Just a couple of kids, is how we started out. Married in 1980 without a clue, but through the ebb and flow of life, here we are! The lucky ones! We raised two totally awesome kids! Our son and our daughter, along with their spouses have extended our legacy with three fun and and yes, awesome grandsons.
When someone you love gets a devastating diagnosis, it throws you for a loop and you often struggle with how to help them.
Often, there is nothing you can do as you can’t change their diagnosis even if you want to.
The way to do that comes in as many forms as there are people. This week, Leonard picked up a puzzle for us to put together. I found this odd until we completed it.
He is not much for mush and gush but…
When we first met our daughter-in-law, she would do jigsaw puzzles at our house.
Leonard picked up that puzzle and wanted to complete it and send her a pic of it and to tell her how much he was thinking of her. His way of loving her! This so blessed my heart!
We went to the movies! We watched “Jesus Revolution “. We both thought it was a good movie.
There were a couple things that resinated with me. First, even though we can do great things with and for God, we are still people…still fallible. We need to always check ourselves over pride.
The second thing was something that the minister’s wife said in her quiet way.
“Sin is loud. Truth is quiet”. This is really a simple yet profound statement. Satan is always trying to distract us with things that are flashy or dilemmas to trip us up but, if we be still and listen. The truth will come quietly.
If you think about it, the distractions of this world that lead us down the wrong road are loud and in your face. It pays to look for the quiet.
If you’d like to see the trailer for this movie. I have included a link.
If you know me, you might say that I am sensitive. I imagine that is true. Even though I don’t care what people think of me, I care how I make that person feel. This is what motivates me most days. I pray that they see Christ in me, loving them as Christ loves us all. I also hope that they know and can feel how special they are to me.
During holidays, sometimes I go a little overboard with meals. I know that when it comes to especially holidays, we have emotions associated with tradition or expectation. So, during holidays I try to prepare something special for all that I know will be attending. Isn’t that where hurt feelings come from? Unmet expectations or miscommunications.
Another weird thing is that even before I got married, I was sure I didn’t want kids. I had not grown up around kids, most of my association with other humans were adults and elderly adults. Yet, after I got married, and had an unexpected pregnancy that resulted in a miscarriage, my mind changed. Leonard and I decided to have kids, were overjoyed to have a son, and then ecstatic when our daughter was born. All the while they were growing up, I felt like I was in heaven. Surely, a wonderful time in my life.They grew and were married and now have such blessed families of their own.
I struggled with the “empty nest” quite a bit and feel that maybe I am not completely cured of it. Even though, this is the nature of things. They are all in my heart and thoughts everyday.
When your kids move out and spread their wings, they often leave bits of their lives behind. I am cool with the memories they have engraved in my heart. Yet, they leave material things behind that they do not want to clutter their new lives and families with. This leaves a sensitive mother with a dilemma. What do we do with these old t-shirts or other material items that once marked a part of their lives? I try to get them to take them home, but they have moved on. They don’t want the clutter.
When my son lived in Seattle and we sent gifts for them through the mail. I used his old crosscountry, band and other shirts as packing material. This seemed to work well.
My daughter lives closer, so I don’t usually send gifts through the mail. Hmmm. Due to my heart not being able to throw these away because of the feelings and emotions associated with them. I decided to re-purpose them. I made a rag rug with a few of her t-shirts. (I’ve included a picture below) I’m not sure if she will want it, as it took me a bit to figure it out, so there are many imperfections. Thankfully, my kids accept my many imperfections. Isn’t that what life is…learning and growing through our imperfections. I thank my God that he accepts me, despite my many imperfections. This is my life, and maybe yours too. Areas where things go smoothly, and areas where they don’t, but that does not stop us from trudging on to try and make something beautiful.
Prior to my retirement, at the sound of the alarm, I would hop up jump in the shower and get completely ready before sitting down to meet with the Lord. My meetings always seemed rushed.
Now post retirement, no alarm, no quickly jumping into the shower. I have created a habit upon arising to get my coffee and snuggle in with meeting with the Lord. I have to admit that a lot of times, time has gotten away from me and I’m still there two, three or even four hours later!
