Harry Potter

Ok. I have never read any of the Harry Potter Books, and only seen the 1st two movies (I think, I know that I have watched the first one and I think the second.)  That may not seem too big, but here it is.  I am a elementary teacher.  I have nothing against them, I think that it is great that books have captivated young readers so much.  I just haven't grabbed book one and started reading.  I don't even have them in my classroom library.  I am working on it, just haven't been able to get the whole set yet.  I have taught a couple of years, but this is the first year in the elementary grades. Maybe this summer will be the time that I start reading the series.  I don't think that it will be before that.  My kids are just small so they don't even know who Harry Potter is.  So that might be part of my lack of reading so far.

So my thought on how to aline this with life and it's lessons.  We can not asume that someone likes or dislikes something just they don't seem to have an interest in it.

Am I going to read them?  Of course I am going to read them, and probally watch all the movies sometime to.

rainy night

Here is a thought for life.

It may rain all night but a new day is a new day.

Rain

The good thing about rain is that its not going to stick around forever.  Right now here it is raining, yes it is good for the plants and soil and all that.  But on days that we feel a little bummed out it is good to know that it is not going to last.

wes

A year in the making

A lot of things can happen in a years time.  Especially in today's economy.

So I started this and never got very far and now I have no idea what I was going to write.  So life is like that sometimes but don't let that affect you.  Just love life and keep going on.

wes

Maybe it if something like Alzheimer's. 

Related articles

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Communication

Image via Wikipedia

 No my tires weren't this bad.  Not to far behind though.

O.k.  so to continue on with the tire situation.  Don't you think that if you had  a tire company and always dealing with people would have a little better communication with your customers?  Yeah well communication didn't happen with me very well and I didn't get the financing that they had talked about and new tires were put on.  The thing was, was that I was at work all day and couldn't get in contact with them.  So I come back not able to get my car, ( and it is the only one that we have)  so I end up car less for the night and miss a meeting for work this morning that I should have been at.  Doesn't life just work like that sometimes? Well when I did talk to the owner things were somewhat worked out and he was very good to us in the end even though it was kind of bad for both of us.  My point.  COMMUNICATION solves a lot of problems and keeps you out of a lot of others.  Life is all about communication and a lot of lifes lessons are learned because of communication or the lack thereof.

for those of you that it affects don't forget daylight savings tonight.
don't forget to still sleep.

wes

Unstoppable the movie

life and tires

Is life like getting new tires?  Well 2 of our tires on our car are bald and another isn't to far behind, while the 4th is brand new and the spare isn't in to bad of shape.  So yeh we are getting 4 new tires tomorrow.  Over $800 dollars.  Life and the lessons we learn are sometimes like that.  You wear life out until its bald and then you have to spend some money to get you refueled or safe to go again.  It may hurt (ouch $800 is a lot), but in the long run it is the best thing for you.

wes

so I needed to learn somethings about tires-like what are all the numbers on the tires mean.  well here is a link that might help if you are half way clueless like me.

Related articles

• Tire 411: What the Sidewall of Your Tire Means. (chicagonow.com)

15 minute thoughts

For our life lessons I want to share thoughts that will take 15 minutes or shorter to write.  So you are now saying ok so.   I know that doesn't mean too much but I should be able to post more. 

I have heard today and saw someone tell me that they understood what we were talking about, yes they were doing ok on some of it, but then when someone else worked with them and after they left, they still didn't know as well as they were letting on.  to what we thought.

We are all like that, and then again, we might learn a lesson that those types of people really do know.

Wes

Who in the heck is Lisa Murkowski?   oooo she is a politician in Alaska.

Go Utah Jazz

Halloween?

