Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Electrified

I didn't have a camera but I've begged for a few pictures so I can share the amazing sunset/incoming thunderstorm I experienced this evening.

This series of still shots with rainstorm audio will just have to do.

Tonight, the western sky looked exactly like pink Black Hills Gold. Imagine huge cotton balls dipped in liquid rose-gold piled in the sky and then illuminated. The damp grass on the hill below glowed in the unusual light and it danced as the wind picked up.

Lightning began playing tag in the clouds and sneaking down to touch base on the ground far below. As we watched, awed by the immensity of God's powerful creation, the sky darkened into pewter, and opened up in a deluge of cold, fat water drops.

I am always humbled by a tiny display of God's power and creativity. I can't imagine what He has in store in heaven.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Monday's Here....

Don't ask what the world needs.

Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it.

Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.

Howard Thurman


Another quote from 30 Days to Live. Of course this isn't true if what makes you alive is a selfish thing. But I feel that disclaimers really take away from the quippiness of a profound saying. That said, I'm done adding words.

Super Cinema Saturday ~ National Treasure Two

My Review:

Entertaining and campy with several "yeah right!" moments. Fans of National Treasure should appreciate the same characters as they banter, argue, fight and solve clues.

National Treasure Two takes us to Europe and below ground. Nearly clean fun lacks family unfriendly language and sexual content.

The intensity of the themes -- treasure hunts/hunters, shootings, car chases and skeletons in various degrees of decay might make it a little too much for very sensitive viewers.

If you can suspend disbelief and just go along for the entertainment factor, you'll probably be able to enjoy this quick moving film.

My biggest struggles were with some unrealistic moments between characters, but the interaction is still fun and full of sarcastic dialogue.
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Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Peace In

Though no one can go back and make a brand-new start, anyone can start now and make a brand-new ending.

Carl Bard


First Peter came in handy today.

No, that's not someone's nickname.

It's a book of the Bible with five very packed chapters full of great wisdom.

Did you know that God will give us direction and even wisdom if we'll ask? I asked, and He took me to Peter. Since I've been talking about quotes...here are a couple from Peter.

1 Peter 2: 9 But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests,^[f] a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 3:11 Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it.

I think that sums it up for me. Peace. We've been doing a study at church on the names of God. Jehovah Shalom means God is my peace. Our pastor says one of the roots of peace is wholeness. I want to be whole and I'm tired of feeling like I'm missing parts and particles of what I need to be someone who looks like Jesus.

Okay, Jehovah Shalom...I need the pieces of peace I'm missing in my life. Help me find it.

Start to a different ending...

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Serendipity

Today, everyone in the family had plans. The girls were going to the amusement park two hours from home. Rob had work to do. Me...well, I had cleared my schedule to sit through hours of lecture on radiation safety.

Weather forecasts blew the girls plans out the window. Lack of interest (go figure) canceled my class. Rob had trouble with humidity and drywall mud drying. So, for the first time since I don't know when, we all piled into the van and went to a coffee shop for breakfast. We talked and laughed and lingered. Then the girls and I shopped, and shopped and shopped. I hate shopping. But I love spending time with my girls.

Muggy Iowa was a great place to be today. I'm going to go on record to thank God for an unexpectedly sweet day.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ More Thoughts on Life Well Spent

Apparently, I've hit a patch of melancholy. It happens -- far too often during some seasons. I'll try to keep it contained to a small slick so you don't slip in it.

I'm reading the book I mentioned yesterday called "One Month to Live..." Each of its thirty chapters start with two quotes. I happen to love quotes. Looking around my living room, I can count ten items with a quote or a saying or a statement about life. A primitive wall hanging right across from me shares Proverbs 24: 3-4 By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established: by knowledge it's rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.

Over my left shoulder is the wooden sign stating, "Dwell in possibility" Emily Dickinson

Sometimes, when the house is clean and the clutter doesn't cover these favorite items, I stop what I'm in the middle of doing, take a deep breath, read the words and ponder what they mean to my life, right now.

When I decided to write, to take it seriously, my mother bought me a giant pencil that says "Write On." I wonder if I shouldn't have a sign above my bed saying, "Seize the day." But since I stumble around before the first cup of coffee, there would be a loss of effectiveness.

Bottom line. I don't want to squander what God has invested in me.

I'll leave you with two quotes from the book. Do they speak to you? What can you do today to live life to its fullest in the areas you've embraced? I can't answer for you. But I'm going to keep on learning and growing and giving today. And tomorrow, too.

The measure of a life, after all, is not its duration but its donation.

Corrie Ten Boom


I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.

Diane Ackerman

Scribbles and Scrambles - Never, Never, Never Forget

A friend recently had a conversation with a person which left my friend several pounds lighter from the verbal filleting that occurred.

As my pal shared frustration and hurt we both agreed that verbal assault is kind of a signature for this individual.

And then I read the following quote.

"They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel."

Carl W. Buechner

Ouch.

As a parent, and a wife, a "teacher" and a friend, this comment cuts deep. As a frequent wielder of sarcasm, it cuts even deeper.

For my friend, the pain of the benign words came from the intention, the delivery and the attitude of the word sniper. Said a different way and in a different setting the words could have helped.

The quote above came from a book I'm reading to review called "One Month to Live...Thirty Days to a No-Regrets Life" A book that's forcing me to think a bit. I really want to leave hope and healing as my legacy. And while I'm still on earth, I don't want to watch a shudder of apprehension pass over the faces of those I encounter when I walk into a room.

May our words bring healing and our attitudes bring hope today.