Koda's Corgi Tales

a prodigal who came home

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:45:42 GMT

Sunday morning, out of the clear blue, I started thinking about my brother. Of course, it wasn't out of the clear blue, the Lord put that thought in my head and a day later it made perfect sense why I started thinking of him.

My brother is 17 months older than me and growing up, we were pretty close. We played a lot of games together, rode bikes together, etc, etc, etc.

When he went into high school, he got a bit wild with some of the things he did. He experimented a bit with drugs, ditched school a lot (and I'm sad to say I would help him with this so he wouldn't get caught), he bought beer when he was 16, he grew his hair long (that's why he could buy beer, because between that and a beard, he looked over 21 and they should have carded him, but didn't), he streaked when he was a senior (that was an adventure he never lived down). I don't remember for sure, but I'm thinking he probably stopped going to church or would say he was going to church and then go somewhere else. I remember him dropping me off for evening religion classes, he was supposed to attend too, but he'd go and hang out with friends and then come and get me afterwards. I also remember him being late and waiting alone out in the parking lot after everyone had already been picked up or went home. That I didn't like at all in the dark. He was rarely home on time for curfew.

But deep down, he was a good kid. I know, hard to imagine, but he was caring and loving, has a great personality, made people laugh, had lots of friends, etc. I know my mom always prayed for each of us; she prayed she would have 3 good kids.

When he graduated from high school, shortly afterwards he moved to the Los Angeles area. I think his intent was to try to break into the music business, but that didn't work out too well. He did find a job at a warehouse and rented a room from a married couple with a young son. He would come home and visit when he could, most holidays, the occasional weekend. Airplane flights were inexpensive back then and you could fly from Los Angeles to San Diego dirt cheap which he took advantage of. I remember one time being down at the airport with my sister to meet his plane. We met the plane, but not him. He overslept and missed it. If he didn't fly, he would drive, and had bought a motorcycle so sometimes he'd drive that down and didn't wear a helmet. There were no helmet laws back then.

I believe he lived in the Los Angeles area for about 2 to 2-1/2 years. In the meantime, he met who would eventually be his wife who lived in the San Diego area, fell in love with her, and I think he was ready to come home. He quit his job up there, she came to pick him up, and they lived together for a period of time until they got married.

Slowly, but surely, the Lord brought him back to have a relationship with Him. He first went back to the religion of his youth; attending church, having their marriage blessed in the church (by then, their 2 children were preschool age). He kept seeking and eventually got connected with a young pastor starting a church in someone's living room. He and his wife attended weekly, the church started growing, they rented a building and the rest is history, so to speak. The church is a big one in the East County area of San Diego. My brother is the worship director for it. It is a part-time position. He has a good government job. He started there shortly after their first baby was born, when he needed to have a more steady job. He worked his way up; working at first the graveyard shift just a few nights a week, got a promotion to better shifts, etc. He's been there close to 27 years if not more.

My brother reminds me a lot of my son. Wild youth. My brother, I think, has conveniently forgotten some of his behaviors of his youth for when I try to compare him with my son, he has a hard time remembering his wild days. But, as I believe is the case with my son, the Lord had His Hand on my brother and a shield around him. He had something wonderful in store for him. He's a great man, awesome husband and father, and a grandfather to adorable grandchildren plus he loves the Lord and is devoted to serving Him.

As I started thinking about him Sunday morning, I started remembering his crazy youth. He is definitely a story of a prodigal that came home. I started thinking and thought "I bet mom was worried about him, I bet she wondered what would happen to him, but I bet she kept praying. I will do the same Lord; thank you Lord".

I wrote those words in my prayer journal Sunday morning, thanking the Lord for helping me to remember about my brother.

And then on Monday, my son called my husband. An unexpected occurrence I didn't see coming; the Lord did, though. To protect his privacy, I'm not going to say what it was. He's fine; not in trouble with the law (thank you Lord); just has to re-think some things and do some creative planning (and he's not getting married and there's no baby on the way; that's all I will say).

I started to panic and be anxious just a bit, but I have to remember the promise I believe the Lord gave me. He said my son would be a prodigal. He will come back. It could be years, but he will come back. And in the meantime, as the Lord works this out through my son's life, I will do what I think a lot of parents of prodigals do. I'll keep praying. Thank you Lord.

Tags: blogplugs, prodigal children, the Lord

the circus is in town

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 03:57:12 GMT

I had another entry planned for tonight, but this caught my attention so I'll put that one on hold for tomorrow; it will give me a chance to get my thoughts together anyway.

