In The Still Of The Night

                                                                  Everyday is a brand new day
                                                                   everyday is a journey.


Kind actions, and good wishes, 
and pure thoughts
No mystery is here:
 Here is no boonFor high—
yet not for low: 
The smoke ascendsTo heaven
 as lightly from the cottage hearth
As from the haughtiest palace.

—William Wordsworth.

It was eerily quiet throughout our building over the weekend. There were no noises of slamming doors in the middle of the night nor vacuuming. No smells of skunkweed or arguments filling the air ducts. No one was doing laundry at 3 a.m. The building sat still as it should upon the midnight hour. Even during the day, silent and peaceful. The halls weren't littered with screaming children running up and down. There were no candy wrappers or toys strewn across the stairs.

It's funny how bad neighbors never last. One can spend an agonizing year or two with a neighbor from hell, but never beyond that. Even though it felt good to retain some peace within these walls, I still felt saddened by their leaving. Crazy, isn't it? This is not how things should have ended. I truly liked this family when they first moved in. Then she quick her job and spiraled quickly back into drugs.

It's true what they say, you know. Idle hands are the devils playground. I believe her downfall came during this time of not working. Most likely, it began with just one and now, consequences came home to roost. We make choices and we have to live with the results of these choices.

Over the years, I've seen many people come and go. So many stories, so many suffering people. So many good people. I wonder about them all from time to time. What are they doing now? Are their lives better? Or worse? So many of them pass through our lives like stepping stones on the grass. I wonder who will move in next and the type of people they will be.

I've been really wanting my resting home. Just a small space of our own or just for me. A place where I could unpack all my yarn, supplies and books. A craft room, a real craft room. I don't want to live in boxes and "might have been" dreams anymore.

I get like this every time I'm off visiting small town Americana. That's my love, small towns. I want to go to the same Church for years and run into those same people everywhere I go. That's small town Americana. That's where I belong.

Have a blessed day everyone.

Just Share It:Lisa Robertson

                                                                            Everyday is a brand new day,
                                                                               everyday is a journey


Recollection is the only
paradise from which we 
cannot be turned out.
—Jean Paul Richte

I am firm believer that we all have a path in life. Some may call it a path and others call it a journey. Whatever you may choose to call yours, make it a good one. It has taken me almost half my life to realize what path I should be on. I try not to dwell on what could have been if I had listened with an open heart long time ago. I hope you enjoy the story below as much as I have, but beware, it leaves one lost in memories. Hope they're good ones, lol. 

The Path of Life
LISA ROBERTSON

 Listen to this devotion

“You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” Psalm 16:11 (NIV)

Growing up in the mountain foothills west of Denver, I walked on paths every day: a path to school, a path to my friend’s house, a path to my babysitting job. I walked everywhere, and everywhere I walked was on a path or a dirt road.

Throughout my childhood, I learned to depend on and enjoy the different paths. Every path led to an important destination. They were all created and tested by those who walked years before me, each one distinct. The colors of the changing seasons or the beauty of fresh snow created a new experience daily. They filled me with confidence to keep walking, one step at a time, and eventually led me to the places I needed to go.

Years later, as a young bride, I received a wedding present. I don’t remember the gift, but the message will never be forgotten. “Congratulations, Lisa and Tim. Love, the Ditchfields … Psalm 16:11.” With a Bible nearby, I looked up this verse and discovered these words of promise for God’s path of life.

“You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”

After our wedding, I moved away from my family and Denver. Filled with the comfort and confidence of knowing God was with me on all parts of this journey, I began a new path as a wife in Virginia.

I’ve found there are three promises in this one verse:

Even with these promises, we could still stumble on the path. The undercurrents of jealousy, bitterness, resentment or anger continue to challenge me. Each one has the potential to slow down the progress of the journey.

However, the Lord helps me not to trip and fall because He is with me. The key to navigating life’s challenges is found in the simple word “ask.” Repeatedly, God invites us to simply ask Him.

