A trip into outer space

Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, has volunteered to send Donald Trump into outer space......I'll volunteer to light the fuses on the rockets......

Christmas Joy?

Christmas is supposed to be a time of joy.....
That's what's written on all the Christmas cards...
Everyone tells you "Merry Christmas" (except now many are afraid to say the word 'Christmas')..
There are supposed to be many happy times of families happily getting together....

And this year, I am really feeling Christmas Joy.

But I remember many other years when there wasn't much joy in my heart.

I was raised by good, Christian parents, but my Dad could never wait till Christmas Day to give me my present (notice - singular -- one present) so about two weeks before Christmas, he would ask "do you want your present now?"  Of course I'd say yes, and he'd happily give me my one wrapped gift -- but on Christmas Day there would be nothing.  It would feel just like another day.

There was another Christmas, this one in 1968, when my then-husband, daughter and I flew home to be with both sets of parents, and when returning, I noticed a pair of women's boots in my husband's suitcase.....but...they weren't for me, they were for his girlfriend.  It was not a happy time.

The following year in December, I filed for divorce; my daughter and I flew from our home in Cleveland to start our new life in Omaha.  All just a few days before Christmas.  As my husband drove us to the airport, the song that was popular at the time "Leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again" came on the car radio, and I started crying.  My husband chided me for crying, saying "there's nothing to cry about"....  Nothing?  The marriage that was supposed to be for life was ending, I was having to start a new life in a new city with no job and no money -- and there was nothing to cry about????  It was not a happy time.

But in 1971we had a pretty good Christmas.  My brother and his family, my daughter and I all were able to go home to the home of my parents in South Dakota for Christmas, and we had a really good time together.  Two weeks later my mother unexpectedly and suddenly died.  She was only 64 years old.  It was not a happy time.

1991 --- By now my daughter was married and living in Abilene, Texas, and I was living in the Denver, Colorado area.  I had no relatives in this city, and since moving here in September of 1988 because of a job transfer, had made some friends, but not really that many.  I knew my daughter couldn't come to see me for the holiday, and I couldn't go to see her or to see my Dad.  It promised to be a lonely day, so I checked around with the friends I knew to see if anyone else had nowhere to go.  I finally found four people and invited them to my place for Christmas.  We all tried to have a good time, but it wasn't like being with family.  But I comforted myself with the fact that at least I didn't spend the day by myself.  Two days later - December 27, my father suddenly died, and I drove to my home town in South Dakota for his funeral.  My brother, his wife, and three of his children as well as my daughter and her husband all also came for the funeral.  The night before the funeral, we all sat in the family room at the mortuary - and had a good time as a family.  This may seem strange - but we all knew that if my father, whose body was in the other room, would know we all were there and we were enjoying being together - he would be happy about it.  So it was a sad time -- and yet it was also a precious time. 

There have been many other Christmases when for one reason or another, I had to work at feeling joy on that day.  My daughter was only 3 1/2 when my first marriage ended, and for her sake I always tried to make Christmas a very special, happy time, but it didn't come easily.  There was another year when we drew names at work for a gift exchange, and there was a fairly small amount that was to be spent on that gift.  However, I had very little money then, and I hated the thought of having to buy a gift for someone in the office when I could barely afford any gifts for my little girl.  That was hard.  But I was mastering the art of pasting a smile on my face, no matter what I felt on the inside.  It's a skill that I have used many times in my life.

My next post will be a much happier post -- I'll share more of the joy that is in my heart this year.

I am thankful

Thanksgiving Day 2015 - so much to be thankful for!

There were many Thanksgiving Days in my life when it was very hard to find something for which to give thanks.  Life was hard and life was lonely.  But these days my life is full of gratitude to God for all He has done for me.  Most of all - the fact that Jesus died for me and lives for me now, and guides me, comforts me. and loves me no matter what! 

There is so much unrest in the world and I am thankful that I live in this country.  We are comfortable, well fed (perhaps too well fed), are free to do the things we want to do -- especially free to worship as we please.  We do not live in fear.  We are not in daily danger because we believe in Jesus. 

I am thankful for good health.  I do have arthritis which does cause some limitations, but other than that, I am quite healthy.  Last year was a difficult year health-wise because I had three major surgeries in two weeks due to a staph infection after the first surgery.  This has been a good year.

I am thankful for family.  I love them and I am loved -- what more could I want?

Compared to most of the world's population, I am wealthy.  I'm not wealthy if I compare myself to one of the presidential candidates who boasts about how rich he is - but he is not deserving of any comparison.  I am comfortable with what I have.

Thank you Jesus for being so good to me, for rescuing me from a difficult past and for promising me a glorious future.

