Forsaken

Seasons come, seasons go.  Years past, become memories - some good and some bad.  

We cling to hope and conjure up in our minds what we'd like the future to hold.  But truth be told, all belongs to time and chance, however if we pray long and hard enough our faith will see us through and life will unfold gently.

As we work hard to savor today and leave our legacy - we remember, we are growing older and more years are behind us than before us.

Sixty was the magic number for me.  I began to feel I was falling apart.  Where's the energy I once owned?  Why is my blood pressure so high?  I never used to have trouble sleeping at night.  Why can I not endure the hot, humid days anymore?  Why is it that I can consume a thousand fewer calories a day for a year and not lose any weight?  Why do I fear doctors and hospitals and blood pressure cuffs?  Why has my body forsaken me?

*Sigh*

And why do bugs love me so?

I asked Gracie if she had anything to ad to this blog post of whining and woes.  Simply stated, her answer was this:

"Ditto".

A Note From Gracie

Hey All,

Mom and dad are getting the pool ready and you know what that means.  Splashing kids and wet dogs.  Not a fan of either one.  But the good news is, rain rain and more rain.  Oh - and cooler temperatures, just the way I like it.  So no pool yet.  and hoping my good fortune carries throughout the summer.  Paws crossed.  We've been to camp a couple of times but mounds and mounds of wet leaves have taken over our space there.  Dad paid someone to clean it up and so today I am with him there and the leaves are all gone.  Let the summer begin!  He took me for a walk here and the smells are to die for!!  I seriously have no problem pooping here.  Perfect pooping scents, pardon my potty mouth.  Mom couldn't come with us today, she had to work.  So dad and me face-timed her.  Not sure what exactly that means.  So anyhooooooo...  went to the vet last week after the lousy tick bug hung from my eye for a year month couple of weeks.  Mom thought it was a skin tag but it was a tick bug and when she held my face close to hers and saw little black legs she freaked out and had dad hold me real tight till she got a thing called tweezer and yanked it out from my eye.  Then she saw another tick bug on the floor later, it looked like a pearl she said but it was a tick bug and she took it to show the vet and I took medicine but it made me sick and I barfed all over the yard and so no more medicine for me, just a shot since Dr. Fox says I tested positive for lemon lymes disease exposure.  I have to get another shot in two weeks and heres the fun part:  Mom and dad have to be tested too.  BOL!!!  oops.  sorry.  but she held me down for my shot and I'm hoping I can return the favor.  So.  All for now.  Thanks for stopping by and stay away from the bugs.  And if you can't stay away, wear a soresto collar around your neck like me.  Kills em dead before they spread.  

Gracie 

LIGHTS WENT OUT

 June 2, 1998

An F-4 tornado swept through the sleepy town of Eckhart, Maryland just about a mile from my home. 

My husband (at the time) and my three children and guinea pig were hunkered down in our cellar, praying.  

 Sirens sounded. Lights went out.  Phone service stopped. 

Darkness. 

Fear.  

Then, relief.  The storms had passed and we were safe.

I will never forget my drive to work the next day.  Words cannot come close to describing the feeling that came over me as I swallowed hard trying to rid the lump that was in my throat.

 Trees were uprooted and houses pulled apart and strewn throughout the town.  There was an eerie presence.  One I've not felt before nor since.  

 The only word that would come close to describing what I felt that cool, quiet morning after, while driving slowly through the still and silence of uprooted trees and homes strewn about - was Reverence.  

God had touched our land in an angry way.  

At that time in my life I was thinking 

(after almost 20 years of marriage) of divorce.    

I was being lured away from all that was right.

  

I wondered...  Was God speaking to me?  Were there others He was trying to reach as well?  

Is this how He gets our attention?  Who can understand The One who created Heaven, Earth, the Universe and all that is?  Who can know His plan?  His Will?  His hot displeasure with what we are doing with our gifts of life when we go against His will?  He wants what is best for us, because we are His children and He loves us.  

 Twenty years ago today, God came near.   He touched our land and He whispered, Be still, and know that I AM GOD.  

Revelation 21:4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

* Photos complements of News/internet research (not my own) Photographer unknown.