blessed...

always there

You’re Always There for Me

When the world comes crashing in
And chaos rules my mind,
I turn my heart to you, Lord,
And pure, sweet peace I find.
You lift me out of trouble
You comfort me in pain;
You nourish, heal and cleanse me,
Like cool, refreshing rain.
In times of joy and bliss,
When things are going right,
You lift me even higher,
And fill me with delight.
You listen to my prayers;
You hear my every plea;
I’m safe because I know
You’re always there for me.

Author Unknown

on your mark, get ready, get set, go shop

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Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. (1 Peter 3:8 NIV)

Today was triple coupon day at the grocery store! Of course, I had to park very far away. In the parking lot, I didn’t hear rude car horns or fighting over empty spaces. I optimistically expected that. Were we breaking fire department maximum capacity codes? The aisles were congested with traffic, resulting in numerous traffic jams. I certainly expected that. The vast majority of shoppers were very kind and helpful. I witnessed patience and understanding towards one another. I reasonably expected that. We were all there for the same purpose. Sort of like ‘I hope you save as much as I save.’ I witnessed taller persons offering to reach items for shorter persons. (One of the shorter persons would be me.) One young lady offered her extra coupons to shoppers looking at the same product. (One of those shoppers would be me.) While making my way up and down the aisles, here and there I noticed coupons left on shelves for someone else’s use. For the most part, the shopping trip was an exercise in total politeness. Yes, I expected that too.

I was pleased of the savings. Total coupons tendered: $54.50. Total balance due: $49.11. That’s an 11% difference! You gotta love it!

One more thing. As I pushed my full cart thru the parking lot, I witnessed not one, but two persons independently trying to help a fellow shopper not feel so stupid. It seems like someone didn’t remember where they had parked. Oh, the one who had a lost car? That would be me.

drum roll

It won’t be long now. Soon I’ll be blessed with yet another treasure. A precious new life. A little boy this time. He and his big sister, the both of them, that’s two. Me? I’ll have two grandbabies! That’s a double dose of love, a double dose of joy, a double dose of blessings, a double dose of miracles.

I’m blessed. Seriously blessed.

I’m liking this grandmother journey...

the little lady’s recent visit continued...

Grandchildren are the crown of old men, And the glory of sons is their fathers.
(Proverbs 17:6 NASV)

The little lady’s parents had to be away for a few days, so both sets of grandparents gladly shared time with her.

Her other proud grandparents (Grammy and Grampy) brought her to her other proud grandparents’ (Nana and Poppy) house. (Try saying that three times quickly.)

Anyway, just a few minutes (and I mean just a few minutes) after she arrived, she demonstrated the cognitive skills and memory recall and learning capabilities of a 16-month old little girl. Of course, she isn’t just any 16-month old little girl (I think her other grandparents would readily agree with that). She walked over to the sliding glass door, peered outside, and said, “Fish!” The last time she visited, I had taken her outside to feed the goldfish in my garden pond. (Granted it’s small, but it’s still a garden pond.) I was delighted! It had been a bit shy of two months since she last fed the fish. And she remembered!

By the way, when we went to the mall, Poppy found two different stuffed goldfish. The little lady chose the one she liked, and naturally, Poppy bought it for her.


This set of her proud grandparents returned the little lady to the waiting arms of her “we immensely missed you” parents.

Ain’t life grand!?

the God of all comfort

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there are times i still ask why, although i know He knows...

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Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer.

And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

2 Corinthians 1:3-7 NIV

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a lesson from the butterfly

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could, and it could go no further. So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

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What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon. Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. If God allowed us to go through our lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. We could never fly!

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a very nice Saturday

Today has been such a wonderful “outside” day. I’ve always considered days like this a gift, especially in November. It’s still 70 degrees (well, 68 degrees now), and I’m loving it! I spiffed up my front flower bed a bit, and then piddled around in my back yard “secret garden”.

We have new neighbors next door. Lot’s of work has been going on over there. Today, there’s been steady hammer-work building a new deck. While I was in my backyard, I noticed how hungry I was getting. Even though someone very sweet fixed me a good Saturday morning breakfast, I kept getting even hungrier. I finally realized why. There was a radio playing next door, and I felt like I was in La Hacienda (one of my favorite restaurants).

I’m ready to go eat there now...