Ever since before Thanksgiving my life has just been off key. I'm striving to get back on track. I'm doing a new Bible Study. Reading my Bible more often and reading several uplifting devotionals each morning.

On a positive note - I have been managing to get in a little more prayer time these days. Today I got a revelation from God. First He

shared with me this part . . . .

"God loved the world so much He gave His only Son, Jesus Christ to save the world."

and then He gave me this part . . . .

"God loved the world so much,
He did not ask Pam to save the world -

His Son could do it quite well. . .

all by Himself ....

so take a load off



Dear God,

don't let our ideas about how, and where,

and when we should seek you,

get in the way of seeking you.

When giving us a gift, help us recognize it and accept it.

Amen.

No matter how old we get, if we were blessed with children

we remain mothers the rest of our lives.

A mother is the most important person on earth.

She cannot claim the honor of having built Notre Dame Cathedral.

She need not. She has built something more magnificent than any Cathedral --

a dwelling for an immortal soul, the tiny perfection of her baby's body.

Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty

We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us;

we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be.

C.S. Lewis

Just a few thoughts on a cold winter day

Words truly written from my heart to yours,

Pam ( mostly known as 'ma')

Passing Our Faith On...

CONSOLATION IN OUR LORD

What happened to the years? I asked

He said "for everything a time"

Where are my friends of long ago?

He said "beyond the hill you climb"

Why are my footsteps slower now?

He said "tis all within the plan"

But what of all my hopes and dreams?

He said "they mellowed with the man"

But there is still so much to do.

He said "be grateful for today"

The road to heaven seems so long.

He said "there is no other way"

But what of all the things I need?

He said "and do I not provide?"

Sometimes I even grow afraid.

He said "I am always at thy side"

My purse is thin, my coins are few.

He said "sufficient for the day"

And oftentimes I am wrongly judged

He said "care not what others say"

Oh to be peaceful and secure.

He said "all things are thine in Me"

My cross grows heavy with the miles.

He said "I'll lift it presently"

The future looks so bleak and grey.

He said "tis darkest before the dawn"

But who will share my lonely way?

He said "you have me to lean upon,

No love so lasting as My own,

No power greater than my hand,

For you belong to Me and this

is all you need to understand...


Author Unknown

Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams.Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential.Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in,but with what it is still possible for you to do

Pope John Paul XXIII

I’ve started yet another Bible study out side of the weekly one I do at church.

In my study today it said:

Have you ever thought of the impact of your faith on your children’s future?

What difference can this realization make in your daily walk with God?

Our fullness of faith or lack of it will have an overwhelming impact on the heritage of our children.

So like any good internet surfer I decided to delve into the subject

just to see what I would come up with.

First I found out that:

Passing on our faith to our children may seem daunting, yet each parent can be effective in ways no one else can. Each child has a special bond with his or her parent that was designed by God. Because of this special relationship, parents have a greater opportunity to teach and profoundly influence their children than anyone else. When we speak from the heart in love about what is in our hearts from God's Spirit, it is more likely that we will reach them. Love is a very powerful motivator

Second I discovered that;

A new Barna study found that those who received more guidance from parents actively-engaged in applying God’s words on life and family formed deeper standards of faith in their lives

Third thought in this search was

You can't give what you don't have. Today there is an urgent need — a need to strengthen families from within. In order to give our children a deep and lasting impression, values must be handed down with greater influence and impact. A family must be far stronger than was previously necessary. Only when your family is strong will it have the necessary impact to reach the hearts of your children

Fourth this article said

We, like our children, need to grow as we get older. Throughout our journey, it is the mental, emotional andspiritual growth we make that defines our lives, that improves ourlives. Growth affects almost every aspect of our lives. Our thinking,our beliefs, our minds, our philosophy, our morals, values andethics, our politics. How we grow affects our relationships withour family and children, our friends, our co-workers and our jobs.It affects our very outlook and enjoyment of life, our heart andour happiness.

Then I found this parable that sums up what passing on our faith gives us

Parable of the Spoons

A holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day andsaid, "Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like. "The Lord led the holy man to two doors. He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in.

