Teresa's Treasures

My mom and dad are both in the same nursing home an hour away from where I live. I visit them every Thursday. This is what I was inspired to write after my visit with them yesterday. NURSING HOME I go I stay I see I leave Voices all around Not all I heed I wish when I left On Thursday morn I’d see smiling faces Instead of forlorn The shuffling feet The frozen stares Eyes grown dim Once bright Now glare. I’m sure they’re all different Since now they’ve grown old Than whom they remember In the stories they’ve told. “Where’s my room?” Hilly asks “You’re almost there.” Sarah speaks “Just ten more steps.” As he shuffles his feet. Bingo, breakfast, Moon pies and popcorn Trying to lift spirits Of the tired and the torn Angels on earth Just a small chosen few It takes a skilled hand To do what they do Lifting, stooping Re-positioning  heads Straightening clothes Changing the beds What nursin...

Last year I published a list of seven things to do to improve your life in 2012. This year I'm adding numbers eight and nine. 1) Pick out a specific place to pray for a specific person and pray for them every time you're there. For example, pray for someone while you're in the shower; pray for someone different at a stop light, at your kitchen sink, in your car, etc.. 2) Remember if you can't change the situation you have to change your attitude. If you're tied to a rock, learn to love the rock. Let the situation change you. 3) Realize acceptance does not always mean approval. There's just some things that have to be accepted in life, whether agreed with or not. 4) If you find yourself unable to get along with people, make a list of those people and then find the common denominator; most likely it's you. 5) Live in the present moment. One-hundred percent of every minute of every day is lived in the present moment. The past is only made up of memor...

A dear friend of ours lost his mom this past week from a stroke she suffered several months ago. On the day of her funeral his dad entered the hospital with a possible brain tumor. Yesterday, in a flash these words came to me and I had to write them down. They are my heartfelt words to my friend Scott Burton that  apply to all his brothers and sisters who are grieving too. TO SCOTT There’s nothing to say That hasn’t been said “It’ll be okay.” “Better days are ahead.” Words seem so empty So null, so void. Times they’re a changin’ For momma’s little boy. Where does he turn? What can we do? I wish there were more To help see you through. To say that we love you Doesn’t seem quite enough For what you’ve been through We know it’s been rough. Thank God for your mom Like her there’s no other. He planned in advance Whom you would call mother. The Savior beside you On Him you must lean He watches you weep He hears when you scream. Look to the left Look...

As someone who’s dealt with depression most of my life, here's what I know about hopelessness and thoughts of suicide which are so prevalent this time of year. There’s a difference between wanting to die and not wanting to live. Most people just want to get away from the pain and don’t know how; I didn’t. “Suicide is not chosen; it happens when pain exceeds resources for coping with pain.” http://www.metanoia.org/suicide/ . You are not responsible for another person’s actions. You can be around someone every day and still not know what’s going on in his head. It’s not your fault you don’t know. You cannot help a person if you don’t know he has a problem. You cannot help another person if he doesn't know he has a problem. You cannot help a person who won’t admit he has a problem. You cannot make someone talk. If someone believes depression is a sign of weakness she will be ashamed to share her depressed thinking. She probably doesn’t know she’s depressed, but k...

My favorite passage of scripture in the whole Bible is Hebrews 12:1-3: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses (the Hall of Faith people in Hebrews chapter 11), let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles (lack of faith), and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our fait...h, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” I remember where, when and why I memorized this passage. When I was in my thirties and forties I was criticized more than at any other time in my life. I was becoming a leader in a man’s world, better known as the church, and God was teaching me submission—“making the decision work when I didn't agree with it”; and there were many. He was hon...

Being a young mom is one of the hardest jobs I've ever known; being a dad is too. But since I'm a mom I want to speak from the heart of a mom who's been there and done that--to give hope to you who have children at home, little and big, wondering when will the rat-race end. Of the four stages of a woman's life, beginnings, blossoming, nurturing and harvesting, nurturing is the busiest and was for me the hardest. You experience the Mary/Martha Syndrome, trying to be both, struggling to be good at either. You wear many hats, more than at any other time in your life: wife, mom, lover, nurse, counselor, maid, teacher, taxi driver, cook, worker outside the home, Bible teacher, entertainer, friend, daughter-in-law, daughter just to name a few. Other people control your life leaving much needed "me time" non-existent. Right now, you get a glimpse of how Jesus must have felt when his cousin died, he tried to get away and the whole town came knocking at his door. You...

If you’ve ever been a parent of a teenager you can probably relate to the question a friend of mine posted on Facebook a few days ago: “I’d really like to hear from parents with grown children who survived the teenage years what you did to make it through!” which is her exact quote. Giving her the quickest response I could at the time, I recommended she buy the book “Parents in Pain” by John White that I had read when I had teenagers living at home. Today, however, after having some time to think, I’ve heard the Spirit’s voice who, I think, has inspired me to write. His message came quickly early Monday morning before daybreak. This is what I heard – not out loud – but inwardly when I was still enough to listen. God is not just like a father he is a father. Why not look at God and Jesus’ relationship starting from creation? 1) God created Adam who begat Cain – the murderer Cain – who killed his brother. Only two generations away from the Creator a murderer is born. The be...