Memoirs of a Moorings

A Year In Review- Facebook Style

Sometimes Facebook sucks. And sometimes it's simply genius...like this app that gives you a snippet of your status updates from the past year. 

Everyday Miracles: The One Thousand Gift List

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. I prefer the latter." ~Einstein

266. Dinner plates emptied.

267. Full tummies.

268. A journal of God's promises (so I don't forget).

269. Warm, soapy baths.

270. Sheets pulled tight.

271. Boys tucked in.

272. Psalms read over and over.

272. Piles of clean laundry.

273. Twinkling lights.

274. New bar of Caress soap.

275. A long afternoon nap.

276. Good friends from faraway drawing near.

277. Little boys roaring like dinosaurs

278. Sweet smell of the newly decorated Christmas tree.

279. Sunshine after rain.

280. Sara Groves: Fireflies & Songs.

281. A crackling fireplace.

282. Book so good, can't put it down.

282. Sweet little boy voices whispering prayers, heads bowed, hands crossed.

283. Before bed-time giggles shared between brothers.

284. My father's hearty laughter echoing in my memory.

285. A faith in God that's showing its true colors through pressure.

She Walked In...

"A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out." ~ Walter Winchell

This is Toni. I adore this girl....have a crush on her really. We have been friends for well over a decade. Met in church. Don't remember when or how. I just know that I've loved her since the day we met.

We are total opposites. She's trendy. Outgoing. Sassy. Commands the spotlight. And doesn't always hold her tongue. She's everything I'm not. And she's so okay with that.

Our lives have always followed parallel paths in one way or another. Sadly, we both lost our fathers this year. Hers in October. Mine a month ago. So when she sends a text to check on me, I know she's doing it from the depths of her heart. She knows the pain. She understands that a friend who's suffered this kind of loss needs to be checked on. There's great comfort in that. She sent an Edible Arrangements fruit delivery to my job when I returned after my father's death. It came right on time with the perfect note.

She gets me. And I will forever love her for that. We celebrate and high five each other when the other gets a new car or even a new purse. For every way that we are different, we are so much alike. We both dig ritzy hotels, fine stationery and cute shoes. God knew just what He was doing when our paths crossed.

Lately, I've been overwhelmed by the kindness of my friends. The love they have so genuinely poured out at this dark time in my life. Thinking of a friend who took the boys for the whole day after we found out my father died. I needed that more than I needed breath that day.

I can't imagine life without the handful of dear friends who surround me. Thanking God for my friends. Praising God for Toni. Do you have some good friends in your life? Take the time to celebrate them. Sometimes we need to hear just how special we are to someone.

Aching For Daddy

"Old as she was, she still missed her daddy sometimes." ~Gloria Naylor

The wider the gap stretches from the day I last saw my daddy and felt his warm skin, the heavier the pain sits in my heart. Losing a parent is hard stuff. Stuff no one can prepare you for. It’s similar to child birth, you know it's going to hurt but you never know how sharp the pain is going to be or where it will hit you.

Today marks three weeks since my father passed away, and since that time I’ve noticed that the only people who understand and keep checking in on me are the ones who have already lost a parent. For others life goes one. After they left the memorial service, hung up their suits, they went on living their normal lives. Me, on the other hand, I’m left here with a gaping hole in my life with the wind whipping in cold and hard. There are the every day reminders that make my heart ache. The phone calls we can't make anymore. A 6-year-old who wonders if God can bring his Papi back. Sometimes I just want to hear my father’s easy laughter. Ask him a question on how to fix something.

Now that my daddy is gone, life feels lopsided as if I'm driving with one flat tire or walking around without an arm. There's a dull ache that I'm constantly aware of in the background of my life—an ache that most people look past. I know it's one-day-at-a-time process but that doesn't replace the fact that I simply want to talk to my daddy and fill him in on the little details of life.

If your daddy or mom is still here. Be sure to call them everyday and love on them as much as you can…because when they are gone that’s all you’ll want to do.