Friday, April 8, 2011

What goes around comes around

This may not be a popular post but I thought I'd take a minute to share some insights on my life to some of my young mom friends. I have been reading through some blogs of many women that I know and finding a certain concept very interesting....simplicity....getting back to basics. We all want to do that right? Life is soooo busy and minimizing the craziness is desired by all of us. I still look at things and try to figure out how I can do with out. But the point I wanted to make was from the days when I was a young mom. Actually before that...before I even married my first husband. Early to mid 1970's, a revolution of "getting back to the land", "back to basics", more simplicity, eating healthier, etc. Get my picture? I learned how to cook without sugars, more whole grains, more veggies and fruit. I learned how to sew and make my own clothes. I helped a group from my church to clear land and build a log cabin for retreats!! That was awesome! Fast forward to my marriage. We lived VERY simply. Heated with wood, no TV, BIG garden to grow and preserve our own food, chickens for eggs and meat. Now baby comes along! Cloth diapers, breast feeding, made almost all his baby food. Continued to make clothes, learned to weave to make fabric, geez, I even learned to spin wool to make yarn to knit and crochet. It was exhausting!
The difference in all this is that back then, I didn't have Jesus in my life. You might say, "but Pam, you went to church and helped build a retreat center!" But there was no Jesus. I was definitely living the way He would have wanted me to live, but didn't include Him. It took quite a few years of seeking and getting back to a more "civilized" (haha) lifestyle before I actually allowed the Lord to be part of my life. And I am so thankful I did! So as an older Christan woman, I can only say "Seek first the kingdom of God" THEN "all these things will be given unto you"! Does that make sense? Everything has a place and there is a place for everything....sorry to be so cliched! I find that things that were important are less important now. Baking bread was a must in the past. Now it is a joy and a treat. Growing my own food was a must so that we could eat. We didn't have much money so grocery shopping was minimal and there wasn't many people using coupons then or at least if they were, I had not clue of it.
So with all that being said, when you are middle-aged and heading for your senior years, you too will see young women doing what you are doing and you too will sit back and chuckle a bit. But what YOU have and I didn't was JESUS! You are blessed beyond your years.....hey, beyond MY years. And I have to say, I'm a bit envious that I couldn't give my husband and my son that gift too. But my son is now walking with the Lord, a Godly man, married to a woman of God and wow am I thrilled. Am I am now married to an amazing Godly man as well.
What goes around, comes around!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Thoughts on my life as I see it

Well now, I believe it's time to catch up. It is now 2011 (that's the first time I have written the new year). This year I will turn 60 years old. I find that an impossible to wrap my brain around. Where have the past 59 years gone? In the Bible, James says that our lives are just a vapor and I am finding that to be so true. I'm not saying that to be melancholy but it's just true! I am reading a book called "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. What I love about this book is that it is making me realize that the whole "point" of my 59 years should be to point to God. So as I look back, can I honestly say that my life points to God? Mostly, no. There may have been a few instances but otherwise, no. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" Romans 3:23. Maybe it's because I am turning 60 and eternity is closer than it was yesterday, but having God be reflected in my life has become suddenly urgent to me. When in fact, it should be a natural part of my everyday life. And though I am not good at resolutions, that is one thing that I pray I can develop in my life....that reflection of God....that empowering of the Holy Spirit.
And in 2010, God did bless me and Mike over and over. The biggest blessing was our "anniversary" trip to Southern France. It is still hard to believe it actually happened (there goes that vapor again) but it did and knowing that my feet walked on the ground of Kings and Popes was pretty awe inspiring. Which causes me to be reminded that we walk on the ground that was created by God. See...I'm really wanting him to be part of every thought! The "Practicing the Presence of God" thing that I'm doing. So this trip was amazing and thankfully we took over 600 pictures to help us remember this experience.
The holidays were very difficult for me and they shouldn't be. Life is what it is and I am thankful for the choices my family have made. Especially my son. I am so proud of him that I almost burst with joy. I could not have been blessed with a better child. So though it is hard for me to have him so far away and our visits so few and far between, I need to be content. But that's where the holidays were made difficult...my "poor me" attitude. I was so selfish for wanting my "family" here that I overlooked the family that God has given me for this part of my life: my wonderful husband, my Aunt and Uncle, my church family and friends!
I think you can see the theme that's going on here. It's not about me, it's about Him.
2011 will hopefully be more about Him.
Praise be to God and Praise Him for my family and friends. Thanks for letting me rant a bit. Maybe I'll blog a little bit more and maybe I won't. It is freeing to be able to put one's thoughts down in print.
Is the point of your life pointing to HIM?

