Friday Foto Friends: It's All About The Heart

 Well Friends, this certainly was a week full of surprises! If you are a Facebook Friend, you probably already know what my week has been all about...but there's so much more to the story. So you might as well fix yourself a cup of tea or coffee and find a comfy seat, because this may take a while.

Let's just jump right in at the beginning, shall we?  Early early Wednesday morning, around 5:00 a.m., I was sleeping comfortably in my bed. But suddenly I started having a very disturbing and frightening dream. 

In my dream, I saw this chest of drawers (above), which originally belonged to my maternal grandmother's mother, but it now resides in my bedroom, and it is very very heavy.  In my dream, this chest of drawers was literally tipping over and on top of me, right onto my chest. I could actually feel it crushing my chest as it fell.  I woke up in a panic and in pain...my chest felt like that chest of drawers was on top of it, and my left arm felt weak, as well as my left leg. When I tried to stand up I felt dizzy and nauseous.  I immediately tried to awaken my hubby, who was sound asleep. Finally I managed to arouse him and awaken him to the reality that something was very wrong and I needed to go to the hospital. Somehow we managed to throw some clothes on and decided to just drive there (about 15 minutes away) rather than wait for an ambulance. Probably not the best idea, but that is what we decided to do. Thankfully, at that hour of the morning there was no traffic and also thankfully, when we arrived at the hospital emergency room, it was empty and I was taken in immediately as soon as I said "I think I've had a heart attack!".  

Thankfully the emergency room staff sprung into action and began checking my vitals and did an EKG. I never lost consciousness or anything like that, but it sure felt like a textbook case,especially for a woman having a heart attack. I remember the doctor saying he wasn't sure if I was having a heart attack, but he didn't like how high my blood pressure was. Anyway, they did all the normal things that should be done.  (I assume...I've never had this happen before, but it felt right to me).  

After a while they seemed to agree that I wasn't having a heart attack, but according to a chest x-ray, I apparently had pneumonia.  That, along with the other symptoms I was having, was enough reason for them to decide to go ahead and admit me for further observation. They also ordered a CT Scan of the chest and also the head.  

With each new event, I found that I was floating along in a bed, being carried here and there and back again, but I was in perfect peace.  When they wheeled me out of the room where the CT Scan took place, I saw a little white gauzy looking figure perched above the door. I asked the attendant what that was, and he said, "Oh, that's Jesus!"  We have Him around in all kinds of places.  Even though I knew it was just a piece of gauze bandage made into a little figure, somehow it was comforting to know that these people wanted something to represent Jesus in that place. I said, "Well, I know Jesus is here with me, but I guess I just didn't expect to see Him perched above that door wrapped in gauze, but I like that."  

I don't think I saw anymore little gauzy "Jesus" figures in the hospital, but I did see Jesus in many real people...there was a woman Chaplain who showed up in my room when I got back there, and she just kind of pushed around the nurses and attendants and stuck her head out and said, "Do you mind if I pray with you?"  Of course I said "Please do!".  She showed up again the next day to pray once more, and then said she was on her way to have an MRI done on her head and neck, and I said that I would be praying for her, and I did and I have. I hope everything went okay and that she is going to be fine.

I saw Jesus in the nurses and aides and even the lady who came to clean my room. I felt His presence with me all the time, and it was very comforting.

I finally got some food for supper, after not eating all day long. It was surprisingly good for hospital food, and I was SO thankful to finally be fed!

This was the view from my window.

I'm glad it was good food, because I was not allowed to eat anything again after midnight, as they had scheduled a nuclear stress test for me the next morning. Oh, and they also did an ultrasound/echocardiagram, which was interesting to see.  I wish I could've taken a picture of my heart beating. It would remind you of an ultrasound of a baby in utero, the way it moved around. The nurse doing the test assured me there was no baby in my heart when I told her I thought it looked like there was. (They might have been thinking I was a little cuckoo by now).  

For the Stress test, they had to inject radioactive stuff in my veins and then take me to radiology for the test. I know now why they call it a "stress test"!   Yes, it was stressful, but while waiting for me to drink my Pepsi after the test (because the caffeine counteracts the stress medicines in your body! Who knew?), the fella who did the test stood at a distance from me (because of the radiation) and we chatted about the Lord. He was a wonderful Christian young man, and we enjoyed sharing our faith with one another. Then he took me back to my room and told me not to snuggle up with anyone for about 18 hours so the radiation could go away. I called my hubby and told him he couldn't come and hug me for another day or so.  Our 56th anniversary is tomorrow, and thankfully I should no longer be able to glow in the dark by then. LOL.  

Philippians 4:13 NKJV became my mantra throughout these tests...

