by Sharon O | Jan 24, 2022 | Uncategorized
A way of keeping busy, I suppose.
When I woke up the other morning from a deep sleep, I remembered how I used to play with this little box.
As a child it kept me busy for hours and my goals were to either try to create pictures or go back and forth until the screen showed the inside.
I know …a weird kid, but I stayed out of the range of ‘issues’, and it could keep me busy for hours.
Kids now adays don’t know how to entertain themselves other than what is electronically put in front of them.
For Christmas my husband bought me a few color books for adults. Actually, a good friend sent me the first one.
I started off with colored pencils then moved to using colored pens that go on like a paint brush.
It is relaxing, challenging and doesn’t take much brain power, which is good at my age.
I am not sure I would actually go back into doing art, in high school I took Art four years and junior high I believe it was for two years.
Plus, I trained in graphic arts in high school, doing all the lay out and printing and typesetting for many projects, plus I ran a printing press.
When we were getting married, I created our wedding invitations and thank you notes as a class project.
Received the invitations free, received triple A’s, because it was a final project, so it was a win-win for sure.
This is going back many years, but I don’t think it is easy to forget.
They don’t do things like that anymore.
Modern technology sometimes is wonderful although I do think kids need to learn skills.
In high school the place I went to was called occupational skills center, and it was similar to a community college.
It offered many different life skills that students could take and learn.
Many never went on further to college because it wasn’t needed.
As a child I always found things to keep me out of the home ‘chaos’ at times.
A way of keeping busy I suppose and checking out for a few hours.
by Sharon O | Jan 8, 2022 | Uncategorized
The Friday link up online is the word: IMPORTANT
In the last two weeks I have seen a few doctors for regular checkups or follow up tests.
It is so IMPORTANT to do these things.
As we age, we can miss something serious by avoiding something uncomfortable.
I had mammograms, ultrasounds with great results.
I had a meeting with my surgeon with great results.
Because I am a breast cancer survivor who was caught very early, and it was removed.
I had sessions of radiation after surgery, and I still have to follow up on all testing.
I had a colon test with all the fasting and prepping and a little bit of anxiety.
With GREAT results. Don’t have to do that for ten more years.
None of us like dental work but it’s IMPORTANT to keep up on the care of our teeth.
None of us like blood draws or other uncomfortable things, but we have no other way to see if we are healthy.
It is so important to follow up and do what is needed.
Now that I am in my mid-sixties it is even MORE important to follow the guidelines.
It was very exciting to hear three good news results in a short amount of time.
You can imagine how it was for me to go through the knowledge of breast cancer.
But I walk by faith and not by sight and I know and knew that nothing is without a purpose.
All that is needed for me, is to walk more, shed a little bit of weight and try to get a bit more organized.
Not going to get too crazy with all that, just enough to keep healthy.
The Friday link up is a group of writers who are given a word for the week.
The word is what is the focus for our writing.
I found this word. IMPORTANT so right with where I am in life in this new year.
The Friday link up online is the word: Important
by Sharon O | Jan 2, 2022 | Uncategorized
A new year, and a birthday blessing have been the beginning of this 2022 start.
I found out my cancer scans were clear and considered normal.
That was a tremendous praise to my heart.
Plus, I had a 67th birthday and snow too.
For 1 month my husband and I are the same age.
I believe good things for this year.
We have had enough hard, enough sickness and death.
It is time for the normal part of what we remember of life a few years ago to return.
Every year I search and pray and wait for my ‘word of the year.’
After taking a test that asks a bunch of questions my word came back to me as ‘encouraged’.
Oh. I can hold onto to this one because my spiritual gift is encouragement.
Also, discernment and exhortation. I love to think of the best in people.
Sometimes you really have to look and very few times have I said, ‘no this person needs great help.’
In this new year, I want to write more ‘thinking of you notes’ to those is my life.
I want to make time to visit with them, whether that be in person or by phone.
I want to try to exercise more. Not the kind of ‘over doing’ but just a daily walk or time on our recumbent bike.
I want to write more.
It takes effort and a push to do any of these.
One must set out with a goal and do the best to accomplish it.
