Accepting August

“Acceptance doesn’t mean resignation; it means understanding that something is what it is and that there’s got to be a way through it.”

Michael J. Fox
August Newsletter (KL Hale)

May your August be abundant with amazing, awesome, and authentic activities and adventures!

©2020-2024 Flannel with Faith.
All rights reserved.

Full Circle

Feeling over the moon I packed my bags again. Two weekend getaways in a row? How dare I think they’d only happen once in a blue moon. Shooting for the moon is a stellar goal! Two years ago I didn’t think I’d be howling at any moon, anytime soon.

Many moons ago a man walked our Earth his Father created. He was totally man, totally God. He hung the moon.

Saying “I love you to the moon and back” to family makes me think of the “over the moon” love that God has for US.

Once in a blue moon, I get disheartened. Then, love and logic lasso my heart and brain. To those who can no longer dream, promise, howl, or even love to the moon and back—I pray for you. You’re in my heart. I speak the name of the moon hanger over you.

Imagine Jesus saying, “I love you to the moon and back!” He means it! What he offers is more than the moon 🌙 What does he want? For us to love him to the moon and back with all our heart! Oh, and love others, too!

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.

1 John 4:16

An antique desk invited me to…WRITE! Thank you Keith and Melinda for making me feel at “home”.

Tears flooded my face as we parked. Finn gave me a look—she KNEW. It was a full circle moment. Stone county was home for 15 years and this community, 11 years. This cottage will forever be home in my heart.

Karla’s Cottage, owned by my dear friends/former neighbors, is the perfect place to enjoy before another treatment. Peace and tranquility, combined with exceptionally unique decor, create a flawless faith-filled environment. Even with an achy back, low reserve, and other physical things you can’t “see”, I’m STILL on cloud nine. Dinner with friends, an upcoming good ol’ Ozarks’ shindig with bluegrass, gospel, comedy and more…laughter, love, friendship, music, …my heart is as full as the moon (without any fear of a total eclipse—let’s wait until April for that ;-).

I’ve come full circle. The road ahead will be bumpy at times. This cancer doesn’t “go away”. The bones are responding to treatment (some being stubborn) and a few pesky lymph nodes will need attention. I’m winning! A few days ago I walked my trail thinking of full circles, full moon, and the circular scan I’d soon experience for the upteenth time. “God, you not only created the planets, stars, light, darkness, oceans, animals, and us silly humans, you’ve offered us the moon. I want to lasso it for others.Thank you for bringing me full circle.” As Earth spins, some spin out of their own orbits. The miracles and magic of our world may not be felt or seen because of health, losses (loved ones, health, or finances), anxiety, depression, disease, or even imprisonment in an unbroken circle of criticism or crankiness. I’m blessed beyond the moon. I don’t know why I’m here still while others lose battles. My pain won’t be wasted. Not one second will be taken for granted. For no one is guaranteed another hour, day, or full moon.

Let’s shoot for the moon!

If you were told you only had one full moon left, what would bring you full circle? Do you know you are loved to the moon and back?

Have faith 💚

Surreal
Do you see the craters?

“As I take man’s last step from the surface, back home for some time to come — but we believe not too long into the future — I’d like to just say what I believe history will record: that America’s challenge of today has forged man’s destiny of tomorrow. And, as we leave the Moon at Taurus–Littrow, we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind.”  

Eugene Cernan-Apollo 17 commander
My peek through the limbs!
Pics by K.L. Hale-dedicated to Gary Fulz, fellow photographer and lover of nature, his JOY-filled daughter who never wastes her pain, and his precious wife and family.
One of MANY amazing notes! If you visit the Branson, MO area, check out Karla’s Cottage—Keith and Melinda will take great care of you! 💛

©2020-2024 Flannel with Faith. All rights reserved.

Prospect of Peace

Peace begins with me. Thank you, Martin Luther King, Jr. for your sacrifice for peace, love, harmony, and righteous justice.

Have faith 💛

Sacred Signs

From the mouths of babes, “Lord, you’ve got this.”
The signs surrounding us are on display,
they're created by nature or man.
What do they mean, what do they convey?
Do they deliver emotion or elicit a plan?

Do they give you relief or make you pause?
Do you halt at a standstill and wonder why?
Reasons will vary, you may not know the cause,
Every so often I just gaze and cry.

Not all the tears drive me to sorrow,
for there's still good on this Earth.
Many miss signs thinking of tomorrow,
the ones from God mean rebirth.

Seeing, observing, and being aware,
providence, planning, and saying a prayer.

K.L. Hale

Encouraged a few minutes ago by teacher, Martha Ann Kennedy, I wrote my first English sonnet. She said to be a writer, you must write. The last few Saturdays I visited local places and festivals (some with friends!). I must take advantage of good hours-to get out, walk, and SEE, not hide. I choose to move and hurt, rather than sit and hurt. Not always an easy thing to do! But there are many “signs” of why I must! Last Saturday, feeling led, I walked into a church by my house. The message was about Ruth. It encapsulated providence, planning, and prayer. Life may not turn out the way you expect. The first thing Pastor Craig Groeschel said was, “You’re not in your final chapter.” We can all write our life as a book with many chapters. Some you might want to leave out. Your story isn’t over. What is your plan, friend? Is your health bad? What are you going to do? Is your relationship in a struggle? What’s the plan? Do you need to have better habits? What are the steps? For many, we’re in a “zone”. You might be busy raising children or hours at work. What do you do when you’re alone? What do you do when all of that is gone? Take a deep breath and know you’re not alone. “Rest in me, my child,” Jesus says to me. Our works can become like devotion and we miss the signs. Maybe we need to put down the phone, go for a walk, smile at a neighbor, and remember to talk. Letting go of that which we can’t control, releasing it to my Savior, so I can grow.

Have you heard of NET, yet?🦓

Friends, the next two months will bring “excused” absences, tee hee. First, a bucket list trip (bubble-wrapped by friends). MANY appointments, another medical test, and preparations for a life-altering surgery. This last nearly year and 1/2 has seemed surreal. What is REAL is the love of God, family, and friends. Looking BACK I can see how I got to here. No, not the disease, but the utter and complete reliance on God.

Thank you to my virtual support group, and friends, from LACNETS.org (http://www.lacnets.org). For without them I wouldn’t have been referred to Dr. Jaydero Del Rivero, who then escalated me to Dr. Johnathan Hernandez. Several of us are going to have changed lives. The hours in pain improve my posture of perseverance (although it has TRIED to get me down—if you see the zebra shoes below, an elevator had opened when I was vulnerable after leaving the dr’s office, she stood there, my patient advocate, with open arms, wearing these shoes). God is working all around.

As for me, right now, my focus will stay on what matters most. I’m reserving every “ding” on my phone for a “Snap” of my grandkids or a message from family. Friends, do you know how loved you are? God loves you and so do I. The signs are all around.

Have faith 💚

For most of my life my faith has been blind. It just existed. I believed. Yet, I appreciate the cold hard facts and evidence. Jesus did too. He provided evidence. And I have experienced it. As shared in devotion by a former atheist, J. Warner Wallace, “I came to understand that the biblical definition of faith is a “well-placed and reasonable inference based on evidence.”