Olympic Sand Goes into the Sand Pail

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My inspiration for summer was to fill my sand pail with inspiration sand... this was long before I realized the Summer Olympics would be taking place. I have to say.........YEA! I am enjoying scooping up this sand.

The Olympics just shouts out INSPIRATION:

• determination
• destiny
• discipline
• dedication

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We grabbed a new world map and gathered to enjoy the Opening Ceremony.  Benjamin excitedly took in all the events...we all did.  As the teams from each country entered into the arena, the countries challenged our knowledge of geography as we pointed them out on the map for Benjamin.  We hung the map on the wall to use as a reference throughout the games.  We laid down all our political views to enjoy the coming together of the world in this united event.

The Theme for the Olympics - "Inspire a Generation"

• the joy of watching a six-year-old take in the competition with expressions of  "I want to do that one day".
• explaining that we're rooting for the USA team and that Texas is NOT a country.
• making an Olympic Flag and explaining the meaning of the rings, along with other crafts to learn  about the Olympics and the various countries around the world.
• inspiration by all the Olympians who are also wives and mothers...the older Olympians just shout out "there is still life left for those not in their 20's"...expanding what can be done at all ages.
• shouting for Michael Phelps...and still being excited at Ryan Lochte as he brought home the first gold medal in swimming (our son has been told he looks like Phelps so everyone facebooked him that he didn't swim fast enough.... we are enjoying the comparison!  (Go Phelps!!)
• stories...oh, the inspirational stories!
• YEA! for P&G commercials....a tribute to all Moms!  I love that the athletes' moms still see them as their little children.
• the joy of just feeling that all these countries can come together in peace for this healthy competition.
• the motivation of watching others achieve their dreams...pushing me to dream - BIG!!

I plan to continue to enjoy the Olympics...red, white and blue popcorn, different ethnic foods, reading and watching the world compete for medals.  We will enjoy the cool indoors....our temps will be over 100 all week!

Our family attended some events at the Olympics in Atlanta in 1996.  At that time they thought the Olympics would be in Dallas in the near future...it hasn't happened yet, however, back in 1996 we all promised that no matter where we all lived we would join up again if the Olympics came anywhere close. I hope that happens in my lifetime.

Joining Susan at My Place to Yours  (click to read her party),  she suggested putting three of our past posts under medals.

Gold Medal - Otters, Lions, Beavers and Golden Retrievers, Oh My!

Silver Medal - Silver Boxes

Bronze Medal - I Can't Hear Myself Thinking

How about you joining in posting medal winning  past posts in each of these categories?  For those Olympic watchers....catch you on the couch scooping in inspirational sand.

Time to Hand Me Another Piece

Driving two hours by myself after two days of non-stop talking... well, I was silent.  I meditated on the weekend the Lord had provided for Ethel and me.  Thoughts swirled around in my heart and head as I cried out to the Lord, "Please put them in order. Show me what you accomplished."

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The picture started to unfold.

Years ago as new brides, we each had our own mental picture painted in our heads on how life would progress.  The finished picture of the future stood prominently on display as we gently and carefully placed each puzzle piece into its place.  Yes, there were adjustments along the way, but for the most part, the puzzle pieces went into place with ease.

Jump forward 30 plus years later.  The table still displays the unfinished puzzle of both of our lives...our faith still holds each piece together. However, the storms of life have blown the original picture, which guided our selection for the next puzzle piece, away.  As we visit, we acknowledge that some of the original pieces had fallen to the floor as the storms took the picture away.  Some of the pieces had been lost!

We turn to each other with the realistic awareness that we no longer know what the end picture is to look like.  We now stand trying to put pieces into place without a visual guide.

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One would pick up a piece and say, "You think this will fit?  Maybe you need to turn that piece.  Does this one fit in at another angle from what you envisioned?  How about following a new picture so the pieces you have now been given will continue to fit the puzzle?  It is fine, it is just different than you had thought."

