Today, we have to go to a graduation party.  I say have to, because not to go would insult the parents of the young lady who just graduated.  But, to be honest, we really don't want to have to be there.  This thing sounds like a 3 ring circus.  100-200 people in a backyard open house, complete with tent, catering, popcorn and cotton candy machines, but it's what this young lady wants, and the parents can afford it, so that's what the young lady gets.  Nothing particularly wrong with that, just not my speed.

That song that Amy Grant does, "Simple Things" keeps playing in my head.  "I dream of simple things, I can believe in, like the feeling this day brings.  True love is a miracle of forgiving, I believe in simple things." 

I'm a simple girl.  I never did like the "fluff" or the "glitz" of life.  It's not to say I don't like having things, but those things have never come easy, we've had to work at it or it had to be a direct and obvious provision from the Lord, and frankly, I like it that way.  I never like being in the position of being able to take anything for granted.  It keeps you humble before the Lord, IYKWIM.

Personally, I like folk art, patchwork quilts, needlework samplers, hierlooms, sunrises and sunsets, winding mountain roads,  remote beaches, quiet waters, a clean house, organized clutter, knowing the value of a dollar and being willing to pinch that penny, family gatherings, knowing that close friends are part of that family, my small circle of longtime friends (4 of them, people I have known anywhere from 10-30+ years, spread out all over the country, rarely seen, occasionally in touch with, but always able to pick up where we left off), a roaring fire, starry nights, small, intimate parties, heart to heart talks, hugs from my kids, snuggles with my husband, I love yous that are truly heartfelt, romantic movies, usually on video, take out Chinese, Italian food, a good bowl of soup and some hot homemade bread with butter, barbecues, beautiful music, worshipping the Lord, reading His Word, deep prayer, deep conversations, quiet dinners, long walks, country air, quiet times, learning something new, reading a good book, finding a bargain at a yard sale, through eBay or Freecycle, making something beautiful and useful out of leftovers and scraps.  I like working on my 50+ year old handyman special of a house, working on the 30 year old boat we scored on Freecycle (still needs work before going out on the water, but hey, it's a boat, right?)  I don't mind hard work, as long as it's profitable.  Tangible things are great, no argument, but, IMHO, the intangibles are always far better.

I live within an hour of one of the busiest cities in the world, New York City, a city with tons of culture, opportunity, etc., yet, I'm telling you, I rarely go there and hate doing so.  My idea of a great vacation is time in the country or a remote beach.  The rowdiest I get is going to a concert, and then, it's either Christian music (anything from the Newsboys to Casting Crowns to Messianic Jewish music will do just fine), 70's oldies (Chicago is a fav), a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta (I used to perform in them while I was in school and grew to love the music, it's about as high brow as I get) or, if I get really silly, seeing a comic that does physical comedy like Gallegher (ever see him, part of his act involved smashing things like watermelons with a mallet - his videos are irreverent and hysterical).  My idea of a favorite field trip to take the kiddies on is an aquarium, a planetarium, or a nature walk.  The cool thing is, the kids all feel the same way.

I think I get this love for simple things in part from the time I grew up in (I've always been a bit of a flower child, minus the drugs and free love, that is) and from my late grandmother.  Grandma went home to be with the Lord last November at the ripe old age of 95.  (She accepted the Lord very late in life, during those last few months in a nursing home.)  Grandma was a wonder.  She was, in many ways, my mentor.  At her funeral, a number of us got up to eulogize her.  Just immediate friends and family, including my aunt and uncle, my cousin (their son), myself, our eldest daughter, a distant cousin who was involved in her health care during the last couple of years of her life (she had Alzheimer's near the end), and a close neighbor friend.  Each one of us, without planning to, basically said the same things about her, that she was a simple woman of simple means and simple needs, and that her life revolved around her family.  She was truly a Proverbs 31 woman in just so many ways.  It was a wonderful testimony to a simple, but extraordinary life. 

I pray that when my time to go and be with the Lord comes, that people can say things like that about me (I just pray they can also speak of things that I did in the Lord that made a difference for the kingdom as well...)  I'm grateful for those simple things in life and for being a simple girl of simple needs, just like my Grandma was.  I pray I always am.

Enough of my incessive ramblings, I got things to do today.  Have a great day everybody...  :)