IT’S BEEN A LANDSLIDE AROUND HERE THIS YEAR!

IT’S BEEN A LANDSLIDE AROUND HERE THIS YEAR!

 

Recently I had about a two-month bout with sickness. I guess with not being able to do what I want lately, it makes me reflect on “changes” in life. One thing I see is life changes daily and if I can’t change with it, I’ll become inflexible. I may become something or a type of person I don’t want to become or someone that no one wants to be around.

I’ve had to change some things and some dreams and even give some up. What worked years ago, won’t work now. Even Christmas celebrations.

With my health and Bill’s chronic pain even getting the house decorated hasn’t happened yet. Bill works so hard and I keep thinking there is a better way for him, that something is going to change; he cannot continually do the physical work of his business. Something can change in a moment with Jesus. The Lord wants us to fulfill the destiny that Christ had in mind for for all of us before the foundation of the earth.  For this I pray.

Change comes. Change hurts, sometimes. Change must occur for help to come. A phrase I use a lot it seems is “Nothing changes if nothing changes.”  It’s recovery related and can mean, if you keep doing the same old things expecting different results, it’s not going to happen. Change is essential to life. And life as we know it, will never be the same, it seems. But it can be better in Jesus name.

Even old traditions like the Grandkid’s Gathering, or my pre-Christmas celebration with them is changing. Years ago, when they were little it consisted of a sleepover, and a few times, a Christmas Scavenger hunt where we collected food for the needy. I think those things were more for me, than them, but we can still look back and rekindle those good memories. When it’s all been said and done memories may be the only things that don’t change.

This year instead of a night gathering for the grandkids, we will do brunch, as Aubrey works at night. (Give her a holler at Olive Garden Daytona). I’m storming my brain for something fun and Christmas related to do besides eat. We can’t go look at Christmas lights, that’s for sure, unless they want to stay until the evening to do that and I’m cool with that.

Having been sick for about eight weeks now, I find I have to pace myself. Even a little outing may take the energy out of me for a day afterward. Right now, I’m breathing in scented Frankincense oil in a diffuser, (even anointed myself with it again as Shiloh did recently) running a Himalayan Salt lamp to clean the air and praying that the Lord will cleanse my system of any residual infection of  the pneumonia /bronchitis. And I’m listening to a song about changes.

 

Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love
Can the child within my heart rise above
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides
Can I handle the seasons of my life~~~

Well, I've been afraid of changing
'Cause I've built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6IA4U09qQo

The title of the song is LANDSLIDE and maybe that’s another word for this year. I relate to the lyrics of building my life around my children but children do get older and so do old moms.  Lord, be my mirror in the sky and show me how to maneuver the seasons of my life. Give us a season of grace this year and although not picture perfect, a semblance of family. A family dreamed of with love and covered continually with prayer regardless.

A verse to pray and hold on to. I don't remember ever seeing this version of the verse: Matthew 19:26 MSG

 [26] Jesus looked hard at them and said, "No chance at all if you think you can pull it off yourself. Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it."

Matthew 19:26 Amplified Bible (AMP)

 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With people [as far as it depends on them] it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Homelessness in our own back yard

If you didn't see 60 Minutes last night, you should check this out. Hard times for so many yet I see survivor material especially in these kids. They show gratitude for their lot in life, even living in a truck.


We are among many who have been hit hard by the construction downfall in our area. But thank the Lord, Bill had already paid off our home by paying a little extra each month so we retired our mortgage early. We have not walked a mile in the shoes of the homeless but this program gave a good idea of the suffering that so many are experiencing.
I urge you to please watch this video and also rethink how you perceive the homeless among us. My husband Bill has always said many families are just a few paychecks away from the threat of this. Many of us have family members that have been out of work for months or even years. This is the reality of American families today. Pray, pray and pray some more and then count your blessings today if you have a real roof over your head.

I was in tears when I watched this one:

In our own back yard; http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57330802/hard-times-generation-families-living-in-cars/?tag=currentVideoInfo;videoMetaInfo
I think an old devo I wrote goes along with this.

Christmas Shoes
If you walk a mile in my shoes, you know how I feel, what makes me hurt, what gives me joy; and I, if I tried your shoes on would I say, “These aren’t so bad? These are nearly pain free, nearly a perfect fit?” But are they? Have I walked a mile in a widow’s shoes, as she longs for the familiar comfort of the one who used to lie beside her at night? Or a mile in the shoes of someone who has had the health stripped from their body and would give anything to have a portion of the quality of life I enjoy? Have I walked a tenth of a mile in a homeless person’s worn shoes as he endures the scorching heat coming up from the pavement and bathes in the cold water of public restrooms for lack of better?
Have I lived through losing family at the 9/11 tragedies or had my home demolished by the flooding waters of a hurricane? Looking over the local obituaries it seems that a higher number than usual of deaths are recorded. It seems to be even sadder when a hit-and-run driver takes one suddenly in their youth, as happened recently to some friends. Christmas coming dose not alleviate the normal pains of life that we go through.
We celebrate the birth of One qualified to know what it feels like to walk a mile in our shoes. Born lowly, he lived a life of submission to God’s will, and took what should’ve been our walk up a lonely hill to death on a cross. He has walked more than a mile and left a trail of tears; His tears intermingling with mine, we share sorrow, we share love, we share life.

Some Christmas’s are painful. When the tears I have cried are stored in His bottle, and I am drained, He becomes my Restorer, my Strength. When I complain, the way is dark, and not what I expected or hoped for; He shows me a new path out of the wilderness. A new path for the world-weary shoes that I wear-- that He wore first.