13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Thankfully when I got back to the room, this lunch was waiting for me: Another very good meal! I ate every bite.  Oh, and that pink "blanket" you see is actually my pink bathrobe. Hubby brought me my things from home, and he decided at that last minute to grab this big pink fleecy bathrobe. I never wore it as a bathrobe, but it stayed on my bed as a cover on top of the blue blanket,  and I snuggled up in it all day and night.  It felt so warm and comforting. What a sweet hubby to think of that!!!

There's the sky outside my window:

This picture was hanging on the wall in my room, reminding me of my own Still Waters Pond...

"He leadeth me beside the still waters...He restoreth my soul..."

Supper was Turkey and dressing...another good meal!  

And this was the sunset outside my window, while I was talking to my sister on the phone and she was telling me about the sunset outside HER window!  It was nice to talk to my sister, (who lives about 2 hours away) and also my brother called me from North Carolina to check on me!

So that brings us up to this morning. They had scheduled an MRI of my brain, to make sure that I had not had a TIA (or light stroke).    Again, Philippians 4:13 rang through my mind as I prayed my way through that tight spot in the machine.   

During this whole time, I had posted my situation on Facebook, and so many people were praying for me, I was totally amazed.  Also people from our church were praying, and I knew that God was working through all the prayers and all the wonderful people who were serving God with their talents for healing.  I kept seeing these different verses and quotes on Facebook, and they gave me comfort:

Especially meaningful were these verses about "the Heart"

Psalm 139:23-24  NKJV

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;

Try me, and know my anxieties;

24 And see if there is any wicked way in me,

And lead me in the way everlasting.

Finally, after all the tests were done and the results were compared, it was determined that I had not had a heart attack or a stroke, but they did discover that I have the beginnings of a heart condition called Diastolic Heart Failure. "What is diastolic heart failure?

Diastolic heart failure, also known as heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), is a condition in which your heart’s main pumping chamber (left ventricle) becomes stiff and unable to fill properly."   Thankfully, "With the right treatment, you can effectively manage the symptoms of diastolic heart failure."  

So I will be getting referred to a cardiologist, who will help me navigate this new situation in my life.

Why did I have that crazy dream and feel like I was having a heart attack? Well, perhaps that was God's way of giving me a literal "wake up call" to discover this condition before it became worse.  Whatever it was, it certainly got my attention, and I thank God for His love and concern for me, and also for putting me where there were His people to help bring about healing in me.  Oh, and they gave me antibiotics for the pneumonia, which really seems to be rather elusive...no cough, no other symptoms, but it was enough to make them keep me in the hospital long enough to figure out this puzzle. And so I give glory to God for His intervention on my behalf. And now I have to learn how to properly take care of myself so things like this don't happen again! 

As I said in one of my posts on Facebook, don't put off saying "I love you" to your loved ones and friends...don't think you've always got tomorrow to get things done...tomorrow may never come. We need to always be ready to go home to meet Jesus.  One of my high school friends actually passed away this week, which was a shock to all of us. But I know he knew the Lord and he is with him today. Still, I know it is very hard for his family, and they are in my thoughts and prayers.  It could've been me...and my family who would be left alone. Life is short...make sure you are ready to meet Jesus face to face. 

If you made it this far in reading this post, thank you for sticking with me. Thank you all for being such wonderful friends.  Now go tell someone you love them.  

Oh, and one more thing...don't put off washing your hair...I had planned on washing it that morning, because I was too tired the night before.  So I ended up with dirty hair for a couple more days! Guess what was the first thing I did when I got home today??? Yep, I took a shower, washed my hair and shaved my legs! And then I took a much needed nap! LOL.  Oh, and the Kids brought over tacos for supper so I didn't have to cook!

That's all Folks! Good Night!

Saturday Thoughts

 This was the sunrise yesterday morning...I love how the trees frame the sun to make it look as though it is entering the earth through a doorway...

And as the sun enters through the doorway...or a gate, perhaps...an "Eastern Gate"....it spreads its light around and dispels the darkness...

bringing us a renewed hope and peace for the new day...

I look forward to the day that The SON Himself, our Messiah, will enter through the Eastern Gate , and dispel all the darkness for us forever.  

Today is Saturday, a day to rest, play, clean house, cook, bake, get caught up on things left undone all week...prepare for Sunday, the Lord's Day...the true day of rest, worship. spending time with the Lord, with our friends at church, our family, a day to rejoice, a day to pray, a day to prepare our hearts for whatever comes next...For some, it will be another ordinary week...off to work or school, or whatever other appointments you may have...and for way too many it will be a week to continue to pray for deliverance from the mud and mire of the storms of last week...a week to try to put some semblance of normalcy back together if at all possible...for many, it won't be possible. Many have no homes to clean, no kitchen to cook in, no beds to sleep in, and still no electricity even if they do have their homes...And sadly, for too many, they have lost loved ones, they are still looking for loved ones who are lost, they are lost themselves, in sorrow, exhaustion, and the feeling that nothing will ever be the same again.  And it won't. Life will never be the same way as it was a little over a week ago.  Lives have been changed forever...and many will never be the same again.  

