HAPPY SPRING EVERYONE!

 Isn't it wonderful to see all the signs of Spring popping out all over?  It is so encouraging after a long, very cold winter, and I for one am enjoying all the sights, sounds and smells of Spring.  Have been very busy lately, and THAT is a good thing....I think;-)  Not enough hours in the day, with spring planting, spring cleaning, and work that I have been doing on my book's platform.  Yes, I'm still out there doing everything I can.

Recently I was contacted by Monty Meyer of Take12Radio out of Albany, OR, to do a radio interview.  The broadcast aired last Saturday the 6th, and was a really pleasant experience.  Monty makes all of his guests feel very welcome and comfortable, and before I knew it, the hour was up.  I had thought I would not have enough to say, but as my Son, Scott, said, "Mom, you never run out of things to say."  Monty had a lot of good questions for me, as well as personal input with a wealth of knowledge, and made the whole interview experience very interesting.  Thanks again Monty for the opportunity, I really appreciate it.  For any of you who missed the interview and would like to listen to it or refer it to someone you know who needs to heal their scars from abuse, you can still find it.  Go to www.Take12Radio.com, and go to their ARCHIVES...and click on FRIDAY INTERVIEWS.  There you will find mine that was on Friday, April 5th, spotlighting my book "Father, Forgive My Father".

Now, my next step is to further shine the spotlight on this month of April which is "National Child Abuse Prevention Month".  In doing that, I have scheduled an Open House for a book reading at our local library.  For any of you in the Spokane area, please feel free to attend, and please bring a friend; especially if you know they have been abused and need help to heal.  See the notice below:

COME & MEET THE AUTHOR at an Open House @ the Airway Heights Library
​​​ADDRESS:  1213 S. Lundstrom, Airway Heights, WA 99001
​DATE:  April 25th, from 2-4 p.m.  "Epidemic of Sexual Child Abuse To Be Revealed"
​ 
Don't miss this timely and informative book reading and signing in recognition of April, "National Child Abuse Prevention Month"

You will also be able to meet the author of the book's Foreword, Dana Gamble.   We're looking forward to meeting you and hope you will join us and bring a friend.  This promises to be an interesting & informative time of sharing.  Coffee and cookies will be served.

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In the meantime I have been really busy getting my brochures, business cards and bookmarks redone and reprinted.  My neighbor has offered to introduce me over at our airbase across the street, so I'm sure that is opening a huge door...lots of need in the military unfortunately.  Also have been in contact with people out of state who have asked to handle my books in their book stores, and have asked me to give book readings or my workshop.  I see a trip to Alaska in my near future to achieve these goals.  Of course I never mind that, because I can see my son and his family...which are most of my grandchildren and now my GREATS...8 of them up there;-)  

 So, that's how my Spring is going so far...not to mention the rose garden that I have scheduled for replanting...someday it will be pretty again.  Plans are to move to our summer ranch home May 15th, and then begins our summer gardening.  This year I've invited our Spokane Compass Club Gardening Group to visit for a tour of our garden and a patio lunch...they have assured me that it will be potluck, so I guess I will get lots of help with that.  Looking forward to a very exciting Spring and Summer.  God is moving, and moving fast...and I'm just along for the ride...to go where He directs.  Thank you for your love and prayers, and please be praying that He continues to open doors where this message is needed.  I also have a new personal URL web site for noting scheduled events and easy book purchase at www.fffpublishinghelps.com.  God is good...God bless you all.  Let me hear from you!


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

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."

"THE 1ST HUNDRED YEARS ARE THE HARDEST"

As my new "Dad" has always said, "The first hundred years are the hardest...then you just don't give a rip."
However, when he turns 100 years old on March 27th, I'm going to write on his card: "....and YOU'RE on your SECOND hundred years, so just relax and enjoy it!"

As a part of "Becoming God's Woman" I have learned to really respect and admire my parents, and am actually enjoying them in their sunset years. I have learned in raising my own children, and now having grandchildren and GREAT grandchildren, that we parents don't always make the right decisions for our offspring; nor do we always set a good example. So I've opted to cut mine some slack.

Seeing my parents reach the ages of 92 and 100, I find that I am enjoying them more as the years fly by; because I KNOW what they went through to GET here. I can respect that they have gone through good years and hard years; fruitful years and lean years; been in good health, and experienced illnesses; have met personal challenges and not always seen all their dreams come true, and dealt with their children lovingly through it all. No matter whether or not they always made the right decisions for us, or protected us from all of life's hurts and disappointments, they meant the best for us, and always tried (within the best of their ability and power) to do the right thing by us.

However, the more I talk with other people, I have come to the conclusion that some of our younger generation do not feel as I do. They criticize and cast blame on their parents for every short coming and disappointment they experience. Now, don't they ever think to themselves: my parents are human, and as such they are going to make mistakes. And, as I've said before, there is no such thing as a "perfect" parent. We don't need to cast stones unless we have walked in our parent's shoes. Have a little respect and be thankful for the good things they did do, and for the things they did that got you as far as you are today. My parents were not "perfect" either, and, as many of you know, I suffered abuse at the hands of my natural Dad. But, I chose a long time ago to forgive them; didn't make any difference if THEY changed or not...I forgave them right where we were. Therefore, today, in my parents sunset years, I am able to be with them, do things for them that they aren't able to do for themselves at this age, and just enjoy the time we have together. And, at the same time, unforgiveness has not been allowed to make me sick...did you KNOW that holding grudges, resentments, and not forgiving can make you physically ill? It most certainly can; it can cut your life short.

