God has always given me a group of wise hearted women to hang around with. This group of women all know how to work as a team getting thing done for the glory of God. Cleaning together and seeing the end result of team work is perfect for developing relationships.

There is a small camp outside of Blackduck, Minnesota that has served as a place to help kids grow in their walk with God. I have personally seen the results of this camp through our youngest grand daughters who attend it in the summer. And this summer she is old enough to be a camp counselor to the younger girls, plus work a week in the kitchen, and also be one of the campers in her age group. She has remained friends with the girls who were in her cabin last year. Relationship that developed around God can continue to encourage way past the camp week. God can begin to grow wise hearted young women in their teens through camps, church and input from older wise hearted women.

Some of the women from our church met out at this camp yesterday to get a cabin ready for campers. Within two hours it was done, and we all felt better for it. Working for a common goal helps us to be flexible and willing to be involved again. There were no problems yesterday as each woman took on a task. I ironed fresh washed curtains outside on the porch while a few took up brooms and knocked down cobwebs on the outside. Several worked inside cleaning windows and knocking down cobwebs, making beds, hanging curtains, sweeping and mopping floors. We left feeling a job well done and then went to lunch together.

Together is a great word and when you see a group of any age of women working on a project together without problems it a testimony of a shared common goal. They were not cleaning to gain glory for themselves or promote their way of doing things. These are wise hearted women, from the age of 15 to 77, willing to give of themselves for God work. I feel privileged to be a part of them.

Friends

 Friends

I could not wait to meet up with these two while on our trip.  Especially that blond pretty women who was my best friend and still is.  She is such a huge part of my past, the good part.  

Ace and I transferred from Las Vegas to Louisville with his job of ramp service man for TWA. We had left St. Louis where he hired in for Vegas.  So three place we lived in due to his job, each one holds memories.  It was not hard to move really because we did not have children then. Louisville was my favorite place we lived.   In each of those place I had friends, but not a best friend.  

We bought our first house after the birth of our first child that it took us 12 years to have.  That house sit in a neighborhood that buses from an aggressive Baptist church came into to pick children up for church. The little girl who lived next door rode that bus and she wanted our Tara to ride it too.  Four years after our daughter we had a son and God was knocking at our door through this church.  We thought it might be good for our kids to be in church, but we were not putting them on a church bus, not after all the years it took to get them.  

That women lived in that neighborhood too and we were both on a path that would meet at church.   Finally, we went to this church, my husband rededicated his life our first Sunday.  We went back the next week and I got saved.  We grew fast due to living for the world so long, we knew what didn't work.  With the Holy Spirit living in us both we stepped out in faith and became involved.  Ace begin to drive a bus and before long he was one of the ones who went into neighborhoods and invited people to come to church.  I took a children Sunday School class. 

The church had a small Christian school which our kids went too, and that sweet blond lady put her daughter in that school, and we became great friends.  We carpooled to school, hit the thrift stores together, great recipe for developing a friendship.   She had been a Christian longer than me, so I learned a lot from her.  She helped me navigate my walk with God and made it fun.  The man in the picture is her second husband, her first one died and was I was there to help her through that.  Later she met this strong Christian man whose wife had died, and my husband married them. God has kept us close even through the years we lived overseas.  When we meet up with them again, it's like we were never apart. They make us laugh, challenge our walk with God and have been supportive of our journey.  

I hope anyone who read this has a friend they could write about.  I don't think I thought friends could be that important to me until we left Louisville to move to Bolivia, South America.  I would cry because I missed my best friend so much, lay in bed at night and laugh over some of the best memories. 

Blessings 

Home

 

The first week of April my husband and I took off from home for a much-needed trip. Plans had been made and changed until we felt like we had the best itinerary that fit us.

We took it slow, about 400 miles a day was added to our SUV. Hotels were booked ahead of time making it easier. To save a little money we brought our cooler filled with lunch meat and chicken salad I made along with bread, crackers, cheese and of course snacks with some fruit too and drinks.

Texas was our first choice because of the lunar eclipse which we got to enjoy with our son and family. A whole week with our three grandchildren watching them in their sport activities and our youngest, Reedley, age 8 get baptized was just the best. After a week we reloaded our SUV and we headed to our next stop, Kentucky. Lord willing, we will see our son and family again at Christmas of 2024.

But, before I go on to the next stop, I have to back up and tell you about more blessings. Hearing from our son of how God moved in his heart to give up social media to have more time for family. I got to go with my daughter in law to a bible study and meet ladies who were pouring into her life. Hearing all the grandchildren tell of how God was growing them. Icing on the holy cake of family.

