THOUGHTS ABOUT VOIDS

Friday's FMF word prompt was the word VOID. 

As I pondered what to write about, many thoughts of things that can leave a void crossed my mind. The death of a friend or loved one, the absence of what used to be familiar, or even just a feeling of something missing in your life that you can't quite put your finger on. The God shaped void within us that can only be filled by Him. 

I thought about these things as I read through the posts people had written, until I was stopped by a sonnet a dear FMF friend wrote as his comment to one of them.

My friend--our friend--Andrew Budek-Schmeiser, has been gifted with an amazing gift of words. Though he suffers from a terminal illness that leaves him depleted and in unimagineable pain, he continues to unselfishly bless us with his writing. I don't know how he does it.

His sonnets run the gamut from encouraging to humorous to deeply thought-provoking. The one he left as a comment on someone's response to the prompt was not only beautiful, but led me to look at that Divine void within us from a very different perspective--one I had never considered before. I hope he does not mind me sharing it. I don't think he will.

There's a God-shaped hole inside of me,

and I think this may sound odd,

but could perhaps might there just be

a me-shaped hole in God?

A spare that only I can fill,

a missing puzzle-part,

that requires my free will

to give Him my whole heart,

and if I choose to hold it back,

to stand aloof and proud,

there's something He will always lack,

even with a holy crowd,

for I am not just anyone;

I'm His well-loved adopted son. 

A friend I shared it with added another beautiful thought. Perhaps the same is true of every person God ordains for us to meet in this life. Perhaps He intended for us to provide to each other a gift that only we can give?

VOID

This post was written for Five Minute Friday

Word prompt--VOID

Five minutes to free-write about it

---------------------------------------------------------------

About a year ago I wrote a post about my shock and dismay when I saw that the two beautiful azalea bushes that had stood--one on each side of the entrance to our library--had been pulled out. 

Upon inquiry, the librarian told me that the powers that be had decided that the bushes should be replaced by something indigenous.

For a long time, there was a void where those bushes used to be. 

Today I visited the library for the first time in a while and was greeted by a wonderful surprise. The void was void no more. It was filled with colorful flowers.

I don't know the names of these flowers and whether or not they are indigenous, but they are very pretty, and were a most welcome sight.

HIDDEN THINGS COME TO LIGHT

Back in 2013, when I was struggling with depression and a bunch of regrets over the poor choices made in my youth that had led me to that point, I started a personal blog to help raise me out of the doldrums.

 Motivated by Philippians 4:8 that exhorts us with the words, "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things",  I purposed to look for glimpses of God's grace throughout my days and find 365 positive things to write about. No deadline. No resolution to write a post a day or anything like that. 

It took me until 2022 to finish it. 

* * * * * * *

Fast forward to a couple of days ago when I started wondering why not all the comments I get e-mail notifications about actually show up on my blog. Well, come to find out that for some unknown reason, several of them wind up in spam. 

After rectifying that situation on my two active blogs, I decided to check out the other two, and much to my surprise discovered that somehow my personal blog had been set to have comments moderated before being posted, and there were 88 comments waiting to be moderated. Several of them contained questions, which obviously never got answered--like the one from Ginny at Let Your Light Shine, who wanted to know what the numbers in the header meant. Well, to answer your question, I was just numbering my posts from 1 to 365 so I could keep track of how many grace-filled moments I had found. 

Brenda at Lighthouse Vision had left a wonderful testimony that I only just got to read all these years later.

Some of you, like Mari at Mari's LittleCorner, Linda at Linda's Life Journal, and Veronica Lee at Of Mice and Ramen, I know have been blog friends for a very long time, but others I didn't realize had already been blog friends way back then. 

Sandi at Dandelion Tea, Sue at Pear Tree Lane Farmhouse, Aritha at Moments Frozen in Time, Mindy at Howell Blessings, and Carol at Buttercup Counts Her Blessings. 

I don't know what to say, except I'm so sorry I never acknowledged you way back then. 

This has been a most unusual and unexpected event.

FRIDAY FUNNY

 

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

 

THROWBACK THURSDAY

A Trader Joe store--one of my favorite grocery stores--just opened up in my neck of the woods, and to celebrate, my daughter bought me a tub of their triple ginger snap cookies. They are so, so good--and very addictive.

It made me think of the very first blog post I ever wrote, back on March 21st of 2007. Wow! That's almost 17 years ago, would you believe, and those cookies are as irresistible to me now as they were back then.

So, here's a repost of that very first post for this week's Throwback Thursday.

TRADER JOE TRIPLE GINGER SNAP COOKIES  

 

"I do not understand what I do. ...For what I do is not the

good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I
keep on doing." (Romans 7:15,19)

Frustration at not being able to set up this blog page to look the way I want it to has led me to open up the tightly sealed tub of Trader Joe Triple Ginger Snap cookies made with fresh crystallized ginger that I had bought for my daughter Joanne to try, and "hidden" away until I see her. Bad move! I knew that Trader Joe Triple Ginger Snaps is not something I should have in my house, but I thought that putting them out of sight would keep me from eating any. Ha! That tub of cookies is now 12 lighter. I hope I get to see Joanne soon.

