Posted on by landktheluckyones

Prayer

In regard to other people, I have not concerned myself with how people view me. I do, however, have been concerned in how I treat others or how I make them feel.

So,it is fairly easy for me to be more concerned with what God wants or cares about than mere men.

Rejoicing in the uniqueness of each person, causes me not to compare myself or others.

That being said, I have noticed that there is an area in my life where I have compared myself to others.

It is in the area of prayer. Despite the fact that God is my focus in all that I do. He is my first thought when I open my eyes, my last thought before bed.

I thank Him for everything in my life. His direction is what I seek throughout the day. I just want to please Him.

It is a privilege to bring the cares or joys of others to Him. I have witnessed His hand in big and small things in this life.

Sometimes my prayers have been immature in nature. Yet, God has answered, comforted, directed, and encouraged me.

Even still, there are some that, when they pray, are elegant in speech and flow. Recalling Scripture and principles so effortlessly.

Do you struggle to pray in a crowd? Let me encourage you today. It’s okay.

I felt the Lord saying that just as all the parts of the body have their unique and specific and special abilities and purpose- so do we.

I am not eloquent in speech, neither are my prayers. God in His wisdom made me this way for a purpose and He did the same for you.

All He wants is our heart and devotion. So, never stop! The Holy Spirit takes our heart and intercedes for us. The manner in which we pray is not as important as actually praying. As with anything else in life, we are not to compare ourselves with others. He just wants us to look to Him.

Prayer is somewhat of a mystery to most. We have to remember that God is not a magic wand that succumbs to our demands. Sometimes, He answers in ways that are in line with those wants. Sometimes, He has different plans. This causes some people to turn away.

I pray that you never turn away. Keep asking, but also keep seeking Him. You will not be disappointed.

Sometimes, we get discouraged and don’t think we are impacting our world. He then gives us glimpses of blessing to help us.

Last week, I received this from my brother and sister-in-law:

Encouraging

In conclusion, please don’t compare yourself to others. For, it’s not a communication with others, it’s communication with our living God.

Posted on by landktheluckyones

Turning 65

Yesterday, was my birthday. I turned 65. Wow! How did that happen? It happened with lightning speed.

Yet, yesterday reminded me of God’s goodness. Through these years, I have experienced some good times and a lot of bumps in the road. My God has been with me through it all. Orchestrating what I needed or who my path needed to cross with. Not for my own glory but His own.

Every person I meet, I am either allowing God’s light to flow through me to them or hindering. I pray that I don’t hinder.

I have met some truly amazing people in my life and I thank God for that.

It seems that in these later years, my birthday doesn’t just reflect one day but is extended beyond. Many of the amazing people I have met, share their love with me.

Sunday, my sister-in-law brought me flowers to bless my heart. Does she know that daisies are my favorite or did the Holy Spirit urge her?

Daisies!

Monday, I received birthday cards from friends that I admire.❤️

My brother took me to lunch. This is always a blessing to me.❤️

My daughter, son-in-law and grandson came to visit bearing gifts. The best part for me was visiting with them.❤️❤️❤️❤️

Such cool gifts!

We shared a yummy birthday dessert!

Tuesday, my actual birthday, I received so many birthday wishes from those whose lives have intertwined with mine. What a blessing that is to my heart.

A FaceTime chat with wishes from my son and family and a silly drawing from my grandson reminding me of my aging. 🤣 ❤️❤️❤️❤️

An audio recording of my oldest brother and sister-in-law, singing Happy Birthday with a sweet message.

Flowers from Brian, Hyunjin,Andrew and Lucas

A text and phone call from my financial advisor just to wish me a Happy Birthday! So nice!

My washer has been on the fritz. Yesterday, I received a new one and also the salespeople at HomeDepot gave me a candy bar for my birthday.

Leonard took me out to eat at Lucky’s PrimeTime in Petoskey. I thought it was an appropriate place for us, the LuckyOnes. We were quite pleased with our meals and service.

