Do Things Like This Ever Happen to You, too?

On Tuesday, I started oil painting a dove while I had the windows opened to circulate the air so I don't intake too many paint or paint cleaner fumes. One of my neighbors wanted me to paint a picture of a dove to represent the Holy Spirit. I thought that was an awesome idea, plus it helped that she's paying me to paint it. Even though I was praising God and praying over this art canvas, I spent too many hours in one day painting. As I finished for the day, I am just exhausted. But for some reason, I pick up a mirror I have in my "art studio" and tried to move it. I say my "art studio" because I have a spot in my living room that I decided is my place to do my artwork and I named it "Teensy's Art Studio." The mirror hit a picture on the wall. The picture fell and collided with my head. So now I think, I definitely have to go to the chiropractor on Wednesday. I was hoping to sleep in on Wednesday, but I had to go to my chiropractor afterall. Luckily I did, because my neck was out of whack and totally had to be readjusted. No problem, this was nothing compared to all the other stuff that's hit me in the head; like the 20 lb box that fell on my head in 1995. For all you new friends of mine, I won't tell you what was inside. lol

On Wednesday, I was standing near the bench waiting for the bus. I purposely did not sit on the bench because there was a puddle on the bench due to the sprinklers. When I saw the bus, I grabbed my bag and walked up the stairs. As I sat down, I noticed I had water dripping down my leg. I knew I already used the bathroom, and I know I don't have a problem with that anyway. lol.  Then I sat down. I wiped the outside of my waterproof grocery bag. A puddle of water is now on the seat and one on the floor. I thought, I must have had my bag on the bench. Then I look in the bag and notice my water bottle's lid was not completely tightened. Oh well, I think. Then I go on my merry day, yet I am kind of embarrassed because it kind of looks like I couldn't wait to go to the bathroom. Oh well, it will dry, I think.

Wednesday night, I have to heat up a hot pack for my achy muscles. So I throw it in the microwave. I timed it for 1 minute...so I thought. I am talking on the phone in my bedroom, and I thought that I am smelling cigarette smoke. But I never smelled it that strong in my apartment before. (I don't smoke, but my neighbor's do). Then it's getting stronger. Than something smells like it's burning. I go to the kitchen that is filled with smoke, turn off the microwave and take out the heating pack. All the rice is charred, stuck together, and is on the outside of the hot pack. I guess it had exploded. So I dumped the whole thing into the trash. Then I realized, wait, I don't want anything else to catch on fire. So I grab it and throw it in the sink and turned on the faucet. Smoke is everywhere now. I am now coughing and trying to air out the smoke. I don't burn food; I burn hot packs.

Then Thursday, Thanksgiving morning, I throw my oatmeal, water, and cinnamon in the microwave as I get ready. I put my apple sauce, almond milk, and almonds in it after it cooks. I eat a couple of bites. Then I notice I have something on my spoon that I didn't add to the oatmeal. I look at it and I am thinking did the pages of my Bible come apart because I see "God" typed on this paper. I keep looking at it and laugh as I read, "Let God surprise you." I just laughed and said, "okay, God, I am waiting." I had previously cut that little sentence out of a magazine one day and placed it on my fridge, but I never knew that it would surprise me and make me laugh so hard. I don't have any idea how it got in my oatmeal but it was too funny.

Today, My friend and I went to the Thanksgiving meal my church provided. We were so grateful that it was actually on Thanksgiving day. It was a delicious meal and the people were so friendly. I was so grateful to be a part of this gathering. After we played games, they let us take home as much food as we wanted since there was so many leftovers. So I piled my containers of food into that same waterproof bag I had on the bus along with my umbrella. My friend and I walked to my house. I carried the food and he carried the empty dishes that I had leftover from the special (non dairy) mashed potatoes and homemade chocolate chip cookies I had brought over to the church for the meal. As I was putting away the food, I noticed the gravy had spilled onto my blue umbrella and down to the bottom of the bag. I rinsed it off and I figured I would attend to it later. Later I decided, that bag has been through enough, so I gave it a farewell greeting to the trash can.

