Follow Jesus~ A Love Story

FOLLOW JESUS - A LOVE STORY

I woke up in the wee hours this morning thinking the above title! 

John 12:23-26
And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.

24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

26 If any man serve me, let him follow me ; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.
KJV

What powerful words Jesus spoke here to his Disciples.  We are His disciples if we love Him and obey His Words.

John 10:27-30

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me :

28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.

30 I and my Father are one.
KJV

The greatest Commandment is this:

Matt 22:37-40

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38 This is the first and great commandment .

39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
KJV

From Genesis to Revelations the LORD desires a LOVE relationship with us!  He looks over the earth to find those people that desire this relationship.  For those that desire this relationship with Him, they must deny themselves, pick up their cross daily, and follow Him! 

Luke 18:7-8

7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?

8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?KJV

Col 3:12-17

12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;

13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

14 And above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfectness.

15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
KJV

While we worry about the politics, and worry about the things of this world, The LORD tells us:

Heb 13:5-8

5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

7 Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.

Heb 13:8

8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
KJV

Let not your heart be troubled!  Follow Jesus!  Pick up your cross daily, and follow Jesus!

Love Him without worry.  Forsake the temptations in this world, and obey His Holy Word!

These are the things on my heart this morning~

This is my baby Kendell Girl!  My granddaughter Katiegrace gave me this dog purse for my birthday this month, and yesterday was my first time using it.  It is really nice, and Kendell likes it too!  She doesn't try to get out, but it does have a built in strap just so she wouldn't be able to jump out while I am walking carrying her.  Her fur is growing out, and she is needing a little hair cut. 

Hello Friends,

Hope all is well with each of you!  I am doing pretty good today.  It is a dreary, steady, rainy day, and I'm LOVING it!  I have the back slider open and listening to the constant patter of the rain on our aluminum patio cover!  What a sweet sound!

I was going to write more today, but this is all I have to say.  It is now a few minutes to midnight~

So, Good Night Friends~

Hi Friends~

Hi Friends,
I am back!  LOL  Had no idea so much time would go by before I wrote another post.  The above sewing was from my Hubby for my Birthday this year.  I didn't even have all the plastic covering off of it yet.  I have plugged it in, but still have yet to put thread in it and run her~ (I want to give her a special name.)   Been looking on Pinterest for some ideas to get my imagination going again with sewing, and I think I will just start out with some type of free form sewing and make a tote bag.  I'll take pictures when I do.

This past month has been very nice with lots of family activities, and celebrations.  Tomorrow is my grandson Owen's 7th birthday, and then our 41st anniversary and my son's 39th birthday.  November is one of those few months of the year we don't have a birthday to celebrate, but there is Thanksgiving.

I have been thinking a lot about my dad recently.  He passed away in 1981 while I was expecting my third child Joan.  Not so sure why my mind is going to him so much, but it is. 

Well, I am crocheting my granddaughter Gwynnie an afghan right now.  Again, pictures later.  She picked out the colors herself. 

My daughter Joan and I have also been crocheting hats for Samaritan Purses Christmas Shoe Boxes...https://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/pack-a-shoe-box/.  The hats will go to my other daughter Donna who puts together these boxes as her Christmas project.  So we all are a little involved in doing them.  It is a worthy charity~

Many of us have some level of depression we deal with for one reason or another.  I know I do.  It isn't real evident to most people, but those closest to me know I have lots of down days or moments.  This past 2 years I had lost interest in just about everything in life.  Nothing seemed to hold much interest for me.  Until recently I have been trying to get some of these interests back, like the crochet/knitting, and writing, and now sewing.  It is a very forced effort on my part to get these interests back.  I am so thankful for my family and friends that have been encouraging me to get my interest in being creative back.  Just this week I heard something from a woman I follow on You Tube.  You would never know she suffers from depression, but she tells us she does.  She always has such a big smile on her face and she is very creative and makes small art projects she sells on EBay.  Here is her advice for those suffering from depression:  LOOK forward each day.  PLAN ahead each day to do something special.  CREATE something each day.  I found this very encouraging to me.  If you have problems with depression this might help you too! 

Until later~

Good Sunday Morning!

LOL...I may as well skip Fall, and go right to Christmas the way I have been ignoring this blog.  Maybe it is because I have gone private, or something.  I made this commitment to myself, and to my friends, and here I am not keeping my commitment to write daily!  Forgive me, and I need to forgive myself for letting myself down.

On to something more positive!

