MeeMum's Xanga

My Thotz On....Carpe diem

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 23:15:55 GMT

Carpe diem!

A Latin phrase which means......Seize The Day!
Have you ever really thought about it? I mean we all know what it means, but do we all know how to apply it to our lives? It makes me think of another Latin phrase, Momento mori which means.......Remember that you ARE mortal. None of us mortal humans will live forever on this earth. I truly believe that if we all were to Carpe diem, EVERYDAY the world would be a totally awesome place. I mean really think about it. How many of us awake in the morning to the sound of an annoying alarm and our first thought is......"Oh crap, I feel like pulling the covers over my head and sleeping for a few more hours!" Do any of us ever awake when the alarm goes off and say....."YES, I cannot wait to see what opportunities this day holds for me!"

My challenge to myself from this moment on, is to think on these two Latin phrases each and every day as often as possible. I am not going to live forever so I am going to SEIZE THE DAY! I'm going to start actively looking for the opportunities that are put in front of me to make each day a remarkable day. And at night when I rest my head on my pillow and open up my SuDoKu book, I'm going to write in the margins all the opportunities I was given that day and wether or not I seized them.

What are your thotz?

--
Rejoice Evermore!
DawnRae

My Thotz On God Speaking To Me

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 00:02:45 GMT

please listen to the song as you read. just a note of MomPride it's my daughter Mandi singing)

the strangest thing happened to me yesterday. i know this is long but try to keep up, it's really an awesome story. okay, i was on my way down the road just about a mile from my house to the grocery store. i had to do my big shopping and i promised Cal i would return all the pop cans and bottles we had accumulated this summer (i hate doing this!). keep in mind i have been very sad lately and frankly was feeling kind of upset with God about my friends life being cut so short so suddenly. anyway as i was driving down the road i had a thought to drive about 10 miles out of my way to go and look at a house i had been wanting to look at. so i turned around and started heading towards the house which is located out in the middle of nowhere. so, as i was driving and talking with God, i passed a homeless man carrying a huge trash bag and he was picking up cans. i thought to myself, i should just give him my trunk full of cans (remember i hate returning them). i then said out loud, "okay God, if this man is still out walking when i head back then i will give him all my cans (about $12.00 worth). sure enough on my way back there he was. so i pulled over, popped open my trunk and gave him all my cans. he said, "God Bless You". yeah right i thought. i get in my car and am thinking, what an idiot i am, i just gave away 12 bucks that i could have bought a roast with (i do atkins so roasts are important to me). i get to the store and start chipping away at my list. i get to the meat section and there is a man standing next to me as i am trying to find a roast that is under 12 bucks. the man grumbled to me how expensive meat is these days and how ridiculous it all is and he walked away. i kept digging and got to the last roast, held it up to my eyes (i did not have my glasses) and i could not believe my eyes. it read 6 cents! can you believe that?!!!! it was a 12 dollar roast almost to the penny. i could not believe it. it was mismarked. the little upc sticker said
.02 cents per LB and the price was .06 cents. i stood there as i heard God say to me, "I AM HERE!!!!!! DO WHAT I PROMPT YOU TO DO AND I WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU! I AM HERE AND I HAVE A PLAN, DO NOT WORRY SO ABOUT YOUR FRIEND.....I HAVE A PLAN, I AM HERE!!!!!" so ya see, the homeless man got 12 bucks and i got a 12 dollar roast for 6 cents. how cool is that? any comments?

Rejoice Evermore!
DawnRae

p.s. my friend passed away the very next day......the day that i was supposed to visit her. i'm trusting God and His plan completely, looking forward to the day when i see her again.

My Thotz on bigtime BRAGGING!

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 01:58:08 GMT

WHAT A WEEKEND!!!!!

July 18th 2008 has to be one of the best weekends of our lives.

Our daugher Mandi Hutchins was asked to sing the national anthem at friday nights Cincinnati Red's v. New York Mets game at The Great American Ballpark. If that isn't enough to be braggin' about for ya, well there was the fact that it was Ezra's first Major League ballgame and his mommy was singing the national anthem.....how cool is that?!

How many grandparents can say they took their grandson to his first major league ballgame and their daughter was singing the national anthem?! God blessed us with a beautiful full-moon and the most amazing postgame fireworks show. This was also Ezra's first at a fireworks show.

Big Poppi (my husband) and DRams (me) were just bustin' with pride, joy, and extreme gratefullness at being able to experience all of this in one night. Thank you God for blessing our family the way that only you can do!

Enjoy the video and the pics!

