Simple Pleasures, Lasting Treasures

For me, there is no joy in trials but there are "hugs" from God and I received a couple this weekend.....

It was a hard week, full of disappointment and discouragement. I remember a while back a friend of mine was going through some trials and she remarked that the Lord was "developing" her character and she said, " I guess my character needs a lot of work." I laughed at the time but now it's not so funny.....Still, in the midst of the storms of life, if you will, the Lord "hugged" me. I define a "hug" from God as a favor or act just to let you know that he is there and he cares for you......It can be a kindness from a stranger, an unexpected phone call to encourage you, an act that you know could only come from a benevolent God, something unasked for or unexpected but wonderful......

Anyway, my husband dragged me up from my bed and insisted that we go out for a ride. I wanted to ride our bicycles but it was too hot so instead we went for another one of our stress reducers--a motorcycle ride. This time we rode to Publix to get his check cashed and then he let me look around in JoAnn's ETC for a while. It's silly, probably, but I like to look at all the scrapbooking stuff. I just walk up and down the aisles looking......Then when we had tired of that, we rode off to Michael's--another craft store. We happened to notice that in the same mall, Shoe Carnival was having a sidewalk sale and if you're looking for a bargain, they usually have them. We weren't intending to buy anything for ourselves--just look. But we found a great deal on some shoes for Shane--in his size and so we called him up to see if he wanted us to get them for him. Hey,
$90.00 Rockports for $15.00 is too good a deal to pass up! So, off we went, back on the bike with me clutching the shoe box in between me and Doug.....

As I said, it was a typical sweltering July day. We went down Highway 60 instead of the back roads and whenever we stopped for a traffic light, the heat would rise up off the pavement and hit us in the face. We decided we wouldn't attempt any more bike rides in the middle of the day at least not until November or so.....However, a quick trip to Dairy Queen for a cooling Caramel Moolatte was well worth it! Yum!!

Now, for the best "hug" of all.....Shane and Angie invited us over for Sunday afternoon. They fed us a lovely meal and we played games, Shane beat Doug BAD at ping pong and we laughed and watched parts of "Bruce Almighty". But I had the absolute best time playing with my grandson! Shane and Angie showed us how Landon likes to play Hide 'n Seek and I was off to hide--under the coffee table! Next Doug and Alyssa and Shane took turns hiding and I would count with Landon. Then we'd go off to find whoever was hiding.....Shane "hid" behind the coffee table with a pillow on top of his big ole body and Landon couldn't find him! After a while, Landon got so he would count with me (at first he played shy and wouldn't count even though Shane and Angie assured me he could). Recalling my childhood version, I would say "Ready or not here we come" after the number 10 to give the person hiding more of a chance. One time as Landon and I were beginning to count, he stopped, said no and proceeded to say "Ready or not....."! Then when we all tired of that game, I would "chase" Landon through the house and he'd run into his room and onto the bed, laughing and giggling as I tickled him from head to toe! He wanted to play this over and over, calling to me "Danma, run!" The first time we played the tickle game, he got behind his bed and the wall and I asked him if he was "stuck". After that, he would climb in between the bed and the wall and tell me "I stuck!" And I would have to "rescue" him. What an incredible ball of energy my little grandson is!

I thought maybe I was being the "bad" grandma running through the house with Landon but Angie assured me they didn't mind--they like for Landon to be a child. What special parents Landon is blessed with! Grandma had fun being a child, too.....

I know I sometimes write looonnng blogs but I can't apologize....this was one of the best days of my life.. Not too long ago, I was fretting because I thought my grandson didn't like me. So, I accepted that Landon was Grandpa's boy.....Now you know why I call this past Sunday, a "hug" from God....It was definitely "Danma" day and I loved it......