His grace is truly AMAZING

The other day, I saw a meme that said "lets face it, none of us, in 2015, got the answer right to the question,'where do you see yourself in 5 year's." When I first saw it, I thought of the chaos of 2020 and smiled. Today as I was driving I was thinking about life, and the fact that I cannot imagine what my life might be 5 years from now. My kids will be grown... Will my Parents still be alive? Will I still be caregiving? Will I still be in CA? I'll have my AS, but will I be working on my Masters degree?  Those could all be yesses, or they could all be nos.  I really have no idea... Then it hit me! June was 4 years ago we arrived in CA and stayed. Five years ago my life was crushed, crumbling around me. I was dying on the inside. There was the facade, that even I believed was real, falling away for all who could see, to see. If anyone told me then what my life looks like now, I would have laughed them to scorn. The growth I have experienced in every area of life, ...

I believe SB moved to GP close to the same time I did. I think her being a So.Cal transplant helped endear her to me. We spent many evenings having dinner with her and her husband and friends, playing dominoes, and in later years cards.  Seeing what Brad caused to be seen--my reactions to his behaviors that he only allowed to be seen by me--lead her to decide I was a spoiled brat. And I suppose, I was, I believed I was, I still won't argue with anyone who calls me a brat. Facts are facts. But there was more to what was seen, than what she saw. She didn't realize that until about 5 years ago. When my world shattered and only the true reward remained... We did start to connect more deeply before chaos happened, perhaps that is why she was available to me in those darkest days.  When Brad finally agreed to allow me to go to the Ladies Bible study, SB was one of the ladies who was always there. She always participated in the discussion, and her answers and observations were often ...

I met SL, when I first moved to Oregon. She was a busy lady, and promised once she retired, she'd be busy about the Lord's work. Brad didn't believe her, he told me he'd heard lots of people make that promise, but they never followed through.  Maybe so, but I've had the tendency to give people a chance to keep their word... SL did keep her word. When she retired she started working in Sunday School classes, and VBS often teamed up with Brad (I wouldn't be his helper, for reasons to be shared another time and place). She also headed up the morning ladies' Bible study, that happened in the Spring and Fall every year.   For several years, Brad had me convinced, I didn't need to go to the Bible study, I needed to be home in case he needed me to go with him to visit someone in their home or at the hospital (which very rarely happened, usually I heard after the fact something like "thank you for sharing your husband with us last week"). The evening c...