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."