Tag Archives: tristan kelley

Happy Birthday, Tristan Kelley!

1 Christ is All, 2 Mi Familia, 3 Celebrations & Festive Events, Stuff I Actually Think, ,

Happy Birthday to our first-ever son-in-law, {world-renowned drumming sensation}, the father of three of THE most amazing grandbebes in the world and handsome husband to our Stephanie!

tristan kelley dancing with his little girlHappy Birthday, Tristan. I love this photo (above). It’s one of my favorites ever of you (from Ryan and Tredessa’s wedding) because of what it says about who you are and how Guinivere is looking at you.

She is looking at her protector, her daddy, the first love of her life. She is looking at her place of safety and her guide in this journey, a man who will make sure she is cared for and fed, tucked in safely and has the freedom to live and love and make mistakes and learn.

It was a moment in time, a celebratory dance at a wedding, yes. But it was also a little girl who knows, really knows deep down, that she is seeing a man who is steady in his character, reliable in his love towards her and sacrificial in his living – making sure his family is covered.

She sees the one leading their dance and she sees a humble man whose strength is not loud and cocky, but whose giftings and abilities are exploding like fireworks, expanding, getting noticed and opening doors.  But in spite of his talents and notoriety, he will always be right there, close – twirling his little girl, loving his wife into deep beauty, fathering his children with dignity and respect.

That’s what I see when I look at that picture. I see what she sees.

tristankelleydotcom

www.tristankelley.com

And I also know, without looking at it, that you were a gift to our family and we still receive you as such. I know that you were the perfect man for Stephanie. I know that you are simply better than most of the men on the planet and your strength is rooted in love:: unshakeable, devoted, focused, whole and holy, and on-purpose love.

Thank-you for loving Stephanie like you do. Your love lights her up. Thank-you for having three children that simply thrill us and for trusting our time with them, our impact on their lives. Thank-you for accepting who we are and what we bring and honoring us there and for letting us be your “in-laws.” Because we know getting Stephanie was the goal, but **surprise** …she came with a bunch of us. Haha! And you have been a honoring son-in-love and we are so grateful. We are SO thankful you live close and loan us the grandbebes. Oh, how they have expanded out hearts! You GET POINTS for this! :)

Thanks to Cherie and Larry Kelley for the honor of getting to enjoy life and family with their son!

Larry & Cherie came for a visit this summer. It was so good to see them. Here they are with our mutual grands:

tristan's parents summer 2014

Thanks to Stephanie for marrying so well! We knew we raised her right! :)

tristan and family

Thanks to the many fans who love Tristan’s drumming for seeing a little of what we see!

You’ve proven to have good taste!

See the MY PLAYING part of his website {{HERE}} for lots more samples. Or check out http://instagram.com/tristankelley

tristan kelley instagram

And thanks be to God for creating Tristan Kelley in the first place.

Much elation*jubilation*happy-dancing*applause here! Let the festivities continue!

And so I’d like to write a blessing, a decree for you, over you. And here is how I pray heaven’s blessing on you:

That you’ll always have enough:: enough resources to live well and bless others, enough time to accomplish all the things that interest you, and enough courage to raise those three children in troubled times. And may those children be the strongest, healthiest and most thoughtful people ever, leaders who change the landscape and bring peace and joy.

I pray your clients and students will receive everything possible thing from you freely, and that you are enriched by them, too. I bless you with the knowledge you need to impart and for you to be re-filled and fulfilled with all the goodness you have poured out (in business, in teaching) coming back to you!

I pray your family increases in love and that you walk in peace and rest on every side, but that when hard times come, you’ll be fierce and unflappable and know that you are strong enough, courageous enough and worthy of the respect so many of us carry for you (but none more than your Creator).

I bless the day you were born and the celebration of it. And I bless all your days to come. May they be amazing in every possible way!

We are so thankful for you. We love you so much. Happy Birthday (a day late). We are celebrating and rejoicing and grateful we know you and get to say you’re one of ours!  {mom}

 

Wheels of Love Go ‘Round*

2 Mi Familia, Stuff I Actually Think, , , , , , , , , , ,

Mi Familia…

Happy 57th Anniversary, Mom and Dad

Wheels of love go ’round
Love go ’round
Love go ’round
A joyful sound*

ross and norma moslander august 2014

Ross and Norma Moslander (also known as my mamala and pappasan), married August 24, 1957. They are my parents, the two people I adore and most admire in the universe. Like most kids, I suppose, there were so many things I was going to do differently as a parent. Then I didn’t. Or I did and found out their way was better, anyway. They are both amazing and flawed, both extraordinary and just plain human. But their trajectory has always been headed towards heaven, walking with Jesus, being guided by the Holy Spirit and the closer they get to their goal, the more perfect they become.

