Raining and 60 degrees!

Dec. 21, 2016

It is raining, really showers,  they said it would rain tomorrow, shows what "they" know.  I had decided to leave today (a day early to avoid the rain) oh well, maybe later.

I got to go to the pool yesterday, it was wonderful!  Met some nice full time people from Reston, VA, (they will be at my next RV park too) and Idaho, everybody is trying to avoid the weather. My next door neighbors are from Pennsylvania, here in California, for the winter, they will be at the second RV park I will be.

I just booked another week here in Palm Desert, Jan 27-Feb 3.  Reservations are getting tight here for the winter months. I will go up to Pasadena area today and find a place to park for the night.  Then I will visit the Shaklee people who sponsored the Wolff's who sponsored my parents in Shaklee. He was the one who flew from California to DC, our 3rd day in Shaklee and got us started back in 1974.  I will always be grateful for that good start and all the support throughout the years.  They are both in their mid 80's and still active in Shaklee and doing a thriving business. I am looking forward to having lunch with them at their house in Arcadia, CA. 

Afterwards, I will pick up a friend from College at the school she is still teaching at (same age as me) and I will take her home and visit a little and then Saturday, she is taking off to Costa Rico for Christmas holiday.  She always does something exotic, to keep herself young.  What a Flourish to the Finish! I was glad we will get to see each other before she goes.

It is still raining, so much for showers, it is really coming down steadily. It is 60 degrees, so it is not bad, just rain.

My Christmas wish for you...FLOURISHMENT!

 Dec,19,2016

Oh, what a beautiful morning!  I woke up with JOY in my heart.  I have learned that their is a difference between happiness and joy.  We in America have been trained to believe that the "pursuit of happiness" is a "right " of freedom that we have.  So we go after "happiness" in things, people, houses, places, occupations, locations, etc...  We say to ourselves, " I would be really happy if I had...." , "When I get____________I will be set.",  We see someone else with something that we want, and we say, Ooowee!, they look so happy, I need one of those.  We see a new "toy" and they come in all prices...their is always a price.  (Look what happened to the "toy's" you got or gave last year...where are they?)  They may have made you "happy" for a minute...but then we want more, thinking that will bring us happiness.

OK, so happiness only brings a temporary "fix", a lifting of our spirits for a brief moment, then on to the next thing, because that is over.  How much debt has our "pursuit of happiness" gotten us into?  The whole world's system is built on our "pursuit of happiness".  Let's break the "world's system", let's get out of debt, (re-gift, be creative, give love, spend time with your children and loved ones, (What SACRIFICE?), pay cash for everything we buy, if we can't afford it, wait (WHAT! WAIT?) until we can pay cash for it.  Make this Christmas what it is really about...giving of love in your hearts.

Let's talk about JOY!

          JOY is a knowing, that all of your cares are already in the hands of                Jesus, and He can take care of them just fine, thank you, all by Himself, He needs no help, only your permission.

          JOY is a knowing that you are protected from the wiles of the devil,  he has no power unless you give it to him.(permission). 

          JOY is peace, peace with God and everybody else.  If there is a lack of peace in area of your life, you have the power to fix it.  It is not       about what others are doing, it is how you are reacting, so you have  the power to change it.  It can be done NOW, in a moment, a decision,  change your thinking. Did you do it?  It is only holding you back, it has nothing to do with the other person.  They choose their own suffering.

          JOY is loving, unconditionally, like God did for us in sending His Son as a payment for our sins, while we were still in the middle of it.  Can we do that with others?  Love them in the state they are in?  Unconditionally? WHAT? PUT UP WITH THEIR STUFF?, God does it every minute with us, we can do it too.

          JOY is playing by God's rules and loving it.  Everything we are searching for, unsettled about, need answers for, anxious about,  worried about, fretting over, etc... the ANSWERS ARE IN THE RULE BOOK! (Bible)  We are playing by somebody's rules, who's    rules are we playing by?  Our own? (Check again) somebody is           ruling our life, there are only two powers in the earth, if you are not playing the "game of life" by God's rules,(the one who created you, for His purpose), then you are playing by the devils counterfeit rules (his rules, are to steal, kill and destroy).      Everybody is living by one ruler's rules.  In our "pursuit of happiness" and freedom, we think by       rejecting or rebelling against God's rules we are doing our" "own thing".  We have been given the choice, but with every choice, there is a consequence built into it.  We make the choice, but we can't choose   the consequences. (DEEP STUFF). THE WAGES (payment, consequences) OF SIN IS DEATH! Death of something, when we sin, something dies (the rules). Could be a relationship, anything, we don't get to choose that.

