Miracles Through A “Suddenly”

Have you ever had a “suddenly” in your life? I think if you live and breathe this day, you have had a few. We know they can be difficult times, happy times, and surprising times. Even the happy and surprising times can be difficult times also. So once again, it still comes back to what we think and our perspective about it.

If we are willing not to shove it under the rug as nonsense, I think we could clearly see that, as Joyce Meyer has said and written about, “Our mind is the battlefield.” This is surely true. People have been known to come out of horrific situations when their attitude was looking at the positive things in their lives, and living in gratitiude for life. They find the joy in living in the moment.  I love what Austin Kleon says, “Disconnect from the world to connect to yourself.” Think about that for a minute. If we don’t allow the negative things to come into our minds, then we are more open for the mind to see the good that is around us. Lately, the word people don’t want to use is quarantined. Well…maybe we need to quarantine from the news and all the conflicting information we get, and concentrate on everything that is good around us. We are even healthy enough to complain about it.

I just saw today where a friend of mine and her hubby packed up a nice lunch and went out into nature to get away from the house. A couple of chairs, binoculars, lunch and a drink to go into pretty glasses, and her phone to capture the moment. That, my friends, is how to keep doing life. Take the time to live in the moment. I love doing that kind of thing! Makes me happy. Of course, my camera would be along to capture the moment and also anything going on around me. I hope this time is teaching you that there are things we can live without, and still have a quality of life with in our own home surroundings. It’s not ideal, but we might as well make it through with some fun. There ARE safe ways to do it. It refreshes our minds to be able to face whatever life is giving us at the time. Hubby and I do car picnics together during this time. It’s just a fun thing we do to make something unique and fun, rather than, just eating in our car. It’s all about perspective! We toast with our drinks to how God is taking care of us, and thank Him for it.

So with that, I enter stage left… with another move. But in our case, it is more like stage right, because this is the right thing for us now. If you are younger, you may not be able to relate, but if you are in the mid-age range and above, you have lived life long enough to know what is important. Quiet. Harmony. A breath of fresh air. Nature. Family. Gathering. Friends. NO drama. All these things become important and we need to protect ourselves by designing our life in such a way that it becomes fun, luminous, sparkling, lots of laughter, leisure, and relaxation. Don’t let the world dictate to you how busy you “need” or “should” be. God gave us that space in our soul to be filled with the above kinds of things, so that, we can give time back to Him and spend time with Him. Happy soul, happy life!

I have had plenty of suddenlies come up in my life and I know how hard they can be. I have had loss in my life, recent skin cancer surgeries that changed my life, and a few other things like some “sudden” health issues that have tried to crowd their way in to distract me, or make me feel alone, or discouraged. The devil is in full attack mode these days and I’m not about to let him get the best of my thought life taking place in my mind. Nope. I tell those thoughts to take a hike. I know where that leads. I know where it comes from. We have to pay attention to what or who has our attention. When we think about that, it can turn things around.We are making a move that better lines up with the things we know are important to us. We spend a lot of time at home even without the stay at home going on right now. Because of that, we want to totally enjoy our surroundings, have a place to enjoy with friends, relax in nature of our own back yard where I will have a water fountain that delights my heart to hear. We have the space we like. I have a kitchen that I can enjoy cooking and baking in. Hubby still has a place for his books. Because…every day is important to our life and we need to live it well. I’m excited for that. It is worth the hassle of a move, and stress of all the paperwork, and even starting over in a mortgage. I can’t take it with me, but I sure can live well in every moment of this new to us sanctuary that truly has been given to us by God. I believe that. I don’t know what the future holds, but I know Who holds the future. I’m just living the adventure of life each day as best I can. I keep going…

Here is my latest “suddenly”. At our age, we are making yet another move. It’s not fun, it’s a lot of work, and my back just doesn’t carry those boxes around like it used to. But the silver lining is this: we ARE moving and I will leave the condo life to go back into a stand alone home. The reason that is such a big “suddenly” is that we weren’t really planning to do it. However, circumstances where we live gave us pause to review what is important to us. For me, being in a serene setting, nature around me, and choice to do what we like with our home, along with a yard to relax in…that is my bliss. Hubby and I spend a lot of time at home and so where we live and our environment is key to our contentment. I want to live where I thrive. At this stage in my life, loving where I live and family to share it with, is at the top of my list. This move couldn’t have happened without God’s intervention. Selling a home and buying a home isn’t easy in these times. Finding a home and having someone buy it out from beneath you is a constant challenge when you have to sell the place where you are currently living first. So it is not without frustration. Some of my friends have heard some of that frustration over the last month or so. However, it all comes back to laying it down and trusting God to take me through the “suddenly” as only He can. And…He did. He found us a perfect home, with land around us, a wonderful kitchen to cook and bake in, (one of my requests) and a dining room again to all sit and enjoy a meal together. I wanted to be by the water so He gave me a fountain in the back yard to listen to, AND I am only minutes from the water by car. It was also within the budget would preferred. Now that is God performing miracles! Even now as things get tense, I just keep my goal in mind knowing that all of the stress leads to our Bayshore House by mid June. That makes one happy daughter of the King!

I think we can miss the purpose of those “suddenly” moments seasons in our lives. We see only the hardship of where we are in the moment, rather than looking at what God wants to do in us in the future. It takes being aware of what you are thinking and making changes where the “suddenly” opens the door for God to work. We are already praying over this home, that God would be honored within the walls of Bayshore House, and we will always leave a chair at our table for Him to be right in the middle of our lives. You see, honoring Him is the best way to build our trust in Him for all He has done for us, big or small. It is focusing on what is going right in our lives. That leads to gratitude and we can’t think of postive and negative at the same time. We may have to remind ourselves about that when things get tough again. So kick those discouraging thoughts out the door. I can’t think of all I have to pack, getting boxes to storate, and how we will get out this home in 3 weeks. I can’t think about the fact that we have to move twice because the condo closes before the Bayshore House, which we needed. I just can’t go there in my thougts. I can’t think on how I feel. I have to take one day at a time and do what I can for that day. Each day builds on itself, and eventually, I will have it cleared out with hubby’s help and on the way to cabin to breath some fresh air before moving our things from storage to the new home. One day at a time will be my daily prayer.

I enjoy sharing what God does in my life in hopes that it encourages you. Don’t ever think He doesn’t care about what you care about. Here are some pictures to show you how He worked in our life with our new home. This is a blank canvas that I will have a total blast making ours. Don’t let a “suddenly” take the wind out of your sails because God is always in the boat with you. Never doubt that.

Until next time…

~JoAnn

Porch Entry Livingroom Kitchen Family Room Laundry Room with skylight Back yard and fountain Back of the house and deck Master Bedroom Kitchen 2nd view Dining Room & entry to kitchen family room Other side of dining room Master Bath walk-in shower Third Bedroom will be office maybe Bedroom Two