Chapter 2

When we arrived to the terminal, we walked in and must have looked like we were looking for a bathroom. The ladies all said, "The bathrooms are outside, there are none in here." Now, if you know anything about me, you know, when I gotta go, it's usually already too late. But, we made it. When we returned to the inside, I said to Kathy,
     "Oh, man, do my feet hurt." and a gentleman from the cruise line who must have been walking by at just that second said, "Do you need a chair?" I assured him I did not. But, I did have some pretty nice blisters on my feet from our short little walk to the ship. (Now, to be clear about this, Kathy did not support any of my misdirections. She objected the whole time. I take full responsibility!)

We stopped to take a picture at the KLOVE sign and some nice people from Prescott, AZ were there ready to take ours in exchange for us taking theirs. Dene and Lori soon became our first set of cruise friends. (Dene told us to smile for the picture...only Donahue descendents can master that smile of ours, one that doesn't look like we are smiling!) Dene and Lori told us that they had been on a waiting list for the cruise and had only found out in December that they were going. They will be married one year in March, so this was their anniversary celebration. Dene was a cancer survivor. Lori loved my hair.

We were season crusiers by this trip so we expected to be put in a cattle chute and pushed toward the check in. However, Miami has updated their procedure and we were immediately at the check-in. We then proceed to security and then we were in. This is getting so exciting!!

I had decided not to take my big camera with me this year. It gets bulky and heavy. I may change that plan for next year. I kind of missed some good photo ops. But, Kathy will have some great shots I can share later.

This is looking down from deck 11

Since we were old pros at this, first stop, the Windjammer. Some may call this a buffet or maybe even a feeding trough. But we knew that needed to be our first stop. We grabbed lunch and while in line we ran into Ken and Christine. Christine was not a familiar face, but Ken was, he was the person I cut in front of on a dare last year while we were in the cattle chutes. When I saw him in line, I squatted down in order to jump right up in front of him. Christine was a bit taken back, but Ken knew right away who I was and why I was there cutting in front of him again.  ( I have no pictures of them, despite my plan to photograph all new friends, I failed)

We ate lunch and looking around the area for "famous" people. Kathy was determined that a table of young men across the way from us were famous. As they started to make their move to leave, she went over and asked them if they were famous. They all denied being famous, never gave up their identity and later we discovered they were Tauren Wells' band. We had several other opportunities to give them grief about who they really were. They were very good natured about it and we had a good time teasing back and forth once we knew their true identity.

On to the Muster drill. We had ours in the dining room. As we were walking in, we said, "Let's be sure to sit by someone who is fun!" Little did we know, we were about to make another set of lifelong friends. Despite the Bears gear, we sat with Leon and LaTonya. We chatted, got to know each other, and decided we would try to save seats for each other at the concerts. (That actually never worked out, but we spent a lot of time talking with them and getting to know them over the course of the trip.)

It hurt to see this symbol on his shirt

While heading back to our cabin after the muster drill, we got onto a crowded elevator (pretty much you get on or you wait another ten minutes) and Kathy didn't want to miss any opportunity. She says, "Is there anyone on this elevator who is famous?" Of course everyone chuckled and then a very beautiful woman points to another woman (both African American) and says, "She is Nicole C, Mullen." That woman was right next to me, we were touching shoulders. I looked at her and my thoughts were, "I thought Nicole was tall and thin, but hey, I haven't ever seen her in person and it has been awhile since she has been on the scene..." I reach over and hug her and tell her how much I love her music. All the while she was acting all embarrassed for being discovered, etc. The elevator opens to their deck and as they get off, Kathy says, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you, but even if you hadn't been incognito, I wouldn't have known it was you." And the other woman says, "Actually, I am Nicole." As they walked away, Nicole's friend looks back and sings "I know, my redeemer lives," off tune and loud. I replied, "That's just how it sounds when I sing it!"

Well, later on that day, we ran into Nicole and pseudo-Nicole (later named Mandisa) and we informed them that they really owed us a picture for tricking us like they had. So, we had a special photo op.

On the elevator was a young man, the one we really thought could possibly be famous. He was not then, but he has won over a special place in our hearts. More on his story in Chapter 3. (Stay tuned)

KLOVE Cruise 2019 Chapter 1

We will see just how far this goes. I had many amazing experiences this trip and this may just end up being more like a book than a blog.

Started out with a middle of the night trip to Chicago to board the plane at 6:30 am. They were encouraging early arrivals due to the government shutdown and the potential for TSA to be especially slow.  Well, they weren't. But, I was happy to be sure I wasn't going to miss my flight.

