June 30 2015

June 30 2015 Greetings My Friend I am reading Proverbs and this passage was one that stuck out today. The passage reads “Wealth gained hastily will dwindle but whoever gathers little by little will increase.” When I first started reading the Bible this passage spoke to me in regards to retirement and the way to prepare for retirement was to be a process. It has helped Junior and I to be comfortable in retirement. Today I saw a different meaning to wealth. To me I heard the word “healthy.” I saw my family doctor yesterday and she was so pleased with the progress I have made. Today as I read this passage I saw how much work I have been putting into being healthy and even coming back to being the houseworker I once was. The hardest lesson in both of these instances for me has been understanding that 10 minutes of work is better than doing nothing. As I was able to do 10 I built up to a 2nd and more short bursts of work. I was also learning to use my work to exercise my body with bending and stretching, squatting and even with chair exercises as I watched TV. Little by little my stamina grew, my body got stronger. Last year my niece and her husband taught me how to use Myfitnesspal on my phone and computer. I began logging what I ate each day along with the amount of work I was doing. For the first time in years I started to lose weight, my muscles were toned more and my energy level was bouncing back. The little by little building has taught me to tackle one problem at a time to keep on keepin on and a new life for me has emerged. As I have lost my balance I again have used this process to find ways to deal with my struggle and still be able to get around fairly well. When we went to Nashville recently we found ourselves walking a lot with the group. My first walks was an attempt to keep up with the able bodied people. I found myself stumbling a bit more and thankful the walker kept me upright. On one of the walks a couple of the guys with severe back problems came along and we all walked slower for them. At this point I realized I needed to slow down some more and as I did the stumbling went away. At this point I see the “wealth” in this Proverb to take on another meaning. I hear it teaching me that wealth is money but so much more also. My health is part of my wealth today. In the past it was easy to separate the 2 but after all the health issues has arose I am now more aware that my health is a part of my wealth. With my ADHD tendencies I want to do things quickly and to move into the next project. It has been hard for me to slow down this much but as I do I find a newness to life. I find fullness and joy too. God is teaching me that in my older years I can still be productive and useful only at a different pace. God has given me a confidence in my worth, my talent and my work whether homemaking, being a mother and grandmother or a writer. I have much to look forward to. May God bless you and keep you make His face shine on you. Love Janet

June 27 2015

June 27 2015 Greetings My Friend We are getting ready to go to Michigan for a week to visit friends and family. As we prepare I realize this is the 3rd trip in as many months. Part of me is ready to slow down and I am sure it will be a bit before we undertake another trip. This year warm weather has hit us early with the usual rain and I am feeling congested more so. In this thinking I see that as we make plans there may be more opportune times for us to go away. April and May were fairly easy on me as far as my lungs are concerned so it occurred to me that spring and fall may be the best for me. This self reflecting is helpful in the aspect that I am able to be more active and less sickly. Learning to work my body out not necessarily at a gym but in day to day activities is allowing me to move about more freely too. I do see that this has helped me to have a good quality of life. Then there are medications, supplements, essential oils that are helping me as well. Finally I am getting our diets in decent shape as far as eating less processed, less sweets and less fat. All of this thinking has helped me to get my cognitive abilities back to a comfortable level as well. Along with all the thinking about ways to stay healthy I have had to rethink housework again. As I retired I felt that I had learned how to get things done in short segments of time and keep up with all my other activities. I liked this idea and thought it would do me well in retirement giving me a lot of time to volunteer, work part time and travel. As my health declined I have had to learn new ways to do things. The chaos of moving and renovating put me in a stupor for a few years but now I see how it has made me come to a complete stop and then work back into what my body and mind can handle. I had to learn to be content with a much less active lifestyle and how to stay home more. My heart wanted to go out and do all I could for God. I saw this as volunteering, short term mission trips and heading up things like workshops and such. God has taught me that I can do a lot for Him in the quiet of our home. By being home more we have been available to reach out to our community and be friends with people. Sometimes we are available to take someone to the doctor’s, help with giving them a job we need done and such. Social media is a way to reach other people also. God has given me a talent for writing and He has helped me learn enough to get around on social media. I find that I have made many good friends and they are such a comfort at times as I believe I am to them. My active mind gets to engage with others throughout the day and my disabled body doesn’t have to keep moving in order to reach out and help people. God shows me that there is always work if I am willing. He teaches me to “be still and know that He is God” and in the process do the work He wants not what I want to do. In the end I am not wore out from doing all the “good works” I deem is right. It is a hard lesson but a valuable one. I find that I am as involved in God’s work today as I have ever been. May God bless you and keep you make His face shine on you. Love Janet

