March 9, 2016
I love to watch the beginnings of Spring. The birds are more lively, squirrels are running around like crazy and even the possum in the garage seems to be out scavenging more often. Spring is the season of renewal. It’s when all that has been sleeping in the earth wakes up. Trees start developing little leaves and blossoms, grass starts to peek up from under the leaves and flowers are poking their little stems with buds on them up from the ground.
There are more insects starting to roam around, and especially after a rain. The birds are all over in the trees and air, making their mating calls and singing out to their friends and relatives. Mating rituals begin and those who have been hibernating all Winter are birthing their young.
Spring is also when we celebrate the death and rising of Jesus. Three days in the tomb and he came back to life just as it was prophesied, giving all men the promise of eternal life through forgiveness of sins through him.
Today I am thankful for Spring, for that reminder of what Christ died for, to be able to watch as things come back to life and realize that death is never permanent, we will all live again with Christ.
March 10, 2016
I have never been the one in the family that had the green thumb. My mother could grow just about anything. She was the same way with her baking. She never used a recipe. My older sister could grow house plants, and my younger sister could grow vegetables and house plants.
When I moved to Missouri, one of my desires was to learn to grow things. I have had some success with house plants, actually grew one squash, two cucumbers, six radishes and some small tomatoes. I am going to try to grow some veggies again this summer.
Right now in the kitchen, I have a tomato plant that was almost five feet tall. I had three outside last summer and they never grew. They didn’t die, but they never grew. I brought them in during the winter. Two didn’t make it, but the five foot one seem to love the attention and the window I put it in. recently I read about trimming them back, so I cut it down to about two feet and put some of the cuttings in water to root. Only one has taken root so far, but the original is sprouting new growths all over.
Most of the flowers I had outside last summer came from the throw away buckets and discount shelves at Walmart. Almost all of them were almost dead, but I nursed them back to health and they astounded me with their growth and their blooms.
Today I am thankful that God created plants. There is nothing like nourishing a dying plant back to life and knowing that you had something to do with saving its life.
March 11, 2016
Have I mentioned “Free days” before? The last job I had was a cherry job. I had worked inside the company for five years as a “Team lead” and “Special Matters Expert”, but after applying for other positions that I could have done easily, I was passed over for promotion because of my age. I suggested that they send me out as one of the on staff field agents, which they did, for five years in Ohio and one year in Missouri before I was laid off. I had a company car, all repair were paid for, all the gas was paid for.
All my office supplies and needs, including computer, paper, printer, fax machine, phone and cell phone were all paid for and at the time I was making around 13.00 an hour. Times were good and then the company did their annual layoffs. I am on a fixed income now, no where near as much as I used to make, but the Lord has supplied all of my needs.
I used to get up at 5 am, on the road by 7 am, back by 2 pm, but sometimes up until 11 pm putting information through to company system, but I loved my job. I got to travel through some beautiful country in Ohio and Missouri. I would purposely find the back routes, away from the congested freeways and main streets just so I could have the pleasure of driving through the scenic country side.
I was busy all day and some evenings. Often I would have to finish putting work through on Saturdays, depending on how many searches had records. Then I would rush to clean the house, do the grocery shopping and prepare for Church the next day. I attended Church on Sunday, Sunday night, and Wednesday, sometimes having to work when I got home, but I was happy.
Being disabled was a blow to me. At first I wasn’t sure what to do, but quickly found that my time was still being used up with trips to the hospital, trips to the doctor, trips to get tests done, out to do grocery shopping, cleaning house, doing launder and the like. It seems like I am just as busy as I was when I was working. We go to the hospital every forty-eight hours for Rich’s infusions and the there are some ER visits and Doctors visits.
Some weeks, when there are no Doctor appointments, no ER visits, and the grocery shopping has been done, we get what we call “Free days” . I am thankful today for those free days, when I can devote my time to doing things in the garden, around the house, working on projects or hobbies, or just relaxing and doing basically nothing.
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