A few minutes ago, I grab my checkbook to pay a bill online. I notice it's wet. I look in my purse and the only other thing that is moist is some important papers. I am thinking "Okay, how did that happen," and then I remember about Wednesday morning. I chuckle a little bit. O well, if I cried about everything that ever happened to me that was unpleasant, I would never want to smile. So now  I have to air out my checkbook and the other papers so they will dry. I still have to keep the windows open because of the paint fumes, and not to mention the smell of smoke that is in my house. The air exhaust fan above the stove is on to take away the smoke smell, the ceiling fan is circulating to help the paint fumes, the air purifier is on to re-clean my air, and one more fan is on to dry the oil painting. Brr and now I am bundled up and want the heater on. lol Anyone know how to get the burned smell out of a microwave? So does this kind of stuff happen to you? lol

Well I had an awesome day on Thanksgiving day. I had a delicious Thanksgiving meal with friends at my church. I even won a prize. It reminded me of that note that fell in my oatmeal.
Even though today was Thanksgiving, it felt so much like Christmas because of the genuine love I felt among friends at church. I am totally excited of all the things that God is doing in my new life. I am enjoying my church family. I am so blessed to have found this church. I am grateful for the emotional and Spiritual growth I had at my previous church and now I look forward to all the great things in store for my new church. and Yes, I will always have crazy things in my life to give me something to blog about; I will always have God loving me; and I will always continue to grow! Thank you God for wonderful memories and crazy experiences in my life. God bless.

Almost Passed Him By

After my doctor's appointment today, I walked towards the crosswalk and I noticed a man near the street. He was holding a cardboard sign that read: "Need money for food."

I didn't need to think too much about it because I thought I didn't have any money in my purse to give. Besides it's hard to tell if people are telling the truth.
As I walked passed him and pushed the black crosswalk button, I heard God quietly say: "give him the $5 in your purse."

I forgot I had that money. I had placed it in my purse yesterday to save for gas money for Sunday. I wanted to give it to my friend who will give me a ride home from church. I thought, "that money is for gas money for my friend. It's not really mine."

I heard God say, clear as day, "I will take care of your friend, you take care of this man."

I stood a distance away from him with his back toward me, and quietly reached in my purse to get the money. Then I walked back and gently placed the rolled up bill in his hand. He was surprising clean, nicely shaven, and very grateful. He was not the typical person I have seen on the street corners asking for money.

The gentleman said a genuine and polite, "Thank you. God bless you."

I looked into this gentleman's eyes as I walked away. I noticed his innocence, his sincerity. He was so appreciative.

We never know who we are helping. We never know the needs of the people we see at the street corners, especially nowadays when the economy is down. Not everyone looks like the typical "needy" person like the ones who haven't showered for days or weeks, have holes in their clothes, or maybe are homeless; or ar not the ones who do drugs or drink to get drunk. There are sincere, innocent, and appreciative people.

I was so thankful that I obeyed God; I almost just passed him by and kept walking. Thankfully God doesn't do that to me.

My New Life

Lord, my new life you planned for me;
I'm so excited and anticipating it to be
so much better with so much more joy.

This new life is what you have planned for me.
This joy, this peace, this love,
you have always wanted for me,
yet I never gripped it before.

Oh Lord, this new life
is so beyond my imagination, my dreams, and my hopes.
It's purely what you wanted for me.

Thank you Jesus for your love, your hope, your joy
and thank you for starting this restoration like never before.
Only through your love, your grace, and your peace
have I changed beyond what I could imagine.

Please help me grasp it all.
All the blessings you want for me.
Give me the strength to achieve my new goals
and give me the wisdom to understand all
that I need to change in my new life.


This new life, new hopes, and new dreams
are here because I understand the cross so much more
and because of the vessels you brought in my path.
Thank you God for restoring my soul,
and getting me out of the pit of hell.

I could not have done it without your love
and the vessels you sent my way to help.
I no longer feel unloved, ashamed or pity
for you have rescued my soul.

Thank you for the cross,
for giving up yourself in an unworthy manner,
for being unselfish, for being God.

This is what it means to be free
to be totally forgiven
and truly loved.

