"With God's Grace Our Worst Past
Becomes Our Best Future"
Becomes Our Best Future"
Photo by Adi Goldstein on Unsplash
BY LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
REPRINTED FROM 2007
Thoughts About the Movie Up
a Disney Animated Film
We rehashed the movie over Dairy Queen ice-cream cones. “Terrific movie,” I said. My husband and I both thought the movie a rich and rewarding experience. “Pretty deep as animated movies go,” he said.
Kids will enjoy the comedic aspects such as Kevin’s love of chocolate and Russell’s ambition to help an elderly person—but the meat of the story is far more than a bird or an eleven-year-old’s search to earn a merit badge.
“You didn’t see the note, in the album, did you?” my husband asked, his eyes filled with tears. “It said, ‘Thanks for the Adventure.” He held my hand, and we thanked God for our years of never-ending changes. For when life takes a turn we hadn’t expected, he would smile and say, “The adventure continues.”
What is an adventure? Dictionary.com lists one of its definitions as: a bold, usually risky undertaking; hazardous action of uncertain outcome. Rarely does life unfold the way we envision. A young couple has a romanticized concept of what their lives will be like. Parents dream big dreams for their children. When we begin a new job, buy a house, or embark on any twist to our lives, we draw mental pictures of the outcomes.
All too often, though, when the picture we painted washes out with the rains of challenges that come our way, we think God has played a cruel joke on us. We wonder if our faith was weak. Where did we go wrong in our quest?
But God embraces us with the assurance, “My child, life itself is the adventure. I have given you life, and life more abundant. Enjoy your adventure. It is my gift to you.”
LOOK FOR: WHO PUT THE VINEGAR IN THE SALT COMING IN NOVEMBER
ABOUT SECOND HELPINGS:
Today is Jocelyn Johnson’s 45th birthday. Unhappy with her marriage of 22 years, the parenting talk show host has planned a noonday tryst with her cohost. A phone call from her college daughter, a peek into her teenaged son’s journal, a sick preschooler, a Goth daughter’s identity crisis, a middle-school son’s prank, and her husband’s inflamed suspicions, not only interfere with her hopeful birthday plans but throw her family into more chaos than a circus on steroids.
In desperate need of counsel, Jocelyn invites a Christian to dinner, her guest from her morning talk show segment. However, the evening holds little promise of calm. In the midst of bedlam, a forgotten faith rekindles causing Jocelyn to rethink her life and her marriage.
You will laugh and you will cry from the first page to the last as you journey through the day’s events and Jocelyn’s search for Second Helpings.
Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/Second-Helpings-Humorous-Contemporary-Novel-ebook/dp/B087C744HZ
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PRIME OF MY LIFE
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FULL CIRCLE
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GREEN STUFF AND HUBS
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HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF BLUE ZONES?
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IF YOU CAN'T BEAT 'EM JOIN 'EM
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ADAPT OR DIE
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SAY THANK YOU TO OUR FRIENDS IN BLUE
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THE SWEET COUPLE HOLDING HANDS
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SURPRISE! SURPRISE! SURPRISE!
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FROM FICTION TO NON-FICTION AND BACK AGAIN
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WHO SAID GROWING OLD IS FUN?