This morning, I started out the usual routine, finished my time and felt the Lord urging me to get showered and start with the day. I thought to myself, “I will do that Lord, after I make out some bills…and after I balance the checkbook.”
While still balancing my checkbook, I had a surprise call from my dear friend asking if it was okay to visit. My cheeks began to flush and asked her to give me a half an hour. Embarrassed to admit that I hadn’t yet showered… even at 10 am!!! She graciously agreed.
It was so very good to see her as always. A blessing to my heart. Yet, it caused me to ponder…
When Christ comes or calls me home will I be embarrassed by my procrastination, by my doing my own thing rather than His thing? I pray not!
Tonight we went and saw the movie, “A Man Called Otto”. Leonard is usually quite critical of movies…well, actually he is quite critical of a lot of things. Maybe that’s why we liked the main character.
Tom Hanks, Truman Hanks, Mariana Trevino and the whole cast, did an amazing job in this movie. Leonard stated a few times what a good movie it was.
If you get a chance to see this movie. I would recommend it. There is one thing that I am disappointed by though. Hollywood often throws sex,profanity,violence, etc. where it wouldn’t change the story line if it wasn’t added. This movie had a transgender character which seemed to be just thrown in for no apparent reason. It seemed out of place to me.
The Lucky Ones were lucky enough to see this movie.
God and His Spirt touches us in many various forms.The book that we are going through for ladies Bible study is, “One at a Time”. This week’s chapter touched on the power of our words. That we have the power of life and death in what we say.
I have always been sensitive to the words that people have spoken to me and the words that I speak. Yet, as I read this book, I felt God was dealing with some other issues. It seems that often the ones that we love the most are the ones that we need help showing that love to.
Recently, Leonard has been “scrapping”. He watches videos on his phone of scrappers and has big visions of making money. I have found this an irritation to me for he has resorted to going through dumpsters and getting cans to return and anything that he can save to scrap in the spring. It’s almost like he’s obsessed. He spends hours and hours with this new obsession. Yet, the items that he gets are in no way profitable.
Recently, I was making dinner and he decided that he was going to go to the recycling dumpsters. I had dinner made and waited and waited for his return. I was getting irritated as he knew that I was making dinner. Two and a half hours later he returned to inform me that he had lost his hearing aid in the dumpster and had broken his other one that he had put in his pocket. He acted like it was no big deal and was excited to find six dollars worth of cans to return for deposit. Already irritated that even though he knew I had dinner ready, his one track mind did not care. Now, a many thousand dollars worth of hearing aids are gone… Really? This brought up memories of the many times that he has totaled vehicles while plowing by not paying attention to where he was backing up–costing us many dollars to repair. I cannot tell you how many trees he has backed into and mailboxes we have repaired.
So, back to this book that we are reading…
As I was reading this chapter, the morning after the hearing aid episode, I felt God speaking to me in this way…
Yes, you have never said anything hurtful or disrespectful to Leonard…yet, what have your thoughts revealed about your heart? Is there love in your heart for your husband? How many times have I forgiven you?As a man thinks in his heart, so is he” “Love keeps no record of wrongs.” You are still bringing up in your mind all the “offenses” that you have.
The other thought that came to mind is: We can speak without saying a word. Did Leonard see love in my heart when he came home? Did my face show adoration or respect? Yes, we have the power of life and death with the words that we speak… spoken or unspoken. Each day, I must come before my Father and purify my heart before Him, but first I must settle whatever greivances I have with others especially my husband. It’s only then, that we can continue to be the lucky ones.
This chapter was not on an issue that I thought that I had, yet God in His wisdom showed me that it actually was. I praise Him that by His Spirit he continues to guide us even in ways that we many not expect.
Christmas is the day that we celebrate the birth of Jesus. God, in the form of a baby, with the sole purpose of saving us from this world and giving us peace. To emulate His gift to us and to celebrate peace on earth and goodwill toward men, during the “Christmas season” we exchange gifts and gather with family and friends.