Lord I get it now, I understand.
Thank you for my new life,
new concepts, and my new adventure.
Thank you for giving me a second chance.

(Thank you God for renewing me March 26, 2010)

A Chuckle with God

So I am up this morning and it's 3:30 am. I have been awake for about half an hour without sleep. (Yes,I am using up a "spoon" already. If you don't understand, request last blog). As I hobble to use the restroom, I look up at my wall and read a mini silver plague that I put on my wall. It's actually a Christmas ornament that I bought a week ago at Walmart for 75% percent off. Hey, that's a bargain: it was only 74 cents, so that was a gift, in itself. Woohoo!!!

The mini plague says:

"Trust - We know and rely on the love God has for us John 4:16."

I decided to look up the scripture to see if it was accurate. I know I have heard that saying before, but I wanted to make sure it was scriptural. As an adult, I realized a lot of things I thought was in the Bible, were just sayings people had said.

I look up John 4:16. It says, "He told her,'Go, call your husband and come back.'" I just laughed. So many people had that ornament hanging on their tree and thinking that the relying on God verse was John 4:16. I just laughed. Still chuckling. too funny. lol.

It also reminded me of several years ago, when my niece Jennifer was little. We were in my room and she wanted me to read a verse from the Bible. I asked her which one did she want me to read. We decided to play a game; she would point to a verse, and I would read it. The first verse we came upon was John 4:16. I think in a different translation it said, "Go get your husband." We both just laughed. Knowing that I am not married and her and I wanted that dream to be fulfilled one day, we just roared in laughter. It was a memory that I will cherish with my niece.

To continue with the ornament verse, I had to find out where that verse was. I looked up 1 John 4:16:

"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us."

I might have got up early due to insomnia, but I had a chuckle with God this morning. Thank you God...

I Will Never Forget

I will never forget you, my dear friend, Debbie.
I am missing you; your friendship, your smiles, and your laughter.
I know you went to be in the arms of God, September 30, 2008. I couldn't even imagine living without you; and yet a full year has gone by.
I know that you would be so proud of me. I can hear you laughing and joking and being so excited of how God has worked in my life these last few months. I have had to do some growing up since you left.
You would have cried with me during some times this year, and yet been so excited with me with the blessings God has given me lately. I can hear you praising God at the fact that I am now working...and it's in the medical field.
Who knew that when I helped you study for your medical exam last year that I would need to know those medical terms now?

I will never forget the day you took me to get a procedure done.
The nurse wouldn't let me go home because every time I looked at you, my pulse would go up. We laughed hard and were trying to keep quiet; the other patients were sleeping in the hospital room. You told me to not look at you, but that just made me laugh even more and then my pulse would rise again.
Then there was that time you took me to the doctors and cheered me on as I had to drink 3 of those chalky drinks. Yuck. We tried working on a Bible Crossword puzzle that was so difficult.When I was done with my appointment, I was impressed that you finished most of the crossword. You then laughed and said that you got most of them from the answers in the back of the book.

I will never forget the times we would go to the health store. You would get your yogurt and I would get mine with soy.
I would buy us those special homemade, healthy vegan cookies and then we would drive to the nearby park and talk as we enjoyed the healthy snacks. We even had many conversations over the phone. We would talk and pray for each other. You gave me great advice and I tried to give you some too.

I will never forget how concerned you were for your family
and how much you loved and cared for them.
Even the times you left the house for long periods of time, you asked me to check in on Corrinne to make sure she was okay. And I did several times.
I remember going to Mark's 5th or 6th grade graduation; you were so proud of him; and I enjoyed watching him present a rose to you that day. I remember when the cancer came back; Matt would enroll in College in Washington.
He was going to wait, but you told him to go ahead and attend.
You cared about him so much, and wanted what was best for him and his future.
I remember going to Melody's outdoor wedding and how cold it was.
It was so nice to see you smile so proudly for Melody and Josh.

