Hallelujah! We Are Not Alone

  One of my favorite places to be is on the tractor or the lawn mower. There aren't many distractions as not much else can be done during this time.  It's difficult to make phone calls or send texts.  There are no bills to pay or household chores to do. Just open green space that needs attention. It's a perfect opportunity to plug in earphones and listen to music or get alone with your thoughts and spend time with God. I jokingly call it "tractor therapy". Some of my best prayer time has been spent smelling fresh cut grass while the sun beams down and the motor hums in the background.  Although God knows everything happening in our lives, He desires for us to spend time alone with Him and communicate our needs to  Him. Sadly, when I’ve had a lot going on and probably needed His guidance more than ever, I’ve sometimes failed to prioritize setting aside time with the one who loves me the most.   Do you have a quiet place that you can go to be alone with God?...

While buying a new ball and drop hitch mount so that we could pull our camper, I noticed the weight ratings marked on each item.  The ones made of heavier steel could handle pulling a heavier load.  As we put the new equipment on the back of the truck, I told Rusty, "It's crazy to think that the weight of the camper is actually being held by the little pin that goes through the hitch."  No matter how big the truck or how heavy duty the bumper, hitch, or ball are... if the pin breaks, it all comes loose. This thought is similar to the old saying, “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.”  Note to self: Always make sure the safety chains are attached.  Everyone has weaknesses. If you think you don't, you aren't being honest with yourself. (Maybe that's your weakness, lol). I have many. So, I have plenty of work to do. Our challenge is to identify these weaknesses and work towards repairing or strengthening them. If we don't, even those that seem the s...

I recently started "playing" around on the piano.  I can't read music and I struggle with rhythm, but I can hear the chord changes. So, I thought I would try to at least learn some of them. My main issue was determining whether I should move left or right. With seven octaves on a full-size keyboard, I needed help. My simple answer was to draw arrows above the words to show me which way to go.   When I told a group of church ladies about my unconventional method, one of them said she could see a blog coming about having to follow those arrows. The next time I looked at my make-shift music sheet, I thought about what she had said and the next thing you know... Wouldn't it be nice if we always had simple instructions drawn out to show us which way to go? This weekend, my friend, Vicki, drew out directions to the campground we were going to, so that we wouldn't get lost pulling our camper. After hearing of our church group getting lost the last time they went there, I...

I took Mom to Branson for the third time last weekend. The first two times, Dad stayed at their camp in Arkansas while she and I headed to Missouri to see shows and shop. He was never into the hustle and bustle of things. This time, Dad wouldn't be waiting on us to return though. She had to drive herself up from Mississippi. It was the first time she had driven that far by herself in a very long time.  The Spring of ‘21 was our first Branson trip. She was using a portable oxygen machine, due to a paralyzed diaphragm caused by nerve damage during a neck surgery. With the help of a scooter for the areas that required long walks and her oxygen, she fared pretty well.  In the Fall of ‘22 we went again, but her health had declined drastically. The need for oxygen had increased so much that she could no longer depend on the portable machine and had to have continuous flow bottles. I told her that I couldn’t take her back unless she agreed to bring a walker or wheelchair with her the...