Sunrise Reflections

Posted on by 2000nana
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    I saw the sun rise this morning.  First there was a bit of a glow and then a glimmer of red. Soon the red grew brighter and melded with the intense yellow almost like a fire leaping and dancing with joy to greet the day. As the fire danced, my lips began to twitch and soon I was smiling and dancing in my heart right along with the sun. Beautiful!

    I must confess to you that although it truly was beautiful, I was really looking at a reflection of the sun on my windows. The fire and beauty was so great that the windows reflected that to me. 

    In a way, we are called to be like my windows. Looking toward Jesus, the Son.  Letting the love of God burn brightly in our heart and soul. Letting the Holy Spirit guide our every word and action until others see the fire of joy and love leaping and dancing within us. 

    In Psalm 16, David praises God and says 

         “You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

Psalms 16:11 NKJV

https://bible.com/bible/114/psa.16.11.NKJV.

God thank You for the gift of Salvation through Your Son Jesus. And please let me reflect the joy of my salvation to others. Let me be so on fire for Jesus that the joy within me leaps and dances, shining through even when adversity comes, so others want to know why I have this joy so they know where to find it for themselves. Please help me to be a window, not a wall or an obstacle in their path. In the name of Your Son Jesus I ask. Amen.

These Changing Times: Covid-19 101

Posted on by 2000nana

Right now we are in such a whirlwind of emotions.  We are seeing something we haven’t seen before.  Any pandemic is difficult, but this Corvid-19 virus is invisible, silent and sneaky.  Two (people) can be standing, and one taken and the other not.  Sometimes the strong are weakened and the feeble survive.  We don’t understand the how and the why and the when will all this be over.  I intentionally waited weeks and weeks before posting while many bloggers were posting weekly and sometimes daily.  I needed to wait until God nudged me to write…and a few minutes ago, He did. Some of my word will be very serious.  Some may be funny.  I pray it will be uplifting, and all the words come from my heart.  And if it is too lengthy, I’m sorry.  Somehow I was wired to tell you several ways to make a clock if you ask what time it is.  Maybe you can read bits at a time and share your thoughts as a comment.

Today I am sitting here looking out my window as a severe storm rolls in.  I hear the thunder.  I see the sky growing ever darker.  The rain just started…a real downpour with the wind whipping the bushes and trees.  Rusty likes to look outside, so I go to the door and open it so he can look through the screen door.  As I swing the door wide, I see a splash of red…a cardinal hurrying to perch in a nearby tree.  Bright color that chases away some of the gloominess.

We have two sons, each living 30 minutes away.  But we are sheltering in place as the Governor has asked.  Our two boys are making sure to check on us and see that we get what we need.   One is out of state, and we can’t cross state boundaries right now. Both boys (grown men of course, but still…)  have families to support and protect.  Hubby and I decided the best thing we can do to help is to do what we are supposed to do.

Hearing my kids say I need to listen and do what I am supposed to do didn’t give me a warm fuzzy.  I wanted to say “I am the mom here!” but before I could they reminded me that although we are the parents, it causes them more worry when we don’t “listen” and follow best practices.  And they want to show their love.  They are right.  Don’t ask me to repeat that because once should do right now.  I can’t stand to know my kids are worrying, so I can do my part by not doing anything to cause them worry.

Sometimes being at home with your family is something you only dream of having time for.  Now many of us have this time whether we want it or not.  Perversely we want the time, but we want to be in control of when that time happens.  I can tell you that even though I didn’t spend a lot of time “on the roads” as my hubby likes to say, lack of deadlines is pleasant.  But to be brutally honest, there are times I have mentally packed my bag to move to Iceland.  And I don’t even like extreme cold anymore.

I realized the other day that I hadn’t prettied myself up for several days. STOP LAUGHING those of you that know me well.  My point is, while we now have a bit more time to relax. that doesn’t mean we let go of all our standards. So get up, pretty up, and enjoy a dress for dinner night.