MeeMum

My Thotz On Being Thankful

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 23:54:28 GMT

i am thankful for Alice Shunka, a patient i had in the nursing home who suffered terribly and who i was able to lead to the Lord the night before she passed away. i'm thankful for her, because it was through my short relationship with her that God taught me how much He loves EVERYONE and how it is important for me to introduce them to HIM and HIS grace. i've changed so much since that relationship. i am thankful more than anyone can know for my three amazing God given children. each of them has taught me so much. they taught me how important it is for me to allow God to work in their lives as individuals that HE has a specific plan for, and it is not what i want for them that matters at all. Mandi, has taught me to be a strong woman of great faith and to always seek God in every situation cause HE is always right there beside me. Michael my son has taught me what real wisdom is and how valuable it is. there are so many people whom God loves but they do not yet know HIM and it is important that we be wise in order to see and act correctly on the opportunities God has put before us. Haley has taught me unconditional love and unconditional kindness for others. i've never met anyone who exudes this like Haley. the outward physical beauty that God has given her is something i envy and probably will never attain no matter how i try (short of plastic surgery that is), however her inward beauty is something i can try to emulate. i am thankful for my parents who did an awesome job of loving me the way God mean't for parents to love a child. they were both my biggest fans. i cannot think of one single bad part of my childhood. how blessed am i eh? my dad brought so much joy and laughter into my life that i hoped to have passed on to my children. my mom sacrificed so much of herself and her desires, all for me. i hoped to have passed that sacrificial love on to my children. i am thankful for Prof. and how he loves my daughter and takes such good care of her. a parent can not ask for anything more out of a son-in-law but that he keeps his promise to love her and be willing to give his life for her like Christ loves his church. i am so thankful for that. Mickey our sweet daughter-in-law who is the perfect help-meet for our son. it takes a truly special/gifted woman to agree to be the wife of a pastor and i am so thankful that Mickey is the ONE that God has given to our son. She's very beautiful inside and out, she's funny and she takes pride in making sure that her husband (my son), is thought of and respected highly. oh, and i'm sure she is going to make adorable babies for my son and for us all to love and be proud of. Hogey, is not yet officially part of the family but i love him as if he was. i think of him as one of my own children and i am thankful for him and the way he loves our daughter, our baby. that is a really tough spot to be in but i truly believe hogey will fit perfect in that spot. lastly but not least, i am oh so thankful for my husband, Cal. i first met him when i was 14 years old and i knew that i wanted him to be my husband someday. God blessed our courtship and so therefore i knew that Cal was the one that God would have me to spend the rest of my life with. we have been married for going on 30 years now and where we have had some rough times we are none-the-worse for wear. through those rough times God taught us both so much about what real love is and how it is suppose to work. we are both better off for those rough times. i've learned so much from Cal that it would take me a few years to finish this email if i listed it all. i mean, 30 years is a long time ya know? just know that there has never been a time that i regreted or thought that it may be that i had made the wrong choice for a husband. it's been an awesome marriage that God has blessed greatly by giving us Ezra who is currently in the process of teaching me how to be the bestest grandma in the world. i'm so thankful for Ezra and for another grandchild soon to part of our family. i'm telling you all right now, it's true there is nothing like having grandchildren. you think that becoming a mother or father is top's but it's not. to me it's like God is saying, "you have done well and so now i am going to give you my greatest blessing"! it doesn't get any better than that.

okay i have said enough i think......don't you?

Rejoice Evermore!

DawnRae

Train Up A Child In The Way They Should Go.......

Sat, 19 Jan 2008 23:39:21 GMT

My Thotz On Raising Children

I have been blessed with 3 well balanced, well functioning members of our society, and most importantly...godly children. eh-hem....adults. Over the past several years I have been asked by many, what our secret is? How did we raise these awesome children? Well I have always given a real "flip" response, "well God knew that I could not handle bad children and would probably be sitting in prison for beating them up, so He gave me predisposed good children". Well, one day a woman in my church, who I have a ton of respect for as she is a beautiful, kind woman who is well known in society circles and is generous beyond measure. She invited me to lunch. Her reason, she said for inviting me to lunch was to pick my brain on how to raise children just like mine, (she has pre-teen and teen children). I'm glad she forewarned me so that I could take her request seriously and give it some thought. I have way to much respect for her to give her my usual "off-the-cuff", response. Not that I do not have respect for the others that asked, it's just that I felt uncomfortable giving advice, as if maybe I was not qualified to do so. For that I apologize. I truly mean't no harm. Please forgive me.

