ENCOURAGEMENT

I sit here finishing up notes for a Sunday School lesson I'm teaching tomorrow.  Odd how I always find the lessons speak to me the most.  This past week has been very eventful with good and not so good things but that's how life can be.  I am happy to say that I have a surgery date after meeting the hip surgeon on Thursday afternoon.  It's slightly less than three months away but I can be patient.  There's lots to do between now and then.

I found encouragement often last week from a couple of quotes that came my way.  This one was via the internet and goes like this:

"Grace is when God gives us good things that we don't deserve.  Mercy is when He spares us from bad things we don't deserve.  Blessings are when He is generous with both.  Truly, we can never run out of reasons to thank Him.  God is good all the time."

Now ain't that the truth?

The other came to me via my pray without ceasing friend.  She and I have had some strong, bold prayers going up together the past couple of weeks.  Her saying goes like this:

"If you're overwhelmed by the fact that there's nothing you can do except pray, then my friend, you undervalue your greatest weapon."

That, too, is truth.  

I also tend to find encouragement from butterflies.  Their beauty and freedom to fly and land on the prettiest flowers just blesses me somehow.  I spent a little time one morning this past week at my almost dead zinnia patch as I watched the most beautiful orange butterfly flit around.  I noticed the beauty of the spots that were practically equal on both wings and the delicate wings that flew them away.

 Hope these words and wings encourage you as they have me!  

Consider....

THIEVES

A thief is defined as "one who steals, especially in secret and without force or violence".  We think of stealing and even some of my readers have experienced stealing of goods.  I can recall a couple of times that The Husband's fishing and hunting supplies were stolen from his truck and boat.  Once the thief did damage to the truck to get in to steal, the other time the thief just easily helped himself to something that wasn't his.  We had insurance that helped with our loss a bit but not totally.  One feels very violated when a physical robbery occurs.  Even when it involves fishing rods.  Trust me.  

I was thinking the other day, though, about other things that are thieves in our lives.  When i considered those things, I decided to make a short list.

Covid is a thief.  It robs us of our health, our physical and mental confidence, and often our friends and family.  I have a friend now that is in ICU on a ventilator.  I know many who have battled this disease just last week.  Yes, Covid is a thief.  Covid has stolen many that I love.

Time is a thief.   Years, months, weeks, days, hours, and minutes seem to be stolen from us daily by whatever it is that makes time go by so fast.  It could be our busy lives or our lack of time management but I still say time is a thief.  It seems like yesterday that I was a youngster.  Today I am far from a youngster.  

Anxiety is a daily thief.  Becoming concerned and worried about things we have no control over (and things we do have control over) can rob us of our joy in the blessings we have already.  Of course I try to rid myself of that thief by remembering that "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."  (Philippians 4:6-7)  I would say, "Enough said."

Insomnia is a thief.  Of course, insomnia is the ability to lie awake for hours when you are supposed to be sleeping.  This happens to me so often as I age.  Goes back to that thief of anxiety in the paragraph above, doesn't it?  Yes, many of us are robbed of sleep and this hinders our physical and emotional well being.

There are so many things that we can consider thieves in our world.  I'm sure your thoughts go to thieves in your own lives.  I am so grateful we can look to Jesus when we feel and are robbed of these things.  HE is the insurance policy we need to recover our losses and move forward.  As a sign in my kitchen that reminds me daily says, "In Christ alone my hope is found."  

Be assured (and insured) that "Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him:  I will set him on high, because he hath known my name."  Psalm 91:14

There's no greater insurance policy than that!

Consider...

ONE MORE SLEEP

As is said in the world of The Grandbaby when she is anticipating an event, it's one more sleep.  What you might ask?  The  answer is the first day of Kindergarten for The Grandbaby.  Mercy, how fast is the time flying?!  It seems just like yesterday there were bottles, diapers, pacifiers--you get the idea.  And now, here we are....the first day of Kindergarten.

The week as seemed to be one of events "before school starts".  One of the events I was directly involved in was a girls' tea at our city's tea room.  We three girls, The Girl, The Grandbaby, and me, dressed up on a Wednesday and went to the nice restaurant.  It was the request of The Grandbaby to dress up and since she was the reason we were celebrating, we did that very thing.  I was able to find some hats from my summer of hat wearing with that dreaded skin cancer surgery and they worked nicely.  

We posed on the outside on Main Street...

The Grandbaby only drinks milk and water so she was brought a teapot of ice water and she kept her cup filled.

We got trays of savory and sweet treats...

Yes, that is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich dipped in chocolate and a sandwich dipped in sprinkles as well as a chocolate mouse.  

Chocolate dessert....the very best part of the meal.  Being dressed up doesn't hinder the chocolate on the mouth!  May we never be too dressed up to eat chocolate!

It was a beautiful blessed day.  

