Debra Basham

Living and Loving

Tag: re

  • Gratitude Comes Early

    The light is always more powerful….

    “I invite the light into my life in all the ways.”

    ~ Lee Harris

    It has been one month and one day since I wrote a Yellow Brick Road post. We were in the final weeks of preparation in Michigan, and days were filled with packing and packed with visits with those we love and are already looking forward to being with in the springs when these snow birds fly home. Gratitude that our last evening was shared at the Chocolate Cafe enjoying great music with Art (and Ed), joined by Molly and Claudia. Exquisite, to say the least.

    The timing of our arrival in Tennessee was divinely driven as we received a call from Stacey on Saturday saying she was to have a heart cath on Tuesday morning. Gratitude we were able to be here so I could fasten and unfasten her bra and open and lift things for her while she was on restriction. And immense GRATITUDE Stacey had excellent results with no stent needed.

    Gratitude John and I were here to assist with moving Jackson, and GRATITUDE for our successful completion of three significant projects here at the house: cleaning the windows, cleaning out the dryer vent line (FYI – it goes all the way underneath the concrete the entire span of the garage!). and re-screening the windows with pet-resistant screen.

    Gratitude they enjoyed the meals I cooked for Stacey and Doug and John in those days following Stacey’s procedure…. and gratitude that Doug fried fish (and made French fries) for us for dinner last evening.

    Profound gratitude to grandson Brad for having moved decades of Sacred Stories and Yellow Brick Road posts from SCS-Matters.com and having successfully launched DebraBasham.com!

    Gratitude for Stacey’s one-handed help with cleaning the dryer vent and for Brad’s two-handed help with the new screens.

    And gratitude for this story about John’s brother, Jack, following a long evening (and into the night) at ER getting flushed. The doctor asked Jack if he needed anything. He said he was hungry. She asked what he wanted – a Burger King double cheese burger was his request. After also getting Cindy’s order that doctor had Door Dash deliver to the ER for them, and she refused to let them pay! About 3:00 am as they were driving home, cresting a hill they encountered a herd of cattle in the road! After calling 911, they stayed with their emergency flashers on to prevent any unsuspecting driver from being injured (or any cows). Jack’s attitude of gratitude and quick humor resulted in him saying to Cindy, “Now we can say the hospital did not discharge us until the cows came home!:

    I might edit that opening quotation to say “Gratitude is always more powerful. I invite gratitude into my life in all ways.”

    May all beings have gobs of genuine gratitude….

  • Love In The World

    This post is in its entirety a re-post of September 27, 2026 “Loving Reminders” which is now available on the wonderful new website launched by Betty Lue Lieber and Robert Waldon: LoveInTheWorld.org where everything there is absolutely free!

    Please follow the link so you are able to see the sweet format and receive for yourself their generous gifting of Love In The World. If you are new to Betty Lue’s Loving Reminders, while you are there you can sign up to receive them daily.

    May all be blessed!

    Sunday, September 27, 2026

    Harmony

    Give what you want to experience.

    Live at peace within and experience harmony in your life.

    PEACE BEGINS WITHIN.

    GIVE YOUR BEST.

    Affirmations:

    ♡ I give always and only my best.
    ♡ I share the peace I have within me.
    ♡ I trust that all things work together for Good.
    ♡ May my thoughts, words and deeds bring harmony to my world.

    READY FOR HARMONY?

    Yes, it is possible to live together in peace.
    Yes, you can have harmony in your home.
    Yes, partners can have no fighting.
    Yes, you can stay in Love.

    When you believe in fighting, there will be fighting.
    When you expect arguments, there will be arguments.
    When you know families don’t get along, you will be correct.
    Because what you believe, you will receive and achieve.

    What you expect, you will accept.
    What you doubt, will come about.
    What you endure, you will make sure.
    Everything we think will be, we seek to see.

    People want to be “right”, and will fight to prove themselves “right”.
    Even when people want something else, they create what they expect.
    So perhaps it is time for you to undo what you no longer want to be true!
    List what you want to experience in an ideal relationship, home and family.

    Begin with your ideal vision written down and remembered daily.
    I choose to have and give my ideal self to create my ideal relationships.
    Next, let go of every thought, feeling, behavior and memory that interferes.
    I gently and respectfully undo and release all that brings negativity into my life.

    It is your Peace of mind that brings harmony.
    Letting go of stubbornness and needing to be right that creates openness.
    Trust letting go of opinions, advice and listening that brings understanding.
    Respecting others’ thoughts, feelings, behavior and differences gives Peace.

