Author: bobbiemcgarey

So I’m at the airport to pick up my rental car. I’ve prepaid. I walk to the counter. She pulls up my file. I hand her my credit card and drivers license, two ID with photo.  She says I need another photo Id.   Oh I say.  Yes. You need two.  I say you have two. She says this one doesn’t count, credit card. Oh I say.  Because. Well you need another  I say you have two.  Do you have a SAMs club card with photo? I say how is that more official than the two I gave you.    Pause. So if I take a cab to the nearest SAMs club -use my drivers license. Pay for membership and get a card with photo that’s all I need ?   Yes she says as if that is logical.   Ok then I say can you refund my pre pay $.  No she says that’s in. Third party site.  I said. That your website lead me to.   Yes she said. 

I said well. 

Walked away.    I went to another rental. Sure we ll rent you a car. 800$ more than the other. 

I said thanks no

I go sit down. I checked how far the closest SAMs club is and prayed for an intervention. 

I waited.   The woman who turned me down walked away in break. New counter person.  I walk over. Put my two IDs in the counter. I want to be perfectly honest.  Told him my story.  He shook his head and cheerfully rented me a car apologizing for the other experience.    One — two 

This afternoon my dog Annie and I went for a little drive.  First we stopped at McD’s for a little something and then drove up…and I mean that altitudinally… Embutio Canyon.   What a view.   One of the amazing parts of ABQ Is that you can see so many different weather perspectives.   There was a lot going on this afternoon.   One cloud system was to our north and the other to the south and we were in blue sky.   Lots of wind to be sure.  You could see the rain falling from the clouds on both sides. We didn’t really hike as the storm to the south started heading our way.  I didn’t want to be on an exposed trail with any possibility of lightening or cold rain.    We did enjoy watching the rain around us and then we got in the car.  Bonanza, I discovered a snickers and enjoyed a little repast.   The rain started so we came home.  

It was amazing.  But like life –things can be tough around you and you can  find some Blue skies.  

May you find your blue skies no matter the storms 

God abides 

Bobbie Giltz McGarey.  

2015@

taken Near Grandfield, OK 

Look at the open sky, the backside of the storm, and that beautiful rainbow.  This photo was posted by Debbie Goode near Grandfield, Ok last week.  I think it’s awesome. Awesome in the fullest sense of the word.  The amazing grace of nature.  We should keep our eyes open for that grace.  It spills out of the skies as purely as the rainbow…  It comes…no wait, grace is always there. We just need to accept it and know that grace has no limits, no expiration date, no limit.

Look at the photo closer. Pause. Stand in the beauty of it.   It is yours.

God Abide,  Bobbie McGarey.

@2015.

It’s that one of the sweetist lambs you ever seen?

Seriously. I saw the photo of black nose lambs and sheep and really thought it so adorable.  The eyes ears, nose and knees, make it hard to believe.   Why haven’t I seen these before?   A photo like this just brings out the warm fuzzy feelings about the world.  Are we trained to see these as cute or is it inate?

If people from another part of the world saw them do you think they’d like them this much?  I don’t know.  It does seem though when things get harsh around us we need a photo like this to calm down our worries or wonderings.  If you do need that…here it is…just for a You…Just Because. God abide with You, always.  Bobbie Giltz McGarey @2015 

I woke last night with the dawn.   Well,  thought it must be dawn because there was light shining in my bedroom windows.   You know how sometimes when you wake up you spend a minute or two just clearing your brain…?  I don’t think that is just me that does that.  So I woke and because it’s Sunday knew I needed to get going.   Yet there was something about the dawn that dust seem right.   Right!  It was the very bright white light of the moon.  Almost full moon.    Wow outstanding. Actually it was 3:30am.  I found a way to fall back to sleep. 

You all know I usually sleep restlessly around a full moon.  This one seemed to be particularly bright. Tonight should be outstanding.   I’ll let you know. …

God Abides

Bobbie Giltz McGarey

  When Betsy and Sean came to see us over thanksgiving we went to Raton. This is us on top of  the Capulain volcano east of town.  The Rocky Mountains are in the far background.

