Geez! My brother wrote me a note the other day and invited me to his wife's retirement party in April. She has 30+ years in at Eli Lilly and will finally be retiring. Great for her, but she is younger than me! And, that takes me back to my comment I always make - why am I the last one to retire in my family? What's up with that? LOL My day will come, whether it will be January 10, 2025 (the date I chose a few months back) or before - or later. It really isn't in my timing, but in God's. When He wants me to retire... He will make it happen. I just grumble a lot in between these times. I want to spend all morning in here if I want to. I want to pretend it is Saturday every day. But I also like the stability of having a job in which it makes me think and learn new things. Keeps my mind active. And, with seeing first hand what happens when one doesn't keep their brain active... well, I'm grateful I'm still working.
'Of course' my brain becoming inactive wouldn't happen to me, right? I have plans for when I actually get to retire.... bake wonderful dishes and give them away; volunteer at different activities; enjoy having my grandchildren over more and doing things with them, READ every day, exercise, take long walks, call old friends and chat without keeping an eye on the clock, start pondering that book I always wanted to write... oh so many things I would want to do. But if I retired today, I know my life would not be my own. Perhaps that is why it hasn't happened. I couldn't do everything I wanted to do. So why retire if I can't enjoy retirement, right?
Speaking of the brain, I finished the book last night about the Healthy Brain Zone - preventing Alzheimer (or as my mother always called it - Old Timers) and Dementia. As you know, I have concerns about someone and whether it is more than just 'old age'. Did you know that the food we eat can either help our brain or block it from thinking as we age? It was an interesting book, although I must admit the last few chapters didn't do much for me... my brain didn't care about the research. But I did learn a lot of things about how we should eat. Processed foods are the worst for our brains and for our bodies. We all really need to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, and whole foods and not those with fillers and preservatives included. Yes, it is easier to grab those boxes of whatever whenever we need to fix food for the family. Lots of pasta to satisfy appetites and easy to fix. Lots of bologna and questionable hotdogs and other items. Spam. LOL I was raised on bologna and spam and love them. Haven't had them since I married hubby... he has refused to allow me to put on the table. And you know what, they aren't good for me, so I haven't.
I've tried to eliminate a lot of foods that I loved in the past and know they are not 'good' for us. But some things you just gotta have, right? I gave up sugar in teas and sodas years ago. Now I can't drink even sweet tea; it is way too sweet for me. I bought Lipton Peach Tea before Christmas and could not drink even one bottle. It was too sweet. BUT, I tried the diet (with preservatives, no less) Lipton Peach Tea and liked it. Figure that out. Of course I drank Tab and Diet Rite growing up too. :-)
I still love my french fries - and you know what - if cooked in the air fryer, you get that crisp coating and it doesn't have the oil covering. I love cooking in my air fryer - and it not only saves time, but tastes so good. I do a ribeye steak in there... spray olive oil on the outside of it, sprinkle seasoning on it... and put in the air fryer for about ... ugh don't remember how long... but it is tender, juicy, and oh so good. Oh yeah, we aren't eating beef right now. I love cooking in it. My daughter got an instant pot for her birthday and she cooked a savory chicken dish in it the other night. It was really pretty good! and it was done in about 10 minutes, I think. I can do that in my Foodie.. plus I have another Power XL my older sister had given me years ago... I need to cook more dishes and do more experimenting in these appliances. I sure have enough of them! Wish I had a place where I could set them all out and grab as I need. Most are buried in cabinets. Except my Foodie... naw, it sits on the cabinet where it is always ready for me.
Wow - did you see what just happened? I went from talking about a Brain Zone book (by Dr. Don Colbert) and how to prevent or delay Alzheimer's or Dementia - and went right into food. I love food. What else can I say?
James 1:2-3 (NKJV): "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience."
