60 Years and Counting

Ten years ago I had the pleasure of celebrating, with my family and many friends, my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary. At the time I admit that I didn't completely understand the significance of the event. But in the last ten years I've had siblings, friends, and cousins all say their own vows, I've seen dear friends struggle through problems in their marriages, watched my parents counsel young couples who are working towards their own wedding day and seen my parents celebrate thirty-seven years (next month) of their own struggles and adventures in their marriage.
Saturday I once again had the wonderful opportunity to celebrate my grandparents 60th anniversary. I watched a touching slideshow that my cousin put together, depicting their lives as they started out growing up, Grandpa as the oldest of six kids, Grandma the oldest of five. Then as they got older, met in college, got married in their twenties, had five beautiful girls of their own, who have all gotten married and have collectively given them eighteen grandchildren (I'm #12) Grandpa and Grandma have faithfully served the Lord, first on their own, then together for the last sixty years and He has blessed them for their service.
My grandparents are in their eighties now and although I hope to have many more years with them I can be confident that when they are called home they will be greeted with the words I hope someday to hear myself, "Well done good and faithful servants."
But even if these amazing people were to be called home tomorrow they can be confident that their legacy will live on. The legacy of service they have instilled in the daughters, their grandchildren, and the hundreds maybe thousands of others they have influenced over the years, the legacy of love they have shown their whole lives and the legacy of dedication to their Lord and to their marriage. Because through camp trailers and tiny houses, five daughters, and eighteen grandchildren, these two have weathered the storms and I'm proud to be called part of their family.
So here's to you Grandpa and Grandma! To sixty years and counting, may your love and wisdom see us all through many more storms to come.

Chasing Rainbows

Some people figure out what they want to do at an early age and never stray from that path. I've never been one of those people. I tend to go from one adventure to another, one job to another, doing the work I can find in whatever place God leads me and I love it! That's how I live my life and I'm okay with that. Here's the thing though there's always going to be people who look at that kind of life and shake their heads 'cause they don't get it, and that's all right. But sometimes when they ask me what I'm doing and it's always a different thing then the last time they asked they kind of give you that look that says 'What are you doing with your life?'

So next time someone asks what you're doing with your life here's a new kind of response to give them. Tell them "I'm chasing rainbows!" And when they give you that confused look give them this explanation.

A rainbow was God's promise to Noah that He would never again flood the entire earth. Today it's still a reminder to us not just of that promise but of all the promises that God has made to us. Including the promise in Matthew 6:33 "Seek first my kingdom and my righteousness and all these things shall be given unto you."

Chasing rainbows means trust God to provide for us wherever He sends us. If he sends me to Timbuktu to work in a coffee shop He'll take care of me there, if He sends me to Africa to work as a safari guide (I'll have to get over my fear of snakes!) He'll take care of me there. All I have to do is trust Him to send me where He wants me and to take care of me wherever that is.

So my life goal is chasing rainbows and you know what? That's okay! Maybe your rainbow is a wonderful career, maybe it's raising a family or maybe it's working odd jobs, whatever your rainbow is just enjoy it and keep trusting Him and trusting His promises!

Staying Strong

"So Kattarin tell me about your friends."

"Why?"

"Because if I know about your friends then I'll know about you."

This is how a conversation started out between my great-uncle Bob and myself ten years ago. By the end of the conversation he had become one of my favorite people and to this day after only a handful of talks in the last ten years he's still one of people I respect most in my life.

Ten years ago I didn't understand what Uncle Bob's point was. I didn't think that my friends could really play such a big part in my decisions but I was wrong. The people we surround ourselves with will play a huge part in our lives, from the decisions we make to the past times we enjoy.

Let me put it this way. If all of your friends like to go swimming and you don't then at first you just go to the river or the pool with them. You stay on the shore, watching them splash and play around in the water. But eventually you get tired of staying out of the water, you want to be with your friends and after a while, maybe a month, maybe a year, you jump in too. It's human nature.

