Journey Out of Pink

We had our annual checkups today and since it was more convenient, I asked the nurse if she could take us back into one room at the same time. She agreed and I was thankful.  After we both had our blood pressure taken, our chests listened to, and were sent to the lab for blood work, I shifted into observant mode.  The lab has one of those ticket machines where you pull the ticket with a number on it and wait to be called. Hubby was number 89 and I was number 90. Since he got called back before me, I was able to converse with several ladies who are also waiting to have blood work done. I've always found it interesting how complete strangers can strike up a conversation when they find a topic through which they share common ground. Ours was frustration. Hers over her husband's unwillingness to speak up for himself with the medical staff and mine over my husband's loss of hearing and his pridefulness in not wanting hearing aids. We talked several minutes until I wa

All week I've had pain in my right hand extending from my ring finger to my wrist. It hurt so badly, I thought I'd managed to fracture a bone. My hands are small and my bones tiny. I hadn't fallen or whacked it on anything, so I had no idea why it was hurting so. To remedy the situation, I pulled out an old wrist brace I'd saved in my medical equipment box. (It was from a time I'd fallen in a hole in the backyard and fractured my wrist.) Several days after wearing the brace, the pain got better. That helped me realize 2 things: 1. My bone was not broken 2.;There was a logical reason.  Trying to figure out the cause was hard. I went over multiple factors, but I finally think I have the answer- my cell phone. My phone is big and heavy. I looked up the weight, 6.6 ounces. Add an Otter Box on top of it and I've probably been lifting 8 ounces a day repeatedly. My poor little bones were screaming out for relief.  When I solved the problem, I decided to only pick up my

We're weird. There. I said it. It's true, really. We are.  We're old and our knees are wearing out. We can't do all the things we used to do when we were younger and that includes long, strenuous hikes. So we've settled. Instead of walking for hours and hours up and over mountainous terrain, we walk in a local cemetery. See, I told you we were weird! The cemetery is always peaceful, the paths are paved, and the steepest grade is about 5 percent. It's an low impact workout which we enjoy daily.  As we pass by the various headstones, we take time to read their names and other information that may be engraved on their stones. We wonder about their lives.  Many of the grave sites have trinkets placed on or around them. Most of them have flowers of some sort - most plastic. All of these are evidence of someone's love and concern. We learn a lot by observing the items. For example, a grave with many Tonka trucks spread around it tell us the deceased was a boy chil

Today's been a rough day for multiple reasons. Not only have I been struggling with some health issues, I've also been second guessing myself on some recent decisions.  It's also been an emotional day as I'm missing my brother. He went to be with the Lord 3 years ago today.  Needless to say, Satan has taken advantage of my vulnerability. I'm well aware of his tactics. Over the past 60 years, I've learned my adversary quite well. But that doesn't make it any easier when my guard is down and my armor on the shelf.  Normally, I'm in a good place. I know all the things to do and usually do them, but sometimes, I fall. I'm only human. It's during those times of weakness I could use a friend and more often than not, God always shows up by prompting one of them to reach out via call, text, or snail mail. Today was one such day.  There are those that don't believe in God's perfect timing, but I do. I can't tell you how many times I've bee

Do you feel it? I do. There's a stirring in my soul, a feeling of unrest that won't go away no matter what I do to try and quash it. It's been going on for several weeks now and I don't think it's related to all the political hullabaloo. I'm not one to watch all that junk, my husband is.  No, it's something deeper. It's almost a spiritual stirring. I've been praying and asking God to reveal what the issue might be, but He hasn't.  Maybe it's just adjusting to this new time in our lives or perhaps it's the uncertainty of the future, how I wish I knew. Getting older could be part of it or not being able to spend as much time with the kids or grand kids, or it could be a combination of all of it.  I try to stay busy so I don't think about it. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Most days I paint just for something to do and when I run out of canvases, I read. I have so many books, I could start my own library. The only thing