So, to sum it all up, treat your parents as you'd like your children to treat YOU in your later years. Don't waste your years and their years by fussing and fuming about things that happened long ago. Put them behind you and get on with the business AND the FUN of life and loving. Because it IS true, the first hundred years are the hardest, and we need to help our loved ones enjoy them. Another bit of advice for you parents: Be nice to your kids...because they may be the ones who pick out your retirement location or take care of you. And remember, all of you, it's true what they say: "What goes around, comes around." The world would be a better place if we all just forgave and loved each other for the very human beings that we are...NOT perfect.
Dad: A VERY HAPPY 100th BIRTHDAY TO YOU, and thanks for treating me every bit like your daughter.

Note: Mom and "Dad" met 8 years ago when my husband and I were going together. We introduced them because we thought Dad would be a good influence on my mother. He had his own pickup truck, cell phone, and computer, and was a real go-getter. They met on his 92nd birthday when she was 83, and he proposed 4 months later on HER birthday. We were planning our wedding for in the fall, and for a time we thought we might have a double wedding. But, being the age they were, they didn't want to waste any time, so they beat us to the alter by just one month and married October 6th of 2001. So...you might say that Dad said "I do" at 92. They have had 8 years together now, and both of them help each other so much. We are very glad that they have found each other and happiness.

ALIENATION BY A LOVED ONE

Have you alienated a loved one...a parent, grandparent, sibling, child or friend? Do you know that it hurts that person to the very core of their being? And, that it can make that person or YOU physically ill? I've been thinking about writing this for a long time, because I've been on the alienated end of this situation, and have been for too long a time.

On April 1st it will be 2 years since I have seen my daughter; oh, I've heard from her...hateful words in an email written on Halloween of the first year, and ending with "DO NOT CONTACT ME". I hate to say it, but that about finished me off emotionally. I think the thing that hurts the most is that she won't give me a chance by telling me (or writing me) the issues that she has. From the way she has turned from a sweet loving daughter who I've always been close to, to a daughter who obviously hates me for something I did, or didn't do, she should be able to tell me or write to me about it.

I know that over she and my son's growing up years I was not a perfect mother...if anyone thinks they can be a "perfect" mother, they are wrong. No matter how hard you try as a parent, you are always going to make mistakes, or what they view as mistakes. You can only do your best at the time, with what you have to work with. As God is my witness, that is what I always TRIED hard to do. I know of of many times when I actually put them first, above all other relationships, and even ended some relationships because they were not the best situations for my children. Yes, I divorced their father when they were 3 and 6 yrs. of age; but part of the reason I did was because our relationship was hurting THEM. He wasn't a bad father, but the fact that he was unfaithful to their mother, and didn't know truth from fantasy, was definitely affecting them. I tried hard over the years not to bias them against him or make them feel bad about themselves, but the fact that I took their father from them is something I feel they both resent. I also feel that my son has forgiven me for any shortcomings, and has said that he loves me and always will. That means so much to me, and I've told him so.

The reason I feel it's so important to let you all know how this has affected me is that, in the BIG scheme of things, NOTHING is so important that it should take us away from those we love, and rob us of precious time we could spend with them.

In addition to missing my daughter, her daughter (our granddaughter) is also missing from our lives, and we miss her terribly. These are her grade school years when extended family is so important to grandchildren. I still think of us getting her started in gymnastics and getting to take her to her practices. Those were precious times. And what must she think?? Where's grandma and grandpa now? Have they deserted me? I pray every day that her little mind and heart are protected.

And how has it affected us? All summer long the first summer, I could not sleep but maybe a couple hours a night, and could not stop crying day and night. My poor husband felt helpless and could only hold me until I went to sleep. I got so depressed that I even had thoughts of suicide..."why not just end this by crossing the center line while driving home?" But I could not do that to another person, or hurt other loved ones in my family. Then, after going to the doctor with my husband, and breaking down in her office, she felt the need to put me on an anti-depressant. I do feel better lately emotionally, and can actually sleep at night. But I feel as if this whole thing has taken about 10 years off our lives. I am experiencing some new health issues now and waiting for test results that will determine how I live the rest of my life. But I feel that even if my daughter knew about it, she would not care.

When someone alienates you, it is almost as bad as losing that person to death...it's as if they have chosen to throw you away like you were garbage. So I feel that what we have gone through is like mourning a slow death. If you have alienated someone you love, ask yourself how you would feel if that person's life was snuffed out, they were in a horrendous accident or something, and you never got the chance to make amends. That almost happened to us one night. We were returning home, and because we stopped for a few minutes to pick up a loaf of bread, we missed a terrible fatal accident that was a few minutes from our house. So, please, we never know how much time we're going to get in this life...and NONE of us can afford to let a loved one go to their grave unforgiven.

Please pray about your own situation, and ask God for a time when you can sit down peaceably with that person, and get it taken care of. That person is probably just waiting for the opportunity, and probably loves you enough to listen. If boundaries have been crossed and you need more space...TELL them. I love my daughter enough to listen to anything she has to say, not give excuses or point fingers, but really LISTEN. I want us to be a whole family again; in the meantime, my husband and I are counting our blessings for what we do have, and looking forward to a better New Year. And that's part of "Becoming God's Woman"...ask forgiveness if you need to, and forgive those who have hurt you. God hates discontent. Set yourself and your loved ones FREE so that God can make you ALL that you can be.