Consider it all JOY when I fall into various trials? Seriously? LIFE is sometimes a trial and I not only fall into it, I wallow in it. Is it the same for you? Life isn't easy. Let me say that again. Life Isn't Easy. And we were never told that it would be. We are told in James 1 that we are to (in the NIV) Consider it all joy when we fall into these trials. Why is that? Because James tells us that when these things come up against us, that it causes us to step back and pause... look at the trial (problem), and make a good decision on how to proceed in an honest and right way.
For example - and I may be stretching it some here - ok, erased that one. Let's see if I can think of something else.... I am reminded of a time we were in great financial woe. I won't go into details as to why we were .... that still is something I have to work through whenever it comes to mind (I get angry and I still have to work on the forgiveness part)... but in great distress, I cried out in prayer to the only One who could help us. I literally cried through my prayers as I was so desperate for His intervention in our finances, and I knew that only He could help us. I had nothing else to go on. There was no one else. So I cried and cried and I prayed and prayed. And my faith grew stronger during that time of testing... would I really depend on God to provide for what was needed?
Spending money was not an option - that was what got us in that predicament. Only God. My faith was not only tested that He WOULD help us (I knew He COULD), when He provided help... and actually, it wasn't even financially, but the help He provided was the peace that only He can provide in our times of need. Sure, sometimes He will cause things to happen and finances can be reversed. It didn't happen in our case... but He gave me the peace I needed to endure. And my faith, tested, gave me patience and hope for what He has planned.
Philippians 4:6-8 (NLT): "Don't worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."
Did you know that when you pray general prayers, you don't know if God really answers it or not? We pray for someone to feel better. What does that mean? In our minds it is 'feel better'. What we need to pray is against the sickness that they feel. Remove that pain, remove that migraine, remove that issue, in the mighty name of Jesus! And when it is gone, you will know exactly what you prayed for and that God answered!
A couple of years before we sold our house and moved, I decided to pray specifically for financial help from God. Now, praying for financial help was one thing, but the specific thing I was praying for was that the house we were living in (and was a big financial burden) would be miraculously paid off. It wasn't so much the house that was the financial burden, but the upkeep. I won't go into why. But I specifically prayed that God would pay it off and take that financial burden off of us.
And He did. Not exactly the way I imagined He would. Hubby refused to sell the house every time I brought it up. FINALLY, he commented a couple years ago he was ok with selling it. Things were crazy from then on. That was the first part of May. We told our realtors we were interested in selling - and they started working on the house; fixing things that had never been fixed - which was a lot. We had lived there nearly 30 years and things just weren't done. The house was on the market and being shown by Memorial Day weekend. Three people went through the house. Two weeks later, the 2nd person was buying it. We had to find a place to live. Went looking at houses, nothing 'fit'. Finally we were shown this 'condo' and we liked the space. Within a very short time, we closed on the house, bought this place and moved in by the first of July. Everything was so quick that we really didn't have time to ask ourselves if it was the right thing to do or not. God orchestrated it all.
My prayers to be rid of the burden of the former house was answered. I have a lot of memories in that house but I think one granddaughter's "grandma, you will always have memories in this house, but it's time for you to make new memories in a new place" comment that I fell ok with leaving it. After all, this granddaughter, when she first walked in to the pink house commented... "this is a grandma house" which is why we bought it in the first place! LOL
Round about stories to just say... sometimes our faith gets tested when trials and problems come against us. Don't give up. Keep praying. Keep asking specifically. If you aren't asking aright, God will let you know. Sometimes our wants aren't really what we need... and since God sees the big picture, He will answer your prayers in His time, in His way.
He answered mine. The pink house was paid off. We no longer had that upkeep expense. This condo is affordable for us. It's upkeep minimal, and the HOA takes care of the yard. Sure, there are other things I'd like to do to it... and I will... but I have to wait.
In the meantime, I will keep praying, keep seeking, keep asking... and keep believing that God who owns cattle on a thousand hills, will always provide what we need, when we need it.
Blessings!
