Small and Wonderful Things . . .

 

 

"The world is fairly studded and strewn with pennies cast broadside from a generous hand. But who gets excited by a mere penny?...It is dire poverty indeed when a man is so malnourished and fatigued that he won't stoop to pick up a penny. But if you cultivate a healthy poverty and simplicity, so that finding a penny will literally make your day, then, since the world is in fact planted with pennies, you have with your poverty bought a lifetime of days. It is that simple. what you see is what you get." ~Anne Dillard 

A few of the small and wonderful things which bring untold joy into my life. It's the small things in life which truly mean the most. Simple abundance . . . it's the best.

  

 

My Social Media Fast.  I've been doing pretty good with that, although I admit that I have been checking my children's facebook pages daily because that really is the only way I am able to keep up with their lives.  I have felt a bit guilty doing so, but justified it because it was the only way to see if anything was happening.  I figured as long as I was only looking, then that was okay.  I had a rude awakening yesterday, which really highlighted why social media is so bad.  On my DIL's page someone had posted something which they referred to as "retarded."  I totally took offense at that.  As the parent of a child with a learning disability I don't like the word and I actually think using that word to describe something in the way it was is very offensive.  Surely the word silly or some such would have been better.  I know I shouldn't have, but I couldn't help myself.  I posted a response.  I said that I felt the word was offensive and surely in this day and age we had gone past using what was a slur against a group of people to describe something.  There are certain words you just don't use for ANY reason, and that is one of them (in my opinion.)  Well I really shouldn't have done that, but I have this thing in me that really has the desire to educate ignorant people, so I did.  Well . . .  these were TRULY ignorant people, and before I knew it, the thing had degenerated to them using the "F" word towards me, multiple times, and then I thought.  I need to apologise to my son and DIL for this happening, so I did privately on iPad messenger.   They went in and tried to tell the people that what they did was wrong and hateful. Within several hours it had degenerated to the initial poster and his wife using the "C" word along with the "F" word, totally unable to accept that using the word "retarded" in the context that it had been used in the first place was not right and absolutely offensive.  That is the downside of Social Media as a whole. (I don't think Instagram is as bad although I have seen people bullied on there.)  My eyes were really opened.  To be honest I had not experienced such ignorance in supposedly intelligent people before.  Social Media really does rip open the underbelly of what is really hateful about this world. So while, admittedly, my going on there and what happened was a bad thing, having my eyes opened to what is rotten about Social Media was a good thing. (If that makes sense.) I am really going to have to think about how I go forward with it after this fast is finished.   I don't think it was any accident that this happened.  When God wants your attention He sends a burning bush, and this was definitely a burning bush. 

Sorry about the long paragraph, but I couldn't say or

describe what happened in any other way! 

 

Phone calls with my mum.  This is a photo of my mum that I took when we were home for my youngest son's graduation several years back.  Since he is turning 30 on his birthday in December, I guess it was at least 12 years ago now.  I really cherish these few minutes spent twice a week with my mother, even if yesterday by the end of the phone call I was in tears.  I think an hour is too long now for us to talk.  She doesn't seem to be able to cope with much in the way of conversation now and I think she was getting distressed yesterday because of her inability to be able to do so.  I could tell she was getting frustrated, and I actually think she was happy when I said my time was up and I had to go. (I can only talk for 1 hour before they start charging me by the minute and if I go over that time, they DO charge me for the whole time.  So I try to keep the calls to 55 minutes to fall within the guidelines of our phone plan.)  I will need to talk to my sister about this.  Maybe it would be better for me to call several times a week and keep our conversations to 15 minutes.  I don't know.  Dementia is a horrible, horrible disease.  It is distressing not only to the family, but also to the person who is experiencing it.   They may not be able to remember things, but they are very cognisant of the fact that they can't remember and of the confusion. In fact it may even be more distressing to them than to others.  I cherish these minutes with my mother.  I really do.  Perhaps I need to rethink the things we talk or try to talk about.  Usually it has been okay talking about things from the past,  but yesterday even those weren't jogging her memory.  She was having a bad day I guess. 