I was on Craigslist just doing some looking at jobs and this caught my eye:

Seeking experienced cook to travel with Ringling Bros. Circus. Must have food service background, be personable, and able to handle volume as well as short-order responsibilities. Competitive salary, health & dental insurance, 401k. Room and board provided. Must be responsible & able to follow direction. Circus will begin traveling immediately and selected applicant must be able to leave at that time. Drug-screen and background check required prior to hire. Interviews will be held on Thursday, July 24th between 3:30-5pm at the Honda Center in Anaheim. The address is 2695 East Katella

Its true, the circus is in surrounding counties to where I live. I looked at the ad and thought "that sounds like fun". If I had that experience, and could drop everything, I think I'd do this for at least a year and then I would write a book of my experiences and be on all the talk shows, well almost all the talk shows, and then Nicole Kidman would play me in the major motion picture made from my successful million dollar book.

Just a dream, but hey, the circus is in town; did you ever say as a child that you would run away to join it?

Tags: circus, cook, Craigslist, blogplugs

I got a Hat!!!!

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 15:32:07 GMT

Remember a few weeks ago when we went to our local baseball team's game and it was jersey night and we were too late and we didn't get a jersey?

Well, last night was HAT NIGHT; 3500 HATS WERE TO BE GIVEN AWAY. We were not going to miss out on getting a hat.

We had our plan; gates open at 6:00; we'll be there just a few minutes beforehand.

Got there about ten minutes early; there was already a line. Oh no!! Were there 3500 people ahead of us? We didn't think so.

Husband went to get tickets from will-call; I held my place in line. No one was going to get ahead of me; no cuts; no "but I'm with her", this was our place; we were going to get a hat.

The line starts to move, pretty fast too. Would he be back with tickets before I got to the turnstile? I moved along with the line, frantically watching for him, OH YEA, he's coming back with tickets; he joins me in line. Inch by inch we move to the turnstile; I watch to see people's faces, are they smiling because they see hats ahead or are they frowning because no hats are there?

We get to the turnstile and they take our tickets. We go inside and there in front of us are boxes and boxes of hats!

We eagerly take our hats and say "thank you" to the one handing them out. We take our coveted hats and then walk to get something to eat and enjoy the rest of the game (team won 7-6; good game). We proudly wear our hats with the rest of the 3498 people that got one.

Funny thing is, I rarely wear a hat; but I GOT ONE!!

Tags: hats, baseball

a weird fascination

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 20:28:32 GMT

Last summer, a well-known comedy actor came into the restaurant where my son was working; not going to say who he was, that's irrelevant to what I've been thinking about these past few days.

My son didn't wait on him (he was on break), but did get to see him eating at the restaurant. When he told me about it, the first question I asked was "what did he order" (I honestly don't remember), the second question was "did they get his order right?" (the place was notorious for mixing up orders; and no, they didn't), and the third question was "how much did he tip?". The tip was $5.00; my first thought was "geesh, he could have tipped better, he's rich", but then as I thought about it, I thought "why should I expect someone to tip good just because he has a lot of money?" That tip was probably representative of what the bill was for his food and in reality, I don't even know why people tipped at that place because they placed the order at a counter and got a number to bring back when their food was ready; nothing was brought to them at their table, but my theory is, if you put out a tip jar, people will tip.

As I was thinking about the recent birth of famous twins this week, I was thinking about our fascination with celebrities and famous people. I get caught up with their lives and gossip, much more than I should. When Paris Hilton had her troubles with being in jail last year, it was all over our local paper and I think we got more coverage than the rest of the country since it was in our backyard. And I probably followed it more than I should.

Would I go up to a celebrity and say hi to them at a restaurant or other public place? I would like to think I would give them their privacy and "space". Although their pictures are plastered all over magazines, TV, newspapers, etc, they are still a "stranger" to me and I don't usually walk up to a stranger and engage them in conversations (unless I'm bored waiting in lines). But you get my point.

They are famous, they have lots of money, but they are still ordinary people like you and me. They may have gorgeous eyes, lips, feet, hands, bodies, etc, but they have the same thing I have - 2 eyes, 2 legs, 2 ears, 1 face, etc.

I know it comes as part of the package of being famous, to expect the press, the coverage, the pictures, etc. I'm sure they would also like just for one time to go out and be able to mingle in a crowd like "normal" people without being staring at them, trying to snap their picture, etc.

But again, I just wonder what our fascination is with them and why some people get so confused in their heads that they end up stalking celebrities and causing harm. I just don't get it.

