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Eye Update

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Katharine

You may have noticed my vision is not what it used to be.

You may remember my long ago posts about eye health and the lovely treatments I have received at the hands of an expert ophthalmologist, a pioneer in treating exactly the condition I have suffered: macular edema (ME).

Well, in the words of his assistant, who saw me last Friday, “I have exceptional news for you!”

I did not need a treatment.

I am so excited.

The situation was a bit humorous at first. In my daze of happiness, I automatically exited the exam room and headed for the back hallway where those who need further treatment wait while trying to encourage each other. It is hard, even after two years, to allow someone to give us a shot in the eyeball. For some it is really hard. We have to psyche ourselves up and, some of us being old, we don’t always do a very good job of it.

Sometimes, as the day for an appointment approaches, my husband will catch me sighing or shivering and ask me what is wrong.

I usually tell him, “Oh, just trying not to think about it.”

I don’t have to tell him “what” I’m (not) thinking about anymore.

Anyway, as I headed for the “back row”, the doctor and nurses laughed and reminded me I did NOT need a shot and could leave.

Weird.

I got used to it very quickly, though.

Usually, after the shot, I would drive (I could still see, see?) to the nearest posh restaurant and treat myself to one of their marvelous salads, for being a good girl. Sometimes, if I’d done poorly and felt sorry for myself, I’d add one of their marvelous cheesecakes or a cloud of a tiramisu.

NO CHANGES, THERE, LAST FRIDAY!

The big change—and what seemed oddest—was not needing a Kleenex for my poor eyes, which would usually be irritated by the antiseptics used to prepare the area for this invasive procedure.

But hey! It has worked!

If, at the next monthly checkup, I still can read 20/50 and the ultrasound still looks great, I’ll be switched to every 3 months for my checkups. What a relief!

I am very, very thankful.

But I think I’ll miss my friends on the back row . . .

Believe it or not!, Inspiring, Who's the mom here?, Womanhood

Overheard: Mary Was a Mother . . .

Posted on May 13, 2013October 2, 2013 by Katharine

The preacher said:

Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” Luke 2:34-35

So went the prophecy spoken over Jesus and Mary when he was presented at the temple as a new-born. A sword would pierce her soul.

We see the Cross differently than Mary did. We see the punishment for our sin, the Lamb of God, atonement, salvation, and eternal life. We look back at the Crucifixion. We gloss over the agony of the Cross because we cannot imagine such horror. Mary saw it as it was happening. She saw her child suffering.

But it was happening before Mary’s horrified eyes: Her child’s blood running down, His labored gasps for air, nails piercing his hands and feet. And there was nothing she could do to help her child.

She saw her child publicly disgraced as He hung naked on the Cross. Crucifixion was intended to be humiliating and painful as a deterrent to crime. All the pride Mary felt for her son was now turned to disgrace in the public eye.

She saw the death of her hopes and dreams. This was the son who was to care for her in old age. This was the son who had achieved so much fame. Her hopes and dreams were great but now they were crushed. Her son was dying. She felt like dying, too.

At the Cross, a sword pierced Mary’s soul. While Jesus purposely suffered to redeem us, Mary was there unwillingly, weeping over the injustice, watching her son die a cruel death. The sword was piercing the heart of a mother’s love.

Jesus was dying for her sins as well, but He also knew what she was suffering. Therefore, as her son, He provided for her future on earth, as well as in Heaven, while He hung on the Cross.

When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. John 19:26-27

The cost of our salvation includes shame, suffering, and sacrifice. Willingly, Jesus walked into such a death for us, with a love greater than a mother’s.

Believe it or not!, Inspiring, Scripture

Sunday Scriptures – Pattern

Posted on May 11, 2013 by Katharine

Every priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already men who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises.

For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people and said:

“The time is coming, declares the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant
I made with their forefathers
When I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt,
because they did not remain faithful to my covenant,
And I turned away from them, declares the Lord
This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
No longer will a man teach his neighbor,
or a man his brother, saying ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”

Hebrews 8:2 NIV

For photos of a life-size replica of the tabernacle, go here!

Home School, Inspiring, Who's the mom here?, Womanhood

Remembering a Missing Friend

Posted on May 10, 2013December 5, 2013 by Katharine

Remember this?

A dear friend of mine died during elective surgery, 12 years ago.

