I took a walk today...actually made it several feet down the hall...2 from physical therapy in tow, one held a hospital gown behind me like a cape, the other with my IV Pole.................
..............another miracle, Praise the Lord was my cry! When I came into the hospital Wednesday (?) I was talked to about the possibility of dialysis & shortly I was caught up in a rush with the rapid transfer team (? Name) my BP was dropping lower & lower as I was quickly transferred to micu (Medical icu). It dropped to 50/20. I shed a few tears as a nurse squeezed my shoulder but God was with me!
This is the short story...I’ve had a healing again! Remember I told you what that this group was about! Miracles! They say that my kidney function improved more than expected (& Jesus just poked me & reminded me that he’d healed my kidneys as a little girl, at 8 years old, another story!)
My kidney doctor walked in today and said “I have just one question?””why are you so cheery?” & I answered “my faith in God”and I went on sharing about God with his colleagues, my nurse, my brother & etc...I love that freedom that only He gives me.
I know I haven’t written in my blog in what seems like
forever.I was much too sick for a time
to do much more than pray and work at staying alive.I have been in the hospital 3 times this year
and now I finally believe that things are looking up.Even though I’m hooked up to an IV 24x7. I am
coming back.No more Life Vest which I
wore for 3 months that was supposed to shock me if I was knocked out by cardiac
arrest or arrhythmia.How am I so calm
about everything?Because of Jesus!What’s the worst that could happen?If I died tomorrow I’d wake up with
Jesus!I have no doubt!So, I will focus on the task at hand…THANKSGIVING!
A few days ago I was drawn to looking through my various
Bibles and devotionals.I saw this
“Jesus Calling” devotional subtitled “Living a Life of Worship” by Sarah Young
and thought to leaf through it. To my pleasant surprise that was a section
entitled “A Life of Thankfulness” which fit right in!I decided to journal this along with working
on this chapter.I also used it to try
out different pens, my own cursive writing, some lettering, etc…
The first page was I journaled with different Gelatos for
the background just using the rubbing in method with my fingers and then used a
brush with a little water to paint around the dove along with various cut-outs
and stickers from the ByTheWell4God - From Above Journaling Kit .
I am including several pages here that I hope you will also
read along with seeing my journaling.I
know that lettering was a focus for this Holy Week but I am not really into
trying to do someone else’s lettering but I am more inclined to figuring out my
own style.I actually have a sketch book
especially for this and my favorite so far is not available right now.
This final page I journaled using a stencil with Gelatos and
colored pencils for the leaves with colored pencils for the trunk.The background was done with Gelatos written
on a baby wipe and rubbed around in soft swirls.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!
I want to acknowledge some amazing people who go above and beyond the call from when I was admitted at Largo Medical Center . Dr. Worth, Dr. McCoy and the many other doctors, interns, felows, medical students who so readily attended to my care. The amazing nursing staff in ICU, CSU, and the 2nd floor. Techs: Molly, Vu, Alex, & Alexandria...and so many other people who I haven't named here. You have made my 3 hospital visits this year much more tolerable!
ay God bless you through my writing. If He has especially touched you in any way, please leave a comment below. Your comments are so very encouraging to me to help me to keep writing. Also, click on the “Up-tweet” button on the above right and share! I pray you will keep coming back. I fully believe that my writing is by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit so if I am writing, there is someone that needs to read it! Maybe it’s you? Also, please be sure to share any questions you might have with me and if you would like to keep them personal (just between you and me) please don’t hesitate to e-mail me at juliana.pace@gmail.com. If I don’t know how to answer you, I will may every attempt to refer you to someone for more information. Thanks and may God bless all your days!
