![\"\"](\"https://i0.wp.com/www.marshmallowranch.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_1964-1.jpg?fit=470%2C842&ssl=1\")
We were in second grade together. I’d rarely seen a black child before. We met in the line to wash our hands before lunch. I had terrible anxiety, and our teacher didn’t much care for me. She sent my anxiety through the roof to the point I could not eat. And if I didn’t eat, she held back my tray to show my mom when she came to pick me up after school. Mrs. Alexander crossed her arms over her chest and scowled whenever she looked at me.
\n\n\nAs I stood in line to wash my hands that day, I prayed quietly. I asked God to please settle my stomach so I could eat and not get into trouble anymore. I felt a tap on my shoulder, and this little round chocolate-brown face met me with concern. Her name was Lisa.
\n\n\n“Are you praying?” she asked.
\n\n\n“Yes. Mrs. Alexander scares me, and I can’t eat. Then I get in trouble every day after school.”
\n\n\n“Well,” she said with a firm confidence I knew little about. “I’ll pray with you!”
\n\n\nSo, she wrapped her little arm around my shoulders, and we prayed together that God would make me feel better so I could eat. After that, I knew God was always with me and I didn’t need to be afraid because my new friend Lisa would pray with me as many times as necessary till I got through second grade.
\n\n\nAs it turned out, my parents bought a house in another school district, so I didn’t see Lisa again till high school. By that time, we had our circle of friends, and we didn’t really connect till many years later at high school reunions. Eventually, I moved back to my home state of West Virginia and started getting together with Lisa. She had become a pastor and worked with several churches in the area and with Urban Ministries in town. Lisa joined our Divas do Coffee group, and we all enjoyed her stories and warm presence.
\n\n\nLisa was funny, yet she didn’t mince words. If you needed correcting, she didn’t care who you were or what the social norms were. You got corrected. She was also the humblest human I’d ever met. She never tooted her own horn. She always made sure those who were considered the fringe of society knew they were loved.
\n\n\nLisa died the other day. She was diagnosed with advanced cancer in September 2024. Lisa chose to go on Hospice to maintain quality of life instead of quantity. Her beautiful family put a hospital bed in her daughter’s den where she could watch the comings and goings of her grandchildren and love on them all she could. Occasionally, her daughter would record a video at Lisa’s request. On it, she reassured us all that she was doing fine. She told us she knew where she was going, and it would be glorious to walk with Jesus.
\n\n\nLisa never really had much. She worked hard and raised an amazing family, living in the same town where she grew up. She lived in an older neighborhood because that was home. Lisa didn’t put up with any shenanigans from folks who may not have had her best interests at heart. She wasn’t afraid because she knew Jesus resided in her house, so there was nothing to worry about.
\n\n\nOur friend was in a terrible accident years ago. She stepped out into the street in front of her church. The sun’s glare in her eyes blocked her view of the car that could not stop. She was gravely injured, and the family was called in to say goodbye. Lisa was a strong woman with a lot of fight in her, and she recovered… unfortunately, with memory loss, back and spinal pain that stayed with her the rest of her life. She worked and did amazing things in this town. There was a settlement after the accident, but she did something special with it that she didn’t reveal to anyone.
\n\n\nI spoke with her daughter at the funeral home yesterday. It turns out that Lisa, in her humble way, created an endowment that would help support the Urban Ministries in perpetuity. No one in her family had any idea she had done this. It was a lesson for all of us in humility, love for your fellow man, and living like Jesus. None of us was surprised by the generosity coming from our stout little friend. It just makes us love her even more and makes her family very proud.
\n\n\nMiss Lisa, you were a peach, and we’ll miss you! We’ll see you in Heaven!!!
