A New Life

A New Life

Our firm decision is to work from this focused center: One man died for everyone. That puts everyone in the same boat. He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own.
Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons!

2 Cor 5


Place Your Life Before God

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out.

Romans 12


Content Whatever the Circumstances

I’m glad in God, far happier than you would ever guess—happy that you’re again showing such strong concern for me. Not that you ever quit praying and thinking about me. You just had no chance to show it. Actually, I don’t have a sense of needing anything personally. I’ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am. I don’t mean that your help didn’t mean a lot to me—it did. It was a beautiful thing that you came alongside me in my troubles.

Philippians 4


But let me tell you something wonderful, a mystery I’ll probably never fully understand. We’re not all going to die—but we are all going to be changed. You hear a blast to end all blasts from a trumpet, and in the time that you look up and blink your eyes—it’s over. On signal from that trumpet from heaven, the dead will be up and out of their graves, beyond the reach of death, never to die again. At the same moment and in the same way, we’ll all be changed.


I stumbled across this scripture this morning. It was something I used in a lesson or sermon previously. Just thought I’d share it. God’s word is full of such good stuff!

I was actually looking for an article that I’d written previously about taking risks that I wanted to share with Jake after our discussion yesterday, but sometime in a time of “giving up” on youth ministry, I deleted almost all the lesson’s, sermons, newsletter articles, etc that I had previously done. Does that mean I’m not to get involved in youth ministry again or perhaps, if I do, I can’t use my old stuff again.

I STOLE

This evening, while eating dinner with four of the grandkids, they started talking about wanting to go out to eat (and the Miller weakness continues).  They decided they wanted to go to The Texas Roadhouse and eat steak.  Little Lydia, wanting to be one of the big kids, echoed saying, “I want to go eat at Texas Roadhouse.”  When I asked her if she had money to pay for it (trying to teach her to be financially responsible, thus breaking the cycle of irresponsible spending), she replied saying she had lots of money.  When I asked her how much she had, she repeated “lot’s of it; I stole it from mommy.”  Oops!  She continued to inform me that mommy knows.  She also informed me that her piggy bank had lots of pennies and is real heavy.

She is a true Miller; wants to spend all her money “eating out”.  

WHY?

Today as I was working outside of Steph’s house I heard “Kellen Timothy”.  That translates into “this is really serious” or “you are in big trouble”.  A little later I heard “Lydia Renea”.  I started wondering why parents address their children by their first and middle name when they want to get their attention.  Linda and I did the same with our children.  Jason Paul!  Stephanie Lynn!  I guess we were lucky that Eric is deaf;  I find saying Eric Bartholomew to be sort of awkward.

I really got confused a little later when I heard “Nolan Miller”.  I couldn’t figure out why they would refer to him by his first and last name.  Oh this must be really serious, I thought.   Then I remembered that “Miller” is his middle name.  Later I talked to Steph about this and she asked me how our parents addressed us when they got serious since none of us 9 kids have middle names.  Traditionally Amish do not give their children middle names; instead they are given the first letter of the fathers name as their middle initial. Thus, all of us have “M” for our middle initial.  It helps keep track of who you belong to.  Steph wondered if they referred to me as “Paul M” when I got into trouble.
Since I never got into trouble, I do not know.  Hypothetically speaking,  if I would have gotten into trouble they probably would not have referred to me as “Paul M”; instead they would have used the rod (aka leather strap) to get my attention.

Since Linda’s parents always called her “Linda Sue”, I was wondering what they did when she got in trouble.  Did they add her last name?  Nancy, do you remember?  Oh course she will tell you she never got into trouble.  Was that because she was the spoiled one and could no harm?

So, why is it that people address their children with their first and middle name when they are in trouble?  Do most people do this or is this unique to people we know?  I’d love to hear your theories.

A Foriegn Language

I've been working with Eric that last couple times he has been off to help him find a job here. It is always extremely difficult for Eric to find new employment but finding good employment in WV is even more difficult.

Why is it so difficult? Eric has had only 3 jobs since graduating from high school and has never been unemployed. He quit his first job to move to Bloomingburg to appease his wife (BIG MISTAKE). He quit his second job after his wife threw him out. He needed to move to where his family was because he needs some assistance. Now he is looking for new employment in order to be with family again (he is currently employed at Rubbermaid in Akron).

