"Ask and receive that your joy may be full"

This stands alone.

No picture can comptete.

God spoke this so powerfully to me early this morning.

I share it here trembling inside.

Oh to be able to completely understand this passage and apply it to my life.

It is the answer to every prayer I have ever prayed for myself...

💗

"I enjoin you thus to pray, that not only may you be delivered from all despondency and heart trouble, but that in the enjoyment of all heavenly and spiritual blessings, and in possession of all that is necessary and sufficient to secure the success of the great enterprise on which you are about to enter, you may be filled with holy happiness, heavenly joy ~ joy in the Holy Spirit.

There is a close connection between the two advices given by an apostle under the influence of the Holy Spirit of His Master Jesus...

 'Rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing.' (I Thessalonians 5:16&17)

The second is the means of obtaining the first. If we cease to pray, we are likely to cease to rejoice. We must pray without ceasing that we may rejoice evermore. And were we, instead of being anxious, careful, troubled about many things,

 'to be anxious about nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, make our requests known unto God, with thanksgiving,' (Philippians 4:6)

Assuredly the peace of God would keep our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus; and amid external troubles, our joy would be full."

From...

Expositions of the Gospel of John 

Arthur W Pink

"Ask and receive that your joy may be full." John 16:24

a few more thoughts about "the shot"

*See my previous post  "the shot."

This afternoon the sun-drenched grassy hill has sent up tiny little purple flowers.

Also, a rock, (maybe a meteor) was dropped into the mix.

The wind has been blowing all day making the scene even more picturesque.

I mention the hill to say...

I'm still not okay.

My body has not yet righted itself.

I have decided that I had an adverse allergic/chemical reaction to the medicine in "the shot."

It's kinda scary.

The hill of grass and flowers make me smile.

Ordinary, commonplace things become extraordinary when you are on steroids for your knee pain.

This verse...

Jesus said,

 "Take courage; I have overcome the world."

John 6:33

 

the shot

I first noticed it while I was packing my things to move from Pinebrook Court.

After I fell and broke my collarbone my knee started giving me pause.

What is this strange feeling?

I've never had any problems with my knees.

A big move.

Lots of stairs at the apartment.

Another big move.

Oh no!

I could feel it clicking in and out of place.

It hurt.

It wasn't getting any better.

In fact, 

it was getting worse.

On Wednesday at 9:00 AM my doctor said,

"I can make that pain go away."

She left and came back with a huge needle

 that when shoved into my knee caused a lot of blood to come gushing out.

I gulped and wished I had not seen that.

It took a while,

 but the bleeding finally stopped.

I walked out of that office a changed woman.

The knee pain was mostly gone,

but I was embarking on a totally crazy experience.

I was high as a kite,

completely wired,

amazingly able to sustain an incredible amount of nonstop activity.

My thoughts and my words were functioning at an extremely high level.

Amanda was amazed at the intensity of my texts.

I felt like I could change the world.

I had never had a shot of cortisone before.

Hopefully, I will not ever have another.

I couldn't sleep,

couldn't relax,

Stayed wired for 48 hours.

Then yesterday I crashed.

Slept for two hours in the middle of the day and felt drugged when I woke up.

Depression hit hard after that.

Will I ever feel normal again?

On the morning after the shot,

 I saw a little hill outside of my bedroom window.

It is just just a big pile of black dirt on a construction site.

It's been there ever since I moved in.

 Overnight it had grown grass and become a sun-drenched thing of beauty that needed to be photographed and shared with the world.

I post the picture here because it kinda sums up my shot odyssey.

Over the top fascination with the mundane of life.

*My body just doesn't do well when foreign substances are injected into my bloodstream.

 

 

cathy and bubba forever

Death is part of life.

Everyone who is born into this world is destined to die.

Death is awful for those left behind.

You move on but you can't stop looking back.

You remember tiny little details of a trip you took together.

You wake up suddenly in the middle of the night and reach for him.

You hear a song and there you are,

back in the van,

riding through the Rocky Mountains.

It's snowing to beat the band.

You think at that moment you will always be this happy.

I never thought much about death for us before Bubba left me.

It seemed we would keep on being Cathy and Bubba forever.

Now it's just me trying to figure out which screwdriver to use on something I have no idea how to fix.

Yes, if you commit to love each other forever, 

there will be pain for one of you when the other one of you departs.

I'm no longer mired in grief.

I'm living my life.

I'm learning which screwdriver to use.

But,

It's not easy,

and I sure would love it if you would walk through my new front door

Henry Cleland aka Bubba.

💙

 

things are winding down

I've lived on Hope Lane for 40 days and 40 nights.

Seems biblical to me,

Everything is finally coming together.