I am grateful for my sister and all that she does for my mom. Without her care,  my mother would not be able to stay in her own home. We always said that we would never see either of our parents in a Care Home, and would do whatever we had to do to prevent that from ever happening.  I had always thought it would be me who would be given the priviledge of taking care of them.  I have lived close to my parents off and on for most of my life.  Life has a way of turning out the exact opposite to the way you plan, think, or expect that it will, and things are often out of our control.  When I moved over here in 2000, I never dreamed that it would end up being permanent.  Our plans were only to live here for 3 years until Todd got his Old Age Pension.  Best laid plans and all that, 18 years later I am still here.  That pains my heart in ways that I can't verbalise.  I love my husband very much, and this is where I must be, no matter how much I yearn to be able to care for my parents and to help my sister out.  I am and will always be eternally grateful to her for all that she does.

  

Roses that bloom in October.   We have a lot of rose bushes, and most have died down now but we still have a couple that are blooming, even as their leaves are falling off and scattering to the wind  . . . 

 

My favourite of all our roses are the blush ones that are in the garden at the front of our house.  They are like a cross between pink and yellow . . .  first to bloom in the spring, and last to bloom in the Autumn.  They are the roses that keep on giving.    

 

Being called to Teach in Relief Society.  I am not sure how good I am at it, and I hope that I will get better at it, but I am enjoying this opportunity that I have been given to grow and to stretch my abilities. I am grateful to have been given this mantle of responsability.  It helps me to know that my Heavenly Father knows I am capable and has faith in my abilities.  I also know that He will help me to do this calling to the best of my ability.  Heavenly Father never asks us to do something without providing us with all that we need in order to do it.  We just have to be willing to do our part.

 

  

Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, Sunday nights can always be Call the Midwife nights.   We love this show (along with a few others like Downton Abby) and never tire of seeing it.   We have them all on DVD, but we also get them on Netflix so we need never not be able to avail ourselves of the joy of being able to watch well done television.  We are watching season 1 again.  This show never gets old for us.   Each new season always kicks off with a Christmas special.  Won't be long now and we will be enjoying the next Christmas Special.   From what I have read the special and Season 8 are going to be every bit as wonderful as the past series have been. Yay!  

 

Passing my annual Diabetic Review.  I do have to go for a Doplar Test tomorrow morning.  My left foot has been swollen for years.  My toes on that foot look like little sausages. I remember them looking like that before I even moved over here.  (Part of the reason I hate wearing sandals.)  In any case they are going to do a Doplar (sp) tomorrow which just means taking my blood pressure on all four limbs. I might need to wear a pressure stocking on my left leg in future. We will see.  I am grateful for the NHS  and all that it does for us. 

 

Finding feathers.  I find little white feathers all the time, and often in the most unusual and unexpected places.  One time one was floating in the air above me, floating up, up, up . . .  it was amazing.  Not sure why, but they always make me feel like I am being watched over and taken care of. Its a good thing.  

 

It is the same thing with heart shaped things . . .  pebbles, etc.  I am always discovering hearts where I least expect them as well!  I am beloved!

And I better stop there.  I have tons to be grate for and that I love in my life.  I truly am a blessed person, even if it doesn't always sound like I am.  

A thought to carry with you . . . 

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★
 *.Don't tell me the sky is the limit

when there are footprints on the moon.

~unknown    •。★★ 。* 。 

 

In the English Kitchen today  . . .  Mexican Chicken Spaghetti.  An all in one dish that cooks in one pan.  The spaghetti cooks in the sauce.  No fuss, no muss and very delicious!

I hope the week ahead for you  is filled with lots of small and simple things!  Don't forget!

 ═══════════ ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ ═══════════ ⊰✿░G░O░D⊰✿⊰L░O░V░E░S⊰✿⊰░Y░O░U░⊰✿
═══════════ ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ ═══════════ 

And I do too!