I was disappointed to see that I had a missed call from my nephew but he texted me a birthday wish. ❤️ So glad to connect. What a blessing!

A sweet visit with my cousin!

Gift from my cousin😊

Often, we feel so insignificant, but being remembered on your birthday, parallels the knowledge that even when we feel insignificant, God sees us. I feel that He places these people in our lives to lift us up and give us glimpses of His love through these people who touch us so deeply.

Posted on by landktheluckyones

Smile

My daughter asked me about a month ago to come and read to her class. I was so excited! I ordered some 4th grade level books to read.

Last week, she called and said I will be doing something else on that day in her class. I have to say that I was a little disappointed but I will still be able to be in the classroom. So, that’s pretty cool and I am very excited.

I didn’t want to go empty handed. So, I made these to take:

Smiley cookies!

I hope they like them!

Update: As it turns out, due to a snow day, I will be able to read to the class. Awesome! This morning at Bible study we were talking about how sometimes God wants us to just wait. This was a good reminder that if we just trust in the Lord, all things work for good, in His perfect way and timing.

Posted on by landktheluckyones

Always Learning

I have never trained a dog before. I watched videos and they make it look so easy. Yet, most of the time, I feel that LuckyGirl is training me rather than the other way around. In the house, she does very well (except for knocking over my plants when we leave her home alone).

I see people walking and their dogs are walking along side so nicely. Lucky does this sometimes, but often there are so many smells, birds, rabbits, deer that are much more interesting than walking nicely on the leash. I have tried to teach her to come, and again, when we are inside, she comes quickly but, outside… hmm, now that’s a different story. At times, she thinks that I am fun enough to quickly come running. At others, she looks at me and then decides that whatever she is doing is much more important.

I am thankful that we serve a God that meets us where we are at and uses whatever means to draw us to Himself. Since I have been trying to train LuckyGirl (we have just started calling her “Lucky”), I have felt God teaching me in numerous ways.

When she pulls and wants to go her own way – ways that could lead to her harm. I pull her back to keep her safe. How often do I want to go MY own way and the Lord pulls me back for my own good through His Word?

In the morning, she will snuggle up to me and cuddle and is so sweet but then, she’ll get into my plants or something else. Just wanting to do “her own thing”. Am I not the same? In the morning, doing devotions, I seem so sweet before the Lord, yet moment by moment it is a constant struggle between living by my natural fleshly self or living and abiding in His Spirit.

Just as Lucky is distracted by the big world of outside, I too get distracted by clinging to this world. Things that don’t matter. I too, sometimes am so taken by God that I feel close and other times, just like Lucky, I think what I am doing is more important than what He has instructed.

Essentially, I was formed by my Creator, so was Lucky. He has asked us to care for the earth and the animals. I want my life to glorify God and I am thankful that He has orchestrated my getting of this LuckyGirl to not only save her life, but also that He can teach me through her.

I am truly thankful for Him in my life. That is why we are all the “Lucky Ones”!

Posted on by landktheluckyones

February 10, 2024

Today is my son’s birthday. He’s forty. Where has the time gone.

I had said that I didn’t want kids but after I experienced motherhood, it was the most joyous part of my life.

I was petrified when I brought my firstborn son home. I didn’t want to break him. What a responsibility! Nurturing another human, when even at 64, I still feel like a child myself.

This boy, always good natured. Trying to see another’s point of view. Which makes for a good husband. He has loved his sister so much. Even though they haven’t been able to spend much time together as adults.

I have witnessed him travel to all parts of the country and world. He’s been in very challenging situations, including walking with his youngest son’s journey with cancer and now with his wife’s cancer trials.

He always strives to improve situations and himself.

God blessed us with a wonderful man for a son.

We are the Lucky Ones!

Posted on by landktheluckyones

LuckyGirl:A Work in Progress

I have never actually trained a dog. I am making a lot of mistakes but we are getting there.

We are very close in the housebreaking department. I don’t want to jinx it by saying we are there. Pride DOES come before destruction!

