Explaining What I'd Kinda Rather Not

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."   ---Philippians 4:13

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So Tom's worked from home (thanks, Covid World) a year now and we're both still adjusting. シ

He sort-of let himself go, though. Walked from his desk to the recliner (and tv) and called it exercise.

But 8 weeks ago, an online health test scared him into getting back in shape. Yikes. Faithfully he's stepped up on the treadmill, lifted weights and eaten right(!) He's requesting me to cook the way I wanted to years ago (when he asked me not to), so yeah, guess who's feeling all I've-paid-my-dues-42-years-and-just-want-things-easy-ish?

Er hem. Yet slowly? We're finding ways of compromise. 

Well to me, Tom seemed to improve. But one night he said, "It's time to bring in that roll-around walker from the garage." This one:

If you don't know, Tom had polio as a baby. What we've not talked much about through the years are the creeping-in post polio symptoms.

Anyway, the roll-around began as something to sit upon in the kitchen while making his 'powdered potion drinks' and steel cut oats. Soon though, he began using it to get around our small house. He used the seat to transport dishes, clothes, etc. and felt clever.

That wheeled contraption made him happy so I didn't notice how much he'd come to rely upon it.

That happened last Friday. 

Tom, in the back yard, needed to spray-paint a white line on the lawn for the call-before-you-dig-guys (long story). With his two canes in one hand, paint can in the other, he started, but couldn't finish. And ours is a tiny yard.

He lowered himself into a patio chair, dropping the spray paint can. I stated often-repeated words, "I'll pick it up for you." With a lump in my throat I added, "I can finish painting the line."

Standing outside our back door, I died a bit more that sunny afternoon. Dreams already barely hanging-on vanished into vapor.

Probably no more train rides across America for us. No more estate sales or car shows on lawns. No more anything with stairs or more than a few yards on a sidewalk. No moving to a warmer-winter state. No --

Well, I'd love to say immediately I accepted all that, yet no, it took four quiet days, much cheering up from the Holy Spirit and lots of recalling this Dr. Seuss line: 

"Don't cry because it's over: smile because it happened."

How grateful we are that we did what we did while we still could. Our bucket lists are nearly empty.

Even before I married Tom, God told me this day would come. Being 19, healthy and wildly Miss Pollyanna, I took all of 20 seconds to consider this and told Him, "Sure! I'll be fine with helping Tom in his later years."

And mostly I am, though truthfully, I have my moments. But the humorous thing? At 19 (and beyond) I never really considered I'd be older. You know, no longer the strong-enough-to-leap-tall-buildings gal I once was.

For, uh-oh. Basically, at 62, I'm just a version of my former self, also. Alas.

Yet what a huge relief to know I've got Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Grace and Wisdom all living inside me. And together? We can still create a beautiful life and handle anything that comes our way.

Anything. At least in that assurance I've grown much, much stronger.

And I guess a hidden purpose of this post is also this:

Please never, ever assume anyone has an easier life than yours. None of us get out of here without facing difficulties which may seem small to others, but huge to us. 

It's hurtful (and ignorance) to assume otherwise.

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Yes, Naomi's still in town and she does help run errands and even barbeques lately for us. But she also says she simply cannot spend another cold winter in our area inside her van. So there's that.

And yes, there's other help available out there. But right now? We're at an in between stage. We can still do what we need to, well, mostly.

Someday though, that will change and we'll need to humble ourselves and ask for extra help. God will let us know when that day comes, I'm sure.

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Our local old-fashioned place with a deck beside a river has opened already. We've had such a glorious early spring this year!

My favorite wisdom verse:

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:37-39 NKJV

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Please remember: My posts are ALWAYS about more than they appear to be. 

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 "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

So Has God Given Us Faith To Believe For The Worst?

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen... be it done unto you even as you have believed."   ---Hebrews 11:1, Matthew 8:13

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Good gracious! Remember in my last post how I linked to this book?

Well, I tried that at Facebook, but nooOOoo. Their Community Standards Morons Team told me, "Tsk, tsk! You thought you could get away with posting such false advertising/fraud/security risks?! Ha! We blocked your post. No one else can see it. So there, Sucker."

Well, that's my paraphrase, anyway.  ツ

So now I guess I'll just sit morosely at my computer, eat donuts, mourn the loss of good old days and accept that our country's best days are over.

Ha! Are you kidding? Never! 

Know what I recalled yesterday? Before 2020, many of my friends declared, "I've read the end of The Book and we win! We win!"  Now those same folks say, "We're doomed! We're doomed!"

