July 15 2014

July 15 2014 Greetings My Friend, I’m back from my daily walk. I got up late a couple of days last week and it was already too hot outside so I used the Elliptical instead. As I start a new week of walking outside I find that I need to build up my stamina again. It seems unfair. For most of my life a day or two off did not mean I start back at square one again. These days with COPD and balance issues I guess this is my new “normal”. I tell myself at least I keep moving and the more I move the better I feel and am. I will have a better quality of life and the whole nine yards. At present I am overcoming the heavy breathing I tend to have at the end of my walks. This is a time of quiet reflection for me so I will write or say prayers or even both before I get up and move about again. It also helps me with my overactive mind since I am changing thinking process’ from quiet to physical and such. Instead of focusing on “ain’t it awful?” I tend find myself being grateful to still be able to live a full life. I am able to learn and grow in new ways now and frankly I love learning new things. I am not stuck in the past but I continue to move forward overall. The sin of “comparison” tends to keep cropping up in life. N at church is in her 70’s. She leads a Sunday school class, helps with socials at church, visits shut ins and the list goes on. Same for P. This woman is also in her 70’s holds down a job and helps out on the farm she has with her husband. So I am 60 and I can’t and I want to and it doesn’t seem fair. Once more God reminds me that I am not P or N and I am doing another type of work. I take several hours each day to write. I write this blog, write a Letters From Janet Facebook page, do a regular FB page. I also do some housework and I cook one major meal each day. When I begin to list what I do do then I see that I have a full and productive life. I no longer can work with teens, I can not lead a Bible study, mission trips aren’t on the agenda anytime soon for me. I can write. I can be a comfort to someone struggling, I can pray and lately this is my goal in life is to pray for people. They may not know I am praying for them and I don’t mind. It is for their good and God knows my heart so that is all that matters. A friends husband has had some problems and has been in the hospital for a month or so. I saw her for the first time yesterday in a long time. I told her I wasn’t good at visits and such but I have been in prayer for them. Facebook, the news, friends, family all are places that I can reach through prayer. I have a person struggling big time right now and I pray for that person on and off all day. I pray for the family as well. I can’t be by their side but I can pray for them. As I pray there are times I sense God says pick up the phone, etc. My calling isn’t like my neighbors calling. My abilities are not like my neighbors abilities. I am learning that we are not all created the same. Some are artistic, musical, helpers, givers, teachers and the list goes on and on. When I can accept my abilities where I am at I tend to move forward, feel that life is full and rich and even like the person God is creating me to be. May God bless you and keep you make His face shine on you. Love Janet