Sick and Alone

Saturday morning I woke up feeling really crummy - sinuses killing me - I had been sneezing for the last couple of days and my nose had been running - so it was either a cold, sinus infection or allergies - I've never really had a problem with allerigies. I stayed in bed for awhile and then figured I had better move downstairs and get something to eat and a nice cup of hot tea - I was walking past my bathroom - heading for the stairs when all of a sudden I realized I was going to be sick to my stomach - bolted for the bathroom and made it in time.

Finally made it downstairs and got on the couch and decided to call my Mom and sister to let them know I wasn't feeling well and as I laid on the couch talking with her I was looking at my living room window and realized that a lizard was crawling up my sheers!!!!! I told my sister to come over right away and help me with the lizard because I didn't want to take my eyes off of it and lose it in my house and always be worrying about when it would come out again. So there I sat frozen on the couch - feeling even worse - waiting for her - she arrived and "frick and frack of the animal world" captured it - actually she did and then she took it outside and was going to let it go at my front door and I said, "Nooooooooooooooo!!! Take it far away!" - so she let it go on the other side of my driveway. And the drama was over.

After she left I really thought about what would I do if she hadn't come over - and what about other single people living alone - I felt really vulnerable and thought about my next door neighbor - Sister Barbara - a retired Catholic nun - and of my single friends - I have one single friend that lives in fear of falling while taking a shower and having to be rescued in that state!!! So I am calling my single friends and talking with my neighbor and letting them know that as best as I can I am there for them - even if they just need to be rescued from a lizard or a fall in the shower.

Streams in the Desert

I try to read my Streams in the Desert devotional every day - I found my first copy in my parent's basement in their home on L.I. about 24 yrs. ago - I was heading back to Texas to pack up our home and move back to L.I. and started reading it while my husband drove the really big U-Haul and my sister drove her red Phoenix with the dog and the cat and everything else we couldn't fit in the truck - I took turns riding with them both.

We stayed overnight in a motel and on the morning of August 22 I got up early and went in the bathroom to read the selection for that day - I have never forgotten what it meant to me. I am now on my third copy - hardcover - it is not a "happy - rainbow - doves flying - everything is love" devotional - it is very realistic - filled with hard truths - anyway I read this the other morning in my Streams in the Desert devotional and think it is a good definition of what faith really is:

Trusting -
even when it appears you have been forsaken;

Praying -
when it seems your words are simply entering a vast expanse where no one hears and no voice answers;

Believing -
that God's love is complete and that He is aware of your circumstances, even when your world seems to grind on as if setting its own direction and not caring for life or moving one inch in response to your petitions;

Desiring -
only what God's hands have planned for you

Waiting patiently -
while seemingly starving to death, with your only fear being that your faith might fail -

"this is the victory that has overcome the world" I John 5:4; this is genuine faith indeed.

George MacDonald

Thoughts at the end of the day

It's not really the end of the day - but I am getting ready to shut down - and I wanted to write down something that I read on another blog (3 for 365). Apparently it is from Disney's Keys to Excellence:

S - Smile

E - Eye contact/body language

R - Respect and welcome

V - Value the magic (my favorite)

I - Iniatate guest contact

C - Create service solutions

E - End with a thank you

These are so simple and yet really perfect for our homelife and work world. I wrote them out in my sketch book and will probably make room for them on my refrigerator.

Oh - wait - do I hear my daughters groaning because I mentioned my refrigerator door that holds all the important sayings, verses, photos of my life - I am just laughing to myself because I really tried to keep it pristine when I first moved in and then "poof" it was fully covered!!! Right now the bottom part is empty because my grandson "cleaned" it while he was here visiting - don't worry girls - everything was saved and is sitting on top of the microwave - I am hearing more groans because they know on top of the microwave sits a perfectly sized green wooden tray that holds "stuff."

Last "word" for today: Joy is the best cosmetic for a woman. Rosalind Russell

My 4th of July!!!

My daughter, Heather, and her husband, Jerry, and the two grandchildren have been here visiting - Lauren, Jonathan and Caed were driving down here on the 4th from D.C. arriving at about 6 p.m. in time for our cook-out and then the walk to the beach to watch all the fireworks along the coast - you can see them for miles. My other daughter, April, had to work so I was feeling the "empty spot" even before all the festivities started.

Some of us had spent the day at the beach - and just having fun - Jerry had put my Mom's new barbeque together - I had gone back to my place to change after the beach and was getting ready to leave when April called to say "hi" and I told her I was homesick for her. I got over to my Mom's home and after stopping to admire Jerry's handiwork I arrived in the family room - said hi to Jonathan and Caed - and then Kik, Heather and Lauren entered the family room singing one of my favorite songs for them to sing - a Shaker song called Simple Gifts - and as they came into the room I realized that there was a 4th daughter, April, coming through the doorway - they totally surprised me - I had no idea - never even imagined (sometimes I do try to get my hopes up with my imagination going full speed) that they would bring her - I just cried and cried and they asked if I was going to have a heart attack and I said no - you don't die from happiness. It was the best!!!