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The Bible Tells Me

I’m not the Bible scholar I should be. I know some verses; not as many as I ought. Still, I find most of my experiences can be framed or underscored, explained or illuminated, by Scripture. Or maybe a hymn or a worship song, a devotional or a testimony. Frequently, I have those “Oh, yeah” moments when I see God clearly in an event. Or realized that I should have seen Him.

These are the moments of “The Bible tells me.”

These essays reflect that. Do know that I can proof-text as well as anyone. I have a concordance, and I know how to use it. Well, truthfully, I do all of that online now, where I can quickly find a passage, see it in many versions, and choose the one I like best. I try not to be narrow, but instead broad, as I apply Bible words to my experiences. I know that your interpretations and understanding may be different than mine. But I also know that our God is big enough for all of us.

I have a friend who, in her prayer time, likes to tell jokes to God. “I know He knows the punch line,” she says. “But I tell them anyway. He likes it when I laugh.”

He likes it when I laugh. I’m going to hang on to that. It’s Biblical. The Bible tells me.

Our mouths were filled with laughter then,
and our tongues with shouts of joy.
Then they said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
The Lord had done great things for us;
we were joyful.

Psalm 126: 2,3 (HCSB)

Being at Target–More Than Just Shopping

| Joy, Love

I was shopping at Target. (Truth is, I’m often shopping at Target. It’s close to where I live, I like shopping there, and they have spacious self-checkout areas, so I can scan and bag my own items, in my own bags, which makes me feel like I’m doing a favor to the world by not using plastic bags that will end up in the landfill.)

While I was shopping, I was also talking with JoAnne, my sister, because she and my niece are coming to visit us. I was asking what they might like to eat and snack on while they’re at my house. Meanwhile, she was visiting five of her grandchildren, so there was a lot going on. I’d been by the pharmacy and learned that they would fulfill my prescription, but they were about to go on their lunch break (and they just close down the pharmacy during their lunch hour), so it would be an hour before I could get my prescription. I relayed that situation to my sister, and she was sorry that I’d be walking around Target for an hour. But, her grandchildren had an idea. I should take a scavenger hunt around Target while I was waiting.

They made a list:

Target Scavenger Hunt (I found this hard to read, so I thought maybe I should type up the list):

Something red

Pencil box

Clearance item

Hearth & Home item (from the Magnolia collection)

Bubble Blower

Pair of Men’s Socks (the weirder the better)

Nerf gun (Paxton’s suggedstion)

New shoes (Bellamie’s suggestion)

Saw (Reuben’s suggestion)

Police car (Sylas’ suggestion)

Knife (I could choose)

Lawn mower

Frosted sugar cookies (Suggestion from Natalie, JoAnne’s adult daughter)

and nothing from Ozero, who had to leave because he was throwing up from the July 4th fun at his other grandmother’s house.

So off I went, glad to have something interesting to do.

 

No lawn mower, neither real nor toy. And,  by the time I’d found everything that I could find, the pharmacy folks had finished their lunch and were back in business, and I was able to go to get my prescription. I showed all my successes (with photos) to JoAnne and the grandchildren, and sadly relayed the fact that my Target does not carry lawn mowers, for kids or adults.

 

Instead, by speaking the truth in a spirit of love, we must grow up in every way to Christ, who is the head. Under his control all the different parts of the body fit together, and the whole body is held together by every joint with which it is provided. So when each separate part works as it should, the whole body grows and builds itself up through love.

 Ephesians 4:15, 16 (Good News Translation)

 

I’m charmed by this plan where all the kids participated, working together, and giving me something very interesting to do while waiting for the pharmacy to reopen.

Out with the Old, Even Though It Doesn’t Seem All THAT Old

| Faithfulness, Love, Peace

I guess “old” is relative. We live in the house that my family moved into in 1959. When my parents passed away, David and I moved into the house. We have neighbors to the left of us, who have been in that house for a couple of years, so not a new home for them. A couple of houses down from us, on the other side, people moved in a week or so ago; so, a new home for that family. So, “new” is rather relative.

Most of the appliances in our house are running along pretty smoothly. And, I’ve not looked into what the longevity is for our various appliances. And, of course, most appliances don’t give much of a warning that they’re on their last leg. Maybe the washer starts leaking. Possibly the air conditioner starts rattling. Loudly. Often times, our appliances give us a little warning. Or, they quietly breathe their last. And all the frozen food thaws out, and we just canNOT eat it all up fast enough.

