Patience & Forgiveness

Patience & Forgiveness

and

 

I have been feeling impatient with myself.

Feeling like there is so much to do

and not enough time to get it done.

This morning I am reminded that I need to be 

PATIENT

with myself. And with others.

I feel like there is so much to be done

and it is 

 

and then I do one of two things.

I either get frustrated with others and myself

or I hide and do nothing.

This morning I was reminded that 

 

is what is important.

And so I come to God this morning

asking Him for patience in attacking my LONG To Do List

and

forgiveness for letting my frustrations run loose.

Monday Morning Musings

Woke to 

 

at 4:41 this morning...flashes of bright light, rolling thunder (not to loud) 

and rain drops tinkling on the roof of the motor home.

Rolled out of bed at 4:46 and turned the alarm off so as not to wake Ron.

A cup of coffee seemed very inviting but not to be as I have a doctor's appointment this morning and some fasting blood tests.  Good thing the appointment is at 8 a.m. so by 9:30 I should be able to have a cup of Java...may have to stop at Starbucks :)

Had a very quiet weekend at the campground...will be glad when we get busy.  Ron was busy replacing the air conditioner in the Activity Room...will be nice to be able to play games, walk on the treadmill or pedal on the stationary bike without feeling like you are in a sauna.  

Sunday we went to breakfast 

and who do we meet but Darrell & Patti :)  

They are off to Dallas for a few days 

but we will see them again on Wednesday.  

We came back to the campground and did a few things in the office then went to see Barbara Fairchild and her family at the Kinfolk Reunion ( you can read more about it at The Wandering Workentins later this week ~ the camera is still in the car and it's raining........)

I started my morning routine and immediately felt discouraged...got on the scale...I hate the scale but it is also a good reminder what I need to be focusing on.  I started The Beck Diet Solution back on 4/25/13 and was doing really well.  It is a 6 week program...okay I took almost 3 months.  At one point I was down 8 lbs for a total loss of 23 lbs but today I am only down  1.1 lbs for a total loss of 16.6 lbs...and there is no one to blame but me, Me, ME!!!  I do so well and then seem to flounder.  

So frustrating and yet it is all my doing.  

And then I remember

that I need to

 

and

 

and

 

and that

 

and so today I

 

and

 

by setting a few goals:

1.  Drink at least 3 23 oz bottles of water

2.  Write down everything I eat (log on myfitnesspal.com)

3.  Make healthy food choices

and remember

 

What do you struggle with?  

Is there anything I can pray about for you?

Lord, thank you for this gentle reminder this morning that You love me no matter what.  

Thank you for this new day, to begin anew with you.  Thank you for walking beside me each and every day of my life and encouraging me when I fall.  Thank you Jesus for loving me!!  Amen.

A Little Encouragement from God this morning.

I can't believe it is

a

 already!!!

What a busy week we have had.

Lots of work and yet found time to play a little.

Yesterday we spent about five hours working on the apartment.  The bathroom carpet was pulled up and surprise there was linoleum underneath so that came out.  All the faceplates were taken off in the bedroom and bathroom and both rooms are taped and ready for some paint.  Can't wait to get started on that...not sure when that will happen but I know it will be soon.

I found myself a little disgusted with myself this morning when I stepped on the scale...I had been doing so well while we were in Kansas and it seems since we have been back in Missouri that my focus on me, my health, eating and drinking healthy has kind of been pushed aside.  

Oh, I am doing okay, not binging or anything like that, just not being intentional in my eating and exercising.  Some days are better than others.

And then I opened my Bible. 

To

 

and I just started crying...

Lord you are my strength, my strong tower

and I need to remember I can't do this on my own.

I need you!!!  

And then to reinforce those thoughts

He focused me on 

Deuteronomy 8:7-18

and I like how The Message reads:

So it’s paramount that you keep the commandments of God, your God, walk down the roads he shows you and reverently respect him. God is about to bring you into a good land, a land with brooks and rivers, springs and lakes, streams out of the hills and through the valleys. It’s a land of wheat and barley, of vines and figs and pomegranates, of olives, oil, and honey. It’s land where you’ll never go hungry—always food on the table and a roof over your head. It’s a land where you’ll get iron out of rocks and mine copper from the hills. After a meal, satisfied, bless God, your God, for the good land he has given you.

Make sure you don’t forget God, your God, by not keeping his commandments, his rules and regulations that I command you today. Make sure that when you eat and are satisfied, build pleasant houses and settle in, see your herds and flocks flourish and more and more money come in, watch your standard of living going up and up—make sure you don’t become so full of yourself and your things that you forget God, your God,the God who delivered you from Egyptian slavery; the God who led you through that huge and fearsome wilderness, those desolate, arid badlands crawling with fiery snakes and scorpions;
the God who gave you water gushing from hard rock; the God who gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never heard of, in order to give you a taste of the hard life, to test you so that you would be prepared to live well in the days ahead of you.

If you start thinking to yourselves, “I did all this. And all by myself. I’m rich. It’s all mine!”—well, think again. Remember that God, your God, gave you the strength to produce all this wealth so as to confirm the covenant that he promised to your ancestors—as it is today.

