A New Year......

2015...the beginning of a new year for this retiree. The thing to do when you are my age is to look at all of the positives in life and cling to them...such as, the family you are in, the friends you have, and the opportunities to meet new people and see new things. All of these are important and, I think, very necessary to living a life worth living. "But", for those who are struggling in the areas of life that appear out of nowhere and even catch you unaware, which, let's face it, WE ALL HAVE HAD...I have a word for you. It is, HOPE! Let us all hang on to that word...hope. Yes, we get aches and pains, we lose loved ones, we cannot see past today sometimes, and we wonder what will happen next (worry)...when this happens it is so wonderful to realize, if we choose, we can always have hope.  Now what gives us hope???? That is the question. Can we not look around us and see the good things that are happening....even the small things that make us feel... just maybe, if I want to, I can see the bigger picture and not just see the dark cloud that takes away the joy in life....or the helpless feelings of not being in control.
Can you invision a picture in your mind of someone who has made you laugh because of something they have said or done?
Can you look out of the window and see a sun shining or an animal just wondering around looking for food or fun?
Can you remember a time when things looked bad before, but turned out to be OK?
There are always things that can bring hope in darkness if we will just look for even a sliver of light. That is the first step. It is simply turning a negative into a positive if we will only try....if there is no
one to be there to talk to...you can always talk to the One who created and knows you better than anyone else...AND HE CARES! HE REALLY DOES.

Dear child,

Do not give up. Do not feel defeated or hopeless or down on yourself. It’s true that the outward circumstances of what is happening look grim to you. It’s true that the world feels dreary and dismal tonight, and you feel tired. But don’t dwell on the outward things, on your physical surroundings or the particulars of this situation. These outward things are actually in the process of deteriorating and passing away right before your eyes.

Your lifetime on this planet only lasts a moment. But you yourself are eternal. You are forever because your real life is in me and I am in you. Your body may be aging, but your spirit is “youthening”! As you dwell in me, your spirit person is being vitalized and energized and given a new vision.

All the piddling trivia you’re wrestling with is but a blink of my eye. All the difficulties and heartaches you’re struggling with are already in the process of being formed by my hand into a glory that is beyond your comprehension--a glory that is eternal. So don’t keep your eyes glued to the frustrations or the heartaches; lift your eyes to me. See me with your spirit and believe my voice within you now. I am more real than anything your eyes can see. I am more powerful than anything your hands can touch. I am more lasting than anything your senses can perceive.

I am real life!

God
(taken from, "Postcards from Heaven" by Claire Cloninger

I really hope everyone has a reason to look forward to 2015...I know I do. Love to all, Karen

Visiting in Georgia

 

My Trip Down South

Georgia, here I come!

Being from Michigan I was more than ready to be in the warmth and sun...it wasn't coming yet this spring so thought I would go to where I just knew it would be perfect.  My oldest daughter and I were going to make this trip together....memories to store up for me in my later years which are fast approaching. The driving down to Georgia was pretty easy once we got around the detours in Indy. The closer we got to our destination the more excited I was becoming. One overnight stop and we were almost there. I kept wondering why the wind was blowing so much and the sun I had been looking forward to just wasn't happening. But we were excited none the less. The good Lord kept us safe on the highways and we were getting closer and closer. Fist stop....My sister's and my niece's house. I had been there once before when my niece and her husband were purchasing it a couple of years before, but I had not been inside yet as it was still locked up until they actually moved in. Well, my sister is sitting on the porch out front and though I told her, don't worry, I remember which house it is, she just waved when I drove on by it....yep, missed the house, as she knew I would and she sat there with a big smile on her face as I turned around and drove back and into her driveway. OK, so now I am here, but still no sunshine I craved. Had a wonderful visit with my sister, niece and her husband, and the next morning bright and early my sis, daughter and I were on our way to Savannah for four days. Yea...Savannah, as I remembered it had SUN. Not! We arrived in wet Savannah and finally got settled into our Apartment for the next 3 nights right by Forsythe Park. Did the Trolley Tours, River Walk...got earache from the blowing cold wind. But I just loved seeing the beautiful scenery and enjoying the time with my sister and daughter. We did have fun despite the less than perfect weather and the sun did peek out a little between showers. The food was good, love the Pirate Place, delish! All the history and the flowers blooming was nice also. Thursday was our day to go to Tybee. I loved Tybee Island the last time I had gone...the Lighthouse and the Crab Shack. Well, would you believe that day was windy big time, and cold? We couldn't eat outside and the food and gloomy inside was just not the same as when I had gone with my husband 2 years earlier and later in the summer. OK, I know you can't have it all, but really! Couldn't even walk on the beautiful pier there (way too windy) and I had had such beautiful memories of before. I so enjoyed the company though...you see, I have the perfect sister, and of course, all of my kids are perfect so that part of it was no problem. I was the one who wasn't perfect I soon learned. Does it seem to you like I was complaining about the weather way too much...well I was. I really needed a wake up call. I am so thankful that God forgives me for my shortcomings and that I have such forgiving relatives. In the light of things I am so thankful for all that I am blessed with and now that I am home safe and sound and hearing about the tornado's and stuff on the news I really feel ashamed sometimes for my attitude when things don't seem to go my way..

