Laura-Lee Was Here

Laura-Lee Was Here

August 17, 2019

No Biggie



It's getting late and I'm moving slower by the minute. It's about to flip over to my Sunday Sabbath which is good because I'm about to "flip out" and a day of rest sounds just about right.

It's time to shut things down. Like my computer, my brain, my worry and my body. Of course, my body isn't going at it's highest speed right now. The strange thing is, if I decide to rush to get something done I exert myself (even to the point of sweating) but I don't actually move any faster.


Perhaps YOU feel like you've been spinning your wheels too. We were not built and designed to be on the go 24/7. So shut off your phone (I think I just heard a collective Worldwide GASP), and do something creative that relaxes you and will "restoreth [your] soul". Psalm 23.

Taking a day of rest doesn't necessarily mean laying in bed all day and staring at the ceiling. Trust me! I tried it all those days I was in the hospital paralyzed and ceilings just aren't that interesting.

But, hey, that's not a bad idea. If someone out there is artistic and looking for a way to give of themselves. Go to your local hospital and volunteer to paint/draw on the ceiling so all the patients have something beautiful and inspirational to look at. Maybe even do a " Where's Waldo" type of thing to help them pass the time.

Probably half of my blog visitors (the younger half) just thought "what's a 'Where's Waldo?' "

That's my cue for an exit.

Have a wonderful, RESTful day. You are in my heart and prayers. (Yes. I actually pray for everyone who gives of their precious time to come here. You're all so amazing.)

Thanks for stopping in.

Love Laura-Lee

PS. I guess I rambled on longer than I intended. So this is a "biggie" after all. 😉😊

Your "something extra" for scrolling to the bottom of the page. Jesus loves you (and I'm mighty fond of you too!) L-L

August 10, 2019

Tisha B'av & Sunday Sabbath


Time to par-tay the Judeo-Christian way!



Well another Sunday Sabbath has rolled around. But it is also the Jewish holiday of Tisha B'Av. And you should see what Google Talk made of the word Tisha B'Av, before I corrected it.

So I decided to get you in a "isn't-God-good-and-wonderful" mood in order to help you celebrate.

In 2014 I lost my voice three times in very serious cases of laryngitis. I've had laryngitis many times throughout my life and all that usually means is a little peace and quiet for a few days for the people I am around. But in 2014 it meant losing my voice. That was something I did not see coming.

Now I'm hardly a Whitney Houston or Mariah Carey but I have always loved to sing and I have been good enough at it that people have asked me to sing. But I do it mostly for myself and for the Lord. But when I lost my voice I stopped singing all together. I'd like to say it was simply to spare the people around me, but there weren't any people around me. I think the main reason I didn't want to sing is because it was a constant reminder of yet another thing I had lost.



But then Jesus had a talk with me and reminded me all the joy that there is in expressing myself in song. So I decided to continue even though I couldn't carry a tune. I sounded like a boy going through adolescence and on bad days like a frog, going through adolescence.

But then my Lord told me once again about the verse in the Book of Psalms that says we are to "make a Joyful Noise unto the Lord." So I continued to make my noise never expecting my voice to return.

Three days ago I felt the urge to burst into song and so I did. The only difference is at this time my voice was completely restored. Not only can I carry a tune again, I can sing better then I did before.

Now you may be wondering why he healed my voice, but he didn't heal the rest of me. I have to admit the thought crossed my mind as well. But as we learn in the Book of Job, God's ways are not our ways. And there are some things I may never understand even if He explained them to me really slow and used finger puppets.


But this is my first Sunday with my voice miraculously restored and I am going to sing through the entire day. (and probably every day after that too.) I hope I can encourage you to do the same. It's time for you to make YOUR Joyful Noise to the Lord. Whatever form that may take.

Have a wonderful and restful Sunday.

Love, Laura-Lee



Bible Verse Psalm 100:1 Read it for yourself



Actually Tisha B'Av isn't exactly a day of celebration in the usual sense. To learn more, follow the Link.
What is Tisha B'Av?




Coloring page, for something fun to do on your Sabbath.





"Shout to the Lord" music video. Something fun to listen to.


"MY Jesus, MY Saviour... Forever I'll love you, forever I'll STAND. Nothing compares to the promise I have in you."

Pray For My Hats



Ya. You read the title correctly. I suppose you might need a little more information though.

As many of my regular blog readers may know, I spent most of the Spring in the hospital. While I was there I contracted a virus on my scalp which has robbed me of almost all of my hair. So when I got home I decided to buy some chemo hats. Because of my infected scalp I couldn't put on just any old hat. However, I have been having a great deal of trouble getting some.