June 25 2015

June 25 2015 Greetings My I am on the front porch with my laptop. I find myself struggling with bronchitis and at the same time longing to go outside and sit so the porch sitting and writing sounds like a winner to me. Junior has found a contractor online and he is to come install a 2nd toilet in our laundry room. I believe Junior wants to get an idea of the quality of his work before seeing about asking him to do our other renovations. My prayer is this is the one to help Junior finish up the renovating process. Getting that 2nd part of the bathroom will mean that down the road we will have 3 and I am not upset with that either. I also hope Junior can get the plumbing hooked up for the washing machine which would give us a lot more room in our current bathroom. The birds are singing and I marvel as I listen to them. I will hear a bird or two over by the road and then almost like an answer I will hear birds towards the back of the property. It quiets down and I hear a small song. The dogs are sleeping at my feet and the breeze feels good. My heart keeps pondering if I should be out here at all. The humidity is 64%. I tell myself a bit longer and then I will go in. I will sit in the air conditioning with it pulling all the excess moisture out of the air. I will breathe deeply and enjoy the indoor time because I spent time outside enjoying God’s awesome sanctuary. Right now I have noodles cooling to make mac and tuna salad and we will have that for lunch. It is an easy meal to put together and the coolness tastes good on these hot days. I ponder all the foods we have to eat. God created cows to eat grass and hay and they are happy. We were created to taste an abundance of food and it feels good. As a wife and mother one the purest joys I have is cooking for my family. Some days I thank God for teaching me to cook because I enjoy my cooking so much. I marvel at the textures, the aromas and the smiling faces of those I cook for. To me this is the DNA God created in me to give to my family. Later I will make the bed, pick up, sweep and feel Junior’s contentment in our home. He feels my contentment as he creates the structure of our home. He understands that I am short, he has studied my likes and dislikes and strives to create with them in mind. More often than not we are on the same page as far as our tastes in decorating go which feels awesome. I trust him to make decisions from time to time when I am not around. As I sit here writing I understand on a deeper level that I am responding to the way God created me/us. The more I learn how to live the way I was created I find that I am at the place I need to be and I no longer question God. May God bless you and keep you Love Janet

June 23 2014

June 23 2015 Greetings My Friend Having more than one chronic illness means I am on a constant watch for things to avoid, to learn the triggers. Right now I am on a vigilance to avoid things that set off my breathing struggles. Heat, humidity and allergies are my triggers so as the digestive problems subside I now have to be watchful of these. The heat sets off Chiari symptoms also such as pain in my neck, the back of my skull and of course the straining headaches are reminding me that I need to keep coughing at bay as much as possible and eat enough fiber so as I do not get plugged up. I don’t have day in and day out pain like many of my contemporaries do but I do need to be watchful so as to not have things flare up bad. My shaky hands and dizziness play havoc in my day to day activities as well. I continue to see postings about invisible illness’ and I relate in a big way. I want to be understood, not pitied. Sometimes I can’t go, do whatever and my biggest desire is that I be accepted for my level at that moment. I like to ask for help when I need it too. Let me try to do it on my own first then ask if I need help. I am at the point I will ask for help right off if I am uncomfortable with doing something. There are other times I move too quickly and need a moment to regroup so patience is important as I rebalance myself etc. I am not a quitter and long to be acknowledged for my efforts not with pity but a true sense of appreciation. I took myself grocery shopping yesterday and at the register the cashier asked if I was okay. I learned to take stock that I was out of breath in a noticeable way. I was not sure until that moment I realized how much I had pushed myself. I gave her an explanation and she accepted what I told her without a lot of fussing. I appreciated that. I now know to take notice and to sit and rest if I need it. These struggles are a part of me now so I am not always aware as I would like to be. I keep learning and adjusting the best I can. In this heat and humidity I am vigilant to keep a watch on congestion. Today I sense it and attempt to clear it up with peppermint oil, slowing down and allergy medications. In doing this I take a look at the calendar and see the last time I had bronchitis was 4 months ago. Less often is good and if it happens now I know I did what I could. Part of me thinks that this attention to my breathing will mean that I won’t have as serious of a bout of bronchitis. I also will state on Facebook from time to time a struggle and then someone seems to get it. They relate they too struggle and my hope is that in some small way others understand. Again it is not about pity but a desire to be and do to the best of my ability. May God bless you and keep you make His face shine on you. Love Janet

