NEVER TOO OLD

 The Grandbaby and I are great friends.  Or at least we are most days.  

While we were on the mountain trip, The Grandbaby and I shared a bed.  (We called it a vacation sleepover.)  We do this every time she sleeps over at our house, too.  It is a ritual.   The three of us say prayers at our bed, then she and I get settled in bed and she says, "Lay on your arm."  At that point I throw out my arm and she puts her head on it and snuggles close.  Let me tell you, that is an action that still causes my heart to pitter patter all over the floor and rejoice with thankfulness for the blessing of her.  It's that certain way that she fits there that is peaceful to the both of us.  We talk over what we will have for breakfast the next morning and any other important conversation then we drop right off to sleep.  What she doesn't know is that when she falls asleep, I talk to Jesus about her and pray for her future and that she makes good friends and good choices.

The last night on the trip, it was the same ritual, but this time instead of talking about other things, The Grandbaby said to me, "Do you think I will ever be too old to lay on your arm?"  Wow.  What a deep question!  I told her that I thought she would never be too old for that.  I explained that as I get older, my arm might not be as strong, but we would always be able to be close enough to snuggle and most likely, she would ALWAYS fit on my arm no matter how old we both are.  Then she fell right off to sleep.

I realized as she lay there sleeping that is exactly how Jesus is to me.  I will never be too old to put my head in his lap spiritually or hold tightly to his hand spiritually.  I can't tell you the times that I literally felt as if I had my head in his lap and I could almost feel him rubbing my head in comfort as I was so distraught with fear and sadness.  Many times this feeling is so real.  

I'm not naive enough to think I will always be The Grandbaby's "cat's meow" so to speak but I do believe she and I can and will remain close in various seasons of life as we pass through those seasons.  And, by the same token, I am certain that Jesus will always be close enough to hear me when I pray and give me that comfort my soul so needs daily.  His Word gives me comfort and peace and my prayers as I talk to Him help me through life.

I pray I never take the love of The Grandbaby or the love of Jesus for granted.  Both are priceless treasures.

Consider......

ANOTHER YEAR ALMOST PAST.....

Yes, 2023 is almost over.  As I have said often before, time is a thief.  One of the mysteries of life is WHY time passes so quickly as one ages.  I looked at the prior post before this and it was dated November 3...almost two months ago.

Granted, my life is vastly occupied and busy with many of my necessary commitments.  Other wannabe commitments kind of fall by the wayside.  Thanksgiving was good with the exception of no Thanksgiving post on this blog which made me look grossly ungrateful.  I am not grossly ungrateful.  My heart overflows with gratitude hourly.   And now Christmas is over and the New Year just two days away. 

The Husband and I got sick the first couple of weeks of December which threw us off, me first then him 2 days later.  It was a nasty virus that prompted me to visit our neighborhood urgent care.  And yes, when folks say it takes one longer to recover from any medical thing as one ages, they are correct.  I also had five weeks of PT on my right leg and knee.  With all the Christmas festivities, the time just got away.  There were Santa visits, Giving Tree programs, Christmas parades in the rain, a nice Amy Grant/Michael W. Smith concert gifted to me for my birthday for me and The Girl by The Girl, Christmas Eve services, and so much more. This year I did not send Christmas cards as usual (postage was a budget cut in my house this year), my internet was down for three days, then as soon as it was fixed my 18 year old double oven died (prompting me to have repairman send part to Texas for rebuilding and not to return until after Christmas), and a few days later the dishwasher wouldn't wash the dishes.  From a miraculous viewpoint, that oven part came in the very day (Thursday before Christmas) right before the repairman came to fix the dishwasher.  Talk about feeling like I received THE gift of the season, I was excited.  Then after the dishwasher was fixed and the oven part reinstalled, the part didn't work.  Uh huh.  It. Didn't. Work.  At this point, I was not ready to discount miracles, just was ready to accept the Christmas miracle would not be my oven working for Christmas.  The very next day (Friday before Christmas) I got a call that the genius owner of my repair shop (That is NOT sarcasm....he is so smart and his business great....call me if you need a recommendation.) had figured the problem with the oven part and the repairman came again at 2:15 the Friday before Christmas and gave me a working 18 year old double oven.  So yes, there were Christmas surprises...expensive ones, but miraculous surprises all the same.  

The main thing I want to say in this post, even though I have talked only about "things", is that no matter what happens, the reason for the season is still Jesus and I'm so grateful we in our family never forget that.  

The Husband and I had a trip in the mountains with The Girl, The Son-in-Law and The Grandbaby.  It was a sweet time of family.  One day was a day that involved shopping and indoor mini golf.  The problem is that during that golf game where I was scorekeeper only, I stepped back with my right leg and my heel caught The Grandbaby's boot toe.  I felt an excruciating pain in the faulty right knee and leg and have had a terrible problem walking since that time.  I am glad I had my cane in the car but the pain remains excruciating.  I will be seeing my good hip/knee doctor on Wednesday.   Even with  that it was a good time with good cold weather.  I thought you faithful blog readers might enjoy some pictures.  Maybe in the new year, I will retrieve some of my wise blog posting.  Until then, I will share photos and wish you a happy new year!

Concert fun...

Successful gift to make happiness....favorite shampoo... 

a much needed hair dryer...

and a scrapbook of first year photos for The Grandbaby....

Always a song and a birthday cake for Jesus...

Mountain fun....

Engrossed in Night at the Museum...

This is Us...

Happy New Year!