Posts Categorized: Joy

Maybe It’s Just a LITTLE Bit Too Early

| Joy, Love, Patience

When David would complain about the huge holiday (Christmas) merchandise displays at the local craft/hobby store, in July, I went to bat for them.

“If someone’s going to create their own holiday decorations and/or gifts, they can’t wait until November to start working on them. Needlepoint stockings take a while to complete. Hand-crafted angel ornaments are not a week-before-tree-decorating-time project.”

One of the *several* aisles of Christmas stuff.

I still feel that way, but what I’m seeing now are full-blown trees, swags, boxed ornaments, lights, tree-top stars (all ready to plug in), ready-made wrapping paper and reels of ribbons, along with co-ordinated bows and to/from labels.

I don’t know that I saw any holiday kits or areas that had supplies for creating special Christmas stuff. Of course, there’s always supplies for drawing and painting and tee-shirts to decorate and yarn and fabric. So, of course, people who want to create special, one-of-a-kind gifts can find what they need. And then they can wrap the gift in matching paper, ribbon, and bow. It might look prettier in the box than it does after the box is opened.

But, you  know, “crafted with love for . . . ”

 

 

 

 

A few years ago, I needed a picture frame for a gift I was making for David’s mom. I went to the craft/hobby store and was delighted to find that all the frames were 50% off. Yay, yay, hooray! I found the perfect thing to take to her for Mother’s Day.

Then, I began to notice, when I would go there, that the frames were always 50% off. ALWAYS.

Hmmmmm. That made me feel rather fooled. And used. If the frames are always 50% off, does that maybe mean that they’d been priced at twice the price they should be? I guess I could go to Wal-Mart and Target and Michael’s and other places to compare the prices of frames at those places, also keeping in mind the quality and diversity of all those other frames. I’m not going to, but someone might should go. Why don’t you go and compare prices and tell me about it.

I should have gotten closer to this sign on the door to take the picture. A little hard to read, it says, “Furniture, always 30% off Market Price.”

Really. Always? Maybe the store chain always does so very well, financially, that they actually can always take 30, or 40, or 50 % off their items. Or maybe the manufacturer inflates the market price so that stores that purchase their stock can say always 30, or, 40, or 50% cheaper that the market price.

Anyway, I purchased the colored DuckTape in colors I didn’t already have, and I bought extra paintbrushes so kid can make Painted Toast  for Fun with Friends snack. It’s art this year, and this session is “Painting and Printing.”

 

 

 

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
The earth was barren, with no form of life;
it was under a roaring ocean covered with darkness.
But the Spirit of God was moving over the water.

God said, “I command light to shine!” And light started shining.

God looked at the light and saw that it was good. He separated light from darkness.

Genesis 1:1-4 (Contemporary English Version)

 

When it’s Science Fun with Friends, I start every day saying, “God made a wonderful world for us, and science is how we learn to understand that world.”

When It’s Art Fun with Friends, I start every session by reading Genesis 1:1. And I say, “God created our world. God creates. And you can create. You create different kinds of things, but you have good ideas and you can plan and work. You are creative, too.”

 

And speaking of God’s wonderful world, here’s what I saw a couple of days ago, while I was sitting on the porch, reading. A very active butterfly, it flitted all around the yellow flowers. I’m happy to have created such a pleasant, attractive space for it.

 

And, I keep forgetting to give the kitten report. A couple of days after I had first seen it (and hadn’t seen it since), I went next door to say goodbye to neighbors who were moving out of state. While I was talking to the mom, I was watching her toddler daughter, who was enjoying a chocolate doughnut. Then, all of a sudden, I saw a kitten scamper past, into the flowers.

I turned to my neighbor. “You took the kitten!” Yes, she said, and they had felt the same things I had, that I couldn’t touch it, I would have to take it to a shelter. But then, she said, she thought that a new, tiny pet might be the thing that would help the daughter and 5-year-old son adjust to the big change in their lives. So they had taken the kitten to the vet, had shots and medications to get her all well. And, she now had a bow around her neck, and was jumping and playing and trying to get a bite of that delicious doughnut. Turned out well.

 

 

Thinking Green. At Least Trying To.

| Joy

You have to be pretty sturdy, from a houseplant standpoint, to make it in our house. I appreciate the plants that begin to go limp when they need a drink. I notice, usually, and water them. The plants that are stoic and keep trying to stay healthy/healthyish looking, even when they’re water-starved, often just keel over when they can’t take it any more.

