July 31 placeholder .

 I’m creating this file because I’m sure I’ll want a July wrap-up & don’t see it happening tonight. This will stamp the date. Yay!!

Souvenir

 I can hardly believe I’ve gone 10 days without posting about the unexpected souvenir I brought back from New York. (It’s what I was going to post Thursday, but a spectacular sunset distracted me.) Things I’ve read since then remind me of my calling to write about & share the hope & goodness & gratitude & lessons from various experiences in life. I’m truly not looking for sympathy — I’m wanting to express gratitude because I know my painful situation could have been so much worse. The two reasons I haven’t posted are because it didn’t lend itself to pictures & I don’t know how to keep it short. But I’m gonna try!! 

When I couldn’t get the door to my Bonnie Castle hotel room open after I unlocked it on Wednesday, July 13, I pushed hard — and when it opened, my right hip handed hard on the wooden floor. Ouch!!! 

That was Wednesday, July 13. Since then I’ve learned a lot about my body. A bruised hip can really hurt, even when nothing is broken or dislocated. Ice & ibuprofen are my friends. I need to become friends with patience — because getting in a hurry not only hurts but likely will cause the pain to intensify & endure. Just because I could walk & move without excruciating pain didn’t mean I should. And certainly when the pain was intense, I should rest. Why was that so hard?!? Two days spending 11 hours in the truck riding back from New York weren’t overly painful; getting out & moving when we stopped was the challenge! 

On the 9th day after my fall, as I was searching the internet while walking slowly (and more painfully than expected) to the lake to see the sunset, I realized I had somehow missed the recommendations to rest & elevate the bruised area. The 10th day (today) I figured out a way to elevate it without special equipment, and it does help with the pain. And I’m forgoing my beloved sunset walk, although missing my walk doesn’t help with my mental health. I’ve had to pray in faith & with thanksgiving for God to help me keep my focus on & faith in Him, & to not drift into self-pity or frustration. I’m hopeful that a bit of rest & relaxation today will make it more feasible to go to church tomorrow. 

I started this on Facebook but am moving it to my blog, the place where I stash a lot of my writing that to me falls short of what I had hoped to express. It’s the place where I give myself permission to come back & try again, to fill in the gaps … 

In other words, there’s likely more to come on this topic … 

Real life

 I’m grateful for something April Shepherd shared from Phyllis Shirer (?). 

I’m also grateful for this post from Stephanie Ihbe: 

Do you ever wake up questioning your purpose in this world? That seems to be me a lot lately. 

My reply: I do & the answer I finally accepted is one I hope you will find for yourself: It is to receive God’s love & to share it with others. 

And you — precious beloved child of God Stephanie Ihbe — are doing that, day in & day out, in so many important ways!! 

Taking Proverbs 3:5-6 to heart, planting it in my soul, has been transformational. Trust God & not my own thinking & understanding.  When I look around & into the past, I see God is faithful to keep His promises. I truly have to let go of my own thinking every time I find it standing between me & trusting God! (And that was almost always until about a year ago.)

I pray in faith & with thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6-7) that you will receive the answers you need & that you will experience God’s peace that surpasses your ability to understand, to guard your heart & mind & life in Christ. 

You are amazing & it breaks my heart to see you continue to doubt yourself. 

❤️🙏😊👍

I think the Shirer quote gave me courage to respond from the heart to Stephanie. I thank God & pray that He be glorified  

This is what it means to trust God. Do what is right in the moment. Put love of God & others before worrying about how Gene will react. Trust God to take care of Gene. And trust God to take care of me. 

Blogworthy revelation

 In reply to Chris Wells’ FB post of an “Inconvenient Truth” (“We are quick to condemn preachers who make the gospel too easy but hardly say anything about those who make the gospel too hard.”) and someone’s comment (Salvation is easy, sanctification is hard/work process. But if you never attempt sanctification are you saved?): 

My experience is that I’m continually “attempting sanctification,” falling short, & being saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ. It’s beyond my ability to understand. Not giving up on God is harder work than one might think. So many do give up. I’ve come to believe God is in & honors the struggle some face in simply not turning away.

Milestone (minor, still meaningful)

 I just noticed I topped my original Wordle streak as of yesterday, as solving to word FLUFF put my streak at 78. The previous streak ended at 77 on April 19 when I couldn’t come up with FOYER in six tries. 

A hot start?

Not really. Good enough. Bring it on.