Where She Begins a New Adventure

"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."    .... Isaiah 41:10


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All these books?

Ol' Debra will lug them down the street today to the Salvation Army donation box. They'll join others she carried there earlier.

See, on Friday I read online that I may have early CVI, what with these tired, heavy legs of mine which whine, moan after I'm on my feet (or sit) too long. (Mornings, I can leap tall buildings in a single bound! And no, I don't have spider veins. Don't worry.). Sixty-four percent of older women, I read, have CVI--yikes. That's a lot.

So I'm gonna try avoiding traveling anywhere beyond the outer edges of that place.

Anyway, for 2 weeks I've made good changes diet/exercise-wise, but I'm making this switch, also: I'm flinging away any possessions which I don't love or truly neeed.  You know, so I'll not expend precious energy dusting, laundering or wiping down stuff I don't even like.

And oh Honey, this will take some time. Although living in a small house, I own lots of stuff, especially books.

But whatever, this feels, (I mused over the weekend), related to what I've told you for years: 

Caring for the things (and people) I love should not feel burdensome. If it does, I'm making a mistake somewhere, most likely in my attitude or by ignoring wisdom.


What I'm finding already? Grace, so much grace. This new phase feels like an adventure to a sweeter Life and how delightful to imagine sitting on the red couch beholding only dearly-loved items. What a joy, not a burden, to care for pretty, laced-with-a-memory things.

And isn't God so good? He sends Grace, more balance and wisdom so to make these later years just as special as earlier ones--even while they appear oh so different. 

It's incredible how He even does that, really, and with such compassion.

May I keep accepting this as a challenge rather than something else to moan about in self-pity.



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One of my readers years ago asked for great book storage ideas and well, this post contains the best hint, ever. Release the books you don't love, won't be reading again, and the reference ones which, most likely, won't help you do good things in the future.

That should give you much extra shelf space.

Also, I'm finally reading the books I've meant to read forever, deciding afterward whether I'll want to read them again (and again). If not, phhht. They're outta here.

And of course, there's always Kindle! Even there, though, I declutter what I have. Mind clutter--knowing I've hundreds of books there I'll likely never read (and must click through)--also, can use up energy.


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Oh, and you're asking, "What about Tom's stuff which you do not love?" Right? ツ

I ask God for grace to look at that and wisdom to know which of his things he should be caring for, not me. heh.



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Oh! And speaking of Tom, awhile ago he and I watched The Great Buster. We both loved it. A perfect documentary, indeed.


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"Master," said John, "we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.""Do not stop him," Jesus said, "for whoever is not against you is for you."   ... Luke 9:49,50

Oh, To Be An Example, Not a Hater.

"But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you ... for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  ... Matthew 5:44, Ephesians 6:12


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A friend recommended a Christian blog post. So I read it and then ack! Flew out the backdoor and pulled weeds with oh-that-irked-me vigor. 

Days later my stomach still feels queasy.

The (again, Christian) post--


Lumped the majority of today's Christians together.
Trivialized them. Mocked them. Over-exaggerated their responses to victim/bad guy situations.
Gave no hope of change for Christians who're messing up. 
Encouraged no one to pray for cruel or misguided Christians. 
Pretty much said Jesus (nearly) lived angry so it's godly if we do. 


Man. Where do I begin? 

How about here--


"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? ... But love your enemies, do good to them ... Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked."   ... From Luke 6

Actually? We're still in God's Love kindergarten when we don't have the basics down, like compassion. You know, when we-- 

refuse to forgive,

look-up Bible verses to excuse our hate,

only pray for deserving people we like or pity.

gossip consistently speak about folks who've got it all wrong (never praying they'll get it right).

But God says--

  

For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

   ... 1 John 4:20, James 5:20

There's a day to enter kindergarten, yes! Days to learn and apply its lessons. But then a time arrives to graduate. To move up to God's Love School of Higher Learning where we behold and participate in--

examples of love in action. 

softening of bullies' hearts. 

walking in unity, even when all don't agree 100%. 

putting others first and longing for the salvation of even the 'bad guys'. 

It's an unforgettable, exciting place of miracles, that God's Love School. How life-changing to leave kindergarten and attend there, instead.

