August 7, 2018
Hi Everyone,

This is from my iPhone so a picture is not available. Yesterday the ocean in North Carolina was beautiful. The water was different shades of blue and green. A perfect day if there is such a thing. We are on the plane back to New York today.

Would you believe a week is up? How many of you have family out of state or far away? It is hard on me especially as I age. Who isn’t aging? It happens to new borns too. In fact, I have never met a person who hasn’t experienced aging but it’s not a popular subject with women.

Back to family far away. We deal with it, as some of you may. You try to make the best of the time you have together. You text, e-mail and call on the phone the old fashioned way. You send cards and gifts at appropriate times and reminenese about times when everyone was younger.

We need those times remembering what life was like in our younger times. It can keep the present in perspective and help our children know life was different for us. My brother in law Steve Bender grew up in St. James as I did. His thoughts and memories vary from mine. He grew up in a different neighborhood than us.

He and his two brothers, and sister went to Smithtown H.S. East as we did.I didn’t know any of them when I was in High School. It’s interesting talking to them and find out their thoughts about life when we were growing up in the same time and same town.

God has all things planned out and as we look back we can identify a cord of consistency. This cord starts when we are born, before we know the Lord as Savior. He has us in the palm of His hand because He holds time. We belong to Him in eternity past, present and future. 

It’s hard for to us to wrap our understanding around this since we live in time. We have a beginning in this world, and an ending time. God sees us as we walk into time and when we walk out. It’s that easy to Him, but not for us.

We grieve the loss of those who go into His presence before us, longing to see then again. This ache of the heart is what every one of us has whether we long to see a loved one or long to be complete physically or emotionally. This world comes with pain headache and suffering. 

How we see these trials makes the difference in whether we have peace or angst. The Bible is replete with stories of the human condition. God tells us the truth. In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.

Pray for loved ones who are far from God. He wants to pull them close to himself. Having eternity to love them far surpasses a few days on the earth!