A Tribute to My Grandma and My Mom

"A falling tree makes more noise...

Than a forest that's growing."

I remember as a young, brown eyed girl who was innocent to the ways of the world my grandma used to sing a few songs that I just thought were simple silly songs. 

There were two of them that she sang quite frequently;

 Row Row Row your Boat and Accentuate The Positive.

To look at the lyrics of either of these songs you might think they are but simple childlike songs, but as I've gotten older I have come to realize that the theme in both of them; to live merrily, gently, and stay on the positive side of life, are words to live by.

"Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream.

Merrily, merrily, merrily life is but a dream." 

and

"You've got to accentuate the positive 

eliminate the negative

Latch on to the affirmative 

But 

Don't mess with Mister in between."

As every year passes and my kids are growing like weeds, with a graduate of High School and one more headed into High School, their friends getting married, and having babies these lyrics are beginning to become my life's simple song.

Because life truly is ...
But a dream.
But a breath.
But a moment.

I think that is all one can do in this life is row your boat gently and merrily down this stream called life,  call it a good day, and return to dust.

Gently because there are enough storms in this life to rock that boat so on the daily to remain in gentleness and kindness and merrily live this life is truly not an easy task.

The second song is without a doubt in my DNA.

My mom and my grandmother have lived this song out and maybe it was the song in their hearts that forever changed them to be positive people.

Living on the positive side of life and not giving energy to negative things is also not an easy task.

Latching onto the affirmative to me would be the key to life.

The affirmative to me means truth.

Latch onto what is TRUE in this life and for me The Way, The TRUTH, and where life can be found is only in Jesus. 

These songs although they might be simple melodies they are far from simple to live out.

I believe they are the reason you arrive at 46 years of marriage like my parents picture above. 

Either one of my parents at any given moment could have got hung up on negative things that they saw in each other. They could have looked at their 5 kids and torn them apart for all their inadequacies as well, but instead they chose the positive side of life. 

They gave each other space.

They chose grace, and mercy and they still do.

These words are a way of life that I'm determined to emulate.

  I'm beyond grateful for these simple songs now that I'm older and I've seen many ways to live this life.
You can spend your time, your energy, your resources on so many different things in this life, but things don't last, people do.
If your not spending time on what is eternal it all turns back into dust in the end.


Simple but True.

Life  is But A Dream.
Live merry.
Live Gently.
Live Positive.
 And pay attention to that growing forest rather than the one noisy negative tree falling.

Nothing But Love

Noël

Life Is ...

Life is so surprising.
Today while driving around Reno Nevada in my 1966 Vw Bug that I have fondly named Lucy Blue, I had this surprising feeling that  I am home. I never in a million years would have ever thought that moving back to Nevada 2 years ago I would feel this way, but today it was like a wave of warm water washing over me, saying you are home.
I am a Native Nevadan, born at Barton Memorial Hospital in South Lake Tahoe some 40 years ago, but I have never felt like Nevada was home to me. I always had dreams of going here, there, and everywhere... really just anywhere but here. I was constantly dissin on Nevada like it was nobodies biz-niz. I made Nevada-hatin my hobby!!
So it's no surprise that when I came of age I had plans to get the heck outta here.  When I was a Senior in High School I was set to go to Azusa Pacific University. I had scholarships, I had an acceptance letter, I was all but walking out the door when the wind of change started to mess with my heart.  Or... some might say the Holy Spirit changed my heart. For reasons that my 18 year old brain made logical, I stayed in Nevada and opted to go to the local community college.
Life is so strange.
Had I gone onto pursue dreams elsewhere I would have never fallen in love with My Giant and our 21 year love story, that now includes 4 amazing people, would not be what it is today. Still, I had the bug to live anywhere but here and so did my Giant so in 2009 when financial disaster came knocking on our front door by the name of Bank of America we said see ya Nevada, or some might say... Peace Out Brown Town!! We headed up to a lush green oasis. No wait... we moved into a tiny little cabin in the woods of Washington and by tiny I mean 800 square feet of small.  6 people, and 1 bathroom an oasis it was not.  By outsiders looking in I'm sure we seemed crazy, but to our family and at that time it was exactly what we needed to heal.
Life is so beautiful.
We spent almost 4 years up there in Redmond Washington and I honestly felt as though I was in my forever home.  I never wanted to leave the PNW. I loved the rain. I came alive when it was overcast and cloudy. I breathed Oh So Deep the smells, the colors, the sights, the sounds, meanwhile My Giant was dying. Literally his physical body working the job that we needed him to work to live up there was killing him. Something had to change.

Life is so miraculous.
It was around that time that a beloved friend of ours started to contact My Giant about a business adventure. I will admit I wasn't happy about these conversations. But, I would be lying if I said that I didn't see the sparkle in my Giants eyes when he would talk to this friend.  I began to feel those winds of change again.
Life is so funny.
We took the leap of faith and moved back. I wasn't happy about it, but I knew somehow deep down in my knower that it was the absolute right thing to do. And now 2 years later a wave of confirmation came over me that I can't deny. I am home. It might not be for forever. Obviously as a Christ follower I am HOMESICK for my eternal home. Nevada may very well be our hallway to another place. But for now it is exactly where we are supposed to be and it feels pretty damn good.
P.S.
**It could have been that it was rainy and that always makes me feel like I'm home, but I'm gonna go with what I know and that is that God has done a work and changed my heart about Nevada.  I'm so glad He's not done working. Now it's your turn;    Life is...