Picket Fences

 Sometimes I am over busy, so much so, I feel as though I am standing still while time zooms by. My lists are long. Chores wait to be completed. Papers pile up on my desk. Stories I start are left unfinished. Sleep is limited. The lists I start out with in the morning, are bigger by the time my head hits the pillow at night. When things are to busy and something happens, the emotional scale tips easily. Time alone becomes something I savor. Sitting. Away. Relief. Overwhelming feelings slip away as I sit by myself. "Be still and know I am God." Psalm 46:10. An invitation from God to take time to be still. How hard is it to just be still? Hard. Even though I want to be still, the overwhelming feeling of stress rushes over me, just thinking of the things I have to get done. I feel guilty for sitting when I know I have a list a mile long waiting for me. However God says be still and the wonderful thing is, there is an "and" to that sente...

When the quarantine started and people were called to stay at home, the stores were crazy. For some reason people were over buying toilet paper. I don't know why? But they did. One morning I went and got gas at Costco and then decided to go in and get our monthly supplies which did include toilet paper. I pulled out of the gas area and went to park close by the door. Much to my surprise, despite Costco not opening for about ten more minutes, there was a line outside that went into the parking lot. I jokingly thought, probably for toilet paper. I was not wrong. When the doors opened, I waited until the people in the line were in the store, then I got out of my car. I started laughing out loud, because before I hit the doors, people were coming out with carts full of toilet paper. The line to the toilet paper, and wipes started shortly after I entered the building. I left. I decided I was not battling the lines to get our supplies. I would come back another day. My friend h...

A while ago my friend was going through a very stressful period in her life. Her husband had a virus that caused him a lot of physical pain. The virus caused him to become temporarily paralyzed. The paralyzed state eventually disappeared, however some remnants of paralysis remained in his body, and were there permanently, even after the virus passed. While he was sick, I believe his vacation and sick pay ran out, or else it wasn't offered at his job, so my friend ended up supporting their family, (which included a young boy and girl), through the job we worked at together. Her husband was sent to the Mayo-clinic for treatment. The family was unable to see him for a period of time which added more stress to my friends plate. Money was tight even with the over-time my friend worked when she could. Her mom helped watch the children, but also worked full-time hours. It was a very tough season for my friend At one point my friend told me she had reached a point where sh...