You're Never Too Old to Stick Out Your Tongue

How is it that two little diaper covered bundles of energy bring such joy?  Seems to me you need to be a parent or, in my case, a grandparent to get it.

First of all, you need to understand that I'm more than just a little biased with respect to my new twin grandchildren.  When I tell you that they are the cutest, best natured, most perfect, and prettiest and handsomest little tykes in the world I'm not exaggerating.  They are all of this and so much more!  Gosh, I love these little people!

This weekend, I got to spend some time with them (not nearly enough however).  It happens that their other set of grandparents was also on hand as well as their uncle.  While I'm a little goo-goo around the twins, I'm not alone in this.  I saw such a flood of love being showered on these little kids that it's a wonder the governor (Big Chet) wasn't on the phone to the President calling in a FEMA response team.  There was love dripping all over the place.  Messiest thing I've ever encountered.

Here's the best part....I got a first....I got each of the twins to stick out his or her respective tongue.  I was simply doing what I always do when I'm around people, I was sticking out my tongue and wiggling it at them and they responded back with their little tongues wiggling.  Now I suppose it's a bit difficult for you all to be as excited about this as I was, because I got kinda excited.  "LOOK EVERYONE" I yelled out.  "They're sticking out their tongues!!!!!!"  "OK, OK, just calm down" was the bewildered look I got back.  There's nothing like totally impressing the other set of grandparents.  My daughter, the twins momma, seemed thoroughly impressed as did my wife E???????.  "Wow" I thought!  This is Blog material at it's finest.

Have you noticed that life reflects back your mood much like a mirror reflects back your smile or your frown.  I saw my love reflected back in the faces of the twins yesterday.  You can't see kindness or love, but if you give it out, then you always get it back, sometimes it's delayed a little, but you always get it back and often in double amounts.  Like yesterday when I was playing with my grandchildren, I immediately saw my love reflected back in the simple expression on their perfect little faces showcasing their wet little tongues.  I have a challenge for you this week....just be a little kinder than usual, smile a little more than usual, be a little more helpful than usual.  Then come on back to this blog and post a comment about how your week went.

Tomorrow is Monday.  While it's back to work for me, it's also the first gathering of a new small group study series at my Church, Lutheran Church of Hope.  The study series is built around the little book "The Dream Giver" written by Bruce Wilkinson.   E???? and I did the series once before, so this is a repeat for us.  As I cruise toward retirement, this series seems perfectly targeted to me.  God has given us all dreams.  Many of us are afraid to follow our dreams...not enough money, not enough time, uncertainty and fear are the reasons we give.  I just wonder how God is going to use me when I retire.  I've been so incredibly blessed and now with the gift of time, I really don't have any excuses left.

During the past five years, my wife and I have traveled and seen a great deal of this world.  Each of our trips has been wonderful and unforgettable, but not one of these trips is going to hold a candle to this new journey of retirement.    I hope you tag along with me.

Take care....I'll be praying for you this week.