In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew which smelled delicious and made the holy man's mouth water.The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished.

They were holding spoons with very long handles and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, but because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths. The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering.

The Lord said, "You have seen Hell."They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man's mouth water.

The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking. The holy man said, "I don't understand."It is simple" said the Lord, "it requires but one skill. You see,they have learned to feed each other. While the greedy think only of themselves

Today,people wonder if there is any hope for this world we live in. We seem to have a generation coming up who have no hope. We can only pass on to others what we have truly received ourselves. God has ways of blessing us. We must recognize them, and having benefited by them, pass on the record of our experience to the coming generation.

God will provide our needs, but He does not promise to gratify our wants
We must beware lest we despise the day of small things

God has His hand on the coming generation. We must fulfill our part and testify of the goodness and wonder of our God, and pass it on to the coming generation.

Primarily, our outstanding objective should be to pass on the Standard of Faith and Hope.The Hope that has brought men through two Millennia from the Cross of Christ,to look into the Face of the Rising Sun at the dawn of each day, and cry with
triumph. . .This is the day the Lord hath made!

Today - this day - is the only day any of us are promised. We may not live to see tomorrow
For that reason, live today, love today, as if it were your last

If you have made another person on this earth smile,

your life has been worthwhile.

Sr. Mary Christelle Macaluso

With Hope in my heart,

Pam

(mostly known as ‘ma’)

TIDINGS OF COMFORT AND JOY

Tidings of Comfort and Joy

God rest ye merry, gentlemen, let nothing you dismay,

Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas Day;

To save us all from Satan’s power when we were gone astray

O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy;

O tidings of comfort and joy

Now to the Lord sing praises all you within this place,

And with true love and brotherhood each other now embrace;

This holy tide of Christmas all others doth deface

O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy;

O tidings of comfort and joy


God bless the ruler of this house,

and send him long to reign,

And many a merry Christmas may live to see again;

Among your friends and kindred that live both far and near—

That God send you a happy new year, happy new year,

And God send you a happy new year

These are only a few of the verses of this old Christmas carol.
The words TIDINGS OF COMFORT and JOY popped right out at me as a glanced at a book lying on my table this evening.

Our family had such a terrify experience this year when my little grandson died so suddenly that I thought this is what we all need right now. COMFORT and JOY. In truth we already have it. We can take comfort in the fact that Jesus was born on Christmas Day. We shouldn’t be dismayed because we have the belief instilled in our hearts that Jesus came to save us all.

This life on earth is so short. It is with our faith in hand that we can have JOY because we know that life doesn’t end. Our earthly bodies fade away, but our souls will be taken to be with our Lord.

So with my heart and hand I wish

That God send you a happy new year, happy new year,

And God send you a happy new year

Words truly written from heart to yours,
Pam ( mostly known as ‘ma’)

My beagle summer of 2008

He loved sitting in his chair at the camper

This is last winter when we had a huge snow storm

His favorite place to be

Or maybe this was his very favorite

He loved the sunshine!

We said good bye today - he will always be remembered.

Getting old is not easy

Saying Good bye

is even harder.

OLD AGE

When I read this poem I decided it was a very good philosphy to live with so I've put in my journal today so that I'll remember it and try as it says to rejoice in what was .

Old age, I decided, is a gift.
I am now, probably
for the first time in my life,
the person I have always wanted to be.
Oh, not my body!
I sometimes despair over my body ...
the wrinkles, the baggy eyes,
and the sagging butt.

And often I am taken aback
by that old person that lives in my mirror,
but I don't agonize over those things for long.

I would never trade my amazing friends,
my wonderful life, my loving family
for less grey hair or a flatter belly.
As I've aged, I've become more kind to myself,
and less critical of myself.
I've become my own friend.

I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie,
or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly
cement gecko that I didn't need,
but looks so avant-garde on my patio.

I am entitled to overeat, to be messy,
to be extravagant.
I have seen too many dear friends leave this
world too soon; before they understood
the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play
on the computer until 4 a.m.
and sleep until noon?

