As I sat on my porch enjoying my coffee, I thought about how blessed I am. There was a nice, gentle breeze blowing....the sun was just barely peaking above the rooftops and it seemed as if the songbirds were having a convention in the trees nearby. Everything around me was bursting with life. I could almost feel the goodness. And then a wonderful stillness stole over me. It was as if I could feel God's Hand smoothing the worry lines from my brow....His Touch was in the breeze which lifted the strands of hair off my neck....His Song was in the melody the birds so joyfully sang....and His Warmth shone from the rays of sun kissing each plant on my porch.
How blessed to be His Child and to know His comfort and love, to know that no matter what is happening in this world, in my life.....He is there.
I am still so thankful for the prayer said for me by another child of God nearly a year ago. Had she not listened to the urging placed in her heart by God, and stepped forward to pray for me in such a powerful way, who knows what course my life might have taken?
That being said....always listen to that still, quiet voice resonating within you. If God is urging you to step out of that place of comfort and reach out to someone, then do it! Always follow His lead because He needs us to be His instruments of love and peace and encouragement in a world full of sorrow and pain.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Life is Good
Things have been going well lately....a few bouts with pain but not the mind numbing kind....the school year is almost over, 3 more days for teachers....the mural I'm working on is progressing nicely...I was feeling pretty good. Then......
Yep, I woke up and couldn't open my left eye! And the right eye was aching. I stumble into the bathroom and there in the mirror I see reflected what could be a character from "The Walking Dead!" Once I wash the crud from around my eyelids I'm greeted with a blood red eyeball on the left and a pinkish one on the right....arrgh....it is a raging case of PINK EYE. Of course that means I cannot go to work....it is highly contagious I'm told.....and as I discovered when I stepped out to water my plants, sunlight makes it really hurt. Not to mention the itchiness....no lets do mention it.....it itches terribly!
Several of my dear, precious students have come to school recently sporting the same red eyed look only to be sent right back home. However, they have already exposed their class mates (and teachers) to this malady. Several years ago I suffered through four separate bouts of this yuckiness. Until today I thought perhaps I'd developed an immunity....alas, it is not to be.
On the up side, I'm not sick per se....just suffering ocular discomfort. This means I get a day at home to catch up on laundry and paperwork. I've been a little too tired lately to take care of those things adequately....working all day and painting all weekend eats up the hours. It feels nice to have time to catch my breath.
As I said, the painting is going well. The client is so pleased with the results, that he is already talking to me about doing something special for his youngest daughter! Thankfully, it will not require a scaffold to complete. Maybe I will be able to supplement my meager salary with a few painting jobs....we'll see.
Also, I've been hired as a tutor for two students! Those jobs won't actually begin until the end of July but I'm really pleased. One parent has already said she wants to reserve time for two sessions a week beginning in July and going on into the school year. The other parent wants one session a week and perhaps two once school begins. Those two jobs will really help especially with my daughter's wedding approaching....I want to help her as much as I can.
The wedding plans are progressing nicely. She's booked a photographer and we're meeting with a prospective caterer next week. The cake tasting will be the week after that. Then the search for the perfect dress begins. Methinks I will be a busy bee all summer. But I am enjoying the time with my baby girl, so much more than she'll ever know.
To think that a year ago I was a wretched mess and felt myself drowning in darkness. When I let God step in, He did a wondrous thing.....and He continues to do so. Of course I stumble....quite a lot...I'm like a toddler learning to walk in a minefield! But God is right there guiding me and healing my hurts. He puts friends in my life to offer love and support.....He corrects me when I'm wrong....but most importantly, He never lets me forget how much He loves me.
Yep, I woke up and couldn't open my left eye! And the right eye was aching. I stumble into the bathroom and there in the mirror I see reflected what could be a character from "The Walking Dead!" Once I wash the crud from around my eyelids I'm greeted with a blood red eyeball on the left and a pinkish one on the right....arrgh....it is a raging case of PINK EYE. Of course that means I cannot go to work....it is highly contagious I'm told.....and as I discovered when I stepped out to water my plants, sunlight makes it really hurt. Not to mention the itchiness....no lets do mention it.....it itches terribly!
Several of my dear, precious students have come to school recently sporting the same red eyed look only to be sent right back home. However, they have already exposed their class mates (and teachers) to this malady. Several years ago I suffered through four separate bouts of this yuckiness. Until today I thought perhaps I'd developed an immunity....alas, it is not to be.
On the up side, I'm not sick per se....just suffering ocular discomfort. This means I get a day at home to catch up on laundry and paperwork. I've been a little too tired lately to take care of those things adequately....working all day and painting all weekend eats up the hours. It feels nice to have time to catch my breath.
