Reflections On Technology

                                               Everyday is a brand new day,
                                               everyday is a journey.


When we in darkness walk,
    Nor feel the heavenly flame,
  Then is the time to trust our God,
    And rest upon His name.
A. M. TOPLADY.



One of the main things I had to get used to was technology. I am not a techno friendly kind of gal. It really was a learning curve for me as I struggled with all of the latest gadgets. It's not like I can have all sorts of techno items, most likely only one or two will suffice. I love having a social network whether that is Pinterest, Yahoo, Facebook or Twitter. 

With that in mind, it is very important to me to be able to access the internet. I still want to write on my blog, tend to my Ministry and manage my Chronic Illness Group. Everything else is a plus, but not necessarily a need. 

As much as I want technology, it also scares me. I'm not as smart as the youngsters nowadays. I struggle, usually taking me several attempts in total frustration, but I know it is something I need to learn. I think my biggest fear is that wherever I choose to live, there will not be good service. Another thing is that the area might not have the technology available like Wifi or a specific brand. I learned that when we moved to our current location.

The technology road has certainly been a wild ride for me, especially as I try to navigate through the unfamiliar territory. I don't do technology well, especially when it comes to the jargon. Honestly, I'm not exactly going out of my way to learn it, either. That's very revealing, because everyone can learn something if they put their mind to it. How badly do you want it?

This is an area that I find the most intriguing and one I need more than anything else. Everything I do involves technology. Without it, I can't do any of my work so learning it has become an essential part of my life. In today's world, any information we seek, can be found with the click of our keyboard. Not sure how to do something? Just google it. That is how I have been learning. I know I will not become an expert, but I can learn enough to get by and that's fine with me.

Have a blessed day everyone. 

A Dry Spell

                                   Everyday is a brand new day, everyday is a journey.



Onward, onward may we press
Through the path of duty;
Virtue is true happiness,
Excellence true beauty;
Minds are of supernal birth,
Let us make a heaven of earth.
—James Montgomery.

A dry spell. Writer's block. Whatever you want to call it, I have it. This has been a difficult year for my writing. It just doesn't want to flow. I could sit there and stare at the blank page for hours, waiting and hoping something would ignite my brain. Nothing, just plain nothing.

I think that my mind is way too cluttered with other issues and I can't think clearly. It used to really bother me when I wasn't able to post anything on my blog. Really bothered me. I felt as if I was failing myself as a writer and my readers. What kind of advocate for cancer am I if I can't even record my journey?

I don't feel like that anymore. I believe that we need to rest not just our bodies, but also our minds. I've been spending quite a bit of time journaling during the mornings. Well, it began as journaling and then turned into prayers for others. Now I am doing devotions and Bible study. All of it in my journal. 

One thing for sure, I have discovered how stress free this time has been for me. So relaxing and I find myself looking forward to the next morning when I can continue. So I am calling this a blog retreat to help me through this dry spell. We all have these dry spells and the best medicine for them is just being still as we engage with God in this quiet time. How do you refresh? How do you restore yourself mentally? I guess we all have different ways. You just have to find yours. 

Have a blessed day everyone. 

A Broken Down Place

                                Everyday is a brand new day, everyday is a journey.


His was the heart that overmuch
In human goodness puts its trust,
And his the keen, satiric touch
That shrivels falsehood into dust.

Fierce for the right, he bore his part
In strife with many a valiant foe;
But laughter winged his polished dart,
And kindness tempered every blow.

—William Winter.

It was a frustrating morning. Nothing in this apartment works the way it should. Don't get me wrong, there are as many advantages to living here as disadvantages. I just would like to live in a nice place. A nice place in a nice neighborhood with nice furniture. None of that exists here. We are here for one reason only.

It seems like I am always saving money. When I was a youngster, we were immigrants and didn't have much money. We were starting out in a new Country and that takes time. For all of that, my parents have done well. When I had children, it was the same theme as my childhood. Then I became a single mom and then we definitely lived paycheck to paycheck, sometimes even in the negative. Then they grew up and my next goal was to start paying off any debt. Now, I'm trying to save for the future.