Recently, I’ve been trying to do better at plant care. Everything outside is looking really good. A couple of things inside are making it. A couple of things inside are not making it.

Wednesday, I made a visit to the houseplant department at Lowe’s, to replace some things that, well, have gone on to the land of compost.

I have a nice little dish garden that has three plants. I typically need to replace one every now and then, because sometimes a plant outgrows the space. Or, shrivels up. Here’s what I found to choose from.

I went with the Royal Hustler Ivy.

I also have a couple of good-sized baskets sitting on chairs in the living room. One of them has a dead plant in it. The other one has a couple of leggy, sad, barely alive plants. I tossed out the dead plant, along with it’s container and the basket, which had a very marginalized bottom to it.

 

Last summer I brought inside a dish garden that I didn’t think would make it through the winter. I put it on a table by a window, and it did well there. It did so well that I’ve left it there, and I think it’ll stay there, all green and pretty. And still alive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This day belongs to the Lord! Let’s celebrate and be glad today.

Psalm 118:24 (Contemporary English Version)

 

It’s Fun with Friends time again, so I’ll be spending time with kids at church, doing some art.

Peter will be coming soon for a visit, and Kevin will be coming by, too, on his way to a ComicCon.

All the plants outside seem to be doing well/staying alive.

I’ve got lots and lots to be glad for.

 

What a Holiday!

| Goodness, Joy, Love

For my July 4 breakfast, I had the same thing I have every morning: a cheese and egg breakfast burrito. It’s not, I’m pretty sure, what the the Founding Fathers had for breakfast on July 4, 1776, but it is certainly an early American food. Very early, early American.

The word tortilla originates from the Spanish word tort meaning “cake” and its first documented use was around the mid-1600s. The food itself, a thin flatbread made from dried and finely ground corn, can be traced back many thousands of years to people of the Sierra Madre Mountains. Today, tortillas are second only to sliced bread as the number 2 packaged bread product sold, passing bagels and muffins.

I put some cheese on my tortilla. Apparently, not an American discovery, but I suppose we invented American cheese.

It is thought that cheese was first discovered around 8000 BC around the time when sheep were first domesticated, in Middle East, Europe, and Central Asia. Rennet, the enzyme used to make cheese, is naturally present in the stomachs of ruminants. The leak-proof stomachs and other bladder-like organs of animals were often put to use to store and transport milk and other liquids. Without refrigeration, warm summer heat in combination with residual rennet in the stomach lining would have naturally curdled the milk to produce the earliest forms of cheese.

East Indian history indicates that wild fowl were domesticated as early as 3200 B.C. Egyptian and Chinese records show that fowl were laying eggs for man in 1400 B.C. Europe has had domesticated hens since 600 B.C. There is some evidence of native fowl in the Americas prior to Columbus’ arrival. However, it is believed that, on his second trip in 1493, Columbus’ ships carried to the New World the first of the chickens, which originated in Asia, related to those now in egg production.

Most people of the world eat the egg of the chicken, Gallus domesticas. Nearly 200 breeds and varieties of chickens have been established worldwide. Most laying hens in the U.S. are Single-Comb White Leghorns.

My breakfast, then, has some American, and very, very, early American roots. I took my hand-held breakfast to the computer.

I enjoy working online jigsaw puzzles on the computer. They have a bit of an edge over regular jigsaw puzzles that come in a box. You do not have to worry about lost puzzle pieces, pieces that fall on the floor and no one notices, or, the ruthless friends and family members who will sneak a piece from the table and hide it in their pocket, so they can be the person who places the last piece into the puzzle, completing it. (No one like that in your family? Really?)

Anyway, I like the site Jigsaw Explorer. They put up a couple of new puzzles each day, and they have a big inventory of previous puzzles. The best part is that I can adjust the number of pieces into which the puzzle will be divided, from 6 to 1026. I like the 140-150 range myself. I enjoy completing a puzzle, but I don’t want to spend the entire day working on one. Thursday morning (July 4), I did the puzzle version of the painting “Congress Voting Independence,” by Robert Edge Pine.

