Tag: Friendship

Rose Flower

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20200705_140323 © jb katke

Rose accused me of having frog eyes.

I hope my introduction of Rose will do her justice. Her life was like a flower to me. Did I ever let her know that? No, and it hurts my heart that I’m so lousy at maintaining friendships.

She and her husband Hank were neighbors of my husband. We were going together when I first met them. Often, when we had no money for a real date, we walked two doors down to visit with them.

Hank and Rose mentored us when mentoring wasn’t cool. They may or may not have realized how much we gleaned from them. It took years before I realized it myself.

Together they showed us what family life was all about. They were a blended family but Hank took her family as his, and likewise, his family became Roses. I know no details of their life beforehand and refuse to speculate. There is an advantage to take life where it’s at and move forward because the past is history.

Rose was perpetually involved in some project. Always revolving around family. Although she may have been contemplating a needlework sampler for the two of us. I saw the same pattern she did and ordered it to make myself. That’s when she called me frog eyes.

Even so, both of them took time to chat with us teenagers. They made relationship a priority. We weren’t part of the ‘in crowd’ of party-goers, drinkers, or doing drugs. Instead these precious neighbors were more our speed.

She shared the secret of how to get a husband to do a chore for her. Rose had repeatedly asked Hank to paint their iron stair rail, but he never quite found the time for it. One Saturday morning she laid out newspaper on the carpeted steps and proceeded to open the paint can.

“What are you doing?” Hank inquired.

“I could see how busy you’ve been, so I decided I could probably do this myself.”

“Here, give me the brush, I’ll take over.”

Mission accomplished.

I use the analogy of a flower because a flower brings beauty into any place.  It improves whatever is close by it and that is what Rose did for me. She showed me the impact a loving wife can have to her husband, her home and her family.

Whatever brought her to mind I cannot say, but I googled her and learned of her death. This I can say, whatever her age, she always seemed young. She embraced the computer age and became adept in the cyber world, putting me to shame.

Just as a flower fades with time, apparently so did Rose. Alzheimer’s is a frustrating death that is torturous for loved ones to witness.

While I don’t know her spiritual life, she reminds me much of Jesus. Rose and Jesus prioritized people. Both of them saw the good in others and showed their care.

Goodbye Rose, I love you and hope to see you later.

 

A Day of Celebration

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WP_20150825_001 © jb katke

Have you ever accomplished something out of your realm? It gives you that Wow feeling of celebrating.  Happy anniversary to me.

I’m sharing with you the biggest balloon I could find. (This big boy landed in my front yard)

My blog posts are one year old this month. For a person that had no desire to blog, and isn’t fond of computers, this is remarkable.  Just for the record it wasn’t my idea.

Have you been following me? If you haven’t read my Intro , let me explain with a little background. For years I have been learning to love Jesus. I’ve been reading his book, it’s been on the best seller list for almost ever.

But it’s a process that takes some time. At least it did for me. There comes a point in what do you do with this stuff you’ve learned? It was suggested I tell others about it.

Don’t be thinking I’m gonna give you this big ole sermon. Instead, let me paint a few word pictures for you. Some of these scenarios may not take too much imagination.

Imagine your car breaking down on the highway in the middle of nowhere. A tow truck comes along and the driver says, “I know who could fix your car, but I’m not helping you get there.”

Perhaps your basement has flooded. A cleaning service comes to access the situation but tells you, “This place is a mess, but there is nothing I can do about it.”

Or your doctor’s diagnosis is cancer, but refuses you treatment.

You get the idea. Frustration, helplessness and anger can be the recipe for stress levels and blood pressure to skyrocket.

That is why someone broaches the name of Jesus to you. I’m your gal to do that. He works in ways that can astound you.  A friendship with this guy can make such a difference in life.

So I blog to tell you how Jesus has been involved in my life. Sometimes it’s funny, sometimes it hurts big time. But bottom line, I know he is aware of my situation. It’s a mystery how he always works things out, but it’s always good. It can take time, but it gives me the opportunity to trust.

Stuff will still happen. There have been occasions that I got put out with circumstances that aren’t going my way. But then I remember Jesus’ dad isn’t Santa Claus. He’s God. Usually my heart hasn’t been in the right place, so he waits for me to catch up to his perfect plan.

He wasn’t dragging his heels, I was. Eventually I come around and I hope you do too. If my words mean something to you, I invite you to follow me on this journey.

Better yet, invite Jesus into your life, I promise it will be a ride!