Divine Appointments

Thankfulness

emyloom Leave a comment

With the deepest love and gratitude, one person I am eternally thankful to is Chrissie. First and foremost, for loving me and my sons; for providing stability, for his hard work, for his generosity to others, for his optimism that never seems to fade, for loving me even when I was unlovable and never giving me reason to doubt that love. His love has helped me to trust again and not fear rejection or loss.

More importantly, I thank God for the big things and the small things in life. I thank him for provision, for showing me again and again that He is ever present. I thank him for the blue sky, for the peacefulness and beauty after the snow, for the multitude of flowers, for the people He has put on my path to help through this journey.

He arranged reconnections that brought parts of my family back together and chance meetings of friends in the most unlikely places. I thank him for the basics of life, food, shelter, friends. I thank Him that even though I toss and turn in my doubts, He never has given up on me.

“Thankful that in this ever changing world there are some things that remain the same and bring balance to my life. Day and night rise and fall; the seasons change, sunshine comes after rain, young people still fall in love, children are born and the old pass away. There is a rhythm and flow to life that encourages me to tune out the noise and remind myself I am not in control of these things but a never changing God is and He never forgets to take care of the details.” ~ Me 11/15/21

Photo Credit: Megan Watson at UnSplash

The Queen

emyloom Leave a comment

I was up at 3:30 am this morning, even earlier than my usual 4 am, having a cup of warm strong coffee and perusing through quick news on twitter when I see an announcement from Buckingham Palace regarding the Queen’s health.  I do think it is odd and rather ominous as I don’t recall seeing any such announcements in the past.  It was not long before all the news agencies picked up on it too and speculations were flying and reporting of her family making their way to Balmoral.

My heart sank, for two reasons.  One, thinking of her family because to us she has been “The Queen.,”  the queen my entire lifetime, but she is their mum and grandmother.  I think of my own recent loss of my mother and if this is the Queen’s time, I know the pain and heartache that is ahead for them over the next few hours and days.  After my mom died I found a brooch she had of a crown, I had never seen it before, but I kept it.  Today I put it on in honor of Queen Elizabeth and a reminder to think of her and her family.

Over the past few weeks in an effort to avoid the news on current events, I have been rewatching The Crown on Netflix.  Just a few weeks ago I watched the episode of her Coronation.  In that episode, it is infers that upon placing the crown on her head the Queen becomes part of the divine, she was anointed.  

So the second reason, my heart sank is that I was thinking of her life. The long reign that she has had, I realized that there may never be another that can fill her place. She is part of an generation that is no more. Part of the greatest generation, she was guided by great statesmen and led her nation through many changes.

As I write this, the announcement has just been made that Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II has passed.  She was the last of an era of devoted loyal servants.  Whether divine and or extraordinary woman… May she now rest in peace.

Love Lifted Me

emyloom 1 Comment

I once wrote about whether serendipitous events were by coincidence or divine appointment and whether God can use any means to send specific messages. I believe an experience that touched my heart today is more than a coincidence and one of those times that God’s message was for me.

It started this morning when I posted this picture because today is six months since my mother passed. I woke up thinking of her and she has been on my heart all day and this evening.

In 2012, Chris and I took my mom to Israel with us; to say it was a challenge was an understatement. During that trip I realized how badly her dementia had become. Chris was a saint, because some days I lost my patience.

During the entire journey my mother sat behind me in the car and she hummed or sang the hymn “Love Lifted Me”. Over, and over again, for 10 days. I was convinced it was a power struggle and she was doing it just to spite me. Several times I tried to change the tune. I tried playing music on my iPhone (even gospel music which she loved) but “Love Lifted Me” continued. At some point and I don’t think I was very nice about it, I asked her to please stop.

This November I have been making a daily post about thankfulness and things in my life I am thankful for. I often start with a quote from wise people that have passed their wisdom down to us.

This day’s quote was, by Samuel Butler: “Let us be grateful to the mirror for revealing to us our appearance only. ”

Oh how true is that! I wrote about my heart that could be ugly and less than what God wants it to be. Reflecting back now I know, sadly some of days on that trip my heart was not where God wanted it to be.

So tonight I posted “Reflection of My Heart,”to my blog and logged onto Facebook to share it there. In my news feed were ‘suggested’ videos as usual and the first one up was Randy Travis singing “Love Lifted Me.”

Coincidence, I think not. I do not even own a Randy Travis CD, album or song. I picked a quote to write my “thankful” story without any particular situation in mind and my mother was on my heart because of the time since her passing. Three things came together today and combined they sent a message that struck deep in my soul.

Yes, I played the video of “Love Lifted Me” all the way through and my heart could hear my mom’s voice humming along in the backseat as we traveled through the Holy Land.

Here is the link. Randy Travis. Love Lifted Me

https://youtu.be/5KX-TnmSNqQ