A Bit Old School? Probably

Share five things you’re good at.

Five things I’m good at are things I do every day. This may be a bit “old school” for some, but for my family, it works well.

Managing the Household (this has more than 5 if I’m honest about it)

I keep things going. I pay the bills, manage the budget, and make sure we have food in the house and on the table. I keep up with appointments, medications, laundry, and cleaning.

Do I do it all by myself? Absolutely not. My husband is also my partner and best friend. We play our parts and help each other daily.

Wife – Mother – Grandmother

My husband recently had a cardiac arrest with an anoxic brain injury. He is improving every day, but this did add to an already busy schedule.

Our youngest daughter also lives with us with our youngest granddaughter, whom I care for while my daughter works and finishes her bachelor’s to become a teacher. (Only 6 more months to graduation!)

My oldest son is in the military. When he’s overseas, I tend to his business affairs here in the states as well. (He landed in Poland the same day my husband nearly died in our backyard.)

Strong Woman

If everything I’ve already written doesn’t state that, I don’t know what does. My plate is definitely full. I’m fortunate to have been able to retire early. I have held down a full-time job and been in school full time, too.

You would think retirement would be a life of leisure. I promise you, I stay busier now than I ever did while working.

I am not complaining in the least. I am very thankful that God has blessed me with a family to care for, and I am extremely happy with my life (it didn’t start out so great, but that’s another story). I honestly wouldn’t know what to do if I didn’t have them in my life. I can’t imagine things any other way.

I love to read, study my Bible, crochet, listen to music, and obviously, tend to my family.

I guess you could say I’m good at being who I am, and that’s a lot.

A Work In Progress

What is one thing you would change about yourself?

I find that we are hardest on ourselves. We are always striving to be something better than what we are. We are never satisfied. Maybe not everyone as there are some who feel they’re perfect, but I think most fall victim to this.

The older I get, the more I settle into who I am. The bible tells us that we “are fearfully and wonderfully made,” but let’s be honest. Do we actually we accept that for ourselves?

How many struggle with self-image? I’m too heavy. I’m too thin. I need to work out more. My hair is too straight or too curly.

Have you ever rehashed a conversation in your head and thought, “I should have said this or shouldn’t have said that. They probably think I’m an idiot.”

I used to do it all the time. I’ve even second guessed about putting things on here or on social media.

Life is too short to sweat the small stuff. It’s time to accept who we are and what we are. I do pray everyday that God will fill my heart and my mind with the presence of the Holy Spirit and that I lead a life pleasing to Him.

Am I perfect? Far from it. I can only strive to be kind to others and live by example. We never know what impact we may have on someone’s life by our actions.

I speak from experience in that there have been many in my life making an impact in which they had no idea I even saw or heard what they did or said.

Reference: Psalms 139 – Romans 8:38-39 – Jeremiah 1:5; 29:11

Definitely A Morning Person

Are you more of a night or morning person?

There’s something about a new day. It’s a fresh start, a new beginning, a do-over, so to speak.

Most of the people I know are night people. It’s definitely mornings for me. I’m always the first one up at my house. I enjoy the peacefulness of the brand new day.

Some days, I’m able to get out to take a walk. I enjoy watching the moon and the sun trade places in the sky. I hear the birds as they stretch their wings and sing good morning to all. In the summer, the cicadas are always singing.

Some days, I’m in the house enjoying my coffee, doing my morning devotional, and thinking about all the day will being. If it’s warm outside, I can sit on my porch and enjoy the best of both worlds.

“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” ~Psalms 118:24 ESV

Meat? Yes please!

What are your feelings about eating meat?

This is an interesting question , and in fact, I have gone from one extreme to the other.

Like most people, I ate a Standard American Diet (SAD) for many years. When the pandemic hit in 2020, my husband and I decided to go Vegan and eventually switched to a Whole Food Plant Based (WFPB) diet. That lasted about 3 years, for me anyway.

In May, my sister told me about a Carnivore Diet she was going to try, so I told her I would do it with her. It’s really easy, and you’d think your grocery bill would be high, but when you don’t have all the extra, it’s really quite affordable.

Fast forward to today, there are 4 people in my household. We have a WFPB Vegan, a Carnivore, a Keto, and a toddler. Guess who does all the cooking?

We are now switching back to a regular, healthy diet, which will include whole foods of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and meat.

We weren’t eating the way we were for any ethical reasons. It was more for health and to try something different.

While the Carnivore diet is easy and my labs at the doctor were phenomenal, I find it to be a bit boring. And to be frank, it’s difficult to prepare meals to accommodate everyone all the time.

So, to lessen the stress in my life (and there’s a lot at the moment), we’re going to KISS it. (Keep It Simple Stupid).

What Wouldn’t I Do?

If you didn’t need sleep, what would you do with all the extra time?

Oh my, this is an excellent question as it’s a thought that crossed my mind today.

I could use the extra time for a variety of things. There isn’t a lot of quiet time at my house.