It is so easy in the "good" (fill it in...busy, hectic, stressful) times to try to do things on my own and forget to seek God for his help, his guidance, his promises, to lose sight of his many blessings, his power, his strength, his love...God sees and knows everything about me...I just need to focus on him each and every day, ask Him to be with me, to help me in each activity I do, each project I engage in.

I need to remind myself each day I am not on this journey alone, that God is with me to help me do things all the way, with an enthusiasm and eagerness that comes from God.

Thank you Lord for your Word this morning, reminding me  

 

and

 

and

 

Thank you Jesus for encouraging me this morning.

It was just what I needed.

Thankful Thursday

Today is

 

and I am so thankful for a

 

I went to bed close to 1 a.m. this morning,

don't ask me why I stayed up so late,

I was playing a couple of stupid Mahjong games

even though I was so tired!!!

And like I do each night before falling asleep I prayed.  

I thanked God for a good day, for the nice drive we had to Galena, MO to 

Lorenae Dairy where we picked up some cheese curds

and then stopped at Patrick's Market - a little produce stand.

We bought green and purple peppers (never seen one of those), tomatoes, green beans and peaches.  

The peaches were kind of bruised but for $2 for 20 peaches we couldn't pass them up.

And then I asked God to forgive me for not giving Him time in the morning. 

I asked Him to help me to wake up refreshed and early enough to spend some time with him.

And He did just that.

At 6:14 AM!!! 

I opened my eyes and saw blue sky and the sun peeking through.

I did think for just a moment "I can just go back to sleep" and then I remembered my prayer from last night and had to chuckle...God did what I asked, so who am I to complain or not get up.

And good thing I did.  After standing up I felt a little shaky so I checked my blood sugars...

...it was 75

 

so I headed to the kitchen and got a can of pineapple juice

and drank it slowly, trying not to let my normal low blood sugar panic take over.

Me normally when my blood sugar drops

Thank you Jesus for waking me up before my blood sugars totally crashed!

God is so Good!!

And provides for me in so many different ways!!!

I then gathered my things for some time with the Lord.

And this is where I began

Praise Him for His mercy and strength

Praise Him for His magnificent word

Praise Him for His mighty provisions!!!

And then I had to laugh when I went to 

Mark 10:35-45

And right away I read

"Teacher (Jesus) we want you to give us what we want."

See sometimes God gives us what we ask for or what we want

and then we have to decide if we are going to keep it, follow it, or use it.

And like last night I asked God to wake me this morning and He did...and who am I then to complain how early my day started...He only did what I asked.

So be careful what you ask for ~ you might just get it :)

 

But wait, God wasn't finished with me yet this morning :)

I turned to 

 

And a precious memory came to mind.

The time was 1980 to 82

we were attending King Community Fellowship in Federal Way, WA.

It was a small Mennonite Brethren church but filled with wonderful God believing people.

One of the men that attended that church was Don Speer.  His son, Dick was one of our pastors.

Ron was out of the Air Force and finding work was not easy.  Don had a construction business and would hire Ron when he needed some extra help.  Well Ron was working for Don and something happened, today I can't even remember what it was...maybe Ron remembers, but I got mad, not just a little mad but REAL MAD.  Don and I had a yelling match (who me?  yes me!) and then we didn't speak to each other for about a month...it was a very loooonnnnnngggg month.  My anger festered.  I would give Don nasty looks whenever I saw him, at least once or twice a week as we went to church together.  Well about four or five weeks after The Incident, we were in church.  Don sitting close to the front and me way in the back.  I don't remember the sermon but we were having the Lord's Supper that day.  I don't remember what Dick preached about or anything else about that Sunday except that during communion I was feeling very stubborn and I knew I wasn't right with Don so that meant I wasn't right with God, and I was stirring in my seat, feeling very uncomfortable and then tears started running down my cheeks and I could feel God saying to me...well, what are you going to do?  Are you going to fix the problem?  And after what seemed like hours and really was only minutes I found myself getting up and moving towards Don who by this time was coming towards me...he hadn't taken communion either...guess God was talking to him too :)  I remember walking up to Don and just embracing him, hugging and crying and saying "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry"...over and over again and right there in front of God and everyone!!! 

 

 We asked each other to forgive us for our stubbornness and bad behavior.  

And then we took communion together

.

  

And God healed us both, right there, giving us a special love and bond with each other.

Don was like a dad to me in many ways...he loved me, he cared about me and my family, he even disciplined me at times with the sharing of God's word and how it applies to my life.

I miss Don and his wife, Joyce.  I don't think of them often because their death was a horrible death - they were beaten and bludgeoned to death and each time I think of them that is the picture I see of them...hurting, bleeding and dying on the ground on their property.  

BUT, this morning I thought of Don with a smile on my face and warmth in my heart, remembering a man of God, who gave so much as he served so many, sharing so many blessings with those he came into contact with...and Ron and I, along with our boys were very much blessed by him.

So this morning I 

Praise God for the many blessings he has given me,

for the trials I have faced and conquered

and for His love abounding in my life.

Thank you Jesus for never waivering,

always providing,

always loving.