Care – Life with us ~ The Wandering Workentins

Where have I gone? Who am I? Right now I’m not sure who I am or where I have gone. I saw a Me this past week I haven’t seen in years…like over four years and before that not for six years…and I don’t like that Me!!!

Somehow I have lost me in the shuffle of life and turned back into the react, don’t think, just react me…and i don’t like her. I want the happy, enjoying life, Jesus loving, hubby loving, life loving Me back…not the one who can’t stand noise, can’t stand not being the control freak…where did she go? I don’t know but what I do know is that I need to get her back, I need to find the happy and contented me and bring her home.

Someone asked me the other day…what is going on with you…not the kids, not Ron, not work, not the grands, but with you…meaning me. And the tears started to roll…I’m scared, I feel disconnected, I can honestly say I have no friends near me…don’t get me wrong…I have my Bestie…she’s in WA, I have my other Bestie, she’s in Georgia, I have my cuz, she too is in Georgia. I have my confidants…one is in Texas and two others in Washington and I have over 380 “friends in Facebook land.” A few of them are mentioned above yet I have no friends where I am…I realized a couple of weeks ago that I need to have people around me, someone to sit at the park and just talk, someone to go get a coffee and sit and visit, someone to hug at church…heck church…we don’t even have one of those right now.

What am I afraid of…well let’s start with the physical stuff…my foot is hurting and I don’t mean just a little bit…it hurts, it looks like it has gotten some type of burn…the top looks like sunburn that is peeling…my doctor and PT appointments got pushed back three weeks because of this dang covid! Two of our boys at AKP tested positive, our house was under quarantine for over three weeks due to when they each came down with it…we were on duty two of those three weeks…14 days with 12 boys that couldn’t go outside to play, that are tired of being cooped up in the house, two of them being in isolation for most of that time…meaning no game room for the other boys to utilize…it’s called crazy making, all that to say I couldn’t go to the doctor or PT because they don’t want you around till 14 days after the diagnosis…ugh…I have tried to do my exercises on my foot but it just plain hurts. My last appointment was so frustrating…recommendation to go to an ortho doc, get a more indepth look at my foot…professionals thinking it might have really been broken (the bump and angle of the top of my foot has not gone down at all!!!) and if that is the case what would be the plan…YEP, go in and surgically have to break it, to set it to heal correctly which could mean 6 to 8 weeks off my foot…and all I can think of is if I’m off my foot for 6 to 8 weeks how the heck do I hobble to the dang bathroom??? Let’s get real, this Grammy of 63 years pee’s a lot!!! How the heck do I go to the bathroom if I can’t walk on the dang foot???

I need to find a new family doc! Yes this is because we chose to move but dang, how I hate trying to find a doctor…one that will listen to me, challenge me but not beat me up for being fat!! Yes I know I’m fat and I’ve gained 5 lbs since the end of July because I can’t walk for any length of time on the said foot because it hurts too dang much!!!! I am back up to the heaviest I have ever been…264 lbs!!!!

And then after crying and dumping on the person who asked me how I was doing…she said “it sounds like you are trying to control things you have absolutely no control over.” I can’t control what boys get covid or get sick in Sammy House, I can’t control what’s happening with my foot…I just need to deal with it as it comes along, I can’t control whether the boys eat what I cook, I can’t control what comes out of their mouths…lately some not so very nice things…to me (and yes I try not to take things personal but dang, sometimes it just hurts what they say)…and then she said “focus on what you can control…you can control you and only you.”

What can I control?