Come on, People. Get a grip. Why cry when we can sing?

Ok, so the devil won a few skirmishes. Big deal. Will God let him win the whole war? No way! What we're presently viewing is another 'this, too, shall pass' and will last only until God says, "Enough! Hold onto your hats, and watch Me work." 

Until then I believe He's imploring us to fight for what's right. I appreciate how Mario Murillo phrased it:

"Don’t you dare throw tomorrow away! Reclaim your future. Joshua 3:5 is your verse: “Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will work wonders among you.”

What does ‘sanctify’ mean? It means clean up your act! This is not a time to be stunned by events. It's time to train, prepare, pray, study and write the vision plainly so you can run with it. Fan the fading embers back into a roaring flame.

This crisis will go away. What will never go away is the regret of what you might have done for God if you hadn’t thrown it away. GOD HAS NEVER CHANGED HIS MIND ABOUT YOUR FUTURE! RECLAIM IT!"

Really, you won't find me using my 'measure of faith' to believe for gloomy days ahead. No, I remember when they said, "This will be a dark winter," yet in my town? Sunshine broke records, 2020 became a memory and the gladness in my heart intensified.

So today I say, please push back the darkness from your corner: 

Visit your favorite places, collect your best-loved 'banned books.'

Order-out from (or visit) your town's restaurants.

Share Bible verses online. If they're taken down, put them back up.

Visit your neighbors. Invite them over to dinner or dessert or a movie.

Shop locally. Share what you buy.

Speak when God tells you. Speak up, speak out, speak for, speak against.

Participate in the 'buycotts' in which you feel led.

Encourage people via a phone call or social media.

Hang an American flag from your patio.

And for Heaven's sake, spread hope, not doubt and unbelief. Hasn't the quota already been reached for that sorry stuff?

Be different. Be unique. And let almighty God 'make a way where there is none' through you.

You and He can do this.

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Personally, if the Times were even darker-- still -- I'd believe God would soon be brightening them. My heart will let me believe nothing less.

"If you faint in a time of trouble, how small is your strength!"   ---Proverbs 24:10

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Is this adorable or what? (Thanks for sharing, Tracy!)

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For decades I wished for an eatery where I could ask for 'the usual' and they'd know exactly what I wanted. Via my local cafe, I finally have that. Color me grateful and smiling.

Oh! Tom and I found another winner Christian film. It's called Turn Around Jake. Fun. Drama. Truth.  (Give it some moments at the beginning. When he arrives back home is when the film becomes special.)

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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

When You're Bold Enough To Be Yourself

"But Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than any human authority."   --- Acts 5:29

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Recently I became a bit cranky, for a relative insinuated (twice over a month) that my writing is insignificant. Accomplishing nothing.

Sigh.

Anyway, eventually I grabbed the humorous Mrs. Appleyard's Year (published in 1941 and yes, it matters) and while reading, oh my! This perfect paragraph about her English aunt fluttered into my heart like confirmation from Heaven: 

"But perhaps the deciding factor will be Aunt Hildegarde--her courage, her obstinate refusal to let Hitler change her way of life, her conviction that it is the best way and worth any sacrifice that it costs. Mrs. Appleyard is rather proud of being related to Aunt Hildegarde: not because she is unusual, but because there are so many women like her. Mrs. Appleyard would not care much about a world where Aunt Hildegarde could not say what she liked. She wants her aunt to keep on writing letters--those letters on thin paper that hold the empire together."

Wow. How remarkable that words many-times-reread can emit fresh meaning according to our present circumstances.

This pandemic era, this takeover by hostile, censoring, next-door-to-communism types? What an opportunity for us to fight back by insisting upon living Life our way. By boldly speaking God's word even though it's opposite of the general consensus of evil.

Don't let anyone/anything change you into someone else, ok? With freedom and wisdom, follow God's personalized plan for you. 

Live, 

laugh,

be old-fashioned,

listen to God,

give, 

create,

love--

 

--and view Life as an ongoing adventure. Why? Because it still is, even so, even now in a crazy 2021.

"What I love most about this crazy life is the adventure of it."

Juliette Binoche

Are you being you or who They want you to be?

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A perfect movie to confirm this post? Me Again. Tom and I enjoyed this special film last night. 

Oh, and yesterday afternoon I could not put down this kindle book. So good, I finished it and wished for more.

Times have changed for the worse, but with God's help we as His people can change for the better!

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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

Your Mission, Should You Choose To Accept It ...

