So, the turkey was carved. the “sides table” was heavily laden, the dishes are washed, the pots are scrubbed, and the day of family gathering has passed. Our hearts are joyful, our praises are raised, our tummies are more than satisfied, and now we turn to Christmas preparation. The next few weeks will see our family filled with rehearsals and performances at every level, gift exchanges, pulling out traditional recipes for another season of excesses “just because it’s Christmas,” and…..
Yesterday was a difficult day for me. My left hip and back were screamingly present with pain. Forgive me for not posting. I am including both day 25 and 26 in today’s post.
Day 25
It is with an attitude of gratitude that I confess that God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, and that although the times seem chaotic, man’s need for God’s guidance and forgiveness does not change because man thinks he controls his own destiny. I…..
Day 24
Now, to the real attitude of gratitude testimony: To live relatively healthily for 85½ years is an achievement. Longevity is a blessing. Proverbs 20:29 says: “The glory of young men is their strength, gray hair the splendor of the old.” I’ve earned every gray hair and smile line on my face, and am thankful for the measure of health I enjoy.
Overweight, deaf in one ear, losing the use of my left hand to a newly diagnosed case…..
Before I include the passage from the book, a word of remembrance that this date, in 1963, John F. Kennedy was assassinated. I remember telling my 7th graders. It was especially hard on them because for the previous month, we had sold booklets of our poetry to send money to Jackie Kennedy to refurbish the White House. The week before this national disaster, they had received a personal note from her on White House stationery. We had been published in…..
Here come the holidays, Moms. It’s getting real, isn’t it. Black Friday sales have turned into a weekly event, and store displays of Christmas glitter and stocked store shelves push us forward, whether we’re ready of not! Personally, this year especially, I’m replacing anticipation with a bit of dread. I was diagnosed yesterday with lower back pain which is, at the moment, debilitating. I’m facing weeks of physical therapy, heavy drugs, and all this at the time of the year…..
Day 20
And with an attitude of gratitude, God guided me through dating and courtship, helping me develop the character list my future spouse must possess, and then sending me the perfect person to complete me. He is a godly man, and Christ has been the center focus of our relationship from day one. We met in church. We developed our relationship as church ministry opportunities opened for us. He is logical-mathematical, I am verbal-artistic-creative. We love classical music, and…..
Vicky Nguyen wrote in Guidepost magazine: “There is going to be someone younger than you, smarter than you, more pedigreed than you. Always…But, there will never be someone who is as good at being you as you are.’ There’s something to be said for giving ourselves mercy. We may not be perfect…only Jesus was, and through our own striving, while we can improve things we dislike about our character, or even establish new habits, they tell us, in twenty day,…..
Day 18
I delighted in Mrs. O’Rourke’s discipline in teaching me journalistic style, although I have struggled to forgive her for telling me, “Now, Betty June, I know you want to be a reporter, but only men can do that job. You’d be a great teacher!” She was right, I was a great teacher, but she quashed my dream. What I learned, I taught. My students won writing awards and distinction, and with an attitude of gratitude, I thank my…..
Today is a very special day for me. We honor the twenty senior writers at the senior residence where we live. They began their Fifth Anthology Memoirs in August, and today is their fifth Book Signing Event. I never would have imagined how much leading this group of writers, and those who preceded them, would make in my life. Although I have taught writing skills and creative writing in my forty year teaching career, and have personally written thirty-three other…..