Spent the entire day at the hospital again but thankfully they allowed Angie to come home around 5:00. We are so thankful it’s not her heart – it’s the bulging disc in her neck.

So we are spending a quiet evening at the house. Jaron is off with his soccer friends but Melody is here. We all played “guessing games” at the supper table. This is one of my favorite times! I love to laugh with Melody, and when Angie pitches in, it’s even better! We laugh so much and it is so much fun! Melody loves to see me lose, and I love to give her a hard time. So it all works out! It reminds me of those great times when I was a kid in Columbus and Uncle Murray and Aunt Martha would visit, and we would sit at the table after supper and just talk and talk. Oh, how I loved those time! We did it too, in Wren, but most of the time we didn’t sit down to eat until after 9:00 at night, so we didn’t have much time afterwards to sit and talk. We usually ate, then I went to play bass or whatever in my room while Mom cleaned up the kitchen. Then we would all meet in the den to watch the last part of the news, including the hallowed 3 minutes of sports, and then watch Johnny Carson’s monologue before we turned off the TV and went to bed. Great family memories!

Today’s Top 50 Person: Andy “Nesbit” Sanders

Today’s Christian Song: The Warrior Is A Child by Twila Paris

Today’s Quote: “Sorrow looks back, worry looks around, but faith looks up!”

Today’s Thanks: Means of Communication. I think about what life was like when I was growing up in Wren, MS. We had one phone in the house and it was on the desk in the den, with a rotary dial. Even though the prefix was 256, you could just dial 6 and the other four numbers. When I first moved there in 1974, we were on a party line! There was no such thing as cell phones, IPads, texting, laptops, Facebook, Skype, or any other way that we normally communicate now. We used to laugh when we considered that you could actually look at someone when you talked to them over the phone. Now it is actually a reality. Amazing, and I am thankful that we have the technology that allows to talk with whoever we want to, at basically any time.

Today’s Verse: “Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.” Psalm 37:3 – 6.

Today’s Top 50 Person: Anna Kuykendall
Today’s Christian Song: We Are The Reason by David Meece

Today’s Quote: “The key is not to prioritize what’s on the schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” Stephen Covey
Today’s Thanks: Air Conditioning. Don’t laugh – this is not some trite idea. If I had to name one invention I am thankful for, the first one that comes to mind is this one. I don’t mind sweating and some weather – but I’ve gotten used to only having it in certain situations! It’s better and better the hotter it gets each summer!
Today’s Verse: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building other up according to needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Ephesians 4:29

Today’s Top 50 Person: Scott Forbus
Today’s Christian Song: His Heart Was Always In It by Whiteheart
http://www.myspace.com/whiteheart-45829033/music/songs/his-heart-was-always-in-it-tales-of-wonder-album-version-34609966
Today’s Quote: “Take care of the moments of your life, and the days and years will take care of themselves.”
Today’s Thanks: Sunshine. What would life be like if God had created the world to exist in a cloud or haze? I really believe people tend to feel better on sunshine-y days! It gives you an instantly better disposition. Who doesn’t love sunshine?!?
Today’s Verse: 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[a]?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:25 – 34.

Today’s Top 50 Person: Ken Watkins
Today’s Christian Song: Million Pieces by the Newsboys

I don’t remember exactly how this came about, but Jaron and I connected with this song when he was a little boy. Great memory! I guess it was me playing it in the car and he and I jamming to it. Or course he picked it up really quickly and we had a great time with it over and over!
Today’s Quote: “You’re more likely to act yourself into feeling than to feel yourself into action.” Jerome Bruner
Today’s Thanks: Rest. I’m not sure why God make us with the need for rest, or even with the need for 8 hours a day, but since He did, I sure am thankful that I have time and a place to rest. There’s nothing better than sleeping first thing each morning when you wake up! If I could sleep from 2:00 AM – 10:00 AM every morning, that would be perfect, but the world doesn’t operate on my schedule!
Today’s Verse: “”I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit, apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5.

