The Sermon and Berty and Thiry Day 9

It is foggy....much like my brain this morning and my mind is going in a bzillion (love that non-word) different directions....so bare with me on this post.

The change in the weather (a warming trend) is apparently causing all of us to have allergies or something. I have spent the last 3 days sneezing my head off, David wakes up every morning trying to clear his throat and Zachary is coughing up his lungs.  I guess it is one of the not so pretty side effects of spring. I don't care though!!! If it means warmth and no more snow....I'll take it!

I went to Mass last night as I was sneezing and didn't know how I would feel this morning. We had a visiting priest as I believe our own Fr. Mike is on a retreat. I have to say that I was rather impressed with our visitor. He was fairly young....maybe 30ish and his sermon was on faith and getting what we need from God....and worry. It was basically a if you pray why worry and if you worry why pray....sermon. Again.....I felt as if the sermon was written for and directed at me. (No...there are no bounds to my belief that everything is about me!) The sermon was truly beautiful and talked about God giving us everything we need.....all we have to do is have true faith. He also spoke of those who have no faith and how often they are the ones who die bitter, angry and afraid because they feel that death is the end. Where as those who believe.....know this is only the beginning. Death is but the closing of a chapter so that we can go on to open a new one. One of eternal life.

I couldn't help but think how ironic this sermon was on the heals of the conversation I had just had with my atheist friend. I wished she could be there to hear it....but would she have? There is a difference between listening and hearing. Reminds me of the old adage....you can bring a horse to water....but you can't make him/her drink.

Others must have been equally impressed, as I looked around at one point and noticed that just about everyone else in the church were as enthralled as I was. You could have heard a pin drop and even though the sermon ran long....there was no shuffling in the pews or glazed looks. Perhaps people were struck by this young priests voice as we are used to Fr. Mikes softer tones. This man had....not a loud tone....but a raspy....yet very direct tone. I am sure I was not the only one who felt they were being spoken directly too. And my aunt who sat directly behind me grabbed me as we were walking out and said..."wasn't that a wonderful sermon?" I guess we were all affected.

And now my mind races to the next thought. Have you ever watched Tuck Everlasting? I have seen it several times over the years and I really like the movie. It is about a family who drinks from a pool of water and unknowingly gain eternal life on earth. Rather than make this a good thing....the movie touches on the negatives of such a thing and how this family suffers and merely exists....no longer really living. It was on....so I watched it again yesterday and there is a part where Amy Irving's (movie) mother is dying. She is obviously in her last moments and Irving gently crawls in bed next to her mother and holds her. I have seen the movie several times and never do I remember this part getting to me like it did yesterday. It took me back to my own mothers death. She lingered on a ventilator for several days before dying....but before they put her on the machine.....she and I talked. She was having terrible anxiety attacks as her body was shutting down and the cancer was taking hold. I spent hours rubbing her legs, her shoulders and her feet and talking to her of Christmas (which was just days away) and the future.....hoping with all my heart that there would be a future. Before she was sedated for the ventilator.....I held her hand and told her I loved her....and she me, but why did I not crawl in bed beside her? Why didn't I just lay there with her and feel her breathe, listen to her heart beat and hold on to those last minutes that I had with her? And right now what I wouldn't give to have those moments back to do them differently. Just thinking about having the warmth of my mother next to me and having that feeling of security that only a mom can give makes me tear up. It has been almost 9 years since I lost her....but today is feels like 9 minutes. Oh how I miss my mother!

Okay....moving on. Believe it or not....the bedroom/office/sitting room/junk room is clean! I would like to take the credit for it.....but I can't. Yesterday was a day of cheesecakes, cleaning, visitors and errands and I only had two hands and one brain to do it all with, so Zachary decided to take over the room. I think the ulterior motive was that he really wanted to go karaoke last night and he was trying to make points. It worked!!!!
                                  

 So to start out with....it was pretty much a mess. Over the course of years....this little room has been a bedroom, a work out room, an office, a sewing/craft room, a bedroom again, a sitting room....and finally.....a catch-all junk room.  It....like most of the rest of the house has hard wood floors that have been covered in carpet almost all their entire lives. When the carpet was pulled up though....it showed floors much in need of refinishing. The floors are badly stained and need some real TLC. Anyone know of anyone that refinishes floors cheap? For now though....I may have to get a carpet remnant and cover it until I can afford the full refinish. I would even be thrilled if someone would show me how to do it myself....as there will be many more floors in this house to refinish in the future.

The cleaned up and mess down-sized room is much nicer now. I just have to figure out what I want to do with the room. Do I want a sitting room...or a guest bedroom....or a craft room....or a room that accommodates all the above? Any suggestions????? And as you can see....the floor in this picture looks pretty darn bad!


I am still looking for ideas for March's Adventures!!! I have gotten several but still would like more. If you have an idea that you think would be a perfect Lisa Adventure for the month of March.....let me know. I am so trying to broaden my horizons and try new things.....and I am really interested in your suggestions.

 Well it is 30 Day Challenge time. Today's challenge is:

  Day 09 - A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most.






As in most of these challenges....there is no simple answer to this. While my life is certainly one that takes a village to survive, there are two people that stand out as beacons in my life.  These two women I have known since we were girls and without their support, help, friendship and love....I would not be the woman I am today.

It just so happens that these two are sisters. First came Berty....which if you have been reading my blog....you know I met her my sophomore year in high school when I bowled her over in Foods class asking her about her older brother. Berty has always had a quiet, calm, compassionate soul. She can make the worst situations not so bad....just with her calming presence. This is not to say she doesn't have a temper.....cause I have been on the receiving end of that too.....but without Berty, I would never have survived high school....nor all the years since. 

After knowing Berty for a couple of years....her younger sister Thiry started tagging along with us. Thiry is in many ways Berty's polar opposite. Thiry is not quiet (much like me), or is calm a word I would use to describe her....but like Berty.....there is no end to her compassion and she and Berty share a kindness that few others possess. Thiry has a wild streak a mile wild and adventure is always a possibility in her presence. She has helped me survive many a child raising crisis and has always helped me to keep my self worth in tact. 

Together these two have seen me through the best and the worst of my life. They have both cheered for me through all of the good and happy times and they have mourned with me and held me up through the the sad and painful times.

Not growing up with my sisters....these two have filled that void and become to me as close as any family could. Both know me better than I often know myself and they instinctively know when I need a push in a certain direction....or when I simply just need to be left alone.

There are truly no words (even for me) to fully describe what these two women have meant to my life, nor how lost I would be if ever I were to lose either of them. For thirty + years we have laughed together, cried together, fought together, and made up over and over again....and here's to thirty + more! To Berty and Thiry.....truly....thank you for being my friends!