Greetings

Rejoice in the Lord Always. Not always easy when things are rough. God didn't make a distinction between rough and easy when He told us to trust in Him. Sure it's easy to trust when things are going well, but the test really takes shape in our lives when the going gets tough. I'll be honest and tell you that I have not always been rejoicing, and lately my faith has really been tested. I do know that there is a reason for everything under the sun and I know that God has my life under His control. For that I can rejoice. For you that read this, how do you handle the stress' of life? What is your answer to staying on track with God?

New Closet Shelves

 
 
 

Continued

 
 
 
 

Well, this is the new shelves we had put in our closets. Kind of hard to tell how they look in these pictures.
The master closet. Pantry, scrapbooking closet, my art stuff (garage), and Dave's workspace (garage).

I'm getting anxious now to get moved in but still have a few more things to take care of before moving the furniture. Hope in the next 10 days we can start moving the big stuff.

Pictures of New House (Inside)

 
 
 
 

These are the pictures of the Kitchen, Living Room, and Dining Room. The window shades were installed today and they look great. Very light (pale) yellow in the mail rooms. Pale blue in the 2 small bedrooms. I have started moving my kitchen wares over to the new house and have put some clothing away.

I'll take pictures of the new shelving in the closets and try to get them posted next week.
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On another note: Bill, I love my new bible. I can read it without a magnifing glass. I really like the way it reads and am so glad you recommended it.

Finished

Wow! My closets look wonderful. All my scrapbooking paper will fit in the closet with a couple of my roll-arounds underneath. Master closet has racks for shoes, (which I don't have many of since two of my favorite people went through my shoes and threw many out) about 44 pair will fit. Don't you laugh. I'm including Dave's. Drawers and lots of hanging space plus a tie rack for Dave. Pictures coming later.
Now I can start moving some of our things.

Prayer

It is really hard to stay focused when the pain is so intense. Sometimes the Lord seems so far removed from my pain and hurts. Does God see my pain? Does He care? Why can't I find peace in my circumstance? Maybe, just maybe, I'm looking in the wrong place. I think everyone expects God to send that healing miracle their way, but miracles take many forms. Yes, He could reach out and heal me completely of every ailment that I have, but at this point He has chosen not to. I need to look inward at what God is doing and stop looking at the outward signs. Everytime I come to the altar of grace, God is there waiting for me. Through the cup and the bread He touches me. I can't explain it, I just know by faith that He is there. Yes, I do get angry at times because there are things that I want to do and can't. I get discouraged. I feel abandoned. These are all feelings and we can't go by feelings. Jesus said He would never leave us nor forsake us. My faith is built on Jesus Christ and the words He spoke. To God be the Glory forever and ever. Amen

Doctors Visit

I am wearing a well worn path to my doctors office of late. I am told that I have a rotator cuff problem with my left arm. Looks like I'll be going back to physical therapy for a few months.
Been reading up on Benicar (blood pressure) and Lipitor (cholesterol)on the net and don't like what I am reading. Too many side effects for my medical condition. I am going to check into it further and see if I can substitute natural ingredients in place of. Anyone out there that has any suggestions please let me know.

Cleaned Out

I can't believe what that daughter of mine did today. She completely cleaned out my scrapbooking room and brought everything downstairs for me to pack up. Even my 4 drawer filing cabinet. Now, that had to be heavy.
I can hardly move it from one spot to another.
Anyway, to Cindi........Thank you, thank you, thank you. What a blessing.

New Clothes

 
 
 

Love those clothes Lauren.

Cook Out

 
 
 

Lauren's last cook-out for a while. She is off to finish her final year of college in Nebraska. Dean will be staying behind to start his first year at the Seminary in St. Louis.

Something to Think About

Jesus walked in the spiritual realm all the time. His eyes were always focused on His Father. Everything He said and did was according to what the Father wanted. Can we as humasn walk in the spiritual realm? What would it be like? Would we be setting ourselves apart from the world? Jesus told us we were to live in the world but not to be of the world. If we found a way to walk spiritually would we be labeled as fanatics? Holier than thou? How do we turn our lives around so that we live Christ daily? To anger and not sin? That's a hard one for me. To have my home a place where no unkind word is spoken, gossip is never part of our speech, and prayer is our mainstay. I get upset with myself when I blow up and get angry. How do I accept God's hand in my life knowing He might never heal me? He tells me He will not give me more than I can handle. My anger builds up and I react to how I feel, not on what Christ says to be true. That is the wrong way to look at it. I need to look at my health problems as a blessing from God. I might not know the purpose behind it, and God might never reveal it to me, but I need to be content no matter what. Oh that word, CONTENT. I have not been content for some time now. Again it all goes back to how I feel, not on reality.