Tags: celebrities

multipurpose room

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:27:36 GMT

I couldn't find Koda the other day; he wasn't sleeping in his crate or by the garage door waiting for my husband, or in the kitchen and I hadn't heard him going up the stairs.

I found him in the bathroom; guess he likes the cool floor and the darkness in there.

Didn't realize my bathroom would also serve as a den for a corgi. You learn something new every day.

Thanks all for your wonderful comments and friendship!! You all are the best!! Now get out there and enjoy today!

Tags: blogplugs, corgis, Koda, friendship

why??

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:32:32 GMT

Warning, rant ahead; read at your own risk.

Why is it okay for people to make jokes about Jesus and to use his name in vain?

I was reading this in Jesus Calling; the devotion book I read every morning a few days ago.

"My Name is constantly abused in the world, where people use it as a curse word. This verbal assault reaches all the way to heaven; every word is heard and recorded. When you trustingly whisper My Name, My aching ears are soothed. The grating rancor of the world's blasphemies cannot compete with a trusting child's utterance: Jesus. The power of My Name to bless both you and Me is beyond your understanding".

Why do people think it is humorous to make jokes about the Lord?

I don't care if they believe in Him or not, He was a real person who lived and died and I happen to believe He is the Son of God and He died for my sins and I happen to believe that He is the only way that I will get into heaven where I can spend eternity with Him and that my other choice is hell and I don't want to be separated from him for eternity. That's a long time in my books.

Why do they joke around with His Name? They would not like it if their name was abused; if their name was made fun of, if their name was used in tasteless comments or silly jokes. They would be offended. Knowing that, don't you think just being aware of how they would want to be treated that they would treat someone else with that same respect?

I don't get it.

It saddens me. You know exactly what I'm talking about Lord. I'm sorry for the times I have taken your name in vain; I'm sorry for the times I've laughed at silly jokes insulting your name. Not anymore Lord. Your Name is to be respected and honored; just what I would want with my name. I'm so sorry Lord.

September 13, 1979

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 01:06:18 GMT

On September 13, 1979, around 7:00 in the evening, I got into the car and drove somewhere and met someone that 13 months later I would marry.

Did I drive to:

A coffee shop? That got 2 votes on my poll and no, I did not drive to a coffee shop. In fact, places like Starbucks or Its a Grind or City Brew (Montana coffee shop) were not in business, at least that I can remember.

Did I drive to:

Church? This got 5 votes and I didn't drive to church. Although I was going to church weekly and he was sort of going to church at the time, we did not meet at church. My faith and relationship with the Lord would not grow to the level it is now until we were in Montana, over 20 years after we had met and married.

Did I drive to:

A blind date? That got the most votes at 15 votes. And surprisingly, in my dating days, I never went on a blind date. So no, we didn't meet on a blind date.

So where did I drive?

I drove to a bar. For the 3 votes for the bar, those 3 people are right. I know who one is that voted that we met in a bar; would love to know who the other one two were.

But.......................there is more to the story (there's always more to a storyof mine).

My brother plays bass guitar. My husband plays guitar. They were in a band together. They were performing at a night club. I went to go and listen to the band as it was their opening day at the night club. I met my husband there, we talked, he invited me out on a date the following Sunday.

That date was to be going to a recording studio as he and my brother were helping another friend lay down some tracks. Then we were going to go to brunch.

He was supposed to pick me up at 9:30 for the recording session started at 10:00 and then he figured we'd be out of there around noon.

He wasn't there at 9:30; no problem, I thought he was having trouble finding where I lived. Not there by 9:45; I thought he was running late; not there by 10:00, I thought "am I being stood up?" at 10:30 he called and said he had overslept and was running late and he apologized. Asked me if I still wanted to go out with him? I thought he was a nice person so I said "of course". He came, got me, was 1-1/2 hours late for the recording session (which is very rare for him; he was never late for any type of job especially one at recording studios because at that one you got charged per hour regardless if work was being done or not; you booked it at that time; you started paying at that time). Everyone there was worried about him because he was never late for anything.

The recording session went well, we enjoyed our brunch, and the rest is history. Thirteen months later we got married. We would have gotten married on the date we met, a year later, but my sister-in-law was due around that time with her and my brother's second child and since my brother was walking me down the aisle, he wanted to be sure he would be there to do so; so we postponed it by a month and got married on my husband's parents 33rd anniversary.

Thanks all who voted!

Tags: polls, blind dates, bars, meeting spouses

before

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 03:49:24 GMT

Before I tell how I met my husband (if you haven't voted, go back one entry and vote), I've seen in a couple journals tonight an awesome thing some women are doing saying the reasons why they love their husbands.

