Lasy Chance to Save

As I started to type this morning this ad popped up on the side of my computer and my crazy brain just took off running. A simple wheat penny has played such a huge part in my life in the past twenty years and a very long story could be written about those pennies and where they have turned up as a sign to me that God is always in control and to humble me to stoop and pick up that lowliest of coins and offer it back up to Him in recognition by saying, 'Thanks you, God, I hear you' No matter where I go or what kind of bad situation I am in I will always find a penny to lead me home to safety. God is always giving me one last chance to save.....someone. God's offering to me of this life style I am in, was so totally far fetched that even I was a Doubting Thomas, yet he always would bring me back to the fundamentals and show me just where I needed to be and when. This very may well be my last chance or anyone elses last chance to save and we need to get on with the program.....There are so many in need in this world today and it doesn't take a lot of money..just a kind word or a smile and someones day is made much better. Find the cheapest phone system you can get on and make it a point that people hear your voice and hear that you do indeed rejoice in life itself. We don't need a president to tell us that times are hard. People like you and me are getting poorer. Diseases are getting worse and medication is getting higher. Now you cannot even go to the hospital to get better because you can come out of the hospital with some thing worse than when you went in. Be careful and start taking care of yourself and your own. It will get worse before it gets better and we will all need each other just to get through. Our generation, the 50-60plus year olds, have only heard of the great depression and my teenage grandkids have no idea but as I watched the news last night the look on my moms face told the whole story. Her face was very sad and she said, 'Oh, Charlene do we have to go though that again?' Little does she know we are probably already there. Not to sound like I'm preaching, but could you take today and do something for someone who doesn't expect it? Could you pick up those pennies and save them for a rainy day? Could you step out of your comfort zone and listen to God and try something new? This could well be your last chance to save and make a difference....love pokie

Every Penny Goes For Research

Parkinson's Disease is a neuo-degenerative disease that affects more than one million Americans. We re not just in nursing homes pushed to the side in a wheel chair and left to sleep the day through. There are people in their late twenties and thirties that have this debilitating disease and more are showing up every year. It knows no boundries, be you young or old, rich or poor. You stand a chance to have Parkinson's Disease and though you do die not from Parkinson's you will die with it.... The first Parkinson's Walk was 14 years ago and with their 200 volunteers and made $16,000 for research. Last year there were over 10,000 people there and we collected 1.8 million dollars. God touched me that day in Oh, so many ways and I made friends for life, I found myself happier than I had been fo years. The smiles and tears just kept on coming and there was no project to extreme. So this is my challege to you. Visit the site www.unitywalk.org or info @unitywalk.org. Call them1-866-789-9255 Make a donation for me or my team Patientslikeme.

A Santuary in Our Mind

There are so many blessings bestowed upon us during our time on this earth. The birth of a baby; the glory or a bright yellow jonquil pushing up through newly fallen snow to welcome spring after a very hard winter; the sparkle of that snow as it falls to earth on a moon lit night when the air is crisp and clean. There are so many blessings sent our way everyday that no one takes heed of as we scurry from one place to another. Why have we let ourselves become too busy to worship the world around us? God gave us life and surrounded us with beauty that there are no words for and yet we take no heed. This must hurt his feelings so much. It would be like being Picasso and you were in the middle of a square, painting the most beautiful painting and no one noticed.. People passed by and bumped in to you and never noticed your masterpiece in the making. Everyday could be a masterpiece in the making. I know when you have Parkinson's Disease the pain and fatigue are ever blocking out the sun but..... it is there. Shut your eyes and visualize those blessings God has given us. Let those pictures that should flood your brain take the pain away. No matter how misshapen and pain filled we become, there is a sanctuary God has blessed us with where we can shut our eyes and be content in his glory. One of the biggest blessings God gives us is Friendships. They are such fragile little things when first started, a hug, a small smile, a kind word. Tiny little things that can mean so much in the cold and corrupt world of the internet. God brought so many beautiful people and minds together and did it so quietly no one realized a blessing was in the making. Little did I know when I stumbled into Patienslikeme.com that the blessings were there and the change in my life would be so drastic. The friendships formed there are like nothing I have ever known. We laugh til we cry and we talk about things we would never tell anyone else and genuinely feel better because of it. Could it be we have headed on a path that God does not like and he's stepping in to save us. Maybe he is trying to save us from ourselves before it's too late. I plan on checking out with a smile on my face. How about you? I plan to have made a difference. How about you? I know I have loved and been loved. How about you? Stop today and watch a wooly worm scurrying across the street or smell the rose by the driveway. Pick a hand full of dust up and let it sift through your hand in the wind. Turn your head toward the Heaven and thank God because your here and know he loves you so.......always pokie

