Gather Round The Table

Posted on November 20, 2016 by Pat

Let’s Celebrate What’s Good In Our Lives – Who Is Amazing In Our Lives – Courtesy of MSN Clipart

There’s room for everyone, as we celebrate Thanksgiving this week across this great land. Families and friends travel far and wide to get together and connect once more. We eat, we talk and laugh. It’s a time of giving, a time to catch up, to share and be grateful. There is much to reflect on this year and much for which to count our blessings.

“Every time I pick up a coin on the street, I view it as a symbol of the abundance that God sends into my life, and I feel gratitude.”

— Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

Continue reading →

Acknowledgements: "Room At The Table" by Carrie Newcome more...

A Grateful World Is a Happy World

Posted on November 24, 2015 by Pat

BK via Compfight

As Thanksgiving approaches, I have to admit I’m struggling with gratitude. My emotions are mixed and my heart is conflicted with unrest from the recent Paris and Mali shootings and the rants of hate.

It’s hard to put everything into perspective and settle down to celebrate with a quiet dinner and give thanks with so much going on in the world. I will, not because of tradition, but because it’s what is so desperately needed and there is so much for which I’ve been blessed. Continue reading →

Acknowledgements: BK Photo via Comcast at https://www.f more...

Time to Give ― Be Grateful ― Reflect

Posted on November 24, 2014 by Pat

Time to give, time to be grateful, time to reflect ― it’s almost Thanksgiving in the U.S. and, like most, we’re busy planning and preparing. But, this year will be a quiet celebration for hubby and me. We’ll be hanging around home eating, watching football games and old Hallmark movies ― just the two of us.

Sounds traditional, but not really, I can already feel the closeness of home and energy of gratitude. I cherish these times together and remember it was just last year when hubby took ill suddenly and was in and out of the hospital a couple of times between Christmas and New Year’s. Continue reading →

Acknowledgements: John Koenig at "The Dictionary of Obs more...

Little Things: #Story #Poem

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Pat

Fall colors in the Rockies — © Pat Ruppel

We’re moving right along into the heart of the holiday season not being too far removed from Halloween. With gratitude and in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I’m honored to be Susan Cooper’s guest at “Finding Our Way Now” with the contribution of this month’s story.

I hope it will bring you home to the things that are important in your life. Please enjoy:

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The Little Things

What is one thing that you still remember to this day that warms your heart and puts a smile on your face? I’ll bet it was something spontaneous and incidental but you still remember it as if it was just yesterday….where you were, who was with you, the sounds and smells.

It’s not anything big – you tune into the little things. It may be a twinkle in the eyes of a loved one as they tell you some exciting news or read something to you that inspired them.

My husband wrote a poem years ago that is one of those special little things that means a lot to me. I have it hanging on the wall.

He was taking some classes in college at the time and not long before we had left our roots in Toledo and Cape Charles, VA and headed west.

It was 1969 and our trek was similar to a modern-day wagon train except we were in our Volvo station wagon with 2 dogs pulling a U-Haul. . . (read more)

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Thank you, Susan, for the opportunity to share my story with your readers. It is my hope this will kick off the month with love and gratitude and carry throughout the holidays.

Blessings ~ from Pat at the ‘ol kitchen table (also see “You Were There“)

You Were There

Humbled

Posted on September 12, 2014 by Pat

Underwood No. 5 keys Photo by Pat David Courtesy of PhotoDropper

I was humbled today in a very tender way. So much so, I felt embarrassed and was moved to tears. It led me to write this post to capture what I felt so I would remember.

As is the case, I’m grateful in not having to plan most of my days. Instead, I enjoy watching them unfold. I found myself this morning watching this day unfold by attending to techy, computer work. Hubby had gotten another external hard drive with more space to back up our files as I had run out of room on the other drive. I tend to accumulate stuff and have difficulty purging. That’s a topic I’ll save for a different time.

It seemed simple. Create a new folder on the new drive and copy and paste files over from my laptop. As he was giving me the instructions on the new drive, I found my chest and throat tightening to a point where I was having trouble talking. I was panicking about something new to learn and afraid of messing up something I believed to be important. I know it sounds crazy.

I’ve felt this before when I’ve had difficulty understanding, afraid of losing something or screwing it up beyond repair. I don’t know why I get myself so worked up with computer stuff. Lord knows I’ve worked my way through so much in creating a blog, videos, and e-book, even worked as an administrative assistant for some 25+ years. So, on it went with the banter back and forth until I just copied the ‘dang’ files over . . . and then it happened. Continue reading →