And, here I am up writing again.Just love the peace in the early morning
hours.Sun not up yet and it appears
that no one else is awake in the building.The last couple of days have been too busy to get this all down both
with Bible Journaling and with my husband since it was the weekend.I find myself sharing more and more about God's strength through so many health issues.I guess maybe that is why they are happening.He did show me several years back that a
major reason why so much happens in my life is because I will run to Him.I know where to go.Where someone else doesn’t.Others who don’t know Him have no clue who to
run to.We hear many people who know Him
contemplating why many who don’t, don’t have as many problems.Yet life is not about all of these things.Life is meant to Glorify God and prepare us
for a heavenly eternity with Him, not to have an awesome play time on
earth!Yet, prayer is where it’s
at.A relationship with Jesus is where
it’s at!And He is so much better than
anything on this earth!
Encaustic Mixed Media Art - "My Momma's Home with digital artwork.
I am also still
working on the second part of the Bible Journaling that goes along with this
blog post.I am doing more of my own art
now, or adding to their art also.I just
keep seeing it in my mind’s eye and I have this “fearlessness” bubbling up
within me.I have to do more.It is what is fulfilling me right now.Yet prior to Saturday morning the inspiration
in my heart was at a rare low and I felt numb and unsettled.
To share more of what God has been showing me about my
physical issues right now. (By the way,
this morning my hands are feeling relatively good so that I am able to type,
which is the way my life seems to go.)When my limitations keep me from something it is usually because I am
not supposed to do it.I had already
made a decision to not drive up to an outlet mall on Saturday morning and so
very thankful that I did.I awoke in the
most pain that I think I have ever had when not in bed with a morphine
pump.After only three hours of sleep
and my hands were curled half way into a fist.I could barely straighten them or do much more than to sit in my dining
room chair and push buttons with my thumb and/or holler to our Echo, “Alexa
play Christian Rock Music”. This
song was playing in my mind,Oh My Soul
by Casting Crowns again.It is the song
that played on our Echo the night of that first day when my hands started to
fail on my iPad keyboard and I truly had a meltdown.Please see past posts relating to this.Since I have purchased it and listened to it
many times. The echo played it again.
So profound and I don’t think that if God were audibly
speaking to me that it would be any more recognizeable to me as Him.Not long after I ran into this Bible
Journaling video on 1 Samuel 1:15 and He continued to speak and I have been
pouring my heart out to Him since and awesomely inspired to my Bible
Journaling.
I saw both of these in my mind's eye. This is how I receive my art inspiration most of the time. The fingernails are done like my own. Of course not great yet but practice helps. What was really awesome is when I awoke from a dream where I saw an art piece and ran out to my desk to write it down so I wouldn't forget. My step-sonwas spending the night at the time. He awoke to tell me exactly what I saw before I wrote it down. Just too cool!
ay God bless you through my writing. If He has especially touched you in any way, please leave a comment below. Your comments are so very encouraging to me to help me to keep writing. Also, click on the “Up-tweet” button on the above right and share! I pray you will keep coming back. I fully believe that my writing is by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit so if I am writing, there is someone that needs to read it! Maybe it’s you? Also, please be sure to share any questions you might have with me and if you would like to keep them personal (just between you and me) please don’t hesitate to e-mail me at juliana.pace@gmail.com. If I don’t know how to answer you, I will may every attempt to refer you to someone for more information. Thanks and may God bless all your days!
I’m
inspired! God is so good! I’m not awake even 5 minutes before He is
touching my heart! I’m sharing this
today because I need to let you all know how He makes a way when I woke up not
feeling well. It was 5:30 or so the
first time I woke up with an awful stomach ache. I just tried to sleep some more knowing that
I was getting up at 7:30.
John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." is
my favorite scripture.It talks about
peace in the midst.He doesn’t promise
everything to be perfect and a bed of roses but He does say that He will give
us peace and be with us through it all.My life is such a perfect example of this.From prison to sickness, to more sickness and
even more sickness, and spending much, much time alone with only Him to keep me
company.
When I
finally got up today I had a Bible Journaling page lying in my dining room
table morning spot to finish that evoked so many memories.