As I said, the painting is going well. The client is so pleased with the results, that he is already talking to me about doing something special for his youngest daughter! Thankfully, it will not require a scaffold to complete. Maybe I will be able to supplement my meager salary with a few painting jobs....we'll see.
Also, I've been hired as a tutor for two students! Those jobs won't actually begin until the end of July but I'm really pleased. One parent has already said she wants to reserve time for two sessions a week beginning in July and going on into the school year. The other parent wants one session a week and perhaps two once school begins. Those two jobs will really help especially with my daughter's wedding approaching....I want to help her as much as I can.
The wedding plans are progressing nicely. She's booked a photographer and we're meeting with a prospective caterer next week. The cake tasting will be the week after that. Then the search for the perfect dress begins. Methinks I will be a busy bee all summer. But I am enjoying the time with my baby girl, so much more than she'll ever know.
To think that a year ago I was a wretched mess and felt myself drowning in darkness. When I let God step in, He did a wondrous thing.....and He continues to do so. Of course I stumble....quite a lot...I'm like a toddler learning to walk in a minefield! But God is right there guiding me and healing my hurts. He puts friends in my life to offer love and support.....He corrects me when I'm wrong....but most importantly, He never lets me forget how much He loves me.
Friday, May 10, 2013
The Pleasures of Growing
What a long week! We had our annual testing marathon at school....the kids seemed relaxed and prepared.....the teachers seemed relieved for it all to be over. Although we still have 9 official days left of this school year, plans are already in the works for the new school year!
I'm just ready for a break...some relaxation time....some mornings when I can sleep past 5 a.m. and slowly enjoy my morning coffee. This summer I plan on doing lots of relaxing. However, I also want to do more writing....MoMe gave me a book about writing a novel which was put together by the people who do the Annual Novel Writing Month....and it has given me some great ways to organize my "novel" thoughts, so to speak. Some of my time will be spent writing. And some of my spare time will be spent developing my painting skills.....
My mural painting adventure is going rather well. It has turned into a much bigger project than anticipated but I am having so much fun! I painted individual leaves for three solid hours and it felt like only moments...except for the fact, my feet were totally numb and I could hardly climb down off the scaffold. There is still so much to do....But I can hardly wait. The funny thing is I have so many ideas in my head now....images to paint. And it doesn't even matter that I have no clue how to paint some of them....it will come to me.
It is so amazing to be my age....which according to my students ranges from 25(my favorite) to 87(not so favorite)....and still have the desire to learn new skills, have new adventures, travel to new places. When I was oh so much younger, it would never have occurred to me that at my age I would feel this way.....but I do. More importantly, I'm glad I do....because it means that my daily battles with pain have not slowed my desires to grow and learn and experience.....nor has it limited my belief that I can actually accomplish all these things!
It has been a long, somewhat stressful, and pain filled week.....but I have enjoyed it all.
I'm just ready for a break...some relaxation time....some mornings when I can sleep past 5 a.m. and slowly enjoy my morning coffee. This summer I plan on doing lots of relaxing. However, I also want to do more writing....MoMe gave me a book about writing a novel which was put together by the people who do the Annual Novel Writing Month....and it has given me some great ways to organize my "novel" thoughts, so to speak. Some of my time will be spent writing. And some of my spare time will be spent developing my painting skills.....
My mural painting adventure is going rather well. It has turned into a much bigger project than anticipated but I am having so much fun! I painted individual leaves for three solid hours and it felt like only moments...except for the fact, my feet were totally numb and I could hardly climb down off the scaffold. There is still so much to do....But I can hardly wait. The funny thing is I have so many ideas in my head now....images to paint. And it doesn't even matter that I have no clue how to paint some of them....it will come to me.
It is so amazing to be my age....which according to my students ranges from 25(my favorite) to 87(not so favorite)....and still have the desire to learn new skills, have new adventures, travel to new places. When I was oh so much younger, it would never have occurred to me that at my age I would feel this way.....but I do. More importantly, I'm glad I do....because it means that my daily battles with pain have not slowed my desires to grow and learn and experience.....nor has it limited my belief that I can actually accomplish all these things!
It has been a long, somewhat stressful, and pain filled week.....but I have enjoyed it all.
Friday, May 3, 2013
Life is a Whirlpool
"I'm so dizzy my head is spinning....like a whirlpool it never ends...."
My head really is spinning because for some reason I'm having trouble with my inner ear! Yesterday was dreadful...I stood up and the room tilted dramatically....and then there was the nausea....yuck. Today is somewhat better. As long as I can touch the wall...furniture...anything solid when I walk...then the room remains stationary. When seated, if my head is pressed into the back of the chair or sofa, then I am or rather my vision remains steady. I have to be anchored in some way.
