#214 The day after Christmas . Pure Love and Victory!

#214

I do not know about you. But for me the day after Christmas was always the most depressing day of the year. When I would drive down the city streets and everyones trash bags were packed with all the empty boxes of gifts they had opened of all the things they had gotten and their rolled up bundles of wrapping paper tossed aside which could not be recycled. I repeat could not be recycled. No more sappy Christmas music on the radio 24 /7 . No more Hallmark romantic movies where the girl losses her job and comes back to her hometown and enters the annual cookie bake christmas contest and competes against her old high school sweetheart and wins and saves not only her old flame’s family business but wins his heart and manages to bring back the true spirit of Christmas to not only her grinch self but to the town that was once thriving. Ya , the day after Christmas is a depressing day if you think about it. No more peppermint lattes and specialty Christmas drinks at the Starbucks. No more Christmas lights on the homes all twinkling and glowing at night . No more anticipation or as B. B. King once sang “The thrill is gone.” Before I had a Savior in my life. I must admit , the most depressing part of Christmas for me was not the day after Christmas . It was actually the moment the wrapping paper came off . That is so not good. My thoughts were always, “Is that it? ” “Now what?” How depressing . The moment I realized all the money and time was spent on a gift that gave me no peace at all made me even more depressed that I did what every person in America would do. Wait till Tax time ! Yep that’s the answer ! My tax money ! That will bring me peace ! And then the same thing would happen ..anticipation .. the money would be spent just as fast as the wrapping paper would be ripped off the gift and nothing to be showed for the money from the tax check but catching up on 3 months of past due bills and maybe if we were lucky extra meat in the freezer for a Manley’s run and a night out at the movies, a waterpark trip and poof .. depression would set in … the thrill is gone 🎶. Camille singing the blues like B.B King again . And why ? Because Camille had no idea what Christmas was all about and what it ment to even have a Savior all year around.

To be honest , I was not looking forward to Jesus’s birthday this year and I am ashamed to say that. Because it was like going to a birthday party without my best friend. Where I would not know anybody. You ever been invited to a birthday party where you did not know anyone ? But your Mom was forcing you to go ? Only my Mom was not forcing me to go to Christmas this year. No one was . I was invited and I was raised to know that when you are invited to a party you should make every effort to go because a invite is God’s way of saying you are not only wanted you are needed. You know who told me that ? My Grandpa. I never told anybody that in my life until today. I was 8 years old when he told me that and I will never forget it. I was asked to be a flower girl in my Cousin Terri’s wedding .I spent quite alot of time with my Mom over at my Grandparents house at that time and I remember my Grandparents being invited to John amd Theresa’s wedding and my Grandma wondering if they should go and my Grandpa asking if they got an invite in the mail . My Grandpa was very stern about invites in the mail or even verbal ones. If he heard it from the mouth of the host he would be there . If he got an invite in the mail , he would definitely be there. He didn’t go for hear say invites . He had to hear it from the host themselves. He was not one to be a straggler or a party crasher . My Grandpa held himself with high standards and had respect for others who opened their homes or held events. So when I was a flower girl of course he wanted to see his Granddaughter walk down the aisle. I was only in the second grade, teeth coming in all over the place , some baby teeth ,some janked up teeth. All eyeballs , skin as dark as his, hair just as course and life just as disfunctionional as his own and I was only 8 ! I think my Grandpa knew then that the devil was gonna be making trouble for his Granddaughter her whole life just by the way he watched me shake my problems off like I had none. I actually had the weight of the world on my shoulders most days yet I only shared that weight with my Grandma never my Grandpa . I kinda looked at my Grandpa like the guitar playing grouch of the house who you never bothered when he was watching his wrestling in his rocking chair and only walked in front of the tv during commercials. Especially when Dick the bruiser was on and you never knocked on the bathroom door if he was in there . Unless you really really had to go and I mean go because when Grandpa was in the bathroom he was in there for life . With his National Enquirer doing the crossword puzzles. Going to my Grandpa with what was on my heart was something I did not do at the age of 8 . I guess I did not realize until yesterday at the age of 46 that my Grandpa came to me at the age of 8 because of what was on his heart. I was in the living room singing to my Grandma a song I learned in school from the great late Rita Girod . My music teacher . Looking back now .I realize how young we were when we sang it in school. It was bye bye blackbird. I remember my Grandpa chuckling because I was probably the darkest one in my class and my Grandma telling me to go hit him and look whose talking because he himself is not the lightest one in town and she began to mock him . So then my Grandpa tells me to sing the song again and by this time I am kinda thinking this is a bit of a set up because here is the grouch that does not let me knock on the bathroom door when he is in there nor can I walk pass the tv when that creepy wrestler old guy in those gross swim trunks is rolling around on that mat with that other sweaty over weight old guy is on tv unless it is a commercial. Now he wants me to sing black bird after he just made fun of me being the darkest one in my class. When I am the same color as him and where did I get my skin color ? From him! Now he wants me to sing him the song blackbird ? I am only 8 . I have missing teeth and they are all janked up! He is only gonna make fun of me and probably hit me over the head with the guitar like he did my Mom ! I heard stories old man , you ain’t fooling me . My Mom talks. I have ears. So my Grandma says to me ,” go on Camillee , sing for your Grandpa , he wants to hear you sing .” So I start singing in this real quiet voice right beside my Grandma’s rocker , ” pack up all my cares and woes , hear I go singing low.. “and my Grandpa says , ” I can’t hear you . Come closer . Over here by me. And he leans over his rocker and grabs his guitar and starts strumming the tune to bye bye blackbird . With each word I sung from the song , he played the cord by ear . I sang and he played. That was how good of a musician my Grandpa was that he could read a song by ear the way he could read a person by their heart . He knew that day my heart was troubled and it was. I was asked to be in a wedding for my Cousin Terri as a flower girl and I was scared to death . My parents were barely talking and I did not think I could do it alone and go down that aisle . To be honest , I was a shy little girl . Nothing like I am today. My Grandpa told me that he would be there with my Grandma . When my Grandma asked if they should go to the wedding ? He said , “They were invited , they would be there and that they were going . ”