"I may be able to speak the languages of human beings and even of angels, but if I have no love, my speech is no more than a noisy gong or a clanging bell... And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."    ... 1 Corinthians 13:1, 13

Does there ever come a time to confront Christians about their behavior? Of course. And here's where God shows us how.

We're growing-up when we seek to understand why people do what they do and when we have God's love for both the victim and the perp.

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Striving to actually live in the Light, be an example, will accomplish tons more than just hating those who don't.


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"Master," said John, "we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.""Do not stop him," Jesus said, "for whoever is not against you is for you."   ... Luke 9:49,50

Aging Gracefully, Yes? No? Maybe?

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"So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day."   ... 2 Corinthians 4:16


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Look back over my semi-recent posts and you'll see I've spoken much about how ol' Debra feels herself aging.

Yet, my favorite teacher seldom speaks of that, even though she's 16 years older than me. But then, she's done this wild thing for years. It's called 'taking better care of herself'.

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But last Friday, wow. She did address aging and oh Honey, I've felt marvelous ever since, especially after she said this--


"Only a fool thinks he can always do what he's always done. We're always in the process of aging."   --- Joyce Meyer


Oh! Other people kept telling me to ignore getting older, it's all a state of mind, just a number, etc., but something felt wrong with that, for hey. I, now, cannot do some of what I've always done.

And that means something to me. It affects, in some ways, all my days.

Joyce even said it's exciting to go through these changes and I understand that, also. For me, it's thrilling to figure out new ways to solve old problems, to make changes so that folks think I'm still 'with it'. Capable. You know, still 'all there'. heh.

Remember that Master Daily List which God hinted I should write up? Oh wow.


No more am I-- 

--standing at the kitchen counter with tablet paper and a pen, asking myself, "Uhm. What must I do today?"

-- or worrying that this house and yard are gonna take me down. Soon.

-- or entering weekends with an aching back because I worked too hard on Fridays.


As George Peppard used to quip, "I love it when a plan comes together," and this Master Daily List makes me feel perhaps I can still 'get it all done' the next few years, after all.

Really, I'd wondered lately.

What's also encouraging me? That anti-inflammatory diet I mentioned to you (Gee, I'm feeling better), and this thought:

For years I'd assumed that I'll never be able to officially retire like people who had 'real jobs'. After all, someone has to still take care of the place. The house. The yard.

But last week? I told Tom, "Since many folks retire at age 62, maybe that's when I'll retire from doing yard work. Perhaps that can be the year we start hiring folks to mow and trim hedges for us."

Tom seemed ok with that idea! But I'm gonna wait awhile before hinting about my dreams to have a house cleaner drop by at least once a month.  ツ (Already I'm praying my pride won't have me washing stuff before Cleaning Lady arrives each time.)

Anyway, what am I really saying? Know thyself. Accept thyself, even if your older friends still have their 'litheness', but yours fell off years ago. And whether it's your family genes, a mishap or neglecting your body which is messing things all up--

Do what you still can. Gratefully.
Make wise changes so to keep going, longer.
Work smarter, not harder.
Ask God for His best ideas.
Keep a gratitude diary.
Find funny folks to hang out with--

--and never, ever lose your sense of humor, no matter what age, what shape you may find yourself in today or your many tomorrows ahead.

“So this is what you do when it all slows down and the minutes that tick by feels a little longer than before. You open your eyes a little wider, and look at everything. Take it all in. Rehash stories of old, remember people, times and occasions gone by. Allow everything you see to remind you of something. Talk about those things. Stop and take your time to notice things and make those things you notice matter. Find out the answers you didn't know to yesterday's crosswords. Slow down. Stop trying to do everything now, now, now.” 

― Cecelia Ahern, Thanks for the Memories


(Debra here) -- Would you like a copy of my personal Master Daily List? You know, out of curiosity or for potential ideas for your own? Feel free to email me at Gladone4@yahoo.com for a copy.

Maybe I'll do less these next years, but my aim will remain to do it with excellence, not an ordinary mediocrity. 


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Oh! And this upcoming film looks wonderful. Check out the movie trailer here.



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"It is not easy when you have to let go of things that you've done all your life and then sit back and watch somebody else do them."   

---Joyce Meyer


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