Next stop was outside of Louisville, Ky. Both of our kids were born in Ky., and it was our jumping off place to enter into overseas missions. So many memories, so many friends and a week was just not enough time to see them all. The few we did connect with was GREAT, and yes, I meant to capitalize the word. It had been years since we laughed so hard as memories kept flooding us as we set with dear friends. At a couple of our supporting churches and our home church we got to show a great video of a Bible dedication in a remote village in Papua New Guinea. There is nothing we like to do better than talking about what God doing all over the world.

That week passed too fast also, and we headed to southern Illinois to visit our family, the place we grew up in. My husband sister always has a room for us with lots of space to relax and she is a great cook too. We met up with brothers, cousins, nephew and nieces and more supporters. Another week of laughter, tears and so many memories to remember.

All good things come to an end, but we were actually more ready than we knew to get home. Our 77-year-old bodies was showing the effects of almost 4 thousand miles under our belt.

Our last visit was Mayo Clinic in Rodchester, Mn. We had made appointments with our doctors to get a couple things checked out. It was my six months checkup after having stints put into my arteries into my kidneys. I had been feeling so good since then I would have been shocked if they found more blockage. Thank God, all was working well. My husband was having some man things checked and it all was fine. Finally, we were on the last leg of our trip, six hours later we were home. Our daughter and mother-in-law cleaned our place, it smelled and looked wonderful. Another blessing there was no snow on the ground and none in the forecast. It was raining and a little chilly but when we left a month ago the grass was not green, now it is and there are buds on the trees which means leaves are on their way.

I know I have probably lost you on this long post, but I knew I had to pen it down before life moves on. With every place, with every person we were reminded of God's faithfulness through our life. So many have already gone home, and the day is getting closer with each minute for us to join them in the heavenly home. While still on earth we will talk about our Savior Jesus. We are blessed with great family and friends and the greatest God. Blessings. 

Our goal when we planned the trip to tell those who have prayed and supported us for years thank you.  You who read  my posts and comment encouraging words are also a part of those who we would like to  thank.  

Even If

I love the message in the song, Even If, by Mercy Me. It came on this morning as my husband was surfing on YouTube because it's a favorite, so it crops up a lot. And when it does, I have to play it and sing along in my shaky, not so good anymore voice. (The last bout with Covid destroyed my voice).

When a writer of a song such as Even If puts music to the words, music that rises and falls with the emotions and passion of the song, listeners can only stop and think about their own life. I play this song often to start our lady's bible study to help us stop thinking in their perspective and start thinking of God's perspective. Every time it stops what conversation was going on and all us ladies soak in the message of the song.

At first, I was going to post the song, but the words alone are enough to draw us closer to our Lord. They are enough to set our minds on Him and not ourselves. They are enough to plough our hearts soft and make them ready for the Holy Spirit to works in us through our study.

The enemy of our soul does not want us to focus on God alone. He would rather we let our thoughts run to worry, or anger or any negative thought about our life. There can be fear of what others think if we focus on God all the time. One thing I have learned is His thoughts will drive out the worry and anger, etc. Read the words below of the song, write them out and put them before you. Let your eyes and ear be open to Him as you focus on Him no matter what is happening in your life. You can't stop life from throwing some pretty heavy blows, but He understands that He took all the blows of all the sins of the world on Him. It's still Easter today and tomorrow and forever.

Verse 1]
They say sometimes you win some
Sometimes you lose some
And right now
Right now I'm losing bad
I've stood on this stage
Night after night
Reminding the broken it'll be alright
But right now
Oh, right now, I just can't

[Pre-Chorus]
It's easy to sing
When there's nothing to bring me down
But what will I say
When I'm held to the flame
Like I am right now?

[Chorus]
I know You're able
And I know You can
Save through the fire
With Your mighty hand
But even if You don't
My hope is You alone

My Choice

 

For the latest Bible study I lead, I chose the book by Dane Orthund titled, Gently and Lowly.

Christian knows what Jesus has done, but who is he? What is his deepest heart for his people, weary and faltering on their journey toward heaven? Jesus said he is, "gentle and lowly in his heart." This book reflects on these words, opening up a neglected yet central truth about who he is for sinners and sufferers today. (This is from the jacket of the book)

There are 9-10 ladies who meet every Thursday at my house to learn to be more like Christ. We have gone through several books of the bible and several books that are designed to help us grow in our understanding of God and His ways. Since its all women who attend the study, its always geared toward being a wise hearted women of God.