#214

The day after Christmas is not the most depressing day for me anymore. In fact it is the exact opposite today. The day before Christmas was the most depressing day for me this year because I actually started letting the enemy in my head when he started reminding me that I was going to the Birthday party for Jesus without my best friend , my Grandpa and I would know no one. As my whole family have changed over night it seems in the way we are all mourning differently right now in the passing of the Pillar of our family . The thing is , I know each and every one of my family members and they know me but we are all on our own path right now on how we are all handling our own grief and we are all on our own journey to how we our coping with this and not every size and time frame fits in with the holiday season and for me the holiday just was not a very festive one . I did not want to decorate or shop or run to Starbucks for the latest peppermint drink . I had a hard time putting up the tree . In fact, it stayed in the box until the last week . The stockings did not get hung until they had too. I did not over do the outdoor lights . Our home appeared quite dark and gloomy . It was not because I was a grinch . It was because I was numb. Not because my Grandpa went to be with the Lord but because my Grandpa GETS to go be with the Lord and I have to stay here and that I must admit is a bit depressing. That is what I am ashamed about because it is not fair to the ones who are surrounded by me daily. Because that is what the three gifts God gave us are for .. Faith, love and hope and these three things will last forever and the greatest of these is LOVE . For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son , that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life . John 3:16 . What a great gift to get on Christmas day but a gift that does not come in a box but a gift that you can use every minute of every day of your life! Jesus! to gain the freedom of the chains from the sins that bind you to this life to gain you access to your Eternal life through Jesus Christ your one and only gift. Who knows you through the very people who have touched you and walked with you and seen you through your whole life. Who have never left you and will never leave you because they have been invited to the Eternal party and if they are like my Grandparents and accepted their invitation. They are with him! In your heart and Wherever Jesus is! If Jesus is in your heart , there they will be! I took my best friends with me to my family Christmas yesterday . I felt each and every family member with me yesterday . I felt their Spirit and their love among the family that were present and the family that were not and it was the greatest Blessing I could have ever received . I know my Grandpa was proud of me and I know he was proud of his family who came together and still had Christmas and celebrated Jesus’s birthday! As hard as it was without him I know he was happy because I felt the same excitement I felt after my Cousin’s wedding when I realized , I did it ! And the wedding was over and I was walking down that aisle at age 8 and I seen my Grandpa in the back of the Roman Catholic Church and he winked at me and I felt nothing but Pure Love and Victory ! and the Devil does not want you to know that.

