by Sharon O | Feb 8, 2016 | Uncategorized
So this is the official LOVE WEEK.
Yes every Florist shop in town is busy this week creating beautiful bouquets, chocolate baskets, and gift items for the ‘love of your life.’
Pizza parlor’s are readying themselves for requests for heart shaped pizza’s. Groupon has been advertising for the ‘best place’ to take your loved one.
It is a week to celebrate. My preference as I have told my husband many times.
Don’t give me something on Valentines day just because Hallmark says you should, do it.
Give me something when I am least expecting it.
For example after my husband had a knee replacement surgery a year ago, I was running around in total exhaustion and worry and the door bell rang.
I opened the door up and there stood a delivery lady with a large vase of flowers. He had thought of me, when I needed a ‘lift’, and a bit of encouragement.
A beautiful bouquet with a nice little note. Now that was better than a Valentine gift because it was out of the blue and caught me by surprise.
Totally different from what you are expected to do, on days like Valentines day.
I didn’t expect a bouquet, in fact he was pretty dopey with the medications and the recovery I was very surprised he even thought about it.
What I am getting at is this.
Every day of the week, we have opportunity and choices to tell others how we feel about them.
We don’t need to wait for Valentine’s day or even other holidays.
It is more special when it is a heart felt ‘decision’ without a reason.
When you least expect it, not looking for it. Surprise.
So on this ‘love week’ I challenge you to do something different and unique.
Who knows… it might become a new tradition.
by Sharon O | Feb 5, 2016 | Uncategorized
Today’s word prompt is again an easy one for me to write about since it hits home with me on many levels.
The word for the day is: FOCUS
As we are heading into our retirement years and the months move quickly towards my husbands last day at work.
I am keeping busy cleaning and purging and revamping closets and clutter.
The other day I spent a few hours adding items to my Etsy store in hopes of decluttering a book case that has old antique books in it and assorted collectible items.
I am going through my closet and deciding, do I like it, love it or do I really need to keep it?
Since being retired about six years ago I have discovered the nice clothes I wore daily to work, are not being worn.
So I don’t really need to keep them right? They don’t need to take space in the closet anymore.
Also it is hard to FOCUS when as a writer, I have personal writing deadlines and then chores, and then cleaning and the list continues.
I have been helping our daughter keep her FOCUS on her home and job and kids and just life’s stresses when one is a single mom.
It is an every day thing, on going and although it is good, it is hard sometimes to stay on track.
As a couple we have to say, sometimes it is hard to FOCUS on what is ahead for us.
What we need to do as far as financial decisions, do we sell our home? do we get a motor home?
do we find a new car or keep what we already have? many decisions to be made.
Then to add all that together with staying in a direction where we FOCUS our goals together, it is challenging.
The meaning of FOCUS is to be clear and sharply defined, to direct one’s attention or efforts. To concentrate.
As we head into the next six months we will be moving more and more into a new direction.
To FOCUS our thoughts on what we need to do, how we need to do it, and when do we want this goal to be done.
We have talked about paying bills off, and planning a vacation of travel and sightseeing.
It takes a concentrated FOCUS to reach any goal.
That could mean retirement, or raising children, or exercising and getting healthy, going to college and getting a better job for ones future.
We all have had times in our lives when we must FOCUS on a plan and see it through to the end.
It takes effort, goal making, no distractions, and a mindset that we will FOCUS till it is done.
I like the word for the day. Let us FOCUS and do good and never let go of our goal.
by Sharon O | Jan 29, 2016 | Uncategorized
I saw the word prompt for today and it is what I have been learning to value for the last year or two.
Quiet. The word for the day is quiet.
I am in quiet most of the time, on some days I watch home shows on tv as I love to watch the buying and selling and remodeling ones.
It is fun to imagine the people who want to purchase a vacation home at a price of $1.1 million?
What is important to know and realize whether you live in a tiny house or a big house, it won’t solve the quiet inside your heart.
