When This is Over

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

Those four words are the ones I’ve heard over and over in the past few weeks. I’m sure you’ve heard them, too. Perhaps you’ve even spoken them. I have.

Just four little words. Not profound unto themselves, and yet they say so much. They point to an equally little word. Another with four letters, but one which holds so much promise.

Hope.

Without hope, there would be no utterance of when this is over. There would be only despair and grim acceptance that this is the way life will be from this point forward. There would be no more family gatherings, no more hugs. No more dinner with friends. No more play-dates for our kids. No more life as we knew it.

Staying Fit While Staying Home

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

Here we are at week three (or is it four for us?)  of sheltering-in-place. It hasn’t been that bad for us. Especially for me. Even though I’m an extrovert of the highest order, I’m still a homebody. I love being at home. For one, I’m not like some of you, I don’t get up with the chickens, walk two miles, shower, put on a full face, and fix my hair. I know. My poor husband.

While I do shower daily, I definitely do not fix my hair or put on makeup. At my age, it hardly matters anyway. The freedom that comes with not having to do those things is priceless to me. Now, you must understand this about me. I hate being dressed. If Hubby and I are going out, if only to the grocery store (an odd occurrence these days, huh?), I get up,  put on a full face, and I wash and dry and fix my hair. I even wear earrings and a necklace. And my good shoes. I think it's a Southern thing. Women simply don't go out without being all dolled up. It's ingrained in us from birth.

As soon as we walk in the door, it’s straight to our bedroom where I remove the nice clothes I wore to the store, and I don the most comfortable things I have—grubbies. Sweats in the winter, and usually yoga pants in the summer. I don’t do shorts. Period. And I’ve never done the first day of yoga. But, those pants are so comfy.

One, Two, Three, Kick

Today, we began an exercise routine. I think this old gal overdid it a bit. Now, don’t do what I did. I was keeping up with the forty-something-thing taking us through the routine. It wasn’t that difficult. Besides, it was aimed at seniors like Hubby and me.

Tonight, I’m feeling every one of those leg lifts, and bends, and squats, and grapevines, and whatever. Recently, I’ve had trouble with pain in my left leg. My doctor says its iliotibial something. I’ve overused the tendon and muscles that attach your backside to your hip to your knee area. It hurts. I’m so sore that day one may have to be days done for a while. So, y’all don’t do that! Be sensible. If you do such a routine, don’t go thinking you’re still the age of the gal leading you. I passed that a long time ago. 

New Hobby and a Book

Hubby and I have managed to stay sane through all this. He has his new hobby, genealogy and I’m in my office working on the launch of Grave Consequences. I’m also doing edits on book two, titled Grave Decisions. The cover of Grave Consequences was released yesterday. If you saw it, what did you think?

If any of you reading this would like to join my launch team, contact me by my email available on the site here. I’ll send you an application form. It’s simple. Just your name, email, birthdate (no year, I wouldn’t ask that of anyone older than 20), and your mailing address, for goodies in case your name is drawn in  a give-away.

This is going to be short this week. I’m worn out from that exercise routine. And I need to go rub some good stuff on it. My poor leg flat-out hurts. Hope I didn’t do major damage. Stay tuned for how that works out, pun intended.  

Have you been doing exercises at home? I hope you’ve been a lot smarter than I about that. If you have a good routine for seniors (these days, they say that’s anyone 60 and up, good grief), share a link with us. I think the one we chose was a bit brisk. Y’all stay safe.

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Anxious Days Call For The Ancient of Days

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

Hello all. Here we are, beginning week three of social distancing, but now mandatory shelter-in-place orders are in effect until the end of April. We don’t know if that will be extended at this point. Only time will tell.

These are uncertain times. News changes daily. Warnings change with each social media post. At this point, I’m paying little attention to those. All they do is make me anxious.

But in these uncertain times, we can rely on the One who does not change (Hebrews 13:8).In the book of Daniel, Daniel calls God the Ancient of Days. (Daniel 7:9-14).  Philippians 4:6-7 tells us not to be anxious about anything, but to go to God with our requests. It goes on to tell us that in doing so, we will be filled with the peace of God. I’m paraphrasing here, go to your Bible for the entire verse. While you’re there, just read the entire book. It’s a short one and is full of goodies, just like the rest of God’s Word.