As a woman, I ask for peace, patience, understanding and compassion. As a mother and a grandmother, I ask for wisdom. As a wife, I ask for God to guide our marriage and fill it with His love. As a daughter, I ask for compassion and peace for my aging parents.

Daily, I look to follow God because I know that on His path, I will be in His presence and filled with joy. His joy is my strength. On this journey, I will discover God’s pleasures every day of my life and into eternity. The promise of Psalm 16:11 fills me with excitement and purpose. It motivates me to keep walking with God on His path. I trust it will do the same for you.

Have a blessed day everyone. 

Fall Is Here!

                                                              Everyday is a brand new day,
                                                               everyday is a journey



Gather a shell from the strown beach
And listen at its lips; they sigh
The same desire and mystery,
The echo of the whole sea's speech.
And all mankind is this at heart--
Not anything but what thou art:
And Earth, Sea, Man are all in each.
--Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Lately, the temperatures have been as finicky as my mood, alternating between hot and cold. These are the last days before the weather shifts completely and the cold sets in for good. Along with the weather comes the Fall festivities and aromas. The falling leaves, all scattered in different shades of yellow, red and brown. As we drive along the woods, a picture perfect scene unfolds. So beautiful. So serene. So cold.

Fall has always brought on memories for me, some sad and some happy. Three of my children were born in the Fall. No matter how great the weather may be during this time, it's always a cold Halloween. I have many memories of going door to door, swaddled in coats and a cup of coffee in my hand. There were so many children, all dressed up, walking up and down the street. To this day, I still fill the same orange candy bowl hoping to maybe hear a doorbell or two. They don't come anymore. It's way too dangerous out there for them.

Fall means so many things for so many people. We each have our own interpretation of the Season. For me, I'm like the squirrel who collects her nuts and berries for the Winter. She gets her nest in order so she can be comfortable and snug during the cold, snowy days.

You know what I've noticed? Traditions change as we get older. I've read somewhere that we enter a state of change every ten years. I believe it to be true. My traditions have definitely changed. Last year, my older brother gave me a tour of his Wisconsin neighborhood in his Model T. The scenery all fiery display of color! We toured farm after farm, buying all the harvest that nature had to offer. Guess, what we are doing this year? Back to Wisconsin we go. It's Apple Picking time!

Happy Fall. Happy harvest. Happy memories.

Have a blessed day everyone.

The Procrastinator Living Inside

                                                               Everyday is a brand new day,
                                                                 everyday is a journey

My soul could not incline itself 
on the one side or the other, 
since another will had taken 
the place of its own;
 but only nourished itself with
 the daily providences of God.
MADAME GUYO

I remember this one closet in our old place. I wanted to rearrange the contents inside, but kept postponing the inevitable. Every time I opened the closet door, there were more and more things thrown inside. Pretty soon that closet was packed tight! Each time I decided to tackle the problem, when I looked inside, I felt overwhelmed by what I saw. So instead of attacking the problem, I once more shut the door, hoping it would go away.

I think we all have a little bit of a procrastinator dwelling inside of us. He likes to come out whenever we are faced with a task we don't particularly want to do. That's what I think is the problem with all procrastinators. . . .it all has to do with the task involved.

It starts so small, just a messy closet or an unpaid bill. Or a misunderstanding between old friends. By choosing to do nothing, we actually create an even bigger mess. We feel overwhelmed, overly stressed and unable to energize our bodies into action. Suddenly, that messy closet turns into a disaster and that unpaid bill doubles, because of late fees. The misunderstanding quickly turns into avoidance and then a total breakup of the friendship. No one quite knows what happened.

 This year seems to be all about procrastination and finally setting things right in more ways than one. I am not only fighting that procrastinator living inside of me, but I am trying to conquer it, banishing it into oblivion. There are so many things that I allowed to fall into the wayside, things that could have been resolved much quicker with less agitation. Now, they have escalated to a degree of frustration. I only have myself to blame.

So I am stressed out. I feel totally overwhelmed. I keep re-reading a quote I found months ago as an encouragement for me to move forward. Setting things right takes patience, time and endurance. 

