Welcome to my "Open Window"...a place of hope, encouragement, and adventure as we journey down the road from "Closed Doors" to the new opportunities God places in our pathway. I hope you will take the time to go back and follow the trail of mixed blessings and fears, failures and triumphs from the past and side-trips in the present. Perhaps it will conjure up some of your own special memories, and be an invitation for you to share with others. I look forward to spending this time with you!
What Do You See Outside YOUR Open Window Today?
Remember: "When God closes a door, He always opens a window!" You never know what might be out there waiting for you!
Dear Friends, I originally wrote this post ten years ago today, May 25, 2014, on the day that our precious son Matthew entered heaven's gates. Since that day we have grieved over the loss of his presence in our lives, but we have rejoiced in knowing where he is and that we will see him again some day. Since that day at lot has changed in our lives...we are all ten years older, and getting closer to heaven's gates ourselves. One day we will experience what Matthew has already been enjoying for these past ten years. I am certain he will be at the gates with Jesus, ready to welcome us "home". Who knows? Maybe he has even had a part in helping to build our "mansion" in heaven...he always loved to draw house plans...but that house will be built with materials that last for eternity...no need of paint or plumbing or new roof shingles there...and no need for any more "good-byes". Yes, we miss him here oh so much, but I wouldn't call him back to earth for anything. He is living where the roses never fade and the body never grows old again. I look forward to that day. But until then, we carry on with our lives and try to live the way Christ leads us to live. I pray that our lives will always reflect His great love.
Here is the original post written ten years ago:
Sunday, May 25th, 2014. The Day I hoped would never come...but wait! I take that back! Just shortly after midnight our wonderful son Matthew Everette Steiner passed from this life into eternity after a lengthy battle with a rare and aggressive cancer. He was exactly 41 years and 3 months old today. For the past four years he has fought valiantly against this horrific foe...and today...well, today he is no longer fighting. The battle is over. It is finished. How could I NOT want this day to come?
Today begins an exciting new chapter in the life of Matthew Everette Steiner. I repeat his full name...as it is a name that is ringing throughout the halls of heaven today! As soon as Matthew took his last breath here on earth, he gulped a breath of celestial air for the first time...and began his adventure in paradise. When he crossed over the threshold of those pearly gates, I believe there was a shout and there were victory dancers surrounding him as he was escorted through the streets of gold by the holy angels themselves. The saints of old were lining the streets, cheering and waving, calling out his name and welcoming him HOME. Yes, HOME...home at last. He was greeted and hugged by his grandparents and friends and ancestors who have gone on before...and then, best of all, he was presented to the One Who Died for him...his Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ Himself.
Oh, how I would have loved to have been a little birdie on the wall watching this amazing event! I would so love to have had just a glimpse of the joy on my precious son's face as he met Jesus face to face. To see him running and leaping through those jewel lined streets...strong and healthy and completely well! No more sickness, no more fear, no more dying... Set free and totally healed...never to suffer ever again.
Yes, I am sad. I will miss this laughing, happy, fun loving child of mine. I already miss hearing his voice. I am overcome with tears as waves of memories assail me frequently without warning. I am grieving for this great loss to our family and to his own sweet wife and son. There are no words that can describe what I am feeling adequately...but these word pictures do help me visualize the joy that he is experiencing...and I need to remember that. My son is whole again...no more dying there...he is worshiping the King of Kings...and singing praises with the angels in glory. Again I ask, "How could I NOT want this day to come?"
Matthew Everette Steiner...before the cancer struck him Healthy and whole...the way I expect he is today in heaven
UPDATE: 4/30/2019, My brother Russell passed away into his eternal home early this morning. Rest in peace, Russell Tedlie Mursch, October 6, 1943-April 30, 2019.
Dear Friends,
You may have noticed that I haven't posted anything in a little while. I fully intended to, but last week we had a family emergency, and that kind of changed things. Most of you are probably aware that my brother has been battling leukemia for the past year, and Thursday afternoon we received a call that he was being sent home from the hospital (after almost 2 weeks in there with pneumonia, which I was unaware of), and would be going on Hospice care at home. Since I had not seen my brother since last summer, I knew I needed to go as soon as possible.
So my sister came and joined me and my son and we loaded up the car and headed to Georgia (from Florida) early Friday morning. Thankfully, my son was the driver by choice. Our spouses all stayed home to take care of things at home since this was a quick trip without much time to make plans.
