Wednesday December 30 2015  WOW!

 

The tail end of the year is upon us.  2016 looms ahead.  This has been an exceptional year!  I don’t think I have ever traveled quite so far in one year.  The only exception might be when I traveled with the kids in 1988.  We traveled for ten weeks.  Dave was with us the first three weeks.  We traveled through the Dakotas, Badlands, Mount Rushmore,  Montana, Yellowstone, The Tetons, Salt Lake City, Lake Tahoe, The Redwoods,  San Francisco, Hurst’s Castle, and Disneyland.   His family lives in Southern California.  When we arrived in Orange County he stayed for a short visit and then flew home. 

From there the kids and I were off viewing the country.  Rebecca was twelve and Courtland was nine.  We went back up to the San Francisco area and picked up another passenger.  His name was Rogan and he lived in a cage on the backseat between brother and sister.  Rogan was a rescued cockatiel that my friend offered to the kids (without asking me first).  So, you guessed it, they talked their mom into bringing him home.  And we weren’t going home straight away.  We had about five more weeks on the road.  When I look back now, I believe I was either insane, or the best mom in the world.  Take your pick.  We had many more destinations and one more passenger to pick up.  Our friend Rebecca Moore decided to help me drive back and visit with others along the way.  I picked her up on the last leg of our journey.  I can’t remember just how long she was with us.  When we arrived back to Wisconsin she then flew home.  Boy, was that trip memorable.  I can’t remember all that happened on the way home (all good) but we sure had some amazing escapades on the way to California when Dave was with us.  Unfortunately, none of the happenings were because of Dave.  They were all my calamities.  The kind which you laugh about…AFTERWARDS! 

Needless to say the trip was memorable and spectacular.  The kids were old enough to remember it and Rogan was like a magic elixir.  I told the kids that if we took Rogan back with us he had to live in his cage between them (which Albert included in the bribe to get me to take him), AND, if there was one complaint from either one, fighting or bickering, because of being crowded or having to take care of the bird, I would open the cage door and let him fly away.  And our kids knew if I said something I would follow through.  You have never seen two kids on such good behavior for so long.  It was like living in an enchanted fairy-tale.  When we got out of the car at road-side rest stops to have meals, Rogan’s cage was toted along due to the heat.  He was like our side kick all the way home.  Every stop was planned around the bird.  And the travelers around us would congregate at our table.

When we were at our last night’s stop in Minnesota before we arrived home I called Dave and asked him how he would like to have a bird?  He said something on the order of, “Why do I think it really doesn’t matter what I think?  I believe if you are asking me this, then you already have the bird.”  Oh Wow!  Does my husband know me or what?  Rogan lived for many years in our home.  He was tame and messy.  I finally gave him away after the kids grew up.

Altogether on that trip we traveled about 10,000 miles.  On the trip I did this year I traveled solo over 11,000 miles in 4 months.  So, my trip alone made this year a memorable year.  But it has been an incredible year in other ways too.  We’ve had illnesses (both Dave’s), two surgeries (one each), family reunion (our entire immediate family), retirement (double trouble there), and the unfortunate incident of a flood in our bathroom (hmm…only one involved in that).   Perhaps the greatest loss is the fact that forgetfulness is beginning to rear its head!  Of course it must be Dave that is doing the forgetting and not me (even though I’m the one who left the water running).  Oh well, rest assured kiddos that mama bear and papa bear are not ready for the confines of assisted living yet.  There is a lot more damage we need to do first!  And I hope we have lots of fun doing it.  Just remember, I did find my way home!

Through this past year, regardless of what that day held, I cannot remember one day that I did not enjoy.  Every day that I awaken is a new and glorious day.  A day to be lived, to smile, to feel, to give, and to rejoice and be glad in it.  It is another day to worship God and to give praise to our creator.

And this year is almost over.  I will think of 2016 on Friday.  There is still one more day left to enjoy in 2015. 

