TRANSFORM

This post was written for Five Minute Friday

Word prompt--TRANSFORM

Five minutes to free-write about it

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The transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly is quite amazing. So is the way a good haircut can transform the way you look. Or how adding a couple of ingredients can transform the taste of a recipe that turned out so yucky you were about to toss it.

My readiness to toss the recipe got me to thinking of how God doesn't just toss me out when I fall short. It led to a moment of deep gratitude that He is patient, longsuffering, and never gives up on me--even when I would have long given up on myself. No one is too far gone for Him to transform.

God loves us so much that while we were still sinners He sent Christ to die for us so that we could be forgiven of our sins and receive the gift of eternal life (Romans 5:9, Isaiah 5:5, John 3:16,36). The gift of salvation is a free gift that can only be received by grace, through faith. It is not something you can earn (Ephesians 2:8-9).

When we repent of our sins and invite Jesus into our hearts, the slate is wiped clean and we become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) with a new identity as a child of God. 

God accepts us just as we are, and transforms us from the inside out through the power of His Holy Spirit. It is not something we can do in our own power.

VIEW FROM MY BALCONY

The perfect ending to a day filled with promise and hope.

FACE

This post was written for Five Minute Friday

Word prompt--FACE

Five minutes to free-write about it

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This week's prompt made me think of the chorus of an old song by the Gaithers, Because He Lives.

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow, 

Because He lives, all fear is gone; 

Because I know He holds the future, 

And life is worth the living, 

Just because He lives!

A good reminder when I am tempted to feel anxious about certain situations in my life that seem overwhelming. That, plus a couple of Scriptures I came face to face with recently that I've probably read a zillion times, but that suddenly came alive . 

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:34, BSB).

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? So if you cannot do such a small thing, why do you worry about the rest?  (Luke 12:25-26, BSB)

Our brains can only focus on one thing at a time, and I have intentionally been training mine to stay focused on the present moment and what I can do right now, since there is no way I can face tomorrow until tomorrow becomes today. 

I have also been intentional about trusting in God's timing and plan, which always turn out to be so much better than mine, instead of second-guessing Him when prayers don't get answered when and how I think they should or turn out the way I expected, and trying to help Him out and rush things along. 

So many things we worry about never even come to pass, and while we are busy worrying about them, we miss the blessings and opportunities right under our nose. I wonder if that's where the idiom "Take time to smell the roses," comes from.

My five minutes is up and there's so much more I want to say, and it won't necessarily fit with the prompt, so I will start over and rewrite this on my other blog, At The Foot Of The Cross.

CIRCLE

This post was written for Five Minute Friday

Word prompt--CIRCLE

Five minutes to free-write about it

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Today is the first day of summer. The seasons have come full circle since summer 2024. This weekend the temperature is supposed to be in the 90s.

When the temperature gets that hot, I am super grateful for my air conditioner and have no desire to leave the house, but I have been told that wildflowers love the heat. And so, I put the window box of tiny wildflower sprouts that had been germinating on my windowsill on the balcony, as well as the flowering kalanchoe plant in the circular pot. 

Not even an hour later, the beautiful blue sky turned an angry gray and before I could make up my mind whether  to leave the plants outside or bring them back in, we had a storm to end all storms. The rain was torrential, and the thunder loud. I felt terrible about having  transported those plants from their safe, sunny windowsill to the middle of a severe thunderstorm. 

I said a quick prayer that they would survive, and was amazed that they did.

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An unrelated thought, but something triggered as I was writing about my quick prayer at the end of my post, was Mark Batterson's devotional, "Draw the Circle." I'm adding it here for anyone who may be interested, since it fits this week's word prompt so perfectly. It's a 40-day prayer challenge I've worked my way through many times, and that maybe it's time for me to work my way through again. Each day has a devotional containing a true, faith-building story of God's answer to prayer, a Scripture, and some prayer prompts. Anyone want to go through it with me?

PANIC

This post was written for Five Minute Friday

Word prompt--PANIC

Five minutes to free-write about it

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My plan was to skip this week's challenge, but this morning I was feeling grateful for toilets and that we don't have to squat over a hole in the ground as some folks in other parts of the world have to do. 

And then I started feeling grateful for toilet paper, and my thoughts wandered from there to the 2020 COVID pandemic which led people to panic-buy toilet paper, of all things. Practically overnight, it had been grabbed up and hoarded by panic-stricken buyers, and there was not a roll to be found.

What a lesson in not taking anything for granted--not even the availability of a commodity as common as that.

