His grace is truly AMAZING

Thanksgiving seems like the perfect time to take a few moments and reflect on all my blessings.  I believe I am more blessed today than ever. My life just seems to be one blessing after another. Little things happen everyday that make God real in my life, and I cannot deny His goodness to me. I am amazed at His provision for me and my family over this last year. My job ended in May when the lady I was caregiving for fell and broke her hip, then decided to move into an assisted living facility.  Though I have another job, I have not really started working yet, I have been so busy helping the Parents with their needs and caring for my children, that there hasn't been time for anything else, and God has been SO good, and has multiplied my finances in a miraculous way, that has made it possible to cover every expense without depleting my savings!   God's love for me has been demonstrated throughout this year through the fiends and family He has given me in His Son Jesus Christ. I h

I need prayer.  Today had a rough start,  that was also amazingly tender.  It started yesterday... I was at the Parents' (as I am every Sunday afternoon), we met in the living room,  by the fireplace, after our naps (as we do every Sunday afternoon) to visit for a few minutes before getting ready to go back for evening service (as we do every Sunday afternoon 🙂).  I was thumbing through a magazine,  as she was finishing a section of her Epoch Times, she looked at me and pointed to an article,  said it was really good  and that I should read it. Being the obedient child that I am, I picked up the paper and read the article.  It was information that was old news to me: childhood trauma such as abuse and bullying have been linked to chronic pain,  illness and autoimmune disease. I've long believed the abuse I endured during my teen years played a big part in my fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue, migraines, etc. But the article ended with the idea that a key to recovery is finding

This is one of my most favorite pictures. You can't see her eyes in this picture as well as you can if you are holding the photo in your hands, but they're the important part. The first time I really looked at this picture,  it made me cry. I'd had it on my dresser for more than 16 years, and I looked at it all the time, but I didn't really see it. Until my world was falling apart,  then I suddenly saw the love in those eyes.   She's been a dear friend and mentor for nearly 30 years, but two major events happened before that day in 2015, that mixed with the events of 2015, and lead me to see how much she loved me in 1999... In 2005, my grandmother and I ended up at her house.  This friend who had given me her house key 5 years before and never asked for it back welcomed us at a moments notice,  for a week! I got to the house and started to relax. The problem with that was at that time I was prone to migraine headaches,  one of my biggest triggers was str

When you're pretty sure the whole world just tolerates you,  and one of the people you see most often says ,"We always love that you come back. You're pretty good company." That's the Facebook status I was going to put up a couple days ago. But I couldn't. It's true, that happened,  but I can't quite process it.   I hear things all the time, from honest, sincere people who I believe love me and mean what they say, but I am damaged.  And even though I have come so very far, sometimes I fear that damage may be permanent.  I honestly don't remember compliments from anyone as a child. I remember being the only child in many situations, left to entertain myself while adults had their meetings or fellowship in the next room,  often forgetting I was there. I remember being the last one chosen for teams at school. I remember my grandmother saying, "nobody really cares.", I remember talking with classmates in Jr.High, having a third person come al