I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes
of the 60's, and if I,at the same time, wish to
weep over a lost love... I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is
stretched over a bulging body,
and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to,
despite the pitying glances from the bikini set.

They, too, will get old.
I know I am sometimes forgetful.
But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten .
and I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years, my heart has been broken.
How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one,
or when a child suffers, or even when a beloved pet
gets hit by a car?

But broken hearts are what give us strength and
understanding and compassion.
A heart never broken is pristine and sterile
and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough
to have my hair turn grey, and to have my youthful
laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face.

So many have never laughed, and so many have died
before their hair could turn silver.
I can say "no", and mean it.
I can say "yes", and mean it.

As you get older, it is easier to be positive.
You care less about what other people think.
I don't question myself anymore.
I've even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer your question,
I like being old.
It has set me free.
I like the person I have become.

I am not going to live forever,
but while I am still here,
I will not waste time lamenting what could have been,
or worrying about what will be.
but will continue to rejoice in what was.

author unknown

DS#3 with his youngest son, my precious little grand son that passed away

November 22, 2008

We experienced such joy at my grandson's birth and celebrated his baptism and his 1st and 2nd birthdays and he gave us all such joy. He will never be forgotten even though he can no longer celebrate with us.

Every mother wishes she could take away any pain that might come their child's way and I still do ...I wish I could....

if I could I'd protect you from the sadness in your eyes

give you courage in a world of compromise

yes, I would if I could

I would teach you all the things

I've never learned and

I'd help you cross the bridges that I've burned

yes, I would if I could

I would try to shield your innocence from time

but the part of life I gave you isn't mine

I've watched you grow,

so I could let you go

if I could I would help you make it through the hungry years

but I know that I could never cry your tears

but I would if I could

yes, if I live in a time and place where you don't want to be

you don't have to walk along this road with me

my yesterday won't have to be your way

if I knew I would try to change the world

I brought you to and there isn't very much that I could do

but I would if I could

oh baby I just want to protect you

and help my baby through the hungry years

'cause you're part of me

and if you ever ever ever need

I said a shoulder to cry on or just someone to talk to

I'll be there, I'll be there

I didn't change your world

but I would if I could ...

Words from a song by Celine Dion

To my son from my heart

Thoughts on a quiet Friday evening...

Life is a highway
On which the years go by…
Sometimes the road is level,
Sometimes the hills are high…
But as we travel onward
To a future that is unknown
We can make each mile we travel
A heavenly stepping stone.

Helen Steiner Rice

Father, as I travel life’s highway help me to keep the road in excellent traveling condition through constant observation and necessary repairs.
Assist me in observing all signals and avoiding dangerous curves and detours.

I’m on my way to Route 65 this year. Next year I’ll be there and it’s proving to be quite a disturbing thought to me. At 50 I didn’t feel old and had plenty of energy and at 60 I had a slow day once in awhile and bounced back to spur onward. At 64 + I have more slow days than not and the road is bumpy for me.

I hear about lovely ladies in their 80’s and all their accomplishments and that gives me hope as I want to be active and enjoy life. The trouble is that more often than not, I just do not enjoy the things I used to.

I cruise along each day and travel the distance required, but I’m always on the lookout for something new or unique. Like the full moon half hidden by the clouds this morning or the geese in the farmer’s field on the way home. I would rather spend an hour watching the sun set than watching the television.

I look in the rearview mirror going down the road and wonder how I’ve managed to travel so far and still not know exactly what I’m meant to do. I had real purpose when my family was all home and even though I’m enjoying a soft cushion of living a solitary life, it often seems that there is still more I’m meant to do.

I have a feeling that just down the road and over the hill are a few more things I am meant to accomplish. I guess I’d best keep fueled up so I’m ready.

Often your tasks will be many
and more than you think you can do
Often the road will be rugged
and the hills insurmountable too
But nothing in life that is worthy
is ever too hard to achieve
If you have the courage to try it
And you have the faith to believe
For faith is a force that is greater
Than knowledge or power or skill
And many defeats turn to triumph
If you trust in God’s wisdom and will.

Again by Helen Steiner Rice

Written from my heart to yours,

Pam (mostly known as ma)