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Toy Truck

29 Nov

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

 

I admit it – I love to look at the e-mails we are sent, and I enjoy most of the facebook stuff I look at. I also have to admit that on FB, I usually just look for the “pictures” and videos rather than all the verbiage presented there.

I’ve been really amused by some of the pictures on FB. This one really caught my eye and had a good laugh over it. When I showed it to Fred, he laughed, as well.

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What do you think? Cute, huh?

But think how creative that truck driver was to put this together. It didn’t really take a lot of thought to do this, but gave a great deal of enjoyment to those who saw it.

The same could be said of the things we say and do in our lives, to those around us. Do we say and do things that bring joy to those we live with? Or to our neighbors? Or to our fellow church-goers? Or have we become so jaded that we don’t have any joy left in our lives?

Recently I had total knee replacement – not a fun thing, that’s for sure. It was done to help relieve the pain in my knee, since the “cushion” in my knee was gone, and the two bones in my knee were grating upon each other. Ouch!! But through the surgery and the following physical therapy, I’ve tried to keep an upbeat spirit. One of the best exercises was what they call “foot pumps.” I joked that I would probably wake up from the anesthesia saying “foot pumps….foot pumps.”

I’ve joked with the therapists and their assistants. When the therapist commented that I wasn’t “grunting and groaning” when he was severely pushing on my leg, I told him that my mind was saying “I can do all things through Christ who keeps pouring power into me….. I can do all things through Christ who keeps pouring power into me….. I can do all things through Christ who keeps pouring power into me…..(and by the way – that’s what the Greek actually says!)” And he laughed. I’ve gone back to see the nurse on the floor of the hospital where I was for four days. She was such an inspiration – she even pulsed pom-poms as encouragement for us to get up and walk! She always had a smile on her face. And she seems pleased when Fred and I go back just to see her. We get hugs.

My time in the physical therapy clinic is past now….anything else I “recover” will be by my own working out. Recently on FB, I saw a video clip of a little girl – she couldn’t have been more than 1½ years old, trying to walk to her encouraging Daddy. The thing that impressed me was that she was trying to learn to walk with a prosthetic leg! I saw that and said to myself…”Well, Judy, if she can do THAT, you can just suck it up and dig in and work to get this leg back into shape! No more belly-aching!!”

Everyone says that laughter – a good old-fashioned belly laugh – is some of the best medicine anyone can have in healing. And that’s why that toy truck struck my funny-bone. It gave me such a good laugh, that my spirits were lifted.

And here’s a directive from scripture:

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: REJOICE!

Philippians 4:4

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Discipline

22 Nov

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

As I’ve mentioned in previous musings, I’ve been going through stacks and stacks of papers and pictures that we have accumulated. I’ve found a number of cartoons that my Mother had cut out – probably the newspaper – and sent them to me. And I’ve used some of them in my Old Things R New postings.

Today, however, I would like to share something that we found in my Mother’s Bible following her death.

She was always a hard worker, whether it was at the job where she was paid (she was an accountant, and worked at Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque to supplement Daddy’s paycheck, to purchase things that we might not have been able to have otherwise), or when she purchased and opened the Merle Norman Cosmetic Studio, or when she was cleaning the house, cooking our meals, doing the laundry…. She was a hard worker.

I think the only time I ever saw her sit down and “rest” was after dinner and clean-up from that, to watch a little TV. One of her enjoyments – especially in her later years – was to sit down after breakfast, with a cup of her favorite coffee, and peruse the newspaper. She would read it from cover to cover.

But this little snippet of information is a real insight into her life. I think it was a testimony to the way she lived her life, and the way she saw life. It certainly makes one take notice about the wisdom of the words.

Discipline

What do you think?

Her favorite scripture was Psalm 118:24

This is the day the Lord has made;

We will rejoice and be glad in it.

 

 

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How Did He Know?

15 Nov

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

As I’ve mentioned in previous musings, I’ve been going through stacks and stacks of papers and pictures that we have accumulated. I’ve found a number of cartoons that my Mother had cut out – probably the newspaper – and sent them to me. I have enjoyed them all, and found some to be more poignant than others.

As I said, my Mother has been gone since 1993, so all of these things were sent well before that. But they still hold true for today. I hope this particular one holds true for our daughters.

We always used to enjoy anything Dennis the Menace, and this is no exception.

Dennis the Menace

 

Credit to Hank Ketcham:

 

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How Many Meals?

8 Nov

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

 

Throughout the years, my Mother had cut out and sent me articles or cartoons from the newspaper or a magazine, that she thought I would enjoy. I found them to be such fun, and I knew she was thinking about me when she did so. As I come upon them these days, it reminds me so much of her and how much I miss her. She’s been in heaven for 22 years now, and sometimes it’s hard for me to fathom all those years that have gone by.

