Posted on in Amazing Creations, Nature

January Warmth

I know that some parts of the US are being hammered with winter weather. Not so in Southwestern Ohio. In fact, yesterday was sunny and temperatures in the 50s! I, personally, would enjoy some snow. It is January! I enjoy the silence that snow seems to amplify. Not to mention crusted tree limbs, bird prints, etc. Guess I will have to post some of those snow memories in another blog entry!

This morning when I went outside to empty the compost bucket, (without a coat, mind you!) on the way back into the house I noticed daffodils leaves about 2 inches tall!

Warm or frigid, my preferences or not, the season continue to unfold with daylight lasting longer than a few weeks ago, and flower bulbs persist in rising through the leaf litter. Another treasure in plain sight!

Posted on in Humor, medical treatment

Treasures in Plain Ear

Acts 2:2 (NKJV) And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.

For almost one year my husband has had to sleep with a cannula and 2 liters of oxygen each night. He does not like that, but tries to be compliant with his pulmonologist since the health crisis of January 2018.

Last night he awoke hearing something and asking “Is that You, Lord?”

His cannula had slipped in the night and was in his ear instead of his nostrils.

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He awoke wondering what the sound was. He did not want to post that on Facebook, so I said I would need to use it for the blog. Written here with his permission!

 

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Nature

Gloomy Day Treasure

For Christmas our daughter and Granddaughter gave us a sunflower disk made of compressed bird seed. We took down the regular feeder outside our kitchen window and put it up. It took several days for the wary birds to trust it as a genuine feeding item.

Then the feasting began. One morning while getting some coffee I noticed a bird that does not often come to our feeder. He is prone to totally freeze in place or fly off at the slightest thing that might startle him. He especially does not like the red-bellied woodpecker. Otherwise, he will feed with other birds in relative calm. As I watched he explored the sunflower and then I went to grab my iPhone. He stretched to his full length, and in the gloom of this winter day I captured the best photo ever!

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Yellow-bellied Sapsucker with his belly shining bright! Black capped Chickadee on lower edge of flower.

I remember as a child hearing some actor in a movie who was wearing binoculars about his neck get all excited about this bird with the weird name. This photo was hard to capture, and not the best quality, but for me, a TRIUMPH!! I could finally show Bob why it has that funny name.

Keep watching for those treasures in plain sight!!

Posted on in Faith, medical treatment

Success!

Bob is spending the night in the hospital for observation, but the pacemaker procedure went off with no complications. Thank you so much for your prayers and good wishes.

At one point I had to go move the car from valet parking to the regular lot. When I got in the car the radio was playing this song.

Hoping like Dan said, this completes the circle from that terribly illness that began January 4, 2018.

Stay well!

Weary Molly

 

Posted on in Book quotes, Nature, Spiritual growth

Simple to Read, Harder to Do!

In her book 1,000 Gifts Ann Voskamp quotes Chesterton:

“Thanks are the highest form of thought  and gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”

When I read this I saw thOUGHT. This is how I OUGHT to think. This is what I OUGHT to do. The part of the earth where I live is gloomy today. No sunshine in sight. This is one reason our best friends moved to New Mexico! Much more sunshine there.

The gloom is accentuated by naked deciduous trees. Somehow they look even skinnier this morning. The ground is mostly brown and gray, too. The recent record breaking rain is slowly making the grassy areas “green up,” that is unless the ground has just turned to mud as in my friend’s driveway! Mushy brown muddy goo.

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Gray sky, brown and gray tree skeletons, but this also reminds me that with this New Year turning of the calendar, I am also supposed to be renewed and resting. One young friend told me she had prayed the Lord would give her a word for the year 2019. She suggested I ask Him also. It seems He already did in my recent journaling and seeking His face. “Be still.”

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Except for the recent wind storms here, the trees are still. No leaves fluttering, not much fluid moving up and down the trunk. No fragrance of newly mown grass outside. The rose bushes are dormant. Even the snap dragons that were holding out with leaves and a few flower buds in the garden are looking shabby and going dormant.

How can I be still and just rest in all of this? Bob’s procedure is coming up in a few hours. But fretting will not help that. Me being still would create a better atmosphere for all. I learned from a recent hospital test he endured that I can accomplish little while the doctors are working their magic upon his body. So perhaps I can take that opportunity to practice being still. Not running out into the future of “What ifs” or the past of “If onlys.” Still in the present moment.

Thanks and gratitude in the stillness. Making that list of 1,000 Gifts to be thankful for feels forced and corny in the beginning. Later it becomes a lifestyle that enriches awareness and has the potential to bloom into gratitude. Help me be still and open my eyes and ears to thanks and gratitude.

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Posted on in Aging, medical treatment, Spiritual growth

A Calendar Quote

From my 2018 calendar produced by Sounds True, this quote from Kelly McGonigal:

“Our capacity to notice suffering, be moved, and respond is not just a form of caregiving or love – it is a form of courage.”

In February of 2018 this was the page on my calendar. As I learned more about my husband’s suffering from a critical illness I also learned more about caregiving, my capacity to notice suffering and the courage required to walk through that awful illness and recovery. Every day the calendar spoke to me and helped me.