The funnest Halloween's that I have had has been family parties.  They are with people you know and love and it is a lot safer anyway.  Besides that you can stay in front of the tv and watch college football and stay on top of the BCS rankings.
Happy Halloween.
wes

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another 2 hour meeting

Yep I just got out of a two hour meeting, helping me understand and be better at teaching science.  It was 2 hours long, and anther meeting on top of all the other things and meetings that I have to do and go to.   Do you ever feel like that?  But now that it is done and finished, it was a good meeting and I learned how to understand concepts and be better at teaching the "big ideas" of science.  Sometimes we get to complicated and don't focus on the main ideas that we need.  And understanding the main ideas actually make it easier to understand and know how everything works together better.  The same idea applies to our lives.  Sometimes we need to get to the basics and things will come together better and we will understand everything better.

Are we going to have any video stores anymore? Hollywood, Blockbuster what is going on?

Image via CrunchBase

Are we going to have any video stores anymore? Hollywood, Blockbuster what is going on?  Well let me tell you what is going on, and you probably already know. One word. Redbox.  Or I guess the other big one is Netflix OK maybe it is two, what ever. So how am I going to relate this to our lives?  As I write this I don't have a clue.  Well, right now our TV is well half dead.  Ya it doesn't work, well we can play DVD and the old things, what are they called, o yes, VHS videos.  Yes I am still old school and have those, I don't have any Blu rays, or a Nintendo or Play Station or a Wii. O yes I would like one, my son really wants a Wii, but just don't have that kind of money laying around right now.  OK back to were I got sidetracked.  Sometimes we replace things in our lives that are good, and other times we replace some pretty important things with stuff that is not that critical.  So my point: we need to be really careful that we are not replacing the important stuff with other junk and filing chapter 11(like Blockbuster is going to do) spiritually, mentally or physically, or placing or family off to the side.

Wes



Hey look at what I found, it is not even out  yet.

I haven't made the best of decision when ever there is a decision placed before me, but I try I really do.  I got talking to a student today,  he was making some wrong choices that was affecting how he was acting and what he was allowed to do.  He said that he wanted to start over tomorrow, so he wasn't going to work today.  No we have to start today, because the choices that we make today are going to affect tomorrow, whether they are good or bad.  Today's  choices will affect tomorrow and possibly farther.  I got thinking, wow somebody should be giving me this talk, maybe someone was giving it to me, and using me as the mouth piece to try and teach myself.  Do you believe in a higher power? I do, and I'm thinking He was trying to talk to me.

Wes

Life comes at us from many angles, like a group of bullies picking on the little kid that has $5 for his lunch money for the whole week.  Where you feel like no one cares, because no one stops them or even asks to help you after they are gone.  I wonder how many of us put on a mask every time we walk out our doors and have to interact with the world.  there is no need for us to be hiding behind some kind of mask.  I will guarantee that there are many many people out there that is willing to help you in any way shape and form, we are just to stubborn to let them.  My challenge: let some one get to know you a little better and share some of their great self with you, as you share some of yourself.

You might really enjoy this article.

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• Monday Morning Mantra: Selflessly Selfish (chicagonow.com)

The things I share, create the person I am. In caring for myself and who I am first, I can offer an endless supply of gifts the whole world over. Giving offers me insight into what I value in life. 
Repeat.

Back to School ll

Image via Wikipedia

Back to School night was yesterday for us and I had one jam packed room. If you didn't know I am a teacher, 4th grade. If you are a parent you probally understand and know this. You really don't care what your kids are going to be learning, you care more about the teacher and if they are going to be a compatent teacher for your child. Or are you going to be like this teacher whipping the students the first chance you can.  4th grade really is a fun grade they want to learn.  I asked a ? of why 4th grade was the best one of my students said it was because we would be learning Cursive.    So it is just like the old saying.

They don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.

wes

A dog named Sheldon

Boys and puppies have a connection.
Our dog recently had puppies and my kids loved that, (I wasn't to thrilled about it, but...). One of the puppies was pretty smart and was able to get out of the pen that I had built for them. This was a smart puppy. So he started running around with my kids and my boy named him Sheldon. He had to have gotten it from his teacher's husband's name. Well my son and this puppy really had a connection, they knew what each other was going to do. My wife and I told our kids that they could keep this puppy if they took care of it. One of our neighbors kids wanted a puppy. What do you know they wanted this Sheldon, I didn't say anything about that he was the one that was named. Like a guy that had to many puppies, I was trying to get rid of them and let them take him. Yes that ended up braking my kids, and especially my boys heart.