And I shared
that it evoked many memories in my Bible Journaling group and then I couldn’t
hold back.And I shared:
“Oh, I can’t
help it...I’m a story teller I guess.Not only did it make me think of growing up on a bike but also the last
place we lived was called Christian Retreat in Bradenton.I had a Purple trike (color of page) and I would
ride in the early mornings in this circle by all these duplexes.You can feel the presence of God in this
place when you turn from the main road.I would pray for the people as I rode past each home with all the
gorgeous flowers and the sound of peacocks...I think of all the amazing
memories from living in this awe-inspiring place!I could go on and on...God is awesome!It was like the $$ just fell from the sky to
move there, too.Totally God!I may have to hang this in our computer room.”
Not long
after all of this I was drawn to the flowers on our dining table.I have been getting them several times a
month for more than a year now and they are worth so much more to me than what
I pay for them.I delight in them.In Ohio we had a ½ acre of gardens, a water
garden, and I had 120 house plants.(No
exaggeration.)But since I have been in
Florida there has been a decline in my ability to care for plants and I have
truly missed the flowers the most.I
look at them on and off all day long.They inspire me.They touch my
heart.They evoke memories, They are
God’s glorious creation.I don’t even
know how to arrange them well but I decided that it really doesn’t matter if I
just bask in them anyway!They are just
an amazing gift to my day, my life!And
I am writing this with my stomach still hurting but emotionally and spiritually
I am free, complete, at peace, and full of love and sunshine!
I used to not
like the color yellow until we moved to our Ohio house.We had a screened back porch with skylights
and yellow walls where the sun shined, the birds sang, and the squirrels
played.I collected metal sun plaques
for the wall.We moved before I could do
all of the decorating that I wanted to there.
Since then,
yellow has brought the idea of light to me and I love using it that way in my
art and Bible journaling, too.
Bible
Journaling page with yellow as light.
When we went
for flowers at Trader Joe’s in St. Petersburg on Saturday this was tour first
truly sunshiny day in a couple of weeks being the rainy season in Florida. The first flowers I noticed were the Gerber Daisies and I snatched up a cluster of
them, then the spray roses (a favorite of mine).We are so blessed to have such beautiful
flowers available to us as such a good price.And then I had to add the purple, of course.Whoever purchases the flowers for Trader
Joe’s knows what they are doing.I’d
rather go there than any place else in the area.Oh, I’ve gotten bouquets in other places that
were lovely occasionally but Trader Joe’s is the most consistent and
inexpensive.
Can you see
God’s handiwork here?
May God bless you through my writing. If He has especially touched you in any way, please leave a comment below. Your comments are so very encouraging to me to help me to keep writing. Also, click on the “Up-tweet” button on the above right and share! I pray you will keep coming back. I fully believe that my writing is by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit so if I am writing, there is someone that needs to read it! Maybe it’s you? Also, please be sure to share any questions you might have with me and if you would like to keep them personal (just between you and me) please don’t hesitate to e-mail me at juliana.pace@gmail.com. If I don’t know how to answer you, I will may every attempt to refer you to someone for more information. Thanks and may God bless all your days!
