Long Island Little Lady

A guest posting from Ruthie Rodgers:

I met a 95 year old woman from Long Island yesterday, she was my guest at Ihop. She was beautiful, dressed spunky, makeup, jewelery, bouffant hair and lots of spirit. I asked her the secret to long life and then she asked: What did you want to know? I told her about the divorce and relocating, she held my hand and told me i would be okay, told me I was young and beautiful, that love would find me again. Her husband died 5 yrs ago and they had been married for a near 75 yrs. I cried at her table, but this beautiful little woman with big hazel eyes blessed me with her love...I hope to live to 95 & keep blessing people with my love. He keeps sending me angels disguised as humans with his message of love and I keep dropping the message, I don't know how to keep pushing forwards...but maybe God is doing the pushing for me right now.


Anyone have any advice on how we can hold on to his message, how we can keep pushing forward even when we don't feel the love or feel the strength to push on?

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Encouragement!

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
Romans 8:35,37

Brain cancer CANNOT separate us from the love of Christ! We are more than conquerors through him!

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Life and Loss

I was out and about today. We live in a small town and everywhere I go I run in to someone I personally know and lots of people I casually know. I always get lots of inquiries about Dave, which is nice, nice to know people are still thinking of us and praying.
But today I realized that everywhere I looked I saw people with stories of loss. I remember them. I remember them personally telling me their story. Whether it was at church, on the phone or in the grocery store I could recall their words, their story, their pain. I remember offering words of advice or comfort, offering assistance with anything they needed. Telling them I would pray. But I also remember thinking, thank you God that is not me, not my pain. I feel bad, knowing instead of thinking what I could do for them, I was thinking "whew". All these stories of loss in our town. Stories of lost love, lost children, lost health, lost life. How arrogant of me to think I would never have a story of my own. Imagine the stories I don't even know. I realized life is FULL of loss, it is an integral part of life. It is something we deal with from the moment the baby bottle is empty and we're still hungry.
Praise the Lord life is also full of gain, of joy. We must remember this in the midst of our losses. This too shall pass. We can't have one without the other. To constantly protect ourselves from loss also keeps out the joy. I realize this is no great revelation. But it did help bring a few things a little clearer into perspective.
The Lord is still working on me, that's for sure. He uses lots of little everyday things to show me He is here, He is in control, and some times I just need to be still and listen.

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Count Your Blessings

There is no snow or ice

It's not raining

It's sunny!

I'm under a cozy blanket

My mortgage is paid

I have friends and family to love

I have friends and family who love me

My kids are well

Dave is feeling good!

I'm not sick

Plenty of food in the house

Four warm doggies

My pastor and church family

A running car!

A cozy warm home

Jesus Christ!!!

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