It has to be good - the stupid Internet signal is up and running for at least a short time! Yeah!

But that isn't all! Perhaps I am seeing the manifestation of positive thoughts and the release of some element of control to other forces.

The day was great! I got to go outside and play with the coming yearlings (baby horses). The kids were good! And we actually got something accomplished in the course of this incredible 80 degree day! In itself that is unheard of in our region this time of the year!

Oh boy, I don't know about anyone else, but here at our place it was a day to rival any spring or summer day! It was absolutely, God given, beautiful!

Keep in mind what we have dealt with in the past few days: random talk from the kids that included one suggesting that they might consider killing them self... False allegations of how unreasonable my phone restrictions are.... And that it surely must be the same as being stuck in HELL itself!

So, with this much in mind, might you possibly understand why I am inclined to say it was a wonderful day when the kids are all productive, happy and in a good space? It's a wonderful thing I tell you!

But there is more... I don't know for sure what the more is, but I know there is much more.

I was thinking about this feeling I have been harboring for a little over a week now and where it might be coming from. Possibly it came from the power of positive thinking. Then again, maybe it's more that that. Maybe there is something great in the works on the book's completion or the movie being reviewed by a potentially interested producer???

You know that feeling I'm talking about. The feeling that something is going on behind the scenes that you don't actually know anything about, but you sense it... You don't even really know what it is you're sensing, but there is something... And then you find out later on that in fact, there was something. Like a sixth sense, a mystical interpretation that one can't explaine. It's like that!

On a more readily identifiable note, I actually made it through the week. A week that was beyond chaotic with appointments and expectations galore. I even managed to get my looming paperwork completed for the past month! That is a miracle in itself!!!

This is all with due consideration to the fact, that the powers that be, have managed to create even more red tape, forms and expectations for us lowly foster families to prove our ability to care for societies children. I have accepted a great deal of this, but still struggle with the realization we are not allowed to parent. The acknowledgment that it is no longer permissible to raise these children with the same standards and expectations that we raised our own son with, not to mention several years of other foster youth who graduated from high school and have gone on to have as normal and balanced as future as could be hoped for... Nope, can't do that anymore without the risk of being charged with abuse or any number of other allegations that amount to sheer non-sense.

No, I was never abusive to my teenage son or any of the others either for that matter! There were just certain things that were not optional... Graduating from high school was one of them. They could have opted for a GED, but they all enjoyed the high school experience too much to give it all up for a GED and a full time job!
There you have it! Really it wasn't so bad at all - but in today's society and foster system, for the youth that have more rights than they know what to do with and are guarded from so much as even an expectation of high school diplomas if they don't feel like it, there is little we can do.....

Therefore, one may find it easier to understand whe children (teens) working on grades, getting something positive accomplished on the farm today, and smiling with a friendly word to say is the next best thing to a miracle around here!

It was a small price to take them out to dinner and give them choice of the menu and a ton of verbal praise for their efforts and good attitudes! I am thinking positive that this is going to be a good year and a good group of kids! The power of the LAW OF ATTRACTION truly put to the test!!!!


Okay - I realize I'm ranting about foster care again... Then again, I suppose the reality is that it's a huge part of my life. In fact, it actually controls my life at least 90% of the time. It isn't a job - it's a lifestyle. You don't go home and recharge to return to tackle the next day's assignments... No siree, the assignments continue 24/7.

I'm still not sure what I did to anger God so much that he would put such a calling on our lives, but so it is. Therefore, it only makes sense to make the best of it in all possible means!

Well folks, it's late and I'm pooped out - so I suppose I will take my chances of closing this out for the night and hope and pray for a Signal again tomorrow or at least by Monday????

Hope you're all living the high life and remember you really can't buy happiness! Happiness is something we create within our own realities!

Visualize your dreams, your goals and your chosen relationships.... Dare to Dream, Dare to Believe and Dare to Walk on Uncharted paths!
But by all means always, yes I did say ALWAYS, "Embrace the Journey and Trust the Process!"