I saw it in Christy's journal (her journal is private, but I included the link to her and her husband's deployment journal; he's currently in Iraq) and in Liz' journal; not sure who started it, but I like what both Christy/Liz said:

So often us women get mad at our husbands and tend to write about them in a negative way or saying bad things about them without ever giving them credit for all the good things they do. If your a mother to a son.....think about how you would feel if one day you read a journal about his wife or girlfriend "bashing" him???

and then they both did a list of what they loved about their husbands.

so I thought I'd do it too for my dear husband (28 years in October we'll be married)

1. He loves the Lord and tries to live his life for the Lord every day in all the different circumstances he's involved in.

2. He has stayed working jobs he doesn't like at all to support the family.

3. He puts my needs and wants first before his.

4. He eats anything I put in front of him when I cook and I've put some interesting combinations of food in front of him and he never complained (however, nowadays he does do a lot more cooking than I do :)

5. He puts up with me when I make a plan and then change my mind and change the plan and do it several times, always coming back to the original first plan I made.

6. He plays guitar very well and uses his gift when he can to serve the Lord.

7. He has a silly sense of humor that makes everyone laugh and puts them at ease when he meets them.

8. He likes to do all the driving when we go on trips and frees me up to just enjoy the scenery.

9. He trusts me with doing all the bill paying, keeping track of money, etc; this is a very important thing for him to give me that trust but to protect his privacy, I'm not going to say why.

10. He reads his Bible almost every single day; he's been through the Bible at least 4-5 times; he was more consistent reading his Bible before I started reading the Bible consistently.

11. He is kind and compassionate.

12. He has forgiven me for some things that I've done without consulting him first and has never held anything against me or brought it back up.

13. He can fix a lot of things around the house and keeps working on something to get it put together despite inadequate directions or incompetent help (me handing him wrong tools).

14. As a manager at work, he also gets in and does the "dirty" work if it has to get done if his employees are short-staffed.

15. He put up Christmas lights in very cold weather when we lived in Montana and didn't complain about it.

16. He helps around the house willingly.

17. He tries not to create a lot of laundry; will wear the same pair of jeans for a couple of days after he takes off his work clothes rather than dirty a clean pair every day.

18. He cooks delicious food (much better than me).

19. He likes to go grocery shopping. He's gone to the store late at night to get necessary items needed.

20. He keeps in contact with his parents and honors them.

I'd welcome anyone to do this; if you read this and I usually don't follow your journal; leave a link, would love to read your list.

and don't forget tocheck back tomorrow to see how I met this really fantastic man that the Lord allowed me to marry.

Tags: reasons I love my husband

points to ponder

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 16:32:41 GMT

points to ponder this Saturday morning -

1. why does the smoke detector let you know the battery is low and chirps in the early morning hours or early on a Saturday morning when you can sleep in (as it did this morning at our house; thankfully I was up, hubby wasn't; we removed battery, he went back to sleep; we'll replace battery when we go shopping today)

2. How did Betty meet her hubby? (you guys I know think about this all the time)

I'll have the answer on Monday

3. Wonder if Betty will ever start a journal for her Bible devotions only? why yes - this morning

http://journals.aol.com/lv2trnscrb/armor-of-god/

if you are interested, check it out; I'll do an odd devotion here and there on this journal, but lots of them over there as the Holy Spirit leads me; I'm really excited about this study I'm doing on my own on the Armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18)

have awesome days!

Tags: blogplugs, Armor of God, meeting hubby poll, smoke detectors

still like it?

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:17:58 GMT

another little poll of mine; don't worry, won't make you think too hard on this one

how long have you had your screen name that you use for journals and do you still like it?

I've had my screen name Lv2Trnscrb (love 2 transcribe since I do medical transcription) for about 8 years now; I know I got it in Montana after I started back doing medical transcription. This is my primary screen name; I have another one I rarely use (MomInMntna - mom in Montana; you know where I was living when I got that one)

I have everything set up with my Lv2Trnscrb email address, screen name, etc, online banking etc; sometimes I think of changing it, but then I realize how much more I would have to change and I do better if I just keep one screen name at a time instead of bouncing back and forth.

so, just curious how long have you been doing "business" with that screen name and if you still like it and have you ever considered changing it?

(and if someone did this before, because it seems to me like somebody might have, just humor me and leave a brief comment)

and I want to thank Sherry for making me one of her guest editor's pick over at Magic Smoke; thanks Sherry!

Tags: screen names, guest editor's pick