Looking up..

Almost a year and a half has passed since my last post here. So much "life" has happened since then...mostly good and pleasant, praise the Lord, but with a couple of sad events too.

My beautiful mother went Home to be with the Lord on the first of September. She was quite well for her advanced age of 101 and 7 months, but declined in the last 2 months which were a great trial as she became bedridden and dependant on others to do everything for her. Still, she maintained her gentility, sense of humour and dedication to her family right to the last and had her fervent prayer answered beautifully as she quietly slipped away at home surrounded by her loved ones. We miss her every day.

Just a month ago my gentle father-in-law also took his final journey to Heaven after a year of dementia and heart and kidney failures. He would have turned 95 next month. We are all feeling the effects of losing him and I still expect him to phone me and ask what day it is. His legacy of firm christian faith and devotion to his family are things we hold near and dear. 

Life goes on..but with new aspects to it and new lessons learned and new personal aspirations to "end well" after the example of our dear ones awaiting us There. With God's grace..we shall not be ashamed on that great and glorious day of His return..and in fact, are eagerly anticipating His soon appearing as we watch the encroaching darkness and ungodliness grow at astonishing speed all around us. 'Tis time to keep looking up..it won't be long before all the saints are gathered together again..and we shall be with Him and our loved ones in that place of unending joy and Good!

Blessings, Trish 

New wall shelf..

The Man of the House built a new wall shelf for our living room a few days ago.

I painted it in a base coat of dark grey and a second coat of red with mustard on the edges.

Then I "distressed" it by sanding back to the dark layer and some raw wood.

I gave it one more coat of grey over the red to tone it all down.

We are having fun creating our version of "prim" furniture for our eclectic home.

And we just love how this looks at night with the oil lamp lit! 

Thanks be to God!

November is supposed to be the month to be thankful...at least in some northern hemisphere places. Although not a holiday celebrated here, I too have good reason to be thankful and full of "thanksgiving" in this penultimate month of 2017.

Two weeks ago I nearly lost my beloved husband when he went into anaphylactic shock and had to be rushed to hospital.
He had a severe reaction to something he ate that Saturday...but what that something is we don't know! It could have been the Ibuprofen tablets he took to try to ease the constant pain he has had in his hands and wrists for months now. It could have been the pistachio nuts on the fancy cake we ate for supper.

Answers hopefully will come when he gets to see the immunologist in January and is tested for allergic reactions to these two things in a controlled investigation. Until then, he must avoid Nurofen  and all nuts and must carry an Epi pen on him and wear a medic-alert bracelet.
To say all this is a shock is an understatement! He has never had anything like this happen before and so we were completely unprepared for this medical event. And to say it was confronting to hear that if the paramedics had arrived 10 minutes later it might have been too late is an understatement of mammoth degree to me! What a frightening experience we had....what a 'wake up call' as to how quickly a life can be hanging in the balance. What a blessing Adrenaline and Cortisone is are!

We have much to be thankful to the Lord for this month and every other one. It will be my dear husband's birthday on the 24th and we are planning quite a party this year...we have a lot to celebrate and give thanks for!
The sheer goodness of the Lord...His powerful healing and protection over our lives...His wise provision of what we need at just the right time..His mercy in answering our prayers and His gracious gift of each and every new day.
May we always have a heart full of thanksgiving for the love and amazing undeserved grace and tender care He has for all His children!