One of my friends was thrilled to find some online (I can't remember if it was on Amazon or where), but it was a six-pack, and it had cost a pretty penny. No matter. She was just excited to have been able to order it and couldn't wait for it to arrive. When it finally did--all the way from China--what a surprise it turned out to be

I wish I had a picture of it that I could have posted here. The rolls were so tiny that the whole six-pack easily fit into her mailbox.

Now we look back and laigh, but it was no laughing matter then.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

 

ANYMORE

This post was written for Five Minute Friday

Word prompt--ANYMORE

Five minutes to free-write about it

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At first, when I saw this week's prompt, all I could think of were the many people and things that are not in my life anymore, and the many things I cannot do anymore. I even lamented that the beautiful little plant in the picture does not flower anymore. It hasn't in several years--not even when I put it out on the balcony in the summer.

But then, when I searched my mind for something positive I could associate with the word, two things surfaced. This morning I was surprised by a text from someone who had been an important part of my life and who I wasn't expecting to hear from anymore, and even better than that, and the greatest positive anymore possible, was the thought that "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1, NIV. What can be better than that?

P.S.

 

For those of you who asked--no, not Norman Rockwell. Box says Susan Brabeau.

(Love, love, love the expressions on the faces--including the dog's, haha.)

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

 

PERSEVERE

This post was written for Five Minute Friday

Word prompt--PERSEVERE

Five minutes to free-write about it

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...they were at their wits' end. Then they

cried out to the LORD in their trouble, 

and he brought them out of their distress. 

(Psalm 107:27b-28, NIV)

It's been a couple of weeks since I last participated in the FMF challenge, and probably this doesn't really count as participating either, since the words are not my own. It's a poem I came upon during my quiet time, as I pondered what to write, that seems to say it all. 

I'm sharing it in hopes that it will encourage someone else, as it did me, to persevere and keep on keeping on as we make our way down the path we are currently trudging along.

Are you standing at "Wits' End Corner,"

      Christian, with troubled brow?

Are you thinking of what is before you,

      And all you are bearing now?

Does all the world seem against you,

      And you in the battle alone?

Remember--at "Wits' End Corner"

      Is just where God's power is shown.

Are you standing at "Wits' End Corner,"

      Blinded with wearying pain,

Feeling you cannot endure it,

      You cannot bear the strain,

Bruised through the constant suffering,

      Dizzy and dazed and numb?

Remember--at "Wits' End Corner"

      Is where Jesus loves to come.

Are you standing at "Wits' End Corner"?

      Your work before you spread,

All lying begun, unfinished,

      And pressing on heart and head,

Longing for strength to do it,

      Stretching out trembling hands?

Remember--at "Wits' End Corner"

      The Burden-Bearer stands,

Are you standing at "Wits' End Corner"?

      Then you're just in the very spot

To learn the wondrous resources

      Of Him who fails you not:

No doubt to a brighter pathway

      Your footsteps will soon be moved,

But only at "Wits' End Corner"

      Is the "God who is able" proved. -- Antoinette Wilson

(Taken from Streams in the Desert, May 23 and available on Amazon.)

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

 

MOTHER'S DAY FLOWERS

Mother's Day flowers and a view of the almost full flower moon.

PROVE

This post was written for Five Minute Friday

Word prompt--PROVE

Five minutes to free-write about it

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Back in the day, when I was young, challenges made me thrive. I loved nothing better than proving people wrong who said something could not be done--especially if they said I couldn't do it.

I remember a time back in high school when it was time to take the college entrance exams. Academics had never been my forte--especially math--and my math teacher tried to convince me to wait another year before taking the exams because if I took them now with the rest of my classmates, I would not be able to pass. 

What that did was spur me on to prove her wrong. I studied so hard for those exams that even though I soon forgot most of what I had crammed into my brain, I was not only able to retain it long enough to pass, but to do so with surprisingly high grades and become one of a very few girls from our school to be accepted by the most prestigious college on the list.

Now, however, in my senior years, I seem to have lost that drive. Even though the Word tells me that I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength (Philippians 4:13), and exhorts me to not grow weary or give up (2 Chronicles 15:7; Galatians 6:9), I am weary. Very weary.

There are issues looming large that threaten to defeat me. Even though my faith is in the Lord, and I know how the story ends, there are still moments when I almost believe the lies.

But God! At a moment when I was feeling particularly overwhelmed, this song popped into mind that provided me with just the little push I needed to keep on keeping on.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

 

MIGHT

This post was written for Five Minute Friday

Word prompt--MIGHT

Five minutes to free-write about it

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Sometimes I think back over my life and wonder how it might have turned out if I had made different choices along the way. 

I wonder if I would still make the same choices if the clock were turned back to give me a second chance.

