start with a short line – write 5 lines of 3 lines each

What do you picture when you are told “The Gathering Place”?

tables of interested people talking

puzzles, cards and paper

looking connected, smiling

coffee drinkers munching warm monkey bread

tea, need more cups

tables of interested people chatting animatedly

computer people taking turns

talk of hands, housing and snow

looking connected, smiling comfortably

counseling sessions

getting info

connecting with other humans

Come Christmas time my father would begin to act like Santa Claus!! We ho-ho-hoed all the way out to a farm in Kentucky and got a tree, then we came home and did the cookies and hot cocoa bit! One year we got a tree that some animals hit first, so we took it out, washed it and then brought it back in! When we finally got the tree trimmed the lights had to be perfectly spaced. We put our stools around it. Left cookies and milk for Santa, read lots of stories.

It was always hard to get to sleep on Christmas Eve. When we were tucked in, we’d lie there with eyes wide open. Without too much waiting time we’d hear jingle bells from a distance,

(Yep, Daddy had started at the bottom of the hill!), then get closer to the window until they disappeared. We got really into this tradition. It took us years to peer out the window to check on Dad’s progress but then we had guessed long ago by the sound of the bells which appeared hung inside the house after Santa had mysteriously come.

Be better 2015

Communication of the heart

Building a career and sticking with it whether it be manager in food or medical

Reaching out more to others who are hurting, letting them know how much God loves them.

Letting the past go and people go

Praying for peace and let God work in me.

Preparing myself to be a good Christian wife to my boyfriend Jim Anderson and always communicating

Encouraging others to be healthy and continuing to work hard

As the new year comes 2015, God brought me this wonderful man in my life. This man is a loving wonderful man that I love. I want to help each of us reach our career goals together and communicate always. At 40 yrs old I waited for a loving man. A man who is great just like my father Walter Weland was. Jim Anderson is a great man. Being a good communicator can help in many ways whether you are a caregiver, married, everyday life. It affects me greatly. It can bring out the best in you, a smile, laughter, joking, smiling, we have hearts and all deserve love. Communication to be valued is to be great. To be great is to be honored. I want to also be an encourager. My father was the prime example of how people should be. Communication, goals, reaching out is how we all should be. Great are we who truly believe in all we can be in the world. Great is he that is in the world. I want to always be the greatest I can be within myself and others around me. I want to be with the examples around me. I love people. I want to be the best whether it be in the hospital with patients or on the floor at the restaurant. A wise man once said to be great is a honor, but to spread happiness is a joy. I learn by example. A priest, pastor, older generations around. To be wise is to learn by example. To learn is to be an example.

The year 2015 should be a year of wonderful goals we reach to make the new year complete.

Learning to listen and picking my words wisely and being encouraging whether I am angry or upset.

~Ruth Morrow

cigarettes

volcanos

fireplace

wood stove

dirty clothes

smoking

ash trays

grey clouds look like ashes

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I would sit with them, cheer them up, make them smile, offer them anything I had that they liked. Make them smile, give them good advice, listen to them and just stay with them for as long as I could.

~ Terry Brunner

Sometimes we are put in situations where God had put us to see how we will respond. Some behaviors are hard to accept, but understanding the behaviors is understanding what struggles we all may have. Alot of times I have to be careful on how I approach a situation. I come on too strong when I get upset. I have asked for forgiveness where I have failed as a sister or to a friend because I get upset over stupid things. Patience is a future. In my past there are things I wish I could have done differently. I am still growing and learning day by day.

I always ask for peace and guidance and for God to make me the example. I am truly thankful for all that I have and have learned.  When you learn to forgive, you have a peace inside of yourself. God has forgiven us for the mistakes that we have made. I have learned to look at things differently. To forgive can be a blessing and peaceful gift. Life is too short to be angry. Doing the prayer challenge does help out alot. I know that we are always challenged every day.