Quote for October

A Prayer for the Ephesians Eph. 3:14-21

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom His whole family in heaven derives its name. I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.


Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen!


Saturday, July 31, 2010

I had a Cool Dream

Hi! How are you doing? I'm doing fine.

I had a dream two nights ago that I want to write out. It was unusual because the interpretation of the dream came to me just as I woke up. It was like God told me right away so I would not wonder. Also, this dream had more color, more pageantry, and more mystery than usual.

I was in the court of Charles I of England. At first I wasn't sure what I was doing there, but I could walk freely about the palace, and I wasn't a serving wench. I wasn't a lady-in-waiting to the Queen, either. I seemed to be rather middle class, but I lived in the palace. The King knew who I was; he spoke to me pleasantly one day and smiled at me as he passed by.

I remember thinking in the dream that being in the court of Charles I was not such a good idea, because he was beheaded later. But nothing bad happened during the dream; I was just trying to figure out what I was doing there. All the palace was abuzz getting ready for a big party. Plans were laid; fabric for gowns was bought. I was concerned about visitors being able to wander all over the palace; and discovered I had a key to lock the door to my room. That was cool. I also had my own room. It was about then I decided that I was a teacher of the girls in the palace.

The day of the party arrived. This time I saw Charles II. He asked me if I knew what he was saying in Latin. I apologized for not knowing, and explained that it had been so many years since I studied Latin that I had forgotten. He explained to me what the phrase meant.

Sometime after the party I figured out what was going on. It was like I had amnesia about who I was and how I got there. It turns out that my family was from the Northeast part of England. (Just below Scotland.) We were a seafaring family. I saw a map in my dream showing the area where we had land and our ships sailed. My father was a local nobleman and had some business on the seas. He found out where I was and was coming to get me.

Now I got to get all dressed up like one of the noblewomen in the palace. All my clothes were ivory-colored. I had an elaborate ivory curled wig. I got to wear a gown with beautiful lace and I got to walk down the front stairs. In the earlier part of the dream, I had to go up and down the back stairway.

Finally, my dad came to get me. His carriage was in front of the palace, and he was waiting at the foot of the stairs. He had a coachman and two other attendants with him. I got to descend the beautiful curving staircase, and get into the coach to go home. The story had a happy ending.

As I woke up I thought, "I found favor with the King, and my Father came to take me home."

I don't think there's any rush on God coming to take me home, but this was a neat way to envision it.

(Isn't it odd how we have dreams inside of a dream? While I was having the longer dream about being in the court of Charles I, I had a short modern dream about shopping for clothes. When the women were getting their gowns ready for the party, I was in a lingerie boutique shopping for things with beautiful lace on them. I didn't find much until the last second of that dream. Then I got to use lace when I had my gown made. )

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Halcyon Days

Saturday was a great day. We celebrated the wedding of my Dad's oldest grandson, Andrew, the first grandchild to get married. The groom is 25 and has been living with my Dad for nearly 6 years since my mother died. He married a lovely woman he met 5 years ago. So everyone's happy!

The bride and her family put on a terrific party, and it was a beautiful setting at the University Club at UC Irvine in Southern California. The ceremony was outside surrounded by trees, and the reception was inside a large room with huge windows so we could enjoy the view. We have been looking forward to this wedding for a year, and it was great. It's wonderful to see a couple who have grown into their relationship, and are ready to take the step into marriage.

So these are Halcyon days! Everything with me is fine. My cancer is manageable, and I'm glad not to spend my evenings feeling tired out. I began writing on my book last night: I'm cementing the offspring of my first Lazzieur family. Now I need to locate the photos I took on a trip to Maryland about 7 years ago. I will find them; it just takes time.

Thank you for your prayers! You are one of the reasons I am enjoying these great times. God is giving me a rest before He lets me know what he wants me to do next, and I am accepting that.

Sharon

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

I'm Having a Good Time!

Hello!

I'm having so much fun, I haven't written for a month. My daughter, husband, and I went on a trip to Tennessee for 8 days and returned one week ago. That followed a party that we gave to celebrate our anniversary, K's graduation from high school, and my retirement from teaching.

Since Monday I have been printing photos (dating back to December 2009) and creating posters and albums from them. Tonight I promised myself I would not do that. #1) It keeps me up until 3 am because I'm having such a good time and trying to get things to come out right. #2) I have to deal with the real world and get my bills paid. Most of my bills are all due by the 11th of the month. So I will be brief.

Today I had my cancer treatment and saw the oncologist. Things continue to go well. I still have symptoms of flushing and odd digestion, but he has decided that's just how my body deals with this stage of my cancer. Some patients are confined to their bedroom and bathroom most of the day, so I can't complain. I am in fourth stage cancer. Amazingly, my Chromogranin A was at 7 last month on the day when it should have been at its highest. (That's the day before I get my treatment.) So even when I try to look for trouble, I can't find much.

I will just give up and accept that God is letting me stay well for months. Having cancer keeps me waiting for the other shoe to fall, but maybe I should just relax. Praise God.