Category: Spiritual Health

Sands of Time

by lovesdoves, posted in Emotional Health, Family health, Spiritual Health

This past weekend I brought home a little bag of sand from our oldest daughter’s home in Savannah, Georgia. I do that. I collect earth from the places that we visit.

I am very nostalgic, and aside from photos and videos, I look for special ways to archive memories, so they can be revisited whenever I want to peak back in time. When we traveled, Terry would find a hat, or a wicked awesome t-shirt to take home, and the girls would find little things that intrigued them that would make their way back with us, too, but I loathed the process of searching through the tourist trap gift shops with all their trinkets and novelties. To me, those objects didn’t represent the time that we had spent together and would hold little long-term meaning as I looked back over my life and the memories that we had created as a family in fabulous places around the world.

 

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So I started collecting the earth… sand, soil, rock. I would find the perfect spot to scoop up a handful of this God-hewned memorabilia and sift it down into a vessel for transport home to Ohio where I store each in a magnetic container in my living room. This display is an organic, meaningful, changing piece of art. I am mesmerized by the differences in the samples that I’ve acquired. Each is so diverse in color and texture, completely unique to the area that it came from, whether it was the beaches of Italy where my grandfather used to play, or the beaches of Cape Cod where my brother and sister and I played, or the beaches of Virgin Gorda where our daughters played, each is so special to me because of the time that we had spent there with the people that we love.

As I was preparing this sand for its new home here with us, I had a revelation. That just as sand shifts and changes constantly, so do our lives. Sometimes we are prepared for those changes and sometimes they happen regardless of our thoughts or expectations. And though the landscape of our lives is ever-evolving… developing and growing and uncertain at times… I still find magnificent beauty in it. I actively choose to appreciate each day with thankfulness and joyfulness, and for the new opportunity that it represents to serve God and the people that He loves.

Another thing that I have come to understand and embrace… when I resist it the least, when I let God do the sculpting of my life, that is when it’s the most effortlessly beautiful, just like the sand dunes of the Cape. That’s when my heart is at peace, that’s when I can be in the present moment, or enjoying the memories of the past with my collection of earth. Resisting resistance is part of my living well life.

 

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FINALLY!!

by lovesdoves, posted in Career Health, Emotional Health, Financial health, Physical health, Social health, Spiritual Health

…after years of searching and exploring, we’ve finally found the BEST system available for losing weight and gaining health that goes above and beyond detoxification! It’s called Yoli: The Better Body System and we are truly encouraged by the reports that we have from the {blessed} test participants that have had the opportunity to preview the products!

It is a simple system that uses high quality ingredients that contain NO artificial sweeteners, NO soy, NO preservatives, NO colors. Just follow the fast track weekly calendar and your body will be transformed into a fat-burning machine. You will regain your health and well-being all while attaining the body of your dreams!!

To give you an idea of how the program works, here is the 7 day Fast Track and Fast Track Plus quick reference calendar:

If you are interested in pre-ordering the Better Body System 30 day Transformation Kit available before November 1, 2011, you could save $114.00! Please contact me at LisaMcCoskey@gmail.com or through this blog post for the specifics!

Take the 30 day challenge with us! Your body, your mind and your spirit (and your pocketbook) will be glad that you did!!

You’ll be Living Well!!

Heavenly Father, Creator God

by lovesdoves, posted in Emotional Health, Spiritual Health

Sometimes… sometimes I’m not even sure where to begin….

so I pray through the power of God’s Holy Spirit…

Heavenly Father, Creator God, in Jesus Christ’s name, I seek you… I am desperate for your strength, as I search for answers that only You have… that aren’t even mine to know, so please just provide peace in the truth that you are in charge, that even when everything feels unbalanced and chaotic, that You see everything, that You know my needs, You know the Truth, and that You are still powerfully and righteously in control… I praise you more than ever, God… now more than ever… Amen

How do you live a decade in 3 months? A husband’s emergency surgery, the birth of a first grandchild, the diagnosis of lung cancer, a botched surgery, and the subsequent death of a father, a couple of kidney stones, an IRS summons, the completion of a youngest daughter’s high school education, the celebration of an oldest daughter’s wedding, and the return of family to their new homes… far away… while still running a business, and renting some property and striving to maintain equilibrium while your state of being is frayed and torn and is teetering towards destruction.

