A Good Day

I want to thank October it has been a wonderful month. The weather has been interesting here in the Pacific Northwest to say the least. It started out raining then for a couple weeks temperatures higher than normal then foggy now ending with rain once again.

I wonder is this how our lives work as well where things change over the month. I believe so anyway.

My mother falling early Monday morning having her go to go into the ER for a couple hours. She says her head has been hurting from the fall and she is dizzy at times too. She had been using a cane however now has decided to use her walker full time which is a good thing to keep her balance.

Tuesday we had a woman from hospital services come by to see how we can make life easier for Mom. Although I do cook both of us our meals however they have services where they provide meals for the elderly at a reasonable price. In fact the first month is free to see if it will work out for her. Going to try it to see if we like it for her benefit; we do decide to go forward with it be a good change.

What a wonderful young woman having a job like this to help out the elderly and those having spent any time in the hospital to make everything easier. It is a wonderful calling and purpose in this young woman’s life. We will be hearing back from her with more details on everything we discussed. This is what I believe we all should be doing on one level or another.

Enjoy your day as we roll into November. I wish you the best and many blessings for the month ahead. Amen!

The Lord My Shepherd

David who wrote Psalm 23 among many of them said the Lord his God was his shepherd and he lacked nothing at all. I know we feel at times we lack a lot but with God being our shepherd we don’t.

David when he killed Goliath and before becoming King of Israel he was a shepherd taking care of his family sheep. He knew his job was to take care of every sheep he was shepherd of. He knew every verse of this psalm he wrote about. He knew about lying down in green pastures, taking the sheep to quiet waters and being refreshed. Also he knew what it meant about walking through the valley of death and knowing God was with him. He knew he didn’t have to fear evil either. He knew his enemies and God set a table for him in front of them. He knew God’s love and mercy would follow him every day of his life and finally he would live with God forever.

What a powerful message for us all to hear, understand and life by. Not any easy task at all but this is how God wants to take care of us. Amen!

Call to the ER

I am sorry today’s post is a bit later than normal. My mother fell early this morning so she had to go ER. She spent only a couple hours. Affection she had in August returned. She is going to be OK though.

Right now her care is my highest priority and purpose in life. We all have situations where there are those we have to watch whether our parents, children or other family members.

I want to thank you all for not only reading my posts but what you are doing with your life to help others in a greater way. Even if other people don’t know you are helping out the world only time will tell. Doing the small things is as important as the big things. Keep up what you are doing in the life of others. Amen!

Don’t Get Burn Out

The important thing no matter how busy take time for yourself and your family because it is easy to get burn out. I have known friends and others who have gotten burned out.

Getting burned out usually happens to those who drive themselves. Keep being affective in your purpose taking time out for even a day or two will be a benefit.  Relaxation can help us out a lot. A change of scenery is good as well. We all need a recharge once in a while. Our batteries run down after a while.

I feel a good time is when joy of doing anything is being taken away. Another time is when you are questioning what you are doing as well. We can be effective for a longer period of time taking a break. So do it.  

Walking In Someone Else’s Shoes

We can’t always know what people feel however having empathy can begin with us sensing things by walking in their shoes. I am not sure it is easy task or how they may feel or act because everyone reacts in their own way but it does help to understand better if we think how we would feel in the same situation.

There are some situations where we have experienced the same thing but I believe people can react in their own way. I believe this is why empathy comes in. We can share our experience without telling them how they should feel. Most of all we can let them know we are there for them. We may not know the answers fully but being interested and caring for them is how they can get through their circumstances. I guess it would be called “a shoulder to cry on”.  Often people just want someone to open up to without giving opinion unless asked for.

Walking in someone else’s shoes isn’t easy either. It can always bring up circumstances in our lives that we may not want to deal with however we can be strong along with being vulnerable. The most important thing is loving the other person.  

A Life Group

At the church I attend we have small groups which we call life groups.  Every group works out different than the others.

The life groups can be all male, all female, adults, couples or families. They may meet once a week or twice a month. They meet on different days of the week, time and location area. It is set up this way so people can go where they prefer or what day of the week bests suits them.

The life group I attend meets on Thursdays so just had our meeting this week. We have adults only and we meet the second and fourth Thursday of the month. We actually talk about life issues and do a lot of laughing as well. This week we talked about our relationships with our fathers.  Some had good relationships, not so good and none at all. At the end we prayed for each other’s needs. Also we had pumpkin pie to eat.  Another thing with life groups have the option of eating a meal together or bringing desserts or goodies.

I believe it is important we all belong to some small group whether it is in church or not. Everyone needs to have relationships with others in a small setting. A great way to encourage each other.

Somethings Just Amaze Me

In my home town I read on social media how bad some people drive. In the last decade we have added a number of roundabouts and people still don’t know how to drive them. I know in Europe and other places drivers have no problem driving the roundabouts. In fact more drivers are on those in Europe then in my town for sure.  It makes me shake my head especially when people say they don’t like them.