 

"Therefore, "Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord."   ---2 Corinthians 6:17

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So did I make it over to the shopping mall on my birthday? Yes. Yes, I did.

And gracious, though I'd not visited that place in 12+ years--still--my experience was exactly as I'd imagined. Exactly.

Yawn. Dullsville.  シ 

Ninety five percent of that huge place is devoted to clothing shops. 

Clothes,

Clothes, 

Everywhere, clothes.

And guess who's not bought clothes at a mall since the 90's?

For memory's sake of bygone days, I did step into a candle store and Marshalls and if coughing in public was allowed these days I'd have sputtered all over when I spied the $45 Yankee candle and the $6.59 dish towel.

And man! I longed to smile at people. But nooOO, unallowed these days, what with wearing masks. I did consider waving at strangers, but wondered at the wisdom of that. Would it cause angst like this?--

Little old lady: "Henry, quick! Look at that woman across the way. She waved to us."

Little old man:  He looks.

Little old lady: "Do we know her?

Little old man: "Don't think so."

Little old woman: "Are you sure? I don't want to appear stuck-up. Maybe we should wave back."

Little old man: "Too late. She's gone."

Little old woman: "I feel so bad. Maybe we did know her after all. Darn these masks. Now I'll wonder all the rest of the day just who she was."

ツ

Anyway, I did enjoy the ability to take a walk within a warm place.

Yet on the drive home the true fun began. While considering the boring mall, I asked myself: If you'd designed that mall, which stores would you place inside it? What would get you there once a week rather than every 12 years?

 

Oh! Best creative assignment I'd given myself in eons.

So here you go. What you'd find in Debra's Mall:

A used bookstore

An outlet-type bookstore

Three coffee shops/cafes

An antique furniture store

A huge "Five and Dime-type" store

A movie theater

Three restaurants

A little chapel

Two hair salons

A record album store (with listener booths)

An American Pickers-type shop

A supermarket

A media shop with cd's, dvd's and computer accessories

A gym

A food court with a guy playing the piano

A Christian bookstore

An amusement park

An all-things-modern-day-Victorian shop

Two department stores

An animal shelter

A craft supply store

A homemade candy store

A Dollar Tree (thanks for the reminder, Dolores!)

A candle shop

A roller skating rink

A music store (guitars, instruments, etc.)

A Salvation Army store (or Goodwill. Or both.)

A flower shop (for gift bouquets, etc.)

A gaming arcade

An office supply store

A garden shop

And ok, a couple clothing-only stores. シ

The bittersweet thing? Between them, three malls in our area used to  contain many of these stores. You know, back in the Days of Normal. And freedom.

Oh well! There's always the malls, stores and streets in Heaven to anticipate. Can you imagine how cute those shops will be and all their handmade wonders from folks using their talents?

Anyway, I had such a lovely time creating that list. In fact, last night around 1:00 a.m., I awoke to add to it--and smiled upon my pillow.

So here it is, your mission should you choose to accept it: 

Create your own mall of your dreams. 

Make your own list, one far more daring than mine, even. I tended to stick with ideas I'd already seen done, but you?  I'm sure you can imagine far more creative ideas.

I mean, why not? 

These days, especially, using our minds to think our own thoughts--ones apart from the masses-- is a valuable exercise in remembering who we are and who we are not.

Always be the best original, passionate, God-created version of yourself, okay? Never forget what you are called to do during your few years upon this planet.

Never lose your spirit of  hope or adventure!

 “Each of you has received a gift to use to serve others. Be good servants of God’s various gifts of grace. Anyone who speaks should speak words from God. Anyone who serves should serve with the strength God gives so that in everything God will be praised through Jesus Christ."   ---1 Peter 4:10

Did you imagine shops/ideas not already on my mall list? I'd love to hear what they are!

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Thank-you for your birthday wishes here and at Facebook! I had the best day.

“The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and He delivers them. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.”

Psalm 34:7, 10 NIV

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

Another Birthday And Some This And That

Another birthday. Oh goody. シ

This morning my cafe buddy, Jill, congratulated me on finally turning 29. Ha! Then we both agreed that we'd only return to 29 if we knew what we know now. Otherwise, forget it.

Speaking of the cafe, my book, Practically Seventeen, whooshed me to the 1940's there (even after 20 times rereading it).

At one point, I lifted my head and felt a jolt as I returned to 2021. Wonderful how books can snatch us away, right?

Oh, and before sharing some new links, below, here's a reminder: 

I do not share every detail of my life in this blog. Certainly not.

