it is your love that makes you the special soul you are.

Happy Wednesday morning. Oh what a beautiful sunrise we had this morning, with the sky streaked with pinks and purples. No matter what is going on in the mornings, take time to stop and pay homage to God's handiwork, I promise you it can take the most sour of grapes and make them taste as sweet as sugar!

In prayer this morning I sat in the silence and thanked our Father in heaven for all that he does for me, for the people he has allowed me to have in my life and for all of his love for me. I know he has a huge plan for us and I know that in time I will understand the whys, the whens and the what fors! I asked him to bless my sweet Wayde as he is under the weather today, he did not sleep much last night and is battling muscle spasms. Lord lay your hand upon him and bless him by taking what is going on in his body and replacing it with strength and good health. I asked him to bless the man who had surgery last night for a foreign object stuck in his esophagus, I asked him to lay blessing upon the little baby who has suffered since birth, who has struggled each day, his little body has been through so much and yet he continues to hang on to life, he continues to be carried on angels wings and is battling fiercely to continue here on earth. Bless his family Lord, provide them with strength, with calm, with comfort and most of all with knowledge that you are ever with them, you have been holding this baby since the day he entered this world and you will continue to hold him. Father if it be your will allow him to begin to come out of his sickness and allow a miraculous healing. Father so many are in need this day, please bless them with what is needed and allow their minds to rest, take the sour grapes and turn them sweet, show them how to take lemons and make lemonade. Father we love you, we would be nothing without you and we are ever filled with awe that you love us in the good and the bad times. I ask for peace this day, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Remember Love

My Italian Grandmother was a wonderful woman. "Nanny" had a loving, vibrant soul that she carried around in a short, heavyset body. She had a passion for life that expressed itself in so many ways. It was in the hugs she gave, the meals she cooked, and the flowers she grew. It was even in the temper she lost from time to time. I think one of the reasons I was never taught Italian by my Dad was he was afraid I might learn the meaning of some of those words Nanny said when she was upset. 

Nanny raised four sons and then helped my Mom and Dad raise me and my two brothers as well. I always felt blessed growing up in her home as a boy. She worked hard, laughed loud, and was never afraid of what life threw at her. Life wasn’t that easy on her either. She suffered from health problems all her life and even survived an operation for a brain tumor. When she fell and broke her hip in her eighties, my Dad was forced to admit that he could no longer take care of her at home. 

It was with a heavy heart that Dad moved Nanny into a nursing home. She lost weight and was confined to a wheelchair. Yet, even as her body shrunk and withered her spirit stayed strong. The nurses there loved her and her zest for life. Even her Italian temper brought smiles to them as they learned a few "choice" words of Italian from her as well. Our whole family gathered together for her 90th birthday in the nursing home dining room. It was a wonderful celebration of her life and the love we all had for her. 

Shortly after that birthday, however, life gave her the toughest challenge of all as age and illness started to take her mind from her too. The Dementia grew worse and worse over the last few years of her life. At times when I visited her she didn’t know who I was. It was heartbreaking to see her this way. She spoke less and less and stayed in her bed more and more. Sometimes all I could do was just sit by her bed and hold her hand. 

During one of these visits I was holding her hand while she slept and remembering the person she used to be. My soul was in mourning that life could take everything from her like this. At that moment she awoke. Her eyes gazed up at me and I could tell she didn’t recognize me. She looked down at my hand holding hers and instead of pulling hers away, she smiled at me. Then she closed her eyes and went peacefully back to sleep. I could see then that even though her mind didn’t remember me, her spirit still remembered love and that was enough. 

In the end this life takes away everything we have except our love. Our love can never be taken away. It can never be destroyed. It can never be forgotten. Our love is eternal. It makes us one with God. It lives in us all through this life and it lives on into the next. It was my Nanny’s love that made her the special soul she was. And it is your love that makes you the special soul you are. Always remember to love then. It is who you are. It is what you are meant for. It is what life is all about.