So, what can a group of women in their 60 to 80 have to learn about the Lord. All of us are asking God what do you want us to do at our age. Prayer is the first thing that comes up and we have a couple of women who are hard core prayer warriors. Because we have lived a long time does not mean we do not have trials and struggles. The one thing we all have is more time to study and reflect on the things of God. Time to pray more, time to come along the younger women in our lives. And as we are learning from this study time to go deeper in our knowledge and understanding of who Jesus is.

All of the ladies come to the study with years of experience of walking through life. We understand pain, we understand struggles, most could say, been there done that about whatever we talk about. All of us have felt the guilt when we fail, blamed ourselves way too much. All have felt alone many times, especially at our age when we suffer. As heaven gets closer, we cling to our hope of being there when we leave this earth. I tell them this every week, God is not done with us yet, we are not useless just because we are older. This old world needs us to bury ourselves deep into the love of God so we can help our family and friends and maybe a stranger we meet know there is hope. Just because our world is a mess does not mean Jesus is a mess. He is the most solid thing in we ladies life.

It's been my joy as I lead this study and hear how it is affecting each of the ladies. I try to be sensitive to each one because a couple do not say much but I see them write thing down as we go through the book. I have always led a Bible study where ever we have lived. The last move was to northern Mn. where are daughter and family lives. I looked for a Bible study to attend, no one was having one so I stepped out in faith and ask our pastor if he minded if I started a study in my home. Knowing only a few women from our church I did not know if any would come, my husband and I are pretty new to the congregation. About 10 of us gather every week and not just from our church, word of mouth works.

A couple of quotes from the book:

Our sinfulness runs so deep that a tepid measure of gentleness from Jesus would not be enough; but as deep sinfulness runs, ever deeper runs His gentleness.

When we sin, we are encouraged to bring our mess to Jesus because He will know how to receive us. He doesn't handle us roughly. He doesn't scowl and scold. He doesn't lash out, the way many of our parents did. And all this restraint on His part is not because He has a diluted view of our sinfulness. He knows our sinfulness far more deeply than we do. Indeed, we are aware of just the tip of the iceberg of our depravity, even in our most searching moments of self-knowledge. His restraints simply flow from His tender heart for His people.

A quote on this book from another of my favorite authors, Paul David Tripp, "On the rough, rocky, and often dark path between the already and not yet, there is nothing your weary heart need more than to know the beauty of the heart of Jesus. It is the beauty that alone has the power to over-whelm all the ugly you will encounter along the way. I have read no book that more carefully, thoroughly, and tenderly displays Christ heart that what Dane Orthund has written. As if I was listening to a great symphony, I was moved in different ways in different passage, but left each feeling hugely blessed to know that what was being described was the heart of my Savior, my Lord, my Friend and my Redeemer. I can't think of anyone in the family of God who wouldn't be greatly helped by spending time seeing the heart of Jesus through the eyes of such a gifted guide as Orthund.  

Fat

 

Determining the ideal weight for older people has been somewhat of a Goldilocks pursuit, with researchers looking for what weight is not too thin, but not too fat. Studies have suggested that being slightly overweight can be protective. In theory, having a few extra pounds could be good if you, say, develop cancer and need to undergo chemotherapy, which can lead to rapid weight loss.

This morning I was challenged by the above post about getting older and losing weight. As I sit down in my chair to type this post I was relaxed, content and feeling pretty good for a 77 year old women who does not worry too much about my weight. In fact there is not much I worry about at my age. I have been skinny and it was not all its cracked up to be and I am over weight now and its not whats it cracks up to be.

Lately my husband and I have been discussing our funeral arrangements. We are totally opposite in our thinking about the whole process. Where to be buried is the top thing we discuss. We have enough insurance to bury us so that one thing off the table. I am a planner so I want to plan it now, he does not even like to talk about it.

Here is the thing, it's coming, the day is approaching fast or so it seems. Just yesterday I was 76 and now I am, of course, 77 and 78 is right around the corner. To live in the present means we must deal with our age and the ailments that come with it and maybe plan for our funerals or not. Probably will be not.

I bet you are wondering where she's going with this, two subjects, weight, and death. Let me tie it together.

 Our medical world tends to advocate staying thin and healthy of course. Healthy is hard to come by past 70, body is showing massive age-related decline. Wrinkles and lose sagging skin tell our age and even the way we carry ourselves sometimes screams that lady is old. So why am I feeling relaxed, content and feeling pretty good with my extra body weight? We heard an undertaker say that he buried very few old fat people. I think I will stay in the overweight, not skinny or even lean as I head toward 78.

