DETAILS!!

LOOK AT THE DETAILS!!

Sometimes when life gets to overwhelming, I prefer too look at the details. Life is easier at times if taken in small bites!! Small desert flowers popping up among the cactus.

A Friend is always there!

My friend and I share the same birthday month and we have been celebrating together for many years. We also share a lot of the same memories of Reuben my husband of 45 years and her younger only brother. This year for her birthday I wrote her this poem letting her know how much I care for her.

We shared sad days

We shared the sun's rays

You were there...

When  I was so low

and the tears would flow

You were there...

Hands to clutch

gentle touch

You were there...

Reaching out

sharing doubt

You were there...

Falling tears

listening ears

You were there...

Times I couldn't even cry

and I just wanted to die

You were there...

I had so many fears

we cried and mingled our tears

You were there...

A loving friend indeed

you filled my every need

You were there...

You are a special friend

I'll love you till the end

You were there.

A story just waitiing to be told!

Oh how I do love a good story!! Sometimes a story is just too good to keep to myself, even when my good sense dictates "don't tell anyone". When I was little I would tell stories to my dolls, mainly because no one else wanted to listen. It was then when I realized that any event that happens in my life is a story just waiting to be told.
     My husband would tolerate my stories...he would listen for maybe two or three minutes and then his favorite phrase was "short version". He just didn't realize that to a story teller there just isn't a "short version".  Last night was one of those nights,  "a story just waiting to be told".
     It started out just fine with us four ladies traveling with our little  rented car to the street fair in downtown Palm Springs. We decided to leave a couple hours early so we could visit some of the local shops and then eat dinner before the fair sets up. Parked the car in a perfectly good spot..left our sweaters in the car, read the big blue sign that said two hour parking only till 6:00 PM.  No problem , we'd check around 5:30 and move it if we had to. OK at this point you are probably thinking we got a ticket...nope...no ticket for us. Had a leisurely walk looking for a good restaurant that had great salads. After dinner we decided to go to the car and get our sweaters and the car was gone. It was stolden!! We stood on the very same ground where our car had been parked and turned in circles looking...very confused.  Is this the right street? Why would someone want to steal a "rent a junker" ? What now? Then we noticed the big red sign posted on the pole just below the blue one...cars towed after 5:30 PM.  Wow-ser ...our car has been towed . @#$#. Now what do we do? Just then a police cruiser pulled up and sat there. I was positive God saw our diemma and sent them to help us. OK maybe not since they were the ones that called the tow truck to take our vehicle. They informed us that our vehicle was taken to a lot about one mile away. Thank you God for sending these ncie police officers to take care of us four senior citizens lady's in our distress. OK maybe not since they didn't even offer to drive us there and said we'd better hurry because soon they will be taking it to their downtown lot. That is the quickest mile I think I've ever done. Just in time..the car is still there and so is the tow truck. I paid the tow fee $77.00  and we were out of there and heading back to the street fair. I did ask the tow truck driver if that $77.00 covered the rest of the night....you know like double ideminity...they can't tow us twice for the same offence.
     Lesson learned....read all signs. Red ones and blue ones. Don't automatically assume that police officers are there to help you...but in their defence they did give us directions to the lot.  Where was God in all of this you ask?
      We are fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:14. God knows every aspect of our bodies and   and he gave us free will.  We come to forks in the road as we travel throough life and have choices to make when we come to these forks. If we fail to use the wonderful mind that God gave us sometimes we suffer for the bad choices we make. King David did not live a perfect life, did not always choose the good path, let alone the best path God had offered him. Yet in spite of the bad choices he made "God still blessed him".

FEBRUARY 18th........

     ON  T O D A Y

FEBRUARY 18th ...

THE  ONE YESR ANNIVERSARY OF REUBEN'S DEATH

I WANTED YOU TO LET YOU KNOW THAT NOT A DAY GOES BY
THAT I DON'T CELEBRATE
THE TREASURE I HAVE IN ALL MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS.

through....time

...distance

....and heartache

YOU HAVE BEEN

THERE FOR ME!

IT IS YOUR ... LOVE THAT HAS REMAINED STEADFAST AND HAS BLESSED MY LIFE.

IT IS YOUR LOVE THAT COMES FROM GOD BECAUSE ...

LOVE NEVER...FAILS..AND THESE  T H  R  E  E   REMAIN...

faith..........hope...........love   and the greatest of these is .......LOVE

Deb & Shelby

Trish & Christy

Darin & Deb

Grandkids

Shirley & Brother

 & Sisters

                                                                                       Grandson.Tyler

Shirl &

Reub's sisters

Derick's familyTrisha's family

Girlfriends

girlfriends

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KARLI GRACE

In the garden of my heart

a rare beauty grows.

It is a flower picked by angels

Most carefully it was chose.

In making you up

from the very start

I know for a fact

God began with your heart.

For surely some hearts

are much bigger by far

In those that ever show

how special they are.

Some have hearts as deep

and as big as the ocean

and you share your quite freely

with love and devotion.