English: Flower arrangement for funeral Dansk:... — Flower arrangement for funeral (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A home-educating mom, she left behind two young children and their faithful dad. Last time I saw them, the kids were doing fine. Actually, they were not so young anymore, then, one in high school and the other in college. They showed many signs of good parenting. It made me glad for the memory of their mother, my friend.

She had always been so heart-felt. She and I could talk about any serious subject and seemingly always understand each other before we had completed a sentence. When a subject was especially deep or important to her, she would become misty-eyed as she spoke. That happens to me, too, and often did when we conversed. We both understood that about each other.

This seriousness in her shows in her children. Oh, they laugh. In fact, their beautiful smiles erupt at any chance, and they see the humor in life’s oddities, all the time.

They are not silly, though. They are something more like blossoming or fruitful. They have combined the gentle rain their dad always supplied into their lives with the sunlight their mother always added. They have become strong, tall trees and have dedicated their lives to doing right. It makes me glad for the memory of their mother, my friend.

Somewhere out there exists a video of her delivering an impromptu speech about her strong convictions on homeschooling. She is near tears as she speaks for the record, as I was every time I viewed it. She pleaded with parents to take their children seriously.

This distillation of her heartbeat riveted me to my seat on every viewing. She was younger than I was, then, far younger than I am now, yet her bold insistence on protecting and preparing children imparted strength to my backbone. Only a hardhearted person could walk away from the truth she expressed without pondering, at least, if there might not somehow be more…

She makes me want more, every time I remember her. More grace. More energy. More conviction. More boldness. More follow-through. More prayer. More tears when I talk.

More blossoms and fruit on my trees.

More sun and rain on my trees.

More.

Homemaking, Photos, Womanhood

Weekly Photo Challenge: Pattern

Posted on May 10, 2013May 10, 2013 by Katharine

This is the table arrangement for a wedding I helped cater not so very long ago.

The task, here, was to seat 30 for the rehearsal dinner, in a rather smaller dining area, while the bride’s helpers prepared the larger dining area for the reception the following day.

I was totally pleased with how it turned out. The wedding colors were brown and yellow and I love how the walls cooperated with this plan. The centerpieces are simple tissue paper flowers, homemade, but exuberant and joyful. The entire theme of the wedding was whimsical and fun, so these fit in with all the rest of the laughter.

In fact, the entire setting seemed to fit the pattern for this wedding: relaxed, inexpensive, whimsical, inviting, joyful, and at the same time, calm. The symmetry I think helped to anchor all that explosion of yellow.

We began with little idea of how it would work, although we had measured the room, and figured the dynamics several times.

I think it worked.

Inspiring, Photos, Wisdom

Weekly Photo Challenge: From Above

Posted on May 7, 2013May 8, 2013 by Katharine

We almost always view these lovely creations from above, but lately, at night, I have seen the underside of this poor thing as it tried to batter itself through this screen into my house. I went outdoors in the morning and took a photo of it, knowing I would need it for the next photo challenge, and sure enough, I did.

I enjoy when this happens, when I “just know” I will need the photo for the future. That happened with the bear I photographed so long ago, and many other times.

Most of us look at most things from the upper side, from the more presentable side, from above. How few times we know anything of the underworkings, of the heart of a matter! No one can tell the moth spent hours battering itself to no avail. “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen, you’ve seen, anyone has seen. We cannot know until we walk a mile in each others’ shoes. How the feet hurt!

Next time we look at a seeming beautiful exterior, let’s remember: There is another side.

Reach out to everyone you can. You will be surprised.

A Glimpse into the Pit of Hell?

Note: No photos here, for obvious reasons. But they abound and they are sick.

“It’s 4:30 AM and I can’t sleep. I sit appalled and pierced after viewing the Fox special “See No Evil” last evening. Dr. Kermit Gosnell’s actions of a lifetime were laid open for the world to see. Americans were allowed to gaze at the horror and atrocities this man committed over the past thirty years. And I am sickened at the depth of this depravity.

“I will never forget the pictures of that baby—those babies—brutally murdered, then stored in a freezer by this doctor and those working in his clinic of evil.” Read more here.

We don’t watch TV, but I found info clear back in February of 2011, about these atrocities on yahoo, of all places. Read more here.

Disasters

Missing Persons

And Can it BE?

When will we have had enough? (It begins with us, sisters. It begins with you.)