TAKE A WALK WITH A TURTLE! PAUSE FOR A MOMENT!

Exploring The Mighty Oaks

"Imagine", (Pause)

Getting into a car and going from point A to point B without stopping at stop signs or traffic lights until you reached point B.

Doing so would cause a little chaos and destruction to you and those around you.
Although taking walks from point A to point B with no stops would not necessarily create chaos and destruction, one would not create that sense of wonder and adventure were it not for the little interruptions when accompanying a loved one on a walk.

Checking Out The Rails

A pause
"A temporary stop in action, a break, an interruption, a lull, respite, hiatus, interlude, rest, wait, a breather," what ever you want to call it is very important to care giving and giving your loved one an adventure of the moment.
Pauses.... enable us to reflect on the moment to notice and perhaps this is why walking and resting are so enjoyable.
Pauses...allow us to reset the button and reconnect.
Don't walk as if you have an urgent appt. with the nearest rest room unless in case you really do, which can often happen when taking a walk with a loved one, including me.

Checking Out the Vinca

     This world is a crazy place, a beautiful place, a sinful place, and it keeps moving from one adventure to another, crisis to crises, strangeness to beauty to many pauses and many more as the world closes in for our loved ones, until there is nothing left to do but PAUSE  in the wonder of a God who does not abandon.

Fountains Are Favorites

The caravan keeps moving on, and the care giver is to make it all work out, but somehow, instead God makes it all work out.
Our adventures never turn out to be our own.

"Take a walk with a turtle
and behold the world in PAUSE."  ~Bruce Feiler

Home Pauses

 

 

You DON'T NEED a Plan. JUST DO IT!

I found it fascinating that my third most viewed blog post of all times was posted July 10, 2013, REFLECTIONS ON WALKING

 WALKING-WALKING-WALKING

Many of my care giving adventures included WALKING

The next time you put on your walking shoes, head out the door with your loved one to explore your neighborhood.

Go out for just 10 minutes or more.  Just WALK.  You don't need a plan.  Most of my greatest adventures were those the least planned.  When caring for a loved one most plans change from moment to moment anyway.

When you're ready to bump up your outdoor stroll, look for green spaces.  Learn about the trees, the flowers, the birds.

Incorporate different textures, walk on bricks, walk on grass, walk on concrete, walk over stones, take a dirt path.

And if and when you can not get out of the house because...

WALK

As you walk past that kitchen clock, begin your walk about the house on the 5 min. increment.(then you can tell how long you have walked each time you pass that clock)  Take advantage of those long hallways and walk-through rooms and open floor plans.

Take advantage to spend that 10 to 20 minutes, while walking to pray and just thank God for the gift of walking.  As you continue your walk other items to pray for will come to mind.

 

 

 

Moms Need Theology Too | Desiring God

Moms Need Theology Too | Desiring God



"The word theology comes from the Greek words theos (God) and logos
(word or body of knowledge). Theology is the body of knowledge about
God, or put simply, the study of God. As Christians, we should desire to
know all we can about God. After all, he is our Maker, Creator,
Sustainer, and Savior.



But learning theology is just the first step. We also have to apply
it. And when theology intersects with our daily lives we find that it
isn’t just for seminary professors, but for all of us."

Out of the Ordinary: Find Phrases

Out of the Ordinary: Find Phrases 

This is a very good review of this book and sounds like one that I would want to purchase to enhance & encourage study in the Word.

Alzheimer's Resources: Flip Book

I am glad that I am a part of Gary & Laurie's journey.  My husband and I have been helping care for Gary several yrs. now.

This is an excellent idea to help out in the early stages of Alzheimer's.

How Long Till I Can Die? A 5-Year Journey in Hospice Caregiving | TGC | The Gospel Coalition

How Long Till I Can Die? A 5-Year Journey in Hospice Caregiving | TGC | The Gospel Coalition

"We learned that hospice care giving is a ministry of incarnational
presence to others at a time when they desperately need it. This journey
revealed a “theology of care” in showing us God’s care in the gospel,
and, likewise, our often broken responses to his offers of care for us."

This is one of the most decent articles I have ever read on the subject.  As a current care giver to my friend's loved one, I found it very descriptive.

It is a journey, one that we would not really plan to take, but it is what it is.

Often times, I am literally exhausted with all the cares of taking care of not only my loved ones but those of others, however, in the end I find it very rewarding.

I feel like I have been a part of this process.

 Upon learning that a former co-worker and friend had passed away early this morning,  although, I was not her care giver, I was part of the process as many prayers and scripture verses sent to her iPhone intensified the process.

A close friend kept us informed  almost daily on the hardships, emotions, the ups, the downs that evolved through updated e-mails.

On hearing of her home going this morning, it was a somewhat sense of relief one feels at a birth and shifting one's priorities of prayer onto all other decisions a family must make.  These are not easy decisions.  I know first hand of these things.

Totally Ridiculous: My thoughts on Albert Einstein

I am not particularly fascinated by Albert Einstein but as I have in past blogs noted that blog traffic has stopped by those posts the most, there by receiving the most hits.
I got to wondering why others found him so fascinating as he was NOT very favorable to Scripture and had such a disdain for our Christian beliefs.