I’m working on my first Bible Journaling since our return from Pennsylvania. We went to visit our son (my step-son) and won’t go again until we are sure that winter is over. Our trip started out cold but tolerable until when were were closer to leaving then things fell apart – nearly everything! I got sick, my husband got sick, the weather turned to us being delayed in flying home due to us running from a major storm to get out of there. Our son was in a car accident – not hurt yet car probably totaled. We came home to a messy house, I was so exhausted, still feeling ill. My hubby having to have a tooth pulled on top of still fighting the pink eye. I was in a lousy mood, not wanting to talk to anyone. My brother called, read me scripture and prayed for me (one of the very nicest things of growing up with a big brother who’s a minister (now retired)). With all the mess in our home I could not even seem to wrap any part of my head around Bible Journaling even though I knew it would help me to feel better! I actually just started leafing through my Journaling Bible looking for inspiration. And my eyes were diverted to *Hebrews 13:5b “…I will never fail you, I will never abandon you.” And I was reminded of that period back in 2013 that I always wanted to share about. I had vertigo. I don’t know how many of you have had it but if you have, you know what I’m talking about when I share that it is one of the most awful symptoms there is. It is also very similar to the “Brain Nausea” that I had when on the Decadron for the brain lesions that I incurred from the CNS Vasculitis. I was so mad at God for letting this happen again that I said all kinds of things to Him that I would have never said in my right mind. After this I felt foolish for saying such things, begging His forgiveness. And yet all the while I was mad and spewing I kept hearing “And, I still love you.”… “And, I’m still here.”…and I won’t leave you.” This is where I truly learned this, deep within my heart and it changed me somewhat. I learned of His deep love for me like never before. He was reminding me of this now. And my heart softened at His MERCY!
In
retrospect to just a little more than a month ago I believe I will start off
with this song that keeps going through my head:
You
do just never know what way your life will turn tomorrow. We actually thought that we were eating
fairly well, at least as well as the next person. Who knew that pizza contained enough salt to
kill a person? We sure had no clue that
when we were given free pizza coupons that we were risking my life in
ordering! I love pizza. I knew it was a fattening meal but neither of
us had a clue that it would send me to the hospital and even fascilitate a
heart attack. And I ate just 4 small
square cut pieces that amounted to maybe 1 ½ slices. I was told that my heart and lungs were not
strong enough to pump off the water retention that the salt in the pizza created.
We
were watching TV with our easy (?) pizza dinner. Within a few minutes I was gasping for air
yelling for my husband to call 9-1-1. It
was so very scary that it took me more than a month to get the image out of my
mind. I’ve been through so much illness
in the past yet not being able to breath is the worst. Too much was going on for me to even think
about chest pain, and I was having a heart attack in the midst of an attack of
Congestive Heart Failure.
Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a condition in which the heart can no longer pump blood as efficiently as it used to. This causes blood and other fluids to back up in the body – particularly in the liver, lungs, hands, and feet.
I
was admitted to the hospital with the idea of giving me IV diuretics and soon
doing a cardiac catheter (my 4h one this year).
This time went by and we were praising God at the outcome of the Cardiac
Catheter being that no additional damage had been done. I had no idea that when I was released
following this procedure on Thursday that I would be returning just a few days
later.
Pizza
again? Yep, the same culprit! And, we now knew what was causing the
problems. Here it is nearly a month
later and I still have no craving for pizza nor anything else high in sodium,
which is the nutritional value of most convenience food out there these days. You have to check everything, even frozen
vegetables.
I
did not let this episode go as far before asking my husband to call 9-1-1. I was scared of waiting too long. The squad came and they put me on the cart in
our living room. I wanted to write about
this sooner and now I see why I had not.
The thought of this entire ordeal still haunts me. Even though I know, now, how God saved me I
think this is important enough to share.
Smoking
is just awful. If I had that wish that I
could do it over again I would’ve never started. The fact is that I was 11 when I first held a
cigarette thinking it was cool. At that
time in 1971 I did not inhale. I am
wondering if that person that I I’ve found again in life on Facebook had any
idea what she was doing when she taught me how to inhale at 14, in 1974? I would doubt it. Her mother also smoked more than a chimney. My dad was a smoker. In 1974 it was rarely thought of that this
was a disgusting, dirty, stinky habit yet that it was hazardous to your health. So, it kept going…smoking in my parent’s
house at 16 and more than 2 packs a day by my 20’s along with the marijuana
smoking for years. I managed to quit
smoking the marijuana in my late 20’s along with doing all of the other drugs
except for those cigarettes. They ended
up being the hardest thing to quit. BUT
I did it. It wasn’t easy and I now wish
I’d have done it much sooner but I’m so thankful that I did. If you’d like to know how I went about it
after 33 years check out this post:
By
the time the rescue squad got me to the hospital this time (less than 10 min.
from us) I was much worse. Even though
they had asked me if I’d been previously intubated (only under sedation in
surgery) they had not been willing to go there.
