Friends

So, once again I am blessed with insomnia...and with that comes the blessing of having deep thoughts. Tonight my thoughts turn to friends. My family members, step-brothers and step-sisters, in-laws and "adopted" family members are some of my dearest friends. Then there are my friends that are co-workers, parents of students I have taught, people I went to school with, friends I went to college with and friends I went to grad school with who are all my dear friends. I have friends I met through mutual friends, and friends I met through boyfriends. I have friends I laugh with, and others I cry with. I have friends that I keep at a distance and friends that have an automatic key to my heart. I have friends who I've taken risks with and friends who have taken risks with me. I have friends who have shared embarrassing moments with and friends whom I have shared the most sacred of experiences with.  I have best friends that I talk to all the time. And I have those rare and very dear friends that are close to my heart whom I never see or talk to much, I just know they are there. There are those friends that never get through very many layers of my soul, and then there are those who with one look see into the depths of my soul. I have dear friends who are close to my heart that are much younger than me, and I have dear wise friends who are several years older than me. Friendships....so many varieties yet all serve a very unique and special purpose. Love you, my friends!

Random Scriptures and Thoughts which have...

helped or touched me the past two weeks....

Be still.
Turn off the noise and listen.
Read, ponder, write.
Listen.
Peace.
Be still.


John 14:27
^aPeace I leave with you, my ^bpeace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be ^ctroubled, neither let it be afraid.


Jacob 2: 7-9
 7 And also it grieveth me that I must use so much ^aboldness of speech concerning you, before your wives and your children, many of whose feelings are exceedingly tender and ^bchaste and delicate before God, which thing is pleasing unto God;

  8 And it supposeth me that they have come up hither to hear the pleasing ^aword of God, yea, the word which healeth the wounded soul.

  9 Wherefore, it burdeneth my soul that I should be constrained, because of the strict commandment which I have received from God, to ^aadmonish you according to your crimes, to enlarge the wounds of those who are already wounded, instead of consoling and healing their wounds; and those who have not been wounded, instead of feasting upon the pleasing word of God have daggers placed to pierce their souls and wound their delicate minds.

Light shining in the darkness

(Photo 1: Connie Foster;  Photo 2: Mom and Mrs. Gines)

This past week the theme in my life seemed to be learning about light shining in the darkness. My dear angel friend, Connie, passed away from a battle with cancer last weekend. She was such a shining star in my life. I met her when she came to substitute teach for me three years ago. We hit it off right away and became fast friends. Connie was like that with everyone she met. She always had a sparkle in her eyes and an encouraging word. Over the years, I spent many hours talking with her on the phone about life. She had such depth and wisdom. We were 14 years apart in age but I felt like we were the same age. You would have never known that Connie suffered from deep depression. She was ashamed to even talk about it. It only came out in a conversation we had last Fall, when I told her I suffered from depression, and it was then that she hinted to me about it. She was so used to people not understanding depression that it wasn't something she was comfortable talking about. Connie was so bubbly and cheerful, you would have had a hard time believing she suffered from depression. Even when she called to tell me that the cancer had spread and it was terminal, through her tears she was passionately optimistic! "Pray for me, Becca! Pray for a cure! I'm going to beat this! I'm going to beat all the odds!", she would say over the phone. She was cheerful and positive to the very end that she would find a way to win the battle, so much so, that she even impressed and touched the hospice workers with her love and light.  What an example of light and positive attitude she was! She always focussed every ounce of her attention on other people, serving others, and spreading cheer and happiness everywhere she went. At her funeral, that was what everyone was saying about her. She was the same person to everyone and treated everyone as though they were super special in her eyes. (Which they were!)

Today, another dear friend passed away from cancer. Mrs. Gines was my Mom's best friend. I grew up with the Gines' girls. Their family just seemed to be an extension of my own family. From my earliest memories, we spent Christmas Eve at the Gines home with a close-knit group of other family friends. I remember ringing the doorbell out in the darkened Christmas Eve night, and Mrs. Gines would always swing open the door with a huge smile and sparkling gentle blue eyes and say "Come in! Come in!" This was the first place I ever read the Bible. It was tradition that on Christmas Eve we would all gather in the front living room, in a make-shift circle of sorts, and each person, adult and child alike, would read a verse from the Bible about the story of the birth of baby Jesus. We would sing Christmas carols and everyone would go around and share what the meaning of Christmas meant to them. I was super shy back then, but the feelings of warmth and love that we shared on that special holiday have stayed with me my entire life.  Mrs. Gines reminds me so much of my friend Connie. She was so positive, jolly, and always had a sparkle in her eyes! I still remember her tucking me into bed as a little girl when my parents had parties in our home and Mom was busy being a hostess. Mrs. Gines is the only one I would have ever let tuck me in bed besides my parents or grandmothers. She had such a soothing voice that calmed me as a little girl. I saved an email Mrs. Gines sent my mom several months ago of a story about burnt biscuits and how we choose our reactions to the things going on around us. Here's the part I liked best :


And that's my prayer for you today. That you will learn to take the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of your life and lay them at the feet of God.

The passing of these two beautiful women reminded me of all the light they possessed. The past few weeks have been rather "dark" in my world. I've been hit with one thing after another and I was feeling my own light diminishing. I am sad to have lost these two beautiful women to cancer so soon, but in their passing I was strengthened by the memories of their constant emulation of light, love, and positive outlook on life. I have much to learn from these beautiful women whom I was blessed to have in my life. Sending Love.
Me

Miracles

This week I have been taking time to notice the small miracles that occur daily. I have been amazed at all the beauty and goodness that surrounds me. I've noticed all those small thoughtful acts of kindness generated between the children and people I work with.

I thank Heavenly Father for my huge miracle that happened today. Such a trivial thing in the grand scheme of things, but somehow my car key fell off my key chain the Wal-Mart parking lot tonight not far from my car. I didn't notice it until I was leaving the store and went to unlock my doors with my car key and it wasn't there. Panic hit me. I didn't have a spare key on me, I had no idea where the key fell off, and my puppy was locked in my car (cold night of 40 degrees so nothing life threatening.)

I went back into the store and dug through my purse hoping it had fallen off inside the purse. It wasn't there. I walked up to the greeter and was wondering what to do with my bag of purchased items and where to start retracing my steps and I told him I had lost the key to my car somewhere in the store. He smiled and said one had been turned in not long ago. We went to customer service and thankfully it was my key!

I was soooo grateful to learn that a kind young teenage girl had found it outside in the parking lot and was honest enough to turn it in...all someone had to do was hit the panic button and the lights and alarm would have located the car and someone could have had a nice Toyota Rav4 with an adorable puppy inside....The thought of losing my pup, not the car, was what shook me up. Whew! Close call! I am soooo thankful for all the large and small miracles that we are all blessed with or observe others receiving daily!