Looking Beyond Today

Yesterday I went to see the movie
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 
at an artsy theater in Palo Alto.

Dave was spending the day up in the city at the US Open Golf Tournament. 

I had just dropped Katie off at the San Francisco airport.

(Is there a nickname for that airport? Like LAX... but different letters?

Do people call it SFO? hmmm I don't think I've ever heard anyone call it that.) 

I had been wanting to see the movie
and since it was on the way home from the airport
I decided to just go do it. So I did.
On a Thursday afternoon it was me
and six or seven other people in the theater.
I was the youngest person there.

The movie was really sweet and fun to watch,

though Dave might have taken a bit of a nap
if he had gone with me.

And it was fun watching the ensemble of older,
incredibly talented actors
 like Judi Dench and Maggie Smith.

                                They were awesome.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the movie,

it's about a 20-something guy (Sonny) in India whose family owns an old hotel

that is very run down and hasn't been open for a while.

He tries to open it as a residence for retired people.

So a random group of older folk all end up meeting and living there together.

Sonny's the type of person that puts a positive spin on everything.

No matter what is actually happening or what people are actually seeing,

he tries to convince them to see beyond the present.

Throughout the movie we hear him telling them (with a cool Indian accent),

 "Everything will be all right in the end. And if it is not all right, then it is not the end."

I love that! And as I walked out of the theater I realized

that it's a really good paraphrase of Romans 8:28.

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good

to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

That was a great reminder to me.

When something is going on in my life that I don't like so much,

something that I really really wish was different...
whether it's a small thing or a really big thing,

I need to remember that verse. I need to remember that God is in control.

And that this isn't the end of the story yet. I need to remember...

Everything will be all right in the end. And if it isn't all right, then it's not the end.

Heart Capacity

Do you know that feeling when you're almost overwhelmed by

how much you love someone or something?

When you feel so incredibly lucky... blessed ...

that you feel like your heart could burst?

It's often brought on by a person.

But it can even happen when you're looking out at

an incredibly gorgeous sunset over the ocean.

Or when you're hiking up in the mountains and it's so beautiful and magical

that you're pretty sure any minute you might meet up with

one of the elves from Middle Earth. :)

I get that feeling even more often now that I have grand kids.

I know I loved my own kids a lot when they were little

(and I still love them now!)

but there's just something about grand kids.

When I see them

or hold them

or even just see a picture of them

I honestly feel like my heart could burst!

I think when you're a parent

you're responsible for so many things related to your kids

well, everything actually

so there are a lot of other feelings mixed in with that incredible love.

But when you're a grand parent

you just get to love on 'em.

So these are my three incredible grand kids

that regularly expand my heart

close to its bursting point.

This is Camden.

I especially love him.

 

This is Andersen.

I especially love him.

And this is Kayley

our newest little Gudgel.

I especially love her.