All those years ago, in the heart of a desolate child, God reached down and plucked me from the clutches of the enemy… in every sense of the words!
Utterly lost and forgotten, until He sought me out!
It’s been quite a journey since…
Dream of anything…
Snacks, of course…
Through anger, fear, and the nightmares that haunted me, I fought God for years. I refused to let go of the very things that were destroying me from the inside out… memories! Mine, theirs, the memories became baggage that only gained weight with the passage of time.
The good, the bad, and all that lay between… He never let go of this broken one, this forgotten child. After all the things I did to push God away from me, He still held on with such intensity, I could no longer deny Him!
Truly, I am walking this earth because of the grace and power of God, and God alone! Positive, oh yes… I’d say that encounter had a very positive effect on this child!
I’d have to say that choosing to become a mother, quickly set me upon a path that has changed me in more ways than I could ever fully describe. I’m pretty sure that just about every woman ever to become a mother, would say that it was a major life changer. Let’s just say that this woman is very different than the one that made that choice, so many years ago.
Through it all, and that includes the heartache as well as the joys, I have learned to love more deeply, forgive more graciously (myself included), give more readily to another… and here’s a biggie… I learned how to overcome failures, learning from them instead of feeling defeated by them.
Raising my daughters helped make me the person that I am today, and I like the me that I ended up becoming…
Mamma’s not feelin so good, just now. I thought I’d just sit and color with her for awhile, as she’s been trying to write a post for today… and has yet to get anything done, unless you count how many times she’s sneezed and nearly spilled her coffee everywhere. Ahhhh… the joys of spring sniffles.
Since the bible says that we are all brothers and sisters “in Christ”, then that means He qualifies as a family member that has done something positive for me… and you, as well!
Jesus did what no one else could… He Conquered death itself!
John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” I’m going out on a limb here, but I would definitely call that something positive!
Oh my goodness, have I got Babyitis, just now! Perhaps you’ve heard of it, or possibly even suffered from it, at one time or another.
It came on quite suddenly, if I’m being honest. Usually, the symptoms are small and slow to appear… at least, that’s how it’s been for me, in the past.
Not this time! I was not prepared for it to bring me to my knees (metaphorically) in the middle of Walmart, yesterday. There I was, innocently looking at yarn, with the hope that I can make one last baby blanket, before my arthritis robs me of this passion. This has to be one of the most important blankets I’ll ever craft, as this baby seems to have become the bridge in which God might mend something that I, myself, broke. Sorry, I went sort of deep, there for a moment.
Anyways, I found some really adorable colors to work with, as we don’t yet know the gender of this upcoming little blessing. Here, I’ll show you…
Hopefully, this will become something lovely… and I’ll show you update pictures of my progress, just for fun!
So, there I was in the aisle of crafts, with my chosen yarn held firmly in my arms, when something caught my eye. I spied a stuffed bunny ear… and I cannot be held responsible for what occurred next. It wasn’t my fault! I wasn’t prepared for the onslaught of all those symptoms of Babyitis.
My poor husband had a hard time keeping up with me, as we were heading toward the check-out. Finally, he says, “why on earth are you walking so fast… wait, what’s in the cart that you don’t want me to see?” Busted!
No worries… Babyitis comes with a positive perk…
I think it makes one smell like either chocolate, or cookies… or both! For some crazy reason, whenever I have an symptoms of Babyitis surface, my hubby just smiles softly with a strange look in his eyes, similar to when he drinks the cocoa I make… weird, huh?!
When these crazy symptoms first surfaced, yesterday, I did attempt to promise that it wouldn’t happen again, but then changed my mind. While I may be able to exercise some amount of restraint, being the mature adult that I am, I cannot say that this won’t happen again… in fact, I have a feeling that he’s going to have hide any spare change laying about!
Quite honestly, there isn’t one particular culinary establishment that I’d call my favorite. Don’t get me wrong, as I enjoy going out now and again, same as everybody else. But I’m a farmgirl at heart, with the taste and cravings of all things fresh and natural…
And I’m a fairly good cook, if I might be so bold.
As for my baking skills, well, let’s just say I can make a cheesecake that’ll bring world peace, and cookies … oh the cookies…
Delicious and rich vanilla creamer in my morning coffee, for starters! Anyone that knows me will not be surprised at my first choice. I do tend to mention my love of coffee often, in fact, I’d venture to say I do it nearly every day. Hey, at least you know what you get with this girl… a lot of God, followed by cookies and coffee.
Anyways, getting back to this everyday happy list, choices 2 thru 5 are rather easy:
I had such plans for writing out some thoughts today, for your reading pleasure… but it’s already after lunch, and I’m just now sitting down at my desk.
What on earth could derail such literary intentions, you might be asking yourselves. Well, I’ll make it easy on you…
Rearranging! Yup! I just spent the entirety of my morning hours, repeatedly moving the same three pieces of furniture from one spot to the other, in an attempt to make a small space feel inviting, not suffocating.
Honestly, I’d forgotten how hard this would be, trying to make sure things look pretty, instead of just stuffing things in corners… ya know?!
After all this time without a real place to call home, I laugh at so many things I find myself rediscovering… like running a vacuum cleaner. Truth be told, I confess that I haven’t needed to use it, as of yet. Seriously, this whole building is carpeted, so there isn’t anything on our feet by the time we get to our apartment… I truly appreciate these little blessings.
God tells me that it’s time to work on experiencing life again, now that we’ve been given a fresh reset to things, if you know what I mean. So, that’s what I shall be focusing on for the foreseeable future, the living part.
God leads, I follow… and you folks get to experience all of the benefits, in terms of the many fun and fantastical literary adventures I plan on sharing with you. Who knows what awaits us… all of us!
The easiest way to describe how new hands were such a positive change for me, is to just show you…
The old hands held onto so many painful things from the past, but with new hands on board, I began to let go…
When this began happening, I noticed how much strength began to return to my body. With two new hands, now free of waste, I have the freedom to use these hands for so much more… so much good!
There is freedom to reach out in love now, more and more each day, without guilt, shame, bitterness, resentment, anger or poison from the past.
… and, that also leaves oodles of spare time for one of my favorite hobbies. Take a wild guess…
I know, I know… I’m a bit late to the voyage party! Lucky for me, Wiwohka left this nifty little sailboat behind for me to use.
I can’t say that it’s entirely my fault, as she’s the one that’s been overfeeding me, of late.
So, I’ve gotten into the bad habit of, you guessed it, sleeping in!
Maybe I should go back to sleeping on the floor, as that hammock is way too comfy!
Oh well! I left it at the barn… no bad habits for this camel, uh uh! I couldn’t live with myself if I were trying to encourage you to get through the workweek, if I were to miss the good bits of this adventure, due to oversleeping… ya know?!
If I can let go of my squishy soft hammock for the foreseeable future… well, hopefully you can make it to Friday.
Anyways, I’ve been doing too much talking and not enough steering here, so I should probably get back to sailing.
Oh hey, I think I see the ship in the distance. If the wind holds, If think I can just catch up to it!
Journey With Me! 