HOPELESSLY (confession no. 2)

Dad’s pictures from the pond.


The ducks

and the dogs come for a visit to the bench where dad is resting before riding home.







This is the street Sandra and Randy live on
I love all the trees.t





They have a pond near by also

My confession today is that I am happily hopeless.  I get up  too early.  I move things around and do not know why.  Dad will just have to keep things in a safe place instead of saying to me “Oh I  knew you would move it after months of something that needed to be moved in my opinion."  He is just kidding of course.

We carry on both to the dentist. I had one filling which was not too bad and dad has two small ones he has to make an appointment for.

Dad went  off to visit Howard again at four after having a good bike ride.  I hope both of them have a nap.

We have to enjoy every bit of sunshine we can.  Summer days are getting all too short and it feels very chilly.

CONFESSIONS

                                                Didn’t you know you should phone first.
                                            At least there was someone there to greet us.





My hope is that the heart of our relationships with all our children will remain strong even as dad and I go through the aging process.  Dad and I are so very thankful that we are alert enough to enjoy meeting our two newest great grandchildren. 

The future may call for engaging in difficult truths.  Aging is not only about your age but about the stress and anxieties and illness that one has had earlier  in their lives.  We know what it was like seeing our own parents grow old and also now going through sad and difficult times with friends.

 

I had a short walk this morning before the heavier rain and dad actually had two bike rides.  The first was short as it rained on him.  Later the sun came out and he had a farther ride which was almost too far.  I had several trips to the store and when I went to get dad's prescription filled had to confess I had been taking it too.  We both take the same prescription but I have not renewed it for awhile.  The druggist noticed the pills had been used up too quickly so I thought if I confessed he would refill it.  He will at the full price.  I will get it straightened out to-morrow.  Getting in to see the doctor is extremely difficult and then there is all the waiting when you get there.

I think I hear some one sighing.

Confessions means a open heart and a generous spirit in all our relationships. It is not about power of one person over another but an equal freedom to express how you feel.  The most important thing is to keep a sense of humor with our failing memory and loss of bladder control, to mention a few.  Every time a new person asks me at the Seniors home asks me how I like living there I just laugh  and say well I do not actually live here just yet.

All weekend I have been looking for a book that I was sure I owned but just now realized it was one I had borrowed from the library.  I was fortunate I could go and take it out again.

Dear God, I know that I have done wrong , forgive me and will do my best to correct my error.
Help me to strengthen things out.
I give to you Lord my mind, my spirit, my love, my pain and sorrows, my joys and my questions, my fears and my hopes and ask for a clearer vision for this day.
I pray for myself and for my family and for others.

"Our concern must be to live while we are alive. . . .to release our inner selves from the spiritual death that comes with living behind a facade designed to conformed to eternal definitions of who and what we are."   -Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

 

Maybe this quote is better; "Be happy like a child for no reason

because if you are happy for a reason it can be taken from you."  -D. Chopra

Dad and I are off to the dentist this morning.  Dr. Patterson phoned he wants to talk to me and I do not like the sound of that.  Dad is getting his teeth cleaned.  I will go get dad's pills.

Dad has written on his blog and is taking pictures I will put the pictures on later.

MEETINGS

My early morning walk.

Down past Coyote Creek.

I see  an older Asian lady dressed very poorly,  walking towards me looking for cans and bottles. I give her the one  I have picked up and she gives me a big smile and says a lot I do not understand but I understand she appreciates this simple gift.

I also meet an old friend Vera,  She is cleaning up by the townhouses.  I stop for a visit.  She wakes up early like I do about 4:30 or 5.  She laughs and says if she sleeps in to 6 she checks her pulse to see if she is still alive.  Even staying up later makes no difference she still wakes up early just like me

Next I hear a voice talking to me from under a bush.  Looking down I see a man sitting on a blanket which was his bed I presumed.  The funny thing was he was talking on his cell phone.  I do not know who was more surprised him or me!

When I arrive back home the black cat is sitting on the driveway waiting patiently.

The meeting at church was stimulating especially trying to puzzle out the reading from Luke 16. A rich man had a manager who was running up huge personal expenses. Sound familiar?  The manager in order to gain friends went to the people who were in debt to his master and lowered the amount that they owed.

Now here is the surprise the master praised the manager!  He used his adversity to prepare for his future.  Shocking! 

Jesus is telling this parable to convey a message. I think that we can learn from the example of other people in our lives, whether they are good people or not so good.  There is always the problem how do we love the unlovable?

In those days one was regarded as righteous if you were wealthy and healthy.  One message is that the manager was called to account for his cheating. The other message is that he was concerned about his future. 

One of the more difficult passages to understand.

