Dementia for 2

I recently started a Bible Study based on Elizabeth George's book, " Loving God With All Your Mind".  I think this will be a very thought provoking study based on the first 2 chapters that we have read. 


She is speaking about her own depression and what enabled her to overcome it. The beginning chapters are based on Philippians 4:8 " Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

While reading Oswald Chambers the other day, I was struck by how often we bring one another down with our sympathy. I have come to the conclusion that we as a whole tend to confuse sympathy and compassion.

I have been trying to sort this out in such a way that would make it easy for me to put into words. I am not sure if I have succeeded. Another word that is in this same category for me is empathy. I don't seem to be able to think of the other two without this one also.

Sympathy is sharing the feelings or emotions of another. The issue with sympathy is that it tends to spill over into gossip and can make us feel as though we are a victim depending on the circumstance. We also tend to use sympathy as a way to gain more information about a certain situation.

Empathy is more of an emotional understanding of another's situation. I think of empathy as more impersonal than compassion or sympathy. With empathy, you may have had a personal experience that allows you to really understand what another person is going through.

Compassion is a feeling of anguish for another along with a desire to help alleviate their suffering. You are sincere in your endeavors to help another in a painful situation.

I used to think that being a sympathetic person was a good thing. I thought I was conveying all the right things. Then I really started to think about the people involved. I realized that my sympathy was misplaced. There are people that just want to feed off of your sympathy. They are not interested in moving beyond the point they are in. I also realized that I was getting caught up in their saga and that is never a good thing.

I am learning to be more compassionate and empathetic without so much sympathy. It can be a very fine line between the three, but you can learn to distinguish between the three and covey what you truly mean without confusion.

Exactly what are idle words? What comes to mind when you heard that phrase?

I think of work. Rampant with rumors, gossip, and backbiting. Since there are so many employees, there is never a lack of something/someone to talk about. There are days when I just don't want to talk to anyone. I reach my threshold of trash talk if you will.

We are told that we are responsible for every word we speak. This has given me great pause as of late. When I think of all the idle words I speak in just one day it can be convicting to say the least.But, is it just words that we are responsible for? What about idle thoughts? Thoughts of ill will or what ifs or if onlys? How do we handle those instances?

How can we curb all of this? I study and read the Word and still can't control my mouth much less my brain. It can be quite daunting to have the "mind of God" when you are bombarded at every twist and turn in the journey of life. It seems as though we never really conquer anything.

I have been talking with God lately about my idle words and in the process have become a quieter person. For those that know me, you know I can be quite loquacious. I am hoping that I don't become rude in the process of curbing my mouth, another tendency of mine. As you can surmise, this is going to be a prolonged process to say the least.

The goal is to only have interesting and uplifting things to say/think. I just hope the process doesn't become a hopeless situation.

My son has decided albeit rather quickly, to leave for Texas. I know I should be excited for him. This is a new adventure. A chance to "start fresh". A very enviable position to be in for sure. Why can't I stop crying if this is so great?

But I am a mom with all of a mom's fears and worries. I am afraid that he is running from himself. That has a way of catching up to you rather quickly. I worry that he will get out there and get stuck and have to much pride to call home. I worry that it will be to easy to forget he has a son here that loves and adores him. I worry he will get mixed up with the wrong crowd again and this time the outcome will be very dire indeed.

But, I also know that this may be the only way God can reach him. It may take some hard knocks away from mom and her "help" to get right with God again. How do you "let go and let God?" What does that really mean?

A new page is turning for all of us. I am not sure he even realizes how much he means to so many. Since his conception I have never been separated from him or his sister. If this is what cutting the apron strings feels like, you can keep it.

I am going to miss the late night conversations, early morning breakfasts, card games and board games. I am going to miss waking up and finding out he has come and raided the fridge in the night. No more teasing him about cutting his hair or all the constant calls from the fairer sex. No weekend cook outs and trick or treating with little "J".

I am going to truly miss my son.

Mom and I have been battling health issues that would be contagious to Granny lately so it has been a bit since I have been to visit her. My sister has been trying to pick up the slack.

Mom has HFM,and I have poison ivy. during all of this my sister developed pink eye. I told my brother in law he should take a photo of us posing as the 3 monkeys.



Apparently, Granny also had pink eye. Since mom and I were unaware of the signs of this, it is good that my sister contracted this while she was helping with Granny. She is the one that knew what she was seeing and made sure Granny received the proper medical care.