On Thursday, The Grandbaby, The Girl, and The Son-in-Law went to the elementary school to meet and greet the new teacher and see the classroom.  I will not lie to you.  The Grandbaby is not excited to be going to Kindergarten but I feel certain after a few hours there, she will enjoy it just fine.

I think change often gives us all a bit of grief until we adjust.  And we do adjust, sometimes sooner than others.  I see this as no different.  It's that growth that we long for in our children and our grands but it also shows us how time is passing.  

I gave The Grandbaby some kindergarten advice today.  I tried to make it simple and wise as she was anxious to hear my advice (bet that anxiousness to hear my advice doesn't last for many years, huh?).  I told her to be kind, be polite, and to remember her manners.  Then I whispered to her to remember to listen and learn as that's why she goes to school in the first place.  :)  After we talked about that, I told her that advice applied not only to little girls going to Kindergarten but to mamas and daddies, neemas and poppas, nanas and granddaddies and everybody.  I actually listened to my own advice and found so much truth in that for myself.  

As I considered this beginning of school, I was reminded of something a dear, dear friend said to me.  She and I became friends several years ago when our girls became friends in college.  After our first meeting at a college sorority event, she sent me a letter.  I will never forget what she said.  She said she had always prayed that both of her girls would have friends who would be Christian role models to them.  I thought it was such a great gift she gave them by those prayers.  Our girls, both excellent role models for each other, are still treasured friends today as are us mamas.  So I've already began that prayer for The Grandbaby....friends who will lift her up and be good, Christian role models as she grows.  

So one more sleep.  One more sleep then the time will become reality and life will continue to have growth and learning....growth and learning not only for the students but for us all.

Consider.....

A WALK DOWN AN EARLY MEMORY LANE

 I was at my parents' house today while a plumber did some work.  I decided to tidy up some of my mother's millions of photos.  I found some very old treasures which got my memories going.  I brought home a lot of really old photos to scan to my computer and save on my external hard drive.  Isn't that how it's done these days?  I was thinking of these photos of my young young days show a lot of "where I'm from".  Maybe one of my past blog posts speaks of that, but if so, it's okay if I speak again.

Yes, I was born in the 1950 era.  Many of these photos show the old cars, the old doorknobs, the handmade dresses, and so much more.  We were poor as were my extended families but we had smiles and joy.  So sit back and enjoy some vintage....

..my paternal Granny....

...and my maternal Pa and Mema....

My aunt and I had birthdays two days apart so there was a party.  I was one year old....but the candles surely were fun!  Look at that doorknob and that old door.  It was old in the 1950 era so it was really old.

I found this photo interesting in my life today.  Just a bit of trivia, I was at my aunt's house and the intersection in the background is what many of you know as Barnes/Arnold Mill/ N. Arnold Mill.  It's so fun to me that the roads were unpaved.  So much progress in so many years...This is the corner of Barnes/Arnold Mill looking toward N Arnold...

...guitar non-playing...

Who remembers RC Cola?  Reckon I had drank all the RC from all those empty bottles? 

Pig feeding.

Dressed up in the chicken house...

Cousins and Easters...always I had a purse....a girl thang....

I found this Easter bunny in storage the other day....

The memory I loved in this photo was not my cousin and me dressed up but the picture decor on my Granny's wall.  She always had that large Last Supper painting hung up high and somewhat crooked.  That memory made me a bit warm and fuzzy.

Guess I played in dresses.  Always.  And honestly, I wonder who owned the camera that was taking all these photos?  I know that a cell phone was foreign in this '50's-early 60's era.....

Out of all the photos, though, I was drawn to this one.  I know it is me but I had to really look twice.  It looks a lot like The Girl and the silly smile I have looks a lot like The Grandbaby.  Maybe we are somewhat alike.   Me....

...and The Girl.

Yes, walking down early memory lane is something we all should do on occasion.  It has a way of just making us see where we've been, how we developed, and how we got to where we are today.  Try it sometime....

Consider...

THE SWEETEST PRAYER

 Last night was a sleepover night here for The Grandbaby.  Sunday night was also but it was marred and shortened in the middle by The Grandbaby's very close encounter with a door jam....took her and her parents to the ER until 3:30 am so it wasn't a fun time.  We made up for it last night!

The Grandbaby, The Poppa, and I always do night prayers around the bed with The Poppa and me on knees (barely at our arthritic age) and The Grandbaby in the bed.  Rarely will The Grandbaby ever go first to pray.  Last night was the exception.  She gladly went first.  As she prayed, The Poppa and I teared up....so sweet.  Her prayer went like this:

"Dear God, I am so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so (I was about to shorten the "so" but kept quiet) so so so so so so so so thankful for my family....my Neema and Poppa, my Mommy and Daddy, my Nana and Grandaddy, my Moe and Grandaddy, my Uncle Kenny, my Aunt Ang, my cousins Jack and Emmy....and God and Jesus.  Amen."

