Life

Give Me More Options!

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I recently set up a poll in a Facebook group. I had a specific reason for asking what I did, and intentionally only offered two options. It was an either/or poll, a this/or that question, which I thought I made clear in the post text. Within minutes, two more options had been added by other group members, options that had zero connection to my actual question, and people were choosing them. 

I’m pretty laid back, but this bugged me. By adding those other two options, the participants completely negated the whole purpose of the post where I was concerned. I even stopped going back to look at it because, honestly, there was nothing I felt I could do to redeem it. Their messing up my plan irked me and, yes, I dwelt on my frustration for a bit. But then, as I calmed myself down, I heard God whispering, and saw something that had never really been clear to me before.

The fact is this refusal to admit that some situations offer limited choices is a huge part of our problem in society today. We now live in a world where it is virtually unacceptable to ask either/or questions, to give only two options.

Male or female?
   No, I want to be something else. 

Married or single?
   No, I want a committed relationship without a marriage covenant. 

One spouse?
   Are you crazy? I want more. 

Good or evil?
   No, I make my own rules and I serve neither good nor evil. 

Saved or lost?
   Nah uh, there is no Heaven or Hell and I’m going to be reincarnated. 

We live in a world where it would seem
that black and white are disappearing,
leaving us with nothing but gray.

But it’s not true. Bearing eternity in mind, there is no gray. There is no fence that we can be on. No matter how hard we try to convince ourselves that we can live by our own rules instead of God’s, His rules still apply. He is still the One on the throne. He still has final say.

Those people who botched my poll by adding their own answers that had nothing to do with my question frustrated me, but they didn’t really hurt anyone. The people who try to add more options to God’s list, however? They are creating eternal problems, and not just for themselves.

“Choose you this day whom you will serve…”
Joshua 24:15


Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Relief to the Texas Panhandle

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If you’ve been watching the fires in the Texas panhandle, you know our state has lost 1.2 million acres, and that’s just the land. Ranchers have lost everything. Businesses and homes are completely gone. People have died. Even for a state the size of Texas, the devastation is hard to comprehend.

I have an option for you in case you are looking for a way to help. Operation BAM is a 501(c)3 and one facet of the ministry is sending out a disaster response truck. Our team is shopping and loading up right now, and the truck heads out tomorrow morning. Anything you give to Operation BAM today will help offset the cost of this delivery. (The last time I checked, it took between $10,000 and $20,000 to send the truck out, depending on its load and destination.)

You can give online by going here and choosing “Operation BAM/Missions” from the drop-down menu.

You are also welcome to send a check to: Operation BAM, PO Box 865, Mont Belvieu, TX 77580

Praying for Texas and
Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Tired of Exhaustion?

Tammy M Cardwell2 Comments

A little over a month ago I’d reached a point of almost total exhaustion. I was taking vitamins, eating right (mostly), and getting rest, but the exhaustion grew so increasingly real that I was ready to crawl back into bed before lunch every single day. I went to my primary care, who ordered bloodwork, and then I headed to my favorite health food store: The Health Fix in Liberty, Texas.

I didn’t go for advice. I went because I knew exactly what I needed: Solle Vital. I took it years ago and it was wonderful, but our finances being what they were I had to stop. It’s a powder you mix with water, and it replaces your multi-vitamin. I generally dump it in a bottle of cold water and drink it down. It makes for a green drink, but the taste is excellent.

While I was there, I asked about CinnaMate, which I’d heard of many times but had never tried. It turns out this supplement helps your body make B vitamins. Hello… Exhaustion? B vitamins needed. (Mind you, I was already taking a B 12 supplement that was helping, but not enough.) This one, not surprisingly, has a flavor that’s heavy on the cinnamon. It makes a great hot drink, but I also put it in cold water when hot teas aren’t convenient. Again, it tastes good; my sister will make herself multiple “hot teas” with it every day just because she likes it so much. I generally take it between noon and two; it gives me a boost that takes me easily through the rest of the day.

These two, taken together, have annihilated the exhaustion that had me genuinely concerned, and it didn’t take long for them to do it. Not exaggerating here; I noticed the difference the very first day. This last month has been night and day different and I am determined to never get off these products again. I’d been taking supplements that are good, but they couldn’t touch what these two do. (Did you notice the crumpled look of the CinnaMate packet in the photo? I pulled this packet out of my purse; I carry them and have given more than one away to others who needed the boost.)

CinnaMate also helps with blood sugar if that’s a battle you fight. I never could even talk Jack into trying it, which is sad, because it really could have helped him. Both of these probably do a whole lot more. Well, I know they do, but I’m only here to share my own story and offer this suggestion. You may want to check them out for yourself: I obviously am here to recommend them. You can purchase them online at sollenaturals.com, and you can even get $10 off your first order if you use my referral code: solle25371. (Yes, I would get a credit too if you did.)

