Google and Blogger and Simply Shining

I have been doing a little better on google plus since I have come back than on blogger. For some reason I have struggled for a long time with the effort of writing blogs. May be google plus will help me get back into it. I can keep it totally short and simple. My recent blogs have remained short and not very personal. Life has been a bit like a roller coaster the past couple of years but thus it is with the seasons of change and recent losses. The good news is that I believe there are always new things, good things in store. I don't get into the New Years theme much anymore. There are no magical days so to speak. There are simply choices and determination and every single day is new. I listened to a recent sermon and I can understand where it was coming from but I have some of my own ideas. The sermon was about not going into the new year with sadness but instead filled with joy. That is all well but having struggled with depression personally I have learned that some things are a process. Yes, you have to want to be well but when you have lost a loved one or something causes you to grieve over any aspect of life it takes time. I'm not certain there is complete restoration . I know, that might sound negative but really it is not. There is a positive note as well. Things may never be the same but that does not mean life cannot be wonderful in many other ways. On my personal journey I continue to learn now that I am older to love myself. Sometimes religious people give mixed signals about the subject. All I know for sure is that Jesus himself taught us to love our neighbors as ourselves. Now how can we accomplish this if we beat ourselves up for countless things? Why are we made to feel guilty about depression when Christ said he came to heal the brokenhearted, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised" Luke 4:18 We are so deeply loved! It doesn't matter if we are a size 4 or plus size, short or tall, old or young. Race doesn't matter. The Samaritans in the Bible were despised by the Jews yet it was the Samaritan who helped the broken , wounded man on the street who had been beaten and robbed. We are all God's children. We have all made mistakes, we have all at some time hurt another precious someone but each and every day is new and so are God's mercies. We are all individually fashioned yet we don't bear burdens in exactly the same way. We have to be sensitive because something we think is of little importance may be the breaking point for someone else. There are people who have taken their own lives because of a relationship with a girl friend or boyfriend or because someone said an unkind or thoughtless word. There are girls and probably guys as well who have starved themselves because something or someone made them feel fat. Those are just a couple instances of many.
You are beautiful, you are worthy of love and there is a gift within you that is meant to be shared with another soul. You are a precious diadem, a jewel; so shine! Reach out in compassion and "Do the small things with great love," as Mother Theresa said but don't forget to love yourself.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow. my husband and I are going to take a drive to West Baden and see the big Christmas tree at the hotel up there. It is quite an impressive place and open to the public. The tree is up until January 12. The atrium is awesome!

I'll get some pictures of the tree tomorrow. These are some from when my husband and i took the grandchildren there.

The last photo is home. I treated myself to the flowers. I miss flowers and they look cheerful! The bird and hummingbird are from my mom and my daughter. Ah yes I am loved!