I flew to New York and changed planes to head to Miami. I had a lot of fear to fly this time due to the fact that I had been very sick with an upper respiratory infection the week prior to leaving. I had fear of pressure and pain in my sinuses. However, I know at least one person prayed for me and I had no issues of that.

I arrived in Miami and Kathy was already there from Austin. She thought I was coming from Atlanta and kept texting me asking me where I was and why it was taking me so long since the board said the plane was on time. Well, I couldn't answer her as to why she was thinking I should be there since my flight was 40 minutes behind schedule. I guess the Atlanta flight was on time...

We didn't really have a solid plan for getting to the hotel. We knew they did not provide a shuttle, so we had to figure out something. We were about to go Uber and then realized that Miami does have public transportation. So, we headed that way. We went on people movers that took us a very long long way with several turns. I told Kathy when we got to the end that it had taken us back to where we started. (She sort of believed me)

At the end of the people movers was a little monorail that took us to the rental car and train area. So, we asked for help at the desk and the lady told us how to purchase a ticket and board the train. We knew our hotel was in Coconut Grove and that was one of the stops listed on the train we were on. When we got off the train in Coconut Grove, we could see our hotel. It was a block over from the train station. We were thrilled. The cost of that train ride was $2.25.  We had definitely made out well there. The hotel was having happy hour when we arrived and that provided enough for us to have a full meal. So, no added cost of food that night. We had to walk about 10 blocks each way to go to Walgreens for sunscreen and underwear. Kathy had forgotten hers.

We were going to color her hair purple to match mine but decided against it since it was going to be messy and we weren't sure it was safe for her scalp.

We went to bed and got up for complementary breakfast that morning. The hotel provided a ride to the port for $10 and only had one trip that they made at 10 am. We opted to try to get there on our own.

So, we got back on the train. I thought we were supposed to go to the end of the train line, but as we headed that way, Kathy saw ships. We decided it was probably best to get off there and try to get to where the ships were. Now, the adventure begins.

We were looking around, classic lost tourist look, I am sure. Two people saw us and came over and asked us if we needed directions. So, we asked how to get to the port. The woman was pushing an empty wheelchair and the man was walking. They guided us onto the monorail that was FREE and told us which stop to get off at. She then proceeded to tell me that they were homeless and could use some money. By this time, he had taken his seat in the wheelchair. I handed her some cash and thanked her for her help. We all four got on the monorail and she told us they would get off before us but to stay on until our stop (she told us which one). She got off, with the wheelchair, he stayed on. There were no seats, this is a standing transporter. We got to our stop, he got off with us and pointed us in the right direction.

So, we walked about two blocks and ended up at Bayside. We knew we were closer but we also knew we were not at the port yet. So, I googlemapped it and it said we could walk there, it would take about 30 minutes. So, we had a lot of time to kill, about an hour, so we decided to start walking. Let me tell you, Googlemaps does not know if there is no sidewalk, or areas that are blocked off with 10 foot chain link fences, but by golly, we were going to follow their directions no matter what.

See that fence? That was no obstacle for us!!

 When we finally ended up back to the original street we had started on and were three blocks up, having walked at least 10 blocks to get there, we changed our plan and decided to get something with wheels. That $10 each from the hotel was looking better and better. But, we stood at the trolley stop and waited for a trolley. There was a lady there who asked us if we were tourists. (I wonder if people always pull suitcases behind them if they aren't tourists) She called the trolley office because she was certain that the road was blocked back a few blocks and no traffic was getting through. We then spotted a flat rate taxi, that guy must have seen the look of despair in our eyes. He took our bags, we got in, and in a matter of 5 minutes, we were at our ship. Good grief!!

This was taken later as we did not get any pictures before we boarded the ship.

O Christmas Tree

2018 Farewell

It is one of the most beautiful trees I have ever seen in my life. I can't really help that it was mine. It was!

The tree came to be ours somewhere around 1997 or so. I think we got it on clearance right before Christmas that year. The reason I really remember that is because as I recall, we were in the early stages of  designing and building our second and LAST parade home. Life was a bit crazy, but we fortunately happened upon this deal of a tree.

2014

So, for the next many years, the house was decorated at Christmas time with this beautiful tree. I would be less than honest if I said, 1: I put the tree up yearly and 2: I decorated the tree yearly.
The reason those would be false statements is because I chose not to put up a tree several times due to my work schedule or our holiday plans. The other reason is because at one point in time, I know this sounds a bit crazy, but we hired someone to decorate our house for Christmas. Thus, I did not put it up every year. But, I put it up often.

