Permanent, Perfect, Precious & Practical LOVE!

I married my college sweetheart “back in the day” and since I didn’t believe in divorce, at least not as a good solution for marital problems, I never anticipated that we would end up divorced, but after ten years of marriage and four children, we did!
After the shock of that event wore off, I learned some valuable lessons! For one thing, no matter how much you love another person, you cannot make them love you back. True love can never be forced. True love is always a decision.
Secondly, “love” that is not founded upon something more permanent and durable than feelings is most likely not love at all, but “lust” or some facsimile thereof.
Thirdly, if someone truly cannot love you unconditionally, even after they’ve given it their best shot for ten years, and co-parented four children with you, sometimes the kindest gift they can give you is their absence and your freedom back – and that is exactly what my first husband did! It just took many years for me to realize that and appreciate it!
Thankfully, as that drama was unfolding in my life, something precious and wonderful was happening simultaneously. God, always ready to fill the void in our hearts created by a painful loss, was waiting patiently for me to call upon Him with all my heart, which I finally did during those painful days in 1977. As my human husband distanced himself from me and the children, God responded to our earnest invitation and moved into our lives and proved His presence over and over in practical, precious and perfect ways! Each of my children accepted the Lord as their personal Savior shortly after their Daddy moved out, and God met their needs, as well as my own, beautifully, day after day.
Our pantry cupboards stayed miraculously filled in ways too mysterious to understand or explain. Lacking health insurance, the children and I were witnesses to many miraculous healings in our own lives and the lives of others dear to us. God even healed me of cancer during those years, as well as delivering me from the fear of its return. A family member left me an inheritance that enabled me to care for my children’s basic needs despite their Daddy’s inability to pay court-ordered child support. I was able to stay home most of the time and work only part-time outside of the home, which was a blessing because the four children were young and needed much supervision. All in all, we learned first-hand that our lives don’t go unnoticed by God and no need is too big to prevent Him from meeting it nor too small to be considered insignificant to by Him if it pertained to our mental, physical, spiritual or emotional well being.
In short, we experienced Hebrews 13:5, which says: “ I will never leave you nor forsake you.” And He never has.
It was a hard way to learn that lesson, but what comfort to have finally discovered the permanence of God’s Presence and the durability of His love for each of us, His dear children. What a dependable and loving God is our Heavenly Father!
After two years as a single mom with four children under ten, I met and married my current husband, Rick, who loves the Lord, me, the children, and our 12 grandchildren unconditionally – a miracle I shall never take for granted! In November 2012, we’ll celebrate our 30th anniversary. God has truly “restored the years the locusts have eaten!”
I hope you, too, have discovered the absolute faithfulness of our God. And I hope you never have to experience the pain of a divorce or any other hurtful loss, but if you ever do, be quick to turn to the only One who can fill the void and comfort your heart. Only He can make good on His promise to never leave you nor forsake you. It may take time, but if you give Him a chance, He will turn your mourning into dancing, too, just like His Word says.
Paddy Burrows lives in Silverlake, Washington with her husband, Rick and their fine, furry friends: Pumpkin, Patches and Gigi. Paddy welcomes reader comments and can be reached online @ valleybugler.com or by calling 360-274-5231

The Bee Keeper

Next door to us here in Silverlake is a giant tree that has, for as long as I can remember, been the home to a nest of bees. The bees keep busy pollinating flowers and collecting nectar for their hive, seemingly oblivious to the never-ending parade of children on bicycles, joggers, dog-walkers, cats, pedestrians of all kinds and drivers in all types of vehicles that pass by their tree home day after day after day.

Occasionally the hive produces another queen bee and the new queen and a group of her loyal subjects leave the nest and swarm to another location where they set up shop and establish a new home for themselves. Last summer, they swarmed a mailbox near ours, presenting a problem for that neighbor and for Kathleen, our rural mail carrier, who faithfully delivers our mail.

Rogue, our next-door neighbor, whose tree contains the beehive, talked with a bee-keeper friend of his, who secured a special box from him, which the bee-keeper used to “move the hive.” They placed the box in Rogue’s vegetable garden and the bees continued “business as usual” content in their new location. Nobody got hurt during the transfer of the hive due to the bee-keeper’s expertise.

I watched this process in awe, knowing the importance of bees for pollination, yet respecting their little stingers and the damage they could easily do to humans if they were so inclined.

