Notes to Self...and whoever's listening

I'm praying for you. How many times have you said those words to someone?  How many times have you been asked to pray for someone and promised without hesitating that you would definitely do so? I can't count.  First of all, it's the Christian thing to do, right?  Of course I'll pray for you!  It would be my privilege!  I always pray for you.... Second, what are we going to say?  No? Last night as I pulled out my Bible I will honestly tell you that I wasn't planning on doing any "heavy" reading.  I was really just going to satisfy my "duty".  I even opened to Hebrews where I had been gaining some encouragement for some things I've dealt with recently.  But, then I felt the "tug". I've been dealing personally with some decisions that are pretty big in my heart and life and trying to find some answers as to the steps to take.  And, I've felt kind of lonely in those decisions.  The Lord seemed to tell me to take a loo...

37...not a threatening number, right?   According to Wikipedia, the following things are related to such a harmless number: *The number of plays William Shakespeare i s thought to have written (counting Henry IV as three parts). * 37 is the only two digit number in base 10 whose product, when multiplied by two, subtracted by one, and then read backwards, equals the original two digit number: 37×2=74, 74-1=73, 73 backwards is 37. * The normal human body temperature in degrees Celsius. Harmless, right?  But, tonight, as I'm on the cusp of turning that number, it is causing me to reflect... This week I prayed with a dying woman...celebrated the joy of the birth of a family friend's baby...mourned the death of a dear friend's grandmother...and celebrated the birthdays of my sister, two of my nephews, my brother and soon my sister-in-law's birthday.  Kinda a lot to digest. The greatest conclusion I came to tonight:  It is unfair to measure a person...

Red Velvet Cake.....Never has been a favorite of mine......but it taught me a lesson this week. My sister LOVES Red Velvet.  She would give her right arm for it, I think. So, I told her I would attempt it for her birthday.  And, that I did.  I'm usually the type of person that follows recipes as "suggestions" and not "science", but this time I wanted everything to be perfect, so I followed everything exactly.  When it came out of the oven, I looked at it and wasn't sure.  It looked kind of sponge-y, but she said it is supposed to look like that.  I believed her.  Then she bit into it.  She smiled and said it was good.  Well, to a perfectionist like me, good wasn't the right answer.  I asked for clarification.  She looked at me, realizing her mistake.  What?, she asked.  I said it was good.  I asked if it was just good.  She wrinkled her forehead and slowly said it was good, but not the best she had ever had....