LuckyGirl will, for the most part, sit on command and we are learning lay down and stay down from jumping when she’s excited.

The pulling on a leash we definitely haven’t gotten mastered yet. I think she could be a sled dog! There are just so many smells to smell, and snowdrifts to dive into. Way too much to explore. What is a girl to do? There’s just so much to explore!

She has also become a little more verbal. When I tell her that it’s time for bed, she has decided to talk back a bit. She quickly quiets down and snuggles into her bed.

When we first brought her home, she was very timid, loving and calm. She slept a lot.

At present, she is still loving and calm most of the time, but now she has started to play. She seems to have attached to me most. Inside, she comes whenever I call her. Although, she’s never that far away – my shadow.

She doesn’t always mind Leonard though, unless I walk her to him.

Today, I let her go a bit away from me outside, where there’s freedom and see if she’d come when I called. I left her leash on, just in case I’d have to go after her. Something to try and grab if she didn’t come.

She did pretty good! 😊
I think she’s pretty happy
Posted on by landktheluckyones

It’s Like

It’s like having a baby here since we adopted “LuckyGirl”. I had forgotten how confined you are with a dog. We are still struggling a bit with getting her housebroken.

She is such a sweet dog, but I have noticed that she’s a bit strong willed when she gets an idea. A lot of us are!

Saying that she’s my shadow is an understatement. She loves socializing.

Today, I made her a bed and I believe she likes it!

We are the lucky ones with our LuckyGirl!

She enjoyed having the grandsons over
My daughter suggested a leather squirrel. She loves it!
Posted on by landktheluckyones

Lucky Girl

Knowing that I have Osteoporosis, I know I need to walk more. Despite this, I find it a bit boring. I have wanted a walking partner but Leonard has no interest.

I talked Leonard into getting a dog. He was not real excited about it, but agreed. I didn’t want to spend a crazy amount for a dog. I could have done that and picked the exact color and breed, but… When we make friends with people, we don’t become friends by their outer appearance or anything exterior thing about them. We become friends by a connection in our hearts. My daughter, Tina is such an animal lover and has much knowledge and intuition about dogs. She went and met her first and said that she was 100% the right dog for us. I am thankful for her intuition!

When they brought her out to meet us, she ran up to Leonard first and she touched his heart. He said, “I like her! Yup, she’s the one!”

This dog was found in a gas station bathroom. Her teeth have been filed off. The officer said that people take small dogs to use for bait to train dogs for fighting. That they file their teeth down so that they can’t fight back. She said that maybe someone felt guilty and put her in that bathroom to keep her from being killed.

We don’t really know what happened to her. This is just speculation. Yet, I am sure the officer has seen a lot and with her experience, she’s probably pretty accurate.

Being that she’s only approximately 6 months old, they didn’t name her. Leonard wanted to call her “Bob”. That just didn’t seem right. Being that we are the Lucky Ones, I decided to call her “Lucky Girl”.

My daughter thought that was appropriate. Since from all that she went through, now she is in a home where she will be loved and cared for.

LuckyGirl is such a sweet girl. Affectionate, calm, loving.

Beauty comes from the heart and this gal has a lot of heart!

I have found a new friend!

Meet LuckyGirl
Snuggles
Snuggling on Leonard’s arm on her way to her new home
Meet LuckyGirl
Posted on by landktheluckyones

He Cares for the Things We Care About

When I started this blog, I titled it “l and k the lucky ones” because my husband always says that I’m the lucky one to be married to him. He then follows up saying that we are both lucky. If you follow my blog, you know that I often state that we continue to be the lucky ones.

When I first met Leonard, hunting and fishing were not part of his routine. Sometime around his thirtieth birthday, that began to change. Since that time, he lives and breathes hunting. He says that there were a couple years that he did not harvest a deer, but for me, it seems that he has not missed a year. He is extremely faithful, not pausing in the precious hunt. Morning, mid-day and evening, rain, snow, any element, you can find him in his deer blind. Some days, he comes back with white fingers and frozen toes. Some, hunt for sport, some for that trophy buck and then there is Leonard. He takes this hunting very seriously. He is not hunting for sport, albeit if he comes across a big buck, he will aim for it. Still, this is not his motivation. He is motivated by providing for us. He always says whether fishing or hunting that he is looking for groceries.

