STEVE'S 44TH BIRTHDAY... AND HE WAS BORN AMAZINGLY!

        Sharing this info again!  I always love when my son has a birthday time.  So... here's the reason that amazingly the Lord protected me and kept him to come.  Blessings...

==================================================

     I have posted more than once about how he was born miraculously... not just from bodies, but from the strong encouragement for abortion by my doctors.  I refused to do anything to take the baby out earlier.  AND it was mostly because of my serious body issue.  They were worried about the baby that would die, b/c of me.  I'll put most of that in after this next bit of "miracle" news.

      He is 44 on January 17.  I can't forget any of the situations that were piled on me for the 8 months of my pregnancy to his birth.  It was filled with scariness from the Doctors in the Redwood City, CA., area.
       And, again, here's the story of how he arrived...
=======================================================                                MY "ABORTION" MIRACLE!

       Every year when January 22nd hits, and the pro-choice and pro-life groups hit the news, I always want to stand up and holler, "LISTEN TO ME!!!!"
      The key: My son was born on January 17th, 1973.  And it's a miracle he was born.  So here's the info:

      In the Spring, 1972, I became pregnant for the serious situation time. I had had at least two miscarriages in the previous two years, and, while driving home from church that Sunday afternoon, the pain began strongly again; I was only 6 weeks pregnant. It was the exact feeling and timing of the other miscarriages. I went to a Doctor, who was available at his work place immediately on that Sunday afternoon, and after checking me, he suggested that I not have this baby, that I let "Nature" bring this to an end. He gave me some pills to take "whenever I felt that pain."  Well, at home, I was in pain that day, but even when in pain, I didn't take any pills; I was not a medicine-oriented person. What I discovered many months later was that the pills would not have relieved the pain, but would have caused a medical abortion.
      Occasionally, during the next several months, other doctors tried to convince me to let them bring the birth to an end. I was told that this baby would be a mental and physical vegetable, that I would always have to care for "it" and would never be free OR that the baby could die very soon and I would suffer from that death; "Mother Nature" had tried to free it "now."
     Well, I refused. Can't say I wasn't frightened about what the results would be. In fact, I was terrified during the pregnancy, especially when I was forced to be in bed for about two months that summer and had this fear pouring through my heart and mind constantly. But, I knew it wasn't what God would want me to do, so I simply couldn't; sometimes I felt Him hold my hand and encourage me to stand in that rocky area. The baby's Dad, my former husband, basically just told me to do what I needed to do. Except for one "spiritual" Mom in that portion of Redwood City/San Mateo who gave me a Word when she could, I walked through this alone.
      [You must recall or know that in those days talking to a pastor about these physical issues was not reasonable, or going to a counselor wasn't easy (especially since I couldn't afford it), and ultrasound wasn't a medical part of our lives. Life has most certainly changed now. I also had no family I could talk to.]     The baby was due on January 12. On the 16th, I was rushed to Stanford University for the delivery about 9 at night. Labor had kicked in that evening. When I was in that place when the baby was being delivered, about 6:30 AM the 17th, the nurse asked if I wanted to look in the mirror so I could watch the baby come out. All of a sudden, I was obviously more terrified than anyone, including me, knew it. I screamed, "NO!!!"
     And then the baby came. And HE was not a vegetable. He looked exactly like his sister who had arrived October 9, 1969, in that same hospital, he was an ounce heavier than she had been, and 1/2 inch longer in length. That was all. Period.
     They did some stuff to me and pulled out a bunch of my "baby" stuff -- so I could never have a baby again -- and I was in the hospital for a few days.  Then me and my baby went home. Didn't know anything about the Roe v. Wade abortion approval, even though this picture was taken that very day, January 22nd.

 

     

  In fact, I didn't know anything about that for some time; life was extremely stressful and my recovery took several months. Survival was my only focus then.
      But to know that the Lord gave me a son at the same time that law came into being, and that He had helped me walk through those horrible times with very caring and concerned doctors, probably some of the most seriously compelled to do the best for me and the "fetus", still just fills my heart with appreciation for Him. 

 He was baptized and his step-dad and I were there for him.

                   Steve and his son Dyllon, 3 years ago on
                   Steve's 40th B-day Steve's sister, Renae.