A beautiful day in November

Here in Colorado we are so blessed with over 300 days of sunshine a year, and today was one of those days - a gloriously beautiful day.  The mountains are now covered with snow which adds to the beauty of this place.  I am so grateful God brought me to this location 27 years ago - a move that I have never regretted.  My life has been very blest here.

Sadness has been in my heart lately because in the last three weeks, four of my friends have passed away.  Two were former high school classmates of mine - and with only 21 people in my class, we were all very good friends.  Last night one of my lady friends died, and this morning another one died.  All had been ill, but still - I am saddened.  Evidently at my age this happens more and more, and I better get used to it!  The great thing is that all four knew Jesus and are now in heaven. 

I've had a busy day doing grocery shopping as well as some other running around, and now the dinner dishes are done and it's time to sit down with a good book and relax.  I have been reading a very good book - "When God Doesn't Fix It" - by Laura Story.  I had never heard of Ms. Story, but evidently she is a Christian recording artist, so of course I got one of her CD's and played it while driving around today.  One of the songs is especially good - "Blessings" - it talks  about "what if blessings come in rain" - and her book is her story of the pain she and her husband have endured and the blessings that they received through those difficult times.  I can relate because I have had many years of great difficulties, but it was through those hard times that I really came to know God and experience blessings from Him. 

Saturday's thoughts

I recently celebrated my 80th birthday, here is a "selfie" I took that day:

 

 

I won't tell how many tries it took to get a good picture!  Yes, I am still a natural blonde......when I was very young, my hair was almost white - especially in summer when I played outside all the time.  I expected to be gray-haired by now, but I'm not complaining! 

 

I was a little unsure how I'd feel about this birthday, because everyone else who is 80 is "old"...... and I don't like to think of myself that way, mainly because it means I probably have no more than twenty years of life left.  I know I'm going to heaven some day and that will be wonderful -- no more arthritis!!!  But I don't want to leave my dear ones....

 

But the birthday was great - there were several celebrations and I felt lots of love from family and friends.  God has been very good to me in these so-called golden years.

 

My two special grandchildren whom I'm going to call Frick and Frack from now on for privacy's sake were recently baptized.  It was a private service, just for family, and it was done in a more meaningful way than many other baptisms that I have witnessed.  The pastor talked about how God had this special plan for both of them to bring them from far away and place them in our family, and also has a plan for the rest of their lives, and they need to ask for God's guidance as they go on in life.

It brought tears to my eyes....

 

This picture was taken in front of the church after the service.  No, we're not all the same height - we're all just standing on different steps.  I love these two so very much!

 

 

 

Once again we are in a presidential campaign and mud is slinging all around.  I have a really hard time with some of the candidates who claim to be such strong Christians, and yet they are taking a strong stand against letting the Syrian refugees enter our country, as well as sounding off against all Muslims.  Do they ask themselves "What would Jesus do?"  I don't think so.  Many of these refugees are women whose husbands have been killed, women who have not had opportunities to have an education and learn a skill, and now they are alone with their children fleeing their homes with nothing but what they can carry.  I realize the risk of a terrorist being able to infiltrate the refugees, but there are ways to only admit the ones who are genuinely in need of help.  What would Jesus do?  What if I was one of those refugees, fleeing with my young child, or my young grandchildren -- where would I find food and shelter?  Who would help me?

 

There is one presidential candidate (I won't mention his name) who is not only completely unqualified, but he's also a bully and totally without tact or polish.  And because he says things that are so politically incorrect - people are crazy about him.  Do these people not think for themselves?  The things he promises to do are not possible for a president to do.  I don't think he understands at all how government works.  When I was a teacher, I taught Civics and about the three branches of government and the powers of each branch and the reasons for those powers.  This candidate thinks he would be king - or dictator.  I don't think our country would survive if he would win the election.  He reminds me very much of Hitler....and that is scary. 

 

So - enough for today.  Thanks for listening.



I am back -- I think

I stopped blogging more than a year ago because there was a problem with the host site -- but it may be fixed now -- if it is -- I'm back in the blogging world!

The world didn't stop

So the Broncos lost the Super Bowl game yesterday -
but the world kept on turning.....
I had hoped they would win; I don't know what happened except that the Seahawks had a very strong defense AND a very strong offense.
And the Broncos made far too many mistakes.
Denver will be in mourning for quite a while.
All the bars in Denver reported that patrons started going home at about halftime - so far less alcohol was consumed, and consequently -- there were far fewer disturbances downtown and no riots.
Go figure.  There's a silver lining for everything!

But I enjoyed the commercials.  My favorite was the puppy and horse love.  Very cute.
Some of the others I liked were the Hero's welcome for the returning soldier, and the Radio Shack - "The 80's want their store back" - very clever.

Plus we had a good time visiting with family during the game.  The grandchildren were cheering for the Broncos, and were very cute with the routines they had come up with.  And of course we had really good snack foods.

And there's always next year....