Author: leonard1959

Spring is here! We all feel the itch. It’s time to plant trees, gardens and take the time to listen to the birds as they sing in the mornings. It’s also that time of year when the atmosphere becomes unstable. For those of us living in Texas, major storms that can produce tornadoes and hail is much more common. A small town similar to the one I live in very close in proximity, experienced baseball size hail and about a foot of it this past weekend. Spring for us often brings a lot of good weather but also the bad.

The above also describes life overall. We will have seasons when life feels almost boring. Days are the same. Nothing changes except weather patterns. Then that major storm hits and our entire world feels turned upside down. Glorifying God is the only thing I have found that is the anchor during those storms of life. Giving Him the glory and trusting in His sovereignity. It is so important that we don’t hold onto this life above what God offers. He is so much more important. The best way to defeat death and fear is to trust in the character of God as described in His holy book. Know Him through His Word. Trust Him in all things. Give Him the glory in all things.

I had a wonderful four days. We saw so many things that neither my husband, my daughter nor myself had seen before and we never left the state. Granted Texas is a big state and one could spend a lot of time in West Texas. Along with new sites to view was also good food. Lots of it. The high carb stuff. The stuff we are told to avoid when battling cancer but it is oh so good. A return to reality of how good it was arrived this morning with my first step on the morning scale. Ugh. I gained 5 pounds over 4 days. That’s pretty impressive in a sad way. The battle over weight gain begins again.

One of the hardest things to recognize in ourselves is the things we create as idols in our lives. This is not good. God calls it sin. Anything that is above Him is sin. A number on a scale can completely take over our lives or more specifically mine. If I continue to allow it to dominate my brain, it controls my happiness level as well as how sad I will be for the day. This is the danger of man created idols. They do not give a realistic view of who we are and they separate us from our Creator who is and should be the most important person in our lives.

This life is meant for us to be courageous. We need to stand up against idols formed in our minds by rejecting them, repenting of them and bringing them before the throne of a Holy and righteous God. True freedom lies in that.

I try to post on M-W-F. Yesterday I’m afraid I missed posting due to mental preoccupation with an upcoming doctor visit and four of my grandchildren arriving for a couple of days. Two weeks ago I went to our local walk in clinic with what felt like a sinus infection to be told again that my left lung did not sound as if it was taking full breaths. I did this also in December and my CT scan revealed a nice size hurricane in the bottom chamber of my left lung. I had pnemonia. I was concerned that something else was amiss. Blessedly my doctor assured me yesterday that the left lung sounded perfectly normal. Praise the Lord for things that most people take for granted. With my medical history it is always a concern and a definite blessing when all is clear.

In this life it is important to stop and give God glory for all the normal things often taken for granted. I use to take those things for granted. That is no longer my go to. Hopefully all of you are taking a rest if you are in Texas for spring break. I will be taking the remainder of the week off to enjoy time with my husband and my daughter and of course my precious grandchildren.

Blessings to all of you and I will be back next Monday

It’s Friday and time to reflect on the blessings of this week. For many years I taught political science. I often find myself still dwelling on it. This is an area that I must guard myself against because it is easy to become an idol in my life. Scripture warns that anything we think on all the time or meditate on that takes the place of God is an idol and that is a great sin before the Lord. To combat it, it is important to think of all the blessings that God has bestowed.

I am grateful for my husband, my children, my adorable grandchildren and the promise and Word of Holy Scripture. I know that God is always honest, He is incapable of lying. I know that because of Christ, my trust in who Christ is and what He did for me on the cross is my path through the narrow gate into His presence. No matter how bad this world gets, my home eternally is with Christ. This life is just a vapor. That might make some of you feel better knowing this world will not always be and for others of you it might frighten you. Trust in God’s character. Trust in what scripture tells you Christ is and who God is and who the Holy Spirit is. They are three separate and yet one. They are truthful. They love you beyond your imagination. Submit to them and trust your eternity to them.

When I was a little girl, I remember leaving my paternal grandparents home. They were the most loving grandparents any grandchild could be blessed with. One of the many things they did every time we left their home, was to go out with us and wave until we pulled out of the drive-way. I started that same tradition with all of my grandchildren. Yesterday as I was leaving my middle son’s home, his 3 year old daughter told me she was going out with me. Hollering at my son to watch her as I was leaving, she was joined by her 5 year old sister who informed me they were coming to tell me bye. As I pulled out the drive-way, there stood my son with his baby son and two daughters waving bye. It was so sweet. My oldest son has an older daughter who also makes a point to stand outside when I am leaving to tell me bye. Little things we do that we assume no one really notices is often observed by many as my grandchildren were watching what I had been doing for years and took that to mean love.

God is also watching. What is important to remember about that is that just as my grandchildren were observing me which in the above scenario was a good example, the negative things we do is also being observed. God sees more than what our loving relatives do. Sobberig thought. Keep your hearts pure this day. Strive to be more Christ like. This knowledge will equip you with so much to prepare yourself for the battle of everyday living. I know. I have walked it.

