December This And That

"Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”   ---John 14:21

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1.) Remember my little experiment when I 'over-wintered' my impatiens plant inside? I'd gardened for decades but had never considered attempting this. Crossing my fingers it'll work again this upcoming winter!

(The mums on the side were an anniversary gift from Naomi.)

2.) Oh, and I already shared the Tomorrow Is A Chance to Start Over song (one we'd heard via the show, Grimm), but every single day I listen to that encouraging tune while I make my bed and get dressed. Every day! 

I believe keeping ourselves encouraged is our own responsibility. I've never found that waiting around, whining--until others come pick me up--leads to a wonderful life. Er hem.

3.) Okay, this was like watching a sentimental Christmas movie made up of lovely short stories. Have tissues handy. Maybe chocolate, too. ツ

This one, also. (If all tv ads resembled these, I'd hope for more interruptions, not less.)  シ

4.) I so appreciated these words which God gave Liberty from Spirit Move Ministries, words she shared during her Thanksgiving video:

"You crush satan with your peace... when you walk in My peace when you don't know, when you don't understand. I work in the unseen. Do not trust what your eyes see." 

5.) Speaking of Thanksgiving .... I've found this to be oh so true:

6.) Probably I've read over 1,000 books, but one in the Top Five? This:

People seldom even come more inspiring than this lady.  ツ 

I began rereading my copy (bought cheaply decades ago) yesterday at our dining room table with snow (yes, snow!) falling outside. Later I discovered this video where a guy found the first farmhouse the Moses' bought (the video is cue'd to that portion).

Then I watched this video which gave a delightful overall outline of Grandma Moses' life.

Gotta love an inspiring Grandma Moses day! Not only because of her beautiful paintings, but for her sunny attitude which--personally--I believe helped her live to age 101.

7.) Oh! And I keep forgetting to tell you that, at one time, Ken Osmond ('Eddie' from Leave It To Beaver) and his family lived next door to Almanzo and Laura (Ingalls) Wilder(!) Wild, right? 

Ken said they were the nicest people and used to share their tools with his dad. 

Fun bit of trivia, that.

8.) Isn't this beautiful? (Found via Cozy Cottages at Facebook.)

9.) Don't have enough Youtube videos to watch? Here's another one for you:

Incredibly Beautiful One Story Wooden Hut In The Heart of Nature

10.) Truth! Even in 2021 it's possible to know there's a plan somewhere in the midst of all the chaos. Whew.

11.) Some kind advice:

12.) And to leave you with a smile:

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

Something We Kinda Forget

"He answered, “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”   ---Luke 10:27

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So yesterday was Thanksgiving (I hope yours was pleasant like ours!), but something else occured on Thursday.

What was that, you ask? Tom's and my 43rd wedding anniversary. 

Oh my! Forty-three years have passed since our wedding and yet that white-lace-and-promises,-a-kiss-for-luck-and-we're-on-our-way day still remains vivid in our minds. No really, vivid.

How grateful am I to be growing older with this 'husband of my youth.' To have whole reams of treasurable memories from which to choose and cherish anytime.

Anyway.

Speaking of love ... I'd read probably 5 books about Heaven, but this past week I bought one via Kindle and wow! If I could only keep one 'Heaven book', this would be Imagine Heaven by John Burke. 

It answered many questions, but more? This book reminds us of things easily forgotten in Today's so-distracting world. Here are a couple reminders:

"Love matters most to God because he is love at the core of his being ... God is also just, but his justice is his loving response to evil when it hurts the people he loves. ..

God must be our first love because only then can he teach us how to love others as he loves us... all other things we put first in our lives make bad gods that will let us down. We were made for God's love first. His love rightly orders all other loves.

'I clearly saw that every action, every decision and every human interaction impacts the bigger world in far more significant ways that we could ever be capable of appreciating.'

'I felt the presence of the Lord beside me and he asked in my spirit, ' ... 'What have you done with the life I gave you?'"

That last line? Haunting. To me, anyway.

