Now Qualified...

The Village Diner in Saugerties offers Senior Citizen menu options for those 55 and older. A few months ago, I went to dinner there with a friend and she told me to order from that menu. "I'm not 55 yet! I don't turn 55 for two more months!" The waitress overheard and did graciously say the it was okay for me to order from it.

Well as of January 21, I now qualify.

I don't have a problem with getting older... some folks would say, "It's better than the alternative." For me, I plan to leave this physical world someday for the spiritual, to be in the presence of my Creator. So in the grand scheme of things, getting older gets me that much closer to Heaven and I am okay with that.

As a matter of fact, I LOVE birthdays! It is a time I can expect each one of my sons to call, and they did.

I can anticipate dinner out at a place of my choosing, and we did enjoy a delicious meal at Aroma Thyme.

If not on the actual day, I usually hear from some of my siblings. I can ALWAYS count on my sisters to call, but this year within a week, I had heard from EVERY ONE of my four brothers and two sisters! If that's what birthdays bring, I am okay with getting another year older.

But the BEST part of my birthday and by far the best gift I could get is the phone call conversations with my GRANDsons. I cherish these! (Elijah and Asher's message from last year is still on my answering machine.) And while Elijah, now 11, feels it's more an obligation to call, he is willing to cheer me up with a bit of conversation until he can safely hand the phone off to his brother. Asher, at five, can think of nothing better (unless playing a game) than chatting like the grownups with his Grandma Bell for a time.

This year we spoke for over 30 minutes! We eventually had to end only because the batteries on the phones were dying out. We chatted about memories we created, cookies we baked, new toys in his room. He asked what Grandpa was doing and where our kitties were and shared about his cat. As he chats, he is known to walk around and look for more inspiration to keep the conversation going. He amuses me with his big words or his mother's phrases. Occasionally we are interrupted by his walking into the refrigerator or his falling off the chair as he seems to struggle with sitting still while talking. So intrigued by our conversation he stops paying attention to what he is doing and so we have experienced a few moments of silence or tears as he struggles to compose himself. Such joy is shared by two people of such diverse generations, it helps gives some semblance of right priorities in a most chaotic world.

So yes, bring on the birthdays and all that goes with it. Bring on many many more to share with grandsons and family and friends and all. May you all look forward to them as I do.

Anew...2012

Happy New Year! Thus starts the beginning of a new 365 (366?) cycle of our calendar. I love new beginnings. Just as I love spring and the Bible verse that states: "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new," I love the chance to start anew...

I hate new year's resolutions, as they have the connotation of being a promise to oneself that is usually broken. So I stopped making new year's resolutions years ago. However these new beginnings do inspire me to try something different or go back to an old standard that I have been drawn away from in the busyness of our world.

On our flight back from a wonderful visit with our two sons in Florida an unusual thing happened. Jim and I were forced to sit in completely different places on the plane, I only had one story to read in the magazine I had brought to occupy my time, I had forgotten my headphones so I couldn't listen to my Ipod, they didn't offer movies or have access to tv or radio on the flight and my other reading materials was buried in our luggage. Therefore, I had nothing to do once I finished my magazine article. So I caught up on some much needed sleep and once that was done I had time to do something I realized I rarely do anymore. I was forced to think.

I did have some time to do this while on vacation as well, so on the plane I easily relaxed and closed my eyes and started to think about what I wanted to accomplish in the year ahead. For as I have learned through the years the old adage is true: "If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time."

Earlier in 2011, I did come up with one goal that I started even before the year ended. My first and most important goal is to read my Bible. I do this every year, sometimes more formally than others. As a result, I have read my Bible through at least three times. Twice from Genesis to Revelation and once with a chronological Bible. This year my goal is different. I want to read the four gospels and then the new testament over and over until I become so familiar with Jesus' teachings and Paul's letters that I hope to be able to recall, at will, their applications for life. This also being the year of 2012 and many doomsday predictions, I plan to read Revelation and the prophetic books of the old testament to be prepared to share with those that haven't taken the time to find out how the Bible relates to us today.

My next goal is to do something to show appreciation for my husband and sons.

Next on the list is to try to communicate more often with my two grandsons and daughters-in-law.

In the same line, I hope to communicate more with the rest of my family and not just the few who keep in touch with me.

Of course learning more on how to maintain a healthier lifestyle and sharing some tips with others will continue to be an important goal.

Some fun goals I have had in the past and will continue, are finding ways to get better organized and finding ways to make money that contribute not only financially but possibly in healthy or other ways as well.

My desire is to learn more of the Lord's love for me and share that with others through my daily life choices and how I handle situations. More living than preaching, more giving than taking, more purging than stockpiling, and more freedom and less confinement.

I plan to read the books on my bookshelves and clear out items that I have collected that no longer serve any purpose in my life. Both are things I have tried to achieve each year, but always seem to need to revisit more often than I currently do.

So here's to a new year -- 2012 anew... and running the race set before me.

"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."                                                                                 Hebrews 12:1-2