Saturday Soliloquy: What a Relief!

I don’t know where the time went yesterday. I was going to finish up my series on Psalm 106, but now it will have to wait until Monday.

Here we are at New Year’s Eve eve :) Only today and tomorrow before 2024 besets us.

I just deleted two paragraphs. Not going there.

If you have asthma, or know someone who does, you will understand what I’m about to say. And by asthma, I don’t mean you just have a stuffy nose and a tickly cough. Asthma is restricted breathing, a horrible, relentless cough, inability to breathe in and out normally, congestion, complete lack of energy, and fear that someday you’re just going to die because you can’t breathe.

My asthma is usually under good control, but this past month it got out of the corral and ran crazy all over the place. I’m happy to report that I did not cough at all during the night last night, nor have I coughed today. Unless you have a pulmonary condition, you don’t know what a relief it is to just not cough.

So, I’m thankful that it looks like I’ll be starting the new year in much better shape than I was in for most of December. There is much to celebrate.

For the first time in over 25 years, all of our kids will be living back in the States! They’ve been in Germany, England, South Dakota and Pennsylvania. Now, the Germany family is here in PA. Soon, the England couple will be in California. Still far away, but at least on the same continent.

One of our grandsons will marry in September. He is the first of our nine grands to become engaged. They’ve been smart about not rushing into marriage. She finished nursing school and will have been working for a few months before they tie the knot. We’re very happy for them.

There is more for which we are thankful, and one of my goals this year is to be purposeful about seeking the good and the positive, no matter what else may be going on in this tired old world. It’s way too easy to see only the negative.

One thing I know for sure: With every day that passes, we’re one day closer to heaven!

Saturday Soliloquy: Trust HIS Heart!

I’ve usually written and posted by now, but it was a special event day. We had a Christmas brunch with our church ladies at the lovely home of one of our members. I’m guessing 30+ women were there, and there was a cheerful buzz going on most of the time. We did pause to eat 🙂

Wonderful breakfast buffet, with everything from pastry to breakfast casseroles to sausages and bacon. My word, it’s more than I normally eat in THREE breakfasts! So good, and so pleasant to visit with other women.

(This was not ours, but it gives you an idea of all the delicious choices we had)

Any time we have a social event like this, I try to find at least two women that I don’t know well, and take the opportunity to know them better. I’m sure most churches do what we do in a typical service: We all gravitate to the places we usually sit, and so we limit our opportunities to meet new people.

A couple of the moms had their young girls with them, and I was delighted to be showered with hugs from them. Always warms my heart 🙂

We played a couple of fun games, had a unique gift exchange, and after 2+ hours, we began to go our separate ways. I had come with my daughter-in-law, who drove us from her place to the gathering. I had to drive home from her place, and I made one wrong turn. I knew it was wrong almost immediately, but instead of turning around I decided to see if I could find my way. And I did! It’s a clear day, and I guided myself by the location of the sun, easily making the right turns the rest of the way. I love it when I can do that successfully:)

As I drove, I thought about a sort of object lesson. Every day, we are met with choices we have to make. If we don’t stay oriented to God’s Word, it is easy for us to make choices that feel right if we make the mistake of “following our hearts.” It is important that we stay aligned with His Word in order for us to make decisions that won’t get us tangled in Satan’s spiderweb. Just as I didn’t trust my feelings today, but instead stayed focused on what I knew to be true, we can trust HIS heart to lead us where we need to go.

Saturday Soliloquy: Little by Little

It’s been quite a month. A few weeks ago, I wrote a post that I titled “Broken Things.” Now, I could write one called “Fixed Things.” A nasty infection is finally looking better. My desktop computer/printer set-up that was not working is now in excellent order, thanks to the folks at HP. I’m scheduled for another round of steroid injections for my achey-breaky back later this month.

Still pending: my wonderful recliner needs a repair, and my laptop situation is unresolved.

But at least things are moving in a better direction.

I was reminded yesterday of an old saying: “Little by little, inch by inch; by the yard it’s hard, by the inch it’s a cinch.”

And, of course, there’s a song for that. Written by Ron Hamilton (Patch the Pirate) for kids, it has a valid message to all of us. One step at a time.