This takes my thoughts way back to a Christmas eons ago when I lived in Jackson Heights and had a good friend, "British" Margaret, who loved those huge, oversized Cadbury chocolate bars with the fruit and nuts, and the caramel, and I don't even remember what all else. That Christmas I decided that the perfect gift for her would be one of each kind. I think there were six varieties, which I purchased, wrapped ever so carefully, and put under the Christmas tree.

Now there were two problems I hadn't considered, and which proved to be my undoing. Number one, I also loved those huge, oversized Cadbury bars, AND, Margaret didn't show up the day before Christmas to pick up her gift as planned.

Christmas came and went, and after a few days of seeing that carefully wrapped gift all alone under the tree, I couldn't take it any longer. It seemed to be calling my name, and after a brief struggle with my conscience, gluttony got the best of me. Carefully I unwrapped the gift, slid out one Cadbury, and rewrapped the other five. She will never be the wiser, I rationalized. Still Margaret did not come, and I wound up repeating this shameful process five more times.

When my good friend Margaret finally dropped by, I had no gift to give her. How embarrassing! Fortunately she was a real sport about it, and we ended up having a good hearty chuckle. Hope this doesn't turn out to be deja vu where Joanne's cookies are concerned.

SUPER MOON RISING

Standing on my balcony watching the hunter supermoon emerge from behind a tree. 

What a sight!

IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE

I hadn't seen these two grandsons at the same time in quite a while and couldn't believe how much they now tower over me. (They flew in to be groomsmen at my grandson's wedding.)

It was fun putting "then and now" collages together. These were my favorites, but I couldn't decide on just one. Which one do you like best? 

If you missed my last post about the wedding, here's the link to it in case you are interested.

HIGHLIGHTS OF A BLESSED AND BEAUTIFUL DAY

It was a perfect day for a wedding. The sky was blue, the temperature mild, as we gathered at the historic chapel of St. Peter (atop a very steep hill in Harpers Ferry) to attend the nuptials of my West Virginia grandson. 

Many folks had come from out of town, and when we got to the chapel they were milling around, catching up with one another, and taking family pictures before it was time for the service. 

For me, it was a special blessing to be able to spend time with loved ones I don't get to see very often because of the distance that separates us.

My grandaughter and her family (above) traveled from Florida and were joined by her oldest son who flew in from California. 

My son and his family (on the left) drove down from New Jersey and were joined by their eldest son who flew in from Nebraska. 

There was a moment of cuteness, when my four-year-old great-grandson was spotted handing out rings to the ladies. 

He was the ring bearer in the bridal procession and apparently had a hard time at the rehearsal grasping what a ring bearer is. He thought he was supposed to hand out rings to everyone, and was very happy when his mom bought him a bunch from the dollar store so he could do just that.

Soon it was time for everyone to come inside, and my daughter and I took a seat at the back while waiting to get escorted to our pew.

After all the bridesmaids and groomsmen had made their entrance and taken their places, there was another moment of cuteness as my two great-granddaughters (the flower girls) and the ring-bearing great-grandson and his younger brother came walking down the aisle.

And then, the moment we were all waiting for. The doors to the chapel opened wide revealing the beautiful bride and her proud dad who escorted her down the aisle, lifted her veil off her face, and presented her to her groom. 

After the blessing, the newlyweds emerged as Mr. and Mrs., and it was time for more pictures before heading over to the reception.

Here's a shot of me with all six great-grands. Can you see the one hiding behind my shoulder? 

The reception was wonderful, and would take a whole other post, which I'm not sure I'll get to, so in case I don't, here's one photo taken right before I left. 

My daughter dragged me out onto the dance floor to dance a few steps with her, my daughter-in-law, and a couple of the grandkids. 

That I was able to do that, especially at the end of a very long day, was a huge miracle that two of my praying friends can attest to.

Up until almost the last minute, I wasn't sure I would be able to make it to the occasion, even though my daughter was going to pick me up and had made arrangements for someone to drive me home. 

The three of us prayed hard that the Lord would make a way where there seemed to be no way, and He answered our prayers. Not only did He enable me to attend, but He went above and beyond, giving me strength to enjoy the day without too much pain. 

I still can't believe how I was able, by His grace, to get in and out of shuttles, walk what felt like a marathon between garage and reception building, up and down several flights of stairs, and back and forth across the floor of the reception hall, without my rollator, and without my back brace (except for the long walk over from the garage). It was a miracle indeed for which I am grateful beyond words.

It was a beautiful and memorable occasion, and this hug from my grandson thanking me for being there was like extra icing on the cake.

TWO

This post was written for Five Minute Friday

Word prompt--TWO

Five minutes to free-write about it

-------------------------------------------------------

The number two has played a very prominent part in my life these last several weeks.

I won't go into any great detail because after much frustration, I distinctly sensed the Lord telling me to let a certain situation go.  I did, and instantly and miraculously, all the turmoil churning inside of me was replaced by a great peace that I do not wish to forfeit.

In brief though, it all centered around the number two. Two little paint pots in a paint by number kit I had ordered that were not the color code they were supposed to be, and my numerous and futile attempts to get the company I purchased the kit from to replace them. 

This week's FMF prompt, coming just a day after my decision to let it go gave me a good chuckle.