Hey, that tied up pretty good, don't you think?

I really wish we could live as old as they did in the Old Testament.

Does it bother you to talk about your funeral which mean you have to take about death?

AND JUST LIKE THAT

 

Today my husband and I went to a funeral of a dear friends wife who had been declining for a while. In fact my husband held the funeral for our friend. The afternoon before, we met with most of the close family to hear their stories of their wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. It was a sweet time of laughter, tears and grief expressing how giving she was.

One story that will stay with us forever came from her husband. We had just visited them about two weeks before, she was weak but was sitting on the couch with her husband as he teased her. But, this story came to be the night she died. By this time, she is bedridden and not talking but Hospice assured the family the hearing is the last thing to go, so she could hear.

As the husband lay in bed with her, the verses in Psalm 23 came to his mind and he begin to recite it. After he finished, he said, now hon, save a place for me in heaven.

AND JUST LIKE THAT, she closed her eyes and gave up her worn-out dress of flesh and her soul went to be with Jesus, leaving behind the ragged old body that housed it for many years.

It's hard not to cry when others are crying especially when a man cries. My husband and I did our best to assure them grieving is good; it means someone was loved enough to be missed. We are in good company when we cry for Jesus cried, He grieved, when He heard His friend Lazarus died. Tears can be such a comfort when the words leave us. We watched tons of comforters pour into the funeral home to love on those who had lost a loved one.

It was a good day. The bible says it's better to go to the house of mourning then a house of eats. My husband was able to give the sweet gospel to a room full of people needing comfort and HOPE. That husband, those adult children and grandchildren will never hug Pat physically again for she will not return to earth. But, oh but someday, they can have hope they will see her again. All it takes is belief in Jesus as the only way to heaven. It was a good day.

I pray for those who could read this, that when their time comes and it will, just like that. No body knows the second we will draw our last breath and our soul will separate from our body and journey to eternity. For our friend Pat, she had accepted the sacrifice of Jesus death on the cross for her and she is now with Him. Without Christ there is no hope. I hate typing those last five words, but truth is truth. If you are interested in knowing more, you can write me, and I will gladly share how you can have that hope too.

Fragile people often possess a hidden strength that isn’t immediately apparent. Their resilience lies in their ability to endure challenges, adapt, and persist despite their vulnerabilities. Like delicate flowers that withstand storms, these individuals demonstrate remarkable inner fortitude.

Strength doesn’t always manifest as physical power; it can also be emotional, mental, or spiritual. Fragile people may face adversity with grace, empathy, and compassion. Their sensitivity allows them to connect deeply with others and appreciate life’s nuances.

In essence, fragility and strength coexist. It’s the delicate balance between vulnerability and resilience that defines their unique power. So, yes, fragile people can indeed be remarkably strong.

Read the above and was stirred to get back to writing.

I was a little shocked to see how long it had been since I wrote something for my blog. Glad was the next emotion I felt because I knew I had done the right thing for me to help me recovery from some health issue I went through. My last stage of recovery was continuing to be inactive longer that I wanted to as I started to feel better.

At 77 I still want to do so much more than my body can handle which means I must deal with the mental part of recovery. It's being disciplined to doing what is right for you in face of my mind telling me to do, to go, to push, push, push.

In this struggle I thought about how Jesus came apart and got away from the push of the crowd. I don't think it had anything to do with his physical body, but His mental state of mind and He needed to connect with His Father.

There was times I did not want to go to church because I could not handle caring people asking me how I was doing. That finally passed and now I am teaching the ladies bible study again and loving it.

I don't see myself as a discipline person, just give me chocolate and you will see it clearly yourself. But trusting the Lord through this last health issue has been a walk of discipline, going against my feeling often and reaping the good from that. My family still do not want me to drive even though I believe I can without anything bad happening. Frailty when it hits the body and mind affect those who love you too, and they only want to protect. So I must trust the ones that God has given me to know at times what is best for me.

God has been so good to me through my family, friends, doctors, nurses and there is nobody I would rather has walk this path with me then Jesus.

It's good to be back to the blogging world.

Chasing Pills

 

When things get frustrating it's good to have a laugh and be thankful. I don't always find things to laugh about or be thankful for during a hard time, but today God opened my eyes after I spent almost an hour filling up my pill container.

My phone rang right I finished popping my pill into those little compartments in my pill holder. Most of the time I have to get on the floor and look under my chair or across the room for those pills I dropped, those are the times I am frustrated with myself. For sure aging brings on clumsiness and stiff joints that makes its hard to chase pills.