Every day seems to be filled with activities, and things happening.  I can't go back and try to remember what has happened since Sept 7th, but I will start with today.  Today should be one of my days I call a Down Day.  Not down as in depressed, but Down as in nothing on the schedule and I can just relax and have my much needed alone time. 

I got a good night sleep!  Yay!!!  Yesterday was my Knitting group, and we are going to try to get as many children's hats and scarves made by the third week in November.  We are going to add them to the Franklin Graham Samaritan Purse Boxes that get sent around the world.  That is exciting to know that the hats and scarves will be in places I will never get to visit, and go to children that I would never meet.  Now there are only four of us in the group, and one of them suffers from arthritis, so can only do a little.  That makes me want to get really busy to see what I can contribute!

My plan today is to knit, read the bible, and watch some knitting videos.  Getting ready to have a nice salad for my Breakfast/Lunch.  What do you have planned today? 

Be back later I hope!

Hugs,

Cathy

A Good Day

Hi Friends,

This was a good day.  I had book club this morning from 10 to 11am.  We have 6 in our group and they are the most precious group of friends.  I am the baby and then the oldest is 94.  We have a very laid back chat about the chapters we've read, and end up chatting about something that was triggered in our own situations that responded to the book!  We meet at a coffee shop, and I got a nice iced coffee. 

Had a nice lunch time visit with my oldest daughter Donna.  I fixed stir fried vegetables and a fancy albacore tuna salad.  When she left I just spent the afternoon on FB, You Tube, answering emails and knitting on my granddaughter Megan's afghan. 

Don and I had our date night and ended up at a brand new restaurant that just opened this past week called Panda Express!  We got our meal to go and ate outside up on their hill with a pleasant breeze blowing on a very hot night~  Then we did our usual grocery shopping and home to watch our favorite shows on Wednesday nights which is American Pickers and Pawn Stars.  Had some ice cream for dessert and I knitted a little more.  Now I am about ready for bed.

Tomorrow morning about noon I will leave to get cousin Judy for her surgery and probably won't be home until early evening.  Please pray she does well, and will be good at home by herself.  There are some people to check in on her.

I am tired tonight!  How was your day???  I'd love to hear!!!  Comment or send me an email any time.  I LOVE hearing from you!!!

Love and hugs~

Cathy

Birthday Wishes!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLESSINGS TO YOU BRENDA on your 60th BIRTHDAY!!!

Brenda is my dear friend, who grew up on the same street I lived on too!  We became really good friends in High School and then it followed into when we each started our families!  I have to say that Brenda is so close to my heart, and I am so thankful for her!!! 

Today was a nice day, especially since I slept in longer than I've ever slept in my life!  I was up several times last night, but ended up sleeping until 1pm.~  I didn't do much until I went to the store at 4pm and then went to my grand kids soccer games at 5:15p.  The day just slipped by, but the kids did good at their games!

On the way home from the games, I had a sudden thought to call Don's cousin who I am taking to have surgery on Thursday.  She is without a car right now due to vandal's drilling a whole in her car gas tank.   When I called she was telling me she was suppose to be starting an antibiotic tomorrow but had no way to get her medication filled.  I was only a couple of miles from her apartment on my way home, and so I turned around and picked her up and took her to the Pharmacy.  She thanked me and I told her to thank the LORD because I thought it was surely Him who prompted me to phone her at just that time.  She told me she had been gripping to the LORD all day about it.  LOL  So the LORD hears our gripes too!  :)

Getting home at almost 9pm....Don and I went out to get pizza for dinner at a local parlor that has it on sale on Tuesdays nights!  So, sure turned out to be a nice day!! 

Well, tomorrow is my book club at 10am. and I still have 3 chapters to read and it is 11:15pm.  LOL  See you all later!  God is Good!!! 

HUGS~

Cathy

Good News!!!

Life is Precious!

Time is Precious!

Friends are Precious!

Family are Precious!

Take nothing for granted!!!

♥♥♥

by Cathy

WOW, WOW, WOW!!!  I just had a very long over due phone call from my son and daughter in law.  Most of you know the situation, but he is out of the hospital he has been in for the past 7 weeks, and has had extensive Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for PTSD and he was also diagnosed with brain injury.  This was new to me, but I'm sure it is a correct diagnoses!  The conversation lasted about 15 minutes, and then they arrived where they were going so we had to get off.  I had not heard from him in the 7 weeks, so it was so nice! 

