Seven Random Things

So I've been tagged --- and now have to tell 7 random things about myself!!


1. My favorite church season has always been Christmas -- it started in grade school at St. Matthew's with singing Silent Night (first verse in German ) lights off and just the glow of the
Christmas trees --- still brings back wonderful memories.... and there is no other way Slient Night should be sung!!!!!!!!!!!!! but now I want Christmas without snow ---I know I know it's showing my age but I don't care ........we don't need snow to have a great Christmas. My best Christmas gift was a Barbie,, still have a picture of me holding it tightly while little brother shows off his gun and holster set which included a cowboy hat!!!!!!! Those were the days :-)

2. I wanted to go to Arizona after graduation and be a teacher at the Indian orphanage there,,
but instead I stayed here and am working in the medical field.

3. My favorite food is pasta ---------- any shape -any way ,, should have been Italian instead
of German......

4. Car rides are my passion -- love to get in the car and find some place new or find out where
this road leads .... a true Karen Ride is at least 100 miles !!!!!! So make sure you take a bathroom
break before we start because no telling when you may get another one !!! :-)

5. HT made quite the impact on my life --- still don't understand all of it but am truly grateful for where God has me now . I firmly believe every youth should go to at least a couple of
HT conferences during their Jr/Sr years......... soak up all you can while you can.

6. The older I get the more I realize how much I don't know..........How I ever made it through
school is beyond me....but I do like to learn ..........History is a favorite.... of course you know
Geography wasn't :-)

7. Want to be the kind of friend that people can count on to help,, be there when needed
and that people like having around............... still working on this one.

Well that's about all the old lady can come up with at this hour --- now that all are bored you
should have no trouble falling asleep!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sweet Dreams

A Very Special Anniversary

Today is a very important date in my life, one of those life changing events. It was one year ago tonight that TQ and I started our journey down a road we never saw coming, but we thank God
daily He put us on it's path. We started attending a bible study at a church we had heard about at a HT retreat(thanks KH). It was a small group but that didn't stop the Pastor from being well prepared (we later learned he's not just well prepared but also very well educated). The group was studying the Book of Concord -- which being a Lutheran I knew about and also by being a Lutheran hadn't looked at it since conformation class :-) What struck both TQ and I that night wasn't just the knowledge the pastor has( it is impressive) and how little we knew ( we figured that out in the first five minutes of class !!) but the way this group wanted to learn, enjoyed learning and had a hunger for learning. -- Amazing--Even though we were still apprehensive -- it felt good to be around this group of strangers, in an unfamiliar church, in an area we had never been in, learning things we had never heard or had forgotten. All we could say on the way home was-- what a blessing!!!!!!!!!!!!! We had no idea that night that three months later TQ and her family and I would be calling this church home and it's members part of our extended families,, one of the greatest blessings to date!! Not just because of all the "warm fuzzies" we have when we are around these people we have grown to love and cherish,,, but the way in which this church values the preaching and teaching of the Gospel in it's truth and purity. The way the Sacraments are given according to what God commands. The love for learning from the youngest to the oldest and the love for the Lord and their neighbor,, now a days all this is a rarity in a church. God has graciously showered me with many many blessings over the decades, for which I am truly grateful -- but I had no idea stepping into that bible study that night what a blessing He was going to give me. What a joy !!!!!!!!! So on this anniversary I want to thank God for giving me such a blessing I don't deserve. To TQ for going with me that night I wouldn't had gone alone. To Pastor S and Pastor G for their love for God and their vocation. And to the members for their out pouring of love. My prayer is that God continues to bless this church and it's families with many more decades of learning and love so we can enjoy many more anniversaries and that more people will find Christ's love and compassion here among us.

One of Life's Struggles or Just Plain Laziness

That's what I've been tossing back and forth for quite some time,, since the first Higher Thing retreat in 2006. How much I don't know about the history of the Lutheran church, church fathers and just the simple catechism memorization's. I "grew up" in the Lutheran church, went to Lutheran school for 9 years of my life -- learned the catechism,, hymns,,bible verses-- the "whole 9 yards" . I know with age you lose things you've learned-- but is it that or the laziness on my part not to keep up with it. One of the goals I had during my "time off" was to read and study more --- and how much did I do ------------- zero!!! I have several bible studies and countless books but never touched them. And then I go back to church and see all these darling little ones that have no problem saying the catechism,, love learning and are eager to be in God's house,,, what a blessing -- what a statement ,,, so why don't I have it????????? I just ordered a book to be released next month-- a daily devotion book.......looks very good but shall we take bets on how long I keep up with it!!!!!!!! I know laziness is a sin and I guess I can say I'm the Queen of this one!!! But yet what am I doing to change my behavior??? I came home from church today -- too rainy to do anything (if I could) so a great day to read and what did I do ----
sleep!!!!!!!!! Like I said the Queen. It's interesting,, one of the reasons I started going to this church is how they concentrate so much on learning -- yet I'm not taking advantage of this gift.
Why????????? There is so much I need to learn or relearn and the years tick away without
any great improvement on my part and there is no one to blame but me. So is this what I need to jump start the old person or will we come back next year to the same kind of blog!!! God
only knows....................

