"Happy are those who trust in the Lord,
who rely on the Lord.
8 They will be like trees planted by the streams,
whose roots reach down to the water.
They won’t fear drought when it comes;
their leaves will remain green.
They won’t be stressed in the time of drought
or fail to bear fruit." ... Jeremiah 17:7,8
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Still here! Just trying to make friends with Summer (as I do every year).
And trying to make friends with being 58.
Ugh. Poor ol' thing. Just mix some humidity with what I believe they call 'physical labor' and ol' Debra's all crumpled on the red couch. I do love my yard, but--even with my famous 'sit down gardening'-- the actual work outside still wears me out.
Even when done slowly.
Even when barely done.
Even so.
Oh well, maybe I'm finished out there this year(!) You know, with the moving plants around and redesigning parts. It is July, after all, and I did, during cooler times, make a few pleasant improvements.
As one ages, sometimes smaller projects must be enough.
Speaking of which, remember when I wanted so badly to do something similar to this? --
Well.
Finally I admitted our living room's too small. Darn. Even pushing our couch out just six inches is six inches too far. So on to Plan B! Now I'm considering hanging shelves over the couch, shelves maybe like these--
But sometimes I still struggle with coming to peace with personal restrictions. Oh, and that redecorating ideas arrive sooo s-l-o-w-l-y when, years ago, they'd surface in minutes.
And you know? Perhaps I'm (finally) getting the 'why of it all'.
Because if I--now at my age--did all the crazy-creative, day-by-day decorating which I used to? Oh dear, I'd probably be limping/ill/crawling/dead by now.
This old grey mare just ain't what she used to be.
Er hem. But to avoid future problems, there arrives a time, in each season, to accept that wisdom sometimes comes in a confusing disguise.
To happily accept that (frankly, I've been stuck there--or not there- lately). Yes willingly, without resentment with myself or with Life's new-to-me patterns so that, hooray! This acceptance will carve another avenue where I must lean heavy upon God.
Is there a better place than trusting God far, far more than ourselves? Nah. Only He can make our pathway to Heaven, sweet, no matter what our decade or our circumstances.
I'm not yet walking in Total Acceptance Land, but I'm hanging out at its edges. Be sure to wave if you see me inside someday, ok?
----Melody Beattie
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Tom and I watched Passengers this weekend and enjoyed it. After reading a Plugged-In review, I'd thought there'd be lots of 'waiting around for something to happen', and well, there was. And yet? This movie made me think all sorts of new thoughts, all kinds of 'what would I do?'--and I appreciated that about it.
******
5 comments:
So much truth here. In my 72 year experience the search for acceptance of decreasing abilities is ongoing and requires prayer, submission, and sometimes tears.
I am older than you and can relate to slowing down; I had my large backyard transformed into a less maintenance style earlier this year. I had 5 trees planted, some fruit trees and some flowering, so I see beauty but do less work. Happy fourth of July week.
I just turned 61 in May and hate the fact that I seem to get tired so easily anymore [I want things to be like they used to be too!]
Just wanted to let you know that I'm still here and still am reading and love every one of your posts [though I don't always comment].
Have a Happy and safe 4th of July, my friend!
Debi
My yardwork and garden sometimes overwhelm me, too. I'll admit, I had a fairly big flowerbed with a border of beautiful big rocks. It was pretty, but it took many hours to keep the weeds and grass out of the border rocks. I try to avoid chemicals, so weeding becomes a big deal. I actually took that bed out, because the work exceeded my pleasure. Now there's lovely green grass in its place. I still have lots of flowers, and I'm leaning more toward big pots of annuals. So much color and very little labor (and I don't have to bend over so far when watering the pots).
I love your idea of shelving in your living room--especially if they're painted a color that won't show dust too easily...guess I've become pretty lazy.
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