In my mind today, I have had such strong emotions this November. Novembers are always hard for us since our son left the Earth. It was 10 years this year. So so many have left us. It is our job to continue on and to spread love and unselfish acts. We have been isolated because of our health. Everything is different this year because of the pandemic. This was the first year we did not get to see our grand girls. This was the first year that we didn’t have 50 plus people to share a family meal. Our wonderful weekends at church and with family have been thwarted since March. There has just been so much grief in our world. My heart cannot take it.
Yesterday at the end of November in my readings I was reminded to stop, pray, and hope for better times on this Earth. Although everything has seemed so sad and dreary we have to fight through the dark times. We have to search for the good even if it is just thru our own window. There is so much good still to be done; there is still so much good in our lives although we often overlook it. I am thankful for the blessings of getting to see my husband and children every day. I am grateful that my youngest grandson is able to be with me so so much because his parents are having to work. It brings so much light and joy to us. It makes me realize that our jobs during this time maybe just simply to love each other I mean really love each other. Not post a pic on social media to show all the wonderful love but really really give that wonderful love even if you don’t get a picture. Be in the moment. I know I have always been a little bit nutty but I tried to imprint memories in my mind as I am having them. There is a treasure trove to be revisited. As I look out the big window with my grandson and see all of the beauty of the birds and the squirrels playing, I know there is no place that I should be but with him. I see that real love when he falls asleep on his Uncle Ben because Uncle Ben has the best hugs. I see that love when Abbey has to say “No!” I also see that love when he goes to her for his essential needs, snacks! I see that love when he sings along with us or adds a new word. I see real love when he jumps up in Poppy’s chair and shares his cereal with his coffee in the afternoons just like my grand girls always did. I hear that love when I hear my daughter is singing for her classes upstairs. I feel that love especially when my family has to feed me and bathe me.Even if I am a guinea pig for all of my daughters beauty stuff! I have just not ever been a girly girl or a diva I guess. She loves it and I love that she wants to keep me healthy. I even see that kind of love when the cat will jump on my feet and just lay there for hours. ALS continues to take but I refuse to give it my joy. My joy -o- meter has been up and down like the stock market but when I open my devotionals and all of my readings I find the strength to fight. Stop, pray, and hope. My hope is way bigger than a mustard seed and I know where my Joy comes from and that’s all that I need. Last but not least, I am thankful for you. For loving and supporting me and this fight, I can never repay all of the kindness that surrounds me. I can only say, thanks be to God.
Sarah Anderson AlleySal the Thankful Gal
Quotes for the Day:
Indeed, this life is a test. It is a test of many things – of our convictions and priorities, our faith and our faithfulness, our patience and our resilience, and in the end, our ultimate desires.Sherri L. Dew
Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.Buddha
Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses.Alphonse Karr
Tag: accidents
Grateful
Grateful
In my mind today, I’m thinking about the meaning of the Thanksgiving holiday. As I read and prayed this morning, the word grateful kept popping up. The more I sat in the stillness, the more I was filled with such gratefulness. Each day is such a gift. Ken and I know this all to well.
I’m so grateful our family is growing. We have a new three month old member, Owen Monroe. My son’s fiancé Carlin’s family joined us creating more love and diversity. There were old recipes and new. The bounty of food was so abundant. The joining of families is such a beautiful sight. The saying, “The More the Merrier” is definitely true.
After Thanksgiving, I felt oh, so peaceful. The last three months have been harrowing. As we held hands and prayed (yes back row, just like The Whos down in Whoville,) a warmth spread all over Sal the Prayerful Gal’s body. Tears brimmed my eyes as the realization hit me. Lots of my prayers have been answered. My niece who had been deathly sick is on the road to recovery. She looks healthier and stronger than I have seen her in years. My precious mother that has short-term memory issues still remembers our names and has snuggles and hugs that are priceless. Our Grands lost their father seven years ago, but have a wonderful, stable home and are growing into happy, healthy, and amazing people. My husband had a good time enjoying all the company despite his ever present cannula and health issues. And last but not least, my great nephew sat on my scoot with me when he could have easily been on the other side of heaven just a few weeks ago. Ladies and Gentlemen, God is Good ALL the Time. He gave us a day of such love and gratefulness. I will always treasure and be thankful for this Thanksgiving.
Being thankful in all things is easy when prayers are answered. There are going to be days and times when God answers our prayers in ways we don’t quite understand. We as mere humans have to be okay with those answers as well. This is where some hearts turn cold, angry, and bitter. Students, please try to be thankful in all things. I pray continually for God to help me find His blessings in all things: the Good and the Bad.
