thread for middle age to older Christian women.

bandwoman1234

Can I have a corner piece. The one with the bow of course!

bandwoman1234

HersheyKiss

Faith, I wish I could take credit as the "cake artist." Alas, that skill is not in my wheelhouse. If I tried to pipe the beautiful bow, it would end up looking like a haystack! ;-)

Cindymb

Hello ladies 🤗

Checking in. I just had my 2nd infusion this past Monday, so I am halfway done. Thank you Jesus! Still have my hair so the cold capping seems to be working. Fatique and some nausea are the only side effects. God is good. I pray for you all often.

Cindy ❤

bandwoman1234

Cindy, so glad you are half way through your treatments. Hang in there. You CAN DO IT!!!!

Have a great day dear sisters.

Love,

Nancy

IntoLight

Sorry to have missed a bit lately but I am thankful Ellen is safe, Faith is doing well, and praying Cammie continues to do so well!

It is amazing how God sends circumstances into our lives to help us even when they seem difficult on the surface. For some reason my family resisted going to church the past couple of years since my dx--yes years. My DH used my illness as an excuse for the need to sleep in many times and to avoid shaking hands, and my DD also always seemed to come up with a reasonable excuse. It is my own fault that I did not push them, and as is my nature, I felt guilty pushing them and even more guilty not attending. But I have decided to return to the choir which I love, and it is the group of people I really use as a small group to stay connected and supported. My DH actually encouraged my decision and now joyfully attends Sunday mornings so I can sing. The God thing?... My granddaughter, who still lives with us with her mommy after 3 years, LOVES to go to church. She dances around and the joy in her voice at getting to go to church is contagious. She tells us her Bible story, sings the songs, and Of course her momma can't say "no" to that. At three years old she almost has the books of the New Testament memorized after just a few weeks. So I have a little child leading my family back to church. God is so amazing! I just had to share...

bandwoman1234

Chris, so happy to hear you are back with your choir. That is awesome. The only thing I can say about your grand daughter being the catalyst of your family getting back to church is............................out of the mouth of babes!!!! Praise the Lord!

Love,

Nancy

bandwoman1234

Hi dear ladies of faith,

I hope this has been a good day for you. We have had so many wonderful answers to pray that for those it is easy to rejoice in what the Lord has done and is doing. I know our pastor says so many times that this day may be the best day for some of you and the worst for others and to be sensitive to that. I know some of you are doing well and some are still battling issues that have been going on for a very long time. For some you may be hesitant to share your needs thinking they are not as important as others. I know that we serve a God who loves each of you so much that I know that what is important to you is important to Him. If God says in His word the the very hairs on your head are numbered then that tells me God knows everything single thing about us and what we are thinking and feeling. I pray that God will meet you at your point of need today no matter how big or small it may seem to you. I pray that for those who need an extra dose of hope that He will give that to you in abundance. What I have found is that as soon as you see a BIG victory that has been a long time coming the enemy wants to come right in and tear down your confidence and your joy. Stand guard and be ready for that to happen. I am seeing victory in my Cammie litterbox issues and what the enemy thought would defeat me did not and he is having a hissy fit trying to steal my joy in other areas. As soon as I recognize it for what it is then it is easy to know that we are more than conquerors in this battle. No weapon formed against me shall prosper. I have said that out loud so many times in the last several months and I am still saying it because we will always be in this battle until we are safely at home with Jesus.

Take care dear sisters and I pray that you have a great evening.

Love,

Nancy

Ade

Beautiful banner, great word, Nancy! Thankful Cammie's behaving like a lady and that the enemy can't steal your joy. You're right - so many times we let things beat us up when if we'd just realize the enemy's ploys we can have the victory so much easier. We know that greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world!

We LOVE getting rain around here but it comes with a price. It makes a certain bush flower and then the allergies run rampant. Mine just laughs at Claritin so I just take it anyway and push through. Our son Aaron is on a steroid inhaler and gets fevers & sinus infections from this allergy stuff. Has missed church & 3 days of work.

A dear young Christian mom of 4 (whose son, Nick, you prayed for when he had a seriously aggressive brain cancer a while back) has herself just been diagnosed with uterine cancer. Your prayers for Nicole are so welcome. Nick is back in school and doing well! PTL!!!

I am praying for all of you ladies. Keep the Lord in your focus no matter what. HE is our hope and our joy and our salvation!

I wanted to share this beautiful moment of yesterday's dawn with you. It's the harvest moon setting over Gorilla Mountain just west of our home.