Living in the city can be very expensive. Even the suburbs are high, probably even higher. That is if one wants something nice and they usually don't take pets. Moving again isn't in the plans, or at least around here. This has been home for almost three years in December. We came here to save money so we could move into our "forever" home or close to it. 

Yet, nothing works here. Things break down and no one is available to fix it. I have endurance and plenty of it, but even I am becoming tired of the waiting. Life is hard work and we have to work even harder to achieve the good things in life. 

We all have our own versions of what that good life looks like to us. My grandeur may be totally different from your grandeur. I don't want what you have, I want my own reflection of me.

Have a blessed day everyone.

Just Share It: Alexandra Hoover

                                                 Everyday is a brand new day, everyday is a journey.




A lowlier task on them is laid,
    With love to make the labor light;
  And there their beauty they must shed
    On quiet homes, and lost to sight.
  Changed are their visions high and fair,
  Yet, calm and still, they labor there.
HYMNS OF THE AGES


Boy, did the following post stir my heart! I felt as if she was writing about me. How many days I have had like hers? How many times I have questioned "how long" Lord? When Lord? Is this all it is, Lord? We lead ordinary lives, but we dream on the inside. At least, I do. I have had so many days just like hers and I have had so many thoughts just like hers. Hope you enjoy. She might be writing about you, too.

Our Extra-Ordinary Calling
By: Alexandra Hoover

I walked in through the door, exhausted from a long day of work. Traffic added to the stress of my day, as well as a handful of letdowns and hard conversations. It seemed as if disappointment was following me from one meeting to the next.

The day not only reminded me of all my unmet expectations in my career and dreams, but also poured salt over an open and hurting wound. I thought to myself, Alex, is this what life is all about? Is this it? Discouraged, I continued to press on through my day.

Putting my things down at the door, I hurried to let our babysitter leave for the day. I was grateful for her — how she loved on my kids and stepped into her job so well with our family. My babies ran up to me, excited and eager to tell me all about the ups and downs of their day. I waved goodbye to our sitter and commenced what I like to call, “the afternoon shuffle.” Then I made my way to the kitchen to prep for dinner. Deep breaths, I said to my weary soul.

I was quickly met with a resounding yet subtle conviction, an alerting from the Holy Spirit about my current heart posture.

I was so angry with my day, with dreams that seemed so far away, and I wanted God to tell me that my ordinary life was going to get better somehow. I wanted a whisper of, “Your dreams are coming.”

Instead, He quieted my soul by giving me something I needed, a refreshing of His heart for me. I heard Him whisper, “That’s where I do My best work — in the ordinary.” It’s in the mundane, in the calling of your day-to-day. The Scripture of the Great Commission came to mind instantly.

Matthew 28:19-20 says, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

I began to understand that my calling wasn’t what I thought it was. I wanted God to tell me which job I needed to be working and which dream of mine He would bless so I could be “walking in my calling.

Yet in reality, whatever I choose to do with my life, whatever job I am blessed with, is right where God wants me and where He uses me and my gifts to make disciples and grow His Kingdom. It’s His greatest dream for all of us.

My desire to be in my calling started to make sense, and my job and mothering suddenly began to look different to me. They were ministry, and God had called me to it.

And what better teacher to follow and learn from than Jesus? His greatest ministry was in the day-to-day, where He met the most ordinary people in the most ordinary places, offering them all an extraordinary life, simply because He’s a good and loving God. And He’s still in the business of doing that with us today.

It’s the greatest calling of all — to live in our “everyday-ness” of life as a light, as a conduit to God’s bigger and more beautiful story. Just like my babysitter uses her gifts to bless our family, I use my gifts to bless God, to glorify Him. This is our most beautiful call. Let's answer it and steward it well.

Have a blessed day everyone. 

A Moral Code

                                                                  Everyday is a brand new day,
                                                                   everyday is a journey.



So others shall
  Take patience, labor, to their heart and hand,
  From thy hand, and thy heart, and thy brave cheer,
  And God's grace fructify through thee to all.
  The least flower with a brimming cup may stand,
  And share its dewdrop with another near.
E. B. BROWNING.