God Bless and Love to all!

Here it is Saturday night already and the first time I've had an Internet signal long enough to get my blog entered! So much for Hughes Net's big empty promises about broad band service!!! UGH!!!!

Oh well, here's at least one of this past weeks entries! Sorry and I hope you keep coming back and passing it on!

Week 2 – Tuesday

What a week! It is safe to say that as demanding as foster parenting can be, there are some times that are more so than others. I am in the midst of one of those periods of time. With new kiddo’s coming in within a couple weeks of one another, there are in-take appointments and requirements galore. A small sampling of this week will have found us at on going foster parent training as required by law, doctor appointments, court hearings, as well as other appointments that will have taken us at least an hour’s drive from home for 4 out of the 5 business days.

Generally, Monday’s find us at least in theory going to our local Cowboy Church from 7 to 8:30 p.m. But the reality of the situation is that many times, appointments as this week was the case, crisis situations that demand immediate attention (generally of a disciplinary intervention nature); or as the case has been often since the middle of December – flu and cold season that has plagued our home limiting our church attendance.

It would be safe to say that by the time the flu/cold has made its way through the entire household, it seems to find a new comer or a susceptible person to latch onto for round two. I have had at least two turns since mid-December… The worst of that is the first round lasted for the better part of three weeks! YUK!

By this point in time, I am pretty sure I should have bought some serious stock shares in Zicam and Airborne products, not to forget Alka-Seltzer Cold medicine, severe cold tablets, Sudafed, Dayquil/Nyquil and so on… It all depends on who the bug has attacked next as there appears to be a varying opinion as to what is the most effective remedy. The one thing that I can attest to however, is that when the product of choice fails to relieve the symptoms and offer a miracle cure over night – each of us (me included) are more than willing to try the other person’s suggestions and remedies. LoL The pride of personal opinion seems to fly out the door and the next item on the shelf if pursued.

Honestly, I suppose there isn’t much humor in the reality of it all, but one can’t help but laugh a bit. I mean, what are the chances… Today after appointment number two, I had to make my way to the local Walgreens to fill a couple of prescriptions from Monday’s appointments.

Lo and behold, as I am walking through the store, there is this tall, dark and handsome fellow looking right back at me.

Now, at my age and general circumstances, when a tall, dark and handsome fellow is staring at you, it would be plain and simply rude not to smile back… Ah ha… It was none other than my own beloved. What a coincidence meeting him there!

And what do you suppose brought him out of his way to the drug store? After all, I had just stock piled effervescent cold tablets, Echinacea, Ibuprofen, cough syrup, Vitamin C, (you have the general idea) just the night before. He had one item in his hand and what would it be that I had apparently over looked?

Nose spray… Go figure! If I heard his muffled words right, it was something to the effect of wanting to breathe… What a concept! A novel idea for sure…

I suppose what it all boils down to is more “Satan Poop”. Just can’t seem to get enough of that good old tradition around here… Or so it would appear, as it just keeps piling up. But that’s okay; I’m refusing to let it get the best of me!

After all, the weather has been pristine the past couple days. Even yesterday when we woke to a fresh layer of snow, the sun was bright and the skies blue as blue could be. As pretty as the layering of white may have been, it was short for this world. The spring air diminished the snow’s presence in little time. For February, I realize the weather in our north eastern area of Colorado has been very misleading. The snow has forgotten to come north east over the mountains and left us with yet another relatively dry season.

We remain well aware that March, Colorado’s snowiest month, could offer surprises. Nonetheless, spring is knocking at the door and day light savings time is a little less than two weeks away! You simply can’t steal a person’s joy when the world is in re-birth! It’s a wonderful thing.

I have also determined that at least the majority of the mares (female horses) that we bred to our stallions (male horses) last year are in foal (pregnant) and due to brighten the property in their arrival later this summer. That is enough to make me smile in spite of the flu, cold and winds that have helped to remind us it is indeed, still February.

