My Journey Through Life

I was thinking about my perception of my past.  When I go to  Celebrate Recovery  and listen to other people's stories, I am sometimes reminded of things that I have been through in my life.  It is strange because sometimes it seems that they are things that I have forgotten about.  Memories come back and I realize how much God has been caring for me my whole life. Even when I wasn't walking as closely with Him as I am now, He was still there. It makes me think of the Footprints poem - I didn't know it, but He was carrying me! My first husband was not a very good person.  He had some good qualities.  He could be very generous, but only with certain people and only if he made the decision to be generous.  He expected me to put up with many inconveniences - even though we could have afforded better.  We lived for years in a mobile home that was in pretty rough shape.  We talked about buying a nice double-wide, but he didn't want to spend...

Happy first Tuesday in December!  Colder here today, but thankfully we didn't get any snow.  Traveled with one sister to Connecticut for my one other sister's surprise birthday party. Trip on Saturday was great - traffic wasn't bad until we got to Danbury...per the usual.  Beautiful sunshine the whole way and a wonderful opportunity for lots of sister talk!  Party was awesome! She was very surprised!  It came in stages...first the surprise of the party - then the surprise of all the out of town guests!  Sunday morning we had breakfast at the hotel and then headed for home.  The trip back was not so good.  Snow, ice, rain...treacherous going about half the trip, but the Lord looked over us and we all made it home safely. I was very glad that I took off work on Monday - I was tired out from the trip on Sunday, I needed the extra rest.  Today was sunny and pretty, but this afternoon it has turned cold and winter like.  I'm counting down t...

Good Thanksgiving Day Morning! Settling in to watch the end of the Parade after making breakfast for DH and preparing a salad to take to my sister-in-law's for turkey day dinner.  I like to take a healthy alternative since no one else in the family except us seem to have any interest in that.  We count our calories, exercise regularly and try to eat a healthy balance.  If the only veggie at dinner is green beans drenched in ham fat/sodium, at least we'll have a healthy choice! View this post on Instagram My contribution to Thanksgiving dinner.... can't go completely off the rails with eating habits!! A post shared by MissyP1410 (@missyp1410) on Nov 28, 2019 at 6:54am PST So - watching the parade - wow... I realize that I really don't have too much interest in it anymore.  The balloons are cool, but I don't like marching bands and the other singers just don't do anything for me.  The 12 year old...

Hope you are enjoying this day before Thanksgiving!   Don't have much time, so it's a good time to post the third installment from my...well...I don't know what it is..kind of a life story...but with off shoots into my thoughts on various subjects that come up. I hope you enjoy your holiday, and today's post! My second stretch under the orange roof lasted for 6 years.   Throughout that time, along with gaining knowledge and experience in the industry, I got divorced, met my current husband, and gained and lost the same twenty pounds about three times.   In the summer of 1997, I realized I had to make a change.   New, modern restaurants were popping up everywhere and the regulars who came in every day or a couple times a week were not enough to sustain the business.   Ownership changed and they completely remodeled the building, ending the approximately 30-year tradition of the World of 28 Flavors in Chambersburg, PA.   My then fiancé encouraged me t...

Happy Monday!  Not quite as cold today - but still fall-like. Left work early today to go to a Dr. appointment - now I have a little extra time to relax before heading to Celebrate Recovery tonight.  I will tell you more about this wonderful ministry some other time, but feel free to Google the name to learn more. My husband looked back at some pictures he took this summer when my sister and her husband were visiting.  My brother-in-law passed away a couple of week ago, after a battle with cancer.  DH cropped down this pic for me - I love it! Have a blessed night! Missy

Where I've Been...Part 2 Good Sunday morning!  Had a good night's sleep last night - the aches from the thyroid biopsy are almost gone! Praise God!  Below is the second installment that I promised.  Enjoy and have a Blessed Day! After being unemployed for about 3 weeks, I secured a job as a cashier in a full-service gas station. We had a full-serve island and a self-serve island.   The attendant still pumped gas, washed windshields and checked oil levels. This job gave me some great opportunities.   I learned about cars and scheduling appointments for service.   The bookkeeper taught me some basic functions of the accounting system so that I could run payroll at the end of the week if I had to.   I had visions of a promotion to Assistant Manager at the station. The owner had two stations, his son managed one, and he (the owner) managed the other where I worked.   He gave me responsibilities and taught me some things about the business and I r...