This time my breathing had been so labored for so long and it was not changing. I remember telling them that I couldn’t keep
it up. I was getting so tired! The next thing I remember was opening my eyes,
I was breathing on a machine and my husband was holding my hand and looking at
me. I TALKED TO JESUS. I have no idea what I would’ve done at this
point if I did not know in my heart that He was there, otherwise I would’ve
just been alone behind the machine. Yet
He was there with me. I spoke to Him, asking
Him to take care of my husband. I couldn’t
imagine being him. And, I asked Jesus to
take me home. This is the worst that I
think I have ever felt. But Jesus told me
that my husband still needed me.
The
following morning I awoke, still intubated, but breathing room air. I was immediately told that they were seeing
if I could breath on my own and I had to be awake for a couple of hours and
breathing like that and they would extubate me.
Jesus sat on the chair in my ICU room.
He told me that it was going to be OK.
Two
days later I was moved out to a telemetry bed.
This was more of a step-down unit.
I was still being monitored but I no longer had to have the attention of
Intensive Care. I was still on oxygen
with a Foley Catheter and they were draining the water off of my lungs and
entire body. I was admitted for
Congestive Heart Failure yet no heart attack at this time.
I
had been taken to Northside Hospital which was less than 10 minutes from
us. I was surprised at the difference from Morton
Plant. Yes, there were many nice people
at Morton Plant but I did not receive the quality of care and attention that the
employees at Northside gave me. I was
even surprised by the doctors who treated me as an individual, giving me so
much individual attention. Questions
that I’d had for even years were answered within the time that I was
there. I would be there for another week
but was released with a new Cardiologist, Dr. Peter Wassmer There were so many employees there that I felt
went above and beyond the call that I shared a list with the charge nurse and I
want to share some names here (written on scrap paper with colored pencil):
And
others that I failed to get the names written down for.
And,
as always, I know that things happen for a reason.
*Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
And,
*James
1:5“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all
liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”
I
learned a major lesson this time. For
one, the song that had been going through my mind for all of 3 weeks meant that
I was supposed to take notice to the words.
God has spoken many times in this way to me.
And,
I knew that God was telling me that I needed to surrender even more than I did. Always let go of it all. And a lightbulb went off. If it all was surrendered to Him, I didn’t
have to like what was happening BUT He would take care of it all anyway. I’d released it to Him.
It
took me a good 10 days after returning home to see that I was mad that I was
still here. I am that assured that
heaven will be magnificent beyond my wildest dreams that I am ready to go there
whenever He wants to take me. BUT all it
took was admitting that and I started to feel better. I was swimming just after that and only 2
weeks from going on a cruise for our 27th wedding anniversary.
May God bless you through my writing. If He has especially touched you in any way, please leave a comment below. Your comments are so very encouraging to me to help me to keep writing. Also, click on the “Uptweet” button on the above right and share! I pray you will keep coming back. I fully believe that my writing is by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit so if I am writing, there is someone that needs to read it! Maybe it’s you? Also, please be sure to share any questions you might have with me and if you would like to keep them personal (just between you and me) please don’t hesitate to e-mail me at juliana.pace@gmail.com. If I don’t know how to answer you, I will may every attempt to refer you to someone for more information. Thanks and may God bless all your days!
*Hebrews 13:2 "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels."
This is a very thought provoking video:
I am still on 'Cloud 9' and thanking the Lord for this day and it really wasn't that far from being a normal day, BUT, to explain...
I got up this morning feeling better physically than I have for a long, long time. I had energy. I even took a muscle relaxer before bed and normally I would be sleeping on the dining room table but I wasn't. It was early, the 6 am that I'd been shooting for to start getting up at and I was awake. No coffee before my longer trip to the Physical Therapist but I was still awake. Hallelujah! For the last 16 years, I do not remember a whole lot of these days.
