  All of her belongings were gone.  Her trees were all broken and pulled up by the roots.  Then that smile came to her face again and she said  "All the trees but one."  One tree was left in her front yard.  And on that tree,  still hanging where she and her husband had placed it was the traffic light birdhouse.  She said for some reason that birdhouse gave her assurance that all would be well.

This young lady didn't look back at the bad things that had happened.  She looked forward.  On that day,  April 27, 2011,  she made a resolution to go forward.  I'm sure she has had disappointments since then and failures since that day but I am also sure she is still going forward with that smile on her face.  As I get ready for the New Year I too resolve to look forward.  I also will have disappointments and failures but I will put a smile on my face and continue to put one foot in front of the other. I will do as the old saying goes,  I will  "keep on keepin on."   I will keep on because MY GOD is in control.

So you ask,  "What are some of my resolutions?"  

Well for one, On January 2,  2012 I will begin training for the Peachtree Road Race and on July 4th for the first time in my life I will participate in this event.  No ,  I won't run it but I will walk it and I will proudly wear my T shirt.

Number two:  And this will be the hardest,  Just after the first of the year,  I will begin writing a book.  I have had many of you ask me about doing this or tell me I should write a book but in the past I have always declined...Last week I asked myself why not do it.  I've always wanted to write a book but have felt I didn't have the talent.  I was afraid I would fail.  Then I thought about a story I read many years ago about a man that had always wanted to be a lawyer but had always found an excuse not to go back to school.  The man was fifty years old and was talking to his daughter about this dream he had always had, but he told her..... "It will probably take me 5 or 6 years to get my Law Degree.  By then I will be 55 or even maybe 56."
To this his daughter replied...."And if you don't go back to school, won't  you will still be 55 or 56 years old in 5 or 6 years?"
So what are my expectations of my book?  What will make it a success?  Are we talking getting it published?  Are we talking copies sold?  None of the above .  I finally figured out that to be successful at writing a book,  all you have to do is write it.

Number three:  I will get back to reading my Bible.  For years I have studied what others say about God's word.  I have read commentary after commentary and article after article about what the Bible says.  Peggy once told me I had more books than some libraries.  I have even watched TV programs about God and the creation of the earth.  I have listened to politicians talk about abortion and other things of morality for years.  One of the first things I believed about being a Christian was the Doctrine of Priesthood of the Believer.  The belief that I could go to God through Jesus without any other mediator and that God would revel to me all I needed to know through His word.  Don't get me wrong.  I believe these commentaries and articles are good but I need to get back to the basics....Back to God's word.  and why would I want to study Gods Word more you ask?

 Philippians 3:10 (The Amplified): “For my determined purpose is that I may know Him that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly, and that I may in that same way come to know the power out flowing from His resurrection which it exerts over believers and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed in spirit into His likeness even to His death, in the hope.”

I pray this will be your purpose also in the coming year.
HAPPY NEW YEAR AND GOD BLESS