Sometimes we as parents forget about what things are important to our kids. I hope that I will become more concerned about their feeling and desires.

Love your kids, and make sure that they know it.

Wes

Back to School

Life is just like "Back to School." How does it compare you say? Well doesn't it happen every year. It happens every year about the same time. Without fail Teachers will start getting their rooms ready. Parents and kids will be clogging up the stores buying school clothes and supplies. Buses will be on the road again. "Back to school" night will come and go and then there will be the first day of school. It is a cycle isn't it? You can look in life, any part of life and see cycles. The earth and moon have cycles, then there is summer, spring, fall and winter. Plants go through cycles. So do we as humans go through cycles, whether it is physical or not. Now that I think of it I don't know why I related "Back to School" with Cycles.

There is one thing that we can see it as. It is a consent thing in our lives. It will always happen. We may not be going to school or have a family member going, but it is still going to happen. Each of us have constants in our lives, sometimes we need to build our lives around these, if they are important enough. Others or constants that can bless us and help give us direction.

Well enjoy this school year.

wes

Act or React

Do we act in life or do we react? I have come to understand a little better about these two choices that we have. If we let life overcome us them we start reacting and we could and a lot of the times get drowned in what ever it is. When this happens we close off to things that are more important-family, friends, our relation with God. I probably have lost a couple months of learning and growing with my family because I have let other things, (mostly money take control of my thoughts and actions and my over all demeanor.

Yes these things are going to happen to us. That is what happens in life, we learn life's lessons. Well, hopefully we learn the lessons when they come our way. When some circumstance happens we need to learn to be able to control what we can and still stay close to the things that are most important in our lives.

It has taken me a little while to understand some of this concept and I'm sure that there is more for me to learn before it is over, and the next lesson starts.

Here is a challenge for you today, this next week or even month.
Ask someone how they are doing (someone that you would normally not ask) and then if you could help them in any way. Enjoy this experience. Let me know how this went.


Wes

Good things to come

Sometimes this is exactly how my wife and I feel through life lately.
But you just have to have faith and know that God does love you, and You can make it.

Bike peddles

Just this spring my son learned to get going on his bike by himself. Last year he started riding it by himself without the assistance of training wheels. The bike was still to big for him to strattle, let alone sit on the seat while standing; thus allowing himself to give a push of. We got it the year before when he turned 4. So he has been trying to get it down.
Well he would get really frustrated when he would fall down trying to turn the bike on our road when we would go for walks. He would get up kick the bike and say that he hated it. We would gently coax him and tell him that it was OK. Well I ended up telling him that it was a good crash each time that he would crash. After that when I wasn't around and he would crash he would tell me "I had a good crash Dad."
He now has the turning part down, and just in the last month has impressed me with his starting ability. We used to give him a push to get going and he relied on that to much, for when we had him try it on his own he would just get frustrated some more. He would try and push off but not get enough speed to hold his balance. Or he would turn the wheel and the bike would fall on him. Or he would get up on the bike but the peddles would be in the wrong position for him to push, and he would fall over. He did finally start to get it, he would prop up his bike next to a fence post, get on and peddle away. When
Then one day "Dad look!" He did it, all by him self with no external help. Yes he still struggled but he did it. There were a couple of times I tryed to assist hem and I got a "No Dad, I can do it." Now almost 2 weeks later he is flying around loving the freedom that the bike can give a kid.

We may struggle and struggle and struggle but we have to and need to keep going. There will be a day that it will just click. You will be riding that bike by yourself and you were able to get yourself started, you have that skill now and it is second nature. But in the mean time: Don't be afraid to get a push from someone that is there to help you learn.

love life

wes

The Sister's Grave

THE SISTER'S GRAVE.

