45-50 year old women – screaming and swooning. We think we STILL love him!!
Monthly Archives: February 2008
Kissing Quotes for Valentine’s Day
"When I kiss you, I can taste your soul." Carrie Latet
"I wasn't kissing her. I was whispering in her mouth." Chico Marx
"A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous." Ingrid Bergman
"Aaaaauuurrggghhhhh! I've been kissed by a dog! I have dog germs! Get some hot water! Get some disinfectant! Get some iodine!" Lucy in Peanuts comic strip (Charles Scultz)
"The decision to kiss for the first time is the most crucial in any love story. It changes the relationship of two people much more strongly than even the final surrender; because this kiss already within it has that surrender." Emil Ludwig
"Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves." Albert Einstein
"The first time he kissed me, he but only kissed the fingers of this hand wherewith I write." Elizabeth Barret Browning
"What of soul was left, I wonder, when the kissing had to stop?" Robert Browning
XXXOOO
How I Spent My Summer Vacation – The Moslander Reunion
February 2008. I just found this in my waiting-to-be-finished blog drafts. I always have about 20 things "in progress" and since my parents were just here, it caught my eye. I know I am waaaaaaaaaaay late posting it, but here are a few rememberences of the hottest, most humid week ever at Big Lake State Park in northwest Missouri, but a wonderful time, nonetheless.
We are so grateful that the whole Ross & Norma Moslander family got to attend the reunion this past summer! The attenders were Ross the Boss, Mrs Moss and all the little Landers, the original 5: Jeanie, Joey, Timmy, Tami, and Danny, along with their spouses (also all "original! ha!) and the 15 grandchildren (plus the 3 "new" spouses so far) that we have given to them, AND 4 great-grandchildren! (the 5th was on the way in these pictures)
We laughed and cried and feasted and danced and swam and fished and paddled around on a little boat and ate and remembered and honored and shared and prayed and encouraged and ate some more and antiqued and sang and worshiped and got caught in a most awesome and fierce thunderstorm and played and ate again.
Joe's wife, my beautiful sister-in-law, Robin, made rich coffee and from-scratch cinnamon rolls early one morning for all of us grown women and led us in studying the Word together and praying for each other – the "older" women of the family praying with and encouraging the "younger." One night we all gathered in close to worship and pray together and Dad Moslander preached a little and Dave P. led us all in the most amazing and beautiful harmonies, if I do say so myself, just singing praise to God.
Our "party" night in the special events center to honor our parent's long marriage (50 golden years!) and ministry included lots of photo sharing and video and special music and twirling to romantic music before Aunt Tami brought out the funky stuff and showed us how to really get a groove on, while wearing my mother's rose-patterned wedding dress.
The days went too fast. It was a blessed time. How I adore all of these people.
Whether they are blood or by your choosing, I hope you will surround yourself with family and enjoy them all your days!…Jeanie
NOTE TO SELF: Stay in better touch like I promised I would. This is my family. This is my lifeblood.
Two Lives
My Aunt Diane (my mom's sister) died of a brain tumor a few days ago, only having known about it a few months. Today, on the day of her funeral, my husband's brother, Garry, a Vietnam vet, died, after battling pneumonia and bronchitus in his agent-orange-damaged lungs. They were both 60 and too young to die.
In the midst, we are celebrating the new life of our little Averi, fully aware of how fleeting, how quickly the years go.
Love is in the Air
I am singing this song a lot these days: How He Loves, lyrics by John Mark Mcmillan
He is jealous for me Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree Bending beneath the weight of His love and mercy When all of a sudden I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory And I realize just how beautiful You are And how great Your affections are for me * * * * * And oh, how He loves us so Oh how He loves us How He loves us so * * * * * Yeah, He loves us Oh, how He loves us Oh, how He loves us Oh, how He loves * * * * * We are His portion and He is our prize Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes If grace is an ocean, we're all sinking So heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss And the heart turns violently inside of my chest I don't have time to maintain these regrets When I think about the way He loves us, oh, how He loves us… * * * * *
Check this song out on youtube, Kim Walker leading, and stick with it to the end (it's a full 8 minutes and 49 seconds) for an amazing "love encounter." The girl can preach! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWnvBM40xxw
John 3:16 is the ultimate Valentine! He loves us…Jeanie
NOTE TO SELF: Quit maintaining regrets.
