Today's blessings

Two and a half years ago the Lord blessed me by giving me a car. It belongs to both Jack and I but it was given especially from my Heavenly Father to me as a blessing from Him. Yesterday I was driving home from my Bible Study in Kitchener and was thinking how wonderful it is to be able to drive to the Bible Study.

About 5 weeks ago Jack had an accident in our van and totaled it. Thankfully he wasn't hurt. We were down to one vehicle. The first couple of weeks after the accident we had a rented vehicle. Then we juggled using the car until the Lord provided us with another car. Yes, the Lord once again gave me a car for my use.

Using the car I go to the post office to pick up our mail, to the bank for various reasons, to the grocery store to get groceries, and go to appointments at the optomotrist, dentist, doctor, etc. Occasionally I meet friends for lunch, here in St. Marys and other towns. It gives me a wonderful freedom.

One tremendous blessing from having this car is it allows me to go visit Alysa, Lenn, and my family. I am always so encouraged to do this traveling. It seems to brighten my life and renew my strength.

My heavenly Father keeps showing me in so many ways how much He loves me. My love for Him keeps growing. At times I can feel His arms around me, loving me and telling me to keep trusting Him.

Lunch with Friends

We have a new restaurant here in St. Marys. It is called Darjeeling Tea Room. I met two friends, Eve and Kathy, from Stratford there yesterday for lunch. The restaurant serves almost any kind of tea that you would be interested in drinking. There are jars with the various teas in them on shelves along one side of the room.

This Tea Room is mainly for women. Men wouldn't be interested in having lunch where beautiful china cups are used instead of mugs. There are tables of various sizes, along with an area with several comfortable chairs with a small coffee table in the middle of the chairs.

It's a great place to come and have a leisurely lunch with your friends. The menu gives you choices of soups and sandwiches. We had a soup that was called "chicken pot pie soup". It was delicious. Their sandwiches include tuna, egg, cucumber and cheese and several other choices. I chose the tuna sandwich and it was very good.

Spending time with friends has always been a blessing to me and I'm thankful the Lord has given me friends like Eve and Kathy to be with and who enrich my life.

I'm Back

It has been about 9 months since I've blogged. The last week in February I headed south. My final destination was Dallas, but I had plans to stop in Memphis and then Ft. Smith before going to Dallas. I have needed a family fix and the Lord heard my cry and said I could gas up the car and turn the car toward the southern states.

I had planned to drive part way to Memphis, but the day was going so well, that I kept going. By 6:00 p.m. I had gone through Nashville and decided to call Patsy and see if she wanted me Thursday night instead of Friday. She wasn't home from work yet, but John said to come on. So, three hours later I was in Memphis. About 30 minutes before I got there I started getting pretty tired.

We had a great weekend and on Monday I headed to Shirley's. Sunday evening, before leaving Monday morning, we got a phone call from a first cousin on the Long's side. My cousin, Tolice, wanted to know if I was interested in stopping in Arkansas for breakfast. It worked out that she and another cousin, Virginia, would meet me at the Palestine exit on I-40. To my surprise, my sister, Peggy Ann, drove from Helena to meet me there also. We had a great time catching up on the past 50 years. This was a wonderful blessing from the Lord.

My time at Shirley's was spent putting a quilt together, good shopping for bargains, time in Alma with Joy and Shirley at a great store called A-Z, time with some of Shirley's friends on Wednesday evening, and just being together. I'm always refreshed after being with Shirley. She does put a zest into life that is good for all those that have the privilege of spending time with her.

Then I headed to Dallas to be with Lenn, Sarah and the boys. I do love spending time with them. We went to Angela's for supper the night that I got there. She is a lot of fun and is a good cook. The boys do love being with her. The next morning, Saturday, we went to Chuck E Cheese for a birthday party. Talk about a lot of energy. It was fun watching them play the games.

Sunday afternoon we went to a park for their friend, Tonia, to take family pictures of them. It was hard for them to be still, but I think Tonia got a number of good pictures.


