guest book
A good friend of mine has a guest book next to her front door. She also has 4 beautiful daughters, ranging in age from 21 to 15, as well as a 10 year old son. They have lots and lots of visitors. I just love that there’s a book which documents who has been a guest in their home. They are wonderful hosts, good friends and godly people.
Because we don’t live in the middle of the hub bub ~ our home is about 20 minutes north of most of our friends, in more of a country setting (LOL) ~ we don’t have many visitors to our house (unless you count the FedEx and UPS delivery guys, and the postal carrier). Usually we’re the ones who go visiting. Even so, I am considering starting a guest book. Or perhaps I’ll make a “We Were Your Guests” book and have the hosts sign it when we go to someone else’s house. That’s a pretty cool idea, even if I do say so myself!
nothin’ holdin’ me down
I’ve been feeling a little blue lately. Not depressed. Just sort of blue ~ weighed down by circumstances that are out of my control, and people who are less than receptive to help or good advice from others. Admittedly, we probably do things in our family differently than a lot of families do. We believe the way we do things is the way they should be done. I’m not saying we’re perfect ~ not by a long shot. Nor am I suggesting that I’ve got the market cornered on how to “do it right.” Again, not by a long shot. But I do know that we believe what God tells us in His Word is THE Truth. No matter how you spin it or argue with it (or us), God is GOD ~ He is Who He is. God isn’t who we want Him to be or who we wish Him to be or who we throw together from a bunch of different religions, philosophies and trains of thought. He is Who HE is ~ plain and simple.
We all have people in our lives who seem to constantly be bouncing from one drama to another. Or, even worse, constantly creating one drama or another. I don’t know why they do that. Maybe they’re bored and just need something to do? Maybe they think life is a soap opera. I don’t know. What I do know is that my life is NOT a soap opera, and I’m not going to stand on the outskirts of that drama or let it effect me any more.
I’m going to take hold of the promises God has given to us in His Word. I’m going to hold onto what I know to be the truth. I’m NOT going to keep letting those whose dramas want to spill over into my life have that control anymore. Enough is enough. I’m taking my life back.
I’m not writing these drama addicts off. I will continue to be a light ~ the light of Jesus shining in a dark world. My light, however, is no longer shadowed or covered ~ it’s shining brightly, and it will continue to shine brightly.
I know that means the cockroaches, spiders and other nasty things that like to hide in the dark will be exposed, and they’ll come scurrying out looking for a new dark place to hide. But you know what? While they’re all running around looking for another rock to hide under, another boat to crawl under, another life to invade or a new crack in my life where they can try to slip through, I’m going to be sheltering in the wings of my God, THE God, the Creator of the universe who cares for me. That’s all I need to do.
I have officially thrown off the chains that have been weighing me down. Matthew 11:25-28 (ESV) reads:
25At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Alleluia and amen!
good things on the horizon
Have you ever wondered just exactly how far away the horizon is? Sometimes it seems to be just over that small rise ahead, and at other times it seems to be hundreds, even thousands, of miles away. And what happens when you get past that small rise that made the horizon look so close? Usually you see there’s another small rise, and again it seems the horizon has moved to a place that is just barely out of your reach.
Those small rises represent the obstacles in my life that take my time and attention, and stand in the way of some lofty goals. Some of the obstacles are well worth the effort it takes to conquer them, and I wouldn’t trade those learning experiences for anything. Then there are some goals, dreams, hopes and desires that just seem so far away as to be unattainable, and the obstacles so large as to be insurmountable.
I admit freely I am not the best manager of time. I like to sit and think, drifting away on my own thoughts, spending hours in what my school teachers used to call daydreams. And when I write, it takes me forever to get my thoughts properly expressed in a way that makes sense once those thoughts are released from the confines of my brain (where they make perfect sense until someone asks me to explain them).
And there are the distractions. Distractions can be good ~ if I get too wrapped up in what I’m doing, sometimes I need a break and don’t realize it. Usually a break will come in the form of a disruption, or distraction, that breaks my concentration on the task at hand. And really, that’s not always a bad thing. But some distractions are simply rabbit trails that suck away my time and attention ~ those are the distractions that have no real purpose that leads to my good or improvement.