When Kevin and Peter were here last, several weeks ago, David and Peter went to buy some Blue Bell ice cream. They put it into the freezer section of the refrigerator. The next day, the yummy green ice cream was more like a yummy green milk shake. Most things in the freezer were still pretty solid, but that was just a harbinger of disaster, as in “how fast can you eat up the rest of the food in the freezer?” Things softened and hardened, and, really, let’s don’t actually take a chance on a trip to the emergency to get our stomachs pumped. So you see where this is going.

We went to Lowe’s and Home Depot and then chose a new refrigerator/freezer.

We tried for a couple of days to keep the fridge door closed as much as possible and tried to cook things from the freezer that seemed like they might be thawing. I got a couple of ice chests to protect the cold/frozen food while we waited for the new fridge to arrive.  Then, the new refrigerator got delivered and they pulled the old fridge out and looked at the water hook-up and said, “That’s not acceptable.You’re going to have to get a plumber to come and attach the water.” So, they didn’t install it, and I called a plumber that I’d used before, and he came and looked at the water hook-ups and said, “This is exactly what it’s supposed to look like. It’s fine.” And by then, it was too late in the day for the new fridge to get installed, so we pushed the old fridge back into place and plugged it in, and then, when it chilled down again, we put the food that had been stowed in the ice chests, with lots of ice, back into the refrigerator.

 

And then (of course), they had to re-schedule bringing the new refrigerator, so that didn’t happen until the end of the week. That meant, on Friday morning, I had to put the food from the fridge back into the coolers, so they could stay chilled until the new fridge could get unloaded, brought into the garage, put together, partly, and then brought into the house, where it could get completely put together, get hooked up to the water line and the electrical outlet. And then they put the doors on and they brought the drawers and door compartments in, so I could put it all together on the inside and then, at last, I could put the food back into the brand-new refrigerator.

 

 

 

But first, of course, there’s always a “but first,” I said to the guys who’d brought the fridge and put it together, “you’ll take away the old fridge.” And they said, no, they didn’t do that. So I called David, who said, “Let me talk to them,” because when we bought the fridge, we’d also added that the fridge would be put together, installed properly, and the old fridge would be carted away, and we had paid to have that done. The paperwork for that was in David’s car (of course), but he talked to the guys and explained that we’d paid extra to have that old fridge taken away, and the young men, whether they believed him or not, took the old fridge. And, I suppose, they checked on it when they got back to the store.

 

The young men who brought in (and hooked up) the new fridge, also brought in several bins that are meant to go into spaces in the fridge doors. I got to decide where they should belong, and I guess we’ll decide over time, which ones would work best where. There are some pull-out drawers, also. And, the pull-out drawers in the previous fridge pulled out from the tops of the drawer handles. The new drawers pull out from the bottoms of the drawer handles. I’ve yet to remember that difference, and am still clonking my fingers on the tops of the drawers. It’s just been a week (REALLY!?!? just a week?) Still Clonking.

 

All adorned with the hallmarks of many parents/grandparents.

 

You provide streams of water in the hills and valleys, so that the donkeys and other wild animals can satisfy their thirst.
 Birds build their nests nearby and sing in the trees.
 From your home above you send rain on the hills and water the earth.
 You let the earth produce grass for cattle, plants for our food, wine to cheer us up, olive oil for our skin, and grain for our health.

Psalm 104:10-15

 

There Were These Dogs

| Uncategorized

We never had a dog. When the boys were growing up, we really lived rather hand-to-mouth, and when the boys wanted pets, I said that they really couldn’t have pets that had to go to the vet and get vaccinations, etc, because we had to use the money we had to take them to the pediatrician to get vaccinations and shots and medicine, and we just didn’t have any extra money for pets. We did compromise with smaller, easier pets. Jeremy got a white rabbit one year for Christmas. He named her “Mary” and she lived a nice, quiet life for several years. When Kevin wanted a pet, we got a gerbil, whose name was “Dasher,” who also lived a nice life in Kevin’s bedroom, in a hamster habitat.

My sister says that our Mother was afraid of dogs, and that’s why we never had one as a pet. And so I never really developed the hankering for a dog.

