It is Friday morning June 5, 2015 and I am now writing yesterday’s blog a bit late.

TWO NOTES

1.  I actually finally finished Wednesday’s blog.

2.  I think it is worth reading in full, especially the poem that I just wrote (again on the computer which is new for me).

That’s it.  Just wanted you to know I actually filled in the blank pieces.

Now to yesterday, day 92.  Charlene, my friend from my youth (we’ve known each other since diaper days) and her husband Larry have so graciously offered me a beautiful place to stay.  I arrived on Wednesday evening and plan to leave on Wednesday of next week.  She has prepared her entire lower level for me.  In consists of one large bedroom, one bathroom, a large family room with a panoramic view of the outdoors, a small library, a closed door that leads to another bedroom which is out of service and access to her garage, which makes packing and unpacking my car quite convenient.  She is supplying beautiful instrumental music that floats down through the glass encased stairway above to my level here below.  My lower level has three access for to the outside.  And oh my, what an outdoors.  I set myself up in a beautiful spot on one of her patios.  Brought my computer and book bag and journals out and sat down to enjoy the flights of the hummingbirds feeding in front of me and turned on my computer to write.  The temperature is perfect this morning.  Not too cold and not yet the 91 degrees that is forecast for this day.  And here I planned to sit until all my blogging was finished (or until I got hungry again).  But…the best laid plans do not always work.  I found that WiFi does not reach to the back yard.  So I am here on their comfy couch, with my feet propped on a pillow on top of the coffee table, back to the view, typing this blog with WiFi.  I can hear the birds through the  open walkout sliding door, the music drifting lazily downstairs, bugs hitting the glass behind me, and the ringing in my ears.   I just but turn my head and I can see through my bedroom window, the side door and over my shoulder in my peripheral view all the beauty that surrounds me waiting patiently for my gaze.  I think God created this entire mountain and all its surroundings just for me, just for this moment, this hour, this week.  Here I am out of all the places in the world I could be.  And with God’s help, I made it happen.  I made it happen by living my life as I imagined it.  I imagined, and then believed, and then put into motion something no one else could do for me.  I made it happen.  I got up one morning, packed my car, and headed out on the road on a journey of a lifetime, the one I had imagined, and I did it am still doing it.  I am here because I imagined it was possible.

I have listed to a lot of wisdom from those on the road, some friends, some acquaintances, some strangers.  And I have heard their words  resounding in my head over and over.  Some more than others.  But I have heard their words.  Not just listened with my ears, but heard and received in my heart.  Is all of it right for me?  Perhaps not, but that is for me to ponder and pray about and decide.  It is for me to make the changes I want to see in my own life.  And every word, every experience has some sort of influence.  I am seeing for the first time what it means to live each moment unto itself, to filter out that which is good and which is not good, to take with me the truths that will define me and make me stronger, to throw out that which could harm me or cause me to doubt.  I have given thought to what I speak.  And I have learned that I need to given even more thought to what I speak BEFORE I SPEAK IT. Have I learned every lesson yet, no, not by a long shot.  I still talk too much and wish I had been created with a quieter, gentler demeanor.  But I am who I am and God is teaching me to accept myself in the way and purpose for which he has created.  He has put in me a bold heart.  He has put in me a compassionate heart.  Those are my two greatest assets.  He is opening my eyes to who I am in His kingdom of creation.  I am  His child, loved beyond understanding, created to love and show compassion to others,  created to be bold and to reach out and pray for those that He directs me to pray for.  And He gave me a great commission to do even more.

Mathew 28:18-20 says:

¹⁸ And Jesus came and spoke to them (His disciples), saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

And I ask myself, do I have the boldness to do just that?  And am I really to go “to all the nations”?  I may not be able to go to other countries, but I am able to go to my neighbor, my friend, those I meet, and share His love.  And God promises to be with me always, even to the end of the age.  And that end for me is eternity.  We’ll all spend eternity somewhere?  Where do you want to spend yours?  You get to choose.

So,  I guess I said all that to say “I am learning”.  I want to say thank you to all who I have stayed with. Each and every one of you have taught me something.  Thank you for the lessons I have learned, the words you have spoken to me in truth and sincerity, the blessings you have bestowed upon me with your gracious hospitality, food and added expenses that made my trip possible.  Every single one of you are invited to come to our home should you ever pass through Wisconsin and need a place to take rest and comfort and food.  Thank you to all those whom I have met on my journey who so willingly and spontaneously contributed your words of wisdom to enhance my learning and my blog.  Thank you for your permission to share your wisdom on my blog.  Thanks to my family for backing me in this extension of my imagination.  My husband and children have been so supportive and loving throughout my trip.  Thanks for the calls.  And special thanks to you who I know are following my blog as faithfully as your busy life may allow.  Even my blogging has been a learning experience.  Special thanks to Len for all the hours he invested in me that I might learn the rudimentary aspects of blogging.  Thanks to to Sarah who also gave me a lesson.  My heart is so full of gratitude to all who have shepherded me along the way.