Sis has been helping keep Granny in clean clothing and the like. She also disinfected her room since I have been unable to get up there. While she is with Granny, her every move is watched. Granny has not spent a lot of time with her so she is not sure just exactly who she is. Sis called during one visit and mom spoke with Granny via phone. I think that Granny knew she was speaking to mom because she said, "That woman is here again." I think that is so funny! I can just see Granny watching my sister's every move and not saying a word. I am sure that when she left Granny took inventory of her stuff.

My poison ivy has cleared up enough that I was able to go and visit yesterday. She really looks good and we had a great visit. We did the mani-pedi thing and she really enjoyed teasing me.

I think I am going to call "That Woman" today and let her know just how much it means to mom and I that she took the time to help during all this. We are not sure just when mom will be able to go and see Granny again maybe another week or so. They miss each other terribly and I know that mom will be glad to be done with this illness so she can get back to being momma.

Shortly after my last post I received a call from our Realtor. Apparently, things were crossed in the mail, email, phone space time continuum. Seems as though BAC did receive everything in a timely manner and we are back on track with the short sale.

This is good news on many fronts. I am truly grateful to God for removing these walls that have been a constant thorn in my side over this whole deal. Maybe now I can get some sleep.

I still have some things to get rid of before I start storing our items until we find a place to live. Since this could take a few months, I have not really started looking at rental property. Since the son has moved back home for a while, and from the looks of things he is going to be with us for at least a year, we can look at rental houses instead of apartments. This is also a big plus since we have a German Shepard that will cost us a fortune in pet deposits.

Hubs and I have really enjoyed having our son back at home for a while. We get to see the grandson more and I am able to discuss some of said son's decisions with him. I don't know if I have made an impact on him, but I continue to pray that he will come to his senses as it were. He has started to understand that a lot of his issues are self inflicted and he really does need to make some life changes and soon. Whether or not he actually will is another story. I seem to like my own little hamster wheel as you all know so who am I to judge?

My dear sister is also dealing with children issues. She and her husband have had to confront their daughter concerning her choice of friends. Since my niece is grown, there isn't a whole lot that they can do. However, they have laid down ground rules concerning who is/is not welcome in their home. This is not an easy conversation to have with your child at any time and I truly feel for them. While nothing was openly admitted, nothing was denied. My sister and her husband are strong in their faith and I know God will see them through this storm as long as they continue to lean on Him.

I think the hardest thing to deal with in a difficult parent/child issue is all the memories that are stirred up. I tend to think about all the mistakes that I have made not only as a parent but also as a wretched child. I was truly horrible. I don't know how my poor mother survived it all. I have definitely "paid for my raising".

The upside to all of this is that God can take all this and turn it into something good and wonderful and for that I am truly grateful.

My son has been angry most of his life. I don't think he remembers a time when he was not angry. Anger that is buried that deep not only becomes who you are but you reach a point when that is all you know. You can forget why you are angry, but, you never lose the anger.

I have been praying for my son for a very long time. This past week many prayers have been answered on his behalf. "J" finally faced the fact that this anger is destroying him from the inside out. He also realized just how long he has been angry and why.

This was accomplished solely through the work of God. I am so grateful to my Lord for the work He is doing in "J". I know that this is a process and will take quite a while, but I also know that he will get through this.

Forgiveness is the key. He is having an extremely hard time with this. It is very hard to forgive someone that has hurt you deeply. Especially when you were an innocent child and your entire life has been affected by this act. He is taking baby steps right now and is very vulnerable. I pray that he remains strong in his faith and what he knows to be true.

We spent hours talking and praying about this and how he should handle this. God has been so merciful and long suffering with my son. I know many people that are trying to deal with their own anger. Anger at family members,co-workers, neighbors, and friends. Their anger has manged to seep into every facet of their lives. They are bitter and miserable. The thing is they don't even realize this has happened. Some are justified but, most are not. Some, like my son, may be justified in being angry but have become sinful in their anger. I have been this person. I could become this person again. But, I know the long road I had to travel and what it has cost me. I am very unwilling to travel that road again.

I am thankful that my son has come to this point in his life. I pray that he will continue to make his way back to the "narrow path". He did tell me yesterday that he had the best day he has had in a long while. How great is that! To know that our Lord blessed this tortured young man with a good day and he was so happy to know that it can happen.....even to him.....even to you.

