I haven't submitted a new post for awhile. I know that being busy is no excuse.....but it's true.  I must be insane to try to run two businesses at the same time, when most people my age are playing golf, traveling, going to lunch with friends, etc.
     How did I find myself in this situation ten years past retirement? 
     Well, the Lord must have seen my inherent lazy nature and decided to sabotage my plans and get on with His project in me. He's certainly not finished with me yet....but this wasn't what I might have imagined a decade ago in South Florida.
      As with many of us in our seventies all my plans for income have been vastly changed....mostly due to forces beyond my control (the 2008 debacle in the stock market and then the housing values crash topped it off).  One of the many times I begged the Lord, "WHY?", He seemed to assure me that He had me exactly where He wanted me.  Dependent on Him.....for the rest of my life....single...aging....no career options....scared spitless.  
     "Oh Lord, what am I going to do?"  was a frequent beginning to my day.  And He would just remind me of all the past times (thousands) when I had uttered those words, and somehow He had carried me through.  All I needed to do was to trust...trust Him and His promises.
      And here we are, not 2006, but 2016 goin' on 17!  How has your life changed in the last ten years? Doesn't it seem like our lives are racing down a train track 200 miles an hour, and we're still trying to get our luggage on and put away in the luggage racks?
     It could be that you feel like you're left at the station and everyone else got on the train and they keep racing by but not stopping to pick you up.  That waiting time is often just as hard as being on the fast track to the unknown.
      For Christians, for those who have made Jesus Christ their Savior and Lord, it IS easier. We are to build up our knowledge of Who our faithful Lord is by reading His words to us. And we learn that He really cares....no, passionately, loves us.  He has a plan for each of us.  With faith as our shield we brush off the doubts and fears and take a little time out each day to lean back in His arms and let Him speak sweet words into our ears. It is these times that we are able to keep going down the path before us.
     If this is not happening for you (hearing the sweet words of the Lord spoken to you), try asking God to make it happen.  He loves a seeking heart and always responds.  But, beware, it will not happen the way you expect.
      This whole subject and my own needs are what led me into the writing career and the books I have written out of my own experience. Who would have imagined that?  Not me, for sure.
       And then part two of God's plan for me AT THIS TIME IN MY LIFE also arose out of necessity....income.  But instead of a job that I hate, He gave me the opportunities to improve my art skills, the courage to believe the results were good, the strength to display them and teach others the joy of being creative. And I love doing it.
     So....two new careers in the "twilight" of my life!  And I am overjoyed!  I love what I do. I feel totally fulfilled!  And they're all centered around the love of Jesus for me...the One who has a plan for me!  He is truly fulfilling His promises of peace, joy, love, fulfillment, and the knowledge...the absolute knowledge, that He will never leave me because He is passionately in love with me.
       "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in HIm shall not die but have eternal life". (John 3:16) 
       "I have loved you with an everlasting love".  (Jeremiah 31:3)
      "I belong to Him, and His desire is for me".   (Song of Solomon 7:10)

COURAGE, MY DEARS, COURAGE!