Judy Wills mother

In any case, at one point in time, she sent this cartoon of Hi and Lois (credit Mort Walker and Dirk Browne). Hi and Lois has been one of my favorite cartoons for many years, and this one is hilarious! I don’t know that I’ve ever sat down and calculated just how many meals I’ve cooked in my life time, but this one made me tired, just thinking about it! Of course, I don’t cook as much these days as I did when we first married all those years ago, so I would have to take that into consideration, as well.

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Did you take the time to figure it out?   16,701 meals for Lois. Whew! No wonder she was tired and didn’t have dinner ready!

This reminds me of the e-mail message/facebook entry that came through some time ago. Seems someone wrote a letter to the “Letters to the Editor” of a local newspaper and stated that he didn’t see any reason to go to church. He had been a church attender for so many years, but couldn’t remember a single sermon preached, so why bother to go?

Well, this set off a fire storm of letters – which the editor encouraged!. But it all ended when another man finally wrote in and stated that he had been married for a great number of years to his wife. She had probably cooked 30,000 meals for him, and he could only remember just a few of them. But (and here’s the kicker), he knew that if she hadn’t cooked those meals, and if he hadn’t eaten them, he wouldn’t be alive today. While he couldn’t remember them, they had nourished him and kept him going.

The same with going to church to hear the sermons. They nourish our souls and keep us alive in this world, and give us strength for each day and each situation we find ourselves in.

Words to live by. We actually NEED the time spent with a body of believers, listening to the pastor bring God’s Word to us, to encourage us, lift us up, and strengthen us for our daily lives. The gathering of believers brings us the strength we need – the fellowship with other believers gives us hope and encouragement.

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

Psalm 119:105

 

 

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Practicing the Piano

25 Oct

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

I’ve mentioned in previous musings about how I started taking piano lessons the day I started first grade – and they continued until I graduated from high school. I was not a very accomplished pianist at that time. Perhaps still not, but more than I was at that time.

1952-Our new piano

1952-Our new piano

I remember my brother, Bill, saying how much he hated practicing the violin – so much so that our parents gave up and let him quit. Well, I pretty much had the same feeling about the piano. Yeah, I wanted to play that instrument, but just didn’t want to devote the time to practice! But they wouldn’t let me quit.

In going through some old papers recently, I came upon this poem.

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My mother, at some point in time, found it and cut it out and sent it to me. It depicted how I would “practice” so much of the time. I remember one particular time that I just sat there on the piano bench, not even touching a note. Mother was outside, hanging up the clothes on the clothesline, so I didn’t think she would hear me. When my “time” was up, I just skipped outside, ready to get to something else. Mother looked at me and said, “Did you have a nice nap? Now get in there and practice!!” Trudging back to the piano, my thought was, “how did she know???”

But, as with all things, practice…practice…practice is what it takes to get a command of any instrument. I learned that the hard way, whether the piano or the organ (still not my favorite instrument to play). As I said before, I have the talent, but I don’t have the gift of the instrument. I’ve never been able to just sit down and play something for my own enjoyment. I wish I did or could – it would have made my practice time so much more enjoyable.

I haven’t used my talent on the piano for several years now. I still have my books and I do sit down occasionally to keep my hand in, but not very often. I still love to play the old hymns – and some of the arrangements of some new songs. But I still must have that piece of music in front of me in order to play it. None of it comes naturally.

But if I am ever needed, I can, and do, pick it up and play. God has given me the ability to be able to play for Him and His Kingdom. I play for His Glory, and that fills me up like nothing else.

Judy at the new piano-1952
Judy at the piano-1956
Judy at the old upright 1951
Judy and niece Renie Lites-1963

I am blest.

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Showers of Love~Part 3

18 Oct

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

I’ve told you about the SHOWERS OF LOVE that my husband gives me – especially following my total knee replacement surgery and my cancer episode.

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I’ve told you about our oldest daughter’s SHOWERS OF LOVE in her coming to help out following my knee surgery.

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I see love in my life every single day – and I can’t even begin to say how grateful I am that God has blessed me so much with family and friends who aren’t afraid to show their love. It showed up with those who came to visit, those who called, and those who brought food for us. I just hope and pray that I return that love to those around me who might need it.

As I was in physical therapy this week, the young man who is my therapist told me that he’d had an interesting weekend – he got engaged! Congrats all around!! As he was working on my knee, I informed him that my husband and I have been married for 54 years. His question was, “what kind of advice do you have for someone just starting out?”