Survival was dependent on God alone. Pouring my heart into Him, allowing Him to rescue me from this emotionally broken place… as He takes me to family who understands, and as He places friends in my path who care, and as He shares His Love Letter with me in a personal and individual way through His Presence in the stillness of the morning…

And, to the enemy’s dismay, the wounds of my body and soul become healed… with thankfulness and joyfulness, hopefulness and faithfulness… blessed by the knowledge that God would never leave me nor forsake me, with my heart turned towards Him as I continue to pray to be used in every possible way for the good of His Glorious Kingdom… because of who He is, because of His Love for me… I am saved…

Pray and live well.


The Simple Things

by lovesdoves, posted in Emotional Health, Family health, Spiritual Health

This evening as I waited for word about my father-in-law, a man who gently stepped in to be a surrogate dad for me, a man who raised his sons to be men, a man who knew he was fighting the fight of his life, I prepared a simple meal. As I prayed and waited…  I sat with the simplest things… foods grown from God’s rich soil, plentiful life-giving water, and His Word… and in that moment there was clarity of thought, and purpose, and mind… it was in that moment that God reached to me, and reminded me that all was well,

that I should cling to those simple things; the joyfulness of the baby’s laugh, the hummingbirds as they flit and fly around their feeders, and the deep love that we share with our family and friends…

and to remember that no matter what it is on earth, this is not the end…

Have faith and Live Well.

Lisa

“Hey, babes…”

by lovesdoves, posted in Emotional Health, Family health, Physical health, Spiritual Health

Even with all the joy and anticipation of a new little life… my heart still aches from missing my dad, especially today. He loved his granddaughters (and sons) so much. And along with the rest of us, I know that he would be getting pretty excited about the birth of his great grandchild.

I have a very difficult time believing that he died 4 years ago. I feel like he is still such a huge part of our lives and our families. I know that is the tricks of the mind, because the day he died is so clearly painted into the memory of my consciousness that I can never escape it completely.

June 16, 2007

It was the Saturday performance of recital weekend. And it started early as they always have with lots to do. Prepping, gathering, planning, and anticipating the thrill of the day. Dad had stopped taking my calls out of exhaustion… he was sleeping more and more, so I knew that he was being challenged by this disease, I just didn’t realize the extent… I know now that my intellect was in denial about the serious reality of his health condition. He had been diagnosed with colon cancer, 45 days before. And I always knew that he would get better… I was with him when the doctor gave him the diagnosis, I was with him as we left the hospital, and he clearly told me that he was not going to die. I believed him… because I couldn’t imagine my life without him. And he was my dad. And dads are strong. Fighters. Warriors. Heroes. So when my brother, David, called the morning of June 16th and said that Dad was struggling, I knew we needed to go. All of us. Because it was time. And then life became blurred as the 5 of us got ready for the drive to Columbus in 2 separate cars. And I remember calling people and I remember Jenny helping and I remember thinking that I had to get there fast. Really fast. That I had to see him. That I had to be there. That there would be something that we could do. That this wasn’t real.

And at 11:44, we pulled up. To the house that I had lived in with my mother and father and sister and brother. And we got out. And I remember feeling so surprised because everything looked the same, and there was this beautiful sunshine and delicate breeze. A perfect day. A day for gardening. Or gathering.

Today it was for gathering. I remember hugging my mom as we came inside. Holding her tight. I remember being unafraid as I climbed the stairs to my parent’s bedroom. And walking in. And my dad was awake and I felt relief. And he said “Hey, babes”… like he always did… And then he said, “You got here fast…” And I reminded him that I learned to drive from him. And then he told me that he and David had been playing cards, and he secretly showed me the 8 of spades that he had stashed under his pillow, to ensure his own victory… and I remember trying to be so brave. For him.

The lightly perfumed breeze was lifting the curtain in the room filling it with an angelic sweetness and he told us he could see strawberry fields. And people playing bocce ball.

He knew it was time too. And he had waited for us. To say good-bye without saying the words. He laid back down. And closed his eyes. We got close to him, holding him, supporting him, while the tears streamed down our faces, and Terry prayed for mercy and for thankfulness… that we would all be together again some day. And then dad’s breathing slowed, and at 1:15, it stopped, as we held him. Loving him. Missing him already. Still missing him.

Even in the sadness of his death, I can find the joy from his life. In the songs that he would make up, that my girls still sing… or the dances he would do, that  would make us laugh… or the phrases that he would speak (that shouldn’t even be repeated), but that are still remembered (and repeated). I keep this photo on my desk, of Dad with the girls being silly together… because it always makes me smile.

It made me smile today.

Live well.

Lisa