I Am Blessed

One of the greatest and most rewarding experiences of my life has been that of a mother. God blessed us with two wonderful children, who continue to bring unending joy to our lives. While they were growing up, I never dreamed in a million years that we would all move away from Ohio and eventually end up being in three different states. I'm certainly not second-guessing God's plan for our lives or for theirs, but I can say that there are times when it is difficult to be so far away from our immediate family members.

Kelly and Travis have faced a major challenge in their lives in the past couple of weeks. (Read their story at http://www.thejohnsontimes.blogspot.com/, which will explain what I mean.) I cannot even begin to imagine what they are feeling, but I can say that I am very proud of their fortitude and courage to work through this process and make some very tough decisions.

It is at times like these that you realize how important your faith and trust in God really is, and how being able to pray about the situation makes all the difference in the world. Then there's the Word of God, which speaks peace and hope into our hearts when we feel confused and troubled. Psalm 91 is one of my favorite portions of scripture, and it has been the word of encouragment that I have needed over the past few days.

So even though we're 903 miles away from our daugther and her family, God is right there leading, guiding, protecting, comforting and being the awesome God that He is.

Where would we be without the grace and mercy of our Heavenly Father?

I Don't HAVE To!

For over 30 years I worked outside the home, mostly sitting in an office, at a desk, behind a computer. But since I now have this new-found freedom in Louisiana, it's hard for me to take the time to sit down and blog. I guess what I'm trying to say is - I DON'T HAVE TO sit at a desk anymore so blogging has been a challenge in that respect. It's going to take some discipline to sit still long enough to post a few thoughts.

The excitement for today was when I went for my walk. I noticed some construction workers down at the new building that will soon house our new Subway. It will take us about 3 mintues to walk there. We have been waiting a LONG time for it to be completed. In fact, I think the concrete slab was poured almost a year ago... and we're still waiting. The closest "fast food" place from Robert is about 10 miles from here. That was true culture shock for us when we first moved here, because back in Sylvania, Ohio, there was a restuarant on every corner.

And speaking of my walk. What it is with the people that live around here who don't chain their dogs up? Unlike where we use to live, there is not "leash law" here so dogs roam around all the time. So, today I was stalked by this new dog in the neighborhood that looked like a version of a Rotweiler. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it.) I tried really hard not to be intimidated by the dog, and I must say it was a little easier to do with pepper spray in my hand. But today I wondered: Exactly what would I do if a dog really came after me? Would I have the composure to aim, spray and actually hit the dog? I hope so, but I have my doubts. If anyone has any tips on what to do when faced with a barking dog on a lonely country road, please let me know.

That's it for now. Over and out!

Finally!

So, during the Thanksgiving holiday while Carl and I were visiting with Kevin and Brittany in Georgia, they were sweet enough to hook me up with a blog. Then I came back home and quite honestly everything is a blur from then until now. Where did the time go? There was so much to do in preparation for Christmas both at home and the church, that I didn't even look at the blog they created for me again until today. Of course, from December 23rd until January 9th we were blessed to be with our 3 grandchildren (12 of those days all to ourselves.) When we got back home from Lake City, Florida where we "passed the torch" (the children) back to Kelly and Travis, we had Christmas decorations to pack away. For those who don't know what that entails at OUR house, it is quite frankly an all-day ordeal. Even with Carl's help, it still took me 10 hours from start to finish. Of course, that included cleaning the entire house as well.

You might ask yourself, "Why does SHE need a blog? What could possibly be of interest in Robert, Louisiana?" Well, probably not much is happening here, but as a woman I have all these WORDS to say and only one man (poor guy) in our household to listen to all of them. As a typical male, he can turn his "listening" button off at any given moment, which leaves me wondering WHO will listen to all that I have to say now?

Thus, a blog! I'm looking forward to sharing even if nobody out there is really paying attention. At my age, I can IMAGINE that someone is interested in what I have to share.

So "thanks" Kevin and Brittany for this new outlet!!!