Ah, but then we look at the weather report, and there is another storm on the horizon! One that is headed straight for the Florida peninsula!  Thankfully, it doesn't appear to be headed back up to Georgia and the Carolinas, but it is definitely headed for the Florida Gulf coast, the mainland, and then across the state to the Atlantic coast, and most likely it will bring a LOT of rain and wind with it, so we all need to be prepared no matter what part of the state we are living in!

I don't want to sound like doom and gloom here...that's not my nature. But I am being realistic and facing facts...there's a whole lot of tragedy and sorrow going on around us. And it's not just here in this part of the country, but it is in many other places too, and especially around the world in Israel and Ukraine and other places of much unrest and sadness. 

More than anything, we need to pray for one another, for those in dire distress and need of much help...and try to do whatever we are able to do to lift up the fallen.  

Today we took a little walk and I noticed something in this location that I had not noticed before:

It is an old sidewalk, leading to a bare spot in a lot, where once an old house stood.

I just couldn't help myself. I had to walk down this path and stand in the spot where the house once stood.

I looked across the new 4-lane highway that now stands in the way of the once much grander view this house had of the little lake across the way. They had to move the house to make room for the highway.

I know you'll think I'm silly, but as I stood there in that spot, I thought about all the many years that grand old house had stood there, (over 100 years, I believe), 

This was the house that stood there, and this picture was taken when we happened to be passing by back in 2018 and saw them actually moving it to its new location.

And I thought about all the years families had lived in this very spot, living their lives, raising their children, going through all the motions of living from the time it was built in 1890...can you imagine? They must have had a horse and buggy here too!  And they probably didn't have electricity at first, and had to do everything the old-fashioned way! Right here on this very spot, people lived, loved, worked hard, probably had a nice garden, taught their children to be good citizens and hopefully to love God and their fellow man, then laughed and cried, maybe even birthed babies, lived and died. Right here in this spot.  And somehow I couldn't just walk away without saying something about that...it felt like hallowed ground.

This was the view out the other side of the house, which probably looks a lot different now than it did then. There used to be a train track right out there in the middle, and the trains would come and go every day into this little town. It was all a lot different then than it is today, and maybe even better then than it is today...but then again, maybe not. Progress can be a good thing...but that's still a matter of opinion.  

I wrote about this old house HERE, when it was literally moved from this location to a new lot when they widened the highway.  The house now belongs to the Florida Dept. of Transportation, and is still waiting to be sold or auctioned off of something. I feel sad that it is still sitting there, waiting for new owners, new people to call it "home", and make its walls ring with laughter once again.

I picked a little bouquet of flowers from the old house lot, and brought them home with me as a kind of memorial to the memory of that house and the life it once "lived".

I thought about all the people who have been displaced from their homes because of the storm last week...many will never see their old homes again because they were totally washed away. The places where they stood may be caked in mud or covered with rocks and boulders from the many mud and rockslides that took place in the mountains...or here in Florida they may be washed away from the storm surge of the ocean waters and totally destroyed...and lives are changed forever.

But the memory lives on in the hearts of everyone who ever lived and loved in those homes...the memory is something that doesn't just go away overnight.  Even when a person gets a brand new home to replace the one that was lost, for whatever reason, it's never quite the same. 

I guess I'm a bit nostalgic tonight, but I write this to honor those who have been through so much heartache this past week, and for those who have lost homes, and a way of life that will never come back the way it was, and then for those who lost loved ones, and life is changed forever.

May God comfort the hearts of those who are hurting, grieving, and still in shock.

May He give you strength to keep moving forward, to have the courage to keep trying and not give up.

Amen.

Thursday Thankfulness and Friday Foto Friends

 It's that week in between Christmas and New Years Day, when we try to play catch up on the "normal stuff" after the Christmas rush and activities, and prepare our minds and hearts and bodies for whatever may lie ahead in the New Year.  2023 is soon becoming a "Closed Door", and 2024 is now an "Open Window", with a brand new blank slate waiting to be filled with whatever adventures God has in store for us.  Peering through the window right now I can't see too far ahead.  There's still a kind of a veil between now and then...

Scenes from my walk to the shore of Still Waters Pond through the woodsy veil.