Here lies your lesson for Thanksgiving this year. Back row I know you want me to drop the holiday lessons, but I’m a teacher 365 days of the year so quit grumbling and listen. Continue to pray always without ceasing. If someone or something is causing you pain, pray and ask for guidance. In everything be thankful. God doesn’t take days off. He hasn’t forgotten you. The unanswered prayers often turn out to be blessings in disguise. Just be still, patient, and thankful. Always, always be Grateful.
Sarah Anderson Alley
Sal the ever so Grateful Gal
Dedicated to my family’s miracles of 2017
Quotes of the Day:
“Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for.” —Zig Ziglar
“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” —Oprah Winfrey
“The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness.” —Dalai Lama
“When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.” —Willie Nelson
“Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.” —Charles Dickens
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” —Albert Einstein
Wired, Hope, & Hearts
Wired, Hope, & Hearts
In my mind today I’m thinking about being wired, “Hoping against Hope,”and eyes of the heart. Having a disease like ALS, I have to be “wired” most of the time. My devotion today suggested I unplug. I chuckled as I was reading it on my iPhone. My hands are too weak to hold a physical book and use paper and pen. My modus operandi is reading and pecking away on my phone. Sadly, this too is going to end eventually. Don’t cheer back row, because some earthly angels have gifted me with a Dynavox: a device where I use my eyes to type and communicate. So, hopefully my blogging, teaching, and writing will go on a bit longer. I hear moaning back there! So Sal the Wired Gal still needs to zone out occasionally without these electronic devices and so do you. Yes, here’s your first assignment of the day: pick a small block of time and turn off your phone, tablet, lap top, or PC. I used to sometimes spend my lunches or planning periods at school alone in my room in the dark. I would begin praying, meditating, and often times sleeping. I do that now every day sometime between 8 AM and 11 AM. You know what? It recharges me. Front row, you caught that pun didn’t you? Yes back grow, this is a grade.
My phrase of the day is “Hoping against Hope.” In the Alley family, we’ve had and continue to have a lot of “Hoping against Hope” scenarios. It has been a harrowing past few months. My husband crashed in the ER and was slowly brought back from a vent. A dear niece of mine almost lost her life to lung disease. My great-nephew endured a traumatic, life threatening head injury. My older brother is on the brink of self-destruction with addiction issues. My dear mother continues to decline mentally with Alzheimer’s. Of course, I continue to fight ALS. This all seems surreal. It’s sounds like a Lifetime movie and fiction. It’s simply life. Just like the quote from Ian Maclauren, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” This is ever so true. We are all “Hoping against Hope.” I hear you asking, “Ms. Alley, how can we continue on? It all seems so hopeless.” Ah, but “Hoping against Hope” is not hopeless and here’s your second assignment. Use your prayers and petitions to summon a miracle. Right now after reading this, whisper a prayer for something you feel hopeless about. Ask for guidance. Unplug yourself and listen. Remember I’m a teacher at heart. I’m tying this lesson together. There’s always Hope. It’s one of the big three: Faith, Hope, and Love.
I’ll end with eyes of the heart. I stumbled across this or it was planted in my mind the other day: eyes of the heart. I thought to myself how beautiful? Back row I see you looking perplexed picturing a heart with literal eyeballs on it. It’s so much deeper than that. I think looking at problems, people, and situations with your heart is something of divinity. When as a mere human, we begin to seek and to see with a humble, all encompassing heart then we are literally in the heart of our maker. I know I’m getting a bit cheesy here but let me share this quick story. During mass one Sunday, I had an epiphany. As I prayed, looked at the crucifix, and took communion, I realized God had escaped my heart. I was now being carried inside of His heart. Yes, back row Ms. Alley is a bit Cuckoo. I had the realization that I was free from ALS. I was now being carried through this earthly life for something greater. People always ask, “How do you do all that you do?” Well this is the answer. I now look with God’s heart as I roll around in my wheelchair. He moves me, puts people in my life to assist me, and carries me through each adventure. Eyes of the Heart.
Last assignment I promise. Today when you unplug, “Hope against Hope, and look with your heart, smile because you have been given another day to make the world a better place. Be grateful for the good and the bad. Each day is a new beginning to begin anew. If you are reading this, you have a purpose to fill and jobs yet to do. Get out there! Go in Peace to love and serve others.
Sal the Spiritual Gal
Sarah Anderson Alley
Quotes of the Day:
“Hope against hope, and ask till ye receive.”
James Montgomery
“I’m a romantic; a sentimental person thinks things will last, a romantic person hopes against hope that they won’t.”
F. Scott Fitzgerald
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.”