Speaking of the winds… They are devilish on the Internet signal. Hence, this is why my daily blogs are running behind in being submitted. I simply can’t submit without that darned signal being up and running. If the winds were not bad enough, as I have mentioned previously, my Satellite is still struggling with clear, sunny days… Or clear, star filled nights…

Oh lets just face the facts…. My wonderful and costly HUGHS NET Satellite Internet set up is not all it was promised to be! But until I can justify spending the $120 service fee for a call that should not cost anything based on where THEY placed the dish, I suppose I will have to deal with the on again, off again symptomology of the matter. Kay sir rah, sir rah…

Okay, is this PST (Positive Self Talk) or SDC (self defeating conversation)?
Let’s analyze this one:
I’m in a pretty good mood.
I am pretty sure I am fighting off a third round of the dreaded cold/flu bug.
I’ve nearly made it through a crazy and demanding week.
The kids, though not perfect by any sense of the word, aren’t driving me to the brink tonight.
I am well on my way to completing the read through the Bible in a year, On-Line Family Bible Study that I am participating in (conditionally of course – based on the Internet Signal).
I am still writing my blogs – even if they are submitted later than they ought to be.
We are still looking at the possibility of a new home (I’m struggling with positive thinking on this one- but I’m trying!).
I haven’t heard anything on my book, but from what the publisher last told me “No news is good news” and that it means they are doing the formatting and such.
The movie script hasn’t come back with a request for a re-write, so again I am to assume that no news must be good news… Right?
Of course so! PST!!!!
The horses have made it through another winter fairly well (even the old ones).
I have a world of possibility in front of me and this is still ‘the year’!
THE YEAR! 2008 – The Year of the Great!
Yes, I am claiming it and believing it.
Sounds like PST to me!!!!

I have some big ideas, even if I have to selectively work on some of my projects based on my Internet signal… Yet, I know that even this surely has a reason! Everything is in Gods timing and I can live with that…. For now anyways! LoL

So, all’s well that ends well and it’s just about time to call it a night. After all, since I haven’t been able to check the verses I’m supposed to have read the last couple nights for the Family On-Line Bible study I’m participating in, I have been reading extra to make sure I don’t get behind. Therefore, I’d say there is at least a chance that I’m actually ahead of schedule. That’s all good since I started late in the first place!

What can I say? It’s just my style to be fashionably late… They tell me by all considerations to my general habits; it would appear that I will more than likely be late to my own memorial service. In spirit only, of course…as I’m of the mind to choose cremation and I’m sure it will still be fashionable!

Hope you all get to read this before next week!!! Pray for my Signal! I’m thinking positive – tomorrow I’ll have it up and going all day??? Or not…After all, it’s in God’s timing!

Bye Bye now….

Monday - and not such a bad space in time to be at in this very moment.

I have to share with you how amazing God really is! As I have stated before "The Secret" offers an opinion of a higher entity - and that my higher entity is God - the God of the Holy Bible that is, with Jesus as my Risen Savior. I believe I've already made that abundantly clear - but perhaps not. Now that is out in the open, I can express the motivation of my utter enthusiasm tonight.

I suppose we tend to forget some of the most amazing things in our lives (journeys), caught up in the succession of day after day offering new challenges; and in some cases new hope and promise.

Today I have been reminded of many of those things as a direct result of this blog, of God's on-going communication with me through many different vessels, and so on. I discovered a dear friend/family member who has as well experienced "The Secret". In our conversing I heard a really inspiring story... Then after reading and replying I opened an email from "The Secret" web site news letter. By chance that the timing was as such? No chance by my way of looking at it. This email also offered an inspiring story.

I was forced to re-visit where I had first learned of "The Secret" and how it all unfolded in my life a little over a year ago. It was really an amazing story in so many ways - but that is for another day.

For today, I simply want to reassure each and every person who reads this that there is always hope, no matter how hopeless the day may appear.

Today I was a bit under the wire on my thought process - and though I don't know what the considerations that were flashing in my mind's screen were all about, I do know that God simply won't leave me there...