Good Saturday Morning!  It's a brisk 35 degrees. Working through my usual Saturday morning routine of late: Coffee Make-up Go for blood work Breakfast Make breakfast for DH 😘 Head to local thrift store Maybe some explanation is in order. I love coffee.  I love wearing make-up. I love breakfast. I LOVE my wonderful husband!! So that may not have been what warranted an explanation.  I had some routine blood work done a couple months ago that showed some abnormality - so now I have to get it rechecked every couple of weeks to make sure it is decreasing (which it is) and not increasing.  Given the results of the last couple tests, I am hopeful that it will be normal today.  I have not worried about this - I gave it to God and he has brought healing!   There is a thrift store near by that is run by a local non-profit.  Last year I started volunteering to work there a couple Saturdays a month.  I had to cut it back due to other commitm...

Hello! Welcome to my life!  For years I have been trying to do two things: Write a book Start and keep up with a blog Recently the thing that I have been trying to do is grow in my walk with the Lord - build on my prayer life and be a disciple!  I've been praying about how I can do that, and God kept pushing me toward the two things listed above.  I started writing the book several years ago - so I decided to combine the two.  I will post the book in blog form.  So, here is the beginning.  It will deal with life, love, weight loss, hardship, work, happiness, Christianity and oh so much more. Enjoy! “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye” - Psalms 32:8         I don't remember making a conscious decision about what to do as a career until I was in my thirties. When I was growing up, I wanted to be an actress.   These days, they now call perform...

Good Sunday morning! This has been a good week.  I have been giving a lot of thought to me, my issues and how God is helping me overcome them. Last fall, I started using a prayer journal to improve my communication with the Lord. It has worked wonderfully!  I take the time each morning to sit with my journal and a cup of coffee and talk to God.  I realized that my prayer life wasn't what it could, or should be since I wasn't really giving all my attention to God.  It was like sitting talking to a friend and trying to multi-task three other things.  You don't really connect with that person and they probably feel like you aren't paying attention.  God deserves more attention from me - and I deserve to take that time to connect with Him. I started by reading a bunch of different suggestions on Pinterest - they were very helpful in getting me started.  I bought a spiral bound journal and started writing.  I spent lots of time sitting and thinki...

Good Saturday evening!  I think I finally figured out why people like to write Blogs...the reason I want to write now is that I have found there are things that I would like to talk about but I don't know other people who want to talk about the same thing. Let me give you an example: Over the course of the past 5 years, I have lost 73 pounds.  From January 2013 till about August, I lost around 60 pounds. I kept that off until early 2015.  I started working an office job, which I never did before, and I gained about 20 pounds back.  In the summer of 2017, I got partly back on track and lost 5 pounds, but just couldn't get the rest off. My goal weight at that time was 160...and I was hovering around 175 - 178.  Finally sometime late last Fall, with some encouragement from my DH, I started losing again and since then have reached my 160 pound goal...reset my goal to 155, reached that goal...reset my goal to 150...and I reached that goal last wee...

April 21, 2018 Today I was fortunate enough to attend a training event for Celebrate Recovery.  What a blessing this was. I have so much to be thankful for!  My journey through life has improved over the course of the past 10 months!  I used to think that the only way I could have time to pray in the morning was to multi-task by praying while I was exercising or getting ready for work, or driving to work.  I now equate this to trying to talk to someone while doing something else that is taking your attention.  I wasn't giving God the attention that He deserved.  I started using a prayer journal and what a difference it has made in my prayer life! I will go into more detail on this as I progress through the coming weeks, but for now, I just wanted to reintroduce myself to the blogger community. Happy Spring...I think it may be here to stay at last!

I have a family member who is in a dark place.  I have been praying for strength to reach out to this person and help to pull them out of the darkness.  I know that God will give me the words.  I find joy in the fact that when we have concerns and don't, in our human frailty, know how to deal with them, the Lord leads us in the right direction.  I was reading a book that mentioned "mind binding spirits".  I never heard this term before, in fact, I am finding that many terms that I am not familiar with are coming to my attention.  They all have great meaning for me.  I have been reading about strongholds that Satan builds in our minds.  The Mind Binding Spirits go right along with the strongholds to hurt us and hold us back from so many things.  I was drawn to research more about these spirits, or demons and I came across a prayer. As I read it, I realized that it could apply to my loved one. I took that prayer and adapted it to the situation ...