Do keep in mind that this advice is solely from me and has no scientific backing or factual basis what-so-ever. You can take it or leave it. That's up to you. Cal and I are Christ-followers so we've always used God's Word as our child rearing manual. Proverbs 22:6 has always been my personal favorite. “Train up a child in the way they should go; and when they are old, they will not depart…” In my opinion, for whatever that’s worth, too many Christian parents don’t really understand what that means. It does not mean that one should beat their children over the head with God’s Word. That method only makes them feel worthless because they cannot measure up to it. We can’t do that, so how on earth can we expect our children to do it? 80% of the children that grow up in Christian homes, i.e. in the church, walk away from the faith by the time they reach adulthood. Unbelievable, eh? It’s true! Anyway, back to, “the way they should go”. I strongly believe that God is trying to tell us that we as parents need to train our children in the way that He wired them up. That’s “the way they should go”. Let me explain. God breathed into each of us certain individual characteristics and gifts that would be conducive to His plan for our lives. As well as, the necessary tools to do His service. Therefore, I think it is crucial that we train our children the way that He wired them up. We need to focus on each of our children’s individual charecteristics and talents. It takes real work on the part of the parent, because it is our human nature to try and mold them into what we think they should be. I don’t know about you, but God did not sit me down and tell me what His plan was for each of my children. However, through reading His Word I do know that I need to do all I can to help them to be exactly what God wants them to be. I can’t do that, if I am preoccupied with what I want for them.

I could go on and give you lot’s of examples, but I think you get it. Love your children and raise them to know that there isn’t anything they can do that will cause you to stop loving them. They may make some really huge mistakes and you may have to correct them, or discipline them in a way that may seem harsh to many, but no matter what they do…….you will never stop being their biggest fan and supporter, and you will certainly never stop loving them.

God Bless all of you and your children.

DawnRae

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 12:14:58 GMT

September 2^nd 1978

Well it’s been 29 years and we’re still crazy in-love with each other. Our friends said it would never last. Ha….we showed them eh? It’s not over yet and I look forward to all that God has for our marriage in the future.

I feel that I have earned the right to talk for a minute about marriage. My parents have been married for 50 years and still moving forward. I have witnessed first hand as well as experienced first hand the work that goes into a beautiful marriage. The most important ingredient to a beautiful marriage is ones individual relationship with God. This is not something Cal and I share. He has his relationship with God and I have mine. I’ve learned that I cannot point out to Cal where he is lacking according to scripture. However I can read scripture, talk with God and focus on the wife that God created me to be and allow God to strengthen me in the areas where I am lacking or should I say “slacking”. Marriage is fun! At times it’s hard and scary but if you are a man or woman of your word you will not throw in the towel no matter what. In our marriage there have been some very bad moments (some to be considered a deal breaker), however we both did what God expected us to do and we made it through those rough journey’s. As sick as it sounds, we are much better off having experienced those bad moments. I’m thankful we did not call it quits.

I’m leaving you with one final “deep thought” of mine: I don’t understand how it is that a person can say, “I love my children, and would give my life for my children”, however they will not WORK at a bad marriage for the sake of their children. Please think about that before you split apart what God has put together.

I love you Cal and thank you for not giving up on us. “I’ll be yours til’ the ocean wears rubber pants to keep its bottom dry”.

DawnRae The fine print: I thought I should add this disclaimer so as not to ruffle any feathers. I do completely understand that there are circumstances (where lives are in danger) when throwing in the towel is warranted.

Teeny Weeny Super Guy!

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 00:55:48 GMT

The greatest thing has happened in my life just a little over a week ago. My beautiful daughter gave birth to the most beautiful boy I have ever laid eyes on. What a blessing. Giving birth to my own 3 children was a wonderful time in my life. But having grandchildren beats it all. Knowing that part of you is going to carry on in the world long after you are gone is an amazing thing. There are things I taught Mandi that she will teach Ezra and he will teach his children and so on and so on. I had the most wonderful grandmother (Nonny) and my prayer is that Ezra loves and adores me like I did Nonny and when I am gone from this world I hope that he holds onto the memories that only he and I shared, like I do my memories of Nonny. I know my children loved and adored Nonny as well and have great memories of her that they will pass on to their children. Michael remember the time we were riding in the car just after Nonny had died, and you asked me if Nonny took her pocketpurse to Heaven with her? I asked you, why? You said, cause when I see her again I'll ask her for some purple Bubble Yum. She always carried that in her purse just for you. Mandi do you remember when Nonny let you use her granny knife to peel the skin off your apple? I asked her why she would do such a thing and she said "because she wanted to do it all by herself and I was watching her". So I guess you can say that she taught you how to peel an apple, eh? Haley, Nonny passed away while I was pregnant with you but you have a very special and unique connection with her. You're sort of named after her. Nonny was born in 1910 when Haley's Comet (not sure I spelled that correctly or not but you know what I mean't) came, and she passed away when it came again, the same year you were born....how cool is that? I chose the name Haley cause I wanted to name you after Nonny but I just could not do that to you......her name was Velma, tee hee. So, anyway I have shared all this with you all just to let you know what an incredibly wonderful impact a grandparent can have on a grandchild and I am so overwhelmed that God is allowing me the opportunity to experience it.

