A Golden Opportunity...not to be missed!

I'm starting this blog way too late at night, and not sure how it's going to turn out, but just had some things on my mind. Tis the Season...to be jolly...but then LIFE gets in the way right when we're the busiest.  I'm sure you've felt that way, too.  Too many things to do, etc.  But then something unexpected happens to change our plans.

Mom & I at a Christmas Party in 2010

We have this new house (new to us) that we bought in 2007 for our later years of retirement.  Well, "hello"...here we are in our "later years of retirement"; where did all the time go?

Reposting and Important Blog

Good Morning everyone,

Just wanted to share a friend's blog that I think is important to all of us.  Thanks, LaJoyce for sharing your experiences and advice.  You have helped ALL of us.

Posted by LaJoyce on Thursday, June 16, 2011 at 8:16am   Hello to all my followers! I was amazed at all the hits my last blog received and want to ask if it has helped you in your walk on this earth? My aim is to help those folks that are looking for a way that their lives will have peace. We all know peace comes through our belief in God, but sometimes we can have a hard time knowing how to accept it.

     Yesterday at work I had an experience that jolted my peace. I watched the nurses calmly minister their craft to an individual that was loud, highly excited and full of expletives. This went on for hours before we could seek the proper attention that was needed. I admired those nurses for how they handled something that I felt I more than likely could not have handled very well. Probably handle, but not with confidence. I remember standing by the wall of windows watching this patient struggle with trying to control the situation.The scenario gave me thoughts of anger, hostility and a desire to go into the bed and spank this chronological mature individual! I wondered why I felt so uncomfortable when placed in this sudden environment. God spoke directly to me after I voiced how I felt to a christian nurse. I needed more healing in that area! That scenario I witnessed was a childhood common. It still lingered when I thought it was conquered.

     Many times, something we were reared into, takes a lifetime of deliverance. We learn over a period of time how to handle ourselves by keeping ourselves safe in environments that shield us from those outbreaks, but  when they surface again, old feelings return.

     We all don't like those feelings and seek for guidance, however going to God in prayer and asking Him to help was the answer. I couldn't go back and relive my childhood and make everyone do what I thought they should do to make my life better. The only way to return to a peaceful life is to forgive those that have hurt me. Mark 11:24,25. We hate those feelings, because when we feel like that we stay stuck in our life. We cannot move forward, harbor nasty feelings about everything and everybody who dares come against us. We look slantingly at all actions we view. Our lives are based on what we learned in our childhood. Everyone has something that has negatively affected them and is carried into their adulthood. Some folks handle their situations differently and we all strive to better ourselves. May I say that trusting in God is the only way to help ourselves. The more knowledge we have of His word to guide us will lead us forward, but perfection only comes the day we go home to be with Jesus. So to recognize this uncomfortable situation I faced, I thank God for His guidance to attain more trust in Him.

Thanks for listening. You are a blessed crowd of wonderful God fearing individuals that God loves more than you can ever fathom.

LaJoyce 


"The only people who are truly free are the ones who walk in a spirit of continual forgiveness."

Move to the Eastside

Hi Everyone,
 
I know, I know...I've been really absent on here lately, but it's due to our HUGE move clear across the state so that we can be closer to the ranch.  We started packing in March & making trips across the state to transport "stuff", and finally made the big trek permanently on April 30th.  Since that time we've only had a couple of work days at the new place to put things in order...I need lots more time and sometimes wish I could clone myself:-)

Many of you probably do not know that my stepdad passed away in March, just a week and a half before his 102nd birthday.  He passed very quickly and quietly and his daughter and family got a chance to say their good byes and rub his legs just that morning.  So he could not have asked for a more peaceful passage to go to his heavenly Father.  He is there now, and we are taking care of his "bride", my Mom.  She moved with us of course, and is now enjoying living here at the ranch with us for the summer.  She watches each day for that illusive moose that never seems to appear for her to see, but we have seen many times just sauntering across our field below the house, or standing in our lakes.  We have placed a salt block now out in the field, so hopefully, she will see one soon.   

After all the cool weather, we finally have sunshine today, after another nice rain, thunder and lightning last night.  We managed to plant our garden (part of it) a couple weeks ago, and now have corn, green beans and peas coming up.  I need to get out there and plant the rest, as Mom wants MORE pickled beets this summer.  Last year we had a "first year garden" and had a bumper crop of lettuce, carrots, radishes, onions, beets, peas and beans...and some cucumbers and zuchinni.  It has been so cool and rainy this spring that I couldn't get the rest of that planted yet.  

