Another interesting, strange, dream...

 I'm not sure where these dreams are coming from, and don't think they have any meaning, but they sure are interesting.  Last night one of my dear friends (who has been married over 35 years) was getting married, but had nothing to wear to her wedding, which was getting ready to happen.  I gave her the lavender dress I had worn at my granddaughter's wedding a year ago; it is long, lacy, and pretty... and it fit her perfectly.  I don't remember specifics of the dream, but we were rushing around trying to get everything pulled together.  It seemed like I was officiating the wedding, but was also being a 'wedding planner' of sorts.... I don't know, but, well, that was pretty much the dream.  Nothing else happened in it, that I can recall, but it is just really an odd dream.  

Of course the thought has occurred to me this morning, as I have thought about it, does the dream have any meaning for this specific friend?  Is she getting ready to become the bride of Christ and He was letting me know?  I am selfish enough and love my friend enough to pray "No, please, Lord!" but His timing is not our timing.  It was an interesting dream.

I know that God does answer our prayers.... and in interesting ways, sometimes.  My sister's hubby came to her and apologized for his comments about the church she wanted to go to - and said that they can go there again this Sunday.  I think this is what the 'gaslighting' I read is all about.  He keeps her in an emotional upheaval that she doesn't know what to feel or to even believe.  

Did I tell you that I finally got the Christmas bedspreads off the beds?  I have one I want to get rid of if I can find someone who would want it.  I love to put Christmas things throughout the house... hubby isn't so much in favor of it... but some day I will have a 'Christmas house' the way I want it.  Baby steps.  The Christmas bedspread I want to let go of is a red and green plaid.  It even has sheets and pillow cases to go with it.  I am thinking my youngest son may take it, but who knows. I haven't said anything to him and now that Christmas is over, it can wait.  I did buy already a new Christmas comforter that I think I will like better - it has holly leaves on it. :-)

This cold front isn't doing much for my flowers.  No, I haven't covered them, hoping it won't affect them too bad.  And if they do, I'll replace them.  Once this cold front is gone, I need to go back and trim down my roses to about 12".  A friend used to raise a lot of roses and he always told me to wait until the cold front was gone, then cut back to 12" or 24" and to be sure and put Elmer's glue over the cut.  Why?  Because it keeps the bugs out while the rose bush is dormant and getting ready to burst out in flowers again.  I used to do it at our house and they would grow from 24" to above the roof over the summer.  We'd still have to trim them back again.  Trimming them causes them to spread out versus just grow up. Glad I hadn't done it yet.  Maybe after this week the weather will not drop down so low.  My gauge on my computer says it is 33 degrees here where I am.  Brrrr.   I started to open the shutters in here yesterday and ask I did, I felt the cold air radiating from the windows - uh, no.  I shut the shutters back up - not going to encourage cold air in here - I don't do well with cold anyway!  LOL  I even got a small electric space heater for Christmas because this is either the coldest room in the house - or it can be the hottest.  No, I haven't used it yet, but I did entertain that thought yesterday.

One thing I am doing is filling up the humidifiers and letting them add water to the air in the bedrooms.  My hair is flying all over the place with the dryness of the air from the heat.  The humidifiers add water to the air - and it also keeps my nose from drying out.  Ever have that problem?  When you wake up your nose is so dry and it is really hard to 'blow'?  The heat in the wintertime dries out the air and as we breathe in that dry air, it dries our nose out.  If you have a humidifier to where it blows some water in to the air, it helps with the breathing.  Especially if one has a cold, a humidifier really helps keep the air moist and more comfortable.

Have you ever paused to wonder where you will go when you die?  There are some people who will say 'Heaven, for sure'... or 'Hell, cause I don't want to change'.... or 'I have no clue and I don't care'.  What do you say?  

Yes, I'm wanting to go to Heaven, for sure, and it isn't hard to think that is where I will end up.  Sometimes life seems so hard and I seem to fall so often in my own wants and decisions..... I want to do things MY way (imagine that!) as God did give us free will and free choice.  I seem to do a lot of confessing some days to God, and asking forgiveness. There are some people who we WANT to believe are in Heaven... but are they?  Perhaps what we see of their lives tells us they will go to Heaven... or some area causes us to think they won't make it... but one thing for sure, we are not to judge them.  I am to be responsible for myself.  Not my hubby.  Not my children.  Nor my grandchildren.

Yes, I want all my children and grandchildren (and greats) to go to Heaven where they will be with Jesus.... but it is their choice.  My part in all of this desire is to pray for them.  Pray for their salvation. Pray for what troubles them. Pray that they will choose wisely the path they take.  Pray they will say Yes to Jesus.  Oh the joys that could abound for them if they said Yes!  They may think life is good right now - but what if troubles come? There is no other than they can lean on but Jesus to get them through the hard times.  I know this for a fact.  We've gone through a lot of hardships.  My family wasn't there for me.  It was God and us.  He got us through it.

