Dear Reader:

Don’t we hear catch-phrases (and I have been known to pass them on to others myself) like our title remark (“Some day it’s gonna make sense”) to friends and family who ask why something tragic happened that makes no sense at all?

As frustrating as well-intentioned responses like this are…there is still “truth in the pudding” with them. We, humans, want life to respond to our every need and want now, not later. We are immersed in instant gratification through commercials and advertisements daily.

Got a problem…there is always a “quick-fix” to be found with a few taps of our fingers on the internet. According to modern sources…there is no longer any need to suffer from headaches to depression to sore throats to sleeplessness to any other ailment causing you discomfort. So after awhile, we come to expect instant remedies to all our immediate dilemmas in life…both physical and spiritual.

Only…life doesn’t work that way. God didn’t create a fast-food model for living.  It was not an oversight…it was a deliberate, well-thought-out plan.

*And this leads us back to Anne’s 2017 “perfect word” and what she is discovering about some changes in her daily life.

Hi Becky,

Just want to give an update on my chosen word for the year – “re-boot.”  I have to say that I wasn’t sure it was exactly right but I’ve found that is covers a lot of territory. You re-boot your computer or phone to make it work more effective, get an update, etc. And in order to do that, you’ve got to intentionally shut it down-turn it off!

I turned off my TV a few years ago, and don’t really spend all that much time on electronics. My re-booting is more about personally PAUSING throughout my days to stop, look, think, listen, wonder, imagine…rather than so much time to check off and accomplish all the tasks on my lists. And rather suddenly, my PAUSING has turned into “PAWSING” – through a puppy’s eyes where everything is brand new!

When was the last time you noticed the direction of the wind? When was the last time you saw the BIG DIPPER? This little pup has taken my re-booting to another level. And by the way she is “re-booting’ in her crate right now as I type this – LOL! I’ll keep you updated!  Love, Anne

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Hebrews 10:36, “For you have need of patience, that, after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise.”

Next Thursday I am going to go back to Primose to do some reading for Lachlan’s class and storytelling for Ruthledge’s. I had a story to tell for Rutledge’s class but not for Lachlan’s little 2 and under class. So I called my wonderful niece Carrie for advice and now have two cute little books that will have the toddlers making sounds and moving around…essential tools for the little, little ones.

I am adding some home-make props for Lachlan’s three to four-year-old class’s story….in other words I am re-fining my presentations.  I have a feeling that this is what God is constantly doing , refining me, and sometimes it does require extra time to accomplish it.

Many of these life challenges that leave me drained and bewildered with no logical sense of “why” they happened…probably come under God’s “refinement” plan. I still am in need of some scraping, sanding, and polish before I am ready to meet my Maker.

I have often thought that I need to pause (one day in my daily life) and take time to make a list of all the things that have happened in my life that never made any sense to me. That way when I meet God, being the good teacher with her lesson plan in hand, I won’t forget a single question.

Questions like: “Why did daddy have to die at such a young age leaving mother behind to raise three young children by herself while struggling financially? Why then did mother lose her left hand to bone cancer so soon after daddy’s death? Why did my younger brother die so close to his college graduation…before any of his dreams could be realized?”

To a certain extent I do realize that all these uncontrollable factors in my life have gone into making me who I am today…but I would hate to think that any of these were sacrifices to accomplish this feat. That would be too great a burden to live with… Somehow, however, I can’t  picture God scripting such a production.

I have felt God’s grief and compassion too many times over untimely deaths and other gut-wrenching obstacles in His Children’s lives to believe that He, too, doesn’t mourn our misfortunes.

To be fair…if I have my complaint list…wouldn’t God have His too? Tic for Tac? I can imagine Him laughing after I hand Him my list. He then might pull out His list and ask me why in the world did I do this or that…didn’t I hear Him telling me not to go down that path? Did I not listen to Him in a quiet place where He could be heard?

The revolutionary song “The World Turned Upside Down” was played at the famous revolutionary surrender at Yorktown, Virginia when the mighty British forces surrendered their arms to the Americans. Nobody would ever have predicted a victory from rag-tag, untrained soldiers over the highly trained and experienced British military.

Sometimes I ponder if the world we live in is just like the song. We must live (on earth) in a ‘world turned upside down‘ through sin which causes inexplicable tragedy and sadness to us traveling this upside down world in our lifetime.

But there is another world, an eternal one, waiting for us that has never been tainted by sin or bad-doings that is filled with unconditional love for us. And it is right-side-up!

So until tomorrow…This new world is patiently waiting for us, in all our hard-earned refinement, to discover what the crazy world we just left, was all about. To finally put our hearts and mind at peace…to make sense of it all.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Mandy and John called after church yesterday and said they were going to try and get all the family together for a quick cook-out since we hadn’t been together since the holidays….unfortunately Walsh and Mollie couldn’t make it but the rest of us did. It felt like a summer time cook-out but better…no humidity or bugs. Yummy food and a great catch-up time.

The wedding is down to double digits now….so exciting!

Eva Cate made me this beautiful Valentines card…with Jakie on the back…I love it! Thanks Mandy and Eva Cate and Jakie!!!

Feeding bread to the turtles!

New shoes and sun glasses…accessories make the gal!