Help us, God our Savior, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for your name’s sake. Psalm 79:9
We are going to stumble. We are going to stray.
We are going to try, to go our own way.
God does forgive as humbly we pray,
For guidance and wisdom every blessed day.
Please Follow, Like, Comment and Share this post. Your feedback is important to me. Thanks for reading One Roof Publishing Magazine. One Roof Publishing may be reached by e-mail at fsharon@msn.com.
Let all you do be done with love. 1 Corinthians 16:14
Sometimes, okay when something happens that upsets me – ticks me off royally – and I think, “This is the last straw, this is the last time I’m helping that ungrateful person! Enough is enough is enough!” A little over the top? Yes, but I get that way sometimes, times when my last button has been pushed and my last nerve has been twitched. And then I think, “Has my help in the past been grudging and perhaps a little – dare I say it – superior? Have I thought self-righteously, ‘There but for the grace of God go I,’ not remembering God’s grace is free to all?” When you or I have escaped – or dealt steadfastly – with poverty, sickness, the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, the destruction of child through substance abuse, or the loss of a husband or wife to someone else, or any other conflict, tragedy or misfortune, it is more than the grace of God, it is life. God is with us in everything that happens. Everything. The good and the bad. We don’t get to choose life’s path; we do get to choose how we react. When we punish those we help by making them feel guilty they are in need, that is no help at all. When we do it with love and an open heart, the gift – whatever it may be – is received in the spirit in which it is given. Let all you do, be done with love. It will come back to you a thousand-fold.
Please Follow, Like, Comment and Share this post. Your feedback is important to me. Thanks for reading One Roof Publishing Magazine. One Roof Publishing may be reached by e-mail at fsharon@msn.com.
The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. Psalm 118:14
You are wandering in the desert, alone, afraid, disoriented. What do you do? Pull out your cellphone and pray you have service! Life can feel a bit like being lost in an unknown place. Panic sets in and you know you need immediate help. How and where do you get it? Personal experience has taught me to get on my “cellphone” to God through prayer. One of my go-to prayers is: “I seek the Lord and he hears me, and relieves me of all my fears.” The second is somewhat like it: “I release myself, my loved ones, my worries and my fears into the hands of God, and I trust him.” He is my strength. The song of his promise to be with me always sings through my life.
I have SO many things I want/need to do, if I’m not organized, at the end of the day all there is to show for my busyness is dither, squiggles and chaos… or nothing. Back in the day I was – really, this is true – excellent at multitasking. Once upon a time I could keep several metaphorical balls in the air without dropping a one.
No more
If what I want/need to do isn’t on a “to do” list, carefully hand written on my honest-to-goodness PAPER calendar, it doesn’t get done, or I don’t remember that I did it. Okay, joking (a little) about that last one.
Perhaps it’s a consequence of getting older (and wiser) that I feel the call to keep a diary of daily activities. I mean, think about it, if you can’t recall from one day to the next what you’ve been doing – or need to do – you find yourself sitting around playing Candy Crunch, Gummy Drop, or some other silly and addictive computer game for hours on end. Or am I the only one who does that? I should say used to do that. I’m a reformed computer game addict. Can I have a hallelujah!
Since this is still the first of the year, you might think this is about making a New Year’s resolution to be more organized, but that’s not it at all. I don’t make New Year’s resolutions. If I’m going to be about the business of improving my life, it can start any day of the year. That’s why I’m a List Maker. There is a certain satisfaction at the end of the day when I have ticked off all the items on The List.
A caution here, be wise in how many tasks you line up for yourself on any day. Remember, you really can only do one thing at a time no matter how good you are at multitasking. A lasting lesson from my time as a Mary Kay Consultant was her advice to, “Deal with it, file it, or throw it away.” She was talking about paper clutter and how to keep it to a minimum. You can also apply that to setting priorities (making lists 🙂 ). You declutter your life by prioritizing those tasks and activities you decide are important and meaningful.
In our home, we have a glassed-in patio where our greenery flourishes to the point I practically need a machete to get through it – when I forget to prune. Or I go in after a couple of weeks of forgetting to water, and find the plants gasping and shriveling. Since we rarely use the patio – especially in winter – if I don’t have weekly watering on my list, I forget. The consequence is more work or the death of a plant or two. Pruning doesn’t end up on the list simply because it’s evident when that’s gotten out of hand, but watering is on the list, every Saturday without fail… except when I forget. No, The List is not infallible. It is up to me, that one-thing-at-a-time reality.
