Don't Worry, Be Hodgepodge

It's Wednesday, and I'm making time for a little Hodgepodge after a couple weeks of missing it. Glad to be back among friends and always thankful for our hostess, Joyce, who provides the challenging and thought provoking questions for us to answer. Enjoy my answers, then click on the Hodgepodge button to visit Joyce and the others. And be sure to leave some comment love. :)

Here are her questions and my answers:
1. What was your biggest worry five years ago?  Is it still a worry?
Five years ago, our youngest son was starting his senior year in high school, and my worries were of college visits, his upcoming swim season, and how in the world could my baby be a senior already? Those are no longer worries, and while I try not to spend time in worryville, I do believe that moms just worry. Still.

After my mother-in-law died, we found Philippians 4:6 more than once among the verses she had written in her Bible. "Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done." 

Worry less. Pray more. Give thanks to God. Good words to remember.

2. Yesterday (October 15th) was National Grouch Day...what makes you grouchy? What cheers you up when you're feeling grouchy?
Grouchy: early morning alarm clocks, a sink full of dirty dishes, my team losing, forgetting things.
Cheery: a beautiful sunset, grandchildren, chocolate, counting my blessings.

3.  In one word, how does it feel to be photographed? Uncomfortable.

4. Besides your parents, who would you say had the greatest influence on you in choosing your life path?  Explain. 

I studied to be a teacher, and that was primarily influenced by my mother. Besides my mother, I think this path was further influenced by every teacher I had. I have rich memories of things I learned from each of my teachers from grade school up through college.

5. The crisp days of autumn are here ...what's something you like to eat, but only if it's crisp?
My current favorite Honeycrisp apple, fresh from the orchard.

6. What's the most useless object you own?
Hmmmm..... our treadmill? I really need to work on making it more useful. By using it.

7.  Share a favorite fall memory. 
Bright blue-sky harvest days,

happy Halloweens,

 and fun fall break trips.

That was 3 memories though, wasn't it? :)

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

I snapped this photo of a family seated near us at a restaurant last week. They spent most of the meal like this. It struck me that we have at our fingertips a variety of devices to keep us 'connected', yet we spend less and less time connecting with those seated right next to us. I know I'm guilty of spending too much time with my phone in my hand, and I hope to be more intentional about putting it down more often. We become so concerned with updating our status, checking in, tweeting or instagramming what's happening, that we fail to see what's happening. At the park, in the car, at the game, on the street, in the bathroom, cooking meals, eating meals, rocking the baby, we're missing life scenes while watching phone screens.

And when I got home from the restaurant, there was this post by Ann Voskamp in my inbox. Cyber disconnect to soul connect. I know you will want to read her post, and since you won't want to miss the video, I linked it here as well. Food for thought. 

Happy Wednesday, everyone. Now put down that phone and step away from the computer and enjoy the day! And each other. :)