Profoundly Jadoosh

Today your Grandpa Anthony Walter Zimanek is 75 years old!  Your Daddy thinks it's pretty cool that Grandpa, he and Ayla are all exactly 25 years apart. Which is interesting cause that means so are Grandpa Lauritzen, me and Ayla all 25 years apart. Daddy said Ayla needs to keep that tradition going and have a baby exactly nine months after the wedding (to which Ayla responded " Um, no.")

Next Sunday the Iowa and Illinois Zimaneks will be getting together to celebrate Jadoosh's 75th. We will get to celebrate with him when he comes to visit next weekend with cousin Ron Grygiel (who celebrated his birthday yesterday!) From the guy who always said, "I have nothing profound to say, but only that I love you," Grandpa always has something to say ... some piece of advice, some new joke, some testimony about the Lord, some old story to share. So that being said, I asked Daddy to share what he has learned about life and marriage from his father. This is what he had to say.

• Grandpa has always set goals for himself for self-improvement. Hanging right there above the toilet in the basement, a new list would be posted at New Years. 
• He loves the Lord and there was no question worship was always important. He didn't miss a Sunday or holiday for worship.
• He's an amazing cook - especially with meat. Best steak I (Mom) ever had was one (okay, two in a row) he made. And we all know how amazing his meatloaf is. 
• He plans everything. Gotta have a plan. Your Daddy got that honest.
• He is always on time ... early even. Promptness is very important. 
• He planned separate special trips with each of his boys. Daddy recalled them going to a boxing match together, and Uncle Scott and Grandpa biked from Sturgeon Bay to Giles Rock in Door County. Daddy enjoyed this special one-on-one time with him.
• He's very healthy. He wasn't always that way. He has shared that he was a sickly little child when the family lived in Chicago, which is part of the reason why Great Grandpa Anton and Great-Grandma Veronica moved to the Wisconsin farm of her parents to get him in some fresh air and outdoors. And there was a time when Daddy was young that Jadoosh went in for surgery that kept him out of commission and work for several months. Daddy said he grew up instantly during that time and Busha then had to work full time to support the family. But today he is very healthy. He does exercises every day and his muscles are hard as rocks. He looks into ways to keep himself healthy and applies it.
• He is the great delegator. Working in supervision at Oscar Meyer for years, that was his forte, and he's excellent at divvying up the jobs and making sure things get done.
• He works his butt off and expects others around him to do the same. He's renowned for his work ethic at Walmart in his retirement years. Daddy said he insisted his sons not make mistakes to avoid having to repeat the job over.
• He loves sex (this is your Daddy talking). And he has only ever been with one woman. It was his public displays of affection that started your very private Busha saying, "To-nee."
• Speaking of Busha, Jadoosh weeps when he speaks about his love for his wife. There is no doubt how much he loves and appreciates the amazing wife he married nearly 54 years ago.

Ayla and Anton - you come from good stock. Praying you can incorporate the good qualities of your grandparents into your lives and marriages. Happy 75th Birthday, Jadoosh! We don't have anything profound to say, but only that we love you.

Discussion: Share a memory you have of Grandpa Z. What are something things above you can learn from?

Prayer: Dear Father God, we thank you for Anthony Walter and his years of serving You. We pray for his continued health and lots more profound things to say. In Jesus, Amen.

What If There Was No Tomorrow?

Today I woke up and it was Feb. 3. That is good news. It means it's a new day, the first day of the rest of my life. Every single day is that way. Last night Daddy and I watched Groundhog Day with Bill Murray. If you know the movie, then you know his character, Phil, lives the same day over and over again until he learns selflessness, love, generosity and picks up a few talents along the way (ice sculpture, classical piano, life saving). I remember the first time I saw that movie thinking, "I will never watch this movie ever again." For crying out loud, I felt like I lived the day over and over again with him, and really didn't think I'd want to again.

It got your Daddy and I talking. I asked him if there was a day he would want to live over again. He said his birthday during the time we lived in Georgia, so he could make love to me on the back walled-in patio while you kids were at school then play with you when you came home for the rest of the day. "That was always a good day," he said. For me it was the day we spent in Door County with Grandpa Lauritzen, GranDonna, Megan and Johnny. It was a perfect day. The weather was ideal, we made precious memories and saw some amazing places. There are some days I can still smell something in the air and will say, "It's a Door County day," because it has that feel. Notice that Daddy and I picked days where everything was sweet.

Now you should know your Daddy is not one to every want to relive a day. He is a firm believer that the day is over and it's time to move on to the next day. It's a face-forward and realistic viewpoint. He believes in living for right now. And of me, he would tell you my life motto is "make a memory," so you can see that squishing the two of us together is a pretty good combo.

So we can't relive yesterday or any other day, but we can make this day the best one ever. And we shouldn't have to relive the day to find reasons to be selfless, loving, generous and learn some new talents. Do it TODAY!

I will tell you something else about today that I bet if I asked your Daddy if he would want to relive it, that he would actually say he would. This day is your Great Grandma Veronica Zimanek's birthday. She would have been 99 today. Every Feb. 3 when we lived in Wisconsin, I would make Great Grandma a birthday cake and Daddy or I would drive it over to her home to celebrate with her (one time when I went back from Georgia to Wisconsin for my goddaughter, Julia's baptism in early February, I even made her a cake and took it then). I think if your Daddy could return to that farm home in Wisconsin on this day, cake in hand, to visit with her and his grandfather, he would do it in a heartbeat. This is why we delight in the moment ... because the moments go by. Praising Jesus for the memories.

So our advice ... take every opportunity to delight in the day, do great things, visit with sweet souls, take an adventure, be extra kind to one another, learn something new and make the world a better place in that one day ... so you never have any regrets about wanting a do over. As the character Phil says in the movie Groundhog Day, "Well, what if there is no tomorrow? There wasn't one today." And God said in Proverbs 27:21,"Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring." Enjoy today. And Happy Birthday, Grandma Z. We love you and wish we could play a little pinochle with you. Give Grandpa, Uncle Louie, Aunt Sophie and Grandpa a hug for us. We miss you.

Discussion: If you could live any day over again, which would it be? What is something you can do today to make a memory or make someone else's day better. What can you do for each other today?

Prayer: Thank you, Father God, that we only have to live each day once. And I pray we take advantage of making it a day to remember. Help us to remember to live it to your glory. In Jesus name, Amen.