We were so thankful to arrive safely Friday evening after a very long arduous trip through Friday rush hour traffic through Atlanta. Anyone who has been there understands what that is like!
I was especially thankful that our other brother stayed and waited for us to arrive so that we four siblings could all be together again one more time. Then he had to head back home to North Carolina that night.
It was a bittersweet time together, but oh, so special, and my brother was so very thankful to have us come all that way. He said he felt kind of guilty that we made that long trip to see him because he was supposed to be so sick, and yet he said he didn't feel quite so bad after all! We assured him that we were quite happy to be there and that we were also glad that he didn't feel so bad, and he certainly shouldn't feel guilty! In spite of a lot of discomfort and pain, he managed to stay positive and genuinely happy that we were all there.
The next day his kids and some of his grandkids also came so we could all be together again.
I know we don't always like to look at pictures of sick people, especially when we may not even know them, but what I wanted to share was the sweetness of this time together. Some of these people above are step-children and step-grandchildren...but they are all there to show love and respect and to help in any way possible. One of the young men above is the boyfriend of my brother's daughter, and he spent the whole day working outside in the yard, digging up poison ivy everywhere it was growing rampantly out of control. He said he wasn't allergic to it and it didn't affect him...so he stayed after it all day long! What a kind and thoughtful thing to do, as it was growing in places where people would need to walk and get in and out of cars, etc., so this was a big deal. The Step-son and daughter in law brought food for everyone, enough to feed all of us for two days and then some...such a blessing! The others helped with lifting, moving, running errands, and even entertaining us all....it was a wonderful time with a beautiful family...some of whom I had never met yet because they are newly added to the family!
If you are on my Facebook, you have already seen most of these pictures. But for those of you who aren't, I wanted to share a few pictures of things in and around my brother's home that I enjoyed seeing:
These next few pictures are of the boat that my brother was building before he got sick. Yes, he literally built the boat from blueprints that he ordered...it is amazing (and actually it isn't the first boat he has built, but I don't have pictures of the others). It is almost finished, but sadly he won't be able to finish it and christen it with a name and sail away in it. We asked him what he would like to name it and he said it wasn't going to be up to him, but to whomever took over finishing it and using it.
(My other brother and my son, looking things over )
This is the Elk head of the huge elk he killed in Idaho many many years ago. I loved to hear him tell the story of how he managed to get that elk head and all the meat down the side of a mountain to get it back home. It was quite a tale!!! And he and his family enjoyed the meat for quite some time.
These are just a few things in his house that he mentioned to me that he either built or liked and had a story to them... This is a bench made from an interesting slab of wood that he found in our father's workshop years ago...
This antique cherry drop leaf table was in our old farm home where I was born, and my mother told my brother that he christened it with his pablum when he was a baby!!
My brother built this beautiful bed:
And he said he found this old antique desk chair somewhere, and it was a mess and ready for the trash heap, but he took it and restored and refinished it and he said he absolutely loved this old chair:
I loved seeing this painting of a duck in his office...because our father painted this for him...
And this painting my father also painted many, many years ago, and it always hung in the living room of our home where I grew up. I was so happy to see it again here in my brother's house. Made me feel close to "home" again.
These lovely bearded irises were growing all around the front of the house...they were so pretty:
And I loved this front porch, where several of us gathered and sat and visited and laughed and enjoyed being together...
When we left his home Saturday evening we knew it would be the last time we would see my brother on this earth. We said our farewells, but only until we gather together in heaven again someday. He mentioned that he could envision our mother and dad waiting for him "out there, somewhere beyond those trees..." (this was the view from his bed in their lovely sunroom)
This beautiful sunset as we drove out of his neighborhood and back to our hotel reminded me of the song: "Beyond the Sunset"
"Beyond the sunset Oh, blissful morning When with our Savior Heaven's begun Earth's toiling ended Oh, glorious dawning Beyond the sunset When day is done (Spoken) Beyond the sunset No clouds will gather No storms will threaten No fears annoy Oh, day of gladness Oh, day unending Beyond the sunset Eternal joy Beyond the sunset Oh, glad reunion With our dear loved ones Who've gone before In that fair homeland We'll know no parting Beyond the sunset Forever more"
The next morning we headed back home. Thankfully we arrived safely after another long day, but without all of the traffic of the previous trip. Not long after I got home, my other brother called to say that he had heard from our brother's wife that Hospice had been there to check on him, and they believe that he is in a rapid decline and probably won't last the week. So, yes, we are very thankful that we went when we did and that our brother was still alert enough to enjoy our visit and communicate some special things with us, and vice versa.
