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April 2023

April 2023, we have had some beautiful sunny days and snow and rain and clouds and days of summer-like warmth. There have been other days that have just been down and out cold!!! Isn’t that how life is? Days where you are going along and everything is sunny and bright and then… there is the cold shoulder of someone you love, Or you get a health diagnosis or lost your job or, or, any one of many other situations that will bring us down.

I choose to focus on the fact that we ARE the Lucky Ones. Those blessed by God, Himself.

Last weekend, we went and saw the movie, “Nefarious” with another couple. I was excited to double date until I really started thinking about what this movie was about. Aprehension set in. Yet, we went on the double date, had a nice dinner at Outback and went to the movie. Sometimes, it was a bit hard to watch, but there was a lot of truth in it. It was such a joy to spend time with this other couple.

Last week, my friend since third grade was in the area and we were able to find time for lunch. Yesterday, this friend and another friend from school were all able to meet for dinner. (We usually also have another classmate in these encounters, unfortunately, she had not returned from being a “snowbird”)We had much conversation, For myself, it was a most enjoyable time. I feel that these times are gifts from God that touch my soul and bring me joy. I am quite grateful for their friendship.

Our son and daughter-in-law, amidst the things that are going on in their world, were able to check out a movie. This blesses my heart.

Today, we went out to dinner to celebrate our 43rd wedding anniversary. We dined at the “Thirsty Sturgeon” which was most enjoyable. We asked a gentleman outside of the restaurant to take a pic. He ended up taking 4 of them!

I am thankful that we have been together for 43 years of marriage. Yet, to be honest, there has been many dark days as well as sunny days. I am always thankful for the sunny days and realize that the dark days are just part of life. We continue to be…

The Lucky Ones! 🙂

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” Retirement?”

I have worked all of my life and was always limited by time. Was this an excuse to not get involved in anythimg? I am not sure, but what I do know is this… I enjoy freedom. 🙂

Could I afford to retire? No, not at all. Yet, God in His Provision continues to provide. I don’t really think retirement is Scriptural. What I do think, is that even though I retired from a life of income which had me tied to a system that made me think that I couldn’t retire, to a life of faith. Yes, I retired from the “9 to5” but, to have the freedom to go places and meet needs or even to enjoy another’s company. I don’t call that retirement. I call that a mission field.

Yes, at first, I struggled with time on my hands and I so miss the people that I worked with. I believe I was meant to be at all the places I worked at that very time because the Lord placed me there. To either, learn from, teach, or meet people to plant seeds along my path. God places us where we need to be if we will be quiet enough to listen.

When I “retired” in June, my sister-in-law invited me to a ladies Bible study that meets weekly. I have met some amazing, beautiful women. I love seeing the beauty that God has bestowed uniquely on each of these women.Some share, some don’t, but we are a community of ladies that love the Lord. I feel very blessed that I am a part of this group. We all go through ups and downs in this life and God in His wisdom created us to need each other. There was a book that I read a few years ago called”There’s A Crack in Your Armor” by Perry Stone. A lot of that book, I don’t recall but, the story of a pastor visiting a mother in the hospital that her son had been in a car accident, has continued to stick with me.

He tells the story in the very first part of this talk he is giving : https://youtu.be/aQJtx1tzA2U

We women of faith get our strength from the Lord, yet sometimes we do get “A crack in our armor” and this is when it is such a blessing to have those around us that will stand in the gap for us. I am thankful for those who have stepped in the gap for me and I feel it a priviledge to stand in the gap for others.

I enjoy not having to “be somewhere” and being free to tag along when someone invites or just to hear a bit of their life. When I was working outside the home, I felt rushed in my time with the Lord. Now, the blessings that I recieve from spending hours in the Word and prayer is something that has brought be through when life gets … well, like life.

No, I am not retired…I am in the mission field and Leonard and I continue to be the lucky ones—blessed by God!

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Easter ‘23

There are so many things to be thankful for, we definitely are the lucky ones. Lucky that God loved us so much that He sent His sinless Son to the cross. The cross that allows us the privilege of coming to the throne of God. The enormous sacrifice that Jesus paid so that when we stand before God, He sees Jesus.

We are also so privileged to have children and grandchildren that love us!

Even though our son,daughter-in-law and two grandsons were not with us for Easter, our hearts were intertwined.

Love these guys!❤️

We were lucky enough to be able to have my daughter and family over for Easter. So thankful!

Beautiful day. I like to make desserts for every holiday.

May we always thank God for His goodness to us, which continues to make us The Lucky Ones.

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We Don’t Like To Suffer

We all want to go through life enjoying every moment and free as a bird. Yet, that is not how life is. Jesus warned us that in this life we would have trouble. So why are we surprised when it comes knocking at our door? Do we just want to believe the things that He said that are enjoyable and ignore the things that seem unpleasant?

Some believe in “Karma”…if you do good, good will come to you. If you do bad, bad will come to you. From what I’ve experienced in life, I can’t believe in that. That’s not to say, that you don’t reap what you sow. That is entirely different. I have to admit that I’ve reaped consequences of what I’ve sown, even if intentions were good.