This tree was work, it assembled by putting each branch in its proper hole after shaping each branch out of the box. I cannot even tell you how tall the tree was, but is was sufficiently tall. I know my mom came over several times and help shape the branches for me. Each branch was color coded with paint on the metal part that in time eventually wore off. I had to create a new method of marking the branches. I found various colors of duct tape and that along with twist ties worked great. As I assembled the tree from the bottom, I strung the lights too. This tree was created long before pre-lit trees, so each year the lights would get strung. I collected ornaments over the years which were gold, red, purple and gold wire ribbon. An angel topped the tree.

Over the years, I purchased other trees to put up in other places in my house, so even if the big tree wasn't up, we usually managed to have at least a tree up. In 2010 we opted not to put any decorations up, for this I am still very thankful, and if you want to know why, you'll have to read the blog from that year.

This year, I started the season with the thought that it was a good year to only put up the smaller tree. I had nearly resolved that the big tree would be up one last time, maybe next year, and then it would be retired. But, as the season got closer and I had moved some furniture in my living room, I realized the empty spot would be perfect for the big tree. So, I decided, this is the year that the tree is put up and this is the year the tree is retired. I committed to getting it out of my house as soon as the season was over. It had brought us years of pleasure, and it was time to move on...besides, it was a beast to put up and that was getting to me.

2016

So, up it went. It sat a few days undecorated once it was finally completely assembled. Lights were on and working fine. Angel went to the trash can because I noticed she had some melting spots near the lights. I figured a fire was not really the desired look. We went and purchased a new star and promptly returned it when it decided to only stay on for one night before dying. We found a white star tree topper for a good deal and bought some gold spray paint and completed the tree with that star and the ornaments that adorned the tree all of these years. The tree was BEAUTIFUL; too beautiful. I sat in the living room and admired the beauty of this tree, I took pictures, I laid on the floor and took pictures and continued to admire how beautiful it had become. I picked up ornaments several times that the cats had decided looked better on the floor than the tree. I didn't let that stop me from my next thought, which I actually spoke in words.

"Jim, I am keeping the tree. I cannot say good-bye to it yet. It is way too pretty to be retired. Change of plans." And in true male fashion, he said, "___________."

I had the lights on a timer to stay on until about 2 am. I wanted to make sure the tree would be on when I got home from work each night. That night, I was not working and went to bed at a normal time. Later on, I couldn't sleep and decided to get up rather than toss and turn. I opened the door from out bedroom to the living room and much to my dismay, all but one string of lights was out. Horror of horrors! My beautiful tree was not as beautiful, and all this meant was more work to make it right.

So, the decision was made. The tree would leave. If I had to fix it, I may as well put that energy into taking it down and selling it. So, since I had some great pictures of it, I put it on Marketplace and it sold. I undecorated it, kept some of the most sentimental ornaments, and sent it on its way to a new home.

That is the story of the tree.

Christmas

As I ready my house for Christmas, and wonder with each step I take why I am bothering, I think of what it must be like to not have a complete understanding of the holiday. You see, it is very commercialized, if you hadn't noticed. There are many who ramp up the excitement for the holiday and push down profusely the true meaning of what we are celebrating. Why? What causes us to be so over the top excited about a day and so under the bottom when it comes to the true meaning?

So, I do get caught up in the excitement of the season, but I really must not let this one pass without saying something about the reason we celebrate. Christmas is an exciting time, but you see, it is not my absolute favorite holiday. That spot is reserved for the real meaning on Christmas, which comes on Easter.

It all started in a garden. In Genesis 3, Satan-the Deceiver-had a plan. His goal was to make sure that years and years later, people would be caught up in his plan so much, they would miss the true message. He has done a good job of fooling many, but he does not have the final word. God's plan was better, but it came with a price. God gave laws to man, Moses received the Ten Commandments and then we read about many laws given to the Jews regarding just about everything you can imagine. We tend to speed read through this part of the Bible because quite honestly, it is overwhelming, boring, and really doesn't apply to what we do now. But why did God give so many laws? Because he knew that we would never be able to keep them all. We need a sacrifice to remove the sin or the breaking of the rules. That sacrifice came in the Old Testament in the form of animals. Sheep, lambs, goats, birds. It got quite bloody and gross and I cannot imagine the smell of the blood that covered the altar. Not so pleasant a thought.