I think of how some day I will be accountable to God for what I have done with the time and talents He gave me, and feel remorseful that I do not have more to show for what started out with so much promise--a strong body, a good education, and many gifts and opportunities which I wound up unintentionally squandering. 

I will never know if I truly missed out on God's best for me, and what that best might have been. I do know, however, that He is in control, and the fact that I am still here means that He is not done with me yet. 

Life may not have turned out the way I wish it had, but truth be told, much of my current circumstance is due to poor choices I made that I am now reaping the consequences of. At least, that's my perspective. 

God sees the end from the beginning, which I do not, and I'm sure that His view of the tapestry He is weaving does not look anything like the tangle of knots visible on my side. In which case, am I really where I am today because of the poor choices I made, or might I be here by God's design?

Psalm 139:16 says, You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed (NLT). Perhaps then, is this what and where I need to be for this particular moment in His plan?

Had I pursued my talents and education to their fullest, gone on to have a stellar career, and been the best mother/wife/daughter/friend/ employee possible, might I ever have felt a need for the Lord or for His saving grace? Might I perhaps have spent my life chasing after the things this world has to offer instead of the things that have eternal value? Would I have missed God's gift of salvation, a greater loss by far?

DEAR ANONYMOUS...

Dear Anonymous,

Thank you for being such a faithful visitor to my blog.. I really appreciate it, and wish I knew who you are so I could visit your blog as well.

What puzzles me though is why you always have something negative to say..

Maybe there is a deep hurt within you that colors your view--not just of my posts, but of the world in general?

I pray for you. I pray that if you have been hurt by life, the Lord would touch you where you most need His touch and heal the bitterness and pain in your heart. I pray that He would hold you close and enable you to feel His presence and the great love He has for you. 

You are special in His sight. A one of a kind Divine original created for a special purpose and plan that no one else can fulfill.

You are His beloved child.

I peay that He would fill your heart with His peace that surpasses understanding, and with joy, and that He would open your eyes to be able to see the roses among the thorns.

❤️

Sandy/aka great-granny grandma

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

WITHOUT

This post was written for Five Minute Friday

Word prompt--WITHOUT

Five minutes to free-write about it

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While I sat in my little prayer corner this Good Friday morning, reflecting on what my life might have been without Jesus, the accuser was busy working overtime, bringing everything up I've ever regretted or been ashamed of. Any other time he would have gotten to me, but he chose the wrong day.

His accusations were all true, and each one pierced my heart, but Jesus...

I was listening to a Good Friday devo our church had posted on FB as part of a days of Holy Week series, and feeling especially overwhelmed by the enormity of what Jesus did for us on the cross. 

The thought that God Himself would take on human flesh in the form of Jesus so He could personally feel and experience everything we do--every fear, trial, sorrow, temptation, hurt and pain--and love us so much that He was willing to die such a humiliating and excruciatingly painful death to redeem us from our sins and extend to us the gift of eternal life, was a little more than I could fathom. 

Without Jesus, there is no forgiveness.

Without Jesus, the slate could never be wiped clean.

Without Jesus, there would be no hope when there seems to be no way. 

Without Jesus, rejection would have a double sting.

How grateful beyond words I am that because of Jesus, I no longer need to be tormented by anything from my past. 

Those are just a few of my reflections on this Good Friday day.

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For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. -- John 3:16, NIV

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ. -- Romanse 3:23-24, NIV

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast. -- Ephesians 2:8-9, NIV

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. -- Romans 5:8, NIV

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. -- Romans 6:23, NIV

If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. -- Romans 10:9-10, NIV 

SCARED

This post was written for Five Minute Friday

Word prompt--SCARED

Five minutes to free-write about it

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This week I cheated--sort of. I started reading other people's posts before writing my own. As I did so, I pondered the things that make me scared. I pondered so long, I was on my way to missing the deadline.

One of the things I am most scared of is physical pain.

I don't know why I am such a wimp, and why I have a needle phobia (not so bad now since the experiences documented in my little book, Oil of Myrrh). Back in the day, however, I was so scared of needles that I almost didn't get married because there was a premarital blood test requirement, and when I had my babies, I opted for natural childbirth because the thought of being given a needle was more daunting than the thought of what any labor pain might possibly feel like.

About eight years ago I made a choice based on fear that  almost cost me my life. By God's grace and the many prayers lifted up on my behalf, I not only survived, but learned some important lessons in the process which I later went on to share on HeartValveSurgery.com in response to some people asking for feedback as to whether or not they really needed to proceed with a recommended surgery even if they were asymptomatic. The post was entitled, DO NOT BE AFRAID.

When I am afraid, I need to remind myself that God is in control of all things, and can be trusted with every detail of my life and circumstances. How much better to rely on Him and His faithfulness when I am scared than to rely on my very fallible intellect.   