I went to the Physical Therapist and was able to say that I had very little pain. Another major HALLELUJAH for me since my life has been more painful this year than in many others.
(Although, I once again, learned something during our Sunday morning church service. I'd seen it before BUT as most of us know, we need to keep reading the Bible over and over BECAUSE it is God's Living Word!
*1 Corinthians 9:22 "to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some."
I believe that God showed me several years ago that He let so much illness happen in my life because I know where to run. I know to go to Him and very often I've found that peace that passes understanding. I've found freedom from much pain. I've found my "hiding place" in Him! And, He is empowering me to share all of this with others! I have been in a long learning process and it is not always easy, yet tolerable with Him!)
There is an even longer explanation for how this art piece of mine came about but I will share it due to it being appropriate right now. I hope you are able to read my inspired poem.:
Back to my story. Even though I had to drive into St. Pete to go to therapy, I found out it was on 4th Street and all I had to do was to hear that and I knew that Trader Joe's was on 4th Street. This is one of my favorite places to go due to all of their gorgeous yet inexpensive flowers among other things.
PT was over and I headed for Trader Joe's. I have to ride in an electric cart due to so many floors feeling so hard due to the metal in my back. It took me several years of arriving at the check out in tears to give in to using them. Now I know that I must sit and wait if one is not available.
Now, you tell me why I experience so much more kindness in some of the stores in Florida than ever before in my life? I have actually felt downcast in one of those electric carts. 'Am I in it because I'm so fat?' and other thoughts ran through my mind.
This day I stopped for a sample of the Cold Brew coffee and Almond Milk. Yummy! As I was drinking it I conversed with the worker in the corner who was extremely pleasant. I picked out gorgeous and inexpensive flowers. along with salads, plums, etc... and headed for the check out. This gorgeous and appealing man checked me out and was so very sweet. As I left the store and headed for my car, I felt tears well up. I had no idea that I needed that kindness so much that I was in tears. Then a gentleman came up to me and asked if he could put my cart back and tried to help with my grocery bag. If he was a worker there, he had no tag on. He was also very pleasant and conversed with me a bit.
That was my inspiration for writing this post today. We don't know what people are going through and I am as guilty as the next person for running through life and not paying attention to the needs of others. Even a smile instead of a look of disgust can make or break a person's day. In this world anymore we seem to be moving so fast in our lives and getting so cynical. Me, too! Yet, how can we make this world a better place? Can't we learn to love as Jesus did/does? So many of us thinking, "why me?"...but in the full scope of things can't we all see that there are others out there having an even worse day? Won't it make our days better if we learn to smile at one another? I have the ALL POWERFUL CREATOR GOD, living within me so why can't I show it?
And, I drove home listening to my worship music and thinking that I have heaven to look forward to BUT...
*Revelation 20:10 "The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever."
And, I came home to this most appropriate song:
May God bless you through my writing. If He has especially touched you in any way, please leave a comment below. Your comments are so very encouraging to me to help me to keep writing. Also, click on the “Uptweet” button on the above right and share! I pray you will keep coming back. I fully believe that my writing is by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit so if I am writing, there is someone that needs to read it! Maybe it’s you? Also, please be sure to share any questions you might have with me and if you would like to keep them personal (just between you and me) please don’t hesitate to e-mail me at juliana.pace@gmail.com. If I don’t know how to answer you, I will may every attempt to refer you to someone for more information. Thanks and may God bless all your days!
A friend just told me that “the Lord is most certainly moving in your heart to spread the good news!” And I replied “My life...been doing this for some time. God is awesome and I want everyone to know it! Rooftops!”
I just don’t know how to stop? I love encouraging people!
