Hallelujah! We Are Not Alone

     Arkansas Dept. of Transportation               Street Camera             Interstate 40 in Clarksville, AR on Jan. 25th Last week began pretty well. Rusty was released to go back to work on Tuesday night. He did really good, but it will still take some time to build his strength back up to where it was before. He didn’t have to work too long though because a few days later the winter storm hit. The roads were covered with snow and ice and his plant shut down for a few days. I missed most of it because I was sick with what I assume was the flu. While others were making snowmen and sledding, I never ventured out of the house. Thankfully our power stayed on, so we stayed warm and no pipes froze. For the first time since April, Rusty was able to climb up on the tractor and put it to use. It was so good to look out the window and see him plowing the lane, something he wouldn't have been able to...

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm always in the market for comfortable shoes, However, ordering things online can sometimes be tricky.  I had seen the boots pictured above in a Facebook ad. They looked like they would serve me well and the price wasn't bad. So, I placed an order and waited for them to arrive.  A few weeks later, I received a package from an unknown address. I couldn't imagine what the shrink-wrapped package shoved inside my mailbox contained. I soon pulled out what appeared to be two clown shoes. They were made of something similar to the plastic bag they came in and were about two sizes too big for my size 11 feet. I couldn't even be mad about losing the money on my purchase, because the laughter my friends and I had was priceless. They have been re-gifted a couple of times and even made an appearance in a floral arrangement.  Have you ever ordered something only to find out that it was not at all what you expected? Has  life itself not quite t...

  Last week, Joseph spent a couple of days in the hospital due to complications from diabetes. There was an issue with his insulin pump that caused his sugar to get very high and put him in a dangerous state. Thankfully, it was quickly addressed, and he is much better now.  I stayed with him the first night in the hospital as I didn't want to leave until I knew he was out of danger.  Kristine spent the second night with him. While she was at work, her husband packed an "overnight bag" for her.  I have to give credit to James; he wanted to make sure she was prepared, so he packed everything she asked for plus several other things. Joseph and I laughed as she came lugging the large suitcase in for what looked like a week's long vacation. She was surprised to find more bottles of medication than she needed and among the wide assortment of clothes was a pair of scrub pants.  We told her that maybe he was afraid the hospital would be short-staffed, and she would have...

  Is anyone else hoping this year turns out better than last? I know I am. It was a rough year for several different reasons. Although I knew that God was with me all along the way, some days were still more difficult than others.   Sometimes it's hard to get up in the morning and realize that we are facing yet another stressful day of challenges and possible disappointments.  To be honest, even writing this weekly blog has been difficult at times, but it's something I started and will continue to do until the Lord leads me to stop.  The other day, I happened to look at my stats, and I realized I've had over 10,000 reads. That's 10,000 times that my everyday struggles had the potential to reach someone else.  It's easy to praise the Lord and thank Him for His blessings when all things are going well. The real test is what we do during the hard times. No matter what we may face, we are called to worship the Lord because He is worthy to be praised. Not only f...

I got these shoes off of a clearance rack in Dallas recently. I didn’t necessarily need another pair, but $20 for Ariats was a no-brainer. Since my knee is in such bad shape, I always have to be very careful of what kind of shoes I wear. If not, I won’t be able to walk the next day and the older I get, comfort also becomes a top priority.  Several years ago, when I showed my mom a pair of shoes I had purchased. She told me they were nice but looked a little manly. Since then, the family joke has been… Julie wears man shoes . We’ve had too many laughs through the years, and I just received a pair of shoes from my sister for Christmas with a note on the outside of the box saying, “I hope they’re manly enough”. Lol  Imagine how happy I was when Hey Dudes and the like became popular a few years ago. I remember sitting in a hospital waiting room with several family members one day when I took notice that everyone in the room was wearing the same style shoe. I didn’t miss the opport...

Nativity scenes are abundant this time of year. They serve as a reminder of the birth of a Savior. Since we don’t really know what Mary, Joseph, or Jesus looked like, I prefer simple silhouettes, similar to the one above. It forces us to use our imagination of that glorious night.  Many depictions  include shepherds and wise men in the scene. We know the shepherds were there, but we aren’t told how many of them came. Since the wise men were traveling far from the East, we can assume it took them a while to get there, and didn’t arrive until much later. The gifts of frankincense, gold, and myrrh make it easy for us to believe there were three wise men. However, we can’t be certain since the Bible doesn’t specify. One thing we can be sure of is this… No matter who all was present on that night in Bethlehem… Jesus was there. Immanuel, God With Us. He was there in a manager, there on a cross, there in a tomb, and is there at the right hand of the Father.  This Christmas, I p...