The WOW factor is because he sounded so hopeful and so full of a desire to face his challenges.  He will continue out patient therapy for a few weeks, and then in Dec it sounds like there is another intensive therapy he will go into.  I am just so happy to hear his hope and sound mind!  Please praise the LORD for me!!!

God is good!  Just had to share this awesome news!!!

Be back later!  Hugs~

Happy Labor Day!

Happy Labor Day! 

I am reusing this meme because yesterday ended up being a very different day than I thought it was going to be.  I took down the negative posts because the LORD went before me and worked out the problems I was having, or thought I was having!  I must add that the ones I thought were not friends are friends, but had a different version of friendship than I was expecting, and they allowed me to share what I was very upset about.  That relieved a lot of the stress for me.  Praise the LORD.  Life can be hard when we care and don't think others are caring back. 

Update on my progress

I have to say again, that writing my thoughts down here has helped me tremendously keep more of a focus!  For this I am very glad~  I know that life changes tend to go slower than we'd like, but at least things are moving in a forward direction. 

Example, I have been up for 45 minutes and I forgot to get dressed because of old habits, so I'll be back in a few minutes after I go get dressed!  LOL

BACK!  Yes, I do feel better being ready for the day, and being ready to open the door if someone comes knocking!  I also had a nice phone call from Joan.  She has been telling me for a long time that she feels best when she wakes up and gets ready for the day first!  This may sound like such a small matter, but if you have a problem with it, it isn't small.  :)

During good weather, when it is between 70 and 84 I will put my two parakeets outside in their cage so they can chirp to their hearts content.  Wow, can they ever be loud in the morning to mid-afternoon.  When I carry their cage outside they almost do a happy dance and sing a happy song!  Poor things probably wish they could fly away too. 

My plan today is to clear off the rest of the dining room table which is almost done.  To start working on My Memory Book I want to write, and read the Bible some.  I like what the above meme says, "IT IS TIME TO MAKE A MOVE".

Hope your Labor Day is going well!  Thank you for all your patience with me while I made this blog private.  Thank you for joining me!

Enjoy your day!

God's blessings today!

Cathy

OLD RULES ARE THE BEST

Confession Time

Now this isn't a confession to my family and closest friends, but it is a confession just the same!  For the past 2 years I have been feeling like not moving~  I think I've felt defeated in so many ways.  There were some personal hits that I didn't take very well, and it was also a time of prayer and contemplation.   This is one of the main reasons I've decided to start writing in the daily blog....to get my motivation back, to make confessions and to figure out how to get my life back to some kind of passion and excitement.  I have become a Snoopy!!!

I titled this post OLD RULES ARE THE BEST for so many reasons.  I remember when I was in school, especially elementary school when we were taught the basic rules for learning, for living, and for getting along with others, and these rules are still the best way to learn, live and interact with others. 

The other night when I could not get to sleep until 7am, I was crying out to the LORD for a real purpose for my older life.  You might laugh here, but what I heard Him speak to my heart was this:  "Clear off all the counter tops in your house";  tables, counters, beds, etc.  I use to have a very neat house and I always had rules for my house.  The number one rule was (and basically still is for safety).... Nothing belongs on the floor except the legs of the furniture!!!  My kids and grand kids will confirm this rule in my house.  I also use to keep table tops and beds free from clutter, but that rule has gone by the way side.  I've always had a room that I would junk up, but now I'm using bags and plastic tubes to hold things that really I should just deal with and get rid of.  These are kept in my dining room where I should be set up for Bible study and writing!

Yesterday's blog I said I'd answer question 2:  The importance of keeping the house clean. 

Here is my reason as to why it is important, at least for me!  I can't think or be productive in a mess!  I know some people can, but for me it stops all my desire to be creative. 

When I was a teenager, my boyfriend's mother use to complain to me that when she was younger she could clean her little house in a day and it would shine!  By the time I met her she said she was lucky if she could clean 1 room a day or a closet in a day.  Now that I am 60+ I am understanding what she was dealing with.  Part of the problem is I just don't care about the house like I use too.  There use to be some pride in keeping a clean house, or there was the fear of being judged by others, but as I have gotten older I just don't care what others think.  That can be good and it can be bad.  LOL  Mostly bad when I lose my motivation~

The importance of keeping MY house clean is because I feel I can not get back to my old self again until I am more disciplined in my house!  After all, I am retired now, and I have the time to do all the things I should be doing!  Now I have to WANT to do them! 