When I was young I got stung on the leg while climbing over my parent’s wood pile during a game of hide and seek with some neighbor kids. My leg swelled up a lot but eventually it subsided and the itchiness disappeared. I forgot all about it until I was about 12 and was stung between the eyes by a wasp in the shower stall of a camp I was attending. My face swelled quickly. I couldn’t see because my eyes were swollen shut! The camp nurse told me I was having an allergic reaction and needed a shot to stop the reaction. I forgot what they gave me, but it worked and eventually I was OK.

Except for one thing. From that day on, I had a new companion: FEAR of BEES!

Whenever I’d see a bee, I’d panic until it was gone. If a bee flew anywhere near me when I was outside, I’d RUN for cover. My children picked up on this and became fearful of bees too. One time we were driving on the freeway to a family event and a bee flew in the car. The children and I panicked so much that my husband could barely keep the car on the road. Before we knew it, one of the kids had opened the care door while we were still driving the speed limit, and tried to let the bee out of the car! That’s when I realized there was something WORSE than a bee sting; crazy behavior caused by FEAR of bees! After that day, I prayed for deliverance from my fear of bees and healing from my allergy of to them.

God is faithful. I have been stung one more time – as an adult. I was trying on a pretty blouse at a garage sale and a hornet was hiding in the sleeve and stung me four times! I calmly called 911 and told the paramedics I’d had allergic reactions in the past and they came right over, ready to administer the shot, if I needed it. But this time it was different, I wasn’t AFRAID. I didn’t panic. And the shot wasn’t needed because the swelling was waning by the time they arrived and almost gone by the time they left. I also got a chance to tell the paramedics about my prayers for healing and deliverance. As I’d hoped, I’d been delivered and healed and also had a chance to test that and make sure of it.

My Dear Heavenly Father, the Ultimate Bee-Keeper, has proven once again that He is able to take care of even Paddy “Bee”.

THANK YOU, LORD!

Happy 2011 to all you “Busy Bees” out there. Keep doing all the good you can while you can & don’t “bee” distracted by small stuff. You have something important to do today. Go DO it!

Comment on this column and more online @ valleybugler.com
Paddy enjoys hearing from her readers and can be reached at 360.274.5231

The Best Christmas Ever

I have a photo that is very special to me. I was two years old and I am holding a beautiful big doll in my arms, an ecstatic look on my face. The doll had long blonde hair and was dressed in a lacy satin bridal gown and veil and pretty white high heels. It was one of the most special Christmas gifts I’ve ever received in my life and it still makes me smile, even though the doll has long since gotten lost in the shuffle, and priorities have changed over the past 60 years of living.
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Patriots’ Pen & Voice of Democracy

My wonderful friend, Diana Miner, and I are Co-Chairmen of Youth Activities for our local VFW Auxiliary up here in Toutle. As such, we get the privilege of not only rubbing elbows with some of the great heroes who fought bravely to preserve our country’s freedom, but also the privilege of making sure our nation’s true history gets transmitted to the generations coming along behind us.
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You Are A Designer Original!

Last night at a meeting, we played an ice-breaker game called “What’s In The Box?”

We sat in a circle and a box was placed in the center of the circle. On the box were letters, one on each side. We were told that there was something in the box that “causes all the conflicts in the world but it also the only hope for world peace: What’s in the Box?”
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Dancing on Fly Paper

May 22nd, 2010 – It’s cloudy and still over Silverlake today. No song birds twittering at the Evan’s compound yet. No ducks quacking for Connie to feed them their cracked corn. No geese honking overhead. No neighbors mowing yet or even out walking their dogs. Perhaps everyone is sleeping in to catch up on their rest.

It’s a good day for that. It’s 8:15 on a quiet Saturday morning.
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Fruits and Nuts – August 2010

I am sitting at my computer. It’s 6:35 a.m. on May 18th, the thirtieth anniversary of the eruption of Mt. St. Helens. It’s a rainy Tuesday here in Silverlake. I’m writing to all my friends, family and to readers I’ve never met before, hoping to say something that will help all of you with your lives today.
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‘A Long, Loving, Leisurely Good-Bye’

It is Mid-May as I write this. My husband of twenty-seven years is in intensive care at Legacy Emmanuel Hospital in Portland following a grand mal seizure that started last Thursday and is still producing after-shocks.
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Processing Grief

Who among us has not endured the loss of a loved one, a dear friend or a beloved pet? A relationship that once was and now is no more? Perhaps we were once allowed to play a role in someone’s life who no longer needs us or to work for an employer who no longer requires our services.
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Words can be like BRICKS

My good friend from Arizona, Angela Ditch, sent me these gems on her birthday recently. Great food for thought! Carpe diem! Seize the day! Savor every moment of your life.
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