Rules to Happiness #163

Getting hurt while playing is part of life.

Cartoons

Dear Movie Theatre Preview Selectors,

Just because it's a cartoon does not mean it is for kids. Just because it is about kids does not mean that children should see it.

Thanks,
me

Morning Offering

Good morning Lord,

 

I guess You've been pretty quiet lately.  A part of me wonders if it's because I've been pretty quiet too. It seems we've both been pretty busy with my life. I know You kept that truck from broadsiding me this morning and You got me up before my alarm so that we would have that special time together in the car. And then You gave me time in the quiet. Sometimes I forget how sweet You can be.

 

Lately I've been having trouble with enough: enough sleep, enough to eat, enough quiet, enough work, enough busy, but I can handle that. What I can't seem to handle is not enough time with You.  I am feeble and I forget. Help me to remember everything that You do for me. Remind me again of Your love and Your patience. Remind me of Your mercy. Show me again that You are there and that You've got this whole world thing handled. Be with me, Lord.

 

After all, I am completely Yours, and You are totally mine.

 

-Gabrielle

Rules to Happines #162

You can't love someone enough to heal them.
You can't love someone enough to make them stay.
You can only love them, and pray for them, and hope that it's enough.

Rules to Happines #161

The best advice I ever got was that many of the world's problems are solved by a full night's sleep and a good breakfast.

Rules to Happiness #160

Never be afraid to walk away from a situation.

Rules to Happiness #159

You never know how much you use the sensitive parts of your fingers until she spend all day ripping super glue off of them.

Life Quotes

“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less.”

 

 -C.S. Lewis

Dear God

Dear God,

If I could go a few days without making myself bleed, I'd be most grateful. 

Thanks!

Love, me

Rules to Happiness #158

A watched fax never sends.

Rules to Happiness #157

When it doubt about your options consider which you will be most embarrassed about in ten years.

Thank God for the Crazy

You know that sound that you make when you're going a wee bit crazy? A sort of cross between the ringing noise from cartoons and the oncoming sound of a train? That's been my last few days. After my fourth phone call on my lunch break (which btw, is the quietest part of my day) I was wondering why God let me have such a busy life. And then I heard His laughter. 

 

If I wasn't at the end of my rope and tired and overwhelmed I wouldn't notice the quiet that will come when I'm out tonight; I wouldn't remember the peace that I feel when I sit alone in the chapel; I wouldn't miss the freedom of not having a cellphone. And then I am reminded of how very blessed I am.

 

So thank God for your crazy; He's reminding you of your blessings.

Rules to Happines #156

Don't enjoy watching someone else react or overreact.

Rules to Happiness #155

Take heart and have courage for today will not be the worst day of your life.

Rules to Happiness #154

Be the change you want to see.

Rules to Happiness #153

Get over yourself.

Rules to Happiness #152

Don't take easy offense.

Quotes from History

"I ain't afraid to love a man. I ain't afraid to shoot him either."

-Annie Oakley

If this turns out to be inaccurate I apologize. I'm still quoting it. It's an awesome quite.

More Adventures with the Post Office

Eau Claire is really Chippewa Falls, dontcha know?

The Post Office in Wisconsin told me so

I asked "Are you sure?" They said, "You betcha.

But if you wanna know for sure you betcha will double check ya."

 

"But I sent it to Eau Claire; it says so, right there."
"Not a thing to it; your mail goes where we meant to it."
And that, dear children, is how The Gabbie Lady found

Adventures with the Post Office

I got a call from USPS again today. They said they couldn't find my package that I was shipping. They just couldn't find it anywhere.

 

They were calling (not because they had lost it) because I had asked them to redeliver it and they thought it might have already been shipped back.

 

I have been tracking my package.  Therefore I already knew it had been delivered and signed for. I thought about having them continue to look for it. I'm not that mean. At least I wasn't today.

Rules to Happiness #151

There isn't a single thing that happens in your day that God doesn't know about.

Rules to Happines #150

Age is only a number in your head... the trick is to not let the rest of your body know.

*stolen from one of my coworkers.

Here's your sign

On USPS customer service line-

"Does your question involve mail?"

Rules to Happiness #149

The key to not making mistakes is confidence

Rules to Happiness #148

Good can come from bad.

Rules to Happines #147

No one can make you happy but you.

