Worked in the garage today. It's been looking like something from "Hoarders"
Why is it that no matter how big organizing bins are, they are never big enough? They may seem so nice and roomy at first, but the next thing I know they are running over.
No matter how many fancy tool sets my husband buys he always needs more. And I don't think he ever gets rid of the old ones. Why not, if they weren't good enough and the new ones are so much better?
Why is it that no matter how many packets of screws, nails, washers, grommets, widgets, and so on, my husband buys, his next project will call for something else? Is it a vast home improvement store conspiracy? Or maybe he can't ever find the thing he needs because no matter how many clever organizers we have they never stay organized. Ever.
Maybe it would be better to just throw away the unused packets of screws, etc when the project is done. Why not, the next project won't call for them anyway. Wouldn't it save money and time in the long run? We wouldn't need to create or buy so many storage systems, bins, cupboards and shelves. And we wouldn't need to spend any time organizing them. Or, I wouldn't anyway, he never does.
As I write this I started having a feeling of deja vu--I hope I'm not repeating myself.
Anyway, I'm thankful:
1. the garage is looking a tiny bit better.
2. I went to the endodontist Wednesday. There is some infection in my tooth :(. That's NOT the part I'm thankful for! But I am I thankful that I went and had it checked.
3. He prescribed the same antibiotic I took in December and I'm tolerating it well.
4. He said the tooth is partially healed from the surgery last April and even if it regresses he can do another surgery on it which he thinks will do the trick. (I hope it won't come to that of course!)
5. from this reminder from Philippians 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!" I think the key to this is the phrase "in the Lord." No matter how bad life seems, there are always things to rejoice in the Lord about. He never changes. We have real hope in Him. He is good and His mercy endures forever. He is loving and faithful. His word is true. I could go on of course. There are so many reasons to rejoice in Him. We just need to keep our focus on the right things.
Friday, May 20, 2016
Monday, May 16, 2016
Back in the blogosphere
I have no good excuse for not blogging lately. I was not run over by a truck. I did not break both arms.
I did record some thankfulnesses in my paper journal a few times. But over all I have not been keeping up in the thankfulness category.
A friend loaned me a book recently by Bill Johnson called, "Strengthen yourself in the Lord." It has a chapter on thanksgiving. It says on page 56 that, "thanksgiving keeps us sane and alive by connecting us to the source of our life and purpose." I certainly have felt disconnected from my Source lately.
Johnson also said on page 53 that, "the things we practice as a lifestyle equip us for difficulties." This weekend I was reminded of my need for that equipping. I noticed swelling and pain in the tooth that was operated on last year. It's had so many procedures done on it over the years that it seems unlikely anything more can be done for it. If it is infected again it may just need to come out. I don't have time for this! Or energy!! Doctor and dentist visits were already eating up what little time and energy I do have. I'm so sick and tired of being sick and tired. I'm wondering if the tooth may be why I have had even less energy the last few months and had some other scary symptoms.
I saw my dentist today about something else and had him check it. He wants to try something called ozone therapy on it. It sounds far fetched to me.
Anyway, at least being thankful might help keep me sane and that's not far fetched!
I'm thankful:
1. That I already had a dentist appointment scheduled for today.
2. For the encouraging verses in my Bible reading this morning: 1 Peter 5:6-10
4. That He cares for me and listens when I dump my anxieties on him. He can take it! (verse 7)
5. That although I often feel alone in my sufferings, there are people who can relate and do care.
I did record some thankfulnesses in my paper journal a few times. But over all I have not been keeping up in the thankfulness category.
A friend loaned me a book recently by Bill Johnson called, "Strengthen yourself in the Lord." It has a chapter on thanksgiving. It says on page 56 that, "thanksgiving keeps us sane and alive by connecting us to the source of our life and purpose." I certainly have felt disconnected from my Source lately.
Johnson also said on page 53 that, "the things we practice as a lifestyle equip us for difficulties." This weekend I was reminded of my need for that equipping. I noticed swelling and pain in the tooth that was operated on last year. It's had so many procedures done on it over the years that it seems unlikely anything more can be done for it. If it is infected again it may just need to come out. I don't have time for this! Or energy!! Doctor and dentist visits were already eating up what little time and energy I do have. I'm so sick and tired of being sick and tired. I'm wondering if the tooth may be why I have had even less energy the last few months and had some other scary symptoms.