In a few days, I'll be in a contemplative mood again as I remember my dear brother, Jimmy. It's hard to believe this year marks 3 since his passing. Where did the time go? I've always heard it said that the older you get, the faster time flies and I'm beginning to believe it.  Since his death, I've tried hard not to forget him. The best way I can do that is to remember small things about him. That's another thing about getting old, you can remember things in the past much better than what you had for breakfast yesterday, so I'm thankful my memory bank is full. Today's memory focuses on something that brought my brother much joy -- fishing. Daddy taught my  siblings and I how to fish when we were old enough to hold a pole. We'd visit Twin Brothers Lake or another one not far from the house. He took great joy in showing us how to slide the red and white bobber onto the line attached to the long cane pole and then, horror of horrors, he'd dump over

  I'm a Boomer. I'm old school and proud of it, or at least I was. I like to do things the traditional way (or at least as much as possible), but boy...things sure have changed.  I love to send cards and letters. I've done it since I was old enough to write. It gives me joy to send correspondence through the mail. Thankfully, my hand is still steady enough to write legibly and I have a stack of assorted cards. Normally, I also keep several books of postage stamps on hand, too. I like being prepared.  The other day, my sister texted me. She let me know of the recent USPS postage hike and recommended I either stop writing letters or stock up on stamps before the price jump. I was thankful she informed me and made a quick run to the post office to purchase more stamps. There was no way I'd ever be able to stop sending cards and letters. Some of my children suggested I send text messages or emails instead. They said even Facebook messenger was a good option, but I love the

Me and Al in his office About 18 years ago, I worked for a mega church with over 6000 members. The staff was pretty big, too - with over 200 employees. I loved my job there and loved my boss.  My boss used to be a Catholic priest so I thought it pretty interesting that he was now working for a Southern Baptist Church.  One day, he shared his testimony. During that time, he talked about his life in the priesthood. He was a devout Catholic following the rituals of Catholicism but felt there was much more. That longing led him to someone who introduced him to the principles of living the exchanged life and from that point forward, he was a completely different man.  The term "Exchanged Life" is taken from Isaiah 40:31. English translations refer to those who wait on or hope in the Lord as being able to "renew" their strength. Many commentaries and study Bibles note the literal translation of the Hebrew word for "renew" is "exchange." Those who wait

47TH  When did it happen and how did we let it? The world I grew up in no longer exists. Today's world is so, so, evil. It didn't happen overnight but slowly and methodically as we let our guard down and now, it seems, we've reached the point of no return.  When my husband and I learned of the attempt to assassinate President Trump, we were dumbfounded. First, we questioned how our country's superior security system could have failed in such a horrible way and then, we stopped and gave thanks to God for thwarting this evil plan.  It's hard to live in a world where right and wrong no longer seem to matter. Morals and values are totally corrupt. But when I read God's Word, I know this is the way it's supposed to be right now because we're living in the last days.  I'm sure God looks down on us and sheds many tears. As we continue to fail His standards and make poor choices. Yes, there are those who love and follow Him, doing all they can to keep His co

It's a sad day. I'd just recently posted on Cure Magazine about my happiness over celebrating my 10th cancerversary and then today, I read the news about another young woman passing away from breast cancer.  I never was a huge fan of 90210, a TV drama about high school, but know many were familiar with actress,Shannen Doherty and enjoyed her character on the show. Even so, I'd seen it a few times and knew what it was about. If I'd been younger when it came out, I probably would have enjoyed it more. Just 3 days after I celebrated 10 years of survival from breast cancer, Shannen lost her life. She was 53. I'm almost 67. It doesn't seem quite fair.  She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 , but she went into remission two years later. That reprieve wouldn’t last.Soon the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes, her brain, and her bones.  It's hard to explain how survivors feel when we learn of another's death to cancer. Our hearts grieve desperatel

We were working in our front yard the other day. We'd recently planted some knockout roses and had pruned the Loropetalum, Red Tip Photinias, and other shrubs we have in the flower bed when we noticed some really big hornets hovering low to the ground. We hadn't seen any that big before! They were about an inch and a half long.  We watched carefully as they began to go down into mounds of dirt (similar to fire ant mounds) around the base of our roses. I knew there were some types of bees that like to make underground nest - like yellow jackets, but I was unfamiliar with these big guys. Noting their color patterns, I jumped on the internet to find out what they were. We certainly didn't need any bees, wasps, or hornets nesting in our yard, especially in the front yard. Research revealed they were Eastern Cicada Killer Hornets.  The internet said the males don't sting but hover protecting the nests. The females will sting if threatened and their sting packs a powerful pun

