I find it interesting that I can learn something from any situation if I look hard enough. There is always a message. For instance the last novel I read, The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner, got me to think about my bosom friend and how she has spoken life into me and helped me to not give up on what makes me really happy. The other night my wife and I went out to a public place for dinner for the first time since COVID-19 and it was so inspiring. I saw many lovely people and saw life being beautiful there too. The picture above is from last night. We were glad to hear our friend Jeff Hamilton play his great music and get a picture with him afterwards.
Life is not without struggle. It is meant to be that way. That is how we learn and grow. But there is also moments of joy and peace and we must enjoy those times too. When I got sick in 2014, I never thought it would take this long to get to where I am now, I never thought I would only be this far on my wellness journey, I didn’t even really know what a wellness journey was. There are parts of me I lost back then that are not going to come back and I am glad. They were not the best parts of me. They didn’t serve me or anyone else to their growth. But there were parts of me that I needed and I have missed them and I thought I would never have them back.
I can’t tell you how happy I am to have my migraines more under control than ever. Even knowing that I have always had them is helpful. To not know you are in pain is a different kind of struggle. But to learn how to live without that constant pull and strain in your body is a special kind of peace. The ability to pay attention and focus again has given me the ability to feed my brain positive things when I desperately need it. I had been able to handle my small bible studies but now I can go longer and I can read books that inspire me and lift me up when Veda is here or I am bored. When I was a child, I always had a book on me. So reading is something I have always enjoyed and something I really missed. I come from people who read. This was normal to me; not what I had become. Not being able to read probably fed Veda’s visits more and made me more unhappy with my possible future but now I can go on adventures my body could never go on and my brain can be fed and I am happy.
Part of the journey that the character, Caroline, was on in The Lost Apothecary, that her friend helped her see was that she had buried away what she really wanted to do. My own best bosom friend and sister, Jamie Holloway has done for me what I have done for her this same way. Years ago I built JamieChasesButterflies.com for her to write whatever she wanted to write. I knew she needed to communicate and I knew how to build websites. Through the years she has flourished and her writing has improved, while her communication has soared. She too encouraged me to build a blog for myself. It didn’t make sense for me at the time. I couldn’t read and I was anxious after being online too long so it took a long time for me to listen to her but eventually it helped me to have a place where I could collect a lot of my writings from many online platforms. As I have been able to focus, my blog is something I write in several times a week. It is something I need to do. Writing is something I need to do.
I was talking to my wife, Karen G Clemenson, about that yesterday and she agreed that out of all my hobbies, writing was something she could see that I need to do. It brings me more joy and peace. I still enjoy cooking and it is a practical thing to do to feed my family. I still enjoy crocheting and I will still work on projects as long as my hands hold out. I love to sing but my voice is big I tend to keep it to myself while we live in multi-family dwellings so I don’t bother people…but writing is something I can do and love to do and have always loved to do and reading, well it just seems to make it easier to get words out when I have fed so many words into my brain.
The other night Karen and I went to the Broadway Barrel Room on 14th Ave and Commerce in Longview, Washington. It was previously known to local Longviewites as Cassava. The service was absolutely amazing! They didn’t really change the decor much from the previous owners except for the bar, but it is still gorgeous in there. Great for live music! It was great to see the live musicians. It had been so long since we had been able to enjoy this!
Live music was performed by Matt Smith, Judah Young, Erik Nordin, Jeff Hamilton and the Broadway Boyz.
I have been friends with Jeff Hamilton for years and I remember when I first saw him perform at an open mic at Evangel Christian Fellowship, over 20 years ago. He was this gangly kid but when he sang he came to life. I had never seen anyone play the guitar the way does up to that point. I had never seen anyone show his heart the way he does when he performs and he has only gotten better. The real joy of this show is that his real heart, is not to be a big fancy famous star but a teacher. I watched him giving inspiration to the young musicians, showing them his way of being comfortable sharing between songs, touching the crowd, giving himself to the music and the onlookers, making jokes, talking about the songs he had written for his children, enjoying the children in the room and encouraging them to join him in songs they knew. I would say that people are Jeff’s inspiration but music is his tool.
The cool thing about going out in public is that you get opportunities to react to people and interact with them. I loved the way a lady in the restroom needed to share with me how touched she was by the children singing with Jeff. I also found people to pray for. I didn’t ask them. They didn’t ask me but I could see they could use it so I silently interceded for them. I guess that is what I do too. I pray for people.
Jeff mentioned that I do a lot and I used to do a lot. Now I go a lot slower than I did before I got sick. I didn’t plan on living to be old. I didn’t want to. I figured I wasn’t going to marry or have children so I needed to leave a legacy another way. I worked hard until I got too sick. Somewhere in all that being sick God changed my mind. Now I want to be 80 years old some day and I am still thinking positive about being a mother and grandmother. I have been a wife for over 8 years now and I enjoy it. I have learned to choose peace and joy more than ever and my life is better all the time because God has helped me see the good and focus on that.
Jeff was correct though. Prayer is important. I do it every day and I do it whenever I feel it needs to be done. He too has helped me find a quiet in myself that wasn’t there before. Some of us have to work hard to find peace and joy and he and I have that in common. There are many gifts in life, mostly people that help make life being beautiful.
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My name is Summer. That is how you can call me. I hope that I am a blessing to you. I am not perfect. I will fall again. But I am forgiven.
Do you know Jesus? Do want the Holy Spirit to fill you and give you understanding and salvation? Ask Him. Want someone to pray with you? Contact me.
If you would like to know Jesus as your friend, but want to make this amazing commitment by yourself please pray something like this:
Thank you Jesus that You are the Son of God, the God that created heaven and earth. Thank you Jesus that You came to earth in the form of a man so that You would be able to empathize with my humanity. Thank You that You did this in order to fulfill the promises You made at the foundation of the world.
I realize that I am a sinner and do things that hurt myself and keep myself away from you. Thank You that You died for my sins so that You could defeat death and bring me into Your life. Please forgive me.
I ask You to be Lord of my life. I ask you to heal my hurts and show me what my new life, empowered by You looks like. Thank You for Your mercy.
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