One of the biggest changes I see for many of us is church.  It is hard to not see our brothers and sisters in the Lord.  But most of us have the technology to participate in an online or televised church service.  How cool!  I can now listen to a number of ministers in our family.  One word of caution: Relaxed doesn’t mean we let go of all our standards.  (Didn’t I just hear that somewhere?) It is still ok to dress for church.  You don’t have to do so of course, but sometimes that makes you feel a bit more like you are at church.  And please, you don’t need to do the crossword puzzle or have a conversation about the cat during the sermon.  Respect is respect.  Just my humble opinion.

  1.  Take this seriously, but don’t panic.  Don’t make this a panicdemic.  When we panic, we tend to be ineffective.  Take time to breathe.  Do the healthy habits we should be doing anyway…washing hands, keeping hands away from your face, cough in your sleeve.  Do not buy 100 rolls of toilet paper when you only need 1 large pack to give you enough plus a little extra.  The pandemic is real, but remember satan is the father of confusion.
  2. Spend time in prayer.  I frequently have a verbal conversation with God…He is my Friend.  But I also need some real time in prayer.  More prayer than just God is great, God is good….  Start out small if you need to do so and then build up that time of sweet communion.
  3. Read the Word.  God inspired those words for a purpose.  There are many uplifting scriptures in there. And sing, sing SING!  Praises are sweet.  I have been in the very pit of despair.  Starting with a melancholy warbling of woe is me, I soon progressed to a shout of glory.  Try it sometime.
  4. Understand there will be good days and bad days.  Our response makes a difference. Dwell on those things that are pure.  Focus on positives even in a day of difficulty.  Smile, even if only the cardinal can see that smile.

Okay, there is more I can say and probably will at another time. For now, just know that we are in this battle to win.

By the way, speaking of time, did you know that a horologist studies time and the making of clocks?  Just sayin.

Just a Drop of Water

Posted on by 2000nana

 

blade of grass blur bright close up
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It is rare I actually feel thirst.  Somewhere back in the day of chubby toddler legs and neck rolls, I misidentified the feeling of thirst for something else.  Cookies maybe?  Preferably homemade chocolate chip using the recipe on the back of the chocolate chip bag.  And since I have difficulty identifying thirst it is hard for me to understand the concept of being so thirsty you would do just about anything to get a drink of water. I can identify wanting a soda badly even though I have not had soda in 15 or more years. But that isn’t necessarily thirst as much as it is the cold taste of a soda.  But thirsty for a drink of water is something difficult for me to understand.

Recently hubs and I shared a week of the flu.  You can blame me for that if you like.  Certainly I showed symptoms first.  Fatigue, headache, earache, fever, chills…you get the picture.  Within a day, hubs showed signs he had jumped on board with me.  Now I know what I needed to do was get plenty of rest and drink lots of fluids.  So I made sure I drank a few glasses of water.  I rested because I couldn’t do anything else.  Then one morning hubs woke me up with the request to be taken to the hospital.  Off we go to the local hospital where they ran many tests and determined he had flu A.  I’m convinced that corona virus in the news caused the doctors and ER staff to look even more thoroughly than they normally would.

Sitting there in ER, I developed a ravenous thirst for some water.  My tongue started cleaving to my mouth, and sometimes my lips stuck together when I tried to talk.  Feeling positive we would be discharged any minute, I waited to do anything about it.  Finally we were on our way.  I decided to take hubby home first so he could get settled and then return to the local pharmacy to get his prescription filled.  All the while I was getting thirstier and thirstier.  Not a single bottle of water was in that truck.  Fast forward, the prescription is ready, and a grab a bottle of water and head to the checkout.  Trying to smile and wait patiently for my turn, I noticed a lady come up behind me with a few items, less than the few items I had.  Normally I would have let her go ahead, but nope-not today.  The prescription and other few items could wait for kindness, but I needed the water NOW.  Avoiding eye contact it was finally my turn.

Scurrying out the door and into the truck, I grabbed the water from the bag and opened it.  Well I TRIED to open it.  It wouldn’t open.  I was too weak.  I twisted that bottle cap for all I was worth and it didn’t budge.  Starting the engine, I slowly left my parking space searching the parking lot for anyone who could open my bottle of water.  No one was around, which in retrospect is probably a good thing.  Halfway home a light bulb shone brightly above my head.  Pulling off to the side of the road, I grabbed the bottle of water again.  I don’t have fancy nails, but my thumbnails are always strong.  Carefully I pushed through each connection holding the cap in place. Success!  I am all but dancing in my seat as I turn the cap again.  Nothing happens.  NOTHING HAPPENS!!  Life isn’t fair.  I am not asking for much here.  I just want a drink of water for this incredible thirst.

