Luckily, our home nursing assistant was an avid fisherman and thus, a new hobby was formed.

When the cancer had destroyed much of his shoulder making it impossible to hit a good golf drive, he looked around for another pastime. My husband, on the other hand, took up new interests. One day, you will wake up and time will be gone. Often when you are talking with the terminally ill or the elderly, the conversation turns to regrets about things they wish they had done but now, out of time, have forever missed. Learn as if you were to live forever.” ~Mahatma Gandhi Feed your soul by appreciating your place in the universe. Be humble enough to realize that miracles are all around you. Have the audacity to ask God for miracles. I am reminded again that you are never more like Jesus than when you pray for others. Then I returned home to learn that God had answered a huge prayer that I had lifted up for a loved one. There is no better place to raise up a prayer and hear God's voice than the quite of the wilderness. Enjoying, as I often say, being a mere speck in the universe. I spent hours in the wilderness enjoying the beauty of things untouched by man. More importantly, God speaks through all his creations and we must listen. We can make our plans but God determines our steps. And I believe, whole heartedly, that my days are better because I have lifted up a prayer. As Max Lucado says, 'just as the happy child cannot mis-hug, the sincere heart cannot mis-pray. I pray about everything no matter how trivial, I pray for the merger on the interstate, the safe hike, the survival of the neighborhood bears, etc. I am the person who believes steadfastly in prayer. Maybe I tend to be too 'intellectual' in my approach to religion to dwell on doctrine or perhaps I find it distracts from nourishing one's soul. I am, as everyone knows, certainly not a doctrinal Christian. No better or no worse than all of God's creatures. Only the humble soul can realize one's place in the universe. One of my least favorite aspects about Christianity is the fact that many use their religion as a club to beat those who have different beliefs or opinions. It took me a couple of days just to get to the forgiveness part.

The experience was both laughable and hurtful. This week I had a very unpleasant experience in which a neighbor accused me of not being a Christian in a community meeting because I disagreed about the path forward to repair a damaged storm water drain. She was a faithful but humble servant of God all of her life. My mom truly understood that one will never look into the eyes of a person or creature that God does not love. No matter how far you fell below her standards, she was above feeling superior to others. But what made her really a Christian was the fact that she never had an unkind word to say about anyone. She taught Sunday school classes, cooked for every church dinner and funeral, and watched over the church charity budget. For three bright kids already struggling with the boredom of living in a small town in the 60s and 70s, the never ending pilgrimage up the road to church seemed often more like a curse than a blessing. We went to the little church up the street every time the doors opened. My mom was a Christian woman by every definition of the term.

Carolina in mymind c