Search This Blog

An Honest Account of Love, Grief and Walking With God
Finding God's Goodness in Life's Disappointments

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Thanksgiving, Hospice,Rocky Road, and Wedding Memories

     I don't know much but I do know life if full of ups and downs. Stephen and I have been married one month today and we have had a lot of fun. Our lives have blended together better than I could have expected. We have both enjoyed life together and for the most part have been in Kerrville and a little in Uvalde.
Maxwells and Rambies
     One of his businesses is Events Unlimited, which is a hunting business. With Mule Deer Season beginning the day after Thanksgiving, we spent the holiday on a  40,000 acre ranch in Alpine, Texas. Rob, Mallory, and Price along with Stephen's two kids, Barrett and Whitney joined us. It was a rustic holiday at a hunting camp, but we made lots of fun memories and I believe all had a great time. We hiked, the boys hunted, we sat by the fire and played games. Oh and we ate a whole lot! It was a wonderful holiday and a new beginning. 
Price and Rob
     I returned on Sunday and that night I got a call from my dad. My mom wasn't doing well and we spent the night in the emergency room.Dad was so tired he stayed home. Her illness is wearing him out. She had several infections and today I signed the papers to put her on Hospice. Mentally I knew this was the best thing for everyone and although I have experience with Hospice, emotionally it was difficult. 
Me and my mom a year ago

wedding site



     The road of life is full of ups and downs and the beauty and challenge is enjoying both. I honestly don't know how people live life without the Lord. He is the one that is always with us no matter what. I am reminded of the scripture, that says, "when I am weak, then I am strong."

Enjoying life and drawing on Him,
44,640



Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Overcoming Any Problem Begins With A Thankful Heart

Overcoming Begins With Thankfulness

     I am a firm believer that overcoming any problem begins with a grateful heart. Thankfulness is not something that comes naturally for most people. I think it is more of a discipline. We are selfish by nature, and must bring our thoughts back to the goodness of God. Anything good in our lives comes from Him. Any blessing, any kind word, any compliment, any gift is from Him.
Hiking in Lost Maples
     After losing my late husband, it was easy to look at what I had lost or didn't have. I had a great loss. I  realized that that mindset would not get me anywhere I really wanted to go. I started a process of beginning each day with thanking God for different things. I really had much to be thankful for. The list was endless and the more I thanked Him, the more blessings he poured upon me.
     Our world is pretty negative. Negativity makes the road of life hard, difficult and not much fun.I encountered someone the other day that just being around her could was a withdrawal from my bank. Negativity is all around us. We have the opportunity to impact our world around us with a positive attitude and thankful heart.
     I will have to admit, a positive and funny attitude is the thing that drew me to my new husband. He is one of the most funny and positive people I have been around. Are you fun to be around? Are you a thankful person? Do people feel better or worse after being in your presence?
     Scripture over and over tells us to come before God with thanksgiving. To give thanks to Him for he is good, in everything give thanks. How are you doing with that? Perhaps you need to check yourself and begin practicing thankfulness.
     I am thankful for the experiences I have gained walking thru illness, grief, loss, as they have made me rich. No, they were not things I asked for but the experiences have made me rich in different ways and for that I am thankful. I am thankful that God is a God of restoration and redemption and new life. I am enjoying my new life and the differentness of it.


My boys
     This holiday will be different but different is good. Traditions are good but new experiences are the spice of life. I am thankful for different.

Kathleen Maxwell-Rambie

44,360

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

A New Life...Wedding Memories


 Wedding Memories...October 27, 2012


About to round the corner...Looking at my future...
This was an amazing moment that just happen to be captured. I happened to look out my door and there stood my groom.  I stand amazed at where my life is now. One step at a time, God has walked me into a new place in life. My wonderful sons escorted me down the rock path to join my dad, who was at the front with Stephen waiting.
Wow...God is good!

My fabulous red heads walking me down the path... 
From widow to bride!

An evening in ConCan to remember...
Celebrating our new lives together- Mr. and Mrs Stephen Rambie
 Our first two weeks of married life have been beyond what I could have imagined. We had a wonderful small celebration with family and a few friends. It was a sweet service and of course we had a dinner and some dancing. Sunday afternoon after the Saturday wedding, we left of a week long cruise which was fabulous! Since we returned a little over a week ago, we have begun our lives living in Kerrville and Stephen travels each day to work. It has been lots of fun and I have loved cooking dinner each evening and having someone to share life with.
Maxwell-Rambie


