YouTube search

It would be very easy to sit around and watch the tribute to my mom on YouTube all day. 

and cry all day and night... . 

but I know she would not want that. 

So instead of typing her name on YouTube I searched her all time favorite
and found this. and immediately started smiling.. .
yes, tears still falling
but happiness filled my heart. 

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

and the world spins madly on

Thought of You from Ryan J Woodward on Vimeo.
music by Weepies click >HERE<

God is in the public schools

there have been so many opportunities recently to talk about God at school
.. .within certain parameters that is.
[ i'm @ a public school ] : but i try to not let that hold me back.
Yesterday a child told me "there is no God".
You know I couldn't leave THAT go!?!? ?

this young man whom I do adore, is learning Hebrew afterschool. ..
but apparently doesn't believe that God exists.
Well, he's now teaching me Hebrew on the side.
I asked if he could share with me some words to use when I pray. I'm gonna break him down... .
the Spirit works in miraculous ways we don't understand, right?

If my mom taught me anything, it was to tell people about Jesus.
anywhere. anyone. any way.
I remember hearing stories about her when she worked at my first school of employment
_where she got very close to the "edge" : separation of church and state, that is.
and now I've become her.

So when we received an email from our principal sharing this YouTube video
.. . and "OK'ing" it for the students,
I tossed them all on the reading rug and pressed play.
They loved it _ of COURSE!
We're replaying it tomorrow.
Along with a read.aloud, The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey.
One of my mom's favorites.
A story of love, redemption and restoration.

.. .did you realize that you would be my Savior?

dear mom,

the christmas lights don't seem to shine as bright this year. you made them sparkle.
you made us all sparkle.


i miss you. more and more every day. ..



Music Playlist at MixPod.com

angels singing on repeat

for the last few years, i took pleasure in teasing my mom with this Christmas song. 

playing it again: and then again.  

maybe just ONE more time. 

Ohhhhh. she laughed and loved it. and then I'd put it on again.

Play it on repeat and smile with my mom.

She's one of those Angels singing.. . on tune now. 
[mom, you're smirking: i know you are]

.perfect pitch. 

the signs keep coming.. .

my mom continues to remind me.. .

an email from my sister today

we're made alive in You.

Yesterday I was folding laundry.. and looking for the perfect spot for my mom's robe.. . 
Sorting through her drawers, I stumbled upon a little travel jewelry case full of her most recent fancies. 
Hidden among some old and new jewels, I found a golden locket that I recognized. Calla Lilies covering the front.
But it was the first time I had the chance to see inside of it.
Not a picture of my sister and I. nope, not her husband. not even her grandchildren.
i'm smiling typing this. it's sO my mom. ahhhhh_ i miss her so much.


but what I saw made me smile, made my heart fill with happiness. 
burst its seams with happiness.

It was a picture of Jesus. you could see the edges she must have cut out from a card or a bookmark. beard and all. 

She keeps sending me signs that she's good. Beyond good.. that she's happy. that she is healthy.




The day before she passed she told me she would be watching over me, "just like my mother did"... .
no doubt she is this very moment.


heard this today and the words spoke to me ... from her..


"we're made alive in You. we run to Your Throne. where we belong." 

mom's email chain

Can't even begin to explain or sort through my thoughts and emotions of the last two weeks with the passing of my mom.  Even as I type that I want to go back and hit BACK SPACE... DELETE>>>... .


I found this email today that she received about a week before her last days [-and then responded back to her friend]... . it made me smile. I know she certainly is smiling now. and endlessly praising .. as hard as it is for all of us stuck here without her. 




I'm leaving it in original form... so go ahead and scroll.


From: llanastasio@--------------
To: jeostrong@------------
Date: Sun, 14 Nov 2010 15:44:15 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: Re: Fwd: Beautiful explanation of death

Thanks for sending me this. I love you 
----- Original Message -----
From: jeostrong@---------------
Date: Sunday, November 14, 2010 10:40 am
Subject: Fwd: Beautiful explanation of death

> ~DEATH~
> WHAT A WONDERFUL WAY TO EXPLAIN IT .. 
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> A sick man turned to his doctor as he was preparing to
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> Leave the examination room and said,
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> 'Doctor, I am afraid to die.
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> Tell me what lies on the other side.'
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> Very quietly, the doctor said, 'I don't know.'
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> 'You don't know? You're, a Christian man,
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> and don't know what's on the other side?'
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> The doctor was holding the handle of the door;
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> On the other side came a sound of scratching and whining,
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> And as he opened the door, a dog sprang into the room
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> And leaped on him with an eager show of gladness.
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> Turning to the patient, the doctor said,
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> 'Did you notice my dog?
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> He's never been in this room before.
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> He didn't know what was inside.
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> He knew nothing except that his master was here,
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> And when the door opened, he sprang in without fear.
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> I know little of what is on the other side of death,
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> But I do know one thing...
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> I know my Master is there and that is enough.'
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> May today there be peace within you.
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> May you trust God that you are exactly
> Where you are meant to be.
> I believe that friends are quiet angels
> Who lift us to our feet when our wings 
> Have trouble remembering how to fly.
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