♫ ♫ Hallelujah Hallelujah ♫♫♫

   

by  kjerstien

Today has been such a day of contemplation for me. Thinking about the spirit clouds. Looking around the world and seeing so many angry people….angry over what they have no control over. Angry over loss of loved ones, over weather emergencies that took homes and lives, over wars, over politics, over financial matters that cost them  their homes, their cars, their jobs, their families. Anger with no place to go.

And I sit and watch it become an inferno of anger and people turn on people. They sit with others who feel like they do and feed off of their anger and frustration and feelings of hopelessness and powerlessness. What horrible feelings and then it is like trying to swim upstream like the fish against  raging waters and getting no where and the feelings grow and grow until it turns into physical violence.

And it is then I realize that people who are so consumed like this..have lost the one thing that keeps me going…HOPE.  If I did not have hope…I would not still be here. Hope comes in many packages…hope for tomorrow, hope for better things, hope for solutions, hope for love, hope for a way out, hope for a way in…and if we lose that hope then despair sets in but what happens is people find it more comfortable to be angry than to be in despair and so they turn to anger.

When I became disabled, I decided I had two choices…I could lay back and give up and whine about it or I could accept what was happening and find new ways to live. I chose the latter. Why?  Because I am the infernal pollyanna. I can always see a bright side to something. I have learned even in the middle of bad there is good. It was hard when my legs started giving out on me but the good side…was it made me slow down and start enjoying life in bites instead of gulps.

Oh I dream alright. I dream of things for me, for those I love, for the world, for the future, for peace…I dream and dream and many of the dreams come true and some don’t. I dream for people who have lost homes and jobs and families. When we got this house, it was a repo and my heart wept for those that lost it for I know it was a terrible loss.

Maybe I was just born with the compassion switch. I look at others and even when they are ugly..try to look behind to the reason for many times their ugliness has nothing to do with me and more to do with their life and struggling.

And so, I sat here tonite listening to this song above and watching the stars and thinking about our world and how much more can it take of us misusing what is here. We displace wild animals and then get mad because they come to our houses and tear up things or try to break in looking for food. We destroy the land for new subdivisions while many subdivisions are laying fallow dying. What will happen to our world when everything becomes a concrete jungle?

Thank God I believe in heaven and I know how beautiful it is and now I know it is there…just a breath away. And I know others have gone on before. And because I know…it makes this world and all the things going on..so much easier to live with.

Treasures and Memories

We have actually come to the part of moving where it is fun. Enough stuff is done that we can bring five or six boxes at a time and go through them and enjoy what we are finding. Below are treasures and memories. This lamp is son’s and was his grandfathers and he loves it. It is very old but the memories for him are awesome. Oh, if you click on pictures, they enlarge.

 

This is a plaque from the man’s whose house we bought over the mountain and he was actually part of the Chicago Fire department and this was given to him. He gave it to son because he knew son was a volunteer fireman.

And a huge treasure. This is a picture of the actual magazine ad for Ford from 1973. The old picture in the ad is of my grandfather, driving that model T and he was demonstrating how to do a quick oil change on the court-house steps. The two boys sitting up on the ledge are his younger brothers, George and Albert. We actually have the original picture in our picture box. Now what a surprise this was and we found it on ebay.

And this next is one of the most awesome things and part of a dream come true for me. I have said how I literally was stuck in one room on the other side of the mountain and how this home I could not do anything. It is wonderful now. I can be part of the house. Do I get tired? yes…do I stay in my room a lot..sometimes. But I CAN do things if I feel up to it and want to.

The other day I made pizza…son helped and cooked the hamburger to go on it..but what fun that was for me. To be able to be part of the daily stuff.

and my pizza  I felt like the little girl who talks about shake and bake and said “and I helped”  LOL  Those are son’s hands doing the oven part as I am not balanced enough to be around the oven. 
We made cherry Crunch, pizza and blue berry muffins. We try to cook in bulk and make the most use out of having the oven on. Might have disabilities, but I find a way.

I was so excited. I went outside and saw my first butterfly bush bloom. And the plant has really grown. It was one of several that a friend sent me as a housewarming gift and they are all planted in my little fenced in area in the back yard.

And our backyard, which is only area we water, is greening up and looking good. I want to invest in some of those ten to twelve foot tall trees Home depot sells to put in this little area for you can see how dry it is outside our fenced in area.

Here is Rosie out at the Rio. She looks for Jack every time we go.

And to show you our rotten, styling and profiling Jack. When he got real sick couple years ago, and we were told to absolutely not let him get wet, we could not figure out how and I finally came up with a solution and now he will not go out in the rain without it.

And a fun spirit picture.

And lastly, this is the picture that stuck with me from yesterday. All I could do was look in awe and think…this is someone’s son that left this world too soon. I have always believed in heaven, after my experience at the threshold when I had lung surgery, I believed even more and now with these pictures I know there is life beyond here. I think, someone is wondering about their child and I wish I could show them. Is this not the most awesome picture ever. I traced one copy and am putting the real picture below it. Look back and forth and you will see the boy, plain as day. This sweet sweet child. Sometimes looking at these pictures is like those pictures with pictures hidden in them and your eyes have to adjust or once you see, you really start to see them.

Here is where I traced him and below it will be the actual picture.

Now here is the picture without the tracing and NO, I have no altered these pictures in any way. All I do is zoom and crop.

And always remember, what you believe does not have to be contingent on what others believe. Believe what is in your heart and what your heart holds true.