The last couple weeks I've attended a graduation ceremony, two graduation parties, and had three other people close to me celebrate graduations from college. The other day I looked at one of these young women who had just graduated and I started thinking about what a wonderful young lady she has grown up into but I also thought about how many decisions she'll be facing soon in the next few years at college.

Who she surrounds herself with will play a big part in the decisions she makes. As her friends head out of their homes some of them are making decisions that are contrary to everything they've been taught for the last eighteen years.

My advice for that young woman, for all young people who are heading out to college or the work force or the military or whatever other life path, I encourage you to stay strong, hold to what you believe, surround yourself with people that will build you up and tell you the truth, share God's word with you and encourage you to make the right decision. If you have people in your life who are bringing you down then maybe it's time you revaluated not just your life path but also who you want to walk down that path with.

Stay strong my friends, my prayers are with you.

Dog Wash

So one of the hardest parts of taking care of my dog is giving her a bath. I have a small shower and trying to get her to stay in there while I shampoo her fur and then get her rinsed off is nearly impossible. When I do manage it I ended up soaked from head to toe! Then I have the fun battle of trying to towel her off before she can start shaking and get everything else soaking wet! In other words it's a major headache.

However there's a car wash place not far from me that advertised doggie washes. Intrigued I talked to my dad who had used this service before and he said it worked out pretty well. So I decided to give it a shot. I got my sixty pound dog all loaded up in the backseat of my little car, made sure I put towels in the back to dry her off and headed into town.

First I parked my car in one of the bays and climbed out, not sure what I was doing I started reading the signs, hoping to find directions. But there was nothing about the doggie wash! Then someone walks up and tells me I should park in one of the others bays to wash my car because it's bigger, realizing they worked there I said, "Oh I'm just here to wash my dog?"
And the guy is like "Oh, okay."
Then he starts to walk off and I'm like, "Wait! Do I wash the dog here?"

At this point I'm pretty sure the guy wanted to start laughing but he didn't and he showed me another door that said "Doggie Wash!" Wouldn't you know it, I had driven right beside it and hadn't even seen it! So he takes me inside and shows me how to get it set up.

I had ten dollars in quarters and he gave me dollar coins, telling me that way I didn't have to put so many coins in. For some reason it took me until I was almost done to realize that 40 quarters is equal to 10 $1 coins and he was just trying to save me time.

So I get the dog, up the ramp into the bathtub type thing and start putting in coins but I can't get any water to come out. A little confused I finally went back out and asked, "Do I have to put in all the coins to get it to start?"
At this point the guy was laughing, but in a nice way, and he's like, "Yeah, you do."
Finally I just grinned, "Sorry, I swear I should've been born with blonde hair!" (I have brown hair by the way.)
Thankfully he just laughed and in only ten minutes I had my doggie all washed up and dried off and got her back in the car, much to her relief.

Still... despite the confusion this adventure did turn out to be far easier then trying to wash the dog at home!

Pirates in Plays

This has been a crazy week! Monday the sixteen month old I've been watching just had a tough day. She got mad at me when I told her she couldn't steal her sister's food so she screamed at me for half an hour! The next day she ran back and forth through the living room screaming, for no apparent reason! Although I have to admit that if her brother and sisters' and I weren't laughing so hard she probably wouldn't have kept it up as long as she did!

Then last night I had the wonderful opportunity to see the entire fifth grade at a local elementary school perform a play called 'Pirates to the Rescue'. It was based on "Gilligan's Island" which just happened to be one of my favorite old T.V. shows to watch reruns of with my grandma when I was a kid.

I have to admit that at first I  was a little skeptical but since one of the kids that I've watched grow up asked me to be there I agreed. These kids, did a fantastic job! They sang songs, they danced, they only missed a couple of lines and they poured their hearts into it, they were awesome!

I know that this seems like a silly thing to blog about but I was really proud of them. They did a great job! So next time a kid invites you to a play or a recital, clear your calendar, it may not be Broadway but you'll enjoy it and you'll be incredibly proud by the time it comes for the final bow.