Supposedly it’s all about prioritizing. But what if just about everything you want to do is high on the list of things you want to do?? At times frustration abounds, because prioritizing what’s best over what’s best is a really hard thing to do.
This blog started out as a way for me to tell the stories of regular life around our house, and to keep people up to date as to what we’ve been doing. It also became a place for me to express my thoughts and opinions. I’m not sure when it turned into a platform where I had to be careful about what I wrote or what I posted simply because our life became messy. There have been actual court cases where someone’s writings on the internet were used against them. Sad, but true. I have no desire to give anyone ammunition against me or my family just because I posted on my blog how I really felt about something (or someone).
So, I’ve fallen away from posting my thoughts and opinions like I used to here. That makes me sad ~ mainly because I enjoyed having the ability to write whatever I wanted to write, about whatever I wanted to write about, whenever I wanted to write about it.
My life is overwhelmingly full right now ~ overwhelmingly in a good way, not a negative way. My life is so FULL ~ it’s an incredible blessing that I want to be sure to receive completely. That’s mainly where my attention has been focused lately. Enjoying what I’ve been given, receiving the blessings, and learning through the difficulties. Yes, even difficulties can be blessings ~ it just depends on how you handle and what you do with them.
Would I love to tell you every little thing that goes on from day to day? Absolutely. (It would be up to you as to whether you read about them or not.
) Unfortunately I can’t do that simply because of the ramifications or backlash that might ensue. There’s no reason to give anyone information they don’t need or aren’t willing to make the effort to get first hand (I’m speaking about a personal, “in real life” level here).
As I wrote previously, I have requested a couple of books to review. I love that publishers are willing to send free books to people who are willing to read them and write about them on the internet. Bibliophiles rejoice!
I won’t just be publishing book reviews, though (how boring would that be?!). I will continue to write about the things that are on my heart. They just won’t be as deeply personal in nature as they were when I first started writing this blog.
Now I just need to get my ducks in order, get everything back to its normal smooth sailing, and make the time to blog. I’m still working on that list of all of the good things I want to do ~ getting them in the correct order is challenging. But I think I’m up to it!
getting there, slowly but surely
I’m finally starting to feel that I have a few extra moments in my day ~ and I can use those minutes for blogging!
I love to read, and I enjoy writing book reviews. I am a member of several book review blog groups, but I’ve not requested a book from any of those groups for quite a while.
That changed today. I requested copies of 2 new books from B&B Media. I’m very excited to receive them and write reviews of them!
How this works is I joined some blog groups that have connections with Christian book publishers (both fiction and non-fiction). Group members receive emails frequently from the group administrator with book titles that are available FREE FROM THE PUBLISHER as long as once you’ve read the book you post a review on your blog. There’s usually a specific date the group members are asked to publish a particular review. And the publishers really like it if you post an additional review on a site like Amazon.com or ChristianBook.com.
Considering the publisher sends me free books, posting a review on my blog and on a book selling site is the least I can do!
Now, please understand that while the book is provided to me for free from the publisher, my personal reviews will never be swayed or skewed either in favor of or against any particular book. When you read my review, you will be reading my honest opinion of that book.
The two books I requested today a non-fiction. I can’t wait to receive them!
poor dog!
Attison was playing fetch with our dog, Jake, but she decided it would be much more fun to run away with the ball and let Jake chase her. It’s a good thing our dog is so sweet ~ I think he actually understood that it was more fun for Atti if he just chased her around…they’d been playing this game for a few minutes before I located the camera and was able to get some video. The quality isn’t very good since I only uploaded it to Picasa, but if your sound is on you’ll be able to hear Attison’s precious laughter as she runs around our house. (click on the picture to be taken to Picasa where the video will play automatically for you)
brief break
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I hope your holidays are blessed with love, laughter, fun, and fellowship. I’m taking a short blogging break, but hope to be able to resume regular posting soon into the new year. Blessings!
right place, right time
Sometimes you’re just in the right place at the right time….
A couple of days ago, I went shopping at Target to finish up my Christmas shopping. The night before, I made a list of the items I still needed (stocking stuffers and things like that), perused the Sunday ads to see which store had the largest number of the items on my list on sale, and went through my coupons and found all of the relevant ones. I found more coupons on Target.com and printed them out. I found some really great deals ~ several of the items I needed were on sale at Target, and I had a manufacturer’s coupon as well as a Target coupon for most of those items. Triple up on the savings ~ that makes it worth the trip.
