Choose Joy in the Journey

  A friend noticed Cowboy Church off of Dry Creek Road in West Sedona yesterday morning as he drove past and told me the parking lot was bulging with cars from everywhere.  "Something big was going on!  He said." "Yes I replied; I was there and I want to tell you all about what happened." I glanced over the highly attended sanctuary as the first speaker approached to speak.  He introduced himself as a pastor from the state of Washington but he was also my bestie's nephew.  His engaging  eulogy of the life of his cousin, Ashley, gripped me.  He helped all of us understand and trust God when we want to scream "She was so young.  What about her widower husband now who loved her with all his heart?  What about their two-year old boy who misses his mommy?"  There are days we just don't understand God's ways.  But I am at peace to know Ashley is finally pain free and lives in Paradise. I glanced at her mom, Maureen, my best friend now for...

  Memorial Day is always noteworthy for me and my girls.  Next Thursday marks the third year of missing their father, my husband. So many thoughts  run through my mind.  The journey of loss takes on various emotions.  The strongest feeling, at first, was emptiness.  In a split second, I would forget he departed forever.  I imagined things I needed to talk to him about when he got back home.  My mind is realistic now.  He's not coming back.  There will be no more times of sitting on the porch swing together on the front deck staring at the moon and the stars.  He would tell me all he knew about the majestic night sky. I have so much I wish I could tell him, like the excitement of seeing our oldest grandchild make a decision to follow Jesus and get baptized on Mother's Day!  And our little Amy, 11 years old, I wish he could have seen her on stage receiving her induction to the National Honor Society. Our daughters have their own ...

I guess I'm like any daughter who, while enjoying an old photo album, finds that one sexy pose of her mom and shouts:  "Way to go, Mamma! I found this photo and I loved it!  I wondered:  "What was on her mind during this pose?"  "Was she thinking of my dad?"  Or was she competing with girlfriends who strived to pose the most like a movie star--Ginger Rogers or Bette Davis?  I will never know.    It feels strange to see it.  It seems out of character for her.  My mom was anything but a super model; she was more in the "tomboy" category! She had high morals.  I remember as a preschooler, bundled in a heavy winter coat, scarf, mittens, knit hat with a long braid on top, holding her hand as we walked in the snow to Gray's, the corner drug store.  Mom found a Playboy magazine on the shelf.  She pulled out her church badge and marched to the cash register and then asked to speak to Mrs. Gray.  The elderly woman listened to ...

  It was on I-17, halfway to Camp Verde, when I discovered my turn signal had no sound.  Oh, my signals were working right, but when I reached up to my left ear I realized my hearing aids got left behind.  I took them out right before the final hairspray but forgot to put them back in again.  Hearing sounded muffled.  I chalked it up to old age and prayed for grace to be able to hear supernaturally as I drove to meet up with friends.  They were forgiving and sensitive and helped me forge through our afternoon plans.  We drove over the mountain towards Prescott to meet up with others from our home church and indulged in lunch at Chili's for good food and fun fellowship.  Afterwards, we walked across the street to purchase tickets for the afternoon viewing of The Last Supper.   There are two Last Supper movies playing at this writing.  We saw the movie Chris Tomlin co-produced.  The emphasis was on the day Jesus shared a Passover Sede...

  Tomorrow is the first day of spring!  Our mornings still are chilly, but then the powerful Arizona sun arises to warm our March days.  I'm considering an herb garden this year.  Fresh herbs are wonderful for cooking. I joined my Tucson family for spring break last week.  Our days filled up fast with fun activities--cooking and baking together, movies, board games, church, pizza.  Should I mention laundry and dishes? The family discovered a new breakfast spot called The Bisbee Breakfast Club.  The pancakes were my favorite and the portions were huge.  We had leftovers for breakfast the next day.  I like the décor.  The kiddos modeled in front of the colorful mural wall behind our table. Amy turns eleven this week, but we celebrated early with pizza, cake, ice cream and lots of presents. We were able to take a road trip to New Mexico to visit family.  I felt refreshed to be with our cousins and reminisce about growing up in Chicag...

