Ding Dang It!

June 15, 2023January 28, 2024 Margaret2 Comments

Ding Dang Diets
I haven’t been counting my Weight Watchers points lately because I’ve grown weary with noting every morsel that goes into my pie-hole. (And there’s been more than one Amish fried pie in there!) Anyone watching me these days may well notice the evidence of my preference to eat rather than count as the smaller britches I bought late last summer are now my Maypops. They may pop anytime.

Ding Dang Dawn of the Day
I gave myself a pep talk this morning at 4 a.m. when I was forced out of bed by a bladder begging for relief. I looked into the bathroom mirror. A 4 a.m. face is frightful! “Do I really want to keep gaining weight?” I asked myself. “Why, no! No, I don’t!” I answered. I resolved to not start off my day with Jack’s yummy, buttery biscuits, a plan I’d made when I got into bed last night. By the time I arrived at work, I had indeed eaten a Jack’s breakfast. Then, when I got to the office, a donut called my name…one of those Krispy Kreme fried devil biscuits, chocolate covered with sprinkles. Yes, I did!

Ding Dang Dining
As a side note…often at the Jack’s near my house, you order what you want, you pay for what you ordered, then you get what they give you. Today, they did well. But I digress.

Ding Dang, Ding Dang!
Now…it’s Thursday. I can’t start a better way of eating on Friday! It might be a law, I don’t know. But I don’t want to binge all weekend, either. Well, I do want to. I just don’t want the consequences of it.

Ding Dang Choices!
I have a tight relationship with bad choices…and it’s not just food…but those are stories for another day.

(I can’t “ding-dang” a devotional. It’s too ding dang important.)
I should write seven-day devotional of sorts, covering personal choices, free will, and relationship with our Creator. It would be about picking up and moving on toward a better life, no matter how many steps back you’ve (I’ve) taken.

That’s the ding dang plan. If I write the devotional, I’ll share it some day.

I Called Her Mommy

February 21, 2021January 28, 2024 Margaret10 Comments

My birthday is today, and for the first time in my life, the one who gave me life will not wish me a happy birthday. My first “first” without my precious mama. It has been fourteen days since she left us. Fourteen days was also about how long I had to accept the idea of her leaving. Now, fourteen days later, I am no closer to being “used to it” than the day I was told it was cancer.

Cancer. Metastatic adenocarcinoma…what an obnoxious diagnosis. Obviously, she had cancer long before we knew it. By the time we found out, she was earnestly awaiting her home-going. She loved us, there is never a doubt about that. But she longed for heaven; she was ready to finish the race. She truly did fight the good fight and keep the faith.

Mom was one of the strongest women you could ever meet, though she never realized her strength. Over the years, she suffered so much with physical ailments, chronic pain, and severe allergies, even to the medicines that could have possibly helped her. Through it all, she didn’t complain.

She had a close, personal walk with God. She was always listening for His voice, and she heard it, often in ways we don’t think of hearing from God. Nothing excited her more than talking about her experiences with Him. Jesus was her passion. She left a legacy of handwritten journals dating back, I suppose, to the early 1990s. My family and I will be soaking in the treasure trove of words she wrote for many months, if not years.

She was a prayer general. If you were sick or had a problem, you would have wanted her to approach the throne of God on your behalf. The world is a colder place without her, but her prayers are still powerfully working on our behalf. If ever you want to do something for your family, cover them in prayer. It is an eternal thing you do when you pray.

She was always looking out for us, her children and grandchildren. She was so giving and generous. And she was wise, offering godly counsel…I wish I had heard her long before I finally begin to listen.

I am thankful for all the years I had with her. Thankful for the life lessons she taught me, and will teach me still through her written words. Thankful that she is not suffering any longer. I am thankful that we know Jesus, and we know that she is with Him; she is healed, at peace, and joyful. In God’s great mercy, He has given me the path to peace in the midst of this great storm. His grace is sufficient. For this, I am most grateful.

I am grateful that the waves of grief cannot drown me because I have an anchor, the Savior in whose arms my mom is now resting. He securely holds me, and He gives me the promise that I will see her again.

In her final hours, I spent a little time alone with her, just talking. I don’t know for sure that she heard me, but I like to think she did. I recited the 23^rd Psalm. I made her some promises, including the pledge to pick up her mantle and continue to pray for her children and grandchildren. I assured her we would be fine and it was okay for her to go be with Jesus. I sang Dottie Rambo’s “Sheltered in the Arms of God” to her…just the second verse and chorus.

Soon I shall hear the call from Heaven’s portals,
“Come home, My child, it’s the last mile you must trod.”
I’ll fall asleep and wake in God’s new heaven
For I’m sheltered in the arms of God…

For some reason, that night I couldn’t think of the first verse…now I think I know why…it was for me:

I feel the touch of hands so kind and tender,
They’re leading me in paths that I must trod.
I’ll have no fear, for Jesus walks beside me,
For I’m sheltered in the arms of God
So let the storms rage high,
The dark clouds rise,
They won’t worry me,
For I’m sheltered safe within the arms of God.
He walks with me,
And naught of earth shall harm me,
For I’m sheltered in the arms of God.

Scared Sinless

October 11, 2019 Margaret3 Comments

We are probably more apt to be scared into sinning rather than being scared sinless.

Did you ever wonder if being scared is a sin? I don’t mean the action you take because you were afraid, I mean the fear itself. Depending on the version you use, some variation of “Do not fear” is written somewhere between over 100 times to over 300 times. I read once that it is written 345 times, one for each day of the year…admittedly I have not counted the instances, but I cannot find definitive proof of that.

Is being scared an open invitation for the enemy to wreak havoc in our lives? There have been times I’ve made good decisions because I was afraid…and times I was too dumb to know to be afraid, and God took care of me. Don’t ignore warning signs, and don’t ignore your “gut.”

Fear lies. Fear silences. Fear sins. It paralyzes, it can be a stumbling block. It can also make us take a second look and perhaps make better choices. Which leads me to the questions: What exactly does the Bible mean by “fear?” And how do we not be scared when, in reality, we are?

Posts from around the southeast
(Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee)

Let me gather my thoughts and muse a little…

October 8, 2019October 8, 2019 Margaret2 Comments

Cades Cove Foggy Daybreak, Great Smoky Mountains

When I hear people happily boast, “I ran 2 miles and burned 175 calories!” I can’t get too excited for them. I gather they don’t realize two miles is a long distance to burn off a banana and three almonds.

If someone is offensive and rude until you get a little miffed…and they say, “You’re just letting the devil get to you!” I gather they are probably more correct than they realize.

When you are sitting at a red light, on a motorcycle, no less, and you pick your nose, and then your teeth with the same finger, I gather you don’t realize someone just may be subjected to seeing that in their rearview mirror.

If you go to the restroom and don’t wash your hands, people notice. And remember. And mention it to others. I can’t even gather my thoughts on this one.

If an eleven-year-old goes to the dentist for the very first time, and he casually mentions to her mother that some teeth will have to be pulled, when he wheels in a monstrous, scary looking machine and doesn’t explain that he is only taking X-rays and not pulling teeth, there just may be a meltdown in his dental chair. I obviously thought..I mean… that poor child just may have gathered the dentist intended to rip her teeth out with that big machine, that’s why I was…I mean SHE was wailing, “But my teeth aren’t even loose!”