I suppose it's from all the pleading I've done with him to pick me up when I fall down with a willing heart in the process. He wouldn't do it if I didn't ask, but fortunately I have had the fortitude to consider this request in my good times to cover all bases for my low times.

Let’s face it, life is a journey, a succession if you will, of ups and downs. Honestly, it really doesn't matter if you're a famous rock star, sports hero or a more average citizen, living a more average life. Remember always, we are all on a journey and the journey is a process no matter how many 0's are in the bottom line.

I'm not going to say that financial freedom is not something that I seek, as do most of us... However, I have to remind myself and many others that money does not buy happiness.

I can revisit hundreds of stories I have heard in my own life of those wealthier and apparently better off than many or most of the rest of us. All too often these stories unfold and the veil is lifted, a heart full of sorrow and loneliness too often plagues their existence. The core of what we are unable to see or perceive.

Remember, the story I shared about not making assumptions about your neighbors; that much goes on behind closed doors that most will never know. Behind the veil, or closed doors as the case may be, rests in its truest form, vulnerability and intimidation which hides the truth. All to often, it is too late by the time the doors open and the veil is lifted...

So tonight, or whatever time it is that you stumble onto this reading, take it as a message from a higher source... A message of hope and a reminder that you need to fill your mind and very being with those thoughts of the positive and the up-lifting. You need to see your dreams play out in your mind and believe that is exactly what they will do in reality.

"God is in the process, so trust the process." Roll with the punches; remember that Satan is well and alive. It may be well and good at this time to point out the simple fact that even he (Satan) believes in God and Jesus, it's not the belief that guarantees life eternal in Heavenly realms... It's the belief and acceptance of the gift of Jesus blood on the cross that cleanses our sins.

There are many things for the taking in this life but only a few that pay high dividends when it's all said and done. This is the greatest of all and the beginning of realizing the promise of your God given dreams and life’s purpose. A bridge once crossed and truly committed to that will leave you a changed and happier person.

I suppose this is an appropriate time to mention that interestingly enough, Satan has it bad for those of us newly converted to the faith or even coming close to such commitments... In as much, it is without a doubt in my mind that I have seen him do double duty to befall that of which God is waiting and willing to raise up. Satan will throw as much "Satan Poop" and Life's Pot Holes in your path as he can manage... Just remember when he knocks - ask God to answer for you!

I'm inspired and it's only Monday! PTL and once again, yet another reminder to have a great week, even if it means MAKING IT A GREAT WEEK! Remember the Biblical principle quoted yesterday -"As a man thinks - so is he."

Happy thoughts to all!

Oh please... Of course I know that Sunday is the first day of the week on my weekly planner... And that it is the final day of the week in which God rested... But really, I think it is a mixed bag for us in the 21st century! We are faced with a day that many of us attempt at best to relax, recouperate, and prepare for the coming week.

I think it could be considered more a buy day. You know, like football season has buy weeks... It's a day in which we should reflect on what's important; many attend worship services on this day and some even still enjoy family dinners set up specifically on this day as a long held tradition.

However, in the case of my household and family it is never so cut and dry. Some weeks it's the day we use to try to catch up on life and chores around the farm. Sometimes it's a day to sit around and watch football or NASCAR or even the culminiation of a full weekend of camping and/or boating in the summer season. It's a day reserved for special orders. It's a "Have it your way..." Day.

Today for example was much the same as the rest of the weekend - a non-descript day with an open agenda. Actually, we had things we were called to do but failed to get done. But on the other hand we did make it out into the February sunshine to examine a property our son and daughter-in-law found. It was a beautiful day to walk around in the open country air while checking things out.

By the time we were done, it was chow time and we enjoyed dinner out at a local buffet. Amazingly enough, after eating some frito's before going I actually didn't over do so much as I normally would.

Life here has been challenging in it's ho-hum state this weekend. With one kiddo determined to create a therapeutic treatment center 24/7... Another determined to undermine the other and still another adamantly defiant to life in general, you might say it's never a dull moment. It can be down right exhaustive.