Peace comes from making peace deep within your heart and your spirit.
Quiet is a gift we give ourselves. It is breathing room for your soul.
Quiet allows us to listen to the whispers of the Lord.
He won’t shout. He won’t push. He won’t yell or intimidate. He whispers quietly and if we are too busy listening to the noise we will miss the gentle quiet lesson or words spoken.
Do I think He speaks to us, yes absolutely.
Have you ever stood at the beach and listened? the seagulls call is almost mournful as they fly over the roar of the loud ocean.
The waves sound in the rhythmic movements inward to the sand then out back to the depths of the ocean.
I stand mesmerized by the quiet and yet it is noise similar to a symphony. Each movement necessary.
I am by nature one who loves the quiet. I get very tired and very irritable with noise.
The years lately have taught me quiet is peace. Quiet is healing.
Psalm 119: [You’re my place of quiet retreat; I wait for your Word to renew me.]
Matthew 5:1-2 [When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him.
Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his climbing companions.]
Matthew 6:6 [“Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage.
The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.”]
Jesus knew we could not focus when there is other noise around us. The word quiet is used 114 times in the bible.
I think that should be something important for us to remember.
It is good to be in quiet. Colossians 3:12 [So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you:
compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline.] Do we get it yet?
Be quiet so we can have a teachable moment and listen.
by Sharon O | Jan 27, 2016 | Uncategorized
It’s hard to imagine us being retired. Soon my husband will be home, every day.
What will be our new normal? I don’t think too much will change for us. He will still get up early and I will sleep in.
He will still find time for some yard work till we find a home with no yard in a few years.
Our hope is to move to a new ‘place’ with less grass and maintenance.
We haven’t found that place yet but we are actively looking and being very selective where and when.
We want to find a ‘motor home’ for traveling in, so we can ‘decide in the morning’…let’s go to the beach.
It will be a new direction and freedom for us.
It will be good after all these years of working and getting mentally tired of the demands placed on him.
I have been home ‘retired’ for over six years and it has been a good place to be.
No the chore list has not been finished, yes it is easy to get distracted, no I have not gotten my purging and cleaning done.
In time it will be finished and then the new freedom of less will be our ‘breathing room’.
I am by nature a keeper and saver, he is a thrower so we will see what takes place in the months to come for us.
It will be a good nice challenge, I think.
I am sure there will be moments when we will be frustrated with each other.
Retirement will be a new direction for us and it will be good and positive.
It is time. We both feel it is very important to spend time together and enjoying the life we have while we have it.
There have been friends who worked long many years, then retire and in six months they pass away.
What a sad thing to experience. We are hoping that this ‘new’ era of our life will be rich and rewarding for us.
Many changes will take place, and many details must be taken care of and once that is all done.
We can relax as we explore new beaches and new scenes all around the area where we live, it will be good.
by Sharon O | Jan 22, 2016 | Uncategorized
Today is my husbands birthday. He is 62 and ready to retire.
The word prompt today was for: Present
Isn’t that fitting since it is his birthday and usually you get a present for that special day?
Now that we are at a point of getting what we want anytime we need something, we stopped buying presents for each other years ago.
Everyone likes to get presents, but to think of it differently, I think this word could also mean, ‘be present’ right where you are.
Be alert and be fully alive. Breathe in and enjoy the air in your lungs and the life that God has given to you.
God has given all of us, one life to live and what we do with it is our gift back to him.
A present and a moment of time and for the rest of the days a head of us, as long as HE allows us to live.
I have known my husband close to 45 years. We have grown up together.
I want us to be present with each other, to be fully in the relationship and fully knowing we are so blessed.
Tomorrow we will go to the beach, which is our favorite thing to do.
We will walk on the oceans edge and listen to the waves roar around us.
Perhaps the haunting call of the seagull will be over us as we walk and talk.
Life is a gift, a present to unwrap and enjoy. Each day is a new day and each experience a new one.
