Tuesday, February 22, 2022

Different, But Never Alone


 "Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him! ...  One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." Psalms 34:8, Proverbs 18:24

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My 'wild' connection to South Dakota? My grandmother was born there. She's buried there, also, my mom told me over the phone last week.

Now, I felt surprised because the 17 years that I knew my grandmother, she lived in Sacramento, CA, in a small house on my uncle's property. Oh, I knew she'd spent time in Washington state (because, hey, Mom was born there), but still. Never do I recall any mentions of South Dakota.

Anyway, I smilingly called it 'a sign' that, oh! Perhaps we are meant to move to South Dakota. But of course, yes, any real sign will be the peace of God and various other confirmations.

Yet veering from that, probably my genealogical-search-happy friends are shocked (horrified?) at my unawareness of the birth state of my own grandmother. I'm thinking many of you could recite to me the birthplaces of your ancestors 4+ generations out.

And that's marvelous! Truly. I've tried to get into genealogy, but it all felt forced. Strain-inducing. Like never-ending, eye-rolling-boring school homework. (Sorry.)

But my longest-time readers know I (try to) only follow Grace, even if I'm beside her, alone, which usually I am. Crowd-less, that's me.

If I become frustrated with a project/plan, and suddenly Life feels bleak and awful, well, I back off. Step away, then ask God where I made the wrong turn.

For over 2 decades I've attempted to only follow Grace. How's that working for me? Pretty well so far.  ツ

My Life's Story, overall, makes me smile: thousands of bright days! My bucket list is nearly empty. I never feel alone, Jesus is my closest friend and I'm the most least-fearful person I've met.

And although I'm not well-known, wealthy, intelligent, popular or beautiful--still--I'm enormously grateful for all the hours I've ever known. With Him.




If every human was given grace only for the same things, this would be one boring planet, indeed.





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Just for fun, here are some of my favorite movie reaction folks over at Youtube (in no particular order) --








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Happy 2/22/22 to each of you(!)




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And as I wrote at Facebook:

The 'dark, sickness-filled winter' that was spoken over our Country? Well, my family is having none of it! Instead, we've had more bright sunshine than in other winters past, and yeah, snow and ice, but also much health, contentment and godly joy.
So there, you-know-who.







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Please remember: My posts are always about more than they appear to be. *** "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." ... Matthew 6:14,15

3 comments:

Betsy said...

I'm with you on geneology. Boring. Except for the family I actually knew. However, my grandparents on my fathers side were born in Germany. I have no idea where although our two boys have researched it and can tell you. Both of them are majorly into geneology. They have traced the Queen family back to where we're related to Paul Mccartney. (Of beatles fame.) I find that interesting...but not enough to do the research myself. :-)
Grace is something else isn't she? I'm trying to have peace when we don't know what is happening in our world. Life is scary and frustrating at times. I'm leaning, actually laying on, Jesus most of the time for support. I'm so glad He loves me.
Blessings and love,
Betsy

Diana said...

Betsy, it's genealogy ("a" not "o") ... LOL! *Hugs to Betsy!!* But really, I've been doing genealogy/family history since I was in high school in the early 1970s... and I still do! I can take you back to 560 A.D. on my dad's side, and about 1250 A.D. on my mom's, so um, well, that's a little more than 4 generations LOL! Debra, if you EVER want to know about your ancestors, contact me. For real. I'd be happy to research your family history... no charge. I have found some mighty interesting family stories about my ancestors... and then when I married Jerry, I showed him his own fascinating family history. // Jesus certainly can carry us when we do not feel like we can do the walking ourselves. I thank God constantly for sending His Son to be my Savior! // Funny how truth prevails when lies are spoken, eh? Mt family doesn't like the cold of winter, but hey, we are perfectly fine, too! So there to the same you-know-who. (I get that kind of you-know-who, too lol.) Hugs and blessings to you, Debra!

Pam said...

That's so interesting that your grandmother was born in South Dakota! Sometimes this big world seems small (for a moment or so). I don't know much about my heritage, other than what my parents told me. My mom's parents died when I was a little girl and then we moved away from my dad's parents. A few years ago, our daughter did the lab test to determine a person's roots. It came back and confirmed what little I already knew. Although it's fun to see where we came from, it's really exciting to think about where we're going. Yes, I hope I'm your neighbor in heaven, Debra!! During these days, it's good to think about our final destination!