Friday, the last of my window coverings were installed.

I chose white linen drapes for the big slider in the sunroom that is painted Oyster Bay.

Now I have complete privacy in my home.

No one can peep in my windows and scare me to death.

I'm very thankful!

The painting is done.

Tomorrow a helper is coming to give me a deep clean.

Then I will start to put pictures on the walls

and beautiful things on my shelves and in the bookcases.

It has been slow going getting to this point because of a lot of waiting for workers to show up.

But now starts the fun part.

This is my bedroom.

I love how the sunlight pours in every afternoon.

I'm not ready to reveal it yet because it's not done.

It is painted Light French Gray.

I have a new Queen bed...

More suited to sleeping alone. 😔

The chair is one of those Stressless ones.

I fall completely apart when I sit in it.

It really does relieve all of my stress and is the perfect prerequisite activity before going to bed.

I highly recommend it to anyone with any kind of back pain.

ps ~ I finally found my white everyday dishes.

It's been quite a while.

I still have not located my queen soft and cozy blanket for my bed.

🛏

 

spring break 2022

Last Sunday right after church, the Cleland family and I left for Florida.

We picked up a quick lunch.

ate in the car,

and rode with excitement to meet up with the Hollingsworth family in Orlando.

Our goal was to spend the day in Sea World on Monday.

We met that goal and had a hoot of a good time.

Any time spent all together as a family is a best blessing from the Lord.

Here is Gus contemplating a large fish.

Our love of dolphins goes way back to when these kids were babies.

I read a book called 

Dolly Dolphin Can't Stop Clicking

to them over and over.

We have watched them play in front of my beach condo.

One of them even stole a pair of my red sunglasses and went swimming out to sea.

(this is a tall tale that is repeated to this very day.)

Sea World does a great job with the dolphins.

The dolphin show is amazing!

Here I am standing in front of the dolphin tank.

I think one is swimming behind me!

😉

An incredible picture.

I've always loved the ocean so much.

So beautiful!

I love to see depictions of God's underwater creation.

Lucy is missing from this picture.

I think she was off riding one of the many terrifying roller coasters with her dad.

We had a short but lovely getaway.

It did me good to escape from the rigors of moving in for a while.

We enjoyed delicious Italian food both nights at the Hollingsworth's condo.

There was much fellowship, laughter, and fun.

A great time was had by all.

 

my story

I'm busy writing my story in my new home.

Opening boxes full of things that are authentic to me.

I love this journey I'm on...

making a brand new house my very own!

🏡

 

my blue island

After almost a week of having people in my house all day long,

(except for Tuesday when I melted down)

the painting is done.

It couldn't have turned out more perfect!

I always wanted a blue island...

It far exceeds my expectations.

I am exhausted,

drunk on paint fumes,

 and elated that it turned out so well.

Now for some Spring Break time in Florida with my favorite people.

💙

I cannot believe how cold it is.

I had to lug all of my flowers inside

so they wouldn't get killed by the cold!

I really miss my man!!!

 

THINK

This is what greeted me when the painters left yesterday. 

My whole bedroom was shrouded in plastic.

They left a tiny entry to my computer.

My new bed had two layers of protection.

They will start on this room first thing in the morning.

Me..."What should I do about sleeping?"

THINK!

I began peeling back the layers.

"I can put the plastic back in place when I wake up at the crack of dawn."

I DID!

When I finish this post I will put it all back like they left it.

They will never know!

😉

The sunroom color fulfilled my dream.

It is as close to my inspiration picture as humanly possible

when we had no idea what the name and number of the color was.

See below.

The painters are almost done...

maybe tomorrow.

I have adapted to living on the edge this week.

Everything in the house is in disarray.

The attic is my refuge.

The guys are coming today to install my stove.

To get to this day on that process has been one long, expensive trial.

If it happens I will rejoice.

If not, I will continue to wait patiently.

All of this gives me so many opportunities to work on cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit in my heart. Which one comes instantly to my mind?

SELF-CONTROL.

 

please forgive my rant post on Tuesday

I have a slight tendency to overreact.

I overreacted on Tuesday.

When circumstances slip out of my control I lose it.

I am so glad I am able to have my home painted in my favorite colors.

Just wanted to apologize for my lack of thanksgiving.

The painters came yesterday.

They painted Sea Salt in all the right places.

I am expecting them any minute now to work in my bedroom.

Soon this desk and my computer will be shrouded in tape and plastic.

 as was my toilet and bathroom last evening.

To my surprise, 

when the painters left,

my bathroom was completely bound up as was every other bathroom on the first floor.

I wasn't warned.

Everything I needed was unavailable including my toothbrush.

I'm living in La La Land.

