Under His Wings

 It's official!  I'm now a senior citizen.  I made my appearance in the world at 7 PM on January 11, 1970.  Now I am eligble for senior discounts.  Tim told me that includes Michaels. That will come in handy.  On Facebook, I've received greetings from people from all times of my life.  That's been fun to see. It's brought back so many fun memories.  Some from my schools, my churches, and extended family.   I've been such a blessed woman, that is for sure.  I still have my parents who still support me and show they love me.  I've been blessed with many friends and I continue to make more. I have an amazing husband and three wonderful kids.  My youngest, my daughter Anna, is planning on getting married next year.   I have a special church family who have taken Tim and I under their wings for almost a year now.  We have had so many opportuntities to serve at Christian Faith Fellowship. Most importantly I have a...

My pastor, Stephen Crupi, preached about Lamentatations 2 on Sunday morning.  Verse nineteen caught my attention. “Arise, cry out in the night,   at the beginning of the night watches! Pour out your heart like water   before the presence of the Lord! Lift your hands to him  for the lives of your children, who faint for hunger   at the head of every street." (ESV) Thankfully today, most of the children of the world are not suffering with physical hunger, but they hunger for the things of this world.  Many adults are the same way sad to say. When Pastor Stephen read the verse in Lamentations, another cry out to God verse I heard over fifteen years ago at a ladies conference immediately came to mind. Thankfully I had noted the passage so I could find it. The verse is Psalm 57:2  I cry out to God Most High,  to God who fulfills his purpose for me. On this particular day in June of 2008, my Mom and I sat listening to Joanna Arp with heavy hea...

This year has been a year for reunions.  In April, I was reunited with many of my teachers and friends from my elementary/jr, high days at Central Baptist Christian Academy.  That was so amazing seeing so many special people in a very special place. It's also where I attended church for the majority of my childhood and young adult years. The fellowship hall also served as my kindergarten and some of my Junior High classrooms. The one end was a stage used for both church and school. We had youth group in that part of the room also.  I am so thankful to have had the Christian education to form a great foundation for me to move on to public high school and beyond.  More thoughts on my Chenango Valley reunion later. On September 30, I was reunited with one of my best college friends, Charlene Martin.  We hadn't seen each other in about 30 years, but kept in touch through Facebook.  We had an amazing time catching up. It was like no time had passed.  We wil...

I recently came across this writing on my phone this week. I thought it was appropriate given the fact that Central Baptist Christian Academy is in the midst of celebrating its 50th anniversary. I had the pleasure of attending there from 1975-84. This is a bit edited from the original to bring it up to date. Even at the age of 5, I was over cautious .  The first day of kindergarten was no different.   After the short ride to the elementary school on bus 55, My bus driver, Mrs. Darling announced "All the kindergarteners stay on the bus to g o Port Crane Elementary." That was the instruction for the public school kids.  I was supposed to get off the bus to go to my school, Central Baptist Christian Academy.    Thankfully, Mrs. Darling realized my mistake in time for me to meet my correct bus .  Then when I got to school, my teacher informed me I brought the wrong glue .  She wanted me to have the stick kind with the stick in the middle.  ...

It's been over 3 years since I last wrote in this blog.  It's not that not because the lack of activity in my life.  I've been focusing my writing to short stories.  My friends in my writer's group I've been in since October of 2015, have encouraged me to do so.   However, after a new online friend reminded me of blogs, I decided it was time to get back to writing here on a more regular basis. It's been a very stressful few months.  It's been one crisis after another.  I've been trying to see God's hand in things.  It's been hard to ignore, but it's still hard to be honest!!! I'll back up what I realized today is nearly six months ago.  I was in the midst of a very stressful overwhelming time at the job I absolutely loved, yet signs showed that it was time to consider leaving.  I didn't have the heart to leave the residents I had come to love serving them meals for the past six years.  I worked at the independent senior community as...

On Monday when I posted about the anniversary of Tim and my first date, someone asked me to share my love story. I've shared bits and pieces here in the blog, but looking back I realized I did not post the whole thing. So here it goes. Tim and my story actually goes back to February of 1990.  I was in a combined English class with a lady named Nancy Gardiner.  She must have mentioned her large family (6 siblings). What she didn't mention was her inkling that her baby brother, Tim and I would make a good match.   It was not God's timing to happen then. He was still in Hornell. I was in Binghamton. I was finishing up my time at Broome Community College about to transfer to SUNY Cortland.   A year later, Tim would move to Elmira.  I moved there in October of 1996. I started attending Maple Avenue Baptist Church the first Sunday I was in town.  God led me there I believe. The timing was near for Tim and I to be together.  Fast forward to Januar...

I have always loved the song The Longer I Serve Him by Bill and Gloria Gaither.  It's one of my top 5 songs of all time. I watched the new Gaither Homecoming video today premiered on You Tube called The Longer I Serve Him.  On the video the title song sung by Jeannie Johnson, touched my heart like no other time I've heard it. "Every need He is supplying Plenteous grace He bestows Every day my way gets brighter The longer I serve Him, the sweeter He grows" As some of you know, I've had a lifetime of sinus/respiratory issues. The sinus issues have been progressively worse in the past few years but they got really bad in July. I was about to give up with trying to get help for them, but in December, God provided a doctor who took the time to scope my sinuses and throat and found 3 major issues.  Now, I have to admit that septum surgery does scare me as I heard it's one of the most painful surgeries. I bet all my abdominal surgeries pales in comparison. Howe...