August 2016 Summary

Some months of our lives lend themselves to trips down Memory Lane, but also require meeting legal requirements in preparation for going overseas, and dealing with necessary health issues. 

MEMORY LANE.  It was good to spend time the first week of August in Lexington, Kentucky, with my older sister Pat and have lunch with cousins Pam and Shirley after my July 30 high school reunion. While in Kentucky, I enjoyed visiting Epperson Church of God and Northside Baptist, both in Winchester. I happened to sit exactly where my missions minded late Aunt Fanny regularly sat…and not far from my late aunt’s very best friend.

On the way back to town, I drove the “Old Ruckerville Road” from end to end, passing the church my father attended, my Grandmother Watts’ former home place…missing the house full of  memories, passing two former houses of relatives.

That evening I attended Northside Baptist Church on Winn Avenue in Winchester  -  next door to where I grew up as a child. The spot where our little house once stood is now a playground and picnic area. The parking lot here replaces the gravel driveway where I fell at age 5 and got tiny small rocks in my head. I received a warm welcome at the church and reminisced with former neighbors.

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8/11: The big day for my double eye surgery – a vitrectomy (macular hole repair) and cataract removal in my left eye…followed by five days of face down 45 minutes of each hour. I was prepared with a tabletop face-down support system secured from amazon.com.

Post-op appointments with both surgeons went well. The macular hole had closed.

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 FORMS & LEGAL DOCUMENTS:   Passport renewal application was mailed and a new one received that is valid until 8/24/2026. Request for my home state Criminal Records Check was sent, received at end of month.  I had a physical exam, chest x-ray, blood tests and lab specimen tests…this and more required to accompany the Philippine visa application that I worked on. Most items are to be duplicate originals, several have to be notarized. 

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August 29: Woven Women of NewarkNaz, Ohio and others were inspired by local author Dixie L. Merrill as she shared her story and her book, Pictures of Hope. This guided study was developed while she served as a Grief Care facilitator at a religious retreat on Lake Erie, and later at a Church in Granville, Ohio. Dixie has used this book as a tool in Grief Recovery and has facilitated the Grief Share program. The Joy of the Lord is my strength.

Pictures of Hope is a love letter to wounded hearts. God is able to lift us out of our dark valleys of despair, into “His Valley Called Blessed.” Fruit grows in His valley; a fruit of love that empowers the weary to rise and lift up another weary soul with the same hope they have experienced in God’s love.