Beverly Joy Roberts

My sister and I went to Florida recently to help our parents downsize and move back to Michigan.  One of the huge tasks that we faced was packing up all the things they would keep, and we also had to prepare for a garage sale to sell the rest. I will admit that in the 100 degree Florida heat, we were not diligent in pricing all the garage sale items.  Because of our slothfulness, we heard this statement...A LOT... "How much is this?" The pat answer that soon followed this garage sale question became... "One Dollar!" We were so overwhelmed by the amount of stuff and the heat that we would have given the stuff away if we could have. ...well, we did give some things away.   "Shhhhhh!" We were amazed as we watched people come and buy bunches of stuff that we thought no-one would want, yet it turned out that someone did value many of these items. This was the exchange we heard again and again... "How much is this?" "A dollar.&q

Barb and me at the "Hats On Ladies Lunch." I'm not a person who struggles with low self-esteem, feelings of inadequacy, or have excessive worry about not being included. Not that these things haven't come for a visit now and again, I just don't make a comfortable place for them to take up residence. I'm a fortunate person because I have a supportive family that loves me--warts and all.  They tell me how valuable I am to them, and they are present in my life in an active way.  They have my back. But there is none more protective of me than my oldest sister, Barb.  She will not engage in any negative talk about me or allow anyone else to talk about me in a contrary way.  That goes for all her family members and friends.  She's a fierce protector.  Consider yourself warned. Not long ago, I was in a prayer group and one of the members kept repeating this line in prayer, " You are For Me !" Sometimes, I'm slow at catching things the

In preparation for new carpet, I painted a few rooms in my house.  The day after I finished the first room, I swung open the bedroom door to examine the change the paint had made.   I stepped back and admired my work.  It was an amazing transformation.  The previous darker color with chips, scratches and nicks had been replaced by a light, soft, clean-looking color.   That, however, wasn't the end of the story.   All painters know that after the first coat of paint dries something happens to those perfectly painted walls.  That's when you realize,  You missed a spot! At first glance, standing in the doorway of the beautifully painted room, everything looked wonderful.  A big satisfied smile formed on my face, until I took a closer look.   That's when I saw the old paint color seeping through the new.  And in some places, I had missed covering that old paint color completely.  I shook my head in disbelief.  How could I have missed all these obviously b

License plates are interesting things.  Each of the 50 states in our great country have their own unique license plate that identifies something special about their particular state. One of the options for a Michigan plate is the Mackinaw Bridge.  And there are other options like an emblem representing a select branch of the military or a special pictures of nature, but no matter the artwork on any state license plate the important thing about any of theses plates is that they identify where we are from. You don't have to hear someone's accent or watch their mannerizims to identify if they are from the north, south, east or west.  When they step out of the car they've been driving, you know where they are from because the license plate identify them. What identifies me to the people I come in contact with in my daily walk? Am I the rude person at the checkout who yells at a cashier for a mistake? Or am I the person in line who pays for someones groceries because