My heart was pitter pattering all over that bedroom floor.  The Poppa and I prayed our individual prayers but I'm not so sure they reached the ears of the Lord as sweetly as The Grandbaby's did.  No requests for anything from her, just thankfulness and praise.  What a joy!

Consider....

42 YEARS OF SEASONS

On this day, 42 years ago, The Husband and I joined our two lives in marriage.  We were mere children.  Not as mere children as some but mere children.  

I've heard it said, seasons come and seasons go, and it's the same as life.  If you are a regular reader of this blog, you hear that quite often from me.  As I did some reflecting this morning, I remembered a lot about the past 42 years but there's some things that, with time and numerous anesthesias messing with my memory, that I can't remember.  Luckily, time enjoys messing with my memory more than The Husband's memory so at least one of us remembers.  

Reflection finds us in the same house that maybe looks a little different from 42 years ago.  There's some different furniture, some not.  There's some walls down to make bigger rooms, there's different appliances, some different wall coverings and different window treatments.  There's also the same brown paneling on the walls in the bedroom and there's the same tan flowered wallpaper in the hall bath that The Father-in-Law hung himself.  42 years ago.  The Grandbaby likes it and thinks it's pattern is pretty.  Many folks of this day would call it ugly.  I prefer vintage.

Reflection finds us also in the same church congregation that we were enjoying 42 years ago.  Yes, it's a new building on the same property as the little church building where we were married and yes, the new building is a wonderful blessing for our congregation.   Yes, many of those older faces are gone....the two aged women who sewed The Husband and me a beautiful quilt for our church wedding shower and others who showed us examples of faith and courage.  The quilt remains in my den and I am reminded that now The Husband and I are in THAT season of life and I just pray that he and I can be the same kind of faithful examples to the now younger generation that these precious ones were to us.

So you see, the most important things in life aren't "things".  Not really.  Even though I'm comforted by my vintage wallpaper and my wood paneling, I enjoy the new walk in shower that replaces my old bathtub.  Time dictates that The Husband and I need the handicap access and will need it even more in the not too distant years.  We both have our own personal grabbers now as picking up anything from the floor is a huge challenge.

Constants in the years of seasons are the beauty of faith, family, and love.  Regrets?  Sure, everybody has them.  Perfection?  Nah.  Never is there perfection except in Jesus.  Forgiveness?  Forever and always.  Blessed?  You better believe it!  

I found a few photos that I thought you blog readers might enjoy.  I reflected on the dark hair (gray free) and the bad big hair.  I reflected on my inability to see that curly bangs on the girl were not her best look but I still think my fashion sense is not so bad.  :)  Yeah, right.    And I obviously enjoy fashion in colors of blue and black.  Some things never change.  So enjoy....

I put this one just because of the cool cars in the background....

And now....this is us!

I told someone this morning that knowing all I know now, I would choose him and this life all again!

Simply blessed.

ROUNDABOUTS

Roundabouts.  They seems to be appearing everywhere on the highways.  I did a route yesterday from my house north, then north some more, then east, then south, and then south some more before arriving back home.  Yes, I was gone a bit but accomplished a bit also.  

As I rode along the paths that I had not traveled in a long time, I was surprised to see so many roundabouts that had been put in place.  I can see that roundabouts are helpful in some traffic patterns.  I do recall one near me that, if you don't pay attention, can get you in a real mess.  It is so confusing.  I was almost hit by another car there.  I feel somehow that design is a bit awry.  Yesterday, though, for the most part, the roundabouts did what they were intended to do--help the flow of major traffic.

Since I was traveling alone, that put my mind into some deeper thinking about roundabouts.  You've got to know what direction you are headed and look a bit ahead to that particular road and it's place in the roundabout.  You have to pay attention to oncoming cars so as not to get hit by one of those vehicles.  You have to understand that if by some chance you get in a mess and miss your "exit" from the roundabout, you get another chance.  You just around-about again, paying attention to the yields and the arrows.  It could be time consuming if you are in a hurry but if you pay attention in a hurry, it can benefit your time.   Sometimes I think roundabouts are taking over the traffic world.

Where is she going with this odd thought, you might be asking?  Roundabouts are a lot like life.  We have to know what direction we are headed.  We have to look a bit ahead and travel the right way for that direction.  We have to watch for all those others trying to get ahead of us or hinder us from our goal.  We have to know that if we miss our road, we can keep on trying--even going around in circles--but we can find our way.  

You all know I tend to sermonize the common into the spiritual so I guess I will go there with the roundabouts.  With all that said, the Lord will guide us in that right way looking for that right road in the right direction.  We have a to pay attention to the yield to the spirit and the arrows pointing the right direction.  If we somehow get hindered and mess up or the "design is a bit awry", all is not lost....HE is always there to help guide the right direction and forgive.   So there you go...

Consider....