Christmas Eve 1938

I was always interested that my parents got married on Christmas Eve.
Today would have been my parent's 70th anniversary. But my dad passed away October 31, 2005, about 3 months after these pictures were taken.


I love this picture that my niece Elizabeth took. I'm pretty sure it was spontaneous. To see two people love each other all their lives is significant.

I am so glad God gave us this time so we all could be together.

BRRRRRRRRR......

The quote states, "One picture is worth a thousand words."



What do you think?
We had an ice storm here in the southwest suburbs of Chicago. We had about 2 inches of freezing rain and sleet.

READER'S DIGEST...stop the harassment!!!

Over the last few months we have received, MANY TIMES, the following phone call from Reader's Digest, RD - "Hello, Mr. Thornton? We would like to speak to you about your Reader's Digest subscription." ME - "We have not had a subscription with Reader's Digest for 10 years!" RD - "Our records indicate that you have a subscription and we were wondering if you would like to renew it."
ME - "We have not had a subscription for over 10 years!"
RD - "Why have you discontinued your subscription?"
ME - "When your magazine was sold, many years ago, we noticed the quality drop and the conservative viewpoint changed."

One of the last times RD called, I asked to speak to a supervisor and the conversation was even more convoluted. I asked them to remove me from their call list. The supervisor gave some odd reason they could not remove my name and I stated, "Well, you are going to continue wasting my time and your money by callingn me. I will NOT be subscribing to Reader's Digest."

So today, December 20, I received another call from... you guessed it!
I stated to my wife, "I am NEVER subscribing to Reader's Digest."
They have burned the bridge.

NOT EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE FIXED

I've been reading a book by Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture. He was the Carnegie Mellon professor who was made famous for his "LAST SPEECH."





Pausch was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and valiantly battled it, but passed away July 25, 2008. He was 47 years old.

In chapter 18, he tells a wonderful story of how his wife backed into his car with hers and described it as the "One-Driver, Two-Car Collision."

He was not home (he had walked to his office). When he arrived home, she had placed both cars in the garage, prepared his favorite meal, had soft music playing and at the end of the meal, gently broke the news.

His response surprised her. He said, "the repairs are not necessary, we will just live with the dents and gashes." Pausch's philosophy is that you don't just repair things if they still do the job that they are supposed to do.

He further states, if your trash can or wheelbarrow has a dent in it, "you don't buy a new one. Maybe that is because we don't use trashcans and wheelbarrows to communicate our social status or identity to others."
The last line in the chapter says....
"NOT EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE FIXED."

I thought of some people who feel it is their "calling" in life to FIX everything and everyone.
I have most often found that these people are controlling and insecure.

Joy taught a great Bible Study that focused on forbearance. That is a subject you don't hear a lot of anymore.
It is all about extending some grace.
It is all about NOT being a controlling person.
It is all about trusting God.
It is about NOT sweating the small stuff.
It is about extending grace, love, forbearance.