I grew up with my mother's rule that as soon as I was out of the bed I had to make my bed.  Then I had to get dressed before breakfast!  Ha!!!!  Those rules are so far from my life now that it is almost laughable!  Now I sleep in late because I get such terrible sleep at night, and I don't bother getting dressed for the day until someone is coming over or I have to leave the house.  Making the bed is just throwing the cover over the bed and pillows.  My mom was a 1940's graduate registered nurse where they did all the hospital tucks with the sheets and you could bounce a quarter on the bed cover!!!  That is how she taught me!  I gave it up for lent one year and never took the rules back!  LOL  But I am going to start doing this again!  Up, bed made, shower/dress, breakfast/coffee and then Bible study!  As of this week I have started going to bed by midnight or 12:30am.  The problem I still have is I can't stay asleep~  Enough said~

Well, time to get busy throwing papers away and clearing out the dining room for my Bible study table!  I am excited about this!  I am also knitting daily again and am very happy about that!  I'd eventually like to knit socks.  They seem hard to me, but if others can do it, I can too!

Hugs to all~

Cathy

Nice Day

My friend Brenda did this for me.

I was challenged to take the first part of the sentence and write something.

Today was a simple and quiet day here at home~  I need these kind of days on a regular basis.  I got very little accomplished other than some phone chatting and knitting on my youngest granddaughter's toddler basket weave afghan I've been working on.  I am about 3/4th done now! 

Hopefully tomorrow I will locate my camera and start adding pictures to this blog.  I've always enjoyed taking pictures as my family can attest.  LOL  I hope to take pictures of nature too.  Love those. 

At 4pm we had a guy come out to check for leaks on our 2 year old house roof because it has been leaking when it rains over the master bathroom tub.  When we had the roof put on the company that put it on was a big one in Cincinnati, and don't you know, they had to file bankruptcy shortly afterwards.  This guy came and walked the roof and found a hole in the shingles where a tree branch had puncture through the roof!  He fixed all the places he saw and chalked around the vents and things up on the roof.  I think it took him a total of 10 minutes and it cost us $125.00!!!   Whoa....but we can relax now when it rains.  Now Don will have to paint the bathroom ceiling with Kilz paint to cover up the water staining.  That is a big relief to have this project done!

I took a nice 1.5 hour nap and when I got up we went out grocery shopping and took my mother in law some things she has been needing.  Had dinner at Arby's and then home to put everything away~  Don't we live an exciting life??!!!  LOL  We love it!

Tomorrow I hope to answer #2 question I asked yesterday....2.  The importance of keeping the house clean.  Now that is a real topic I know most of us are interested in!!!!!  I'm cracking myself up here! 

Don and I are watching a 2 part episode of Rockford Files!  We love these old shows.  Rockford, Matlock and Columbo. 

PLEASE KEEP everyone in the path of these Hurricane's on the east coast and in Hawaii in your prayers tonight and this weekend! 

Thank you for all your emails and comments here.  You are such a huge encouragement to me!

MUCH LOVE and HUGS,

Cathy

SMILE!!! Hugs~

A NEW BEGINNING: 
I woke up on Sunday morning with thoughts of this blog, and kind of excited to think of things to share and to explore for myself.  Having the blog gave me something to think about right away.  That was nice. 

YESTERDAY's ACTIVITIES
Then I remembered I had my granddaughter Katiegrace over and I would get up and be with her.  She had gotten up a little earlier than me and was watching TV.  I let the grand kids watch their movies or TV shows as much as they want, because I know that is special for them.  At home they are limited, as they should be, and have other chores and things to do.  So I got up, we had big bowls of watermelon for breakfast, and just enjoyed each others activities.  Mine was the Internet, like FB and emails and You Tube.  I really should have started my blog post then, but put it off.  Almost felt a bit of stage freight!  LOL  Silly I know~

In the afternoon we went to Tom (Katiegrace's next door neighbor who had moved to another neighborhood) open house get together for all the old neighbors to come and see the new house.  Poor man is so homesick for not only his old house, but for all the old neighbors which have turned into family for him.  Sometimes we don't understand how good we have it until it is gone.  But it was a nice visit, and was very glad to see Tom again~

*********************************************************************
OKAY...Today is Thursday afternoon!  As you see I didn't keep up with my writing~
Yesterday Don (my husband) said, I haven't seen any more blog posts from you other than the first one.  I said, I know, I haven't been too busy, too tired, or too apprehensive to write one!  He told me to just say that....communicate something each day!  WOW....What a smart hubby I have!!! 

