YEARS AGO, THE STATE SLOGAN FOR PENNSYLVANIA WAS "You've Got A Friend In Pennsylvania."  I think they spent millions of dollars to come up with a new slogan... I think it was (or still is) "America Starts Here".  And.... that means??? What?   Anyway, it appears however, that I have many friends in Pennsylvania.   At least I have PA people reading this blog like crazy.   Many of the IP addressess that are showing up are PA internet addresses.   Charter Business.

So.. to those of you in Pennsylvania who are still my friends... or even to those of you who are just nosy and want to know what's going on in my life.. I say.. "Hey!  How y'all doin'?"   

THE WHOLE POINT OF THE WHOLE THING ABOUT GOD IS THAT HE WANTS TO BE KNOWN.  Yeah, He wants us to know Him.  He wrote the best selling book EVER in an attempt to reveal Himself to us.  Nature declares His glory.  He sent His Son to show us His heart and love for us.  He gave the Ten Commandments to Charlton Heston... I mean.. Moses.  He wants us to know Him,  Why? Because as a result of knowing Him, we will find that He knows us.  And loves us.  And it's that knowledge that brings us peace. True peace.   "God knows me.  He knows everything about me.  And loves me anyway.  All is well."  

And within EACH HUMAN BEING....because we are made in His image.. is the desire to be known.  

Little children are our example.   They haven't "learned" yet to hide their hearts.   Jesus said,  "Unless you become as little children you will in no way enter the Kingdom of Heaven."  I observe my grandchildren and their desire is to tell me about themselves. 

"Mema, I can swim underwater!".  "Mema, I can color in the lines!"  "Mema, I have a cut on my foot."   And they tell me these things because they know I CARE about hearing them.  Their desire to reveal themselves to me is the greatest joy of knowing them.  I'd be heartbroken if they never talked to me.  Or if they assumed I didn't care about hearing. 

And THEN they want to hear stories -and the stories that fascinate them the most are the ones in which THEY are the main characters.  It can be stories about when they were babies ("You loved flowers. And you used to say "FAHVA" for flower".. etc.) - or stories in which they are the heroes.  

And that's how God is.  He wants us to EAGERLY talk to Him about ourselves. And tell us stories in which we are the main characters (it's called "History")  And He wants to reveal Himself to us - because His love is what we are longing for whether we know it or not.  But we grow up.  And become "mature". And as we grow, and as people hurt us we learn to hide our hearts.  From one another.  And from God.  

And the horror of hidden hearts is that it's not our natural state.  It's a learned behavior.   And our Father in heaven didn't teach it to us.  So,then, who did?

YESTERDAY WAS ONE OF "THOSE" DAYS... nothing major.  Just busy, dealing with family members who need my help - they're not feeling well.  Just busy.  Phil was gone all day.  And so

around dinner time - I was all alone - and so I indulged myself and went to our local and NEW Super Target - just to walk through the aisles.   I can't remember the last time I had the time to just meander through any store looking around.  It was a little vacation. 

I looked at makeup, tried on liquid face foundation samples, accidentally broke a bottle of nail polish.( I got "skeered" and just walked away.. I'm a criminal) .. you know.. just wasting time.   Trying to recuperate from the day.. lost in thoughts...busy.. tired.....feeling a little bit confused by the business of life. 

And then...as I walked through the lawn and garden section... a BRIGHT light rose, the sun  shined his face on me and my life became bright and warm.   I heard the sound of a tiny voices.. filled with JOY.. saying my name ("MEEEEEEEeeeee MAAAAAAAaaaaaa") as loud as they could.   Phil, Renee and my three grandchildren were in SuperTarget also.   And there it was - JOY!  JOY!  JOY!   

After I went to the ladies room to wash the sample makeup off my face ("Ma," says Philip, "What did you do to your face?  You look like Queen Amadalla"  Evidently, my face looked white and chalky instead of the lovely tan a person gets from living in hot sun of our town... "Gates of Hell, Tennessee".  It's always HOT here. He's a funny man, my son.  And plus, I never wear face makeup...)  I confessed to him that I'd walked away - embarrrassed - by the bottle of nail polish I'd broken.  So we went back to the scene of the crime and got someone to do a "cleanup on B3"... 

