Random Acts of "Kindness"

GOD’S DIRECTIONS

January 4, 2014

I recently wrote a thought ramble STEERING WHEEL concerning God’s Direction of my life and my tendency to want to direct my course. I recently met an acquaintance who is grieving for the passing of her fiancée. He had a stroke and she was his main caregiver until life changed and she was no longer responsible for his care. We were not close friends and I didn’t know of his passing. I could relate to her sorrow, I could also relate to the feeling of guilt that arises when you feel you have left a loved one down.

I experienced a great deal of guilt when we had to put my father, who had Alzheimer’s, in a nursing home because he could no longer walk. I spent a portion of chapter 10 in To Pap, With Love writing about my feelings. I also felt guilty when we had to send our Chocolate Lab, Mabel, home in July 2011. A neighbor’s comment helped take away my guilt.

It is not easy to accept God’s decisions or direction in our life. Have we been prevented from taking a planned trip? Why? Have we fallen and sprained or broken an important part of our body. Once again — WHY?? When life doesn’t follow the path that we have chosen — the question becomes WHY??

It doesn’t matter if the change is life changing – a failed marriage or romance, the loss of a friend or family member, the loss of a job. The change can be minor — a fall — sprained or broken body part, unplanned medical expense or emergency, unexpected bill, argument with a friend.

It is extremely hard in those situations to remember that God is in charge, He wants the best for us. Whatever the challenge in our life is, with His help, we can do it! We need to remember to ask for His help!

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TREASURES IN THE SNOW

December 28, 2013

We often lose our sense of wonder as we age. Children and dogs get very excited when they see snow. They can’t wait to get outside to play. Even if there is only a coating of snow — dogs roll in it and try to eat it. Kids kick it and try to throw it. Not enough snow for snow ball fights, or building snow men — that doesn’t stop them. Not enough snow for sledding or skiing — but the white stuff calls for play.

Unless you are an adult. Snow for us means work — shoveling or snow plow, scrapping off the cars, slick streets. We lose our sense of wonder.

Winter has come early this year. I’m hoping that it will also leave quickly. It is only December and the temperature is below zero. I’ll admit that we are spoiled. It has been a long time since we have had a sever winter. I didn’t miss the cold or the ice.

Since we now have a young dog, who has so much energy she needs to be walked, I’m hoping for dry sidewalks — no ice. As I write this, the temperature is at 3 degrees — too cold to take her or me for a walk. Many of the sidewalks have been salted, hurting her feet. She is still full of energy — doesn’t understand why we can’t go for a walk.

In desperation, I let her out into the back yard to play. She knows there are treasures under that snow. All she has to do is find them. So she digs — looking for —–? She doesn’t care that her paws get cold. She finds a frozen leaf and brings her treasure into the house so I can see what she found.

She reminds me that we need to have that kind of hope — digging through the ice and snow when our life seems frozen.

Holidays are here. My prayer for you — That you become aware of the ”help” that is available from Spirit. That you realize you are never alone and that you have a safe, and healthy 2014.

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STEERING WHEEL

December 21, 2013

Years ago I read a short thought ramble of how we are riding a tandem bike with Jesus. He is in the front seat, guiding our way, I am on the rear seat, helping to pedal. Once upon a time, I thought that I was in control of my life. I have since realized that I was mistaken. Since I read that thought ramble, I have tried my best to be guided by Spirit. But I have to admit, that often as not, I find my hands on that wheel, trying to direct.

Last weekend, we drove down by our daughters in Central Illinois. Snow was predicted but our drive on Friday was dry. We planned to take our dog, Robin, with us until she snuck out of our back yard gate. And ran, chasing a squirrel instead of returning when I called. Our daughter has a wireless fenced yard. She also has a pond behind the yard. I was concerned that Robin would escape when the door opened and wander the neighborhood or the pond. She remained home with our son. Since we were dogless, we stopped for lunch at a favorite restaurant. Talking to the waitress, I learned that the night before a border collie was run over trying to herd a car. I was very glad that Robin stayed home.