My mom thanks me each Mother’s Day and on my birthday for making her a mommy – everything she had ever wanted. I love them! And I’m so blessed to have them as mine!

He ain’t got a penny 
For Cotton Jenny to spend
But then
Wheels go ’round*

Another grandbebe is on the way!

eva 8 months plus sibling announcement

That’s right: you heard me. GRANDbebe #10 is due at the end of February 2015. He or she will be Tredessa and Ryan’s second child. Eight-month-old, Evangeline Lilly made the announcement at church wearing a shirt that said, “Only Child, expires February 2015.”

eva's announcement 1

Singing through the Decades

Tara (my firstborn) and her husband Dave are back with a concert follow-up to the wildly successful, sold-out show they did for Valentine’s Day at the Mad Cap Theater in Westminster.

This concert is called Decades, where, rumor has it, they will sing some of the best love songs from various , you guessed it, decades in the past. They are pulling out some of my favorites and I don’t know if I am suppose to tell, but one is a very sexy version of “Let’s Stay Together,” and **maybe-maybe-maybe** even “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” one of my mom’s all-time fav songs (she wants me to make a video of pictures of my dad and add that song as a soundtrack – how cute is that???).

dave and tara powers decades concert poster

Anyway – the concert is at the historic Armory Center for Performing Arts up north and you can get tickets at  dtp.eventbrite.com. It WILL be sold out, so buy early. I get a pass ‘cuz I am their mom! :)

Rocky @Rez.org & other places

rocky rhoades big tent revival

Rocky just started a new phase of life and ministry at Resurrection Fellowship in Loveland. He’ll be leading worship a couple of weekends a month and engineering sound in a super-cool exposed brick office with a full-blown recording set-up. He is a little bit in heaven.

He just got back from The Big Tent Revival in Butte, MT where he led worship and just a day before  that from a Rez trip to Lake Providence, Louisiana where they were raising money for a ball field there and he was thrilled to get to meet Uncle Si and some other Duck-Dynasty family. This was an explanation of the event CLICK HERE. I think there were follow-up news stories, but I live in Colorado, people.

rocky rhoades at the big tent revival butte, mt

Image from The Big Tent Revival, Photographer Tom Curry, copyrighted

Jovan is going to home school Averi this year as they transition, prepare to sell their house and move to Loveland (which, while only 45 miles from us, will still make them seem quite a ways away compared to now, which has been 15 miles). They are having an exciting year.

Stormie was at The Big Tent Revival, too

Crazy girl plays bass and sings. She uses her vacation time to travel wherever she is invited to glorify God. We like her very much!

stormie rhoades at big tent revival butte, mt

Image from The Big Tent Revival, Photographer Tom Curry, copyrighted

You have been following Beat a Day, haven’t you? You haven’t??? What?!

Stephanie and Tristan are movers and shakers and are always doing something new that wows all of us. And they are both wildly popular on Instagram. Is that such a mom thing to say? It is! :) But it is still true! Steph is an extraordinary photo stylist, see here.

stephanie_may on instagram

Tristan started posting a 15-second “Beat a Day” drum vids to Instagram {he is the BEST drummer in the world}} and everybody is talking about it! You MUST check it out!  :)  You totally have to watch the 100th beat that has exactly 100 hots played at  100 beats per minute! So cool! Also lots of beats at TristanKelley.com

So-this is just a little bit of what is happening with my people around here –

All the result of Ross and Norma saying I do 57 years ago this week!

*”Wheels of love go ’round” are lyrics from the song, “Cotton Jenny” written by Gordon Lightfoot. But it was the first song I ever heard by Anne Murray. I was 12. I loved her low voice and I still sing this song around the house! A lot!

 

Happy Father’s Day, A. Ross Moslander

2 Mi Familia, Stuff I Actually Think, , , , , , ,

I am not suppose to tell you

That his name is Alva Ross, pronounced “Al’ vee Ross” and now that I have let the cat out of the bag, I must ask for your total cooperation in never mentioning it to him.

Jeanie and her dad

I was almost 2. He was 22. Des Moines, 1961

My dad was named for a dad he never knew, a very young man tragically killed in a car accident when my dad’s mom was 6 months pregnant (and 2 little girls at home). He was born into adversity.