Last night a Facebook friend(?) accused me of never driving our car nor going anywhere and well, sheesh! This past year I've driven that car all over town quite a few times and have visited the cafe and with more neighbors than ever before.

Seriously, what I leave out could fill another whole blog.   

And so here's a special thank-you to my real friends who've understood, accepted and respected that all along:

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1.) Anyone else remember The New Leave It To Beaver tv series from the 1980's? Gee, I'd forgotten how much I loved. That. Show. 

Yet via Youtube, I am now remembering. Here's my favorite episode, but many others come close. How fun to watch other original characters return in episodes 30 years later, as well.

The link to the original Still The Beaver movie is here.

2.) Appreciated the encouragement of this:

All of Mario Murillo's blog posts lately have inspired me, but especially this one.

3.) One of Tom's and my final bucket list items? To travel Route 66. Yet after watching this video together, we feel as though we traveled it already so now, who knows? Truly enjoyable video with this son and his dad.

4.) Oh! And here's a helpful hint: try not to order votives/candles during  summertime. They just might all melt together in the UPS truck(!)

Don't ask me how I know this. heh.

(Miraculously, all 244 of my votives did manage to still work/burn after I chipped them apart individually with a steak knife and babied some of them along.)  ツ

5.) Tom saved this box, below, from an Ebay order to show me all these stamps (this was just the back!). Wild right? 

Always, creative folks have been my favorites.

6.)  Now here's a terrific verse for our times, one which encourages us to pause, to dig deeper than only what our eyes see:

7.) My sister and her husband have a new puppy! So adorable, right? They named her Star.

8.) Yep. Fifty-five years of doing this and still counting:

Okay, enough for now. 

Remember how I mentioned shopping malls last week? I'm thinking today I'll drive over to ours for a birthday outing and for old time's sake.

If this actually happens, I'll tell you how it goes.

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Every year on your birthday, you get a chance to start new.

Sammy Hagar

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

Where She's Downright Helpless Without Him

"Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved."   ---Psalm 55:22

"Apart from me you can do nothing."   ---John 15:5

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So to fill our outdoor bird feeders I--

grab my coat,

remove a board (which keeps Dan the Cat out) from in front of the accordion basement door, 

push back that door, move aside the curtain across it. 

I switch on the light, descend the five stairs, 

then usually climb right back up, having forgotten to grab the empty plastic shoebox and cup for birdseed.

Then in the still-semi-darkness I --

step over to the storage bin with the birdseed, 

struggle with the lid, 

set it upon the floor then 

scoop up birdseed with the cup a few times into the container. 

Then I carry the seed back up the stairs, through the doorway, replace the board and the curtain

open the backdoor

walk over to the bird feeders

then fill them.

I walk back over the little sidewalk to the back door,

open it, pull the curtain back 

reach through the accordion door opening over the board to the shelf

and replace the empty plastic shoebox and cup,

close the curtain

walk up the three stairs into the kitchen

and go about my day.

All this just to feed the birds! I imagine all my other tasks and discover a sudden need to sit down. ツ

But here's the thing: at age 62-as-of-tomorrow, I can do nothing without Jesus' help. No seriously, not even the vacuuming. Oh, the dread, struggle and loneliness of living one moment apart from Him!

For me? I refuse to live even seconds without the knowledge, the remembrance, the vital presence of Jesus. They've become too much like breathing now, especially during this pandemic, and more? They keep away all silliness like wilderness trips alone and where's God gone? thoughts. 

Phooey on all that stuff.

But go relying on people this way and we're doomed to disappointment (and often disappearance). Even when I mess up, Jesus stays, which says much during these cancel culture times. 

I mention all this because of this paragraph, below. Weeks ago it both shook me and confirmed that Life lived in this manner is best. I cannot shake these words (nor wish to). May they shake you, as well.

"(Jesus) answered: I've given each person a will. The desire of the hearts of those who will not accept me is that they want Us to stay out of the way. They don't want the Father, the Son or the Holy Spirit. They say, 'Leave me alone, I'll make it.' They think they can make their own lives, live the way they want. That's the will of people who deprive themselves of salvation. So I immediately had to create a place of total separation."

From Heaven Is Beyond Your Wildest Expectations, Ten True Stories of Experiencing Heaven by Sid Roth and Lonnie Lane

And now may you go with God. Forever moment-by-moment. In joy.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths."   ---Proverbs 3:5,6

Only one person has consistently encouraged me when I desperately needed it. Only one. Jesus. End of story.

