Upstairs, on the desk in my office was a DVD loaded with pictures of my Dad. It had been in the same spot for weeks, sitting there beckoning to me. I did just what I used to do as a little girl when my parents would call me away from playing...I ignored it. Somehow in the arranging and re-arranging of the stacks on my desk it kept resurfacing. So much for my avoidance strategy. It just seemed too soon and I knew it would hurt to see Dad's face. But one afternoon last week, the braver part of me grabbed the disc and slipped it into the DVD player.

Guess what? It did hurt. I cried like Dad had just died that day. But it was a good hurt. I'd been avoiding the potential strength of a hurt that might crush me. Instead, I was surprised with a hurt that relieved me. How strange is that? I believe what I experienced was an outpouring of God's grace. Grace that promises to be sufficient and timely.

I'm tucking that moment away in my mind. I might need to pull it out someday when I am wondering if God really cares.

Recently, I received this email from a friend. ""You haven't been blogging." Point taken!

I'm still easing in from being away for two months and processing some rather significant changes in my life. Aren't those excellent excuses? Honestly, I am not sure how to begin again. Hmm, guess I just did...

Perhaps, since my dad is still on my mind so often, a few words he wrote years ago might get the ball rolling...

Smile...Laugh...Roar
"You smile when you think of something funny. You laugh when you hear something funny. And you roar when you are a part of the fun.

A smile changes a part of your face. A laugh changes all of the face, and a roar moves the entire body!

Smile lines are soft and gentle around the mouth...laugh lines are more pronounced and around the eyes causing what are called "laughing eyes". Roaring lines are all over the body...this is how aerobics started.

Smiling is an art form...there are thin smiles...fat smiles...short smiles...long smiles...toothy smiles...tonsil smiles. There there is the happy smile as in, "let a smile be your umbrella". Then there are sad smiles as in, "smile though your heart is breaking". There is the haunting smile of Mona Lisa and the most precious of all...a baby's first smile.

A beautiful smile is a great money maker...ask any dentist. Any doctor will tell you that a smile will relax the facial muscles unless it is a fixed smile which can become frightening!

Smile awhile...grin and bear it...laugh a little and share it."

Sigmund J. Was

I hope these thoughts bring a smile to your face. They do to mine each and every time I read them.