#213 In this very room .

#213

The last hour of my Grandpa’s life spent here on earth will probably be one of those hours for me I will never forget. What makes that hour to me so unique and so special is that you could have picked any hour of any year of any part of my childhood ,my adulthood or my life for that matter. Where my family has gathered together in the company of my Grandpa and pulled that hour and replaced it with any member of my family . Different Aunts, Uncles , Cousins , second Cousins, once removed , twice removed or even just lifelong friends and left just me and my Grandpa in that very room, in that very home and there would still be the same love ,laughter, tears and conversation . That is the markings of a great life well spent. When every person in your life can be interchangeable and know that each person holds something of great value to you and one is as important as the other and there is always room in your home, ypur life , your room and your heart for one more. My Grandpa’s home was not as big as his heart by no means . In fact, you could drive by his place and miss it as most peoples living rooms are bigger . To my Grandpa though, it was perfect and if given the chance for a brand new home or a motorhome he would be sure to say something like, ” Why would I want a house with wheels ? I got my truck ” and yes he did have his truck. That truck alone can write a blog in itself for the things My Grandpa has hauled away from the compost pile in it alone. What others deem as trash , my Grandpa seen as treasure . Like the garden turtle with no head that he took home that we still have in the landscape that will always remind me of him . Every year we planted his flowers he made sure to tell us not to throw away ‘Shellee’ because she was a find.” Can you believe someone threw her away ? All she needs is a head .” and “check out these wind chimes I found , the only thing missing is the middle thing that makes them chime .” So he would do something real cool and add his own piece of artwork by adding something to the middle of the chimes to make them work. Usually something else he found that someone got rid of. My Grandpa found things that were left abandoned or thrown out and he always put them to good use or did something with them in ways that made them unique . So unique that even I must admit I’m wondering whose gonna get Shellee the turtle with the missing head?

I know that when God calls his children home. The timing is always perfect but he sure did my Grandpa’s family good when he called my Grandpa home that final hour last week . In my Grandpa’s modest home .I never felt more love, more at peace and the place seemed bigger then ever . Normally 4 or 5 people and I got to get out of there or I feel claustrophobic but last week there was enough room for more. Or as the song title ‘in this very room’ goes and the lyrics that follow,”quite enough love for all of us and in this very room there is quite enough joy for all of us and there’s quite enough hope and there’s quite enough power, to chase any gloom, For Jesus, Lord Jesus… Is in this very room. ” I must say the hour that was at hand for my Grandpa and if it was the darkest one for him I will never know because for me I never felt more at peace with him and for him and I know it was all because of Jesus . Jesus truly was in that very room. I felt him the moment my Aunt Dolores started thanking Jesus and I was reminded to be grateful to God in every situation especially the ones you were not expecting . What do you say in times like these ? I was quickly reminded of the Apostles and how they asked Jesus how to pray. He taught them to pray The Lord’s Prayer / The Our Father and that was the prayer I said on my knees beside my Grandpa’s bed as I held on to his hand as I know his Spirit was being carried away with the Angels. I have no doubt in my mind because if there was sadness I was completely shielded from it . That prayer alone was my connection through Jesus Christ to God my Heavenly Father in my own darkest hour because he taught me it through the Apostles by praying it. Looking back now , if I had to pray to God at that moment in my own words from where my heart was in that moment my prayer would have been something like this. “Heavenly Father , I have nothing , you know what my Grandpa means to me , my heart is broke . I know he cannot stay but I do not want him to go. I am selfish . I am a sinner and whatever I have done or my Grandpa has done , forgive of us both . Please welcome him in your loving embrace and let him in the gates of Heaven. Help my heart . I cannot do this . I cannot breath. ” The reason I say my prayers were answered and I only said The Our Father but that’s how I always imagined I was gonna feel the day God would call my Grandpa home . Because I got total validation on all accounts after I said the Our Father. I never felt more at peace for my Grandpa and for myself. I knew my Grandpa was being welcomed into the arms of his Savior. I felt that for him. My heart felt full. I felt forgiveness. For the first time I felt I had a purpose, like I had work to do here and I felt like my Grandpa had served his purpose in his life and done a great job worthy to be called a Son of the living God . His work was done and It was a job well done and God was very well pleased with my Grandpa.

