Thursday ponderings . . .

  

I always read for a bit before I go to sleep at night. I guess it calms my thoughts. Or at least I hope that it does. I've been reading Grace to Become by Emily Belle Freeman. I had started it quite some time ago but gotten distracted by other things.  To be honest, I always have three or four books on the go. I get distracted very easily and often lose my concentration on one or the other, or can't seem to settle. About the only books I finish these days are ones of a spiritual inclination.  The rest can't seem to hold my interest for some reason. I can't slow my mind down long enough to really grab hold of them.

I was reading the eighth chapter last night.  Grace to you. It is regarding a letter that the Apostle Paul has written to one called Philemon in the New Testament.  She concludes the chapter with a question:

 "Do you hear the whisper of something hard ahead?" 

That question stopped me short and brought tears to my eyes.  I do. I do hear the whisper of something hard ahead. And I am not sure I am up to it.  I am not sure I want to face another hard thing.  But do I have a choice?  Probably not. Hard things come to us all and we don't seem to have much control over them.  The only thing we do have control over is how we handle the hard things.  Am I up for it?

I don't know. 

I have felt the whisper of hard things ahead of me before.  Sometimes I have been wrong and the hard things did not materialize . . . miracle of miracles.  Sometimes I have been right and the journey needing to be taken has been soul wrenching.

Who really wants to have to go through hard things?  There is a part of me that wants to just run away and hide . . .  forever. A part of me that says I can't do this  . . .  again. I'm tired. Just let me be for a season.  Can I not just enjoy a season of Peace?

Then the other side of me kicks in and I chastise myself for thinking I should be exempt.  I mean, who am I to expect that I deserve a season of Peace any more than the next person?

 

 

(source)

Do I feel the whisper of hard things ahead?  Yes. Am I up for it?  I sure hope so.  Do I really have a choice?  I think not. I will just forge ahead and steel myself to do what I have to do, to face whatever I have to face with as much courage and strength as I can muster. 

The women in my family have always had to shoulder hard things. None of us has been exempt. Maybe it is that way for everyone.  There is no such thing as a charmed life.

I think it was Jeffrey R Holland who said, 

"If we constantly focus only on the stones in our mortal path, we will almost surely miss the beautiful flower or cool stream provided by the loving Father who outlined our journey. Each day can bring more joy than sorrow when our mortal and spiritual eyes are open to God's goodness."

I need to take my focus off the stones and enjoy the journey, even if taken through perilous ground and hard things. Whining about our misfortunes never did make them better or easier. I need to remember that.

 

(source)

Oh, I was having such a nasty dream just before I woke up this morning. I was in a bathroom and all of these worms had shown up.  They were all over the place. Big ones. Small ones.  Tiny, tiny ones.  They had eyes on the top of them like craters.  White rimmed craters and slimy stuff was oozing up out of them. I couldn't get away. They were everywhere and I remember thinking to myself how was I going to get rid of them.  They were overwhelming.

And my youngest daughter was there and there were a bunch of photos of her and she was taking them all way so that I couldn't have any of them. Erasing herself as it were.  

Earlier in the night I had dreamt that this man was keeping me captive and I had no hope of getting way. That I was given the opportunity to go, but then just as I was ready to take it, I realized that if I tried to leave it was just another trap, another way that he was going to be able to keep me trapped. Another way for him to say there you go. See? You cannot get away.

A horrible night for dreams. I wish I did not have such vivid dreams.  Vivid dreams have a way of coloring your day ahead.  I need to focus on more positive things methinks, or at least try.

I best leave you with a thought for the day  . . . 

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

•。★★ 。* 。

° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚

˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛

˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★

*“Imperfect people are all 

God has ever had to work with. 

This must be terribly frustrating to Him, 

but He deals with it.” ~Jeffrey R. Holland  

•。★★ 。* 。•。★★ 。* 。•。★★ 。* 。 

 

I moved a bunch of my old recipes from the Oak Cottage Site onto my Food blog today.  You can find them here.  They are all very sound, delicious but poorly photographed. Anyone up for a slice of Lumberjack Apple Pie? 

Have a great Thursday.  No matter what you get up to, don't forget! 

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And I do too!    We are none of us truly ever alone in anything.