Saturday, January 7, 2023

2023: New Year. New WORDS, New Theme

 Hello all! Is it really 2023??? 

Well, COVID is at least unofficially over!! Praise God!! The past 2 years seemed to creep by, with the world fully engaged in the pandemic. My mom has continued to go downhill mentally and physically, but she is still with us. Over the past few years there have been some physical and emotional illnesses that continue to plague family members. There have been joyous occasions...like the birth of our great grandson! We have done some traveling, but not as much as I would have liked.

But, probably the most difficult part of that time for me has been, even after things started to open back up, that I was still doing a lot of things the same, day in and day out. Still visiting mom on a regular basis, making sure her health needs were met (still always a work in progress, as staff shortages continue in the nursing homes). Also, trying to know how to address some of the health issues at home. Praying continuously for healing over those who are suffering! But not seeing much change. Waiting patiently for years, but also trying endlessly to make the changes that are needed, when possible!(Which seemed rare to me) Many days, I have felt at the end of my rope, exhausted, and ready to give up! Of course, I am still here, so I always have found even the smallest bit of strength(only through the Lord!) to keep going.

With all that being said, I want to have a more positive outlook in 2023! So, I have once again been motivated to have a word to get me going....actually, I have prayed and felt that there are 3 words that have come to mind. 

CHANGE

                         MOVE 

                                                  MIRACLE

                                                                                                  
With my chosen words of the year I also seek God for a verse to go along with it. 
With them all pulled together, I feel like God is saying, He is going to do something great in my life the coming year. Isaiah 43:19 really seemed the most appropriate!
 "See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland."

This year, I also have found a quote that really hit home for me...


As we continue into the year, I will be posting different ways that I feel God wants me to use these words, verse, and quote. I will be sharing some goals and hopes for the year. I also will look for ways that God provides and opens the doors to allow for change, moves, and miracles in my life.

Stay tuned for those posts....I promise I will be working harder at posting more often!!!! 

Blessings to you all in 2023!!!






Saturday, August 14, 2021

TIME STOOD STILL - ONE AND A HALF YEARS LATER(I'M STILL HERE)

 


WOW!! Has it really been one and a half years since I've posted here on my blog page? 

I guess I do have a pretty good excuse for not posting, though. Uhhhh, right....COVID, the state of our country and our world, mom taking a turn for the worse with her dementia, selling mom's house, family issues. In reality, they ARE excuses, but I think they are good ones. Don't you?

Anyways, I'm back.(For now)

Don't ask how I decided to come back...well, you can, but I won't go into detail. Basically, I was looking back on some past posts and realized that life has a way of grabbing you by the b&##$ and not letting go. 

Life is such a contradiction of time, a polarity of feelings and experiences

I feel like the past year and a half just stood still, I have no clue where it went. So much has changed...and yet, it hasn't. Sometimes, I SO WANT it to change. Other times, I don't.

I am acutely aware of how fast time has passed – how fast it is passing – and as much as I look forward to moving on, I am intentionally breathing in the moments I have with my mom and my son. I realize that when things do change(and they eventually will), those things will most definitely NOT be what I would like to change. Mom will pass on someday. Tyler will move on in his life, as well.(He is still currently living at home and working...saving money to travel the country on his own, like we have done.)  It feels like I'm in a straight jacket and heading down a rabbit hole all at the same time. 

Talk about conflict!!

Me and my hubby's(mostly me) dream of traveling the country in our RV have been put on hold over the past 18 months. Not that we haven't done anything. We've taken a few 1-2 weeks trips, which have been awesome. But, nothing like our first trip after Ken retired. And, don't get me wrong. He's on board with traveling, too. He's just more "content" with sticking around home than I am. 

I am also reminded that time is always passing, always changing us, always changing those we love even when it seems like it has stopped.  Even when it feels like we are in a holding pattern,  the reality is that time is always passing.  Holding patterns don’t exist.  Every moment has purpose and is fleeting.  Time may seem to stand still, but it is moving. Always moving.

I need to remind myself to breathe it in! To enjoy these days(even the rough ones), as they will come to an end. And, even though it may not seem like it now, I'll move on to the next journey in my life. The next step...the next move. This moment, these stressful times, will be history. 

I am working at being grateful for these times. I also look forward to the changes that will come, in their own time. I am trying to do both at the same time, which can be a balance act....not taking one or the other too seriously. Not trying to HOLD ONTO one or RUSH the other. 

The Lord has it all in HIS plan and timing. I need to allow Him to direct me each and every day. I need to keep reading His word and praying for direction. I need to lean into Him when things get difficult. I need to wait on Him to close the doors that will need to be closed and open new ones when it is time to open them. I think this theme blends so well into what I wrote in my last post from 2020...(you can read it HERE). As the old saying goes, 

"Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow is not here yet. We have only TODAY!!"

I also had decided again NOT to have chosen a word for 2021(or any year to come). My last word was for 2019, which was "fearless". Boy, did that one kick me in the butt!! I carried it over to 2020, but it never was a word I cherished. I think I've come to believe that God keeps changing what things He wants us to work on  throughout every single year of our lives. It's a continual journey. 

Anyways, I AM still here. Hopefully I'll check back in more often with new posts. I do want to remember these days that seem to currently "stand still". One day, they will be just a memory.

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens."(Ecclesiastes 3:1)

Blessings to you all, my friends!!!



Wednesday, January 8, 2020

Burn The Ships

Image result for burn the ships

The beginning of a New Year often has us looking back and seeing how God has walked with us in the past and contemplating the year ahead

We tend to want to hold on to the familiar, the easier path, the old ways....but these often become unhealthy, and even dangerous for us to continue down some paths/have relationships with some people in our lives. When we become aware of these different paths/people in our lives that can hinder/harm us, we may need to "rise from the dust and walk away". 

"Burning the Ships" can be SO difficult(maybe even excruciating.) 

I don't know about you, but FEAR often has kept me from burning the ships and moving ahead. Fear of rejection, fear of what others will think, fear of being alone, fear of not knowing the future. But, God reminds us that He will never leave us, nor forsake us. He is our source of strength. And He holds the future and will take care of us!!

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

This song came to my mind, as I've been thinking about some past relationships/choices(mainly family) that I have held onto, but have come to understand, have not been healthy,


Burning the Ships also means giving God control of things I don't have control of. The song below, also came to mind.

I pray, Lord, let me know when something/someone is pulling me down/away from Your will and plan for my life. Let me have the strength and courage to give it to You and know that if it's Your will to re-connect, You will open those doors again. If not, let me walk away, 'Step into a New Day', and know that You have purposed this for me and You have my back!! Let me surrender to You everything that I have no control over.
 I love You above all else, Lord!! Amen


"Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." 
Philippians 3:13-14