Hello to you. It’s another beautiful day and a special one at that – a day to remember all those who have given their lives for this country while serving in the military. One of the best memories I have of celebrating this day was going with my ex in-laws and family to Arlington National Cemetery where they played Taps. Each horn player took a position around the cemetery and at precisely 3 pm they all played Taps.
Taps Across America Returns For 2023 The National Moment of Remembrance is an annual event that asks Americans, wherever they are at 3:00 p.m. local time on Memorial Day, to pause for a duration of one minute to remember those who have died in military service to the United States.
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
My Uncle Bill came by my little house before he flew back to California
Hello to you. How are you? I hope we’ll. Today would have been my birth mothers 80th birthday. Hard to believe how much time has gone by. She passed when she was 26 and I was barely a year old. Also a shout out about the death of the musical legend Tina Turner. She was a big part of my musical life growing up in the 80’s.
Todays prompt is asking about collections and I really only have a couple. I have collected some crystals and when I was married we collected My Little Pony ponies and dragons. When the divorce happened he got most of the dragons as they were his when we married and I got the ponies (they are in my storage room) . In my little place there really isn’t space for displaying collections. I have my crystals in a couple different places – by my bedside and in the kitchen. One nice thing about living in a small house is it doesn’t leave a lot of space for clutter. I am not encouraged to buy more stuff to collect. Just no place to put it!
A white peony on the walk last night Peonies smell so good! Water in the canals again. They didn’t mess with this side as much Drawing I did many years ago of my momSome sights for the day
A good psalm for today:
Psalm 23New International Version
Psalm 23
A psalm of David.
1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley,[a] I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Hello there! How are you? Todays prompt is a good one to contemplate about. When I think of the word legacy I think of a tombstone with a birth date, a dash and a death date. There is so much that littledash represents for most people. It comprises all the little things, the small moments that make up a life. From all the mornings with coffee on theporch, weddings, going to church, days spent at work, walks, getting a hair cut, playing with pets and or children. So many little things we take for granted are in that little dash.
I hope my dash, my legacy is a positive one and will be recalled by those I leave behind with love. These past couple of years I have been kind of dormant. My health condition has made it harder to be who I want to be. I have had to adjust and change – focus on what I can do not what I can’t. I’ve come a long way from even my first year living here in Idaho. There were so many things I was convinced I couldn’t do. I was shell shocked in my body. Everything I used to be able to do with ease I had to work to be able to do again. Stuff like even taking a shower by myself!
I hope the legacy I leave behind will be one of ultimate inspiration – never give up on yourself or others. Always look for the beauty in life around you and you will be rewarded to find it.
I was treated to a surprise last night One of my neighbors rose bush is already in bloomAbsolute beauty – my Grandma Schmidt left behind in her legacy the beauty I find in roses. She cared for hers so much. Roses also make me think of Saint Therese Lisieux of the Little Flower. One of her signs is roses.
Beautiful spread Emily put together We had lots of young ladies present – so sweetEmily getting ready to share devotionAuntie and me Ladies Tea – Grace Women Middleton
Hello to you! How are you today? I’m just home from a wonderful event with our Women’s Group – a Ladies Tea. Our leader Emily did a great job of planning and setting up the event. What was really sweet is we had a lot of little ladies present. I love going to Grace House for gatherings. The house was built in the 1900’s and was a hair salon prior to being leased to our church. I miss the trees that use to be outside. The landlord cut them down and I guess s parking lot is going in their place.
Emily had a wonderful devotional for us. She spoke of a family members office she recently visited that was filled with random things and when she asked him about it he said each thing was a token to remember scripture. So Emily chose as the party favors little jam jars as tokens to remember spreading hope. I can’t remember the scripture she chose but this is a good one too:
Romans 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Something happened afterwards when Emily was talking with my Aunt , Maryann and myself . I felt that feeling in my chest of being filled up with positive energy. A glowing. For a few moments I didn’t feel my ears bothering me or my body aching. I felt the glow of fellowship and what comes from sharing time with fellow believers. We have such wonderful ladies in our church! They really give their all to God and what they do for God’s people in our church.
This was a birthday gift from my Auntie. She likes to find things with my middle name!