Thankfullness

This post is overdue,, the title doesn't seem enough but here goes;



First-- I'm thankful for my Pastors -- Pastor S and Pastor G thank you for not listening to me and coming to see me,, preaching the Gospel and giving me the Sacrament.
Your visits got me through some very blue days. Your words were always what I needed to
hear at the time............ Thank You for taking your vocation seriously and for caring for your
congregation.

Second -- I'm thankful for all the help I have had- to be able to stay at home. My girls My girls
what can I say -- you gave up a lot of your summer to stay with an old lady... I hope I wasn't
too mean and cranky!!!!!!!!!!! All my friends and family that got things the way they needed to be to be home...All the visits and phone calls and cards........bright spots in my day.

Third -- My church family -- the cards,, the visits,, all the prayers -- the welcoming I got from the kids when I returned -- the church in action is what I saw and I am eternally grateful that God has surrounded me with such loving,, caring people. K & R next time will watch the movie !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)

Fourth -- My physician ,, my therapist and all the other people that took care of me during this time...they know their stuff and they are very compassionate and caring people. Definitely a
gift from God.

Fifth -- Wanda at work -- she took over my job along with hers,, I can't thank her enough . I
owe her the world !!!! She's been a great co-worker and dear person for ten years,, another
gift from God! I also am thankful for the doctor's I work for -- they were very patient in waiting for me to return,, they also are very caring and compassionate men-- this community is very
blessed to have these guys here.

Reading over what I wrote I can't help but thank God for everything over these past weeks
(past lifetime) He gave me some struggles that of course I wasn't happy about,, but He always
got me through them and there were more blessings during this time then I would have ever
dreamed of. He of course deserves all the praise..

Keys in hand and we're off !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Went to see the dear old doctor this morning and although he didn't tell me everything I wanted to hear ,, I did get some things that made me smile ---- I can start driving !!!!!!! Yeah!!
Have already been on one ride today. I can't go back to work until the day after Labor Day :-(
I still can't put much weight on it -- the therapist comes tomorrow to teach me how to walk with just using 50 -60 lbs on the left side ,(that's probably just my 2 toes !!!!!! ) but all in all there is
some glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. Well that's all for now because Miss Margaret and I have to go on another ride!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-) :-)

Same old Same old

Nothing new --- Nothing has changed-- Still can't sleep well,, Still can't put any weight on the leg, still can't get up and around like I'd like , Still have to have help with the laundry, Can't get groceries, can't go to the bank or run errands and the big ones ---I can't go to work and church !!!!!!!!! So what if the Dr. tells me on Monday -- keep doing what I'm doing for another 3 weeks!!!!!!!! It may not be the end of the world but it's going to come close in my book at this time. It's almost Labor Day and all I've done is having to have people rearrange their schedules so they can help me---Don't get me wrong the help has been a God sent but I'd rather help people than people help me!!!! I don't want to hear how it's coming along just keep doing,
I want to hear I can start having my life back. I hate to say it but here goes --- I'd like to be able to mop the kitchen floor or clean the bathroom-- I know I know that won't last more the one or two times but it still came out of my mouth now -- can you see the desperation -- Cleaning sounds fun!!!! I need to get up and do something before I completely loose it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Can I see bright spots --- Yes but I don't want to I want to have a pity party.
Bright spots -- 1. I have had little to no pain. 2. Both pastors have been more than gracious in showing their care for their members and what they need. 3. I've enjoyed the people coming over to visit and getting to know them better. 4. And of course my right hand girls I can't begin to be able to thank them enough. 5. All the other thing my friends have done to make this as smooth as possible -- running errands -- getting groceries -- fixing things in the house etc .etc .
6. All the prayers, cards, picture and phone calls -- always a bright spot in the day. A lot of
people don't have all this to help them so I am truly thankful and blessed I do. So should I
quit complaining and deal with it ??????????? YES -- Whatever happens on Monday I will
deal with ( maybe not well) and will get over it............God knows what is going to happen and
I need to trust him with the outcome. Easier written than done!!! I have to remember
Jeremiah 29:11 and know that some day I'll look back on this and laugh and most importantly feel very blessed for all the people and love God has put in my life.

Grant me patience Lord.................but hurry

Just a little old statement people have been saying for decades but right now it holds a special meaning........... that's my prayer. The surgery went very well but post op they discovered I had a hairline fx in my femur because............you're going to love this........because my bones are small and the retracters were too much for them so they went crack!!!!!! So because of that I have
no weight bearing on the leg for 6 weeks up to 3 months,, depending on how it heals... My vote is for 2 weeks but nobody ask me!!!!!!!!!!!! You can't imagine how often you use the leg and the little things you don't think of until you go to do them and can't............so I have helpers with me most of the time,, my nurse and her family have been there since the start with whatever I need and TQ has been an angel of mercy ,, so has her family, I don't know what I'd do without them, but I still would rather do it myself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! there's that control thing God is making sure gets broken............because I have no control now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We're down one week ???? to go ,, my prayer and my prayer request is that God gives me the patience to endure this (I know He will)
and the self control to be sweet to those around me --- for their sakes!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)
I appreciate all the prayers, cards, notes, phone calls and visits -- it's a diversion and a ray of sunshine in my day so thank you very much!!!! Pastor thanks for taking the time to shop down here so often lately ---I know I originally said don't bother but I'm very glad you have and I loved the visit with the all the babies,,big and small that was a great day!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So God is teaching me patience and letting go- so please pray I get through this (and all the people around me) and still have friends after it's over.... :-) !!!!