I'm Baaack.....

It's been a long time since I've written....I'm writing now for myself as I've missed putting my thoughts down on paper. It's also fun to look back and have the ole memory jogged as well disciplining myelf to do some thinking. So here goes.....have no idea where this will take us!

I still like my title of "Finishing well,....etc" I've had the thought "finishing..etc." was brought into reality recently as I was diagnosed with breast cancer last month. When I was told I had cancer my first thought was "why not me?" So many women have walked through this diagnosis. I didn't panic or really think the worst...yet there was pause. I thought I'm really the same person I was last week before any diagnosis....yet I wasn't the same and I guess I really don't want to be that same person. My prayer was that wherever this walk would take me I would be willing to go and that God would be glorified in the process. Meeting with the surgeon and seeing an excellent prognosis I was at ease.

A week before my surgery (lumpectomy) I was called in for a second biopsy in a different area of the breast, which, if found to be malignant would have been a completely type of surgery. My prayer was at that time was that I would willingly and obediently accept what might come. That waiting period was much more difficult than the original. Thankfully the 2nd biopsy was benign. I think what I found out about myselt (which isn't too much of a surprise) is it is easier to pray and have unwavering faith for being able "to walk" through a situation when you think you know how everything will turn out.

I asked the question "where is my faith?"....a question we all need ourselves. Read through Hebrews 11... By faith.....God has given us everything we need.

Odor, Smell or Fragrance.......What am I?

How do odors, smells or fragrances effect you? Smelling fresh dill in a grocery store in the summer reminds me of great summers in the Ozarks. Every summer for my first 14 years of life we visited cousins, double cousins of my dad's....it was wonderful...my only girl cousin, small town with the water tower land mark, the lake for swimming and boating, playing dress up, visiting Aunt Mandy, who was always so glad to see me, and watching the morning glories open while trailing over the trellis on her front porch. Walking down the hill to the town square and having a 20 cent strawberry soda while my cousin always had chocolate. Buying new clothes at Ropers, the dry goods store with the wooden floors. Gathering eggs from the chickens that all had names, eating fried chicken and grabbing what I thought was the gizzard off the platter, so my cousin wouldn't get it, only to find I grabbed the chicken's liver. Well I sat there until the liver was finally eaten. All I remember is I was at the table a long time and shed many tears before that liver was eaten. I will not eat liver to this day. All these memories flood over me when I smell fresh dill, POWERFUL! We visited in the summer and there was always a bounty of fresh vegetables, especially, tomatoes and cucumbers. Those were the days of preserving for winter, and one of the  results  was home canned dill pickles. While I never cared for the homemade dill pickles I loved the place they were canned and it's aroma, Caroline's kitchen.
Other aromas that bring pleasant memories are roses, from my Grandmother's rose garden. Do you notice how roses today rarely smell like they use to?  "Old Spice"....reminds me of John and when we first met.  "English Leather"....made me sick when I was pregnant. Still don't care for it.

Well all this being said.....recently a friend was reflecting on a certain situation in which we're both involved.   After expounding on the situation she said....."it's just smells!" She was saying she didn't like what was going on. I was in agreement with her about the problem and after she said it smells I thought, what a good observation and very accurate too.  It is a situation that should not have an odor.  As followers of Christ we should have a fragrance, not an odor or a smell! Since we live in a fallen world situations we find ourselves involved in sometimes do have odors or smells and not a fragrance.  Chapter two of second Corinthians verses 14-17.... Paul says to the Corinthians, "But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.  For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.  To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task? Unlike so many we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God."

Several weeks ago I heard a well know Christian speaker, Becky Manley Pippert.  In her talk she used an illustration of a woman who had been in a seeker Bible study with her.  The woman moved to live in a country closed to Christianity.  The woman later told Becky of meeting a couple at a market place.  They became friends.  The woman  also told Becky, "they had your aroma!"  Approximately 16 years passed before Becky heard from this woman again. She had become a follower of Christ.  We, you and I, don't know what happened during those 16 years.  Did she find others along the way who "had the aroma"? We do know God was drawing this woman to Himself through many means, aromas being just one.   I have to ask myself.....do I give off the aroma that will draw others to the fragrance of life?  My prayer is to have this aroma!

