i love this man

Have I told you lately how much I love this man?  He was my knight in shining armor when I just just 15 years old. A picture of what I thought was true love when I did not have a clue what love really was.  God was faithful though and kept us together through the hard times because He knew what the future held.

I just want to take a moment to tell you how much I love this man.  He has always walked beside me and been supportive of any adventure I desired to try. He loved me when I was so unlovable.  He gave me what I thought I wanted when he really did not have it to give.  He has walked with me down this road of life and been right by my side the whole time.  That road had some bumps and some pot holes but he is what held it together with his gracious loving leadership.  He has worked hard to give our family the things we need and often the things we want.  Even now as we renovate this old house, he works a very physical job and then comes home at night only to eat dinner and start over again.  He is the one whom God uses to provide for us.  He provides both physically as well as spiritually.  I was listening last night as he and our son worked on drywall.  He was answering questions ask by a 17 year old that is trying to learn how to live this Christian life in a way that would be pleasing to God.  I listened as he would ask a question and his dad would give him guidance by using the Word of God.  What a blessed life we have.

So today, I just want to say that we are about to celebrate 36 years of married life this June but I really think the best is yet to come!  I love him more every day as we grow together!

time sure does fly

WOW, time sure does fly.  I came here today to post about the cinnamon roll on my table only to find that I have not been here in over a year. Well, stay tuned as my plan is to start updating with the things the Lord shows me in my life on a consistent basis again.  Thank you for being a faithful reader and please come back so you can journey with me through this roll of being a help meet to my husband.

there is a cinnamon roll on my table

So why am I writing about this.  Because there is a cinnamon roll on my table.  It is there because I am saving it for my husband. I forgot to put it in his lunch box this morning so there it sits, right in front of my face on the kitchen table.  You might ask why this is so important.  It is important because I do not want to eat that cinnamon roll.  I really don't.  I am ready to get healthy again and loose the weight I have gained this winter while living in our basement during the house renovation.  You can read about that at www.operationbroadwell.blogspot.com if you are interested at all.  That is another story.  Today it is about the cinnamon roll.

Do you ever wonder why you eat things that you really don't want to eat or need to eat?  I do, usually right after I eat it!  Not today.  Today I am thinking before I eat and the fact that I am so intrigued by it being on my table is causing me to think twice about why I even want to eat it.  Maybe it is the fact that I know it taste good.  You see, I have already eaten one of them. It was last night after dinner.  Nice and warm.  Maybe it is the fact that it looks good. No, I did not make this cinnamon roll.  It is one of those that you see in the store and it has that incredibly long list of ingredients that make it so appealing to the eye. Maybe it is the fact that my husband really doesn't need it either.  I mean, I take this job of help meet very serious and if I eat it, he will not be tempted beyond what he is able to bear.

No, it is not any of those reasons.  I have thought that it may be at one time or another, but not today.  Today it is about me living in the basement where there in only one big window that allows me to see outside. Outside that window is a huge tree that allows me to see nothing! I love sunshine.  I love light in general.  Light is so detrimental to my life on a daily basis.  I guess you could say that I thrive on light.  Today it is about being couped up in this basement for the last two years and not being able to look outside any time I desire.  Please don't get me wrong, I am so grateful for a warm dry place to live while we are renovating but for me, if I get "real", I will have to admit it has taken its toll on me.  To the degree of about 15 extra pounds that look like 25.  But, today....I will ask the Lord to help me to not eat the cinnamon roll.  I will ask Him because I know that His desire for me is to be healthy and full of joy.  I will ask Him because He is the only one that can keep me from eating it at this point.

So, what is the moral of this story, you might ask?  It is not really about the cinnamon roll at all.  It is about my heavenly Father that loves me so much He even cares about helping me to stay away from the cinnamon roll.  That is just a small thing but He cares about the small things and I am so glad He does.  So if you are struggling with something that you don't really think matters today, tell your heavenly Father because He truly cares for you and nothing is ever small to Him.  If it matters to you, it matters to Him. Take Him as His Word and trust Him even in the little things.

By the way, my husband was able to eat the cinnamon roll and take all my temptation away!

the journey of just one day

WOW, what a difference a day makes.  I feel so good this morning. My feet are not swollen much as all when I first get up so it makes them feel so much better.  My husband made me some wooden shower shoes to wear in the shower and get wet so I was able to take my whole shower all by myself this morning.
Thought you might like to see his invention!  Simple but works so good.  Looking so forward to being healed up and getting back to the sewing machine.  A day without sewing is like a day without sunshine!  Hahahaha!

