~and please stay well~
The bookshelf at home is lined with plenty of things to read, among them an entire row of beautiful devotional books that I have purchased over the years. I'd see one that I liked, buy it, and place it on the shelf.
And that's where it stayed.
On the shelf.
In pristine condition because when you don't use them that's how they stay.
I had so many of them that I really didn't even know which ones I had. This summer in my quest to figure out what to do with all this extra time I seemed to have, I began to look at those devotionals. I wondered to myself, "Why am I saving these? Don't you think it's time to get one out and use it?"
And so I did.
With highlighter in hand, I began to sit down at my desk and daily read the first of the devotional books I had chosen. That particular one is now completed and the pages no longer look brand new. Instead, each page now has its own share of yellow highlighted words, passages, and phrases that stood out to me as I read them. I'm sure that some day when I am gone and my kids have to go through my things, they will find them all.
And that will make me happy.
From 2004-2012, I was a CNA part time back in Kansas. As a single person trying to live on a teacher's salary, I found it necessary to find a job that I could do to earn extra money on the weekends and in the summertime. I fell in love with my work at a long-term care facility near my home in Hutchinson. The elderly folks that I took care of became my family members and often I would go to see them even when I wasn't scheduled to work.
More times than I care to remember, I sat with them as they were dying because no one from their family was able to be there. I remember how scary it was that first time of sitting with a 90-year old woman named Anna as I wondered what I could do to make a difference in her waning moments of life. I glanced at her bedside table and found her personal Bible that looked obviously well used and loved. I looked through it and discovered that with pen in hand, she had marked passages throughout it that meant something to her. It was like a sign to me that reading these out loud to her might be of comfort even though her eyes were no longer open and her breathing was slowing down. Surely as I believed it might, I saw her face relax as she heard those familiar words from the Bible.
It was really a blessing to be with her as she left this earth.
I take much solace in the fact that she didn't have to die alone.
I stayed with her until the end.
In these strange and frightening times we now live in, it helps me to remember and set aside times each day to find a quiet spot to read, reflect, and most certainly pray. I'm glad that I gave up the notion that it was a sacrilege to mark up a Bible or any other kind of book for that matter. When my reading material is found after my departure from this earth, it will be more than likely marked with every shade of highlighter that was made at the time. My hope is that whoever sees it will take comfort in knowing how much those words meant to me as I read them.
It would be easy to become totally discouraged and give up in times like these.
Please don't.
I need you all to be around for a long time.
Take care my dear friends and please stay well.
And that's where it stayed.
On the shelf.
In pristine condition because when you don't use them that's how they stay.
I had so many of them that I really didn't even know which ones I had. This summer in my quest to figure out what to do with all this extra time I seemed to have, I began to look at those devotionals. I wondered to myself, "Why am I saving these? Don't you think it's time to get one out and use it?"
And so I did.
With highlighter in hand, I began to sit down at my desk and daily read the first of the devotional books I had chosen. That particular one is now completed and the pages no longer look brand new. Instead, each page now has its own share of yellow highlighted words, passages, and phrases that stood out to me as I read them. I'm sure that some day when I am gone and my kids have to go through my things, they will find them all.
And that will make me happy.
From 2004-2012, I was a CNA part time back in Kansas. As a single person trying to live on a teacher's salary, I found it necessary to find a job that I could do to earn extra money on the weekends and in the summertime. I fell in love with my work at a long-term care facility near my home in Hutchinson. The elderly folks that I took care of became my family members and often I would go to see them even when I wasn't scheduled to work.
More times than I care to remember, I sat with them as they were dying because no one from their family was able to be there. I remember how scary it was that first time of sitting with a 90-year old woman named Anna as I wondered what I could do to make a difference in her waning moments of life. I glanced at her bedside table and found her personal Bible that looked obviously well used and loved. I looked through it and discovered that with pen in hand, she had marked passages throughout it that meant something to her. It was like a sign to me that reading these out loud to her might be of comfort even though her eyes were no longer open and her breathing was slowing down. Surely as I believed it might, I saw her face relax as she heard those familiar words from the Bible.
It was really a blessing to be with her as she left this earth.
I take much solace in the fact that she didn't have to die alone.
I stayed with her until the end.
In these strange and frightening times we now live in, it helps me to remember and set aside times each day to find a quiet spot to read, reflect, and most certainly pray. I'm glad that I gave up the notion that it was a sacrilege to mark up a Bible or any other kind of book for that matter. When my reading material is found after my departure from this earth, it will be more than likely marked with every shade of highlighter that was made at the time. My hope is that whoever sees it will take comfort in knowing how much those words meant to me as I read them.
It would be easy to become totally discouraged and give up in times like these.
Please don't.
I need you all to be around for a long time.
Take care my dear friends and please stay well.
After my own mother passed away in 2007, this sweet woman became more and more precious to me. This is my Aunt Rebecca who lived to be 103 years old. I'm so thankful that she was able to live on her own until she died. I hope I grow up to be just like her. In the time of this great pandemic, I am thankful that my parents are not here to see this happening. I know they are already safe in Heaven. The supper table for my family will be quite full there and I'll see them some day when I head home. (July of 2014-Halstead, KS)
I sure can identify with this part of the devotional that I just finished. Perhaps you can as well.
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