This weekend our good friends (four couples) from Oregon have been here for their annual visit, fishing, atving, visiting, resting, reading, etc.  We all had a drive over to the new place yesterday and had our first company dinner at patio tables lined up in the dining room.  Was so much fun and is so good to see all our friends.  Some of them left this morning, but 2 couples are still down at the lake house and will bring US dinner tonight (they think I've been cooking enough).  This time of sharing with friends each year is a special time for us, and we look forward to it so much each year.   They even managed to catch some fish the other day and we had them for breakfast yesterday...YUM...fresh pan fried trout.  This is a picture of the ranch house on the lake as it appeared about a month ago when we still had snow and ice on the lake.  It's all gone now, and we have turtles and fish swimming around.  Still waiting for baby duckies, though...we keep watching.  Well, I'll post more pictures later after I get them downloaded, but for now, hope you're all having a wonderful Spring.








"The only people who are truly free are the ones who walk in a spirit of continual forgiveness."

My Precious Daughter....Happy Birthday!

My Precious Daughter

Sometime ago I jotted this down...from where I don't know.  Although I posted this last year, too, I have saved it to send to my daughter once again on her birthday, which is April 1st.  It reminded me of times when I was watching 
her grow, and of happier times later when I could just call her up and tell her these things.  I love and miss her more than this mother could ever express, so this is to Ali:


My Precious Daughter

The joy of my life was just watching you grow.
You were my little princess, all tied with a bow.
 I'd read you the same book over & over again,
and listen to "God Blesses" till you finally said "Amen".

I'd watch you through a window as you'd run and play,
and I'd say a little prayer that you'd remember one day...
That you were loved so very much, and how I loved watching you grow
Into WHO you are today...someone all the world should know.

Author Unknown

We love you so much, and wish you a very Happy Birthday doing all the things you love to do.

Love always, Your Family










"The only people who are truly free are the ones who walk in a spirit of continual forgiveness."

Keeper...

Our Bosco, Now 9 years old

My Parents now 93 and 101

Our Peachie about 15+ year

Keeper...............

I  grew up with practical parents. A mother, God love her, who washed aluminum foil after she cooked in it, then reused it. She was the original recycle queen, before they had a name for it... A father who was happier getting old shoes fixed than buying new ones.

Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely a wave away.. 

I can see them now, Dad in trousers, tee shirt and a hat and Mom in a house dress, lawn mower in one hand, and dish-towel in the other. It was the time for fixing things.. A curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress. Things we keep.

It was a way of life, and  sometimes it made me crazy.. All that re-fixing, eating, renewing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant you knew there'd always be more.

But then my mother died, and on that clear summer's night, in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any more.

Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away...never to return.. So... while we have it..... it's best we love it.... and care for it... and fix it when it's broken......... and heal it when it's sick.

This is true. for marriage....... and old cars..... and children with bad report cards..... and dogs with bad hips.... and aging parents..... and grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it. 
Some things we keep. Like a   best friend that moved away or a classmate we grew up with.

There are just some things that make life important, like people we know who are special........ and so, we keep them close!

I received this from someone who thinks I am a 'keeper', so I've sent it to the people I think of in the same way... Now it's your turn to send this to those people that are "keepers" in your life.  Good friends are like stars.... You don't always see them, but you know they are always there.  Keep them close!

TEN THINGS GOD WON'T ASK ON THAT DAY.

1.... God won't ask what kind of car you drove. He'll ask how many people you drove who didn't have transportation..

2.... God won't ask the square footage of your house, He'll ask how many people you welcomed into your home.

3.... God won't   ask about the clothes you had in your closet, He'll ask how many you helped to clothe.

4.... God won't ask what your highest salary was. He'll ask if you compromised your character to obtain it.

5.... God won't ask what your job title was. He'll ask if you performed your job to the best of your ability.

6.... God won't ask how many friends you had. He'll ask how many people to whom you were a friend.

7.... God won't ask in what neighborhood you lived, He'll ask how you treated your neighbors.

8.... God won't ask about the color of your skin, He'll ask about the content of your character.

9.... God won't ask why it took you so long to seek Salvation. He'll lovingly take you to your mansion in heaven, and not to the gates of Hell.

10.... God won't have to ask how many people you forwarded this to, He already knows your decision. 

"The only people who are truly free are the ones who walk in a spirit of continual forgiveness."

I'm Learning To Trust Him More

Well, it's late tonight and I probably should be in bed instead of writing this, but just wanted to check in with you all.  This has been a tough last few weeks, and it seems that we have been over a few rough spots.