I’ve played with other people’s dogs, and avoided other people’s dogs, and, at this point, I’m not at all interested in having a dog. I am, however consistently annoyed by other dogs. There’s a dog to the right of me. He’s a small, yippy, sort of dog, but he spends most of his time inside. Sometimes he comes outside and sees me and barks, but not for long. One evening, my neighbor was setting out to walk him, and I asked to come along. I enjoyed it, but I think I walked too slowly, and both my neighbor and the dog seemed to wish that I would move a little more quickly.

Then, there are the other dogs who live on the other side of me, which whom I do not have a good relationship. At all.

The neighbors who live there, and who have lived there for quite a while, have suddenly gotten dogs. A brown one and a white one. And those dogs do not like me. Not one tiny bit. They are sleek, good-sized dogs, and they find me unacceptable. Very unacceptable. It’s possible that they feel that way about most folks, but most folks do not live next door to them and come outside. Not into their yard. Just outside. To any outside area that’s within their ability to sense movement, or possibly, some sort of aura or aroma. Or, maybe, some offensive sound, such as the opening of a door, which, horrors of horrors, might lead to someone actually coming outside!!!

Grrrrr. WOOF!! WOOF!!! WOOF!!!

I don’t go outside very much. I’ve finished most of the yard work I’ve been doing, now that the weather’s gotten warmer. But I do have to go outside every few days. I have a container that I put food scraps in, and that fills up after a while. And, I need to take those scraps to the compost bin. That trip entails my opening the back door, stepping out onto our small porch, walking down the two steps, walking across the patio, and then walking to the back corner of the yard, where the compost bins are. And where the back corner of our yard meets the back corner of the yard where the dogs are. The instant I step out of the house, the dogs race over to their side of the fence (which is a wooden fence) and they’ve already started barking. Well, not exactly. They’ve started BARKING! BARKING! BARKING! In dog language, I’m supposing it’s something along the lines of, “Who IS that?!?!? What’s she DOING over there!!?!?!?!? Why isn’t she going back into her OWN house?!?!?!!? How long is she going to stay OUT here?!?!?!? Can’t she understand that WE DON’T LIKE HER!!! When is she going back into HER OWN HOUSE?!?!? WE DON’T LIKE YOU! WE DON’T LIKE YOU! WE DON’T LIKE YOU!!!!!!

I have gotten the message. But I do really need to take the food scraps out to the compost. And I am not going to move the compost bins up to the porch.

JoAnne had an interesting idea. Since I am a senior adult woman and have to go to the bathroom several times during the night, she suggested that after every trip to the bathroom, I should step out onto that back porch. Not walk across the yard, just step onto the porch, and then the dogs would go berserk every couple of hours or so, and help the owners see that the neighbors are irritated by the dogs.

And, seriously, even though I didn’t try it, the dogs began to be rowdier and rowdier.

A couple of days later, as I went out on my own back patio, to water the plants, I heard one of the dogs whining and whining. Not barking, but whining. And, not ever having had a dog, I didn’t really know if there was a problem of some kind. So, I walked next door, listening, all the time, to the whining dog. There seemed to be only one dog. The white one. As I walked around the corner of their house, I saw that there wasn’t a car in the driveway (which there usually is, but, it might have been in the garage, and I didn’t know if they were home.) I rang the doorbell. I waited for a couple of minutes. The teen-aged daughter opened the door, and I said, “Can you help your dog? He seems distressed.”

And from several feet behind her, the mom said, “Oh, we’re eating dinner now. She was bothering us. We’ll get her when we’re done eating.” And I said, “Okay, I just didn’t know what was the matter, and I don’t usually hear the dogs whining. Sorry to bother you.” And I went back to my house.

Before I could get back into my house, the dog was back in their house. And now, and I am not making this up, both the dogs are now gone. The family seems to be there, but there aren’t any dogs.

I walk out of my back door to silence. I take my food scraps to the compost to silence. I sit on my bench on the patio and read. In silence. Well, there are birds. But they are not obnoxious.

 

Stop being bitter and angry and mad at others. Don’t yell at one another or curse each other or ever be rude.  Instead, be kind and merciful, and forgive others, just as God forgave you because of Christ.

Ephesians 4:31-32 (Contemporary English Version)

 

 

The challenge, I guess, comes with that “bitter and angry” business. It’s so easy to think of being “kind and merciful,” when we fail to recall that “yelling and and cursing.”