Saturday remained dry — dry roads. The storm went further South. We took the opportunity to visit our granddaughters “horse country.” We have been down there many times. This is the first time I remember seeing so many horse drawn buggies — I didn’t count but twenty would be a good number. We learned that stores close early in that part of the country — we couldn’t buy any fudge.

The snow arrived Sunday morning. Not a lot, just enough to coat the roads and make them slick. I slid through a stop sign returning from shopping. When I arrived back at our daughter’s house, I learned that my son-in-law slid through the same stop sign, almost hitting a pole. Icy rain arrived Sunday night. The roads were still very slick when we left for home. (The town our daughter lives in does not do a good job with snow, ice clearing.)

We stopped for gas before leaving town. I had sent up a prayer request for a safe trip home. On the way into the building to pay, I found a dime. I have to admit that the dime made me HAPPY. Soon after merging onto the expressway, we saw four cars in ditches or the field before we reached the next exit. Thankfully our drive was free of accidents.

Robin was extremely excited to see my husband when we returned home.

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ANSWERED PRAYER

December 14, 2013

We sent our last dog, Lexie, a black pug, home in March. We have remained dogless until now. Both my husband and my son wanted to get a new dog before this. I was concerned with the amount of travel that was planned for the coming year. And I was justified in my concern. I just finished counting the days we were gone to put it in our Christmas letter and found it totaled 111.

I thought adding a member to our family when we planned to be away for many days was not fair to the new addition. When we returned from Florida, my husband announced, “it’s time to get a dog” and he and my son left for an animal shelter. I will be honest. I had gotten used to not having to take care of another member of our family. Lexie had been blind and deaf. She needed to be carried up and down stairs and taken out on a leash. I didn’t miss the extra work.

I thought we would get an older dog, one that was settled in its ways, content to walk a bit and sleep alot.
I didn’t go with them when they went to look, which was just as well. They looked at TWO — both young. The shelter didn’t allow them to take them home because I had to want the dogs too.

I must admit that I spent an hour or two in the wee hours of the morning debating getting two dogs. When my husband decided that we didn’t need to get a dog — he was disappointed that they spent all that time and didn’t bring one home — I suggested we had to go see who they were talking about.

Now I will admit that I sent a prayer or two heaven bound, asking God to give us the dog that was right for us. And he did. One of the dog’s they looked at was off adoption because of bad behavior. Another had kennel cough. The third needed older children, our youngest granddaughter is four. She is with us often and any dog we got had to be good with not only the children but their dogs as well. The dog we chose had only just arrived.

And thankfully Robin is all of the above. She is a 25 LB. border collie – terrier mix. Not too tiny, but slim enough that I can pick her up if needed and hopefully she won’t knock me down. She has more energy that we can handle but we will try. She runs like the wind, and turns on a dime. She can jump high enough from the floor to land on the dining room table. She is very gentle and likes to play with other dogs. Taking her for walks will give the whole family exercise. She has met our grandchildren and grand puppies. She got along well with all. In fact, she was very sad when they went home.

This morning she escaped the yard when I took out the garbage. I would love to say that I called her, she listened and came back into the yard. Instead she saw a squirrel and was off to give chase. Once again I sent prayers heaven bound. Thankfully they were answered. She heard rattling in my pocket and came back to see what I had. I grabbed her and carried her home, more than a half block. It is a good thing she is tiny, as it was, she got heavy.

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CALL HOME

December 7, 2013

I usually DO NOT find money outside. Maybe an occasional penny ever once in a while. A penny reminds me of the song “Pennies From Heaven.” It also reminds me IN GOD WE TRUST! Recently, on three separate occasions I have found a dime. The dime didn’t ring any bells, remind me of something special until this morning — awakening from sleep I remembered instructions from my youth — keep a dime in your pocket so you can call home. Now I’ve read in various articles how nickels and dimes have been used by those on a higher plain to remind those on earth that their loved one is with them. “My friends in high places” don’t normally use that method.

When I was young, I used a dime to board a bus and travel the city. Prices have increased and the world is no longer as safe. There is no way in the world that I would allow my child or grandchild to ride a bus, by themselves, at the age of six or seven like I did.

