A Weekend To Remember.

It started off on Friday when my best friend, Shih Tzu dog Sonny, went under the knife! The Vet took five of his teeth out. He had constant ear infections and couldn’t eat dry food so I had it done. He is sore, but not complaining much. He is 10 years old so he is not a young dog. I’ll admit I was worried about the anesthesia because I had another dog who didn’t awaken again during a spading operation. Isn’t it funny how a dog can become almost like a human to a dog-lover?

Then on Sunday afternoon my son, Ron, Took me and Sonny on a road trip up the Washington side of the gorge. Oh, was that beautiful! The greenery of the fir trees and the early gold of the meadows almost took my breath away. Then add the blue of the skies and the river and you have it all. I can’t forget the mountains, they were above me sometimes and below me other times depending on whether we were driving up or down. They were gorgeous in their green and brown dresses any way I looked at them.

My son said he was going to take me to the prettiest picnic table he had ever seen. I had seen many picnic tables and couldn’t see what would be so pretty about this one. But it was! It perched high on a rocky cliff with a mountain wall just across the river. The Columbia River was quiet today, I didn’t see the usual white caps and it looked small below me. Beacon Rock stood majestically just beside me where I could see where people could climb it. I had climbed it years before but as I looked at it yesterday I couldn’t believe I had ever done that! After we visited that picnic table, we started off for home.

It was a wonderful day, a blue sky and sunny day. I had seen the gorge many times before but I had never seen it like yesterday. Ron had hiked that area many times and knew just where to take me. He told me what everything looked like in Spring or Winter and about the wild life that is abundant in the Springtime. He gave me a gift I will always remember. How great is God who created all this! And how great a gift it was to be able to see this grandeur.

Follow Your Dream

What is it that keeps gnawing at you? It’s something that you really want to do “but the kids came and they needed me” or “I don’t have the money it will take” or “I just don’t have it”. Yet you want to do it and the dream goes on. That isn’t a dream. It’s a gift from God and you should go ahead and do it.

A man, we’ll call his name Sam had a dream. He wanted to start an antique business but his wife said it was just a dream and he should quit dreaming about it. He told me he woke up, shaking in the middle of the night, thinking of his dream. Finally, he gave up. He literally threw up his hands and told himself, “Okay, if I am going to fail, I still will go ahead with this.” And he prayed, “Lord, is this what you want me to do? It isn’t my will, it’s yours.”

He went ahead with his antique business and it was a success. So much so that he now owns antique businesses in several small towns in his area.

What is God telling you? Six years ago I had a stroke. I couldn’t see and if I could it would be double vision. I had a dream too but after my husband died suddenly while still in his 30’s, I gave up my dream. I had to raise my three children and that was my only thought. Even after the children was raised and I had a new husband, my dream was still there. I wanted to write a book.

Oh I had dabbled a bit in writing. I had even sold some small articles to magazines but that didn’t satisfy my dream. When I had my stroke, I gave it all up. I knew I wouldn’t be able to write anything, not even a grocery list now. But I prayed, “God if this dream is a gift from you. If this is what you want, It is not my will, it is yours.”

I am in my 80’s now and my book, “He Leadeth me, a Grandmother’s Story”, is nearly ready to publish. And I am working on a second book! I followed my dream and you can too. Just tell God that it is not my will, it is yours and plow right ahead. Maybe your dream is different from mine or Sam’s. Dreams are as many as the stars above. If you have that gnawing in you that will not leave, follow that dream