Jesus Christ
Invasion of the Body Parts
Invasion of the Body Parts
In my mind today I’m still scattered and all over the place. I’ve been Sal the Busiest Gal. I’m so glad my arms and thumbs are letting me write today. I’ve been so tired just trying to hold my head up and just drive this scoot. I’ve missed all of you!
I’m still reeling from a great Saturday on the downtown square raising awareness through the Autumn March for ALS. We survived all the glitches and managed to have a day of love and laughter. Not to mention being surrounded by so many kids. A teacher’s dream is to see healthy kids having fun, exercising, and inspiring all of us to join together and fight for better days for everyone especially them. They are the ones who will be the light bearers. We desperately need to teach them well. Sal the Show-tunes Gal is singing Crosby, Stills, & Nash in her mind as I type and reflect.
Back row students, you are going to love this. This morning I read about body parts that cause us to sin. Go ahead and get your snickers, snorts, and giggles out. What does this make us think of? Yes, back row, the horizontal boogie. Let’s move forward. I hear you thinking hands can steal, fists can hit, tongues can lie, even brains think evil thoughts. Sexual sins are bad, but our other body parts can do just as much or more damage. So as we strive to make the world a better place, let’s use all of our body parts for good. Yes, back row even those parts!
Let’s all put our thinking hats on today. Use your tongue to spread kind words. Find a soup kitchen and use your hands to serve. Unfurl your fists and fold them to pray for those suffering through cancer treatments, terminal diseases, financial burdens, depression, abuse, tragic accidents, addictions, and loneliness. Use your legs to run or walk in a benefit race. Use that brilliant mind to solve the little local problems around you. Look with your eyes and find those who need a kind gesture. Let’s not forget to open our big hearts and accept those around us warts and all. You see, the time is now. Stop holding back and join the fight to help good overcome evil. I am such a busy Gal. I’m going to roll on until I’m on the other side. ALS has taught me so much about real priorities in this earthly life. God is Good all the time even in our struggles. Heck, He’s the MVP if we just put him in the game. Try it!
Sarah Anderson Alley
Dedicated to my Alley Alliance
Quotes of the Day:
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”
Ian Maclauren
“The moment I have realized God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him – that moment I am free from bondage, everything that binds vanishes, and I am free.”
Swami Vivekananda
“My strong belief is that God created human beings and therefore he knows about every aspect of the human body. So if I want to fix it, I just need to stay in harmony with Him.”
Ben Carson
“All parts of the human body get tired eventually – except the tongue.”
Konrad Adenauer
Longer
Longer
In my mind today I’m exhausted. I’ve been jetting all over in my wheelchair since Sunday. I may be Sal the ALS Gal but I’m not giving in until I burn completely out. I hear my loved ones and even the back row saying, “Slow down Ms. Alley. You look so tired. Your breathing is labored. You’re swelling all over. We need you here longer.” Yes, longer is what we want especially in dire situations.
Sunday was mass, meal with the family, watching ball games, and reading. Monday was meetings of the Tween bookclub and race organizers gathering to tweak the Autumn March for ALS. Tuesday was soliciting money and prizes for the Autumn March for ALS 2017. Wednesday was visiting the ALS Clinic and my sweet great nephew at Le Bonheur who is fighting for longer, too. So, today I really need to rest and try to get my fluid levels in check. It gives me a chance to read, reflect, and write. And this feeds my soul and gives me life. Longer.
Reading about prayers this morning and how some are answered in the way we want and when other prayers are answered differently, we feel jilted. Yesterday at the ALS Clinic I heard the lock click and open slightly. People who know me and who have loved ones affected by ALS have been pleading for help with this horrible disease have an option to help their loved ones. It’s the first drug offered in 20 years. The neurologist yesterday asked would I consider trying a new infusion drug that has become available FDA approved. It is Radicava. It has shown to give some improvements in mobility and slowed the progression of ability loss. If you’ve seen me dining out with my family or friends, I know you’ve noticed eating is very hard. My husband and friends are starting to help and feed me. My arms are becoming too atrophied and very tired to feed myself. As an example, this drug could slightly could improve my strength and slow the deterioration. My weakened diaphragm and pulmonary function can be improved and sustained. It’s an answered prayer or a door opened according to my readings today. My children are young and I know they need me here. Longer.
After receiving this news, I signed or scratched my name on the paperwork. We headed across town to see my great nephew, niece, and sister. When I saw Kyler lying there broken, tears emerged. I would have given the rest of my vitality and allow him to jump up and start asking his crazy questions, jump on my wheelchair wanting to go on an adventure, roll in the yard with his dogs, or start a burn pile with his Peepaw Butch. He laid still breathing. I only wanted to hold his hand and pray.
