Secrets and Stuff

 

This is the verse that greeted me.  

And it made me think about something I have heard over the years...IF you knew everything that was going to happen to you in life you would stop, turn tail and then run like the dickens.

Isn't that the truth.

There are many things I have dealt with over the years that have been hard and I would not have wanted to go through or deal with BUT if I avoided them how different my life would be.

For instance...if I had known the abuse that I would suffer by moving to Las Vegas with my mom and not gone there...I would never have met Ron...the love of my life, the man who has shared so many memories with me, the good and the bad.  And I just can't and don't even want to  know what my lie would have been like if we had never met.

IF I had known that Royce was going to do die, would I have chosen not to have children...that is sad because I would have missed out on so many blessings...Jamie & Brandon and the life we have shared as a family.  The joys of seeing each of them with their sweet loves, Suzanne & Danalyn.  And then of course our five most precious gifts ~ our grandchildren Max, Opal, Chris, Trey & Alex -- oh the joys and laughter we would have never had.

I could go on and on but I think you get the picture...sometimes it is better to step out in faith, into the unknown, TRUSTING God to keep His word. And which He has never failed me.

I am so thankful for the life I have...yes it has had twists and turns that I could not have imagined yet

I am so blessed 

and

for that

I am thankful!!

Wow...it's Friday already!!!

 

Wow it's Friday already. 

I knew that when I woke up but when I saw Donna B. McNicol's post 

I thought how can it be Friday already???

Where has the time gone? 

So this past week

1.  Have enjoyed making time to write each morning.  

You can check out Alice's Restaurant - Dishin' Up Food for Thought to see what thoughts have been going through my mind and how God has been talking to me.  I am amazed at how much better my day's go when I have time with the Lord first thing in the mornings. 

2.  Made my first ever fresh pasta salad!!!

We love pasta salads and I buy them quite often from the deli at Country Mart (similar to Haggens for our Pacific NW friends/family) but have never made one.  Well this week I did.  It was delicious.  I had spaghetti broken into 2" pieces, sliced olives, sauteed onions, red, green, yellow peppers, garlic and Salad Seasoning by Johnnie's all tossed together with Lite Italian salad dressing.  And it was even better the 2nd day.  Definitely something I will be making again and soon.  Also going to try it with quinoa.

3.  Stayed in my jammies all day Thursday!

Yep, I did...slept till 10 a.m and had a true day of rest/sabbath reading, crocheting, talking with my hubby, doing some writing, and just being.  That is a hard thing for me as many of you know..just to be.

4.  Wrestled all day on Thursday that my baby is now 36 years old.  

How can that be.  Wasn't it just a week ago we brought that little 4 lb 7 oz baby boy, dressed in Cabbage Patch doll clothes home from the hospital.  Or did he go off to kindergarten just a few days ago?  No really, he was playing soccer and challenging Mr. Steelquist on the soccer field.  Nah...he just joined the Army and then went to Iraq for a year.  But really he is a hubby to sweet Suzanne and daddy to Opal Rae.  A hard worker and home owner providing for his family the best he can.  Where oh where did that baby go?  Hard to believe he is 36 now!!!  Happy Birthday Jamie!!!  We love you and wish you the best year yet!!!

5.  Enjoyed a great rib dinner with new friends.

Feeling God's blessings over and over as we work here at Branson View Campground.  Was invited to dinner with a God loving couple who is staying in the campground.  Being able to share a delicious dinner and great conversation with a sweet couple...sharing how the Lord has worked in our lives over the years.  Definitely a blessing!!

So that's my week...how was yours?

God Meets Me Right Where I Am

I say it often "I am always amazed how God meets me right where I am."  Not sure why I am amazed as He has never failed me, not once. 

 This morning was no different.