It doesn't fail to amaze me what the expectations of many of the kids who move into our home are. For youth who generally are preceieved as under-privilaged, they tend now days to arrive in our company with a full list of entitlements and expecatations; all a bit unrealistic if you ask me.

Of course, it is of little surprise with every case of negative media attention in the foster care realms - the bad homes don't really get any better, and the good homes are punished as is the case in so much of our beaurocratic system. I realize our country and government is still the best one available - but boy, it sure can put a sour taste in your mouth. So, with all the rules and regulations set forth, changed, increased and enforced with an iron hand, many excellent foster homes/parents decide to throw in the towel and hang it up. Understandably, as we have considered the same option more than once.

You have to understand, if you don't already know, the kids in todays foster system have more rights than the homes and the foster parents who attempt to welcome them into their homes to help them find a better future.

It would appear they have the right to destroy your personal property, call you any and every name in the book, cuss you up and down, threaten you and your family, harrass, hurt animals and pets within the home, etc. with little to no recourse.

Sure, one can file charges against them in the most extreme cases and then have to deal with the after math of it. For example, kids going on a family vacation with you and getting caught shop lifting... You're out of town and the charges and court date are not local or feasible for your schedule to return to the vacation destination a month or two later... But, that isn't an option. So, you spend a day of your vacation dealing with police reports, discipline issues, searching bags and clothing, calling and reporting to all the necessary people and so on...

Then you get to deal with it all again by returing to the court date or meeting someone half way. You think it stops here, but to no avail! Then there are court fines and expectations that have to be met. You have youth that live in the middle of no where on your farm in the country and attend full time school. So, how do they earn that sort of money? You may be surprised to learn that everyone just assumes there has to be plenty of work to be done over and above the norm at a farm. Therefore it is presumed, they should be able to work off the fines right here, and right out of our pocket books.

Okay, do the math... You have four kids and all four are involved and all four get charged and fined. Even at $50 or $100 each you're looking at $200 to $400 in fines, plus the time and headache of trying to get them to do what they are supposed to do over and above their normal chores. Keep in mind these are the normal chores that they already don't do with any sort of accuracy....

It doesn't stop there... If they get community service, who has to take them and pick them up... So, now you've lost part of your vacation, it's costing you a flipping fortune in gas, fines and headache medicine...

And when it's all said and done, do you want to know what one of the kid's response was to a similar situation when asked how court went? He said with a casual smile "It went really good" in a tone that said No big deal... I kid you not!

So this weekend... We have teenage boys who are healthy, strong, smart and able bodied expected to do no more (in fact, truth be known, not as much) as kids we have worked with over the years that have done the same or more at the age of eight to ten, including our own biological son as he was growing up... And the point? They think they are dying! It's apparently too much to ask and too boot, the work that has over the years taken others from their age and down only 30 minutes to an hour to complete -now takes them several hours to do...

If this isn't enough to put a person on the verge of insanity... Then I hear how I am not holding up my end of the deal from one of them... Where does this indulgent, me-me-me attitude come from? I can answer that in two words... THE SYSTEM!

At what point in time the goverment decided to take parenting away from parents and honestly believed it would create a better world is beyond me...

But you would think after awhile they would start to realize their great ideas are not working so well and begin revamping the apparent glitch in thier predecessors mistakes. But no, no one wants to be politcally incorrect - so that simply can't happen.

Therefore, the more rights the kids have and the less rights the parents have (in some cases biological settings as well as foster settings) the more out of control our society is going to become.... And anyone can see the truth in that statement. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see what we are doing to ourselves and to our kids...

Our original expectations of our foster kids in the beginning years were very similar to that of which we held for our own son. A high school diploma was not a matter of choice and there were no exceptions for the kids who wanted to stay here. Every one of those kids from that time frame graduated high school and some went on to secondary educations. Many of them have remained in contact with us and some even still come to visit on a regular basis.

