by Sharon O | Sep 12, 2015 | Uncategorized
I had written my first word prompt for the five minute challenge.
Then I thought what was really up front on my mind was the prayers for a family friend.
So I am asking those who read this ‘blog’ to pray for a friend of ours.
His life will never be the same again.
On September 9th he was riding his bike on a rural country road with his wife.
They were hit from behind and she was killed instantly.
He is currently still in the hospital with very critical injuries.
His life will never be the same.
I have prayed for the driver who hit them.
I would imagine that person’s life will never be the same either.
It was a normal day of sharing life together. Doing what they enjoy.
By evening a nightmare had happened and life changed in an instant.
Nothing remained the same.
In a single moment in time.
There are many hurting hearts surrounding this story, hearts full of sorrow and deep concern.
On that moment, in that instant, nothing remained the same.
Just like on September 11th, 14 years ago. No one knew it was coming.
There was no warning.
It was a life changing, life altering moment for everyone involved.
Please pray for this man our very dear friend.
For his health to return. For the wisdom of the doctors.
For his broken shattered heart and body to heal.
For his family and friends who will surround him with love, prayers and help.
We ask God for healing but we also ask God for his will and perhaps even a miracle.
We don’t know how the future will look for him for there will be many struggles ahead
as he journeys through this ‘season of sorrow and recovery.’
Nothing will ever be the same.
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted: he rescues those whose spirits are crushed. Psalm 34:18
by Sharon O | Sep 11, 2015 | Uncategorized
The word for the day is Same.
On this September 11th… the day we all remember in history as horrific and horrible.
We will never be the same as we were then.
In fact on many levels we are worse.
Our laws are changing. Our leaders are not as strong or patriotic.
I don’t feel the same pride we all had in our United States of America.
It is sad. It is remorseful. We need repentance and hope.
I am fearful for our freedoms and our ability to choose for ourselves.
This climate of removing our ‘laws’ and traditions and moving away from
God and his mercy.
It is dangerous. It is and can be scary.
Those who hope in the Lord and trust in his provision know we have hope.
But it is still very unsettling to see all that is going on and with another election two years away from now, a lot of things can take place that we might not like.
Or want or believe in.
We must remain strong and remain patriotic and proud.
Our flag will fly and bring freedoms to us.
Our USA is amazing and good and wealthy and can be deep down spiritual.
Let us hold onto to our ‘truths’… and may God continue to Bless America land that we love.
cross and sky from heart and soul reflections
by Sharon O | Sep 10, 2015 | Uncategorized
We still have some warm days ahead of us here in the Pacific Northwest, but the temperatures at night are dropping which tells me fall is soon to appear.
My favorite time of year. Where leaves change colors and radiant yellows and oranges are painted all over the landscape.
The crispy weather and the often times rain comes with a force we have learned to love.
We need rain so bad in our ‘area’ it has been very dry and the rivers are just beds of rock.
Rain is what we are known for, and overcast cloudy days.
School is back in session and the kids were very excited to end summer and get into a new routine.
I am sure mom’s were very excited too.
The next few months my plan is to clean and tear apart rooms and purge out what is keeping and what is leaving using the ‘do you like it or love it’ method. Or is it sentimental and a keep sake or did you purchase it at a garage sale and you don’t care where it goes.
My husband is retiring in less than a year.
We will be doing some traveling in a motor home too.
I must do this organizing this fall and winter and just get it done.
We are also considering a move to a condo or a smaller home on one level with no stairs.
So with that kind of move it is going to be important to only take what we love.
The joy of organizing is really worth it, just hard to get started and motivated to do it.
by Sharon O | Sep 6, 2015 | Uncategorized
The word for the day is Yes.
Dictionary.com says: it is used as a strong expression of joy, pleasure or approval. Used also to express affirmation.
to express hesitation, uncertainty or curiosity as in yes?
I say let’s do a bit of stirring right now and challenge our thinking.
The word Yes can be both encouraging and positive and also discouraging and negative.
How can that be? well take for example a lab report.
Yes your cancer has returned. That is a negative… the other side of it could be, Yes your cancer report is negative. A positive (using the word yes) negative. Both are true and can be possible.
Yes you got news you are hired on the new job, it is true, this yes could be a negative if you must leave home and family or friends to take the job. A positive negative.
Yes your lab test is positive and because of that you must get life saving blood draws the rest of your life.
