Birthday prayer

Tomorrow I celebrate the day the Lord chose to have me enter this world. I truly believe God knows everthing about me and watches over me. He has a plan for my life and I try and be obedient and follow that plan, however sometimes the road gets a little bumpy and curvy and then I wonder if I am on the road that brings about His plan for me. Whenever that happens I realize his great love even moreso, for he is always by my side cheering me on. God is all forgiving and forgetting and not like us humans who tend to hold back and not totally forgive or still on occasion bring up that offense that hurt us. My birthday prayer is that the Lord God will grant me the grace to not look back but keep my eyes on the present. I am very thankful for my life and all that has transpired in my seventy three years. I realize more and more that God's hand has been guiding me and leading me and I praise and thank him. I thank him for my life and for all life, for he is our creator and we are all made in his image and likeness. May his peace surround all of you this day and all of the days to come!

Mothers and daughters

This past weekend I was the guest speaker at a mother/daughter luncheon and was able to share how my book "Living Waters: Writings from the Heart of a Christian" came about. It was a beautiful sight to see mothers and their daughters enjoying this special time together. It was refreshing to see a special time set apart from their busy schedules to just enjoy being together and have that special bond as mother and daughter. I remember going to a mother/daughter banquet with my mother when I was about thirteen years old. I was so happy to be there with her and so very proud of her because she won the door prize for having the most daughters! (I was the fifth of six daughters) In today's society we seldom honor women who have many children, in fact they are often the object of ridicule and scorn! I decided to honor my deceased mother by giving my book to the woman present who had the most daughters. The woman who won my book was the mother of five daughters and was most pleased to receive "Living Waters". I couldn't help but wonder if anyone had ever complimented her on raising five daughters. Raising a large family involves many sacrifices for both parents, yet the reward of love and devotion from their family more than makes up for it. I speak from experience because I am the mother of three daughters and three sons and I feel deeply loved by each one of them.

Being prepared

Yesterday my husband and I raked and bagged the pine needles that were on the lawn and patio and generally got ready for winter by putting in storage some of the patio furniture. etc.   The day was a beautiful, warm fall day and I even had the thought we may be a bit premature in preparing for winter. Not so, not so, as today we woke up to a light snow that soon became a big snow storm!  As I sit here writing, I am thinking it is always good to prepare ahead of time for most things.  We prepare ahead of time for a trip, holiday meals, parties, weddings, babies, reunions, special gatherings, etc. One thing we don't prepare ahead of time is an unexpected death in the family. It is a shock like none other when a healthy, young person dies suddenly.  Everyone close to the deceased can hardly take it all in and are struck with a grief they didn't know was possible. Questions abound why would this person with so much talent and potential die so young?  None of us know when our time to leave this earthly existence will be, so be prepared is a good way to live each day that we do have.  How do I prepare you may ask yourself?  I like to think that living each day as though it may be my last day is a good way to start and by that I mean: 1.Start and end my day talking to the Lord.  2. Follow his commandments that he has given me in scripture.  3. Make sure that the Lord is truly my Lord and Savior and first in my life. There are many other things one can do to be prepared,  but for me these three simple steps give me peace knowing that I am ready and prepared ahead of time.