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Embarrassed!

Wow! I was just looking at my friend Lorrie's blog and saw that it had been well over 6mos since I had posted. Unbelievable how time flies when you're having fun....or not. This has been a really strange year for me for some reason. Good in many ways but just strange. Let's start with the good stuff:
~As I wrote in the previous post, Mike and I are going on this fabulous river cruise in the South of France in October. Since we planned it so early in the year, by this time it seemed unreal. But that has changed! We got our flight info the other day in the mail! We actually have flights now! So the reality has returned as well as the excitement.
~There have been a few trips this year. Went to San Antonio at the end of January (I think!) and as always it was great. Then went to Florida to spend time with Sis while her hubby had his knee replacement surgery. It was nice to be away from the incredible snow that we were having in WV. On a side note, as much as I hate winter, Mike brought home a pair of snow shoes for me to try out. I realize that I need to learn to like winter by participating in some form of outdoor activity. Since any form of skiing scares me to death, the snow shoes were a perfect fit. I really enjoyed them. So that will be my request for a Christmas present this year. Mike has taken his usual whitewater, hiking, camping trips which are a balm for his weary soul. (he works for the USPS...enough said! Anything to keep him from going "Postal"!)
We did take a trip together to TX this July when Mike's father passed away. Russ had been battling multiple myeloma for quite some time and while having a hospital procedure, he experienced cardiac arrest. He was revived and placed on a ventilator but those were not his wishes. He passed peacefully. Though it was a sad occasion to get together, it was quite a blessing to bring ALL the Swope kids together (with the exception of Linda Garvey who has passed away and the youngest, Michelle, who is estranged from the family) The "reunion/funeral" took place in Allen TX, just a little northeast of Dallas. My son lives in San Antonio, 4 hrs away. So don't you know, he was in Colorado visiting his wife at Young Life Camp during our stay there!
~Speaking of my daughter-in-law, Annie. I just have to mention how blessed I am that she came into my son's life and how amazed I am to see all the work she does to reach kids for Christ! Thanks You Annie!! I love you!
~I did find an awesome Bible study this year and have been so blessed by the women involved and all that I'm learning. I also reunited with an old friend from the early days at Chestnut Ridge Church...Daphne King AND started an accountability time with my friend and home group participant Chris Lentz. God is working wonders in the are of growth in His Word and friendships!
~Last summer I was all gung ho with training for the 5K. This year has been quite a challenge physically. Although I am basically very healthy, a few years ago I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, a disease that affects the nerves in all the connective tissue of the body. It causes all sorts of weird symptoms (too numerous to mention), but basically I had been affected by minimal symptoms until the winter hit. The cold weather brought on a plethora of symptoms that began to rage in my body. I have a lot of stiffness and pain, pain, pain. The BEST thing to do for this is to exercise. And that has been a challenge. And on top of that, I gained 30lbs of weight that doesn't seem to want to come off no matter what I do! One side effect of the medicine that I take is "weight gain" and although I started this med after I gained the weight, I think it is keeping me from losing it! So I plug along at work outs. I do walk 2 times a week with some friends and then try to do stuff with Mike or on my own the rest of the time. One day a week is taken up by mowing. Our almost acre of property takes a lot of attention and thank God I am able to do a lot of the yard work.
One joy from all my gardening efforts has been my flower gardens. After several years of TLC, I have enjoyed the fruit of my labor. I posted a lot of pictures on Facebook this year for the enjoyment of all!
~This coming weekend, Mike and I are traveling to Falls View WV for the Mays family reunion. This is the family of my ex-husband, Bob. Walt and Annie will be there. Although it may be strange to others that I would attend (and Mike!), I have managed to maintain a good relationship with them as well as with Bob, so am looking forward to this special time to catch up with them....Plus the fact that my son will be there is a good incentive.
Thanks for checking in with my ramblings. As I said, it's been a strange year, but as I look back through this post, I see a LOT of good things. I'll try to keep up!
My current memory verse is Psalm 27:13,14 "I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord! Be strong and let your heart take courage! Yes, wait on the Lord". That says a LOT about my year.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

New Year, New Decade, Remembering!