I saw my dentist today about something else and had him check it. He wants to try something called ozone therapy on it. It sounds far fetched to me.
Anyway, at least being thankful might help keep me sane and that's not far fetched!
I'm thankful:
1. That I already had a dentist appointment scheduled for today.
2. For the encouraging verses in my Bible reading this morning: 1 Peter 5:6-10
" 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.3. I am thankful for the promise that God will restore me and lift me up eventually. Even if it's not until heaven. Heaven will be glorious and eternal! And even though this life feels awfully long sometimes, compared to eternity it is really very short. (verses 6 & 10)
8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast."
4. That He cares for me and listens when I dump my anxieties on him. He can take it! (verse 7)
5. That although I often feel alone in my sufferings, there are people who can relate and do care.
Saturday, April 23, 2016
Take time to smell, and see, the roses
I'm thankful:
1. This week I received the name of the Bibleless people group I've been assigned to pray for. It's Bulgarian Sign Language. Bulgarian Sign Language is one of 130 languages in the Deaf Sign language family. The European Union of the Deaf estimated in 2014 that there were 50,000 users of the language. According to the Joshua Project they have no part of the Bible in their language. If you want to get a Bibleless people group to pray for go to: https://www.wycliffe.org/prayer. To learn more about the Bulgarian Sign Language group, see these links: The Ethnologue and the Joshua Project.
2. My climbing pinkie rose bush has been really beautiful the last several days. I've been stopping to the smell the roses every time I go by. I also stopped to take several photos. Here are a few of them. Sorry I can't include the fragrance too :-). This first one is from my new 'smart' phone. The others are from my regular camera. The water droplets you can see on some of them is from the heavy rains we had during the night. I was pleased to see how well the roses weathered the weather and were still so pretty afterwards. If you click on the first one you can see a larger view of them in a slide show format.
3. John took a half vacation day this Thursday. We have a lot to do as we look ahead to furlough. We got a lot done.
4. No one got injured today when John helped friends pour cement today.
5. I finally filed some papers that have been laying around getting in the way for the past couple of weeks.
1. This week I received the name of the Bibleless people group I've been assigned to pray for. It's Bulgarian Sign Language. Bulgarian Sign Language is one of 130 languages in the Deaf Sign language family. The European Union of the Deaf estimated in 2014 that there were 50,000 users of the language. According to the Joshua Project they have no part of the Bible in their language. If you want to get a Bibleless people group to pray for go to: https://www.wycliffe.org/prayer. To learn more about the Bulgarian Sign Language group, see these links: The Ethnologue and the Joshua Project.
2. My climbing pinkie rose bush has been really beautiful the last several days. I've been stopping to the smell the roses every time I go by. I also stopped to take several photos. Here are a few of them. Sorry I can't include the fragrance too :-). This first one is from my new 'smart' phone. The others are from my regular camera. The water droplets you can see on some of them is from the heavy rains we had during the night. I was pleased to see how well the roses weathered the weather and were still so pretty afterwards. If you click on the first one you can see a larger view of them in a slide show format.
3. John took a half vacation day this Thursday. We have a lot to do as we look ahead to furlough. We got a lot done.
4. No one got injured today when John helped friends pour cement today.
5. I finally filed some papers that have been laying around getting in the way for the past couple of weeks.
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Visa granted!
I'm thankful:
1. my Australian visa renewal was granted! Faster and for more months than expected!
2. we didn't have any damage from the big storm that came through last night! (John woke me a little before 3 a.m. to say we needed to take shelter away from windows. So I sat on a cushion on the floor in our inside bathroom until it passed about 30 minutes later. It took a while to fall asleep again after that, but i eventually did.)
3. I did not actually say the word that was on the tip of my tongue tonight when John slammed on the brakes to avoid a crazy driver.
4. the crazy driver did not hit us!