We'd just arrived at our hotel and were at the desk checking in when something on the counter caught my eye. A tiny figurine sat in between 2 welcome to our hotel signs. As the front desk employee went through the check in routine, I couldn't keep my eyes off the little rubber figure. When she'd finished with the formalities of registering us, I picked up the little guy and held it up for her to see. "Who put this here?" I asked. She replied, "I have no idea. I imagine a guest left it or someone found it and put it there." Smiling, I asked if she knew who it was. She didn't answer. That's when I said, "Can I have Him?" She looked at me like I was crazy and said, "Sure." So I took the tiny Jesus figure and gently placed Him in my purse.  When I got to the room, I took out the rubber Jesus and washed Him in the sink. I wanted to make sure no nasty germs were stuck to Him. Then, I dried Him and looked Him over. This little guy wa

  This morning I woke up at 3:00 A.M. As I crawled out of bed, I remembered today was a milestone for me. 10 years ago, on June 5, I was diagnosed with stage 2B invasive ductal carcinoma breast cancer. On July 9, 10 years ago, I gave the surgeon permission to remove that cancer from my body. I had no idea what I was doing. All I could go on was her wisdom and expertise. Though I hadn't known her long, I trusted her.  I'd been referred to Dr. Sroka after visiting a local OB/GYN. I'd visited that doc to confirm what I already knew in my heart - that I had cancer. I'm so thankful she sent me to Dr. Sroka. I'd never met a doctor like her before.  At my first visit with Dr. S, I had to wait almost an hour for her to come into the room. When she came in, she apologized profusely and told me, even though it was 5:00 P.M., she was going to give me all the time I needed and deserved.I was impressed.  She sat with me for over 2 hours going over the type cancer I had, how and

Obeying the commands in the Bible can often be difficult, but I've always done my best to obey them to the best of my ability. If God says for me to do something, I want to do it. That's why I became part of a prison ministry about 20 years ago. I don't even remember how I was introduced to the program, my mind isn't as sharp now as it was then! What I do remember is the ministry, Saints Prison Ministry, reaching out for volunteers to write inmates. Since I love to write, I figured it'd be a perfect way to help someone else and obey God's command.  The ministry assigned me "pen pals." Over the years, some of those inmates have been put to death and some are still incarcerated. A few of the inmates stopped corresponding after a note or two but others have kept in touch throughout the entire 20 years. Some have been believers and others have not. Currently, my longest prison relationships are with a male believer and a female Muslim.  When I first starte

Mikey the mapping turtle  Today we had a visitor. We don't normally get visitors on Sunday, so it was a welcomed surprise.  Looking out the window, toward the backyard, we saw something moving. My husband went out to see what it was and quickly came back in to let me know it was a turtle.  We've had several tortoise sightings since we moved in our new house. There's a lake nearby and the turtles love to hang out there, so we weren't surprised to find this visitor in our yard.  Today's visitor was a mapping turtle. They're different from Gopher Tortoise, native to this area.  I asked hubby to pick him up and bring him in the house so I could inspect him. We always try to make sure any animals that cross our path are okay and well cared for as long as we have them.  He brought the turtle in and immediately, I noticed a big chunk missing from his carapace. It looked like he'd been hit by a lawnmower or a car at some point and had narrowly escaped.  We put him i

Today was the first day in about 67 days that I've been able to have real food. It was a huge challenge and took a good while to get one sandwich down but I'm thankful.  We found this cute little Panini press at Hobby Lobby on sale for $7.99. So I bought it thinking I would give it to one of the grandkids for Christmas but when the gastroenterologist told me I could try to eat some real food today, I pulled it out and made grilled cheese sandwiches for my husband and I.  It's been so hard living on protein shakes for the past couple of months. After the hiatal hernia repair and the stay in the emergency section of the hospital, my appetite was completely gone.  Yesterday I had my esophagus stretched for the fourth time in 2 years. I don't know what keeps causing it to close up but whatever it is causes a lot of problems.  You don't realize how much you miss the taste of food and being able to chew until you're not able to do so. Though it took me half an hour to