SO....here is my new commitment to myself, and to you!  I will try to write something daily, even if it is a simple HI and I'm to out of it to write much more! 

TODAY'S ACTIVITIES

Today I am doing much better because I FINALLY had a good night's sleep last night!  Yay for sleeping!!!  LOL 

My goals today were to clean the kitchen, clean off the dining room table and move it from where it was and into the dining room, and to do all the laundry and get it all put away!  Well....I have accomplished my goals, or I am in the process of finishing them up....like the laundry!  And here I am doing another one, which is writing! 

MUSING
The past couple of days I have thought of so many topics I'd love to write about and explore! 
1.  The importance of a Smile before we die.
2.  The importance of keeping the house clean.
3.  My new sewing goals.
4.  Why life is actually very simple!
5.  What must I do to be happy~
6.  Why prayer is the key to loving God.
etc.

So many topics! 

I'll share why I came up with #1..The importance of a Smile!
This past week a dear friend's uncle passed away unexpectedly.  He was only 56 and was getting ready for work when he had a massive heart attack and died before the ambulance got him to the hospital.  His name was Craig. 

Craig was a Christian and was very much loved by his wife and family and friends.  I had heard lots about Craig over the years from my daughter Donna and her friend Elizabeth who was his niece.  When my kids where little and I'd go to Elizabeth and her sister or brother's birthday parties I'd see Craig there.  But that was many years ago and I had only seen him once about 6/7 years ago when he married Elizabeth and her husband! 

Then about 2 months ago we ran into Craig at a restaurant, and he said he remembered me, and smiled and was very friendly in our little chat!  Well, when I heard he passed away, I remembered his smile!!!  His smile was warm, without walls being up or any other agenda.  It was just a nice, warm and friendly smile!  Craig was also a lay minister and many other things in his life, of which didn't really touch my life, but what did was his smile!!!  Now, even though he is gone from us for a time, HIS SMILE LIVES ON IN MY HEART AND MEMORY!!! 

So I was thinking about the importance of a SMILE!  Let us give out smiles freely and without reservations!  Let us smile at strangers, people we barely know, and especially let our smile be what our spouses, family and friends remember!!!!  SMILE and LET SMILES be our love language!!! 

LOVE others!  SMILE to all!!!

HUGS TO ALL!!!

NEW BEGINNINGS~

New Beginnings for me!!!  I am very excited to start this new blog and hope that in my musings, blessings and ramblings I might rediscover my excitement for life, and a new passion for life! I sure hope if you are reading this you will come along with me.  I don't think much will be profound, but it will be my new effort to remember what makes me happy. 

I need to begin to dream again too!  Here is a meme I got from FB.

"We have to live

the dream,

not just dream."

Here is a secret....at least to a few....I don't dream.  So actually I need to begin to dream.  I guess I use to dream, but I can actually say that whatever I dreamed or thought I wanted, the Good LORD has given to me!  My heart is so full of gratitude for all these things the LORD has provided for me, that I left off dreaming.  What more can I dream about when I have everything?  Yet my life isn't over, so I have to continue to dream, or have a vision to work toward.

I think I like the way the Bible puts it best. 

Prov 29:18 

"Where there is no vision , the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he."

So, I guess in reality, I am content, but not busy.  I am still full of Faith in our LORD and in His Faithfulness, but I'm not active.  I need to do both~  Be happy and Faithful, and be busy and active while on this earth! 

Remember, I am writing my thoughts and half rambling to myself!  LOL  You can listen in!  ;)

One of the things I want to use this blog for, is to tell some stories that will eventually go into a Family Book for my family to have and to hold for the next generations~  This is the personal request from my daughter Donna!  So Donna, I will try my best to write stories from my life and get this book finally together!  I'll try to add a subtitle of Family Book writing. 

It would be nice to have subtitles for different sections of my musings/ramblings and words of encouragement from the LORD's Word~ 

Let me go ahead and say these will be some of my subtitles:

MUSINGS AND BLESSINGS

FAMILY BOOK

NEXT DAY PLANS

BIBLE STUDIES

TODAY'S ACTIVIES

WORD FOR THE DAY

ETC.

One of the blogs I follow uses different colors to break up her thoughts.  Maybe I'll try that for some fun!

Okay, I'm so nervous about posting this because it has been a while since I've written anything and put my thoughts down on 'paper'!  LOL  Well, no time like the present!

WORD FOR THE DAY

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints— 5 the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel 6 that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth. Col 1:3-7