 

 

Gimpy Knee

| Faithfulness, Joy, Patience

I heard the word “gimpy” from my paternal grandmother. She had a “gimpy” knee. I wasn’t sure about the definition, so I looked it up and, yes, for sure, it’s a real word, and given the definition, she was using it exactly right. And, now, she has apparently handed down to me:

A gimpy knee.

A couple of Sundays ago, I woke up with a very painful right knee. Every step (well, every other step) was painful. We were supposed to be attending church with the congregation that sits catty-cornerned with our church. After worship service, there was a cookout at the park that’s between our two churches. So, quite a bit of walking around. David felt like that might be much more walking that I seemed able to do. So, I stayed home. Then, later that afternoon, after the knee wasn’t one little bit better, I went to the pharmacy close to our house to purchase a knee brace. I didn’t know how to choose a helpful knee brace, and there were several choices.

 

This is the one I chose at Walgreen’s.

It fits snugly, but not too tight.

 

It was comfortable to wear, at night and also during the day.

And, some of my dresses are long enough that the Knee Sleeve didn’t even show when I was walking around (which really wasn’t an issue, as I didn’t care if it showed).

After one full day of walking around the house and walking around doing errands (while wearing the Knee Sleeve), the knee was much, much better, and I felt like there might not be any surgery in my future.

Now, I’m back to doing yard work ‘most every day. I’m also doing house work, which is nowhere near as interesting and satisfying as working in the yard. And the yard work might be over soon, as the summer temperatures are inching up, and up, and up.

I’m walking well and am pain-free, even without the Knee Sleeve. But, I’m certainly not getting rid of it.

 

 Strengthen the feeble hands,
    steady the knees that give way;

Isaiah 35:3

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well . . . Sometimes Stuff Happens

| Uncategorized

 On Thursday, I was doing some housework. In general, I do housework on Fridays, since on Thursdays, when I’m paying attention, I’m working on a blog post.

Kevin phoned on Thursday and asked if Peter could come on Thursday, instead of Friday, when we’d planned for a visit from him. School’s out, and it seemed a good time for him to spend some time with us.  April was busy with some church work, so Kevin brought Peter and stayed for a couple of days, himself. Kevin’s work allows him to work at home most of the time. Modern life. He works on his computer and communicates with people in all parts of the world. On Friday, when he was here, he talked with folks in Atlanta and folks in the Middle East. And it all happened at our dining table. Occasionally, he has to get dressed up in more “business” type clothes and go into their headquarters for a meeting. But not often.

Kevin brought Peter and then stayed another day. He went back home on Saturday, and Peter’s staying with us for a couple more days. Not all businesses can work on this sort of schedule, of course. Our church staff, for example, are available to our congregation. We do not, of course, phone them every week or so, just to chat. They have lots of responsibilities and do not need to be overwhelmed with situations that many members can work through, on their own, or with other church friends.

On Friday, Peter and I went to the library. As we were getting out of the car, a man, who was turning away from the library door, called to us (in the parking lot), “Can’t go in yet! Closed until one!”

I’d forgotten. The libraries have training on the first Friday of each month. And, yes. “Closed until one.”

Peter and I got back into the car and went to Target. We did as much household shopping as I could remember to get (and not have any items that needed to be kept cold). By time we finished that shopping trip, it was just about time to get back to the library! Peter played some video games on the kids’ computers. I found some books I was interested in reading. And we had a nice, reasonably quiet afternoon.

Saturdays belong to David and Peter. They go to breakfast. They went to the Mayborn Museum (and Kevin, still at our house, joined them there). There were interesting new things to work on and work with.

Then, Kevin returned and got to work on some limbs, from the house next door, that were scraping (gently) on our roof. We pulled out the large folding ladder, and Kevin trimmed lots of small limbs from the tree, which is dying, most likely from the bitter winter we had a couple of years ago. The tree has put out a few weak leaves. It is obviously dying/near dead. It is a large (albeit dead) tree that should never have been planted there, between our house and the one next to us. We live in my childhood home, and my parents did not plant the tree. The next door neighbors did. And it’s not the neighbor who lives there now. And not the one who lived there before her. She’s had to have tree trimmers come and remove limbs that are damaging her roof. She’s recently had a large ash tree removed from her front yard. A tree that gave great shade all throughout the spring and summer. The Great February Winter took out her tree in the front yard as well as the one between our houses. And I’m very certain that the tree is her tree and not ours. My parents wouldn’t have planted a tree so very close to either house. There’s just not enough space. And, when you’re planting a new sapling of a tree, it just seems so small. The trees that my parents did plant, include a now enormous pecan tree, easily many feet in from any of the boundaries around the house. There’s a lovely, large crepe myrtle, again, many feet inside the lot’s edges. In the front, there’s a red oak and a pin oak, both having plenty of space around them. Lots of room for growing. I like to think that I’m almost as good at husbanding small and large and really large plants.

