this is not really home

I have a friend who is moving . They already bought the house but have to finish a job up before they can move. Since they already own the house they have already begun transferring things . Her goal is to only have the bare necessities left in the current house to have to move on the official "moving day".
This reminds me of an older person that once told me there was little left holding them here. That all their investments had been moving to heaven so that when they died all they needed was already there. All that was left here was the bare necessities to keep them going until it was time to cross over
(insert rock rift here..."break on through to the other side")
I see this in life more and more as I am forced to become acquainted with death so much more than I would like. I think my mom realized it. She did not embrace her terminal diagnosis the first time she heard it. None of us did . We were shocked and horrified. But I think my mom thought of getting to see her son , her siblings , her parents, her Savior. In mere days after her diagnosis , she was gone. It has been a little over 4 month now and it is not getting easier. We are encountering all the dreaded firsts ...
This week is the 5th anniversary of my brothers death . He was only 49. It is also the first anniversary of my parents wedding that she is not here. They would have been married 56 years.
And then yesterday , my lovely friend Mindy lost her mama. And the barely healed wound on my heart was reopened a little.
There is this thread that runs through this sad ballad in my mind . All of these particular people had health problems for quite sometime. And we all accepted it as their new normal. We move on with life in the new reality and we forget that there is an enemy pacing the side lines ready to pounce. But you know what ? God warns us that we have an enemy ...all of us. An enemy who is "roaming about like a roaring lion , seeking whom he may devour" . So , I may not see him on the side lines , he might be in the parking lot. But he is there.
But I am not all doom and gloom. And neither is life. God gives us plenty of hope and opportunities for joy. "Greater is He that is in me , than he that is in the world" "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord" There are so many more reasons for hope and faith and joy.
All of the people mentioned here shared another ribbon , they knew Jesus . We know they are having a glorious reunion in their new home . They had enough sent ahead that moving to the new house made for an easy moving day.
But us here in the old neighborhood are seeing the abandoned houses and missing our loved one. May God help us remember LIFE , love and laughter. And help us imagine the reunion and more. May the God of hope fill us , keep us and one day make our moving day easy.

So Fast!

I got out a new toy today to celebrate Ms. Busy's new desire to pull up on what ever she can grip and stand up. Sometimes it's only a few seconds , sometimes she makes it a couple minutes. She just turned 7 months. Her uncle (the Prince) just told her today to not forget to be a baby! 

She's a handful , but such a joy!

Old lesson, reenforces

Many years ago God told me I would always have a different perspective . It is a gift but can include a good bit of aggravation factor. Sometimes it is amusing (to me anyway) . But this weekend I went to a small woman's conference at a friends church out of town. And there I was reminded that sometimes it's a lot a trouble !

Now I will start with saying I was hoping for a prophetic conference and it was not. It was foundational teaching and had some very good teaching. They were talking about our identity in Christ. 

They handed out a little pamphlet that had sins you might struggle with . They asked you not to put your name on it but to fill it out. The first section was other religions , the next occultist activity , then onto sexual sins etc.., 

Well .., I do come from a sordid past BUT (!) God has very graciously walked me thru the occult related parts of my past, the sexual sin etc... This is certainly not to say I do not sin. I still have areas I struggle for sure. But anyway... I asked The Lord if I really needed to check those things from my distant past and He said "No" that that's not who I am anymore , so I just sat quietly and prayed. 

Then they brought in these 2 big crosses for people to come up and nail the list of sins to. I was doing well , praying,journaling etc....then someone walked up behind me and rubbed my back - insert perturbed cat expression here - I am not a touchy person by nature. Then the person at my back starts pushing , trying to get me out of my chair...not kidding. I turned around and gave her the perturbed cat face. She says "you need to go up now ". I smiled politely and said "no, I'm ok" she proceeded to say "no, you need to go up" "I said "no, I didn't fill it out" she parroted my answer back to me and then again - indignantly! She walked away. I assumed it was done but no , she went away and brought reinforcement. Another lady comes to try to talk some sense into me. She says I can just take the blank paper up and nail it to the cross. I declined. They kept talking a few minutes and then walked away. 

Once again I assumed it was done ...nope , they cornered me afterwards. Seriously! I apologized and tried to explain. It just wasn't really getting through. They were SO not prepared for someone who did not follow along. 

The next morning I slide in right at start time. The 2nd lady was still speaking ,kindly, to me. The pushing lady would not even look at me. 

I left right before lunch. It was my hubby bd and I really wanted to go see him. It was a 6-7 hour drive but it was so worth it! I was glad I did. 

I explained to the lady who would still talk to me that I was leaving and why. She asked me to wait so I could get my gift and she went and got the lead woman's pastor. Whom I had to explain that yes, I was leaving , no, not because I was mad. She prayed for me and sent me off with a sandwich and chips. Which I ate during a period of prolonged road work! 

Just a reminder to me that I am still not for everybody! Lol

Content (it's the little things)

It really is the little things that make a house a home. And a homemaker smile! Love these little purple flowers. They make me have a happy smile every time I see them on the window sill. They were saved from the mower in the back yard and lasted for a week in the vase. :-)

Feathers and precious metals

Going through some of my moms jewelry tonight I untangled necklaces, shined up rings , pulled out some memories found matched and unmatched earrings. As I was putting things away I found two tiny downy feathers in my lap. It seemed like a message . And I will let it be. :-) my heart has some peace tonight that it lacked earlier. And if that is the only gift there is , it's a good one.

So I was thinking tonight ...since God give us pictures of things in the physical shadow or help us picture the spiritual realm. What if the loved ones in Christ who have gone before us are the ones readying the wedding supper of The Lamb! That would mean , my precious brother got to go make bowls ! For God's table. It was his favorite thing to do here on earth.
Since my beautiful mom is no longer sick , in any way I wonder what she is busy doing. She liked to clean so perhaps she is on the straightening up and arrangements committee.
Don Carroll is surely helping with musical arrangements. My grandmother can see perfectly now and would probably be sewing or baking.
Thank God for the reminder that His ways are higher than mine!

New week

My hubby is finally home from the North! We had a lovely afternoon and evening, got to see our grand baby for a few minutes and also visited with my dad. 

I went to church alone , which wasn't as depressing, I suppose because I knew Mr Wonderful would be home soon. 

I still have not managed to get the bathroom finished , but I did get the carpet clean! Mostly clean anyway I do have a couple spots I have to work on :-/. I am beginning to think these might be our last dogs. I just do not enjoy the clean up any more. I love them , don't get me wrong .... But... I just don't appreciate the trash digging, the potty spots, the fur... Maybe it has just been a bad week last week! Lol we shall see.

Big week this week! The princes gf is turning 18 and the princess turns 25. Like woah! I have a 25year old (who has a baby of her own) shocking how fast time goes sometimes! 

Better go, the grand little will be here soon and I am not ready. Blessings!