Toddlers and Tiaras

I have recorded Toddlers and Tiaras a couple of times just to see what it is like. OH! MY! GOODNESS! People never cease to amaze me.

Here are a couple of examples:

The mother of a three-year-old is getting the little girl ready to compete. (However, because of where her birthday falls, she is able to compete with the two-year-olds, which the mom thinks will give her an advantage.) The dad really isn't in to all of this until he sees how beautiful his little girl is with false eye lashes. The mom thinks this makes her look so beautiful that she may just have her wear them all the time. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? Apparently, some of their church friends are questioning the wisdom of this. But the mom assures everyone she just wants her little girl to have enough self-confidence to be able to tell anyone she meets about Jesus. And to prove she is serious, she has the little girl sing Jesus Loves Me. (That made me feel better about the whole situation.)

A little seven-year-old lost her front teeth just before the competition. (I think seven is about the age children are losing their teeth.) HORRORS! That will just ruin everything. How beautiful can a child be with her front teeth missing?  So, the mother has a flipper made. Fortunately, it came just in the nick of time for the competition. It was a little lose and the child had a hard time keeping it in place, but she persevered and made the best of it, with her mother's constant reminders of how she must do this if she wants to win.

The sad part about all of this is that most of the time the little girls aren't really in to all that's going on. Most of them like the dressing up and being on stage, but get very tired and cranky before it's over. (Who wouldn't? I get tired and cranky just watching.) I'm thinking; have some little girls and their moms over for a play day. Let them play dress-up with your high heels and old clothes. I promise they will love it, and you won't have to get mad at the other moms when your little girl doesn't win. (Plus, think of the money you will save.)

Oops, I forgot, how would they ever learn to tell anyone about Jesus? PLEASE!

Sisters

People who have known me for many years are wondering about my sisters. They know I was the fourth child in my family and the only girl. So, what's up with the sisters?

I was very close to my mother. She died when I was 38 years old. I missed her dearly (and still do at times), especially her female companionship, but considered her passing the normal process of life. But when I became a grandmother, I longed for someone I could share my feelings and experiences and, yes, brag to about this new phase of my life. I wanted a sister.

I started to work at Outreach Publications. There I met and bonded with two wonderful women whom I decided to adopt as my sisters. Fortunately, they felt the same way. For more than 20 years now we have laughed and cried together as we have experienced weddings, births, deaths and the normal occurrences of life.

I'm the oldest, but I don't always get to be the boss. We have the middle child and baby syndromes as well. We probably have more fun than the law allows. Now that I'm retired, I don't see them everyday, but we keep close tabs on each other and are always just a phone call or text away. I can't think of a thing I wouldn't do for either of them, and I believe the feeling is mutual.

Now you know the rest of the story.

Thunderstorms and Earthquakes

A couple of nights ago we had a very large thunderstorm. I was in bed watching a recording of Toddlers and Tiaras. Now, there's a show that will make you say, "huh?" I'll talk about that another time.

Anyway, I heard small hail and the electricity went off a couple of times. Finally, just before 11 p.m. I turned off the TV and snuggled in for a long, restful sleep. Shortly after I got settled, my bed rocked, or at least I thought it did. I couldn't figure out what happened and rolled around for a couple of seconds trying to get it to do it again. When nothing happened, I thought I must have been dreaming and forgot about it.

The next morning when I got up, Geneo asked me if I felt the earthquake last night. Wow! Was that what it was? Yes! I did feel it. He saw on the internet that we had a 4.3 earthquake about 11 the night before. It was centered in Conway, AR and felt all the way to Tulsa. Hallelujah!! I'm not going crazy. Okay. I won't go that far, but at least I know I really did feel something.

We were talking to a man yesterday about it. He said they have been doing a lot of drilling around Conway for natural gas. Maybe that had something to do with the earthquake. Who knows?  All I know is it's pretty interesting to experience a huge thunderstorm and an earthquake in one night. The good news is, as far as I know, there was no damage from either one.

Reminds me of a scripture: "Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will never be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed, says the LORD, who has compassion on you." Isaiah 54:10

That is so good to know. God is Great!