Sarah and I found material for some curtains for Andrew and Matthew's room, as well as Robbie's room. I had brought my sewing machine down so I could sew them. They turned out quite nice and Sarah was pleased with them.

Wednesday afternoon we took the boys skating. I didn't skate (I didn't want any broken bones). Lenn took off from work early so he could skate too. Robbie seemed to enjoy just running around the rink in his socks better than having the skates on.
It was hard to say good-bye. Our next time to be together is at Rock Lake, near the Soo. I can hardly wait.

I spent the night in Ripley, Tenn. on the way back home. It was so good to see Kitty and Scott, and spend an evening with them. I do wish that we were close to all of our family. I do miss them.

Thank you Lord for the blessing of being with so many of my family.

Back from vacation

It has been forever since I did any blogging, so I thought I would get back to it. Monday night I got home after being gone for about 6 weeks. In later blogs I'll talk about what all I've been doing.

Monday evening I flew into Detroit, from Oklahoma City. Jack picked me up and we had a 2 1/2 hour drive back to St. Marys. It was about 1:00 a.m. when we got home. We were both very tired.

It was nice sleeping in Tuesday morning. I did, however, feel like I had been run over by a 2 ton truck and then he backed up on me. Unpacking my suitcases upstairs made a complete mess of two of our three bedrooms. I had left with one suitcase and came back with two. I always manage to collect things wherever I go.

We had a funeral to go to in the afternoon, so I just left things messy. Since we wouldn't be home, I thought that no one would see what our upstairs looked like (thankfully). After the funeral we went to Cambridge (over an hour from our house). We were meeting a friend for supper. So it was another late night.

Yesterday was spent going to Stratford for groceries, gas, and getting my hair cut. Also I had to get back into cooking supper every night. It has been great not having to cook. I got quite spoiled. Last night I stayed up late to get bills, bank statements, etc. in order. I like to keep things written down so we know what is going on in our finances. When I went to bed my mind was still on fast mode, so it took a while for me to get to sleep.

This morning I needed to take the car up to get the oil changed. Since it is very close to "Curves", I decided to walk over and get my exercises done. I was afraid that I might be too tired, but did get it accomplished. It helps to talk with the other women there while exercising, it takes your mind off of what you are doing.

The man from the car dealership drove me home, because they were going to do something else to the car. Just as I was walking up the stairs to my house I realized that I had left the keys to the front door with the car. I usually have another house key with the van keys, but hadn't put them in my purse after getting home. Wayne (man from car dealership) drove me back and I gave them a valet key and got the house keys. I did have a good visit with Wayne during the two trips to my house. He is good friends with our nearest neighbors, does farming, goes camping, etc.

Well, that has been my week so far. I can hardly keep my eyes open, but I'm going to try and not lay down for a nap. I want to sleep tonight.

New Friends

I am enjoying developing friendships with the women that I've met at Curves and also up at the Friendship Center (Senior's Center). On Monday I was talking with Mary Ann (at Curves). I found out that she lives across the street and down a couple of houses. I was so excited that maybe soon I can be visiting this new friend by just walking across the street. I'm also learning more about these women each time I go to Curves. As we exercise we chat with one another. It makes the exercising go quicker.

It has been wonderful to occasionally meet someone downtown. It gives me the feeling of belonging here in St. Marys. Sometimes you just don't realize how lonesome you are for friends until you start getting some.

We have had some beautiful days the last week and that certainly lifts your spirits. I enjoy going for walks. It not only gives me exercise, but just being outdoors makes me feel closer to God. I know that He is everywhere, but His creation just speaks volumes to me, lifts burdens, makes my heart peaceful. The LORD continues to bring blessings into my life.

A Lovely Restful Day

It's been quite a while since I last blogged. I've been aiming to get started again, but it is one of those "round to it" things.
I just want to share some thoughts about yesterday.

We have needed to get a new muffler and also new rear shocks on the car. Last week I made an appointment to take the car in yesterday for 8:00 to have them both taken care of. I knew that I could have a ride back home from the men at the garage, but thought I would just walk downtown while it was all being done.