Blessings upon your day, dear sisters!

Ade

GardenGal777

Hi Nancy,

Just thought ai would do a quick pass through to say my hello to you and to see what has been happening on here since I last read the threads. It is so good to see you on here and continuing to be such a rock for others on here. May God continue to bless you in your faithfulness. I did catch up on here and Bev mentioned that you had to move your mother out of her home. I get all that...it is hard. And the adventure you have been having with your cat....wow. I thought I had it bad with my Merit and pee pads and towels. I think your situation has been much worse.

It was five years ago this month that God had led me to this thread. And tomorrow I will have my five year check with a new doctor as my insurance will not allow me to go back to my former genecologist. I am trusting God that when he healed me, he did it for good...amen.

I asked God to confirm to me that last be my last one teaching. And boy did he ever. It probably was the worst one in my entire career. Be careful for what we ask for. But it was the best year ever with my kiddos. They blessed me in so many ways. I don’t want to go into details but it was hard leaving behind something I sincerely loved doing so much. But God showed me that I needed to be home for my dad, for my two dogs and my hubby. Both of my dogs are failing. One has incurable cancer and my sweet therapy dog is lame. She cannot get up without my help and she has gone deaf. But she still loves me fussing over here and she is alert and happy. My hubby put off rotator cuff surgery on his other shoulder until school was done. He is still going to PT and doing well. I spent seven weeks of being designated driver. It was worse than driving kids to all their after school events and games.

My dad is hanging in there. Some days are very trying but I count it a blessing and an honor to have him here with me. Now that teachers are back, I am so grateful to be out of the craziness. There have been so many changes at my school including my office being taken away because of lack of space. This year I would be mentoring kids doing poorly in reading or math. There is not much time for planning and of course they continue to have a sub shortage. I am loving not answering to a time schedule although it kept me focused. I will most likely be heading back in for some surgery in the very near future for another meniscus injury to my right knee this time. Old age stinks...lol. I am able to walk each day and do some cycling. No running until it is fixed.

I see some familiar names still on here and it is good to see some new folks to keep the thread going. So nice to see Deb Foots back on here with her lovely writings. I missed that when she left. Please know that I continue to think of this site and the needs of those on this thread. I pray for all of you and ask God to meet your needs.

I will leave you with a photo of a cake my hubby got me the first official week of no school. I know you as a teacher Nancy will get a chuckle over it.

Oh...for Ade. I saw that you had issues with your dog and thunder. If you haven’t tried it, consider Meletonine. 3mg. If you know a storm is coming 30 minutes before. There is fast acting there is a Prolonged release formula. Both worked for my dog who had to be put in the basement to pant and stress through it. He now has Trazodone because he takes it before going to the vet and they told me we could use it for that too. But the Meletonine was recommended from my dog trainer. Mine is from Douglas Labratories.

Love in Christ,

Char

bandwoman1234

Hi Ade, I know you are not alone in dealing with all the allergy issues. In this area many people will get relief at the first frost but in your case I know you may have nice weather for quite a while. I am happy to hear about Nick doing so well but very sad to hear about his Mom. Praying Nicole will be able to have a good prognosis. Love your beautiful pic. The colors are magnificent and the moon is awesome.

Char, so great to hear from you. I have thought of you often and prayed for you when you came to my mind. I knew this was your last year teaching. I am glad to hear your Dad is hanging in there. I am sorry to hear about your failing dogs. I know when I thought I might have to put my Cammie (cat) down a few months ago because of this serious litter box problem I was devastated. Thankfully God has intervened in that but I know how awful it was during that time of considering that. I know our pets are our family and it is so hard to deal with them when their health is failing.

I'm sorry to hear you cannot run at this time. Knee problems are not fun. I hope your future surgery will allow you to do more and maybe get back to running. With your DH having shoulder surgery it sounds like you have been busy.

Congratulations on your retirement. I love the cake and your DH was so sweet to have that made for you. It looks yummy!

I am overdue for an email to Bev so will be doing that soon. I will be leaving for my Mom's soon. She will turn 93 on Oct. 12. She has adjusted to her assisted living facility so well. I was so sure this would be the end of her but her survival skills are amazing. We were very blessed to find this very small facility which has great workers and the director and some of the CNA's are Christians so that is a super blessing.

I figured you would drop in sometime and I am glad you did. Praying your five year check up will be good.

Don't be a stranger.

Love,

Nancy

Ade

Char, beautiful cake! Congratulations on your retirement!

