Murraytalk

I made a decision last night to get off of Facebook. Lately most everything I come across is negative. I'm well aware that there's some major issues happening in the world that we're living in today, but that isn't why I'm on Facebook. I don't want to see abused people, abused animals, hungry children, or read hateful angry rants because people aren't open minded and try to control the opinions of others. Maybe I'm following the wrong people, but either way, it just wasn't feeding my soul any longer. The time had come for me to eliminate it from my life for awhile. I also made the decision to clean my camp as well. I've worked way too hard on myself to allow people to use me or play emotional games with me. Those that know me well should know that I detach easily and I trust few. I'm what happens when you grow up in a home full of lies, secrets, and broken promises - it teaches you to trust no one, and to walk away with out looking back. A

I read a few bible versus each morning, some positive quotes, and end in prayer before I begin my day. This morning after everything that I read, Galatians 6:9 came to my mind. As motivating as that verse is, all I could think of is, I'm tired. I'm tired of committing twelve years of my life to a drug addict. I'm tired of doing good deeds for people that are unappreciative and never change. I'm tired of threats and verbal abuse. I'm tired of rescuing, tired of my family being torn apart, and extremely saddened and tired of my grandchildren living in a nightmare. The truth is, I have grown weary and I have given up. I decided a few weeks ago that I was going to separate myself from my son more than I already had. I could tell that he had relapsed once again, and I knew that for my own peace I had to have little or no contact with him. Furthermore, he had made it clear by changing his name on Facebook to his birth name, and referring to the only father he's

Yesterday evening before bed I begin thinking about my life as a Life Coach. My thought was that I can help others find balance, hope, and restore their faith, but in my immediate family there's some that I just can't seem to reach. I know that people have to be ready for change, but it saddens me to witness suffering that can be avoided by making changes to their life. My thoughts took me to questioning God's plan for my life - is this really my purpose? I had to give myself a quick pep talk to stay focused on what I know is true, and to keep my mind from slipping to a place of defeat. I had to remind myself that no matter how many setbacks or disappointments that enter my life, God still has a great plan for me. I can't allow myself to lose hope - if I don't have hope I won't have faith, and I've lived that life before - I have no intentions of going back. I have to take what God has given me, my special talents, and do all that I can do with it. A

I had a Superwoman moment this morning. Actually a day in my house with animals and children is always a job for Superwoman, but today I actually had to leap in a single bound. I have a 16 year old Pekingese that has a bad back leg, her hearing is almost gone, she can barely see, and the majority of the time I'm issuing a Silver Alert because she gets lost in the house and can't find her way back to the kitchen.  This morning after walking in circles for awhile and making a couple of trips down the hallway, she finally made it to the kitchen to go out. I let her out while having my typical  I don't want to conversation with the 2 year old, along with me calming the fussy newborn. The 6 year old had already decided to escape all of the chaos by retreating to her room. I'm also now trying to ignore the horrible sound coming from the piano that the 2 year old left open when he finished pretending that he was reading music, playing the piano, and singing to me his

This song has been one of my favorites for several years, Lately I can't seem to get it out of my head with all the violence that's going on. Music has always been my escape and my salvation - this song has always spoke truth to me and reminds me that there's still too much suffering in the world that we live in. I think most of  us are working so hard to secure our future that we begin to live our lives in a box, forgetting those that are working hard just to see tomorrow. Sometimes the only thing that reminds us that we're living in a hurting world is something horrific taking place that shakes us a little, and then something sparks inside of us - it either sparks compassion or hate, but either way it's a reminder of the world that we're living in. Click the link for the lyrics. https://play.google.com/music/preview/Tvwgltfftxzgtndoxsdjjkpnlem?lyrics=1&utm_source=google&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=lyrics&pcampaignid=kp-lyrics Ha

Boy am I happy for Monday! I had a draining Sunday due to a situation that happened and stayed in my thoughts longer than it should have. So today I'm going to write about it and release it. A gentleman around the age of 60 that had both legs amputated decided that myself and a coworker was his verbal punching bag. As he screamed at us he always managed to say, I'm an amputee in each sentence. We both remained as calm as humanely possible, and I mentally reminded myself as the horrible and hurtful words were spewing out of his mouth - hurting people often hurt people as a result of their unresolved issues. But, what I also was reminded of  how damaging words can be. I went home and had dinner with my family, relaxed, and did my usual night routine, but I continued hearing his hateful words. I couldn't seem to shake those thoughts. It could be that I hadn't experienced behavior as such after I left home at 18, so I wasn't mentally prepared for it, or he trigge

I follow quite a few groups and blogs regarding addiction - yesterday as I listened to Rockers in Recovery live on facebook, it just reconfirmed to me how drug addiction is a growing problem that too many children and adults are losing their life to. It's not just a select few that many would like to think - it's people in our family, friends, and co-workers. I read on ASAM that drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in the US, and of the 21.5 million Americans, 12 and older had a substance abuse disorder in 2014, 1.9 million involved prescription pain killers, and 586,000 involved heroin. Do you see the problem?  I have addiction in my family and it is not just the problem of the addict, it becomes a family problem, and a society problem. It damages families, relationships, neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces to name a few. We all need to become better educated on addiction and do what we can to fix this growing epidemic. I know many of you don'

I don't have a lot of great childhood memories, but food is one memory that has stuck with me. My father loved to cook and share his food. I now know that food was his love language - it's a love language that speaks to all five senses. I think I inherited a little of it because I am a food pusher. Alright, I'll be honest - food is my love language. I love to cook it, share it, and eat it - I love food! Anyway, he use to make this dish that he called Geechi Pie that was to die for. I've been craving it for approximately 30 years, and have asked every black woman that I meet that is over the age of 70 how to make it. Thus far I haven't found the right woman with the recipe that I'm seeking. So yesterday I decided to try and recreate it simply from memory of taste and looks. What it is basically is a beef pie with Mexican spices. I remember the broth being natural juices, but I decided to flour and sear my meat before I threw it in the crock ( he didn&#

My husband and I have been planning a renewal wedding for our 40th Anniversary in 2017. As we threw around a few ideas over lunch, the number 40 stuck in my mind - that's a lot of years! I started thinking about how much growth we've had since starting this union at 18 years of age. I thought could I give 40 tips for a successful marriage if asked, probably not, but here is a list of 40 things about our marriage that keeps us going. 1. We established roles at the beginning of our marriage. It's not that we don't help each other out, but he does things like the yard, trash, the cars, and I do the inside stuff such as cooking, laundry, and keeping the house neat and tidy. Honestly, I don't remember discussing these designated roles, but we've always done it and it's worked for us. 2. We agree to disagree which is typically accomplished by changing the subject or silence. 3. We laugh at each other. I probably more at him, but we both find humor in ea