The Resolute Woman

Category: Joy

  • The bad news and the good news

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    by

    resolutewoman
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    My son Jay just got a new car. That’s the good news. And the bad news? The third day Jay was driving the car, he called his father. “The car is okay,” he said, “but….” My husband panicked immediately. His mind leaping ahead after Jay’s first words, he feared a terrible accident. Jay had turned…

  • “You can adjust the sail”

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    resolutewoman
    in ,

    We were talking in my Sunday School class about the need to accept disappointments in life and to accept people as they are—and, most important, to accept that we can’t control everything. Will remembered the words to a song Ricky Skaggs sings—“We can’t control the wind but we can adjust the sail.” What a wonderful…

  • Lessons from Roz Savage

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    resolutewoman
    in ,

    Roz Savage spoke at my son Jay’s graduation at the University of Tulsa. Have you heard of Roz Savage? I hadn’t. Now I know that she was the first woman to row across three oceans—the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian. She has rowed more than 15,000 miles, sometimes braving 20-foot waves, once capsizing three times in…

  • Wisdom from Anna Quindlen

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    resolutewoman
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    I am reading Anna Quindlen’s new book Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake, but, so far, I like the first paragraph best. “It’s odd when I think of the arc of my life, from child to young woman to aging adult,” begins Quindlen, who is 59. “First I was who I was. Then I didn’t…

  • Congratulations, Jay

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    resolutewoman
    in ,

    I remember vividly how worried I was when my son Jay left for college. “How will he ever make it at college without his parents to remind him to return his library books and to wear a jacket when it’s cold?” I asked my husband Jerry. “He will do fine,” Jerry reassured me. “Anyway, he’s…

  • A simple question about children

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    resolutewoman
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    I called the University of Tulsa because I had a question about graduation on May 5. In case you haven’t heard, my son Jay is graduating! And, he has been admitted to the MBA program at the University of Tulsa. And, he has been awarded a big scholarship. We’re ready to celebrate. “I’m a parent,”…

  • Joy and service

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    resolutewoman
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    Service is a part of life that is connected to joy, says James Martin in his book Between Heaven and Mirth: Why Joy, Humor and Laughter Are at the Heart of Spiritual Life. Martin quotes the Indian writer and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, who wrote: “I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke…

  • What’s required?

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    resolutewoman
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    I explained to Mary Elizabeth, my college-student daughter, that her dad and I were going to a Sunday School brunch and then church services on Easter Sunday. “You’re welcome to come with us,” I told her. “Am I required to go?” she asked. I paused a moment and then smiled. “We would like for you…

  • I’m patting myself on the back

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    resolutewoman
    in ,

    I just returned home after spending two weeks and two days in Tulsa helping take care of my brother-in-law who was in the hospital with congestive heart failure. I was delighted when I stepped on the scales this morning and I weighed one pound less than I did when I left home. For me, that’s…

  • I’m throwing away the salt shaker

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    by

    resolutewoman
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    I have decided to eat a heart-healthy diet. I’ll have lots of fruits and vegetables. Everything is going to be low fat and low sodium. It was an easy decision to make after spending two weeks and two days helping take care of my brother-in-law who has congestive heart failure and just had six stints…