Like Nancy, I am sorry about your dogs' failing health. We have had Airedale Terriers for decades and their lifespans are only 13-14 years at best, being bigger dogs. Our Maggie is now 8 so she is "over the hill" and beginning to have decreased sight. She is my little shadow EVERYwhere I am and I just can't bear to think of losing her someday. (Nancy - I'm SO glad you didn't have to lose your Cammie!) We will be leaving for Ohio for 2 weeks on the 13th and she will board at the vets. I know she will be safe but we will miss each other. Thank you for the Melatonin suggestion.

I too have had two meniscus repairs on my left knee. When I had pain yet again I was concerned there wouldn't be enough meniscus to cushion the joint if I had another surgery. My orthopedist suggested a Synvisc injection which can last 8 months to a year. I have had two so far and found them to work well! Yes, old age is not for sissys but it beats the alternative! You have your hands full with your dad and dogs so perhaps this retirement is quite timely. I pray you can have times of peace and relaxing. Thanks for posting - it's good to meet you!

Praying for you all,

Ade

Nancy thanks for the comments on my photo - it was shot from my front porch in my bathrobe & jammies! :oD

bandwoman1234

This was a verse in one of my devotionals today. I love this verse because it tells me even though we know heaven is going to be wonderful our earthly home can be filled with goodness as well.

Ade, looks like we will be away at the same time. I am going to be leaving on the 10th. I have never boarded Cammie except for surgeries so she will travel with me. I am very grateful that she travels in the car very well after the initial ten minutes of stress. Praying Maggie will be fine as you enjoy your trip.

Have a great day dear sisters.

Love,

Nancy

Psalm 27:13-14 New International Version (NIV)

13 I remain confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
14 Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.

bandwoman1234

Dear ladies of faith,

Today I pray that you will have spiritual eyes to look all around you and see and feel the enormous love that God has for each one of you. There is a song out now that has hit the top of the Christian charts and it talks about the overwhelming, never ending reckless love of God. It speaks of how he will leave the 99 to rescue one lost soul. God loves us that much. I pray that today you can feel that love and His presence in whatever circumstances your find yourself in today.

Love,

Nancy

IntoLight

Char, love the idea of the cake to celebrate your retirement. From one teacher to another, I know how bittersweet this feels!

Nancy, just wanted you to know how much i appreciate your posts and banners. Thank you!

Chris

bandwoman1234

Thank you Chris.

Have a wonderful weekend dear sisters. I am off to the dentist.

Love,

Nancy

bandwoman1234

Have a great Sunday dear ladies of faith.

Love,

Nancy

HersheyKiss

Gosh, did I need to read that banner today! Thank you, Nancy, for posting it.

Vargadoll

I'm always reading along! I love the banners and pictures that are shared but most of all the faith! I occasionally have time to actually post. Today I do! The grandkids were here later than normal last night and all those tedious little nighttime chores or overlooked. I got up early and tried to get everything done before church before I knew it was 5 minutes past time for me to leave! I was a few minutes late but they hadn't closed the door yet. It just was one of those hectic mornings. My Sundays are usually peaceful and I could have easily skip church this morning. When my pastor got to the pulpit this morning he said I want to thank you all for being here. You all had choices and you chose to be here. You chose to be here with your faith family on this Sunday morning. All of a sudden I didn't care that I was late! I was right where I was meant to be!

bandwoman1234

Hershey, how is your LE coming along? I am sure you and Joanne could identify with the patience needed to deal with the swelling that just doesn't seem to go away. I know God allows us to go through things not to make us miserable but to build our faith muscles to bring us from glory to glory. I pray God will give you an abundance of hope today for your present and your future.

Varga, glad you made it to church even though it may have not been your usual promptness. God never closes his doors on His children, late or otherwise. Glad you had some time to post. Are things drying out in NC? We are having a Convoy of Hope trailer truck at our church in a couple of weeks to pack kits for the storm victims. I would love to take part in that but will be on the road coming home from visiting my Mom downstate.

Enjoy your Sunday dear sisters. I take Sunday's being a day of rest literally and usually have a long nap in the afternoon. I am usually going 100 mph during the week but my Sunday afternoons are for me to unwind and I do. Hope you can relax and unwind as well.