June 20 2015

June 20 2015 Greetings My Friend Junior is putting a roof over the section of the porch he has extended. I see the vision finally and I am in awe. There will be one more extension to do and the front porch will be finished. He wants to build a 2nd car port for his truck when all this is done. Then both vehicles will be covered year round. At age 65 Junior took on the challenge to renovate our home. At first we looked for contractors to help with this and could not get any to come out and work on our home so he decided to do it himself. Out here there is a huge shortage of work and the few that do work are overloaded. I have learned from Junior how to handle declining abilities and still accomplish goals. I have also learned that there are things I should not attempt, a fall off the ladder taught me I should not even attempt them. We continue to make plans, to dream and then do what we can the best we can. Junior has found using a platform to lift him up so he isn’t stressing his back out on over his head projects keeps him moving longer and better. He no longer uses his muscles to lift up beams but has instituted a pulley system again so as to not stress his back. His weekly Chiropractic visits also help keep his back pliable. Our trip to Marilyn’s timeshare gave Junior a week off. He slowed down, slept a lot and he has come back to the renovating with more stamina. I learn it is good to work and give it what I can and I also learn timeouts are necessary as well. I learn to not stay comfortable in the timeouts or soon nothing will be accomplished. Sometimes I catch Junior having a conversation with himself and I realize that it isn’t just himself he is talking with but God. He is asking God how to do something and as he hears God’s direction Junior will do what He is being taught. We both are asking God for the extra help in finishing up the last of this renovating. Homeadvisor.com has given Junior some numbers to call and one person is possibly going to come out and give us an estimate…..he may or may not but at present I am in prayerful hope. I also believe that God has allowed Junior to take on this task because Junior needed it. He retired before he wanted to due to his back and he felt lost not having a job to go to. The renovating is that job. I also see as the end is in sight that Junior is ready to slow down and change his pace. We both like the idea of refinishing old furniture and building things from old things. I see this as the next phase in our retirement years. I also see that the “work” of getting back to a measure of health has been attempting to keep house again. Today I will run to the grocery store while Junior goes to his Chiropractic appointment thus freeing his time away so he can get back to work sooner. Now that I am back to a measure of my old self we can enter this next phase of our retirement more in sync with each other. I see God’s marvelous hand in making this phase take shape. May God bless you and keep you make His face shine on you. Love Janet