We struggled to know each other, understand each other during the years of his workaholism, perfectionism…then mine {we end up being what we judge, people} and I regret the time lost, but I truly treasure him as a close friend and mentor now. I admire him for being 75 and still crying out to God to transform him, lead him, guide him. I plan to be like him in that, too.  And mostly, I am loving the restoration of the years the enemy tries to steal as I am learning to be his daughter, his little girl,  and he is learning to be my daddy.

1961 before joe was born

On relationships: It s good to pursue the great gifts God intended because He is able to rewrite the whole story, even if it gets interrupted or broken by enemy tactics {or our own stupidity}.  Dads and daughters (dads and sons, too) have much to share on the journey toward being whole and holy. Writing it off would have been such a loss.

mine

I arrived for a visit so late my dad didn’t see me until breakfast, at which time his first words were, “Jeanie – why is your hair so dark?” Haha. Dads. Gotta love ’em.

I love my dad!

“God rewrote the text of my life
when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.”  Psalm 18.24 The Message

Then there is Dave {the father of my children}

Happy Father’s Day to the man I entrusted with our 5 incredible children. You were born to be a daddy and even though you’ll be the first to say you didn’t do everything right, I can attest that you tried. And I can vouch for the times you re-adjusted your sails and changed your mind and your tactics and that you are still looking for ways to bless and father our bunch.

Fathers Day 1987b

And I hope the kids all know those morning blessings are not just idle words, they are deeply meant, spoken with the authority of a God-appointed and anointed dad and he means business. Please don’t ever take that lightly. You should say everyday, “I receive my dad’s blessing spoken over my life today.” You cannot go wrong receiving what he still has to offer, even though you are grown. And if you need to know how much he really loves you, let’s talk!

And Happy Father’s Day to Tristan, DP, Rocky and Ryan!

You are the daddies God chose to raise our grand-est loves, the 9 for whom our hearts pound with furious love and devotion.

But they are yours, these nine grandbebes, your heritage, the fruit of your love and marriage. And we are in 100% agreement that God has given these children good, really good daddies.

daddies

You are all men to be admired and I wish all children could be fathered through this life as well. Thank-you for being the courageous men you are and for carefully and intentionally raising, disciplining, teaching, playing, understanding and covering with love these granchildren we know and the ones to come.

My grandchildren are blessed, so blessed.

Happy Father’s Day to all the men who have loved a child enough to keep trying even when it wasn’t easy.

There aren’t enough good examples out there. Hope you had one or got to be one. And remember~

It’s never too late to be the family God meant for you to be.

So keep on fathering.

Tristan and The Thought Process

5 Songs I am Singing, 9 TV & Movies/Books & Entertainment, Stuff I Actually Think, , , , , ,

This is so cool!

Tristan (world’s greatest drummer) recently went in to the recording studio with his friend, Sean Blancherd, and some other guys and here is what I know from the website:

The Thought Process:

Sean Blanchard – Bass

Tristan Kelley – Drums

Brer Rabbit – Vox

Special Guest:

Jon Wirtz – Keys

The Thought Process started as just that, a thought that bassist Sean Blanchard has had over the past few years while playing and touring with some other amazing artists. “What would it sound like if certain styles of music were mixed over the bass grooves that were filling up my computer?” The two styles that kept coming into play, hip hop and jazz. Thus, The Thought Process was born.

Groove oriented story telling, melodies, in the pocket drum and bass, with an intellectual vocal vibe.credits

released 25 October 2011

Available for immediate download today.

I am so {obviously} not the hip-hop demographic, but I wholly love good lyric and jazz just folds me in, melts me a little.

Plus?  So proud of Tristan!

In other music and the arts news…

Dave and Tara have a single or two coming out soon, as well!  We have been waaaaaaaaiting for this!

One of my all-time favorite songs, “A Million Stars” is going to be such a blessing to you!!  It is to me.

And – my best friend and full-time lover [Dave Rhoades, of course], is debuting in Prairie Playhouses’ “Is He Dead?” A New Mark Twain Comedy.

There are 4 performances scheduled in Oct. and Nov.  Opening night is Friday!  So cultured, aren’t we?  ;)  http://www.prairieplayhouse.com/productions/ishedead Hope to see you there (The Brighton Armory).

I love the arts.   I love my {talented} family and God has surrounded me with light and color and melody and song.  The hills are alive with the sound of music….

