Guarding My Heart Like Crazy Lately

This morning I mowed the lawn. Well, not all of it. No, this summer it's just too much for me, so I simply do the best I can then mow the rest days, or even, one week later.

My Mow It All At Once Season appears to be over.

Then after mowing, I collapsed here in my computer chair and read how my favorite old-fashioned supermarket (in the town where Naomi grew up) is selling-out. They'd been in business since 1922 and I'd shop there over the years and feel all 1922-ish, myself. (Adored that.)

But it looks like my Time Travel Shopping Trip Season is gone, also. 

But you know what all this means, right? I'm in a new season, one with its own surprises and adventures which will someday fade to warm, smile-worthy memories, also.

Yesterday I shared this at Facebook --

My world, our world, changes so abruptly, right? And The News makes certain it shares the bad ones with us.

But you won't find me soaking in the news. 

Nor hating men rather than the principalities behind them. 

Nor speaking in bubbled-over anger from ribs of bitterness.

Nor forwarding Facebook posts from 'groups of mockers.' (Psalm 1:1, below)

No, I'm aiming for what I read at Facebook yesterday --

"If you really care about our Country, instead of complaining, posting, liking, sharing negative, political or any other non-sense, figure out what you can do to make our society better and spend your time and energy on that. We are all guilty of doing this, but I personally vow to make a difference in this world!

Stand up, share your gifts and shine your light!"      ----- Janel MacDougall

I'm sharpening my God-given callings/skills/abilities. Asking that God give me a type of 'spidey sense' when others barely whisper, "Help me!," then to show me what needs doing. And I'll do what I do best (even if it appears tiny) and not feel guilty when others imply it's not enough.

For me, for you, there is no better planet-changing, sacrificial plan than the one He maps out each morning. And avoiding that plan--or trying to overreach and top it--never ends well.

But simple obedience! Oh, that always ends well, even if sometimes the results lodge in realms we can't yet see--but someday will view with crystal clarity.

"To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams."   ... 1 Samuel 15:22

"How happy is the man who does not follow the advice of the wicked or take the path of sinners or join a group of mockers!"   ...Psalm 1:1

When my seasons change, may I be glad I had what I had and not ruin things by wishing it still was what it was.

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If you have a couple extra seconds, here's an excerpt from the 'old-fashioned store closing article' which I found to be sweet --

Budwey, known for greeting his customers by name, said he will still visit the store often. He'll keep his office, which is down the hall from the store. But he said it's most important to him that the employees, who have become like extended family for many customers, will remain and keep doing what they do best.

"Our people aren't trained to ask, 'Did you find everything today? They have their own special connections with their customers,'" he said. "I've seen a woman wait in the longest line just because she wants her favorite cashier. That says you're doing something right. And thank God for that employee."

Each year, for prom, Budwey gives all high school senior employees the Memorial Day weekend off. He likes to give free candy bars or doughnuts to children shopping with their parents. And it can take half an hour for him to walk from one end of the store to other, because so many people stop to hug him hello.

__________ Market started in 1922, with Frank's grandmother's store on Oliver Street in ___________. Frank took over the business after his father died in 1972. He was 23 and fresh out of the Army.

It's hard for him to walk away after all these years. But he has a new wife who travels often for work, and he plans to join her and enjoy his retirement.

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Eegads! Yesterday I discovered that Blogger hasn't, like it used to, been alerting me to comments which need to be moderated before being published. I went through and approved each non-spammy one, so if you wondered why your perfectly-kind comments over the past month didn't appear, well, now you know. Alas.

(And now I'll watch that moderation page more closely.)


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Oh, and be sure to check back next time when I share the absolute easiest way to earn money online. Well, at least for me.   😉


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