I will admit I have always impressed by the kindnesses often bestowed by complete strangers. Our church youth had a fundraiser last night for youth camp this summer. I did not attend but my husband did and he could not believe how generous people were. One homemade chocolate pie raised a bid (silent auction) of $100 by the end of the evening. He did not know a lot of the names of people making the bids but their generosity was evident. Imagine how special you may have felt to know your pie sold for that much money.

How much more does our Father in heaven know us? The scripture records that He knows every hair on our heads. That’s pretty intimate. A stranger bids a high price in this world to help a youth go to camp. How much more will our Father who knows us do for each of us? He really blesses us in multiple ways. We tend to be selfcentered and focus only on the things we “want” that we did not receive without even checking whether that “want” falls within God’s will. After all most of us have a really good idea of what sin is and it is foolish to want in that direction. It is all in our attitude. Letting go of Zach was the hardest thing I have walked so far in this life and yet I can honestly write that God has blessed me in multiple ways. Having stage 4 cancer was really hard and yet I can honestly write one more time, God has blessed me in multiple ways.

Be strong. Be courageous. Know that you are not alone in what you endure unless you choose to be.

When I was a child, I remember the weather patterns of March. I would start the day in a jacket or sweater because it was too cold to leave the house without one. By the time I got home from school, I wished I hadn’t taken a sweater because now it was just something extra to bring home in the heat. Sound familiar? Weather in Texas is always an interesting phenomena and that hasn’t changed.

These up and down weather patterns often result in sinus issues as the trees get confused too and pollen is literally everywhere. Many are sick right now in our community with strep and different viruses, some visuses known and others still a mystery. Tomorrow our church is sponsoring an annual event we do for those with cancer diagnosis in our community. If you have a moment, please pray that most of our invited guests will be available to attend. One who has an advanced cancer and will be on chemo treatments for the rest of her life is already not able to come due to the above illnesss. Treatments weaken the immune system making each of us who go through it more susseptible to viruses or bacterial infections.

As I have written many times, this life is not for the faint of heart. We are called to be strong and coureagous. We are admonised not to fear. We are reminded that we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. Praise the Lord for the strength for this day!!

Yesterday was my sweet daughter’s birthday. For those of you who do not know, Leonard and I had the honor and privilege of adopting a sweet toddler from China 21 years ago. I cannot express to you the blessing she has been to our lives. I will share one area. When I was told in June of 2015 that I had 18 months at the most to live, I seriously contemplated doing no treatments at all. I already knew what sarcomas do watching what Zach went through. In a lot of ways it seemed pointless to me to even try. Marah or June Ji as she is called was 15 years old at the time. When I got home that afternoon and waited for her to come in from school, I contemplated how I would tell her. In the end I just leveled with her. With tears streaming down her face, she told me I had to try. I realized then how much she stilll needed her mother and how selfish it was of me to not try.

Sometimes I believe God places people in our lives to encourage us or give us a hint of which direction to go. Absolutely reading His Word is the most important to grow and learn and hear Him speak. We can also see if we choose to through those special people placed in our lives and sometimes also in complete strangers. This life is precious. Love those in your life while you are still here to do it regardless of whether you are in good health or not. Praise God this day and keep being courageous!

I live in a small town. We have two grocery stores. I frequent one of them out of loyalty to the chain since my son works for that chain and the staff there is very friendly. There is one particular gentleman who probably is younger than I am but has worked many years at that store. I don’t care what kind of day it is. It can be a freeze, rain, thunderstorms doesn’t matter. If you ask him how he is, he is going to respond with “another day in paradise” with a huge smile on his face, one that reaches his eyes so you know he is sincere.

I sometimes think of his response and his positive attitude. To my knowledge he does not have a personal relationship with Christ. Yet he shows one attribute that all of us who claim to have a relationship with our savior seem to lack. He seems genuinely happy with his circumstances in life or should I write content. This is a concept that Paul talks quite frequently of in the New Testament. It comes to my mind because it is so important that we have this same characteristic to help us through whatever we are walking or just help us through life. I did not ask for cancer. It came my way anyway. I did not desire cancer for my son and I certainly would have loved to have had him until the end of my days. It did not go my way. Should I be bitter? Should I be discontented the rest of my days? If yes, what does that gain for me? Even if God’s opinion of me did not matter to me I cannot see myself happy because I gave in to bitterness and anger for the rest of my days. As I have written many times, this life requires that we be courageous. It is not for the weak. We intentionally make the decision to seek joy in the smallest of things and to be content.

It’s Friday and I often like to reflect on the many and I do mean many blessings that God has bestowed on me and it is always my hope that you will do the same. I couldn’t help but think about the number of times I complain about various things from the achiness in my bones upon rising to too little sleep I received the night before. It seems like in our human nature we are all prone to complaining about something. In fact we do it so much that we don’t think anything about it. When you read the Old Testament, a clear picture arises that this may not be the best habit we have normalized. Complaining got the children of Israel in a whole lot of trouble. It also appears contradictory to praise God in one breath while in another complaining about something.

How about you and I making a decision that we will consciously praise God this day and stop the habit of allowing complaining words come from our mouths. Our spouses would probably appreciate that if no one else:) In reality the many good things for most of us living in the United States is far better than what can be found in many parts of the world. We all have so much to be grateful for. Keep trusting. Keep believing.