Everyday our moral meter is tested. I find that only a few people exist that actually use it. We can just about justify every action we make when we set our minds to something. It doesn't matter if it's morally correct or not. To some people, the ends justify the means.

There is a line that we just don't want to cross. Once we do. basically we sold our soul to the devil. There is no turning back from the consequences that will unfold from this drastic and selfish decision. They are always the selfish decisions that direct us toward the passing of the moral meter line.  We try to convince ourselves and others that it was anything, but personal gain. We try to silence our conscience with excusable reasoning.

Well folks, wrong is just plain wrong. Just like Pastor Jeff Shreve From Heart To Heart Ministries says: Right is right even when nobody's doing it. Wrong is wrong even if everybody is doing it.

Later as we are faced with the realization that we have crossed a line morally, the consequence has to be paid in full, even with repentance. The prisons are filled with people that are sorry, but they still have to live out their sentence.

Have a blessed day everyone.

The Importance Of Taking A Break

                                                                 Everyday is a brand new day,
                                                                 everyday is a journey.




Thy beauty, O my Father! All is Thine;
    But there is beauty in Thyself, from whence
  The beauty Thou hast made doth ever flow
    In streams of never-failing affluence.
Thou art the Temple! and though I am lame,--
    Lame from my birth, and shall be till I die,--
  I enter through the Gate called Beautiful,
    And am alone with Thee, O Thou Most High!
J. W. CHADWICK.

I just love a beautiful Winter scene, especially from the inside. This year we hardly had a Winter at all. I know, I know. I should be extremely grateful and I am, but once in a while I want that white scene! 

One reason I actually love a good Winter storm is for the shutdown day it brings. When a storm is coming, I take off work and can recharge at home, I have this huge problem of taking on way too many projects, because I love busyness. When you are constantly running, running, it's like you need an excuse to take a break. Or at least, I do.

Unfortunately, this year has been the opposite in more ways than one. We just have so much work available at my job that I don't think a Winter storm would halt anything. Besides, it has been nothing but mere dustings and sleet.

So I bet that none of you want to ask me why rest? Why is it important? I think we all understand the need for health reasons alone, why we need to take a break regularly. Now that break could look completely different to each individual. For me, just staying at home among my craziness is enough. 

Yet, I can't remember when I completely rested by doing nothing. I mean nothing like laying on the beach or in front of the pool soaking in the rays. Or sitting in bed and binge watching and not multitasking. So taking a break and resting can be a real challenge for someone like me. I'm trying, folks, really trying. Everytime I set up a day or weekend, there always seems to be an unexpected errand or request made by someone else. 

Everything seems to be a work in progress when it comes to me. Today I read in a devotional by Berni Dymet: 

Even with a to-do list longer than my arm, some days, there needs to be a half hour to have coffee with a friend. Or lunch with my wife. Or a phone call to someone that God just laid on my heart to call today.

These little time wasters - they're like an oasis in the desert. Those moments of pausing from the madness - are like food for the soul. They restore some sanity and balance and….

That is so true, so very true. It's these little moments that at times become our breaks from the stress. So tonight, I am just watching a show and crocheting, but not much. 

Have a blessed day everyone.

The Road Not Taken

                                                                 Everyday is a brand new day, everyday is a journey.

Men cease to interest us when 
we find their limitations. 
The only sin is limitation. 
As soon as you once come up 
with a man's limitations it is all over with him.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson


I find myself reflecting back to the times of my life. Many of them have been the best moments. Aging has brought this on, this looking back and remembering all the people who have been prominent in shaping who I have become. This can be both good and bad, depending on how one looks at it.

Recently, I have come across one of my favorite poems by Robert Frost. It's my favorite for two reasons. One, it is the first poem I have ever read. Two, I feel as if it explains life pretty well. This is how we reflect upon what has been and perhaps what will be?

Anyway, I thought that maybe this poem would bring back a lovely memory or two for some of you. Enjoy.

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Have a blessed everyone.