I tried first to order some from Amazon. But Canada Post foiled my plans again. Instead of actually delivering the package to my home, my deliverer decided to throw a notification card into my mailbox. It required me to travel 3 miles to a small store where my parcel had been dumped. Since I don't have a car and I can't take the bus, I was stuck as to what to do. I couldn't even get someone to pick it up for me because I was required to show in person with my photo ID ready. So without options, I simply let it go back to Amazon. They gave me a refund for the price of the merchandise. Of course I was out all the shipping costs.


However I still really needed to have something to put on my head. So I went to another website that specialized in chemo hats, hoping that if I ordered it directly from them I might actually receive something. But again Canada Post spoiled my plans and delivered the package to someone else.

Oh. I forgot. I already have this one but in pink and yellow.

I contacted Canada Post and they started an investigation to find the missing parcel. But there's little hope of that because even if the mail deliver didn't realize it was the wrong address, the people who accepted the package would have immediately known it wasn't intended for them. But took it anyway. I hope they like my "Slaps". They are both lovely and usefull for many situations.

 I don't understand what this is all about. Six weeks later and I still can't buy just a few hats?! It's weird, 'ya know?

So, if you would say just a simple prayer that God would cut through the 'static' and get me something to wear on my little bald head besides my old blue sleep cap, I would appreciate it. And I'll let you know how this concludes.
If anyone has any suggestions for me, I'd be happy to get them. Just send me an email.


Thanks for stopping in.


Love Laura-Lee Rahn



YUP! This one is actually me.
2010? I think.




August 09, 2019

Canada Post ARRRRRRRG!! (Primal Scream)





 I thought it was bad enough that I only receive 1 out of the 5 parcels I order because Canada Post usually just throws a notification card into my mailbox and then dumps  my parcel at a facility nowhere near my home. But today Canada Post did something new. They delivered my late parcel to someone else.

Through the years they have:


 *Never delivered many Christmas cards and parcels

*Delivered items 3 years after they were mailed to me

*My bank account was locked down and my utilities shut off when Canada Post suddenly decided to send back ALL  my mail to everyone marked "undeliverable ". Even though I had been living in the same place for 6 years.

Or the six post-dated rent checks I sent registered that even required a signature and still never got to their destination and we're never found. Meaning I had to pay my bank to have them ALL canceled. $18 each! Not to mention the money lost to send the first cheques and second batch of cheques registered.

But several years ago I started an online petition to ask the Canadian Government to do an investigation of Canada Post because it is a Crown Corporation and definitely under their jurisdiction. I had many signatures. But not one from Canada. The signers included some of the worst horror stories of how lives were actually ruined when they mailed something to Canada that never arrived or arrived destroyed. The reason no Canadians signed it is because they were afraid of the repercussions Canada Post would heap on them if they were found out. Now is that is not cause for an investigation?


And I've been dealing with this for 48 years! (mailed my first letter at age 5.) So I repeat, "ARRRRRRG!"



Mom told me that when she was a teenager and it was Christmas, sometimes they received as many as 4 mail deliveries EACH DAY! And believe me, it's pretty cold here in Canada in December.

Now Canada Post literally only care about making money and their customers can go to ****! (insert your own expletive here. I don't know any bad enough to express my current outrage.)

Quick! Someone tell me a good joke.










"See you, Love"
Scottish translation = "see yoo loove"
Yea. Okay. I know "love" isn't actually what Gerard's saying.


He's actually saying "Loooorrra"


Ahhh. All that cuteness. Now I feel better.






















Shhh. Gerard. No one is supposed to know about us yet.
Ok ok I'll call. Stop pestering. There's enough Loooorrra to go around. Yes. I'm that much woman!




















August 07, 2019

The Daffodil Analogy







In the spring of 1978 I lived with my family in Vancouver, Canada in a house that we rented from my uncle who lived next door. The reason I remember the date so specifically is that the previous month I had made the decision that would change the rest of my life. I had decided to become a  Born Again Christian. Even though at the time I had no idea what that was or even those terms.

One day, as I was leaving for school,  I noticed a strange thing on our driveway. It looked like an onion with a green shoot coming out of it. I brought it inside and asked my mother what it was and she told me it was a daffodil bulb that was attempting to grow. Then she asked me where I found it. When I told her, she wondered out loud if there were any more. It got me excited. I wanted to know because we didn't have any daffodils in our lovely, big yard.



Mom suggested I go next door and ask my aunt,  because her parents had owned and lived in the house previously. It happened by "coincidence" that when I went next door my aunt's mother was actually there visiting and confirmed that they had planted several daffodil bulbs all along the fence. But it was many many years ago and apparently the grass had encroached and covered them up. I asked my uncle if it would be okay if I pulled back the grass and attempt to let the daffodils grow again. With everyone's blessing, that Saturday I went outside with an old tablespoon and spent the entire day working very hard to pull back some very stubborn grass.