Not many people have the employment stability that he has had. Every employer has bragged abour what a good worker he is. He is never late for work and shows up every day if there is any way possible. He has missed a few days which were totally out of his control and one time because of a communication problem he missed some days (he thought he was supposed to be on vacation). That is another story!

Eric has a disability. He is deaf and as with many deaf people he is academically challenged. His ability to read and write english is limited. He is limited to simple addition, subtraction, and multipication.

When I helped him find employment in the Akron area, he applied at tons of places and not one person contacted him. I would call places and get all kinds of stories, but I knew the reason he wasn't getting called was simply because he was deaf. He was qualified and had an excellent job history. (Eric needs help in applying for jobs because of his limited understanding of english.) He was never even called for an interview. Finally, we applied at Rubbermaid. It so happened they had a deaf person working there that could read lips very well and also voice almost perfectly.
They had found out that deaf people could be productive employees and hired Eric the day we applied.

Today Eric applied for a temp to hire position that sounds like could lead into a decent job. I had called the temp agency yesterday and fortunately they have a deaf person employed there who is working out well. We applied for the job today and Eric has a 4 hour interview/test on 2/23. When I informed them he would need an interpreter, they didn't undertand. "He can read the test," they said.

I've always heard and and agreed that ASL (american sign language) is not
english, but more recently it has become very clear to me. When Eric and I communicate via tty or im, we often have difficulty understanding each other, but when he calls me via sorenson (a service where he signs via video cam and his message is voiced to me), we seldom have any problems. It as though I'm talking with one of the other kids (actually he is a more talkative then Jake). It has given me greater understanding of Eric-he doesn't speak our language! Tim has done a terrific job picking up the language (asl); Linda does fairly well, but the rest of us are so so. I'm by far the weakest with his language (one of my regrets).

After going home and double checking the American Disabilities Act, I became bold and called the potential employer back and politely asked them to provide an interpreter as required by law. They agreed, let's hope they don't change their mind. I understand why employers are reluctent to hire and interpreter at 40-50 dollars per hour, but on the other hand we all have a responsibility to help those who have need.

It would have been easy for Eric to collect disability benefits (as many of the deaf people do). Instead he has chosen to work and has done his best. We are proud of him! We realize that he will always need a "helping hand" and thanks for all the help the rest of you have already extended to him.

NOLAN ATTACK

Last evening Tim stopped in to let me know that the water tank was empty. While he was here he called Steph to ask her not to use any more water. If the lines get emptied out I have to purge them-a job I don't cherish. Kellen answered the phone and informed his dad that mom couldn't come to the phone because she was cleaning up a Nolan attack. What a kid! He has to be in your sight constantly or he will be into something he shouldn't be. I hope Steph and Tim share some of the stories.

Got me to thinkin'. Nolan sounds a lot like someone else I know; his mother. It must be genetic. Looking back I wish we would have kept a journal of what happened at our house as the kids were growing up. What great material that would be to have now as they are raising kids. This morning I'd like to share a few things I remember about Steph aka Poohder. She was a great kid! Well, as new born she had colic real bad and cried constantly, but that was solved by giving her a drop of whisky in some water (doctors orders-we had exhuasted all other methods). It sounded like a volcanic eruption taking place as the stomach rumbled and then the explosions as the gas exited her body. Oh what peace!

Steph was always full of life; always happy; very excitable; always checking everything out. Sound a lot like Nolan? There was one notable difference between the two. Nolan is great about going to bed-he will even let you know he wants to go to bed. Not Steph. Bed time was anything but pleasurable (we think that she was afraid she would miss out on something). When we put Steph to bed, she would scream, throw her bottle, shake her bed. I still feel guilty about the the time I gave her a swat while she was throwing a fit (she probably didn't even feel it through the diaper). As I recall, bed time was much easier after that. Steph was daddy's little girl. I used to take her with me in the pick up truck, she sitting on my lap helping me drive. How irresponsible! People go to jail for that now, but back then it was not abnormal.