  I'm not a federal government employee so I did not receive an email from DOGE with instructions to list five bullet points of what I did last week.  Perhaps Elon Musk or President Trump could care less, but I'm complying.  I'm a middle child and like to follow the rules.  After all, Mr. God has blessed me with good health and ambition, so why not thank Him for each day I can wake up and carry out the responsibilities my simple life requires? Here are my five: 1.  I have three large fenced pens behind my house filled with old straw-like over grown weeds and it's hard to walk back there.  I raked two of the three pens and bagged 12 large garbage bags of weeds.  I'm skittish of burning them; I dislike fire chores.  The bags are heavy!  It looks neater and flatter.  I'm ready for the spring rains to come.  Then I will have nasty fresh green weeds to pull.  We need rain badly, nonetheless. 2.  I hosted an intimate dinner part...

  My dad played the concertina.  Some call it a squeeze box.  Mom and dad were children of Polish immigrants and knew how to party hard.  Growing up, I watched as they hosted many a celebration in our modest home and I loved the joy of seeing my dad play his heart out to old Polish waltzes and polkas.  He came from a family of 12 children so my childhood contained lots of cousins and uncles who took turns at the concertina with their rendition of polkas while my aunties filled our dining room with double-hop polka dancing.  Add a little whiskey to the mix and you've got a loud shindig.  Simple fun.  I loved it. You can imagine my delight finding a concertina display in the Poland Wing at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, AZ.  Memories flooded my mind and I wished my cousin, Joyce, could be with me in that moment.  She and I reminisce like crazy about our childhood--the Polish pierogis, Kolaczki cookies and Christmases in our gran...

I slept right through my birthday last week.  I got hammered with a nasty head cold which kept me bedridden for four days.  It's okay.  We celebrated the week before.   The weekend before, my daughter was off from work but told me she had to work on the weekend of my special day.  I got to pick a place for dinner that night and chose Javelina Cantina in Sedona.  It was wonderful and so was the homemade white cake with coffee we enjoyed back at the house. My immune system is strong so I'm surprised I got hit so hard.  I admit, I've been down in the dumps since my closest friend, Maureen, received the severe cancer diagnosis.  Our friendship is pure gold.  I let myself feel the deep sadness and perhaps, I stayed there too long.  Is that why I got sick?  Was I depressed and vulnerable and open to attack? I want to say a big "Thank You" to all of you who stopped by and offered prayers for us.  It meant so much to me and to Mau...

  The predicted snow started to fall in large, fluffy flakes from a gloomy dark gray sky.  It was late morning and the pines and crusty, dry ground soaked up the moisture.  This winter scene contrasted our usual bright Arizona sunny skies.  We, and the earth, crave moisture.  It's been so dry without rain for over 150 days. In my kitchen, my crock pot alerted me with bubbling sounds so I switched my homemade chicken soup to low.  Chocolate chip cookie dough waited on the counter for the oven to reach 175 degrees. My cell phone notified me of a new text message and I saw my best friend's name appear at the top of the screen.  "Oh, good" I thought.  She responded. My bestie lay in a Phoenix hospital awaiting surgery after a slew of tests.  I had sent an encouraging text with a Scripture earlier with hopes to deliver peace and quiet rest for her soul.  "No surgery tomorrow,"  she wrote.  It's cancer and they're sending me home to ...

As the holidays came to a close and the New Year approached, my daughter and I shared about upcoming January events we were looking forward to with anticipation.  We spoke of President Trump's big win which we believe will place better laws into effect in our country after he's inaugurated.  That's when my daughter mentioned she and her husband might be going to one of the inaugural balls.  A couple they hang around with invited them to a formal watch party to celebrate his swearing into office.  They would attend this inaugural ball, and participate with the elites, but from afar! "You know what this means," she said.  We will have to make an investment into formal wear.  "I haven't worn heels in a while!" We spoke about the details and I began to feel excited for her.  Actually, I felt envious.  I would love to go to something like that with a date and get all dressed up fancy.  We talked about the nice formal wear available at thrift store...

  My alarm went off this morning on my cell and there it was, the Bible verse of the day staring at me on my Bible App.    Ah, this verse, it described yesterday to a tee.     For I hold you by your right hand—      I, the  Lord  your God. And I say to you,      ‘Don’t be afraid. I am here to help you.   Isaiah 41:13     Yesterday’s surprise threw me a curveball.   I got home from my workout about mid-morning.   I drove up to the driveway and discovered what looked like a geyser shooting up on my property.   I guess a low of 19 freezing degrees can easily burst an outside faucet.   Panic began to grip me and choke me as I inspected the overflow but at the same time I noticed very thirsty sparrows lapping up moisture and having a good time in my dilemma.   I can’t blame them.   Their bird bath is frozen.   I hated to put an end to their excitement in t...