And then we spent the next hour or so pushing carts and buying two new DVD's for the kids.   And when we were done, and waving goodbye in our cars... the sun was going down in the sky.... but it was still blazing brightly in my grandmother heart.    

I care about what's going on in the world.  I do.  I care about the fact that I need to do more to care for orphans and widows. 

BUT yesterday... I found the cutest pair of shoes.. and they fit me.. and they were HALF price.  Cute little black shoes with black sandal top.  And when I showed them to my mom, she loved them so much she asked, "Do they have them in another color?".. and she gave me the money to buy ANOTHER pair in brown.... And I drove back to the store, and there was just one pair left in my size (6 and 1/2).

And so, I must admit, that the fact that I was able to find a pair of adorable shoes that fit my chubby feet, and that they were on sale for ONE DAY ONLY at HALF PRICE.. and that my mom was generous enough to buy me a second pair.. REALLY... REALLY.... REALLY made me happy.   I'm so excited about it. 

Anyway, just saying thanks to God for these things He gives... and because He understands what it's like to be a girl.  And sometimes, finding new shoes at half price is great big deal to one of His daughters.   Thank you, Lord, for understanding women.

YESTERDAY'S BLOG  (scroll down a little) was about how RICH I am to have parents like I do.  And one of the emails I received about it was from our dear friend..no....dear BROTHER...Neil Enloe.   Neil is a great songwriter ("Statue of Liberty") and member of The Couriers, and someone who is giving to his children the same wonderful legacy my parents gave to me.  He knows my parents.. and in an attempt to continue to honor them.. I'd like to  post his email to me below: 

Marie-

Everything you said about your parents is true.  They remain models of true disciples of Christ.  Their loving compassion for humanity and their strong walk with the Lord are standout qualities that one immediately sees upon meeting them.  And those qualities don’t diminish with time; they only strengthen.

When I desperately need an answer to prayer I enlist the supplications of Molly Bruno, your dear mother.  She has an open direct line to Heaven and is anxious to take my urgent plea to the throne of God .  And she gets answers like no other that I know of.  Your father is a prince with bulletproof Godly character.  Our nation and our culture could use a multitude of men of God like your father.

So yes, you are indeed a rich girl.

Neil       

I'M A RICH GIRL.   Well not financially... although God has always been faithful in every way.  But, I grew up with two people - my parents - who's focus was always on the things of God.  They loved God more than any other people I know.  They read the Bible as if it was their actual food.  They lived a life in front of me of always being honest and true and IN LOVE WITH THE LORD OF THEIR LIVES.   I thought every other kid in church went to sleep with the sound of her father and mother praying.. and waking up to the same sound.

If the phone rang and I didn't want to speak to whoever it was calling....my father would never lie for me.  He always simply told the truth in every situation.   He'd say, "If you tell one lie, you'll have to tell fourteen others to cover the first one."  (don't know where he came up with the number 14.. but he's right)  

OH.. and he always taught me to THINK.. and not take someone else's answer as truth.  Especially when it comes to the Bible and the things of God. And they both loved to read.. and so do I.  Anyway..I simply want to say that if there is any thing in ME that loves God.. it came from them.  As I look at people's lives...and many of them are churchgoers.....and they are being shaken by the "shaking" going on in the world.. I thank God that He chose me to be the one who grew up in a home with two parents who had a REAL relationship with the LIVING GOD.  They never cared about "STUFF" on earth.. and their treasures are in heaven.

They are 84 and 85 years old.  I won't have them forever.   I cannot imagine life without them and their prayers.  OH..... how I've leaned on those prayers.  When they're gone, I cannot think of any other people I know who PRAY.   What an inheritance they will have left behind when they leave this earth.  And what a gift to a child.... for that child to KNOW that their parents LONG to see Jesus.. And see Jesus they will.   I'm a rich girl.