There is a burial-ground that is sprinkled with green trees, and is a favorite resort not only with the bereaved, but with those whose feelings are not thus darkly overcast. I met there one morning a little girl with a half-playful countenance, busy blue eye, and sunny locks, bearing in one hand a small cup of china, and in the other a wreath of fresh flowers. Feeling a very natural curiosity to know what she could do with these bright things, in a place that seemed to partake so much of sadness, I watched her light motions. Reaching a retired grave, covered with a plain marble slab, she emptied the seed, which it appeared the cup contained, into the slight cavities which had been scooped out in the corners of the level tablet, and laid the wreath on its pure face.
"And why," I inquired, "my sweet child, do you put the seed in those little bowls there?"
"It is to bring the birds here," she replied with a half-wondering look: "they will light on this tree," pointing to the cypress above, "when they have eaten the seed, and sing."
"To whom do they sing?" I asked: "to you or to each other?"
"Oh! no," she quickly replied, "to my sister: she sleeps here."
"But your sister is dead?"
"Oh! yes, sir; but she hears the birds sing."
"Well, if she does hear the birds sing, she cannot see that wreath of flowers."
"But she knows I put it there; I told her, before they took her away from our house, I would come and see her every morning."
"You must" I continued, "have loved that sister very much; but you will never talk with her any more, never see her again."
"Yes, sir," she replied, with a brightened look, "I shall see her always in heaven."
"But she has gone there already, I trust."
"No, she stops under this tree till they bring me here, and then we are going to heaven together."
"But she has gone already, my child: you will meet her there, I hope; but certainly she is gone, and left you to come afterward."
She cast to me a look of inquiring disappointment, and the tears came to her eyes.


There are times that we get a big shot of reality that completely knocks us down and when it does, boy does it hurt. The trick is to not let that stop us. After we get through it there is a great lesson that we will see that we learned.

"I cannot stand it, boys!"

A BRAVE BOY

An interesting little boy, who could not swim, whilst skating on our river on New Year's Day, ran into a large air-hole. He kept himself for a time above water: the little boys, all gathered round the opening, tried to hand him poles; but the ice continued breaking, and he was still floating out of reach.
Despair at last seized his heart, and was visible in every face around. At this moment, when, exhausted, the poor little fellow was about to sink, a brave and generous hearted boy exclaimed, "I cannot stand it, boys!" He wheeled round, made a run, and dashed in at the risk of his own life, and seized the little boy and swam to the edge of the ice with him: after breaking his way to the more solid ice, he succeeded in handing him out to his companions, who then assisted him out. In Rome, this act of heroism would have insured this brave youth a civic crown. His name is Albert Hershbergar.

—Charleston (Va.) Republican.

"I cannot stand it, boys!" Let us live our life's like this, and be able to say this when our help is needed.

wes

Simple sacrifice

KINDNESS.

This word seldom begins an article in a newspaper, but "cruelty" or "murder" more often instead. It is a pleasure to record an act of kindness; painful that we have not frequent opportunities. Yet such an act made our heart glad, filled it with a new love for our kind, only a day or two since.

A school-girl, about ten years of age, was passing, with a smaller school-girl in her arms, whom she carried with much difficulty; for the weather was sultry. Other children were in company, with books in their hands. The whole party stopped to rest under the shade of a tree. Just then, a gentleman observed the group. His attention was particularly attracted by the child, still supported by the arm of her friend.

"What's the matter, my little Miss?" he inquired, in his kind, soft tone.

"She's sick, sir," replied the friend.

"And are you taking her home?"

"I'm trying, sir."

"How far off does she live?"

"Down by the Long Bridge."

"A mile or more! and you would carry her through the hot sun! No shade on the way either!"

"I must try, sir," answered the school girl.

"No, you must not," said the kind gentleman, "it would kill both of you."

A carriage passed at this moment. A word and a waving arm caused it to draw up to the pavement. All the party entered it, and all right merry, except the sick one; but even she looked up with a faint smile, fixing her large, tender eyes on the face of the stranger. The driver had been instructed fully as to his destination, had been paid too, and now drove away.