5. I managed to have a conversation with B that I was kind of dreading and it went well.
1. my Australian visa renewal was granted! Faster and for more months than expected!
2. we didn't have any damage from the big storm that came through last night! (John woke me a little before 3 a.m. to say we needed to take shelter away from windows. So I sat on a cushion on the floor in our inside bathroom until it passed about 30 minutes later. It took a while to fall asleep again after that, but i eventually did.)
3. I did not actually say the word that was on the tip of my tongue tonight when John slammed on the brakes to avoid a crazy driver.
4. the crazy driver did not hit us!
5. I managed to have a conversation with B that I was kind of dreading and it went well.
Saturday, April 16, 2016
Catching up
I'm thankful:
1. I finished my Australian visa renewal application and submitted it Friday. We celebrated with dinner at Pei Wei and coffee at Barnes and Noble afterwards. (I brought my own gluten-free dairy-free brownie to go with it.)
2. that i got a few accounts caught up in Quicken today.
3. for the big batch of sweet and sour meatballs that John made for tonight's dinner and to help restock our freezer.
4. that i was able to have a good chat with my dear friend C Thursday evening--first time in two years! Definitely an answer to prayer!
5. for the blue jays that are building a nest in the shrub near our kitchen window. I can't see the actual nest as the bush is too thick. But I've seen the jays going into the bush with long grass and twiggy things in their beaks. (I hope they have better success than the pair that nested in our tree a year or two ago. That time a squirrel raided the nest. It was very sad for all concerned! --My husband just said the squirrels at least were thankful :-)
1. I finished my Australian visa renewal application and submitted it Friday. We celebrated with dinner at Pei Wei and coffee at Barnes and Noble afterwards. (I brought my own gluten-free dairy-free brownie to go with it.)
2. that i got a few accounts caught up in Quicken today.
3. for the big batch of sweet and sour meatballs that John made for tonight's dinner and to help restock our freezer.
4. that i was able to have a good chat with my dear friend C Thursday evening--first time in two years! Definitely an answer to prayer!
5. for the blue jays that are building a nest in the shrub near our kitchen window. I can't see the actual nest as the bush is too thick. But I've seen the jays going into the bush with long grass and twiggy things in their beaks. (I hope they have better success than the pair that nested in our tree a year or two ago. That time a squirrel raided the nest. It was very sad for all concerned! --My husband just said the squirrels at least were thankful :-)
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Let's finish the job!
This song by William P. Merrill, 1911, has been on my mind a lot lately. It was even a little annoying it went on so long.
"Rise up, O men of God!
Have done with lesser things.
Give heart and mind and soul and strength
To serve the King of kings."
and verse 4:
"Lift high the cross of Christ!
Tread where His feet have trod.
As brothers of the Son of Man,
Rise up, O men of God!"
Then Sunday the special speaker's wife prayed for me to, "rise up." I'm not sure how to apply that yet, but I think I'm supposed to rise up in some way. (The word "man" in the song is sometimes sung as "church")
Anyway the second line. "Have done with lesser things" was also on my mind. I sometimes wonder if we Christians, especially here in America, have lost our way-- or as my Aussie friends might say "lost the plot." I know there are things to be concerned about here in this country, but I wonder if they could be considered "lesser things"? I am including myself in this. It's easy to get caught up in various controversies and concerns and forget the most important things.
Jesus gave us a job to do. It's called "the Great Commission." You know, "go into all the world and preach the gospel..." In case you aren't aware, we haven't finished it yet! Of the approximately 7000 languages in use around the world.* There are still about 1800 languages where Wycliffe believes there is a need to make God’s Word available, but work has not yet begun. This represents between 165 and 180 million people without any access to God’s Word in a language they understand. Revelation 7:9 says there will be a great multitude "from every nation, tribe, people and language" around the throne worshiping Jesus. But that can't happen until they hear the message. I know not everyone can go. And maybe you can't afford to give more than you already are. But you can pray. Jesus said to pray that laborers would be sent into the harvest field. That's something we can all do. We don't need to brave the jungles of anywhere. We can even do it from the comfort of our favorite recliner. It might help to turn off the tv, though.