For lunch, David said, “Where?” and I suggested D’s Mediterranean Grill, self-described as “Counter-serve Mediterranean-Middle Eastern eatery serving gyros, falafel, salads & kebabs in a casual setting.” He wasn’t so sure, but after looking at a couple of other places, he said OK. April and I had been there the past weekend and enjoyed it. They’ve been in business for several years and have expanded their menu quite a bit. In addition to their Mediterranean fare, they’ve added things like grilled chicken breasts, which is what I had, and, seriously, chicken fried steak, which is what David had. You get sides, and, last weekend, I had Fried Green Beans, which is why I suggested going there. More Fried Green Beans! David had some of those, too, braiding together Mediterranean/American cuisine in the most delicious way!

The saying “an army marches on its stomach” has been attributed to both Napoleon and Frederick the Great. It is recorded in English from the early 20th century.Which makes me wonder, “What did revolutionary was soldiers eat?” Or, rather, what were the revolutionary soldiers supposed to be getting to eat?

 

When in Rome . . . Well, IF in Rome

| Joy, Love

To people who question why I’ve spent so many years in Sunday School with preschoolers, I say, quite honestly, “It’s ‘way more fun.”

And quite interesting, in different ways, of course, from an adult Sunday School class. But interesting.

One Sunday last summer, the Bible story was Paul’s trip to Rome, which was interrupted by a storm that caused a shipwreck. Paul’s group and the sailors made it to Malta, where they stayed a while before going on to Rome, in a nice, new, sturdy ship.

I told the children the story, ending with, “And then Paul went on to Rome.”

One boy, a six year old who would be going into first grade in a couple of weeks, said, with aplomb, “I’ve been to Rome.”

And I knew he had.

Then, one of the youngest kids in the group, a four-year-old, said, as though everyone might have done the same thing, “I’ve been to Rome.”

And I knew that he, also, had been to Rome.

They both had done that traveling just a month or so before.

Because I live in a town with a Baptist-affiliated university and a Baptist-affiliated seminary, and I attend a Baptist church, I know folks who go really interesting places and do and learn really interesting things. The six-year-old’s mother is a professor of Old Testament, and she goes on digs, looking for bones and shards. The four-year-old’s parents teach in the language departments, and they spend a summer semester in Italy, teaching there.

I said to the boys, who’d been to Rome, “Some of the old buildings you saw in Rome are the same buildings that Paul saw, when he was there.”  And, yes, they smiled and nodded, agreeing with me, without having assurance, or, frankly, strong memories of what they’d seen. Their memories were mostly of what they’d eaten there.

And how can a four- and six-year-old really understand: “You’ve seen buildings that Paul saw.”

Those families will most likely keep on with these summer travels and experiences. As the kids grow, they’ll know and understand more of the uniqueness of their experiences. I hope there are lots of photographs.

I did a little bit of research and learned that the buildings that existed in Rome in Paul’s time* were the mausoleum of Augustus, and the Temples of Saturn and Castor and Pollux . None of the other ancient buildings that we see in travelogues and brochures, existed in Paul’s time. The Biblical World article mentions the Pantheon, which was a building in Paul’s time, but it later had significant damage from two large fires, and was rebuilt, completed by Hadrian around 125 C.E.

 

 

Paul, a loving and loyal servant of the Anointed One, Jesus. He called me to be his apostle and set me apart with a mission to reveal God’s wonderful gospel.  I write this letter to all his beloved chosen ones in Rome, for you have been divinely summoned to be holy in his eyes. May his joyous grace and total well-being, flowing from our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, rest upon you.

My commission is to preach the good news. Yet it is not entirely new, but the fulfillment of the hope promised to us through the many prophecies found in the sacred Scriptures.  For the gospel is all about God’s Son. As a man he descended from David’s royal lineage,  but as the mighty Son of God he was raised from the dead and miraculously set apart with a display of triumphant power supplied by the Spirit of Holiness. And now Jesus is our Lord and our Messiah.  Through him a joy-producing grace cascaded into us, empowering us with the gift of apostleship, so that we can win people from every nation into a faithful commitment to Jesus, to bring honor to his name.  And you are among the chosen ones who received the call to belong to Jesus, the Anointed One.  I write this letter to all his beloved chosen ones in Rome, for you have been divinely summoned to be holy in his eyes. May his joyous grace and total well-being, flowing from our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, rest upon you.