Trying not to shed tears of frustration because I needed to keep each drop I had in me, I continued home.  Finally arriving home (all of a 15 minute or less drive mind you) I hurried into the house, grabbed a table knife and gave the cap a couple of whacks.  With my hardest oomph, I twisted and after a moment of hesitation, the cap moved.  Nothing has ever tasted as sweet as that water.  Iced tea, lemonade, soda and juice just are not as satisfying when your body is craving water.

What a wonderful lesson God taught me that day.  I am so thankful for the thirst so deep that only a cup of water can satisfy.  I better understand the need of people walking two miles to be able to fill their small container with clean water.  I understand the need of some who help provide that water.  But it goes much deeper than that. The water was in front of me.  I could touch the container.  I could see the water. But it had to be opened to me, and I had to reach out and grasp it. Until I drank from that water I remained thirsty.   Jesus promised the woman of Samaria living water so complete and refreshing that she would never thirst again.  She would not feel that deep heart wrenching void that only living water would quench.  She reached out and accepted that living water.

Sometimes we misidentify the void we feel as hunger for things the world has to offer.  Or we decide to wait for a better time.  Please read John 4 and allow the Holy Spirit to guide you to the living water.  The time is now.

silhouette and grayscale photography of man standing under the rain
Photo by Aleksandar Pasaric on Pexels.com

Remember Me

Posted on by 2000nana

It is a Sunday afternoon and all the dishes are cleaned up from dinner.  Rusty, our Golden, convinced me I should put on a Christmas movie that just happened to have golden retrievers as very important characters. I turned on the tv and the current channel had a police show.  In the few moments it took me to switch to dvr, I heard the police officer trying to locate her family say, “We don’t know how she lived.  All we know is that she died.”

I switched to the movie, but my thoughts were far from the adorable golden puppies.  How sad to think that no one seemed to know how this woman lived!  They only knew she died.  When I die, how will people remember me?  Will my neighbors say they knew I lived in the house down the road, the one with the handsome Rusty, but didn’t know how I lived?  Whether we like it or not, our life impacts those around us regardless of whether we are surrounded by friends and family or complete strangers.  For that matter, we may never see the one who sees how we are living…the person looking out their window or the next aisle over in the grocery store.

Matthew 5:16 tells us to let our light so shine before men that they may see our good works and glorify our Father which is in heaven.  We are His creation, and surrendering to Him gives us so much freedom.  Our faith grows weak without our works in Jesus name, but strong when we do good works in His name.  If we truly love God, we will choose to do His will because of that love. Our light will shine and reach out to others.  If we don’t let that light shine, that will reach out too in a negative way.

As a child, my favorite song was This Little Light of Mine, I’m Gonna Let it Shine.  When I am gone, I don’t need people to remember my name.  They don’t need to remember where I lived.  But I hope they remember there was a lady who smiled at them in the grocery store.  I hope they remember there was someone who cared enough to say hello and ask how they were doing.  I hope they remember hearing someone softly singing praises when they walked by.  And I hope they remember I could find joy even in hard times. Good works might be big, or they might be small. Regardless, if these works are because of our faith and love for Jesus, they will shine and touch someone.

I pray God will help me always live for Him, and let my light burn brightly.  I want to let my works reflect the great love the Father has for us.  Don’t remember me for who I am, or even what I accomplished.   Remember instead how I lived my life for Jesus and let His light shine through me.

When is Convenience too Convenient?

Posted on by 2000nana

or…Being a good steward of convenience.

sliced watermelon on plate

Do you put salt on your watermelon?  That is the Facebook post that got me started with some deep thinking this morning.  I commented that I hadn’t had watermelon with salt, but if someone would give me some watermelon I would be happy to test and find out.  Of course that led to a friend comment about watermelon in her fridge, that led to me saying there was no room in my fridge for watermelon until I cleaned it out.  I wasn’t being cute.  The pain is real.