I’m planning an early morning walk with my dog Annie.   I’ll treat myself to an apple crumble at Flying Star.  I’ll talk with family on the phone.  It will be a good day and the start of a good New Year!

sixty six has been a really good year.  Betsy and Sean’s wedding was such a wonderful time. So many family and friends. We treasure our families.   John and Gail and I went to India and had a marvelous trip and shared such good things together.  Johnny and Molly came for Christmas and it was wonderful to be with them.

As it nears my birthday I often get pensive. This year is no exception. I first remember birthdays as a child.  The year my Daddy made me an ice skating rink in the back yard always stands out.

I think of my family and miss those who have gone on.   I think of my family and smile thinking of all those present.   I think of the work I’m doing and those along the way.  I think of the time 500 people at a conference sang happy birthday to me!  This year will be quieter.   I have a Session meeting midday.  I have a concert to attend.  I have a sermon to finish.

It shall be a good year

god abide

Bobbie Giltz McGarey

@2015

John and Johnny in January

Last month my cousin Gail, husband John and I were in Kotagiri India with cousin Matthew John and his family, Annie, Son Ruel and daughter Nathania. Look at the lush green in the photo behind us. We had eaten lunch at this hotel. The gardens were lovely.

Why do we so often think that everything is about us? We think each day that the line we are in for groceries or drive thru should move faster than the one next to us! I mean really we have an important world to conquer and if one less car/person were in front of us, well we would surely win. Win? Well be superior to the Other guy over there . If it rains on a day we wanted to be outside then the skies are angry with us. However, that is not sound logic.
Nope! That’s about me thinking. We want to get out there and change the world. Change to our benefit of course.
Here is the good news. It isn’t about us. It just is.
Our job is to be the truest self we can be. It is far easier to be congruent. That is to be who we say we are.
You can do this. You will know is right when it’s right.
Good luck
God Abides.
Bobbie Giltz McGarey
@
1/2/ 2014

I learned to type on an Underwood Upright typewriter that took a good pounding to get it to work right.   Bless my mother she typed my father’s whole dissertation on that machine making three carbon copies of each page no corrections.  There was real pounding involved.  I learned how to type by retyping the title of his work.

“A study of the physiological processes associated with the emission of spermatozoa in the leopard frog, Rana pipiens”

Not a clue what it meant as I typed it but there was a story about the teacher at school asking my parents to keep me from reciting it.  It was 1954. I was 6.

Now to make a page look like a typewriter all I have to do is select the font.  And all the letters have the same impression because it doesn’t depend on how strong your various fingers are …. The pinky A and S were the hard ones for me.  But I learned. 

So when I hear someone say they don’t want to learn how to use a new technology…without even giving it a try I get a little discouraged.    Learning keeps us alive.  Learning is what keeps our brains cooking.  We know this from all kinds of research. (and you know it’s true because it is on the internet!) 

Our spiritual lives are always being updated you know.  We see the world in new light every day because the experiences of the day before have taught us something.  Well, have the potential to teach us something.  That is why we gather in Community to worship and give thanks and be surrounded by folk who really care about us and who we are and what’s going on in our lives.  These people also call out in us the very best and we are able to use the gifts and skills God has given us for the Good of the world.   

I  saw someone talking about dialing the phone and they made a motion as if they were using a rotary dial.   I could guess their age bracket.  I also imagine the young man he was talking with didn’t get the hand signal.   We have lived in these past 20-40 years in some amazing advancement in communication.   And it’s not stopping. 

Make friends with the world around you.  With the gadgets and gizmos that are coming all time to lead us to communicate better and better.   Let the words flow.  

God abides

Bobbie G. McGarey

@2014

(Ok, I admit I still love the sound of the crisp typewriter key snapping up to hit the paper…  but I think there’s an app for that! )

Morning. So I’m listening to the radio scroll thru different channels and I hear a Bible reading. You often know when it’s s Bible reading because there is that “bible voice ”
Anyway it was the story where Jesus heals Peter’s mother who was sick with a fever. Jesus takes her hand, the fever leaves her, and she gets up and serves them.
Great! She is healed! What caught my ear was that she gets up and serves them. Ok, I know that is proof she was really healed. But really…couldn’t they have taken care of themselves and let her recover from her just past illness? Nooooo. She gets up, an older woman, Peter’s mother and waits on them.
Humph I
Shake my head. Many mothers can identify with this