While I am on my knees, I sense the Lord trying to teach me something about being thankful such as, I can now fill my own medicine container. A few months ago, I could not do it, could not keep it straight in my head how much and even if I needed certain pills, so my daughter and husband took over. The second bout with Covid took a toll on my mind and things got jumbled up and it took it a while to unjumble.

Nothing better than laughing with a friend because we both share in the benefits from it. She called for herself to be lifted up and in turn she lifted me up. What a ride from discouragement to encouraged.

I hope I am giving you a little laugh for the next time you are on your knees looking for that tiny little pill you dropped. Thank God for the pill, and that you can get on your knees, especially if you can get back up.  Blessings  

I was telling my friend who called just as I got through finding the pill I dropped, and yes, it did rolls and bounced quite a ways.

As I listened to her share her heart about a frustration happening in her life I started laughing as I said, sometimes all it takes is being thankful for the ability to fill a pill container to drive frustration away. She started laughing with me and her laughter made me really laugh more.

Still laughing.

Aging Ministry

 

January 2017 was when it hit that aging had a tight grip on me.  For over a year I had been having chest pains, and was getting out of breath if I walked too fast.  Of course, I was a little overweight, so I assumed that was the cause of all the symptoms I was having.  But to be safe, I went to the doctor who put me through a stress test, and they thought it was my weight also, or possibly asthmas. 

 All the above was in 2016 and then 2017 rolled around and I was schedule to have a knee replacement in Jan.   My husband thought I better get checked out again since my breathing and chest pain were getting worse.  My doctor sent me for another stress test and x-ray. On the way home from the test my doctor called me and told me I needed to have a Heart Cath, that my breathing issues were classic heart blockage.  Open heart surgery took place a week later and aging took on a deeper meaning for me. I was now known as a older women with two bypasses.   Eleven months later I had that dreaded knee surgery.  In between I started to have UTI's which happens often to the elderly. Oh, the journey of aging. 

Thats all for the health issues for now, there would be more to come.  I have reached the ripe old age of 76 with two bouts of Covid under my belt, both put me in the hospital, first one almost destroyed my kidneys and the second almost took my life.   In the past three years the UTI have been like a nasty relative visiting without being invited. 

I love the little cartoon at the top for it speaks my heart. I really don't want to be a sweet old lady, but I do want to be busy ageless sweet woman of God who has mellowed and become gracious and wiser with age.   

 Here is the thing, 77 comes after 76, and after 77 comes 78, and 79, and then...oh my goodness, 80. For the life of me I cannot see me as an 80-year-old sweet or grouchy woman.  I am trying not to worry about even making it to 80.

Next week I have an appointment with a vascular surgeon, to talk about blockage in my renal arteries leading from the heart to kidneys.  Thats been my life since 2017, doctors, nurses, tests, medicine, therapy, and healthier food and lots of water.  

Before 70 I had a different life which centered around our ministry meeting up with other missionaries, traveling all over the place.  It feels like I have lost my place, but I work hard to not lean on my feelings and be content with the life I have now.  

My new ministry is how many times can I mention Jesus as the doctor's work on me and the nurses take care of me.  Each stay in the hospital brings ministry up real close.  I have my bible out most of the time. If I miss speaking His name, the first time the doctor or nurse or technician to take blood I will make sure the next time they come into my room they know this sweet old woman is a child of God.  

Actually, it's kind of fun to see how they will re-act.  Not one has kicked me out of the hospital for speaking the name of Jesus.  In fact, when they find out I have lived in two other countries they start asking what I was doing.  Now, they are on my territory. It's like God says, ok, it's time to let the Spirit take over.  It's time to  share the why you left a great country, family and friends to tell people living remotely all over the world that Jesus loves them and died for them so they could go to heaven when they die.  It's a simple story, easy to tell, age has nothing to do with the telling of it. The hospital has become my mission field, that doctors' office, that person trying to get my frail blood vessel to stop rolling so they can get an IV in me. That person who brings me meals, cleans my room while I lay thanking God for His love to me, is gonna remember, me.  

I believe with all my heart God does not want us to waste anything that comes into our life, even our suffering.    It's all a tool to plant a seed, water it and maybe see the harvest of that seed.  I trust the Lord to take me to heaven when He is ready, so I have no fear of dying.  

When I keep the pain to myself, and pretend everything is perfect, I waste opportunities to minister to others walking a similar path. 

                     How has God encouraged you lately?