CATCH UP THIS WEEK

Good Morning Friends,
I have to laugh because I had to increase the font to large because as I type with normal I can't see the words.  Does this mean I'm getting 'oldish'.  LOL  

What a busy past week I've had.  We had two granddaughters Friday through Sunday evening.  They are 11 and 12 years old.  What a privilege and joy they both are!  A friend of ours invited us to his neighborhood block party which we took the girls with us.  It was at the end of a cul-de-sac.  That is a perfect location for a block party.  I was my usual uncomfortable.  It took me extra long to decide if I was going to eat or not.  Most people were done before I decided to eat.  Hubby and the girls had all they wanted to eat and enjoyed it.  

Monday morning I was leaving for Bible study when I got a phone message I thought I'd better listen to.  Glad I did.  It was Hubby's cousin saying, "Cathy, I need help."  I called her right back and she didn't answer.  We called again and no answer.  Her building is a locked security building, but I told Hubby I was going on over, and he called my Bible study and told them I might not be there.  On the way I called 911 and they got there just a minute or two before me, and the maintenance guy had let them in and in her apartment.  The LORD provides.  She ended up being taken to the hospital for a bad fall.  She had crawled through three rooms trying to find her phone, and the phone was virtually dead so very grateful her message came through.  Hubby and I and my youngest daughter went to the hospital and waited with her until she was admitted.  Now she is in a nursing home getting therapy and hopefully they will find a way for her to stay there.  She wants to be there and not living alone any more.  Praying for the LORD to help with all the details.

Today is Thursday, when I usually have my girls over for lunch.  Only Joan, our youngest can make it today.  Our oldest, Donna, has to work and then help with our cousin's settlement into the nursing home.  I have cooked pork chops, cilantro rice and mixed vegetables.  I must say my pork chops are delicious.  I know how to cook them tender and nicely browned.

Last night we took another granddaughter, Gracie to her water polo game in Cincinnati.  It was a nice time and her team won!!  She seem to enjoy being with us!  Very nice indeed!

Hope you are doing well, and feeling blessed!
Cathy

THE POWER OF WORDS - HELLO~!

Hello!  That is a powerful word!  It can be an immediate connection with the other person who receives the 'hello'.  This simple little word combined with a smile can make the difference between being closed off from people, or opening yourself up to another person.  Hello is a word that can change your day or someone else's day.  

I recently watched a video of a young man in NYC who was making his last You Tube Video and was actually on his way to end his life.  If you had walked past him on the street as he was smiling while making his last video you would have had no idea that he was talking about how much he knew he was at the end of his life.  That his smile was not really revealing the pain on the inside.  He had felt he had walked a fine line of sanity and insanity.  His actions over the past months had chased many people away from him.  I read some of those last comments on You Tube and someone had said how nice that would have been if someone on the street had stopped to talk to him.  He just might have changed his mind on his end destination which was the River.  Even though they have taken down that last video there are others who have made comments on ETIKA death.  Just click on ETIKA to see one of the many videos on his downfall.  

I was one of the You Tube viewers that saw his last video and some of his videos that showed his downfall with mental health issues.  I don't know how much more could have been done, but like the commenter on his last video said, what would have happened if someone had stopped him while he was walking and videoing and said HELLO and asked how he was doing?  

WORDS we speak, even a simple HELLO are powerful!  Just checking in on someone when they come to your mind.  Just sending a text or leaving a comment, or passing someone on the street and speaking Hello even if they are a total stranger.  WORDS are connections to others!  WORDS are LIFE THEMSELVES!  WORDS are impacting.

I have so many thoughts on this subject.  How about you?  Any thoughts to share?

HELLO, and sending love and hugs and a smile to you today!

Cathy

https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org...
United States 1-800-273-8255
United Kingdom 116 123
Canada 1 800 456 4566
Ireland 116 123
Philippines 2919
Australia 131 114
France 01 45 39 40 00

HAPPY SUNDAY

Head colds are no fun.  Praying it clears up quickly.  In June all my troubles 😫 started with a sore throat.

We are out at a sports grill 😁 with our granddaughter to watch the Browns football team.  Go Browns!

Even while I am sitting here I'm thinking about what I want to write. I keep thinking about the power of words.   So that's probably something I will write about when I get home.

I FEEL I HAVE LOST MY ABILITY TO WRITE

Hello Friends,
Yes, again it has been 6 months since I posted.  I feel I have lost my ability to write or put any thoughts into words on a page.  I am serious.  See all I can think of is I sentences that do not say much of anything.  Yet, my desire is to share these thoughts that I still have a desire to write.  Maybe my brain has not been exercised enough to use words any more.  Well, it sounds like I need to get started again before I loss my thinking all together.  I'm sure some of you think I am kidding but I am not.

As the prayer goes, "LORD, help my unbelief".  I am praying, "LORD, help me to remember how to think and use words so they are interesting and have some meaning".

My granddaughter Annie spent last night with us, and has been working on playing the piano last night and this morning.  She sounds pretty decent for having never had a lesson or even a sheet of music in front of her.  But she is using her ears, and playing keys that sounds good to her.  This is what I need to be doing with words.  It does help to have some direction, a teacher and some training before getting to far in learning to play the piano.  They say practice makes perfect.  It sure helps, but what if you are learning it without knowing timing and techniques?  She is getting a lot of joy out of trying.  This is what I need to do.  Find the joy in just getting some words written.

Oh yes, Annie is also recording her practice and listening to them back on an iPad.  I will type in my blog and make some 'word' recordings and re-read what I've written to see how I sound!  This could be fun again.  Right now it sure feels like an exercise.

Thank you for reading this far if you have.  I will be back shortly.
Cathy

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I want to further explain how I feel I have lost the ability to really communicate.  Sometimes we can go through times of depression, or sickness, or just mysteriously losing interest in things and what we use to take for granted is now seeming impossible to get back.  It could be joy, or health or a hobby of some kind like sewing or writing.  This is where I find myself.  I lost most my interests a few years ago.  It was like a switch just went off inside of me.  So I have just coasted through days and weeks and now years without fighting to keep what use to mean so much to me.  Then after a sudden but serious illness this summer, I realized that maybe I have to fight to keep what I know would be in my best interest.  God gives each of us abilities or interests for our good, and for His Glory!  Whether it is crocheting something to give to others like I use to do or writing to keep in touch with people.

I always loved the verses:

John 17:4
I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do .
KJV

Phil 2:13
3 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
KJV

1 Thess 4:11
And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;
KJV

Heb 13:16
But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
KJV

Kind of like the Nike add, Just Do It!
Cathy