As I search the internet for jobs and try to decide what is next for me in the work world - I am trying to get some things done around the house.  I have been keeping up with dishes and have even cooked a few meals!  Lots of other things I need to get to.  A guy that my husband works with gave us a cabbage.  A huge cabbage!  Today I was adventurous and decided to make sauerkraut. I am not a big fan, but what the heck - you can only eat so much cabbage.  I found a recipe online - one that is done by canning the sauerkraut, not letting it sit in a crock for weeks.  I don't think I cut it thin enough. It didn't say to shred it...just to slice it very thin. You can see by my picture that I didn't do very well at that.  So 10 days from now, we are supposed to have sauerkraut.  It was really simple and if it turns out well, I will post the recipe and give credit to the person who supplied it. I don't want to give them a bad name if I just didn't do...

I think I am finally ready to 'talk' about what happened this past week.  I was invited to a meeting with my boss on Tuesday.  The meeting was actually a sit down to tell me that my position with the company had been eliminated.  It was upsetting and shocking to a small degree, but in some ways I was expecting it. A few things happened in the past few months that caused me to: Not be as happy in my job as I once was Feel that I wasn't living up to the expectations of the company It was disappointing to the extent that I really did want to make a difference!  I really did want to be one of those people who got called up on the stage to be recognized at the end of the year meeting. This has caused me to take a look at myself, and the company that I worked for, to figure out why I didn't succeed.   My conclusion is that there are two main reasons: I didn't push hard enough.  I should have stood up and said "Look, this is my responsibility and if ...

I have been so busy with work and planning the family reunion!  The reunion was a great success again!  Not as many people as I would like to see attending, but I understand - life, work and distance prevents many family members from getting there. Our little corner flower garden has done so well!  It has really filled in and I think most of the plants are perennials so next year should bring beautiful color with little work!

Weight loss has been slow the last month so I was thrilled to look down at the scale today and see that I lost 2 pounds since last Sunday!  My Stepson got married yesterday. It was a beautiful day with a lovely ceremony outside. They are having their reception in two weeks, so they just had snacks at the house after the ceremony yesterday. I ate some things that I didn't count in my calorie log - but I took a long walk yesterday morning so it worked out.  I love it when I have success like that, it proves that I can enjoy myself and still lose weight. I don't have to deprive myself all of the time. 34 pounds down and 29 to go...I am more than halfway to my goal!!! It is funny how our perspectives change - yesterday I was mad cause some of the pants that I wanted to wear were too big for me!!! Have a great and healthy week!

Another pound lost this week!  Glad to see that myfitnesspal.com  tracker updated to my total pounds lost!  It seems that the longer I go, the harder it is to lose weight.  I don't feel that I can cut my calories back any more.  I plan to increase my exercise in order to continue to lose weight.  When I try to restrict my calories too much, I end up falling off the healthy eating wagon and gaining all the weight back.  I won't do that again!  I can't do that again! I naturally don't need as many calories, but if I try to cut back to less than 1300 calories a day, I know I will fail. It is so great to have so many pants that won't fit me anymore...for the right reason...they are too big!! Have a great night!!

We had a wonderful day yesterday. Loaded a bunch of brush into the truck and took it to the dump. On the way home we stopped at a greenhouse and bought some hanging baskets and other flowers.  Today, when we were transplanting the plants and flowers, I put some of them (I think they are perennials) in the ground in our new little flower garden.  The bulbs I planted a couple of weeks ago are not growing, but I am not giving up on them until next year.  The flower bed doesn't look very full now, but I also want to add some wildflowers that are supposed to attract butterflies.  Keeping up with the weeds will be the biggest challenge.

I was especially happy to see the scale show a one pound loss this week.  I have been right at the top of my calorie goals for the last two days.  I have balanced that with some extra exercise - so I guess it worked! We have had such a nice time on this little 'staycation'.  Today I am concentrating on cleaning, and hanging new curtains.  This morning, I hoped to avoid the heat of the day by transplanting flowers at 8 am. That didn't work - we got it done, but I think I sweated off an extra pound!  It was already very hot! Time to go back to some house cleaning! Have a beautiful, peaceful day!

Today is the first day of my five day vacation.  I really need this...to just unplug and relax. My goal is to not stress out - or make demands on myself or my husband.  I sometimes get so caught up in plans that I end up not truly enjoying my time off.  I am going to do some gardening, cleaning, relaxing, reading, writing, resting and of course, spending time with my beloved husband! Have a great week!!