So, there I was at Target, checking items off my list and concentrating on getting the items I knew I needed to get ~ sticking to the list is usually the best way for me to get in and out of a store without spending more than I intend to spend. But on this day I think God just decided I needed a little extra gift. I was heading towards the electronics department when I passed the clearance rack at the back of the bedding section ~ and that’s where it caught me eye. On one of the clearance shelves was a boxed Simply Shabby Chic white decorative shelf. We’ve been slowly trying to redecorate a few rooms in the house, and one of the things I’ve been on the look-out for are good decorative items. This particular shelf was just the kind of item I had on that mental list. So even though I was on a mission to the electronics department, I stopped at that clearance shelf. And I’m glad I did!
I checked the box over, and there was no damage to it. So I looked at the price tag. Are you ready for this? The regular price was just under $56 ~ and the little red clearance tag read $6.84. WHAT?! There had to be something wrong with it. It had to be a return or something. But for $6.84, I was willing to snag it, take it home and check it out.
I finished my shopping, checked out (where the cashier commented on my adept combining of sale items and coupons, and my clearance shelf find), put everything into the trunk and headed home. I was still a little doubtful that the shelf would turn out to be as good of a deal as I was hoping it would be, but again I was willing to take the chance.
After I got home and put away all of my sale/coupon items, I carried into the house the box containing my “steal” of the day, the decorative shelf. I examined the box again, and still couldn’t find any damage to it. I opened the box, and noted that it did not appear to have been re-packed. You know when you buy something, get it home, take it out of the box, and realize there’s something wrong with it, and no matter how hard you try you absolutely cannot put it back into the packaging and make it look as good as it did coming out of the factory? Yeah, well, that didn’t appear to be the case here. So I carefully sliced the packing tape, opened in inner box, took out the directions, and found the package of hardware needed to put the shelf together. That hardware package contained 8 small packages of groups of hardware. I pulled out each small package and compared it to the individual package contents listed in the book of directions. None of the hardware packages appeared to have been opened, and every single piece of each of those 8 hardware packages appeared to be present in its package.
At this point I thought to myself, “Self, you may have just found the deal of the week!” I took a picture of the box just to show you (because I know how much you love when I share my big savings finds with you) ~ here it is:

I took a couple of pictures of the little red clearance tag that reads $6.84, but they didn’t turn out well. They’re too blurry to read. I’ll try to get a good pic with my better digital camera and post it ~ I need to put a picture of this box with the readable tag in a scrapbook or something! LOL
Despite my intention to be in and out of Target that day, buying only the items on my list, I’m thankful to have noticed this gem of a deal. Now, I haven’t put the whole thing together yet, so there’s still the possibility that the shelf (cabinet) may NOT turn out to be the deal of the week. But you know what? At this point I’ve had my $6.84-worth of pleasure from this item, so if something is wrong with it my heart won’t be broken!
coupons, rebates and savings galore
I am not a fan of the holiday shopping season. A lot of people are, and that’s great if it’s something you enjoy ~ but getting up at 4am the day after a holiday to fight the crowds just to save a couple of dollars is not on my list of fun things to do.
I am, however, a fan of shopping online, and I’m definitely a fan of big savings. Do you know how many web sites there are that will help you save some serious money while doing almost all of your shopping online? About a gazillion. Seriously. A gazillion. Recently I became a member of several of them ~ all free memberships ~ and already they’ve paid off (literally).
I have needed a new mixer for a while now. My in-laws gave us a Sunbeam stand mixer as a wedding present over 20 years ago. Earlier this year I started noticing that electrical smell that small appliances give off when they’re about to quit working. I let Roger know we were going to need to get a new mixer soon, and outlined the benefits of a couple of different brands I was interested in possibly purchasing. I won’t go into the debate over whether a Bosch is better than a Kitchenaid ~ that’s one of those things you’ll have to decide for yourself.
A few nights ago Roger and I were talking about what we would like for Christmas. We’ve been married for a long time now, and quite honestly getting a nice appliance I know I need is no longer offensive to me. Roger spent the first 17 or 18 years of our marriage giving me nice jewelry as gifts, because he knows how much I like pretty, shiny, sparkly things I can wear. He has proven he truly does understand that giving your wife a vacuum cleaner or a mixer for her birthday, anniversary, Valentine’s Day, Christmas, or any other day that it’s conventional to give a gift to one you love is NOT okay.
