Wednesday Witterings . . .

 

 

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"There's no place like hope."

That's what it says on my desk calendar this morning. Where would we be without hope?  I dare not think.  Hope, as Emily Dickenson, so aptly wrote, "is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without the words, and never stops at all."

A life without hope in it is a very dire life indeed.  I think in even the worst of circumstances available to man it is hope that gets us through, and helps us to keep moving forward.  It enables us to believe in brighter days and futures.  Hope intertwined with faith are a magical combination that truly support each other. You really cannot have one without the other.  You cannot have hope without also believing at the same time that the things which you hope for will one day come to fruition.

Faith, hope and charity (love) are the legs of a three legged stool which helps to stabilize our lives, regardless of of the rough or uneven circumstances we may sometimes find ourselves living.  Faith and hope lead to charity, and according to scripture, charity never faileth.

 

These two were giving me love eyes last night.  I was watching the television and looked over and there they were, both of them looking at me in expectation. Hoping I suppose . . .  for me to notice them.

 

And when I did, they gave me the "love eyes."  I gave them back. We often give each other "love eyes."  We are three parts of a mutual admiration society! We love each other very much.

 

Cindy and I went to another Paint Night in town last night. On this occasion we painted butterflies and flowers.  Our second cousin Maria was there this time. (Her daughter Odessa is one of the organizers of the paint nights.)  It was so nice to see her. She had Odessa take a photo of the three of us showing off our paintings.  My sister looks very tall in this photograph, but we all look happy.  We had a great time together.  We don't get together near often enough. Maria is the daughter of our cousin Danny.  Our Aunt Freda raised her.  She is about the age of my two girls.  In fact when my two girls were growing up they loved to go to our Aunt Freda's and play with Maria.  Maria is a lovely sweet person.  Love her to pieces and it was so much fun to spend this rare time together.

It was fairly late by the time I got home and then had my shower.  Oh, it was so funny when I went to have my shower. Nutmeg got into the bathroom, well they both did and they were not leaving. So I thought I will take my shower anyways, and when I reached through to turn it on, Nutmeg jumped into the shower stall. He wasn't long in getting out I can tell you!  He was a blur!  It was quite comical.  He did return right after and instead, sat with his sister on the side of the tub waiting for me to be done.  He was not amused at getting wet to say the least!

I watched the last half of the last episode of the latest Love Is Blind (UK) series.  A new set of episodes drops today.  I believe they will be the hen and stag nights and the weddings.  Will they or won't they?  We shall have to wait and see!

Is love really blind?  I believe it is.  I fell in love once with someone, sight unseen.  We had a very deep emotional connection. I love this person to this day and we never ever did meet in person. He passed away several years ago now.

Love often blinds us to another person's faults as well.  Which is often a good thing, but sometimes it is also a bad thing.  I was blind to my U.K. husband's faults and weaknesses to my own detriment. 

In any case I am looking forward to seeing which of these U.K. couples actually goes through with the weddings and ends up married at the other end of this experiment.  I have my thoughts about who will and who won't. But we will see.  I hope I am not overly disappointed!

 

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The nights are starting to draw in more noticeably now.  It is getting dark now about 8:30 in the evening and it is already getting light when I wake up in the morning.  I have been sleeping a bit later as it is getting light later, which is not entirely a bad thing!  I truly am governed by the morning light. It would seem that it is my alarm clock.  I have been laying in until almost 6:30 most mornings, which I think is just about the right amount of time to sleep before waking up.  I go to bed at 9 p.m. most evenings.  I don't go to sleep right away of course. I say my prayers, listen to a talk on the iPad  and read for a bit before I actually settle in.  I have my nightly routine, and I follow it most nights without any variation.  That is what works for me. I am a bit of an insomniac so routine is really important to me.

 

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Last night in bed I listened to a talk by Jeffrey R Holland from the October 2020 conference of our church, entitled Waiting on the Lord. I often go back and listen to talks from years ago.  When the 2020 talks were given my life in the U.K. was already unraveling and I am not sure I actually really was able to concentrate on them as I should have done. We were also in the midst of the pandemic so it is nice to be able to revisit them.

"Faith means trusting God in good times and bad,

even if that includes some suffering until we

see His arm revealed in our behalf."

In thinking back on that time, and knowing how very much my life would change in just a few weeks after that talk was given, I can now see the veracity of those words. Oh how very much I had to trust in my Heavenly Father at that time and draw upon His strength to get me through what was a very difficult ordeal and path for me to traverse and it would be months before I would actually begin to see the light at the end of what was a very dark tunnel.

"Christianity is comforting, but it is often not comfortable.

The path to holiness and happiness here and hereafter

is a long and sometimes rocky one. It takes time and tenacity

to walk it."

I could not know how very difficult my life would become and seemingly overnight, or how very much I was going to have to draw upon my faith to help get me through the coming days, weeks and months.

"Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength

and shall mount up with wings as eagles,

they shall run, and not be weary;

they shall walk, and not faint."

Oh how I lived those words during that time, as I leaned upon the strength of my faith to keep me going and moving forward. Like a caterpillar working it's way out of a cocoon to emerge as a butterfly. My wings/faith were strengthened beyond measure.  I know now that there are not many challenges that I cannot meet and overcome.  And that even if things may get really hard from time to time, with faith and patience, I can get through just about anything.  And sometimes, if I feel my strength and faith faltering, I only need to ask for help to bolster them, and I will find it.

 

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Cindy is going to try to get dad to come over for a shower this  morning.  I am the only one with a walk in shower and it is so much easier for them to come here than for dad to shower at her place.  Hopefully he will come. He does take sponge baths, but I just know he will feel much better after having a full shower and being able to wash his hair. He really needs a hair cut, but we would like for his hair to be washed before he goes to the Barber.  And with that I best leave you with a thought for the day as time is marching on!

A thought to carry with you  . . . 

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★

 *.˛."Until God opens the doorway,

praise Him in the hallway."° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

There is a delicious sheet pan supper in The English Kitchen today.  Crispy Pork Chop Dinner. Meat and vegetables all cook together on one simple sheet pan.  I enjoyed mine with a bit of applesauce on the side.

I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday.  Whatever you get up to, stay safe and don't forget!

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And I do too!