I am sorry to say Granny's daffodils did not last as long this year as they did last year. I think maybe this crazy weather we having been having had something to do with it. I am hoping to have more for her this week. The weather here is really strange this time of year anyway and it seems to be more so this year than any other.

My grandmother grew up in a very poor house. She really never had any real toys that she has ever spoken of. In her later years, she started collecting porcelain dolls. She used to tell me that she never had any dolls as a little girl so she bought them now. I try to buy her at least one new one on special days. If possible, I buy more. She has enough now that we can switch them out and she feels like she has new dolls.

This past Christmas I bought her four dolls from a friend of mine. They have been in her room since December. Last week while we were talking, she notices the dolls. She starts talking about the new dolls and telling me they were new. I cannot tell you how nice it was to have a conversation with Granny that we both could participate in. Usually, I talk with her but she isn't able to follow the conversation that well.

I have thought about this a lot this week. There has been so much bad news in my life lately and more seems to arrive everyday. I am very thankful that God gave me this little ray of sunshine through my Granny.

So hubs and I decided to continue with the short sale of our house. The whole situation just doesn't sit right with either one of us especially when BAC sent us a letter in December letting us know that there was no help available and in January they have an open application from October on the books?!

I read a lot about how everyone feels about folks like us and this whole housing thing. I don't take it personally because I know that we were doing just fine until the company hubs worked for eliminated his position in 2008. Granted, we were BARELY okay, but okay nonetheless.

However, I do think more people are closer to our position now than before. Unemployment can take its toll on any family. Most people have deleted their savings, retirement, and generosity of family to try and stay afloat. Things are tough all over for sure.

We are aware of the bad choices we have made and how they have affected us. Sometimes it takes a really tough blow for both parties to really see what is going on. While I won't go so far as to say we won't be repeating some of the mistakes we have made, I will say that we are and will be discussing said decisions more which is a good thing.

Now if I could just get hubs to clean the computer room!

Before I jump into today's post, I wanted to update ya'll on the house issue. We finally got all the paperwork together for the short sale. The representative that emailed this to us neglected to tell us that we could not send it back to her. We have to give it to a real estate agent and they in turn have their own paperwork to be filled out and then it is all sent back to them. I cannot begin to describe the frustration this causes me.

Hubs talked with a real estate agent and he has an appointment with them on Saturday. However, he did tell hubs that it could be up to 9 months before our house sells. He went on to say that most people just leave because they do not want to wait that long. Since we need the moving expense money to move, it looks like we are here until the bitter end.

Now for today's topic. I do not believe in making New Year's resolutions. I can never seem to keep them. So, I am trying a new approach this year. There is a Pastor in North Carolina that has come up with a very innovative idea. Choose just one word and work on that one word for the year. I really like this idea for a few reasons. The first is that it makes you think. What one word can I choose that would sum up what I really want to do this year? It takes the focus off of just you and places it on others. Because of my faith, it also helps me to focus on how God wants me to accomplish things.

So what is my word? Present. I want to be more present in my children's lives. I want to be more present in church, my studies and my overall relationship with God. I want to live in the present not the past. I want to be more present in my marriage.

I think this is a goal that I can accomplish and in the process, enrich not only my own life, but the lives of those around me.

So if you had to choose just one word, what would your word be? I look forward to reading what you guys come up with!

I really try to stay away from political topics here. There are hundreds of political blogs out there catering to every persuasion known to man. But, as a Veteran, I don't think this latest action by our government has been thought through to its bitter end.

My views on homosexuality fall in line with the Word of God. However, I do not push those views on anyone. I do not "preach" to anyone concerning their life choices. That is between you and God. If you come to me and ask me I will tell you as I am obligated by the Word to do.

But, I personally do not think our country is ready for gays to be open in the military. While I was serving in the USMC, someone told me the military is a dictatorship within a democracy. I don't think it is quite that extreme, but it is close. I have tried to keep up with all the changes in the military and the type of soldier,airman,ship man or marine that we now have serving. The military has changed quite a bit over the last decade or so. The young men and women enlisting today do not think or act like they used to. Their values, work ethic, and education is vastly different from just 10 years ago. There are also a lot of gang members in the military now. Something that was unheard of in the past. There have been film clips in Iraq with gang graffiti on buildings. So now you have violence within the ranks.

I think with this new decision by our government, the violence will probably increase. It is going to be quite hard for a gunner or navy seal or ranger to deal with seeing his bunk mate or the guy he shares guard duty with dressed as a woman during their off time. I think it will be equally hard for women to deal with other women being couples in the open.

