And now, what will Jesus Christ do?

WOW!!!  I cannot believe how long it has been since I have done ANY writing!!  And I do apologize for the rather long hiatus.  There have been times in my life when I have found myself in a place where I could only withdraw and work through the issues that were chasing around in my head.  This was one of those times, and I seem to have been hibernating for about 2 years.  I have been on Facebook, so I haven't totally been MIA.

So much has happened in my life during this time.  I believe I said I was looking forward to what God had planned for me as things were changing rather dramatically back then.  But I guess I did NOT realize that I would be hiding out for so long.  LOL!!!  I think probably a lot of people would consider the time I have been alone a bad thing.  And I guess I would not really recommend it to anyone; it was never my plan to go there.  BUT I do believe that God has done some work in my heart and mind over this past couple of years.  Things that perhaps could not be accomplished until I had pulled back and allowed some things to percolate in my head.  And maybe the process just takes a little longer in my case than for most.

I won't go into all that has processed, but I will say that I feel better than I have in some time.  I just feel more comfortable.

There have been some wonderful events during this time.  My son, married a beautiful and sweet and gentle young woman in September 2012.  Everything happened so very quickly from the time he told me he was going to ask her to marry him to the actual wedding, I'm talking just a few months, yet he was able to arrange things so wonderfully that the wedding was absolutely lovely and went off without a hitch!!!  The bride was amazingly beautiful, the groom has never been happier in his life, and his mom was SO VERY thankful to God for the overwhelming blessing of seeing him SO HAPPY!!!

My brother, whom I hadn't seen in YEARS (I moved to Jordan, he moved to CA, I moved back to IL, I moved to AZ - WHEW!!!  I think it was something like 26 years since we had seen one another), attended the wedding with my mom.  It was so nice to catch up with him and to see my mom. (It was a little sad seeing how much her mind is slipping - we had to keep reminding her who I am.  But she is physically healthy and lives with my brother now, so she is happy.)

Although my sister was not able to come for the wedding, she did arrange a trip to visit me a little later.  It is AMAZING how you can go so many years without seeing someone and pick right up where you left off.  She is such a wonderful sister, and it was so soothing to my soul to spend time with her.  (Just one of the many pieces to the puzzle of my alone time.)

Then, last April, I had the chance to visit her in CA for a few days.  Oh, and may I just say, my sister gifted me with a FIRST CLASS ROUND-TRIP TICKET for the visit!!!!  HOW COOL IS THAT!!!  It was so great catching up with her family and enjoying more time with her.  My sister is just one of those people that is so loving and thoughtful that being with her ministered to my heart in so many ways!!

In August 2013, my son and his bride had their first child, a BEAUTIFUL baby girl, who was born in Baltimore.  My son got me a ticket to fly to Baltimore for a few days right after their baby was born, so I got to spend some time with them there.  She is such a sweet, happy, and intelligent baby.  You can see her figuring things out as she looks around and watches things so intently.  And then her mom is AMAZING!!!  ABSOLUTELY puts my parenting skills to shame!  And DAD!!! Oh, my goodness, he is such a sweet daddy!!  I love to see him helping with taking care of the baby, changing diapers and such!  And again, to see how happy he is!

My son and his wife returned to Dubai in October, and then surprised me with an invitation to visit them!  WOW!!!  What a surprise that was!  The flight is long, about 16 hours just from Los Angeles to Dubai, but I was very comfortable and enjoyed a wonderful trip that went very smoothly.

Dubai is an amazing city rising up between the desert and the sea and spreading out in all directions with pockets of sky scrapers here and there.  Construction is going on all around you and bigger and more elaborate buildings seem to pop up out of nowhere.  And, I don't know how anyone navigates because the road construction is on-going and the route to and from anywhere is ever-changing.

The Burj Khalifa (tallest building in the world) is just down the block from the apartment, which faces the Burj, giving you an amazing view!  I had such a wonderful time visiting them and spending time with my newest grandbaby.  It is especially nice to see how happy they all are, so very much in love and taking such wonderful care of one another.  And to see how over the moon these new parents both are with their sweet baby.  I don't think a mom could be any happier than I am!!!

Anyway, I am hoping that I am finally back.  Although I am not sure that God intends me to return to what little writing I once did, I thought I would at least give you an update.  I am praying for God to take it from here.  I want to follow Him rather than wandering along and asking Him to bless the path I choose.  But that is such a difficult thing to do, my spirit is willing but my flesh is often so weak.  Just making a REGULAR and CONSISTENT 'quiet time' alone with God can be a challenge for me -- I've never been a morning person, yet that is the time when I feel led to meet with Him.  And so, I am asking God to revive, restore and transform my life because I know how very easy it is to just go on with what is comfortable and easy.  That isn't what I want, but it is so much easier (or seems to be).

When I am in my 'right mind,' when my heart is attuned to the Spirit, I realize how much more amazing life can be if Christ is living through me!  So, the thought for today is:

"It will be very interesting to see what Jesus Christ will do with the remainder of this little life."

Love,
Ev