Retirement Questions???

6/1/11 Lots of retirement questions. Of which there are no answers………..YET! Any plans? How’s it going? I don’t know how it’s going. It “feels” no different from years past when being out for the summer. My only stated goal, which is not at all spiritual, was to SLEEP for a year. With this congestion crud I’ve been fighting, I’m already taking sleep to the next level.

One concern I have is not living up to the expectations of family and friends during this upcoming season. I’ve been warned by folks, who have tread this path before me, not to make too many plans/commitments, especially with Daddy’s needs at the forefront of all decisions.

But, I am a people pleaser so I’m already feeling guilty, “No guilty feelings allowed,” son, Buddy, admonished during his retirement day phone call. Easy for him to say.

But God……has dealt wondrously with me in the past and most recently in allowing this time. Joel 2:26 states:

And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with youJ (I’ve definitely gotten the eating part down to a science. Now the plan is to beef up the praise.)

Therefore I can continue to trust Him for guidance to allow me to accept His best for me-----that which pleases Him.

So here’s the plan………..

Now the God of peace, …..make you perfect in every good thing to do His will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight, (Hebrews 13:21-22a, ASV)

I guess I’ll have to refer all retirement questions to the only One who knows the answers.

Fantasy Blog

2/10/11 You know you can’t ever truly believe what you read on a blog because bloggers want to put their best foot forward----I just recently read that. I should have read it sooner so I could “spruce” up my blog life for public viewing. It is true that I don’t tell all---maybe I’m sitting on the couch with laptop in (well, in my lap, where else) surrounded by laundry that needs folding. A few weeks ago I “lost” a roast and I chose not to tell that because how does one lose a roast between taking it out to thaw and coming home to an empty counter. The search that ensued was dramatic, with hubby, the bloodhound of most lost things at our house (most usually lost by me), checking everything from garbage cans and car trunks to my closet. We assumed eventually our nose would lead us to it---similar to those years of “lost” Easter eggs. I figured it was just in the lost items black hole with my swimsuit, numerous gloves, (my newest replacement pair lost yesterday on the coldest day of the year) car keys, MEMORY etc. Said roast was eventually found 10 days later in the freezer as friend Hal had suggested---though both eagle-eyed Larry and I had checked all 3 freezers numerous times.

Why is it so important to appear as something we are not? Why do we want to appear organized, thoughtful and smart, not to mention spiritual, as if we never miss a quiet time? Do we have it all together? Not at my house.

That desire is a cover-up for all our perceived inadequacies because we know “man looks on the outside.” We are people pleasers! "The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (I Samuel 16:7)

How many times do we need to be reminded to “never compare our insides with someone else’s outsides?”

Galatians 1:10 offers some great questions for pondering. Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Am I trying to please men? I thought about that as I was cooking today. (I was cooking---are you impressed---even making a homemade pie crust, though it wasn’t as light and tasty as when Elnora makes it) I rationalized that if I told too many of my foibles, folks wouldn’t want to read the blog because they would know how really pitiful I was, then how would I encourage or inspire? But God…..He let me keep the same title but made me include a few of the latest life snafus---because just sharing the good stuff would be a fantasy…..though I did sneak in the cooking part.

*Vanity of vanities, I didn’t even want to use my own "reminder finger" in the picture because it’s wrinkled, a touch arthritic and I don’t “do” manicures.