While the government may think this was the right decision, I don't think they will know how to deal with the repercussions of such a decision. The fear that gays used to live with in a civilian situation will once again rear its ugly head. Only this time everyone will have a gun.

I don't attend a local church. I work on Sundays but, I am off on Wednesdays so I could actually go on Wednesday night. I have a litany of reasons why I don't attend, but no one wants to hear all that.

My mom talked me in to attending church with her last Wednesday night. She attends the same church as my sister at the moment. Several years ago, their pastor died. He was a mighty prayer warrior and I truly miss him. Since that time, they have been hard pressed to find a new pastor. Over the course of this process, they have lost quite a few members. What is amazing to me is how they have reacted.

My children were saved in this church. When my son was trying to kill me with his life decisions, this church prayed for him. When my daughter was so sick and I could not find a doctor that could properly diagnose her, this church prayed over her. They have prayed for my family for years. My grandson is now attending this church with mom and he loves it.

Wednesday night there were less than 15 folks there. With today's mega churches on every street corner, this is a small church even when filled to capacity. But the people! They carry on just like the church is busting at the beams with people. They still do their Thanksgiving baskets, food pantry, clothes closet, etc. They still have their monthly business meetings and discuss ways to bring more people into the fold.

To walk into such a church and to see and to know that God is still working a mighty work there was truly uplifting. Prayers are needed for the smaller churches. They are becoming a dinosaur in the grand scheme of things. I can honestly say I am looking forward to returning there on Wednesday and being a part of something so special.

Apparently the saga from my previous post is going to continue for at least one more post.

I am in the middle of a Beth Moore study on the Fruit of the Spirit. Most of us know the list Paul gives in Gal. 5:22-23. The first on the list is love. There are many types of love as you also know.

She chose to tackle the physical side of human love first. I will try not to bore you with a lot of technical terms. I am into word study so while I find it quite interesting, others may be bored to tears. To simplify things, you can read the Song of Solomon and see this type of love for yourself. In the Greek Eros is used to signify physical desire.
Then you have the Hebrew words used on the Songs which are dowd and rayah. Some other spellings for these 2 words are dod and raya.

I am not going to get into premarital sex and what all God says about that. We all know how He feels about it. The scriptures that are relevant to this post are 1 Cor. 7:3-6, Song of Solomon 1 and 4, and 1 Cor. 7:7.

What she says is this: "According to these Scriptures, an ongoing deprivation of your mate for inappropriate reasons could be considered a unique form of adultery." Say what?!

So I started thinking of all the things we put before our mates. Our jobs, children, homes, friends, sports, cars, etc. How many of us are workaholics or sports nuts, or way too involved in the lives of our family and friends? How many of us put these things before our spouse? How many of us then have the audacity to ask them what is your problem?

I know our lives are busy and exhausting with just trying to survive. But, we do have a tendency to take the one that is supposed to mean the most to us for granted. Trust me, there will come a time when they won't be there and you will be left wondering what went wrong.

Before that time comes and you are brokenhearted, take some time with your mate. Do something with them that means something to them. Don't replace your intimacy with something or someone that isn't going to be there in 20 years. If you make your marriage vulnerable, it will break into a thousand pieces.

I know that it takes 2 but someone has to start the ball rolling. Fix yourself up and put on that song that used to do it for both of you. Have some fun and get close. Save what is important now.

There are moments in my life that I just wish I could forever erase from my memory. I know that my decisions have shaped who I am. I also know that God will use my bad choices to help others for His glory. But, I really hate having to face the "old" me.

This is my second marriage and we struggle EVERY day to make it work. Like most couples, we have issues that we would rather not face, but, face them we must.

During my first marriage, I was unfaithful to my husband. I would like to be able to blame it on all kinds of mitigating factors. But the truth is, I made the choice to be unfaithful. I made the choice to lie about it and I made the choice to shift the blame to anyone but me.

Quite a number of years ago, my current husband was unfaithful to me. I don't know how far this liaison progressed before he confessed, and I don't want to know. There was a time when that would have been important to me, but not anymore.

We have mended our relationship through therapy, tears, fights, and pure determination. I have been able to forgive and move on because of my relationship with God. I definitely reaped what I sowed.

Since I have been both women meaning the "other" woman and the heartbroken wife, I have quite a few people that want to discuss their marital woes with me. I am not equipped to do this. I have made so many bad mistakes that I just don't feel I can give sage advice.

