Rendezvous Spots

This was going to be a public post — but the people who saw the building today have been checking our website and don’t want to queer anything…. will make this public again after we find out of anything is gonna happen with them.

 

Where will we go when we are finally mobile?

I haven’t been asking myself that question; but it may be time to start.

We are still taking R/E showings, but we do have some active interest and the seasons they are a changin’.  We weren’t willing to invest time in trip planning for one important reason.  The time of year we depart Milwaukee will hugely impact Journey’s  first heading out of Miltown with us on board destined to the future.

I’m a quick trip planner; I don’t need weeks or months to plan, and it’s not like we have reached this age without goals.

But….

Leaving Milltown at the end of the winter or leaving at the middle of summer would make for very different maiden voyages.

We haven’t been able to consider short trips thus far because of the weather; Journey has gotten her monthly exercise and that’s about it.  We quickly learned that the disadvantage of owning a school is that people interested in buying a school are not equally skilled in spatial orientation:  in other words when we did a couple un-escorted showings the buyers got lost and didn’t see important features of the building.  So…. not wanting to miss showings has meant that we also didn’t want to be far out of Milwaukee.  Our limit has been, “close-enough-to-get-back-in-time.”

If we can get an offer turned into a deal our situation changes dramatically.  We figured out that the timing for home inspections is usually within the first two weeks of an agreement on terms.  And, Triko says she needs three weeks start to finish for the estate sale.  So, any closing date beyond about 5 weeks means we have the option to get Journey out of storage and do a shakedown cruise or two.

We’re talking with a couple about a July closing, but all the details aren’t worked out yet and that date is further out than we’d like but as the old saying goes, “beggars can’t be choosers.”  We’ll see how this all works out.

Our original idea, (when we were dreaming we’d be out of Milltown during the winter) had been to head South first and then West to San Diego.  If we depart in the summer we’ll most likely head Northwest or straight West.  Part of us would like to stop by and see Fred and Lisa in the not too distant future.   Kathryn has put in her request for Arches National Monument. So, when the time is close and we can make plans without having to change them three or four times we’ll make some decisions.  Until, it’s loosey-goosey time.

Running off the Night Before

Do you ever feel that way? Like your head is in a fog from the day before and you just need to run it off…..

I know I do, and it’s not from abusing my body the night before. Yesterday we saw this person running along the lake and I wanted to capture that feeling.  A few sprayed strokes and adjustments and I think it says what I was feeling.

Just because a person is informed, or intelligent, or hard working does not always mean that you know the answers to your own questions, or that you are sure which path to take.  This period of waiting has been that for us.  We know where we want to get, but precisely where to put our feet to get there hasn’t always been apparent.

And yet — the footstep right in front of us is always pretty clear, pretty obvious. God knoweth the path that we take.

Psalm 119:105 say that God’s word is like a lamp to my feet, and a light for my path.  This is what we have been living and it has been sufficient for us.

In the ancient days there were no LED flashlights. There weren’t any really “portable” lights at all. There were times that people who had to get about in the dark would take a candle lamp, or an oil lamp suspended by a rope or chain along with them into the evening dark.  The lamp would light the area right around their feet — assuring a more certain and safer passage through the unknown.  Nowadays we think we need to see a long way ahead — I know I like the high-beams on my car, and use them when it’s right.  But walking with God isn’t always about seeing a mile ahead.  Sometimes all we really need is to know where to put the next food.

What Might You Regret?

Recently I came across this article
on the Net. In so many ways it
reflects my own experiences
during 25 years in ministry.

I am sure that many of my friends who are reading this may have at some time in their life wondered what they will regret about their life when they are lay on their deathbed. A friend of mine who has worked as a nurse and actually been with countless people as they lay dying said that for the majority of people the regrets were the same.

Here in this article she has wrote about the top 5 regrets that people have on their death bed. All of these are real, genuine and in her own words.

For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives. People grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality.
I learned never to underestimate someone’s capacity for growth. Some changes were phenomenal. Each experienced a variety of emotions, as expected, denial, fear, anger, remorse, more denial and eventually acceptance. Every single patient found their peace before they departed though, every one of them.

When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced again and again. Here are the most common five:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
This was the most common regret of all. When people realize that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.

It is very important to try and honour at least some of your dreams along the way. From the moment that you lose your health, it is too late. Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it.

2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.
This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children’s youth and their partner’s companionship. Women also spoke of this regret. But as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.

By simplifying your lifestyle and making conscious choices along the way, it is possible to not need the income that you think you do. And by creating more space in your life, you become happier and more open to new opportunities, ones more suited to your new lifestyle.

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never
became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a
result.

We cannot control the reactions of others. However, although people may initially react when you change the way you are by speaking honestly, in the end it raises the relationship to a whole new and healthier level. Either that or it releases the unhealthy relationship from your life. Either way, you win.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
 Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.

It is common for anyone in a busy lifestyle to let friendships slip. But when you are faced with your approaching death, the physical
details of life fall away. People do want to get their financial affairs in order if possible. But it is not money or status that holds the true importance for them. They want to get things in order more for the benefit of those they love. Usually though, they are too ill and weary to ever manage this task. It is all comes down to love and relationships in the end.
That is all that remains in the final weeks, love and relationships.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.
This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again. When you are on your deathbed, what  others think of you is a long way from your mind. How wonderful to be able to let go and smile again, long before you are dying.

 

Life is a choice. It is YOUR life. Choose consciously, choose wisely, choose honestly. Choose happiness