Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from November, 2015

All is Well With My Soul

When I moved out to our property in the middle of nowhere 25 years ago, my friend, Mary, did not mince words.  “A well is challenging,” she said.  “People get testy when their well acts up and they don’t have water!”  Mary’s words haunt me from time to time but the stories that come from owning a well are worth telling. My early morning devotional prepared me for my day.    The teaching spotlighted the story of the woman with three hairs on her head.  The woman got up one morning and decided she would braid her hair with those three strands and go on her merry way.  The next morning she looked in the mirror and realized she had only two strands of hair and decided to part her hair in the middle.  The following morning she had only one strand of hair and chose to wear a pony tail that day and went on to enjoy the day.  The next day she woke up with no hair and exclaimed “Yippee, I don’t have to fix my hair today!”  Grasping the power of a positive outlook, she remained cheer

The Best Time

Photo Courtesy:  Peggy James With Lois Honey The nice thing about traveling is meeting people.   It wasn’t long before I learned that the fabulous gal seated next to me on the plane was a woman of faith.   My heart soared hearing her stories and all that God had done in her life.   Thanksgiving is like that…it’s contagious!  She leaned toward me and asked this question:  “And what about you?  Tell me about the best time in your life.” “Give me a minute here…”  I responded. …Could it be when I married Tom?  Honeymooning in Jamaica, I remember thinking “I’m going to remember this paradise forever.  I may never be this happy again.” But then we bought our first home and we learned how to wallpaper and I thought:  “Could I be any happier?” Then our first born came.  She was sensational and I thought I would burst with happiness.  In a neighborhood Bible study, I met Jesus personally.  I got set free; the chains fell off.  That had to be it. Another baby

Hitched to a Rough Road

Photo Credit:  Peggy James I got his email and wanted to shout:  “Hey, buster, does the phrase “continued behavior pattern” mean anything to you?  But I didn’t. Travis is at it again.  His email revealed a litany of complaints about our neighborhood, our country road, our board officers, bad decisions made that will cost him money , yada-yada-yada . Travis is a Christian brother but you’d never know it. He is a large, loud man who shoots his mouth off as often as he shoots his guns back here in the hills.  He interrupts at our road meetings and, like a typical hothead, he speaks truth but with a tone that makes me feel like I need to duck in case some of his words fly at me and smack me upside the face. I thought we were making progress, but we’re not. It is our rough road that brings us together .  Last year we picked up the neglected pieces of our road association.  We agreed to assemble once again to talk, make decisions, and improve our road. 

Packing My Dancing Shoes

My favorite toddler story goes all the way back to my youngest at three years old.  Her instructions were to take an afternoon nap and not get out of bed while I waited outside for the school bus to drop off her big sister.   When I got in, I peeked on what I hoped would be a sleeping child.   Instead I found her wide awake on her bed.   “ Did you get out of bed and help yourself to an Oreo cookie? ” I asked.   “ No !” replied my toddler with lips outlined in chocolate cookie crumbs! Another favorite is last summer when my daughter’s family stayed with us for a few days.  Mommy took a shower leaving papa in charge of the baby who fought her morning nap.  I walked down the hall and noticed him sitting on the edge of the bed adjacent to the crib singing lullabies’ to her so she wouldn’t cry!  What a precious moment frozen in time forever etched on my brain.  I didn’t know he knew those songs.  Just about when you think you really know someone… Come the middle of this week

Crisis Turned Blessing

“ I wasn’t worried when I rode in the ambulance because I knew you were praying for me .”  These are the words my husband whispered to me after facing a medical crises a few weeks ago. Complications set in a few days after Tom’s surgeon performed a procedure at the hospital.   He returned home, but lost so much blood due to an artery punctured during surgery.  His blood pressure dropped to 79/49 and we headed to the ER at the VA in Prescott where they then transferred him by ambulance to the civilian hospital and surgeon who performed the surgery.   It turned out to be an easy fix, but if he had waited a few more hours he would not have survived. Terrific blessings came our way.  I can’t wait to list them all because every time I think of that week in October, I want to cry.  My heart is full of thanksgiving. *Tom received immediate care in both emergency rooms without a wait!  He was given the best treatment and a comfortable room with a view! *Because of the com