Through The Years

Some events in our life often give us repercussions for years or forever! One of the Awesome Characteristics of God is He Forgives even if we don’t forget! One such incident happened to me recently. In trying to help a stranger, I put my own future in jeopardy.

As a teacher, I always tried to emphasize to my students how important Internet safety is. However, I must not have been listening to my own words. I accepted a request for friendship from a total stranger on Instagram. Who would have thought that such an innocent action could cause so much trouble and heartache!!

I have always had a soft spot for anyone with a “hard-times story,” and I often think I can make a difference! However, this particular time was a “BAD” error in judgment!! I was scammed out of a lot of money! I tell you this not for pity but as a warning! DON’T believe everything you hear no matter what!! The old saying “If it sounds too good to be true, than it probably is not true!” is absolutely on target!

Please don’t think too harshly of me because I did learn from my costly mistake! As I said before, I didn’t share this for pity, but I share it in hopes that those reading my confession will think twice or maybe more about believing everything others tell you about anything and everything! Some people have only one goal in life and that is to make others miserable! That is true in financial, personal, and every part of our lives!

Keep your eyes on God  If I focus on my problems, I will be distressed and depressed. If I focus on God, I will be at rest and able to handle things I encounter.  I am attempting to employ this strategy at all times, especially in my personal life.

I am aware that everything I need to be successful, blessed, and happy is already in my life. It may not seem like it, but only because I am focusing on the wrong things. The problems I face that make me stop believing are things that I try to do too soon. God is kind enough to teach me a lesson from the journey that makes me better for His use.

I should not take life into my own hands. I need to control the part of myself that believes I know better than Him. I must trust that if I don’t have something it’s because I am not ready for it. I must believe that if it’s on my plate, I can handle it. I have to stop doubting my strength and testing grace. I have to stop doing what feels right, and start doing what makes me a better person. That action may require me to have a new level of discipline or deeper level of vulnerability. There will be countless things that allow me an escape from my insecurities. I can not use them. Instead, I have to see my insecurities for what they are: places where love can fill in the gap. I have to love myself enough that the insecurities disappear.

I have to be patient. Once I reach the destination I have in my mind, I will see that there is still work to be done. Then I probably will wish that time would slow down long enough for me to enjoy the view. I want to find something beautiful about life every day. I want to look beyond the bills, the heartbreak, and the failed dreams. I want to see the beauty in having another day, another chance. I want to choose to no longer worship the way things should have been. I will praise God for knowing I wasn’t ready because Father knows best!

My birthday was truly a celebration of love. My heart is overflowing with emotion because God has shown me today how blessed I am. Thank you for all of the warm wishes, beautiful words, and awesome reminders that I serve a Risen Savior and Living God! Each of you have given me another memory which I will treasure forever! I am so happy I am alive and able to enjoy life, and I am thankful for each of you who shared my day with me! There were several times today that I was brought to tears.

This morning, Cason and I were being a little lazy, and I heard a noise outside my window. I looked out, and one of my neighbors and his grandson were in my front yard. I got up and went outside (barefooted as a yard dog). The gentleman and his grandson greeted me with, “Happy Birthday!” To my surprise the gentleman was pulling weeds, which needed doing badly; and the young man was spreading pine straw. They were doing this out of the kindness of their hearts.

About an hour later, I heard the patter of little feet and a knock on my door. When I opened the door, three precious little ones were standing there with beautiful smiles on their faces. They had brought me homemade ice cream and a precious homemade birthday card. They all said, “Happy Birthday,” and I asked if I could have a hug. After I received three sweet hugs and thanked them, they quickly left. By the time I turned to come back inside, the tears had started to flow. When I read their awesome card, I was a completely blithering mess.

If you don’t believe in angels here on earth, I can make a believer out of you. God knows how hard holidays, birthdays, and celebrations are for me now, and He sent five angels to me today. My children, grandchildren, and friends have been my guardian angels. Every day we are in the presence of angels, and we can be His angels! All we have to do is keep our eyes and ears open and keep our hearts, hands, and feet ready and be his “tools” here on earth. Guardian angels come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and species. They do little things and large things. The beauty is they help and save us!