Congratulations on the very awesome release today, Tristan!

Happy Birthday to the Man of the Kelley House

2 Mi Familia, 3 Celebrations & Festive Events, Stuff I Actually Think, ,

Son.in.Law

Our very first son-in-law just drummed his way right into our hearts and and still keeps the beat, all these 10 years later, to the soundtrack that is our family-life.

Wow, we got spoiled.  We lucked out.  We got blessed.  We couldn’t have done it better if we’d spent years and years auditioning candidates.  God just knew.  He knew what we needed.  He knew what was missing for us, for you, too.  And He put you in our family, where you are looked up to as the big brother, the musical genius, the technological wizard, the guy who knows everything we need to find something out about.   Ask Tristan.  You’re like our very own, personal search engine.  AskTristanDotCom.  *smile

Happy Birthday to a man we are so grateful to call son, a man who loves our daughter and is raising three of the most amazing little kids ever.  You were born to be a part of us.  We are blessed.  Yes, happy-happy birthday, Tris!

That you are a good man, one for which we can thank God everyday, is evidenced by Stephanie’s success and deepening beauty.  That you are a trustworthy and righteous man is proven by the honoring and great-hearted children you are raising, so loved and so loving, each distinctively developing their own joy-bringing personalities.  Your family, Steph and the kids, look at you in a way that says: Tristan is in his element, right where God created him to be.

We so appreciate and admire your bravery and courageousness in providing for your family creatively.  We applaud the sacrifices you’ve made for the greater good and commend you for good choices in hard times.  Yours is a colorful, thriving, gorgeous family.  All you are doing right – shows.

Your parents got you at birth.  You are their son, the best of the best, the great product of the heritage they have given you.  But then God knew what we Rhoadeses would need.  And He sent you our way as a gift.  And that was a blessing for us.  So we celebrate your birth.  And we thank your parents for the way they raised you.  And we thank God for showing us His favor in this way.

Here is my birthday card for you, Tristan.  It’s a little of what I see and what makes me thank God for you.  Much love.  ~ The m-i-l.

Tristan + Mozart + Arnold + Hills that are Alive = {what country?}

1 Christ is All, 2 Mi Familia, 4 Home & Garden/Food & Seasons, 5 Songs I am Singing, 9 TV & Movies/Books & Entertainment, Stuff I Actually Think, , , , , , , , ,

Tristan went to Austria to play drums for a missions worship team recently.

Austria has chocolate and really good pastry (and tafelspitz, and germkenodel). and is where Arnold Schwarzenegger came from.  Julie Andrews made their hills famous as she twirled and sang.  Lots o’ composers were from this little nation (Mozart, Beethoven, Strauss, Brahms and more).  It is mainly Catholic, but mostly in a traditional, religious way.  And it is a great mission field.

 

Tris and the worship team take on the castle.

Got to see pictures and hear his experience last night.  The missionaries throw country music into the worship set list because people are drawn to that.  A little Keith Urban here, a little Brad Paisley there.  But they did not “get” Brad’s song, “I’m Gonna Miss Her,” about a guy whose wife gives him  an ultimatum.  They thought they were misunderstanding the translation and asked, “Why would a man choose fishing over his wife?”  Perplexed, they were.  

 

And it turns out they are NOT fans of “The Sound of Music.”  Tris said they find it campy and believe it paints them in a bad light, to which my husband speculated sarcastically, “You mean because they sided with the Germans?!”    Never-mind him, Tris.  You went.  You played.  You ministered!

And everytime one of Tristan’s photos did show some beautiful hills, it was hard for me not to break into song.  They did get that right!

 

I doubt this Austrian street drummer knew he was no match for our Tristan.  Ahem.

When my kids go, I stay and pray.  My honor to do so, to share my kiddos with the nations!  And  Tristan is wonderful.  He brought us Mozart’s Balls (chocolate truffles, people) from the land of “singing hills” and coffee, too.  Yum! 

  

Stormie got baking chocolate.  Mmmm…what loveliness awaits us this holiday season, I wonder?  NOTE:  Careers with McDonalds are available there, it seems.

Wanna hear some awesome Holy-Spirit-anointed drumming by Tristan Kelley?  Right HERE!  Click on “Freedom” (also down-loadable) for 34 minutes of his playing with scriptures on the topic read by Pastor Lewis Brown and Lewis Brown Junior (Proxy).  Very cool!