 

A NEW YEAR APPROACHES

By Kathleen Martens

December 30, 2015

 

The New Year looms big and bold

And so quickly out goes the old.

What once was empty, now used up,

Next year sits like an empty cup.

 

Twenty Fifteen now is history,

Twenty Sixteen looms as mystery.

Life experiences of both pain and sorrow,

Past is gone, there’s a new tomorrow.

 

Who can know what lies ahead?

Until it occurs it is not read.

What happened yesterday is old news,

If we survived, we did not lose.

 

We cannot know what a new day yields,

Or how our cards will be dealed.

But we can anticipate hour by hour,

Assured that spring will bring flowers.

 

A new year approaches full of hope,

Live to your fullest, do not just cope.

See what you can do to spread God’s cheer,

By sharing the Holiday Spirit the entire year.

 

The world is changing.  We do not know what the future holds, for us, for our families, or even for our country.  But I do know one thing, I do not need to fret because God is in control.  We see the small picture, that which affects our lives.  God sees the overall picture, the beginning and the end, and His plan is in place.  As you go into the New Year take this opportunity to start your day out with God.  He is a great listener.  His wisdom is sound. He commands the angels around you.   Seek first His presence and walk through your day with peace.  God loves you more than you can even comprehend.

I have not used a daily devotional for the past two or three years but this year I found one that I can hardly wait to delve into.  It is actually written for an evening devotional but I will probably use it for my morning time.  It is EVENINGS WITH TOZER, DAILY DEVOTIONAL READINGS.  When I mentioned this book the other day I said I would not peek ahead.  Well, I almost made it.  I just had to read January 1^st last night.  IT WAS SO AWESOME!  I’ll re-read it again on Friday and try to stay on course.  Actually I would like to just sit down and read the entire book as I would a good novel.  However, I think I would be on “THINK OVERLOAD” if the first page is any indication of how rich and deep the rest of the devotionals will be.  Oh man, I can hardly wait!  My favorite devotional is THE WORD OF GOD, every page, every chapter, every verse.  If you have never really studied the Bible you might be surprised by how absolutely amazing it is.  It is complicated, yet simple.  It is prophetic, yet all the answers await the reader who is diligent to search.  It is violent, yet the most tender of anything ever written.  It is forthright and blaring, yet full of song and melody.  All historical facts correlate with the records of history, but yet it is disdained as a myth.  It is full of wisdom, yet man still chooses to walk into doom.  It offers hope and direction for an eternity of light and love, yet the masses choose an eternal death of pain and horror.  It offers the greatest gift given to mankind and man refuses to reach out and accept it.  It is the most amazing book ever written, it is the longest Best Seller ever on the market (and that is without advertisements or write-ups about the author), and it is the only book the world is afraid of.  It is discredited, disparaged, banned from our public schools, cannot be quoted in government buildings, and any replica of stories from the book are being erased from our buildings and parks and monuments.  Why is it so feared?  I believe because it is the most powerful book in the world, and as long as the devil roams about looking for those to kill and destroy, his focus will be to kill and destroy that which was inspired by God.  But someday, every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord.  And God’s plan, so laid out in THE BOOK, will be fulfilled.

WOW!

Good night and God Bless You!

 

 

Ecclesiastes 3  New King James Version (NKJV)

Everything Has Its Time

3 To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:

² A time to be born,
    And a time to die;
A time to plant,
    And a time to pluck what is planted;
³ A time to kill,
    And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
    And a time to build up;
⁴ A time to weep,
    And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
    And a time to dance;
⁵ A time to cast away stones,
    And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
    And a time to refrain from embracing;
⁶ A time to gain,
    And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
    And a time to throw away;
⁷ A time to tear,
    And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence,
    And a time to speak;
⁸ A time to love,
    And a time to hate;
A time of war,
    And a time of peace.

I would like to add one more comment:

There is also a time to ask Jesus to come into your heart and be Lord of your life.  If you have not done that yet, now would be a great time.  

John 3:16 New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.