Walking in the Light

It all started while I was watching "American Ninja Warrior." It wasn't that the participating athletes said anything profound or new. They keep emphasizing the need to stay active. Inspired by their amazing feats of daring do, I decided to abandon my usual excuses and get active.

It's been a long time since I've been active about anything except my teeth. I do enjoy eating and it shows. For years, my excuse to not exercise the rest of me has been myoclonus (sudden, uncontrolled, and unexplained body movements.) I was convinced they increased with activity, especially if I rode the bicycle my son gave me. I allowed myself to believe any activity increased them. Then too, arthritis has crept in. I know, I know, exercise reduces arthritis symptoms, but I couldn't be bothered getting past the initial stiffness and soreness.

Living in Florida is a third excuse. The slightest movement causes sweating. I hate to sweat. Add to that it causes enormous time constraints to exercise in the morning then; shower, wash, dry, and style my hair, get dressed, eat breakfast, put on a face and be at work by 8:00. I'm one of those who the hurrier I go, the behinder I get. However, if I exercise in the evening, the endorphins keep me awake. Another excuse.

Seeing those athletes on Ninja has been a wake-up call. Many of them have serious health issues and yet, all are able to compete. Often, it's the ones with the serious health issues who go the farthest. Many of their stories have been deeply moving. Perhaps the one whose story has moved me the most is the wife of the competitor, rather than the competitor himself, although he trains by carrying her around because she has a very rare disease that has caused her connective tissue to deteriorate. At one point, she said every bone in her body was dislocated. The past two years, she's been a wheel chair and was expected to have a shortened life span. This past year, they've changed their diet and she's begun to exercise with her husband. This year, she's walking beside him! Amazing and humbling.

Armed with such inspiration, it was time to take action. It's often been said if walking is the exercise of choice, 10,000 steps a day are needed, about 1 1/2 hours of effort. Before anything is done, time must be spent studying God's Word and learning about Him. Resetting the alarm also became a necessity. No more sleeping to 6 a.m. Moved it back to 4 a.m., but often anticipate the clock and get up between 3:30 and 4.

At 5:30, armed with flashlights, we set out for the .6 mile hike around the ranch. It's ideal. Sheila and my husband leave me to it after 1 or 2 laps, but I don't mind. Being alone in the pre-dawn hour is a beautiful thing. Normally, I would be apprehensive about the lonely area between the pasture and the lake. It's dark and secluded. Every body of water in Florida has the potential to be home for gators and I really wouldn't want to meet one-daylight or dark. Coyotes sometimes run the property and I wouldn't want to meet them, either. It's also a discomforting thought that men love darkness because their deeds are evil.

Day two put that Scripture verse in perspective. The morning star was twinkling brightly overhead. One of Jesus' names is the Bright and Morning Star. Looking heavenward, I was reminded that I am never alone, even in that dark, secluded spot that could house any number of unpleasant situations. I even took a picture of the morning star and posted it on Facebook. Several complimented the picture.

Each day since has been one of communing with nature. The sunrises have been spectacular. When my brother was stationed in Ethiopia, Africa, he took movie after movie of clouds rolling over the high mountain peaks. The movies were beautiful, but enough was enough. I now understand why he did it. Every morning, the sunrises are so incredible, I just want to share them with everyone. You have to be there to really appreciate them in all their glory.

Only not with me. Where you are. I cherish my time alone. It starts my day peacefully and gratefully. I have 1 1/2 hours to pray, praising the Lord for how good He is, thanking Him for the wonderful place where I live, and asking Him to care for my family, my friends, my country, as well as all those associated with Shiloh Tabernacle Ministries, Inc. Of course, I ask for me, too.

It's next to impossible to have a private audience with a very important person and yet, every morning, I have a private audience with the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Creator of the Universe, the Prince of Peace.  Walking in the Light as He is in the light. Life doesn't get better than this.