No matter how overwhelmed your problems, you need have no fear. God will strengthen and help you. He will hold you up and make you adequate for any situation.

Have a blessed day everyone. 

Just Share It:Elisa Morgan

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



There is nothing so small but that we hono
 God by asking his guidance of it,
Anon

I wish I could say that I have found this lovely article, but actually it was sent to me via e-mail from Grandma Barb. How did she know that I have been struggling with negativity? Whenever that happens, I revert to comparing myself or my life to everyone else's. Look at that person over there, my dream just happened in their life. Or Her life seems so together. Her children are perfect. Her marriage. It doesn't matter what it may be, I am too busy comparing to someone else what I think I don't have. This article reminds me so much of the problem we all have with thinking the grass is always greener on the other side. It never crosses our minds that perhaps that person is thinking the same thing about us? I like this author a lot. I think I will subscribe to her blog and so should you. Enjoy.

Everybody's Got Something        By Elisa Morgan

She walked ahead of me into the meeting, finishing a call and then tucking her phone into her designer bag. Adorable outfit. Long and perfectly coiffed curls. Just the right amount of polish over her being. Across the table from me, I noted that when she opened her mouth to speak, she paused just a breath before making her point - an effort that gave even more wisdom to her already brilliant contribution. And before leaving, I watched as she intentionally made eye-contact with each participant around our gathering of eight, punctuating their value with her effort.   Super Spiritual Gal.   I imagined her driving home in her stylin' car, slipping into her tidy garage and holding an afternoon Bible study with her neighborhood posse before assembling a color-balanced, healthy dinner for her family.   What I'd find out later over coffee grown cold on the table between us is that the call she took right before the meeting was her teen confessing he'd been caught vaping at school. The day before her husband had lost his job. And she struggled with a self-image issue which she had to wrestle to the floor of her car before she gathered herself together to face us all. No, she didn't glide home, she crawled. And there, behind a closed and bolted door, she wept. Alone.   I learned a lesson I won't soon forget.   Everybody's got something.   Every. Body.   Some. Thing.   You've got something too, don't you? Something niggling at you right this minute as you read along. That inky dark thought in your heart that keeps stealing out of the corner you've shoved it into - oblivious to your barked command to "STAY!" A shame over some past mistake that accuses you freshly each morning. A selfishness which focuses your attention in on you and yours rather than others and theirs when you really really really want to be directed outwards.   Beyond the internal heart issues that tie you up in knots, there are the real-life unavoidable struggles that weigh down your everyday. A child struggling to make friends. A less-than-invested spouse. A betraying coworker. A needy parent. A health challenge. A money debacle. The latest world threat on the news.   Just the other night I awoke with my head spinning about a work-related relationship. Should I just accept the way things were headed? Was God asking me to initiate a conversation to bring clarity? Sleep hovered all around me, but my body wouldn't yield. When I finally crawled out of bed in the morning and padded to my computer to begin my day, I'd returned to my unrealistic expectation that I was the ONLY one who had such struggles. Or any struggles at all.   I tracked through emails, interpreting each request and update in a win/lose equation. They had it RIGHT. I had it WRONG. I scrolled through social media, pausing at the arms-around-each-other photos of the Famous, swallowing the pretense that they actually are day-to-day pals who have each other's backs twenty-four-seven and so never have issues.   Until I remembered that everybody has something.   Every. Body.   Some. Thing.   Her cancer diagnosis is not easier - nor harder necessarily - than their wayward teen's rejection. Their carried-to-term but still-born-delivered baby is just as devastating to them as her uninsured flooded home is to her. Life is hard. And everybody has something.   Embracing this reality that is so often invisible from the outside layers of our lives has nudged me forward with grace towards both those I know well and those I don't know at all. Because I don't know anyone completely just as no one knows all of me. We try, all of us. We do the best we can with what appears in our days. The good and the not-so-good. But somehow, we swallow the myth that others only have good. That they are above the not-so-good because of how they pray, what they believe or how they choose to avoid the not-so-good. Oh, that we too could be so lucky - blessed? - to follow their formula. Then we too could avoid the not-so-good!   The thing is ... everybody has something.   Every. Body.   Some. Thing.   A long time ago - in fact just before he left the planet - Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world," (John 16:33). A few paragraphs earlier, Jesus promised, "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you," (John 14:18).   In this world we WILL have trouble. Not might. Not could. Not possibly. But WILL. When we do, we will not be alone in it.   Everybody has something - and Someone with them in it.   Every. Body.   Some. Thing.   With Some. One.   Let's remember that as we interact with each other each day. Have a blessed day everyone.