A few weeks ago my husband, Forrest, had a few tests to see how his ticker was doing, and it led us to the hospital for him to have an angiogram.  He came through it really well, although he was pretty bruised for about a week afterwards.  Thank the good Lord we went for the test, though, as we feel that we really dodged a huge bullet.  He has a 100% blockage that has calcified so much that they could not even put in a stent.  BUT, praise God, it took long enough to get it that way, that his body (controlled by the Lord, of course) was able to form it's own natural bi pass, which we hear happens sometimes.  Now they are trying to keep those 2 arteries open by increasing his cholesterol meds and us trying to be more careful with our diet.  Thank goodness we have been trying to eat healthier each year, or who knows what would have happened.  I'm so happy to say that he's feeling really well, and his doctor has not curtailed his activities, but wants him to remain very active.  We will recheck in 3 months.

He no more than got through his crisis when I went in for a few tests.  A chest x-ray showed a spot on my lung, which called for another test (a CT Scan) which confirmed a mass.  So, you know how one test calls for another, and another, so I had the next one which is a PET Scan at another hospital, and it has come back inconclusive; they don't know what it is, but say that it is "suspicious for a malignancy".  Gee, I'm thinking, "This is not fair...I never smoked, and I try to live so healthy."  And of course the human side of me was remembering feeding my xfather-in-law his last meal when he died of lung cancer.  So I was staying awake each night, thinking of all the worse case scenarios, and not getting much rest at all.  Thus, I should really be in bed now, but I will try to finish this quickly.


But, last weekend I had been invited to a Women's Conference, led by a "young woman" who used to be in our youth group when my kids were growing up.  She has since become an ordained minister, and was leading her first conference.  I took a friend with me, and we had a wonderful weekend of praise, worship, and fun with the other women.  They called me down for prayer the last evening, and actually called out the spirit of cancer and told it to be gone.  For the first time in many years I was slain in the spirit, and was drenched with the spirit of God over my whole body.  Since that time I have felt a "peace that passeth all understanding" that it talks about in the Bible, and I know that I know that I know that God holds me in the palm of His hand and will heal me.  Why do I know this?  Because I have been healed many times in my life of all kinds of things, and I know He is healing me as I speak.  In the past he has healed me of Celiac Disease as a child, scar tissue on my lungs, ciatic pain & tennis elbow.   I praise God for His healing of the past,  for renewing  my faith and for His promises that "By His stripes we WERE healed"...we only have to accept it and walk IN IT.  Therefore, I am not moved by what I see or feel (like the pain in my side), but only by the Word of God.  I accept your healing Lord, and I intend to walk in it.  Thank you Lord.


My doctor has scheduled a lung biopsy for me this coming Wednesday the 23rd, and no matter what is found, I feel a peace that He, the Great Physician, will be guiding the doctor's hand & taking care of me.  I thank God for this peace, and pray God will use this in a mighty way as a sign to unbelievers, that He is the great and mighty God He said He is.  Please pray with me, and that He will use this for His Kingdom.


Hope you all are doing well and watching anxiously for all those first signs of Spring.  This has been a hard, hard winter for a lot of you, and we wish you Spring Time and flowers, & birds to sing His praises.  God be with you all...I will keep you posted.

 

"The only people who are truly free are the ones who walk in a spirit of continual forgiveness."

DUST IF YOU MUST

Hi Everyone, and a Happy 2011 New Year to you all!!  A friend just sent this to me in an email, and I thought it was an appropriate time to share it with you...especially since we are all trying to make those New Year's resolutions.  It is true...we can spend all our time dusting, and miss the important things we should or could be doing...like spending more time with our families.   Please read, enjoy, and take this to heart.

 

 

I used to spend at least 8 hours every weekend making sure 
things were just perfect in case someone came over. 
Finally I realized one day that no one came over; they were all 
out living life and having fun! 

NOW, when people visit, I don't bother making excuses for the
condition of my home.  They are more interested in hearing about

the things I've been doing in the time I used to spend cleaning.   

If you haven't figured this out yet, please heed this advice:

  
Dust if you must .... 

but would it be better

to paint a picture or write a letter,

bake some cookies or plant a seed,  
ponder the difference 'tween want and need?

 

Dust if you must....

but there's not much time 
with wine to drink and mountains to climb,  
music to hear and books to read,

friends to cherish and life to lead.  

Dust if you must...  
but the world's out there

with the sun in your eyes, the wind in your hair,

a flutter of snow, a shower of rain.

This day will not come around again. 

Dust if you must...

but bear in mind, 

old age will come and it's not kind.  

And when you go -- and go you must --

you, yourself, will just make more dust! 


Share this with all the wonderful women in your life.  I  JUST DID. 
It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life

you have lived. 

 

LADIES!!! Remember...a  layer of dust protects the wood beneath it.
A house becomes a home when you can write 'I love you' on the furniture.

 

Life is short.  Enjoy it!

"The only people who are truly free are the ones who walk in a spirit of continual forgiveness."