#213

It is not hard to please God. In fact it is quite easy if you remember that God gave this whole world his Son to cling too to make the job not only bearable but easy . I could have never gotten through the shock of losing my Grandpa without Jesus Christ. Because of Jesus I did not see my Grandpa as someone who was dead. I seen someone who was alive and because Jesus lives in my heart . I still feel my Grandpa alive in my heart. Living and breathing and talking to me just like he did with my Grandma when they were both beside me alive in the flesh . One must remember that God is the Word and the word was made flesh. Jesus is the flesh. If Jesus is living in your heart and the Word of God takes up residence there . There is no vacancy for the Devil there to plant his seeds of bitterness over things that have gone missing , like items that were once tossed aside in a compost pile . Like a turtle with no head. I would rather my Grandparents see me walk through the gates of Heaven then hold any grudge over any one of my fellow Brothers and Sisters in Christ because of any item , any tradition , any feud , anything left unsaid , said , did ,undid because the bottom line. When it comes to death and the hour of your own. Not all people live like my Grandpa. Not all people make room in their hearts for everyone. Not all people are interchangeable. Not everyone can open their own hearts and love their own deceased and non deceased Brothers and Sisters Children as good and as equal as their own their whole life and treat other Grandchildren just as good as their own Grandchildren and withstand the jealousy and the backlash that comes from being a loving ,giving Father and Grandfather. Who shows no favortism not even to his own children and grandchildren .

If you could have seen the cars in my Grandpa’s funeral procession. It was amazing. How there was not enough flags for the cars that every car had to have their headlights on and it was not because my Grandpa was a popular man because he was not. My children looked back and could not believe we had so much family . It was wonderful to be able to tell them that they were not all family but to my Grandpa , they were and because of Grandpa they are family to us now. My Grandpa was not perfect . That is not what God is asking for. My Grandpa was just a Grandpa. But I loved to share him and he loved to be shared. I think maybe that is why God let him live so long. He was like the Grandpa that so many did not have. The Brother that could not be there to see all his Grandchildren get married , graduate and have beautiful little babies. Uncle Bob and Uncle Manuel seen through their Brother Bone’s eyes. My Grandpa went to every family event. Never missed a thing. All the Sisters that went before him got to see their own Daughters and Sons and how their lives turned out and what beautiful families came from their legacy. My Grandpa never missed a reunion. Sometimes I think that God knows , in fact know he knows the path we are each gonna take in this life. My Grandpa knew a life seperate from family. It was the two years spent in WWII , a life of hell away from his family breaking his Mom’s heart. He was so excited to get home . He never stuck around for all his paperwork. He never missed a family function again and never made his Mom upset like that again because him enlisting like he did terrified her. She saved all her tears for the day he would return and boy did she use them up for that day .He told me once , that when he hitch hiked up to Fort Wayne to a family picnic because no one was expecting him , he thought he would be getting some hero’s welcome but nothing. But boy did he feel like a hero when his Mom seen him and started crying and carrying on . He told her to cut it out. He didn’t lose a arm or a leg . Maybe a marble or two but he was ok . She was just so happy to see him. He said he would never upset her like that again. Maybe that is why my Grandpa honored his parents like he did and did everything he could to spare them tears by showing up to every family event and carrying on the same family traditions that brought them closer. Bringing them joy and happiness . Keeping them together as a family. Maybe that is why family was so important to my Grandpa abd why he went out of his way to include everyone that had no family or very little. Accepting strangers as friends and loving friends like family. Afterall, it was the Fifth Commandment and only the Fifth Commandment that came with a promise . Honor thy Father and Mother and it may go well with you , that you may live long in the land. My Grandpa lived a long life. Healthy . To a great ripe age of 94. No complaints . It was a life well lived, well loved and well deserved and not because he was worthy . It was because he was not worthy and he knew it and he was grateful . Everyday of his life he was so darn grateful . Grateful to the man in his heart who made room for everyone in it and with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior there is always room , in this very room where he dwells . There is always room for one more just like me and the Devil does not want you to know that.