I believe we both left with new pieces of our life's puzzles added to our developing puzzle of life.  Some of the pieces that looked dark in color before we visited have now changed to brighter colors, reflecting hope.

We began some practical placing of inspirational pieces into our puzzle.  Ethel was in need of some inspirational pieces that would bring out her creative side again, after her puzzle had gone through extreme changes.  So off to the bookstore we drove.

Lucy suggested, "Walk around until your eye catches something.  Look at the magazine until you are inspired, even if it is something you have never thought of."

Within a few minutes, Ethel's eyes were sparkling as she flipped through a magazine showing vintage, embellished clothing.  She began to design ideas in her head and out through her mouth.

So what did we do?  We hopped back into the car and headed for thrift stores.  By the end of our shopping day, we had gathered together enough material to make four outfits.  Now don't be surprised if Ethel comes out with her own vintage-shabby-chic clothing line.

I grabbed my own inspiration.  Yes, I found this....now I am on the hunt and pinning anything that has to do with Vintage Campers.  Mary Jane's Farm will be coming out with a book called Glamping with Mary Jane.- a must-have guide for adding glamour to outdoor pursuits for the backyard and beyond.

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Now this has been a summer for releasing the puzzle picture of the past that I had put into my head and grasping the picture God has created instead.  As I look to the Master Puzzle builder, I rejoice that He allows us to be His hands and feet...and sometimes that means picking up a puzzle piece for a friend and putting it into place.  I came home and picked up some pieces I had allowed to fall to the floor...it is my choice to place them back in the puzzle.  Neglect or discouragement can fog our eyesight and make the pieces seem to not fit into the puzzle.  The truth still rings in my ear, "He isn't finished yet!"

May you be a puzzle builder....and may you rejoice as others come along side you to help when your pieces have been scattered on the floor.  I know I sure am.  So Lucy and Ethel made their individual drives home, with new puzzles being arranged on their table.  Only He knows what the puzzle looks like when finished.

Foreshadowing Pictures, Words to Come

They say a picture paints a thousand words. So here is where I begin my words,  sharing my time with my "Ethel" by pictures.  The words are being processed in my head and heart to be shared later as they come together.

No grape stomping...but we did return to many sights and times of years ago...both in what we visited and our countless hours of talking.  Both visiting past history around the town and our own past history allowed us to start putting pieces back on each our unfinished life puzzles.

Marlin, Texas was once a booming spa town.  The mineral waters brought people from all over the world.  The walls of the local buildings portray the once vibrant city, which now struggles to survive.

Homestead Heritage is a community outside of Waco whose vision is to continue the arts and knowledge of past generations, through sustainable culture.  Our family visits their yearly Thanksgiving Festival.  I would love to go back and take classes in cheese and soap making.  We ate our dinner at their cafe.
Homestead Heritage...click to see the wonders of this community.

The dinner was wonderful...white tablecloths with flowers.  Our host and hostess at the B&B were a God-send.  This Christian couple's joy for how they served you just bubbled over.  Their obedience to the dream God gave them couldn't help but inspire us also to dream.  God truly hand-picked this place for us.

Bed and Breakfast on White Rock Creek...click and see this little treasure outside of Waco.  We stayed in the Savannah Suite.

Oh, no pictures of me....well, before I left I decided to color my hair.  My daughter keeps telling me I use the wrong color...so I took her advice...not always good.  My hair turned into "Witchy-Poo Black"...and I don't look good in black.  Lucy could have spent the trip with a bag over her head. Instead, I made sure I wasn't in any pictures!

I explained this before...I am Lucy only because I am the taller of the two of us.  We began calling ourselves Lucy and Ethel years ago because of some of our adventurous antics.

Now I must say...this trip placed a huge scoop of sand in my sand pail. The sand placed in my pail were inspiration, hope, renewal, spunk and meekness.  The puzzle pieces are coming together.