A positive negative. Reverse that and the negative eventually becomes a positive as you feel better.
Yes you were stopped by the officer because of a few ‘issues he saw while observing your driving’, the negative is a ticket from him.
A positive is his correction of you at the same time as getting a negative.
You said Yes, when he asked you to marry him, but it could also mean a life style change of name and or location.
A positive negative.
Life is always going to be filled with the word Yes and it’s various forms of meaning.
We can either reach out to it and accept it, or we can fight it and be discouraged.
I think we can choose to let Yes be a choice.
Yes I will receive all that it delivers to me.
Do you remember a time in your life when you had a positive negative at the same time?
It’s kind of confusing and I am hoping this little ‘writing’ makes sense.
by Sharon O | Sep 2, 2015 | Uncategorized
Today I am honored to be a part of Emily Wierenga’s blog kicking off her book tour.
Her new book, Making it home is a must for every home library along with the other books she has written.
I am so thrilled to be a part of this team and to help and encourage Emily.
She is an awesome writer and a beautiful wife and mom of two boys and who was just recently blessed with a new baby girl. God is using her words to help many. May we encourage her and purchase her book, spread the news about her book in any way you can.
click the link to my words:
http://www.emilywierenga.com/
http://www.emilywierenga.com/blog/
by Sharon O | Aug 29, 2015 | Uncategorized
Here we are again on a Friday with a word prompt to write about.
The one chosen for this day is relatively easy for me.
The goal is to write for five minutes with no editing and no over thinking.
Alone
Ever sense I was a little girl I played mostly alone.
It was my safe spot, a quiet happy little place for me and my dolls or books or later on my music when I became a teenager and my room was my ‘hiding place’.
I am by nature someone who thrives on and must have ‘alone time.’
It is nice to be with others but the quiet of being alone is healing to one’s soul and spirit.
When my husband is gone it is totally alright for me to be alone for a few days.
Night time is still a bit of an issue just because it’s night, and dark and things magnify themselves in the shadows of the night.
Imagination can move quickly in the dark of the night.
I enjoy my alone time. It is a must for me.
When I start to feel frustrated or irritable too much or too often I think of and ask the question,
have I had any alone time lately?
Alone… dictionary.com says it is to be isolated from others.
separate and a part from others, without aide or help.
When I am alone I enjoy the peace but I also know that I don’t want this time to be permanent.
I also enjoy the company of others.
What are your thoughts and feelings about being alone?
by Sharon O | Aug 26, 2015 | Uncategorized
I am late on the word prompt from last Friday as we were not home.
So I thought I would try it this time in the middle of the week.
The word for the day was Find.
Proverbs 8:35
For he who finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord.
There were many directions I could go with this word but what came to me over and over.
Is this thought. Who ever finds me finds life.
Life that is different. Full of hope and rest and constant knowing love and acceptance.
Proverbs 8:17
I love those who love me and those who seek me diligently find me.
Wonderful promises to hold onto. In order for something to be found usually one has to be seeking.
On a search, a mission to find it. Looking for it with great anticipation of finding it.
What a lovely thought that God in his wisdom put the word find 270 times in the bible.
That is a lot. It has impact and power.
Those who diligently seek me find me.
He knows our heart and He doesn’t hide from us.
He makes himself available.
Are you looking today?
He is available to you, I can even venture to say, He is waiting for you to find him.
Let me find favor in your sight, oh Lord.
by Sharon O | Aug 19, 2015 | Uncategorized
I learned something new this time of canoeing.
I really do love the water and I really do enjoy getting out.
Here I am as we moved through the water, it was calm, warm but not too warm.
Just a comfortable 75 degree day. We always wear our hats because of the sun.
And of course our life jackets. I do not know how to swim so for me it is a ‘comfort’ knowing if I fell in someone could grab me, they always say, float on your back and relax. Um… in case they don’t understand ME falling into the water does not equal a time of relaxation.
The water was full of snags and trees and this year it was lower than normal as we have had little rain.
There wasn’t a lot of activity on the water either except for a few other rafts, canoes or boats.
The water was beautiful and the scenery was a mix between trees, grasses, personal homes along the rivers edge and some wild life, such as Eagles, deer and geese. Before we even started our ‘trip on the water’ an Eagle flew over our group and almost circled us.
It was a sign… all would be well.
The landscaping in this part of Central Oregon includes old rustic snarly trees.