I have just recently been noticing how much more patiently I am waiting in doctor’s offices than I used to. This, to me, is amazing. I was so happy when I got an iPhone because it is the first one that I’ve learned to play on and it helped me to be patient waiting in places. Yet I still did face some issues with impatience at times. Today, a timer went off at the chiropractors office to signal the return of the technician and I just closed my eyes again, relaxing. That is new for me! Ah, God is working! He is always working on me! I am forever being blessed by Him. And, I believe that this new found patience can actually be attributed to my newer found practice of Bible Journaling and the hours that it temps me away to spend with Jesus.
Do you need a good stress reliever? Do you just want to find out more about it? Then check out Tracie Rollins at BibleJournalingMinistries.com
https://www.biblejournalingministries.com/bible-journaling-classes/ You can just investigate! Is this for you? Do you know someone who might benefit from this? And, if you are on Facebook you can find a whole community of Bible Journaling people in the Bible Journaling for Beginners group.
I have my Journaling Bible that I do more extensive Journaling in. Then I have my “Inspire Psalms” book that I do basically coloring in (for when I don’t have the time or space for a mess). See examples below:
Inspire Psalms Book
Inside Inspire Psalms colored by me
Inside Inspire Psalms colored by me
Inside Inspire Psalms colored by me
.
My Journaling Bible embellished by me
My Journaling Bible embellished by me.
May God bless you through my writing. If He has especially touched you in any way, please leave a comment below. Your comments are so very encouraging to me to help me to keep writing. Also, click on the “Uptweet” button on the above right and share! I pray you will keep coming back. I fully believe that my writing is by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit so if I am writing, there is someone that needs to read it! Maybe it’s you? Also, please be sure to share any questions you might have with me and if you would like to keep them personal (just between you and me) please don’t hesitate to e-mail me at juliana.pace@gmail.com. If I don’t know how to answer you, I will may every attempt to refer you to someone for more information. Thanks and may God bless all your days!
I
just had to shout since I was feeling so very blessed this morning and nearly
every morning, too.And
don’t think that I have always been in a nice apartment in a partially gated
community. NO WAY!
I
was just sharing with my hubby about one of my first places.It was on East Kibby Street in
Lima, Ohio.I
think I was 20 years old so it would’ve been 1980.I think we paid $105. per month. This was 2 rooms plus a
bathroom with no yard at all. It sat
about a foot from the sidewalk.There
was a small living room and a bedroom/kitchen combined.The bathroom was a toilet and
sink (no shower or tub).We
sat on the drain board of the sink (one of those old white porcelain ones) and
used the sprayer to take a bath.My mom found me another place to
live after my live-in boyfriend (Keith) beat me up and went to jail.
I remembered waiting to move with my
boxes open under the fluorescent light the lined the ceiling to keep the cock
roaches from getting into them. I had
nightmares due to the rats scratching in the walls (someone saw one outside
their entrance and it was the size of a cat).
There
is more to share about this time in my life.
This part of my life in my memories are nightmares that I truly would
not even want to think about if Jesus had not set me free from such bondage as
my old memories so that the sting is now gone.
Hallelujah!
This
first part I must share due to the psychological/emotional significance that
Jesus later showed me. Keith was drunk
and I may have been too or at least high on some other substance to include
possibly even inhalants. He started
beating on me and we ended up in the bathroom with me behind the toilet (in
this little space that I could never fit in now). He was kicking me in the head with his steel-toed
boots. When I got free I ran about 2
blocks away, found a phone, and called the police. The police took him away even though I
stupidly did not want him to leave me alone in that place at the time.
I
was asked if there were any witnesses when he went to court. I asked the upstairs neighbors who had been
home at the time and they told me that they did not want to get involved. This is when I decided that I wasn’t worth
it. I was in the midst of a life of ruin
and this just added to it. Even though
I’d grown up in church and was saved in 1973 (yet no one told me where to go
from there), I was a total people pleaser.
I was an acceptance addict besides being addicted to any intoxicant I
could get my hands on. I let these
neighbors, these sad drunken neighbors, tell me that I was not worth it (in
their own words). And, I did not leave
Keith for 2 more years of brutal beatings and absolute nightmares.