I woke with a headache, was going to get up at 5 a.m. to go and exercise...could hardly move my head hurt so bad, reset the alarm for 6 a.m., woke feeling like my head weighed a ton, got up took some Ibuprofen and made my way back to bed, reset the alarm for 7 a.m.  it went off and I just rolled over...woke up at 7:55, still had a headache but at least I could get up and move.  It was raining so decided we would skip the Farmers Market this morning...will go next Friday :)

 

I struggle with many things...one is finding making time for the Lord.  My heart is in the right space but not always my actions.  This morning, not feeling well I picked up my Bible and my devotional book and this was the verse and it made me think of something else I struggle with - drinking water...water is boring, doesn't taste good YET when I drink water I find I want more water and that's how I am with the Word...when I go to the Word I want more of the Word.  I NEED the Word in my life just like I need water in my body...I have drank 1 bottle of water already today (it's just now 1 p.m.) and have started on the second bottle...my goal is to drink 3 bottles of water each day.  So as I think on this verse and God's Word and needing it every day I am also thanking the Lord for letting me see the correlation of imbibing on God's Word  ~ the Living Water and drinking water to fuel my body.

Yesterday was our son, Jamie's 36th birthday.  This week each year is filled with tears of joy as we reflect on Jamie's life and how proud of the young man he has become.  He is a great son, maturing into a wonderful hubby to Suzanne and daddy to Opal.  He has a  great heart and works hard to support his little family, spending time with family and friends whenever he can.  We are so proud of him and so glad he is a part of our family and our son!!  

Happy Birthday Jamie!!!  

Even though I just don't understand how he can be 36...it was just a few days ago he began kindergarten...just can't figure out how he can be 36?????

And also tears of sadness as we remember Royce, our baby who lived three days.  Royce is Jamie's twin so we have always tried to spend August 8th celebrating Jamie.  We never have wanted Jamie to feel bad that he lived and Royce died...we may not understand why Royce didn't live (yes we know the medical reasons) we do go forward.  For some reason the past few days both Ron and I have been thinking a lot of what would life have looked like if Royce had lived.  Would he be married, would he too be a daddy?  Would he be married?  What would he have enjoyed doing?

And then this morning, my scripture reading was John 14:1-11 (this was shared by Pastor Adrian at Royce's funeral) and verse 2 jumped out at me:

 

and my heart was warmed to know that when Royce left us here on earth he was warmly welcomed by Jesus into heaven.  Today I imagine Royce being surrounded by both sets of his grandparents, Peggy & Ted and Pete & Anne and many other family members and friends who are no longer here with us.  I picture my friend, Lori who passed away in 1997...she was such a great mom, grandma and friend and I can see her cuddling Royce and though my heart aches for my loss I am so thankful that Royce is totally healed in God's presence and for that I can rejoice.

And then the Bible verse for today at biblegateway.com 

Luke 12:6-7

 

and I am reminded that 

God Cares for Me

just the way I am 

with the joys and sadness 

with my headache still in full attack

but 

 

and even though today I am not feeling well,

feeling overwhelmed, feeling like I can't get caught up on things

 

I think I will take some more ibuprofen, drink another bottle of water and get back to plugging along.

Hope each of you are having a great day!!!

I've shared about me today so you can pray ~ is there anything I can pray about for  you?

God Nudges from others

Wednesday and Thursday are our days off.  

Yesterday we slept till 11:55...at least we got up in the morning :)

This morning I slept till 10:05 and woke up without a headach

e, which is a good thing because yesterday after dinner I got to feeling very puny...head was pounding, felt dizzy and just plain yuck..

...today just the opposite...woke without a headache and feeling rested.

On Wednesday and Thursday's it is hard for me to have time with the Lord...I like to be by myself, in the quiet and that is usually just not the case.  So yesterday I had no "quality" time with the Lord.  This morning when I got up, Ron was reading stuff on Facebook and it was quiet.  I started reading a few things and God quietly nudged me...

...first from a devotional I get every morning, 

written by Christy Fitzwater.  You can check her out by clicking on her name.

This morning her devotion was titled "God Loves the Blubbering Woman".

I was so challenged by her questions/statement of when asked by someone "what's wrong" and we reply "nothing"...yep, I so do that.  And that we sometimes do that to God.

So true!!

And so wrong...obviously something is wrong or we, no I would not be responding that way.

As Ron says to me often...you are talking to me in that TONE, even when I haven't said anything but am giving him the look!