Just a taste of this remarkable book which I couldn't put down and dreaded finishing. So when I did, I returned to the start and reread the (many) portions I'd yellow-highlighted.  

Seriously, this isn't only a book describing Heaven, but one instructing us how to live our best prepatory life upon this temporary Earth. It feels (to me) kinda like a cheat sheet, in fact (I say that reverently).

Over and again, Imagine Heaven reminds us how God prefers that we live this life He breathed into us here. Most highly recommended, indeed.

"Let all that you do be done in love."   --- 1 Corinthians 16:14

It's not just about 'being nice'. Doing what we can to help push back Today's darkness is also a form of God's love for His people.

"And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony."   ---Colossians 3:14

So God gave me a time of rest after our nephew and his wife left, for their visit wore me out more than I'd thought. And oh, I needed to rest my poor little plantar-fasciitis-ed foot.

But uh-oh.

Ol' Debra enjoyed her vacation a bit too much and stretched it past God's boundaries (I'm thinking) so He sent along this Youtube video which straightened me right up! ツ

Warning! Watch Out For The Spirit of Laziness, Slumber and Delay.

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Speaking of Youtube, only this week did I discover that--sometimes-- you can speed-up people's speaking and so watch these videos quicker(!) Just click on 'settings' then 'playback speed.' (I find this fun. Your results may vary. heh.)

These were spiffy:

Four True Angel Encounters

One Hour of Vintage Autumn Music

Tiny Vintage Christmas Home Tour

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Oh! And this Thanksgiving I found myself feeling especially grateful for each of you, my Readers. Thank-you for reading here, commenting and encouraging me!

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

The Ruined Lawn And Other Stories

"Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save."   ---Isaiah 46:4

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So. Our front lawn? Pretty much it's a ghastly mess. Ugh.

Maybe I should've taken pictures of men standing in a 5-foot-deep trench changing-out broken pipes, but no. Barely could I handle peeking from behind the curtains, myself. 

Some pipes needed replacing when we moved here 10 years ago, and well, thousands of dollars later, they now are. Replaced, that is. (Thankfully we had money in savings.) And now we're left with a long, wide mound of dirt, tire marks and dried leaves everywhere (the lawn guys stopped mowing at October's end).

The plumber guys said they'll return in Spring to level things out better. Sigh.

Now, the younger, insecure Debra? She'd be frazzled. All what-are-the-neighbors-thinking-about-us?-ish. But this older, 62-year-old model, she's more like, "Oh well. Stuff happens and I'm too old/tired to fix it this time. I can't do what I can't do."

Maybe it's a tad like the way we keep the captions on our tv. Always. Captions used to interfere with my tv-viewing experience, yet now? They enhance it. 

I've accepted that.

Or perhaps acceptance of the lawn situation is akin to the way I've given-up ever finding my dream house this side of Heaven. Or that I can only eat two meals a day, no longer have boundless stamina nor is there much left for me to decorate. Or the way some dreams are far past ever working out.

But you know what makes all these type things feel trivial and unimportant? This:

Seriously. 

Go loving God with all your heart and you discover Life doesn't require appearing 'perfect' to others anymore. You're fine, better than. In-love-happy! Contented, accepted, and at peace, assured that--somehow--everything is gonna be all right. In time, with God's strength and wisdom, things will work out His way.

You realize what God thinks and knows about you is what matters most.

Whew. And this cloudy autumnal morning you can color me grateful for all that. Indeed.

"Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place."   ---Revelation 2:4,5

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Oh my, I've watched hundreds of Youtube videos, but yesterday these, below, shook my soul. Made me teary. You'll wonder at my sanity, but ..... I felt like I was viewing myself in the backyard of my house in Heaven.

Seriously. 

The long hair. The dresses. The pretty face of a woman contentedly fixing-up an enchanting summer cottage.

I had to still my heart as I watched. And watched. And watched.

Old Fairy Cottage Renovation

Cottage Kitchen Renovation

Cottage Bedroom Renovation

Cottage Veranda Renovation

Be sure to use the captions on these. Unless you speak Russian, of course.  ツ

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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