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Similar calendar page

 

Recently we were made aware of the suffering of a 78-year-old widow. Living alone she had slowly let herself stop eating and drinking, falling into a deeper and deeper depression. When her family discovered her condition, she told wild tales of falling down the stairs. Said she did not want to bother anyone after she fell. She evidently waited three days to tell anyone. Weird thing was there was no bruising on her. No stairways that would let her fall head first, though maybe bounce on her bottom. CT scan showed no brain bleed or other problem. Her isolation, mental habit of worry and fret, lack of exercise and nutrition likely all contributed to her condition. She was hospitalized for several days to rehydrate her and get her stabilized. Then moved to a care facility to work on her strength, physical stability and mental capacity. They will eventually move her to a small apartment in the same complex.
When we went to help the family make sense and put into order her condo, everyone was stunned. The mailbox had not been opened for about 2 months. The dishwasher was overflowing with dirty dishes as were the kitchen sinks and counters. Broken and burned out light bulbs were in several places. When the light was returned to the laundry room, empty bottles of laundry soap, fabric softener and piles of soiled laundry along with broken glass were deep on the floor.
My first response was fear. Oh my! I better get back to walking or being in the pool at the YMCA or this could be my future. Especially if something happens to my husband. Then pity that she let herself despair to this point. I too suffered a bad bout with depression several years ago. When I worked my way out of it with therapy and loving care, I vowed to never let myself do that again. No matter what others do or how they behave, my mental health would be my #1 priority.
Then I was angry at her. And we are not even related. It has taken  a reminder from the calendar quote to bring me back to the point of noticing her suffering and having the courage to go see her. I want to be loving and non-judgmental. I do not live in her head, so I really do not know exactly the components of her suffering.
God help me to respond and be moved with Your love and the courage of the Lion of Judah.

Posted on in Family

Been Busy

I am married to Mr. Tidy. He knows I call him that. We are not quite alike in this matter, though he has trained me fairly well over 48 years!

So the Christmas tree come down December 25 as we were finished with the family celebration. And the mantle decorations changed to winter instead of Christmas. Table is being changed over, also.

Why all the rush? Well January 3 Bob is being admitted for a scheduled surgical procedure. The critical illness of January 4, 2018 left him with damage to one of the heart nodes that regulate heartbeat. His pulse is often 38 whereas mine can run 100. Normal is 60-100 beats per minute.

This is basically the same way the doctor showed the pacemaker to us in his office. Bob will be admitted after the procedure for overnight monitoring. They want to be certain that everything is regulated properly.

Everyone assures us it is a simple procedure. That sounds fine until it is your heart (or the heart of a loved one) they are talking about! Bob is looking forward to warmer hands and feet, more energy, less dizziness, fewer headaches, and overall feeling better.

More energy?! Not certain how I will keep up with him then!! He is scheduled to return home January 4. We are hoping this is the end to the illness that nearly killed him January 4, 2018. May the year 2019 be much healthier and calmer. Lord, hear our prayer!

Posted on in Family

Presents in Contrast to Presence

The first year we were married I was so excited to give Bob his Christmas gifts. I hoped to surprise him. He sat with each gift, examined it, and proceeded to guess each one before he opened it. I was so disappointed!

Many years later his sister came to visit us in Ohio from California around Christmas time. She had taken a Southwest flight into Indianapolis. The day she was due to fly out Bob was working and the kids were in school. I drove her back to Indianapolis. Our house was already decorated and the gifts were under the tree. When I returned from the airport, Bob was home from work. He ran out to the driveway and declared, “I felt your presents!”

I was instantly angry. It took a moment for Bob to realize that I heard him say “Presents” and he meant “Presence.” He was apologizing profusely.

He does not guess what is in his gifts any more. If he does, he does not say it out loud!

Posted on in Faith, Humor

Christmas Humor

In the grocery store our children and grandchildren often embarrass us. What might have been funny at home or in the car makes us cringe in public. Sometimes those same children can bless others tremendously. I think it is lovely when a preschooler is riding in a grocery basket singing “Yes, Jesus loves me!”

A few years ago I had the opportunity to be blessed by a child who obviously attended church. Whether he had recently learned Revelation 4:8 in his Nursery class or at home I will never know. We are told in that passage that around the throne of heaven there are four living creatures and day and night they never stop saying “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

So here is this kiddo, with dark hair and bright eyes, riding in Mom’s car hollering: “Holy, holy holy is the Lord!” I was in the next aisle over and enchanted to hear such a thing in the grocery. When they caught up with me in a few minutes in yet another aisle, he was still praising. Mom wanted to put her hand over his mouth and was trying to sush him a bit. I reminded her that the Psalmist said through the praise of children the Lord established a stronghold against the enemy! (Psalm 8:2) I encouraged her to let him go 😉 She was visibly relieved that someone appreciated his enthusiasm.

Wonder what would happen if all the believers declared such praise with such volume at the grocery store? A flash mob of joy!!