Get your bread and milk!

 

January 2025 snow storm

Well, here it comes! What is coming? THE SNOW STORM FOR 2026!! They (our great weatherman) are saying that we are going to get about 12+ inches of snow! I just can't deal with it! Why?  First I really don't like cold weather, but can deal with it because it is just for a few months. And the really cold days are only a few. But SNOW! I really do not like snow! We got a snow storm last year, I think we deserve a break for a year!

Ok you say, why don't you move to somewhere that doesn't have snow. Well, then I would just complain about the hurricanes or tornadoes or flooding or something! So I should just stick with this. At least with snow, I can just hunker down in my house with my warm fuzzy socks and binge my TV shows. Or maybe I can get some housework, hobby stuff or maybe even start packing this weekend. Maybe, maybe not. One thing in KY is when there is threat of any snow, EVERYONE hits the grocery store. Well, we went early this week for our normal, weekly shopping and we got what we need. A friend went yesterday and said the shelves for bread were almost bare! What the heck! We are only going to be locked up for at the most 2 days. Do you really think you will use 3+ loaves of bread or 3 gallons of milk in that time? And the snow isn't coming until Saturday night!

Fear and panic set in when you do not know what is going to happen. The only time that I remember in my lifetime of a major snow was the snow storm of 1994 and I got "trapped" at work. Yes, I did. It sucked. It was my last shift of the week and I could not get home because there was 14 feet of snow! I stayed at the hospital and worked until it was cleared for staff to get there and I could leave. They hooked us up in a room to sleep after our night shift for a while. 5 of us in a small room with cots. Not ideal. It was just a day but it was the fear of the unknown of when I would be able to get home. My most awesome hubs drove the 15 minute drive for over 4 hrs to get to me and get me home! I loved him for that so I wouldn't be stuck working until the roads cleared, but could have have grounded him for risking getting out in the snow covered roads. We were in house for about a week before all the stores were open and people could get out. My car was buried in the snow for almost 2 weeks because they plowed the parking lot and all our cars were buried and covered in ice!

SO..... Y'all be safe out there and don't panic. We can get through this again! 

Isaiah 41:10; "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand".

Philippians 4:6; "Do not be anxious about anything"

1 Peter 5:7; Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."

Love to all, 

The new year, so far good

 

2 Corinthians 4:16: "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day".

So.....How is 2026 going so far for you? About the same for me. Up and down. Have you already messed up your new year resolution? Well, don't be too hard on yourself, pick yourself up by the bootstraps and keep going. I don't make them, because I just disappoint myself, I KNOW I won't keep it! But I have been doing a 21 day fast from sugar, candy, sweets....things like that. Today is day 18 of the fast....I feel it.

How is this going, you ask? Well, I do want my ice cream! I have developed a habit of eating a small bowl of ice cream in the evening. Something I want to credit to my papaw because as I was growing up, he did this. So I guess I can say it is in my genes! I do have to confess though. I did mess up one day, about 8 days in. I was at work and one of my co-workers brought in some cranberry/lemon type bars. It is a desert like a cake but it's not. It's just yummy sugar! It's hard to explain, but without thinking, I just took one off the plate and ate it. Then as I was swallowing, one of the gals I work with asks me, "I thought you were on a sugar/candy fast?"  Well, gotta love that accountability! So, that made me realize how much I do without thinking. I just pulled myself up by my bootstraps and started again. But, ohhh, that little bite of cake tasted soooooo good.

I have been thinking about my word of the year I chose or should I say, it was assigned to me, the word  LESS. Have you given some thought to your word? If you don't have one yet, no worries. You will get one. God will give you a word and it won't be one that you probably think you would choose. I would have never thought of this word for me, but somehow God placed it on me and helped me understand why. Sometimes we just need less, and just more of him. This 21 day fast has helped me see that. I don't need to have immediate satisfaction and I am learning I can control those urges to have it. I don't need stuff, but I still put stuff in my online shopping cart, I just don't buy it! I know, I am weird. So just like my picture of this tree with it limbs trimmed (finally!), I must look at my low hanging limbs and trim those in my life. And I started with sugar. Ya know, I could have picked something a little easier but I didn't. 

My advice: slow down, listen, and don't be so hard on yourself. We are human, we WILL make mistakes and fall. But God.....He is always there, full of Grace, love and forgiveness. He will be there to help pick us up as he has done for me many times. So now, grab onto your bootstraps and....PULL!

2 Timothy 1:7: "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind". 

Love to all,

A new feeling

 

I have a experienced a new and wonderful feeling. I can't describe this feeling.  What is this feeling??? Well........It is me feeling my hair move when I walk! I know, it's crazy. 

If you are just now joining my blog, I am letting my hair grow out. This time last year, my hair was really short.... and I was 40 pounds heavier too!  (picture from Jan 2024)                   

I decided to let it start growing out last February and I found out I have really curly hair. And yes, it is natural curls and everything is all good and well as long as I use my magic, curly gel to keep them in control. Since it has started getting longer, my hair now moves on its own! Amazing, right? And I can really feel it when I walk. 

Weird. I know. I am weird that way. But when you have kept your hair so short for 20 years and then all of a sudden you have hair that moves when you walk, it is, well AWESOME!

But there is a downside to this. One downside is that with curly hair, you get morning, scarecrow hair. And mine is really bad in the morning! It's sticking out ALL OVER! The other is when the wind blows, my hair really fluffs up! All big and fluffy curls.

So, hang with me and let's see how long I can let it grow! I go for a "trim" and cut next week. It appears my hair grows uneven and one side is longer than the other. Like I said, I am weird!

1 Peter 3:3–4; “Your beauty should not come from outward adornments, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.”

Psalm 139:14; “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.“

Love to all,

What is your word?

 Do you set a word for the year? I set a word for me to help guide me through the year. It is hard to think of a word that reflects you and what you feel will guide you. You may think this is silly, but a lot of us out there do this. I have used words like intentional, consistent, love. This year I have struggled with coming up with one. I was listening to the radio and heard one of the DJ's talking and I think his word is a great one and I am going to use(steal) that one too! I will get to that here soon. Let me build up your anticipation!

This past year has seen its ups and downs but I have survived, as you have too. For me that has been lots of changes..... with my job, moving, building a new house, new mission challenges. Thank God I have not had any health scares this year! God has really carried me and walked with me. But it isn't about me. Everything I have become and everything that I have is because of God and the many blessings he has given me, despite me doing my human, stupid things sometimes. I am so thankful that God is loving and VERY forgiving.

Winston Churchill said, "Mountaintops inspire leaders, but valleys mature." Valleys help us grow and learn. Those low times, whether it may be having to making difficult decisions, or going through some rough times, help make who I am. 

So my word for this year is LESS

Less of me. Empty me of me and fill me with more of you (God). More of His love, grace, forgiveness, joy. More of Him, less of me. The more there is of God and less of me, that love will spill over to others. I ask God to teach me to speak with love, hear with compassion, and respond with grace. If I am full of myself, I can't do that. 

So what is your word that you will use to help guide you this year, the new year 2026. For me 2026 is Less. 

Isaiah 43:18-19; “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

Love to all,