28 May 2023 Having It All

May 28, 2023 by saymber, posted in Bipolar life, Home, Mental Health, Nature, photography, Spirituality and Religion, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

What does “having it all” mean to you? Is it attainable?

Hello to you. How are you? I’m just back from a dawdle with Link. I’m lucky to get him around the block these days. I have had to learn patience with him. He isn’t a spring chicken and neither am I. The peonies are blooming in the neighborhood – so beautiful:

Yesterday was nice. My cousin whose son got married yesterday, had a gathering at her house. I didn’t stay long as I was feeling really tired. I still haven’t really recovered from my fall this winter. My lower back is still bothering me.

Todays prompt questions what does it mean to me to have it all. I have learned to be grateful for what I have. When I have everything I need and want for nothing I need I feel like I have it all. Currently I have all my needs met and anything over and above that is icing on the cake. When I was active duty I was busy all the time. I worked a lot and then came home and had household chores. I didn’t have a lot of free time. I guess I never really thought of trying to have it all in our societies standard – working, having free time, hobbies, vacation, spending time with family and friends, being married and having children. I’ve just been grateful as I’ve gone along! I think societies having it all is attainable but not necessarily sustainable. You can get burnt out without balance and that happened to me.

Mark 12:30-31New International Version

³⁰Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’^[a] ³¹The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[b] There is no commandment greater than these.”

25 May 2023 Collections

May 25, 2023 by saymber, posted in Home, In the News, Leading Life by Example, Nature, photography, Spirituality and Religion, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

Do you have any collections?

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 good psalm for today:

Psalm 23New International Version

Psalm 23

A psalm of David.

¹The 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.
⁴Even 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.

⁵You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
⁶Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.

17 May 2023 To be Seen

May 17, 2023 by saymber, posted in animals, Bipolar life, Health, history, Leading Life by Example, Mental Health, Nature, photography, Spirituality and Religion, technology, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

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.

Genesis 16:13New International Version

¹³She 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.”

16 May 2023 Iris

May 16, 2023 by saymber, posted in Home, Nature, photography, Spirituality and Religion, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

My neighbors yard is a constant delight as I walk by. Always something new and purple is blooming!

A lovely Iris – these beautiful flowers come in as a variety of colors much like roses.

Hello to you. How are you today? I went on a walk without Link yesterday and remembered to take my phone so I could grab a couple pictures. The Iris’s are blooming and it looks like Peonies are not far behind. The flowers and trees seem to be doing their thing faster this year. Probably due to the heat and intense sunlight. This earth is the finest florist!

Matthew 6:28-29New International Version

²⁸“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.

15 May 2023 Natural Beauty

May 15, 2023 by saymber, posted in Home, Nature, photography, Spirituality and Religion, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

I was looking through my pictures from last year and found this natural beauty. I’m looking forward to the time of roses blooming again.

Hello to you. How are you? My thoughts today turn to natural beauty. A beauty that exists without artificial enhancements. I find a lot of this kind of beauty in nature. Especially in the flowers like roses! I hope to capture some new pictures this summer of the roses and flowers around here.

Isaiah 35:1-2King James Version

35 The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.

²It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God.

Rose pictures from last year – they are not awake yet

12 May 2023 Keep Your Eyes Open

May 12, 2023 by saymber, posted in Bipolar life, Home, Leading Life by Example, Mental Health, Nature, photography, Spirituality and Religion, trust, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

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

⁸Finally, 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.

11 May 2023 Purples

May 11, 2023 by saymber, posted in Art and Poetry, Bipolar life, Mental Health, Nature, photography, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

On the walk home from Grace House there was this vision in purple

Warning a poem by Jenny Joseph

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people’s gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

I like this drawing I did – we are all star stuff

6 May 2023 Walking

May 6, 2023 by saymber, posted in animals, Bipolar life, Health, Home, Mental Health, Nature, Spirituality and Religion, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

Hello to you. How are you this day- it’s Saturday here. I’m here with Link. We got out for a walk together. I cherish these moments as he is getting older and just doesn’t always feel up to walking. I’m only 55 and feel that way! Walking is something so many of us take for granted until we are unable to for whatever reason. I have family that have had knee and hip surgeries because those parts of their bodies have just worn out. Even after the surgeries there is still pain. The longer we live, the longer our bodies have to be able to carry us. Stuff like joints just wear out! Our bodies are like cars – depreciate in condition the moment we leave the show room floor!

Mark 6:49-50 NIV

But when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

4 May 2023 Quote

May 4, 2023 by saymber, posted in Bipolar life, Health, Home, Leading Life by Example, Mental Health, photography, Spirituality and Religion, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

Do you have a quote you live your life by or think of often?

Hello to you. Just back from a short walk with Link. Today began with a nice prayer meeting at Grace House. It was three of us and very productive. A focus was given to the recent deaths associated with Middleton to include two suicides and we also focused on a future home for our church. Lois had a good idea about rather than building new churches that like Christian churches share facilities. Pastor Jason’s idea was like have Church Middleton with different campuses. So much money gets used up for buildings and then there is less left over for ministries to help people. Another point of emphasis was more volunteers to help with different parts of the church. It’s usually the same people who do most of the heavy lifting! I wish I could do more but I just can’t – physically mostly. I get so tired. I walked over there and back and felt so sore. My back hasn’t been right since the fall this winter.

Todays prompt is about a quote I think of and live by often. I have several. One is lead by example and another is where you go there you are. I feel it’s important to be a positive example in the world – action speaks louder than words. These past couple of years have been hard for me because I don’t feel like I have done enough. I haven’t been a very good example. The family and friends that surround me are great at leading by example. I just haven’t had the energy to be the leader I used to be. So I am doing what I can. Being a part of the prayer team is a little something I am able to do.

The other quote or saying kind of ties with the first. You can’t escape yourself – where you go there you are. Just because you move to a new location doesn’t mean your not the same you in the new location. You bring you along to the new place. Since moving here from Texas I did that. There have been some changes but those changes have been to my health. This Mal debarque Syndrome makes me so tired. I didn’t have the swaying motion in my head when I walked in Texas.

Matthew 18:20New International Version

²⁰For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

Some sights on my walk yesterday and back from the prayer meeting this morning

25 April 2023 Nervous

April 25, 2023 by saymber, posted in Bipolar life, Health, Leading Life by Example, Mental Health, photography, Spirituality and Religion, Veteran Affairs, Writing and blogging

What makes you nervous?

Hello to you. How are you? I hope if you are struggling that you have the support system you need. We are living in weird times! I think our country is due for some positive change.

Todays prompt is what makes you nervous. I would have to say driving here in Idaho makes me the most nervous. There are so many people on the road! All these people that have moved here, to include myself, have contributed to the increase in traffic. Where you go – there you are. You can’t escape yourself! If you lived with a lot of traffic where you used to live, chances are where you move to will eventually be the same.

The other thing I get nervous about is changes to my routine – getting pushed outside my comfort zone.

This Bible verse is a popular one when facing nerves or anxiety:

Philippians 4:6-7 NIV

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

And this one:

Psalm 139:23-24New International Version

²³Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
²⁴See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.