...whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. ... And the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4: 8 -9
What is my only comfort in life and in death? That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.
~Heidelberg Catechism
Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
~Mary Oliver
I must consume the abundance of moments now. Days I am overwhelmed, wanting to write the music of my life in a slower tempo … yet this is the glorious dance of now.
So I shall dance in bare feet. For I am on holy ground.
~Ann Voskamp "A Holy Experience"
To do the useful thing, to say the courageous thing, to contemplate the beautiful thing: that is enough for one man's life.
~ T.S. Eliot
A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.
~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
To live is so startling, it leaves little room for other occupations.
~Emily Dickinson
I believe in God as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.
~ C. S. Lewis
Remember this. When people choose to withdraw far from a fire, the fire continues to give warmth, but they grow cold. When people choose to withdraw far from light, the light continues to be bright in itself but they are in darkness. This is also the case when people withdraw from God.
~ Augustine
Hello, sun in my face. Hello you who made the morning and spread it over the fields...Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness.
~ Mary Oliver
The seed is in the ground. Now may we rest in hope while darkness does its work.
~ Wendell Berry
Nothing will sustain you more potently than the power to recognize in your humdrum routine the true poetry of life.~ Sir William Osler
But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts, and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.
~George Eliot's final sentence in Middlemarch
If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.
~ E.B. White
Geese appear high over us, pass, and the sky closes. Abandon, as in love or sleep, holds them to their way, clear, in the ancient faith: what we need is here. And we pray, not for new earth or heaven, but to be quiet in heart, and in eye clear. What we need is here.~~ "The Wild Geese" Wendell Berry
Let it come, as it will, and don’t be afraid. God does not leave us comfortless, so let evening come.
~ Jane Kenyon from "Let Evening Come"
You can only come to the morning through the shadows.~ J.R.R. Tolkien
If you want to identify me, ask me not where I live, or what I like to eat, or how I comb my hair, but ask me what I am living for, in detail, ask me what I think is keeping me from living fully for the thing I want to live for. ~ Thomas Merton
This life therefore is not righteousness,
but growth in righteousness,
not health but healing,
not being but becoming,
not rest but exercise.
We are not yet
what we shall be,
but we are growing toward it.
The process is not finished
but it is going on.
This is not the end
but it is the road.
~Martin Luther
Ten times a day something happens to me like this - some strengthening throb of amazement - some good sweet empathic ping and swell. This is the first, the wildest and the wisest thing I know: that the soul exists and is built entirely out of attentiveness.
~ Mary Oliver
Love isn’t a function of communication so much as Love is a function of communion.
~ Ann Voskamp
It is not your love that sustains the marriage —
but from now on, the marriage that sustains your love.
~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer
She has done what she could...
~Mark 14:8
What do you mean? Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good on this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?~ J. R. R. Tolkien from The Hobbit
Barnstorming 
In 2019 I waited for a fractured wrist to heal followed by PT.
I waited for a lumpectomy and the radiation treatments to come to an end.
I waited for a fractured shoulder to heal followed by PT.
I thought I had learned much and often said only by the grace of God.
I was hoping 2020 would be a better year.
It is worse than last year,
The whole world has fallen into disarray.
We are told to stay in our houses. Was voluntary. Now mandatory.
My father is in personal care. It’s day 16 that he has had no visitors.
I used to be there most days.
He can’t go to dining room most days.
They go in smaller groups and have the opportunity about every 3 days.
Less exercise, socialization, abd the day drags on in his room alons.
My nephew said…like solitary confinement.
I Googled solitary confinement.
After 15 days there may be psychological challenges as a result.
We are in day 16.
When this whole thing started I said probably the old will not die of the virus, but depression and a broken heart.
Can you tell I am having a bad day. I.ve been trying to keep active.
Rainy day. No exercise. No QiGong. No shower.
Yuck to this whole corona virus.
I think we need to repent and ask God for His mercy.
USofA has squandered much.
We have been forced to stop and be with family.
Some of us have been forced to not see family.
My go to verse in 2019 was Hebrews 10:23.
My verse for 2020 Hebrews 11:1
Thank you for listening to my rant.
Linda
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Linda, praying for you today; you have enough heartbreak to last a lifetime. Let God’s mercy be the glue to patch you up. Love from Emily
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Today was a better day.
I read devotionals, exercised, did QiGong, went for a walk, talked to several friends, and attended live streaming church services. I need to keep a routine. I need to get up and shower and pretend I have someplace to go.
Got the word tonight we are to continue this shelter in place until April 30. I looked at the calendar and said to myself…OMG.
I need to focus on today.
Please pray for the daughter of a friend. She works in a nursing home. They have 4 patients who have tested positive and Kristy is now working on that floor. Many prayers needed for the many, many healthcare workers.
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