Well, maybe they are a little more swollen than I thought!

the journey of bunion surgery continues....day 12

What a great use for my least favorite vegetable!  Bags of frozen peas make the best ice bags of which I have been very fond of the past couple of weeks.  Got up several times yesterday but by the afternoon I was ready to stay in the recliner with my feet up again.  Amazing how you can just feel the feet swell as you are up and around.  I was able to also go up the stairs a couple of times yesterday.  Won't be doing a lot of that in the next few days but at least I can if I have to.  My right foot has almost gone back down to normal size.  They are both black and blue but the swelling is going down with each passing day.  That is, if I stay off them.  LOL  I just wonder what it is going to feel like the first time I put on those shoes.  YIKES!!!  About ten days from now and the doctor says we are putting on shoes.  I am sure it will feel kind of weird.  Anyway, so thankful for the couple of meals that were sent home for us on Wednesday evening.  What a blessing.  I have also received a few real life get well cards in the mail.  Many people don't send those anymore because they have access to e-mail and other social media but I will have to say, it was nice to get them.  Just another blessing from some very kind folks.  Looking forward to being up and around and back to the sewing machine!

journey to pain free walking ~ day 8 after bunion surgery

Well, today was the day to see the doctor and get the bandages off so I could see my feet for the first time since surgery.  I was feeling pretty good this morning as I got ready to go.  It is slow going but not real bad consistent pain, so not too bad.  I was up for a while by the time I got to the doctors office, much longer than I have been up, so my feet were beginning to swell.  Then the unveiling came.  The removal of the bandages.  Wow, how good it felt to have all that dressing removed and let air hit my feet.  Still not too bad.  I had expected that it would not feel too bad when they removed the bandages and all the dressing and allowed all that blood flow in.  Really, it was a little pain but not too much. The doctor came in and said my feet looked great and we could take the stitches out (thought that was next week)  (YEAH).  Anyway, he said they look great, still swollen but really great. I would have to agree.  I wish I had taken a before photo for you to see.  You have to realize that my feet looked like they had a giant gumball on them where the bunions were.  They look so normal now and this photo is with the stitches still in and they are still so swollen. 

Then came the suture removal.  Now we are talking about pain.  LOL  As she pulled the sutures out it felt like my feet were burning up.  Trying to walk without all that padding, ouch!  This will be an experience!  The stitched area began to flatten out as she was taking the stitches out.  The doctors orders are to keep them up as much as possible but to start moving around too.  Have to wear the wooden shoes for another couple of week but he did say I could go out to eat if I wanted.  Don't have any desire to do that right now but maybe in a few days. Lots of ice.   Hahaha, should have seen the husband and son trying to get me from the van to the house.  Long sidewalk and then I crawled down the steps to the bottom to get to my chair.  Whew...so good to be home and back in my chair.  

Good thing they ask you your pain level when you first get to the doctor and not when they get done with you!  Definitely changes!  Thank you so much to those of you who have prayed for me.  I definitely see God's hand in my healing.  To those of you who have brought meals, thank you also.  The food has been wonderful.  We so appreciate it.  Please keep praying for a speedy recovery.  Things are waiting for me to pick up where I left off and get to work.

Get to shower tomorrow!  All that yellow will be gone!

the journey to pain free walking continues...day 5

Day 5 after bunion surgery. I am still in the recliner for my days as well as nights.  I tried to lay in the bed yesterday but that did not go so well.  I think I will stay here a couple more days. Yesterday was a pretty hard day with pretty much pain.  Today, however seems to be a "world" of difference. Excited to wake up and feel so much better.  What a blessing the meals were yesterday that were brought to us.  I am not sure people really realize that even though people like me prepare ahead of time and cook things for the freezer, that someone still has to get it out and get it ready.  Hummm...... no more comments on that one.  LOL  I am very grateful for the meals that have been provided, to say the least.  Monday will bring my first doctor appointment since surgery and I can see the incision.  I am looking forward to seeing how well I am doing and having that first week down.

Much time has been spent doing things that I don't usually seem to have time to do, things such as searching Pinterest.  I will have to admit that it has been fun, but don't really think it is something I will make time for when recovered.  Huge waste of time when in all reality, I mean how many of those pins do I really think I will do.  It is always interesting to me how many wives and mothers say they don't have time for more important things but always seem to upload the latest on FB or Pinterest.  Just some mixed up priorities I think. Oh well, my own personal opinion.

my journey through bunion surgery day 3

For many years, I have had pretty bad bunions on both feet.  For years, all I have heard is nightmare stories of surgeries preformed only to hear that the bunions come back after a few years.  Why in the world have surgery to correct something and then it come back in just a few years!  I never did understand that so I just chose not to have the surgery.  Within the last several months, I have met several ladies who have had successful bunion surgery by the very same doctor.  So I decided to check his record out and went in for a visit.  So here I sit, day three post-op.  I am set up with my own little world around the recliner.  I have a little table that David made me beside the chair with a lamp and all the things I can do to keep me busy all day while I recline and keep my feet above my heart.  

