Sorry I can't post any pics of what I did today because it's a surprise! I hope the recipient really likes it. I'm having alot of fun and some tugging at my heartstrings at the same time. Anyone else having fun making gifts?

I can show you where we'll be going to dinner with a dear friend on Michael's birthday gift card. MMMMM! http://www.flyingstarcafe.com/

I fully expect to see some joking comments, lose some friends on Facebook where I spend the majority of my time online, and maybe gain a few more who are in those friends’ “woo woo” category…I just have to finally share this. Especially today! I’ve shared my experience over the last year with just a very few close and highly trusted friends and family members. One of my children still explains it as “the brain” being an amazing thing, even after I told her this morning what had happened. OK, but what part of the brain, or rather, where did the thought to act come from?

I have some online and in person friends who are very “spiritual”, but don’t necessarily agree with me about everything. Those who know me, know that I unashamedly profess my faith in Jesus Christ as the virgin-born, crucified, buried, risen Son of God, the Savior Who has allowed me to look forward to Heaven.

 

Since committing my life to Christ, I have always been very careful to follow God’s rules in the Old Testament about not consulting mediums, witches, the stars or any other occult or pagan practices, but some of my online friends are not so careful. I do believe in the angelic realm, including fallen angels, and am fascinated by science and the direction it’s been going in areas of  “the God factor”, brain science, heart science, healing and bringing spirituality and science together. It is so exciting to me to see more and more science explaining what we read in scripture. I know that numbers have significance in scripture, but I don’t know if this falls under “numerology” as such. It does concern sequences of numbers, especially 1’s…11:11.

Since I was introduced to the idea that there is a “shift” coming, some are looking for the rapture of the church, doomsday or for aliens or angels to come to our aid with amazing new information, I became one of those who began to randomly see these sequences of numbers when I happened to look at a clock. It started at the end of 2010, and became so frequent that I started recording it on my calendar in January of this year.

The Fall of 2010 was a stressful time for me and my co-workers, as the company I worked for was sold and began to downsize. I made it through this time partly because of seeing these numbers, and began to take them as signs that God had dispatched angels to minister to me. As the ax fell on co-worker after co-worker, I was comforted and had no fear of the future. Each time I saw a sequence, I was delighted and calmed. I continued my usual routine every day of spending time with the Lord, reading scripture and praying. The first day I recorded was January 2 – 11:11. Then 11:11 and 3:33 on the 3^rd and 4^th. Sure enough, I was laid off on the 6^th. During January and up until today, it has been at least once every week, usually more than once.

Last night, I woke up and glanced at the clock – 12:12...on 12/12/2012! And then, driving home from the grocery store, again! 12:12! I think you can understand how this has left an impression on me. I plan to continue my daily routine of going to the Lord whether I get hit by a truck, the world ends in 9 days or ET’s come to my door!

What about you? There is so much uncertainty and are so many reasons to be anxious. Can you face the next hour, day, week and eternity with no fear? I never needed or looked for any signs, but I honestly believe that they are a gift to me, maybe because I already believed. My faith in a good and mighty Savior was enough. This has been quite a bonus!

 

 

More Frienemies

My former co-worker went through Michael’s first diagnosis and treatment of head and neck cancer with me. She was a good support. At the same time, she was going through a major transition moving her mother-in-law from Florida back to Albuquerque to live with her and her husband. They have no children, and she hadn’t really known her mother-in-law very well before this. She and her husband are very active in their Protestant church, so we shared our faith… I came to realize that she was pretty selfish when she complained almost daily about her mother-in-law. She was extremely nit-picky from my point of view, since the lady was ill and not long for this world. They considered putting her in assisted living when she fell, got sick and died. Later, I found out that she had thrown me under the bus. The business was in trouble, and duties were being shuffled around. I was assigned to help her without a pay raise. I was thankful for the job, and I normally did assist her with no complaining as part of my new job description. One day was particularly difficult, Michael was really sick and needed me, so I took an extra long lunch without pay, which put me behind. Near the end of the day, I let her know that I wasn’t able to get to the task. I received a frown, and nothing more was said. A few weeks later, I was called in and reprimanded by our boss. I let it go, eventually was layed off and she went to another job. A few months later, she took me to lunch since she knew I was out of a job and Michael was still sick.

Now Michael has been on hospice, and we had a date for lunch again today…her treat. When I told her that his doctor’s appointment had been changed to a later time, and asked if she could be flexible since she was taking a ½ day off work anyway, she said quite shortly, “No, I’ll be gone.” I told her fine, and I was sorry and maybe we could do it another time. I decided to write her off as a friend. While I was considering erasing her name from my contacts, she called again and said, “I think I’ll change my mind. Where and when would you like to meet? I feel bad.” I’m glad she reconsidered, because I don’t think she has many friends. Maybe that’s why, and maybe she’s changing for the better. It was really nice to get out. Update – at lunch, we were talking about girl stuff and I was saying that my hair is getting too long and I had been cutting it myself. She asked me, “Where do you get your hair done?”. I told her Supercuts, and she said, “let’s go and I’ll get it for you.” I needed to go get Michael at the Cancer Center, so I thanked her and said, no, that she’d done enough. The following week, I got a Supercuts gift card from her in the mail. She’s a blessing, and I’m glad I was able to let a few things slide, be patient and didn’t write her off.