Today’s Top 50 Person: Tommy Jarrett
Today’s Christian Song: Saved By Love – Amy Grant.

I don’t know what I love about this song, I just love the feel I guess. She’s such a brilliant song writer. This is in most people’s opinion the greatest CCM album ever released. I agree. So I had to include one song off of it. Could’ve been 1974. But I love this one more.
Today’s Quote: “You were born an original. Don’t die a copy.”
Today’s Thanks: Wisdom. Not that I have much of it, but I long to! There’s much difference in intelligence and wisdom. You gain wisdom by being exposed to the truth, and applying experience to gain maturity. The Bible is full of wisdom, and I need more of that in my life all the time.
Today’s Verse: “My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” Proverbs 2:1 – 6.

Today’s Top 50 Person: Don Boykin
Today’s Christian Song: Creed by Third Day

Yes, I know the late, great Rich Mullins wrote this, and he has some incredible songs, but this version is the one I love. Lyrically of course it is legendary, but also musically this is just … right.
Today’s Quote: “A positive attitude will help you get things done better than a negative attitude.” Zig Ziglar
Today’s Thanks: Transportation. I can’t imagine a world without being able to go where I want to go, when I want to go there. I drive 17 miles to work one way. Without transportation, I would probably never leave my neighborhood.
Today’s Verse: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28.

Today’s Top 50 Person: Dick (Richard) Smith
Today’s Christian Song: I’m Accepted by DeGarmo and Key

Today’s Quote: “If you’re not doing something with your life, then it doesn’t matter how long you live. If you’re doing something with your life, then it doesn’t matter how short your life is. A life is not measured by years lived, but by its usefulness.” Dr. John C. Maxwell
Today’s Thanks: Acceptance. I am so thankful that before God, I don’t have to perform. He already knows my inside and out, and to Him – I am loved! Also there are people in my life who love me unconditionally. I am so thankful that when I feel lonely or like a failure I can confide in them and they accept me for who I am. That is a huge deal, and not something to be taken lightly.
Today’s Verse: “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity.” 1 Timothy 4:12.

Today’s Top 50 Person: Dr. John C. Maxwell
Today’s Christian Song: Where There Is Faith by 4Him

I was at the performance of this song and the entire concert. It was at the coliseum in Mobile, AL. And my best friend Ken Reich played trombone! The concert was released on video, so there’s evidence out there somewhere!
Today’s Quote: “Attitudes are nothing more than habits of thoughts, and habits can be acquired. An action repeated becomes an attitude realized.” Paul Myer
Today’s Thanks: Education, and the ability to learn. I am not the smartest person in the world, but I am thankful that God gave me an ability to learn new things in order to broaden my horizons and understand more about this life He gave me. I may not ever get another degree, but I hope I never lose interest or desire to learn new things.
Today’s Verse: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16,17.

Today’s Top 50 Person: Tina Baker
Today’s Song: Meant To Live by Switchfoot

Today’s Christian Song: What You Need by Joe English
Today’s Quote: “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seed you plant.” Robert Louis Stevenson
Today’s Thanks: Melody and Jaron’s friends. I am so thankful that my kids have good friends! I can’t imagine what it would be like to not be social, not have people in your life that you really love, that you can just relax and be yourself with. What a huge part of growing up! I just hope that my kids are as good a friends to them as they are to my kids!
Today’s Verse: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” John 14:1 – 3.

Day 38 – May 16, 2012
Today’s Top 50 Person: Michael Pigott
Today’s Christian Song: Just Between You and Me by dc Talk

Today’s Quote: “The more self-centered I am, the more unsatisfied I will be.” Rick Warren
Today’s Thanks: Medicine, and the practice thereof. Wow – I can’t imagine living back even 100 years ago when most diseases ran rampant and we didn’t know how to take care of ourselves health-wise. Thank God for the advancement for knowledge that allows us to know how to be as healthy as we can be.
Today’s Verse: “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.” Colossians 2: 8.