Hello to you. How are you? Today my thoughts turn to Joy. Not only because it’s my middle name but because it is indeed a choice we can make in this life. I have to remind myself! I get so set in my ways – grumpy even. I feel like as I get older I have developed an armor to try and shield myself from getting hurt. Dr. Wilhelm Reich talked about such an armor in his work. Our bodies get rigid and we get almost frozen. When I was in love I was my least rigid. When I chose to approach life with joy my body was fluid and free.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Hello to you. How are you? I’m doing alright. Just home from a prayer meeting. I was going to stop and get a breakfast burrito but changed my mind. I am glad as I ran into three dogs on the way back. Their owner lets them out unattended.
My neighbor has his flowers out – so cheerful to seeI was surprised to see this rose already in bloom! Like I said yesterday- it’s like everything in nature is in fast forward mode
Jeremiah 17:14New International Version
14 Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.
A lot of people around me are struggling with health issues to include myself. I think part of it is age related but I am starting to wonder if some of it is from so many having Covid. We don’t really know to what extent our health and immune systems have been compromised by having it and also side effects from the vaccines. We did become sort of Guinea pigs for the pharmaceutical industry with everything that happened!
Hello to you. I hope this finds you well. My thoughts turn to being seen by God. There have been times in my life that I have felt so close to God – that we were connected. These past couple of years- since my medication change by getting off Lithium, my creativity and spirituality doors have been almost completely shut. Thank goodness for my cell phone camera! I have an eye for beauty and just because I’m no longer creative in the ways I used to be, I can capture images of God and Mother Earths creativity. I have to practice what I preach “it’s not what you can’t do in this life! What can you do – focus on that!” Seeing and being seen by God is a two way street.
A pink Columbine These little beauties remind me of pencil shavings Another Iris in the neighborhood My little reminder of Gods love for me
Genesis 16:13New International Version
13 She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen[a] the One who sees me.”
Hello to you. Hope this finds you well. My thoughts today are about the power of focus – keeping your eyes open for what you want to see in the world. If you were to drive into my neighborhood you probably wouldn’t notice much at a glance. It’s when you decide you want to see beauty that all the sudden an ordinary place becomes extraordinary. All around us this time of year nature is showing us the power of rebirth. There is always something new to see! What you focus your sights and energy on gains power. It’s kind of like my asking God about orange flowers and then finding them everywhere!
Philippians 4:8New International Version
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Hello to you – how are you doing? It’s a sunny, blue sky day here. I went and got groceries a little while ago. Found some new chews by Blue dog food for Link. He gobbled it down!
Today my thoughts turn toward how we are connected in this world. Being my age, I have gone through so many phases of what it means to be connected to family, friends and the world. I know what it was like to not have computers and the internet! We used the telephone and letters. We used to actually go and visit friends and loved ones. Now days it’s so easy to just rely on the internet – texts messages. I am guilty of this. I am blessed to have my mom who still writes to me on occasion! It’s nice to now live near family – we will be getting together for Mothers Day on Sunday which will be really nice. To me being together is one of the best ways to be connected. What does it mean to you to be connected in this modern world?
Link makes doggy connections with other dogs via the yards in the neighborhood
1 Thessalonians 5:11New International Version
11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
What’s a job you would like to do for just one day?
Hello there! How are you? Hopefully we’ll. Todays prompt is a thought provoking one – there are so many jobs I’m interested in that I would just want to try out for a day if I had more energy. In the course of my life I’ve done the military personnel thing (basically a secretary) and a lot of creative things like painting and drawing- photography, tried energy healing, tried local politics, so something else would be trying out being a spiritual leader for a day – like a pastor or something. It would have to be for just one day as I look at our church and how much our Pastor and his family have to be involved with and it’s exhausting to even contemplate! There is so much involved with being a spiritual leader I think. You are always in the lime light and expected to be a certain way which might be hard to live up to. You are like a doctor I imagine – never off duty. Always on call. I would probably only last a day but better a minister than a politician! I tried politics and didn’t like it.
Colossians 3:12-17New International Version
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love,which binds them all together in perfect unity.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Drawing I did about what it must be like to be God or a Guardian Angel – so many doors open with people crying out for help. This drawing could apply to being a man or woman of the cloth too – always being called on by so many. Who to answer first?!! How to prioritize?!
To be 