I have put off cleaning the fridge for days. That is bad on so many levels.  Seriously. Then I tried baby steps by cleaning out the door shelves.  Then we get to the watermelon.

woman opening refrigerator
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Shame, guilt and reality pounded me on the shoulder until I grudgingly got up and headed to the kitchen. Carefully opening the fridge door, I peered inside and quickly shut the door.  Some things are just to horrorfying to describe- so I won’t. I opened the door again and could not believe my eyes.  Dear Hubby had put a jar of salsa on one of my nice clean door compartments HORIZONTALLY!  The nerve.  Grabbing a paper towel I scrubbed the huge  tiny spot clean.  Feeling pretty good about my efforts, I looked at the top shelf of the fridge.  Certainly I could handle one shelf before taking a break. Reaching in, I grabbed the butter and placed it in one of the door compartments.  The shelf looked better already.

Admittedly I am easily distracted.  I prefer to say that my mind juggles many spinning plates at one time. I started thinking about how much easier it was to clean our very first refrigerator.  No, it was not frost free.  But having to defrost it meant you pretty much cleaned it regularly. No, it was not huge.  Maybe, just maybe it was 15 cubic feet, compared to the 20+ I have now.  But there was not nearly as much to clean.  Maybe my convenience is really costing me time, money (from all that spoiled “stuff”, and pleasure (watermelon).

At this point the shame and guilt stopped pounding on my shoulder and God started tapping on my heart.  He does that often and for many different reasons.  If you have read my blog posts before you already know how this goes:  Me:  Hey God. You want something?. God:  So how are you enjoying cleaning out your fridge.  Me: I suppose this is where You remind me to do all things willing, happily as if I am doing it for You? (huff)  God: Maybe, but I did tell you to be a good steward.  Me: So you mean I should give You a tenth of all this stuff?  Seriously God I’m just kidding because I know You have a sense of humor.  God:  Some things are not funny.  I’m sure you are not feeling so good about all that spoiled food right now.  Me: (hanging head) I know, right?  We must have wasted a ton of money, not counting the electric to keep the spoiled food…er…fresh.  Hey!  What are You trying to tell me here?

Notice a trend here.  God has the answers and I have the questions. But God has a point, as He always does.  It is convenient to fill my fridge with food. It is convenient to put off cleaning the fridge. It is convenient to forget that all we have is God’s and not ours.  I have wasted God’s resources.  The food, or the money spent buying it or replacing it can be used more wisely.  Abundance can be shared.  The time I spend can be better used when I can complete a job quickly. I need to be a better steward in all of the blessings God gives me.  Even the fridge.

Excuse me.  I need go finish cleaning the fridge.  And I think I hear God saying, “Finally.  You got it!  And when you are finished, why don’t you try to decided if you like your watermelon plain or with salt.

Password Please

Posted on by 2000nana

Passwords are a necessary part of our everyday life.  I’m not a fan of passwords.  My brain can only hold so much and that inner file labeled PASSWORDS is full and overflowing.  There are passwords for home, passwords for work, passwords for blogs, passwords for crafting sites.  There are confirmation numbers for orders, plane tickets and work orders.  When I got married, all I needed to remember was my phone number, my driver’s license number and my social security number.  Yes, I’ve been married that long.

Years go by, things change, progress happens and I find myself with a LONG list of passwords.  In desperation I start a computer list of my passwords, in a file named passwords.  I have printed them out, thankfully, because that particular computer was infected by a ransomware virus and I can’t get to my list.  I try to take great care of that list of several pages and keep it in a safe place.  I just don’t always know where that safe place is located.  I even bought a notebook titled Online Organizer.  Slowly but surely I have been transferring the passwords to the organizer.  After 2 years I have only entered about 5 passwords, so it is taking me a while.  Ok, truthfully, I only write in the password when I get a new one.