Wednesday, November 7, 2012

October 27th Stephen and Kathleen's Wedding

The Great Exchange-Redemption

     One of the things I have discovered that God loves to do is redeem things in our lives. No matter what mess you have made, how bad things look, or how much you have lost, God is standing right beside you orchestrating redemption just for you.
     What is redemption or what does it mean to redeem something? The dictionary definition states, “to compensate for the faults or bad aspects of something, to save from evil or error, to gain or regain possession of something, to exchange something.” Our society does not use the word redeem much unless we are talking about coupons, but uses ‘exchange” instead. 
     What is it that you need for God to exchange for you? Think about it for a moment. What matters to you, matters to God. We live in a fallen world where life interrupts; sometimes suddenly, occasionally tragically, often times unexpectedly. I think that is why God is in the business of redeeming things just for us. He loves us too much to leave us in the place life drops us. Redemption is actually what he specializes in.
      So what do we do when life interrupts our plans and dreams? I have found by experience that we simply hang on to God. We wait for Him to work in our lives to redeem. This often times rubs the impatient the wrong way. As Americans, we are not good at even waiting in the line at the grocery store. But it is in those times of waiting that we get to experience the joy of holding His hand. Psalms 73:23 states, “Nevertheless, I will be with you, I hold you by the right hand.” (NIV) It is in that journey that we get to know Him better if we choose to not blame him.
     I have a personal story of redemption. A little over three years ago, I sat on the deck with my late husband, The conversation began with, “Kathleen, sit down, we need to talk.” I knew we needed to discuss some things neither one of us wanted to talk about but we had to. I sat at the end of the table, where he usually sat and took a deep breath.  Even in his physical weakness, due to a rare cancer,Joe was leading his family. “Things are not going the way we want them to. My life insurance policy is in the front desk in the file. When I am gone, call USAA and they will walk you thru the whole process,” he said. “You won’t have to worry about a thing.”  “They will help you,” he continued. My mind and body exhausted from caregiving and fighting for his life, was swimming with questions. I suddenly felt like I was in very deep water and the waves were way over my head. I found it hard to even breathe as my eyes filled with tears.
  Then he continued, “You are not made to live alone.” His eyes filled with tears and his voice began to crack. “I love you but want you to know, you have my permission to go on with your life and find someone else,” he struggled to say. I had to turn my face away. I did not want to hear those words anymore than he wanted to say them. We had  been friends, lovers, parents, and partners for 30 years. I could not imagine life with out him. I knew out of his great love for me, he was saying the words he never thought he would have to say but he wanted what was best for me. Joe took his last breath a few days later.
     Three very long and lonely years rolled by as I struggled to discover life without him. “How do you live when half of you is gone and your heart is broken,” I often thought. I have discovered, you live one day at a time holding his hand in the journey. Sometimes holding his hand for comfort, other times when fear knocks on the door and many times holding tight trying to find the joy in living again.
     So what does this have to do with redemption? This past weekend, I sat on the very same deck again, except with another man. We were laughing and enjoying the beautiful weather and both working on our wedding vows. As we finished writing we shared with each other the promises we were going to make to each other. All of a sudden, I remembered the day three years ago I sat in the very same spot in tears feeling like my life was over. The very place that had been so painful, was now a place of redemption. I thought how kind God was to redeem the place that had been so painful was now my place of new beginnings. 
     The journey has been a long and difficult one but my heart has expanded, gotten stronger and actually thrived holding His hand. God gave me a chance to experience His redemption. He has exchanged the thing I feared most as I have let go of my past life, for something new, good and full of fun and adventure.
My redheaded sons with their mom before the wedding-they walked me down the aile
      Psalms 107:1 states, “Give thanks to the Lord for he is good. His love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.” Psalms 107:6-8 says, “Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble and he delivered them from their distress. He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle.” I am not quoting this scripture. I have lived and experienced it and the experience has made me rich.
     Where are you right now in your life? Are you hanging on by a thread? Are you mad at God because of where this world has tossed you and you are blaming Him? Perhaps you just need your knees strengthened to stand and wait for Him to redeem. He will. I promise because He is faithful and good. Psalms 130 tells us to wait for him to exchange things for us and verse 7 states, “hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is FULL redemption.” (NIV)
     Life is not perfect for me still. In the 2 1/2 months I’ve been engaged, my dad has been hospitalized twice, a deer came out of no where and hit my car causing a wreck, work deadlines, wedding planning and a few hours ago I found out my aunt passed away. Life in this world continues to throw me curve balls but I am learning to hit the ball out of the park as I hold his hand to swing the bat. I have grown in my love for my redeemer, my friend Jesus. He is faithful. He is good and he is with me, helping me dance thru the valley into new life.
      Will you join me in moving to the rhythm of his song of redemption for your life? Listen, look and wait as he orchestrates your shattered dreams and interruptions. And as Jesus said in Luke 21:28, “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (NIV)
     

Celebrating with my daughter



Kathleen is a native of the Hill Country and is a writer and speaker. She is passionate about helping people discover their value and worth. She can be heard on Sunday mornings from 8:00 am to 9:00 am on The REV FM, 94.3. Contact her at kathleenmaxwell1@gmail.com or visit her blog on www.themaxwellminutes.blogspot.com