It's messing with my mind a little bit.

We are all creatures of habit you know.

But I'm thankful and grateful for this job being done,

 for the talented people who work so hard,

and for the beautiful colors that make this house come alive.

No more ranting, 

I promise.

c

I asked for this trouble

I couldn't be happy with Frosty White.

I couldn't leave well enough alone.

What was I thinking?

The picking out of the paint colors was the fun part.

Dealing with painters who speak minimal English and me with no interpreter,

well, that's just asking for trouble.

They showed up yesterday morning bright and early.

The painter dropped off his wife and a young girl.

He left after I toured the rooms with him and told him exactly what color I wanted and where. 

 I even put up sticky notes in every room.

He took some pictures with his phone.

The girls worked so hard all day cleaning and taping the woodwork.

I felt sorry for them.

The magnitude of their work was huge.

We mainly communicated by smiling and nodding our heads.

I spent the whole day working in my garage.

It's sparkling and mostly set up.

It's a girly girl garage.

😊

He finally came back to retrieve the ladies at 6:30 pm.

I was hungry and exhausted.

"See you in the morning at 10."

"We will start painting."

Me, "Sounds great! See you then!"

I grabbed a quick bite and started moving the furniture, the lamps, the rugs, etc.

I got up this morning and got back to work getting everything ready and put away.

At 9:00 the doorbell rang and I thought,

"Oh good, they are early."

No, it was the plumbers.

They were really early...

they were scheduled for 1:00 this afternoon.

At a little after 10, the painter and one of the girls came.

They dropped off two large barrels and 2 small cans of paint.

"Hooray," I said, "let this begin!"

When he gestured that the majority of the house was to be painted Oyster Bay

 I knew there had been a failure to communicate.

I made abundantly clear yesterday twice that the main color was Sea Salt.

They left quickly.

I didn't cry.

I think he said they would be back tomorrow at 9.

I'm really not sure.

I have no idea what the outcome of this will be,

And, I can't even tell if the finish is Eggshell.

 

decisions

Last evening I made my final decision on the colors I want to live with in my new house.

Here they are...

The great room, foyer, and guest bedroom will be Sea Salt.

The sunroom will be Oyster Bay.

My bedroom will be Light French Gray.

The kitchen island will be Tradewind.

I love the names of paint colors.

My choices take on a definite seaside influence.

🏖

Here are Erika and I yesterday making the final choices.

She's so good at this.

I defer to her.

I didn't end up going with the color in the inspiration picture.

That would be the darkest green in the picture above.

It never had a name.

Erika tried to match it to the picture.

We both thought it would be too shockingly green on the wall.

All of the other colors are in the Sea Salt Family.

So here goes.

I'll have a painter in the house for the next week, maybe two.

Now it's time to start moving things out of the way.

 

bashful girl

She has taken her rightful place in front of my new home.

Bashful Girl was given to me many years ago by my Mom and Dad.

She has stood proudly at the entrance of several of my dwelling places.

She has much sentimental value.

When I was a child I was a very bashful little girl. 

In many ways, I am still that girl.

I closed on my house one month ago today.

I stood out in front with my new set of keys in my hand.

I was giddy with the excitement of new beginnings.

I can't believe I've lived here for a month.

Now I start the painting process.

These are cookie-cutter houses in all respects.

You kind of have to make them your own after you move in.

The selection of paint colors was very limited.

Not much to choose from at all.

My all-time favorite color is Sea Salt (6204) by Sherwin Williams.

It is an amazingly soothing color that is wildly popular.

Sometimes it looks baby blue ~ sometimes I see a pale green hue.

Sea Salt is a given for most of my house.

The other colors are choices for other rooms.

I am painting the island blue.

My bedroom will be gray.

The sunroom will be a darker shade of green.

I am still deciding on all but the Sea Salt.

That's a given.

I will let you know what I land on for the other colors.

The painting starts on Monday.

My painter said it will take approximately a week or two.

My excitement level is ratcheting up again.

This is so much fun.

This is the inspiration picture in a Serena and Lily catalog that inspired 

me to start the process of building this house way back in January of 2021.

The same picture appeared to me again in January 2022 as a reminder.

I'm putting the color above in my sunroom.

A bold move, but I think it will be stunning.

So that's me for now.

I'm loving my new house.

It just feels right.

 

the last time our family was all together

We were on a cruise just before Bubba left us and went to heaven.

At that moment none of us knew or could even imagine what was coming in just a few days.

That he would leave us was incomprehensible.

 

So glad for the memories of this special time together.

Ah, the bliss of not knowing...

 of being carefree for a short moment in time.

We all love you so much sweet husband, dad, and granddaddy.

I dream of the time we will all be together again.

💙