Ezra I promise to be the bestest DRammy's ever and we will have lot's of great memories. I already cherish our "DRammy Smoochies"....how bout' you?

Kids These Day's !

Tue, 01 May 2007 01:09:30 GMT

I think that most of you are aware of what I do for a living, but if not i'll try and explain. I work with teenagers that when they find themselves in trouble and kicked out of school they come and spend their day's with me, and I help them get caught up on their work and back on track and back in school. There are many people that just think of my class as a place for all the bad kids. Well I don't see it that way at all. I have been doing this job for six years and I love it! I do not in any way see these kids as bad kids. They are awesome kids and I love them all. To me they are just mostly kids that have really screwed up lives (through no fault of their own), that are in need of an alternative learning atmosphere and some attention. There are those that have critized me for making my classroom a place where the kids want to come and that they think my classroom should be punitive. Well being as there are laws that forbid me from making it a miserable experience, what am I to do? I mean, I can't beat them up ( I have however offered them a chance at getting a pass on some of their work if they can beat me in Indian leg wrestling though, I've had a few takers but I am still undefeated!), I can't take away their food and water, I can't make them stand for hours on one leg. So I ask you, what should I do? Well my approach has been to treat them like I treat my own kids and that is to love them, encourage them and be their biggest fan. I have gotten many rewards from these kids over the years like cute little gifts that they picked up at the store and thought of me when they seen it, and some really sweet pictures they've drawn for me, they leave nice comments on my MySpace, one time this one student made me a collage of all the things that reminded her of me, and another time I got this one gift from a boy who was shopping at Meijer with his grandfather and he bought me a picture of Jesus to hang in my classroom.....how cool is that? Anyway today was the icing on the cake. Are you ready for this? I recived my first love note from a 13 year old boy. He very discreetly set a folded up note on my desk and I very discreetly put it into my purse (thinking it was a cry for help with a personal matter, because I have gotten notes like that a few times in the past). Anyway when I got in my car I opened it totally believing that I was going to be speed dialing CPS like I have in the past, and to my surprise it was a love note. It said, "this is hard for me to say but I am just going to say it, I love you, and everytime I see you it feels good". Now don't go thinking that he actually loves me like he would his girlfriend. I truly believe that I make him feel safe, secure and happy for just a little while in his life and that makes him feel good to be with me. It made me feel good that he would risk the teasing and ridicule from his classmates if they were to find out, just to let me know that I make a difference in his life. What a blessing that was to me, and I just wanted to share that with you all.

I said all that just to remind all of you that when you cross paths with one of those "good for nothing" teenagers, remember my story and keep in mind that you could be that one single person who makes a difference in their life and points them in the right direction just by loving them the way Jesus does.

How will I be remembered?

Sat, 17 Mar 2007 00:09:13 GMT

What's in Your Name?

While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God's angel spoke in the dream: "Joseph, son of David, don't hesitate to get married. Mary's pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God's Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus -'God Saves'- because he will save his people from their sins."

____Matthew 1:21

Whenever one hears the name "Jesus" they pretty much know that He came to save. When people hear your name what do they think? Your name may be "Cindy, or Debbie, or Dawn or Grandma, or Mom, or Great-Grandma, or Great-Great-Grandma. Whatever someone knows you as, that is your name. When they hear that name what comes to their mind? Have you ever thought about that?

At a time when thousands of people were dying each year of rabies, Louis Pasteur, pioneer of immunology, was working on a vaccine. Just as he was about to begin experimenting on himself, a rabid dog bit a 9-year-old boy, Joseph Meister. The boy's mother begged Pasteur to experiment on her son. Pasteur injected Joseph for ten days—and he lived. Decades later, of all the things Pasteur could have had etched on his headstone, he asked for three words: JOSEPH MEISTER LIVED.