But soon the veil will begin to open and we will be able to see what new adventures await us...

(I enjoyed a little walk down through the woods to the pond...the foliage is dying out and it is easier to get through now without having so many branches and vines in the way)

Still a little challenging, but isn't that the way life is?  There will always be challenges in our pathway, but "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

Much better view!

Looking around in another direction, toward the little island in Still Waters Pond:

 One of my favorite Scripture passages for the New Year:

Isaiah 43: 18-19

18 "Do not remember the former things,

Nor consider the things of old.

19 Behold, I will do a new thing,

Now it shall spring forth;

Shall you not know it?

I will even make a road in the wilderness

And rivers in the desert."

Today was rather cloudy all day, with intermittent bouts of light rain. It was in the low 60's most of the day, but cooler weather is on its way. The next few days will see lows in the low 40's/high 30's and highs in the 50's and low 60's.  So for us here in Florida, winter is upon us.  It seems as though the birds are well aware that change is on the way. There was a LOT of bird activity out on the feeders and in the trees around us. Here's a few of the visitors we had today:

Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird stop by periodically to check on things at "their spring and summer home".  They seem to still lay claim to this house even though they are not staying in it during the winter.  But whenever any other bird shows any interest in it they somehow swoop in from somewhere and drive them off...

Like this unsuspecting Carolina Chickadee. He likes to poke his head in the house and look around once in a while,

 but the Bluebirds always manage to drive him away pretty quick...

It's like they are standing guard over the house from somewhere in the treetops even though they don't need it right now...but they are not about to rent it out to "strangers".

I don't know if you can see him or not, but there is a "Yellow-Rumped Warbler" in that tree below. How do I know? Because I can see the yellow spot on his rump!  Look very closely:

Mr. Bluebird is checking things out in the house...making sure there are no squatters inside.

Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird are having a conversation about their house...

After a while they took off for wherever they are roosting in the trees in the meantime.

Sometime later there was another visitor coming by to check out the house:

A female Red-Bellied Woodpecker must have heard the news that this house was vacant and came to see for herself:

She seemed to like the roof top patio...

But soon she noticed there were some juicy bugs on that pine tree just beyond, so she decided to go check that out:

She inspected the trunk up and down and I am sure she found some good afternoon snacks...

After her snack she also took off for other trees in other places around the pond...

And Mr. Carolina Chickadee flew back in for a short visit before he took off again also...

There were other birds flying in and out all afternoon, like Cardinals and Doves and Tufted Titmouse, but these were the only ones that I managed to get pictures of. Otherwise I wouldn't have gotten anything else done today!  

So, what else did I do? Not really a whole lot.  Well, this morning we drove into town to Walmart so I could do some shopping for our upcoming weekend family Christmas event here on Saturday. Just as I was finishing up our shopping I got a text from my sister that if at all possible it would be better for everyone else there if we could do it on Monday, New Year's Day, instead of Saturday.  So I checked with our family members on this end, and it appears that will be okay for them, so the "party" has been moved to Monday!  Thankfully the food I bought will keep until then.  We will be doing mostly things like finger foods and veggie and/or fruit platters, Charcuterie style, if you know what that means.  It's a new term that I've been learning about in the past year.  I am anxious to use one of my Christmas gifts:

"Bless the food before us, the family beside us, & the love between us".
Amen!

Isn't it beautiful?  It was a gift from Benton and Rose, and no, they didn't make it. (I asked that question right off, LOL). It really is amazing, and it will be such a joy to use! I intend to put crackers around the edges in that indented area, and cheeses/sliced summer sausage in the middle. 

And now that we will be gathering on New Year's Day I guess we will have to have some black-eyed peas too...it's a southern tradition.  So I will probably make the usual "Hoppin' John"., which has the black eyed peas and rice combined. Now that I think of it, we probably need some Collard Greens and Cornbread as well. Might as well do it up right.  LOL.  So much for simple "finger food" and platters,  etc.  But it will all be fun and good...it always is when family and friends gather in love and harmony.

We will also be celebrating Rose's birthday on Saturday, but that will just be the immediate family. We plan to go out to eat...Rose's choice...so we shall see what she decides!

I guess that's enough for today's Thursday Thankfulness post, which is also for tomorrow's Friday Foto Friends. Maybe I didn't say what all I was thankful for...but if you read between the lines I think you can see that I am very thankful for all of the above events and people and God's creation all around us. I am also thankful that our family has made it safely through 2023, even with a few health issues here and there, but we are arriving on the doorstep of 2024 with renewed health and strength and so much to be thankful for! God has been very kind and good to us and we are very thankful indeed.

I'll try to check back in after our Saturday event and then again after our Monday event.  Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!