This
is just one example of the kind of memories that Jesus healed me from. To be honest, as a person with a heart, they
do still make me shutter but I’d think they would make anyone shutter.
In
these 37 years, Jesus has brought me a long, long way. I lived another 8 years in similar squalor
before I finally fell, giving Jesus my life.
I
hope to get another book finished and published that will be called “A Mosaic
of Me”. I intend on always sharing more
about the goodness of God and how He delivered me from years upon years of
messes. If you or someone you know can
be helped by this, please leave a comment below. I have started this book 2-3 times and need
to get back to it and finish it.
Comments will encourage me to do so.
Please follow my blog, too. If
you’d rather follow by e-mail there is a place for that, also. Please see my links below. God bless you and may you find even more
peace than I have through Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior!
May God bless you through my writing. If He has especially touched you in any way, please leave a comment below. Your comments are so very encouraging to me to help me to keep writing. Also, click on the “Uptweet” button on the above right and share! I pray you will keep coming back. I fully believe that my writing is by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit so if I am writing, there is someone that needs to read it! Maybe it’s you? Also, please be sure to share any questions you might have with me and if you would like to keep them personal (just between you and me) please don’t hesitate to e-mail me at juliana.pace@gmail.com. If I don’t know how to answer you, I will may every attempt to refer you to someone for more information. Thanks and may God bless all your days!
This is the blog background and just a few of my artwork pieces! If you like them, please check out my links below! Thanks much!
I had a bad night, one of my worst. I researched it, it was a Trapezius Muscle Spasm. This was the 2nd and lasted for 6 grueling hours. I had used tiger balm on my neck prior to bed. I slept about an hour before it started so I tossed and turned and prayed and prayed. Finally I could stand no more so I got up about 3 hours after it started to research it on the internet. I found to put ice on it and go back to bed. I finally got back to sleep yet I awoke soaking wet, the bed soaking wet, my pillow soaking wet…what now? Joe was sound asleep and needed to work later today so I just let him sleep (hoping he wouldn’t roll over on the wet). I pulled my pillow off and got up. It was now about 8:45 and I needed to let Cardiac Rehab know that I wouldn’t be making it. Not on 2 hours of sleep!
YET, I got up and was surprisingly wide awake??? I was talking to the Lord – praying as I do most mornings! I did not feel like going back to bed and after another hour or so I actually decided that I didn’t need to and got some coffee.
Bible Journaling kept coming to mind. The previous Sunday I believe that God showed me through a song in church that I was supposed to do a search in the Bible on Strength and Trust using my “His Strength” Journal (now with pink touches!
and my Journaling Bible. This kept coming to mind, plus the color pink. As I went on sharing with a friend in Facebook Messenger in the quiet of the morning more things came to mind and I realized that God was wanting to teach me more about Female Strength as I also had more pictures to use come to mind. I was feeling wonderful! Pain Free! High on the Magnificent, Comforting Presence of the Holy Spirit. His Peace filled our dining room as I poured through all of my Bible Journaling supplies for the pink things that I needed…as He spoke to me… This is one of the main reasons that a relationship with Him is important! Not every thing we think is right, is. I thought I had to go to Cardiac Rehab this morning BUT He had a different plan!
May God bless you through my writing. If He has especially touched you in any way, please leave a comment below. Your comments are so very encouraging to me to help me to keep writing. Also, click on the “Uptweet” button on the above right and share! I pray you will keep coming back. I fully believe that my writing is by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit so if I am writing, there is someone that needs to read it! Maybe it’s you? Also, please be sure to share any questions you might have with me and if you would like to keep them personal (just between you and me) please don’t hesitate to e-mail me at juliana.pace@gmail.com. If I don’t know how to answer you, I will may every attempt to refer you to someone for more information. Thanks and may God bless all your days!