Over the holidays, I missed watering for three weeks. I know, I know, why have The List if you don’t pay attention to it? One plant thrived under my neglect. The orchid. The darned thing loved not being watered to death! Fortunately, I didn’t lose any plants, although for a couple it was iffy for a while.
I note this incident to say, spontaneity and the unexpected are the salt of life. Lists are well and good for prioritizing, but sometimes straying from or forgetting The List leads to something beautiful. You can do only one thing at a time. Leave room in your life for that one thing to be joyful no matter what it is.
Please Follow, Like, Comment and Share this article. Your feedback is important to me. Thanks for reading One Roof Publishing Magazine. One Roof Publishing may be reached by e-mail at fsharon@msn.com. Publisher and primary writer, Sharon Vander Meer. Guest posts are welcome.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 KJV
God is present. This isn’t a maybe or a might; it is an absolute. In times of fretfulness and fear, when you think you have been forgotten, remember this: “Cast all your anxiety on God for He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7). God is as concerned about life’s trials as you, more so, but God’s concern isn’t for the dilemma; God’s concern is for you. Be not afraid. Trust in the Lord. Have faith. God is present and God is with you, come what may.
It’s never too late to make dreams come true. It does, however, take hard work and focus. This video sums it up rather dramatically. From Video Advice Daily. New beginnings can start any time. Not just the first of the year.
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him… Ephesians 1:17 KJV
The spirit of wisdom and revelation,
does not come through judgment.
Listen instead of talk.
Empty your mind of
preconceptions
discontent
disappointment.
Be rid of all that,
see with wisdom.
Be enlightened.
Be encouraged.
Be keenly aware of God.
He is at work in the world
and in the lives of all.
God’s grace comes now,
not in some far off
after-we’re-dead time,
right now.
The power of God
present with us
in the Spirit of wisdom,
and revelation.
Please Follow, Like, Comment and Share this post. Your feedback is important to me. Thanks for reading One Roof Publishing Magazine.
My sister died unexpectedly but peacefully in her sleep sometime New Year’s Day morning. As far as her caregivers – my other sister and her husband – knew, she was not ill, and yet she quietly made her way out of this life and into the next on a schedule only God knows. She was 69.
Patty wasn’t known to many. As a child, she was diagnosed as mentally retarded, back when that was a common phrase for special needs children.
From the moment I got it that she was different from other children, I thought of her as an angel waiting to make her way back to heaven. She is there now, of that I have no doubt.
When she was little, my parents did everything to help her, to get an answer for how they could make her normal. We had little in the way of money, but they spent what they could on countless trips to doctors in search of answers. The trip to a children’s hospital in Hot Springs, NM (Truth or Consequences), was the last straw for my dad. When they came out after the visit, my mother was in tears, hugging Patty and rocking her. My older brother and I sat in the back seat of the car, listening to her sobs. “No more,” my dad said. “We can’t do this anymore!” We knew enough about our dad to know he was furious, even though he didn’t raise his voice.
It wasn’t until much later that I learned that someone – a doctor or administrator at the hospital – told my parents that children like my sister shouldn’t be allowed to live. It caused too much suffering for the family. My parents loved my sister as much as they loved each of us. She was not disposable because she was different. No wonder my mom wept and my dad was angry.
Patty was a walker and talker. She had boundless energy. My parents stopped taking her out to church or to the store when it was clear her behavior couldn’t be managed. As she grew into an adult, it became necessary for her to have a medication plan, or she wouldn’t sleep.
She could be really funny. She loved the song Silent Night, and would pester my dad to sing it. Now, the family pretty much agreed my dad was no singer, but after she bugged him enough he would belt out the quintessential Christmas song with all his heart. Patty would clap her hands over her ears and say, “Don’t sing, Daddy, don’t sing! You’re hurting my ears!” and then laugh, her bright blue eyes like twin suns sparkling with delight.
Patty made us better people. Because of her, we grew up to be less judgmental, more compassionate, kind, and forgiving. We learned the importance of accepting people as they are, warts and all. Do we live those lessons all the time? Probably not, but we are not angels. Patty was and is.
In memory of my sister, Patricia Louise Conkle. I love you. And thank you to my sister Melissa and her husband Fred, for taking good care of her for these many years.
Thank you for being a reader/subscriber. It is my goal to present informative, interesting and creative content on this site. Your likes, shares and comments are welcomed and hugely appreciated.
Follow Sharon at:
www.vandermeerbooks.com
https://www.facebook.com/vandermeerbooks
Amazon Author Central
…and (he) said, “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of the heavens.”