PERSUADE

This post was written for Five Minute Friday

Word prompt--PERSUADE

Five minutes to free-write about it

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My daughter has been trying to persuade me to get hearing aids for a while. 

One of the reasons I've resisted is that my issue is not volume so much as being able to distinguish certain words that contain letters that sound alike. I can hear a person speaking loud enough, but struggle to understand similar sounding words such as "bread" and "thread," or "15" and "50," which can result in my hearing something different than what was actually said.  

Hearing aids that could be customized to meet my specific auditory frequency needs are very pricey and not what I would consider a justifiable expense at this stage.

Well, my daughter bought me a pair of AirPod Pro 2 buds that can double as hearing aids and persuaded me to just give them a try. She pointed out that even if I didn't like the hearing aid feature, I could still use them to listen to music or podcasts, so I agreed to do it.

This latest series of AirPods Apple has come out with has software that enables you to take a hearing test, which is then used to customize your hearing experience.  The results were truly amazing. Not only was the sound quality excellent, but the difference it made in my hearing was quite remarkable. She was happy, and so was I.

Do I have a good daughter,or what? I am so grateful I let her persuade me to try them out.    

A WISE SAYING

We can never see the sunrise by looking toward the west. (Japanese proverb)

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

AN ANNIVERSARY, A THROWBACK, AND AN FMF PROMPT

This post was written for Five Minute Friday

Word prompt--ENGAGE

Five minutes to free-write about it

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Once again, I have a dilemma. How to get the word prompt to fit with what I'd like to share, since I really would like to engage with my FMF friends and participate in the challenge. 

Yesterday, was my blog's 18th anniversary, and my plan was to write a special post to commemorate the occasion. Instead, I found myself engaged in so many things the day escaped me and I completely forgot. 

In hindsight, what I should have done was pre-write the post and schedule it to post on the day of. 

Among the things I had wanted to share was how a few days ago I came across an old e-mail sent to me by my first blog friend 14 years ago. It brought back memories of my very first blog post, and of how she had been the first person to leave me a comment. 

She no longer blogs, so I sent her a message on Facebook and we engaged in a nice little chat. A lot of water has flowed beneath both our bridges during the past 18 years, and it felt good to touch base and engage with her again.

So that's it for my five minutes this week. The rest of this post is a throwback. It's a reprint of that very first post to commemorate both my blog's 18th birthday, and 18 years of a bloggie friendship. (I've added a link to the original post in case you would like to read that very first comment she left me as well.)

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"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.

JOURNEY

This post was written for Five Minute Friday

Word prompt--JOURNEY

Five minutes to free-write about it

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This week I have a dilemma. How to get the word prompt to fit with what I really want to share. I had been hoping for a perfect word, but it's not. So please bear with me, even though it's going to be a stretch.

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During my post salvation journey through life, the Lord has, on several occasions, reminded me not to put Him in a box. He has shown me that even though He often answers prayer by using people as His hands and feet to bring about the desired result, even when there's no one available, He can do it anyway. 

Five minutes is not long enough to mention all the times He did this, but here are two. 

The first incident happened fairly early in my journey and is documented here (if you would like to read the details). 

In brief, I had wanted to make a gift for the ladies in one of my Bible study groups but was having trouble figuring out how to go about it. None of my artsy-crafty friends I had been counting on for help were home, and it was time sensitive, so I prayed an urgent prayer, and the Lord answered. Thoughts started popping into my mind, and step by step He guided me through the whole process, by way of that still small voice within. 

The finished product was not what I had envisioned. It was way more creative than anything I could have hoped for or imagined being able to put together without a live, flesh-and-blood person to show me how.

The second incident happened just a few days ago. 

Many of you know about my accident on Christmas Day when I fell face down on the concrete sidewalk while getting out of my granddaughter's car. What I didn't mention (because I didn't know at the time), was that a chip off of one of the two chipped teeth had gotten embedded in my lip. 

Long story short, I had been using a drawing salve to try and bring the chip to the surface so it could be removed without surgery, and after several weeks it did journey its way up, but not actually through. 

A couple of friends offered to extract it for me, but being the wimp that I am, I did not want anyone poking around my mouth.

I continued applying the salve and praying for the chip to make its way out. Finally, on a day when I thought a tiny corner of it might be poking through, and I was trying to muster up the courage to grab hold of it with a tweezers and try pulling it out myself, the Lord stepped in and helped me out by taking care of it Himself.

While flossing my teeth that night, a piece of the floss got caught on that tiny piece of chip and pulled it out just far enough so I could easily remove it with my fingers. 

Is that an awesome testimony about the journey of a chip or what!