I thought I would have to wait quite a while for the daffodil bulbs to sprout but before even another week had passed I already saw some little green shoots struggling to come out of the dirt.


Once those little shoots made it to the surface they started growing very rapidly and in less than a month we had an entire bed of daffodils along our fence line.



Now you must be wondering how in the world that is an analogy and what is it an analogy of. But I imagine it this way. How awful it must have been for those annual flowers to be stuck under the grass year after year after year. And as wonderful as the grass was,  it was blocking them from ever reaching the sunlight and becoming the flowers they were supposed to be. I suppose it happened so gradually that they didn't even realize that soon they wouldn't be able to reach the surface or the light at all.

But one little bulb somehow made it to the surface to alert someone of their existence and predicament. After I pulled back the grass I thought I might have to dig up the bulbs and plant them nearer to the surface. But I had just enough wisdom to leave them and let them work their own way up to the light, even though it meant a big struggle to pass up through a lot of dirt. But once they felt the warmth of the sunlight again, they rapidly started to grow and eventually bloom. The whole row of them we're beautiful and magnificent and rarely did anyone walk by our fence without stopping and looking at them to appreciate their simple majesty.

We live our lives many times stuck in deep dirt, unable to reach the warmth of the sun and sometimes unable to even reach for help. Year after year buried in darkness longing for a rescue, some hope or even just someone to take notice of our suffering. But it only takes one determined little person to come out and get help. Then everyone can be rescued. The big wisdom is knowing how much help to give and when to just leave them alone and let them find their own path to the surface, where they fulfill the purpose they were created for.

I'm not going to explain the analogy any more than that, because I'm sure it will mean different things to different people. God will explain it to each one of us in our own situations, problems and viewpoints. But I felt compelled to share it with you. I hope you get something out of it. I certainly have. But it did take me 41 years to do it.😒  (insert joke here.)

Thanks for stopping in.

With love, Laura-Lee



PS I find it interesting that of all the flowers, daffodils resemble the sun the most.

















August 05, 2019

I Don't Know Much BUT I Know the Truth (and He is Mighty)




I don't know much about Joel Osteen. I've never even read one of his books. I do know that there is a great deal of controversy surrounding him. Especially amongst Christians.

One thing I do know is that after 41 years of following Jesus and reading the Bible, I recognize the truth when I hear it. And I wouldn't recommend you listen to anything that I thought was less than 100% true.
 I also believe that this is the best sermon I have ever heard Joel Osteen preach so far. I hope it will encourage you to continue following Jesus all the days of your life no matter what happens or where His plan for you leads. That is MY prayer for you.
God is good. REST in the knowing of this fact.

Have a wonderful week.
With deepest sincerity and with love, Laura-Lee


P.S. Don't forget to look below the video and see the "key Scriptures" listed there so you can look them up for yourself.





AMEN! Love Laura-Lee (again)

August 02, 2019

WHY?


Why is it when MONTY is asleep people think I've just flung a dead cat somewhere. See photographic evidence below. (Of course it doesn't help that sometimes he snoozes in the oddest places)

"Zzzzzzzzzz, brack, hmmmph, zzzzzzz, plip zzzzzzzzzz fffllmmmmm ..."

The noises he makes are the only way people (and myself) still know he's alive.

I Think Not




We are approaching a long weekend here in Canada. Monday is a holiday for almost all Canadians. What are we celebrating? Who knows? But even though it's referred to as a Civic holiday you don't have to work hard to find something to celebrate.

So I thought I would start the weekend by giving you all a chuckle. We certainly do  need to keep our sense of humor honed and zealous in these dark days.

Have a great weekend. Keep safe. God bless.

Sincerely and with love, Laura Lee





    "Oh look, my kitty!" 
Lord Montague Longbody CrapPoopKin
Aka: MONTY



August 01, 2019

Just a Freaky Coincidence? I Think Not


I was cruising the Net for pictures and came across this one. The Bible verse Isaiah 41:10 is MY Bible verse. And has been for years. God just reconfirming the things He told me a long time ago. Thank you, LORD.

Love your, Laura-Lee





A Cure for HATE via Taylor Swift



I'm not a Taylor Swift fan, but good advice is good advice. When someone hurls a bunch of hate at you, you can either become bitter, feel like a martyr or you can "shake it off". And if you're going to shake it off, you may as well have some fun while you're doing it. Nothing gets rid of hate faster then a good time with good people and a good attitude.

I've included a few pictures that might inspire you.

Thanks for stopping in.

Love Laura Lee








It's almost hypnotic to watch these gifs. Oooooo. Freaky!