The sprinkler guy is coming next week to check on the sprinkler system. It’s rained rather regularly. But it seems like that’s coming to an end. Alas.

 

 

 

 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

“For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”

Isaiah 55:10-13 (English Standard Version)

I Just Don’t Know What to Say

| Love, Peace

I don’t even know when it started. I was working on the computer, as though it was a normal sort of day. I don’t remember when I saw the information; when I saw the photos; when I read the words.

And I started getting information about our church’s children’s minister. I’ve known her for years. The couple were members at our church many years ago, and then they joined a different church. But, they would come back to us, often on Wednesday evenings, when we had classes for young school-agers.

She is a strong and determined woman; she birthed her children at home with a midwife. I’m quite impressed. One of her sons came to Fun with Friends, on Science Week, I think. A while back, I ran into her and her daughter, and we talked about her coming to the next Fun with Friends. But, Covid spoiled that idea. Then, when our new pastor came on board and began to look for staff folks, this girl showed up, accepted the offer, and is now  our Children’s Minister.

This woman’s parents were born in Uvalde. This woman has relatives whose children attend the middle school there. They are physically safe, but how do they get over, and beyond, this loss.

I don’t even know how to talk about this. Or write about this.

I’ve looked at the children’s photos. I’ve seen the photos of the families, the police officers, the teachers in that classroom.

School is out, now. Everyone will have the summer to work hard to pull themselves together, again. They will make a space for all the children, all the teachers, all the parents, all the grandparents, all the aunts and uncles. all the siblings, all the next door neighbors, all the shop people in the town, all the police officers.

It’s hard work. But they can do it.

The first day of school might be the most difficult. For everyone. For every teacher. For every child. For every parent. How can a child feel safe in a place where danger struck so hard? How can anyone?

 

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.

—St. Francis of Assisi

 

 

 

One Last Time

| Joy, Patience

I was listening to the song “One Last Time” from the musical “Hamilton,” sort of for inspiration, but it just made me weepy, and that was already happening.

For several years, I’ve been a reading volunteer at the elementary school close to our church. People at local churches around Waco go to nearby schools and spend the lunchtime half hour listening to kids read. Half an hour is something of a squeeze when a kid has to walk to the cafeteria, get their lunch, go to the library, eat their lunch, and then read aloud.

I started reading with one girl when she was a first-grader, and I’ve been reading with her ever since. We did have that pandemic interruption, but this year, volunteers were able to get back into schools. There are books in the counselor’s office for us to use. For many of the volunteers, there are groups of two or three or four kids. That means that one kid can be reading while the others are eating, and they can take turns. For me, because one kid left the school after the first year we were reading together, and then, when kids were back at school, only one of my group was still with me. She’s a fifth grader now.

After I’d been back at school for a couple of weeks, I was heading to the cafeteria to meet her there, and another girl who was in line with her class as they were leaving the cafeteria, stopped me and said, “Hi. You were reading with me. Remember?”

I did remember. And I thought she must have been held back, because she’d been with the group I’d had at the beginning.

I checked with the guy who’s in charge of the program. I asked if anyone was reading with her, now, and he said not, so I said I’d like to start reading with her, too. We got that going, so that meant I read with the Fourth grader first, and then with the Fifth grader.

When I laid out several books, really easy books, for the younger girl, she was interested in Rosa Parks. The next day, I visited all the Waco libraries, and checked out all the easy Rosa Parks book. We read those for several weeks. She also liked Pete the Cat books, so I visited the libraries again, and picked up the easiest versions of those Pete books. Again, with thirty minutes of time, and some of it for eating, we might only get a few pages read. I said that I could keep the books for three weeks, then, I would need to renew them for three more weeks, but then I’d have to turn them back in to the library. We’d only get a few pages read each week. Eventually, the books would have to go back. But, the next time we were reading, I’d brought back the Pete book that we hadn’t finished. She asked me how did I still have the book, since I’d already renewed it once. And I said, “When I told the librarian how much you liked the book and were sad that we had to turn it in, she said that she would renew it one more time for you.”She asked me why the librarian did that, and I said I told the librarian that you really enjoyed the book! Librarians are happy when kids read books.That very last day of Reading Club, she read, with only a little bit of help, an entire Pete book.

