Class Reunions - Love Them, or Hate Them

Well, I have been out of high school since 1968 and after avoiding the reunions for years I am getting brave and will be attending mine this summer.  It's funny because I haven't been afraid to see some people, or upset because some that I would love to see won't come, or are gone.  So why has it taken so long to even want to go again?  For me it is a lot about who I am now and a great deal about who I was then.  I was always trying to fit in, and though I may have seemed unafraid to many I knew - I wasn't.  In fact it has taken me many years to gain that confidence I pretended to have back then.  (I mean I did so much - drama, talent show, and just put myself out there!)

Confidence comes from a secure knowledge that you are loved and cared for, and I know I'm not alone when I say I know I wasn't.  But life has changed and I have grown stronger and in many ways more curious about what those around me during those hard times in high school were really like.  I am going to the reunion this year.  Not because I am unafraid, but more because I want to know some of those people now.  (I already know one and want to know her better!!  :-)

Back...Kind Of!

After weeks of trying to get back so I can visit and comment on friends blogs I am hopefully back to blogger.  Four weeks ago it froze me out and and I have changed passwords and SO MUCH more I hope I am back to visit the blogs I follow and enjoy writings too.  I didn't disappear - but I sure felt like I did!

We have a new Bishop in West Michigan

As of Saturday, we have a new elected Bishop here for the Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan.  We've been going through the process for quite a while.  The numbers were down to three - and then the Canon for the Ordinary here decided to throw his hat in the ring too so we were up to four.The votes unfolded Saturday afternoon and as we saw it unfold it was down to two.  (Our priest, and the Rev. Whayne M Hougland, Jr. from St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Salisbury, North Carolina.)

If all the  Bishops agree to our choice of Rev. Whayne M Hougland, Jr. we will consecrate him on the 28th of September.  Most of us had those last two as choices and are thankful that the process is finally over.  Thanks be to God!

I'm in An Irish State of Mind

It's past St. Paddy's Day, but with to coming spring and a lack of green but lots of sunshine I have been craving almost anything green!  And honestly, as many places I've seen decked out in Spring green none does it as wonderfully as Ireland.  The main reason is the multitude of greens that come with the climate that is spring in the land of St. Patrick and shamrocks.

Ireland has been known for it's love of people, its history, and of course it's music but it is also know for the intense greens that permeates any scene or picture you see of this lovely country. But it not simply the green of that makes the Irish special but the MANY shades that we think of if Ireland comes to mind, but the multitudes of the color that comes to mind when envisioning this fabulous nation!  After all Ireland is truly known for its forty shades of green because of the song by Johnny Cash, but long before the song the land of almost constant misty rain was know as the Emerald Isle.  Personally I feel there are at many thousands of shades rather than a mere forty shades of the fabulous color green there and the Irish are certainly known for the wearing of the national color in celebration of the good saint in the month of March.  But for me the landscape is an important part symbol of this fabulous land.

So when you contemplate the land of greens, remember that the colors and many shades that inhabit the heart and soul of the country stand for more than spring as it does also here in our home.

It stands for hope in all its shades as well.





And whether it is be a wet spring green,
or a vibrant emerald green that reminds
you of the Isle of Green, it is fabulous to
see and feel it where ever you are in the spring time.

 Have a grand spring!!!