Ok, I had a wonderful breakfast, my Shaklee Life shake, and supplements and a cup of  hot,Vitalized Immunity, Defend and Resist, Pomegranate Energizing Tea and a grapefruit right off the tree!  WOW!

My blood pressure reading was 129/88 this AM.  I remember being told that once you are on  blood pressure medicine, you will never get off.  Well, I have been off of all medication since September 2016 and I have monitored my blood pressure daily and it has never been as high as it was when I was on the blood pressure medication.  I read a study that was done that showed that sometimes the blood pressure medicine keeps your blood pressure high. I believe it, and I am doing what is necessary to be in good health.  Praise God, I no longer have symptoms from:

          Herniated disk in 2004

          Stroke in 2014

          sciatica & back pain issues

          Arthritis

          Now going through Bronchitis (let you know when my cells finish        repairing,  they are on their way!)

I never took medication to correct those issues, I just played by God's rules.  He gave us a Body with trillions of cells that are equipped to fight disease, reproduce after their kind (good or bad) and they know what to do with the only thing they eat:  Vitamins, protein, minerals, carbohydrates and fats (Food).  (They only react to everything else we try to feed them, like medicines, additives, preservatives, over processed foods etc...). The quality of the food will determine the quality of your body.

I intend to be an example of good health and live life to the fullest, in God's plan, so you will be encouraged to join this journey of Joy, Love, Life and Fulfillment wherever you are.  Come FLOURISH TO THE FINISH WITH ME!

Remember Flourish:

          To grow luxuriantly,

          To thrive,

          To succeed

          To be an example and an influence for the next generation!

My wish for you this Christmas is PEACE, JOY, HEALTH, LOVE, FULFILLMENT and FLOURISHMENT! WOOPEE! LET'S GO!

Watermellon 2 for 99 cents!

WOW, what fun yesterday!  I was picked up by a Sister in Christ who took me to the local Flea Market where there were all kinds of Vendors.  Arts, Crafts, Clothes, Shoes, socks, gadgets, produce, and lot's more.  I tasted a local date, which was real moist and good.  I  got some fruits and vegetables.  Then we went to a 99 cent store.  I thought it would be like a Dollar store but it was some different.  For one thing, they had fresh produce!  And the small seedless watermelon TWO FOR 99 CENTS!  I only got one.  They also had Jicama for 99 cents a lb.  I was able to get all the groceries I needed. Praise the Lord!  When I got to the check out, my Sister insisted on paying for all my stuff.  WOW. God takes care of me even when I don't think I need it.  I will definitely watch for God's opportunity to bless someone else.

Before she came I decided to hook up to the sewer and water.  I had a little challenge as the RV was parked too far away from the sewage hole for my hose to reach.  I have a longer hose but it won't go through the hole to attach to the outlet elbow.  So I solved the problem by maneuvering the RV closer and WALAH!  The shorter hose worked.  Now I am fully hooked up to electric, water and sewer.

When I came back I picked some more grapefruit.

Sunday, Dec 18, 2016

I woke up early to get the streaming live of my Church at 6:30 AM and then went to Church here at the RV park.  Rev. Sis. Wright preached today on live stream, as Bishop is on Holiday.  She was really good and spoke about, "How to Maintain A more Excellent Spirit (Attitude)".   She said to maintain an Excellent Spirit, we need to:

          Be like Christ Jesus, Be the brightness of the Glory of God.

          Set righteousness as a compass for our life so we don't defile                                 ourselves.

          We must have Jesus's mental disposition:

                   An attitude of submission.

                   Humility, total dependence on God the Father

                   Attitude of Obedience to the will of God

          Allow the power of the Holy Spirit to lead me.

                   We can control our flesh.

                   We can contain our mind.

                   We can confront and confuse the devil

Then I went to Service in the recreation hall where Pastor Jack was the preacher.  He and his wife have been doing this for 14 years.  There was a nice group attending and I met some wonderful people.  We sang Christmas Carols and the message was in line with the first one and he talked about being more Christ like. The Holy Spirit is real!  One lady played guitar, I bought her CD of Christmas Music.  Some of the same people I met, will be at the next RV park with me, that should be fun.  I will be able to go to Bible Study on Wednesday night here, before I leave on Thursday.