June 18 2015

June 18 2015 Greetings My Friend It is amazing how cool and how fresh the air smells after a rain. Along with a renewed desire to enter into the day I sometimes find a need to sleep a bit more. I remember getting upset thinking I was missing so much by sleeping. Lately I see that I have extended myself a bit too much and need time to get back to my usual energy level. Right now I am waking up from an extra long morning of napping. I got up at my usual time, ate breakfast and then I felt so tired. I went to prayer which lulled me into a deep sleep. As I wake up I have a sense of renewed energy, a comfort in my soul and now I am really ready to enter into this day. I have committed again this morning to give my life over and ask God to lead, guide and direct each step. My struggle is wanting what I desire so deeply in my heart. Knowing that God wants my best teaches me to be patient to wait and to ask for His will not my will. It is a commitment I enter into on and off as the desire speaks to my heart. The more I ask for God’s will the less my will rules over me. I know that God will give me and the others involved in my request the best for all of us. That thought helps me to ask again “Your will Lord.” It is a challenge to stay focused but the more I am able to give it back to God one more time the more peace I have and in that somewhere deep I know I will be good with God’s answer. Now that I have asked for God’s will a few times I am ready to leave the request alone and enter into my routines of cleaning and being Junior’s wife. I will sweep the floors, make the bed, make lunch and sit on the porch. I will snuggle with Daisy and love the other fur children as they walk by me, watching out for me. Yesterday I took the trash to the curb, which is a bit of a challenge. Val followed me watching out for me. He knows I stumble so he was letting me know he was beside me watching out for me. Bella will find my lap and snuggle. Each child fills a special spot in my heart. About now I understand that God is hugging me and loving me through these babies. Junior will notice some work I have been struggling with and I sense his pride in seeing me keep at it. My contentment sustains me and I enjoy the work of this day. I work on the freezer again trying to get it just right. I rework the vegetables and give the 2 bins on the shelves and find a home for my cherry pit neck pillow. I freeze it and it fits my neck and head when I need the ice on these areas. As I clean out the freezer I see we have several ice packs and my plan to keep ice for when the power goes out has been in place and I wasn’t aware of it. For now I sit a bit and write, take a snooze if needed and then the next goal is to work on the refrigerator getting that cleaned and reorganized again. The work keeps my mind from asking God over and over for the desire and His will. Business allows me to move into my day and accomplish tasks which makes me feel productive and useful. The true desire in my heart is “Trust and obey” so I am thankful to be about this days work. May God bless you and keep you make His face shine on you. Love Janet

June 16 2015

June 16 2015 Greetings My Friend Slowly my quiet time is coming to an end. I have talked with God, studied His Word and Facebooked with friends and enjoyed the quiet of the morning. Junior and I ate breakfast outside enjoying the cool of the morning. Daisy my little buddy has found that the other dogs hang outside more so she snuggles with me a bit more and soaks up the love. The groomer explained that Daisy’s limping is a hip problem so I have started giving her glucosamine. Three days and I am amazed at how much better she is doing. Junior found a contractor who will work with the Veteran’s Administration and soon he will come give us a price. I keep sensing Junior is growing weary of renovating so I pray that he will get the help he needs. Junior has extended more of the deck and now working at putting the roof up. I hear him drilling and hammering as I write. My heart melts because I know this is a gift he is giving me. The more we hang outside on the deck the more grateful I am that he has labored to give me this gift. I still would like the kitchen to be finished but now I am content with our summer respite spots he has created and is still working on. I am thankful for God’s guidance in loving Junior. On my own Junior would be irritated and have given up due to my constant nagging. His organizational ways are not my ways and I don’t understand. God has taught me to let Junior go and do at his own pace. God has shown me the deep love Junior has for me and that Junior will finish what he starts even though at times it looks like he will never get done. Junior also senses that God is working with me to be patient and understanding so he continues giving me his best. I am thankful for this because I would not have met the creative talent he has. He knew next to nothing about renovating but he has taught himself along the way not accepting shoddy work so he will take things apart as many times as he needs to until he gets it right. I marvel at Junior’s tenacity. These little learning patience moments are a marvel to me because in them I sense that our relationship continues to deepen and our bond grows stronger. In the process of getting back to being as healthy as I can Junior has come to know my tenacity and I sense that he is proud of the work I am doing. I continue to ask God to show me and God is faithful. I have learned that doing workouts at the gym are not the only workouts I can do. God shows me to bend to stretch and to do day to day things that help me. He has given me a doctor who listens and puts me on the right track and then God shows me that there are also natural remedies to some of my struggles. I sense that my balance issues will settle down, my COPD is better not gone but better and I am thankful for God’s guidance once more. As I finish today’s thought I will begin to enter into my day and find it to be an awesome gift of life. May God bless you and keep you make His face shine on you. Love Janet