This morning my husband had a dream in which one of our friends who passed over was leading a whole line of people down a trail, humming as he walked. My husband watched from a distance, he was not one of the group. I’m hopeful that my husband has more work to do on this side before he goes “home.” I have enough friends on the other side, I need some to stay here.

One of our neighbors is critically ill. We just received word that our daughter’s father-in-law is in the hospital. Are either one of them waiting to join the line? Good question, no answer.

Phone home! Or did I receive the call? The first dime I found in Jacksonville, Fl. It was very thin, so thin, I didn’t think it was a dime. An older, thin gentleman crossed the road when I spoke to him as I took our daughter’s dog for a walk. Dogs were barking in the background and I ended up telling a story of how I saw my son’s dog, Shanae, run through the house after we sent her home. The complete story is in JOURNEY WITH ME!. The gentleman had just sent one of the four footed members of his family home.

The second dime found was on the way to the Post Office, after we came back home. I was walking to mail photos of my great grand daughter and family to Florida. I LIKE hard copies, regular photos that are not on a disk.

Sad to say, I don’t remember when the third dime came into my possession. Although, this week I have had billing concerns to deal with — three to be exact. The first — our electric bill for the camper and home was mixed up. The person I spoke to COULD NOT straighten out the mess. We haven’t begun to pay bills on line, her suggestion DID NOT help me. Two days later, visiting the doctor’s office, I learned that we had not received bills for five visits to the doctor. Two were from previous years. ?? To say I wasn’t pleased is an understatement. Finally, I went to pick up a prescription for my husband only to learn that there was no insurance on file. Luckily they were able to straighten the matter out and save us two hundred dollars. Was that the message of the third dime? At least that was the third billing mix-up. Hopefully we are done now.

I’m often reminded to pay attention. I try but I don’t always understand the message behind the words.

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KNOCK — KNOCK

November 30, 2013

Is anyone home? Actually we weren’t but we were on the way. We had four hours to spare before our plane took off. Time to eat, read, relax, get into trouble. Our daughter had to go to work and dropped us off on the way. I took the extra time to look through the books at the various shops. A title intrigued me — the author used a year to look for her happy side. I have to admit that I was not in a happy state of mind and was afraid the author’s listing of all the things she wasn’t able to do would bring up more stuff of my own. That was the last thing I needed. I thought it might be fun to look for the happy things each day in my own life. So far I really haven’t had the time.

I might have bought the book if I found it on the other side of the security check in but it was absent. I picked up a book by a medium and once again was reminded of why I needed to write about the happenings in my own life. This person was aware that she had psychic talents when she was four years old but chose to ignore them until serious illness in her thirties caused a conversation with God. In this conversation He detailed the reasons she had to use her gift to help others. I didn’t write down the conversation and have to admit that I don’t remember the reasons. It made sense to me at the time. It wasn’t concerned with religion, just the spirituality of the people. Just to be clear, I’m not psychic, I haven’t had a conversation with God. I’m sure it could happen — other means are just used to get the message through. And the message seems to be that I have stories that I should share.

I have to admit that I ended up telling two of my own stories to a couple of people who were waiting. Since arriving back home, trying to catch up on the mail and all of the various things that continued on while we were gone, I’m receiving nudges again to write. The question seems to be, “What are you waiting for?”

Flying over the city, I was happy to see autumn colors still on the trees. We have had a couple of dips in temperature and even some snow. The wind has done its best to send the leaves off of the trees. We picked up seven bags of leaves yesterday and I have sent most of my hanging baskets to recycling.

Usually I don’t find money on the ground but recently I have found 3 dimes. When I found the first one, I wasn’t sure it was real. It must have been run over many times. When I picked it up, we were still in Florida and I was walking the dog. An elderly, older man crossed the road when I talked to him. I ended up telling him the story of how I saw Shanae’s spirit run through the house. I think the story is in JOURNEY WITH ME. It is a comforting story when you have lost a four footed member of your family to know that they are fine on the other side.

We don’t have any new paws in our house yet — I’m sure that day is coming. I just don’t know how soon. We are not planning to get a puppy, and there are so many older dogs that need a home. We can’t adopt them all.