Nowadays it is not uncommon for me to use several passwords in a day.  There is a voice mail on my phone, so I retrieve it and hear the words, “Please enter your password, then press pound.”  Then I go to my computer that is used for multiple purposes and have to enter my password to get started.  Since I am working on ideas for the two craft retreats and a ladies retreat that I help with, I browse craft sites and notice a pattern or idea I want to save.  Enter my password.  Check recent medical test results on my physician’s health portal.  Enter my password.  Any day now I expect to pick up my phone to make a call and hear a voice saying, “If you wish to make a call, please enter your password.”

It was bound to happen.  I can’t find my list.  Anywhere.   At all.  There is no doubt in my mind that I probably packed it so it would be handy during the crafting retreats or ladies retreat.  After all, I still have a box or two to put away from church camp crafts, packing up my personal stuff from my job that was cut due to funding, the craft retreats, a family reunion and the ladies retreat. I mean two boxes or so for each event, not two boxes total.  Let’s not get sidetracked and talk about that.  Too embarrassing.

Back to my password list.  Today I needed a password that I simply can’t remember.  The area in my craft room where my list was supposed to be was already cleaned looking for the list last week.  Hated to do it, but I even cleaned out 2 boxes of stuff looking for the list.  In my mind’s eye I seem to remember putting it in my laptop case but it isn’t there.  A tote bag maybe?  Do you have any idea how many tote bags I have?!

I’m really embarrassed to say this, but I decided to write on this blog and…um…well.  Ok, I’ll just come right out and say it.  I can’t remember my password!!!  You can stop laughing now.  I mean it!  This really isn’t that funny.  In order to express myself I had to change and reset password.  This password business is totally getting out of control.

This world is also out of control in so many ways.  If a person wants to, they can change their address, their name, their gender, and if one state has its way, their race, just because they want to change.  This is too much for me to comprehend.  Identity can be determined through eye scans, fingerprint scans, or implanted technology chips. And to do many of the things I do on a daily basis I must enter a password, pass code or confirmation number.  This has gone too far.

There will come a time when I no longer need to remember all these passwords.  I will trade this troubled world for an eternity in Heaven.  Yes, I know that is where I am headed and have made my preparation. I have my confirmation.  When I approach Heaven’s gate, I don’t need to remember the confirmation number or password.  I have an advocate to do that for me.  You see, when I get there, Jesus will supply the simple, easy to remember password.  One word.  Forgiven.

 

Practicing for Heaven

Posted on by 2000nana

I was thinking about heaven a few days ago as I was driving home from an outing.  Hubby was at home, and I was driving along with my thoughts to keep me company.  Suddenly out of the blue heaven popped into my mind.

Thinking about some of the comments and conversations I heard in the past, it seemed as if God put a whole zip file in my mental computer in an instant, and I started un-zipping and unpacking the file in my mind.  I’ve heard comments like, “I believe everyone will go to heaven because God is a God of love.  (Sure He is, but He is so much more than that, and I’m not betting my eternal future on that statement alone!)  “I can’t wait to see the mansion that has been prepared for me.” (I am positive our mansion will be great, but should that really be our main focus?)  And then there is this one. “What are we going to DO all day.  I mean, you can only sing praises for so long before you get tired and want something else to do.”  (REALLY?  Words escape me.  Perhaps some picture heaven as being a place they can do what they want all day as long as they have choir practice first.”  I don’t begin to have all the answers, but my view of heaven is a little different.  God loves us, yes.  And He prepared a way for us to get to heaven, but we need not think you can get there any old way.  There is only one way. Jesus.    Mansion? Great. Streets of gold and gates of pearl? Amazing.  Seeing Jesus and praising God?  Well HALLELUJAH!  Now that’s what I’m talking about.  As for needing something else to do other than praise Him,  God has a plan.  But I really can’t see that plan including us gossiping over the fence with our neighbors or sitting discontentedly in a heavenly corner saying we are bored.