They have built the roundabouts so traffic will flow better instead of having traffic lights which makes sense to me. I believe the answer is for drivers to learn how to drive them before traffic gets heavy.

The other thing though we have a lot of accidents in the area. I am sure my insurance is higher because of other people.

Oh well it is how things go so like everything else must just deal with it. I actually don’t think about it that much but I do use a lot of defensive driving tools. There are some people who don’t pay attention in shopping centers either. I wonder why there aren’t more accidents happening. All by the grace of God I expect.

It would really be nice if we had more bus transportation to help out as well like other countries. Even though they do spend millions on public transportation still most drive cars. Someday I hope things do change but like everything change seems to take a while to happen. I enjoy driving however I would take public transportation if it were available where I live.  I salute everywhere public transportation is alive and well.

Bigger Than Us

Whatever we believe in it takes faith to do so. Also takes faith that we have a purpose in life beginning before we were born. Our purpose is bigger than us.

Whatever your purpose in life encompasses more than you; every person you meet in this life journey there is a reason behind it. There has been no one like you before and there will be no one like you after.

This is where faith comes in. Faith believes in what you don’t see. Knowing whatever happens there is a reason behind it even when you don’t know the answer. This is how we should think each and every day.  

Holiday Season Approaching

Next Wednesday being Halloween it is so hard to believe the holiday season will arrive.

 I do know some people don’t celebrate Halloween while others do. I haven’t actually celebrated it much since I was a kid. Here in Gig Harbor things have changed where kids don’t go knocking on people’s door much anymore. They have a celebration downtown where kids can come all dressed up in custom get candy and see other kids. This happens right after school is let out.

Right after Halloween the stores will be showing off for Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year November has five Thursdays so Thanksgiving comes early on November 22; Thanksgiving always falls on the fourth Thursday of the month.

It is so hard to believe with the holiday season coming up how fast this year has gone by. Of course we say that every year and this certainly not the exception. Just right when we get used a year another one follows along. Also another decade is almost over as well.

However you celebrate the holiday season I wish you well to you and your family. Much peace, joy and happiness to everyone; look forward to see what happens over these next weeks and what the new year will bring as well.

Believing In Yourself

I find in my experience ministering to others believing in yourself is a big obstacle for all of us. Those who have had a life where this isn’t an issue is very blessed indeed since most have to overcome the problem.

We all have at some extent not believing in something and it goes for in ourselves as well. The problem is often we have been criticized by others especially those close to us that we can’t possibly do that much.

The important thing for us to do is forgive first those who have hurt, criticized us and not help us believe in ourselves. After forgiving them we must forgive ourselves for believing the lie that we are not good enough.

Forgiveness in this way is not to get them or ourselves off the hook but to give us freedom especially to do the purposes we are meant to do. We may be involved in our purposes however we can do even greater things with true freedom and believing in ourselves.

It is a work in progress to get us where we need to be. So forgive and believe in yourself. We will be amazed how much farther we can go.

Walking Along the Waterfront

It had been a while since I walked the waterfront of my hometown of Gig Harbor. I have been walking in other areas. It is nice to walk there once again.

The fall weather has been different this year with less rain and warmer weather however the trees have lost some of their leaves. The last few days we have had fog so I wasn’t able to see the homes on the other side of the harbor.  Actually so foggy I could only see several feet ahead of me.

Another thing happening for a short distance one of the lanes is closed so traffic is going only one way. I wonder how many towns have one street partly closed in an area having some traffic. With the road going one way I had to cross the street too. Most of the people I saw were walking their dogs. I stopped in a bakery as well. I wanted to see I was going to meet. 

You may call it my purpose to meet as many people as I can and get into conversation.  I find some who say hello back to me while others don’t say a word which is weird to me. I guess some just like keeping to themselves. Another thing making us unique and I look forward to my next walk along the waterfront without fog though. I will likely go again next Saturday. Make it once again a regular routine.

Making a Difference

We all want to make a difference in the world. There are times where we think we’re doing the job while other times question whether we are.

It is natural to think negative about our life time to time then we do snap out of it.  Make a list of what you have accomplished this week. If you don’t remember them all it is OK as well. 

Your accomplishments this week means you have made a difference. I am sure you have helped a friend or loved one so it means the world to them. Also you have made a difference in your own life as well which is a good thing. Just keep doing what you’re doing.

Equipping Others

One of our great purposes should be to help equip others to do the purpose they have been created to do.

Although we have been created uniquely we still have talents and gifts similar to others even if we use them in a different manner. If you are a teacher whether it is professionally or not equipping others is your goal.  It is important to put others on the right track.

Besides equipping others it allows us to exercise our gifts and talents at the same time. Like the saying says “you don’t use it you lose it”.  An athlete continues working out even when he is not in season so he doesn’t lose his sharpness.

Have yourself a wonderful weekend and peace to you.