“Life is a great and wondrous mystery, and the only thing we know that we have for sure is what is right here right now. Don’t miss it.”
— Leo Buscaglia —
Today is a new day. Breathe, be thankful, be aware, be present and enjoy another day of living.
by Sharon O | Jan 17, 2016 | Uncategorized
The word prompt for the day is TIME.
As I have gotten older it is becoming more clear that time is flashing before my eyes.
The grand children are getting older, friends are aging, even I am aging.
Turning sixty was not a ‘hard’ moment for me, but I feel like I am rounding out the ‘last part’ of life in much different way, I wish to be more intentional.
A year or so ago we were sitting in a room with a dying man. It was quiet. We were all in our thoughts.
It is a sacred kind of place to be in when life is leaving just as it is when life ‘comes’ when we are anticipating and waiting for a new birth.
The moment a baby is born and it takes it’s first breath, the doctor or nurse looks at the clock and it is recorded when time of life began.
Now we all know life begins way before birth, but the moment that baby breathes air, opens the lungs and cries. It is birth.
The same way as the ending of life, and the passing away.
He was in his chair, wrapped in a blanket, and breathing shallow, as we kept each other company with small talk and nervous reactions.
It is a very strange and surreal kind of time to reflect and remember and understand, life will end soon.
The tv was on in a muted quiet tone as the screen flashed a basketball game, and we were in a waiting room.
Just as in an anticipated birth, it happens in death too.
At one point in time I remember one of the ladies in the room suggested we turn the tv off and remain very quiet.
The stimulation of noise interferes with the passing where the spirit struggles to leave the body.
Noise can be a distraction. Just as in a birth, the process of dying takes much concentration and effort.
We were all in the room focusing on one goal, being with him as he passed away.
About an hour after the quiet began we noticed how his breathing changed, life was leaving him and we were there to witness it.
He exhaled and silence came and it was over. His life was ended.
In the moment of time, the paramedics looked at the clock and recorded his time of death.
Just as they do in the moment of birth.
In life and in death we look at the time.
Time… Every hour has the same amount of minutes, every day has the same amount of hours.
What we do with it becomes our legacy, our story and our life message.
At the end of our life, it matters MOST about what we did with those moments and who we cared for.
I will end with a quote from Maya Angelou:
[I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.]
In the end, when the moment in time comes, when they record our time of death.
What others remember about us will be more important than what job we had, what house we lived in or what car we drove.
Time is a gift for us, what we choose to do with that is a choice. I hope we all make a good one.
by Sharon O | Jan 14, 2016 | Uncategorized
I think it is good for us to look back sometimes and see how far we have come.
Sometimes we feel we are getting no where, heading in the same place for a long time almost as if we are stagnant and without a goal.
After I wrote the last ‘writing’, I realized how much God is with us always, and even though we sometimes are discouraged or tired or can’t seem to feel Him near us.
He is our HOPE and He is our Healer. Without that knowing we can just float in life and not seem to hang onto anything.
I know for a fact that God was with us through our journey as a couple.
When we held that first baby in our arms and couldn’t believe the miracle of life and love.
When we held the second baby in our arms and our love doubled and multiplied.
When we bought our first house and realized we were no longer renters, but home owners it was a good feeling for us and also scary to be the adult who is responsible.
We have had definite times of intense healing as we journeyed through our ‘better and worse’, we have also had times of blessing when we wondered, what we would have in our bank account or on the table for our children.
God has been with us just as he has been with you, those who choose to walk along with us in our journey called living together.
We have to look back and see and remember, what God has done.
Deuteronomy 4:29-31
[But even there, if you seek God, your God, you’ll be able to find him if you’re serious, looking for him with your whole heart and soul.
When troubles come and all these awful things happen to you, in future days you will come back to God, your God, and listen obediently to what he says. God, your God, is above all a compassionate God.