Time flies.....when you're having a good time!

Ummm....the title is an old adage and I'm wondering if time doesn't just fly as we age. I know I haven't blogged for awhile but did not realize I missed January. I want to catch you up...all two or three of you.  I still have my blackberry storm and I'm still learning. It hasn't gotten the best of me but I get very frustrated.  It is great being able to have email on the fly.  I know a lot of people who would not think being connected is so great.   Looking forward to friend returning the first of March to help me delve into its innards. Is a device like a blackberry going to help me "finish well"? Well, it might be a small piece of a much larger picture.  The way our world of communication is moving I want to have in inkling of what people are talking about, especially our younger generations.  Have you checked out Facebook?  I've been told I'm too old to be on facebook, I'm weird, I'm not a college student...those conments are to my face.  I'll leave Facebook to another blog.  There is a myriad of other vehicles 'out there on the web' and we need to be aware of them and be able to do some navigation.

Next item....remember 'my personal trainer' gift.  I been training now for about 6 weeks.  PDS is different than other places I've gone to exercise.  Check out their website.   Katy is my trainer.  She is an athlete in her own right and a patient motivator.  She guides, changes routines and encourages.  She has become a friend.   I asked John the other day "what happens if I get use to the personal trainer?"  His response was "I think it's a good investment".  Right now I plan to continue.  I am learning how to do some of the exercises on my own at home.  This too will help me "finish well."

How am I doing?.......What am I doing??????

When I was a teenager, late 50's early 60's, we had some family friends who always had the latest gadgets. No matter what came out, Charlie had to have one. It might be the newest TV, TV remote (yes there was a day when you actually had to get out of your chair to change the channels, all 3 of them) radios, can openers and other small electronics. It was fun to see what he would get next. For those of you who are old enough to remember,  think back.....we had new things coming out but technology was nothing like it is today and certainly was not geared toward the younger generation.  Charlie and his family gave us a TV for a wedding present. It was what you call a table model in 1963, the only TV we have for many years.
We're living in a day and age and generation of being bombarded with new technology.   Just look around, computers, cell phones, cell phones that are computers. We sink this with that, we're in instant communication, texting, face booking, you name it. We can call across the world for virtually no cost and see the person you're talking to. The things mentioned are only the tip of the iceberg.   These things or "gadgets" are also accessable to almost everyone...not just the 'rich and famous.'.
We don't usually get caught up in the "latest".....we're a little slow getting off dead center, not necessarily a bad thing.

Well we are overdue for a cell phone upgrade.  I've had my eye on the Iphone.....can it do all those things that I haven't been able to figure out how to do on my Imac.?....well the Iphone isn't on "our network" so I have been waiting for the "Storm", Verizon's answer to the Iphone.  A friend ordered his the day they came out,  got it within a few days and was "learning it".  He's a techi and an engineer.  He likes it.  Wants to be able to do email while they are away for the winter.

Maybe by now you've guessed it.....John bought me a "Storm" for Christmas.  It was delivered by UPS at about 7 PM Christmas eve.  Opened it Christmas morning and began the adventure.  Or perhaps I should say the frustration.  It will not get the best of me.  Someone said I need a 10 year old to help figure it out.  We have revisited the V store (saw a 4 yr. old with double ear phones on and a device in her pocket) and I'm now activated but still don't have email set up or I've yet to get on the net.  The rep. was very pleasant, knowledgable and helpful but having taken up an hour or so of her time I decided I go home work on tutorials and then come back when the after Christmas crowd has thinned out.  Now I've gone through the tutorials on line and I've played around on it.  I've had people say "why do you need that?"  Well I'm wondering that myself.  Am I  caught up in the "media age"  or what?  Is this helping me keep my mind "young and fit"?  Well I'm going to keep working on learning the "Storm".  I did find out I have 30 days to be satisfied and that takes the pressure off so if I really don't like using it I can take it back.  I will know how it works though before the 30 days are up!

I want to be able to get on face book.  That's another post!

Be Careful.... what you wish for.....

