Celebration...

Today I celebrated my 64th birthday. Truly a birthday I didn't think I would see. So my thankfulness on this day and on Thanksgiving is just gratitude to
God for allowing me the priviledge of beginning a new day.

Each day as you arise, you get to choose as to how you want to use your day.
Are we not blessed to be able to do that? We can be or do anything we want to do. Such a gift should never be overlooked and taken advantage of. Because you don't know what that day will bring, so try and make it your best.

As a very dear friend of mine always says "God loves you and so do I", so go have the best day and continue to walk in love.

Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe...Hebrews 12:28 NASB

Trusting...

Remember when you were about 5 or 6 years old? If you were fortunate enough to have a family that believed in God and went to church as mine did, you knew who God was. You could feel Him. Your head was not full of religious ideas or rules that needed to be obeyed before you thought God would hear you. My grandmother was a beautiful woman of God. She prayed without seizing and if there was ever any doubt, she never allowed me to see that. She just prayed and expected, and her prayers I think were always answered.

I can remember saying my prayers, asking God for what I wanted and trusting that it would be done. It was so simple. We make it so hard to hear from God.

I am blessed in my life to have returned to the trusting of a child and allow God to work in my life. I visited three different churches this week all with different ideologies and views. They were all interesting and filled with information. But guess what? I found God there in every church I entered, for God is not a God looking for a church, he is looking for the one trusting and believing. He will find you, no matter where you are praying or asking for his guidance.

So today I am thankful as Thanksgiving day approaches that I have God in my life. I thank him for my health, family, grandchildren and my friends. I am thankful that God gave me a second chance at life. I remain thankful everyday. I am thankful for a bed to sleep in and to have food on my table. And I will continue to pray for those less fortunate and reach out and extend a hand. Whether you give of your time or help someone financially...Be a blessing and God will bless you.

I am a recreated being. Old things have passed away, and all things have become new. (2 Cor. 5:17 NKJV)

"Fall in Love With Your Life"...

A wonderful uplifting book written by Maria Carter. This was not only enlightening but thoughtful, spiritual and gives you a hint of what you can become.

By studying and answering thought provoking questions and the 365 love notes to romance the self critic...She guides you ever so gently to entertain how to attain a more fulfilling and purposeful life and really how to learn to love yourself.

I was fortunate to meet Maria at Author 101 University held in Las Vegas a few weeks ago. She is as warm and caring as is the message in her book. Her passion for life and for others shines through.

Debuting early next year is her magazine titled LOVING...Balance...Vibrance...Bliss. A positive reflection of how to become the best at being the woman you are...

Her book "Fall in Love WIth Your Life"...debuted in October of this year. You can find it in bookstores and on Amazon.com

A warm and touching book. A new way to look at your life and how to fall in love with it...Pick it up and enjoy the wonderful journey.

Dark versus Light...

Photo by: Hollye Schumacher

I love this picture of the dark door verses the slightly ajar door with the light shining through. The image itself alludes to the idea of the unknown. Bought at a Donor Life Exhibit about 2 years ago the photo hangs in my bedroom.

"The meaning behind the doorway are many. For one, it is a optimistic symbol for the life benefiting opportunities that organ and tissue donation can afford. The ray of light ready to take over the dark corners of the room implies an abundant amount of hope and altruistic goodness that pours through the hearts of organ recipients and donors."

The long waiting lists and unknown outcomes of surgery often leave organ recipients in a fragile balance between untimely death and a healthier prolonged life. This precious balance between light and dark is so intensly related to the emotional life or death experience that organ donors and recipients face. I believe it was the artists goal to share the hope of the opening door into the light that so symbolically represents hope and love on the other side. That is what stirred my emotion when I bought it.

"Waiting to Die, Wanting to Live" is a story of the contrasted struggle between good and bad and gives one a sense of renewed hope that reflects the journey that recipients and donors face. It shared the image of hope for the outcomes of that uncertainty.

For the vision is yet for an apppointed time and it hastens to the end: it will not deceive or disappoint. Though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come; it will not be behindhand on its appointed day. Hab 2:3

Whispers of God...

We all have moments that touch or transform us. I had one of those moments this past weekend.

Returning from Author 101 University in Las Vegas I sat next to a young man on my flight home.The event had been so positive and uplifting that my energy continued on the rest of the weekend.

We got to talking like people do, but I found him to be particularly bright and inquisitive. He was talking about health insurance, work, and his relationship with his girlfriend. He said "I don't know if this is a commitment or a submission". I was taken aback by his words and asked what he meant by that. He explained some and then asked this very seasoned lady (that would be me)..."What is the secret of a good marriage or a relationship?". I paused to reflect and answered as best I could.
But I found the word submission very intriguing. I don't know if my advice was understood, but I was touched that such a young man would welcome the advice of an older woman.

Suddenly like God whispering in my ear...I was asking about his personal family life. He said his father had died several years ago and he had to be the man of the house. I asked how his father died, and he got very quiet, looked down and said "He killed himself, he was only 50". He was of Asian culture and I know they are by nature a very stoic group of people. Hold yourself together, no tears, just get busy with life, etc. Suddenly I asked him if he knew why his father killed himself? He looked away and down and replied no. I asked him if he had grieved the death of his father?

Unable to make eye contact with me he suddenly began to silently weep. I touched his shoulder as he wept like a child that was so injured the tears wouldn't stop. I asked if he needed a hug? He replied "Yes". He lay ed his head on my shoulder and wiped away the tears of many years. He looked me straight in the eyes and said, "Thank you, I can't believe how much better I feel."

The whispers of God come at the strangest of times. We must always be ready for them. So keep your heart and ears open to the whispers of God. And just follow His lead...Let God help you to help others...And you will forever be touched...as will be the person you touch. Grieving,a very important process...hard to move forward withoug walking through it. To Paul I say thank you for sharing your heart and for allowing me to be a part of your life if only for 15 mintues...

The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. (Gal.5:6)