I do know that any decision we make affects someone else. The old saying "I'm not hurting anyone but myself" is a lie. You will hurt others around you. Your relationships will forever be colored by your decisions. The way you treat others and the way they treat you is one of the effects of your decision.

Please don't delude yourself into thinking I am some sort of "big" person for deciding to forgive my husband. I am not. I was angry for YEARS. Something between us died that day and it will never be resuscitated. God's mercy has been great in my life and I don't presume to think otherwise.

I have a friend going through a similar situation and it breaks my heart to see such anguish. "D" and I have known him for years and I would never have guessed he was so unhappy in his marriage. So what great advice did I give him? Remember that she will find out and she will be hurt deeply. Make sure that you can live with the repercussions of your actions. Are you willing to risk your marriage for a romp in the hay? What a jerk I am! What a perfect opportunity to witness and tell this man how much God carried me through this and what I learned when I emerged from the forest. I can only pray that when he approaches me again that I will have the courage to stand up and really tell him what my little liaison cost me.

As many of you know, my sister and I have been estranged for many years. We live less than 30 minutes from each other, but, have not spoken in over 5 years.

In the beginning, I wrote her several letters speaking about repentance and forgiveness and the need for all of us to do just that. Repent and forgive....two of the hardest things for a person like me to do.

She eventually sent all the letters back to me with a letter of her own. In a nutshell, she told me that she did not desire any communication from me and I should apply what I had written to my own heart. Little did she know that God had already been doing just that very thing.

About a year ago give or take, God decided that I needed to open this door again. So I called her. This was very hard for me to do. I did not want her to blow up on me and start rehashing all those hurtful things we had done to one another over the years. But, I knew that if that was the way God wanted it handled, then that is what would be done. The conversation was short and she assured me that there was no unfinished business between us. Still no reconciliation. I had decided that we needed to talk about things from the past so we would not repeat them again should we ever decide to try and mend our relationship.

Today there is a knock on my door. My sister is standing there waiting for me to invite her in. I did hesitate because I immediately thought she would not be here unless something had happened to my mother. When she came in she immediately hugged me close and apologized for her part in our torn relationship. We discussed how she came to be at my house that morning and why I had done the things I had done in the past to try and reach out to her.

What is so ironic about all of this is that we did not rehash the past. She did say that if I felt it was necessary for us to discuss any wrongs that she may have done to me that we would but, she just wanted to wipe the slate clean and move on from here. As I am writing this, I think of what Corrie Ten Boom said about our sins. God puts them in the deepest lake with a "no fishing" sign. When she was done I could tell she was bracing herself for the worst. But, I did not feel the need to bring all that old junk up. I knew that she was in my kitchen because of her obedience to God and that was all that mattered.

To those of you with broken relationships, I would say this: Don't give up and don't stop praying. You can own your part to God and repent. But you must be willing to do what He desires of you to truly have peace. God will most definitely do the rest!

I know because today He gave me a most precious gift......my sister. I know that He is the binding force in our relationship now and it will truly be what it should be because of Him. Praise God!!!!!

Granny will be 94 in just a few weeks! I can't believe it has been a year already. Where did the time go?

We are throwing her a party at the nursing home this year. This is the first year that I have not been able to take her to mom's. It has been really hard for me to accept the fact that I can no longer just go and get her anytime I want. It doesn't seem to have affected Granny and that is what really matters.

Mom is having her party on a Saturday so everyone can attend. I am hoping to get the day off without playing hooky. This will be the first time my sister and I have attended a family function together in over 5 years. I am very apprehensive about that aspect of the whole thing. I really don't want to do or say anything that will hurt my mom or my granny.

Granny will be so surprised when we have her party. She just loves all the attention and will be excited to have all of us there I am sure. I have not decided what to get her yet. Since she has such limited space, it is very difficult to buy for her these days. I am thinking of buying her some new pictures for her room to change it up a bit.

I should be able to post some pics soon so ya'll can see how great my granny looks.

Hope everyone has a great week and I will try to post more soon.

I know the photo I chose is an alternative to a Christmas Tree, but, Granny would love it.

I was speaking with a co-worker yesterday concerning her brother's ashes. While I see nothing wrong with cremation, I do know many Christians that do. Her family in particular.

"A" described her family as "religious". Personally, I despise this term. I have found that anyone that uses that term to describe another either: A) is talking about someone that is legalistic or B) has no idea what a true relationship with God is all about. But I digress.