Ate a Grapefruit off a tree!

Wow!  I picked and ate a pink grapefruit OFF A TREE!  Now I know what they were talking about when they said picking fruit was OK.  There are fruit trees here.  I will let you know what else.  I WENT TO THE POOL!!!!!  It was great, very pleasant, not hot but very comfortable.  I finally got some exercise, it felt good.  It is supposed to be colder today, we will see.  It was beautiful and sunny at the pool and I looked over to the sky towards the north, it was very dark and it was pouring rain sideways, windy and it seemed very close but not where we were. Interesting.  I met a family at the pool, from Hagerstown, Maryland that were home schooling their children in the morning and pool in the afternoon, Wow!  They had a 3, 6, 8 and 18 year old.  They had driven here in 3 days, stopping in Tennessee and Texas, Wow. They call me Grandma.  They were on their way to that place I left in Las Vegas.  Then they were going to spend Christmas with the Grandparents in Arizona.

I had a dream that a good friend who tells it like it is, said I would never  succeed in my Shaklee business.  It made me mad!  I asked her why she said it and she was trying to kindly tell me and I woke up, MAD.  Not at her because she said it, but because it was true, if I continued to do what I am doing now, I will not achieve my desired goals.  Did you ever get to the place where you asked yourself, "If I continue to do what I am doing now, will I get what I desire?"   Sometimes we just have to look at ourselves, really look.  It's sometimes ugly. 

We fool ourselves into thinking that we can put it off until tomorrow, but then that is one whole day gone, never to be repeated or retrieved.  Time is a gift, we all get the same number of  hours and minutes in a day until the finish, which could be any moment of that day. We don't have that plan, then what?  We need to know for sure...then what?  Do we have a relationship with Jesus, will we, for sure, go to heaven when we die?  Do we know?  If we are not sure, we need to be sure.  Their could be someone reading this blog right now who is not sure.  You can be sure! God sent His Son Jesus to die for you so you don't have to die and go to hell.  It is as simple as believing that Jesus is God's Son and He died for you and me, taking on our sins, so they would be paid for, and we can be free to have eternal life.  Don't try to figure it out, we don't have the mind of God, we don't know all His rules, but we do know this one.  If you  accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and believe in your heart, you will be saved from this World and be a Citizen of the Kingdom of God.  If you need help, repeat these words, and believe them in your heart, and you will be saved.

"Jesus I ask you to come and live in my heart today, be my Lord and Savior. I am sorry for my sins, I ask you to forgive me.  I believe that you came to earth and died for me so I will be saved.  Lord save me." 

If you sincerely prayed that prayer and believed in your heart, YOU ARE SAVED!  Now, find a Bible believing, Bible teaching Church where you can learn and grow in the things of God.  You are a NEW CREATURE , everything has been made new, fresh.  Praise the Lord!  If you need a good Church, let me know.

Finally warmer weather!

Dec 16, 2016

Finally I woke up to 59 degrees, in Palm Desert, Calif.  I plan to go to the pool today!  I left Las Vegas yesterday about 11:30 AM and look the scenic route, good roads 70 mph and beautiful desert with a beautiful border of purple, blue, grey, mountains all around.  Joshua trees and lots of sand and not a lot else.  One stop I made for a break (thank God I didn't need gas), it was the only station around and regular gas was $3.19) it was called Terrible, and it was!  I was finally able to get gas at $2.55, which was still high but better.  

There was a Ghost Town I could have gone to but I had seen one before and didn't feel like going up a lonely road to get there to see a lot of empty buildings.  It was a beautiful, interesting drive and I arrived after dark and a day early at the RV park.  They had spaces and I could pull through to park. (For those of you, new to the RV thing, that is a big deal, as backing into a space at night (or in the day) could get very interesting without help.  As it was I pulled into someone else's spot (they were gone for the day).  My first clue was the water hose was there,  I just hooked up my electric and thought I would do the rest in the morning in daylight.  Then I walked around the RV and saw a mat on the ground with 2 lawn chairs, indicating that the spot was taken.  There was a lady next door, doing something on her phone, watching me pull in, hook up and I spoke to her but she was either deaf or very unfriendly.  Anyway, I quickly unhooked the electric, backed out and found another unoccupied spot that was nicer anyway.  I am surrounded by palm trees.  Not far from the pool which is open from 8 AM to 10 PM. Woopee!