I also suggest checking out The Health Fix in Liberty, Texas. The owner, Betty Runkle, is an ND I would trust with my life. She is also active on Facebook; just search “The Health Fix Store” to find her page. And no, she isn’t paying me for this recommendation. I send people her way all the time.

Life is looking better every day!

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Time to Explain

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I’ve been absent for much of this year, particularly in recent months. Yesterday’s post gives a hint as to why.

My focus has been necessarily narrow. God first, then work, then figuring out the big move.

I have seen much in the Word that I wanted to share, but actually marshaling my thoughts into words on virtual paper seldom happened. Likewise, I learned a lot while preparing for the move into my tiny home that I wanted to share, but I wanted to be consistent in the sharing.

Consistency. It’s something I’ve been lacking most of this year, and I hate it. So I took a few vacation days and spent time working on the blog. I pulled Noble Deeds of American Women back out and got weekly posts scheduled through the end of the month. Then I started a new series about living my dream in my tiny home. It, too, is scheduled weekly through the end of the month.

So the foundation is laid, and I hope to build firmly upon it. That’s the plan at any rate.

I also learned about Amazon affiliate marketing, which could theoretically help my finances tremendously. So I’ll be setting that up this weekend and I’ll start adding product links to my existing reviews and including the same when I mention the things I’m using in my tiny home.

Hopefully that doesn’t offend. When you’re a 60+ year old widow with large debts you want paid off, you seek out what income you can find. (Remember I also have Experiencing the Bible available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook.)

I’ve spent even more time in the Word this year than I usually do, so I definitely plan to get back to sharing that. It’s just…it’s a lot! I’ve occasionally tossed out bits and pieces in my Facebook group, Experiencing the Bible for Christians, but I’ve not even been very active there. Much to my shame.

It’s been an interesting almost-year since Jack passed away. Honestly, until memories of that last hospital stay started showing up on Facebook I didn’t realize how close I was to the one year anniversary. It’s been a time of great growth for me, and of freedom. I’ve changed a lot on the inside since my December 31 post where I publicly shared the lie I’d been living and how it felt to suddenly be free.

And… stop, Tammy. It’s time to stop for now. But hopefully this time I really am back to consistently sharing with you.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

My Heart Hurts

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Our church had an outreach this past Sunday. We took loaded stock trailers and trucks carrying hundreds of bikes and toys into 8 or 9 different neighborhoods so we could bless as many kids as we could reach. It was amazing. I saw so much gratitude, so many tears, and such excitement on kids’ faces. And, oh, how fun it was to watch dozens of blissfully excited children riding their brand new bikes!

And then there were the ones who weren’t raised like I was. I was taught that when you are given a gift you show gratitude. It didn’t matter if I absolutely hated the gift I was given. I wasn’t thanking the person for the gift itself; I was thanking the person because they cared enough to give it.

It shouldn’t have surprised me to hear the other stories, like the one about the mother who came back demanding that her son’s toy be exchanged because he didn’t like it. Her anger over the team’s inability to accede to her request shouldn’t bother me, but it does. No wonder the little boy insisted on an exchange; his mother thought he had every right to exactly what he wanted even if the gift was free (and, I might add, nice). While other parents were glowing with happiness over the fun their children were having, she was pitching a fit and couldn’t see any good.

My heart hurts for her, and for people like her, and even more for the kids she’s raising to think just like she does. There is very little joy in that kind of life.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

It Didn’t Give Up

Tammy M Cardwell1 Comment

This poor plant experienced some serious trauma before I brought it inside. At one time, I might have counted it beyond help and tossed it out, but I’ve seen too much survival to give up on it. And it didn’t give up on itself. It’s blooming.

This is a great illustration of what we are capable of. We can be chewed on by pests, frozen out by heartless people, flooded with challenges, and drained dry when our love isn’t returned. From the outside, we may look totally broken down, but that doesn’t have to mean we’re out of the race. We must never give up.

We can still bloom.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Back in the Saddle?

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment

I wish I didn’t have to put a question mark on this title, but life is an odd thing. It can throw you.

In many ways, things have been intense since Jack passed away and I entered widowhood. I spent weeks working on the apartment, adapting it to me-only living, and then I spent weeks going through decades worth of records and papers and…stuff. Losing my husband made me acutely aware of what my kids would be dealing with if something were to happen to me, so I set about ensuring that transition would be as easy as possible. Just today I put the finish to the last piece of the puzzle: The Book. It contains pretty much every legal and informational paper they might need at my passing. Except all my passwords. I do need to work on that.

