ALL IN GOD'S TIME

This is Monday, a brand new week to explore new possibilities. Well, as you may remember from my last blog, I am looking for affordable senior housing in the St Louis County area. I have been in touch with the program SHOW ME HOME, which, when you find an affordable apartment, gives you furniture, helps you move in, and provides the first month's rent. It's basically HUD housing which is what I lived in before at Church Street Village in St. Peters, Missouri.

It's quite the process - and the qualifications, interviews, applications - well, all of it can be a bit daunting. Fortunately they are kind people who truly want to help. I began a new search this morning, not wanting to waste any time. A day or two ago I called a place where the wait list is 3 - 5 years! I don't think so!  Not if I can help it. During my search today I found a lovely apartment complex in St. Louis county, in an area where I used to live years ago. I await that application in the mail to begin the process, with a wait list of 6-24 months.  That is daunting, but I have to begin somewhere. And there is one thing I know for certain it will be in God's perfect timing. It is God and Jesus Christ in whom I place my trust.

As it says in Luke 12:23-31 "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds. And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you."

I can think of no better example of trust than that beautiful scripture. We are of such importance to our creator. It is said that he knows the numbers of hairs upon our head. He gave his only son to come into the world, suffer and die, paying for our sins and assuring us salvation. Somehow, I feel very close to Him. Many times in the months since I have lived here I have felt afraid and alone. I have no immediate family. I have wonderful cousins, my best friend who lives almost 30 miles away and my wonderful friends at church. But weeks go by without seeing these precious people. That is where my love of Jesus comes in. I know I can talk to him any time of the day or night.

I have my favorite spot here in the building. It is up the hall from my room in a common area that's usually pretty quiet day and evening. This is where I pray, draw, write and watch movies on YouTube (the inspirational kind.) There is nothing quite so soothing to the soul as privacy. Here we are cared for, fed and even entertained. But PRIVACY, real privacy is a gift you cannot possibly fathom being without. Shared showers, shared bathrooms. There's no place like home where you can close the door to the outer world and dream your dreams.

One of those dreams is to travel again. In 2021 I went to Ireland. It was incredible from coast to coast. We toured by bus beginning and ending in Dublin. We were in Galway, where President Kennedy visited shortly before his assassination. There is a brass statue of him there. We traveled to Waterford and stayed in a beautiful family mansion turned B&B. Waterford is the home of the beautiful crystal and where they fly the American flag alongside their own. 

We visited the site of the Potato Famine that took place and caused the death of thousands before many fled to America, some settling in St. Louis. Many years ago there was an Irish section of the city, which no longer exists. For anyone familiar with Switzer's Black Licorice, the Irish settlement was not far from the factory that manufactured that Licorice.

We dined in a former Castle where we had the standard Irish fare, always with Guiness, of course. We enjoyed an old fashioned "minstrel" show with singing, dancing and storytelling. Another time we visited an old fashioned Irish pub, where a man sang all the favorites including DANNY BOY. I have to admit, I think I had enough Guiness that night to begin flirting with the musician. Ah well ... "when in Rome".

We went to Kilkenny, visited the Ring of Kerry, then to Waterford which is the home of the famous elegant Waterford Crystal and where we stayed in an beautifully refurbished former mansion turned B&B where the American flag flew alongside the Irish flag.

But my favorite site by far were The Cliffs of Moher which tower over the North Sea at 702 feet. The Gateway Arch at 630 feet tall, would "fit"under the Cliffs of Moher with room to spare. The entire surrounding area of cliffs and the North Sea is exquisite. 

We spent our last night back in Dublin before heading home. I'll admit that I did not want to leave. We had to be tested again for Covid before returning to the states. I came back in time to miss the Omicron virus.

My love of travel comes naturally. I grew up in a family that traveled every summer ... not in an expensive way. We used to stop at rest areas to eat sandwiches. It was so much fun. From the age of 5 years old til I was in my teens and then as a married woman I've been as far west as Banff Alberta and as far east as St. Andrews by the Sea in Nova Scotia. It's all beautiful, and I have many wonderful memories. That's why I have the "travel bug". I think I inherited it from my mother and grandmother. My mom went to Italy and Germany when she was the same age I was when I visited Ireland.

With a little bit of Irish Luck (I'm 5% Irish), I'll return to the land of shamrocks and leprechauns, Irish Whiskey and Guinness, which by the way, the natives think is far better than Budweiser.