#212 Don’t count sheep, count your Blessings.

#212

The other day I had that one good cry . You know the one where you get it all out of your system in the shower and no one hears you but the tears come out along with the shower water. So it is like your really not sobbing but you are so it does not seem in reality like your crying and facing the truth but you know you are and your accepting the facts of life and making peace with in and as you turn off the shower and reach for your towel . Just like that . Better . You can now face someone in the eye and when they ask ,” Hey , how’s your Grandpa or how are you ?” You can now tell them the truth and say , ” Oh.. he’s a tough old bird. Age 94 . Nothing is getting him down . Instead of . He came home on Monday and got his wish . Blas G . Mendez decided he did not want to be poked and probed at age 94 . He did not want a IV in his arm feeding him liquids or dialysis. He wanted to come home and live the way he wanted to. Which would mean a life that would be cut short and without a appetite and a IV. Obviously you can now understand why I would be sobbing in the shower the moment I found out that the IV came out his boney little brown arm on sunday and I for once could not talk my Grandpa into something. Like coming to watch me play donkey basketball when I was a Cheerleader in High School or sit out in the sun under his umbrella to watch my kids play baseball games all day or making him smile for every picture I took of him . I was always talking him into wearing props for the pictures I would take. While most people in my family would get catty and complain . My Grandpa is one who would seem aggravated at first but would in the end do it anyhow because he knew I was never gonna stop until he does . So he would put on the pilgrams hat or the princess crown just to see me happy (or shut me up ) because that is what made my Grandpa the happiest. Is when those around him were at their happiest and not bickering. Watching him in his hospital bed last friday night as me and my Friend Sue went up to make him happy . He was up at this rehabilitation hospital. He was not at his happiest. It was a rough day for him. The roughest so far that it being a friday evening had sent my my mom and my Aunt home with a heavy heart having to leave their Dad up there. The week had been such a positive one for our family . The family was making plans for my Grandpa to come home a week later . The plans were going to have to change and quick because my Grandpa had some very tough decesions to make. Rehabilitation is for people that want rehabilitation . For people that want dialysis . For patients that want to be poked and probed. Patients that are strong enough for therapy 3 times a day. Patients that eat. Patients that have strength because they eat. My Grandpa did not meet those criterias and in that shower that day . I had to face reality that it was the truth and how important that IV really was . It was like an umbilical cord to a baby. When my Grandpa did not want it in his arm any longer and even I knew I could not convince him of it . It was not a baseball game where he would be going to watch his Great Grandson or a fundraiser where he would be watching his Granddaughter on a donkey ride out of the gymnasium into the commons area. (true story, even the donkey I was riding was looking for the concession stand and a out. ) and this time . I , just like that donkey , had no way out. This was his life. He was going home. He was making his mind up to go home . A home I could not talk him out of . The road that would simply lead to the door that would get him closer to his Eternal one. How could I talk him out of that? The only thing I could talk my Grandfather into believing last Friday . Was that he was good enough to get into the door of Heaven because he had a ticket to get in the door . Jesus was his ticket in. I will not lie to you. Last Friday when my Friend and I went up to see my Grandpa. He was like a child . He needed comforted. I never seen my Grandpa that scared in my life. My Sister in Christ was the best medicine for him. He needed her hands to hold but he needed a familar face. My Grandpa hates hospitals. He wanted to come home. He needed to come home. That IV had to come out. There was no way I was gonna talk him out of it . You would have thought it would have been a heartbreak to see my Grandpa in that condition but it was not. In fact , it was the best visit I ever had with him . When I pulled out Fridays edition of the Decatur Democrat and said , ” Hey , look Grandpa ! They must be getting desperate . Look who made the front page ? ” and I showed him my mug and that my article was being printed in that edition . His reply , ” Am I in it ? ” I replied , ” Well heck ya , you know God would put a plug in there for you . ” My Grandpa began to sit up and reach for his eyeglasses . It is amazing what God’s word can get you to do and the strength of knowing the power it has when you stand firm on it and hold on to your Savior with both hands especially when your scared and do not feel good .

