Linda's Thoughts

Thursday, May 4 will be the National Day of Prayer. Don't forget to set aside time to talk to God. Here is a suggested list of what to pray for:

--A great awakening of people to the things of God in our nation, in our churches, on the internet, in our government
--The war on terrorism
--Our families
--Ourselves to be more Christlike
--Thank God for the many blessings He has given us

Since Ginny and I attended my neice's graduation, she relentlessly wanted to see my graduation robe. So we pulled it our with a bunch of other items.

Before I went to work on my manufacturing job, I was a stay at home Mom for five years. I had three little boys,about 18 months apart, who had potential to drive me crazy from time to time. When my third, Benjamin, was brought home from the hospital I had three little ones in diapers! Needless to say, Danny and I worked hard to get the oldest potty trained.

On Friday, May 5, at 7:30 pm my mom, my daughter and I attended a graduation. It was for my neice Crystal. She graduated from Tulsa Community College at the Maybee Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She graduated with a class of about 1000. It was the biggest graduating class yet. She received two associates degrees. One was an Associates of Arts and the other an Associates of Science. She plans to attend Northeastern State University in Broken Arrow to complete a Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education.

Elizabeth Elliot is one of my favorite women of God. Ten or so years ago I regularly listened to her radio program. Just recently Ryan, who used to be a church youth director but is currently a co-worker with me in the mainback area of our assembly line, let me borrow her most famous book called Through Gates of Splendor. I have been wanting to read this book for years but had never gotten my hands on a copy. I've started the first chapter and it has captured my attention well. It tells of the missionary martyrdom in the 1950's of Elizabeth's first husband Jim.
This one is a definite read with my children.

Since I'm reading the book I got on the internet to find more information about Elizabeth Elliot. In a recent update from her husband, Larz told of how they are doing. And he told of a poem Elizabeth learned as a child about God's love:

You should try this recipe. I got it from a publication we got in our snail mail. It is recommended by a local channel six news personality named Tami Marler. It would be great as a breakfast drink or a tropical beverage for the summer. It's tasty but has no fat.

I had a nice Mother's Day. I told Danny he didn't have to get extravagant because honestly, then I would feel guilty if I didn't get extravagant for him on Father's Day. So he bought me a card that everyone signed and some chocolate candy. Benjamin and I took a walk. Samuel made me a card with a cartoon character on it. Jonathan bought me some cappucino from Quick Trip for Mother's Day morning. Ginny bought me a keyring with a dangling puffy silver heart. They all gave me hugs on Mother's Day morning. All of it was nice.

But I also had a small unexpected gift from Ginny. She made me a card in Sunday school. It was made of pink construction paper in the shape of a tea kettle. Inside was a type written poem which read:

This year's month of May has had the most ever graduations in my family. On Saturday night, May 20, I attended my nephew, Zach's graduation. Along with about 300 of his fellow students, Zach walked down the aisle to receive his high school diploma from Charles Page High School.

The ceremony was filled with praise for the students, many times singling out specific students for their talents, character and individual best qualities.

The ceremony ended with a favorite teacher, Mr. Cooper, giving a heart-touching speech. I could tell he was a man with a soft heart and a love for his students. He was a friend to Zach. He began by reading from a book, called Love You Forever by Robert Munsch. If you ever get a chance please read this short book. Basically, it builds upon the love of a mother for her growing child, then when she is very old she had taught her son well and he tenderly loved his mother back and then loved his little baby with the same compassion.

My nephew, Dylan graduated Saturday, May 26 from Bartlesville High School in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. There were 417 graduates in his class. They wore royal blue robes as they walked to their seat while the band played Pomp and Circumstance. They were seated in alphabetical order so Dylan was in the latter half. I'm glad my nephew is 6'3". He was easy to see from our seating high in the stadium. His fair skin and a bit of his red hair underneath his graduation cap also help distinguish him from the rest.

Every year in the summer I like to fix tabouli salad which is a Lebanese dish. This dish has a lot of raw vegetables in it. Nothing is cooked. My husband calls this chick food and totally avoids it. I call it healthy. I like to fix it when my father-in-law gives us a bunch of his homegrown tomatoes. I always use olive oil because it is the best for you and has no cholesterol. I buy the tabouly wheat at the grocery store near the fresh tomatoes. Broccoli is not in the original recipes but it blends in well and is packed with nutrients.