MY BIRTHDAY!!!

      Oh, on Saturday, July 9th, I was officially 71 years old.  I

woke up a bit and walked around the house a bit.  But, normally, I struggle much.  A few hours later, nearly 2 in the afternoon, my husband came home from his job at our church and picked me up and took me to my daughter's home.  Was a blessing to see her and her husband and some of my grandkids, and my great-grandson.  Then, munching food pieces and hugging and kissing is all I could do for about 2 hours.   
       THEN my husband drove many of the areas outside of Omaha to the towns and the acres and the hills where for about a year, when going around that whole area,  I've been a

worshiper and a prayer and I praise and sing.  It took about 2 hours.  Then I was home and Saturday night I had a few wonderful phone calls. 
       NOW, tomorrow a special lady is coming from Washington and we've never spent time together for 42 years.  When I was in Redwood City, CA, when I was 23, we ended up in a church.  She, a few years ago moved up the Washington.  She'd been in that portion of California for MANY years, since she was a kid and in her early 60s to get to Washington.  Now she's flying out and being here in Omaha for a week and it's a HUGE blessing.  We'll be picking her up at the airport tomorrow.  My son and my grandson will be taking us to lunch in a couple days re: my birthday, BUT they won't know what a blessing this is until we're together.  When she was babysitting my kids when I was working, she was very special for me.  Until I was 28, and being a special friend with and for her and her kids,  I suddenly flew out here, which was a miracle.  My daughter was 4-1/2 years old and my son was 16 months old.  So, adding 42 years to their ages means they ain't young and they both have kids and strong jobs.  Can hardly wait to see her tomorrow and hope to spread her to my kids in a special way.  I'll show her lots of other things in the Omaha area re: what a blessing this was.    It will be a wonderful situation during this week.  Then she'll be flying back out to the west.
      Anyhow, I don't know when and how I can read your things, b/c I'll be doing much with my friend for a week.  BUT I'll try to look at all your writing portion.  She, I hope, can be reading something... maybe when I give her "The Annie Project"... I'll attempt to read your things during that time.
      As I've said to you in the past, and it's much of the present, my dementia has increased and my body issue is a challenge.  The Lord healed my heart very strongly when I was 28, 39, and 42.  And He protected and kept me when even as a kid and adult in a variety of places in our nation and other places when I could have been murdered easily.  Obviously, I'd have been in Heaven a long time ago!  Well, I worship and pray and glorify the Lord and rejoice and look at Heaven much of the time when I see clouds.  
      Bless you all.  AND you're a blessing for many people.  AND the picture of me and my husband was at the lunch time at my daughter's.  

MY DAUGHTER!!

    This is filled with a lot of information.  But most of it is pretty important re: Renae.  AND for about 20 years she has been an occupational therapist.  So, here's info pieces from my life when the beginning of her birth.   
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     Renae's 46th birthday was last Friday, the 9th.  When I married her dad in Tacoma, WA, December 24, 1968, she entered my body 2 months later.  We were in Tacoma until April, '69.  Then, surprisingly to me, was heading to California.  I had no idea re: it, but my husband had never told me where we were going, but had to leave Tacoma.  I found out later that he was taking me to the city area where he'd been at as a kid.  However,  in that area he was in jail when he was very young... 6 years old... and in and out from then through his youth and teenage times.  He stole a car and hit the road to Idaho when he was 18. He met a lady and was married for a time there. 
     Amazingly, while in a very serious hospital situation in Tacoma, it was assumed he would die.  Well, things changed and he had come to the Lord in '67 shortly after he had thought of the Lord strongly when he was alive.  When he was taking me down towards California about 4 months after our marriage, he wanted to drop in to see his dad in San Mateo. His mother had died several years earlier of cancer and his oldest sister had been dead in a car situation in New York City when he was in his teens.  Even though his dad had never wanted any time with David, miraculously the dad accepted us and seemed to like me.  So, we stayed with him for a couple months, then went to Redwood City at an apartment.  Renae was truly on the way.
     The blessing for me was connected to a church...very strongly Presbyterian church in many ways, and filled strongly with worshiping the Lord through it and met a significant spiritual pile of "family".  David and I ended up with spiritual parents.  A huge blessing!
      Renae was born, October 9, 1969, at the hospital in Palo Alto, CA, Stanford University.  In the next few days, I ended up with some special issues and was taken back and forth after being home and the nurses and doctors thought I might die from serious issues in my body since the birth.  And, amazingly, I lived.
     So, Renae lived in California as a kid until she was 4-1/2,  then Omaha as a kid and until about 12 and back here when 14 and as an adult.  Just for a couple years in Edmond,Oklahoma, she was in her 8th and 9th grades. We had moved down there, b/c her dad was a wonderful roofer and that was a great place to be.  Seriousness occurred.  Then, because of my divorce situation, I returned back up to Omaha where we had lots of friends and she went to the same school she'd been at most of the time in this portion of Omaha and then graduated. And she has lived here most of the time.  After graduation she went to Tacoma to do a couple of jobs and spending time with my mom and sisters.  Then she went to the area of New Jersey to be a babysitter.  She returned to Omaha when she was 21, because she wanted to get married soon, and it happened.
     Anyhow, just wanted to show a few pictures as she was a kid.  Yes, she's 46, has 5 kids-- 2 boys and 3 girls-- and, through one of her daughters she has a grandson coming in a couple weeks. [And I'll be a great-grandma.  WOW!]