    Give yourself to Love and Love will come to you.
    Honor the call for peace and harmony by being peaceful too!
    Trust in the Love and appreciation that guides your way.
    Remember always to forgive first and listen for how to respond with Love.

    Do what is right and true and Loving.
    Don’t wait for them to do the right thing.
    You are the One to be conscious and willing.
    You know the way. JUST DO IT!

    FREE Relationships Reminders book!
    Everything I do is for you to find peace and harmony in your life.
    Everything I have taught and written is there free for you to use.
    Relationship harmony is essential for your health, happiness and wellbeing.

    We are the same, you and I.
    We are all in this together.
    Now is our time to step up.
    Let us be willing to respond with Goodness and Love.

    Be responsible for your own life and how you live in harmony.

    With love,
    Betty Lue

  • Doctor Mickey

    He had Agent Orange. Agent Orange is a powerful chemical weed killer that the U.S. military sprayed over millions of acres in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War to remove dense plant cover. For years his health had been compromised, and he had undergone the best of modern medicine. He needed heart surgery, but was not strong enough to survive that. This was the second weekend he had ended up at the ER and being admitted to the hospital.

    They were both so touched by the presence and kindness of a petite female doctor making rounds on Saturday morning. She had a complex name, so his wife just called her Doctor Mickey.

    He had lost one kidney to cancer, and his remaining kidney had failed and was bleeding. His hemoglobin was so low…. he felt weak and was having difficulty breathing. He needed transfusions. The kidney could not be removed due to the condition of his heart. They were facing the limits of what acute medical care could do. Saturday evening Doctor Mickey came in to talk to them about hospice. She found out he was a Veteran. And they found out Doctor Mickey is the main person from the VA that handles hospice! He was discharged from the hospital that night.

    They knew it was time to have his care managed at home with the VA hospice. A few days later, follow-up visits with his primary physician and oncologist were tearful thank-yous and good-byes. They had been so blessed with excellent medical care. He would still be transported Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to receive dialysis, and any needed transfusions would be done right next door. He would continue to receive the processes that were giving him the best quality of life.

    Now they could do the things they enjoy and spend time with those they love.

    Thank you, Doctor “Mickey” and thank you, Jesus! The way had been prepared. They were being guided and blessed. The Lord had them….

    “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”. ~ Jeremiah 29:11

    (The photo snip is of him sharing this news with his brother using a humorous filter!)

  • Divine Timing!

    Our grandson, Adam, and (his now wife) Rachel wanted to give the guests at their wedding a memorable experience at Sandestin, a 2,400-acre resort located in Miramar, Florida. I assure you the five-day unfolding was an on-going call (and answer) to prayer.

    At 4:41 pm Thursday, September 10, I received a frantic call from our daughter, Stacey, from Ed Walline Regional Beach in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. She and Doug were there setting up for the rehearsal dinner. She said she had mascara running down her face and needed me to bring her some makeup remover. She said nothing was set up yet! I assumed all of this was because of the rain we were having at the house. During Sunday’s drive back to Tennessee from Florida I learned it never rained on them, but permitted events were not allowed to set up until 5:00 pm. This “formal” rehearsal dinner for 80 people was scheduled to begin at 5:30! People raved about the food and the venue. With weather threatening all around us, the event was gorgeous and so was Stacey and her heart-rendering mother-of-the-groom speech!


    After intense thunder and lightening in the early-morning, the rains stopped just in time for photos on the golf-course.

    Screenshot

    Adam’s wedding band was from his paternal grandfather, George Ross, who passed away five years ago. Following a very meaningful ring warming, the ceremony was rich with articulate and intimate personal vows. Adam’s and Rachel’s marriage ceremony was held as dreamed: outdoors at Eden Gardens State Park beneath the “Wedding Tree” which is estimated to be over 600 years old. Blessed beyond words to be able to officiate for them.

    The perfectly planned wedding reception was a 3-hour dinner cruise aboard Solaris Yacht, kicked off with live saxaphone, punctuated with spectacular speeches by Rachel’s dad and our own grands Christina (Matron of Honor) and Brad (Best Man). Dancing was over the top, and John and I got to take home the leftover cheesecake.

    After several days of rainy and cloudy weather which graciously gave way for our meticulous schedule, Saturday’s beach day was blessed with continuous sunshine. At sunset we were back at the marina for dinner and drinks and cheering UT to a win on the outdoor big screen!