All that was in the first folder in my mental zip file.  Then came this thought.  Practice.  Yes, practice.  Think about it for a moment.  A fine musician spends hours practicing. There are drills and runs to keep fingers nimble and flexible.  There is new music to learn to improve technique.  There are practice sessions to learn and absorb the music until it becomes a natural part of us.  And what about an athlete?  From pro baseball (or football, or soccer or whatever) to T-ball, if we want to get better from week to week we must practice.  The more we practice, the better we become.  Years ago (too many to mention) I worked at a Tastee Freeze  For those of you who don’t recognize the name, it was an ice cream and sandwich fast food dream.  Anyway, one of my jobs was to make an ice cream cone using the soft serve ice cream machine.    The cone had to swirl around and end with a curl on the top.  And it had to weigh an exact amount.  I became pretty good at that, but my first attempts were laughable.  So what did I do?  Practice.  It occurs to me that even though I don’t know exactly all of God’s plan for heaven, I can be practicing now.  I can practice being kind to others.  I can practice being an encourager.  I can practice singing praises.  I can practice worship.  And the more I do these things, the more natural and meaningful they will become.

There was a lot more in the thoughts God gave me that day…far to much to write about in one sitting.  But I have to stop for now.  I need to go out and catch up on a little practice.

Anticipation

Posted on by 2000nana

Today is such an exciting day!  Hubby and I are having a new refrigerator delivered.  If I could dance on my tiptoes I certainly would.  Now that is a mental picture right there!

Let me back up a minute and explain our joy a bit. I know I get a bit wordy, but you will get to my point if you keep reading.  A year or so ago, our refrigerator, I am sad to say, died.  And it died at a most inconvenient time.  Now I know what you are thinking.  Anytime is a most inconvenient time for a refrigerator to quit.  And you are right, but this came at a time that money was t.i.g.h.t. and then some.  Oh dear, I know what you are thinking again.  “Do you mean to say you waited 2 years to replace your fridge?  You must have gone through a lot of ice for the cooler.”  It wasn’t that bad, truly.

Instead I read and reread the bank statements.  I checked our piggy bank.  I even looked in my secret fabric discretionary fund.  Yes, I have one and that is all you need to know.  Finally I decided we didn’t need a nice big refrigerator with a good amount of space.  After all, there are only two of us at home now.  A smaller fridge should be fine, and it is hundreds of dollars cheaper.  If we tightened our belts, we could afford a refrigerator.  So off to the store hubby went, and before many hours had passed (I don’t call him minute man for nuthin’) I got a call at work to discuss the refrigerator he had picked out. It fit the criteria, which means it could keep things cold and we could pay the price.  The refrigerator was delivered and the old one hauled away.  And that is the beginning of the story.

It didn’t take many weeks for me to realize that the extra cubic feet in the old refrigerator were very important.  On day 2, I banged my head hard as I reached in the refrigerator and forgot to make adjustments for the difference in size.  Then things started falling out.  I would reach for the bowl of leftover spaghetti, and with it would come the container of margarine.  I would push something in on one side of the rack, and something would fall out as things shifted on the other side of the rack.  You get the picture.  If you don’t, it is probably because you have a nice big refrigerator.

This went on for some time.  I didn’t give hubby my opinion of the refrigerator.  After all, it wasn’t his fault.  We are committed to not spending more than we have, and he did the best job with what we had.  But recently I heard a crash and a yelp when a jar or something fell out of the refrigerator right on my husband’s foot.  And contents went everywhere.  That was enough for me.  I apologized for insisting we get a smaller fridge.  We would have been better off to use a cooler for a few weeks.  Turns out we had the same opinions but hadn’t voiced them.  However, this not being a post about communication, I won’t go into that now.

About this time, we heard of someone needing a smaller refrigerator.  A dorm size refrigerator would be much too small, but a large fridge would be unnecessary and take up too much space.  The light went on and bells rang.  At least I think they were bells.  My ears ring all the time so it might have been that instead.  Suffice it to say that we would give them our fridge that seemed the right size for them, and we could get a bigger fridge without feeling so guilty.  Checking all our funds again, we came up with an amount we could afford.  We did our research and rehashed what we didn’t like about this fridge that we wanted different with the new one.  Hubby went back to the store, picked out a fridge, and came out to the car to tell me all about it, since I had stayed in the car with our dog.  Back in he went…hubby, not the dog, and paid for the fridge and arranged for delivery.  We made our preparations and cleaned the space for the new refrigerator, preparing for the moment it would arrive.  We were ready!