First photo and she was just a few days old.

Renae's Dedication at the Presbyterian Hospital when she was 2 months old.

 

First Day at School, September, '74, Omaha

Graduation, May, '86.  Me, her Step-dad, and her brother/my son, Steve.
  [OH, and BTW, I ended up marrying in May, '85, and her step-dad's name is much the same as her dad's was.  
Dad is David; Step-Dad is Dave.]

And the twins graduated this past May, their older brother graduated a year earlier, and the other sister and brother are moving into schools on a regular basis.  

MY HUBBY'S BIRTHDAY...

[He dropped his poem on to me on May 21, 1985, 2 days after the Lord had put us together.  This was a true gift.  I have had it on my dresser in a frame ever since.  It's still a HUGE blessing.  Filled with truthfulness when he wrote it when he was at the AFB and gave it to me suddenly.] 
 =========================

How can such a tough cookie be so fragile?
              Yet you are.
                           And I understand.

Fragileness is a part of your beauty, like a flower,
    and your willingness to risk hurt shown your strength,
         which balances and makes you whole.

I pray that i see your fragility,
     so i can trust you as i ought.
I would loathe to crush the flower underfoot,
    when i desire to nurture you and grow you up in Jesus.

I pray the Lord's forgiveness,
                                 and yours,
  if i'm not tender when i need to be,
     and tough when i need to be.

Love,
   David.

 ============================================
   Tomorrow is Dave's birthday.  He'll be 56.  And, shockingly in our world, I'm 70.  He's been a HUGE blessing to me ever since the Lord dropped him into my life.  He's been a wonderful step-dad and loved by grandkids and, as I've said, a huge blessing for me.  I'd never thought, when I married back in Christmas Eve, '68, that I would never be divorced or forced to be apart.  In May, '84, it truly occurred.  And I was a very sad lady re: dealing with my kids and jobs and whatever I could.

     Suddenly, May 19, 1985, the Lord put us together.  We were both a bit shocked.  He, the youth director at a church I had entered about 3 months earlier and was at the Offutt AFB, was 25 and had never been married and was a strong Christian since he had come to the Lord officially when he was 10. On the other side, I had come to the Lord when I was 20 [April 15, 1966], and had a terrible history since childhood of fighting, attempting to commit suicide, very drunk sometimes, and, even when about 18 years old in the bars in Washington and Idaho, got mixed badly with the men.  I tried to change when the Lord broke into my life officially, but it took a bit of time.

     Anyhow, Dave has been a huge blessing to me.  And, surprisingly, he thinks I'm wonderful, too.  The best I can do is write pieces, take pictures, and show a lot of love through family and friends and serving the Lord.  Because of him, we were missionaries in Uganda.  I'd always WANTED to be a missionary when I came to the Lord, but couldn't do it.  We did it then.  He is/was a real treat to me.

