THINGS I AM PONDERING IN MY HEART

Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is

God's will for you who belong to Christ

Jesus. -- 1 Thessalonians 5:18, NLT

That verse came to mind on Christmas day after coming home from a special time spent with family, and taking a bad fall onto the concrete sidewalk as I exited my granddaughter's car and went to step up on the curb.

What an unexpected, miserable way to end an otherwise joy-filled day. And what a graphic reminder of how life can change in the blink of an eye.

In my case, it was frustrating and untimely, but hardly tragic. A black eye, fat lip, chipped tooth, multiple abrasions, and a very bruised and swollen right hand. Nothing was broken, my glasses did not shatter on my face, and no teeth had been knocked out of my mouth, which is what I at first thought had happened when my face hit the concrete and I saw all the blood.

I wrote a post on my other blog in which I listed many of the things I was thankful for, so I won't repeat them here. But more came to mind after I wrote it, such as frustrations of the day before that turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as well as the ways the Lord used what seemed like a most undesirable event, to soften the heart of a loved one in a way that would not have happened otherwise. 

These are the things that help strengthen my faith and assurance that God is in control and that He is a good and loving God who has a perfect plan for my life (and yours as well), a plan for good and not for evil (Jeremiah 29:11). Even though His ways are not our ways, and may sometimes be hard to understand, we can trust that He sees the whole picture, which we do not. He is the author of our stories, and all the days of our lives were recorded in His book before any of them came to be (Psalm 139:16). 

Typing is still painful, and I may need to take a little rest from blogging until my hand heals up some more, but I wanted to write this post while the thoughts are still fresh in my mind, as well as wish you all the blessings of peace, joy, and good health in the New Year.

NOT THE DAY I HAD PLANNED

Last night before going to bed I turned two of my large plants around that were leaning towards the window. Something I probably should not have waited so long to do.

My plan was to get up early and spend the morning trying to complete a Christmas gift I've been working on for one of my granddaughters and her hubby. My plan was to keep working on it until it was time to go to church for the early Christmas Eve service.

When I walked into the dining area this morning (which is where my project is set up), however, this is the sight that greeted me. My beautiful jade plant which had been leaning too far into the window, and had lost its support when I turned it around, toppled over during the night and many of its leaves had come off and were strewn all over the floor.

Instead of working on my project, I spent the morning going to the store to get soil so I could repot it, and then trying to salvage the plant.

I tried to get it to stand straight, which did not work without a second pair of hands to hold it while I added the soil, but there was no one to help, so I did the best I could and added some more stakes in front of it to try and keep it from toppling over again.

I also stuck all the salvageable leaves in a pot of their own to see if any of them will propagate.

So much for my project. By then it was time to grab a bite and go to church. 

Instead of a gift, granddaughter and hubby will be getting an IOU and a note that their gift is still in the works.

I had also planned to come home after church, relax, and watch some livestreams. However, I was sitting on my bed eating while watching one of them, and spilled gravy on my bedspread which seeped all the way down through my blanket and sheets, and I wound up having to do two loads of laundry and make my bed, which did not make my aching back and shoulder very happy at all.

Despite the frustrations, there were some happy surprises as well.

The neighbors who live across from my building and who are always the first to decorate their patio every year with this display, did not do so this year. I assumed they must have moved, but to my surprise, there it was today. A beautiful reminder of what Christmas Eve is all about.

The other surprise was catching sight of new growth in the aloe pot. I've had that aloe for quite some time, but that's its first baby.

And with that, I will end by wishing you all a very blessed and beautiful Christmas, and peace, joy, and good health in the New Year!

STUFF

This post was written for Five Minute Friday

Word prompt--STUFF

Five minutes to free-write about it

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Despite the many times I have downsized, I still have way too much stuff. There are also growing piles of stuff cluttering my bedroom floor in the form of paperwork that needs to be completed or filed away, newspapers and magazines I've been meaning to read, and projects started but not yet completed.  

Although my intention is to set a timer for a half hour or an hour every day and work on clearing up as much as I can during that time, it hasn't happened. 

Now it's already into December, and as much as I wanted to have some signs of Christmas in my apartment, the thought of one more thing to do seemed overwhelming, as did the thought of then having to take it all down and put it away in a few weeks. So I compromised. 

I just took out a few of my favorite things and kept it super simple this year. A Charlie Brown tree a friend gave me several years ago, a Nativity to remind me of the reason for the season, and a few odds and ends to grace the top of my piano. It looks very peaceful and uncluttered, and I am very happy with the results. 

TRADE

This post was written for Five Minute Friday

Word prompt--TRADE

Five minutes to free-write about it

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This week's prompt made me think of a story I heard a long, long time ago that went something like this:

A young man. was going through a hard time and felt as though he had reached the end of his rope. He cried out to the Lord and told Him he could not go on. His cross was too heavy to bear. So the Lord told the man to put it down, and led him into a room filled with crosses of all kinds. He told him he could trade his cross for any of them he wanted.

The man looked around at all the crosses in the room. There were crosses of all sizes. Some were so big they reached the ceiling, some looked very heavy, and then he spotted a tiny cross all the way in a corner at the back of the room. He told the Lord that was the one he wanted. The Lord turned the little cross over to show him the name on the back of it, and it was the man's own cross, the one he had wanted to trade. 

Sometimes I feel like that man. I get weary, and the grass seems a lot greener on the other side of the fence. But that thought lasts only for a moment. No matter what I've gone through, even when it has felt like the pits, and even when I wished things were different, I have never wanted to trade my life for anyone else's.   

God made us all unique. We are one-of-a-kind Divine originals created for a special purpose and plan that only we can fulfill. He knows what we can and cannot handle, and has equipped us accordingly. Although He does not expect us to do it in our own strength, neither has He equipped us to live out the story He designed someone else to live.

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For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unfomed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. -- Psalm 139:13-16, NIV