The Howell Blessings

  It was a dark and stormy night…… Just kidding My story starts on a beautiful day in Hocking Hills, Ohio. Our family all met together down south of where I live, in the beautiful county of Hocking Hills, Ohio. My husband Dave couldn’t join us due to his work schedule.   I traveled three hours to meet up with our daughter, her husband and 3 children and our son, his wife and their four children, where we all stayed in cabins and agreed to meet up the next morning at Cedar Falls, one of the gorgeous falls in the area. We had a wonderful time hiking, wading and climbing. All the kids got along great with each other, whom they hadn’t seen in way too long, and between 5 adults constantly counting 7 children, we felt safe letting the kids climb and explore the caves and caverns in the area. We eventually went to Ash Cave and ended our hiking that day at Cantwell Cliffs.   I remember when our son announced our last stop for that Thursday was to go to Cantwell Cliffs, I remarked...

Five Minute Friday - Soon I feel like I am still in the same situation I’ve been in for way too long. I have friends where I live, but I don’t feel like I have close friends. We’ve lived here for 15+ years and yet it’s my out of state friend that will call to check in on me.   It’s been tough lately. Emotionally anyway.   I lost my oldest brother a year ago, and I feel like I still haven’t snapped back into life as it was before. I’ve been quiet lately too, as in not mingling with my group of networking friends, or my work friends, or my church friends, or God.   I’ve been feeling down and tired.   Yet not one of my local “friends” have called or texted me to check in on me. Proverbs 1:24 says “One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”     Just recently, I was catching up on some chores around the house and listening to the Spotify “Praise” channel.   I was occasionally signing out loud ...

May the words of my mouth and the mediation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.   Psalms 19:14 (NIV) Back in 2014 I vividly heard God while I was in prayer. His solitary word answer has proved to be a much bigger challenge than I expected it to be.   I asked “Lord, what do YOU want me to do?” I had been struggling with trying to find my worth after leaving a company I had worked at for over twelve years.    I have brought home paychecks since I was almost fifteen years old, and not having an avenue to make my own money left me feeling as if I had no structure and no purpose anymore. If I didn’t bring home a paycheck, was I really valuable in my own home? I certainly didn't feel valuable in my own eyes. After I left the company in 2012, I sought out different avenues of ways to make an income. Fast forward to 2022 and I have found way too many ways to avoid doing what God told me to do that day back in 2014. These avenues have had t...

Have you ever looked at someone and made an opinion of who they are just by the way they carry themselves? I remember when I was a teenager, sometime after we had moved from Ohio to Texas, I would take walks at night on the grounds of this apartment complex we lived in. I just wanted to get away, alone, and process my thoughts. Back then at the age of 15 or 16 having moved from a country home I had lived in before the age of memory retention began, to a new state, a new school and in the first time a residence in a city. I had a lot on my mind.   I would take walks at night, passing by the playground on our apartment grounds and seeing other teenagers hanging out by the swings.   I was shy and didn’t know them, so I kept on walking. Later on, I befriended one of those teenagers, and he told me they all thought I was stuck up, a term we used for someone who thought they were better than others.   I remember feeling aghast at that thought and asked him why they thought that...

Peace is defined as f reedom from disturbance. Tranquility. Tranquility is defined as  quality or state of being tranquil; calmness; peacefulness; quiet; serenity . This week, the worlds peace was totally broken. The news is on all the channels, internet sites and social media platforms. With so many people on social media all over the world, and with being able to see those who are posting, we are all getting a first hand look at the horrors of war.  From watching missiles soar over head and hearing the explosions of them and other bombs, seeing the fires and devastation, hearing the gunshots to viewing those who are in the Ukraine and Russia as they go live during their hellish nightmares and fears, the majority of the world is anything but peaceful. Even being far removed from the physical actions of the madman Putin, those of us who are not near, can still feel the fear, the lack of quiet, and the lack of peace. It makes us weep and pray for those who are unwillingly in th...

St. Patrick’s Day is one holiday that most of the world enjoys celebrating. These days, celebrating St. Patty’s Day means green clothes, green drinks, and green rivers, with the loose interpretation of an Irish shamrock meets the luck of the Irish and “Kiss me, I’m Irish." The real story behind St. Patrick’s Day begins with a teenager, who was believed to be named Maewyn Succat. He was not even Irish! At the age of 16, Maewyn was kidnapped by pirates and sold into slavery in Ireland as a sheepherder. It was there that he learned the Irish language and began to pray to the God his parents had told him about. Maewyn was in slavery for about six years when he escaped.  It is said that he had a dream from God telling him to walk along the coast and find a ship waiting to sail to Britain.  He did as God told him  in his dream and there was a ship, and he escaped. There are many stories as to the timeline of Maewyn’s life, but one thing everyone agrees on is that aft...

‘Twas the night of Thanksgiving and all through the house There are leftovers, and crumbs, and “Oh! …Is that a mouse?” The food and clean dishes were put away with such care Hopes that the kitchen remains clean, is now my current prayer. At the end of a long day, my honey and I went to bed With visions of stuffing, and pies, potatoes and bread… Remembering “Grandpapa and Nana” spoken sweetly from our laps, Thoughts of our babies remind me that gifts need to be wrapped. Still thinking sweetly today of last night’s sweet chatter, It’s off to make lunch, geesh; I’m already getting fatter! I remembered my healthy option that I hid in my cache I threw open the fridge, but could not find my stash. I stood there a moment, completely aloof Then I had a thought that could raise the roof! Instead of eating leftovers that could cause a heart attack Why don’t I make a smoothie, and then hit the NordicTrack! So I made a blended mix that had spinach and cherr...