In other family-missionary travels news…

Mary Jean just returned from 6 weeks Scotland, England, Estonia, and Norway~

That woman travels and teaches!  AND she brought me ART!  A signed and numbered piece called Heart Garden in a series of paintings about the heart (from Proverbs 4.23)…isn’t it beautiful?   There is actually so much to look at in all the details!

Check out the website by clicking here!  You’ll find English translations by scrolling on down.

Tristan is a Treasure!

2 Mi Familia, 3 Celebrations & Festive Events, Stuff I Actually Think,

HAPPY-BIRTHDAY TO A SON-IN-LAW WE COULD NOT LIVE WITHOUT!

 

I don’t need a whole lot of money

But I wouldn’t turn a lottery down…

All I want is a place to lay my head with the woman I love lyin’ in my bed  {editor’s note: we all want to know if, just for your birthday, at least, she let you try sleeping on the other side of the bed!!??  haha!}

Almost 9 years ago you married our multi-prismed, colorful, feisty, yet tender Stephanie.  What a gentle treasure she’d found.  What a trustworthy man, fit to hold her heart and walk along in life with her, covering her.  We were so pleased then and have not ever for one second had any regret or fear about whether or not she’d done the right thing…even though you forgot to ask permission first{we really do forgive you!  haha}.  And you became our son.  A new son – all grown up and finished (thank you Larry and Chyrl Kelley: GREAT job.  Truly!  If only we’d known we may have sent you a few others… ;p ). 

My dreams aren’t that complicated…

I wanna be the one

When all is said and done

Who lived a good life, loved a good wife, and always helped someone in trouble

 

So, here you were: this new son from different parents, whisking our daughter off to “happily ever after” and being saddled with the burden of helping us become IN-LAWS!  What a load to have to carry – especially when we were such novices and have done it all wrong a  million or more times, I am sure.  Yet, you have always shown us honor and been a man of peace in this family.  You have thrown yourself into the life of our zaniness and odd traditions and trusted us with your babies, who, by the way, are tributes and testaments to the people you and Steph are.  They are the fruit of the life of creativity and love you have chosen to live.  They represent you well even when you are not around to hear it and see it.  The sum of  the three speaks volumes of you and Stephanie and your oneness.

On the day they lay me down

I want everyone to gather ‘round

And say he was a father, brother, neighbour and a friend

He was a good man!

Tristan is Cool

And 30!  THIRTY!  Thirty years old.  Omygoodness!  But you still look 23 with the wisdom of a man in his 70s…not sure what that means?  Haha.

 

We each had to draw one part of Tris (picked from a selection in a bowl) and see what the collective came up with.  Uh-huh.  Rocky accused me of drawing “big, old eyes staring at you!”

 

I used to dream of being a rock star

And seein’ the world in style

Used to dream of havin’ a fast car

And driving that miracle mile

But I’ve heard tales those streets aren’t paved in gold

They’re full of pot holes and empty soul who never learn

Love is something you gotta earn

 

Specialty root beers and cream sodas for the b-day boy.

LOVED celebrating your life the other night (read more about that here).  It WAS a very cool party for a very cool guy: all wood-grainy (I hope that doesn’t take my house-paint off) and red; all full of Tris-triv and drawing you the way we apparently see you.  And it was just such a perfect evening and such a blessing for me personally to sit under the stars by candlelight and just honor some one I truly love and admire so much.

Happy Birthday, kiddo

   

I wanna be the one

When all is said and done

Who lived a good life, loved a good wife, and always helped someone in trouble

When I’m gone, I wanna leave a legacy

Of love and laughs and honesty behind me

Behind me…

You ARE a Rock Star, Tristan!

You ARE a great daddy and husband.  You love Steph well.  You are a wonderful brother to the rest of the kids and a blessing of a son to us.  You’re a reliable friend and resourceful helper.  You know everything I ever need to know about anything and I appreciate your willingness to teach me all of it.  Your music students love you.  Anyone with whom you have ever played drums or guitar live or in recordings know you are the BEST and as quiet and unassuming as you are, you have managed to amass fans all over the place.  I am so pleased you were born to be one of us.

 

I wanna be the one when all is said and done

Who lived a good life, loved a good wife, and always helped someone in trouble

On the day they lay me down, want everyone to gather ‘round

And say he was a father, brother, neighbour and a friend

He was a good man…

You are a good man.  Happy Birthday, Tristan!…mom

LYRICS:  “A Good Man” by Emerson Drive…yea, it is kind of a cowboy country song (and you, Tris, are anything but country or cowboy!), but I liked it, anyway.