In the end he will not abandon you, he won’t bring you to ruin, he won’t forget…]
Job 11:13-20
[“Still, if you set your heart on God and reach out to him, If you scrub your hands of sin and refuse to entertain evil in your home, You’ll be able to face the world unashamed and keep a firm grip on life, guiltless and fearless. You’ll forget your troubles; they’ll be like old, faded photographs. Your world will be washed in sunshine, every shadow dispersed by dayspring. Full of hope, you’ll relax, confident again; you’ll look around, sit back, and take it easy.]
Psalm 139:1-6
[God, investigate my life; get all the facts firsthand. I’m an open book to you; even from a distance, you know what I’m thinking. You know when I leave and when I get back; I’m never out of your sight. You know everything I’m going to say before I start the first sentence. I look behind me and you’re there, then up ahead and you’re there, too— your reassuring presence, coming and going. This is too much, too wonderful— I can’t take it all in!]
It is wonderful to know, we are not alone and we have someone who listens and guides us.
I don’t know about you but I find that both refreshing and encouraging to know, that we do not have to do this journey or walk alone.
by Sharon O | Jan 11, 2016 | Uncategorized
The other day we were talking and sharing about our ‘beginning’ years as a young married couple and I remain amazed that we made it.
Coming from two different backgrounds where my husbands parents were like the Walton’s with Ma and Pa and six kids and a dog and family laughter and fun.
They had a small home and it wasn’t fancy but it was home, and ma baked and cooked and cleaned and stitched, and it was home for the eight of them and anyone else who wanted to visit.
My home was different, having a single mom raise myself and my sister’s.
We had grandma’s who loved us but we were not cozy in a home like his, there was a lot more turmoil and chaos where we lived and we moved many times.
When we started to date I struggled with some of it, as I had pain in my background and a wounded heart, and he didn’t fully understand where I was coming from.
It was hard, really hard, but we made it through the dating years, even when I hurt my knee on a motor cycle accident, we could have gone over a mountain side, but I believe angels protected us and God was with us.
Our wedding was nice and we had family and friends, and it was like a dream and a surreal moment and God was with us when we said our vows.
Life began as husband and wife and we played house and made plans that two teens could never fully understand, and God was with us.
We were expecting our first baby and I was very sick, and we struggled with changes and moves and settling into a tiny house while waiting for the baby to join us, and God was with us.
I remained very sick but so enjoyed the expectancy of life within, and we would be mom and dad, and we hoped for many things, and God was with us.
After four hours of labor our son was born and life as we knew it as ‘husband and wife’ changed us, from two to three and God was with us.
The adjustment of new parent days, was a learning process for both of us, it was not easy as we moved through our new and different life but we knew God was with us.
Then a few years later, we learned of baby two with great excitement and that pregnancy made me even more tired, and as we changed from three to four God was with us.
Our babies grew and I was more sick, meningitis came and you stayed with our children, while I was in the hospital and God was with us.
Years of health struggles, years of counseling, and we learned to manage and grow as our children did, and God was with us.
Marriage is for better and worse and sometimes our worst was pretty hard, but God was with us.
We moved from rentals to owned homes, had a few dogs and cats and a fish or two and even a rabbit, and God was with us.
Your brother passed away and it was so hard and so painful to say good bye and we knew, God was with us in our sadness.
The children grew from grade school, to middle, then high school and college and in each season of time, God was with us.
Marriage came for them and our family grew, our son had a wife, and they were now ‘the young married couple’ and God was with us
The first grand baby came and it was scary and she was early, and it was critical for both mom and baby, yet at two pounds she was healthy and God was with us.
Years went on and another marriage came and also other babies, and each time we knew we did not stand alone as God was with us.
When my sister was on hospice and our house became a ‘care home’, and we didn’t know what we were doing, God was with us.
When we both had surgeries and ailments, and struggles and hard times, even during a scare of my mumps, we knew that God was with us.
Other years moved on and our parents passed away and we felt stretched and broken as we moved through our grief and yet God was with us.
