Another bittersweet time in our lives...

It's been a hectic few weeks here on the homefront...first Todd was in the hospital, then Lucille, my kids great-grandmother and someone I claim as my own grandmother went into the hospital, and then my sister Gayle went into the hospital. Two recovered and came home, one - Lucille lost her struggle on Feb. 6th she was 92 yrs. old.

For all of the sadnesses I'm sure if Lucille were watching she would be happy to see that we really did celebrate her life in the two days we spent in rememberance of her. Family and friends gathered who hadn't seen each other in years, we laughed together, we cried together, we felt sad, but then we felt happy that even in death someone had managed to figure out a way to bring so many people together.

Funerals though appear to stand for an end are more often a means of a new beginning. Wayward love ones come back to find that no matter what you did or who you were before or how much you've changed people still love you and need you....sometimes a person, like myself will realize that they need to let people in and allow others to share your life.

I haven't spent alot of time letting people share my life, this outgoing, life of the party girl somewhere along the way became an introvert, a shy person, someone who might turn the other way rather than risk seeing someone she knew who was heading our way. It's funny that it takes a funeral to find one's self again, even though I was sad and missing Lucille, I was so happy to be able to spend time with people who I had long ago left behind, people that didn't deserve to be left behind, people who helped make me who I was. I'm thankful that God gave me a gift in a time of sorrow, I'm thankful that Lucille allowed me to share in her day. She was a wonderful woman, full of life and I feel like she brought me up even though I was an adult when I met her because she has taught me so much in life. She lived a long life and through lots of hardship but she did it with a smile on her face, she has taught me that God has given us all a life for which we can be happy in no matter what bad things happen along the way. She was a good Christian woman and I have no doubt that she is walking with Jesus right now.

A bittersweet day.....

Yesterday was a bittersweet day for me. My sister called and said she has a growth on her kidney(the bitter part) and theres a possibility of cancer. I try to be positive, after all this woman has been through so much and she comes through even stronger. I can think of different things in her life that has started out bad and ended up not being as bad as things seemed. She is a strong person and I love her so much. I always think how much I want her to find someone to love her and to take care of her, how I don't want to see her alone. I caught myself saying this to my husband yesterday when I realize and say that she does have someone to take care of her and who loves her more than anyone else possibly could and that person is God.
No one could ask for a better knight in shining armor I mean there is no greater than He. Then I tell my husband this as well and he agrees. He doesn't share my faith as strongly as I do but he is learning and sometimes I forget that it takes my simple way of saying something good about God that witnesses to him.

I pray that my sister will be fine, I believe that God will heal her and take care of her and as for my part I will pray and I will be strong for her. I was reading a devotional today and it had this scripture in it.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your requests to God." (Phil. 4:6)

How many times throughout my life does this scripture present itself to me and I realize that hardship is there so that we will pray and through prayer we will draw closer to God. Please keep my sister in your prayers if you are reading this.

After I spoke with my sister I had to get ready to go to the closing on our second home and finally it has closed! Yay!!(the sweet part) I thought this would never get done but finally it is ours. I've thought of what I would do the next day after it closes for a month now. I thought I'd get up early and go clean the house all up and get it ready for our visits. Well, it didn't happen today, I woke up at 8 am but have been miserable all day. Jeff has a virus and I guess I have gotten it too because I am sick now, runny nose, sneezing, coughing, and other things. Of course this is of no surprise to me since I always catch everything, the wind blows past someone whose a mile up wind of me and by the time the breeze hits me I'm sick....hahaha Seriously though its because of my gout I get sick so easy. I am taking the Allupurinol for gout but for me it causes celulitus which I got this weekend doing our Christmas shopping...ugh....nasty looking stuff. On the good side though, Christmas shopping is almost done, just a few gift cards now and all we have to do is wrap or bag which is the lazy man's way of wrapping....my preferred method as well...hehe