Now, if Christ lives within me, I should be able to live according to the Christian life. So what am doing wrong? I have become like the world and taken for granted the life that was given to me.I keep confessing the same sin over and over again.

Love, it all comes down to love. Christ loved, Christ gave. If we could grasp that internally, our lives would change. How could they not? Our belief system has suffered greatly. We wait for a miracle that might never happen. We wait for a sign that might never take place. We wait to hear the audible voice of God, which we might never hear. We say, if He loved us, He would........" Then the light comes on and we realize that He did give out of His love for us. Everything we could ever want or need was given to us when Christ went to the cross. We come to His table and there He communes with us. There we find our healing. There we find our rest. There we find the peace that passes all understanding. This is the summation of Love.

Just Don't Look

Cindi and Lauren came over to help me clean out closets. Little did I know that when Cindi and lauren say clean, they mean throw out everything that looks old ladyish or items I haven't been seen wearing for some time. After filling 3 huge lawn bags of MY CLOTHES they were finished for the day. Lauren's comment, "Look grandma, you have lots of room now." That's nice, because now I have no clothes to hang in there.

I have gone through my purses and given away at least 10 of them. Yes, I still have a few left and I better hide them before the 'throw away squad' gets here. There are just some things I don't want to part with.

Together

Don't ever take for granted the folding of clothes. Try doing it with one hand and you'll find it is almost impossible, so Dave and I put our resources together (his right hand and my right hand) and together we fold the clothes. It only took us 20 minutes to fold one basket. Not too bad for beginners.
Now doing the dishes is not too bad with one hand except for those heavy pans.
Getting dressed is a little tricky. Sometimes that takes a little maneuvering. I usually end up with my feet in the same leg hole or my shirt on backwards.

Well, I did all my exercises this morning and hopefully I will get the use of my left arm back soon. This has been an ordeal. If it's not my arms, it's my legs, if it's not my legs, it's my back, the list goes on and on.

Packing

Started packing yesterday in the scrapbooking room. Doesn't even look like I made a dent even after filling 3 large trash bags. I am really trying to rid myself of stuff I haven't used for the last 2 years. I figured if I haven't used it by now, I'm not going to use it.

As to my clothes, there are 2 bags I have already taken to Goodwill. If it wasn't so hot upstairs I would tackle that right away. Hopefully within the next couple of days it will get a little cooler upstairs.

I look around and there is just so much to do that I wonder if I will get it all done in a reasonable time. My plan is to move one room at a time to the new home, except for the furniture. Furniture will be the last thing we move.

Moving

I'm very excited about moving and having everything I need on the main floor, BUT---the packing I'm not looking forward to.
I have already started throwing away clothes I haven't worn since I moved here. The first haul went to Goodwill. So much stuff. Just happened to think---I have some of Dorene's personal items here in my storage area.

I guess I better start sorting through my 20 pairs of shoes and purses. No way am I taking all that with me to the new house. Sure glad I can take my time and just try and do one room at a time.

The Christening

 

On August 27, 1853, the first lots were sold in the new town of Lincoln, IL. Abraham Lincoln took a watermelon (only thing available), broke it open and with its juice christened the new community. Sandra and I went up one street and down the other looking for that famous watermelon.

More Rt 66 in IL

 
 
 

Ok, you ask. Why is Russell inside the dog pen? He has two huge dogs that you could ride like a pony and I asked how he could possibly keep 2 dogs in one cage. He crawled in to show me how much room there was in the cage. I'm still not sold.

Sandra standing on one of the swinging bridges in Pontiac, IL.

Part of the original Route 66, Mother Road.

Route 66 Day Trip in IL

 
 


Sandra and I standing in front of the Rabbit Ranch in Staunton, IL. Afterwards, we drove to the Rotary Nature Trail where Sandra followed the path on foot and I stood guard in the car. She got a few pictures of butterflies flitting around but that is about all.

All Good Things Must Come to an End

Sandy has been here for over a week now and is packing up ready to head back to MD. With Dave and I both having physical problems she was truly a blessing. In fact, between Sandy, Bill, Cindi, and the kids there is no way we could have gotten through this. It's surprising what we take for granted, like, getting dressed, driving a car, fixing meals, laundry, and just everyday living.