Because of the expectations of these next days and weeks, I will probably not be spending much time blogging. I know many of you have already been praying for our family, and I truly, truly appreciate it. I will let you know as I can when things happen...but I just didn't want you to wonder what happened to me if you don't hear from me for awhile.
God bless you all...and hug your families close. Take care of any "issues" that could possibly be between you while you can. None of us know when our day will come that we are called to our heavenly home...so don't put off til tomorrow what needs to be done now! And most importantly, be sure of your relationship with Christ! There is nothing more important than this!
Here it is Thursday night, and I am sitting here kind of tired and not thinking about tomorrow, when all of a sudden I remember tomorrow is Friday Foto Friends! You won't see this until tomorrow is today, but know that when you read this I was doing this last night. Are you confused? I am! LOL.
That's okay. This week was my birthday, but I can't believe I don't have any birthday pictures to show you. We really haven't "celebrated" it in style this week, (although I did go to lunch with our son and daughter in law on my birthday to Perkins, and had a orange/cranberry muffin for dessert as my birthday treat, so I guess that was a special celebration in style!) and we hope to go out to lunch on Saturday with my sister and brother in law and then come back here for apple pie, which either my sister will bake, or she will buy at Costco...it all depends on her energy and time...let's face it! We are all getting older and sometimes we just can't do everything we used to do! Apple pie is a tradition started by my mother for my birthday, and my sister Doris has continued it since our mother passed away in 2006. This is a picture from my birthday party in 2013, where my sister baked TWO apple pies, and my sister in law brought a beautiful Princess Cinderella cake too! Wow! Now that was special!!!! And you can see that I was very happy... (click on the link above for more about that party)
Speaking of getting older, I was cleaning out a dresser drawer (actually looking at things IN the drawer...didn't do much cleaning out!), and I found a little box of baby congratulation cards that were sent to my parents when I was born! Can you imagine that my mother saved them all? I was amazed. Well, I won't share them all with you, but thought of this one, as it is from my maternal grandparents and is a special treasure...(and you remember last week I shared pictures of my grandmother with you) So here you go:]
On the back of the card my Grandpa Tedlie had written a little note....I hope you can read it...
And then my Grandma had written a little note inside, Here is page 1 &3
And here is page 2:
I love their handwriting, don't you? And they were so happy that my parents had another little girl, making our family "perfect"...2 boys and 2 girls.
And here is a picture of the party I had for my 8th birthday:
That is the first birthday party I can ever remember with friends. After that I didn't have many more big parties...maybe just a few girlfriends over. We didn't do big parties back then like they do today. I was very happy to have a cake and my special friends over. Not sure what all we did for games, etc., but we look happy. I am the third from the right. I see a gumdrop tree to the far right, and a string of suckers on the far left, so I'm sure this group was pretty wound up before the party was over! LOL!
For other pictures from this week, I really didn't get out and take many. However, my dear friend Sharon, whom many of you have heard about and have been praying for...(Click HERE for an earlier post about her), was taken to the hospital via ambulance on Tuesday because she was having much difficulty breathing. It turns out that she apparently has pneumonia, but they have her on strong antibiotics and she seems to be fighting back and doing well, and hopes to go home in a day or two.Click HERE for a CaringBridge post regarding her current condition I went to visit Sharon at the hospital, and no, I didn't take a picture of her, but I stepped into the chapel of the hospital on my way out to pray for her, and took these pictures:
Beautiful stained glass window with the dove of peace.
I love this picture of Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane...He was praying for you and me!
And this sign is in the lobby of the hospital as you come in the front doors:
Our hospital has recently been purchased by the Seventh Day Adventist Hospitals, and I love that Christ is honored and "expected" to be a part of the healing process here. That is an added comfort.
These are some of the interesting painted horses that you will find all over the city of Ocala:
They are standing just outside the hospital, and I had to stop and visit with them for a minute.
I know many of you already saw ( on Facebook) these cute young deer who were following us down the road as we took our evening walk the other day:
They were a part of the much larger family that had been dining on our front lawn:
It was such fun to watch them.
Well, dear friends, it is now my bedtime (Thursday night, remember?) and this "Old Gal" is feeling her "OLD" age this week. So I think I'll mosey off to bed, and will get up and finish posting this in the morning (which is when you will be reading it...)
Hope you have a wonderful weekend. Give thanks for your loved ones and friends...I know I do. We just should not take them for granted...life is short...
