by Sharon O | May 4, 2013 | Uncategorized
The word for the five minute writing challenge this week is Brave.
You write for five minutes with no editing then publish.
As I was thinking about it I thought to myself what is bravery to me?
What is the meaning and what is the ultimate test of bravery.
Immediately a picture came to my mind and I knew I had to post it.
Being brave when your situation seems to be extremely intense.
BEGIN
The ones I see being brave the most are our police men and firemen.
Can you even imagine the tension and the pounding of heart at times when they run to a scene that is considered dangerous and terrible?
Thinking of the Boston bombings, and the twin towers, and many other terrible scenes through out the land where our uniformed men and women have to be brave and walk where no one wants to walk.
The mall shootings, the school shootings, the home shootings.
They train to keep us safe.
They learn new tools of the trade always finding ways to get ahead of the bad guys with the hope that some day the bad guys won’t have the power to ruin good and decent lives.
For those of us who have family members who are uniformed officers we pray and we pray more.
We pray for protection and for calms hearts and for a quiet shift.
I think the brave word should be placed right next to those uniformed officers who when they see the worst they remain strong and responsible and continue to do their job as they were trained and taught to do.
God bless our uniformed men and women.
The picture is my son not only in a training position but also on his knees in a prayerful position.
For the protection comes from the sound mind of the officer
and perhaps the prayers of the people too.
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power,
and of love, and of a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7
by Sharon O | May 2, 2013 | Uncategorized
It’s been quiet here lately because I have been sick.
Whenever a bug hits me it lands in my throat and then I have to use inhalers to help me breathe.
I am only on day four but this is not wanting to leave on it’s own and perhaps it might be time for a call to the doctors office and ask for a good antibiotic that will get me back on task.
The week has been slow.
My housework has not been done and the laundry is the only thing that has been kept up.
Sometimes we have these times of rest and recoup.
Sometimes it is good to sit back and just have a good cup of tea and breathe in the sweetness.
My people will abide in a peaceful habitation,
in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places Isaiah 32:18
by Sharon O | Apr 28, 2013 | Uncategorized
Joining Deidra on jumping tandem with the Sunday community.
by Sharon O | Apr 27, 2013 | Uncategorized
The Friday writing topic is friends.
You write with no editing for five minutes and then push publish.
I was not available to write on Friday so I am doing the assignment on Saturday.
Begin.
I have a good friend who has been with me, alongside me and is always an encouragement to me.
We met one year when our boys were little and she was new to the church I was attending and I invited her and her boys to a vacation bible school.
Then later on we went to Bible study fellowship together and it was good.
We have known each other about thirty years now and it has been a sweet relationship that continues on through good times and through bad.
She was with me when my sister was on hospice and very ill.
I was with her when her husband died and she needed a friend and a listening ear.
We have grown in friendship and aged together.
She even met her new ‘hubby’ with my help.
I will always treasure her and value her and thank God that he allowed me to be her friend.
Our boys are older now and time is moving us all near retirement age.
We each have grand children and share with each other those wonderful ‘child’ moments.
We each have a love for a good glass of wine together and browsing antique stores.
I will always be thankful for my best friend.
I don’t get to see her as often as I would like but I know we both have a special place in our hearts for each other and for that I remain thankful.
It is one of those relationships that you can not see each other for a long time and then meet and it is like you have always been together sharing as if time has not passed us.
My good friend Debbie, and I at dad O’s memorial service.
by Sharon O | Apr 21, 2013 | Uncategorized
Joining Deidra on jumping tandem with the Sunday community.
Flowering cherry tree in Yamagata Japan by Ryan H
by Sharon O | Apr 21, 2013 | Uncategorized
It is strange to not have dad O around here anymore.
I look at his pictures on the wall as well as the ones of mom with him and it seems so different now.
A lifetime ago.
A family history ‘changed’ forever.
The legacy ended other than what we can pass on.
In the blink of an eye the family changed.
The passing of time and memories continue.
Many families go through this but for us it is new.
My husband said to me,
“It feels strange to have no parents. I am kind of like an orphan.”
That would indeed feel odd.
My own mother is changing at a rapid rate and is almost failing to thrive.
Someday she will give up all together and that will be a sign for us the end is near.
I am sad for her.
Many things about her make me sad.
She has not been well for a few years now.
Her dementia and her Parkinson’s diagnosis has created a person
who is not able to be who she used to be.
If you have read my blog at all you know that I have had a blend of mixed emotions concerning my mother.