Love Thy Neighbor

                                                  Everyday is a brand new day, everyday is a journey


My minde to me a kingdom is:
Such perfect joy therein I finde
As far exceeds all earthly blisse
That God or nature hath assignede.

—William Byrd.

When we became apartment dwellers back in 2011, we welcomed the change with open arms. After so many years of being home owners, it felt good not to worry about the daily upkeep. There were no more woes of weekly lawn care or cleaning out the gutters. When the snow storms hit, we came home to shoveled sidewalks. If something major broke, we just dialed l-a-n-d-lo-r-d. It felt good to be an apartment dweller.

For several years, we were blessed with great neighbors. Everyone cared and respected each other. Then one day, someone moved out and a neighbor from hell moved in. That's all it took to disrupt the harmony.

There are people out there who only care about themselves and show little or no respect for everyone else. They are not mean people who are intentionally being disrespectful to their neighbors, they just see themselves. It's their needs that matter. For instance, a neighbor of ours left her laundry in the washing machine for several days. It never occurred to her that maybe the other tenants would need to use the laundry facilities. Or they vacuum at 2 a.m., who does that?

Since moving into this place, I have come to realize there is a pattern to these good neighbors/bad neighbors. First, one has good neighbors, then a bad one moves in and so on and on. The sequence actually rotates them in and out like a lottery.

We are in the bad neighbor stage. Except this time, we actually have two of them, one above us and one below us. We are sandwiched in between them and when is quiet, then the other starts up. It never ends, folks. Never.

Occasionally, my mood shifts to the dark side and I vow never to bother making friends with any of the neighbors. When they move in, I won't introduce myself or even care what they are about. Of course, that feeling never continues. One cannot change character. I have always made it a priority to knock on new neighbors door and welcome them to the building. If they have children, we remember them on holidays, especially the single moms. Boy, do I have a heart for single moms. Always have and always will. Extra servings laying around? It's going to that single mom. Why should I stop because of a few rotten apples?

Have a blessed day everyone.

The Buddha Effect

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


Love divine has seen and counted
Every tear it caused to fall;
And the storm which Love appointed
Was its choicest gift of all.
ANON.

Boy, am I missing a hot, long soak in the tub! When I was younger and actually could enjoy a leisurely soak, I didn't. Now that my body cannot do so because of my bad joints, I really miss it. Even if by some miracle I would be able to get into the tub, getting out was even harder. Bending and lifting these legs can be very painful. They sometimes feel like blocks of cement.

The last time I stayed by my son's home, they prepared a nice hot tubful of bubbles for me. They have this big and beautiful soaker tub that I felt for sure I could get into with no problem. It was a little tricky, but I got in and relaxed, enjoying every minute of it. I even used those new bath balls that had glitter in it.

When I was done, I pulled the plug and attempted to hoist myself out. Yeah, attempted. I tried and tried, folks. I tried in every direction and in every position. I wasn't getting out. I sat there, in all my naked Buddha glory, ready to cry. How in the world am I going to get out? I almost cried out for my Aubs., but looked down at my Buddha state. No one needs to see all of that!

Only by the Grace of God, was I able to hoist my body out of that tub, vowing to never attempt such a feat again. My soaking in the tub days were over, folks. It saddens me, you know. When we have a really tough day at work, we dream of sinking into a hot tub full of suds. We dream of soothing away the tired muscles with a hot soak. Alas, those days are over.

Oh Yeah, the glitter from those bath balls? Well, let's just say it will be there for awhile as a reminder that grandma Lottie was here!

Have a blessed day everyone.