 

 

The very first day that we started Book Club again, back in the fall, the Fifth Grader went with me into the room where the books are kept. She picked up a book about Michael Jordan. It was a picture book about him as a kid, wanting to play basketball like his older brothers. We read that one, easily in a couple of sessions. Then, there was another picture book about Pele. We read that one. And, she was interested in sports figures, but there weren’t any, beyond those two books, which were really for younger readers, anyway. So, I visited Barnes and Noble and found this series of books.

I bought a several of them, and she read the ones about Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. And it really did take almost the whole school year, since she was the only one reading each Wednesday at lunch time, and she had to eat lunch before she started reading.

 

 

As part of the Reading Club program, at the end of the year, the Reading Club kids get a book to take home to keep. The program has a number of books that are available for us to choose from, and we can give each child we read with a new book they can take home to keep. Or, we can purchase a book to give. On that last day, we were having our last lunch together, and I said that she could choose two books to take home to keep. I had purchased additional books (beyond those sports figures that she likes), and I put them out for her to choose. She immediately put her hands down on (and I am not making this up) Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Good choices, girl.

 

 

 

We are not supposed to take photographs of our kids. That’s a privacy issue, even if I promise to not show anyone a photo that I might take. But, ‘way back when they were second graders, I did actually take some photos, and here they are for you to see, also.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One day children were brought to Jesus in the hope that he would lay hands on them and pray over them. The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus intervened: “Let the children alone, don’t prevent them from coming to me. God’s kingdom is made up of people like these.” After laying hands on them, he left.

Matthew 19:14 (The Message Translation)

 

 

Maybe a Mosquito? Maybe a Spider? Maybe an Unknown Variety of Bug?

| Patience

A couple of weeks ago, something woke me up, in the middle of Monday night. I felt a sort of pain at the bottom of my left thumb. I think I even might have yelped a bit. But then, I guess, I just went back to sleep.

When I woke up, on Tuesday morning, my thumb was a little bit itchy. And a little bit red. I think something might have bitten, or stung me, in the night.

I have a tube of Benadryl cream, and that morning, I put some on my thumb. It didn’t make things worse, but it didn’t really make it much better, either. However, all things considered, it didn’t seem all that bad.

Periodically, on Tuesday, I’d put some itch cream on the thumb. It wasn’t worse, but it wasn’t much better, either.

Wednesday is my day to go the elementary school close to church, where I spend time reading with a couple of girls at their lunch time. I read with a 4th grader at 11:50, and with a 5th grader at 12:20.

After those lunches, I’d meant to go home and join a video meeting in progress that I was supposed to attend. But, by then, my thumb was afire with itchiness! As soon as the last bit of reading was done, I hurried out to my car and headed straight for Express Care to see if I could get something for this itch!!

The Express Care clinic is affiliated with my physician’s medical network, so when I entered the clinic, all I needed to do was give them my name. They confirmed my birthdate and all the information they had on file, and I just needed to sit down and wait for my turn. And the wait was short.

The physician checked her computer, confirmed the medications I take, and asked what was today’s problem. I explained to her what had happened, or at least what I thought had happened (something bit or stung me), and how it had become so itchy. She looked at my swollen and reddened thumb, and agreed that there was some kind of injury, and she identified the place where the sting/bite happened. Then she called in a prescription to the pharmacy at Target. I thanked her and left and got into my car and drove straight to Target, where my Triamcinolone Acetonide Cream was waiting for me. And it is so much more effective than the over-the-counter itch medicine.

In a couple of days, the itch had abated. And, soon, the swelling went down, and I am grateful.

I’ve been doing yard work the past week, and I’m being liberal with the bug spray. And, it there’s another bug-bite incident, I still have quite a bit of Triamcinolone Acetonide Cream.

 

 

If I Spent More Time Talking to People . . .

| Faithfulness, Joy

I’d most likely discover several intersections between us. Like this one:

I had a ophthalmologist’s appointment Thursday morning. Things weren’t very busy, and I spent some time chatting with my doctor. We talked about what his kids are doing and how the youngest of the clan is finishing up his last year of college and will be going to work with an important Wall Street business. Right now, he’s sharing a nice apartment with two other friends, right on the western edge of Central Park in New York.