So I decided to delve into why some people find him so fascinating.  I did not have to go far into it to decide I will not elaborate or go into great detail as I found his life so despicable in his regards to beliefs I hold dear.

So I set Google to work.
And found this most ridiculous trivia and it was so far out I don't know who would even have the imagination to make this up.
Here is an excerpt:
"Through spiritual research, we found that prior to his life on Earth Albert Einstein was at a spiritual level of 50%.  Due to this, he was in the subtle-region of Heaven (Swarga) for a few months as a reward for his high merits in his previous life. Heaven is the beginning of the subtle positive regions in the Universe. When in Heaven, he ridiculed the divine play of some heavenly beings. For this reason, as punishment, his stay in the subtle-region of Heaven was cut short and he had to be reborn on Earth. Thus even though he ultimately attained great fame on Earth; due to his folly in Heaven, he had to give up an existence of superlative pleasures and no unhappiness whatsoever in Heaven. Compared to experiencing Heaven, the roller coaster ride of happiness and unhappiness that life on Earth provides is in itself a punishment."
According to Wikepedia  Einstein's religious views . He said he believed in the "pantheistic" God of Baruch Spinoza, but not in a personal god, a belief he criticized. He also called himself an agnostic, while disassociating himself from the label atheist, preferring, he said, "an attitude of humility corresponding to the weakness of our intellectual understanding of nature and of our own being."
 <sup>He had a Jewish childhood history & observed its traditions until the age of twelve even though his parents sent him to Catholic school.

"Through the reading of popular scientific books I soon reached the conviction that much in the stories of the Bible could not be true."  He stated.

In a letter he wrote:
"It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it." 
""The idea of a personal God is quite alien to me and seems even naïve." ( his book "Choose Life: The Biblical Call To Revolt"[ Einstein in 1954. sent  a letter  and wrote, "The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still primitive legends. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this. "</sup>

Eternity is a long time to be wrong.
It is my hope and prayer as you read this blog that a 180 turn will set your lives on a course with Heaven in view as God's Word is true and that it will encourage you to read it and find the personal God.
  

Cultivating Joy: Where Seldom Is Heard A DISCOURAGING WORD...

Cultivating Joy: Where Seldom Is Heard A DISCOURAGING WORD...

Where Seldom Is Heard A DISCOURAGING WORD...

Today’s ENCOURAGING words came by attending our Alzheimer’s support meeting.
In spite of the unpredictable events that pop up in our lives, God has a plan for our care and comfort.
Scripture says that “David ENCOURAGED himself in the Lord his God.”
Why is ENCOURAGEMENT so important?
It is important because Scripture thinks it IS important.
I Thess.5:11  “…ENCOURAGE one another…”
Without ENCOURAGEMENT , hardships will become meaningless and our will to go on wanes.
ENCOURAGEMENT makes it a little easier to live in our fallen world.
ENCOURAGEMENT makes it easier to love Jesus.
ENCOURAGEMENT gives hope.
 Rom. 15:4  “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance  and through the ENCOURAGEMENT of the Scriptures we might have hope.”
ENCOURAGEMENT carries us through times of trials and burdens.
ENCOURAGEMENT nurtures patience and compassion.
ENCOURAGEMENT makes it easier for the advancement of God’s kingdom
Let’s face it ENCOURAGEMENT just makes life easier!
Today we were ENCOURAGED to look at how God uses his attributes to ENCOURAGE and comfort us.
We took a tour of Isaiah 39 & 40.  What is our source of comfort and where do we go to get it?  Isa.51:12  “I am he who comforts you.”
We get our comfort from God and his Word.
So what are these attributes of God that he displays to add to our ENCOURAGEMENT?
God ENCOURAGES us with the comfort of redemption
Isa. 40:5 God ENCOURAGES us by revealing his glory.
ENCOURAGES us by the promise of God’s Word standing forever. Vs.8
We are ENCOURAGED by his power. Vs. 10
We are ENCOURAGED just by the fact that God will tend to His flock like a shepherd.  Vs.11
God has the knowledge and understanding to know what ENCOURAGES and comforts the weary even though there is no way out.
So to sum things up we should be very grateful and ENCOURAGED just by the knowledge that we are redeemed, we can have confidence in the Word,God cares for us as a loving shepherd, God is far wiser and understanding of the whole picture so that His glory will be revealed.
WHY IS ENCOURAGEMENT SO IMPORTANT?
BECAUSE IT IS SOMETHING IMPORTANT IN THE SCRIPTURES.
IT MAKES LIFE EASIER.  GOD WANTS US TO TAKE COMFORT BY ENCOURAGEMENT.
Our Alzheimer’s support meetings are meant to ENCOURAGE those who are care giving a loved one as well as to ENCOURAGE others to come along side for the support, prayer partners, or to provide respite care.
A special thanks to Ryan who ENCOURAGED and led us on this tour today.  Looking forward to more adventures on ENCOURAGEMENT.