I can control what comes out of mouth! I need to think more before I speak, and remember I am the one who controls what comes out of my mouth.
I can control what foods I put into my mouth…well to some degree…when we are off work I could only buy healthy foods. But I don’t…today it was fruit jelly candies that I bought and a whoopie pie from the Amish store…and it didn’t even taste as good as I thought it would 😦 When we are at work we are pretty much limited to what is provided for us to feed the kids…but then again, I could buy some healthy stuff to take with us…like a bag or two of salads, drink more water…I say more because lately I have been drinking a lot of Coke Zero and Sprite Zero.
I can control some of my time better…instead of spending time on Facebook, I could pick up my Bible and read the devotions listed in the back. I could find my earbuds and listen to some worship music to drown out the noise of the boys…their constant picking on each other, the name calling…I can “watch” them with my eyes. I am asked to keep them safe that doesn’t mean I have to involve myself in all their petty conversations.
When possible I could take the boys out to the playground and supervise them but dang it’s hot out there…but if I took my water bottle full of ice/water it would get the boys outside and I would be drinking more water!!!
My foot…I could keep doing the exercises that the PT recommended even if I think it’s not doing any good, maybe it really is doing some good.
On our off week…I can quit making excuses and get my behind out of bed and go to church…there are at least 12 churches within a 10 mile radius of our campground, heck there is one that is just 1 1/2 miles from the campground.
I can utilize the swimming pool at our new campground!!! Yes we have had lots of thunderstorms lately but we have also had pockets of sunshine. When I go swimming, even if it is just bouncing around in the water, my foot doesn’t hurt as bad, I don’t eat junk food and I get exercise outside in the sun…good ole real Vitamin D!
And when it is raining, I could stay off Facebook and do some crocheting! I am currently working on a sweater and I have two blankets that are started and I have one to put together (not sure if it’s going to be a tablecloth or a blanket…that is to be determined after it is finished.). And I have lots of “projects in the want to do list”
I can also do some writing…lots of projects there too…my blog, writing about our little road trips, work on my journals, write in response to the many journal prompts that I have tucked away.
I can rest, take a nap without feeling guilty for resting for an hour or two while the boys are at school, especially when we are busy with the boys (yes we are back to having an all boy house ~ not my favorite but I do believe the Lord has brought each of those boys to us for a reason!) early in the mornings and afternoons and evenings!
I can find a family doctor for Ron and I. Not only something I should do but is important to do!!! Doing things to take care of me!
And one of the biggest yet easiest things I can do is take care of myself…the little things like plucking my chin hairs, putting on a little bit of makeup, wearing lipstick ~ the little things that make me feel good about myself.

Now that I KNOW what I can control it is time to put some things into action:

I set my alarm for 8:00a for Sunday morning to get my behind out of bed…the church that has caught our eye has a worship service that starts at 9:00am!!! And it’s less than 2 miles from our trailer!!!
I just checked the weather app and no rain is forecast for most of the day tomorrow (really today since it is currently 2:30a) and it’s supposed to feel like 95′ at 11:00a…so I set my alarm for 10:45a to get up and get this behind to the pool at 11:00!!! Feel free to ask me in the afternoon if I made it to the pool? Please ask me!!! And I checked, it’s suppose to rain Friday afternoon but Saturday morning it’s supposed to be 95′ at 11:00a so I set my alarm to go swimming that day too!!!
Since rain is forecast for Friday afternoon/evening…I will make dinner for us, not just snacky stuff…chicken and rice (leftovers that need to be eaten) and a green salad (I already bought the fixin’s for that so need to use them not waste them!)
And maybe a couple of hours of crocheting while listening to the rain and thunder and watching the lightning that is forecast.

And the scripture that comes to mind is I Corinthians 5:17 (taken from The Message)

Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life emerges! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other.

I am new in Christ, today is a new day. The grace that I give to others I need to give to myself. Thank you Lord for this time in the early morning hours to reflect on where I am and where I need to be.

And the prayer on my lips:

Dear Lord, thank you for waking me up early, for giving me words to put to paper, for Your reminders that your grace is given to me, that you give me new chances every day and Lord thank you for the awareness to my heart and soul. Now as Tom would say…take that awareness and add the contact to make the changes I need to make for me. Lord I also pray that someone in my life will become my accountability partner…to challenge me daily to do the things I need to do for me which in turn will allow me to be the wife, mom, grammy and foster~mom, friend to myself and to others that YOU so desire for me. Amen.

