Friday, June 25, 2010

Sisters

I'm joining a sorority! Yes, at my age... it's the Bloggerette Sorority. We are a sisterhood of creative ladies.

This week our assignment is to use the picture on the blog button on the left in a creative way. I made a decorated basket, which I will show you further down in the post. But, first I wrote a poem:

Sisters we are...
Committed, all...
to follow Thee Creative Call.

I believe creativity is a God-given gift. He is the great Creator, after all. For many years, I have studied Proverbs, and I found this very interesting verse:

Proverbs 8:12 (King James Version)
I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions.

To me, "witty inventions" speaks of creativity. I've also heard it said that if we do not follow our creative call, God will find someone who is willing. How many times have you thought of doing something, and found out later that someone else had done it?

Okay, here's my creation(drum-roll please!):



(I wanted to use sepia tones for the photo, but couldn't figure out how to do it. If you know, please tell me in comments.)



And, another part of the assignment...
Here's a pic of me with my creation.
I'm glad Karen is encouraging us to band together as sisters to be creative and to support each other's creativity.

I also want to recommend a great book titled "The Creative Call" by my friend Janice Elsheimer. You will love it, Sisters!

Shalom Ya'll!

Saturday, June 12, 2010

All The Wrinkled Ladies

Have you seen it? Anita Renfroe's take-off on Beyonce's "All the Single Ladies"? Oh my goodness. I laughed so hard - because I so relate to it. Here's the video:



Leave it to Anita to make us laugh about our wrinkles. She always makes me laugh, and she always makes me think, too. Since I'll be turning the big "6-0" this year, I have to face facts..."Face Lift" facts. Like - I'm probably not going to ever get one, so I have to learn to love those wrinkles, right?

Back in the day when I sold Mary Kay, I used to tell the ladies (as they looked in their magnifying mirrors), "Don't worry honey. If your husband is that close to you, he's not thinking about your wrinkles!" And I'd tell them to use upward strokes for their skin care saying, "Ya'll know everything's going south, so you have to start early." Which reminds me. The other day I put on a belt and looked at myself in the mirror. Would you believe there was no space between the belt and my bosom? What's up with that?

Last weekend I went to a reunion of my high school graduating class, where we all celebrated our 60th Birthday. I walked in and thought who are all of these old people? I did not recognize anybody! The lady doing registration gave us name tags, but you couldn't see them without your glasses. (No one had on glasses, so I didn't wear mine either...well, not until I absolutely had to.) So, people were coming up to me saying, "Oh Gail, it's so good to see you!" I was so embarrassed because I didn't know who they were and couldn't read their name tags.

Another thing I noticed was that there were very few grey haired women there. One lovely friend (also named Gail) had beautiful grey hair just like Paula Deen's, which I aspired to emulate. Well, I am so glad I decided to color my hair before I went. Just three days before, I was as grey as a possum. Both of my daughters told me, "Mom, you need a makeover", so I finally agreed. You've heard of going grey over night? Well, I did just the opposite. I finally faced the fact that my hair would probably never look like Paula Deen's because my mother is 80 and is still salt & pepper grey.

So, there we were...all of us without our glasses (some probably had contacts) and our freshly colored hair. We were looking good! I especially admired one gal's color of red. It was just like I Love Lucy's. I admired her courage - and it looked great, too! I think I'll do that color next!

But boy, you could tell how old we were when the dancing started. The band (named Mid-Life Crisis, appropriately) was outstanding. When they played "Give Me Some Lovin", the dance floor was full. That was "the" song to dance to back in the late 60's.Well, by the next song,"You Say It's Your Birthday", the crowd had thinned out considerably, and gasping for air was heard all around. I really related to that line in Anita's song, "thought I'd do a dip, but don't wanna bust a hip!" By 9:00 PM, most of the old folks had gone home to get ready for bed. Trust me, I was ready, but determined to stay till 10:00, I persevered.

We had a really, really good time. Jem and I danced almost every dance. As a matter of fact, Jem danced every dance. There was always a wrinkled, single lady ready to be his dance partner (and sometimes multiples). One friend said my rabbi husband was so much fun, that she thought she might become Jewish! He's always the life of the party, and I am one lucky gal, I tell you! After a two hour drive home that night, by the next morning, we were in bad shape, believe me. While that song, "Give Me Some Lovin'" was running through my mind, I didn't mention it.

Hey, like my daughter, Melissa, said, "You're not dead yet!" That's exactly right. I'm at peace with my wrinkles, my grey hair (underneath the dye), my bi-focals, my poochy stomach, lumpy thighs, and all that. I keep telling myself, "Self, you are not getting older, you are getting better!" Most days I believe it! Others, not so much.

Like one of my 80 year old friends said, "Getting old is not for sissies!" Well, there's only one alternative, honey, so we've got to make the best of it, right?

I'm thankful G-d has let me live this long. I've had a good life so far, and I'm very happy and content. My husband tells me I get more beautiful every day and I believe him. I feel the same way about "all the wrinkled ladies" at the Lee High 60th Birthday Party Reunion. Every one of them looked beautiful...wrinkles and all! (Especially to me, 'cause I didn't have my glasses on!)

Here we are - and I think we all look really good for 60 year old ladies!!! Don't you?



Writing prompt from Mama Kat’s Writers Workshop: A Happy Reunion

Thursday, June 3, 2010

The Upper Room

I am so excited! This week I received my copy of the July/August 2010 issue of Upper Room magazine. My article appears on page 48, and my photo is on the back cover. The article will also be online at www.upperroom.org/devotional on Saturday, August 10.

My prayer has always been to help people understand and draw closer to God through my writing. It is both exciting and humbling to know that people all over the world will be reading this story.

Writing for Upper Room is not easy because the articles are translated into over thirty languages. One must be very careful not to use phrases, words, and ideas that do not relate to those in other countries. For instance, in the first draft of one of my articles, I mentioned "snow-birds", referring to northerners who come to Florida in the winter. The editor said I must rewrite the article, removing those references, because people in other countries would not understand what a "snow-bird" is. Interesting, huh?

The writing for Upper Room must also be very tight. Every word on the page must total no more than 250 words. Believe me, I worked hard for that money. It feels good to reach this milestone, and I feel renewed excitement about working toward my other writing goals.

So, if you subscribe to Upper Room, look for my story, and let me know what you think. I hope you will be blessed and helped.