I’ve trained him well.
This year I asked for a new mixer. Roger was a little taken aback by that, and he questioned me over and over to make sure a new mixer really was the thing I wanted for Christmas. I was finally able to assure him that I WANT (not to mention NEED) a new mixer, and that buying me a small appliance for Christmas was not something that would go on the “Hold Against Roger Forever List” (unlike buying a $500 dog ~ that I didn’t even want ~ on our 14th anniversary. Sorry honey, but that is one I don’t intend to ever let you live down!)
I did all of the research, and decided for my purposes a Kitchenaid would be a very good investment. If I were an everyday bread baker I would probably have asked for a Bosch ~ and again, I really don’t want to get into that whole debate ~ but since I bake bread only occasionally, and I’ve never needed to make more than one loaf at a time on any given day, the Kitchenaid has the features I was looking for. The spoiled little girl in me wasn’t willing to settle for the lesser Kitchenaid though. I wanted the big mama of the Kitchenaid family ~ the professional 600 series mixer. Try as I might to get rid of her, that spoiled little girl inside me always seems to reappear. This time, however, I was able to satisfy the spoiled little girl in me AND the grown-up in me who really would like to get the most for my money.
I joined Ebates because I have heard people talking about it and have read quite a number of posts on blogs and Facebook by people who love shopping through Ebates. Then through Ebates I was able to find a store that had the mixer I wanted on sale, and they were offering free shipping with the purchase of $100 or more. I also had a coupon code for that store for an additional 20% off. The store’s page for the mixer had a link to a rebate form I could print out and receive $$ back from Kitchenaid. On that particular day, the store was offering rewards dollars (basically a gift card that can be used at that store for a future purchase), and the cash back value on Ebates on that day was higher than it usually is. Wow.
All told, I bought a mixer that normally sells for $500, and I paid a little over $200 for it. There’s a possibility that if I had continued looking around for a couple more days I may have been able to save a few dollars more, but I’m VERY happy with the deal I got. My time and effort are worth more than the additional $5 or so I might have saved if I’d waited and done a ton more research.
If you’re not a member of Ebates, you really should check it out. The membership form doesn’t take long to fill out, and you don’t have to give them any kind of credit card or bank account information.
If you decide to join Ebates, please use my link. You and I will each earn a $5 credit to our accounts from Ebates just for you signing up and becoming a qualified member! Really it’s a win-win situation. The next time you need to buy something, look it up on Ebates and buy it through their site. Ebates will give you a percentage of your purchase price back ~ so what have you got to lose?!
hypothetical situation (part3)
Thank you to everyone for the comments here and on Facebook, as well as the private messages and emails. Your thoughts, perspectives, and points of view have been very helpful, and I truly do appreciate them ~ and you!
And now, as Paul Harvey would say, the rest of the story:
The “hypothetical” story I wrote about here and here is true (to the best of my ability). It happened to me. I am that best friend who was completely cut off. And I do mean completely. It is still a very painful subject for me ~ I think that’s why I had to write about it. It happened almost 3 years ago, and to this day I can’t talk about it without becoming tearful.
I pray for my friend every day. It has really been a lesson in forgiveness on my part. I’m not a very trusting person ~ it takes a lot for me to honest-to-goodness trust another human being. It’s not that I’m unfriendly or impersonal. I like to think I am friendly and personable, but there aren’t many people I implicitly trust. And that very small number has been reduced by one with the loss of my best friendship.
One day, about a year and a half after she just stopped talking to me, my friend finally returned one of my phone calls. I’m pretty sure what prompted her do that <insert small chuckle and slight shaking of head> was what I imagine to be a slightly panicked phone call from her youngest child (who was, at the time, an older teen) telling her I had called her house sobbing. It had been a while since I had tried to get a hold of her. It took me 6 months or so, but I did finally catch a clue and stop trying to get in touch with her. But that particular day was an especially difficult one, and I missed my friend so much that I broke down ~ in more ways than one ~ and dialed her phone number. She wasn’t home, but I did talk to her teenager. It had to have been obvious that I was crying, no matter how hard I tried to hide it. After learning she wasn’t at home, I simply asked her teen to let her know I had called. I really didn’t expect her to call me back, since she hadn’t returned any of my previous phone calls.