These days, I am more aware of the passing of time. Perhaps it's because I am moving into the last phase of my life. That's not a bad thing and I totally embrace it! I'll be 59 in 2010 and I plan to make the most of what time God will give me.
But I would like to first look back over 2009. This past year has turned out to be very eventful in many ways.
~I had my first cruise and spent time in the Cayman Islands and Cozumel. Awesome!
~I spent add'l time in Florida after the cruise due to my sister's diagnosis of Colon Cancer. Thankfully God has blessed her with healing.
~Walt and Annie celebrated their 1 year anniversary.
~In May, I decided I wanted to start running and thanks to the encouragement of many, especially Amanda, I signed up for a 5K to be held in August. Lot's of work to do before then but I'm finding that I really like it! The running that is.
~At the end of June, Mike and I took off for Florida to celebrate my sister and her hubby's 50th wedding anniversary. We traveled a lot of back roads. Specifically the Blue Ridge Parkway. We camped a couple nights, enjoyed a lot of sight-seeing and made it to FL in plenty of time to enjoy the family and the big party. Walt and Annie got to come as did all my nieces and nephews. It was a great time!
~In August I ran my race and achieved my time goal of under 45 min. Not bad for a beginner.
~Fall was relatively uneventful. We spent Thanksgiving with my Aunt Rosie and her family.
Christmas was spent at home with Mike's sis/hubby and some good friends.
Got re-acquainted with some old friends and ended relationships with others.

The past decade brought changes I could never imagine, both good, bad, wonderfully amazing and ugly!
At the beginning of 2000, I was working as a nurse.
* Mom gets diagnosed with Alzheimers just before 2000. In fact, this decade brought the worst of her disease. It was hard to see her failing but when she peacefully passed in July 2001, we were thankful she was no longer suffering.
*I bought my first home in many years and fully expected to stay there the rest of my life, but God had other plans when in 2003, I met Mike Swope and in 2005, we were married. After being a divorced, single parent for 20 years, God finally brought the man He chose for me into my life. We'll celebrate our 5th anniversary in 2010!
*In Jan. 2006, I lost my dad after his struggle with Parkinsons and dementia. He also passed peacefully. My sister and I were blessed to be with both parents when they passed.
*In the summer of 2007, my son went to TX for 5 weeks to run a Wyldlife Camp for Young Life and there he met the young woman who would become his wife. In my heart, I just knew....without a doubt....that he would meet his love there. What a blessing! They married in April 2008 in Fort Worth and they live in San Antonio where Walt is a Lead Creative for Apple and Annie works with Young Life as a leader, co-ordinating 3 high schools in the South Side of SA.
*In May 2008, I ended may nursing career after 25 years. Though I'm not old enough (yet) to get retirement income, I'm blessed that Mike and I live very well on his income from the US Postal Service. I have absolutely LOVED being a homemaker, being able to volunteer at our church library, being a Stampin'UP! demonstrator, being able to cultivate new and old friendships and grow in my love and knowledge of my Lord.
2010? Who knows what it will bring!
I have a long weekend trip to San Antonio coming up in about 3 weeks. I cannot wait to get my hands on my kids!
Mike and I also have a BIG trip planned to celebrate our 5th year of marriage....we plan to take a River Cruise thru the South of France in October. Yes it's a long way off, but that gives us plenty of time to save some extra $$ for all the extra stuff we want to do while there!
We pray for our family and friends....for good health and continued job security. We thank all those who pray for us and keep us close as friends.
I know this is looooong post, but I just felt I wanted to share this with you.
Happy New Year and God Bless You!

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Gifts, Gifts and more Gifts!