But not so anymore... The kids now days are not the same and our expectations can not be enforced, as we have little to no disciplinary actions that we are allowed to hold them to.

Do you know, we can't even put a teen in the corner? It's belittling to them to be disciplined at an inappropriate age limit. That is just one small example. We're not supposed to yell but sometimes I admit it is nearly impossible to accomplish such self control.

Truly! It isn't an easy thing to ignore the behaviors of a child who is damnaging your home, breaking windows in our buildings, even our camper window had a rock thrown through it because as the young man stated "I was mad at one of the other boys...."

Let alone when you have one calling you an f------ b----, etc. You get the point... It's not always easy to say "Okay litle Johnny - I understand your angry right now - maybe you should take a little time out...."

It isn't all it's cracked up to be when folks think they are signing up to help the helpless, little, neglected children of a forgotten world... No sir....

You start out sure that love, lots of love, is all they really need and you're just the person to do it... After fourteen years of seeing kids come and go and seeing the problems of the youth increase even more rapidly than the problems of the world... I can assure you, the old addage "All you need is love..." is simply not cutting it.

So, for my weekend.... I got to dive head long once more into the over idealistic, indulgence of yet more foster youth who have some very misled ideas of how life in our home should be or is going to be.

Respect is a very broad term and seems to be missed on several levels in several capacities... Therefore, I pray a lot that the youth in our care will stabilize and make it here. That they will be able to join the real world of our lives, as imperfect as it may be, and survive their placement here with some sort of success. Graduation would be a nice goal, but anymore we have to shoot for achieving one successful day at a time. I put my best foot forward; I attempt to stay patient (I do mean attempt too!); I try to keep my head on straight and my blood pressure under control until we either hit a point of saying "It's working out..." or "We gave it all we had..."

The horses are a great thing but even that, my life long dream, has become lost in the burden of these kids realities. I hope and pray that God will show us that we are still doing a good thing as we continue on, so that we can continue on.

I remind myself, "If not us, then who?" Understandably, we take on many cases that other foster homes won't even consider and the options are becoming fewer. It's got to be a calling, but not an easy one these days!

Enough already... I wonder if I will get any foster related individuals commenting on my opinions here tonight... I'll try to keep you updated on the latest with life and times in these regards.. But understand, that sometimes this blog is my escape from such realities...

I'm ready for the kids to be back in school tomorrow morning and to have a few hours here or there to regroup between dentist, doctor, court, therapy, etc. appointments through out the week to come.

We all have our cross to bear... And after all, it's part of the journey and the process. Thus far, I am still embracing the journey and trusting the process!

Here's to a great week!
Blessing to all!

Yes, Saturday is nearly to a close and I'm nearly wondering why I was so eager for the weekend to arrive. No, it hasn't been a bad day - just a day and yet we know that every day is a miracle in itself... But just like most everyone else, I too take for granted the sun rise that has not failed to come for thousands of years.

Speaking of such, the moon last night was awesome! I love the weeks in a year that have full moons. They are illuminating, entrancing and even a bit romantic.

That brings to mind the consideration I have to the common misconception of the word ROMANTIC. It appears to me there is an underlying presumption if someone uses this adjective it is automatically assumed to involve hugs, kisses and more than one person. I suppose this was my general impression for many years as well.

However, I can assure you after twenty seven years of marriage I am a hopeless romantic and my husband is as far from that as I could imagine. Ah, you wonder about that with regard to the car story earlier this week. That was not a romantic interlude in any way, shape or form. But just because he is not of the romantic mind set, no wine and candle lit dinners would ever happen if left only to him... Nope! Ask him what our wedding songs were and be prepared for a blank expression or a defensive posture as to why that is trivial non-sense with little to no purpose for recollection. Ask me and I can give you the titles, the original artist and the words...