     I don't know if I can keep blog pieces very often... my dementia and body and other issues keep me from doing all I want.  I sleep nearly a dozen hours at night and sometimes sleeping a few times during the day.  Oh, well.  And he's working as Facilities Manager at our church, has piano students in a variety of area of Omaha, fixes computers and gives them to people as a gift from the Lord, and plays piano or organ at 3 other churches during the Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday times.  What a guy that blesses many!

     Anyhow, just wanted to have people smile.  Our 30th anniversary was 3 weeks ago.  So the blessing has expanded on me!  I love Dave and LOVE THE LORD!!

30th Anniversary; a fun day-time trip!

MY NEWEST BIRTH AND OLDEST BIRTHDAY

    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.

 ===========================

     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.

 ===================================

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.

STEVE IS 42 TODAY...IT'S A MIRACLE!!

And I have posted more than once about how he was born miraculously... not just from bodies, but from the encouragement for abortion from my doctors.  I'll put most of that in after this next bit of "miracle" news.

He is 42 today now.  I can't forget any of the situations that were piled on me for the 8 months of my pregnancy to his birth.  It was filled with scariness from the Doctors in the Redwood City, CA., area.

Tomorrow Dave and I are meeting Steve and his son, Dyllon, at our house.  Don't know where we'll go, what we'll do, but being with them counts significantly. 


And, again, here's the story of how he arrived...
=======================================================

MY "ABORTION" MIRACLE

 
Every year when January 22nd hits, and the pro-choice and pro-life groups hit the news, I always want to stand up and holler, "LISTEN TO ME!!!!"
The key: My son was born on January 17th, 1973. Last week he turned 39. And it's a miracle he was born.

In the Spring, 1972, I became pregnant for the severaleth time. I had had at least two miscarriages in the previous two years, and, while driving home from church that Sunday afternoon, the pain began again; I was only 6 weeks pregnant. It was the exact feeling and timing of the other miscarriages. I went to a Doctor immediately on that Sunday afternoon, and after checking me, he suggested that I not have this baby, that I let "Nature" bring this to an end. He gave me some pills to take "whenever I felt that pain." At home, even when in pain, I didn't take any pills; I'm not a medicine-oriented person. What I discovered many months later was that the pills would not have relieved the pain, but would have caused a medical abortion.

 Occasionally, during the next several months, other doctors tried to convince me to let them bring the birth to an end. I was told that this baby would be a mental and physical vegetable, that I would always have to care for "it" and would never be free OR that the baby could die very soon and I would suffer from that death; "Mother Nature" had tried to free it "now."

Well, I refused. Can't say I wasn't frightened about what the results would be. In fact, I was terrified during the pregnancy, especially when I was forced to be in bed for about two months that summer and had this fear pouring through my heart and mind constantly. But, I knew it wasn't what God would want me to do, so I simply couldn't; sometimes I felt Him hold my hand and encourage me to stand in that rocky area. The baby's Dad, my former husband, basically just told me to do what I needed to do. Except for one spiritual Mom who gave me a Word when she could, I walked through this alone.

 [You must recall or know that in those days talking to a pastor about these physical issues was not reasonable, going to a counselor wasn't easy (especially since I couldn't afford it), and ultrasound wasn't a medical part of our lives. Life has most certainly changed now. I also had no family I could talk to.]

The baby was due on January 12. On the 16th, I was rushed to Stanford University for the delivery. Labor had kicked in early that evening. When the baby was being delivered, about 6:30 AM the 17th, the nurse asked if I wanted to look in the mirror so I could watch the baby come out. I was obviously more terrified than anyone, including me, knew it. I screamed, "NO!!!"

And then the baby came. And HE was not a vegetable. He looked exactly like his sister had who had arrived about 3 years earlier, he was an ounce heavier than she had been, and 1/2 inch longer  in length. That was all. Period.

I was in the hospital for a few days. Didn't know anything about the Roe v. Wade abortion approval, even though this picture was taken that very day, January 22nd.

 
In fact, I didn't know anything about that for some time; life was extremely stressful and my recovery took several months. Survival was my only focus then.

But to know that the Lord gave me a son at the same time that law came into being, and that He had helped me walk through those horrible times with very caring and concerned doctors, probably some of the most seriously compelled to do the best for me and the "fetus", still just fills my heart with appreciation for Him.  

Steve and Dyllon, 2 years ago on Steve's 40th B-day

Steve's sister, Renae, and his step-dad and I.

