Sweet Joys for A Sweet Month

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Fall and Granddog Joys

The sweet fall season is flitting by quickly, isn’t it. In fact, have you noticed that time just seems to be on jet-propelled rocket ships! Wow!

I hope you had a safe and lovely holiday weekend. Ours was fairly quiet though we did get to enjoy fun phone times with grandkids and fun visits with our granddog and his family. Very delightful indeed!

Aging in Place Joys

 

Isn’t this a lovely home? I am helping market it for my real estate business. And yay! It’s another grand example of a practical home for aging in place goals. Single story, easy entry, lovely floor plan, plenty of room (1700 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms). I love that the master bathroom has a separate shower and tub. So much easier for all ages and especially elderly seniors. I just wish builders would incorporate that into all bathrooms, don’t you? 🙂

This home is especially nice since it is quite close to stores and restaurants (less than a mile). I love buying or renting in areas like that when I can as it gives seniors more options if they have to give up driving. My senior mom routinely walked 2-4 miles a day up until the last couple of years. She would have LOVED living in this house as she would easily walk to a couple of parks as well as some of her fave stores like Lowes, Winco, and maybe even Kohls on a day she was feeling plenty of energy. Then she could stop for a burger at In-N-Out and head back home. We thoroughly enjoyed that when my kids were little. And even if your senior parent couldn’t walk it, it could make for a nice outing with a wheelchair, don’t you think? Do you have stores or restaurants within walking distance of your home?

Grandkid and Senior Activity Joys

Have you looked at my Kids and Grandkids Pinterest board recently? I’ve been enjoying building up the fun activities for kids and grandkids. There are loads of fun autumn crafts. Now I’ll be adding more Christmas and New Year’s. Where has the year gone!!! I even added some fun jokes and riddles pages.

Follow Kaye Swain’s board Grand for Kids & Grandkids on Pinterest.

It’s a great resource for us for fun ideas for at-home projects with our kids and grandkids. I love when they give me a call and we get to enjoy a nice chat while comparing and discussing fun projects from it for them to enjoy. I also added some great word searches that I had printed out for my grandkids. One granddaughter in particular LOVES to do those so she was ecstatic when the package arrived with new word search projects. I’m so grateful for email and cell phones that let us stay close even when the miles seem so far away! And, here’s another fun coloring page for her and you and yours to enjoy. 🙂

Holiday Joys and Sorrows

 

One of the harder things about the holidays is the way it reminds us that we may be farther away from loved ones than we might like. Whether it’s grandkids living long distance or loved ones of all ages already in heaven, it can cause this season of fun and joy to include tears and sorrow. I was happy to see that some of the local churches here in Roseville CA are offering GriefShare resources for the holidays. If you, or someone you know, is dealing with this, you can go to GriefShare by clicking here, type in your zip code, and it will show you many of the options that might be available to your area. HOWEVER, I discovered this year that not all may be showing up on GriefShare. Perhaps some churches don’t get registered. Or maybe they are doing something similar but not GriefShare itself. I learned this by spotting the holiday grief resources directly on some local churches’ websites. But neither of them showed up when I typed in my zip code. So if you try the Griefshare website but there is nothing that works well for you, I would recommend looking at the websites of churches in the area that you are comfortable visiting. You might be pleasantly surprised to find there other options locally as well.

Scripture Promise Joys

The one constant that keeps me encouraged, even on the occasional sad days we all experience, is knowing that I am never alone. As Hebrews 13 reminds us about Jesus, “He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.”  Such sweet comfort always and especially in those times when grief and loss may try to rob us of our peace, whether immediately or years later.

I snapped this photo today while walking and listening to a verse by verse Bible study right before the precious and much-needed rain started. Aren’t the leaves lovely!

Old and New Hymn Joys

I always have such a blessed and enjoyable time listening to and picking the old and new hymns for these weekly boomer and senior devotionals. I usually find several I love before I make my decision so I get to be showered in God’s word and music in the process. Very encouraging and uplifting! I save my faves to my YouTube playlist “Sweet Sunday Blessings” in case you’d like to listen to some of the others I listened to. That list keeps growing each week by leaps and bounds, as some of the songs I add are, themselves, part of someone else’s playlist of grand hymns and contemporary praise songs. That means we can enjoy listening to many sweet hymns of all varieties – from very traditional to contemporary versions. Plenty of choices for all ages from sweet seniors to adorable grandkids.

This week I thought it would be easy. I had heard the song I wanted a while back and chose to save it for today. Then couldn’t find where I saved it – which led to the sweet joy of listening to several other awesome versions before accidentally re-finding the one I wanted. I hope you are as blessed as I was with this version of “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” by GLAD. Sung in beautiful acappella and with a lovely video, it stirred my heart to remember God is truly for us FOREVER!

Verse by Verse Joys

The next in the series of verse by verse Bible studies in the book of John, taught by Santa Barbara pastor, David Guzik:

Sweet Joys To You

Have a blessed and beautiful week to come. Whether caring for elderly parents, helping with grandkids, or both, know that your beloved God is right there with you – always and forever.

Kaye

P.S. Don’t forget to check out my Pinterest boards for fun ideas and easy crafts for you along with your grandkids and/or sweet seniors to enjoy year-round and at the holidays. 🙂