I only had to think for just a moment before giving my response: “Well, I don’t know where you are spiritually (he began nodding his head at this), but….put Christ in the middle.”

I can’t think of a better way to show love to either your marriage partner, or to those around you. Just put Christ in the middle of any relationship, and it all works the way it’s supposed to work. God certainly knew that when he created us.

Many, many years ago, I saw a cartoon in a magazine that touched me – and amused me. I cut it out, and here it is. Those “three little words” have a way of lifting us up, and letting us know that we are, indeed, loved. Of course, a hug would have gone a long way, as well, but to say those words out loud, to the one you love, makes all the difference in our attitude.

See what you think:

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May God bless you richly in all your loving relationships

 Because your love is better than life [O Lord], my lips will glorify you.

Psalm 63:3

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The Price of Exercise

11 Oct

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

In previous musings, I have mentioned that I have been an “exerciser” for most of my life – well, at least most of my adult life. I guess I really became serious about it while we were living in Panama City, Florida in the early 1970’s. We were actually living on Tyndall Air Force Base (AFB).

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I don’t really know what motivated me to start jogging, but that’s what I did. The ground there is pretty flat, so there weren’t any “hills” or even much of any kind of incline to thwart my progress.

And so it was, that I was jogging for about three months before I shamed Fred into getting into the program with me (he says we were actually RUNNING – not jogging!). We would get up quite early and go out together. When we came home, Fred would shower and get ready for his work day while I got the girls up and breakfast on the table. After everyone was gone, then I would go out for another run. I timed myself once, and found that I was running four miles in 28 minutes!! Not bad for an old lady of 40!

And speaking of an “old lady of 40,” perhaps the motivation was that I decided that I did NOT want to be a fat old lady, and was half-way to both! At least, that’s what I told Fred! And so, the exercise program began.

Some form of that exercise continued for many years. We were in Panama City for five years, then in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas for one year (Fred was in school – not the prison!!). And in case you don’t know – it SNOWS a LOT in Kansas! But we bundled up, including ski masks and did our daily run. Then on to Germany from there.

It wasn’t long before I discovered aerobic dancing while in Germany, and realized that I couldn’t do both the jogging and the aerobic dancing, and since I was teaching the aerobic dancing (and getting paid for it), I stopped the jogging. I continued teaching, even for about seven years after we rotated back state-side.

While I enjoyed the results of all that exercise, I can’t honestly say that I enjoyed the exercise itself. The aerobic dancing was by far more fun that jogging, but it was still exercise, and I was still dripping sweat like crazy!!

In any case, I found this cartoon once, and thought it described my attitude toward exercise exactly. I hope you enjoy it, too! Credit to Johnny Hart:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Showers of Love~Part 2

27 Sep

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

As I mentioned last time, God has blessed me richly with a wonderful husband who has been literally catering to my every whim and need since I’ve had total knee replacement surgery.

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But I am blest with others, as well. We’ve had wonderful friends who have brought meals to us, along with visits to encourage us both. We’ve had phone calls and cards wishing us both well. Our church family is the only support group we need. They supported us when I had cancer back in 2000, and they are just as supportive now.

But there is one other I want to mention. As soon as we called our oldest daughter, Karen, with the news when the surgery was to be, she said she wanted to come and help out. Fred said she didn’t need to, but her reply was “what if I WANT to come?” And we told her to “come on down!” And she did.

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There wasn’t any need for her to be here the four days I was in the hospital, so she arrived the day following my discharge from the hospital, and she stayed five days. It was so good to see her and have her here. She did the cooking (remember, Fred isn’t much of a cook!), and helped me in and out of my chair. She unhooked me from the ice machine that ran across my knee 22 hours a day, and then hooked me back up. She encouraged me to do the exercises to jump-start my healing process.

And we had some great times of just sitting and visiting. We always seem to have something to talk about, and this time was no exception. I did mention to her that there were times that I wanted to just pick up and run to her and her sister, when they were having health issues – just because….. Perhaps just because I’m Mom. Karen had an unknown ulcer issue a few years back that scared us silly. My immediate response was to fly up there to take care of her. Her sister had emergency appendectomy surgery the week before our grandson’s wedding – and I wanted to jump on the plane and be with her. None of which could I do. So I fully understood Karen’s desire to just come be with Mom. Made this old heart glad, too

Karen and her husband, Brian, have been our traveling partners on many adventures, and they are great fun to travel with. Brian is a planner, and he works it out to see as much as possible on each trip. We are always delighted when they ask us to travel with them.

 

 

God has given me the blessings of family and friends that touch my heart in so many ways.

I am blest, indeed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Showers of Love

20 Sep

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

I’ve been on a sabbatical for a few weeks now, and the reason is that I had total knee replacement surgery, along with the recovery time involved with that (an on-going thing).

