Saturday Hoots and Strolls and Good Medicine

Hoot Hoot Hoot Hello!! 

It's Halloween Eve, and all the little owls out here in "hooterville" have gathered to get ready for the fun that will transpire here in about 24 hours...

They have each found a good place to perch so they can watch for the little ghosts and goblins that will be parading past our front door yelling "Trick or Treat"

Yeah, I'd say there will be a lot of hootin' and hollering going on over here...won't you come join the fun?

It's been five days since my surgery, and can you tell I must be getting bored?  Ha Ha.  I guess I just needed to get up and make myself do something!  To be honest, I have been feeling just a tad sorry for myself 'cause for some strange reason I thought I would be fixed instantly once I had this spinal fusion done to my neck...I thought the nerve pains and muscle spasms would just magically disappear and I'd be up and running and ready to go by now.

Well, 'taint so... I still got them and they still wake me up at night and I'm taking pills and rubbing on lotions and praying they'd just go away and let me sleep. Plus I still can't eat much because swallowing is still a bit of an effort and it just takes so much time to wash down every bite, so I don't have much appetite...you'd think I'd lose some weight...but the scales haven't budged...what's that all about?

Yeah, I'm having myself a pity party. Me, myself and I. But I told my husband about it. Told him I wanted my "mommy to come and take care of me."  Do you ever feel that way? It's not that he's not helping me enough...he's doing a great job...I'm just overtired and wanting to get back to "normal" quicker and maybe I just want someone to pamper me just a little bit more until I feel better, like Mommy used to do when she'd put the little bell beside my bed and tell me to ring it when I needed something when I was really sick.

Or maybe I just need to get outside and enjoy some fresh air and quit my whining.

These were the skies this morning at sunrise.  They weren't looking too promising for a nice day...and it sure felt kind of chilly and cold and breezy...

But by 9:00 it looked like this and hubby talked me into taking a stroll with him.

Yeah, he knew what I needed

This is my newest "glamour shot"...a little improvement over the last one taken in the hospital HERE

I sure won't need much of a costume for Halloween...still got those stitches in my neck (actually just glue with steri strips), and I can see I still look a little swollen...I could probably pass for Mrs. "Frankensteiner" instead of Mrs. Steiner. LOL.  But taking a walk in the woods was just what I needed.

And then we came home and I did a little bit of porch sittin' cause it was just SO pretty out... a perfect autumn day!

This is our porch sitting time of year. I need to enjoy it while it lasts...

I took this picture from inside the house, and you can see the reflection of the flag from the front porch...looks like it is flying out there in the back over the pond too!  

But even after all this enjoying the fresh air and porch and stuff I was still feeling a little bit down. Mostly overtired I think...kind of the "post-partum blues" of surgery I'd call it. Then a dear friend from church called to check on me and it was like the sun came back out and the birds started singing and my heart felt lighter.  It was as if a fresh wind from heaven blew through the phone and stirred the coals of my soul back up into a living flame.

I went into the kitchen and saw this verse on the little display that I have set up for fall. Perfect, wouldn't you say?

And I began to feel more grateful and less pitiful...

More blessed and less stressed...

More Thank-FULL and not so thank LESS.

Yes, the Lord knew what I needed today and He sent it to me in small bites and doses...

"A merry heart does good, like medicine,

But a broken spirit dries the bones."

Proverbs 17:22

It also proved to me how important it is to remember those who are sick or recuperating from surgery, etc., with a card or a phone call when possible. I am trying to get better at that, but I tend to put it off or forget until I see the person all well and they are so thankful for all the cards and calls they got that helped them so much and I'm thinking "there I blew it again..."   But even our posts here and our comments to one another can make such a difference in how a person feels.  I am way behind in responding to comments but I am trying to get caught up by visiting your posts instead as I can.  Right now I can't sit at the computer for a long time and I have to make myself get up and move around, etc., etc., and so I get behind.  But I treasure each and every one of you and your comments are always such a blessing to me.  You are like the "merry hearts" that are good medicine!  Thank you for being here!

And never fear, I will get better. I know it. I'm just wanting it sooner rather than later.  But God has me here, sitting "Beside the Still Waters" (pond), restoring my soul, and making me just relax and rest and get well.  Sometimes our healing comes in little bites and doses too. It's not always instant, overnight, like waving a magic wand over us.  We just need to learn to trust in the One Who has promised to "uphold you with my righteous right hand."  And that's the BEST MEDICINE of all!