Surprisingly though, she did call me. She was at work and couldn’t talk for long, but she said she was calling to make sure I was okay. Wow ~ I was stunned. I told her that no, actually I wasn’t okay, and asked if maybe she could call me later that day after she got home. She said she would. And she did.
It wasn’t a very long conversation that evening, but it was long enough for her to tell me I hadn’t done anything to cause her to stop talking to me. That had been my biggest fear and concern. Then she told me about the leukemia, and about her decision to try this alternative method of treatment rather than dive right into chemotherapy. And then she told me that the main thing she had to do was to reduce the stress in her life, so she had cut just about everyone out. Including me.
I was shocked. On one hand, I wanted to chew her out for not telling me she had a life-threatening illness. On the other hand, I wanted to keep my voice calm and quite so as to not totally stress her out. I mean, even though she had hurt me deeply, I loved her as a sister. I was willing to forgive a year and a half’s worth of pain and tears at the drop of a hat simply for the opportunity to talk to her again.
We didn’t reconcile during that phone call. I don’t know why, other than what she told me ~ that it’s part of her alternative treatment that she maintain an extremely low threshold for stress.
I have struggled with forgiveness in this area of my life. I struggle with it daily ~ sometimes on a moment-by-moment basis. It would be so easy for me to become bitter. Actually, I do have moments when I am bitter. But mostly I mourn the loss of a friendship ~ a friendship that was so dear to me that to this day its loss is immensely painful.
So what’s the lesson here? For me, the lesson has been that no matter what the circumstance or slight, I have to forgive. While my friend may never ask for my forgiveness, she has it. It has to be that way. I have to walk in love and forgiveness ~ otherwise I would become bitter. That bitterness would grow and grow, and probably take over my life.
Unforgiveness is ugly, folks. It becomes this monster that rules every part of a life. How do I know this? Experience. Lots of experience with people who don’t know forgiveness, or how to forgive.
I know that my friend is ill. I can only imagine the difficulties she is experiencing. I wish it were different ~ I wish I didn’t have to imagine what she is experiencing. I would prefer to know first hand as her best friend what she’s experiencing. I would prefer to have the last 34 months back and be able to share them with her.
I won’t (and don’t) let that stop me though. I know she knows I pray for her ~ that is one of the things she told me when we talked on the telephone a while back. And she knows that when she’s ready I’ll be here.
We are quickly approaching a time of year when we celebrate our thankfulness to God for His provision both on this earth and eternally. This time of year also seems to be the time of the greatest number of suicides. People can easily become depressed, or bitter, or feel overwhelmingly hurt by the circumstances or events in their life. It’s easy to do ~ with all of the television programs, commercials, billboards, magazine ads and online access, there is more exposure today than ever before to what Hollywood thinks Thanksgiving and Christmas should be. A modern day Norman Rockwellian holiday season. And yet I don’t know a single person who can truthfully claim that type of existence.
It would be easy for me to allow myself to wallow in bitterness and self-pity, and claim that since I lost one of the most important people and relationships in my life that the holidays are ruined. As I review the past year, there are a lot of things I could claim to have ruined any kind of symbolic celebration of life and happiness. But that’s simply not the truth.
Instead, I choose to see past those things. I’m not saying I go about my life blindly pretending that everything is just hunky-dory, or that I live in a Rockwellian-esque world. But I do have a God Who is bigger than anything and everything, and Who can do abundantly, exceedingly more than anything I could ever ask for, dream of, or even imagine. He heals the broken ~ broken people, broken relationships, broken lives. Does that mean God will repair my relationship with this particular friend? Possibly. But you know what? I’m okay with that, because I know that what He has planned is better than what I want. His best is infinitely beyond better than my best.