For the past few years, I have spent a great deal of my time looking back on choices and decisions I have made. Some of my choices were not very wise and not in my best interest. I can’t change the past but I can do something about my future.

Seldom do we evaluate our values or question our perceptions until we have a crisis. When we find ourselves in deep pain, we begin to examine what we’re basing our lives upon. Sometimes it’s materialism, feeling good, or looking good, and then we realize there has to be more.

That’s why it’s so important that we ask ourselves — before we’re in pain — what’s going to last?

We are encouraged by society to do just the opposite. Our society values the here and now. Tomorrow or next year doesn’t matter. The future doesn’t matter. Live for today.

However, the Bible says something different in 1 John 2:17: “The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever” (NIV).

When we’re tempted, it isn’t just a battle between good and bad or what’s best and what’s not best. Temptation is always a battle between now or later. Do I do what God says and enjoy the benefits later, or do I do what I want and enjoy the benefits now?

The Bible says to “fix our attention, not on things that are seen, but on things that are unseen. What can be seen lasts only for a time, but what cannot be seen lasts forever” (2 Corinthians 4:18 GNT).

Dear Jesus, show us that You SEE. You see every little worry (and every big one). Please shed light on the next step in the journey and give us the wherewithal and grit to take that next step. Renew that broken-beyond-repair relationship. Give energy when we want to give up. Support us and make us brave when we face difficult but correct decisions. Go before us. Walk alongside us. Remind us that You hold everything together–even reputations. Forgive us for giving into fear, for wallowing in worry. Instead, Jesus, please please help us to simply trust You today. Oh how we need Your touch today. Please bring it in surprising, outlandish, beautiful ways. Oh how we love You. AMEN.

I wonder how much time I have wasted during my lifetime. I have been on this earth for 27,412 days which is 657,888 hours or 39,473,280 minutes which is 2,368,396,800 seconds. I consider wasted time as time I have spent worrying about things I could not change, or thinking about things I wish I had done differently! My biggest problem was procrastination, and it caused me many missed opportunities. It is sort of like crying over spilt milk, cracked eggs, or crumbs all over the floor. It is futile!!

Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? Matthew 6:27

Time is precious, and I wish I had lived my life valuing time. Time is a gift from God, and we need to learn to value the time we have been given. If there is a beginning, there has to be an end. Therefore, focusing on material things is foolish in the big scheme of time. Once time is gone, you cannot get it back.

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12 NIV

When we are young, we think we have all the time in the world. As we grow older, we value time more because we realize the years left are few. It is important to look at the choices and decisions we make daily and take stock of how much we value time.

Lord, help me to understand and value the gift of time. Give me a heart of wisdom so I can govern my time. Help me make better choices and decisions so I can redeem the lost time.

I am sorry I’ve wasted so much time on the things I cannot change. I am sorry for taking for granted what God so freely provides for me every day. I am sorry for robbing the people in my life because of the “look back mentality.”

Holy Spirit, help me to forget the pain associated with the past and as I visit my past from now on let it be for only moments of remembering how you brought me out of bondage. Thank you, Abba for a new start!

For the last few days, I have been dredging up memories which are incomplete. By being incomplete, I mean they had no sense of being finished. One example is the day Clyde passed from this earthly home into his eternal home!

One minute we were looking forward to the day we would share and talking about what we wanted to do later; less than fifteen minutes later, we were headed to the hospital in separate vehicles. We would never speak to each other again. No more making plans! No more hugs or precious kisses! No more “I love you!” Wow! How quickly things can be changed– my world was turned upside down!

We met for the first time when I was seventeen years old! I was a senior in high school, and he was a devastatingly handsome motorcycle policeman! I met him quite by accident! I do mean an accident. I was on my way to the city library in my hometown, and I was in a car accident which he investigated. He wrote me a ticket for following too closely and causing an accident! I was angry because I had to miss a track meet and go to court.