It also includes the tall trees reaching to the blue skies and wispy clouds.
We followed the rivers trail as it winded through waterways that were open sending us into more beautiful scenes and homes along the waters edges. I couldn’t take many pictures of the homes as they were personal property and I was sure they would not appreciate their home on my blog. I will say most of them were beautiful and most were very expensive along the waters edge. The exception was this old beat up shack that remained on waters edge with a do not enter sign on the side of the home. We wouldn’t dare.
I did take assorted photos of different scenes.
These kind of snags can turn a canoe or a kayak in the wrong direction so we had to be careful.
Contrast between dark and light the top picture was from two years ago the bottom picture was from this year, the weather and the current of the water along with the wind always bring to us challenges. Even though it is calm we always are aware of the dangers beneath the bottom of the boat. The current can change without one knowing it and you have to pay attention when on the water, it is easy to relax too much and then get into trouble.
Can you imagine the nice relaxing moments spent as one would sit on this ‘bench’ and watch the world move by with clouds and trees and other boaters passing on the water. I just loved the look of welcome.
The grasses were very strong. We held onto them at times along the waters edge as we waited to load onto the boat or off the boat, they were a good thing to keep us stable.
The water stayed very calm and slow moving only toward the end did we feel we needed to work a little harder to paddle to shore when it was time to get off and out for the final time on the water.
Each time we go on our annual canoe trip I learn more about myself and my ability to be brave, and to push myself in ways I never thought I would or could be pushed.
I am not a camper and this was our last camping trip in a tent.
Next year we will have an RV for comfort and for better rest and of course a bed and bathroom is always nice to have at our age. Tent camping is for the younger ones who don’t mind sleeping on a cot or on the ground, we are in our 60’s now and we require our comfort as if we were at home.
I loved the trip this year other than a few ‘glitches’ that made us leave early. It was fun.
Not too hot and not cold other than the firsts night in the tent.
The time together with friends and family was precious and well spent. We packed up and headed home and as we entered our familiar area I took pictures for the there is no place like home.
A farm not far from our home.
The bridge not far from our home.
Another canoe trip is over and we wait till next year.
The year we go with our motor home.
by Sharon O | Aug 14, 2015 | Uncategorized
The whole purpose of the word prompt is to write for five minutes without editing.
Just free style writing.
The word for the day is: Learn
I had to learn how to enjoy the water.
The older I have gotten it is peaceful, calm and very refreshing to be out in the wind and air.
I am not a swimmer so water scares me especially if I cannot touch the bottom.
If I ever dumped out of the canoe I would be terrified.
Each year we take a canoe trip, and we camp for a few days spending two days on the water.
I have shared about it before, one year we got dark clouds and rain.
One year one of our team dumped their canoe and what could have been a scary part of the journey ended up fine for that year, but it was and could be very dangerous.
We have hiked some, and also gone in town for pizza.
We have a great time of laughing and enjoying each others company.
I haven learned to trust the canoe, the man I am with who is my husband and the knowledge of those around us as I sit inside this canoe and learn to enjoy the peaceful water.
Anytime we learn something new we take a chance and we change.
We come out braver and more bold and more ready and willing to do it again. I am glad I was not afraid to learn to a new thing.
It has become a great blessing to me.
by Sharon O | Aug 11, 2015 | Uncategorized
I was not home on Friday to do the writing, but I am now,
so let’s see what can happen in five minutes.
The word for the day is : Here
Dictionary. com says it means: in this place, in this spot.
In this present life or existence; in this world.
Here:
We are here now, in this house we have purchased 20 years ago.
Someday we know we will move into something new, something easier to manage but for now.
This is our home.
But really home is where you make it.
Home is where you learn to live together.
In the good times and in the bad times.
In the healthy times and in the not so healthy times.
Memories shared ‘here’ together becomes part of our life long history.
We have many memories ‘here’ in this house that we call home where we have spent together with our grand children and their parents.
We have wonderful memories of meals shared, where laughter and stories were part of our meal time.
I know in my heart another home would be also a place for memories because a house is not our home.
We are here in this home right now, to pray for, to love on, to encourage and build up, to admonish and to challenge those who we love and hold tightly to.
HERE in this home. We do family. We do relationships. We do love.
And sometimes when our hearts get hurt and we don’t know the words or the feelings,
we fall on our knees and pray for those who we hold near our hearts. 