"Poor little girl!" said the gentleman to himself, in a low voice.

"Good bye, sir!" said all the children, in a high tone.

—Washington News.


Do you feel like the little girl being carried, or the girl doing the carrying? How about the man that helped them? At one point or another in our lives we all will find ourselves in one of these positions. How will we react. Grateful we got help, or grateful that we were able to help.

At times through life I think that we forget who really is in control. And Yes we will make it through it.

STORM AT SEA.
We were crowded in the cabin;
Not a soul would dare to sleep:
It was midnight on the waters,
And a storm was on the deep.
'Tis a fearful thing, in winter
To be shattered in the blast,
And to hear the rattling trumpet
Thunder, "Cut away the mast!"
So we shuddered there in silence;
For the stoutest held his breath,
While the hungry sea was roaring,
And the breakers talked with Death.
As thus we sat in darkness,
Each one busy in his prayers,
"We are lost!" the captain shouted,
As he staggered down the stairs.
But his little daughter whispered,
As she took his icy hand,
"Isn't God upon the ocean
Just the same as on the land?"
Then we kissed the little maiden,
And we spoke in better cheer,
And we anchored safe in harbor
When the morn was shining clear.
J.T. Fields.


wes

Continuation of The Little Hero of Haarlem

Lets recall
With the instant perception which every child in Holland would have, the boy saw that the water must soon enlarge the hole through which it was now only dropping, and that utter and general ruin would be the consequence of the inundation of the country that must follow. To see, to throw away the flowers, to climb from stone to stone till he reached the hole, and to put his finger into it, was the work of a moment; and, to his delight, he finds that he has succeeded in stopping the flow of the water.

Now the Finish

This was all very well for a little while, and the child thought only of the success of his device. But the night was closing in, and with the night came the cold. The little boy looked around in vain. No one came. He shouted—he called loudly—no one answered. He resolved to stay there all night; but, alas! the cold was becoming every moment more biting, and the poor finger fixed in the hole began to feel benumbed, and the numbness soon extended to the hand, and thence throughout the whole arm. The pain became still greater, still harder to bear; but still the boy moved not. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he thought of his father, of his mother, of his little bed, where he might now be sleeping so soundly; but still the little fellow stirred not, for he knew that did he remove the small slender finger which he had opposed to the escape of the water, not only would he himself be drowned, but his father, his brothers, his neighbors—nay, the whole village.

We know not what faltering of purpose, what momentary failures of courage, there might have been during that long and terrible night; but certain it is, that, at day-break, he was found in the same painful position by a clergyman returning from attendance on a death-bed, who, as he advanced, thought he heard groans, and, bending over the dyke, discovered a child seated on a stone, writhing from pain, and with pale face and tearful eyes.

"Boy," he exclaimed, "what are you doing there?"

"I am hindering the water from running out," was the answer, in perfect simplicity, of the child, who, during the whole night, had been evincing such heroic fortitude and undaunted courage.



Somewhere during our life we might just happen to stumble upon  a  "sluice" discover a hole in the wood through which the water was flowing.And Yes we might just have to stick our finger in to keep the water from coming out.  And you know what we will be able to stick it out, because we each have an amazing power within.


wes

The Little Hero of Haarlem

I think that to many of us think that we don't have what it will take when it really comes down to it.  But you know what I think that we really do.  We really can make life a success. Here is a little story to give you some hope and courage.

THE LITTLE HERO OF HAARLEM.