I have to say, that I am quite thankful that he is such an advid hunter…yes, the lucky one. 🙂 I realize that some people are not fans of venison. Growing up on a farm, where we had beef readily available, I was not either. The fact remained, that when we were young and our kids were living at home, we did whatever we could to save money. Venison was a frugal alternative. Especially, since Leonard is not extravagant in his guns or ammunition. He does not waste. At present, I am so used to venison and enjoy the meals that we make with it and especially these days when you can’t trust where the meat has been in the store.

This year, hunting has been a struggle for Leonard. He had been hunting from October first all the way through until November 30th. His spirit was low as he would faithfully go everyday and not even see a deer and even when it snowed, he didn’t see tracks. Discouragement was at an all time high.

On November 30th, the final day of firearm season, I was sharing with the Lord how discouraged Leonard was and if it would be possible for Leonard to at least see something. He came in from hunting and decided to go to the senior center for lunch. I met him there after Bible study, so we went home separately. When I returned home, he came in and said, “I shot one. I have to wait a bit, so it doesn’t run away. He asked me to pray that he didn’t hit a deer only for it to run away.” (He would feel horrible if that happened). He also asked the Lord to help him find it.

It seems that he had saw the deer in our field from the county road as he was driving home…remember, he hadn’t been seeing anything all season. Then, he came in, got his gun and drove over the hill from our house. The deer was several yards away, but had noticed him. So, Leonard shot free hand and hit him from so far away. It was a really long shot!!!! He came home and asked me to pray and also ask me to help him track the deer.

As it turns out, the deer went a bit in our woods, but we were able to find it. I praised God for His Provision and asked Leonard if he had thanked the Lord and he said, “Yes, have YOU!?” Several times as we were bringing the deer home, I heard Leonard thanking the Lord.

Our Lord is such an awesome God that not only does he provide for us to sustain but he also provides encouragement for a discouraged hunter who only wants to provide for his family. Because we serve an awesome God, we continue to be the lucky ones! 🙂

Posted on by landktheluckyones

Let Us Give Thanks

Thanksgiving…I know it’s just one day. At times, this day, finds only the two of us having dinner together, at others, their are more. I enjoy preparing the Thanksgiving feast for as many that join us.

This year, we had two of my sister-in-laws, a brother-in-law, my son, daughter-in-law and two of my grandsons and their dog, “Hope”. It was a nice day, where the meal turned out well and good conversation and games were had by all.

On a day where we should reflect on all we have…sometimes, we don’t. You know, when our kids are young, we teach them to share and be kind to others. For myself, I must heed my own direction. When our children get families of their own, then WE have to share. This year, my daughter, her husband and my grandson went to Grand Rapids to spend Thanksgiving with her in-laws. At first, I was disappointed, and of course, I would have loved to have had them here, but as I reflected on thankfulness, the Lord brought a few things to mind.

  1. For several years, my daughter and her family have had Thanksgiving with us.
  2. I am sure, my daughter’s in-laws would have loved to have had them there on the years that they were with us.
  3. My daughter comes over and sees us on birthdays and other holidays.
  4. If I am to treat others as I want to be treated, I must share.

Isn’t it funny how selfish we can be on a day where we should be thankful. For me, most days I am quite thankful for the goodness of God to me. He has shown me so much kindess. This is not a once a year occurence. So, as I have been reflecting all month and being grateful. I am also grateful that my daughter’s in-laws had the opportunity to be with my daughter’s special family.

I did, however get some grandma/grandpa hugs.

Yes, let us give thanks. Today, tomorrow, everyday. For a day does not go by where we have nothing to be thankful for.