Staying In and Doing Well

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

How are you and your family holding up during our time of confinement? That used to apply to women who were about to give birth. Now, it’s rather appropriate for all of us.

My husband and I have been in for about two weeks. We just decided we have all we need so there was no need for us to go out. Hubby had somewhat of a premonition about such a time as this a few months ago and we began gathering extra things then. We didn’t go out and hoard, we simply bought extra things on each shopping trip for the past few months. Not enough that we’d be considered hoarders, but enough for us to get by for a few weeks. 

Days in Isolation but Not Alone

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

The COVID-19 has left all of us with a sense of displacement. We’re so accustomed to our busy lives in which we hurry here and there. While I’m sure that God didn’t bring this, not even to get our attention and tell us we all need to slow down and rest—smell the roses, or the coffee, whichever you prefer—the end result is that we are all finding ourselves with time on our hands we hadn’t expected just a few days or weeks ago. 

And, we may be feeling just a bit alone.

The question is: What are we going to do with that time?

For my husband and me, we're staying connected. We’ve spent a lot more time talking with our four grown sons and our sisters. Checking on one another and learning that for now, we are all okay, is a huge relief. We worry most about my husband’s sister who lives in Greece. She and her husband are doing well and have been confined in their home for about three weeks. They plan to stick to that plan.

 Amazon, Genealogy, and Cooking

Amazon has always been one of my best friends, but in the past week or so, we have a new-found relationship. I’ve never ordered food or items for long-term survival from them. Mostly, I order books. Books I understand. Buying the things purchased in the past week is almost surreal. You may certainly call me crazy, but I’ve purchased seeds for planting and jars for canning. Of course, I had to buy books that told me how to utilize the jars for canning. If I don’t need them, great. But I will have them should something even worse than this arise. But if I do need them, I’ve got them. A win-win.

Now, y’all know I’m a huge genealogy buff. I’ve traced both my husband’s and my sides of the family. It’s a work in progress and any genealogist worth his salt will tell you, you are never finished. There’s always something new to learn about our ancestors. This week, hubby delved into his mother’s side of the family. I had all manner of files and records. They were mostly organized, but he spent some time making them better. And he looked for photographs, labeled the ones he could, and sent that info to a new-found cousin. So, this may be something you’ve put off, but now you have extra time to spend on such. Warning. Genealogy is addictive.

I spent two days cooking, something I haven’t done a lot of lately. But we have food enough for about a month, at least. All cooked and stored away in the freezer. This is giving me time to do those things I still need to do for my website and time to finish things related to my book launch.

Other than being stuck inside, our lives have changed only slightly. My husband has a new hobby (maybe), he’s happy because I’ve cooked a lot, and I’ve managed to get things done in addition to cooking. In other words, the time has been good, and we’re not worried. 

Clinging to Promises

We’ve clung to God’s promise of sheltering us beneath his wings. We trust Him with our lives. We’ve prayed Psalm 91 over us and our family. If you’ve not done that, or you are unfamiliar with that Psalm, go do a search and read it. But don’t just read it, pray it. I know it will bring you comfort in these uncertain days.

My friends, you all are in our prayers. As Joyce Meyer frequently tells her followers, cast your cares. Believe in that blessed assurance that God is still on His throne. You are not alone. Hebrews 13:5.

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Be Cautious and Pray

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

As the publication date for Grave Consequences nears, I find myself busy with all manner of marketing things. With getting items made and things ticked off my “to do” list, I’m humming right along.

Many of you have contacted me about being on my launch team. I can’t tell you how much that means to me. A book doesn’t just appear out of thin air. It takes a lot of people coming alongside us to get word out about it.

Be Aware

But even as I’m busy doing those things, I’m acutely aware that we are in the midst of a huge health issue for many parts of the world. My own state, North Carolina, now has at least two if not more, cases of COVID-19.

As Church Doors Across the World Close, Could Yours be Next?

by Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

This past week my sister and I had quite an intriguing conversation. Each of us likes Dr. David Jeremiah and we try to watch him every chance we get. My area gets his shows on a delayed basis, so she saw this one before I did. He talked about having visited a church in Vienna that has stood for over five-hundred years. At one time, it was the place where townspeople gathered to worship. He said this particular church is now only a tourist destination. How very sad. He continued by saying that in the next seven years, over fifty-five-thousand churches in the United States will close their doors.

What? I had to find some statistics somewhere to tell me about this. So off I went to good old Google.