At an early period in the history of Holland, a boy was born in Haarlem, a town remarkable for its variety of fortune in war, but happily still more so for its manufactures and inventions in peace. His father was a sluicer,—that is, one whose employment it was to open and shut the sluices, or large oak-gates, which, placed at certain regular distances, close the entrance of the canals, and secure Holland from the danger to which it seems exposed, of finding itself under water, rather than above it. When water is wanted, the sluicer raises the sluices more or less, as required, as a cook turns the cock of a fountain, and closes them again carefully at night; otherwise the water would flow into the canals, then overflow them, and inundate the whole country; so that even the little children in Holland are fully aware of the importance of a punctual discharge of the sluicer's duties. The boy was about eight years old, when, one day, he asked permission to take some cakes to a poor blind man, who lived at the other side of the dyke. His father gave him leave, but charged him not to stay too late. The child promised, and set off on his little journey. The blind man thankfully partook of his young friend's cakes; and the boy, mindful of his father's orders, did not wait, as usual, to hear one of the old man's stories; but, as soon as he had seen him eat one muffin, took leave of him to return home.

As he went along by the canals, then quite full,—for it was in October, and the autumn rains had swelled the waters,—the boy now stopped to pull the little blue flowers which his mother loved so well; now, in childish gayety, hummed some merry song. The road gradually became more solitary; and soon neither the joyous shout of the villager, returning to his cottage-home, nor the rough voice of the carter, grumbling at his lazy horses, was any longer to be heard. The little fellow now perceived that the blue of the flowers in his hand was scarcely distinguishable from the green of the surrounding herbage, and he looked up in some dismay. The night was falling; not, however, a dark winter night, but one of those beautiful, clear, moonlight nights, in which every object is perceptible, though not as distinctly as by day. The child thought of his father, of his injunction, and was preparing to quit the ravine in which he was almost buried, and to regain the beach, when suddenly a slight noise, like the trickling of water upon pebbles, attracted his attention. He was near one of the large sluices, and he now carefully examines it, and soon discovers a hole in the wood, through which the water was flowing. With the instant perception which every child in Holland would have, the boy saw that the water must soon enlarge the hole through which it was now only dropping, and that utter and general ruin would be the consequence of the inundation of the country that must follow. To see, to throw away the flowers, to climb from stone to stone till he reached the hole, and to put his finger into it, was the work of a moment; and, to his delight, he finds that he has succeeded in stopping the flow of the water.

The rest of the story tomorrow
.
wes

How do you control life? You learn to control your thoughts.
wes

The last post got me thinking about about a county song by Rodney Atkins-If you are going through Hell (before the devil knows).  Life does seem like this a lot.  the link below takes you to CMT's videos where you can watch the video for this song, which is kind of funny.
 
If You Are Going Through Hell (Before The Devil Knows)

so here is a link for just the song if it is something that you like, as well as for the album.

song                                album

Sometimes life is really hard and other times it is not so bad. So you know what is really tough? Getting up at 2:30 to be at work by 3:30. Ya tell me about it. Then I am not done until 5pm. Yep 13 hour days. OK I only work 3 days a week, but that 2:30 is really hard on me, since my average time getting to bed is 10:30pm. Sometimes life is like that, really hard for a while and then if we work at making it better it will be better. So if you are having a hard time keep going it will be better.
Wes

Leaders have careers

Leaders have careers.  People who  are constantly enhancing their lives have careers rather than jobs.  Where as a job is something a person does specifically, a career is what a person pursuses as a lifework.

Harry Wong

So I was

My teacher thought I was smarter than I was;
so I was

Quoted from a six-year-old

Love more

There is no remedy to love,
but to love more.

Henry David Thoreau

There are times when you feel all alone. This past year has been really hard on my wife and I. I am a teacher and have not found a teaching job yet. Well I am sure all of us has had a real hard year or two. The thing that we have struggled with has been faith. Faith in God. There are three basic ways that He answers. Yes. No. Or yes, but not right now. A quote that I like is "You can't force spiritual things." I just keep reminding myself that I am one of Gods children and that he loves me, and somehow He will help us make it through.
Remember we are learning as we go through life.
Wes

Love is Life

Love is life...
And if you miss love,
You miss life.

Leo Buscaglia

5 significant concepts

There are 5 significant concepts that will help you achieve whatever you want in life.

1. Name
2. Please
3. Thank You
4. Smile
5. Love

Harry Wong

Journey of life

How a person behaves in the journey of life is directly related to what a person expects to happen in life.