#212 My Grandpa was scared last week and he did not feel good the last few weeks of his life. But the 94 years God Blessed him with he really did live life to the fullest. He made mistakes . He wished he could change . He loved . He broke hearts. He got his broke a time or two. And he came to terms with everything he done wrong in his life over the years that he just could not change and make right. He always told me that life goes on and somethings can never be undone . You just have to keep on going. Even though he would tell me not to dwell on the past . As he knew his Granddaughter was a dweller . I found after realizing that my 94 year old Grandpa was afraid to die last friday because of his own past and that he himself was a dweller and maybe that is where his Granddaughter might have got it. When I looked at him and asked him if straight up , ” Grandpa , are you afraid to die ?” He said, ” Well sure .. No one wants to die . I don’t want to be in pain, but I don’t want to go. ” I told him that I was kinda jealous , in a good way but it still was not right. Because he is going where I know people are rooting for me and leaving me in a world where people hate me . I may not feel the arrows that come at me but they do come at me and it hurts knowing that . And I wish I were going too and that is not right for me to say that . Because he gets to see Grandma and Uncle Joey and rest with them . The people that are on my side and be with Jesus. So I look over at my Grandpa and he is out like a light and I see him holding the newspaper up reading my article with his eyes closed! I look at Sue and go “really ? who needs melatonin when you can read my article or blog . ” My Grandpa was sleeping like a baby. As we took the paper from him . Folded it . Started to put things away. My Grandpa woke up like a baby too . Of course we reassured him he was ok. Sue tucked him in real tight just like she was one of his own Daughters . (My Aunt Patty to be exact, the one Daughter that gives my Grandpa extra loveys , so it was extra sickening. If my Grandma was there she would have been shooting spitballs from my newspaper article. ) So that was funny. Leaving the rehab. My friend started to cry . I could not figure out why . Because here , she literally was not feeling well herself that day and had just been hauled off the day before by EMS and pulled herself together to be there for my Grandpa and for me , so I would keep it together and here she is falling apart at the seams. When I asked her , ” are you ok Sis? and she replied , ” all day she had been praying . That in spite of everything going on with her health. If God could just put her to use to do what she can do with what she does have . If holding the hand can bring someone comfort, like she felt tonight. The Blessing was all hers. Because she felt selfish loving my Grandpa so much because he was truly something special.” When a person can be used by God like that to let someone know that they are not useless in this life . They have something to give. They can bring another person joy , comfort and peace. God took his peace and used the hands of my friend Sue and brought comfort to my 94 year old Grandpa whose vision is failing on a day she was feeling low and like a failure herself at a time when she felt sge had nothimg to offer this world and what she received in return through my Grandpa was the Blessing of God’s hope in knowing she does have something to give this world . Herself , something that might not have anything to do with vision. She did not need eyes to bring comfort to my Grandfather . My Grandpa passed away yesterday and as you read this his obituary will probably be in the same edition. But that’s ok. Because the Blas G .Mendez that I sang my last song too just a hour before and took my last photo of and wrote my last words too just seconds before he took his final breath was not scared to leave this life anymore . He knew he had a Savior waiting for him . They always say the hearing is the last thing to go . I believe that is true . I was always the Grandchild who always ran late. Besides the fact he waited for his beloved great grandson punky and grandson Sean . I was the last Granddaughter to get there . Even my Cousin April beat me. I could hear my Grandpa now , ” your late, where ya been girl . ” This time , I think I was doing it on purpose. Especially when my Cousin Barbie texted me and said , ” quit making excuses and get down here ,” Grandpa was not supposed to go so soon. I was not supposed to be there that long. I could not find the words to write on his poster board. The very poster board I came up with myself. It had to have been a trick. I went from living room . To bedroom. To bathroom . To kitchen . To find the words. And then they flowed out of my pen and the moment i finished the last word. My Grandpa took his last breath . Like he was waiting for me to describe him and the life and impact he made on me in that one paragraph and with the Grace of God I did . It was finished. Just like Jesus. My Grandpa’s work is now finished and my work now begins . I no longer have Grandparents here on earth. I never said that before. It feels strange. May I continue to serve my own parents in the way I watched them serve Blas and Sarah Mendez because if I do and my childen are watching my Husband and I , then I know our future in our ripe old age will bring us so many Blessings that we will not have to count sheep at night to fall asleep , we can just count our blessings and the Devil does not want you to know that.