Now let us step over to Deb's place at Breathing in Grace and check out what our other friends are seeing and doing!
Well, I was saving some pictures for this Friday Foto Friends post, and then some other stuff happened which was more interesting...so now I will try to post the best of the choices so you don't have to scroll through so many pictures!
First things first...many of you have been wondering about our Sand Hill Crane Family...and I am very happy to announce that Baby Crane #1 made an appearance this morning! There was a lot of squawking and flapping going on on the little island where the nest is, and I hurried over to see what the commotion was all about, and this is what I discovered:
If you will notice that little tiny fuzzy creature to the right of the parents, that is their sweet little baby:
What all the squawking was about was that Cormorant over behind them to the far right...getting too close to their baby. The Mama Crane actually chase him right off the water...
After that Mama settled back down on the nest to await the arrival of baby #2. Papa stood watch and foraged for food on the little island, while the baby "colt" stayed close to mama.
Not only was the cormorant a threat, but we still haven't captured the alligators in the pond, and there are always the other predator birds around...eagles, hawks, owls...
I went around to the other side of the pond to get a closer view from a neighbor's dock (with their permission), but there was no sign of the baby. I think she may be napping under mama's wings, as it was very cold and windy today.
This was a much better view, but it was quite a long walk and it was very cold today, so I don't know if I'll go that far again. We shall see what tomorrow is like. (I'm writing on Thursday evening)
So, that's all of the Sand Hill Crane Family for today. But wasn't that exciting news?
This next series of pictures comes from our ride through the historic area of downtown Ocala, Florida this past week. The azaleas and majestic old oaks were so lovely around these big beautiful homes, I thought you would enjoy seeing them.
Looking through the front windshield of the car makes this one a little off color, but it was still so beautiful:
The lighting was better for this one...
So then we came back home and I took a few pictures around our yard:
This dogwood tree is actually in our neighbor's yard, but it is so lovely right now I had to take a picture
Slowly but surely the wisteria are opening up and blooming...I like the shadows on the fence
Some of the white azaleas I planted in the Secret Garden:
A squirrel's nest high up in an oak tree...the oaks are shedding their leaves right now, making the nests more visible
These two Red Bellied Woodpeckers are sitting high on top of an electric pole! Shocking, isn't it?
And here is one of those same woodpeckers high on top of our dead holly tree in the back yard:
I love the way the morning sunlight is shining through his red head!
And now I bring you back inside the house, through the front door, and into our foyer. This is what you see when you come inside: "Welcome to Our Neck of the Woods, Where Life is Good...Fresh Air, Star Gazing, Quiet Spaces..."
And this little chalkboard reminds us to "Rejoice!"...As this IS the day the Lord has made...
(from Psalm 118:24)
I can think of no better way to start the day, can you? Recognizing that this day...no matter what the weather (today was cold and windy!), no matter what is happening in the world or even in our own personal lives...Rejoice!
I had the privilege and joy of taking supper to our dear friend Sharon today. Sharon is battling cancer, and today was a difficult day because the new medication they have started her on was causing some very unpleasant side effects. This new medicine is a "targeted therapy", designed especially to attack the DNA of her particular strain of cancer. It is a pill that she must take 2 times a day for 12 months, and then they will determine what is next. This medication is extremely expensive, and she had to be approved for a grant to cover the cost since insurance would not cover it. (Praise God! She was approved!!) This is in place of further chemotherapy or radiation, and the oncologist is very hopeful that it will be beneficial for her. So, we are praying that the unpleasant side effects are only temporary and that as her body adapts to the new medicine the side effects will hopefully go away.
The thing I love about my friend Sharon is that no matter how she is feeling, she finds reasons to rejoice. She is the most beautiful example of God's grace in action I've ever seen. Instead of feeling sorry for herself she is reaching out to so many, sharing her testimony and the love of God with everyone who will listen. She sings praises to the Lord every opportunity she can...and when you come away from spending time with her, you feel as though you've been in the Presence of the Lord as well. He IS present there, I have no doubt...and that is why I say it was a privilege and joy to take supper to her and her family today. "Amazing Grace...how sweet the sound..." Here is a link to Sharon's Caring Bridge journal if you would like follow her amazing story: https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/sharonwatson/journal
Well dear friends, I guess that is all for tonight. I think I will go ahead and post this tonight because it may take two days for you to read it all! Seriously, I just want to praise the Lord for His kindness and goodness to us this past week (and always).
God is good! All the time! All the time! God is good!
