April 20, 2013 Greetings My Friend, I have moved my entry way recliner to a new corner and I am enjoying it here even more than the last corner. I sit and ponder my work routines and how to manage them. I had a set back after returning from Michigan the last time and it is taking me time to get where I want to be. I am also staying up late into the night. B and J tend to be night owls when they stay here. B has breathing problems so long periods of sleep are not possible for her. I am learning to use my night time hours to get things done. I’m not all the way there yet but it is getting comfortable for me to start doing something when I am awake. For a long time I thought I needed to stay quiet so I could get to sleep. Not so. I also was not sure about making noise while Junior slept. He has not worried about making household noises while I slept and my concern was off the mark. For the past few weeks I’ve been doing the morning quiet routine of FBing, read the Bible, journaling, writing if I had something to write and praying. This takes me a few hours to get through and to be honest I’ve enjoyed the quiet time. I’m not on FB all day anymore. I mainly check in first thing when I get up and maybe once more throughout the day. It was a friend when I needed one but life is now getting full and my in and out of FB all day every day is not needed. By late afternoon I am turning the TV on and watching programs. After the news is over and before my night programs come on I do a few things to maintain the house. It works real nice. Junior has noticed my being busy more and commented that I am not sitting as much as I was. It makes my day feel fuller. So if I add a couple of things to the night time hours that would help. I definitely cannot move like I did at one time in my life. I wear out rather easily these days so dividing my housework time up appeals to me. Gone are the days where I could tackle a project and work like crazy for a few hours at a time. I flat out can’t anymore. My head wants to go out and volunteer and do more. I love doing and being around other people. My once a week volunteer job is about all I can handle and lately I’ve even slept through that time frame. I then start feeling like I am not doing enough for the Lord. It bothers me. I have to remind myself that good works don’t get me into heaven. It is my deep walk with God. God may have me being still for a reason and if that is the case I need to accept it. I want to give back to God because I am so grateful for the life I now have. As I sit I pray, read the Bible (on line) do my Sunday school lesson, read my lesson for my women’s Bible study and even attend a monthly missions meeting. I try to focus my entire day around living a life for God whether it is in caring for Junior or volunteering. This past week a friend’s mother died. She is in Michigan and we could not make it out to be with her. I have called her a time or two as she has run like crazy getting the arrangements and called people. We will be out there in another month or so and we will stay with them. It occurs to me that generally there is a lot of comfort at the time of the death but it is several months later when the reality of them being gone begins to truly sink in. That may be the time I show up and can comfort her. I can remember her mother with her since we grew up together. About this time I again learn that we serve God in many ways. Prayer time is serving God. Learning who God is by reading my Bible also helps. Being involved in Sunday school and helping with the bulletins once a week is a way to serve God as well. Then of course the time I spend with my husband being his friend, keeping house and the like is a way to serve God. I always want service to God to be something special like a mission trip or such. Those are good ways to serve God but also making a phone call to a friend in need is a way to serve God as well. I believe that a lot of our service to God is in the quietness of life. That is the lesson I am learning. I don’t have to say God’s name in every sentence or be gone once a week or more. Those are just some ways we can serve God. He does not want me to be a show off as well. It has to be my heart. That heart lesson is hard to grasp at times. Today I was talking to B my mentor. She can put into word pictures some of the deepest thoughts for me to grasp. She has taught me why I don’t need to tell everyone everything that crosses my path and I am on a journey to not bring the deepest parts of me to everyone. Even my weekly phone calls to B is in service to God. With her I am learning more and growing more. As I wanted to become a writer a friend came alongside of me. She met with me for once a week or so for a year or more. I then practiced writing things at home. About the time I retired I came up with the idea for this blog. ( I believe God placed it on my heart). So it took me a few years of quietness before I was able to go out and do. I have written a book and hope to write another one again. For now though I write the blog in the hopes of sharing that faith journey is not always something everyone can see. It is the thoughts I have about others, it is keeping my mind clear of sexual junk and the like. It is treating Junior with respect. A faith journey covers all of our lives so we can be in constant work for God by learning to not tell every detail in life or being gone several days a week. Yup I like that. May God bless you and keep you, make His face to shine upon you. Love Janet