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#211 Every Moment , Thank God.

#211

You ever find it strange that the one holiday that should be celebrated everyday throughout the year is actually the shortest celebrated holiday next to maybe St. Patrick’s Day and that’s a very big maybe because I’m pretty sure I found it easier this year to find the St.Patrick’s Day aisle then I did finding the Thanksgiving Day aisle Because somehow in the course of mans evolvment we have managed to snuff out one of the most important holidays to man kind . Thanksgiving. Make no mistake I know how important the Christmas holiday is but deep down I can not help but feel that the Thanksgiving holiday deserves not one day but many days and many aisles to be celebrated . 365 days and aisles to be exact. Where you can find not a few little odds and ends but many items to remind you in big ways and small ways of what today is . A Day for Thanksgiving . A Day to be Thankful for. Should not every day be Thanksgiving day? Thanksgiving Day is not just a holiday to be celebrated one day any more then Easter is a holiday to be celebrated but one day anymore then Christmas is a holiday to be celebrated but one day. Wouldn’t the candy companies and card companies like that ? Or would they ? Maybe that is what makes those holidays and those candies and cards such a treat? When you don’t get to celebrate them everyday of the year. When the Chocolate Santa Clauses are seasonal and the Reeses Peanut Butter Easter Eggs taste better then the cups for some reason. But I also know there must be a special Christmas Celebration that stands out among the other days of the year . Like your very own Birthday . A special day like no other. The day you were born . Like the day Christ was born to save all Sinners. Or the day you will die . That will be even more a special day then the day you were born. I often times think that Easter is more they important Holiday over Christmas . One Holiday we were given the gift in his birth Jesus and the next holiday the gift , Jesus , is finally revealed to us and we now get to partake in the gift that is ours and has been ours from the beginning of time and for once no one can try to take what is ours. Steal what is ours. Hurt what is ours , kill what is ours , weaken what is ours , demand what is ours and bring sickeness to what is ours because what is ours is HIS and what is HIS is GOD’S his Father’s and what is HIS Father’s is now OUR’s and that is not only something to be thankful for but that is something to celebrate.