\n\n\n💜
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nHumble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 1 Peter 5:6 ESV
\n\n
***Gratitude Journal*** Today, I am grateful for the friendship I had with Lisa and that she’s singing and praising Jesus in His presence…right…this…minute. I’m grateful for her gentle lessons in humility and the way she jumped out of her chair and danced around the room when I told her Mr. FixIt and I were getting married. “Perfect! A perfect match!!! This is exactly what I wanted for you two.”![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/e8c904e6dc.jpg\")
The time keeps marching forward… further away from the actual loss. That doesn't mean he's gone from my memory or my heart.
\n\n\nFor those of you who are grieving the loss of your special person, my heart is with you. Your grief is the worst in the world for the precise reason…it is YOURS. You watch the world around you in a dazed fog, trying to figure out which is worse…accepting their death or pretending they're just away on a trip. You feel like half of you is missing. You can't imagine living another day, let alone a week, a month, or years. I hear you. I didn't either. You move from thing to thing, mindlessly. You don't eat much, and when you do, it's likely a bowl of cereal standing over the sink. You spend money you shouldn't because you thing, \"Why not? There's no way I'm going to survive this so I might as well spend to soothe.\" That's not a viable coping strategy…trust me. You lose all the color from your world…there's no music, or feelings, or hope, it seems. But, let me tell you…there is hope. I'm here as proof.
\n\n\nWith less money, more wrinkles, and changes that can't even be described. But one day, you'll see colors. You'll hear music. and the tears will gradually be replaced with a gentle smile from a memory of your loved one. There will still be waves from time to time, but they don't drown you anymore.
\n\n\nEver forward.
\n\n\nGinny
\n\n", "date_published": "2025-03-12T01:30:00-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2025/03/12/today-is-mr-virgos-th.html", "tags": ["Family","Grief","Overcoming Obstacles","Comfort","Change","Memories","Healing","Heaven"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2024/09/24/when-god-seems-quiet.html", "title": "When God Seems Quiet", "content_html": "\n![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/4ce79486bb.jpg\")
Do you sometimes feel this noisy world is drowning out the sound of God’s voice? Sometimes I find myself down the rabbit hole of politics and I want to scream into the void, “Aren’t you listening?????” I find myself in that unenviable and dark place all too often lately and it leaves me exhausted, frustrated, disappointed.
\n\n\nWhen I am with my wonderful friends whose political viewpoints are diametrically opposite of mine, I do my level best not to “go there.” Not that I am incapable of having a civil discussion, but more out of respect for my friend’s choice to believe as they wish…just as I do.
\n\n\nI got dangerously close to the “third rail” when I was camping with Gail last week. Gail is incredibly wise and kind. We are very close. She patiently let me rant a while then said, “Ginny, you are looking at this only through the lens of politics and not through the heart of God.” We are instructed in the Bible that part of the responsibility of the faithful is to correct the course of our brothers and sisters in Christ. And, while the dogma I ascribe to varies from my dear friend in certain areas, her words were delivered with love and encouragement. For that I am most grateful. To have that dear friend who is emboldened to help when crossing those waters has the potential of damaging your friendship is a deep gift. One that I value tremendously.
\n\n\nMr. FixIt had to go to town yesterday to see the podiatrist about a place on his foot that I was concerned about. Being a former Diabetes Educator has benefited him these last few years. But having that knowledge brings a different level of worry when things don’t look right. I’ve been slowly getting him in with the specialists I want him to see for his ongoing care and I was thrilled to find this great guy. Dr. Christian Valle is young and knowledgeable with a wonderful bedside manner. When he had some of the nail trimmed away, I was thrilled we weren’t looking at anything bad. Just a heightened awareness that’s always good to have in cases like this.
\n\n\nWhen we got home, we were getting settled into our Big Red Chairs for a little down time when Mr. FixIt asked if I’d seen Lisa’s post. I went to her FB page and there she was, tucked into a hospital bed, her sweet smile belying her fatigue in order to talk to those who love her. It turns out, a couple of weeks ago, Lisa was diagnosed with metastatic cancer and through much prayer and discussion with her medical team, she decided to come home on hospice. She doesn’t have the energy to talk to everyone so this little recorded conversation was the next best thing.