The surgery was scheduled for last Monday when we had the worst storm Illinois has seen in many years.  They closed the surgery center down that day and re-scheduled me for this week.  It was a beautiful sunny day and 51 degrees when I went in.  A far cry from last weeks below zero temperature and -43 wind chill.  

As I entered the prep room the first stop was to get my little hospital gown on and then get an iv. After 3 attempts by a nurse that said she was the best I finally received an iv from the
anesthesiologist.  Not too bad, just a few extra holes.  LOL  From there came all the questions that have to be answered just one more time.  Imagine the look on the nurses face when I ask her how she knew that I was really me. I mean they never did ask me for identification or anything.  All they ask me was my birth date.  Anyone could know that.  Interesting, I would think they would have some sort of protection in place for that type of thing.  She said she had a photo of me but then when she pulled my chart..oops...no photo.  So I guess in all reality, anyone could have had bunion surgery yesterday.  

I walked to the surgery room where I mounted a nice warm table with lots of warm blankets.  I heard lots of talking for just a few minutes and then, wa-la, I was waking up in recovery.  All so fast, or so it seemed.  The surgeon told my husband that all went well and I was on my way home complete with my new wooden shoes that will stay on for the next two weeks until the stitches get taken out.  I got home and settled into the recliner where I will spend most of my next two or three weeks.  It wasn't long before we were met with a nice warm meal provided by a church family that lives in our same town. What a blessing. 

An awesome chicken dish, steamed broccoli and a chocolate pie...yummy!

The pain medication that is meant to make you a little sleepy has the opposite effect on me so it was a very long night watching the clock and looking at Pinterest.  It is kind of a fun thing though to get to look through Pinterest as I do not usually have any time at all for such things.  There are so many fun things and ideas on there.  By the time this surgery heals, I am sure to have lots of items saved to use in the house upstairs.

Back to the bunion surgery. It has been up and down the past couple of days with the worst beginning last night and continuing today as the pain medication they put in my foot to get me home has now worn off.  If you have ever had a foot fall asleep and when you step down it feels like pins are poking you.  Magnify that feeling about twenty times and that is kind of what it feels like.  When I get up to try to step down on my feet, then I feel the bones that were broken and put back together.  Oh, I forgot to tell you how he did my surgery which is different than that of those nightmare stories I heard before.  He moved the tendents out of the way and then cut the bone in half, moved it back over and realigned it with my toe and then put a small screw in to put the bone back together.  That is why is usually does not come back.  When they are shaved off, they tend to keep pushing out thus causing them to come back, but the way mine was done should cause the true fix and therefore no more pain after the healing process.  They tell me that could take as long as 6 months or so.  It will be a short time compared to all the pain it has been.  I am looking so forward to taking the girls shopping which I very rarely do because of the pain in my feet.  

I did sleep fairly well last night.  Every time I woke up, I was able to go right back to sleep.  I am feeling the feet today though much more than yesterday.  I think I will just stay in my chair a while!

They say wooden shoes when in all reality, the bottom is wooden so your foot won't bend at all.

journey to contentment

I have been ask several times to share my notes on contentment from the lessons that I will be teaching in Sunday School for the next several weeks.  I will attempt to do that here on a weekly basis but please don't hold me to it as I lead a very busy life and blogging, although I would love to be good at it, is not on my priority list at this time.  I do however wish to share what the Lord is showing me through this study. Please be patient as I do not often teach from notes so they may seem to have a "hole" here and there.  That is where I am talking without notes.

Let me start out by saying that is wasn't but a day or two into this study that I started to listen to what was going on around me and also to the words I speak myself.  One morning the first thing out of the mouth of one of my children was, "It sure is cold in here".  That was the truth as our only source of heat at that time was the wood stove and no one had gotten up to fill it in the night. Yes, it was cold in here.  But if the truth be known, it was really warm in here compared to outside!  So it was warm too!  Thus began my study of just how can we become content like the Bible states contentment as being great gain.  What are the secrets?
I have always thought of myself as a very content person.  I don't ask for things because I think I have enough things.  I don't desire to live anywhere else because I think that God has placed our family where He wants us so no reason to complain there.  If He ever desires for us to move, I am sure He will move us.  I don't want a different vehicle or a different house as I feel like God has given me what I have and I am satisfied.  Having said all that, I am learning so much through this study.  It is shedding light on contentment in a different way for me.  So come along as I journey through some touchy areas of our lives where contentment is so needed.  Learn with me.