It's easy to recognize

those with hearts like this

Sincere warmth grows

quite impossible to miss.

You have beauty to look at

and the angels will say

your beauty on the inside

far exceeds in every way!!

Happy Birthday Karli Grace

I love you!!

Grandma Shirley

Did you say “I Love You” today?

Yesterday I received some devastating news. A friend has died. This news was delivered via the current media outlet of the decade E-Mail. It’s hard to imagine all the thoughts that can go through your head in a just a few minute's time span. How did she die? Oh no she was way to young. She had such a giving heart! How is her family doing? Oh her grandchildren will be devastated…she was so loved. Did I ever tell her I loved her, or that she was an amazing person? The tears were unstoppable. Then I made a phone call and received the best news of my life. It was a very bad mix up and the person who sent the E-mail felt terrible that she hadn’t first verified the information. I chatted with my friend and she was very much alive and hadn’t yet heard of her demise. I told her I loved her and appreciated her friendship.

Don’t forget this Valentine’s Day to say:

I LOVE YOU

GOOD MORNING SUNSHINE

HERE IS MOM ON HER 85th BIRTHDAY

THREE GENERATIONS BORN ON FEBRUARY 19th

A picture of Mom on February 19th on her 85th birthday...me born on February 19th (with 5 of my 8 grand kids)...Son Darin also born on February 19th.(with wife Deb)

My mother the original sunshine lady, would always wake me in the mornings with the song, "good morning sunshine". Mom passed away last year and I miss her immensely. She always had a song in her heart. Her last month of life she couldn't talk but it seemed she could still hum whatever hymn was going through her head that day. I was born on my mother's birthday on February 19th and twenty-four years later my son was also born on that day. At the time there was even a write-up in the local paper..."three generations born on February 19th".

Next week Mom would be "86" years old....my birthday will never be the same with out her.

THE HEALING MIRACLE WATERS

At the present time I am spending a couple of months enjoying the California desert and the healing hot mineral waters. The waters really are healing! People come from all over the USA and Canada come to take in the magic healing waters of Desert Hot Springs. The analysis of the water shows the sulfur content to be very high; but it's in a crystallized form, so there is no odor. Dr. Robert Bingham, who heads the Desert Hot Springs Arthritis and Medical Clinic, "says these waters have a curative effect on the human body".

Last year, a couple months after my husband of forty-five years passed away, I spent two weeks with his sister taking in the healing waters of the California desert. I didn't notice any curative effect on my body...but my spirit...Oh how the healing waters helped my spirit heal. For two weeks we had our ritual...just take in the water.

The solitude of just sitting in the healing waters gave me the time I needed to just think and pray. Think about a future that I thought at that time was non-existent. I couldn't even imagine a future without my high school sweetheart, my friend, my lover. Was there a future worth looking forward to? Silence to reflect on God's love and remember that even though at times I felt it wasn't so...God still did love me.

I was mourning my husband and friend and his sister was mourning the loss of her only brother. It started the healing process for both of us. At the pool of healing waters we would talk and share stories of the man we both loved. We would share and the healing tears would fall...we would hug and I would wonder if this hole in my heart would ever go away...and the healing tears would fall. By opening our hearts to each other it encourage our bodies to start the natural healing process. It was our healing ritual!

It is now almost a year later and I am healing...the hole in my heart is still there but now it doesn't seem like it might be terminal. The pain has subsided...the infection did not spread to my spirit. Is the healing complete? No, and I don't believe it will ever be complete. That edge of sadness I believe keeps me tenderhearted and gives me more appreciation of how special family and loved ones are to me.

I arrived here again, to the California desert and the healing waters, six weeks ago and soon it will be time to return to my home and family But while here in the desert I have again taken part in the "healing waters". I have become an active participant in the healing process and I feel good. I feel good about my life. I feel optimistic!! I feel I have a purpose and I am at peace...or so I thought until last week. I ran into an old high school friend of my husbands and they had reconnected about two years before his death. He seemed genuinely surprised that I was doing so "good". I'm not sure what was expected of me but apparently I shouldn't be feeling quite so OK. Then later the guilt hit me. Why was I feeling so good about me when I should be feeling bad? I was feeling guilty for feeling good. Was I being disrespectful to his memory and maybe it meant I was forgetting him? When all else fails....Google. I didn't have my bible concordance with me so Google it was.

John 8:44 tells me that the devil is a liar and the father of lies. He wants me to feel guilt...that is his job and he is very good at it. As I sat there prayerfully considering my life this past year I came to the conclusion that there are just a few things that actually mattered. My family. My key relationships...with God...myself...and those around me. My values. My character. I had an Aha moment when I came to the conclusion that life isn't so much about what I do. Its more about who I am! And I am OK. ..I'm doing OK!

Hiking in Joshua Tree National Park

Yesterday we spent the day hiking and sightseeing in Joshua Tree National Park. We hiked the many trails...climbed numerous rock formations..and stood and gazed over the smog filled valley at the San Andreas fault. Awesome view!

Then home (for another month) to the healing hot mineral waters to soak our hot tired feet.