"Are you working hard or hardly working?"

"Are you working hard or hardly working?" says Bill.

Bill.
My 81 year old father.
My kids' grandpa and great grandpa to my nieces' kids.
My model of how to play and have fun in life dad.

He is 81 and still playing. He loves to play.  He knows how to make life fun because he knows how to play in life...all of life. Music, games, sports, puzzles and words are his favorite toys. He is really good at making work play. It has been fun to grow up with him.

1962 (me in front)

2012

1983 

Dad is known for his dry humor and play on words. He loves playing with words...making you think and then making you laugh...from really funny stories, fun jokes/puns-what my kids call 'grandpa jokes" to some great one-liners.

One of his favorite sayings is, "Are you working hard or hardly working?" 

I had always heard that one as one way or the other...you either worked or not. 

I finally get it. 

It is his way of saying that life is both...hard work and making it like not work...making it fun. Dad has always worked hard. He has had some very hard things to work at in life from jobs, family and health. Looking back I now see how he made the hard times fun times by playing with the fun gifts and talents God gave him. 

God often takes us through hard times, challenges and tests. It is our choice of how to go through it. We can work hard at it... or... hardly work at it... or do both. I choose both...it's just more fun. :-)

"...The joy of the Lord is my strength."

Nehemiah 8:10

"It's a no wagging day!"

"It's a no wagging day!" says Jewel.

Jewel.
My almost 15 year old Brittany Spaniel friend. (105 in human years!)
My husband's great bird hunting pointer dog.
My miracle dog. (She beat cancer 3x's and has outlived most Brittanys.)

I never wanted a dog. 

I never grew up with a dog. 

And I never thought I would love a dog. 

To me dogs were just dogs...until I met Jewel. 

I knew I was in for it when a kennel showed up on our kitchen. 

That weekend we drove for hours to pick up this tiny orange and white pup. 

Kristen gave her the name Jewel 

(named after 1 of the '101 Dalmations' pups).

A JEWEL she was..

She was a great pointer.. she even could point at the dust in the sunlight and at the drips from melting ice sickles and catch every one. 

She was a great friend to us all, to all our cats and to every dog on the street. 

She loved everyone... even strangers.

For almost 15 years, 

Jewel was our loyal, always loving and tail wagging friend.
Her tail said it all. It wagged non-stop...like a never ending smile. 

This past month her tail has stopped wagging.
Jewel has been saying, "It's a no wagging day."

Her long dog life is soon coming to end. You can tell she is ready to go by her no wagging tail. The fond memory of her tail wagging smile will always be with me. I love you Jewel and I will miss you! The poem below says it all...

JUST A DOG

From time to time, people tell me, "lighten up, it's just a dog," 

or "that's a lot of money for just a dog."

They don't understand the distance traveled, the time spent, 

or the costs involved for "just a dog."

Some of my proudest moments have come about with "just a dog."

Many hours have passed and my only company was "just a dog," 

but I did not once feel slighted.

Some of my saddest moments have been brought about by "just a dog," 

and in those days of darkness, 

the gentle touch of "just a dog" gave me comfort 

and reason to overcome the day.

If you, too, think it's "just a dog," 

then you probably understand phrases like 

"just a friend," "just a sunrise," or "just a promise."

"Just a dog" brings into my life the very essence of 

friendship, trust, and pure unbridled joy.

"Just a dog" brings out the compassion and patience that make me a better person.

Because of "just a dog" I will rise early, take long walks and look longingly to the future.

So for me and folks like me, it's not "just a dog"

but an embodiment of all the hopes and dreams of the future,

the fond memories of the past, and the pure joy of the moment.

"Just a dog" brings out what's good in me 

and diverts my thoughts away from myself and the worries of the day.

I hope that someday they can understand that its' not "just a dog"

but the thing that gives me humanity
and keeps me from being "just a man" or "just a woman."

So the next time you hear the phrase "just a dog,"

just smile,

because they "just don't understand."

~Unknown Author~

Thank you Jewel for being more than 'just a dog' to me. 

Thank you God for giving us pets to love and enjoy! 

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father..." 

James 1:17

"Stay steady on!"

"Stay steady on!" said Sara (Perry)

Sara.

