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 💚
SurrealDo 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! 💛
“My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever.”
Psalms 73:26
“Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
John 13:35
“Three things will last forever-faith, hope, and love-and the greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians 13:13
“If we were perfect, we wouldn’t need a Savior. It’s not about perfection-it’s pressing for progression and surrendering to self. When the world can’t satisfy, our Savior can saturate—filling voids and bringing value to the valleys and peace at the peak.”
K.L. Hale
“The true way to live is to enjoy every moment as it passes, and surely it is in the everyday things around us that the beauty of life lies.”
Laura Ingalls Wilder
“One touch of nature makes all the world kin.”
John Muir
“Peace begins with a smile.”
Mother Teresa
“The wound is a place where the Light enters you.”
Rumi
“There. I’ve done my best. If that won’t do, I shall have to wait till I can do better.”
Louisa May Alcott, Little Women
“To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.”
C.S. Lewis
“You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you.”
C.S. Lewis
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
Martin Luther King Jr.
“Do one thing every day that scares you.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched-they must be felt with the heart.”
Helen Keller
“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”
Oscar Wilde
“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”
Abraham Lincoln
“Life is a succession of lesson which must be lived to be understood.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.”
Robert Frost
“Everything you can imagine is real.”
Pablo Picasso
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Maya Angelou
“Courage is grace under pressure.”
Ernest Hemingway
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”
Confucius
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So, throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, dream, discover.”
Mark Twain
“Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work form beginning to end.”
Ecclesiastes 3:11
May 2024 bring joy, good health, laughter, and love lessons. Undoubtedly, it will bring the unexpected, too. What gives you hope in the haphazard? Joy in the juggles? Persistence in pain? Faith in the fuzzy? May love light your way.
You are all treasures to me. Thank you for your love, support, and prayers. I look forward to my future with faith, family, friends, flannel, and faith!
We toured the backroads of our lives. Mom was driving, Dad singing, and other family members and I enjoyed the views. Memories have become less melancholic. Rather than sadness, serenity swept over me. Recollections of my childhood, family functions, and the best, my own sons and times in this area, brought me car-abiding comfort. Focusing on the setting light, I thanked God for supplying me strength and stamina.
Just like the sunflowers on Sunday evening, my mature muscles keep me facing the direction of a new morning; new mercies and light. All the years I kinked my neck and twisted my back seeking the better bright will pay off. A harvest is happening. The light is right.
Sunflower Field, Billings MO-K.L. Hale
In the morning, all the sunflowers will face east, the direction of the rising sun. As the sun moves, so will the sunflower heads to follow it. But as summer turns to autumn and the sunflowers get big and ripe and heavy with seeds, they will stop moving. Until they are harvested, they will face only east. (Nargi, 2021)
Only young flowers “move” to face it throughout the day. Once they reach maturity, they stop sun-tracking—their blooms forever turned eastward. Attempting to understand the function of heliotropism in young sunflowers while mature ones stay static remains a fascination for many scientists. Recent studies suggest that sunflowers share a common mechanism with human beings, circadian rhythms organized around a 24-hour day. Scientists hypothesize these circadian rhythms—behavioral changes associated with an internal clock—explain sun tracking in young blossoms. (Do Sunflowers Always Face the Sun?, 2020)
Unlike these flowers, my rhythm is off. No explanation is needed as to why. Unlike these flowers, I will keep my neck stretching for the SON light at all times. Maturity maintains my muscles; I can rest before harvest. Are you growing and bending to the right light? Are you in the mature harvesting phase? Will you accept the love and light that keeps your head high? You are loved.
Have faith💚
Have you heard of NET, yet?🦓
Thank you for remembering me in your thoughts and prayers. It’s so humbling. I will continuously share my gratitude like a broken record! Last Friday’s blood draw revealed I need to continue growing platelet levels. If approved, I’ll receive more shots beginning soon. In two weeks, I will meet the surgeon via Telehealth. My friends and support group meet each Wednesday. They have become such a mighty force in my friendship circle. My learning and support have been boosted (just as we hope blood continues to do)! I have several friends, either newly diagnosed with cancer or are battling other life-threatening situations or circumstances. I found out last week about a very young patient who was recently diagnosed with this cancer; another friend has breast cancer. My daily prayers are with them and all of you; no matter the situation. Each day, no matter what, I keep things in perspective. It may not lessen the pain or challenges, but I stay grounded. I’ll give out grace like chocolate chip cookies! Due to advancements in imaging and technology, more are being diagnosed. Also, due to those things, many are living longer lives. I pray you are all living your best lives. I’ll keep focusing on all the good. Faith is working.