But then, in the fullness of time, as in, when God knew it was right, he sent a baby. Not just any baby, one born of a virgin. One whose birth was prophesied of hundreds of years earlier. God not only caused the miracle of the birth, but he actually used ungodly people to fulfill this prophecy. The prophet said the baby would be born in Bethlehem. Mary and Joseph didn't even live there. However, God used Caesar Augustus, a egomaniac who thought himself so important that he needed to count how many people he was ruling over. Otherwise, Mary and Joseph would have had no reason to leave Nazareth to go to Judea, to the city of Bethlehem. They were demanded to go there because Joseph's ancestry was connected to David. Since David was from Bethlehem, that is where they had to go to register. Apparently, it isn't like today where you could just fill out a paper saying where your lineage was from and send it in. They were required to go to that place. So, years prior, God put that thought into  the prophet Micah to say, " But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah...from you One will go forth from Me to be ruler in Israel." (Micah 5:2)

So, yes, he came and fulfilled many of the prophecies. But, the greatest of all was the fact that he took the sin of the world, yours, mine, everyones. He became that sacrificial lamb. He went to the cross having never sinned. He asked if there was another way, but he knew the plan and he knew there was not another way for mankind to experience redemption. He died a horrific death and was fully and completely dead. Three days later, he rose and was fully alive. He appeared to more than 500 people. Some who didn't believe until they touched his hands and saw the scars that were there. He later was taken up in a cloud and is seated in Heaven, preparing a place for those who have accepted his gift of salvation.

So, that is the reason Christmas excitement is understandable, but without Easter, it would mean nothing. As you decorate and rush and buy gifts and do good things for others, please don't forget the true reason for why Jesus came. If you haven't ever asked him to forgive your sin and come and reside in your heart, make this Christmas the one that changes everything. A simple prayer, one that says you know you miss the mark, you cannot keep the Law, you need a savior, is all it takes to have a new life. I hope that you will experience this now, you will never regret that choice.

Choose Joy???

I just listened to a sermon based on the text in James 1 which says, "Consider it all joy , my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance."

This is not the time in my life when choosing joy is an easy task. I think it sounds almost impossible. It is 1:00 am as I type this entry. I do so because this command weighs heavy on my heart. I have had to make some very serious and painful decisions in my day, but none as painful and difficult as the one I made today. I really wished for life to be different. I really wanted my children to grow up with a strong relationship with the Lord. However, life can take turns we are not always ready to take nor are we ready to handle them on our own strength.

Choosing joy in the midst of a storm is really the best option we have. After all, the verse doesn't assure us of an easy life, full of happiness with an occasional bad day here and there. No, it guarantees that we will have trials, hardships, disappointments. This is the reality of the life we live in a sinful fallen world. I have experienced hardship and suffering this past year in ways that I would absolutely never have chosen to go through. Sometimes I find myself asking God for a reason I have to wait so long for an answer to this particular prayer to be answered. Over and over again I am reminded that God answers every prayer, sometimes it is just not the way we thought.

Tonight I cried out to Jesus to protect my son, to heal his heart, to remind him of the relationship that Jesus is waiting to have with him. Crying out to Jesus is sometimes the only thing I can do, and believe me, he has heard me begging and pleading many times for healing and help for him.

In the cries, I am reminded to keep my eyes on the One who made the sun, moon, and stars and every living creature. Who knows the very number of hairs on my head and sees a tiny sparrow fall to the ground. I pray that memories of lessons learned about God's faithfulness and lovingkindness will be present in the mind of my child. To remember that we gave him back in dedication to the Lord and that he remains and forever will be in the care of the Creator of the universe.

Joy, choose it, knowing that in Christ all things are possible. Even the seemingly impossible situations that we find ourselves in.

Death, where is your sting?

This is a difficult writing that I am attempting. In fact, I thought the words would just flow, but they aren't. The thoughts in my head are coming from every different direction and I am struggling with being able to organize them into a meaningful writing. So, if this seems as though I am rambling, please excuse that. I want to make the message clear, but that really isn't my job. My job is to be obedient and write even when it isn't really sounding all eloquent and precise.

So, in light of that explanation and until further clarity of mind comes, this is what I have:


As I sit thinking about the sudden loss of a woman this past week, I keep hearing God telling me that he knew all along. He knew before the beginning of time that on Friday morning at around 11:30, someone would be turning left into the mall and that would be the end of life on this earth.

