Porch #54 * Re-Creation

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Noun 1.  re-creation - 
the act of creating again

I'm in the process of re-creating my life.  Or better said, I'm inviting God to re-create my life.  Each morning, each hour, each minute.

Those awful months of helplessly watching Mom slowly fade, all those years of seeing her suffer and that endless 'anticipatory grief' draining me dry to the bone.  The raw, stark, emptying reality of death followed by the sudden realization, mixed with profound relief, that she had finally gone Home to be with her Lord and Savior.  

Thank You Jesus.

The emptying, awkward easing into doing life without her, reaching for the phone to call or send a snapshot of the kids ... and then like bolts from the blue, realizing that she's not alive anymore.  And the injured foot that kept me from the kind of steady, purposeful walking that might have made all the searing transitions a bit easier {I'd like to think}.

Yet I know that the Creator is making all things new in my tired soul, overwhelmed brain, and mending body.

Being at Camp has been the best therapy ever.  Surrounded by all kinds of family {um ... second cousins three times removed?} and new friends.  Breathing early morning crisp mountain air.  Soaking in straight-talking Bible teaching and eye-opening Christian ethics seminars.  Heaven-sent worship.  Dipping brand new brushes into a watercolor paintbox, doing a puzzle, napping, curling up with a pageturner.  Quiet talks over ice cream.  Family members {no, not me} paddle boarding, playing volleyball and pickleball and shuffleboard, running, rock climbing, hiking.  Sifting through old family snapshots with my cousin.  Loud and raucous gatherings during mealtimes, at the beach, circling a blazing campfire, crowded around a board game.  

And now, the clan has dispersed - Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, Missouri, Florida, Alaska.  And just two from the party of thirty remain for yet another seven days.

'It's gonna be such a different week,' he quietly muses, closing up his tablet before heading out for a solitary walk.

Agreed.











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THE E-BOOK DEALS
Dozens of fresh August gems for you to scroll through today ... click here.  And I'm super excited about highlighting some of my all-time favorites at outrageous prices.  Click the title links to grab a free sample.
Larry Crabb - $1.99
my review


Ann Voskamp - $3.99

Tish Harrison Warren - $4.39

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THE PRAYING COMMUNITY
Remember Please Help Me Find Some Books For My Friend?  You jumped in with an outpouring of titles for my dear lifelong friend Heather who was battling cancer.  So much sincere empathy, prayer, and lovingkindness tumbled from your tender hearts, along with a hefty number of your favorite inspirational titles.

Heather's cancer has returned after a year and a half of good health.  We don't need book titles this time around, but with her permission, I'm asking you faithful prayer warriors to intercede.  She's been part of this online community for some time and I know she'll be reading your notes to her via the comment section.  Email subscribers can hit REPLY to send encouragement.  

'On Monday, I will begin a new treatment regiment ... There are a lot of unknowns; particularly in how well the cancer will respond to the treatment and how my body will react to the potential toxic side effects of the two new medicines ... We know we can't do this in our own strength, but we also know that God is FOR us, that God already knows the outcome and is with us.  What we are praying for most of all is that God would give us a deep sense of peace - God's peace. The kind that goes beyond feelings of the moment and potential outcomes and is that peace beyond human understanding.  We sense a measure of that now, but know we will need it in increasing measure in the days ahead.'

Bless ~
Linda

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