Which reminds me... I got a very odd text on my phone last night.  It gave my heart a twinge, and my thoughts went to the past.... here is the text....

"Hey I'll have Jackie on the other line to 3 way in a few minutes."

I just sat there for a few minutes before I finally sent a text and asked 'who is this?'  They didn't respond back.  It was an out of state number so I am pretty sure they sent the message to my phone in error.  Isn't that odd, though?  My deceased sister's name is Jackie, or rather, we called her that.  Her name was actually Jacqueline.  So it gave me pause and I thought about her and realized again how much I miss her and wished she was still here for me to call.  We know she didn't commit suicide; we know her son murdered her... we just can't prove it without him admitting it... and he is so psycho that he doesn't realize what he has done.  So the detective keeps the case open until he does confess.  It hurts that she is gone.  When my little brother told the son what the family thinks happened... he just says 'they can shove that thought up their axx'.... 

Ah... my thoughts are going elsewhere this morning so I will hush.  I pray that you have a blessed day; that you will feel the presence of the Lord surround you; that you will quiet your heart to hear His voice.

Blessings!

Turkey day walks and festivities... and they continue on....

 I was only ten minutes late for the 'Turkey Trot' yesterday morning. I really should rename it 'Turkey Walk', I guess, cause there is a REAL Turkey Trot somewhere and lots of people go run in it.  A friend, after I posted our 11th Annual Turkey Trot photo, commented her child had run in the Turkey Trot too.. then I had to explain it was our 'own' Turkey Trot aka walk.  We only walked 2.26 miles but it was a good walk and it was clear and brisk out.  The canal we chose wasn't that far away and very nice - paved all the way.  I sure wish it was closer so that I could walk it on my own.... you know hubby won't go and he won't let me go alone... the boogie man might get me.  I shouldn't scoff, I guess; one never knows what might befell us aa any time.  I could also fall and if I was alone, and if few people do that area, I could be there for awhile.  Oh well. Not going to imagine something that can't happen cause it ain't gonna happen to cause it to happen.  Right? :-)

I turned the humidifier on last night when we went to bed and am grateful my nose isn't all dried up like it usually is.  Hence, that is why I bought them last year.  The humidifier puts water back in to the air that the heat takes away in the cooler months with the heat on.  It does make a difference, so if you wake up with your nose all dried up and all, you might consider getting a humidifier... it does help.

I'm loving having today off work.  I still have a busy day ahead of me.  Our grandson and his fiancee are coming over at 8AM for breakfast and we are going to let them open their Christmas gifts since they will not be here for Christmas this year.  I don't want to bother with shipping.  Plus I like to see their faces when they open.  Not that there is a lot, for sure.  The great-grandchildren are the ones who made out like a bandit this year.  

After they leave to get started on their day, I will need to get in the kitchen and get started with preparations for the evening meal as our friends are coming over for a Thanksgiving feast as well.  I don't plan to over fix as I did yesterday for lunch at my daughter's (we had WAY too much food!), but plan to fix enough that any who want can take some leftovers home.  Since they are single individuals, I don't expect any to take a large amount.  With a 20 pound turkey, it won't be a problem to send home meat.  I don't want to keep ANY.  I'm 'turkeyed out' and don't want any. Now if I hear from someone who was teasing they may be coming for dinner....then I will know if I need to prepare a little more than I plan to ..... just saying.

I'm going to have to dig for receipts in the next few days - we have a very tall, somewhat large, individual in our family for whom I bought a couple shirts for Christmas for.  I had bought 2XL Tall... but as I unfolded them, they seemed REALLY large.  So I talked to his wife yesterday and mentioned it to her... yeah... it's XL in Big & Tall.... 2XL in regular sizes (to get the length.  Ooops.  I'm going to have to go through my orders... since I didn't go out and buy, it's al on computer so will have to figure it out - and then go stand in line with numerous other people who made the wrong choices.  Maybe it won't be too bad just yet - it's still before Christmas.  AND, I'm not doing it today either; got too much to do!

I do NOT go much of anywhere today...the day after Thanksgiving, aka 'Black Friday'.  There is nothing I need, nor does anyone else, that can entice me to go shopping in the crowds today.  Besides, 99.9% of my shopping is done online.  Yeah, I sometimes pay a little more, but I do it all from my computer and home and it's nice.   I remember one year I went out about 3-4PM and the stores were nearly empty of people.  THAT would be the time to shop, for sure!