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Oh, now here was a terrific movie: The Resurrection of Gavin Stone. Tom and I watched it on Saturday and both agreed it was perhaps the best Christian film of this type we'd ever seen. Highly recommended.

We watched that one over at Amazon, but this one, Crossing Streets, was another winner (we found it at Pure Flix). A seasoned detective is assigned a pastor as a partner so to get a different angle on the city's youth. 

It's a drama, but there's lots of humorous banter between the two men. Very enjoyable.

“I have come to see clearly that life is more than self. It is more than doing what I want, striving for what will benefit me, dreaming of all I can be. Life is all about my relationship with God. There is no higher calling, no loftier dream, and no greater goal than to live, breathe, and be poured out for Jesus Christ."
--Jamie in Brother Andrew's "The Calling”

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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

Looking Back, Then Moving Ahead Better Than Before

"Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double."  -- Zachariah 9:12

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So. Over at Youtube I'm watching videos illustrating the bygone glory days of shopping malls. 

You remember malls, right? All those shops, those crowds, beneath one roof with inset speakers piping down Musack. You'd weave amongst humanity so to find that blouse from the sales flyer or that cd for your daughter's Christmas.

Perhaps you'd buy a coffee. Lunch. Watch varied styles of people ambling or power-walking by.

Well, while viewing those mall videos with crazy 80's hairstyles and baggy clothed-folks, I recalled later videos of scary, abandoned malls. How, all over, they've become the new ghost towns of our times.

Ends of eras, good ones, always sadden me and Honey, I've watched many eras crumble lately. How about you?

I'm one of those folks who, generally, prefer the way things were. Though yes, things that are, today, always become things that were, tomorrow. Technically, I should keep that in mind.

Well, after the third (or so) video I thought, "I wish we still had a local mall." But good gracious, we do! I'd just not visited there in probably 12+ years, which is telling. (Though Tom and I still drive past it oodles of times which makes me wonder about my head. Again.) ツ

Perhaps I'll drive over there this week. Or meh, probably not. Why? Because already I'm certain they don't carry what I want to see:

... the 80's and 90's hair and clothes styles

... the teenagers hanging-out in groups, laughing

... Linens and Things! Man, I miss that place.

... the un-tense, un-angry, unmasked people

... the prevalent carefree feeling hanging like a mist

... people enjoying their (taken for granted) freedoms

... the thinner, younger-life-stage, less-graying Debra

In short, the way Life used to be, especially before this past covid year. (Often we believe we're searching for a thing, an era, but in reality, it's feelings remembered.)

So what to do? Create something similar within my own home, return to my identity. And actually, on my yellow tablet paper Sunday night I wrote:

This week, return to the best of your original self. The creative, real you. She's been on vacation--not the good kind.

And now it's only Wednesday, but already I feel refreshed, as though I traveled away to sun and surf, but no! I simply returned to these interspersed amongst my housework, rather like homework assignments from Balance Class:

playing my 1960's and 70's records

reading humorous books

gathering leaves from flower beds

reading outside in the sunshine

'playing books' with those on my shelves

taking walks

rearranging trinkets on my upstairs' shelves

reading vintage homemaking books

following along with the book, Simple Abundance

organizing, decluttering

feeding the birds outside, etc.

How refreshing to become reaquainted with my younger, more creative, anticipatory-of-the-future self. To add her to the newer fighting adventurer of Today. 

Of course, it hugely helps that Spring-like weather returned this week, also. シ 

Okay, this has grown too long. 

Basically I'm finding happiness in recreating my own world because, wow, that other one out there? It's growing so opposite of the Bible and of the true me. With God's help I'm returning to a version of myself closer to the original and the supposed-to-be-here-now lady, looking ahead.

As much as I'm able. Within my own reach of this world. While I still can.

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. "   ---Psalm 23:1

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly."  ---John 10:10

We are not helpless!

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The entryway to my home in Heaven? It's gonna look a wee bit like this--

Oh! I found another wonderful nostalgic Youtube channel. It's called Recollection Road. Each video is well-made and, yes, usually bittersweet, but they're great for not only remembering, but for learning the history of businesses most of us used to frequent back in the day.

Also, these reflect the way I felt when we moved to New York state in 1993. Life still felt so very old-fashioned back here.

Here are a few favorites:

Dairy Queen

Main Street 1950's

Diners of the 1950's

Marshall Field's

Howard Johnson's

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"Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour."   ---1 Peter 5:8,9

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