Renee Hawkley In Joy!

When our six sons exercised the annoying habit of throwing balls in the house, their father would raise his arms high above his head and loudly declare, "This house is NOT a gym!" Unfortunately, his arms were raised all too often in frequent reminders of that standard. Until one fateful day when the boys were subdued by a single "pass" that beheaded All Three of my cherished "heritage" statues that resided on top of the piano. Fortunately, the heads were reattached, and the ball-throwing stopped . . . at least in the living room. But my favorite part of this tale is remembering the solemn occasion when our grown children and I were gathered in that same living room to plan the untimely funeral of their father in November, 2004. As our session drew to a close, son number five lightened our hearts by asking, "Does this mean our house is NOW a gym?"

Musings on Moving by Renee Hawkley I'm Not in a hurry, but when I leave this earth, "every single thing I own"  will not be coming along.   SO In the meantime, when considering what to do with  "every single thing I own," one question is key.  Is this "thing" useful to me Now or to my family in the future?  If the answer is "Yes," I need to: • Get "every single thing I own" that I no longer use or need into the hands of family members who need or will use them, thus giving me a voice in where "every single thing I own" goes And giving family members ownership in whether they Want "every single thing I own" - - or not.  Do it Now.  • Get memorabilia (scrapbooks, photos, digital, stories, etc)  into useful, digital formats.  Then distribute them.   Do it Now.  All other "things" not deemed needed or useful to me or my family can be delivered to, donated to, or simply sifted out of th...

The paintings of Jesus are, well . . . paintings. Paintings tell a story or inspire, but they're not real. We may picture Jesus with long hair and dressed in a robe, With multitudes drawn to His countenance. And I wonder. Would I recognize Jesus if He stood in line beside me Dressed in jeans and a t-shirt with cell phone in hand? I'm sure if I recognized Him, it would be For the Light in His face and not for his attire. Because the Light in His face would be real -- Undeniably real, and distinct from all others. But wait. As we choose faith in Jesus, He freely shares His Light with us. And we are called to share that Light Just as we received it. We may never look like Jesus on the outside, But when we share His Light, We start to look like Him on the inside!

I left a Hershey bar in the car on a hot day, and it melted. When I held the package up by its end, I could tell All the magnificent chocolate was oozing to the bottom. I was about to toss it into the garbage when, in a heartbeat, I decided to lay the package out flat in the refrigerator. After awhile, I peeked in and opened it up. And the chocolate had turned back into a Hershey bar! Only the rectangles with "Hershey's" were missing. Then the Hershey bar melted again -- in my mouth. And I loved that Hershey bar as I had imagined I would -- Maybe even more than Hershey bars with fancy rectangles. Because I had come so close to losing the "real thing" Just because the packaging I had expected was missing. But then, in just a second's breath . . . The Hershey bar and I rescued each other! Copyright by Renee Hawkley