My best of friends.
My spiritual mentor and colleague.
My fun loving sister in Christ.

I met Sara in 1998 at BSF (Bible Study Fellowship). Sara passed away in 2008 from leukemia. In those 10 short years we became the best of friends.

Sara had a way of making the best of any situation...often by pointing out God in it.  

She had a smile that would light up a room and everyone in it. 

She loved to laugh and we sure laughed well together. 

We made some amazing and fun memories.

I. miss. her.

Sometimes I wish could talk to her. Sometimes my car tries to drive down her street to visit her...just out of habit. Those sometimes are not as often now as the years go by since her death. But every once in awhile it hits me. I wish I could hear her voice... laughing with me and encouraging me.

One of those times hit me a few weeks ago. I was disappointed. I felt let down. That thought to call Sara hit me out of the blue. Just to see her smile or hear her voice would make me smile, forget it and move on. But reality hit me too...a phone call to Sara wasn't happening.

So I turned on the car radio instead. An old 'Point of Grace' song was playing. Made me smile to hear these words just when I needed them...

"My God has never let me down! 
My God has turned my world around!..." 

I knew right then that was God's way to personally encourage me through that song. I didn't need Sara...I needed God to encourage me that day. Made me smile even more!

I wanted to hear the whole song again. I knew I had that CD called "Steady On". So I pulled it out and opened it and guess what I found?  

...there was a little post-it note stuck inside - written by Sara. 

My smile just got bigger.  I had forgotten that Sara had given me that CD years ago. 

Sara said on the post-it,

"You are my Sonshine! 

Stay Steady On!" 

The next weeks that followed had more disappointments and let downs. God continued to use Sara's "Stay Steady On" to encourage me, to stay steady on and also to point me back to the reminder that... My God will never let me down and my God can turn my life around ...sometimes he even adds big smiles from the past!

Life will disappoint us. People will let us down. 

We can stay steady on because God will never let us down. 

He will turn our worlds around! 

"So then, my dear friends, stand firm and steady. Keep busy always in your work for the Lord, since you know that nothing you do in the Lord's service is ever useless." 

1 Corinthians 15:58

"This ride never ends."

"This ride never ends," says Stephanie.

Stephanie.
My favorite fun little sister.
My wise friend.
My 'loves to share her grand kids with me' sister.

Stephanie had the next shift of watching her grand kids - Lincoln and Emma.

(Check out previous post for the 1st shift story.)

http://johannahyland.blogspot.com/2013/10/its-super-late-notice-but.html 

We had made plans to do something fun with the kids that Saturday. It was a beautiful day to go to Gull Meadow Farms....a glorified pumpkin patch/apple orchard/corn maze/country store/apple cider in apple sippy cup kinda place. None of us had ever been there....and I had a coupon.

New, fun and a deal - so off we went!

This great big apple pumpkin play place was loads of fun. Lots of fun kid things to do. 

They loved the water pump ducky races, the hay bale maze, 

the giant bouncing pillow and the obstacle course.

The big hit was the giant drainage pipe tube slide. 

Steph and I went down once. We got our monies worth on just one time down... 

The kids went over and over again on that great big fun slide. 

2 hours went by quick here. We still needed to visit the petting zoo and take the wagon ride. 

We rode the bumpy wagon through the apple orchards and the pumpkin patch to get to petting zoo. Except we had our backs to the petting zoo side and we missed our stop...so... around we went...1 more long bumpy ride ...again.

This time we made sure we were watching for the petting zoo stop. 

Not sure how we missed it...there was a huge sign that said The Back Forty! 

That must be it...the rest of this fun place is in the Back Forty...of course. 

The Back Forty had lots of animals and more fun.Emma loved the animals.

They even had mini pumpkin checker games.

Lincoln was the pumpkin checker champion....yes, he loves to say he beat Aunt J'hanna. 

We were all played out. We walked out of the Back Forty to catch the wagon ride back.

As we waited, a smaller train came by and stopped. We got on it thinking it was our ride back. As we got going we thought maybe it was the scenic very bumpy ride back...no...we were going back to the Back Forty whether we wanted to or not.