    Sunday Stacey and Doug and John and I were just minutes behind a very serious multi-car accident south of Birmingham. We got through debris on the road as those involved were still on the scene standing stunned awaiting emergency crews. Courtney and Jackson were driving back with Courtney’s dad. We we surprised to hear they were in front of us and shocked to learn they had been mere seconds ahead of the crash. Courtney’s dad saw it in his rearview mirror!

    After four delays on their flight out of Florida, Rachel’s mom and family had a “Hail Mary” 20 minutes between landing time and departure time in Atlanta for their connection home to California. They landed there at their original ETA. So grateful, so grateful, so grateful…. As Stacey often says, “God hasn’t failed us yet.”

    The conditions invited us to be purposeful in our practice of prayer and if it was possible to choose just one scripture for this amazing start to Adam’s and Rachel’s married life it might be:

    “For I know the plans I have for you…
    plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
    plans to give you hope and a future.”
    ~ Jeremiah 29:11

  • Change is Full of Opportunity

    She told her sister she had been awake and did a therapy writing after having gotten a call from a precious friend. That friend was in the hospital, again, with fewer and fewer medical options seeming to exist. She also shared an attribution line “developed and produced by so-and-so” mentioning her former business partner had not gotten posted because of a 600 character limit when the guided imagery audios they had done together posted on Spotify.

    Her sister gave her a set of Nature Meditation cards. She drew from the deck and read these words:

    Change is Opportunity

    Change can cause suffering. We suffer when our plans don’t come together as we expected, when a relationship ends, when we have to uproot our lives for one reason or another. But in the midst of the pain, there is also so much potential for joy and opportunity. When you feel your heart resisting inevitable change, visualize a tree moving through the seasons – turning red and golden autumn, shedding its leaves in winter, growing new buds in spring, and showing its glorious greenery in summer. Consider how you can move through the ebbs and flows of the seasons in your own life with the grace of a tree, and repeat this affirmation: Change is full of opportunity.

    Shortly after she got home from visiting her friend at the hospital, she received news that her former business partner had passed some time after midnight. She shuffled, shuffled, shuffled and drew that same card again!

    Three nights later, she was again awake following a middle-of-the-night text message from her sister-in-love. Her beloved brother-in-law had been taken to the hospital by ambulance, likely having a heart attack. This coming just after their receiving information that surgery on his heart was not likely an option due to his many other medical complications.

    As dawn began breaking, she shuffled, shuffled, shuffled — even spreading the cards out face down on the bed and stirring them over and over — and then she drew that same card again!

    Change is full of opportunity….

    “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, is a famous Bible verse found in Jeremiah 29:11.

  • Banner

    This morning I was dreaming upon waking: I am in my final childhood home. The basement is flooded. At the bottom of the stairs, it is over ankle deep. I go down and start moving stuff to get the door open so we can get the water out. A man and woman are outside waiting for me to give the word. (Mom and dad?) It is quite dark down here and the water is cold, but I stay focused and am making good progress before I wake up .

    After I am up and have written down my dream I look up the dream symbolism: Wet basement in dream meaning: Unprocessed emotions, hidden stress or deep unconscious overwhelm. In dream symbolism, a house represents your inner self, the basement reflects your foundational unconscious or past, and water stands for your feelings. Emotional overload/ feelings or responsibilities you have bottled up that are now seeping into your awareness.

    This reminds me of yesterday’s sharing with our eldest grand, Brad, about giving ourselves a pass….

    I went to visit a dear, dear, friend today. We spoke candidly about the difficulty that can come when there is need to be a receiver of care. We so prefer to be the one giving.

    I shared part of Barbara Brodsky’s blog post from a few days ago.

    Three nights ago, at bedtime, my beloved almost 11 year old collie, Banner, (my hearing – dog) suddenly could not stand up. We have a routine of many years; I shut off the tv or close my book, say ”bed time” and we both get up quickly and head to the bedroom. He tried to stand; his 4 paws were sliding to the sides on the hardwood floor, with no traction, and he couldn’t get them under him. He was terrified.

    I woke up Hal’s caregiver who lives downstairs and he brought up the old living room rug that we’d stored in the basement for wheelchair/ walker safety, put it down and lifted him on top of it and Banner rested there for 15 minutes while I just patted him and spoke to him. Then I got up and he did too. Just stood up!

    Our human minds return to “I can’t” and fear. His mind and body just responded by standing to follow me to the bedroom. The next day, he was happily playing with our granddaughter, with no sign of weakness. Fear and its stories really do block us humans from a deeper reality.