I am 67 now. Older and wiser and hopefully healthier too.
I desire to be an example for my grandchildren. Someone they can look up to and remember as ‘a positive’ in their lives.
Someday I pray for a great grandchild, only one, for a picture for someone’s wall.
We will see and time will tell but that is something I pray for and hope for.
I always pray for a special friend of mine who is dealing with leukemia.
God is good to her, and she is blessed to be stable and doing well.
I will always pray for all six of our grandchildren.
For them to be healthy, happy and spiritually minded.
Three are heading to college so this grandma really needs to pray.
We say goodbye to 2021 now and as we make a toast. We invite the new.
A new year, and a birthday blessing have been the beginning of this 2022. (Vineyard found in Sweet Cheeks winery, Oregon)
by Sharon O | Dec 18, 2021 | Uncategorized
The birth of Jesus was well orchestrated with many different characters.
Each had a role given to them for the specific purpose within the story.
Beginning with Mary, and the Angel Gabriel, then Joseph, Elizabeth (and even baby John), and Zechariah.
Then we find the Shepherds out in the field with more angels greeting them with song: and Gabriel again.
Then we find Simeon and Anna in the temple, who had waited many years for this very special moment.
Then we also add in Herod who was an angry man tricking the Wise men who were told to find the baby.
I think I would also add the donkey, who went with Mary and Joseph and helped with the journey.
Remembering that the donkey brought her to his birth, the donkey also brought him later to his death.
Scripture had to be fulfilled.
Each character had to do their part, not too different than in the story of his death.
Each one played a role, and each one was needed.
There were many others in the verses that I read, but these were the key players who formed the beautiful story.
As we sing, Oh little town of Bethlehem.
we visualize ‘our picture’ based on Christmas cards of nativity scenes.
We love to sing silent night, Holy Night, all is calm… all is bright.
But really it wasn’t.
Yes, it was a Holy night, but it was dim and probably not well lighted with anything but a lantern.
I love the Song, Sweet little Jesus boy, for it says, “We didn’t know who you were.”
I believe that to be true. No one expected a Savior to come the way HE did.
Even Mary might not have fully understood the baby she gave birth to, was the Holy One.
Too much to take in, too much to think on.
Silence was within the 400 years from the Old Testament to the birth of Jesus.
The silence was broken by a baby’s cry.
I think a lot about Mary, so young and alone maybe only having Joseph with her.
I think of Joseph with a huge responsibility put upon Him.
because God saw that HE could do it and He knew his heart was right.
We hear very little about him after Jesus was born. I wonder so much about him.
I am sure he stayed with Mary, and they had other children; but did they ever talk about this
special Holy Birth?
May we read with a new awareness of all that it took,
for this baby to bring Hope to a very dark world.
The birth of Jesus was well orchestrated with many characters.
by Sharon O | Dec 16, 2021 | Uncategorized
The wise men were the next ones to arrive on the scene with Mary and Joseph.
We often see the manger story with them near the manger, where Mary had the baby.
That is actually not accurate.
In Matthew 2 we find a different kind of story.
beginning in vs 2:
About that time (when Jesus was born) some wise men (or Maji) from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking,
“Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star (or star in the east) as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”
King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was the whole land.
He called a meeting leading priest and teachers of the law and asked,
“Where is this Messiah supposed to be born?”
“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote:
vs 6b “a ruler will come from you O Bethlehem, who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.”
“Then Herod told the wise men to go to Bethlehem and search for him, come back and tell me so I can worship him too.”
vs 9: After this interview the wise men went their way.
And the star in the east guided them to Bethlehem.
It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was.
When they saw the star, they were filled with joy!
They entered the house [notice it is not a manger scene] and saw the child with Mary his mother,
and they bowed down and worshiped him.
Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gold, frankincense and myrrh.
(These gifts were symbolic of what was to come.)
When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route,
for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.
vs 13: After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.
“Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said,
“Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother and stayed there until Herod’s death.
[I don’t know how long that was for them, but it was very important for them to stay away as long as possible.]
The wise men were the next ones to arrive on the scene with Mary and Joseph.