I found this great video about how our prayers can make a difference. Check it out. https://www.wycliffe.org/prayer
While you're there, you can also read some current prayer needs and sign up to pray for a Bibleless people group. I just did. It's simple just give them your name and email address and they will send you info about a Bibleless people group who need your prayers.
As my husband likes to say, "Let's finish the job so we can all go home!"
*wycliffe.net/statistics, October 2015
"Rise up, O men of God!
Have done with lesser things.
Give heart and mind and soul and strength
To serve the King of kings."
and verse 4:
"Lift high the cross of Christ!
Tread where His feet have trod.
As brothers of the Son of Man,
Rise up, O men of God!"
Then Sunday the special speaker's wife prayed for me to, "rise up." I'm not sure how to apply that yet, but I think I'm supposed to rise up in some way. (The word "man" in the song is sometimes sung as "church")
Anyway the second line. "Have done with lesser things" was also on my mind. I sometimes wonder if we Christians, especially here in America, have lost our way-- or as my Aussie friends might say "lost the plot." I know there are things to be concerned about here in this country, but I wonder if they could be considered "lesser things"? I am including myself in this. It's easy to get caught up in various controversies and concerns and forget the most important things.
Jesus gave us a job to do. It's called "the Great Commission." You know, "go into all the world and preach the gospel..." In case you aren't aware, we haven't finished it yet! Of the approximately 7000 languages in use around the world.* There are still about 1800 languages where Wycliffe believes there is a need to make God’s Word available, but work has not yet begun. This represents between 165 and 180 million people without any access to God’s Word in a language they understand. Revelation 7:9 says there will be a great multitude "from every nation, tribe, people and language" around the throne worshiping Jesus. But that can't happen until they hear the message. I know not everyone can go. And maybe you can't afford to give more than you already are. But you can pray. Jesus said to pray that laborers would be sent into the harvest field. That's something we can all do. We don't need to brave the jungles of anywhere. We can even do it from the comfort of our favorite recliner. It might help to turn off the tv, though.
I found this great video about how our prayers can make a difference. Check it out. https://www.wycliffe.org/prayer
While you're there, you can also read some current prayer needs and sign up to pray for a Bibleless people group. I just did. It's simple just give them your name and email address and they will send you info about a Bibleless people group who need your prayers.
As my husband likes to say, "Let's finish the job so we can all go home!"
*wycliffe.net/statistics, October 2015
Saturday, April 9, 2016
Those who live in darkness have seen a great light
I'm thankful:
1. A nice time of prayer, talking and snuggling with John this evening.
2. A fun start to our morning to ;-)
3. that we finally got our income taxes submitted and they were accepted without any problems. (we use Free fillable forms on irs.gov sometimes there are technical glitches and it takes a couple of attempts to get them sent.)
4. for how B, Mom's care-giver, is having my Mom say a Bible verse each morning. Her first time she said, "Behold, the lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world." (John 1:29)! B was blown away, as was I when she told me.
5. For this inspiring story, "Truth on the Tundra" from Wycliffe's website. Praise God that even in this dark place the light of God's Word is dawning.:
1. A nice time of prayer, talking and snuggling with John this evening.
2. A fun start to our morning to ;-)
3. that we finally got our income taxes submitted and they were accepted without any problems. (we use Free fillable forms on irs.gov sometimes there are technical glitches and it takes a couple of attempts to get them sent.)
4. for how B, Mom's care-giver, is having my Mom say a Bible verse each morning. Her first time she said, "Behold, the lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world." (John 1:29)! B was blown away, as was I when she told me.
5. For this inspiring story, "Truth on the Tundra" from Wycliffe's website. Praise God that even in this dark place the light of God's Word is dawning.:
Salekhard, Russia, is a place where few would choose to live. In this city — one of only two in the world located on the Arctic Circle — the average annual high temperature hovers around minus one degree Celsius (29 F). During the months of November through January, the sun comes out for an average of 14 minutes per day. Praise God that even here, in this faraway city, the ministry of Bible translation and Scripture engagement is taking place among the Nenets... To keep reading go to: https://www.wycliffe.org/prayer/articles/truth-on-the-tundra
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