I am about to sing the praises of my husband, but I want you to understand that God Himself is the foundation for ALL that goes on in our lives. With that firmly in mind…..

I’ve mentioned in previous postings that I had breast cancer in 2000 (please see my first post with oldthingsrnew….Safe, September 16, 2012). What I did not mention is that my husband, Fred, was my anchor during that time. He has been the love of my life now for 54+ years, and God has blest me with his presence.

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There are so many ways of showing love to someone, but Fred absolutely showed his love for me during my cancer time. He was with me throughout all the visits to the surgeon, and through the surgeries. He was the one who cleaned my drain tubes each day. He took care of the household duties during that time. I’m sorry to admit that he really isn’t much of a cook, but we were blest with many friends bringing food, so all he had to do was heat it up.

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While all that took some time, the recovery time for a knee replacement is much, MUCH longer and more painful. Fred is my “coach” in all this. He attended the pre-op class and learned what he would have to do to help me through it all. And he has done so, marvelously. When I don’t want to do the exercises to get my knee back to working order – he’s the one who pushes me to do so. He counts out the reps I have to do for each exercise. He actually does some cooking – he’s learning to make a mean Canadian bacon and scrambled egg breakfast! (As a footnote – I always said he would never starve, because he knows how to make peanut and jelly sandwiches!) He hooked me up the electric ice machine throughout the day and night. He helps me into and out of the shower stall. He wrapped my knee with Saran Wrap and taped it down so I could shower – then removed it when I was done. He dries my feet when I get out of the shower because I have to hold onto something for stability.

I am up to walking with a cane these days rather than the walker, and he is right beside me – on the other side and holding my hand – giving me the stability I need.

There are so many more things I could say that he has done – and is continuing to do – that will enable me to get stronger and back to “normal” with this new knee I have.

All that to say, that my love, my Fred, has absolutely SHOWERED me with his LOVE!! What a perfect example of love he shows me each and every day.

I thank my God every day for bringing Fred into my life. His love is so very pure and wonderful.

I am blest.

Psalm 21:6

Surely you have granted him unending blessings

and made him glad with the joy of your presence.

Fred and Judy at EPCOT with Fred's sister, Sally

Fred and Judy at EPCOT with Fred’s sister, Sally

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The Tablecloth

13 Sep

I am enjoying selecting posts to share while Judy is on break. I love tablecloths and I especially like crocheted ones~Onisha

Sunday Memories

 Judy Wills

JUDY

I love to crochet.  I mean I REALLY LOVE to crochet!

I remember my grandmother crocheting, and my mother, and I loved the “granny square” afghan they made with those multi-colored squares surrounded by black.  But I actually taught myself to crochet.  I took lessons to learn to knit, but nothing fit!  Even if I made a sample gauge, the finished product never fit!  But give me a crochet hook and I was good to go!

I made several “twin” outfits for our daughters that they loved to wear.  I made baby “capes” with hoods for new babies.  I taught international women to crochet, as part of their English Language learning process at our church.  In later years, my favorite thing to crochet was an afghan – shell stitch.  I could do that and watch TV both at the same time.  Didn’t realize they would now call it “multi-tasking.”

My husband is one of four children.  Each married and had two children of their own (one broke mold and had a third child).  When all our children were young, we drew names (families) for giving Christmas presents to each other’s families.  The year we moved from Texas to Florida, it was our turn to give to my husband’s brother and his family.  His wife and I had become good friends and shared many passions.  One was crocheting!  She was a whiz at crochet.  She could whip out a sweater in no time!  But she used large hooks and thick yarn.  I racked my brain for something to give her.  I knew that anything I made (sewed/crocheted), she could do as well or better.  And then I had an idea!  She would never take the time to crochet a tablecloth for herself, using the thin cotton thread needed for that project.  She had a lovely antique pedestal table with a round top.  Perfect!

So I began my project, knowing it would take a while to complete.  I had a pattern for a pin wheel motif that was just right.

I worked and worked on it, taking it with me everywhere.  On our move that summer, we stopped by their house in Indiana for a few days.  After a while, I ran out of things to work on, and drug out the thread and hook.  When she asked me what I was working on, I told her it was her Christmas present.  She was absolutely overjoyed!

From that point on, it became a labor of love for me…..knowing she would enjoy that adornment for her table…..knowing I made it just for her…..and hopefully enjoying the workmanship that went into it.

I don’t know whether or not she still has that tablecloth, but I made one for myself and enjoy using it.  It looks quite different from a pin wheel when put together, but I like the looks of it, even now.

What do you think?

Romans 8:28

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