\n\n\nLisa was my first school friend. When our teacher had decided I was the one she was going to pick on that year, Lisa was there to pray with me in the little girl’s room before lunch so I could get over my anxiety and eat. Just a few months later, my parents moved us to another school district and I never really connected with Lisa again till we were adults.
\n\n\nShe went to Junior High with Mr. FixIt. We saw each other at the class reunions and picnics. Then, when we were married in 2018, I couldn’t think of anyone I wanted more to perform the ceremony than our friend, Lisa.
\n\n\nAs I replayed what could be her last farewell to us, my conversations with Gail ran through my mind. Lisa is likely closer to seeing Jesus face-to-face than I am. He knows her well. She’s a pastor and a “good and faithful servant.” I have to ask myself…will He know me when I get there?
\n\n\nI still keep my nose in politics as I vote for my own self-interests and those of my family and community. God gave us free will and I intend to utilize that gift. However, opinions and thoughts are as vast as the universe filled with billions of stars. As I gaze up at the Milky Way, I’m reminded of what led me to Jesus in the first place. He showed me that I am no more consequential in the grand scheme of things than one tiny dot in the blackness of the heavens. All I can do is follow his greatest commandment and LOVE.
\n\n\nJust LOVE.
\n\n\nThe rest will get sorted out.
\n\n\n![\"🩵\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/a5a5b5a59e.jpg\")
“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?”
\n\n\nPsalm 8:3-4 ESV
\n\n\n“If God seems quiet right now, just remember…no one shouts when they’re standing right next to you.” @abbyshopeshop
\n\n\n\n\n", "date_published": "2024-09-24T02:00:00-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2024/09/24/when-god-seems-quiet.html", "tags": ["Grace","God","Friends","Heaven"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2024/06/19/highs-and-lows.html", "title": "Highs and Lows", "content_html": "\n![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/9d76194883.jpg\")
Another early morning here at Marshmallow Ranch. Mr. FixIt and I headed to town in separate vehicles in order to leave Frieda the Ford at the truck doctor for a little engine work. She needed a new water pump. Mr. FixIt took her in last week to diagnose the problem then shopped around for the best price. He had a business card with the price written by the owner of the shop. When we went back in the afternoon to pick it up, he went back in with me just to make sure the price was what they agreed to. Not so much. He handed me the bill and it was over $100 more. I was glad he was with me, because I wouldn’t have known and would have just forked over the money. The guy didn’t like it but he ended up charging the right amount. I’m not a pushover with people. But, Mr. FixIt’s love language is service and taking care of these things is one of the many ways he tells me he loves me.
\n\n\nWhile we were waiting for the truck, we went out for breakfast then over to our friend’s house to try not to get overheated. Again…late nights and early mornings caught up with me and I ended up stretching out and taking a nap. Mr. FixIt watches the house for his friend so we can come and go as needed as long as no one’s there. It’s come in handy many times. When I woke up, I suggested we run up to Sam’s.
\n\n\nOnce we picked up the truck, we went our separate ways. I ran over to the big bougie Kroger store in Belpre to pick up a few things and he had a few stops of his own. While I was getting gas at Walmart, Mr. FixIt called and asked me to meet him at the McDonald’s down the road. His tailpipe fell apart. I took him to the hardware store for some wire then he hooked the tailpipe back up as a temporary fix. He has to go to town today for an appointment so he’ll take it into the muffler shop to get it fixed.
\n\n\nIt’s always something, isn’t it?
\n\n\nOne of my dearest childhood friends has been very ill and you all have been praying for her. I anxiously watch for updates from her daughter every day and there wasn’t anything posted on Monday. That worried me. Then yesterday, the news came that the family had made the very difficult decision to call in hospice and palliative care to help support their mom as she transitions. This just breaks my heart. She and I have been through so much together and I know she has gone through some really hard stuff in her life. She has done the work and healed from the demons that haunted her. She deserves peace. But…it’s just so hard to let our loved ones go.