I think that Dad’s maybe a little worried about some of the more dangerous elements of the big city. But, the boy is quite confident and eagerly looking forward to his new job. And, quite frankly, the other four kids are all quite competent and are working in interesting professions, and, I’m sure, contacting their parents regularly.

When Jeremy was teen-aged, he baby-sat for the ophthalmologist’s family, when there were only a couple of kids, so the doctor always asks about him. I said that he and Sarah had taken a trip into Manhattan to see a play, and they stayed at the Plaza Hotel.

Jeremy and Sarah knew that I read the children’s book “Eloise,” when I was a school-ager, and really enjoyed it. The character, “Eloise,” lived in the Plaza hotel with her nanny. I was so excited that they were staying there, that I went to the library and checked out “Eloise,” so I could read it again and enjoy knowing that Jeremy and Sarah were actually there! On one of the trips that JoAnne and I took to New York, we visited the Plaza, too, but we didn’t stay there.

As I talked about Jeremy and Sarah’s living in Brooklyn, the doctor mentioned that his parents had taken a trip to Europe, and they were flying back into New York when the Twin Towers were coming down. They were, of course, unable to land in New York, and their flight was sent to Newfoundland, instead. His folks had to stay there several days.

“I know about that!” I said. “That’s the play that Jeremy and Sarah went to see!”

He was somewhat confused.

“There’s a new play,”  I explained. “It’s called ‘Come From Away.'”

He told me about his parents’ experience in Gander, and I said, “I’m going to call Jeremy. He’ll love knowing that your Mom and Dad were actually there!”

I don’t ordinarily call Jeremy in the middle of a work day, at least rarely, but I thought this was unusual enough.

“Hi,” I said. “Do you have a minute? I’m with the eye doctor right now. I’m going to hand the phone over to him.”

The doctor explained about his parents’ experience trying to get home after 9/11, and Jeremy explained about his and Sarah’s experience seeing the play. And I felt like I was putting pieces of a puzzle together. Well, one of those preschool puzzles that only have a few pieces. But, when you put it together, even if there aren’t very many pieces, you get a nice picture.

 

Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish.

John 21:4-6 (English Standard Version)

 

 

Sometimes I have to stop and remind myself that I need to look around and find Jesus. He is always there.

 

I Think I’ve Done All I Can

| Patience, Peace

A couple of years ago (or so), I discovered Jigsaw Explorer. Every day, there are two jigsaw puzzles to work, and I get to decide how many pieces I want to be in each puzzle. Plus there are archived puzzles from months and months earlier that I can access, also. Today’s puzzle was a gardening photograph. I really liked the picture because it reminded me of my own recent gardening experiences.
At this point, I’ve planted everything I plan to plant. I trimmed plants; I watered and fed plants. I think I’m done purchasing plants. (We’ll see.)

 

Now, it’s just going to be a matter of keeping all those lovely plants alive. Last summer was much milder than the usual scorching temperatures we often experience in Central Texas.
As the summers come and go, I’ve gotten better about buying plants that will grow in Central Texas, and placing plants in spaces where they’ll thrive. And, where I can help them thrive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was REALLY frustrated with this little  plant stand. Several weeks ago, a strong wind blew it over and several pots were broken. I carefully picked it up and put the shelves back in. I was careful to put SEVERAL pots on the bottom shelf to anchor the thing. I had a tray of Asian Jasmine on one of the middle shelves. Then, again, a week or so ago, a big wind gust knocked it over AGAIN! Another pot broke; everything got tossed onto the patio. AGAIN. But, never again. I took it all apart, threw away the covering and the shelves. And I’m done with it.

 
Here are some sunbeams illuminating the new, red lantana that I bought. They’re thriving, along with the dwarf pomegranate that’s growing at the top of the photo.

After all, who is Paul? Who is Apollos? No more than servants through whom you came to believe as the Lord gave each man his opportunity. I may have done the planting and Apollos the watering, but it was God who made the seed grow! The planter and the waterer are nothing compared with him who gives life to the seed. Planter and waterer are alike insignificant, though each shall be rewarded according to his particular work.

1 Corinthians 3:5-8 (Phillips Translation)