Now, back to Thursday, Brother Coats day!  A little history on who Brother Coats is.  First of all he is a very special man that has walked this earth.  He is also Charlene’s father and Don’s father (remember Don and Darrelyn). Brother Coats new my family at the first church in El Cerrito California  after my family moved from Arkansas to California.  When they moved to a church closer to home we too moved to the church because it was a lot closer to the projects where we lived.  Charlene had two brothers, Ron and Don.  Her mom was Lois.  Lois became very significant in my life because when I turned 6 years old I graduated to her Sunday School Class at Pinole Assembly of God Church where my mother took me.  I was like a sponge and loved Jesus so much that I just wanted to learn more and more about who he was.  Of course I talked a lot and gave Lois a run for her money.  She was my Sunday School teacher year after year.  It wasn’t until years later when we were talking about it and I told her how fortunate I was to have her for so many years and wondered how that happened.  She told me that she enjoyed having me in her class and each two years I moved up she moved up with me.  Go figure that one out.  Well, it was a compliment to a little girl who often felt lost amongst the 5 girls in her family; a sister  6 years younger, and sisters 6, 7, and 8 years older and one brother who was already married and had kids my younger sister’s age.  Anyway, her comment to me was like a little flower placed within my heart to know that someone had enjoyed who I was.

Well, Brother Coats  was married to Lois.  He didn’t really hold great significance to me when I was a kid.  I knew my parents especially liked him and he was always busy.  Charlene and I weren’t really all that close as we grew up but we liked each other but lived too far apart to have much contact.  But somehow we always seemed to connect.  Over the years I kept in contact with Brother and Sister Coats, went to visit them a few times in California, Portland and Washington and  got to know them from my adult point of view.  I highly respected them and loved them from my child’s heart.  Sister Coats had been a great influence in my formative years of learning about the Lord.  For that I am forever grateful.  Brother Coats I realized was a gifted and talented gentle soul.  He was giving, worked hard and diligently and whatever he did, he did to perfection.  And as far as I know he still does it to perfection.  He may be a little slower, a bit more bent, and not as strong, but in my eyes he is one of the strongest men I have ever know and still know.  Yesterday afternoon and evening we spent our day with Brother Coats.  He lives about an hour away.  He lives alone now because Lois went to be with the Lord in December of this past year.  Her presence was still felt when I entered the Coats’ home.  Beautiful decor, everything so neat and tidy and matching.  Work impeccably done, with Brother Coats’ smiling face, bright eyes, and quick wit greeting me.  He is 89 years old and would have been married 68 years this past January after Lois died in December.

What a wonderful time of memories and stories as we talked and looked at old photo albums.  The spirit of Brother Coats’ heart emanated from his presence.  I could tell that he walks in close communion to our loving Lord.  He is like love personified.  Charlene and Don are blessed to have such a father on this earth.  I was blessed to be with him for this day.  He is extremely alert and communicative and spry in walk and movement.  His life source runs deep and true.  He is truly a blessed man of God.  So much I could tell you but due to time I must end with his words of wisdom.  One sentence he spoke without my asking him if he had any wisdom was this “Never lose the little boy or girl in you”.  I asked him if I could quote him on that.  He said yes, but was quick to point out that he had more wisdom that he would like to share.  Here it is:

“Life is short.

Death is sure.

Sin the cause.

Christ the cure.”

Brother Coats I sure do love you!

After a time of visiting we went to the Country Buffet for dinner.  It was delicious!  Especially the coconut pie!!!!!!  Here is the wisdom Charlene gave me at the buffet table: “Don’t get the old age mentality.  If you think you can’t do something, you can’t”.

We returned to Brother Coats’ home, had another long visit and Charlene wanted me to go through her mom’s clothing to see if there were things I might enjoy having.  Something of the things in her closet I could actually remember her wearing.  It was a time of memories and nostalgia.  There were several nice things that fit me and I accepted them.  I shall think of her when I wear them.  I’ll tell her about it when I get to heave.  I think she would like me to have them.  Thanks for Charlene’s thoughtful gesture in giving them to me.  I also accepted a bag full of books that her mom had on her library shelf.  Most of them books for me to learn from or give away.  Several by Sarah Young to add to those I love to give to others.  I asked Charlene if she minded if I gave them away and she said she is delighted that I wanted to take them and do so.  I felt so blessed when we drove away from that house, Brother Coats standing in the driveway for one last wave, tears streaming down my face know that it was likely my last goodbye on this earth.  I’ll see him too when I get to heaven, and who knows, maybe I’ll get there first.

We had a quick Costco stop, then the trip home, unloading all the groceries and all eating a 9:30 snack and then story time for way too late.  So it was a quiet morning with all of us sleeping in.  A wonderful quiet, tranquil, peaceful, morning.  How blessed I am to be living in this moment.

God bless this day for you!