Hard times have carved their way through the passing of time, as our history has been molded by how God was with us, during each and every moment.
We remained strong as I retired and then you had more surgeries and it was not easy, but we always knew God was with us.
We have six miracles who we call grand children now. We are the older ones as we watch another generation grow and mature.
We have made it forty one years, together, for better and for worse, for richer and for poorer and through good and hard times. God has been with us.
As we hold coffee mugs and smell the freshly made brew we realize with a deep richness, that God was with us all the time.
by Sharon O | Jan 7, 2016 | Uncategorized
So far the year has been interesting and quiet.
I love quiet and have learned to love my alone times as well as times with others.
My natural preference is to have down time by myself to think, or ponder.
(Our Pastor told us that to ponder is to have conversations with yourself like Mary did in the Christmas story when she pondered all that was said about her baby.)
This is not the same as ‘talking to yourself’ as in a psycho state of mind, it is just conversations to sort things out.
As a writer I think it makes perfect sense to write, read aloud what was written, ask questions of ‘what’ is the main point, then finish it.
My husband was off the two weeks around Christmas. It was very nice to have him home but in saying all that it also ‘changes’ my days.
When I am home alone I am in quiet. There is most of the time no noise other than my cats meowing at the den door because it is shut.
When he is home he enjoys football or old ‘John Wayne movies. He will also watch a NCIS marathon.
I can watch that a little because who doesn’t like to look at Mark Harmon? but the violence gets tiring.
Soon we will be together all the time. It will be good and also a bit challenging. I like to set aside Tuesday and Thursday for writing.
If we are retired together that might not happen as often as I would like.
I must learn to be flexible. I must also be able to say, today I need to write.
But also I must learn to do what he enjoys and wants to do. (except camping in a tent)
My word of the year is reveal. What a fitting word to show us and reveal to us, our new way of living.
Looking forward to the lessons to be learned and the time spent together as we explore our new life of retirement.
by Sharon O | Jan 2, 2016 | Uncategorized
Every year I try to choose a new word of the year.
It must have purpose and meaning and it is often God given or inspired.
A week or so ago as I laid in bed sleeping in the quiet of the night, I woke up to hear the word.
It felt like it was from God as I was in a deep sleep then I woke up.
After listening and studying it I am realizing so much how it will fit into this ‘new’ years plans.
In Deuteronomy a book of the Old Testament, there is a verse in chapter five, number twenty four.
[Our God has revealed to us his glory and greatness.]
In the entire bible the word is used sixty times.
In the book of Psalms one nineteen between verses forty one and forty eight we find this.
[Oh I’ll guard with my life what you have revealed to me.]
I woke up out of a deep sleep with the word reveal in my mind. It was very clear and it was very firm.
Reveal means: to make known, disclose, divulge, (as in reveal a secret), to lay open to view as in display or exhibit.
It also means to uncover as in (the fog lifted and revealed the harbor or beauty). To disclose the plans.
After thinking about this word and wondering what significance it would have for the year it made complete sense. We are planning our ‘retirement’.
My husband is ending his job and retiring. It is a mystery to us how this is all going to work.
We are trusting in the process and those who know how to handle our funds and insurances and bills.
I clearly heard, if we can say we hear from God. “I will reveal to you what you do not yet know.”
“I will make your path clear and I will help you see, that your fears and concerns are not reasonable.”
There are many things we do not know about retirement and there are many things about it that is scary.
It is also very exciting but to know how it is all going to play out and become real is a mystery.
But I believe with all my heart that when we look back at the year we will be sure in our hearts, He did reveal to us the plans.
It is a strong word full of mystery and anticipation.
Just as the fog covers the scene so one cannot see the whole picture.
God has said ‘He will reveal to us’ what we will need for this next phase of life.
The word for 2016 is Reveal .
As we go into the path that is unknown HE will make known to us what lies ahead. We will trust and we wait.