And I realized that in my desire to be authentic I need to be honest to God, to myself and to others...when someone asks "what's wrong?"  I need to reply honestly.  And most of all I need to take to God the things that bother me, hurt me or anger me just like I do when I take the things that make me happy and joyful.  And I need to remember no matter the situation/circumstance I find myself in, I need to remember

 

God continues to speak and I am trying to continue to listen ~~~ a few weeks ago, my bestie, Dee send me an email to join Daily Challenge.   Dee and I are sisters, friend, confidant, bestie's and we are always trying to encourage one another in life.  We enjoy our friendship, have husbands who are very similar, share similar struggles at times..we are the best of friends.  Any way, doing the Daily Challenge is something we can do together even being far apart mileage wise (and I sure do miss her). 

Back to writing...this morning's challenge was

Keep up your strength by spending 15 minutes practicing your favorite form of stress relief.

  and this is how I responded:

I can't say stress relief for me is fun...but this does work for me...

...going for a walk. Here at Branson View Campground going for a walk is not an easy task as we are all hills...it is up or down no matter where you head. This is good as it keeps my mind off what is really bothering me and gives me something else to focus on.

...writing a "venting" email to my bestie, Dee...she understands me and can identify with me 99% of the time...the living in a RV not so much...though I think secretly she would love to escape sometimes and an RV is a perfect getaway vehicle as it has everything you need to live...toilet, fridge and most of all the bed!!!

...eating chocolate...if I did that for 15 minutes straight I am sure the 20 lbs I have lost (over 2 years) would be back in a heartbeat...as I just wrote that I think I need to start focusing on losing weight with my current weight as the new weight and get some of this extra stuff off of me...with a refocused mind and attitude.

...and sometimes I just lose it with my hubby and get all snarky and grumpy...he usually says "I think you need something to eat" you see I am diabetic and getting snarky is usually a sign that my blood sugar is not in a good space.

...and most often I say a prayer or cry out to God...I can't take it anymore...turn on some music and refocus my heart and mind.

and I felt the Lord challenging me in how I respond to stressful situations, because right now I feel quite a bit of stress about a situation and I know I need to change how I am dealing with or in this case not dealing with the situation.  Because just venting and being snarky is not working.  I remember Marla (a great friend and Christian counselor) asking me if something I was doing was working for me...no it wasn't...and that question came to mind this morning too...is being snarky and venting working in this situation...ummm no...so what can I do differently (another one of Marla's favorite questions) and I found God asking "do you want to talk about IT?"  ummm no I just want the situation to fix itself.  "Oh so you want the person involved to be a mind reader and just do what you want him to do and you haven't bothered to tell him?"  ummm yes...."Don't you remember writing about "people aren't mind readers just a few days ago?"  ummm yes..."So what are you going to do about this situation?"

and realizing I need to deal with this situation sooner than later...

....so I prayed about it, wrote out what the issue is and wrote out a plan of attack and will continue to pray for my attitude to filled with grace and love as I actively deal with this situation.

Thank you Lord for using others to speak to me, 

help me today as I work constructively on this situation

and most of all find JOY in my day today.

 

 

I Am So Excited :)

Some days it doesn't take much to make me smile

and today is no different.

I have had 

 

this phone since November 2012.

I had 

417, yes four hundred and seventeen pictures 

on the phone

but had no clue how to get them from 

the phone

to

my laptop.

I am happy to say somehow, not even sure how I did it

BUT 

I got all those pictures now on my laptop 

and I am happy.

Here are a few pictures that have been on my phone

At the Comedy Jubilee and Ron playing a game!!!

Krispy Creme motor home in Branson...pretty cool.  Would have loved to have seen the inside.

A little magnetic board and magnets given to me by Pam, one of my Forever Friends, for watching MamaKitty while they were on vacation last Spring.  Fits perfectly on the pantry cabinet here in the motor home.

And one of the grand boys toys found in the Jeep after our return to Branson March 2013!

The band playing at Friendly Baptist Church before we moved to Coffeyville, KS.

Love the bumper stickers on this truck.  Ron loves the truck.  Ali thinks its UGLY!

Looking out the window of the motorhome during one of those scary storms while we were in Kansas.

 And of course 

no blog post would be complete without pictures of my sweet grandchildren.

Max one of the few times I was able to get a picture of him.  Can't believe he will be 15 in a month!!!

Treyson...love those blue eyes.

Christopher after he bumped his nose!

Alex giving Grammy a smiley face.

Opal smiling at her cousins!!

Bet you are not as excited as I am that I now have all those pictures...watch for more to come!!!