Thursday, December 28, 2023

Belated Christmas Greetings

Greetings from Plum Cottage this last week of 2023. 

The end of this year was a bit rough for me. I caught a cold/bug the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, so that I had to forego dinner plans with friends, Christmas caroling, three Sunday advent services, no ladies Bible study. That lasted about 3 weeks, totally draining me of all energy. Then as I was feeling better from that I got a bad toothache, cheek swelled. Had an infection, found a holistic dentist who fit me in at 5 pm on a Thursday evening. 2 1/2 hours in the chair. Did pretty good until the end when I was starting to 'feel' what he was doing. Not good. He had already pumped me with numbing agent, but the infection was keeping that from doing what it should be doing. So, he got one tooth out, had started on the second when he had to quit. He wrote me prescriptions for pain meds and an antibiotic. Made an appt for the following Monday morning.

A friend had taken me to the dentist, and when she saw me she suggested I go home with her so that she could take care of me. I was really loopy and emotional and agreed, thankful for her kindness. Miss Tork would just have to survive without me for one night. ;-) We both survived being separated. (We also had two days of winds from that tropical storm, gusts off and on all day of 38-40mph. I prayed that she and the house would be ok while I was away.)

The antibiotic took care of the swelling and infection. Pain med took care of the pain. Monday morning I was only in the chair for an hour, rest of bad tooth out and the infection taken out as well. Have had to eat soft foods ... I'm now doing much better, eating more solid foods. I have a follow up appt on the 4th.  This dentist was so kind and gentle, a real blessing for me.

After over 5 weeks of not being able to do any gardening, I finally was able to get out and mow and trim the front hedge. That felt so good. I had the window of opportunity yesterday as today was predicted to be rainy and it has been all day so far. It's been staying around 60-62.

 December is a hard month for me as that's when my dear Mark was called home to be with Jesus, on the 9th, 11 years ago now. His birthday was the 20th, and then there's Christmas. On the 9th I started decorating for Christmas and that was good for me. I've enjoyed the lights, color and joy of seeing it all, being thankful for the real gift of Christmas, which is the celebration of God coming into this world as a little baby. Since I was recuperating from teeth being extracted, I had Christmas here with Miss Tork, and since Jesus is always with me, I truly was not alone. I was able to go to the last advent service Christmas Eve morning and it was wonderful and great to be with church family again.

I hope you all had a time of remembrance of why we celebrate this particular holiday during all of the happy festivities. As a believer in Jesus, I believe that Jesus is God in the flesh. He is Immanuel. He came as a babe, born in a lowly stable, to humble parents. He came from the richness of heaven, to die for all of humanity, for our sins. One day we will be with Him in His richness, see Him in all of His glory, where we will be forever young, thanking and praising Him for His great love forever and ever. Something to look forward to.

A beautiful you tube video came up on my feed, and brought me to tears with its message for all of us. I want to share it here.


Then this came up a day or so later. Another beautiful piece seen from different perspectives.


May we all be drawn closer to our Savior, Jesus, God Almighty.

~~~~~~

In thinking of this past year, about things that have come my way, my word for 2024 is, 

Perseverance ~continued effort to do or achieve something,
even when this is difficult or takes a long time.

In Romans 5:1-5 we read:

 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

through whom we also have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand;
and we celebrate in hope of the glory of God.

And not only this, but we also celebrate in our tribulations,
knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance;
and perseverance, proven character;
and proven character, hope;
and hope does not disappoint,
because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts
 through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

~~~

In 1 Thessalonians 5:18 we read:

Give thanks in all circumstances;
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Is this an easy thing to do? No, but when I am thankful I am more at peace.

Philippians 4:6-8

Be anxious for nothing,
but in everything by prayer and supplication,(earnest or humble request)
with thanksgiving,
let your requests be made known to God;
and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Finally, whatever things are true,
whatever things are noble,
whatever things are just,
whatever things are pure,
whatever things are lovely,
whatever things are of good report,
if there is any virtue
and if there is anything praiseworthy
meditate on these things.

As we move into 2024, may we go in faith. May we see beauty in each day. We don't know what tomorrow will bring, but we do know that God holds everything, past, present and future in His hands. He is working all things out. Evil will not win, it has already been defeated, it just doesn't know it yet, but it will.

Be well, find joy in each day that you are blessed with, be thankful and spread love and light wherever you go.

God bless all of you.

FlowerLady


 

8 comments:

Lynn and Precious said...

Dear Lorraine, what a time you have had. I pray each day is making you well and stronger in body. I know your spirit is strong because of your belief in Him. I hope your New Year starts out better than the way your old one has ended.

Deb J. in Utah said...

Hi Lorraine. Good to hear from you. So sorry to hear about some of the struggles you have had over the past several weeks. I hope that January and the new year are a time of healing and renewal for you. I really needed this post today. I am dealing with a lot of anxiety right now, so reading your post, especially the scriptures at the end, really helped me out. Thank you! God bless you, Lorraine. I will be praying for you.

Pamela M. Steiner said...

Sounds like you have had a really difficult time this past couple of months. So glad you are finally feeling better and that you are able to get out and enjoy your garden once again. So glad you had a good friend take care of you when you needed it most. And of course, we know that Jesus is with us always, yes, He is "Emmanuel, God with us." He is our great Comforter and Physician. But it is so good when He provides others to help us in our time of need. Praying that the New Year will bring much joy and peace to you, and that you will enjoy good health as well. Blessings to you...

Morning's Minion said...

I hope that your health struggles are now in the past and you can again enjoy your beautiful glowers.

Olde Dame Holly said...

What a beautiful, uplifting post, thank you. I hope you are completely on the mend, and wish you a very Happy New Year / 2024! I think that it is wonderful how you begin decorating on the day your husband was called back Home. I decorated early, too, as it made me feel closer to both my late husband and to Jesus.

Terra said...

You went through such trauma with the sickness and then the tooth, and you used your word for the new year and persevered. Philippians 4:6-8 is Scripture that I love.

Victoria said...

Oh my that was a very difficult holiday season for you. Dental work is never any fun, but yours sounded horrendous. How wonderful it was that you friend took you in to recuperate from the first days adventure. It takes a real friend to see that you needed a very real helping hand to deal with all that.

Glad you are feeling better and are able to get outside and work in your garden. There's nothing like being outside in the sunshine with green things at your fingertips.

Take care.

Love Victoria

Mary said...

Thank you for the beautiful song, Lorraine. Thanking the Lord for your help, healing and relief for your tooth…and that Miss Tonk made it fine😻
God bless you~
Mary in Oklahoma