CHECK THIS OUT!

Tristan recently did an all-drum and the Word project with www.getthewordout.cc  Go to that site, click on downloads and look for the downloadable FREEDOM recording.  It was done LIVE all in one take.  It is Tristan playing drums under the anointing and Lewis Brown Sr. and Lewis Jr. (Proxy the Hip-Hop artist) reading scriptures on the topic of freedom!  So PROUD of you, Tris!  VERY POWERFUL!

My 800th Blog Post! That’s EIGHT-HUNDRED!!!

6 Looking Back // Memories!, Stuff I Actually Think, , , , , , ,

Why I write~

Do-overs, of course!  That is why I write and why I blog.  And to inspire, to rant, to rage and to whine unabashedly.  I blog to encourage and confess, to get comments (yes, I want comments) and be snippy-if-I-wanna.

I blog to be up close and personal and tell you how adorable my grandbebes are.  I like to write about the people I love and write to the people I love.  Sometimes I’m mushy.  Sometimes I am lamenting and sometimes I have to apologize – publicly!  I get to vent, I get to express my incredible opinions, and I get to gripe if I feel like it.

I hope I have made your mouth water with my food posts and infused you with passion or zeal on some amazing topic or another along the way.  I mean, after reading Thought Collage, are you anxious to be a grandparent?  Do you want to go in deeper in worship?  Are you in love with the Word?  Do you feel better about your life because I publicly self-deprecate and tell on myself?  I hope.  I hope.  I hope!

I am so grateful for those who wade through the meaningless drivel because they know I have the occasional day of inspired, grapho-epiphanic clarity {you KNOW I made that phrase up, don’t you?} which, I am just certain, causes the angelic choirs to break out into song and lives are changed forever for it.  Yeah.  Those are few and far between.  But they happen.  Wait for it!

And, finally,  I write because I love the words.  Not just any words.  The exact words that will capture what it is I really want to say.  When, oh, when will I actually find those?….

I love blogging~

{Source} 

Stormie asked me what witty banter I would have for my 800th blog post?  Could she have been mocking me?  Naaaaw…surely not.

I recently saw that people on Youtube do “vlogs!”  And I was like {lightbulb moment} Vlogs?  You can do that?  Hmmmmm….

Gratefulness

Thank-you to Tristan, the s-i-l, who got me up and running here at www.jeanierhoades.com on Novemeber 29, 2006.  Where would all these words have gone otherwise?  Thank-you for letting me say them and giving me a safe place to keep them!

A Portion of Thyself

2 Mi Familia, 6 Looking Back // Memories!, 7 Keep Christmas, Stuff I Actually Think, , ,

“The only gift is a portion of thyself.”

True. I believe this.

Although I am very fond of my vintage orange kitchen accessories from Steph and fam (plus an all-new blog design!).  And my new work-out pants have revved up my power-walking.  I adore the o-so-flattering jeans Stormie bought me: they fit!…did my legs just get longer?  Did I just get a needed lift? And DP and Tara and the I-POD Touch…omygoodness.  Just waiting for my life’s best song list to get to 7000 or so (well on my way).

Rocky and Jovanie know I need my medium-rare steak and plenty of it.  Off to The Outback I shall go, several times (plus the “Jeanie green” coffee cup?  Lovin’ it!)!  Tre Tre is going to do a photo shoot for me – of anything or anyone I want!  It will be a shoot of my kids and grandkids, of course ~ what else??

Little brother, Joe sent me a book on how to talk southern (they do have their own way) that was a family fav in the 70’s and a 2-set LP by The Rambos, THE Moslander-family music-of-my-life.  My husband loaded me up with clothes and all the things he knows I love and like to have on hand…

I got showered with lots of great, thoughtful, sweet, beautiful gifts for Christmas.  There was way more than I deserved, but I sure love it all.

But really?  It is when I have been blessed with something of the giver, a portion of their heart ~ in thoughtfulness, sweet words, a shared secret, a common memory,  treasured moments and especially their time – that I know I have been gifted beyond my ability to ever repay or comprehend.   To receive something that reveals a part of another person’s heart to me is the greatest gift I could ever hope for. 

Thank-you to all of you who share yourselves with me (your dreams, your fears, your hopes and love…and just ~ you).  My heart is enlarged in the receiving.  And I am…gifted.  Grateful.