All that brings you up to today, when I am excitedly wishing I could dance on my toes.  We were given a window of time for our refrigerator to be delivered.  So here I am, sitting in my chair.  I hear a noise and run to the door. Not the truck.  I hear a noise and look out the window. Sigh.  Sitting back in my chair, I turn at every sound.  The neighbor decides to cut their grass.  Really?  Now?  At least 20 vehicles go past our house on what is normally a relatively quiet road at this time of day.  And don’t forget the airplanes.  They could have picked a better time. Peering out the window, peering out the door…honestly I think that last noise was the whisper of butterfly wings but it sure sounds like a delivery truck to me!  I watch.  I wait.  Every fiber of my being is attuned to being ready when that truck turns in the driveway.  Finally my watching and waiting is rewarded and the truck arrives!  This time I think I really do dance on my toes just a bit.

Then in a quiet moment I hear the whisper of butterfly wings again, but my heart knows it is God talking.  In the flash of a heartbeat, I hear Him whisper, “Are you looking for the coming of my Son with the same intensity you have been waiting for this refrigerator, this gift I have given you?  Are you excited?  Do you watch at the window of your heart for Him to appear? Have you made your preparations? Are you ready?”

Do I get so caught up in life that I get more excited over a “thing” than I do the coming of my Lord?  Whew.  Something to think about.

 

Reading, Writing and Parenting

Posted on by 2000nana

Today I was looking over some of my early attempts at writing.  I’m sure somewhere deep down in my inner being there is a story to be written.  Or maybe I should be thinking along the lines that there is a story to be read…its much easier to read than to write.  Anyway, since I was little, I have loved to write.

Part of that is because of a combination of events early in my life.  I am number 5 of six children.  The first four are a at least 8 years older than me, with the baby being somewhat closer to my age.  My oldest sister left for college about the time I was discovering how to hold a pencil.  My mom encouraged me to write to her.  I wasn’t content to draw a picture and write a word or two.  No, I had to write a whole letter.  I had learned to write my letters, but couldn’t spell worth a hoot (hadn’t started school yet you see) but that didn’t stop me.  Mom and all my older siblings would patiently spell out each word so I could write the letters, one by one.  I really thought the idea that I could put letters down on paper and stick a magic stamp on the envelope that would take that paper to my sister several states away was pretty cool!

Then in third grade I had the most amazing teacher.  All the good things teachers are doing today she was doing waaaaaay back then.  We did experiments and wrote about them in our journal.  We raised butterflies and wrote about them in our journal.  We learned about poetry and wrote our own poetry in our journal.  Wham!  I hooked to poetry like it was industrial strength Velcro!  The beauty and flow of words and rhyme.  The rhythm.  Words drawing pictures and evoking emotion.  Here is one of my 3rd grade originals

In School

In school we have spelling,

And a time for work and play,

And just like at home

I could do my work all day.

 

But do you know what?

Oh, please try to guess.

Well … Glory Be

I think I should have my recess.

Ok, that isn’t really ready for publication, but you get the picture. And I’m sure my mom would have something to say about my willingness to do my work at home all day.  I HATED washing dishes!!! Added to my love of writing was my love of reading.  That got me into trouble more than once when for some reason I couldn’t read and hear at the same time. I still get into trouble for the same thing!

Mom always wanted me to write, which eventually led me to start this blog in the first place.  It’s ok that I don’t have hundreds of people following the blog.  I just love to write, although sometimes I forget to allow myself time to do so.  But now I have started something new that melds my love of writing and my love of reading together.  Recently I started reviewing books.  I was invited by Barbour Publishing to join their Review Crew.  Aha!  They will send me a book to read and review if I so choose.  Perfect.  Now I can say, “But dear, I need to read this book for my review.”  Hubby loves me and is happy I am getting a free book to read.  I am happy to have a new book to read and I even get to “voice” my opinion. Shame I wasn’t invited back in my school days.  It would have saved a lot of misunderstanding with my mom.  I remember one time….well, never mind that.  You don’t want to know, I’m sure.