Solid Gold

This has been a crazy one. Emails have been flying back and forth. The phone has rang all day. I've talked to people on all corners for the world. I am making list after list trying to keep my mind on the right track and make it produce as much as it possibly can. Mr. Pain has come back to visit in a big way and bless his heart he has brought a bunch of friends with him. Slight headache and mounting fatigue came along just to see what was going on.This crazy disease just never gives up. It seems no matter how much medicine you take it playes this game with you. You feel better, sometimes, for months at a time and then get up one morning and cannot move. My back has a severe ache in the lower part and minor aches all the way to my shoulders. My head feels like an over saturated sponge. The upper part of my arms and elbows are the worse for ware. It's no wonder statements are made to me like, "you know they shoot horses when they get like this?" and , "what next?" The best one's are , "I just give up." To all this I can only say "Nope Not Yet!" I refuse to give you this day. I will hold on to it as hard as I can and make it the best I can. While I have been trying to write this the hours have past and I wandered into my bedroom and turned on the heating blanket for relief. I slept or passed out for almost six hours, which is great for me. I fixed me a pot of coffee and started a new day of meds. The sun is not up yet but like all of us it is doing the best it can.....All I can say is that I am ever so thankful to be here in God's world and have never had a day without a blessing..... Some turn to drink, and others turn to medication but I turn to prayer and my friends at Patientslikeme.com and all the Parkinson's Foundations to keep me going. The support I receive on a daily bases is huge and not to be left out is my mom. Yesterday, two weeks after heart surgery, she did my dishes while I took a nap.....now who is taking care of who here? I can only say thank you Lord for my many blessings and I would like you to know every minute is worth a million and every laugh is solid gold.....

Laura's Chocolate

Since Coffee With Pokie is an ever growing thing and it is actually a figment of my imagination, I was so happy when along came Laura to send this lovely, decadent slide show of what else but chocolate. Little does Laura know that most "Parkies" have a thing about chocolate. Chocolate in any form is ok with us and what better way to have chocolate, enjoy. and not gain a pound. Thanks Laura

a Boy, a Man, and a Donkey

An old man, a boy and a donkey were going to town. The boy rode on the donkey and the old man walked. As they went along they passed some people who remarked it was a shame the old man Was walking and the boy was riding. The man and boy thought maybe the critics were right, So they changed positions. Then, later, they passed some people who remarked, 'What a shame, he makes that little boy walk." Soon they passed some more people who thought They were stupid to wal k when they had a Decent donkey to ride. So, they both rode the donkey. Now they passed some people Who shamed them by saying how awful to Put such a load on a poor donkey. The boy and the man figure they were probably right. So they decided to carry the donkey. As they crossed the bridge, They lost their grip on the animal and he fell into the river and drowned. THE MORAL OF THE STORY If you try to please everyone, You might as well KISS YOUR ASS GOODBYE! HAVE A NICE DAY AND BE CAREFUL WITH YOUR DONKEY

Thank you Harold and Donna for forwarding this to me.....I'll be sure to get in touch today..love pokie

A Thief in the night

I've just kind of been wandering around tonight looking for a place I felt like I belonged. I posted for a while on Patientslikeme.com. This use to be such a quiet retreat for me and now the threads are huge and very complicated.....I read and reread to be sure I understand before I say anything. Nothing like the close little group from earlier times. I would say that my mothers heart attack is just setting in. Last Thursday morning she started having mild heart attacks and now a week later, she has five stints in one artery and seems to be fine though a little weak. In one fatal swoop I became "The caregiver" and everything that goes along with it. I was just learning to fly and got my wings clipped. God gave me this new freedom and then took it away....or did he? Could it be he is making me work harder for a greater reward. I can always come up with an excuse to not do something I deem boring. Yet if I have a passion, nothing is too big. There are so many things that seem to need to be done and so little time to get them done. Winter is fast approaching and as I look back at how my life has changed in the past year, I can only wonder what lies ahead. I once was a proud farmer with my yard just neat as a pin. Every flower bloomed in it's own place and my garden was a sight to behold. I grew vegetables by the bushels and canned for everyone. I raised and tended an assortment of animals and loved it. I cared for many grandkids on a continual bases and the week was never long enough between their departure on Sunday and arrival on Thursday or Friday to get everything all picked up again yet I waited at the door with open arms for their arrival. Nothing was too heavy to lift or job to dirty to tackle......I worked like a man and tended my flock with no questions ask. I cannot look back at that life and not mourn it's passing. It was a good life, full and gratifying. I keep hearing my son saying, "I just want my old mom back." She no longer lives here and won't be back. It was a simple and beautiful life and it furnished me so many happy memories but tonight I realize just how much this disease called Parkinson's has robbed me. It snuck in during the night like a very unwanted quest and stole my most valued possessions and left me standing in the middle of a huge field turning in disbelief. How could it happen so fast and with no warning. Why was I not able to see it coming and stop it. These are modern times. This should not be happening. I should be able to pray and his is gone and I should know that it will never come again to any one in my family.....yet there is no cure for this disease....It has robbed me and and violated my space and will never be punished for it in my time. I will never have the gratification of saying, "It's gone and everything will go back to the way it was." So many things are just not possible anymore and it's so hard to find those happy, sunshine filled parts of my like to bask in. And then as I cannot feel any more pain at the passing of my life, I remember my friend Tom and that I had sent him a poem last night and from my favorite book that was laying right here beside me asking to be read once again........

THE PRIVILEDGE OF LIVING Thank God for the privilege of living, The privilege of breathing the air The privilege of being alive in the midst of such beauty everywhere! Thank the good Lord for his mercy In giving me eyes to see, A mind to learn, and a voice to speak And a faith in Eternity. Thank God for the privilege of living... For sharing His earth and His sky.... That a gift so rare as the gift of life Is given to such as I.