Buyer Beware

Sigh. I get so tired of all my negativity. I'd love to be one of those people who can laugh off everything. Unfortunately, I'm not. Too many rich companies trying to dig into our fixed income pockets.

Lately, we've been engaging in more online purchases.  At our age, it's a big mistake, unless we know the site really well. Even then, it can be disappointing. For example, we have on occasion, purchased from the news channel that has "big deals" on holidays. There is a no return policy on those purchases. Until the 4th of July sale, that wasn't a problem.

Then the bottom fell out. My husband ordered a drone at a price in excess of $100. It was broken when it came and not from the shipping. It was very poorly constructed and the broken parts may not be available for replacement. We're waiting to hear from the company that promised to investigate. The hobby shop where he sought replacement parts said it was the cheapest drone he'd ever seen.

He also ordered me a pressure oven from the same sale at better than $90. When it came, the pan that is vital to use the pressure cooker part of the oven was replaced with a pan that will not work. I called the company and was told that oven is no longer made. Another waste of money.

I learned a very hard lesson from the situation. There's no interest in giving people a "deal." There's only interest in helping big companies reduce inventory on something that didn't sell well in the first place. There maybe a tax break in there,too.

About a year ago, I began purchasing a supplement that was supposed to do wonderful things for someone my age. Of course, it's hard to figure out of it's actually working or not. When a certain age is achieved, improvement is not possible. I may have come to the point where even maintenance is no longer possible. About all supplements can do for me now is slow the deterioration.

Long story short, I reordered once last December for a 6 month supply plus a bonus bottle. February, a sales person called and asked me if I wanted to order some more. I told him no. April, he called again. This time I told him no more emphatically. I said if he called again, I would consider it harassment.  After all, I'm still using the 6 month plus bonus order I made in December. He said that order put me on automatic refill. Again, I was emphatic in saying no, expecting him to correct the matter because I decide what I want to buy and when.

Lo and behold, last week, we were notified they were sending the supplement and had billed our credit card. Needless to say, I called to straighten out the matter and when the items arrived in the mail, I wrote "refused" on the unopened package and sent it back, meaning they have to pay the postage for both directions. I informed the company my exact words to make sure they knew how emphatic I was in my refusal and I did the same thing with the credit card company, which informed me that the issue had been corrected by the company.

At 4:00 this morning, a notice came from the credit card company via email, stating I had two payments, one for $98+ and one for $89+. Both were from a company I had never heard of. Ever. How am I supposed to order from a company I don't even know exists?When I called the number, the girl on the line started talking and wouldn't shut up. Ever had that experience? When they start that with me, I yell until I get their attention, which of course, sent her into martyr mode. She coldly informed me she didn't have to work with me unless I sent stopped yelling. Then, shut up and listen.

She proceeded to inform me that the 2 sample products I had ordered on the 4th of July automatically enrolled me and I was being charged for a regular size of the the products. I sent for samples of a product with a completely different name! Deceitful, to say the least. She said she'd be glad to give me a 35% discount on the current order I was refusing to pay for and then she'd cancel future orders. No way, honey. No way. Imperiously, she informed I would pay for what I had ordered-in spite of the fact I had not ordered. Surpassing the 2 week cancellation date (by 3 hours and 22 minutes) constitutes an order. She insisted the credit card company would force me to pay. Wrong. They laughed when I told them what she said.

Each item had a different order number and different phone number, so I called the second number and got a wonderful young man who took care of everything. I didn't have to yell at him. He was gracious and I reciprocated in kind. He listened carefully to my complaint before he cancelled it all out and gave me cancellations numbers to prove it. A call to the credit card company said the bills were pending and hadn't shown up on our account. Give it a few days and check again. If they don't show up, the company took care of it. If they do show up, the credit card company will take care of it.

Done with online shopping.  A banker once told me I was the lightening rod that attracted all the nasty business dealings so other people wouldn't have to suffer what I've been through and corrected. Thanks a lot!