C is for Care

I was given the word CARE this morning in my devotional time.

My reading began in the Book of Ruth. Do you know the story of Naomi & Ruth?

I claimed the verses in Chapter 1:16 – 17 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. ¹⁷Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” when Ron told me in February 1989 that he wanted to move our whole family to Blaine, WA. You see I had always told Ron that I would not 1) move to Blaine, 2) live with his mother, 3) go to Birch Bay Bible Mennonite Church, or 4) move onto the farm where he was born and raised**. But I knew that Ron cared for me and wanted only the best for me and our children and so I claimed this verse to help me with the move and to keep my focus on how and what the Lord wanted me to do. And you know what…God and Ron has never let me down…they both have taken such great care of me. Yes we have faced many hard times but through it all I know Ron cares for me, loves me and will always provide for me. All because he cares about and for me (and our children, their spouses and their children).

I reflected on how Ruth put her trust in God and she was not afraid to take action by standing firm in her faith. Ruth was willing to take a risk in order to see the fulfillment of God’s purpose for her life. Faith trusts but it also acts. Sometimes we struggle to know if God is working in our lives especially when we are facing uncertainties or the unknown. In the Book of Ruth we can see how God worked in Ruth & Naomi’s lives as they faced many difficulties and hardships.

Care also came up in a conversation I was having with Pastor Charles via email the other day. It started with me saying I needed to go and clean the lower restrooms here at the campground which is not my favorite job at all. He reminded me that Jesus cleaned the feet of the poorest people and even those that would eventually betray him and that I should think about cleaning the bathrooms with a servant’s heart. So as I cleaned the bathrooms on Monday I decided that I could clean like they (the bathrooms) would be used by a King and that I could pray for those who would come in and use the restrooms after they were cleaned. I could take care and do a great job of cleaning and not do it haphazardly. One thing the Book of Ruth shows us is that the most ordinary acts of obedience and stepping out in faith can lead to extraordinary results. And so I did just that ~ I prayed for the guests in our campground and for future guests that will be using the restrooms and I found myself singing

And it made the whole job of cleaning the bathrooms not so bad after all!

And then I thought of the following verses:

I Peter 5:7

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. And then I found this cartoon and it made me smile as I pictured Jesus actually carrying all my cares and lessening my burdens.

and

Philipians 4:6-7

I know God cares about me, I know Ron loves and cares about me as do many other friends and family and I am so thankful for each of them.

And then I began to think about how I care for others.

I pray for people, send cards to people, try to make treats or gifts for those in need and do nice things for others and I realized I do the things for others that I enjoy others doing for me. And then I realized that often in the past I have done things for others just so they would like or love me and do things for me. I asked the Lord to forgive me for doing things with a selfish expectation of what could others do for me. I decided to do one thing each day for 30 days just because with no expectations and you know what? I realized that I just love to do acts of kindness just because and to bless others as so many have blessed me.

Let me ask you ~ do you do things for others because you want something in return or do you do them just because and to share God’s love and care with others?

One of the tools I am using to care for others is to ask God to bring people to mind and I write their names on my daily calendar. I do this so I can pray for them and sometimes send a card or make a phone call or drop them an email to let them know I was thinking of them. Sometimes I do things anonymously ~ it is fun to watch someone be blessed and not know who is blessing them or hear about it later from them and they not know I was the one who did XYZ.

Try it sometime, a random act of kindness to a friend or a stranger and be blessed for blessing someone just as God blesses us unexpectedly.

**If you are wondering we did move to Blaine, WA, we lived with Ron’s mom for four months, we went to the Birch Bay Bible Mennonite Church for a total of six years and we lived at the home place for seven years!! I have learned never to say never :)**

Category: Care

Me, Raw Me

C is for Care