The Afternoon of Life

It’s hard for someone who trusts the Lord to confess that she’s had the absolute worst year of her life! In my first two years of marriage long ago my husband was unemployed for six months and our marriage almost died.  I had a year where I lost a baby I was carrying…a baby I wanted and needed.  I had a year where one of my children was hurt in such an invasive and heart-wrenching way.  I’ve had a year where I sat with a friend as her CHILD experienced cancer.  I’ve had a year where I sat with a friend as her 2-yr-old daughter was BURIED.  At 40 I moved 1500 miles from home and friends and just a little later my marriage dissolved and ended in divorce. In the next year I faced eviction and possible homelessness with three pre-teens. There was the year my oldest son and I had surgery just two days apart…at Christmastime.  The next year I had Bell’s Palsy at Easter.  I had a year where a new pastor was verbally and psychologically abusive…not just w...

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the  freedom  of speech, or of the  press ; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. www.heritage.org/constitution/amendments/1/.../freedom-of-speech-and-of-the-press Freedom of the press  is the right to circulate opinions in print without censorship by the government. Americans enjoy  freedom of the press  under the First Amendment to the Constitution, which states: 'Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech or of the press.' https://study.com/.../what-is-freedom-of-the-press-definition-history-examples.html freedom  of the  press  - Legal  Definition . n. The right, guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution to publish and distribute information in books, magazines, and newspapers...

Prophetic dream…or buttered hot dog roll eaten late in the night? A storm was coming.  A destructive storm.  It was huge and was going to affect everyone and everything.  It came from the sky…from on high.  And when it hit the ocean waters, the ocean waters swallowed up everything on dry land. I saw the wave coming…everyone around me saw the wave coming.  Some tried to run.  I stood still…very still…and let the water rush over me.  It missed nothing.  It swallowed everything.  Bodies and trees and animals were swirling and swirling, tossed to and fro, washing machine agitation.  I could see the looks of pure fear and panic on faces around.  I could see looks of resignation to an obvious fate.  I could see looks of anger that this storm was now in control and these people had no say in what was happening to them. And suddenly, with no hope in sight, I was on my feet and dry…with everyone around me.  I was i...

December 23, 2016…WALMART…I know you’re already saying, “Why???” We had some grocery and essential shopping that needed to be done, and I knew I didn’t want to go to Walmart on the day before Christmas…but it never dawned on me that half the town might be thinking the same way. Several months ago I started using the electronic carts at Walmart.  The decision to do so resulted from a fall in 2000 that caused a lower back problem that has never been resolved.  I can’t stand for more than a couple of minutes without extreme, nauseating pain in my back.  Earlier this year I started noticing a swollen lump on the back of my right foot, and a visit to the podiatrist revealed a large bone spur…and an aggravating Achilles tendon that swells, making it almost impossible to walk sometimes.  I tend to walk like I’m wearing a high heel on my right foot.  The doctor gave us an application for a handicapped sticker, but I usually ask Dan to let me out at the do...

Tonight I asked Mia, my 6-month-old kitten, “Why are you here?”  She’s in the place she’s chosen to be “her space” since coming to us back in June.  I kid you not…she lays with her hind end on my left arm and her body stretched across my chest…her heart beating next to my heart.  If I lay down in my bed, and she finds me there, that’s where she will lie.  If I try to move my arm out from under her, she waits till I put my arm back in place…and immediately moves to lie on top of me.  It is "her spot", and she is there as often as she can be. She does this to no one else in the family.  She may lay on top of their stomach for a few minutes and let them pet her…but it won’t be for long.  She’s a “momma’s girl” of a cat.  But what she really makes me aware of is my missing breasts.  Is it my imagination, or is she really trying to make up for what’s missing?  Is she comforting me?  How could she even know…she wasn’t here wh...

With snow on the way this weekend, it seemed appropriate to start prepping the porch for winter…and Christmas.  Thanksgiving will come and go quickly in a week…and this year we get an extra week to enjoy all that Christmas brings. The Christmas season has somber moments now that I’ve reached the “Afternoon of Life”.  I’ve said good-bye temporarily to people that were part of my Christmas for over fifty years.  Now they celebrate the season in the Presence of the One Who made letting them go less painful…but not without pain.  There’s that moment when I hear Dad’s laughter in my sons’ voices…when I see Mom’s beauty in my daughter’s eyes.  There’s the wish that my grandchildren could have known the extraordinary love and wisdom my parents imparted while here on earth.  I know that they see Dan and me in the same way my children saw Dad and Mom…and I know that I just never feel like I measure up to her.  It’s not for not trying, though. I sat...

Today I’m ending my 57 th year on earth and beginning my 58 th .   I thought it would be fun to see if I can list 29 BLESSINGS…one for every other year of my life.   I actually have so many more than that…but this seemed like a challenging number…and I’m sharing my blessings with you as a gift to say thank you for your friendships…you’ll see that FRIENDSHIPS are high on my list of blessings!   You’ll also see that my 29 are not “single” blessings…so there’s way more than 58 blessings listed here! #1    God …my Savior…my Lord…my Everything #2    My wonderful Dan …a husband…a friend…a gift from God #3    My beautiful children …Andy, my hero…LeeAnne, my joy…Stephen, my blessing #4    My grandchildren …Holden, Orlando, Roman, Shannon, Devlyn and Erienelis…they make life better than I deserve for it to be. #5    My extended family :   I’ve said goodbye on this side of heaven to Dad and Mom and I look...