I missed church this last weekend, but just today I listened to the online version. It was an excellent sermon that really got me to pondering. The pastor mentioned knowing the Word of God, so that we can know how to fight the enemy. We need to know “what is written…the Word of God”. I am so thankful for the Word of God. I have to admit, that since I have been retired, I don’t get as much done. I enjoy spending 2-3 hours reading and hearing from God. Sometimes, He reprimands me, sometimes He brings me comfort, sometimes, I just shake my head and say, “You are so right!”. (Of course He IS ).

I have been reflecting on my life as a whole. When I lived at home with my parents, siblings and grandmother: this was a really hard time. We worked the farm, took care of my grandmother and our main focus was just to get through each day. I did not attend a single sporting event, dance or the like because there was work to be done at home. My grandmother was an extremely hard situation. She caused much conflict and yet, I learned much from that experience. Patience! Little did I know how much God was preparing me for more hardship. My mother had severe mental illness and taking care of her was quite challenging at times. Leonard and my relationship through the years have had many dark places. Yet, God has given me what I needed to carry through and to stay faithful to what He wanted me to do.

We have been through many hardships with both of our kids and currently are walking beside them both as they go through their individual sufferings. I have to admit, that it is during these valleys that I have drawn closer to God and even in the midst of heartache, I can see His goodness to me and others. I have never been one to ask “why”. I guess that it is not my place to ask. I know there is always a reason.

When the pastor mentioned Proverbs 3:5,6, it brought back memories of when we first found out that our grandson had cancer. During that difficult time, these very words kept going through my mind. God gave me these words that brought me comfort many times when he was going through treatment. From my experience, I found that when I did lean on my own understanding, I was filled with fear. Yet, when I just looked to Jesus and focused on Him, He gave me peace to go on.Some days, I had to do this again and again. To be able to go through the day without feelings of devastation. He continues to use this very verse when I put my thoughts on the situations in our lives.

It also brought me to remember that when we came back from Seattle when our grandson was first diagnosed…my dear sister in Christ gave me a song. She said that she thought the Lord wanted her to share it with me. At the time, it upset me a bit because I did not want to think that we were right where we were suppose to be. Yet, this song has brought me much peace as I have “just been held”. Maybe this song can bring you comfort too. You can listen here:

https://youtu.be/tIZitK6_IMQ

This also confirmed to me the importance of acting on what the Lord tells you. I am so thankful that she lives her life listening to the Lord’s prompting.

. My Dad said that the Lord had shown him so much mercy despite his many physical ailments. May I say the same, because He has.No, we don’t like suffering, but from my experience it brings us closer to the Lord and I am so thankful for that! He has walked beside me, through me, with me. I pray that I will always live with grattitude in my heart

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God is So Good

Everyone has things that go on in this life that are not good. We, as we journey through this life have a series of highs and lows. That is life.

Despite this fact, God is always taking care of us. He shows us bits of himself through friendships and loved ones. As we talk with Him, He gives us peace through the storms. Yes, we are the Lucky Ones to have an Awesome Father and those friends and family that touch our lives.

We had the opportunity to go visit my son and family. It was an amazing and enjoyable trip. My daughter-in-law was feeling good and we had the opportunity to not only see our grandson, Andrew’s first theatrical debut but also his band concert the next night. What a joy that was.

Even though he had a minor part. He did an excellent job!

Rather than giving him a bouquet of flowers for his performance, I made a candy bouquet.

Andrew is in the back with the green folder, playing trombone.

They did an amazing job!

On our way home, we were able to visit my daughter and grandson. Seeing both my kids in one weekend!

Today, I was blessed with talking with three of my friends. One of those friends that has been my friend since elementary school, treated me to lunch and gave me a beautiful card, some flowers and a little “smiley guy”. These are the connections that God designs to bring joy to our hearts and boy, does it! I am thankful for these times. He has blessed me with true, praying friends that I cherish so much!

If you know me, you know that I like “smiley faces”. I was excited when I came across this great find…and they go so well with the smiley guy! I just think that’s so fun! I feel smiling and laughter are God doing something special for His kids.

I am thankful to those whose kindness goes well beyond what I could ever dream.

Flowers from my friend❤️
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Just Like Dad

The Holy Spirit is always teaching, always guiding, just like my earthly Dad. I am so thankful that I had the dad that I did. It makes it easy to see the love of my Heavenly Father.

A friend and sister in Christ shared something that she had heard that I thought was excellent!

She shared” Christianity is like a courtroom, we are not the judge, we are not the jury, we are not the prosecutor or even the defendant. We are just a witness. We tell what we have witnessed in our own life.”

I have an app that is called Jesus text. It sends you words that Jesus spoke every day. This was the one for today.

The Holy Spirit brought to mind what my friend had shared when I read this verse. The Lord has been so good to me and I pray that I always do this… just be a witness to not what others have seen or witnessed but what He has done for me. For this is what I know. Thank you Father for bringing the things to remembrance that we need for any given moment.

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We All Have Our Own Way

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!

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Jesus Revolution

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.

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The Imperfect Rug and Thoughts that Go With It

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.

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Surprise

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!