Philippians 4:12 (NIV):  "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want."

That is  verse I learned a long, long time ago that has kept me grounded over the years.  Perhaps it has also gotten me to where I am now.  There have been so many times over the years that we have been in need for specific things.  But I learned not to allow it to get the best of me.  I learned that to take those needs to God in prayer will bring about the results I could never expect to receive on my own.  Because of choices - others who affect me, and my own choices, life at times has been very hard and very difficult.  I've never tried to pretend all has been well over the years.  But God has always provided - whether through other people, or just provision, all that we have ever needed.

I often say I learned how to cook from 'scratch' many years ago because we didn't have money to buy food that was already prepared.  Go forward several years and times were so hard that going out to eat at Burger King was a treat that we all looked forward to.  And now, in our latter years, God has placed us with the realization that there is nothing we really 'need'..... because of the above verse, I have learned to be content with what we have.  I don't need a new living room suite every 3-5 years.  Yeah, the one we have is about 5 years old now, I guess, and there is a 'dip' in the seat where I always sit.... but I've learned how to fix it... just haven't done that yet.  It still looks fairly new, why get a new one?  I think it is only at Christmas the entire sofa is filled.  We really have more than we need, but it's nice to have if anyone comes over. :-)  

I'm thinking of that I guess because my little sister asked for the rest of the money I was holding for her to keep her from spending it all.  She is definitely a 'shopaholic'.  I don't know what she is going to do when all this money is gone.  But, her husband has not been kind ... and I won't go there... but she found she could buy Ashley furniture online at Amazon yesterday.... so her daughter in law helped her pick out the sofa and loveseat she wanted (curious, I may go online and see what she paid for it - wonder if it is cheaper there than at the store on sale)..... and she got the 'last' love seat!  Whoo hoo!  She's happy; she now has no money to fall back on... but she's happy.  Just a side note, our little brother had sent us both a little money from our sister's insurance - which he and his wife got... I'm not complaining as I didn't expect any.  Grateful he shared some with us.  And no, other than what I used to pay for our airline tickets to go back there for the funeral and to help clean the apartment, I never told hubby how much I got.  He can be like my little sister; if there is 'extra', let's spend it.  I'm content to keep it saved, unless there is something that is NEEDED.  I like having a cushion to fall in to - never have had one before, and I've done without to build up a small savings account.  I like going to the grocery store and buying whatever I want to buy, without counting the prices as I go through the store.  Ever done that?  I've done that plenty of times, and then deciding what I should take back.  It's nice to get what I want without counting prices.

Sometimes I think God allows us to go through tough times so that we will know what it is like to be in need.  And, in knowing that, we can have compassion on those going through those same things.  But the greatest part of having, and not being in need, is knowing that we are content.  I think I can say that is where I am right now.  Content.

I looked up the word Content in the dictionary.  It is actually an adjective.  Hadn't really thought of that.  Well, the way I'm thinking of the word is an adjective.   I am content.  And another word to use is satisfied.  I am satisfied with what I have.  Just some tidbits based on the scripture.

I am content; I am satisfied.  Can you say that about your life?

Perhaps that is weighing on me right now.  I'm missing my big sister.  I miss our weekly chats.  Her life was saved once, why didn't God save her this time?  Will we ever learn the truth of what happened?  The family still thinks the son did it... but his mental state will not believe he did.  It is just not something she would do, and that is what is so hard to accept.  Antifreeze kills; even just a teaspoon of it.  The pain would be hard to endure... but the more I've learned, is that she went into a coma shortly after arriving at the hospital.  She never knew what killed her.  

But the reason it is on my mind this morning is the question, 'where was she in her walk with Jesus?'   If we asked her, she would say she was a Christian, that she loved Jesus, she was gong to heaven.   But the painful part to me is that when the plug was going to be pulled at the hospital, and the chaplain came in and suggested to my little brother and sister that they remember the good memories as they 'let her go'..... my little brother said, "there aren't any good memories; she was evil".  And my little sister just commented, "well, she was very giving."   Those words torment me, and break my heart.  How can one be declared evil if they say they love Jesus and are a Christian?  

My heart is missing my family that are not longer here this morning.  And those words torment me.  Will I see any of my family in Heaven (as I intend to get there!)?  Oh the thoughts that are going through my heart and mind this morning.  I need my mama today.  I need to hear her say once again, "this too shall pass".  

Having a new home or new furniture may bring temporary joy and satisfaction, but that never lasts.  The home will wear down, the new furniture will wear out.  But what will last is a relationship with Jesus Christ.  I choose Jesus.

I am content, because I have all I need, in Jesus.

Blessings!