Steph had a playmate, about her age, while we lived in Goshen. What Steph didn't think of doing, her friend Shawn did. One day, I found them sitting in the ditch in front of our house making mud pies with the lawn mower gas. Another time, they got into a can of paint and had painted the side of the camper and the end of the house. I'll swear it couldn't have taken them more than 5 minutes to do this. What a mess, covered in paint head to toe. Strip off their clothes, as I fill the bath tub with water. Threaten there lives if they move out of the bath tub while I run back out and wash the paint off before it dries. Good kids, they were still in the tub when I came back in. Steph listened well until she got to be a teenager-by then she thought she knew more than her parents (maybe did).

Another time, Shawn and Steph were digging for treasure in the neighbors burn barrel; yuck. On another occasion wheh I was watching them, they got into the flour and made it "snow" inside the house. Everything was covered with flour. It was actually pretty funny, but I didn't see the humor at the time. They were so cute; they had covered each other with flour. Again, I threw them in the bathtub and ordered them to stay while I attempted to clean up most of the mess before Linda got home.

Those two were the busiest kids! In fact they were so busy, they didn't have time to come inside to go to the bathroom. When they needed to go they simply dropped their drawers wherever they were, went to the the bathroom and kept on playing (without putting their clothes back on). Heredity? Steph's kids love to go to the bathroom outside too. They keep their clothes on!

That doesn't make sense!

I wish I would have started recording all the neat things I've heard from the mouth's of kids. Lydia (4 years old) decided a long time ago that she wasn't a "little" girl anymore. Yesterday, when I referred to her as "big, little" girl, she promptly informed me; "Papaw that doesn't make sense, I'm a big girl. I can't be a little girl."

Lydia is quick to stand her ground. Good thing, otherwise big brother would have run all over her. Do find it sorta interesting that little brother can terrorize her, although she is learning to deal with him too. Last night, when Kellen and Lydia spent the night, she wanted to watch a movie (they like to watch tv a lot here), Kellen told her she couldn't. Immediatedly, (before I got a chance to remind Kellen that it wasn't his call) Lydia, gets into his face, pointing and shaking her finger about 3 inches from his nose and tells him: "Kellen, you are bossing me and you are not allowed!"

Where do your kids learn all this Steph?

The other day we got into a discussion about yelling with Kellen. He informed me that it is appropriate for parents to yell at kids but it is not ok for kids to yell at anyone. When I asked him why, he said that parents need to yell at their kids to make them listen. Smart kid!!!!!!!! He never yells at anyone, does he?

Linda and I were talking about taking care of kids. We took care of other people's kids for nearly 20 years. She says she doesn't miss it at all and would never want to do it again. I'll have to admit that I do miss working with teens. but enjoy having less stress. I'll take having the grand kids here any day verses having someone elses kids.

Should I go to work? It has been nice working around here and there is still (and always will be) enough work to keep me busy. Unfortunately, we are more broke than we have been in years, so I might need to get a job. I have an interview for a family support specialist in Lincoln county tommorrow. We'll see what happens.

A NEW LANGUAGE

The other day Linda's supervisor complemented her on her beautiful accent. We never realized we had and accent but we have realized that people talk a lot differently here. At first Stephanie about had a coronary when the kids started using the local language. She thinks it makes them sound ignorant (another misconception about the moutain people). We have been learnin' the local language. Linda works in Hurricane which is pronounced "hurikin". Chris and Amy got a kick out of her when she kept talking about the Florida hurikins. John (our neighbor) told me he was going to Arnten (Ironton). Charleston is in Kanawha county (pronounced kanaw). Kellen and Lydia love pahy (pie). Kellen loves to take Pac (his dog) for a walk down the hollar (hollow).

If you head south of here it gets even more interesting. We are told that each hollar can have their own dialect. Linda has a tough time understanding some of the customers that call in, esp. from eastern Ky which is next to us just across the river a piece.

Maybe Linda will share some technical terminolgy with you she has had to learn. I can share a few. When I told her I had to reboot she thought I had to put my boots back on to go to outhouse. A mouse is what Steph found in Lydia's closet.

Ya'all keep in touch now ya'hear!

Power from within

Delilah's post on men and women being friends got me thinking. I'd like to share some thoughts and experiences. Allow me to share a little background.

