MarysLaryVibes

I've mentioned before that my husband is not in great physical and mental health. Part of that is just his memory which doesn't seem that bad in the scheme of things that can go wrong. My husband has 2 masters degrees and was encouraged to continue with a PhD but I asked him to please be done with school and help me at home. Sounds selfish now, but then with 3 kids I wanted to be done with him doing school. I tell you that just to say that he has a brilliant mind and VERY smart. So when he started losing his memory it was hard on both of us. He gets frustrated with himself and I with him. At one point I said to him that if I start losing my memory we're in real trouble.  When I first got home after my laryngectomy, my husband's mind was VERY off and confused and he couldn't answer the "what year is it", "who is president" questions. Three days after I got home from being in Texas for over a month, he was put in the hospital for diagnosis and trea...

  "The Shepherd knows where to find you." I was just listening to a group of Christian women speak on fathers and how God is our heavenly Father. And God watches out for us even if we don't feel like He's there.  "Even if God doesn't heal me, I'll worship him from here (a wheelchair)."  (or in my case, no voice box because of laryngectomy) "Even if He doesn't do what I think He should do on this side, I'll worship Him." "Even in my pain. Even in my sorrow. I will worship Him." "Wherever you are in your struggle. Even if you only have .001% faith, reach out to Him. He is there." If we are just one in a flock of many we don't notice that He's around. Sometimes, with a big family we might feel like dad doesn't notice us. But be assured that if we wander, the shepherd will go looking for us. He leaves the 99 to search for the one; sometimes that "one" is me.   I know this: God is with me in ALL ...

I was reading in Luke this morning. I was really disappointed. First in what I read, then in myself. Luke 10:7, 8 "Stay in that house, eating and drinking what they give you...." "Whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat what is set before you." Please say it ain't so! Growing up I was a very picky eater. I wouldn't even eat casseroles, pizza or spaghetti because it looked like someone had thrown up on the plate. All the food mixed up together. Nasty. Nowadays, I'm not as bad as that. I love my casseroles, pizza and spaghetti; Still not fond of fruits and veggies. I have never been good going to other peoples homes to eat. They most likely would serve something I don't like.  Funny story: In high school our youth choir went to Texas to sing at a local church. We were divided up and stayed with different families in that church. My friend, Gail, and I were set up together. Time for breakfast came and they served us cantaloupe among other thin...

If you have negative feelings about the DOs and the DO NOTs from your upbringing, I ask that you reconsider. The 10 commandments are important but as Jesus said in Mark 12:30-31,   "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these." Basically, if you do those 2, you will be fulfilling them all. It's much easier to remember the 2. We are to love God and love others. There's an acronym you may have seen before   JOY  "Jesus, Others, You"  There are some "DOs" and "DONTs" in Philippians 4 that I think reinforce this idea of JOY being relevant in all we do.  4- Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!   5- Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.  6- Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,...

  Proverbs 25:20 "Whoever sings songs to a heavy heart is like one who takes away a garment on a cold day." Singing (or cheerful words) to someone who is sad is not always the best approach. If we are not sensitive to a person's feelings, they may feel like we don't care about what they're going through. Sometimes the best thing to do is listen. But then we have Proverbs 12:25: "Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad." I dunno what to tell ya. Well, I have a thought. I see a heavy heart is someone who has suffered great loss. A death of some sort: A person they loved very much, a home, a job. It is something in the past that has happened and a person just wants to get through the next minute. Trying to be cheerful with words or song would seem like we don't recognize what they are going through. However, an anxious person is focused on something in the future. Something that might could happen. An anxious person ...

  Which soil are you? I talked about that in my last post. Sometimes the parable of the soils is taught with the idea that we are the soil.  But sometimes the parable is taught with the idea that we are the farmers. We are sowing the seed, watering, cultivating the soil. A tree is judged by its fruit. I can count on one hand the people that maybe came to Jesus because of my words, my example. I can count a few more that I have encouraged along the way. People that were feeling lost, lonely, depressed and the Lord used me to bring light into their eyes again. I hope there are many more that I never know about. Someone to whom I said a kind word, gave a hug, that I may never know how they were effected. I believe many people play different parts in the harvest of one individual. Some sow the seed, some water, some are the sun, and then there are those who do the harvesting. They are most recognized, but they are not acting alone. The Holy Spirit brings to fruition all the work t...

Many of you may know there is a parable in the Bible about seed falling on various types of soil. Jesus' comments indicated the seed is the word of God. Hard soil is those who heard, but devil takes away the word from their heart. Rocky soil is they who receive the word of God with joy but there are no firm roots; they believe for a while and then fall away. Thorny ground are those who hear the word but get choked out by the world (worries, riches, pleasure of life), and bring no fruit. But the GOOD soil are those that "hear the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance." Honestly, I think I've been all of these at some point in my life.  I feel like someone climbing up a hill and falling down part of the way, but climb again, get higher and fall less distance. So I'm not back on the ground, but I'm not as high as I once was. I keep climbing; I get higher. I fall back less. So I'm farther up the hill each time, bu...