This ain't perfect, but since I'm turning 70 right now, and my body and brain ain't working as well, I just thought I'd toss some pieces around and about. Sorry if this is too crazy!
Love many, many, many of you.
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On July 9th I am 70 years old. Want to share the wonderfulness of how the Lord kept me alive in many ways. When people say that, in our present-day healthiness, I should plan to be on the earth until I'm 80 or 90 at least. Well, I would have died through beatings, murders, suicide, or ruined heart issues. The Lord has healed and protected me many times.
I was born in Portland, Oregon. I discovered when I was 17 that my parents were not married when I was born. Mom, very angry at Dad, when I was about a month from graduation in Klickitat, WA, in 1963, she told me that they had married when I was 3 years old. After her death, a few years ago, one of my sisters and one of my nieces had gone through more of Mom's pieces and discovered it wasn't when I was 3 that they married. I was about 1-1/2 years old. Too much of their situation to tell to any of you. Even though it is quite normal and acceptable in our present-day world, it sure wasn't when I was a kid! I'm extremely relieved that Dad and Mom came to the Lord... my Dad when he was 59 and died when he was 65 in 1984, and my Mom when she was 80 and died at 90-1/2 in 2011. I look forward to seeing them in heaven!!
Because of the fighting that was going on ... Mom and Dad fought each other and others fought them through neighborhood ... I was filled with danger. I was molested, beaten, and became a fighter when I was 5 years old. Dad taught me how to fight just as I was turning from 4 to 5
right then. When near July 4th, shortly before my 5th birthday, I'd been hurt by a 7 year old boy. As I say, Dad taught me how to fight, and, when the boy walked by me I hit him, and he ran away from fear. So, I became a strong fighter and did it anytime necessary for me or my family.
When I was in school, from grade school to high school, even though I heard the Words of the Lord when principles and teachers could talk about the Bible, I truly knew it was right, but I continued to keep my sinful life strongly. AND I felt guilty, because I knew what I was doing was against the truthfulness of the Lord.
I was working in Seattle when I was 18 and 19, and filled with extreme sinfulness, and was heading to suicide. Amazingly I was moved to Tacoma when I was just turning 20, and was with my Dad, Mom, and sisters. A few months later, in an apartment, I was drawn to a Baptist church through a new friend, and I went and knew the truthful portions, and, 3 weeks later, I decided to truly accept the Lord on April 15, 1966. Life began to change for me.
The Lord has used me to do some very unusual things for approximately 46 years. In the process, when dealing with very serious and dangerous situations through family connections or towns, He has healed my heart. My heart was healed when I was 27 & 28, 38 & 39, 42. I'm extremely grateful! At those times it had nothing to do with the doctors, but only in houses or churches when suddenly He encouraged me and touched me.
When I was going to Soriti, Uganda, in November, 2003, and staying until January, 2004, my husband and I, as we knew the Lord had called me to go there, we both thought and were concerned that I could easily be dead over there. I was gone for 2-1/2 months before Dave could come,
because of his job situation. One of the miracles was that I, during the last week in Soroti, had been invited to by 5 pastors to go to a very wide group of people outside of town which was in a serious place where the people were forced to live when having run away from their places to avoid the Lord's Resistance Army. When asked by those pastors to go there, and I planned to do it, another pastor took me to the side and suggested that I not go, because he expected to have to call Dave and tell him that I was dead and ask how to send my body to him in Omaha or have him come to Soroti. Well, since Pastor Joseph said that so strongly, I did not go. Found out a day later that, even though no one had died, the situations had been very serious, and, if someone from out of their nation had arrived, it [me] could have been much worse. When Dave came to Uganda 2 weeks later, at the end of January, I had malaria and PTS. Malaria was handled OK through doctors; no big deal. The PTS lasted for approximately 4 months. When flying back home together a couple weeks after he arrived, it took me quite a while to become thoroughly healthy. I was 58 back then. Oh, and re: a lot of the situation in Soroti, even though the book is fictional/non-fictional [mostly NON-fictional re: Soroti!] it has now been published.
Sorry to yammer so long, but: being in Uganda several times; Costa Rica twice; Morocco for a prayer time with piles of people from our nation Europe and northern Africa; First Responders in Omaha where many of us go to murder sites to pray for family and friends connected to the death; and helping the Bhutanese from Nepal here in Omaha where I was placed into them surprisingly about 5 years ago and have about 200 Bhutanese "family and friends". In spite of everything, I'm very grateful. The Lord has sent me around and about and taken care of me. [Much of this was with Dave, too, especially Uganda and the Bhutanese. He's a wonderful pianist, organist, a home "fixer", computer-fixer. He's a blessing to others and he's been a wonderful blessing to me!]
Now, even with my stumbling and my dementia increasing very strongly, the Lord tells me to drive around our city and other local towns and pray for the wonderful situations or demonic situations, and worship very strongly thankfully to the Lord. In our large world or any very small homes, He is all that counts. And He is all I can count on.
I'm very grateful for how the Lord protected me, healed me, used me, and has let me worship and glorify Him, moment-by-moment.
Thank you for putting up with me, my dear family and friends.
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Dave and I just arrived home 4 days ago from Washington and Oregon area after being gone from Omaha for 2 weeks. This is the two of us with Mt. Adams in behind us, and the fire was extreme that day. However, in spite of that situation, we were filled with smiling and rejoicing, because friends we happened to be staying with had driven us around the Klickitat area.
Oh, and I was in Klickitat when 5-7 and 15-17.
1st grade there, then mostly in Tacoma from 2nd to 9th grade. It was a blessing to be in Klickitat for high school
and that I graduated there.
A main miracle for me to be there is because
I have wonderful friends that I met there
when very young, teenaged, and now very old!
And, since I was a young kid in Tacoma, WA, this has been my favorite mountain, Mount Rainier, to see.
I rejoiced this time again.