 

26 April 2026

Life definitely took an unusual turn in October of this year. I am now living at Manchester Rehab and Healthcare in Ballwin, Missouri. I moved here because I had unexplained issues with my body that weren't being handled well until I came here and began to know the wonderful staff who work here. It was discovered by the doctor here that I am dealing with IBS. For anyone not familiar with "alphabet soup", IBS means Irritable Bowel Syndrome. No, it certainly doesn't sound pretty. It is not. But it is under control with a drug called Linzess. It's working pretty well.

But something pretty wonderful has shown up on my horizon. It is a program called "SHOW ME HOME". With the assistance and recommendation of our social worker here, I am now enrolled in the program. It means that I look for independent housing and, once found, they help with moving me in, getting my medications arranged with a new doctor. Now, the search is the tricky part. I've been able to pull together, with the help of our financial expert, the necessary documents to get into the program. But, so far, I've been greeted with the not-so-great news by one apartment complex I called. Their wait list is three to five years! Yep, you heard me right. I have checked out a few others in the St. Louis area, but nothing has shown up yet. I'm a faith-filled woman. God, Jesus Christ and the belief in Heaven are a huge part of my faith. I've drawn "pictures" of sayings from the Bible encircled with designs. They are hanging on the walls of my room, even the bathroom! You might say I can get a bit carried away. I've done dozens of these "drawings" since I have been here and given them to staff and residents as well.

And some very kind people working here have been very encouraging. One kind nurse who has become a friend over these past months believes I'll be moving in my new place within the next eight weeks. I appreciate her support and I hope that is indeed the case.

And since my faith needed a little boost right now, I watched on YouTube a movie I had seen at the theater in 2014 when it first came out: HEAVEN IS FOR REAL. It's the true story of a little boy who, while undergoing surgery for a burst appendix, left his body and went to Heaven, where he saw beautiful Light beings - Angels that laughed. He met Jesus Christ, even sat on his lap. He saw his parents' grandparents. And one of the most amazing things is that Jesus introduced him to his little sister, who was about three years old, but who had died in her mother's womb. Todd Burpo was the pastor of Crossroads Wesleyan Church in Imperial, Nebraska. The surgery of little Colton took place in 2003. So he is a young teenager now with a very real little sister a few years younger.

Simultaneously in an Eastern country a very talented young girl, Akiane Kramarik, was painting "Prince of Peace" - Jesus. "eight years old. Based on her recurring heavenly visions. The 2003 painting is renowned for its detailed, human and divine portrayal of Jesus. She did this despite being raised in a non-religious, atheist home...... Akiane began having spiritual visions at age three, and by age four she was creating art based on them." Her model was a stranger that she met and was inspired to use him as her model for Jesus. Google states that "the painting took 40 hours to complete. Google also shows the picture which was "famously lost or stolen for years before being recovered. It was later featured in HEAVEN IS FOR REAL." Now it hangs in Marble Falls, Texas in THE BELOVED GALLERY. She continued her art and poetry into adulthood (also from Goggle).

Todd and his wife went through great difficulties at his church. Even though they were devout Christians, the congregation and its Board could not bring themselves to believe that Colton's out of body experience was real. Even experts told him it was impossible, and his little boy had a fixation with Jesus and Angels. That sounds ironic, doesn't it? But how many of us when questioned about our faith would act any differently? Do we really believe what we have been taught to believe?

Fortunately, since that movie came out another wonderful movie came out: THE PASSION OF CHRIST - a Mel Gibson produced film starring Jim Caviezel who needed to learn Aramaic, Latin and Italian for the movie. It is superb and extremely powerful, and certainly made Jesus real for me. I've watched it many times. Mel Gibson is now working on THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST with a younger Finnish actor - Jaakko Ohtonen playing Jesus. This is due to come to theaters in about a year.

During the original production of 2014 with Jim Caviezel, an Italian actor named Pietro Sarrubi played Barrabas, the convict the crowds yelled should be released. Sarrubi was an athiest who turned Christian after the movie was made. During one scene when Barrabbas glances over at Jesus with a Crown of Thorns on his head while he is standing next to Pontius Pilate, Sarrubi takes another look as was written in the script, but then an unscripted second look and he saw the "real Jesus", not Caviezel. That gave me chills the first time I watched it.

We are also blessed by another production titled THE CHOSEN with Jonathan Rhoumey doing a wonderful depiction of Jesus Christ and great actors as all his apostles. Dallas Jenkins is the producer of this series. The final season will be shown in theaters next year. The cast and crew have developed a deeply spiritual and emotional bond with one another which is touching to see.

As you have probably guessed by now, I'm going through a renewal of my own Spirit which has caused me to think more deeply, and create according to my spiritual beliefs. It's life-enhancing and deeply spiritual delving into these various avenues of inspiration. We find inspiration wherever we choose to find it.

NAMASTE