We have another granddaughter!
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It was a long labor, but Averi Jadyn Rhoades made a grand entrance for her happy parents, Rocky and Jovan, last night.
She arrived at 11 pm on February 3 (just one hour before her due date), weighing in at 7 pounds, 8 ounces and 20" long, with a generous amount of black hair and some extremely kissable cheeks – to a large assortment of cheering aunts and uncles and grandparents and cousins.
From a scripture Rocky adapted for his life when he was just 13 or 14: "Praise the LORD! [Hallelujah!] Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight [cherishing and relishing] in His commmands. His children will be mighty [robust, successful] in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed." Psalm 112. 1,2 NIV, with a bit of "amplification"
She is grand-baby number 5 for us and it just keeps getting better. I wholeheartedly recommend giving it a try!…Jeanie
NOTE TO SELF: Keep her name constant in prayer before the Lord.
pictured: Averi looking at her pretty mommy about an hour or so after her birth; the family first thing the next morming; Grandpa and Nonna with our little beauty
Take the Umbrella
Dave and Tara used a clip from “Minority Report,” with Tom Cruise as the scene that most reminded them of my dad, their ‘Grandpa Moslander,’ as we honored him on his birthday. It was when the girl with “the gift” of seeing the future (Agatha) was helping the Tom Cruise character (Jon) run from people who were trying to frame him for murder. She’d been kept in a semi-comatose state in a pool so she had no muscle tone as they were trying to escape and he was kind of dragging her along, attempting to look normal, as she told him what to do and when to do it.
As they entered a busy mall and passed a kiosk, she tells him, “Take the umbrella!” He was going forward quickly because he is running for his life, but then he hesitates and listens to her as she orders him again, “Take it!” He grabs it now hauling her body along on one side, clutching the umbrella.
As they are weaving throughout the shopping center with a veritable army on their heels, he learns to trust her “gift” even when it seems ludicrous. Once she has him just stop dead still and as he sees the “bad guys” approaching, she is telling him, “wait….wait…wait…” and of course, as he does, he is miraculously covered from their view buy a big bouquet of balloons as a little girl’s mom buys one from a mall clown for her.
When they finally exit the mall, seemingly surrounded and having been spotted by the agents who were attempting to frame him, they walk outside smack into rain and Jon (Tom Cruise) is amazed as understanding comes to him and he opens the umbrella to cover the two of them – among all the other people already covered from view by umbrellas. Ah – now we understand her command, “Take the umbrella!”
Dave and Tara were telling their grandpa, with commanding motion picture imagery, that they are thankful he followed the leading of the Holy Spirit and trusting God in his life even when it didn’t make sense and outward circumstances may have seemed to contradict the direction he received. We all teared up at the powerful scene depicting so beautifully, that spiritual premise: Trust God. Follow where he leads.
Is it any wonder I cannot get the song, “Umbrella” a haunting blue-grass song by the Isaacs, out of my mind? “Your love, like an umbrella, covers me…” I can’t quit singing it, can’t escape the symbolism and the impact it is having on me. (see them sing it on youtube)
On Friday I got the neatest card of encouragement from my sister, Tami, who lives oh-so-far-away in Kentucky, but is always in my heart. Here is what it said:
“THE FIELDS were parched and brown; the crops lay wilting from thirst. Local ministers called for an hour of PRAYER on the town square, asking everyone to bring an object of FAITH FOR INSPIRATION. The townspeople filled the square with anxious faces and HOPEFUL HEARTS, a variety of objects clutched in prayerful hands- holy books, crosses, rosaries. When the hour ended, as if on magical command, a SOFT RAIN began to fall. Cheers swept the crowd as they held their treasured objects high in GRATITUDE AND PRAISE. One faith symbol seemed to OVERSHADOW all the others: A 9-year-old child had brought an UMBRELLA.” *The Bible promises “showers of blessing.” The other night, right here in Denver as a light snow fell, there was thunder and lightening – a somewhat rare combination. Maybe it is God saying, “Take the umbrella – even though it’s winter – take it!”
I smell rain…Jeanie
NOTE TO SELF: Have faith in God.
*The words on the card were by Laverne W. Hall, adapted from Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul page 198