by Tina | Jul 25, 2020 | Inspirational
As I sit here and look at this picture, I see a man as one of the smartest men I have ever known. As a matter of fact, I always said if I were to have ever been a contestant on the game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” he would, without hesitation, be my life line to call to ask a question. You know, to save me to continue in on the game. He once loved to work on cars to fix up and sell. He once had a 57 Chevy…wish he still had that one. It was a beauty!! You see, brains like he has is a true blessing. He didn’t choose to go to college or be a scholar of any type. I never understood why he chose the path he chose. Let me explain why. Here’s my blog, here’s my story.
Roger was one of seven children. He was one of the ones in the middle. He had 4 older brothers, one half-brother, one brother younger than him, and a sister. I don’t know much about Roger when he was a child, but I do know a little about him as an adult. I know he had plans on going to college, but those plans changed when he found out he had a daughter on the way. After the first a second came along about 14 months later. 5 years later was number three. He continued to have children until there were a total of five. Unlike in his family where there were mostly boys, his were all girls. He started his adult work life in a glass factory. He was a truck driver for a bit. At one point he was laid off and the family pretty much scraped pennies for several years. Eventually he would get a job in a steel factory and work over 30 years in an extremely hot and uncomfortable atmosphere. Oh, and Roger had a love for music. He always had a record player in the house. I don’t recall him being much of a singer, but he sure loved his records. He collected 33 and 45 vinyl records. This was in the 70’s and early 80’s. When music was awesome. If you’ve read my blog, you know I’m an 80’s girl. I’m sure the 70’s music is why I fell in love with music in the first place. Anyway, if I recall, Roger usually made people laugh as well. That’s a little about Roger when he was younger. Some would say Roger lived a simple life but hard life. A life I never understood because he seemed to have had so much charisma and was so intelligent.
When I was in my 40’s he told me a story about when he was a child. He said, “Did I ever share with you the story about “the cookie”?” I said, “No, I don’t recall.” He said, “when I was a child my mother used to tell me that although I was smart and I brought home good grades that I was nobody special in this home and that I wasn’t going to get treated any different.” I said, “What?” He went on to tell me that she didn’t want him to feel special just because he was a scholar and got good grades at school. He went on to say, “One time when she was giving out cookies, she wanted to give me a broken cookie and I asked if I could have a whole cookie. She said, “No. You may be a privileged character as school, but in this house, you are like everybody else.” He said, “She gave me the broken cookie. Just to prove to me that I wasn’t special.” Folks, I tell this story with tears rolling down my face. Value and worth….value and worth. All my life I’ve always wanted others to know their value and worth. My grams used to say, “Nobody is any better than anyone else. Treat everyone the same.” Those are more of grams “words of wisdom.” And I’ve done just that…I always have. So please do me a favor. Look yourself in the mirror and tell yourself how important and how valuable and amazing you are. You are special! We are ALL SPECIAL! If not for yourself, for Roger. The child who was told he wasn’t special. Before I go, I have two more things to share with you. This fella I am speaking of, the one in the picture, is my father. And until this day, at 68 years old, to prove to himself he is special, he won’t eat a broken cookie.
by Tina | May 26, 2020 | Spiritual
Do you ever wonder why God is having you experience certain things? You know what I mean. We question Him during the challenging times in our lives, right? I understand I can’t speak for you, but I know for myself it’s never when life is going good that I say, “Hey, God! Why have you granted me this goodness in my life?” I do take the time to praise Him when he blesses me beyond my understanding. It’s when challenges arise that we ask Him. Do you ever really expect an answer? No, I don’t either. I am, however, a very analytical person and do try to figure things out on my own. For example, I’ll ask myself, now how could I have prevented that from happening? Could I have done something to have made the outcome different? In some cases, probably not. No matter how hard that is to digest sometimes it is at times, what was supposed to happen. I have, however, from experience learned in life that no matter how much I analyze something, or talk about it or ask God, I may not get an answer. I do need to remember that sometimes I must accept things for the way they are. It’s what I call accepting it and letting go. This leads me into sharing with you a Bible passage; It comes from Proverbs 3:5 – Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. We need to remember that we are His children and we need to allow Him to take over the challenges in life in which we may not understand. He will carry us in times of need. Also don’t forget, you must ask Him first. Talk to Him about it. Remember what Luke 11:10 says? If not, grab your Bible and check it out.