A's family has decided that they do not want to share her brother's ashes amongst themselves as was originally decided. Now they want them thrown in the ocean. Since she lives in North Mississippi, this is no small feat. The logic behind this decision change is truly mind boggling. Apparently, they feel that God will not be able to gather all his ashes up if they are distributed amongst family members. The question my friend asked her mom was how was God going to get all those fish together that would wind up eating her brother's ashes. Needless to say, her mom had no answer for that one.

While this story is humorous in a strange way, it does make me stop and think about my own restrictions. I seem to want God in a bottle and when I need Him, I pop the cork and out He jumps. We have our little conversation and then I put Him back. When I look at my relationship with God, I find that I am far worse than a fair weather friend. I am a user and abuser. I only want to talk with God when it suits me, when it fits in my schedule, when I need Him. While I am always striving to be a better person to those around me, I seriously neglect my most important relationship.

So the goal is always out of reach. While I could blame this on many things, the truth is I am the one that is at fault. So once again I have climbed back onto this hamster wheel and am struggling to jump off.

I have had a pretty uneventful summer. I am very grateful for this. So much is always going on in my life that I welcome any break!

My mother on the other hand, has been busy as a bee:) We still don't know anything definite about her back. She is wearing a brace right now in the hopes that this will help. To be in pain day after day, is frustrating on many levels, some of which I can only imagine.

She and my sister have been seeing more of each other this summer also. This is a very good thing for both of them. I am not sure if they will ever talk about what happened between them, but, to be talking and visiting at all is a gift from God. My niece went to visit her today. Mom was very excited about their visit. I am hoping that "K" will develop her own relationship with mom and see some things for herself. She is a young woman now so she should be able to form her own opinions without too much outside influence.

My grandmother is doing quite well. She has had a very eventful summer also. My uncle came to visit her and although she did not recognize him, she did enjoy the visit. Mom goes to see her regularly and I try to go as much as possible. I want to go more often, but, it is harder for me to go see her these days. I just cry when I leave. Even though she is always happy to see me, I know that she is in her own prison and that I will never see the grandmother that I love so dearly again.

God continues to bless my family despite my own lack of faithfulness to Him. I find myself looking for nonsensical distractions so I don't have to face this fact about myself.

Please continue to pray for my mom and sister. Their relationship is so fragile right now. I am hoping that they continue to grow together and move forward in a way that will bring glory to God.

My grandson loves to visit with my grandmother. He is quite the little entertainer when he goes to see her. He dances and sings for her along with telling her what to do. She loves his visits.

I am glad that he enjoys going to see her. He is 8 now and has been with her for most of his life. He will have a lot of sweet memories to cherish later in life.

This past weekend he decorated her window for the 4th of July. He also took his ukulele with him and sang "Clementine" to her. However, he substituted her name in the lyrics. I think Granny gets a bigger kick out of his behavior and facial expressions than his actual singing.

For some reason unbeknown to me, my aunts/uncle would never let their children spend any amount of time with Granny. Consequently, they have no great affection for her. This is a very sad situation to me. My children are in their 20s and they will still lay in the bed with her just to feel her caress them. They often speak of the summers they spent with her when they were young. I wanted my children to love my Granny as much as I do and they have allowed mom and I to pass this along to our grandson.

When he climbs in her bed and puts his little head on her chest she is truly happy. Times like that are truly unforgettable to me and as my mom puts it, "Good for her soul."

Several years ago I did an estate sale with a friend. We were supposed to be partners in this venture. Well, things did not go exactly as planned and we had some issues. While we were able to settle things between us and still remain friends, this sale and its issues still keep coming up. I have not had any problems but my friend has. While I might think I know why this situation is still coming up, I don't KNOW. God has a way of bringing up things until you settle them the right way.

God has been very gracious to me with my relationship with her. I consider her friendship my gift from God. I think that this is the reason we were able to settle things and move on beyond our obvious personality differences.

But, I don't think I could bring up this situation to her in a way that would allow her to see the "beam" in her own eye. I hate that this keeps coming into her life but I also know from personal experience that if you don't settle things in a way that is pleasing to God, you will face them over and over again.

I am praying that she will see whatever God is trying to show her so that she can move on. It is a tough thing to keep repeating the same lesson over and over again. I know from personal experience that this can take a long time. I pray that she doesn't take as long as I have.