Okay, I realize most men would not be on that level of sentimental value... But really, the things he does remember. Oh geeze, most of them would be better forgotten. Truth be known, one could probably count on their fingers how many times I have been truly intoxicated in this life, but do you think he will forget what I said on those occasions? Heavens no! So, is it so unreasonable to think that perhaps he might be able to remember some of these seemingly (to me)significant detail from our big day?

It's okay; I can live with these truths... But it doesn't change the fact that I am still a hopeless romantic. I love a good romance movie, book or otherwise. If it is a sad ending I cry; and as I grow older and more sentimental, if it has a happy ending, I cry. Silly old me!

Truth be known, the romantic state of my being can embrace a walk (even by myself) in the moonlight, or sitting by a pond and hearing the water hit the shore in a methodical manner. You have the idea. I don't have to be swept away in my lovers arms to find the lull and warm fuzzy feelings of my romantic nature. In fact, sometimes I think I find more romance and peace in the still of nature all by myself.

It's really quite a gift in my opinion and way of thinking to find myself at a point where I can embrace my surroundings in such a way. Considering at some points in even my adult life I have had a tendency to be a bit, lets say, insecure. So, here I find an inner identity that can be okay and feel the romance and the love in life itself with or with out that preconceived idea of what it looked like back in my Cinderella era.

The reality is that in my more secure state, it has without a doubt taken a great deal of pressure off of my husband and our relationship. I embrace him and "us" for the wonderful and fulfilling relationship that it has grown into. Not what it started as, but something much more meaningful.

I used to think if something were to happen to him I couldn't imagine being alone... Now, I can't really imagine being with anyone else... It's not fluff and stuff but something that has endured obstacles, intruders and even a separation that found it stronger after the fact than before. It is solid, built on the rock of faith, with many of the rough edges polished to a high finish. It may not be a full blown diamond just yet, but I think it may be in the making.

I wonder if we will be alive long enough to celebrate a mile stone anniversary - like 40 or 50 years??? And if so, what will it look like by then?

I can't help thinking of Ron's grandparents on one side who divorced after they had been married for fifty years. I still scarcely can understand such a separation. More over, if it was that much of a burden, how on earth did they stay together that long in the first place? It's puzzling at best. I surely hope that I never find myself in such a situation.

I laugh when I think back over the years of my married life. Some of them were hardly laugh worthy, but all in all we've gone through a lot of growing up together. Now we are both on the down side of forty's; and fifty is coming up faster than we might have expected it. However, I'm now thinking it may be safe to assume we have successfully made it through the mid-life crisis. I thought so when we hit our forties, but I didn't want to be too quick to presume. I hope I'm not premature at this time in saying so... lol

However, our dreams and goals may have adjusted a bit and may be even more realistic than they once were... It is not that we have in any way resigned ourselves to the idea that we are where we are and this is as good as it gets. NO WAY!

We are both still pushing (PUSH - Pray until Something Happens) for the future. I refuse to accept that life is over until it truly is. I still have a mind with new and fresh thoughts... I still have love in my heart enough to share.... I still believe that visualization and positive thinking does create a better world.... And I am finally beginning to understand or maybe even believe that "I Do" can and might even mean forever.... I still find the moon alluring and a sunset hopelessly enchanting... And the birds singing in the morning sun still makes me think of summer and rebirth... I am more convinced than ever that there is nothing as pure as a freshly snow covered landscape over open pastures or fierce mountain peaks.... I know that there are angels watching over and protecting me and my loved ones.... And I still know that God is with me every step of the way with a bigger plan than I can even conceive.

As long as these truths remain, life is still full of promise, youthfulness and love abundant with each new day. With this much said, I am once more rendered to consider the reality of The Secret and of “my to live by” quotes... With God as my captain, I am visualizing, believing, enjoying, embracing and loving the journey each step of the way... And still trusting the process as I go.

Today’s Thought is a reflection of yesterday's blog.

Proverbs 23:7 - As a man thinks, so is he.

Remember there is a truth to the quote "If you think you can, or if you think you can't, either way you're right!"

God Bless Us Everyone!
God willing, I'll be back with you tomorrow....