All that to say this. As of now, with that last task complete, I feel like my brain is my own again. (Happy Birthday to me!) Starting today, Son #2 (Owner of pixeldripstudio.com) has begun planning a new website for me, one that will help me do so much more than simply blog, and it’s got me excited and fired up all over again. We’ve been talking style and options and possibilities, and I’m thinking in terms of articles and blog posts and freebies…

I’m also working on converting Experiencing the Bible to ebook format. It’s a challenge for two reasons.
1. While I read ebooks all the time I’ve never learned about their formatting. (I am now!)
2. Part of the print book’s power is the built-in journal. I have to do a bit of rewriting and adjusting to compensate. It won’t be a huge deal for the reader; they’ll just want to invest in a journal to write in. Maybe I’ll even create a matching one myself? Maybe.

So, barring any unforeseen circumstances, I’m back in the saddle and back at work. And it feels GOOD.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

All Things Means ALL Things

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I wrote the following on September 5th.

Here Again, But I’m OK

ER
Third time in a month.
This time he is being admitted.
It never ceases to amaze me what I end up being capable of. The me of thirty years ago… Could she have handled this life without completely falling apart?
In a word?
No.

But God knew what I would face today, and He spent years building me up, strengthening my faith and teaching me that I CAN. I can, truly, do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I posted on Facebook, recently, asking friends to comment if they had a list of life experiences they would not wish on their worst enemy, but they knew it was those experiences that had molded them into the strong people they are today. My hand was the first one up, and several others followed. It’s true.

It is being tempered in the fire that makes the steel strong.
It is the buffeting of the wind that makes a tree strong.
It is the trials I face that make me strong – if I let them.
So.

Here I sit with him in the ER, knowing he’s potentially facing an extended hospital stay.
And I’m ok.
I trust that, whatever tomorrow brings, I will be ok then too.


Which brings us to “tomorrow.”

Today I’m a Widow.

He passed away on October 1st, in the evening, less than an hour after a group of us left his nursing home room. They’d told me just a few hours earlier that they thought he was transitioning, but it was so out of the blue that I really couldn’t believe it. He’d told me many times in recent months that he wished he didn’t have to live, so personally I think he simply chose to quit. And I don’t blame him. Now he’s in Heaven, and he is FREE. He is free of the demons he fought. He is free of the illnesses in his body. He is free of the dementia that had begun to manifest. He is now the man God had always intended him to be.

And me? I’m still ok. In fact, I’m more than ok; I’m doing very well. I, too, am free. I am free of the increasing pressure of being a 24/7 caregiver who also worked a full-time job. I am free of the stresses of dealing with a man who was almost daily growing more angry and disoriented. I am also free of the guilt that tried to crawl all over me at first because of just how free I feel.

This has been an amazing time for me. God has been speaking to me so much, probably in part because I’ve been spending so much more time with Him, and I have such a peace that it’s mind blowing. No matter the challenges I face in coming months and years, I know He is with me and I am hid in Him.

And through Christ I can do ALL things!

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

From Separation Springs Life

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Photo: Tammy Cardwell

I raise succulents, and my favorite is a pot of hens and chickens that came from my grandmother. Occasionally, leaves will fall from that plant, and when they do something marvelous happens.

New life

Hidden within the leaf is the power to create a whole new plant. While on the mother plant, the leaf is beautiful, but when you take it away from the mother plant new life springs forth.

This can happen anywhere. These leaves in my garden will eventually take root and flourish right where they are, but the new growth happens even if the leaf falls on the sidewalk, and it will continue until all of the fallen leaf has been sucked dry by the new life.

This is much like the life of a new Christian. First, they must be taken out of their old life. Until that happens, they can’t grow. Pull them out of the world, however, and you’ll see new life spring forth. Even if they’re out there on their own, on the sidewalk so to speak, they’ll flourish on their own for a while.

But like these leaves, they must eventually be planted. They must put down roots and stay where God wants them so they can grow spiritually. If they don’t, if they fail to find and latch on to the spiritual nourishment they need to survive in this world, they’ll be like the leaf on the sidewalk, eventually shriveling up once the initial burst of life is over and the cares of this world leave them empty and dry.

Life, especially spiritual life, is a precious thing. We must care for it and encourage it in ourselves and others. I’ve made mistakes with leaves like these, moving tender new plants into the wrong place and forgetting to care for them, and they’ve died. The results are a good reminder of what not to do where my relationship with God is concerned.

Sometimes I need those reminders.

Celebrating Jesus!

Tammy C

Holes in Your Soul?

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These are probably my favorite shoes…at least today. I have literally worn them out so completely that the duct tape you see is only covering holes in my soles – not really doing much to protect my foot. But you can’t see this important detail when you’re just looking down at my shoes.

Today, when I admitted to myself that I really need to dumpster these beauties, it occurred to me just how much they resemble the way we are sometimes.

We can look all pretty on the outside, making everyone think we’re just fine, while our souls seem to be held together with duct tape. The wounds may be hidden, but they are very real. I encourage you, don’t let yourself stay in such a condition. God is there, and He doesn’t just patch us up; He makes us new.

Celebrating Jesus!

Tammy C