Tis the season of Giving! My friend Leah (the Elf) is one of the most giving people I know. She sells Longaberger baskets and they are quite beautiful but expensive. Leah hosted a lovely party for her customers and friends and believe it or not, the table in front of her in the picture was full of presents that she gave away. Many were baskets, but each one was unique and special and we all came home with a treat. Thank you Leah!
The picture of wrapped boxes are the "white elephant" gifts that we shared today at my Bible Study Christmas Brunch hosted by my friend Andy. We had tons of food...yummy, carb loaded food! No diet food for us! We sang Christmas carols and just had a wonderful time. And we each came home with one of those lovely wrapped gifts!
The last picture is one of my favorite gifts....fellowship with friends. Usually the holidays cause me to be a bit blue since my son lives in Texas and my sister in Florida and it's rare we can get together on big holidays. But this year, God has blessed me with people! People to celebrate and share with! We had Thanksgiving with my Aunt and Uncle and their daughter and her family. It was such a blessing to be with family! And all the friends at Leah and Andy's parties. Oh what fun. And the best news of all? We won't be alone for Christmas. Mike's sister Pam and her hubby Ira are coming to celebrate with us as well as our friends: Chris and Wayne and Ann and Joe! Can you tell I'm excited? I honestly wasn't going to decorate this year but hey, now I have a reason.
And you know the best gift of all? It's the "reason for the season"....our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ!
Have a wonderful holiday!







Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Answered Prayers

God was so good to keep the tree colors glorious for my daughter-in-law to see. I prayed like crazy and He so answered. Annie was thrilled with the fall colors which she's never seen in Texas! She took so many pictures. It was great.
When I picked Walt and Annie up at the airport on Thurs, it was a beautiful day: 70's, sunny, clear. But as the evening moved on, some clouds began to roll in and Friday looked like rain.
After a big home cooked breakfast, we managed to get out on the road to Coopers Rock early and God held back the rain til our little hike to Rock City. Thank you Lord! The rest of the day was spent shopping (Gabes) and eating (Olive Garden), then a drive around town so Walt could catch up on all the building and changes in Morgantown as well as to show Annie his home town.
Evening consisted of dinner and a movie at home. It was a great day!
Saturday, Mike was able to get the day off so the plan was to get to Damon's by 11a to get a good seat for the game on BIG screen. It was too late to get decent, cheap tickets so Walt suggested this as plan B. Worked great. We ate tons of food, saw some old friends (Jeremy Myers and wife, the Stollar family and Jim Holehouse). And the game was fantastic! A great day to be a Mountaineer....Annie even liked it! She's learning about "Almost Heaven, WV". Hope she comes to love her visits here as much as we love it!
My favorite quote by Walt was when we walked into the Mountaineer Store in the Colliseum and he said "Mom, being here just makes me FEEL GOOD". I loved it!
Sunday was church, lunch, quick trip to Arboretum to get a few more pics and then back to the airport. Time flew by as I knew it would. If you're a fan of the "Office", the day Pam and Jim got married, she made a tradition of taking mental snapshots. I loved that idea to imprint special moments in my memory. So even though I took lots of iPhone and camera pics, I took numerous "mental" snaps, just so I could be in the moment and remember.
I love seeing my son and his wife together. They are so very happy and the love just exudes from them. I've never seen my son so happy and content as he is now. He says they are building a good life in San Antonio with their marriage, church, friends, jobs, etc. Sounds like they'll be there awhile.
Thank you God for the blessing of this weekend and answering my prayers for the trees. You're in all the details and I am so glad.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Falling into Fall

Another summer has come and gone. This one seemed to go by particularly fast. I don't mind Fall. It's still warm but the humidity is gone and at night it is cool for sleeping. It's just that what comes after Fall is my least favorite time of the year and seems to be the longest. So I just won't think about that and look forward to what Fall is offering.
Today I went for a walk and ended up running more than walking. It felt really good and was actually fun.... not the work that I felt when I was preparing for the 5K. I've decided, no more races. I can check that off my yet to be made Bucket List. So after today, I'm looking forward to getting outside for some more walk/runs and enjoy the cooler weather.
I've also been preparing cards for next week's Stamp Camp. They are all Fall/Thanksgiving type designs and I find that I really enjoy making up my own designs for them. I do search other stamper's blogs for ideas, but try never to copy them 100%. And I've got a couple Workshops coming up in October so those will be fun to organize.
The best thing that's soon to be coming up is a visit from Walt and Annie! They are coming up the end of October from their home in hot San Antonio so they can enjoy the cooler weather and hopefully still see some color in the trees. Their last visit to WV was in Dec 2007, just before they got married in Spring '08. I keep thinking they are just too far away! Or maybe it's me that's far away?!
So I'll be enjoying every day that I can before the cold, blustery weather returns. Happy Fall!