A Christian Site to Cultivate Healing
I am so glad you are here. Please check out my book To Mourn the Living and my blog page. I look forward to hearing from you and am very interested in your comments and/or questions. Maybe together we can help each other through some tough times and situations.
Patricia's Blooms
A Life to Cultivate Healing
I grew up in a small farming community in the Midwest. My father and mother were married after his first wife died of TB leaving behind two
young children.
Mother was 32 years old when she married my father. In spite of her age, she gave birth to four children over the next eight years, bringing the family to six healthy children.
Our life was a simple one. My parents supported two different religions. My father and oldest brother and sister were Wisconsin Synagogue Lutheran; my mother and four younger siblings, Catholic. In all the years at home, I never once remember any discussion as to right or wrong religion. We went to church on Sunday, CCD classes and Sunday school. If one parent was sick, the other one made sure the children got to their church and religion classes.
We were six children in a family, not four and two - a fact my parents had instilled deeply in our hearts. We cared for each other, loved each other and were always there for one another.
My mother was the family caregiver; a position passed on to me as part of my DNA. It is one I have always loved and appreciated, but not one I always wanted because I often take it a bit too seriously.
Patricia's Blooms
A Life to Cultivate Healing
I grew up in a small farming community in the Midwest. My father and mother were married after his first wife died of TB leaving behind two
young children.
Mother was 32 years old when she married my father. In spite of her age, she gave birth to four children over the next eight years, bringing the family to six healthy children.
Our life was a simple one. My parents supported two different religions. My father and oldest brother and sister were Wisconsin Synagogue Lutheran; my mother and four younger siblings, Catholic. In all the years at home, I never once remember any discussion as to right or wrong religion. We went to church on Sunday, CCD classes and Sunday school. If one parent was sick, the other one made sure the children got to their church and religion classes.
We were six children in a family, not four and two - a fact my parents had instilled deeply in our hearts. We cared for each other, loved each other and were always there for one another.
My mother was the family caregiver; a position passed on to me as part of my DNA. It is one I have always loved and appreciated, but not one I always wanted because I often take it a bit too seriously.
I married the love of my life and we have been together for fifty three years. I love him more today than ever. Three children , five beautiful granddaughters and two beautiful great-grand children have blessed our lives.
We have experienced many things, including an arts/craft shop which we owned and operated. Teaching classes was a big part of our business. We taught macrame, weaving, stained glass, folk art painting and landscape - with oil. My favorite was the painting. We lived above the shop, which was perfect for our family. After our children were grown, we purchased a restaurant/bar in a resort area in Upper Midwest.
Off we were to the forestlands where we ran that business for almost 20 years. We had always loved the four seasons, but in this beautiful new environment we experienced much more of God's creation, which we had never before imagined. Snowmobiling brought about a whole new love of winter and seeing it in a new way was exciting. I love winter, I especially loved playing in the snow with my granddaughters building snowmen. Perhaps this is why today I have a particular love for snowmen!
Fourteen years ago God chose to allow a very difficult trial into our lives, a trial that almost destroyed us and is still unresolved today. At that time, if someone would have asked me if I were a Christian- I would not have even thought twice about it and my answer would have been "of course".
Did I have a relationship with Jesus Christ? I didn't even know what that meant. Read the Bible? I didn't own one. Didn't know anything about it, my experience with a Bible was that it was a good place to record family history.
The day after our catastrophe, my best friend knocked on our door and placed a bible into my hands. I had no idea even where to start, yet somehow I knew it was exactly what I needed. It was at this time my husband and I started our search for Christ and an understanding of the Bible; a journey that would take eight more years.
My book - To Mourn the Living - is not only the story of betrayal by a trusted family member and the devastation that it caused, but the fight to set ourselves free from pain, hatred, revenge and, most of all, to learn to forgive and to find that relationship with Jesus Christ.
Today we are retired.
I love the spring of the year. Cultivating a flower garden to its full potential is much like being a follower of Christ. We need to nurture(feed), encourage (coax those seedlings), listen to (pay attention to the soil), give advice when needed(amend the soil) and cultivate each other(keep it weeded and the soil loosened). I am a new Christian with so much to learn. I gave my life to Christ less than ten years ago. I am a baby pursuing a relationship with Jesus; my reading of the Bible often overwhelms me with new insights that I would like to share from time to time on my blog. I hope my journey can be of help to you.
I married the love of my life and we have been together for fifty three years. I love him more today than ever. Three children , five beautiful granddaughters and two beautiful great-grand children have blessed our lives.
We have experienced many things, including an arts/craft shop which we owned and operated. Teaching classes was a big part of our business. We taught macrame, weaving, stained glass, folk art painting and landscape - with oil. My favorite was the painting. We lived above the shop, which was perfect for our family. After our children were grown, we purchased a restaurant/bar in a resort area in Upper Midwest.
Off we were to the forestlands where we ran that business for almost 20 years. We had always loved the four seasons, but in this beautiful new environment we experienced much more of God's creation, which we had never before imagined. Snowmobiling brought about a whole new love of winter and seeing it in a new way was exciting. I love winter, I especially loved playing in the snow with my granddaughters building snowmen. Perhaps this is why today I have a particular love for snowmen!
Fourteen years ago God chose to allow a very difficult trial into our lives, a trial that almost destroyed us and is still unresolved today. At that time, if someone would have asked me if I were a Christian- I would not have even thought twice about it and my answer would have been "of course".
Did I have a relationship with Jesus Christ? I didn't even know what that meant. Read the Bible? I didn't own one. Didn't know anything about it, my experience with a Bible was that it was a good place to record family history.
The day after our catastrophe, my best friend knocked on our door and placed a bible into my hands. I had no idea even where to start, yet somehow I knew it was exactly what I needed. It was at this time my husband and I started our search for Christ and an understanding of the Bible; a journey that would take eight more years.
My book - To Mourn the Living - is not only the story of betrayal by a trusted family member and the devastation that it caused, but the fight to set ourselves free from pain, hatred, revenge and, most of all, to learn to forgive and to find that relationship with Jesus Christ.
Today we are retired.
I love the spring of the year. Cultivating a flower garden to its full potential is much like being a follower of Christ. We need to nurture(feed), encourage (coax those seedlings), listen to (pay attention to the soil), give advice when needed(amend the soil) and cultivate each other(keep it weeded and the soil loosened). I am a new Christian with so much to learn. I gave my life to Christ less than ten years ago. I am a baby pursuing a relationship with Jesus; my reading of the Bible often overwhelms me with new insights that I would like to share from time to time on my blog. I hope my journey can be of help to you.
Pictures of my husband Our three children One of our pets-
and I on our wedding day we always had rescue dogs she is sleeping in our motorhome
Pictures of my husband Our three children One of our pets-
and I on our wedding day we always had rescue dogs she is sleeping in our motorhome