I will never forget when we celebrated Corrinne's 80th birthday.
Rob allowed me to use his new video camera. I was having fun recording everyone with my not-so-steady hand.
I even quietly taped you getting the birthday cake ready and then you looked up and squealed. I remember when Rob would give me some rocks that he said had fake gold in them. I would humor him and take them; you just quietly smiled and shook your head.

I will never forget our last Christmas together.
You bought me some polka-dotted, thermal pj's because you knew how cold I get in the winter. You said that anyone who gets up in the middle of the night to pray for people needs to be warm. I told you they remind me of Baskin Robins, which has cold ice cream. brrr
As you gave me that present, you told me you had cookies for me also.
Because I wasn't at church the day you brought them for me, you didn't want them to go bad, so you ate them. We laughed together when you told me about that. You always had a way of cracking me up; also I think one year, you ate my Easter bunny you had for me too because I wasn’t at church. You didn’t want it to go bad either. Now I realize you had a thing for sweets.

I will never forget how four or us celebrated our birthdays together last year.
Jennifer, Penny, you, and I went to Famous Dave’s and had our dinner delivered to us in a trash can lid.
We all laughed, took pictures, ate lots, and enjoyed each other’s company.
We asked the waitress to take our picture together and I didn’t realize that it would be our last picture with you.

I will never forget the first day you were in the hospital
in September of last year.
We bonked heads as you tilted your head to lean on my head;
you told me how to keep on living for God no matter what happens to you.
You told me to be strong and everything would be okay.
You told me you would probably die soon but I wouldn't accept it, until now.

I will never forget how Penny and I were praying for you
and you apologized as you kept falling asleep on that day you were admitted to the hospital. I told you not to worry about it; we will just pray for you.
I remember how Rob would sneak me in your hospital room so that I could see you.
Almost every time I saw you, when you were awake, you would lean your head next to mine.You would smile no matter what state you were in, in that last month of your life here on earth.
One day as I was talking with you, I didn’t realize that you couldn’t see anymore.
You asked Rob, if I was the one with the beautiful brown hair. You would always talk about my hair and how you loved it and didn’t think it was fare that I had healthy hair with all the medications I am on.
I told you I would shave my hair to make you feel more at ease about your hair falling out.
You told me to not do that; you wanted everything to look normal, so I thankfully said okay.

I will never forget your last night here on earth.
Irene, Liz, and I came to your hospital room and quietly prayed with you.
You were sleeping but I knew your spirit heard us.
I noticed your breathing was different and I called the nurse.
As we waited, Irene quietly sang a song to you; I felt someone pass by me, but no one was behind me. Then Liz saw a vision of you joyfully going to heaven, and we realized later that, at that time, that is when you had entered heaven. I had a hard time that night and the months to follow.
The nurse let us say goodbye to you. When I hugged you, I noticed it was different; it wasn’t you anymore. Your spirit had gone to heaven; your physical body had died. You were no longer there.
I called our pastor and he came that night to the hospital to console us.
Liz, Irene, and I left the hospital teary-eyed, yet praising God for we knew exactly where you were. We knew that we felt God’s spirit and presence that night. God made it a special night for us.

You are still with our Heavenly Father, who we live for and will someday be able to see His face like you do right now. I am grateful you are in Heaven, in a better place without sickness or pain. I thank God that He allowed me to spend those years with you on this earth and I will take what you taught me and teach others.
I will never forget you, my dear friend Debbie.
Love your sister, Tanya Mae

My Friends

I just wanted to say thank you to all of you who have supported me by encouraging phone calls, hanging out, a big smile, known or silent prayers, emails, or even just a pat on the back ... I really appreciate it. Life is just a little more easier when you have good friends and family.
There are times that I do have my bad days, and thankfully lately I have been having good days. Maybe it's because I know have a tangible hope about my health insurance miracle I had last week regarding my jaw. I have an appt next month with a great jaw specialist and I am so grateful.
I have been in awe of God and the whole situation that lately I have actually been speechless. Which, in itself, is a miracle. LOL. Just this last 9 days, I have seen over six answers to my prayers lately. Those prayers weren't for me, but some friends I have. I can honestly say that I have had some really good "GOD" times this year... I look forward to a brighter future...
Thanks again and God bless ya