Contentment ~ Lesson 1

Contentment…just what is contentment? 

On the first page of your notebook you will find two of that same question.  I want you to quickly write there in the first blank space, your answer to that question.  At the end of class today, I want you to go back and write your answer to that statement after we have gone over the lesson and see if there is a change when you compare the two.

The word contentment is only found one time in the Bible in I Timothy 6:6 where Paul is teaching to Timothy.

1Ti 6:6  But godliness with contentment is great gain.

1Ti 6:7  For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.

1Ti 6:8  And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.

The word content is found in 16 different places. 

Contentment ~

Webster’s ~ The act of being content; a resting or satisfaction of mind in the present condition; satisfaction which holds the mind in peace so as not to object or oppose; restraining complaint, opposition, or further desire. The state of being satisfied.

Strongs ~ ow-tar'-ki-ah

From G842; self satisfaction, that is, (abstractly) contentedness, or (concretely) a competence: - contentment, sufficiency.

Having said that, think with me for a moment, if that is the meaning of contentment, what is the meaning of discontentment?

Webster’s ~ a sense of grievance :  dissatisfaction; restless aspiration for improvement

Hummm… that sounds like us sometimes doesn’t it.

Paul said it all when he wrote Phil 4:11-13

Php 4:11  Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

Php 4:12  I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

Php 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which           strengtheneth me.

A quick look at Paul’s life reveals how amazing these verses really are.  He wrote this while in prison where there was no sanitation, no heat or any of the things that our modern prisons have. Paul had an extremely difficult life.

At all times and through all circumstances, God is able and willing to provide the strength that we need to be content.

Just how does God enable us to become content? 

Let me use the analogy of a tea cup to explain how it is done.

Tea Cup Analogy ~

God has lovingly assigned each of us to be a uniquely special teacup.  Perhaps we are an antique cup, painted with dainty roses set in gold.  Maybe we see ourselves as an everyday cup – useful, but a little chipped around the edges.  Or we could be a heavy-duty mug – rugged, unbreakable, and able to hold much.  Then God fills our cup with our portion, what He determines best.  Our portion is our physical and emotional being, our abilities, circumstances, roles and relationships.  Sometimes we don’t  like what’s been poured into our cup.  Remember the Lord in the garden of Gethsemane?  When He saw the suffering He was about to endure, He pleaded, 

Luk 22:42  Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.  

With that being said He lifted his cup to God and accepted what had been poured into it.  Every cup, whether dainty china or rough-hewn pottery has a handle.  God has placed our portion in our cup.  We will either choose to grasp it by the handle and lift it to Him, saying “I accept my protion, I accept this cup” or we will choose to smash our cup thus saying to God that we refuse our portion.  This cup is not the right size for me and I don’t like what has been put in my cup, I will control my life myself.”

Contentment is accepting God’s soverign control over all of life’s circumstances.

In the middle of this lesson, I gave each lady a contentment wheel which had been designed to help them see the areas they are least content in.  I am going to paste the wheel below with the instructions.  If you would like to see where you are the least content and begin to work on those areas, go ahead, copy it and do it.  It might surprise you where you are the most and least content.  When you are done, thank God for the areas where your are content and set out to do whatever it takes to make those other areas better.

This is what your wheel should look like when you are done.  How well will your wheel roll?

Memory verses to work on:

Memory verses to work on : Phillipians 4:11-13

Thank you for coming to visit me here this week.  Come back next week and see what we have to share about being content with our circumstances. 

operation Broadwell

We have reached another milestone in life....that of owning two homes at one time.  Talk about trying to juggle life.  What a joy to know that one day (hopefully sooner than later) we will move into our dream home totally renovated by our family and friends.  It will have the huge great room like we have always dreamed of where our children and grandchildren as well are our friends and aquaintences can come and enjoy fellowship time together.  Lots of property to run on and trees to climb.  We are so excited.  The photo below is the before photo.  If you would like to keep up with our renovation project you can go to the link below the photo and follow us on that blog.  I try to post often so that you can appreciate every step we take.  If you live in the area or are passing through and will work for food, stop on in and lend an extra hand.  The fellowship will be sweet!

 

www.operationbroadwell.blogspot.com