Quotes of the Week

"I follow four dictates: face it, accept it, deal with it, then let it go." 

 -- Sheng Yen 

"Love doesn't make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile." 

-- Franklin P. Jones 

"F-E-A-R has two meanings: 'Forget Everything And Run' or 'Face Everything And Rise.' The choice is yours." 

 -- Zig Ziglar 

"When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love."  

-- Marcus Aurelius 

Quotes of the Week

"When something bad happens you have three choices. You can let it define you, let it destroy you, or you can let it strengthen you." 

 -- Author Unknown 

"It was only a sunny smile, and little it cost in the giving, but like morning light it scattered the night and made the day worth living."  

-- F. Scott Fitzgerald

 "For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness." 

 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson 

"Since you get more joy out of giving joy to others, you should put a good deal of thought into the happiness that you are able to give."  

-- Eleanor Roosevelt 

Quotes of the Week

"I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it for I shall not pass this way again." 

 -- Quaker Proverb 

"Your present circumstances don't determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start." 

 -- Nido Qubein 

"The happiest people in the world are those who feel absolutely terrific about themselves, and this is the natural outgrowth of accepting total responsibility for every part of their life." 

-- Brian Tracy 

"Enjoy your own life without comparing it with that of another." 

 -- Marquis de Condorcet 

Sarah's Surprise!

It is always startling to receive a phone call in the middle of the night. I received just such a call around 1:50 a.m. yesterday.

As I groggily answered the phone and tried to sound alert, I was surprised to hear my daughter's voice on the phone. It was the pregnant daughter. The one whose voice I expected to hear in the middle of the night the first week of March--not the last week of January.

Her explanation for the phone call: her water had broken and she needed me to report for babysitting duty at her house ASAP. She had been very anxious thinking about how fast she might deliver this child since Carson's was a quick labor and delivery.

I drove the 30 minutes to her home and got set up on the couch to try and sleep the rest of what was left of what was going to be a very short night for me and what turned out to be a very long night and morning for Sarah and Jeff.

It was 12 hours later when Lincoln Blair Excell made his entrance into the world.

At 5 weeks early, he weighed 5 lbs. 7 ozs. He is in NICU being monitored and getting a little help with his breathing. He needs to figure out how to eat before he can go home. And he needs to be able to maintain his body temperature.

Sarah is doing well. Jeff is going back and forth taking care of baby boy #3 at the hospital and helping me take care of boys #1 and #2 here at our house.

Enjoy your rest while you can, Sarah, because the peaceful moments will probably be few and far between when all three sons are residing in the same household.

Congratulations to Jeff and Sarah on the beautiful addition to their family. What a sweet surprise!!