I was raised Amish. In the Amish culture, and particularily in my family, wives were expected to be "submitted" to the husband. Interestingly, we didn't hear about the husband's responsibility in marriage. Generally in the Amish culture, activities are segregated by sex. In church women sit on one side and men on the other. This holds true to vitually every social gathering. In general, Amish women are regarded as subjects of the husbands. (Maybe this is a better system; divorce is virtually unheard of among the Amish.) I believe that growing up this way gave me an unhealthy view of women.

Being involved in youth ministry for the last 20 years has exposed me to a wide variety of opinions regarding relationships between male and females. One of the more interesting experiences involved being given material to use for a sex education class for teenagers. I was told that this biblically based course "was a must". When I recieved the material, I was so amazed I couldn't put it down. Some of the information contained in this biblically based material:

1. Sex between consenting adults (married or unmarried) was ok as long the spouses were not hurt in the process.

2. Teenagers should be sure they are ready before they have sex.

3. Teens should consider planning in advance for birth control, but in the event they got pregnant they should consider abortion for the good of the child and society. (we already have to many economically deprived people in our culture)

4. Abortion for adults is ok for economic reasons.

5. Same gender sex is ok and normal. It is the way God made us!

This material was curriculum offered by a mainline church and touted as biblically based!

I have worked with or known people involved in youth ministries with some of the following ideas:

1. Males and females should stay separated in all or part of the activities.

2. Males should lead males; females should lead females.

3. Male leaders should never have any physcial contact (touch) with females.

4. You should have physical contact with member of the opposite sex.


We grew up in the middle of the social revolution (60's and 70's); we rebelled against everything and believed that if it feels good (and it doesn't hurt anyone else) do it!!!!!!!!! We regretted we couldn't attend Woodstock but when the movie came out we watched it 2 times in a row. How cool! Free unhibited sex! drugs! People being and doing what they "felt" like. People died? But they died having so much fun!


The culture in which we live also gives a very twisted view of male/female relationships. Watch the commercials. How many have sexual overtones? Wonder why we view members of the opposite sex as sex objects? How about movies and music? Love is equated with sex. Our culture has no clue what Godly love is.

Did Jesus teach us to stay separate from members of the opposite sex? Did he avoid contact with women? Doesn't the bible say something abut us being equal in the Kingdom?

Given all the influences of our culture, upbringing, hormones, etc. How can we have healthy relationships?

Let me share the lesson God taught me. Over the years I tended to view women as sexual objects. When I met or saw a women my mind would wander to the sexual aspect.
As I strove to "be Christ-like", I became frustrated. No matter how hard I tried, how much I prayed, I would still go there. Maybe not as much but I still did at times. Finally, I came to the realization that I couldn't stop this thought pattern. I can't, but thank God, the holy spirit can! It is all about dying to our human nature and allowing Christ to take over that we get transformed.

Put another way, "love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, all your strength". When this happens then we can love our neighbors in a Godly manner, too. Without the relationship with the Father, we will surely fail. In the Kingdom, we are brothers and sisters and as such we need to love one another. I do not beleive that loving one another means that we keep avoiding each other.

Do I continue to struggle with lust? I find that my struggle with lust is directly related to my walk with the Lord. When I'm really close to Him, it never occurs, when I want to live on my own strength (which we Millers do a lot, it comes back. Read Paul's discussion on sin in Romans 7 and 8.

How do you grow in your love for God? I'd love to hear your coments.

My favorite place to live

While sitting in the dentist chair, waiting for my gums to numb in order to do the root canal last week, the dentist, his assistant and I were talking. They became aware that we were transplants to West Virginia. It turned out that they weren't mountain people either and they have experienced the same response from people that we have about moving here. Local people are amazed that people actually move here. We've often heard that people don't move here but many move away from here. Statistics show that Huntington has experienced about a 50% decrease in population in the past 25 years. As Delilah has commented in previous blogs, we Millers are a little different so it sohould be no surprise that we moved here.

Speaking of moving, we have moved a lot. I believe we moved about 11 times by the time Stephanie was in 10th grade. If I remember correctly, we have moved 17 times (nearly every 2 years since we have been married). I think we lived in one place 12 years (Fredericksburg). I wonder why our friends no longer help us move? We have 2 more moves to make. The next move (if we get the house built) will be down the lane to the "skinny ridge", which is about 1000 feet. The last move will be to our graves. There is a possibility that there could be another move when we no longer can take care of ourselves and we move in with the kids. Which one of you lucky guys will get the blessing? If you don't wish to take us in then our request is to just let us be until we die. NO NURSING HOMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you have no intention of taking us in, let us know in advance and perhaps I can take a solo journey up one of these hollars (old native american tradition).