God does not put anyone here on earth to just exist and then die. He has a plan for everyone. It's in all of us to want to make a difference in our families, in our community and in our world. There are those who make it seem so easy and seem to have great success at it. Then there are those that desire to do it but seem to be lacking in some of the skills to get the job done. You may be the person who thinks that God has selected a few people to get the job done, and you're not one of them, right? Well, you're wrong. It is not an option…you must actively work at leaving your legacy!

1. Create God wants us to go to the trouble of creating our legacy. In Joshua 4:1-3 the Israelites were commanded by God to build a curious monument out of 12 very large stones before they could enter the Promised Land. This was not an easy task. But, that monument to this day stands as a reminder of the mighty hand of God. Think about some creative markers you can strategically place on people's hearts and minds that will serve as a reminder to them that you were there and you made a difference.

2. Remember God wants us to remember the times He gave us the victory. Even our failures can be a reminder to others as to how to live a victorious Christian life. If we continue to remind ourselves of this, then that will automatically seep from us and into others. If we are always reminding ourselves about our past failures then that's exactly what others will absorb. I Kings 2:5,6 tells us all about King David's affair with Bathsheba and about him setting up the murder of Bathsheba's husband. I'm pretty sure David would have liked to re-write this passage or delete it altogether. Instead he shared it with his son Solomon so that he may learn from it.

3. Impart We need to care that our children, grand-children, great- grand-children, spouses, friends, churches, remember us and we need to care about how they remember us. The word impart means to communicate information or knowledge. Communicate does not always mean, "tell". We can communicate something by our actions. For example, every time our family would go on a trip together we would load up the car and pile ourselves in. Before we would pull out of the driveway, Cal, my husband would lead us in prayer and ask God to give us a safe trip, a fun time and most importantly to guide our path and help us to show God to those we may cross paths with. This was so often imparted onto our children that if for some reason the car would start to move without doing this, one of the kids would remind us. Cal would have to pull over and take care of it. I Kings 1:2 tells us that King David was near death, he charged his son Solomon to "be strong, therefore, and prove yourself a man." David did not just tell his son that, he'd already modeled courage throughout his life.

As time passes, most of us finally come to a point where we contemplate our legacies. What stories are we writing with our lives right now, today, one moment at a time? As we carefully pick our words and match them with our actions, our lives can have an impact far beyond the here and now.

My challenge to all of us is to commit to working on our names being more than just words we sign on our checks every month. Rather a name that will cause people to be reminded that we were here and that we made a difference.

DawnRae

Best Friends 4Ever!

Sat, 03 Mar 2007 00:24:11 GMT

Today my thotz our on best friends

Never underestimate the power of a silly little compliment.

As my bestest friend in the whole wide world and I were having dinner together at our favorite restaurant, Applebee’s (not that the food is the best, but it’s our place), we were looking at each other’s faces (cause that’s what you do when you are listening to someone speak) and all of a sudden from nowhere my bestest friend say’s to me, “your face looks amazing!” What? I said. She said “your face really looks good…so smooth and peaches and cream like”. Well not many people know this about me, but I have been struggling with the look of my face these past few years. I have very dark circles under my eyes and dry, tissue paper like wrinkles around them. For the past six months I have been using the “Anew” product line from Avon faithfully every day when I get home from work. I have noticed a major difference, but for her to notice like that, was just a real boost for me. I know it may seem silly to you all, but it was major to me. Those few words that came from her mouth made me feel like a new woman! Sometimes we need our best friends to walk with us through some really dark times….and they do. Sometimes we need our best friends to share in the joy of having a new grandson….and they do. Sometimes we need our best friend to slap us when we do something stupid….and they do. Sometimes we need our best friend to just sit with us and be quiet….and they do. I am reminded of when Job was in the pits of depression after losing everything and everyone that was of value to him. He had journeyed to the ash heap and just wanted to die. As he sat there sobbing for days, his friends were taking the long walk to be with him, to comfort him. Now you would think that they would have some words of wisdom to share with him, or word’s that would snap him out of his depression, some words that would fix his problems, ANYTHING! What did they do? They just sat there with him, in silence. They never said a word. They cried with him. What mattered was that they were there, with him during his darkest hours of life. There is strength in numbers. Job felt their presence and was renewed by their prayers. True friendship is so very powerful. I thank God for blessing me with the bestest of friends!

My prayer is that each of you will go after that beautiful gift of friendship that God has for you.

Thank you all for being my friends!

DawnRae