 

The trip wasn't over yet...my daughter and I went on to another destination in GA to visit with our precious friend and her family and got to go to her lovely church on Resurrection Sunday...Easter, the service was just what I needed! All the time I was looking for the Sunshine...I was missing the Sonshine!!! Well, I loved the rest of my little vacation and even though the trip home to Michigan had it's moments with the traffic and detours (10 hours driving) God blessed us with safety and the weather home was not bad at all. I am so thankful for His mercies every morning and for the sacrifice that Christ made for my sin so that one day I would be blessed with the perfect place to live my life when I leave this earthly home and am in eternity with the perfect SONSHINE. That is all I really ever need! Praise God that He has provided the way!

 

 

 Okay....you get the picture....winter, snow, please go! It was really pretty, I mean beautiful a couple of months ago and I do like watching Flying Wild in Alaska....but really, really tired of the snow we still have here and I am looking forward to spring. Oh, I know it will still be awhile before that comes, but when it does come, just saying....I WILL BE READY! Today is a beautiful day. Sun is shining bright and the temperature is acceptable so I shouldn't complain. I am living, breathing, and really have no worries that I can think of so snap out of it girl....get your "happy" on! Things I have on my to do list for the coming months...get a new roof put on, get four more new windows put in. Get the hot water heater fixed, get our final arrangements done, tear down the old pergola and get a new deck built. Just for starters. Then maybe a little bit of travel in there somewhere. I AM IN A HAPPY PLACE what more could I want? I have my faith and my family....I have my friends and more blessings than I can count. I will give all of my praise and glory to my heavenly father and say, "Lord you are good, so good to me"  ~smile~

 

What I have been up to lately....

Busy is the word I use a lot these days....something I was not planning on has happened and it has been a good experience, I have to say. We have had a foreign exchange student living with us for the past 6+ months. He is from China and a very nice young man. This has been a learning experience for us. Here we were retired and doing our own thing...sleeping past 6:30am if we wanted and coming and going as we please. We have had to learn to get up at 5:30am on school mornings and eat breakfast really early to get our "son" off to school. We eat a lot of different food than we used to, which is not a bad thing....just different. Having someone who we didn't know share our house was a big change also. I would say, along with my husband, that it is not something we would do again. What I learned about myself has it's good and not so good points. I am sure each household that would try to do this would all have different/varied experiences. We learned many new things about another culture and did a few new things because of our responsibilities to see that we accomplished as good memories as we could provide for another child living with us after raising our own with all the past mistakes made and trying not to make them again if even for a short period of time. We are almost to the end of Yang staying with us and will miss him when he goes back to China....but we will have those pictures and those memories of which we will always treasure.

 

November 2012 Thanksgiving

 

A month of thankful days....I believe Thanksgiving is about the time in history when the pilgrims came to America to settle into a land of peace and opportunity. I picture the Indians and pilgrims sharing a big feast with Turkey and all of the food that was available to them at the time and place where they occupied the land they lived in at that time. Yes, I believe they were thankful for all that God had blessed them with. This time of our forefather's was indeed a time in history past.

 

Thanksgiving 2012....are we thankful for what God has blessed us with? I think the majority would say, "yes", and I would hope they really mean it. Being thankful is good. But, do you ever wonder to whom one is being thankful to? In this wonderful country that we live in it seems to me that many have so much while others have so little. I wonder who is the most thankful and to whom are they thankful. If they are thankful to our wonderful creator God who has given all that is good, as we know all good things come from our Lord, or are they thankful to someone they worship that they do not know? Let us know who is the Giver of life and all good things. There is only One whom we should worship and adore and be thankful to not only in the month of November, but, January through December.

 

Our God is a jealous God and to worship any other is against all that is in His word and all that He proclaims....the truth is IN HIS WORD, the inspired words given by a Holy God who will not be mocked.

 

So if I am to give thanks, be thankful for something in the month of November, I will be thankful for the whole month of November for my Holy Bible and for the Author of it! I will be thankful each and every day of the year for things that are too numerous to mention unless I am thankful daily for ALL He has given me.

 

Thank you Abba, Father for all you have given me,

 

                                                 ~  Karen ~

Catching Up

It's been awhile so thought I would at least get a few words on here before I write a more indepth posting....Life is still busy and I am getting older. Just turned 66 this year and feeling every bit of it. But I do plan on working on feeling better in every way and maybe journaling on here a bit. So that is it for now, but as Arnold would say, "I will be back" Smile

It's A Wonderful Life!

Whenever I dream of a place to be at peace....it is here. All I have to do is open my car door, get out and I am in a peaceful place here. My eyes take in all of the beauty God has created and see what my daughter, Lisha, and my son-in-law, Dan, have done to make this "sanctuary" for me to come to. They don't know it, but that is how I look at it. Both inside and out, to me it is a place where I can relax and see the "gifts from God" that I enjoy. My eyes can focus on the birds in the bird feeder or the turkeys out by the trees way in the back. Or I can ease into the hot tub with a good book to read and much more. Just to be there is a little bit of heaven to me. I always feel welcome and catered to when I am here. I thank God for this gift of His and pray blessings for the family that lives here...a mother and father who love their children and work hard to see to their needs, a son in the Marines, a lovely daughter in high school, and a cute little boy who has lots of adventures ahead of him....may they always be safe and happy and know that I love them more than words can say. It truly is a wonderful life! And the tomato??? I ate it! Yummo