We started discussing the meaning of this reading with Pat and Bob and ended up going out for lunch with them.  We have not done this for a long time.  We got into a discussion about the meaning of the story and I think that was what Jesus would wanted his hears to do was to have them discuss and find what the story meant to them.

Dad and I drove over to see the progress Sandra and Randy are making on their new home.  The dogs are happy there but the cats are very upset as cats always are with a move.  Maybe they need Jasmine to carry them around and make them happy.  A good neighborhood for walking.

So an interesting day of meetings!

"So if you're honest in small things
You will be honest in big things."   -The Message by Eugene H. Peterson

Monday the library and Tuesday the dentist!

DAD’S PICTURES

Congratulations Ben! ! !

SUNSHINE IN THE MORNING

A beautiful sunny morning for our drive to Chilliwack not to see the soccer game as before but to the musical talent performance at the church near Ben and Morgan’s School. 
It was a karaoke event and Ben was going to sing a Beatles’s song "Help".  We got there in good time but missed the first singer,  (spell checker went on strike.)  She was the first prize winner but I think Ben was tops!

Ben and Theresa arrive,

He looks very confident in a nice way. And does well.  A good round of applause.  Yes he came in second and we were all very proud and happy for him.  He won singing lessons as a prize and a karaoke machine


Kim made it just in time after taking Morgan from her soccer games, where she was goalie and got hit with the ball in the face, to a wild and crazy birthday party. 

Dad and I went back to Theresa’s place where the girls made an excellent lunch.  Good and healthy.  We both enjoyed the day.  Carol joined us and then Mikie came later.  Carol has been working in Chilliwack on Fridays and Saturdays and fortunately can stay at Theresa and Mikie's.


We drove into the sun and the drive home was relaxed.   Both tired out when we arrived home but so happy to  see everyone even Haiti the dog, who was  so excited to see us.

 The time went so quickly. Too tired to read when I got home but like
 Borges said "I cannot sleep unless I am surrounded by books".  So   I did have my pile of books!

We miss seeing the soccer but dad’s feet are just getting more painful so walking and standing is too painful. 

Light rain on my walk; half as far and twice as slow but I did it.
Heavy rain later.  Hope Sandra got her gardening done.  Off to church after a short walk.

VICTIM OR HERO

Victim or Hero?

The answer is at times we have all felt like one or the other,  either a victim or a hero.    Sometimes victim of our circumstances.

I can feel like a victim when there is just too much to do.  Well, at least I got everything done that I was try to do on Thursday.  Shopped at the dollar store for little things to send to our child in Sri Lanka, cut the grass, mailed my letters and cleaned off the dining room table and watered the garden before the rain came!

What a hero!

Now just to catch up on the work of the day.  Dad went for his bike ride and I for my walk. 

Then we went to visit with  Howard's to allow time  for his wife to go out with her son. It was good we could have a visit with Howard.  Very tough situation when there is failing health and it is difficult for both the one who is failing and also the care giver.  Certainly not the golden years. But both are real hero's.

Crisis come unbidden into each one of our lives and I am reminded again and again not to let the little stuff grow out of proportion and remember instead   what is truly important in life.  As long as we can hug and hold hands and talk to each others then we can get through difficult times together.  Tiredness and stress make life a challenge.

In the stillness of prayer I realize I need to  receive grace that helps me change.  Prayer helps me to let go of fear that would keep me thinking as a victim and transform me into a learner, in the process of becoming a hero!  ha ha



I do love the fall colors and the cool mornings and evenings.  There is a message in nature and especially in the seasons that continually change.

I know that I am one of those people who enjoy quiet, like quiet walks and quiet rests on the park bench,  I enjoy people but I need significant quantities of solitude.    We are all unique and have to learn to pay attention to what feels right within our own heart.
I

UNDONE

Even if something if left undone,  take a moment to enjoy the changing color of the leaves.  It happens so quickly and then a big wind will come along and blow them all done.  I love the colors of autumn.

""Let us live each day abundantly and beautifully while it is here.
Eleanor Baldwin York


Mushrooms grow in all colors shapes and sizes.



Human beings are so varied that some fare better with religion or spiritual paths, while others don’t.  If we simply live in a way that nurtures us and allows us to express our creativity, letting us see our own goodness  that is the best we can do.

To live with the limitation that there is a doctrine or option as being the one true way limits us from whom being what we are here to achieve and what we are here to become.

For example prayer can be a comfort to some in times of need and also help us discover more about what is important to hang on to and what is important to let go.

Yesterday there were things I left undone but also a surprise of going out for lunch.  I did do my visiting but was a little late.  I met a new man who I will try to spend more time with next week.  He is very unhappy there.

"The act of kindness in recognizing my limitations goes much further in creating a joyful life than pretending to feel optimistic."

I know that getting everything done I had planned is not as important as enjoying life moment by moment.