The Challenge

Life waits for no-one. Cherish it!

This has been a trying few weeks since the last post. Life is full of surprises. Not everything is pleasant or controllable. Several weeks ago my sister-in-law lost her son to a massive heart attack. His 16 year old daughter found him a day or so after he passed. They were very close. She took it very hard. Jill and I were not informed of his passing for several days after. It was a family friend that told us what happened. We both liked Mike. He was friendly and never failed to say "hi" or to stop and talk to us.

About a week and a half ago a long time friend passed away from lung cancer. She was a heavy smoker and had been going through heavy Chemo and radiation treatments. She lived with a friend so they could share the costs of living expenses. She was a gentle and caring soul who worked at a county nursing home until it was sold to a private provider. At that point she retired. 

A week ago my circulator for the upstairs zone on my heater began to fail. I decided to take things into my own hands and repair it rather than put one of the new throw away circulators in. This requires the complete heating system to be drained. I waited until the night time temps were suitable and drained the system. To prevent having to drain the system every time, I put shut-off valves before and after each circulator. I repaired the circulator, reinstalled it, filled up and tested the system. Works fine now.

I have been working to set up my new computer to to handle the peripherals my old computer had attached to it. Needless to say there are more wires to clutter up things but it is working faster than the old setup. 

Yesterday I had to purchase, replace and set up a new printer for Jill since her old one died. Fun?!?!?!?!?!

What does all of this have to do with the title of this post? No matter how many things happen in the course of living your life the challenge is to accept all of it. What seems insignificant is in fact not something that you can cancel out and ignore. From the smallest to the largest, from the most devastating to the joyous, all things are important. We pass through life but once. All things matter in our lives. If you ignore something trivial does that mean it never happened? Just because you were not in the woods to hear the noise a falling tree makes does that mean it didn't happen? If we do not hear the babbling sound a brook makes does that mean the water stopped flowing. All things are important and affect who we are and who we become, noticed or not. Our Lord is aware of everything. Are we not called to be like Him in every way? Life is what molds all of us. Christ, God and the Holy Spirit guide us and teach us as we continue our journey. 


Introduction The Inheritance of Christians
Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into a heritage that can never be spoilt or soiled and never fade away. It is reserved in heaven for you who are being kept safe by God’s power through faith until the salvation which has been prepared is revealed at the final point of time. 


The New Jerusalem Bible. (1985). (1 Pe 1:3–5). New York: Doubleday.

I am going to share a portion of a 8.5 X 11 image I started some weeks ago and have been interrupted in its completion more times than I care to count. I did a card that was downsized from this stencil some weeks ago. This is the full stencil. I will show the completed image when it is done. For now here is a portion of the image that is complete. 

     

  The photo is not the best but it gives an idea of the detail that has been done to this point. The flowers are not yet finished and a lot of detail in the hair must be added as well as finishing the hair. Hope you like what is done so far. Don't know when it will be finished. It is a work in progress.

That is it for this time around. I hope all of you are in good health and prospering. Remember to Love The Details.