It was raining some, but wasn't too cold (probably in mid 40's). I had on a sweat jacket underneath my Northern Reflection raincoat (I've had this raincoat forever). I got it when having anything from Northern Reflections was "in". The lining is made of flannelette. Of course, you don't want to wear this raincoat when it is hot out because you sweat like the dickens in it.

Also I took my pink flowered umbrella with me that Alysa gave me for my birthday a number of years ago. I had asked her for a nice big one and she found this beauty. I do love walking in the rain (but not if there is thunder and lightening). One other thing I brought with me was a book that my sister, Shirley, had sent me to read. I had plans to find a place to read it.

In December I joined Curves and try to go every day if possible. Since Curves is almost next door to the Pontiac dealership, I decided that I would drop off the car and then walk over and do my workout. That was my first adventure.

The downtown was only about 1/2 mile from Curves. It was cloudy, but wasn't raining yet so I started walking. Besides my purse, and umbrella I also had my bag with my running shoes in them that I wear at Curves. Inside my shoe bag also was my book.

When I got downtown I went to the bank and post office. Then I did a first for me. I went to a cafe called the Coffee Culture. There I bought a diet coke (of course) with a glass of ice to go with it and a great cranberry/lemon muffin. I found a small table and sat and read and drank the diet coke and ate the muffin. It was a wonderful time. Yes, I'm definitely stepping out of my box (a little bit).


Since coming to St. Marys I've been lonesome for "girl friends" here. Going to Curves has been a boost to me because I've gotten to know quite a few women. When I was finishing up my diet coke I looked over and saw one of the women from Curves. I have been thinking about her because her husband died week before last. I said hi and we had a good conversation, the beginning of a friendship. Since I feel the Lord has me here in St. Marys to reach out to the women for Him, I was so happy to see this is developing. The Lord is good!

I had given my cell number to the garage and since they hadn't called yet, I still had time on my hands. I walked through the Salvation Army Store and then decided to see if I could get an appointment to get my eyes checked. There are a few things that are good about turning 65. The Government pays for your eye exam. So I found the office and made an appointment. Of course, the Government does not pay for the actual glasses. While I was there the garage called and I started my walk back to pick up the car.

It had started to rain and I was able to use my umbrella. While crossing the bridge I had to hang onto it for dear life because the wind was blowing badly. I'm seeing spring flowers in so many of the yards and this lifts my spirits so much.

This is a long blog, but I have to tell you the rest of the morning. I picked up the car and decided I wasn't ready to go home. There is a Tim Horton's downtown and I do love their chili. Yes, I went there and got the combo. It has the chili, a bun, a drink(had to have a diet pepsi, the only down in the morning, they don't have coke products) and a doughnut. I read while I was eating. I do enjoy a good book. Then I went to the library next door and used their computer because my wireless was down.

It was a lovely relaxing day. Thank you Lord for this refreshing day.

Thankful Heart

I'm Thankful to the LORD:

1. Because He hears me when I cry out to Him. He listens and doesn't condemn.

2. He reminded me how much He loves me. I am very special to Him.

3. He reminded me today that He especially wanted to bless me by bringing me to live in St. Marys. He did that for
me.

4. He reminded me that I don't have to perform duties for Him. He wants my heart.

5. Only what He thinks about me is important. I can't be worrying about what others think about me.

6. He is interested in my physical well being. I go to Curves and I love it. I'm making so many new friends and getting in
in shape and healthier.

7. Today I enjoyed having lunch with a dear friend. Thank you LORD for her and our friendship.

8. I drive the car that He gave me a year and half ago. I was able to drive it to see Alysa in the fall and then in January
to see Lenn. He is so good to make it possible for me to see my precious children.

9. He has a plan for my life and I shouldn't be concerned about the plans others have for me. I need to only listen to Him
and do His will.

10. He died for me and holds me safe in his arms.

11. His mercies are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness to me.