If today were your last day on earth
Would you be happy with the result?
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Bloggy Friend Lunch!
It always makes me happy when I can meet one of my bloggy friends.
It makes me even happier when they really do become friends and we enjoy each others company.
I recently had another opportunity to have lunch with LeeBird.
She and I both live in the Phoenix Area (East Valley) and enjoy getting together as often as possible. I absolutely adore her!
Lee is a prayer warrior and a woman after God's own heart. I truly love spending time with her. She is one of those Christian ladies who make you feel so relaxed. And relaxed is what I need in my life just now and time with her is just what the (heavenly) doctor ordered last week.
It makes me even happier when they really do become friends and we enjoy each others company.
I recently had another opportunity to have lunch with LeeBird.
She and I both live in the Phoenix Area (East Valley) and enjoy getting together as often as possible. I absolutely adore her!
Lee is a prayer warrior and a woman after God's own heart. I truly love spending time with her. She is one of those Christian ladies who make you feel so relaxed. And relaxed is what I need in my life just now and time with her is just what the (heavenly) doctor ordered last week.
Lee is the inspired writer of Prayer Gifts (here). You will have to stop by and get to know her. It will be a place you will love to re-visit week after week.
Considering Bloggy Friends With Great Joy,
Cindy
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
HE~~~25
How can it be that he is 25?
Time can not have gone by so quickly.
Though I do not know anything about the day he was born,
I will never forget the day he was placed in my arms for the first time.
With only 12 hours notice our lives became filled with joy and expectancy when on November 1, 1985 at just barely 18 weeks old a tiny 7 pound angel arrived on the door step.
Did we have any understanding months before as we knelt to pray for his birth parents that God was already preparing our hearts for what was to come?
He came with a grim prognosis. A death sentence really.
Deaf, blind, and paralyzed on his left side.
Don't get your hopes up. This child will not live.
If he does, he will never walk or talk. He will be a vegetable.
Will you love on him, hold him and care for him until such time as we can find a place for him or until he dies? Don't fall in love they warned! There will be many therapies, many doctor appointments, and much heartache ahead.
Do not get your hopes up??? I questioned, as my heart filled with hope.
Don't fall in love??? Yeah, Right!!!
My eyes upon an angel that God chose for this mama to love,
Little did any of us know what lie ahead?
Prayer as never known prior. Knees calloused and tear filled Bibles.
Hours turned to days and days turned to weeks.
Precious moments spent loving a child with no clear understanding what the future might hold.
Trusting in God, faith in the unknown, what more could we do?
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8a
That is the love God placed in this mama's heart for a child not flesh of my flesh nor bone of my bone but still miraculously my own.
Hopes into dreams and dreams into reality.
And today continues the 25 year miracle of God's love and greatness:)
Here is 'RED' (as he is known to his friends) today showing off some of his Many Equestrian ribbons!
Happy '25th'Birthday To One Amazing Young Man!!!
Considering Trust With Great Joy,
Cindy
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
His Temple~~~
There are times in life when you absolutely know you must do something but don't want to. Have you ever had one of those times? When every time you turn around you are reminded of it, whether it is something someone says, something you read, something you hear on the radio, read or see. I am having one of THOSE times.
Growing up in a city just a little east of Los Angeles in the 70's we would run out nearly every morning to catch a ride on the Helms truck. Do you know what that is? Imagine the ice cream truck only filled with jelly donuts (and every other kind too), bread, button candy, and loads of other baked goods, fresh, warm, and straight from the bakery. Mr. Helms man would let some of us neighborhood kids jump on the truck and ride down to the end of the cul-de-sac and back then he would open one of those beautiful draws and let us pick out a donut. YUM...I can taste them now.
We also had the ice cream truck (50/50 bars) and the dairy truck (cottage cheese w/pineapple). They would come down Wellsford and offer so many kinds of goodies, treats that filled our bodies with goodness (well, sugar). It became a habit that we all loved.
Fast forward, ahem, 40+ years and I still have the same bad habits I had as a kid. I LOVE ice cream, donuts and sugar. I am a sugarholic and it is making me sick, besides the fact that I have gained an awful amount of weight and am miserable. Many of you who read this blog already know that my A1C is too high and I was supposed to eliminate sugar from my diet, I did well for a couple weeks but .......
There are times when a two by four is not big enough for me to move and God needs more like a six by six. I love telling stories of things God has done in my life (when they are DONE) but NOT when I am in the process. Get the picture?
I am In. The. Process. and God wants me to share! One of the most difficult posts I have written to date. I don't care to be vulnerable because I don't like to be hurt but sometimes you just don't get a choice in the matter.
Growing up in a city just a little east of Los Angeles in the 70's we would run out nearly every morning to catch a ride on the Helms truck. Do you know what that is? Imagine the ice cream truck only filled with jelly donuts (and every other kind too), bread, button candy, and loads of other baked goods, fresh, warm, and straight from the bakery. Mr. Helms man would let some of us neighborhood kids jump on the truck and ride down to the end of the cul-de-sac and back then he would open one of those beautiful draws and let us pick out a donut. YUM...I can taste them now.