One year later, we accidentally met again! Yes, it was another accident! This time it was not my fault, but I had to go to court again! I was really upset because I had to come home from school in Tallahassee to be in court. We always joked that he married me to keep me out of trouble!

Three weeks after our first date, Clyde proposed to me. Three months after our first date, we were married at 3:00 in the afternoon on August 3, 1963. I was his third wife, and we had three children by 1973. Three was a number which became important to us! In 1983 I graduated from college and began my career as a teacher. Three years later I received my Masters in Middle School Education and started pursuing my Education Specialist Degree.

Through all of my educational pursuits, Clyde was supportive. My dream was that “some day” we would have “time” to do the things we always planned to do in the future. Well, let me tell you: some day doesn’t always get here! My advice to every person is don’t put off until tomorrow any of the things you want to say or do because we never know when that may become an incomplete plan. We should never, never, never postpone making our loved ones feel loved and appreciated! The opportunity is here and now! Don’t be afraid of reaching out and doing what is right! Live, love, share, laugh, cry, and most of all be real and truthful!

July 24 is my precious daddy’s 96th birthday. Happy Birthday in Heaven, Daddy! I love and miss you so much. Since you made your way out of your earthly home, the void you left cannot be filled. Your advice, knowledge, love, honesty, wisdom, and care were shared with every person who crossed your path. The love you showered on babies, children, teens, young adults, preachers, family, the homeless, the elderly, and anyone in need has multiplied to touch so many others because you exemplified agape love. Thank you for being you!

Since April 1, 2014, my life has changed drastically in so many ways! There have been so many “firsts”, and some have made me more independent than I have ever been in my life. Some included feelings of being lost, angry, and lonely. Some have included feelings of joy, wonder, and the satisfaction of learning how to succeed on my own. At times, I have felt as though I couldn’t make it through another day; but more often, I have looked forward to each day with a childlike view of “what can I do new today?”

I have done some really dumb things in my pursuit of life. Today was one of “those days!” Monday is my laundry day, and I stripped my bed and washed and dried my linens. In my hurry to remake the bed, I was not paying close attention to what I was doing. When I finished, I was dusting and putting things back in their place and couldn’t find the remote to my television. After looking everywhere, even under the bed, I discovered the remote was in the very center of my king size bed. There is nothing I dislike more than making up a king size bed, I decided to try to get the remote without taking the linens off and remaking the bed. After several unsuccessful attempts at reaching with my arms(which were definitely not long enough) I started looking for something to help me. I discovered Clyde’s walking cane, and with about three attempts I had that sneaky little control back in my hands.

I told this to relate the fact that even though I am making it on my own, every now and then something happens to let me know that my precious husband is still involved in my life in so many awesome ways. He prepared me to be creative and gave me skills that I am still learning that I have!

Day 61: I am thankful for God’s Protection in 2017. My Guardian Angel has been really busy this year since I have tempted the boundaries over and over. She/He probably needs a rest, a vacation, or new wings. I have set a record for falling and for doing faceplants! I have locked myself out of my house and car without my phone. I think I am possibly going through my second childhood or haven’t made it out of the first one yet. I have probably challenged God’s patience several times with some of the things I have done, but God has been right there picking me up and setting me back on the path. My goal for 2018 is to walk closer to my Heavenly Father and heed His Voice in my ear. I plan to be a better mother, Mimi, sister, and friend, also. Thank You, God, for loving me and being my arm to lean on at all times especially since I don’t deserve it. Your Grace is sufficient for me!

Day 59: I am thankful for God’s Word. If there was only one book in the world, the Bible would be the only one we would need. It is filled with love stories, comedies, mysteries, adventures, history, biographies, scientific information, geography, and anything anyone could ever want to know. No matter how many times it is read, a person can learn new things each time. An answer to any question can be found in the Bible if an individual keeps an open mind and heart. I don’t know how many times I have read the Bible, but I know that each time God shows me something fresh and new. Also, I feel closer to my Heavenly Father with each reading.