 

MY DAUGHTER'S BIRTHDAY!

BORN IN REDWOOD CITY, CA.

SHIFTED TO OMAHA, NE, WHEN 4 YRS OLD.

FIRST DAY AT BOYD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL,

SHORTLY BEFORE BEING 5 YEARS OLD.

GRADUATION

AND SHE IS A LONG-TIME, LONG-DAY WORKER

FOR OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY.

SHE HAS 5 KIDS, A GOOD HUSBAND, 

AND LOTS AND LOTS OF FRIENDS AND FAMILY

AROUND AND ABOUT.

HER BIRTHDAY PUTS HER AT 45.  SHE AIN'T A YOUNG 'UN ANY MORE.  

[AND IN 9 MONTHS, I WILL BE 70.  HOPE SHE WILL KEEP 
PUTTING UP WITH ME.]  

REJOICING... SINGING

I REJOICE, I SING...

FOREVER!

[And, on this day, I am rejoicing on my birthday.  If it wasn't for Him and His kindness and His victory over my sinfulness, I wouldn't be here.  Now, I am, every moment of every day -- not just on a birthday, doncha know? --
 but thinking of Him and rejoicing for Him.]

 

GOD FOR US FOREVER

Very near her 80th birthday, my Mom came to the Lord.

  She had had a very hard and harsh life

 from a portion of childhood forward.  

I would describe her as a Tough Cookie.

She died about 10 years later at 90-1/2.

She had only realized how much the Lord cared for her 

when she was already a white-haired lady.

FRIENDSHIP ... A GOOD SEED

Through friendship, both good and evil, our hearts can be opened.  And in our heart, seed can be planted.  Good fruits and vegetables ... or poisonous weeds ... can be the result, either quickly or much later.

I've had both kinds of friends ... maybe been both kinds.  But, the important part for me now is to be a good one and to not just take friends for granted.  But enjoy them and rejoice for them.

Today, Susan, who I have considered a best friend/sister for over 50 years, is having her birthday.  Now, I've never wondered why God put her into my life -- it's been a blessing to me -- but I've often wondered whether SHE ever wondered. I had a reputation when I entered that high school, having just moved to town, as a "tough cookie", to say the least.  She, however, was known as kind and caring.

 We've hardly ever spent enough actual day-by-day time with one another, but it has been a special quality, whether staying near or far away.  I can tell her almost anything -- and she won't gossip about it, or be mad at me, or reject me.  I have tried her patience more than once, and even with a tiny bit of fussing between us, we are always able to forgive and forget almost instantly.  She has loved me when no one else would, and she has taken care of me when I was sick [emotionally, spiritually, and physically].  We walked together through classmate situations in high school -- and everything from that point forward in life. Different opinions sometimes, different viewpoints.  Yet, through it all, we have remained together.

Now, this friendship was not overly cultivated by either one of us.  We just happen to have a love for one another that time and space and hardship hasn't been able to destroy.  We don't neglect our friendship, but we haven’t had a lot of time to spend cultivating it.  We just know that we know that we are loved.  

One of Susie's favorite flowers... and we love butterflies.

NOW, God's friendship is similar to that in many ways.

               -- God loves us for what and who we are.  We don't have to put on a front or act phony (in fact, He seems to have a special dislike for the phony, hypocritical person).  
              --  Our age isn't going to make any difference at all with Him 
              -- He’s willing to start a friendship any time we are.         
              -- Distance won't get in the way, because He is near to our heart.  
              -- If we tell Him a secret, He won't tell anyone else.     
              -- No matter what we tell Him, He won't reject us. [He may not like what we are saying, but He will deal with us about it on a one-to-one basis; He won't blab it to the whole town.] 
              -- He won't let us be lazy about our faith or our growth; He knows just the way to keep us moving.  But He will be patient and loving in guiding us the correct way.

Now, to close, one of the ways that this earthly relationship is different than the one with God, is that the earthly one must be cultivated.  And, if we encourage growth of your human friendship through time in the Word of God and prayer, He will multiply and strengthen that effort and the rewards will be outstanding.  He moves nearer and nearer, closer and closer – and so does the friend.

Thank you, Susie.  Happy Birthday.