I know it’s been a long time…

So much has happened~ you better put on a seat belt this could be a bumpy ride.

Have you ever been going along in life  thinking okay things are good, Thank You Lord, even bad days are good, because it’s just little bumps that come along-then wham out of nowhere comes the crash. That was the way my 2011 was going- I was busy at work, but I like challenges. I love my family, my church , my Sunday school ladies, life is good. I was working on my health and losing weight. I thought the winter with its snow was just wonderful.

BAM~ I walk into the job that I love and have poured myself into for going on 6 years, the job I thought I would stay in until I retired and then began to play there. The place where I loved the Seniors and loved everyday of driving to work. On this day –I heard leave today and every negative thing they could possibly say. I‘ll just say I was wrongfully terminated and the people who were my superiors did not show superior working skills in my termination meeting.

So, in the midst of that I told my daughter it was a blessing in disguise and God who knows everything has better plans for me. Sitting here today 3 weeks later, I feel ashamed because I think of the souls in Japan who would be thankful for the day when the worst thing that could happen would be losing a job. I’m put in my place when I stand beside my best friend who lost her life partner after  34 years without a warning. I need to put on my big girl panties and remember the countless blessings I have that I never deserved and just put on my running shoes and get to work. Work on sharing God’s love and mercy of which I have been a long-time recipient. I need to be so thankful , that at this season of my life I have some time to do things that are important like draw closer to God, with QUALITY quiet times I rushed through before, for opportunities  to go to Bible Study during the day, for the ability to have the time to minister to people I love and also people I have never met.

Forgive me Lord, for my pity party. I am now over it. And just like all the other major hardships I have gone through , let me find the good and let go of the hurt and any other emotions that will not edify my life to hang onto them. Let me remember each Senior that I loved and the sweet memories and the things they taught me. Let me be thankful for the things I learned that I can carry on through life and be better because of them.

Okay, enough  about me- please remember my best friend Juju, she lost her husband last Wednesday and she definitely has a new road to go down. I have to say that walking beside her through the whole experience has been an inspiration to me. She is the epitome of Grace and what Faith can do when it is the center of your life. She has always been an example of love and goodness to me, but even more so this past week.

This is Barbie, Juju and me. Juju is in the middle –she is the oldest and wisest of the three of us and I am so blessed that she is my soul-sister. I promise to walk beside you Juju and hold you up, just like our favorite verses from Ecclesiastes say.

⁹ Two are better than one,
   because they have a good return for their labor:
¹⁰ If either of them falls down,
   one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
   and has no one to help them up.
¹¹ Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
   But how can one keep warm alone?
¹² Though one may be overpowered,
   two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Our strand of three is actually four-we are the three musketeers with the Lord as our guide. We are all surrounded by the best most loving families so we are quite a force!

If anybody is still reading this I want to leave you with the verses God planted in me during this trial I am going through and all I can say is-I’m ready!

Romans 12-Placing my life before God!

^1-2 So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

^14-16Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they're happy; share tears when they're down. Get along with each other; don't be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don't be the great somebody.

^17-19Don't hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you've got it in you, get along with everybody. Don't insist on getting even; that's not for you to do. "I'll do the judging," says God. "I'll take care of it."

Be blessed! I am!