We, the Lucky ones, had the priviledge of doing just that. I am especially grateful for the gift of family and time spent with them. We celebrated Christmas morning with reading Luke 2, the Christmas story, having a breakfast casserole and opening gifts. Every gift from Leonard was tagged with: “To my lucky wife”. 🙂 In the afternoon, we had the special opportunity to visit our daughter’s family. She went to much work to prepare many appetizers and a wonderful meal. Our grandson was not feeling well, but we still had a special time. I hope that they can feel our deep love for them.
The following day, I talked Leonard into going to an extended family Christmas party. It was a blessing to see our nieces and nephews. They hold a special place in my heart. I was not able to speak with all, but those that I did, were special moments for me. I have heard that Leonard’s dad always had short visits and when he was ready to go–it was time to go! I think Leonard has inherited that trait.
The following day, we were blessed to have my son and family come for a visit. Leonard has always been the “gruff” one, but recently, he has had a way of touching family. Especially my daughter-in-law…in ways that touch the heart and say what we are both feeling. I am thankful for this and yes, I am his lucky wife. My wish is that they feel the depth of our love for them.
We, the lucky ones, truly cherish each moment that we have with our children and their children. We have been blessed and I praise God for His gift of family to us that we so enjoy.
Little things often bring us joy. Today, my son, Brian helped out in my grandson’s classroom. I am often inspired by him. He juggles so many things with work, kids, meals, leading boy scouts, his wife’s illness…yet, he creates fun for his family. We are so lucky to know this son of ours. So very proud.
I tried a new recipe today, I think they look pretty festive. Moments. We take each moment to be thankful.
We spend most of our lives just trying to get by. We work to create a life that sustains with hopes that one day, we will live a time with ease–or to do those things we don’t have time for, while “doing life”. Yet, this is often not the case. In spite of this, along the journey our lives touch other lives and they impact us forever.
Yesterday, I attended the funeral of my friend’s husband. He, in his 58 years, had earned much praise for the person that he was. A man so loved by all who knew him. A talented craftsman, family man. Much love and laughter filled the life that he and my friend created. My heart is breaking for her as she must journey on without the man that she fiercely loved. From this moment on, she will need much support and love.
As I was sitting there, waiting for the proceedings, I looked around at others attending. Some relatives, some friends, some friends of relatives. Each were touched in some way by my friend, her husband, her family. Some were friendships that my friend and I had created from where we work. Each touched in some way. Attending a funeral often causes us to think of our own mortality. Some, for this reason, avoid funerals. For those that remain, it is a final goodbye, a time to honor a life lived or just wanting to be a support to those we care about.
God, in His wisdom, created each one of us, wonderfully. He has a purpose for each of us, the lives we will touch, connecting on this earth. Preparing us for life eternal. He alone, knows the number of days we will remain on this earth. I feel so lucky for all those He has placed in my path. Isn’t that what He created us for? To love Him, show that love to others and let others know how much He loves us and wants all of us to meet our loved ones and those we “brush elbows with” in heaven whenever that time may be.
Death, even though we know that it happens to all of us, don’t want to think about it. I have been thinking about it a bit recently, being that they have updated my daughter-in-laws diagnosis to only four months.We have the illusion that we will have as long as we want. We are not in charge of that. For some, it comes suddenly without a moments notice, for some, they have a long journey of pain and suffering. I do not begin to understand why these things are so, yet I believe there is a purpose for whatever journey we have.
I remember when my grandson was going through chemotherapy, my son wrote about fear. That fear of losing something that you have. I feel that if we have that fear and that heartache of losing someone close to us, that also means that we were lucky enough to have someone in our life of such value that we fear losing that.
My friend had that person of much value in her life that she was lucky enough to spend almost 40 years of marriage with.
May we always keep eternity in mind as we go about our life each day. Remembering, as my mother wrote in her own eulogy, that love is the most important thing.
This was something that Leonard picked up that we are now using as a centerpiece on our dining room table.❤️
We Are the Lucky Ones 