Under His Wings

A few months ago I received an e mail from my one of my favorite authors, Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith.  It was an invitation to take a rest quiz.  I took it and the results shocked me.  I found out I badly need rest in all areas of my life. When the opportunity came up to accept the invitation to be a part of the launch team for Sacred Rest, I gladly accepted.  As I read the book, it became more and more apparent how badly I need the rest. Dr Dalton-Smith is a Christian medical doctor, so not only does she talk about the obvious physical rest, but she also describes emotional, spiritual and mental among others.  Some of them are areas that are usually overlooked. I know I have done that. She also talks about twelve gifts that come from resting and some promises.   She also includes the rest assessment..the same one as the e mail test I took and a thirty day challenge. If you are feeling overwhelmed and tired, I would strongly recommend this ...

I delved into a big organizing project this morning. I thought that it would be a perfect time to get out the records I brought home from my parents a few months ago. After over 50 years of collecting, my Dad decided to do a big purge getting ready for some home improvement projects.  It was a bittersweet time for him I am sure and for me too.  It is strange going home not seeing the big record collection, but the upgrades are beautiful! Dad's classical records sold summer 2017 The record I chose is "The Bill Gaither Trio Moments For Forever,"a recording of a live concert in 1976.  This is the music I grew up listening to.  Bill Gaither is still very active in the Homecoming concerts and Gaither Vocal Band, which I enjoy. What I don't enjoy is cleaning.  I'm probably the most unorganized person in the world.  Part of my inspiration of my cleaning project is trying to find some papers I lost. I found one. I had placed it in the wrong bank bag (one is...

The past few weeks have been filled with making sweet memories with different members of my family. On September 13, Tim and I celebrated our 20th anniversary.  It was a quiet day due to our work schedules.  I did get the opportunity to join Tim during his lunch hour and enjoy his company and a delicious Stromboli. On the 16th, we took advantage of my having a rare Saturday off and made the 2 hour trek to my all time favorite park, Green Lakes State Park in Fayetteville NY.     my favorite picture of the day  As soon as I saw the beach and started walking on the shady trail, I was instantly reminded how the park got that all time favorite status.  It has always relaxed me walking the trail.  I took the time to take some awesome pictures...too many for Tim's liking though.  I did slow the picture taking down the second half of our walk.  I loved just taking in the sights and the sounds with my love.  It was such an awesome day....

March 23, 1997, began like any other Sunday. I do remember approaching the usher and accepted a bulletin just like any other Sunday morning. We exchanged hellos. After church though things changed.  As I talked to friends after church, the aforementioned usher walked up to me and said, "I'd like to get to know you better." We ended up going on our first date to the salad bar at Wendy's. I offered to pay for Tim's lunch because his birthday was the next day. The rest is history...20 years of history as a matter of fact. It almost didn't happen since he took paying for his lunch wrong.  Thankfully his mom convinced him I was just being nice and he asked me out for the second date on April 1.  We have been together ever since.   We will be married 20 years this September 13. We have been blessed with 4 wonderful children, missing child #2 as I have mentioned previously we lost on December 30, 1999. It's been 20 years of ups and downs as any marriage exp...

A big smile, kind words of appreciation, and overhearing some very interesting conversations are just some of the reasons why I love my job at Appleridge Living Center!  I never thought before September that I would be a dining room server. However, I'm so glad that Dining Room Manager, Lisa Garrett took a chance on me and has given me the opportunity to serve such wonderful people!  I've made many new friends both with the residents and co workers.  I admit I have been and still am at times encounter the fear of messing up....my worst nightmare that hasn't come true yet...spilling hot soup on someone's lap.  I came close one time when I caught a soup bowl on a coffee pot.  Soup spilled on the table.  Thankfully the lady whose space was invaded, named Helen, was very patient and kind. There is a drawback of my job though losing residents, which happened this past weekend and seeing some people's health fail.  That makes me so sad!!! Overall th...

We are on the verge of a big celebration at our house.  My youngest child, Anna Marie, will be 12 years old this Friday, November 18. I call her my miracle baby...although now she is a step closer to becoming a teenager....YIKES!!!  Within moments of her birth she was rushed to the NICU due to oxygen/blood issues that was resolved within hours. The next day however, after a routine chest x ray, her heart was found to be very enlarged.  A local pediatric cardiologist, Dr. Thomas Finnerty, was called in and she has been under his wonderful care since.   It took about a month for her heart to calm down enough to get the full diagnosis, Mitral Valve Stenosis, and another year or so with help from pediatric cardiologists in Syracuse NY to determine it was a mild case. Now, 12 years later, she continues to thrive and her last echocardiogram on November 5 showed that her valve continues to grow with her.  The pictures are evident even to this untrained eye th...

I am excited to be part of the Celebrate Lit tour team.  The book I am honored to review today is The Bedwarmer's Son by Caryl McAdoo. The book was provided to me for free for an honest review, which I am glad to do! I enjoyed this historical novel very much as I have Caryl's other books.  With this book, I really found the dual storylines of 1928 and back to the 1850-60's  to be very interesting.  The love story between slave (to become ex slave) Jasmine and her owner "Mister William" Sinclair to be very charming! I strongly recommend this book to anyone.  It is very well written.  I loved it! Below is more information on the book and some words from Caryl herself.   Here's a link for a giveaway for the book https://promosimple.com/ps/a3fd Click here to purchase your copy. About the Book Click to purchase What if Abel had killed Cain? But there was no jury of his peers…. In 1928 Georgia, a black man who kill...