2011 Is AlMosT oVeR!

2011 has held true to form for Christmas. The year seems determined to go out with CHAOS. My son-in law had surgery to repair his knee, after waiting for a very long time for workman's comp and the doctors to figure out what to do with it. That was Monday. Last night my daughter called and asked me to come over and take a look at him. His leg was swollen, the calf muscle was extemely painful and he felt like he had a never-ending cramp in it. It was very warm to the touch and he had a low grade fever. Instinct and years of dealing with medical emergencies told me that he had a blood clot or an infection. After a trip to the E.R. and then being admitted overnight, and after repeat Doppler studies and many other tests, it was determined to be a blood clot. No easy diagnosis; it seems almost to have been hiding, but four doctors were sure that was the problem, they just couldn't see it until the final Doppler study. Thank the Lord for their determination and trusting their instincts. He will be in the hospital for three to four days, hopefully not more, but spending Christmas there is hard on him and my daughter and their children. But we thank God for all the pray-ers and the prayers and that He is always with us.

My sister and her husband had a fire in their garage the other day. It spread to the cottage where our brother lives. The garage is mostly lost, along with two classic cars. The cottage had no smoke or water damage, but smells really bad and has a hole in the roof. No one was hurt, including my brother's cat. We thank God once again for the prayers and the pray-ers and His intervention. It could have been much worse.

 My dear friend in Cape Coral is back in the hospital. She has had two more emergencies since her heart issues last month. But in spite of all that she's facing, she is at peace with the Lord and resting in Him. We spoke on the phone last night while I was out trying to finish my shopping, which I still didn't accomplish but I am happy with what I managed to do. We spoke for about forty-five minutes. It was so good to sit in my car in the parking lot and share some love and conversation with an old and cherished friend. Other things can wait. And they will wait.
I spent most of the last two weeks caring for my littler grandchildren while their mom and dad work in the retail chaos of the Christmas shopping season.
I always say I am going to start shopping in October and I actually did this year and thought I had plenty of time to finish. Next year I'm going to do most of my shopping by catalog. Much less chaotic and no rush!

The cable t.v. isn't working right, I didn't iron the tablecloths and napkins, and I didn't get all the treat foods that we usually enjoy. There are still packages to be wrapped and stockings to be filled. I can't find the star for the top of the Christmas tree. But I am reminded of the wonderful Dr. Seuss story, "How The Grinch Stole Christmas". The Grinch didn't manage to ruin Christmas for the little town of Whoville, and Chaos hasn't managed to ruin our Christmas either.
Jesus came, He lives, and He is around every corner, if we just take the time to look. The lights everywhere remind me of His birth, when the Light of God came into the world. We always leave our Christmas lights on overnight on Christmas Eve, just as a reminder.
I greet everyone in the stores with "Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, or whatever holiday you celebrate". Every person I greet this way looks at me directly, and smiles, and says "Merry Christmas".  And if they happen to also celebrate Christmas, almost every one identified themself by saying "I'm Christmas". Isn't that interesting? I see God in that. That's an unusual pairing of words. Not "I celebrate Christmas", but "I'm Christmas". I love that! He is speaking to me in this. So I think God wants me to be Christmas wherever I go. It isn't about the date, the season, whether it's cold and snowy or hot and humid. It's not about the food or the table settings or the gifts; it's all about Jesus. It's a day we chose to celebrate His birth.
So to all my readers, I wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, or whatever holiday you celebrate. But just so you know, "I'm Christmas". Peace to all and to all a good night. xoxoxo

Drip,Drip,Drip.

This morning after bathroom routines were finished, I went back in to clean up the damage. I found more than I expected. There was a puddle on the floor. I was about to yell at Adam for messing around in the water; my cleaning gloves were also inside out in the middle of the floor. As I bent over to pick them up, I noticed a steady dripping from the shut-off valve on the cold water pipe. I don't know what caused it to leak, but there it was and Adam was off the hook and out of trouble. I tightened it up a bit and it stopped leaking. I made a mental note to get a screwdriver and tighten the screw and also to tell Paul when he gets home so he can check and see if it needs more attention. Then I knelt down and mopped up the puddle.
It occurs to me that sometimes life is like that little leak. If I don't pay attention to the details, things can and will go wrong. If I hadn't gone back right away to straighten up the bathroom, there would have been some major damage to clean up. The steady dripping would have created a flood right into the living room and down into the basement as well. A small, unattended drip can become major damage with in a short period of time.
 So I think that when I hurt someone else, or even just speak when I should have remained silent, I need to go and check quickly and clean up the mess I may have made. It might take a little bit of work and some checking back in once or twice, and I might have to get on my knees like I did this morning when I cleaned up the water, but if I have saved a relationship or repaired one, it is so worth it. And if I don't let it go too long, hopefully I will have avoided a major cleanup and repair, which can be so costly and sometimes unrepairable despite my best efforts. And unfortunately, starting over isn't always possible.
So I am checking back today....have I hurt or offended anyone? Have I hurt my relationship with the One who knows me best? And if I have I will do the best I can to repair the damage. Some time on my knees wouldn't be a bad thing either. :0}

What's On Your Mind?

What's on your mind? Facebook is faithful to ask me this every day when I go to my profile page. I don't think they really care, do you? It's just one of the gadgets that get you thinking and wasting time there.
What if we asked each other that question every time we meet? And what if we really wanted to know? Would we really want to tell each other?
I have a friend who has come up with something new. She calls it the UFSOTD...unfiltered status of the day. She posts things that she is really thinking about without filtering them first. Some are really interesting, some are just really random, some are thought provoking. I admire her for being real with her world. That can be hard. You never know what will come back at you when you're real, and I think most of the time most of us filter most of what we say. We've been trained to do this, by our parents, by our friends and by our enemies. It might not be intentional, but we do it to each other. Why? Because we want to be accepted and acceptable. We want our kids to be accepted and acceptable. Isn't it sad that we can't be accepted and acceptable just the way we are? But we're afraid of being judged. So we filter our status in order to be accepted. In order to not be judged. In order to be loved.
There is One who will always ask for our unfiltered status. He will always want to know how we're  really feeling, what we're really thinking, what we really need. And He already knows, but He loves us and He wants us to trust Him so much that we'll tell Him the truth and not hide our real status. God stops by every day to check in with us. Actually, He never leaves. He loves it when we stop by to check in with Him. Go ahead; don't take my word for it; ask Him what's on His mind. He's waiting for you. You'll be glad you did.