This same God is the God Who sent His only Son so that we ~ you and I ~ could have eternal life. He’s the One we’re to give thanks to ~ not just on Thanksgiving Day, or even just during the month of November. Every day should be a day of thanksgiving for those who believe, because we know we can never earn or deserve what He has given us. Every day should be the day when we count our blessings. Every day should also be the day we celebrate Christ’s birth and resurrection. We set aside a specific day in the year as a nation to give thanks, and a specific day to celebrate Christmas (which, by the way, breaks down to Christ Mas(s) which is the old way of saying Christ Celebration). But as believers in Christ Jesus as the Way, the Truth, the Bread of Life, the Living Water, the only way to salvation and eternal life with God, we have reason to give thanks and celebrate EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
During this season of reflection, take the time to list the reasons you have to be thankful. And if necessary, take the time to make a list of the things you need to take before the throne of God and lay at His feet. Practice repentance, which includes the turning away from sin and going in a new direction. And every time you’re tempted to relive or rehash whatever it is that you laid at His feet, remember this: God IS. Period. He IS. Bigger, better, more powerful, stronger, smarter…insert your own word here…and He wants you, and me, to learn to lean on Him.
That’s what I’m trying to do, every single day. I pray you are, too.
hypothetical situation (part 2)
If you missed “hypothetical situation (part 1), it may be helpful for you to read it here before going on to this post.
Please re-join me in imagining …
So, you’ve just been told you have leukemia. You’re feeling frightened by the diagnosis, but you’re also a bit relieved to at least know why you’ve been feeling terrible for a very long time.
You begin to do research. Lots and lots of research. Your degree in the medical field may not make you a doctor, but it did teach you how to research medical conditions ~ you’re pretty good at it. In fact, when the doctors told you your youngest child had Crohn’s disease, you researched it thoroughly and found a specific diet that actually helps the body heal itself. You’ve cooked, from scratch, everything your youngest child has eaten over the past 2 years, and the Crohn’s symptoms have completely disappeared. Basically, you rock at research.
You find some solid research that suggests there are ways to handle your disease without jumping right to chemotherapy. You discuss it with your doctor, and he agrees to let you give the alternative treatment a shot. There’s a specified time period in which you will follow alternative methods involving diet, exercise, stress reduction and stress control. According to all of the research you’re able to gather, stress reduction and stress control are VERY important aspects of this alternative treatment method.
You discuss with your husband ways in which you can reduce and control your stress level. One way will be to lessen your load at work. Your husband is a successful man who is self employed and has his own office with a small staff. You help out at his office, taking care of time-sensitive materials, but your main job is really to help your husband stay focused on what he needs to focus on. You’re his land line basically ~ hubby has a tendency to get bogged down, so you help him and his staff keep things moving along, meeting deadlines and handling peripheral situations. It’s easy enough for you to cut back on the amount of time and energy you spend at work. You will simply have to hire more office help as necessary, and train others to complete in a timely manner the jobs you would ordinarily handle.
Another decision you and your hubby make is to keep your illness pretty much under wraps. People are usually sympathetic and want help out when they hear someone is ill. You appreciate that sentiment, but since your disease involves an already compromised immune system, it’s probably better that you not have hordes of people around ~ you never know what kind of contagious illnesses others may have. You’ve lived in this same town for a loooooong time, and your husband’s occupation makes your family fairly well-known. Given these factors, you decide the fewer people who know you’re sick the better.
You’ll tell your kids, of course. And your parents. You should probably tell your siblings and their kids. But other than that, you’re not planning to spread the word.
Not even to your best friend.
And that leaves you with only one choice to make. You’ve got to stop talking to your best friend. Period. She knows you well, and she’ll instinctively pick up on the fact that you’re not telling her something. She already knows something is wrong, and she won’t let you just gloss things over and not talk about it. Even though she’s hundreds (closer to a thousand) miles away, you know she’ll know something’s up.
Besides, you think telling her would be too stressful. Your friend isn’t a drama queen by any means, but you know she won’t react well. She’ll probably want to come visit, which would add stress to your life, and right now the main goal is to reduce the amount of stress around you, not add to it. You love her dearly and you know she loves you as a sister, but you really think it would just be best to cut off all communications with her.
Your friend is a prayer warrior. At the very least you know she’ll be praying for you, even though she won’t know what’s going on.
Okay. Here we are at question time again: is cutting off all communication with your best friend the decision YOU would make?
I promise not to drag this out forever. Depending on what kind of comments and insights are offered, I think there will probably just be one more installment of “hypothetical situation.” Hang in there with me folks! Keep the comments coming ~ I really do appreciate them, more than I can say.





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