1979.......It Was A Very Good Year

Yep, that’s me on the left.....I know, I know......where’d the brown hair come from?  Truth is, where’d the BLOND hair come from??  It was either go blond or gray.....it’s in my genes (thanks Mom!)  so I chose blond.  Anyway, none of that is the point of this Blog......   

What is the point is I stumbled upon these old VGA (Valley Grande Academy) pictures from 1978-1979 this past weekend and what a stroll down memory lane I’ve been having.  I’ve enjoyed sharing these with my Facebook VGA Alums and hearing their hysterical laughter as they see themselves 30 years ago and remembering what fun we all had there.  The lovely lady in the picture with me is Mara.  I love this girl!  I’ve been looking for her for years and I finally found her last month.  She was such a special friend to me in high school and I had so much I needed to say to her and finally was able to.   It means the world to me that I found her.

You either loved or hated your time at VGA.  I happened to love my time there.  The Christian boarding school was 3 miles from the border of Mexico in the Rio Grande Valley which opened up all kinds of doors for me to spread my wings and try everything I wasn’t suppose to.  Here are just a few examples:  My favorite is when I met this guy on a Southwest Airlines plane on my way back to school who was heading to Harlingen to go Skydiving (didn’t hurt that he was ADORABLE).  I talked him into taking me, so I snuck off campus and went skydiving with him the next day.  Or the time a friend and I decided it would be fun to sneak off campus and take a bus to Mexico City.   Ya, I got caught, but it was still fun.  I could never forget the time another friend and I thought it would be fun to sneak our boyfriends into the dorm and they, unfortunately, brought 30 other guys with them.  These are just a few of the many wonderful memories.  Have you noticed the common denominator between all of these stories??  I believe the word is  “Sneaked”.....Fun, fun, fun.....

I thank the good Lord that Mom and Dad made the sacrifice to send us kids to church school (they’re probably wishing they hadn’t about now....) which ultimately made us into the people we are today.   Thanks Mom & Dad!

What Will Matter.....

I received an email the other day that really stopped me in my tracks.  You may have received this email as well, but in case you didn’t, I wanted to share it with you because if you read it, and I mean REALLY read it, we can all see what truly matters in our lives.  It is so very easy to get “caught up” in the troubles that are all around us right now; from the stock market to our elected officials to our health, and whatever is causing stress, discouragement, worry and anxiety in your life today.  Print this off and keep it at your desk or in your car or taped to your computer screen.  Let it remind us all what really matters........

                           

                            Ready or Not, Some Day It Will All Come To An End.

There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days. 

All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten will pass to someone else.

Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.

 It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.

Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally disappear. 

So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and to do lists will expire.

The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.

It won't matter where you came from or what side of the tracks you lived on at the end.

It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant. 

Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.

So what will matter?  How will the value of your days be measured?

What will matter is not what you bought but what you built, 

Not what you got but what you gave.

What will matter is not your success but your significance.

What will matter is not what you learned but what you taught.

What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage, forgiveness or 

sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.

What will matter is not your competence but your character.

What will matter is not how many people you knew, 

but how many will feel a lasting loss when you're gone.

What will matter are not your memories 

but the memories that live in those who loved you.

What will matter is how long you will be remembered, 

by whom and for what.

Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident. 

It's not a matter of circumstance but of choice.

                                                    Choose to Live a Life That Matters.  

Written by Michael Josephson

“Lord, we can get so bogged down in the busy-ness of life.  Slow us down so we can spend more time BEING than DOING.  We were created to BE in fellowship with You.”

Lee (on Twitter)