The dentists assistant asked me of all the places we have lived which has been my favorite. I hadn't really thought about that before but it didn't take much thinking before I could inform her that it is where we are now. I love it here! Why?

The very first reason has to be the people! First of all living back in the boonies with your family is one of the greatest blessings in the world. Having those neat, mischievious grandkids across the lane is wonderful. Having them "help" you is generally a lot of fun. I only regret I didn't take more time to do more projects with our own kids. There is something real special about these mountain people we live among that I have admired for years. They take time to talk! Over the years that I've brought youth to West Virginia, I've had experieces where they have gone out of their way to help us out. On one occasion when we had a vehicle break down they transported us to our destination: another time we were invited to come spend the night and they offered us breakfeast (to 13 dirty, smelly backpackers) These were complete strangers coming forward showing us Christ's love. We couldn't have better neighbors-they are always offering help. I find this very typical of most people here.

These mountain people don't have much money (we fit right in). West Virginia is the second poorest state in the nation, the second most obese state, has the highest coronary disease rate and yet,has the some of the best people in the world.

Another reason I like West Virginia is its beauty! The slogan "almost heaven" is a good description. Living back a long lane, in the woods, overlooking some fantastics hollars-how could you beat it?

At some later time I'll try to add more. I'm really learning to appreciate the culture of the mountain people. I'll even share a few things I don't like about West Virginia (there aren't many).

FOOD FOR THOUGHT; wheaties for lunch

Yesterday Linda came to let me know the alfredo was almost done for lunch. My immediate reactions was "yuck, I can't eat it". I was thinking I could use the excuse that I wouldn't be able to eat it since I just had a root canal done in the morning, but (reading my mind) she promptly informed me that I could. I gave in (as I always do) and ate it. Wow, it was delicious! I think I ate 3 servings. Why my reaction? I thought of that awfull, instant, dried-out alfredo we ate while backpacking. Well this got me to thinking about eating habits and expectations or preconceptions. If you know me there is hardly any food that I don't like. I'm sure this is mostly due to being required to eat some of everything that was cooked when I was a child.

Not only were we required to eat some of everything but we always had to eat everything that was on our plate. I think I really believed that if I didn't eat the food some poor child in India was going to die of starvation. It didn't take me long to figure out that it was best to eat it even if I hurt afterwards. One morning I couldn't eat me wheaties, so my mom put them in a quart jar and put the spring house and I had to eat them for lunch! Yuck! I probably developed some poor eating habits as a result of this rule and I believe it is better to not force kids to continue eating if they are full. I can't remember if we forced you kids to eat everything or not. if we did please accept my sincerest apology! It is true that we usually raise our kids a lot the way we were raised. When I watch our children parent their kids, I realize that they have picked up a lot of our parenting styles (they do a much better job than we did).

Speaking of Food (I know you kids get tired of hearing this):

I can still remember my first ice cream cone;

I never knew what pizza was until I was 16; my sister (Sarah) and I decided to check it out. We went to a pizza shop and each ordered a pizza. The waitress asked us if it "was to go?" We said no. We were surprised when they served them to us. Not wanting to admit that we were ignorant, we sat there and ate them both. I have to thank my parents for training me to finish my food.

This training paid off again when I was challenged to eating a gallon of ice cream. (I have learned to be more specific when I accept challanges now.) The gallon of home made ice cream was presented to me after I had eaten a large dinner of steak and mashed potatoes. I've never been one for accepting defeat, so i ate it! It took a while and I hurt so bad that night that I couldn't sleep.

So, if you are requiring your kids to eat everything, there are benefits!

Consider it pure joy?

One of the most intriguing verses in the bible comes from James chapter one verse 2 "consider it pure joy when you face trials of many kinds.......". While I understand the concept and know that it is through these trials that I've grown the most, I seldom consider it "joy" while I'm enduring them. While there are times that I experience peace beyond understanding in tough times, mostly I'm miserable. Why are we not experiencing joy during tough times? Is it a lack of faith? Are we separated from God?