\n\n\nI was just thinking the other day how so many of our contemporaries are passing away. I mean, here we are…preparing to drive across the country for a month long visit with family. And at the same time, people we know and love are in a very different place in their lives…in their journey. This is where we have to chalk it up to “God’s Plan.” We do not know the number of our days. But God does. He counts the hair on our heads and the names of the stars.
\n\n\nI do not want to lose my friend. I do not want her children and grandchildren to have to say goodbye to their beloved. But if it is God’s will that this is her time to Home? Well, then…I pray her transition is gentle, peaceful, and all together glorious as she takes her last breath here and her first breath in heaven. And that all the angels will wrap her family in their silken wings.
\n\n\n🙏🏼
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n", "date_published": "2024-06-19T01:30:00-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2024/06/19/highs-and-lows.html", "tags": ["Grief","Friends","Heaven"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2023/02/19/twinkle-twinkle-big-bright-stars.html", "title": "Twinkle, Twinkle Big Bright Stars", "content_html": "\n“But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—”
\n1 Corinthians 2:9 ESV\n
![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/aac05c37cd.jpg\")
Saturdays are often a catch up day around Marshmallow Ranch. Mr. FixIt headed to town first thing to pick up moulding for the newly painted hallway. And, of course, like every other trip to town, they didn’t have what he needed so he had to go to another store. In the meantime, I cleaned house.
\n\n\nThe sun was shining brightly and the windows were really dingy after having a Christmas tree in front of them for months. I don’t know if you’ve ever used Norwex products, but they have a wonderful two-cloth system that doesn’t use chemicals. With the windows all sparkly, and the kitchen clean and tidy, I ran the vacuum then sat down with the computer to do a little more work on this project.
\n\n\nI’m making a lot of progress and I think I’m still on course for the big reveal in the middle of March. I gave up on the more complex program and went back to the simpler, though more expensive, version. It’s looking good, I think. And I’m getting pretty psyched for it. Feeling appropriately enticed? ?
\n\n\nJust after dark, Mr. FixIt was heading to the kitchen to put the kettle on when he stopped and looked out the door in the family room. He went out without saying a word and I knew that meant he saw something in the sky. My sweetheart has a love for the out of doors and especially the night sky. We had perfectly clear skies last night and after days of rain, it was lovely to walk out and see the stars.
\n\n\nJust over the crest of the far hill were two huge stars. Well, actually…two huge planets. Jupiter and Venus were showing off last night and I was glad I grabbed my phone to snap a photo. The iPhone 13 Pro Max has an extraordinary camera and you can take photos of the stars in the night sky which astounds me.
\n\n\nI remember making the trip to West Virginia in the summer of 2016 for my 45th High School Reunion. My Uncle had just asked me to come off the road to live on the farm and take care of it. When I got home after the last party, I laid down on the wheelchair ramp out back and watched the Milky Way. It is incredibly dark out there and with no light pollution, it felt like you could reach out and touch the stars.
\n\n\nStar watching is one of my favorite things to do, too. I think that’s why Mr. FixIt and I both love to camp. We can get away from city lights and watch for shooting stars and satellites. I’ve still never caught a glimpse of StarLink but I have seen the International Space Station. We are still on the roller coaster of highs and lows on the thermometer, but Tony the Weatherman told us it looks like our risk of snow is pretty much gone. We had another very mild winter. On the one hand, I am concerned by the implications of climate change. But on the other, I am relieved we didn’t have a rough winter. As a matter of fact, we didn’t have to run the snowblower even once this year.
\n\n\nToday will be another mild one with a high near 60°. I’ll take that any day of the week!
\n\n\n?
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n", "date_published": "2023-02-19T02:30:00-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2023/02/19/twinkle-twinkle-big-bright-stars.html", "tags": ["The Farm","Peace","Farm Life","Heaven"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2023/02/01/do-dogs-go-to-heaven.html", "title": "Do Dogs Go to Heaven?", "content_html": "\n“He counts the stars and assigns each a name.”