What an apt description of my life! To remain upright and steady, to travel on a straight path, I need to be anchored to something solid and steadfast. And I know this how? Because for a good part of my life I wasn't anchored to anything and my life reflected it. I was constantly unbalanced by troubles and problems which of course I "handled" by myself. As a result I often ended up flat on my back with tears running down my face.
My anchor is my faith. My faith is in God. Although simplistic, it works for me. Of course there are those who would question the simplicity of it.....argue with my reasoning....whatever.....because they want to "understand" or more often than not, they want to "prove" to me how wrong I am. But here it is, my faith is just that, my faith. I do not have to prove it to you or anyone else for that very reason. You have to discover your own faith.....my faith has been grown through a multitude of trials and tribulations....as yours must be, if it is to work for you.
Start at my beginning point....trust in God......then and only then will your faith begin to grow. Use God as your anchor in this ever spinning world of choices, trial, tribulations, etc. He will keep you steady.
My head really is spinning because for some reason I'm having trouble with my inner ear! Yesterday was dreadful...I stood up and the room tilted dramatically....and then there was the nausea....yuck. Today is somewhat better. As long as I can touch the wall...furniture...anything solid when I walk...then the room remains stationary. When seated, if my head is pressed into the back of the chair or sofa, then I am or rather my vision remains steady. I have to be anchored in some way.
What an apt description of my life! To remain upright and steady, to travel on a straight path, I need to be anchored to something solid and steadfast. And I know this how? Because for a good part of my life I wasn't anchored to anything and my life reflected it. I was constantly unbalanced by troubles and problems which of course I "handled" by myself. As a result I often ended up flat on my back with tears running down my face.
My anchor is my faith. My faith is in God. Although simplistic, it works for me. Of course there are those who would question the simplicity of it.....argue with my reasoning....whatever.....because they want to "understand" or more often than not, they want to "prove" to me how wrong I am. But here it is, my faith is just that, my faith. I do not have to prove it to you or anyone else for that very reason. You have to discover your own faith.....my faith has been grown through a multitude of trials and tribulations....as yours must be, if it is to work for you.
Start at my beginning point....trust in God......then and only then will your faith begin to grow. Use God as your anchor in this ever spinning world of choices, trial, tribulations, etc. He will keep you steady.
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
To Be Myself
Is it just me or is this week moving at a snail's pace?
The painting project is off to a good start.....though it is physically more demanding than I had anticipated. Having to climb up and down the scaffold to reach the limbs put stress and strain on muscles I didn't know I had....even now three days later I feel twinges of pain in my arms and back. Even so...I cannot wait to get back to it!
I began painting the sketch I had done on the wall....but with my music playing in my ears I felt a freedom to move beyond the preplanned penciled lines. I felt the branches flowing from the end of my brush....I never wanted to stop painting. If my body had not protested as it did I would not have stopped. I wanted to make the branches reach around the walls all through the house....and I wanted to add a stream and birds and flowers and....just create my own little paradise....all on the walls of that house.
It probably wouldn't have been what the client had in mind....but I would have loved it.
Maybe that is why the week seems to move so slowly....I can't wait for the weekend so that I can add to the mural...see more of it come to life....and in doing so, allowing more of myself to grow. There are so many things I want to do...to experience before I die. Painting was one of them....painting without comparing myself to any other artists.....I am my own person with my own style, ideas, and passions. And I am learning that to be me is the best way to honor my God and Creator.....after all, He made me!
The painting project is off to a good start.....though it is physically more demanding than I had anticipated. Having to climb up and down the scaffold to reach the limbs put stress and strain on muscles I didn't know I had....even now three days later I feel twinges of pain in my arms and back. Even so...I cannot wait to get back to it!
I began painting the sketch I had done on the wall....but with my music playing in my ears I felt a freedom to move beyond the preplanned penciled lines. I felt the branches flowing from the end of my brush....I never wanted to stop painting. If my body had not protested as it did I would not have stopped. I wanted to make the branches reach around the walls all through the house....and I wanted to add a stream and birds and flowers and....just create my own little paradise....all on the walls of that house.
It probably wouldn't have been what the client had in mind....but I would have loved it.
Maybe that is why the week seems to move so slowly....I can't wait for the weekend so that I can add to the mural...see more of it come to life....and in doing so, allowing more of myself to grow. There are so many things I want to do...to experience before I die. Painting was one of them....painting without comparing myself to any other artists.....I am my own person with my own style, ideas, and passions. And I am learning that to be me is the best way to honor my God and Creator.....after all, He made me!
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