My husband had a cardiac arrest and died in my backyard 2 months ago. Thankfully, the emergency responders were able to revive him by the hands of God Almighty. He was down for a while, and the lack of oxygen to his brain caused an anoxic brain injury. He has improved greatly in the time since then, but we still have a ways to go.

My 3 1/2 year old granddaughter also lives with us. Toddlers need a lot of attention, too. I’m lucky as she’s a great kid, but she’s still a child, and she didn’t understand everything that happened or why her PaPa was gone for 2 weeks then came home different.

Needless to say, I stay extremely busy and don’t have much ME time anymore. I’m not complaining because I am Blessed beyond measure at the life I’ve been given.

Sleep is something I don’t do well. I wake up frequently during the night as I’m a very light sleeper. Sometimes, I have difficulty going back to sleep.

These are things I do when I can’t sleep:

1. Read

2. Talk to God

3. Journal

What I’d like to do is:

1. Work Out

2. Get extra cleaning done.

3. Batch cook

The opportunities are endless. Especially if noise is not a factor. The problem is being quiet so everyone else in the house CAN sleep.

Top Three Pet Peeves

“With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt.

1. Self Entitled People

2. Rude Drivers

3. Know It Alls (especially when they have no clue)

Everyone has an opinion about everything, and there are many people who portray the attitude that the world owes them something. We carve our own way in life, getting out of it what we put into it.

Colossians 3:2
Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.

This is something I’m personally working on. I pray to take every thought captive, and that less is more.

Keeping things simple makes it easier to walk through this life and not be one of those pet peeves.

We all have a choice to be better people and often forget that we reap what we sow. If we choose to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” couldn’t we make our world a better place?

I am not claiming perfection here as I am far from it. I’ve never been self entitled, but I probably have unintentionally been guilty of the other two. I’ve probably come across as a rude driver because I was distracted and not paying attention.

I’m sure some have considered me a “know it all” too when I’ve tried to help or share an experience.

So my top three pet peeves don’t bother me as much as they used to. I’m a work in progress attempting to lead a humble life and be thankful for the many Blessings God has given me.

Its Necessary

Do you trust your instincts?

When I was young, I always let my mind win any battles I may come across. I learned quickly that listening to my “gut” was always imperative to a more positive outcome in life. Any time I chose to go by what I wanted vs what my instincts were, I always ended up paying a price.

My instincts told me not to get married the first time. That marriage ended in divorce. While I can’t say I regret the marriage because I did have two children from it. We all know children are a gift from God, so this made the difficulties worthwhile. The marriage wasn’t great, but we did have positive moments.

Those children grew up. One gave me a granddaughter, which I absolutely adore. The other serves our country in the military.

I may have had a similar outcome had I listened to my instincts, and I have no way of knowing the answer. I do feel like not listening to them just makes the road a little harder to travel.

There have been countless times in life when I have and have not listened. I am now a firm believer in following my instincts. This is God leading you in the direction you should be going. It’s His internal radar, so to speak, to lead us down the path of the least destruction.

I Love Fall

What’s your favorite month of the year? Why?

It’s hard to pin down just one month, but I would have to say November. I absolutely love fall and the cool, crisp weather that comes with it. The sound of the leaves crunching under my feet and the excitement of football are also favorites for this time of year. But my favorite holiday is Thanksgiving, which just happens to be in November. It’s a time for family without obligation and stress that tends to come with Christmas. I love the excitement of Christmas without commercialism.

Thanksgiving is always a reminder to be thankful and grateful for all we have. My thoughts turn to family and friends, not material possessions. Good or bad, life is a gift, and we can make it good by focusing on positives or bad by dwelling on negatives.

I almost lost my husband this year to cardiac arrest. He literally died in our back yard. God had other plans for him and he’s here with us. While we still have a long journey due to an anoxic brain injury caused by lack of oxygen while he was down, I see more of the man I married 20 years ago every day. This brought our family closer and brought us back to church to renew our relationship with God.

God has always been there for us, but we (me) haven’t always been there for Him.

For this, I am truly thankful and grateful things turned out better than worse.

Father

Father,

How I long to speak with You,
yet the words they do not come.
I know You know my thoughts,
they don’t make it past my tongue.

My mind so full and tangled,
a battlefield within.
A heart so full of longing,
confusion setting in.

“Father” is all I seem to muster,
from the chaos deep inside.
You reach down with gentle hands,
I know You hear my cry.

Without a word to escape my lips,
You hear just what I say.
The jumbled mass inside my head,
now has gone away.

A Heart of Gold

An early morning visitor,
the angel takes your hand.
A smile upon your face,
as you leave this earthly land.

Your two children up above,
anxiously await.
To see they’re mom again,
as you enter Heaven’s gate.

Many lives you’ve touched,
with your heart of gold.
To see good in everyone,
oh the stories to be told.

You will be truly missed,
the epitome of love.
As you dance with Jesus,
we find comfort from above.

Dedicated to Cathy Oakes.

No more sorrow,
no more pain.
No more worries,
free again.

We’ll see you again some day.