We also had the ice cream truck (50/50 bars) and the dairy truck (cottage cheese w/pineapple). They would come down Wellsford and offer so many kinds of goodies, treats that filled our bodies with goodness (well, sugar). It became a habit that we all loved.
Fast forward, ahem, 40+ years and I still have the same bad habits I had as a kid. I LOVE ice cream, donuts and sugar. I am a sugarholic and it is making me sick, besides the fact that I have gained an awful amount of weight and am miserable. Many of you who read this blog already know that my A1C is too high and I was supposed to eliminate sugar from my diet, I did well for a couple weeks but .......
I believe, because I don't drink caffeine of any kind, that I use the sugar as a 'pick-me-up' of sorts. I realize I have to stop but it is quite difficult. Sugar is in everything and when I get stressed I crave it!!!
But the worst part is even more difficult to admit. I am also addicted to Excedrin. You know, the caffeine, 65mg per pill, it has become a habit that I am having more trouble breaking than the habit of sugar. I have given employees at work my bottles to hide and then I just go buy more. So awful!
I do realize how many people read this blog. Though I may not have hundreds of comments on a daily basis I do have hundreds of readers. I might not be super smart but I do use stat~counter. It is possible that I just may have lost readers, shocked friends and made enemies, but I have to be real.
Over the past couple of weeks God has placed a scripture in front of me daily.
"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Every morning I wake up and tell myself that this is the day I am going to make good choices. And within hours I have failed again. I have eaten a donut, taken Excedrin, bought a Sprite or put some other toxic sugar laden item into my mouth.
My prayer is that by opening up my heart and sharing this with people who love me, I can find accountability. I am full aware that it is MY responsibility as to what goes into my body and that ultimately it is my choice, I just think that if I put it in writing, it somehow makes it more real.
In the morning I will wake again to a new day, a new opportunity, a new decision, a new hope. I am believing for a new outcome! I will remember that my body is the Temple of God's precious Holy Spirit and it IS important how I take care of this Temple.
I. Will. Not. Fear. Success! (That is a whole other blog post)
God is doing a work and I need to start using the tools He has given to me:)
Considering New Choices With Great Joy,
Cindy
Sunday, June 13, 2010
The House Is A Buzz...
The House Is A Buzz with laughter and praising God because Daddy is HOME!!
It has been a whirlwind day.
Awesome church service this morning and then off to the hospital for a visit.
I am Happy to report that the visit turned into a discharge and Home We Are.
The kids have been here all evening. A delicious meal was delivered from one of the sweet Barn Mom's along with 2 desserts and homemade blueberry muffins for breakfast.
It was so wonderful to spend time all together rejoicing while we sat out on the patio enjoying each other's company. Even our little poochy and a stray kitty (blog post for another day) joined in the fun.
Mark's creatinine went down to 1.15 (awesome kidney number). The cardiologist and Pulmonologist both want Mark to follow up this week with more tests but they did sign off on his release. NO, I didn't let him leave AMA!!! We did learn that Mark has moderate to severe heart disease and will need a complete work-up followed by on going treatment. But we believe that God allowed us to be in the right place at the right time otherwise we would have no idea of this new concern and he was headed for a massive heart attack (according to two docs).
So for tonight we are thankful and most grateful for the prayer support we have received. We know how much we are loved and thank you all for kind words of encouragement and love.
Now I am off to enjoy one more bowl of ice cream and then tomorrow - well - the new reality of healthy eating for ALL of us sets in:)
Considering Life With Joy,
Cindy
It has been a whirlwind day.
Awesome church service this morning and then off to the hospital for a visit.
I am Happy to report that the visit turned into a discharge and Home We Are.
The kids have been here all evening. A delicious meal was delivered from one of the sweet Barn Mom's along with 2 desserts and homemade blueberry muffins for breakfast.
It was so wonderful to spend time all together rejoicing while we sat out on the patio enjoying each other's company. Even our little poochy and a stray kitty (blog post for another day) joined in the fun.
Mark's creatinine went down to 1.15 (awesome kidney number). The cardiologist and Pulmonologist both want Mark to follow up this week with more tests but they did sign off on his release. NO, I didn't let him leave AMA!!! We did learn that Mark has moderate to severe heart disease and will need a complete work-up followed by on going treatment. But we believe that God allowed us to be in the right place at the right time otherwise we would have no idea of this new concern and he was headed for a massive heart attack (according to two docs).
So for tonight we are thankful and most grateful for the prayer support we have received. We know how much we are loved and thank you all for kind words of encouragement and love.
Now I am off to enjoy one more bowl of ice cream and then tomorrow - well - the new reality of healthy eating for ALL of us sets in:)
Considering Life With Joy,
Cindy
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