When I was married to my child’s father, I was 31, he was 35, when she was 4 years old. (this was 28 years ago). Anyway, we went to Amarillo and did some shopping – mostly window shopping at the new Westgate Mall. Malls were new, but springing up all over Amarillo.

During a quick trip through a game store, we found a kite. It was beautiful. The colors were bright and bold and every color of the rainbow. It had a tail of many long streamers, each a different color. Our daughter squeaked with delight as she proudly carried her new kite to the register to pay for it.

The next day was Sunday, so we took the kite to a favorite part of town to fly it. The place we went was actually just a new part of town that had paved streets but no houses. It was so large that many people, including me, often used it to “walk the mile”.

My daughter and I walked a bit with her daddy until he decided he was in far enough to fly the kite. He tied on the kite string and prepared to take off with it. He turned toward my daughter and in his child voice, he shouted, “Want to see Daddy run with the kite?”

“Run Daddy, run!” She screamed and jumped up and down. She didn’t have a clue what a kite was but she was all good with what ever Daddy wanted to do. So, he took off running. There were runners, walkers, and other kite fliers there that day. Daddy weaved in and out of everyone, running like a jack rabbit. The kite didn’t fly.

He finally brought it back to the car after running up and down the block several times. He adjusted his string, thinking he could get more lift if it were in a different place. Then he ran up and down the block several more times. Our daughter loving it every step of the way. The kite didn’t fly.

We couldn’t figure out why our kite was grounded while other kites had been flying high since we’d gotten there at least an hour ago. So, Daddy adjusted the string and tied a few of the tails together and gave it another go. Kite didn’t fly, but our daughter screamed with laughter and shouted, “Run Daddy, run!”

We finally gave it up and went home. Our daughter was not disappointed, so we let her believe everything was as it should have been. A few days later, I was watching TV and during a commercial for the Mall we’d bought the kite in, I heard them bragging about their new wind socks. In the background was our “kite”, whipping around beautifully from the wind made by a nearby fan.

I laughed until I cried. Even my husband’s eyes watered with laughter when I told him about it later. We went to the corner gas station the next Sunday, forked out 2 bucks for a cheap kite and added a long tail that our daughter helped to tie. We had a great time.

I wish my family would develop a sense of compassion.

And, I wish my lawn would remain lush and green and never have to be cut.

What are your wishes?  Drop them here in the Wishing Well…

you have to do something you never did.

.

Wow, isn’t this profound?

I want to believe in a way that makes me feel like some of my friends believe – they are so happy in His sunlight. I’m still searching for the light.

But, amidst all the searching, and feeling as if I’m not a child of God, I realized this weekend that although I can’t seem to find Him, there is an alternative:  He made man in his image.  Trying to trust God only, and not man is a farce.

Think of it this way: If I am not supposed to trust man, that means I’m not supposed to trust myself.  But in the scriptures, it says to trust in my own heart. What is He trying to tell me?  I think its that if I can trust my own heart, I can trust the hearts of man.  Very circular.

Lightening Catchers

Wow!  I found this a few days ago somewhere on the web.  It is too cool.  Love should be like this: Doing it all together, helping one another out.  It’s powerful…

Update: Bryan Allen, the owner of this wonderful picture email it and is allowing me to take my old and “scruffy” one away. Click HERE to see his description. Thanks Bryan!

Ivory

I found this in an old back up CD from years ago!  I don’t know where I got it, but it makes you smile.

She doesn’t want to wear a dress, so now, they won’t have a ceremony. No ceremony – get married in the Courthouse (easier – just sign the papers).  She doesn’t want to have to decorate any place for a reception, so, now we’re on the verge of having no reception, either. I don’t get it.

At first, they said it was because they could afford only so much, then, when a big wedding with reception was offered paid for, they still didn’t want it. So, it made me wonder, what is a “wedding”, after all. Who is it for?

I’ve decided a wedding is only for looky-lous; the marriage is for the couple. They seem to be understanding more about life than I do…

Ivory

She is 9 years older than me and I’m as old as dirt. I don’t mean that in a bad way for her, really. So, here’s what is so important: she just got on Facebook. Why is that so great? It’s great because of all the ways she and I are similar, there has always been a blaring difference. I am a techno geek and she would push her keyboard to the side to use a type writer at work. It has taken me the better part of 4 years to convince her she had the right to have her own email address and even then, I had to set it up for her. She’s wonderful,  just not technically inclined.

So, this evening over supper, I was delighted to hear her tell me of the family members she is now sharing pictures with and the conversations she’s had with people she hasn’t talked to in several years. She has even begun to rebuild a relationship with her daughter. She has become excited in what she is accomplishing and I am excited for her.

There is another reason I’m glad she is on Facebook: she is worried about the threat of Alzheimers that runs doggedly throughout her elderly family members. Learning new things is believed to stave off early onset of Alzheimers and she is doing all this using only her brain power and the knowledge she is learning daily. I want her to be around for a long time.

Todays’ technology is taken for granted by millions of people every day. Talking to someone in another country no longer includes a concern about how long it will take for a return answer. Some people’s first phone is a tiny, ultra powerful Blackberry – they will never understand that phones used to be connected to a cord that disappears through a hole in the wall.  Through an older person’s eyes, technology is miracles. For my friend, she is experiencing a new world, she is keeping her mind active, and she is reaching out and keeping in touch with all the loved ones she would otherwise miss to heart break.

Yes, technology is great. I’ve often said I was born too soon. I love computers, I love technology.   …I am not on Facebook…     

Gotta love it,

Ivory