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WADING THROUGH THE MUCK

November 23, 2013

WADING THROUGH THE MUCK

Did you read BROKEN ICE? Did you laugh? It sounded so easy — didn’t it –tell your mind to stop and it would! Your mind would listen to your desire to stop stomping through the muddy places and return to the light. I TRIED, I really did. I refused to dwell on the sad, dark places in my past. It might have worked. If I was at home, in my own space, but sad to say, once again we were out of town.

On the road should have been a distraction — new places, new people, new food. And it would have been, except we were with family. Since we were with family, and they had to work, we didn’t eat out often. I tried to find the light — took their dog for a walk every day, listened for the birds. I actually saw a flock of blue birds. I listened to the crows. I saw a hawk in the tree. I did my tai chi every day and tried to watch my eating habits. I did not have my music; I could not go in the pool, the water was too cool. I left my computer at home, limited myself to the Kindle instead. I learned how to search for stuff on the internet and I discovered a couple of games that were fun. When my granddaughter got a score of over 500 and I barely reached 90 on a word game, I realized my thinking is slowing down.

We went to Florida to meet our new great grand daughter. Both my husband and I enjoyed the new princess in our family. Knowing that they are so far away, and that she would grow up without us didn’t make me smile. I’m reminded that they are on Facebook and Skype is available. Life gets busy but we will try to stay connected.

My daughter suggested I get a children’s book for the baby and read her a story, create memories. I bought a Harry Potter children’s book and read the baby the first story. A good wizard used his magic and a three legged pot for the good of people who came to him for aid. Then the wizard died and left the pot to his son, who did not use the pot’s magic to help people. I read with expression. When the older wizard was helping people, the little one watched me and smiled. When the son was mean and sent the people away, the baby pulled up her bottom lip into a pout and started to cry. We didn’t finish the story, she was too upset. She was only five weeks old. How quickly they are attuned to the tone of voice.

The first full day we spent back at home, the little one rolled over all by herself. Our granddaughter captured it on a video and shared.

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BROKEN ICE

November 16, 2013

The title of this thought ramble is courtesy of my friend Catherine. She often told me — “Life is calm, I’m walking peacefully when all of a sudden, without any warning, I’m on an ice field and I fall through.” That was her way of describing a bout of depression. I remembered the phrase recently when, the ice broke, and I fell through. Its not like I didn’t have any warning that it was coming. After all, it was the Fall of the year, leaves were falling, cooler temperature, gray skies. I was a year older. Various body parts were showing their age — not working as well as they used to. The messages coming through were to focus on the present, the past is gone and the future is still to come. And I ignored the messages. After all, I thought I had dealt with the issues from the past and moved on. WRONG! All of a sudden I was remembering my childhood. Searching for happy memories. Since it wasn’t necessarily a white picket fence, happy family — it isn’t a place I enjoy visiting. My father did the best he could and so, I guess, did I.

I was worried that my father would fall into the past when his memory declined because of Alzheimer’s. I was afraid he would remember the fire and the death of my mother and brother. Thankfully he was protected from those dark times.

Searching for a way back to the surface, back to the light, I hit the stop button in my brain. I turned on music to help distract my thinking. I’ve heard that when you are asleep — lost in a nightmare, you can tell your brain to stop — it is only a dream. I tried the same concept — even though I was awake. I refused to go down the same dark path that I have traveled many times before.

I would love to state that I exercised because I know that works to ease stress. I did Tai Chi but not any strenuous exercise. I felt I had no time, too much to do. And if truth be told, I do. I don’t know if I’m moving in slow motion but everything I try to do seems to take longer. Of course, I’m still trying to do many things at once. Instead of enjoying the quiet while I exercised, I turned on the TV. Yo-Yo Ma was the guest speaker, he has a new CD — Playlist on the Borders. I was reminded of the time, many years ago, when he was a gift to me. I planned to go to the Celtic Fest downtown in the city. It was early afternoon — a line of people by the Chicago Symphony caught my eye. It was a free day and I changed my mind and joined the line. It took a long time to enter. Yo-Yo Ma was the featured artist. He delayed the concert until everyone was seated. I enjoyed myself totally and stayed until 10:00 PM.