Curt had always been a cynic, irritable, disgusted. The space around him radiated negativity. Now Stephanie’s husband had one more real reason to be so since his back surgery had left him numb from the waist down. Yes, he could still walk, hobble; but he also required a catheter in order to function. Intercourse was out of the question. The verbal lashings she received made sure that any other kind of intimacy was too. Time for another quest, a search for peace on this cool, cloudy summer evening. Stephanie headed out with the dog to walk and pray, run away, try to clear her head for the third time today. “God, if You’re there, I need a sign that tells me Dennis is OK. I am so terrified that he is suffering in hell. He was being rebellious when the accident happened. I never told him, I never knew that I should have been looking for You and teaching him about You. I have so much confusion now myself. All of my watching religious TV and searching the internet has only made me more fearful. God, help me! I am so afraid!” As she rounded the corner she came upon the neighbors walking too. “Hi! How are you? How’s your husband doing?”, Matt asked. How do I word this? she thought. She grinned a strained smile, shrugged. “He’s…” a pause. “Not doing too well?” asked Dina. “I think he’s depressed”. Matt agreed that he sure had reason to be, and so did she! “Are you taking care of yourself?”, he asked. Matt himself had recently undergone a knee replacement and had also had back surgery a few years ago, so he really understood. He had been so nice and friendly and even got Curt to snicker and smile a few months ago when he was walking by and stopped to talk. “You should check with his doctor and get something to help. There’s no reason to suffer with the new medications they have. You should check it out for yourself, too!” Matt suggested. “Well, I tried something when our son was killed, but it didn’t really help.” “Oh, no…your son was killed?" asked Dina. “I’m so sorry. What happened.” Stephanie went on to explain that it was a shooting accident. “I think I remember hearing the news when that happened! Well, no wonder he’s depressed. We’ll pray for him. What’s his name?” Instantly, she knew that God had heard her own prayer. Matt and Dina took turns telling her all of the battles they’d been through for so many years, the latest being Dina’s lay-off and also Matt’s cancer before the back and knee surgeries. “Wow. Really?!” “Are you a Christian?” she asked Dina. “Yes, I am”. Stephanie tried to hold back her excitement. “Well, I had a really close friend, our neighbor who was a Christian, and she used to beg me with tears to become one. She moved away, but even came back to help me through the grief when we lost our son.” “Would you like to come back to our house and talk some more? I need to get home and check my chicken in the oven. “Dina asked. Stephanie hesitated. “Well, I’m just starting my walk, and it really makes me feel better.” “Ok, how about I call you when we’re finished eating?” “OK, sure.” Stephanie said. Later, as they walked, they discussed all of the confusion on TV and the internet. “When Danny died, I started watching EWTN, the Catholic channel and praying the rosary. It was really comforting to me. Now I’m learning all kinds of things on the internet about the Vatican, nephilim, aliens…it’s so shocking and makes me so sad and afraid! I feel really uncomfortable even talking to you about it. Have you ever seen anything like that?” “Yes, I have. You know there’s a lot of mis-information as well as dis-information. We need to be very careful of what we believe…discerning of what we see. It’s the Holy Spirit Who guides and teaches us when we know Jesus.” “Yes, we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit, right?!” Stephanie was not just interested, and she said so. She was famished and nearly dehydrated for spiritual insight. She talked about her other Christian friends and their warnings about astrology and yoga, which she had also practiced. “I really need some answers! I’ve barely been sleeping and researching all this for two weeks straight! My husband thinks I’m losing it!”

On my mental decorating calendar, it's half-way through summer, and I've been behind ! Michael's cousin Kris is coming for a visit, so I got busy. Here's our entryway. The charcoal drawing with the bamboo frame hung in my parents' house until they moved here. Michael had insisted that we buy it for them on our honeymoon in Hawaii.

Here's a close-up of my parents' beautiful shell ashtray - Mom never smoked, but we lost her going on 3 years ago.

On to the living area mantel. I was planning to paint a seascape to be the focal point, but instead decided to grab our print of dolphins from the bathroom. I wanted an asymmetrial, refreshing look, not too matchy matchy, including some black and white photography. I started out with a large conch shell to the right of the print, moved the candle from left to right, and finally came up with this...

The pilot in the photograph is Michael's Dad, whom I never met. He passed away before Michael and I met. Besides being perfect for the black and white element, I thought Kris would like to see his uncle's picture. It also fits in with the ocean theme, since he served in the Pacific during WWII. Of course, it fits with "The Travelers" print as well. The built-in bookshelves on either side of the fireplace were feeling much too cluttered. I stored away alot of books and even left only one large item on two of them.

TA DA! Perfect for our visitor and our staycation, too!

NEW POST ON 'WHATCHA GOT' TAB TODAY!

NEW POST ON 'WHATCHA GOT' TAB TODAY! :D