by Sharon O | Aug 2, 2010 | Uncategorized
Today I was full of emotions….
I didn’t sleep well last night.
One of those nights when you are asleep yet ‘half awake.’
When you toss and turn and your mind can’t shut off.
I did fall asleep finally and dreamed strange dreams.
Church was good as it always is and very challenging.
They talked about marriage and commitment …
and what it takes to make it work.
Listening to the others on the panel share.
A couple who has been married 39 years.
A couple who has been married 31 years.
A couple who has been married 20 years.
A couple who has been married 7 years.
Each couple telling a story of love …
of good and bad and better and worse scenes in their relationships.
Each couple telling what it was like to realize…
it takes work to make a healthy couple stay together.
I was full of emotions…
remembering…
our better and worse times our good and bad times.
I was full of emotions…
before church even started…
the person who has hurt me…
continues to create pain in my heart.
Continues to not accept that they are part of the problem.
My husband and I talked today and it helped.
My heart has been hurt and I felt hot tears… close again.
Then we went to a wedding…
Already feeling open and fragile I watched…
as this young couple held each others hands and said to each other
“I will love you always… I will be with you always”
I thought do they really know what that means?
We have been married 36 years.
It has not been easy… or kind to us sometimes.
We have had good and bad and richer and poorer
and better and worse times.
And sickness and health times too.
Is Love still there?
It has to be…
It has been a journey of learning to love through the hard times.
It has been a journey of learning to accept when understanding was not close.
It has been a journey of learning to grow and stretch and challenge each other.
It has been a story that must be shared …someday…
It is a story of hard work and restoration.
A story of living life together with the same purpose and same direction.
I think it is a story of hope and healing.
Today I was full of emotions.
The walls that have been high all my life are lowering.
I feel more…
I experience more…
I am more alive.
Thank you God for your gift of healing
even if sometimes it hurts.
by Sharon O | Aug 1, 2010 | Uncategorized
Faith called me tonight to tell me she was home…
she had a wonderful time at camp and she asked… did I get the letter from her yet?
I didn’t get it yet the mail should bring it soon.
Looking forward to what it has to say…they are always so fun to read.
She said with much excitement… “grandma I did something last night.
I said to her…what did you do?”
She said “grandma I became a Christian last night and I am reading my Bible and I am so happy.”
I almost cried…
it was an answer to my grandma prayers…
For our children… and their children…
I so want our grand children to Love the Lord with all their hearts…
I so want for them to be true to themselves and to be honest…
I so want for them to be faithful to their families and honorable…
I am feeling SO thankful and SO blessed.
Thank you Father God… for being with Faith and giving her a heart who wants to know you.
by Sharon O | Jul 28, 2010 | Uncategorized
Our precious Faith Elizabeth went to summer camp this week.
I am prayerful for her. I am happy for her. Scared for her.
She was our first grand daughter and a tiny 2 pounder when she arrived.
Our miracle baby weighing only 8 pounds at 5 months. She was like a little baby doll and has always been petite.
She will be in sixth grade in a month. She is now age 11.
Our time is passing too quickly.
I want to linger in the moment…
and remember her as a baby…a toddler…a preschooler then into school.
I am wonderfully excited for her and yet so sad that time is going to move between us.
She will grow and change and mature and I will delight in her change but I will also see and grieve the passing of time as it must move forward.
I ask myself as a grandma what would I like to pass on to my grandchildren.
What would I want to teach them alongside manners and prayers?
That they should love the Lord with all their heart, soul and mind
and their neighbor like themselves?
That they should listen to their parents and teachers and others in authority.
That they should remember without a shadow of a doubt…
that I will be here or there or anywhere they are… if they need me.
That they should remember that nothing they do will ever take away my love for them.
That my earnest desire is for them to follow after and know the Lord.
That the word will become a lamp for their feet and a light unto their paths.
The things I would say to a little girl growing up…
I grieve the passing of time and at the same time I delight in her.
I delight in all of them as I watch them grow and change.
I am a grandma who prays and
sends letters and cards of encouragement and praise.
I am extremely thankful that I have the honor to love her and walk with her
as she becomes a young lady.
I am a grandma of a little girl growing up too fast.
Lord I pray that my heart can handle it.
by Sharon O | Jul 27, 2010 | Uncategorized
This morning I woke up
way earlier than normal.
It is quiet and cold.
Yesterday the air conditioning felt good
the days temp was in the high 80’s.
This morning the air is cool and I need a sweater.
Reminding me how much
I love fall.
I am longing for days of coolness
flannel shirts and a fire in the fireplace.
I am by nature
not a summer person.
For a small season of time I enjoy it.
Then …
My soul needs cool days
and crispy leaves outside to step on
while the wind snaps against fall trees dying
for the season is for resting and slowing down
and going dormant.
It requires a change…and renewing a spirit that is parched from
summer days.
I love cool days
and hot tea or coffee
and a warm blanket and book.
Summer doesn’t allow that time
for hunkering down and snuggle.
Summer is about hiking and camping
and water and sand.
Fall is a time for books and stillness
and candles burning.
This morning I miss
flannel sheets
warm cocoa
and crisp fall days.
As the seasons change
so do I
Lord help me
to grow and change in a direction towards you.
Help me to be encouraging
challenging and prayerful.
As the seasons change
so do I…
do you?
by Sharon O | Jul 24, 2010 | Uncategorized
You’ll get a brand-new name
straight from the mouth of God.
You’ll be a stunning crown in the palm of God’s hand,
a jeweled gold cup held high in the hand of your God.
No more will anyone call you rejected,
and your country will no more be called Ruined.
You’ll be called Hephzibah (My Delight),
and your land Beulah (Married),
Because God delights in you… (Isaiah 62-2-4 the Message)
Can you imagine the picture with me;
you will be a crown in the palm of God’s hand.
A crown is often coveted by someone who is in competition striving for winning the price.
It is beautiful ~ shining ~ and full of great value.
That is what this verse is saying about YOU.
You… (Insert your name) will be a stunning crown in the palm of God’s hand.
That means he would hold his palm out and SEE you…
How awesome… of a thought.
You will be like a jeweled cup held high in a place of honor and delighted by God.
Can you grasp that he delights in you?
Are you getting it?
The concept is very hard to receive.
When we go through a process of growth with God we become different and renewed.
Often those who served God in the Old and New Testament received a new name to ‘symbolize’ the change in their heart and the change in their lives.
Jesus changed the names of those who he entrusted to do the finished work.
A new name… given along with a changed status and responsibility.
What a wonderful promise for us as we wait and long for a new name in Glory.
Do you wonder what your ‘new name will be as he delights in you?’
He brought me into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me. Psalm 18:19
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