I often have “help” from the other side. The key is to recognize it.

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MEDIUM

November 9, 2013

I’m often encouraged to write, in fact, when I don’t “my friends in high places” get impatient. They begin nudging — I wake up too early, can’t sleep, get hit on the head, etc. I DON’T LIKE GETTING HIT ON THE HEAD. I’m reminded of how important my writing is. How it makes a difference in someone’s life. I learned that a few times something I’ve written has made a difference. The rest of the time I take it on faith.

I don’t always watch television during the day. I’m usually busy — either at home or out and about. Yesterday I was reminded that if I was going to have thought rambles publish while we were gone, I had to write them. When I’m writing, the television is off so I’m not distracted. Sometimes I have music playing; often I just have background house noise. “My friends” don’t speak to me so I’m not drowning out their voices but know I’m seldom alone. They will remove my writing if it doesn’t meet with their approval. That can be FRUSTRATING!

We are still out in the country. Television stations are limited at best, reception is catch as catch can — we don’t have satellite. The day was beautiful, blue skies, sunny and warm — 73. After I wrote two thought rambles, I took our scooter out for a drive to enjoy the day. I returned in time to turn the Dr. Oz program on the television. To be honest, I didn’t sit down to watch, my activity caused me to miss most of the program until a guest caught my attention. She explained the difference between steam, water, and ice. All three substances are composed of the same material, just in different form.

The guest was the medium Theresa Caputo. She brought messages from the other side to a few people in the audience. With each message she told the receiving person that their loved one on the other side was with them, sending them signs. Each person had tears in their eyes when they received the message. Theresa knows her work is important. I AM NOT A MEDIUM! I can not bring you messages from the other side. But I was reminded when I was watching the program that my writing is important. And I’m hoping that through my thought rambles you will become more aware of the interaction between yourself and the spirit world. Hopefully you won’t get hit on the head.

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LEAKY PIPES

November 2, 2013

I was washing dishes. We don’t have a dishwasher out here. Our television was off, only camper noise and birds singing accompanied me — which was why I was able to hear the running water. I had both sinks full of water, I did not have water running. But I heard a steady stream. Looking under the sink, I saw the source; at least I saw where I thought it was coming from. First things first — I got a flashlight and called my husband. He located the source of the stream – it wasn’t were I thought it was. It was already late, the stores were closed. Repairs would have to wait until the next day.

Cleaning up the water on the floor under the sink, I couldn’t reach the back wall. I decided to go outside, open the door to the water heater and mop up the floor from there. I was able to reach the far sides of the floor. I was able to remove the installation that four footed creatures had removed to make a bed. (I’m not sure where they got the pink stuff.) After mopping the floor, I noticed we had another problem. The water heater was leaking too.

My husband saw the part that had cracked. He thought it would be easy to replace and it would have been, if the part hadn’t been discontinued. We purchased the material to fix the leak in the sink at the store in the campground but he needed a new tool to do the job. The tool he needed was on back order. Everybody must have needed the same tool. We went to town where two hardware stores were also out of the tool. The clerk at the lumber yard phoned a couple places he thought might have the discontinued part, saving us a trip. Nobody had the broken part for the water heater.

Returning to the camper, I was able to contact the person who does the repairs on our trailer — he had the discontinued part but he didn’t have the tool my husband needed. (He wasn’t available when I phoned in the morning.) We borrowed a wrench but it didn’t do the job. One problem fixed another to go. Sadly the second problem was harder to solve. A trip to a different town turned up the needed tool and a tool to run the wire for the old car to the trunk. My husband was able to fix the sink leak but all the time reaching under the sink in tight quarters caused problems with his back or hip. A week later it is still hurting.

Our friend stopped by to pick up his wrench — we showed him where the water had damaged the wood on the side of the trailer by the water heater. It had rained during the night, he noticed a place where water was leaking in from outside. A bit of silicone and that leak was fixed too.

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