Now don’t worry, I don’t plan to review every single book here, but this recent book is too good to pass  without a comment.  The book is a parenting book by Dan Seaborn, entitled Parenting with Grace and Truth.   I have to say I really enjoyed this book.  Those of you who know me personally know our children are grown and have children of their own.  That didn’t stop me from gaining a few tips starting from the first chapter.  Several times I picked up my pen to take notes. The suggestions given are good ones, backed up with scripture, examples and real life experiences and application.  And the language is easy to understand.  Mr. Seaborn doesn’t just say, “This is what you must do!”  He shows you how to develop your own life rules by looking at character traits that are important to you.  Parenting is hard work, and he understands that and gives encouragement.  He even covers parenting through a crisis and parenting blended families.

After reading this book, I feel I can recommend it to anyone who has any contact with children.  Whether you are a parent, hope to be a parent, or know someone about to be a parent this book is a great read.  Are you a pastor, a teacher, work in children’s ministry or operate a day care? This book is helpful.  Or in my case, are you a grandparent who wants be a good role model for grandchildren?  Then this book is for you.  Yes, at the bottom of this I have to tell you that I was given this book*, but I was not required to review it, especially here on this blog.  If you want to see my official review, it is on Amazon, Christian Book Distributors, and Barnes and Noble. But here, I just want to share with family and friends a book I think is very helpful.

Now all this talking about early writing has caused me to want to pick up my pen and paper.  Gotta go!  I have a story to write!

*I received a copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review.

 

 

 

Top of the Morning!

Posted on by 2000nana

I haven’t accomplished a single thing today.  Stumbling from my bed, I made it as far as the recliner in the living room where my sweet hubby had a cup of coffee waiting. Three hours later, half of it is still sitting here on a TV tray next to my chair.  Certainly I have things that need to be done today.  It’s too wet to garden, but there is laundry I’m sure, as well as some de-cluttering that desperately needs to be completed. I could write to a friend (wouldn’t they be surprised), crochet (I tried but kept putting it back down), beat my friend Connie in an internet game (I’m not really all that competitive), sewing (I have started our Christmas projects- just in case our children or grandchildren read this and wonder)…the opportunities are endless.

Instead I made the mistake of looking outside my window.  I have a hummingbird feeder, as you know, but I also have some finch feeders.  And a regular feeder.  At first there were about 4 yellow finches.  Suddenly there were 18 finches hanging on the sock feeders munching and crunching to their little hearts desire. Sometimes they paired off in couples.  A time or two, all the ladies came to partake and when they left to go shopping or whatever it is lady finches do, the men came along to catch up on the latest finchy gossip and share stories of their accomplishments. Along with the yellow finches there were some red house finches.  Below the feeders were the mourning doves, Mr. and Mrs.,  feasting on the thistle and seeds that dropped to the ground.  Every once in a while Mr. would catch Mrs. Dove looking his way, and he puffed and preened for her benefit.

We still have a few dry leaves under the feeders and I noticed they seemed to be moving without the benefit of a breeze.  Looking closer, I noticed there were sparrows dancing through the leaves enjoying a lite snack. Suddenly everyone took flight, and here comes the black bird.  Okay, so I don’t know much about bird identification.  If it would work, I would just say yellow bird, red bird, black bird, brown bird.  We even had a white egret one day, but that is another story.

All that to say there is a lot of activity outside my window and I am too mesmerized to leave my spot.  The hummingbird only visited briefly a time or two. I think he is shy and doesn’t like crowds of birds much bigger than he.  Keeping track of how many birds were at the feeders at any one time is keeping me quite busy, thank you very much.  The little stinkers tend to shift around and make me lose count. Right now there are 14 assorted finches…make that 15, 2 doves, 3 sparrows and…no, I don’t see a partridge in a pear tree but I keep looking.  There is another bird that comes to visit the regular feeder, and I just can’t identify him. For now, he is called the Mystery Bird.  I’ve looked on some websites but I can’t come to a firm decision.  Maybe you can help me?  Here he is.

Mystery Bird

In retrospect, I realize that for 3 hours the TV has been on and tuned to political news and views and I don’t even know what they are saying.  My pulse is steady, my nerves are calm,  and my blood pressure is great. I’ve been able to marvel at the complexities and wonder of God’s creation.

Like I said, I have accomplished a lot today!