\nPsalms 147:4 MSG\n
![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/80fffa6e14.jpg\")
Bailey had the sweetest “sugar face”!
\n\n\nWhen Billy Graham was asked, “Do dogs to go heaven?”, the great Evangelist replied, “God will prepare everything for our perfect happiness in Heaven, and if it takes my dog being there, I believe he’ll be there.” I notice he didn’t say anything about cats, but I’m sure they go, too.
\n\n\nI’ve lost a few dogs. The two that hurt me the most were Boofer and Sidney. Boofer was an Aussie-Blue Healer mix who was the smartest dog I’ve ever known. You just talked to her and she knew what you wanted. Unfortunately, she got a pituitary tumor when she was only seven and we had her put down. I was very pregnant and it was just awful.
\n\n\nWe waited a couple of years before we got another dog. That’s when Sidney came to join us. He was a huge purebred Black Lab. He was the runt of the litter and wasn’t sold before the owners were leaving for vacation. In a desperate bid to find him a good home, they went down to our local Walmart and held him up for puppy snuggles.
\n\n\nI knew as soon as I looked in his soulful brown eyes that he was the man for me. I brought him home and sat in the front yard waiting for my family to get home for the surprise. Everyone was instantly in love and he graced us with his presence for fourteen years.
\n\n\nI didn’t have another dog till Mr. Virgo came along with this little ten year old Yorkie-Maltese mix named Cricket. She was a feisty, yappy little dog who needed all kinds of care. I’d never had to get a dog groomed before and, while I loved her because I loved Mr. Virgo, it wasn’t close to the love I felt for my two special companions.
\n\n\nWe had to release Cricket from her pain in January 2013. We had her cremated and her little tiny box sat on the hall table, waiting for the spring flower bed to become her new home. Then, just two months later, Mr. Virgo was gone. The funeral director told us we could bring mementos from home and place them in the casket if we wished. The first thing I thought of was Cricket, so she went with my sweetheart…tucked in the crook of his arm.
\n\n\nAfter I became a widow, my kids said I should get a dog, but I just didn’t have it in me. I was getting ready to go on my Grand Adventure in the little camper I bought. The group of gals I camped with had few rules but one they were adamant about was no doggies. That wasn’t the only deterrent, though. I just did not want to be responsible for anyone or anything. It was everything I could do to learn to take care of myself.
\n\n\n“Our dogs” are now the ones we love but don’t have to take care of. And last week, we heard the sad news that one of our grand-doggies…Bailey…went to the great dog run in the sky. She was a Chocolate Lab-Pitbull mix. It’s always so hard to lose a beloved pet and when we do, it’s perfectly normal to grieve as much as we do for human family members. I always try to remember to reach out to my friends whom I know have lost a pet because I know what it feels like when everyone moves on with their lives and I was left holding a bag full of grief.
\n\n\nSo, do our beloved companions go to heaven? I have to say an unequivocal YES! There is no sweeter soul than those of babies and dogs. (OK, cat people…I’m sure your fur babies are there too…along with gerbils and bird and hamsters and ferrets and turtles…you get the drift.) Hubby #2 tells me, “We don’t deserve dogs.” They are just pure goodness. And I believe they’ll be waiting for us to arrive.
\n\n\nIf you have lost a beloved family pet, please feel free to leave a picture here. Tell us their name and breed. How long you had them. How long it’s been. Let us hold you with a lingering hug and share in your memories, won’t you? I would love to see your fur babies.
\n\n\n?
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n", "date_published": "2023-02-01T02:30:00-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2023/02/01/do-dogs-go-to-heaven.html", "tags": ["Gratitude","Grace","God","Heaven"] } ] }“That’s why I don’t think there’s any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what’s coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.”
\nRomans 8:18-21 MSG\n