Mums In My Backyard Garden

Recently I was reminded there is potential in almost everything. A couple of years ago some exhibitors from OPMCA's trade show left several pots of mums (they had used for booth decorations) to be discarded. Candace McGinnis, Pam McSpadden and I (being the thrifty people we are) just couldn't see those mums tossed in the dumpster. We divided them among ourselves.

The ones I brought home brightened our patio for several weeks. Then when they had lost their luster, we planted them in our backyard garden. The next year we were so pleasantly surprised ... not only did the mums survive they flourished. So much so, that I think I would call them 'bushes' and not just plants. (Photo explains better than my words).

The illustration helped me to realize there is value in so many things and people that others no longer need and are ready to toss aside. Think about people who need love the most, but their disposition may make it difficult to always like their actions. I have asked our Heavenly Father to help me be more like the Master wherein whatever was said or done to Him, he didn't say a word. I have to admit that I don't always succeed at that endeavor when I have been misunderstood ... but I am still asking God to help me.

I want to be like my mums ... flourish and bloom wherever I am planted! Reminds me of what Bill Gothard said in a seminar years ago ... "Please be patient, God isn't finished with me yet!"

This evening (Thursday, November 12th) Cathy, Christine and Lauren are coming to Lakeshore to celebrate Lauren's 24th birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to LAUREN:

L oves family and friends.

A nticipates God's plan for her life.

U nderstands life never comes down as expected.

E njoys seeking the best in life!

N ever gives up .. realizes the miracle is just around the next corner.

Lauren is our second granddaughter who made her way into our lives only sixteen months after her older sister Christine arrived. I personally will never forget the night (or rather early morning) she discovered this world. Cathy lived in Ponca City at the time. Her husband was teaching a night class. Since Lauren's due date was near and Christine was just a toddler, I drove from Oklahoma City after work to stay with Cathy during the evening (had planned to return to OKC early the next morning in time for work)

Cathy's favorite meal that she likes her mother to prepare is fried chicken, mashed potatoes (for us Southerners) and gravy. To finish it a banana pudding is always her favorite dessert. I arrived, prepared her favorite meal and we had a nice evening just visiting ... everyone went to bed by 11:00 p.m. About midnight Cathy called to me, "Mom, I think this may be the time!" And it was!

Even on November 13, 1985, Lauren was considerate ... she chose to be born while I was already there. Since Cathy went to the hospital at 1:00 a.m., it was good that Grandmother PawPaw Connie was already 'in the building' so to speak to take care of Big Sister Christine.

Now, where have the years gone ... Lauren has made our lives richer and happier. We remember the days of piano lessons (and recitals), dance lessons (and recitals), coronet/trumpet lessons (and band concerts), high school choir rehearsals (and special events) and all the wonderful events associated with seeing your granddaughter become a young woman.

Lauren, like her sister Christine, graduated from Bethany High School (my Alma Mater). She graduated from Southern Nazarene University (the Alma Mater of her sister Christine, her mother Cathy, and her grandfather Larry). The summer after college graduation, Lauren went to Sierra Leone to work in an orphanage for a month. (She still cares and prays for the children). Then this summer she had the pleasure of going to Sweden for two weeks ... that with two trips to Hawaii, one wonderful Thanksgiving when she got to see the Macy's Parade in New York, one semester at our Nazarene Point Loma University in San Diego, CA, and a week's tour with "The Invisible Child" awareness campaign earlier this year, has broadened her knowledge and perspective of this wonderful world in which we live.

Now, the good news is "this is the first day of the rest of Lauren's life!" While she has her day job in the IT Department at SNU, she is exploring options of what God has planned for her life. And we believe with her, that the best is yet to come! Jeremiah 29:11 is the promise! Happy Birthday to the "baby girl"! We love you!