Here it is a couple of days before Christmas and we have had a pretty layed back preseason.  No big plans for the holidays.  Our daughter is coming home for several days but no young children this year so we haven't decorated much.  Haven't done much in the gift area either.  John wants some camera "things" so he has to purchase those himself.  He needs some clothes so we'll hit the after Christmas sales.  I don't have any big wants so when I was casually asked a few weeks ago if I'd like a personal trainer I answered "Well only if he's a hunk!" Didn't think much more about it. Ummm, well you guessed it, I got my personal trainer this AM...but he's a Katy....although there are some hunks around.  Yes I was asked to go to an interview at 10 AM today for information and a tour.  After consulting as to what I wanted (or maybe I should say what John wants) and some activity/body assessments I signed up for 20 sessions.  This is a different type of health club.  Guess it really isn't a health club, although there is all the equipment.  It is called PDS Sports Performance.  The PDS stands for player development solutions.  They work with athletes and different sports teams to enhance performance.  Well I'm no athlete (as most of you already know) but I'm encouraged this will enhance my life.  I'll keep you posted! I have my first session tomorrow....How's that for starting an exercise program like this before the New Year!

THANKFUL.....AM I?

November is almost over. This is the month we Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. Seems like we ought to be the most thankful people in the world,  yet I'm not really sure we are. I am making a general judgement call on others but I'm making it on myself also.

I'm in a study with two other women. Right now we're studying  Jerry Bridges's book called Respectable Sins, Confronting the Sins We Tolerate.  The book is convicting as the author looks at sin .....subtle sins in the lives of the believer.  Not only are we shown areas of our lives we might not realize are sinful, the author gives us hope in how to recognize and confront the sin.  

One of the sins he talks about is unthankfulness.  The author tells of the ten lepers (Luke 17:11-19) Jesus heals and only one comes back to Him to give praise and thanks.  He goes on to ask how could those other nine who were healed be so ungrateful?  And yet are we not guilty of being ungrateful for what God has done for us, spiritually and physically?   Can we not acknowledge that everything we have and are is from God?  As spirit filled children of God, Paul reminds us in Ephesians 5;20....to always give thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Note the 'always' and 'everything'.

I'm quoting from the book now "Giving thanks to God for both His temporal and spiritual blessings in our lives is not just a nice thing to do--it is the moral will of God.  Failure to give Him the thanks due Him is sin.  It may seem like a benign sin to us because it doesn't hurt anyone else.  But it is an affront and insult to the One who created us and sustains us every second of our lives.  And if, as Jesus so clearly stated loving God with all our heart, soul, and mind is the great and first commandment, then failure to give thanks to God as a habit of life is a violation of the greatest commandment."

I'm trying to make thankfulness to God a habit.  I want thankfulness to become second nature.   Let me share some of what I'm thankful for right now:  

My husband John, for his faith and love for me, for my faith also.  Thankful for the journey we've traveled together.

My family, children and grandchildren, for their lives, vocations, love for one another, thankful for Ian's successful knee surgery, thankful he wasn't injured when he a a deer collided recently.  Thankful for health, shelter, friends, freedoms not known in so many parts of the world.  Thankful the washing machine conked out on the last load this week and not the first.   Oh so much more!  

Trusting that any who might read this blog will take a new look of how thankfulness impacts your life.  And may we all give God the glory!

Sympathy and Prayers

My sympathy and prayers go to our PCUSA Moderator, Bruce Reyes-Chow and his wife Robin on the death, Friday, of Brian Pugh, Robin's brother. According to news reports he and two others were shot and killed while in their work place.

Loss of a loved one is difficult at any time but lives taken by murder for those left behind seem harder to accept. We also need to remember the other two individuals and families who lost loved ones as well as the perpetrator and his family.

May God surround and comfort these families in the midst of this tragedy. Lord give those ministering to them directly love that comes from you, sustain them Father through these difficult times and the days ahead.
Lord I would pray for the spirit of forgiveness for these families.  May they know and experience your forgiveness in the days ahead.  May your powerful love engulf them.
May you grant peace and understanding.  

In Jesus name I pray, 

Amen