The literature said we could pick the  fruit?  Don't know what that is about.  The Dates grow in the top of the Palm trees, I'm not going there.  I guess I will find out.  It is like manna from heaven, you can only pick what you can eat in a day.

OK, my health report:

Cold is better,

I have lost a total of 8 1/2 lbs.

19 1/2 inches

Blood pressure 134/91

No medication

No exercise (going to fix that today at the pool)

I am still on the Shaklee 180 plan and am so glad I did this before the Holidays and I will be so far ahead in January when I usually set my "New" goals for the year.  I will be "running" with the new me by then!

On the road again

Wed. Dec. 14, 2016

Ok, another change.  It looks like I will leave tomorrow.  I just had the RV washed and it is supposed to rain on Friday, I don't like to drive with road spray on a just-washed vehicle, soooo, I will probably leave tomorrow, which is going to be cloudy and a perfect day for driving.  I will get there a day early, which should not be a problem.  

I started to do some cleaning up and vacuuming and what! No electricity!  Again?  I calmed down, checked the circuit breaker box, it was OK.  I went outside to check on the box where I plugged in the Electric cord and I switched the switches off and back on and WALLAH!  Back in business!  I don't understand enough about electricity.  But Jesus does, and He doesn't mind telling me what to do...works for me!

The guy who washed the RV here in the RV Park, did a pretty good job, not as good as Gary Dowd, he does it for me in Maryland and Colonial Beach.  This guy was referred by a full-timer here in the RV park, I met in the laundry mat.  It cost $80, which wasn't bad.

I am waiting for my friend's daughter-in-law and we are going to get our nails done.  Girly stuff.

The ride down to Palm Desert should be scenic, I am looking forward to it.

Dec. 15, 2016

I received my Shaklee package yesterday and ate some Nutriferon, Defend and Resist and Alfalfa (I had just run out of Alfalfa) I got a good night's sleep, The Cold is finally on it's way out and I feel a lot better. 

PAYDAY, today, is Shaklee payday and what a blessing!  I got  a $1,020 raise this month! Woopee!  I think back to the days when we were living pay day to pay day and had no idea, there was a better way!  I also think about how we wasted so much of God's resources by making bad choices, like going into debt to keep up with illusive "Jones's", and buying a 42 ft Yacht that held 300 gals of gas.  It was a hole in the water that we poured money into!  I guess we got the bragging rights to say we owned a yacht!  I remember throwing and giving away lot's of stuff that cost's lots of money that could have been used in better ways.  Our flesh is never satisfied, if we give it a little, it wants more and we already have enough!  We already have everything we need to accomplish God's purpose in our lives!  The world wants us to spend more and more money on the latest and greatest, that will be out of date next year...that is the way the World's system works.  Let's choose to get off...just step away from that system and do it God's way!

About giving.  This is the Christmas season and if we do it right, we will give properly, not go into debt, give from what we have, not what we don't have, think about the needs (not desires) of the other person, not give stuff that will be thrown away or given away, just to say I gave them something.  I have learned that gift's from the heart are the best received.  Those that only you could give.  Think about the gifts and talents God has placed in you, and give from that.  It takes thought, effort, time, in other words, giving yourself, not necessarily a lot of money and you will have no regrets!  Just a Grandma Swann thought for the Christmas season. (PS. Think about the best gift you have received.....it is about love and sharing Jesus this Season.)

On the road again.

The more things change, the more they change

Well, things are still changing!  I will be leaving Las Vegas for Southern California ( to a pool!) on Friday and plan to be in Palm Desert, CA until Dec. 22nd, then to Palmdale, Ca from Dec 22-Jan3, then Menifee, Ca from Jan 3-24.  I talked to my Sister and the weather is not good there either so we will try for Christmas in late Jan or Feb. in Oregon.  I will meet my friends in Reno, hopefully during that same period.

I turned the Rental car in yesterday and my friend's daughter-in-law picked me up and brought me back to the RV.  I am getting picked up for FTHCM Bible Study by one of the Trustees tonight

I washed clothes today and I will get the RV washed tomorrow.

What a blessing, Bible Study was awesome and it is so much like being at the FTHCM Parent Church.  So much love and wonderful fellowship.  Unity in the Body of Christ.