Like little children. What does that mean? Well, children are truthful because they have yet to learn how to lie. They are loving because they have yet to learn how to hate. They are trusting because they have yet to learn suspicion. They are kind because they have yet to learn how to be cruel. We can take a positive lesson from the negative things we have learned along life’s way. In this season of celebration, I choose to let go of all that holds me back, or has the potential to mire me in fear and frustration. I choose to be more truthful, loving, trusting and kind, gifts easily passed along, and they don’t cost a thing.
___________________________
Thank you for reading. Please like, share and comment.
In August 2016, I was diagnosed with cervical cancer. The doctor caught it early and – after removing all my reproductive lady parts in September 2016 – I was deemed to be cancer-free and not in need of chemo, thank the Lord. In May 2017, Bob fell and broke his femur, had surgery and spent five weeks in rehab and another eight weeks in physical therapy. He is much improved, but continues to require the security of a walker, although he can use a cane for short distances.
A couple of weeks prior to Bob’s May accident, I was diagnosed with a basal cell cancer on my nose and prescribed a topical treatment, which I began to apply the same week of Bob’s fall. I used it as prescribed, but between going to the rehab center and keeping up with things at home, I ran out of steam and quit using it after about three weeks, but not before it had severely “burned” my nose, which took almost a month to heal. That should have told me something. Right?
Bob came home from rehab after five weeks and began physical therapy. I somehow managed to sustain a sacral fracture that pretty much took me down for about five days, and I had to do PT for a month, two times a week. I improved rapidly and was walker-free within two weeks. That would have been sometime in June.
Come August 2017, my oncologist – who had been keeping an eye on my innards – found a troublesome lesion on the vaginal wall. Mr. Cancer was back. The doctor excised the lesion in an outpatient procedure in September. At the follow-up visit, she recommended focused radiation to make sure the cancer was eradicated.
In November, I went for a dermatology appointment and learned the cancer on my nose was more serious than first thought and Mohs surgery was recommended.
But first I had to do the radiation treatments. One thing at a time, please. I had five brief but intense treatments in late November and early December. Very little in the way of side effects, but by the end I knew I’d been fairly well blasted from the inside. It’s over – but not – as I have some internal “expansion” I must do to assure the tissue doesn’t scar over. Believe me, you don’t want to know. Suffice it to say, I’d rather go on a long vacation.
And then came the nose cancer surgery. It’s called Mohs, after the fellow who came up with the procedure. It was supposed to be easy peesy, scrape and check, scrape and check, close… except that the tip-of-my-pinky-sized spot turned out to be dime-sized and had four or five “fingers” that radiated out. Let’s just say the result of the surgery is not a pretty sight. They tell me (the doctor and tech), that it will be okay after reconstructive surgery, which will take place in about six or seven weeks. In the meantime, I’m wearing a bandage that hides about 15 stitches and a lump of skin from my smile line that’s heaped on the spot on my nose the doctor dug out to get rid of the cancer. Are you still with me? In a week, I get the stitches out and six weeks after that, my nose will be reshaped to what it was before. I pray that is the case.
Interestingly, the cancers that were more worrisome have turned out to be the least of my concerns and the one I thought would be a piece of cake has turned out to be more like burned toast.
Why am I writing about all this? I haven’t been doing much in the way of original work for my online magazine, One Roof Publishing. And I backed away from my freelance writing gig with the Optic, so I could concentrate on Bob’s health and mine. And now it occurs to me, given our ages – 73 and 87 – if I wait to write until we’re 100 percent healthy, I’ll never write another word!
So. I know my saga is no more dramatic or important or life altering than yours. This is not a “poor me” diatribe. In fact, it’s a story of resilience and thankfulness. Bob and I have excellent medical care, fabulous insurance and supplemental, and caring friends and family. Our faith has kept us going when we both thought we’d had quite enough, thank you very much. But the truth is, we have been blessed and the last thing I want to do is complain.
So. I have a few things in the works, including a novel, Blind Curve, with a target publication date of Jan. 15. My serialized sci-fi novel, which will be available through One Roof Publishing, will launch around the first of the year. The opening episode will be free. Following episodes will be available to paid subscribers exclusively. When the novel reaches its conclusion, it will be published in paperback. Subscribers to the online serial will receive a signed print copy. And I’m getting back to writing articles for One Roof Publishing, combining my original work with news and information from around the web. If you have an interesting story idea for me, or if you’re doing something interesting and would like to share, please e-mail fsharon@msn.com. I’m looking for great stories and engaging Q&A articles.
More to come.
_______________________
Please share with your network. It’s how I build readership. Thank you!
Sharon Vander Meer 