After a very long time and a full circle of the whole Back Forty...it stopped at the petting zoo and everyone got off. A good sign to get off too but we were waiting for the parking lot stop - not that stop. The little train just kept going this time. It went right by the wagon stop and we were on our bumpy way around the Back Forty.. again! Even the kids had had enough of this ride.

Steph wisely says, "Ok...I get it...This ride never ends...if you don't get off!" 

We took her wise advise...we got off at the petting zoo and walked out of the Back Forty to the wagon stop. That trusty wagon did finally take us back.

It was a wonderful day. That ride did eventually end. We left with lots of fun memories, bags of apples, jugs of cider, and words of wisdom..."The ride never ends...if you don't get off."

Sometimes in life we get stuck on a ride. Some rides are fun...some rides are not. God takes us around those sometimes bumpy, sometimes tiring and sometimes painful rides until we decide to get off.

If you end up in a Back Forty ride of life today...It will end. Another ride will always be waiting. In the mean time, take in the scenery, the memories and the wisdom God gives you on the way.

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, I will listen to you.You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and I will bring you back..." 
Jeremiah 29:11-14

"It's super late notice but..."

"It's super late notice but..." says Natalie.

Natalie.

My very easy going niece.
My sister Stephanie's daughter.
My my great nephews and niece's mom - (Lincoln 5, Emma 3, Judah 6 mos.)

Way before it even started...my past weekend was full of many fun things to do. I had it all planned out so it all would fit.

Friday was booked solid.
I had promised Eric dinner for a well done job interview. I saved Friday morning to put that together. At noon, I was meeting friends for a long overdue lunch date. After lunch, I was volunteering at a local mission store from 2-5. There was just enough time after the store to come home to get our dinner ready and to pack up Eric's dinner. There was more fun ahead on Saturday and Sunday too. It looked like a perfectly planned day and weekend.
                                             

Then my phone went "DING". 

hmmm....A text from Natalie.

I thought she was on her way to a friends' wedding in Idaho with her husband Rick and baby Judah. They had a fun get-a-way weekend ahead. She had it all planned out too. Lincoln and Emma were going to stay with friends Thursday to Friday. My sister had them Friday to Sunday. Then Natalie's mother-in-law had them Sunday to Monday.

We both had perfectly planned weekends...until the phone went "DING!"

She says in her text, "It's super late notice but...
...is there anyway that Lincoln and Emma could stay over at your house tonight until my parents pick them up Friday evening? Our friends that were planning to have them tonight had a death in their family this morning." End of text.
                                                             End of perfect plans.

Before I could tell her all that I had going on and add to it that our 14 yr old dog was really sick...my fingers texted back, "Sure..." She didn't need to know my plans. She was desperate and so very grateful for my yes. I was happy she asked me to help be a part of her short notice change of plans.

My Friday turned out even better then I planned it. I still was able to keep my commitments plus have Lincoln and Emma too. We went camping-house camping...sleeping bags and a night light lantern and late night stories and promises of pancakes for breakfast. Early the next morning my newly planned Friday began with 2 little voices calling, "Aunt J'Hanna we are awake!"

Friday came MUCH earlier then I planned. 

The kids were great helpers stirring up pancake batter and scrambling eggs.

 We played some more and they helped me make dinner for later.  

The morning flew by and I realized I still needed a shower. I took a minute to text Natalie a photo of her full of energy kids and also ask her a question...

I texted, "So when do I get a shower?" Her text back was..."What's a shower??!!". 

My parents came over for lunch duty and Cassidy was delighted to play with them for the afternoon. Everyone enjoyed having a part in the new short notice plans.


On my way to my sister's house on Friday I took this photo of these 2 very fun kids after their fun filled day at our house. I realized that I missed one small detail of the day. Either I had the kids ready for bed early or I forgot to change their clothes. They were still in their jammies! Oh well...sometimes that's a nice change of plans too.

Instead of the end of my perfect plan...that "DING" was definitely the new improved plan.

We all get these 'short notice change of plans'. Be watching/listening for yours. Hold your plans lightly because God may have a "DING" ahead...a different plan ahead. You might even be blessed with a last minute camping trip, a few smiley pancakes and maybe even a stay in your jammies day.

"Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." 
Proverbs 19:21 

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