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MY CULTURAL DISCONNECT
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WHAT IS RETIREMENT
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LOOKING UP OR LOOKING AWAY
5/25/2020 1:00:00 AM by: LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
SEEKING GOD
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HOW OLD ARE YOU
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IT'S NOT OKAY
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EMBRACING MY INNER BOOMER
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THE RACE FOR LILY
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GRANNY ALICE
4/6/2020 1:00:00 AM by: LYNNE BASHAM TAGAWA
RESILIENCE
3/29/2020 1:00:00 AM by: LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
LIVING WITH CHANGE
3/9/2020 1:00:00 AM by: MARTIN WILES
WHEN THE GROCERY STORE CLERK HAS TO CHECK YOUR AGE
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THE IMPORTANCE OF CREAMING
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FRIENDS AT ANY AGE
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IDENTITY CHECK
1/27/2020 1:00:00 AM by: MARTIN WILES
IF YOU CAN'T BEAT 'EM, JOIN 'EM
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MY POSSESSIONS MATURE ALONG WITH ME
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EYES FRONT
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THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGING'
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SANTA'S RELUCTANT HELPER
12/23/2019 1:00:00 AM by: LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
THE PURSUIT OF WEALTH
12/16/2019 1:00:00 AM by: DEBRA COLEMAN JETER
VANQUISHING THE CHRISTMAS BLUES
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GRANDMAS THEN VS GRANDMAS NOW
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TECHNO BLUES
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ADAPT OR DIE
11/18/2019 1:00:00 AM by: LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
CREAMING
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When our Get Up and Go Gets Up and Goes
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LIFE IS THE ADVENTURE
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MY LIFE AS A BARCODE
10/21/2019 1:00:00 AM by: LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
THE QUEST FOR THIN
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THE AMERICAN DREAM
10/7/2019 1:00:00 AM by: ANGELA BREIDENBACH
FROM GOLDEN YEARS TO GOLDEN BELLS
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THE CHORDS THAT BIND MY MEMORIES
9/23/2019 1:00:00 AM by: LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
JUST BE STILL
9/16/2019 1:00:00 AM by: MARTIN WILES
PRINCE CHARMING, SPIDERS, AND CHEMO
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GRAY IS GRAND
8/26/2019 1:00:00 AM by: LOREE PEERY
A GOOD QUESTION
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LOVING THE BABY BOOMER GENERATION
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MAKING PRETTY THINGS
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ARE YOU TOO OLD TO BECOME AN AUTHOR
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ENJOY THE MEAL
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IN THE GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME
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KEEPING IT FRESH
7/8/2019 1:00:00 AM by: WANDA O. HOT
OVERFLOWING WITH BLESSINGS
7/1/2019 1:00:00 AM by: CLEO LAMPOS
HAVING THE PRIME OF MY LIFE
6/24/2019 1:00:00 AM by: JO MASSARO
GOLDEN GIRL
6/17/2019 1:00:00 AM by: PAT JEANNE DAVIS
WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW
6/10/2019 1:00:00 AM by: CLEO LAMPOS
Food, Families, and Fond Memories
6/3/2019 1:00:00 AM by: LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
FOR THOSE OVER FIFTY-FIVE
5/20/2019 1:00:00 AM by: JUNE FOSTER
NEXT GENERATION
5/13/2019 1:00:00 AM by: KATHLEEN NEELY
Mimi and Bop
5/6/2019 1:00:00 AM by: Melissa Henderson
NEVER TO OLD TO START OVER
4/29/2019 1:00:00 AM by: LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
THE WRITER'S CALLING
4/15/2019 1:00:00 AM by: SHERRI STEWART
PLAYING THROUGH THE FOG
4/8/2019 1:00:00 AM by: LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
SOMETIMES WE JUST NEED TO TURN OFF THE GPS
4/1/2019 1:00:00 AM by: LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
DON’T CALL HER MA’AM
3/25/2019 1:00:00 AM by: LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
When Your Past Looms Longer than Your Future
3/18/2019 1:00:00 AM by: Debra Coleman Jeter
OUR MCDONALDS
3/11/2019 1:00:00 AM by: LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
BORN TOO LATE
3/4/2019 1:00:00 AM by: DIANNE BARKER
PERSPECTIVE
2/25/2019 1:00:00 AM by: LISA LICKEL
IS IT THE BEGINNING OR THE END
2/18/2019 1:00:00 AM by: KATHLEEN NEELY
MY TO-DO LIST
2/11/2019 2:16:00 PM by: SHERRI STEWART
ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING
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MAMA, I CAN'T TAKE A BATH THERE'S A FISH IN THE TUB
1/21/2019 1:00:00 AM by: LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
EAT RIGHT NOW LIVE LONGER LATER
1/14/2019 1:00:00 AM by: Jude Urbanski
AM I STRESSED?
1/7/2019 1:57:00 PM by: LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
SHOULD VS WANT
12/31/2018 3:58:00 PM by: LINDA WOOD RONDEAU
I'LL BE ALONE FOR CHRISTMAS ... YOU CAN COUNT ON ME
12/24/2018 1:00:00 AM by: Julie Cosgrove
THE ONLY CONSTANT IS CHANGE
12/17/2018 1:00:00 AM by: LINDA SHENTON MATCHETT
LIVING WITHOUT REGRET
12/10/2018 1:00:00 AM by: Grant Ferguson
GROWING UP CAN BE FUN SO IS GETTING OLDER
12/3/2018 1:00:00 AM by: ELLIE GUSTAFSON
SOARING WITH BROKEN WINGS
11/19/2018 1:00:00 AM by: Linda Wood Rondeau
NEVER TOO LATE
11/5/2018 8:33:00 PM by: DIANE TATUM
The Not So Good Good Old Days
10/22/2018 1:05:00 AM by: Linda Wood Rondeau
