17 April 2024 Decision

Describe a decision you made in the past that helped you learn or grow.

A decision I made that helped me grow was going back to church and becoming a Christian this past year. I had stopped going to church for a long time. The whole 12 years I lived in Texas and part of the time I lived in Delaware. I was a pagan for all that time. I was raised Roman Catholic and became disenchanted with it and stopped going. My ex and I used to go but felt like we didn’t belong. Since making the choice to allow Christ to be my savior I have made friends and church family at Grace Bible Church in Middleton. I am not alone anymore! I am finding my way with the help of my family and church family. There is a little part of me that is still reserved but I am learning to surrender. I have always believed in Jesus just hadn’t completely surrendered to him.

Philippians 4:13New International Version

13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength

2 April 2024 Switch

Hello to you. I’m experiencing a little frustration about my experience with the VA. I just found out I’m losing my counselor in a couple months- same thing happened with my psychiatrist! It keeps happening! They are interns that graduate and move on and then a new doctor switches in. It’s frustrating because I have to keep starting over! The positive thing is may be a new perspective will be helpful – I will just have to see.

2 Corinthians 5:17New International Version

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here!

27 March 2024 Understand

What is hard for people to understand? I would say mental illness. When someone has a broken bone you see a cast and know what’s going on that isn’t the case with a broken mind. A person can look and seem perfectly “normal” and then out of the blue due something erratic and out of character. This is the way of suicides and murder. The “why” question is so prevalent in these cases.

Proverbs 2:3-6New International Version

indeed, if you call out for insight
    and cry aloud for understanding,
and if you look for it as for silver
    and search for it as for hidden treasure,
then you will understand the fear of the Lord
    and find the knowledge of God.
For the Lord gives wisdom;
    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

25 March 2024 Saying No

How often do you say “no” to things that would interfere with your goals?

Something that has gotten easier as I’ve gotten older is saying no. I used to say yes all the time and would get a resentment as a result. I felt like I had to say yes or I was a bad person. Now I realize that it doesn’t make me a bad person to say no sometimes especially if it’s not in my best interest. Sometimes no is the right answer – a catalyst for something else better to happen. An example is my ex brother in law asked my ex and I to come to Florida to a Ozz fest and I said I didn’t want to go. Well we didn’t go and he ended up meeting his future wife! Spending too much time making a decision means usually the answer is no for now – “too many mind.”

Matthew 5:37New International Version

37 All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’;anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

22 March 2024 Teacher

Who was your most influential teacher? Why?

The teacher I remember and have fond memories of is a grade school teacher at Harvey Dunn her name was Mrs. Maxwell. She encouraged my writing. She gave me a certificate stating that I was the most likely to be an author. She was right. After we lost Sam our cocker spaniel we wrote a book. The title was The Gospel According to Sam an e-book.

Matthew 12:30-32 Niv

30 “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.31 And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

18 March 2024 Best Compliment

What was the best compliment you’ve received?

I don’t have just one.compliment I have several and they have come from my cousins wife. She always makes me feel beautiful. Whether it’s my hair or what I’m wearing she takes notice. She always makes me feel special.

Genesis 37:32-34New International Version

32 They took the ornate robe back to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son’s robe.”

33 He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces.”

34 Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days.

I’m just

16 March 2024 Confidence

Who is the most confident person you know?

The most confident person I know is my Uncle John. He is a renaissance man, jack of all trades. He can fix most anything and if he doesn’t know what to do he does research and finds out how. I have a vacuum I want to see if he can fix! He takes great joy in taking things apart and putting them back together. I can remember one year we gave him a friction powered flashlight and he just loved it. He took it apart and put it back together just to see how it worked.

Hebrews 10:35-36 NIV35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

4 March 2024 Joy

What is your middle name? Does it carry any special meaning/significance?

My middle name is Joy and I’d like to think that’s because that’s what my parents felt when I was born. That’s what I’ve been told they felt when I arrived!

Psalm 21:5-7New International Version

K5 Through the victories you gave, his glory is great;
    you have bestowed on him splendor and majesty.
Surely you have granted him unending blessings
    and made him glad with the joy of your presence.
For the king trusts in the Lord;
    through the unfailing love of the Most High
    he will not be shaken.

17 Feb 2024 Birthdays

On the 13th my cousin and I celebrated our birthdays 4 years apart. He celebrated the big 60 and I 56th. We are going to have a family gathering tomorrow. My Aunt took me to our favorite place in Star called the Rustic Table on my birthday and that was delicious. I had filet mignon and we had chocolate cream pie for the birthday dessert. What a treat! It’s a blessing we get to celebrate birthdays together!

Auntie and I sharing dessert

Proverbs 9:11New International Version

11 For through wisdom[a] your days will be many,
    and years will be added to your life.

4 Feb 2024 Time

How do significant life events or the passage of time influence your perspective on life?

In my experience the best healer of the wounds of life is time. The further I get along beyond a significant event that has happened the less it hurts. There is no cure for grief but time. My cocker spaniel Sam taught me this after his passing. It took 3 years and getting another dog to get some relief from my grief over Sam’s passing. When we lost Sam we realized nothing of this world could fill the void inside- no food, no drink, no material possessions could heal the pain.

James 4:14New International Version

14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.