Because I'm Happy

Some of you may have noticed I've been writing less this month. Ironically, that is not the case- I just haven't been posting very much on here. I've been busy taking care of other peoples pets and houses, losing a pet myself, studying for a big test at work, preparing for a new school year in ESL and battling various life changes with my close friends. Preparing for one friend's wedding as another friend moved to Florida and yet another friend moved to Texas. Add in all the usual things I do over the course of a week and you get the picture.

 

I was visiting some of my neighbors last night and she noted, "You look really tired... and it's Sunday night." I tried to smile when I told her, "I'm usually tired these days." She laughed; I didn't.

 

And yet, as I dragged myself out of bed this morning, and searched in vain for a dress I have managed to misplace, turned the kasha to low, and remembered to grab my work keys, I thought, my life isn't so bad. I got caught in traffic and that was tiring but not so bad either. A few years ago I would have been done in by so much happening and I wondered what had changed. I guess it's a lot easier to deal with every little stress and every little distraction because I'm happy.

Rules to Happinse #146

Be a person that you would like to know.

Rules to Happiness #145

Some people walk out of your life and you know that you're never going to see them again. Others walk out and you pray you never see them again.

Rules to Happines #144

Just because people need you doesn't mean that they love you.

Rules to Happiness #143

Losing your keys is not the end of the world.

A little bit of soul

Last Thursday our cat died. Our very old, very frail, very arthritic, very loved cat. He took a turn for the worst almost a week before but he kept holding on and some of us thought he would get better. But he didn't. And now that he's gone I miss him.  I've been around cats before but he was different. I know everyone says that but lots of people have said that about him. He was like a cat with a little bit of a soul.

While he was dying, the kids made a sign for his grave. It reads:

Here lies a good cat,

James Tiberius Cat, Esq.

And he was.

Rules to Happiness #142

Forgiving yourself is harder than forgiving anyone else.

Rules to Happiness #141

It's okay to hide.

Notes

It's been three days since I had caffeine. Lord, what did I do to deserve this? *pouts*

Rules to Happiness #140

Your greatest love story is still being written.

I Solemnly Swear....

My Mother always told us that we needed to use our gifts from God. Then she told me that I could be very frustrating at times- like I had a gift.  Now that I'm older I realized that the two are really very connected.

 

I spend a great deal of my time calling doctors offices, hospitals, post offices, and insurance companies. I hound people until they give me the paperwork I need to help the people I'm supposed to help. On more than one occasion I've been described as annoying. I may be consistently polite and sweet tempered, but I never forget what any person I talk to promises to do for me. And this drives them crazy because THEY forget.

 

And today I realized something- I can still use my gifts. I solemnly swear to be a nuisance for the greater Glory of God.

Tap Dancing Purple Semis

A friend of a friend has this theory, that whenever she is uncertain about something, or wants God to make a decision for her, she asks Him to send her a sign: a purple semi truck.  Now you or I or anyone who lives anywhere near civilization will probably see a purple semi on a semi regular basis. It may be that we don't see just purple semis because they aren't the most popular color, but we see them. She doesn't see them at all except when she's asking God for an answer.  She calls it the "tap dancing purple semis" because when she sees them that's ALL that she sees. I find this more than a little humorous. 

 

Since I heard this I tried to view seeing a purple semi the same way. Obviously this doesn't work as well because 1.) it's not my sign and 2.) I go in the Interstate at least twice day near one of the larger cities in Texas and consequently I see lots of purple semis.  That being said there are still some days where it seems that I am surrounded by them and they make me smile. 

 

I tried testing her theory a few months ago- to see if He would show me what He wanted in a more tangible way. And all of a sudden all I could see were purple semis. Unfortunately, I STILL didn't know what He wanted. It seems the more I saw the semis the more lost I was.  And then, about a week ago, while stuck in a horrible traffic jam, that maybe the point wasn't supposed to be that He was giving me the answers. Maybe the point of the semis- the point of the sign from Him- was to remind me that He's still there.

Rules to Happiness #139

Perhaps God's message isn't there to tell you what to do, but to remind you that He's still here.

Rules to Happiness #138

Good can come from bad.

Rules to Happines #137

Sometimes you just make stupid mistakes.

Rules to Happines #136

There isn't enough coffee in the world to fix some levels of stupid.