Love,

Nancy

gkbuser

hi ladies, we were also a little bit late for church this morning. I can only tell you the devil must be super busy on Sunday mornings. But everytime I feel like he's working to keep me out of church it makes me all the more determined to go. Even if I put on a pair of jeans I wasn't real happy with today but you know what? I went! 😊 We will not let the devil keep us out of church! On another note we've been really busy with my daughters marching band and it is so fun. They travel to local competitions. We don't have to go too far which is nice. But I love watching the marching bands and cheering. Also going to football games and watching them do the halftime program. I hope you all have a blessed day

bandwoman1234

GK, glad you made it to church. Yes, I am certain the enemy works overtime on Sunday mornings to discourage us from going to church by putting up all sorts of road blocks.

I am a retired band director so it warms my heart to hear of parents supporting their kids music endeavors. Good for you!!!

Love,

Nancy

IntoLight

We attended the church that is affiliated with out GD's preschool this morning to watch them sing and celebrate. It was different but I am still thankful for church. I did miss the choir...

gkbuser, my youngest son was in the marching band and we loved going to games and competitions, so I know how you feel. I miss them! Our daughter was the athletic trainer for a high school and we sometimes went to football games just to support her as an adult even moving the chains as they needed the help. Her school now doesn't have a football team and is too far away for us to just attend games (an hour one way!) but she doesn't miss football at all. Says she has her Friday nights back!

Enjoy your naps everyone!!!

bandwoman1234

Chris, I am sure your GD loved having you there. Did she sing in this service?

I love the idea that the Lord fights for us. When we have done all we can do then I believe that is when the Lord comes in and does what we cannot. Our job is to wait, pray and trust that He will answer. He will always answer according to His will and not ours. That is the part we sometimes don't fully grasp with our hearts even though we have heard Thy will be done a million times.

Have a restful night dear sisters.

Love,

Nancy

Kat17

Thanks Bandwoman, just what I needed to read before bed

bandwoman1234

Thank you Kat17. That is the whole point of these banners.

As we are getting into our Thanksgiving holiday season it is good to remind ourselves that we need to be in that spirit every day of the year. There is something about going to God first with a grateful heart that opens ourselves up to His presence in a deeper way. They say that courage is doing something in spite of the fear. I think that we need to be thankful and express that to God in spite of our feelings. There is something very powerful about literally counting your blessings during times when you certainly don't feel like doing that. There is a release in that I cannot explain but very real.

Have a great day dear sisters.

Love,

Nancy

Lita57

I heard this very simple "thank you" recently.

"Dear Lord, Thank you for my comfortable, warm bed, and thank you for the dry roof over my head. I also thank you for the food on my table that keeps my body strong and able. Amen."

Even in the midst of our suffering, we often don't know how fortunate we are.

L

Teka

*Good Evening*

Kathie, I come here to seek faith and support from members. I'm more of a lurker than a poster!! ;o)

I've slowed my pace for doing outdoor yard work and feel less lame.

Husband and I took a 4 day mini-vacation to Maine.

I took the following pic at the Comfort Inn.

Always in my evening prayers one and all.

bandwoman1234

Lita, I am praying you will be able to enjoy your book launch party in November. That is just next month.

Our pastor who travels the world preaching just recently mentioned that some of the places he visits that materially are way worse off than in the US the people seem to be happier in their circumstances than we in the US are.

Joanne, the lyrics to that song ditto what my pastor was saying too. I am sponsoring a little girl in Ethiopia and every time I pray for her it reminds me of how much I have and how little she and her family have. It is hard to understand why I was born in what would be deemed wealth and she was born in poverty.

I know this prayer request may seem very trivial to what many of you are going through but I am going to ask if you have time to say a prayer for Cammie my cat. I have a tech person coming tomorrow afternoon and that person will be definitely be invading her personal space as my computer room is in Cammie's litter box room and where I feed her. After carefully tracking her litterbox habits the last several months this type of interruption could mean four days of an out of the box experience. She has not had one of those since Sept. 9 and we have been on a very good roll.

I thought I could deal with this installation of a new modem myself but I have SO many devices connected to my wifi network which could be big issues if I ran into problems so I finally gave in and called the tech person to come.

I am watching the Cubs in the Wild card game tonight trying to hang on for dear life. It is do or die tonight.

Have a good night dear sisters.

Love,

Nancy

bandwoman1234

Teka, we must have been posting the same time. Just now saw your post. Love the hydrangea pic. I hope you had a great time on your mini vacation. I bet it is beautiful up there this time of year. I planted a hydrangea this spring and the poor thing is limping along. I can only hope it will one year look like that one! Thanks for posting. Glad you are feeling better.

Love,

Nancy