Harry Wong

Sometimes life is like a bunch of middle school kids during the last week of school. Just plain crazy.
wes

True success is messured by how you treat the people in your life.
Unknown

Life isn't about us, it is about how we can help others
wes

Sometimes we bloom and freeze an then bloom again.
Just keep Growing.
wes

A foot among rocks

I got a digital camera for my birthday a few years back , and I love taking pictures with it.  One of the fun things about it is that when we take picture of the kids (they are still young 5 and 2) they want to look at the picture while we are taking it, and yes they are the picture.  Well that doesn't work very well, but it is fun anyway.   When my son figured out how to use the camera he was always getting it and taking pictures with it.  It would be pictures of the TV, toys in his room, the floor, his hand things like that.  Most of them were not pictures that you would want to keep.  Some of them were clear and others were, well no idea what they were. Well one day he got a hold of the camera and went out side with out us knowing it.  He was only like 3 years old when he did this.  Well it was a few days latter I think when we found the pictures that he has taken.  One of them I thought was great.  It was a picture of his foot, while he was standing on the rocks. 

Yes there are a lot of hard and complicated things in life, but life is full of simple things as well. Like your kids life's, their prayers, what is important to them.  What is for dinner. the beauty of the rain, flowers, grass.  there are to many things around us that really are simple.  Take a moment and look and ponder.

A simple moment to you.

Wes

It does grow back

Life's lessons come to us in all different formats and times.  I live in a place where it still can freeze up to Memorial Day, that is at the end of May. Yes is snowed a little here 2 days ago, no it didn't stay long but it snowed.  Today it has been raining and so did it yesterday.   Me and my wife took a little walk around the yard after it rained.  We stopped by our lilac bushes and looked at the flowers that were starting to bud.  It was beautiful.  Just a little bit of rain water was sitting in the buds.  I wish I had the picture that I took to show you. Very beautiful.   We also have strawberries and raspberries that we have been growing the past couple of years.  The strawberries seem to not really die (or hibernate, or whatever plants do during the winter) but the raspberries-well the stems look dead all winter long.  The first summer after winter, after we planted them, we cut them back because we thought that they were dead.  Well guess what they weren't.  We didn't know that until a couple of years later when we didn't get them cut back fast enough and they started to grow back.  Yea, we could have some real nice raspberry bushes right now.  Well life is like that some times. It could be with a lot of different opportunities, sometimes it does grow back.  An opportunity that we thought had passed could come around to us again.  someone that we thought we would never see, or hear from again we do. What ever it may be it could and sometimes does come back around to us again.

Happy living.

Wes

Life keeps coming at me no matter how hard I try to make it better.  Well I guess that is how life works.  It will always come.  No matter how hard I pray life is still going to hand out challenges and tasks that we need to try and over come..  For those of you who believe in God, some of what comes to us is from him, to help us become better, to learn and grow.  Other things we make mistakes and then in turn something happens and we start to struggle.  This can be really hard for us, partially because we thing that God doesn't care for us and wants us to struggle.  Well that is not true.  Just as you don't want your children to struggle,  god does not want us to struggle, but you just can't bail someone out when they need help.  sometimes there is that  learning time that needs to take place.  And isn't that what life is all about. Learning.

reality check

I got a reallity check from my wife the other day.  I was being weighed down by way to much stuff that I let get to me.  Yes there are a lot of things that need to be taken care of, which seem to make life hard.  But it is the way we take care of it and how we face the situation that will affect the out come, and even our attitudes going through whatever it is.
Rembember this

Life is 10% of what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it.
John Maxwell 

Have a happy day.

Wes

Yes life is hard, but you know what everyone is going through it at the same time. O.K. they may be going through something different, but it is just as hard for them as your troubles are for you. Really- life is great. Just slow down and look at one of your kids smile at you, or listen to them say a truly heart felt prayer. Go listen to the bird and the wind through the trees. We are here for a purpose and it is wonderful.

wes