The warmth from his little fingers gave me hope of better days. My eyes closed as I prayed searching for the Holy Spirit to fill us. I’m being bold and I’m asking for that high spirited, handsome young man to wake up and say, “Momma, Nanna what’s going on? I’m ready to go play. Hey Nonna, am I going be getting off the bus at your house this week? Dad, thanks for being here. Kenny, let’s go fishing! Misty, I’m ready to see Lex and play remote control cars with Uncle Josh and the boys. Let me hold Avy Lynn and play with Audrey Belle and Andi Kate today. Can I PLEEEESE stay with Nanna tonight? Momma, can you rock me?” Yes, I know prayers can be answered. I know Kyler is strong and a fighter. I believe in miracles.
As one prayer is being answered for Sal the ALS Gal, I’m not giving up on our Miracle for Kyler. He’s stable but critical. The journey to complete recovery may be long or short. There are so, so many on deathbeds, have terminal illnesses or chronic diseases, and mental illnesses from schizophrenia to addictions that need to be here longer for their loved ones. Longer so they can love them and seek a miracle. Don’t be shy. Seek and you can find a miracle. Ask and the door can be opened. Pray for longer.
Sarah Anderson Alley
Dedicated to the Wesley Neurology Clinic, Kyler Doolin, and all of us praying for longer.
Quotes of the Day:
Luke 11:5-13
Jesus said to his disciples: “Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,’ and he says in reply from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.’ I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.
“And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” Albert Einstein
“Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see.”
C.S. Lewis
Harvest Time
Harvest Time
In my mind today, I’m thinking about harvest time. It’s that time of year. The days are shorter. The morning are cooler. There’s a hint of coolness in the air. Farmer’s harvest the fruit from their fields. It’s a time for being thankful.
While reading this morning, a writer compared us to being God’s fruit for his harvest. It’s hard when we want to dictate the best time to be harvested and taken on our eternal adventure. Most agree a ripe old age is the best time. Looking at the world around me, I see that that’s not how things work out. Mass killings, natural disasters, and mere tragic accidents fill our lives. The harvest isn’t only the old but sadly so many young are reaped as well hence the Grim reaper.
How can we make peace with our life clock? We can become worriers, germaphobes, hypochondriacs, or dooms day preppers. How many lives do we save or years do we add? That clock within us still ticks away.
A dear friend dropped by today to help with a gift for my niece and great nephew. We discussed this crazy life of uncertainties. What we came up with is this: our main purpose on earth is to love and care for each other in any way every single day we get. Simple. Live to serve others sounds so foreign when you look at what a mess the world is in. We can be the game-changers if we only will take up our crosses for spreading hope and love. Yes, our life clocks are ticking. The clamor of your good deeds can drown out the ticking as your time of harvest draws nigh.
Sarah Anderson Alley
Dedicated to Autumn
Quotes of the Day:
Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.
Albert Camus
When autumn darkness falls, what we will remember are the small acts of kindness: a cake, a hug, an invitation to talk, and every single rose. These are all expressions of a nation coming together and caring about its people.
Jens Stoltenberg
My sorrow, when she’s here with me, thinks these dark days of autumn rain are beautiful as days can be; she loves the bare, the withered tree; she walks the sodden pasture lane.
Robert Frost
The First
The First
In my mind today, I’m thinking about my great nephew. His grandmother is my amazing sister, Judy. She has a heart so big and I thank God for her every single day. If there’s an anchor in our family, it’s her. When she called yesterday hysterical and pleading for prayers, my heart literally cracked. Kyler, her grandson, had a tragic accident on a 4-wheeler. He was being air-lifted for head trauma. I’ve been praying along with many since her call.
Kyler was the first of my great-grands to accept me in my chair. It was like her never saw it. He made me feel accepted and loved even though I could no longer join in physical activities with the kiddos at our family get togethers. He would hop on my scoot with me and away we would go. In almost every family picture, he is in my lap. When I go to his ball games he always lights up when I roll in. Kyler is just special. We all love him very much.
Today as I would read and pray, my focus is just with Kyler, my niece Tiffany, and my sister Judy. I’m asking God for a miracle of complete healing. Please keep our family in your prayers. Show tunes Sal is finding it tough to sing today. Life is so very fragile, but God is so much stronger. I truly believe in the Lord the Giver of life. He loved us first.
Sarah Anderson Alley
Dedicated to my Great nephew Kyler
Quotes of the Day:
“There are no greater treasures than the highest human qualities such as compassion, courage and hope. Not even tragic accident or disaster can destroy such treasures of the heart.”
Daisaku Ikeda
“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.”
Desmond Tutu
“To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless.”
Gilbert K. Chesterton
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