Time has allowed me to see her as a frail senior lady
who needs compassion and kindness very similar to the ones I helped many times in the pharmacy where I worked.
I don’t see the ‘bad’ mom or the one who made such confusing decisions for her family.
She is fragile in health and mind she is also aging and helpless.
My dad is also failing.
He has leukemia, diabetes, copd, and has to be on oxygen most of the time now.
His stamina is low and his spirit a bit cranky.
He is not who he used to be either.
They both have lost so much as time moved them forward.
For most of my life I didn’t know him.
In my adult life it has been a relationship of small talk and walls.
He rarely gets real with anyone.
She is not able to do that either.
So reflecting back is a hard thing for me.
The memories are not warm or sweet fuzzy ones.
They are blurred.
I don’t remember a close relationship with her ever.
And he has made it difficult to have one with him too.
I asked my counselor one time how will it be for me when they leave.
He said with tears in his eyes,
“You will miss what you never have known.”
Dad O was a dad to me and I miss him because I knew him.
He cared for my heart and my spirit.
Reflecting back on a loss is hard sometimes but it is also
healing to remember the good about someone.
Do you ever spend time reflecting about people in your life?
It is just a little something to think about today.
by Sharon O | Apr 16, 2013 | Uncategorized
In loving memory of a dad and grand father ~
Saturday we had the official graveside service for dad O and then we went to the church for a small lunch following that we had the memorial service for him.
The local veterans of foreign wars assigned about eight men to stand near the flag and his picture.
It was interesting as they each took turns to salute him and then stand during the service.
It was not distracting or disruptive.
It was meaningful and special to have him honored as a military man.
He served and did it with a servants heart.
His life was shared by many and his life was honored by many too.
Saying good bye is hard but we do know he is in heaven with his bride of almost 61 years.
He is with his son and other family members who went before him.
We will miss him always.
He left a legacy and he made an impact on everyone he met.
We say good bye for now.
Until someday we meet again.
by Sharon O | Apr 14, 2013 | Uncategorized
Our grand daughters at the beach.
Wonderful picture to share as I am joining Deidra on jumping tandem and the Sunday community.
by Sharon O | Apr 13, 2013 | Uncategorized
This week I had what I would call one of my first panic attacks.
I have felt something like it before but not at a speed of fifty five miles per hour driving down a road with dilated eyes.
I had spend two hours in a eye doctor’s office where he did testing and testing and then more testing.
Not expecting to spend so long I went there with a small amount of breakfast and one cup of coffee thinking I would finish my ‘meal’ when I got home.
That did not happen.
After all the testing he said “are you going anywhere?”
I said no I am just heading for home.
Then he put drops in my eyes to dilate them for one more test.
He found a small amount of pressure in my eyes of which he could not figure out the reason why.
When it was time to leave and head for home I felt a wave of intensity as I was watching the world go around me in a whirl.
Taking driving to a whole new level I felt the need to get off the road as fast as I could.
I pulled into a JC Penney’s parking lot and went into the store.
Walking around as if in a dazed state and wondering if I looked normal or not I made casual talk with the young lady who kept asking me if I needed help.
(I thought to myself what help I need you can’t give me)
After what seemed like a good thirty minutes I got back into my car and began to drive again.
Like a rush of wind the panic came back again.
I rolled down my car window, turned off the radio and felt I had to get off the road before a bad wreck happened.
Pulling off into an RV sales place I sat in the car for another fifteen minutes.
I breathed deep breaths and talked to myself trying everything I could to calm my panic down.
It finally felt safe to begin to drive again.
I do not remember half the drive home.
It was very nice to finally arrive in my driveway.
The fourteen mile drive was intense and filled with great anxiety.
Will not ever do that again any time in the near future.
The new glasses look good and the soup I made for lunch tasted great.
I acquired a new sense of gratitude for being home in a safe place.
If this was my first panic attack it was not fun or entertaining.
It scared me and it filled me with anxiety.
I also have a new sense of the dangers of driving after a long morning of testing too.
by Sharon O | Apr 7, 2013 | Uncategorized
A black walnut and an English walnut
A definite sign of two living in one
A strong and ageless tree
Amazing picture taken by my daughter Sarah.
“That by two immutable
(unchangeable and changeless-
unchanging through time. unalterable, ageless) things
in which it is impossible for God to lie,
we may have a strong encouragement,
who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.”
Hebrews 6:18
(I saw this as a powerful example for us to see the divided line we all live within ourselves.)
I love word pictures God so often gives us.
Joining Deidra on jumping tandem with the Sunday community.