It is painful for us who remain to go through the loss of a loved one. It is especially difficult when there was no time to prepare for such a change. But really, God was preparing this all along. God gave the family a wonderful vacation in England this past year. They were together seeing things that will forever be in their mind's eye. Precious moments that I am sure at the time didn't seem as special as they do now. That was a precious gift.

We do have a blessed hope in knowing that this life is not the final chapter.  In fact, in Christ, there is no final chapter. We have the hope of eternity when we put our faith in Jesus.  When Jesus rose from the grave, he put death to death. In that, we have great hope of eternity with him.

Beyond Quilting

As you can see, a lot of my blog has been focused on this quilt that I am trying to complete. I have been at a standstill in the progress as of late due to just being down right busy with other 'stuff.'

Trying to add thoughts to this blog has taken a back seat to many of the the other things going on too. I can't even really tell you that I have accomplished a lot of other things while not quilting or blogging, but they must be out there.

The thoughts have been racing through my head about one subject that I feel I really need to get down on paper before I explode or implode, or both. It is really a metaphor that has been hanging over my head for weeks now. Today, I want to get it down in written form so I can move on.

Quilting has pretty much consumed me this year. If you have read my previous posts, you can clearly see that truth. I feel that consumption has been a catalyst for my writing.

As I have worked on my quilt, I have thought about the process and how it relates so closely to my life. When I start a square, it begins by looking at a piece of paper that makes really no sense all by itself.

As I work toward the goal of piecing together the block, even still, the small little pieces coming together look to make no sense at all. Sometimes I look at one fabric that goes in the piece and I wrinkle up my nose at how ugly the color is. I would never choose that one particular color in a quilt of my own making. I wonder why someone would like that ugly color?

I move on, adding piece by piece. I see form taking shape, I see colors complimenting each other, I stand corrected as to the value of that one particular color.

Progress is being made and eventually the square comes together in full form. I see how pretty that one square is, but one square will not a quilt make. The quilt is far from complete when one square is made. There are more, more piecing, more colors, more patterns and shapes, more pressing the pieces so that they lie in the right direction, etc.

My squares are so far from perfect. It is difficult to make the whole quilt work correctly without making adjustments to the size and shape of each square. Sometimes cutting away a bit here and a bit there and other times completely scrapping the whole square and starting over with more careful precision.

As I put the squares together, I realize how much this is like life. If I focus on the pattern as I see it and how alone it makes no sense, I would not be able to make the square. If I don't make the square, how will the quilt be made? So, I take a piece here and a piece there, following the instructions. Still, that close up view is still not clear. It is far from beautiful, the ugly color is still there. I think of my own life, how focusing on one small part can distract from the end product. Today (as in this year) I have had my world turned upside down. The place I have loved to go has become a living hell for me, I have no option but to keep going, but I am miserable. That is that color green, that frustration of the seams not being right, the ripping out and starting over. Other issues in life are trying. I have an adult child who needs parenting still, can I tell you, it is harder to parent an adult than a child? It is like finding out that if I put the fabric face up instead of face down, it doesn't look right. So, I begin again, or I just put the wrong piece aside and start over.

As I work continuously on my quilt, I also see other similarities in life. One particular square was just not looking good. I could do absolutely nothing to fix it. I tried making another one, same issue. So, in this case I reached out to a friend who spent time meticulously ironing out the square to make it work. Sometimes in life, we just need to really give it up, knowing we cannot fix the mess on our own strength. That friend came and used heat and water and forced that fabric to do what I needed. Had I refused that help, I would have a square that continued to look horrible. Just as she pressed and added heat and pressed, sometimes that is what I have to do with the mess I have made of my life. I have to surrender it over to a Master who can iron out the imperfections and give the forgiveness that my life needs.

So, as I continue, and I put the squares together, and I don't look up close, but pull away from the quilt, I can see the masterpiece it has become (well, not completely, because I am still not done with it). Look how life is like that. The circumstances we live in right now are the small pieces of our quilt. They make no sense in and of themselves. As we pull back, we see how God is using these things to put together our life. Much like my quilt, it isn't finished. I can however see that it is becoming more and more like what it is supposed to be. So, when trials come and our focus is on that one little piece, yes, we need to pay attention. But God is working all of it for the final masterpiece and we will pull back and see each area becomes a part of the whole and each trial builds character and we end up being a completed work of art that God had orchestrated in us.

Romans 8:28 says, And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  Keep that thought in mind while you work on the little pieces and the squares of the quilt we call Life. 

Thanks for reading