Hugs and prayers to you!
by Tina | May 26, 2020 | Inspirational, Spiritual
Have you ever been in a position where you felt that someone has done you wrong? In other words, hurt you in a way that you felt you could never forgive them? I had this happen to me, but it wasn’t by someone who was dear to my heart. Oh…that’s happened a time or two as well, but this was by a complete stranger. You see, several years ago I worked at a bank as a customer service representative, most commonly known as a bank teller. It was one of my favorite jobs to date. I enjoyed working with my co-workers. I really enjoyed the customers that would stop by, and sometimes just to chat. Anyway, it was a normal Friday morning at the bank. A few customers here and there, nothing unusual. Until mid-morning when a man with nylons pulled over his face approached my counter. He asked me, at gunpoint, to give me the money I had in my teller drawer. He then went down to the next teller in line and did the same, and so on. He then told us to hold our hands up, lay face down, and not to move. If we did he would shoot. I had never been so frightened in my life. To explain the fear I had is hard. It was horrifying. I remember going into what I call “survival” mode and remembering to do what my employer taught us to do during training, that is to do exactly what the robber says. Unfortunately, he got away and was never caught. Fortunately, none of us were hurt. Nothing further came of the situation. It was very difficult knowing this person was out free running the streets. It was something that haunted me for quite some time. I had in my mind that he was going to come back and get me. I would see his face in every dark part of my home. The doors, the windows, the curtains had to always be closed shut. My loving and loyal dog wouldn’t leave my side. I’m certain she felt the fear I had within me. I’m also certain God knew my fear as well. This fear is something I prayed and prayed about. I prayed that God would help me to deal with my fear that was within myself. You see, I had always been afraid of my own shadow….afraid of the dark. I’m not quite sure. I think it may have had to do with my older cousins scaring me when I was young with the “boogie man”. It was one-day several months later that I was sharing my story about the robbery with a friend that they told me about a book they had once read. It was called “The Power of a Praying Woman”. I’ve always been one that prays often. It was something taught to me as a young child. Anyway, I found the book and it helped me to heal in a way I never knew. Let me ask you this, have you ever had an AHA? I did!! It was a moment when I realized something huge and figured out what it was I needed to do! So here is what I did next. In my nightly prayers, I began asking God to help me to forgive the man who had violated my peace and safety and for Him to forgive the man as well. Do you know, when I did, it changed my life! Since then I have never been afraid of the dark and it’s helped me to forgive others. Anytime I feel violated or hurt I ask my Heavenly Father to forgive the one who has hurt me and for Him to help me to do the same. Folks, we may never understand why someone does what they do, but we can ask God to help us to forgive them and to help us through the healing process. This terrible event that I’m sharing with you happened almost 15 years ago. I know and realize that forgiveness is something that is sometimes very, very hard for us to do. Just please keep in mind, when someone violates or hurts you, they sometimes don’t even realize they’ve done it. It’s much better to just forgive them. Let it go. Give it to the Lord. He will take care of it. Hugs and prayers to you who have been violated or hurt.
Hugs! DHWT
by Tina | May 26, 2020 | Life & Family
Please understand the story that I am about to tell you is with a good heart. My grandmother was my rock and had the strength of no other woman I’ve ever known. I love her and miss her dearly and will until my last day. As a matter of fact, my daughter is named after her. It will be often that you will read about her in my blog. She was amazing! She has now been gone for 28 years. There isn’t a day that goes by that she doesn’t cross my mind. Here’s one of many stories that will involve my grandma. I hope you enjoy!
Why this picture? When I saw the picture of this car it reminded me about my grandma and how slow our car rides were when I was a kid. I always wished she would go faster and faster! Here’s my story, here’s my blog:
My mother didn’t get her driver’s license until she was in her late twenties. My dad worked out of town quite a bit. My family and I lived in the country about 15 minutes from town. So that meant when I was a kid, when mom needed to go somewhere, my grandma was the one to come pick us up and take us. Sometimes grams would come get us and take one or two of us girls to town when we needed something. I know that some grandmas have a lead foot, not mine. As a matter of fact, when grams would drive us to town, I always thought she drove sooooo slow. To add to it, what made the drive seem to take even longer, was she would take the back roads. That’s not the worst part of the drive though. She didn’t have a radio! Holy cow! How can you not have a car radio in the 80’s? Those were the best times! (That coming from an 80’s girl.) :o)! Grams reason was because she said the radio caused distraction. I’m a music lover so I never agreed with her on that one. It just seemed she always took the long, slow route. I never understood why. Now that I look back and I think about it I remember grandma telling me important things during those drives. Especially when were alone. We would talk about life. Some of the things I remember her saying is, “If it’s meant to happen, then it will. Pray always. It’s in God’s hands. If it’s important enough, it’s worth waiting for.” As I continue to learn about life and I think about those car rides, I’m realizing how I’ve rushed some things in my life. Do we really need to be in a hurry? Time is time. It is our time. It’s what we choose to make of our time that is important. Sit back, relax, soak in life. Rushing away your life is no way to spend it. Take car rides with your kids or grandkids. Take time to smell the flowers. Do your best not to get too caught up in tomorrow and focus on today. Therefore, my quote for you today is this: Tomorrow isn’t promised. Today is the present. This makes it a gift. Live in the moment of today and don’t rush your life away.
Now the reason for the picture. The slow car of my grams I’m speaking of in my story, it is now owned and RACED by my cousin!