#211

I have this plaque on my wall that my friend Sue gave me a couple years ago. I remember she gave it to me and felt kinda bad that at the time she had nothing new to give me and felt like a hobo friend for doing such a thing and giving me something in her eyes that was not new but used instead. Do you know this is my most favorite thing my friend has giving me and if you ask me all the things she has given me in the years we have been friends I cannot give you a complete list of items but I know for a fact . This item is one of them and it is in fact my favorite because I do have it hanging in my living room. I look at quite often. When I get discouraged. When I need help. When I am afraid and when I am sad. I am not gonna lie to you . I hardly ever look at it when I am happy. I have no need too. This past Sunday night I came home and I read each word on this plaque very slowly word for word . In the quiet and stillness of my home and I guess you could say maybe I was at a point where everything kinda hit me at once. I had just had one of those rollar coaster days . No years . I think we all have had them. Where you look back and wonder. How did you not fall out that cable car ? And you sit in the quietness of your home and you think of the ups and downs of your day maybe your life and the human , sinful side of you takes over and you cannot help it but the Devil gets in your one ear and talks you into wishing you had fallen out of the cable car because sometimes the news or the darkness your surrounded with at times in some moments in your life can be so dark and grim that you read the words on the plaque word for word that I did and you just cannot do what the words say ypur suppose too. Gosh darn it you cannot. Your too weak. The words on the plaque on my living room wall read this . HAPPY MOMENTS PRAISE GOD. DIFFICULT MOMENTS SEEK GOD.QUIET MOMENTS WORSHIP GOD.PAINFUL MOMENTS TRUST GOD. EVERY MOMENT THANK GOD. I was so arrogant to pride myself into thinking I was standing firm on my own two feet until the last 4 words . Praising when I’m happy , that’s easy ✅. When things get difficult seek God . Well that is real easy . Who else is gonna save me from this pit we call life when things are not going my way ? ✅✅ Quiet moments worship God. Done . Triple ✅. Painful moments trust God. Been there doing that . ✅✅✅✅. Then I got to the last words of the board and the Holy Spirit said check mate. Every Moment Thank God. And I was like , ” Say what ? Every moment? Be Thankful?Thank God ? Did you not just hear what the nurse said about my Grandpa ? You were there . My Grandpa was given 1000 units of liquid and all day his kidneys only put out 100 units and you want me to be Thankful! His kidneys are shutting down ! I’m sorry Lord! I cannot be thankful for that! I’m too much of a selfish little sinful jerk tonight and I need help! ” I actually began to text my friend Sue and my Aunt both venting and sobbing at the same time. I was both frustrated and angry and just plain having a tantrum. My Grandpa is 94 years old for the love of Pedro. He has both his witts and his thoughts together . Up until 2 weeks ago when he started feeling low , plagued with congestion and other issues. Things started to snowball . He had every intention of going with me and my friend Sue days before for a little chinese at his favorite restaurant Coco china and root my Mom and I on at the local American Legion on their next Karaoke night. So you can imagine my selfishness when God, My Father in Heaven says , “umm .. I don’t think so. It might be time. ” I proceeded to act like my 14 year old does when I take her phone away after a billion unfollowed through threats . I was completely devastated after God called my bluff. I played it off real cool at the rehabilitation hospital in front of my Mom and Aunt. Until I got home and then it hit me like it usual hits my Daughter. When she gets to her room and realizes after the phones gone that she has no access to the outside world. That someone else really is calling the shots and it is not her. You better get your act together quick and start being grateful little girl because that phone is not coming back until you change that attitude because just like me with my Daughter . I’m not gonna give that phone back until her attitude changes. I’ll tell you what. My attitude never changed so fast in my life. You want to talk about a Grandaughter going to bed Giving Thanks and Praise for a Father giving life to her 94 year old Grandpa Sunday night . It was me . I did not care what condition my Grandpa’s kidneys were in when I went to bed . Because I went to bed Thanking God that he already gave my Grandpa healthy ones through Jesus Christ for 94 years of life already and whether it be today , tomorrow or the next life my Grandpa was gonna get even better ones through Jesus Christ anyhow in his next life amd that is something to be thankful for . While I slept better then I slept in a week. I woke up feeling ill monday morning that my Husband went to visit my Grandpa without me. It is amazing what good news can do not only to the heart but to an ailing body . I sure started feeling much better when my Husband called to tell me that my Aunt Dolores witnessed as my Grandpa’s bag filled up over half full. Hearing the words a bag of urine over half full never sounded so good ! Maybe that is why we are to Thank God in every moment in this life. The good moments. The bad moments and remember to especially thank him even in the devasting moments and to remember that yes . It is very hard to remember to be thankful without the holiday to remind us sometimes . Especially when we do not always get what we ask for . But it is in the times when we get the things we were never expecting at all is when we are to be Thanking God the most . That is what he is expecting from you to do. Just like that spoiled teenage girl with that attitude who wants that cell phone back . She is not gonna get it until her attitude changes or the Grandaughter whose Grandpa’s kidneys were in the process of shutting down. The nurse confirmed it I promise you. They started working on their own the very next day by the goodness and the Grace of God. He did not have to do that for my Grandpa or for my family but he did . He answered our prayers. He answered someone’s and I assure you . I was not the only selfish one in the bunch nor the only thankful one . Thanking God for giving my Grandpa 94 Blessed years in this life . How we have appreciated each year , each day and each hour and how we are all so very thankful to God for every moment he has given us . The Happy Moments , The Difficult Moments , The Quiet and the Painful moments but most of all EVERY moment , we Thank God and the Devil Does not want you to know that.