Last weeks visit to Florida got me pondering these questions again. Our reason to go to Florida was to see Dr. Chris and Miss Amy (proper terminology for the south). I mentioned in yesterdays post that we saw Aunt Polly also (I believe divinely appointed.) Dr. Chris and Miss Amy are some of the most wonderful people we've ever met. We worked with them at SC where we each had a home of troubled teenagers (poor term; should refer to them as off spring of screwed up parents). We didn't have a lot of contact with them during those 3 years we worked together but we always knew they were "special". We moved to Florida to work in a group home and they soon followed. We left 5 months after they came. During those 5 months we lived next door to each other and interacted with each other constantly. Christ lives in these people. We both endured extreme emotional abuse from our "christian" administrators.
I will not go into details because I don't think it would serve any purpose. We talked about the abuse Jesus endured and how he took it willing and realized that what we were going through was nothing compared to what he endured and we would get peace for a season but then we would get our feelings hurt again. We just couldn't let go and allow God to control.

We left the group home in Florida; Dr. Chris and Miss Amy stayed. They believed so strongly in the mission of the home (as we still do). They've worked so hard, doing much of the administrators work; reaching out and trying to minister to them. They've sacrificed financially; worked without any pay for long periods of time. They've had the great privilidge of seeing children and families totally changed by the Lord in spite of the the chaos with management. That was another highlight of our trip. We visited the home of twin boys we had in our home. Praise God for a changed home!

The stress of the situation is taking its toll. Both are having health problems. They are tired. I am angry! Why do "christian" bosses do this to their employees? We went to work for a Jew-one of the most "christ-like" people I've ever worked for. Barna points out that there is virtually no difference in the actions of "born again" christians in the US and their counterparts. This should not be! If we are "born again" should there not be a new life? It all starts with you and me. Do we love the Lord with all our hearts and our neighbors as ourselves? Otherwise, I'm afraid we are "pretenders". I'm talking to me!

Dr. Chris and Miss Amy are not experiencing much joy now. Is it a lack of faith? Is God telling them to move on? They have been offered other employment but feel committed to the children in their home and trapped with the whole health insurance situation with changing employment. What would you do?

Why Blog?

Saturday, while I was flying high above the clouds, it was as though God and I were sitting next to each other and I was bursting with thoughts. I've felt for a long time that I need to start putting some of my ideas in writing. This is a bit dangerous; I might reveal a side of me people don't know. At first the idea of blogging was not appealing at all. Why would anyone put their thoughts on the world wide web for everyone to see? It took me months before I even read any blogs. I thought Delilah was plumb off her rocker for being so open with her thoughts. Since I have started reading Jake, Delilah, and Tim's blogs, I have seen what a great opportunity blogging is to express thoughts and get to know each other better. For weeks I've felt compelled to start blogging.

In my "God time" I had on the plane I was overwhelmed by all the ways we have been blessed. Linda and I were on our way back from a few days visiting some very special people in Florida. We reconnected with Linda's aunt who we hadn't seen in in 20 years. Thanks to aunt Nancy (Linda's sister) we discovered Aunt Polly was living in Florida near where we were traveling. It turns out that while we lived in Florida, we were practically neighbors and didn't know. We were not aware how ill aunt Polly was until we got there. She is in an advanced stage of cancer and probably will soon go to be with the Lord. The time we spent with her was real special; it was obvious that our being there really touched her. As I reflected on this I realized the blessing was ours. What a great time we had sharing the past with her, Malinda (her sister), and her children. Her kids did not know who we were nor would we have recognized them. (The last time we saw them they were in third grade.)

This is truly fitting to the title (rambling); don't you think? Well, work is calling me. Can't ramble much longer. This is a little of the background to why I feel compelled to ramble. We have had the good fortune to have a life filled with very special people and have been very negligent in keeping in touch. I feel compelled to share my thoughts for whomever wants to read my ramblings and hope to be a blessing to our kids, grand kids, extended family, friends, and whomever might stumble upon these ramblings. The nice thing about blogging is that no one has to read this, so I will not bore those who do not wish to be bored. If anyone who reads this has anything in particular that you would like me to share, let me know!