    Today I could feel in both my friend and myself the letting down of old habits of wanting to not need help. Then this afternoon, I opened email from my mentor/friend Betty Lue Lieber, in which she had included the message for today from the Daily Word:

    Pray for Others

    Praying for others is a sacred gift I love to give.

    Friday July 24, 2026

    When a friend or loved one is going through a challenge, I try to help however I can. When I’ve offered all I can and it seems there is nothing else I can do, I pray.

    Prayer is the greatest gift I have to give. Regardless of whether someone knows I am praying, my prayers enfold them in love and care. As I pray, I feel my connection in Spirit to that person. I touch the presence of infinite light, life, love, and peace within them. I have faith these qualities are opening the avenue to unlimited good.

    My prayer extends from my circle of loved ones to enfold my larger community and the world. I pray each person knows they deserve a joyous, prosperous, fulfilling life.

    I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail.—Luke 22:32

    This brings to mind the Biblical story of a man who had been paralysed for 38 years. Jesus simply told him to pick up his mat and walk. May we, may all beings, receive support and love and encouragement so completely we, too, can be freed from suffering.

    (Also from Betty Lue’s message:)
    “Prayer For A Loved One”

    Dear Heart,
    I will not worry, fret or be unhappy over you.
    I will not be anxious concerning you.
    I will not be afraid for you.
    I will not give up on you.
    I will not blame, criticize or condemn you.
    I will remember first, last and always that you are God’s child, that you have His Spirit in you.
    I will trust this Spirit to take care of you, to be a light to your path, to provide for your needs.
    I will think of you as always being surrounded by God’s loving Presence, enfolded in His protecting care, as kept safe and secure in Him.
    I will be patient with you.
    I will have confidence in you.
    I will stand by you in faith, and bless you in my prayers, knowing that you are growing, knowing that you are finding the help you need, the love you need, the healing you need, the financial freedom you need.
    I have only good feelings in my heart about you.
    I am willing to let you live your life as you see fit.
    Your way may not be my way, but I will trust the Spirit of God in you to show you the way of your highest Good.
    God loves you and I love you!
    I have confidence in you and I believe in you!!
    (author unknown)

  • D-O-N-N-Y

    At over ninety years of age, it is a shock to lose an adult child. Her son, Donny, had passed two years prior when she had the phone ring just one ring and stop.

    Once.

    Twice.

    Three times.

    She decided to go to the phone in the house that had a caller identification feature. She could have never imagined what she would see when the phone rang a fourth time!

    The caller ID showed five simple letters that meant everything to her: D-O-N-N-Y

    Many cultures interpret sudden electronic malfunctions or random rings as a comforting psychological or spiritual sign of remembrance. To this day, she draws comfort from his call.

  • Mints – A Double

    Soon after the husband of her friend had passed the white-with-red-stripes, soft, sugary mints he loved gifting to his wife started showing up. (See “Mints”.)

    For over 20 years now, this particular type of soft mint had been recognized as a welcome message of his everlasting love!

    While planning to be visiting with their family in Tennessee, they learned the husband of a couple they had gotten to know through their daughter had just died. The funeral was taking place while they were there and they were going to be able to go. In the long line waiting to visit with the wife before the funeral started, she spotted a dish of the special mints across the room. She went over, picked up two, snapped a photo, and sent that to her friend.

    After the funeral, as she was exiting the building, she walked back to the bowl to get a few more for her friend. When she looked closer, there was a double!

    The precious response to this photo of the double was, “I am always touched when a double appears.”

    It seemed a perfect assurance that this friend, too, would be faithfully watching over his wife….

  • Molly and OJ’s

    He went out with friends for the first time in over a year — not since his wife had been diagnosed with brain cancer.

    Molly and OJ’s had about 40 moon-shaped lights ceiling lights.

    As they began talking and laughing about old times, the light directly above him at their table started flashing!

    Every time he started laughing, that light started blinking!

    They all said, “There’s our Eli!”❤️❤️❤️

  • Door Prize!

    His wife had just passed on June 28. Friends were telling him the importance of doing those things they loved doing, even if it was difficult. So, he took the car to the Ridgetown Rotary Antique Car and Tractor Show, Sunday, July 12, 2026, at Watson Grove Park.

    When the winning number for the door prize was called, his was just two digits off. They were all joking that she was trying to help him win but she missed the mark by just a bit!

    The number was announced again. After a third time when no one came forth to claim the prize, it was announced another ticket would be drawn.

    He won!

    He got a battery booster, and a $75 dollar certificate toward new tires.

    If his ticket number had been called the first time they might have missed it. The most valuable “prize” he won was blessed assurance she really was still helping him….