Romans 1:1-7 (The Passion Translation)

 

Jesus then took the barley loaves and the fish and gave thanks to God. He then gave it to the disciples to distribute to the people. Miraculously, the food multiplied, with everyone eating as much as they wanted!

John 6:11 (The Passion Translation)

 

Several years ago, a guy at church, a high-school history teacher, planned a summer field trip to Europe. He was really interested in World War II, and the students who went visited places like Dunkirk and Paris. They even went to Haarlem, in the Netherlands, to see Corrie Ten Boom’s Hiding Place. His wife and 5-year-old daughter went, too.

One Sunday morning, lots of kids in Sunday School were talking about summer trips they made. One went to “a big, big mall; with a roller coaster!” Another went to a beach. Another went to Six Flags. The European traveler was listening to her friends, but not chiming in. I finally asked, “Did you take a trip with Mom and Dad?” She looked at me confused. “Did you fly on a plane with Mom and Dad and Dad’s students?” She nodded. “Did you see anything interesting?” Hmmmmmmm. “Did you have anything interesting to eat?” She brightened. “One day,” she said, “I ate all my meat and all my salad and all my vegetables.” Wonderful.

At the end of worship service that day, I went to find her parents and described what she remembered most about her wonderful trip to Europe. “She told me,” I said, “how she ate all her meat and all her salad and all her vegetables.” They looked at each other and rolled their eyes. “That,” they said, “was on the plane on the trip home.”

That was many, many years ago. This summer, that same girl, who is a lovely young woman now, is doing an internship at an agency in Africa. I can’t wait to chat with her when she returns. I’d love to know what sort of things she ate.

 

In so many different ways, we feed, and are fed.

 

* The Biblical World, Vol. 3, No. 2 (Feb., 1894), pp. 87-96 (10 pages); Published by: The University of Chicago Press: Henry F. Burto

I Had an Idea. And Then I Had a Better One.

| Joy, Patience

I had a idea, but it wasn’t a particularly good one. (Alas, my life has consistently been made up of: “Oh, yeah, that’s a good idea. I could so do that;” when the reality is more like: “That will never work!”)

This is a section from a photo album from July 4, 2009. We had this small grill, but I hadn’t actually used it myself. I had asked Kevin to put it on that bench and put the charcoal in it and light it so we could cook some hamburgers. Because I’d never used it, I didn’t realize that it had little legs that you were supposed to pull down, to raise the grill up a little bit. Kevin did indeed prepare the grill, just as I’d said to, and he came in a little while later and said, “The bench is on fire.”

That little illustration of a grill with legs is a cute sticker that I’d attached to the page, to make the whole thing look a little more attractive.

I kept that bench for many more years, but I just put plants on it and no one ever tried to sit on it.

 

Lately, I’ve been trying to straighten up and improve the appearance on the patio, and I had this good idea. I’ve made a shelving arrangement with some concrete pieces and cedar planks, where plants stay during the spring and summer and fall. I went to the lumber department of a local home store, chose some cedar planks, and had them cut to the right sizes. Then, I put weather sealer on them. This was a leftover piece.

I hated that the bench was unusable. I had an idea. What if I attached that extra shelf piece to the underside of the bench, underneath that burned spot. Then, folks could safely sit on it. Right?

I went and got clamps and a hand drill and some screws. I’m not real handy, but I’m sort of handy. I clamped the extra shelf piece underneath the blackened spot, then I turned the bench upside-down, to decide where I might think about drilling some holes.

This bench is, I think, leftover from a picnic table and bench set that had been on the patio since my childhood. The bench was all that was left. And, apparently, over the years, my dad, I guess, had spent time shoring up its aging self. There were screws and nails, and the whole thing was decidedly shaky. It seemed that, even if I did make the burned part sturdier, there were still going to be some security issues. I gave up. I got out a hammer, saw, screwdriver, and pliers, and took the whole thing apart. I sawed it into pieces and bagged the pieces up and put it all into the trash. And was a little sad.

I still wanted some place for folks to sit. I visited the garden departments in a few stores, looking for seats that might work. What I had in mind were smaller versions of picnic-table-type benches. I didn’t have luck finding the regular, old-fashioned-type picnic table sets, much less only benches. How disappointing!

Then I wondered if I could find something online. Well, of course I could find something online. It’s the “2 in 1 Outdoor Interchangeable Picnic Table/Garden Bench.” It comes partially assembled.

 

It came in a box about five feet tall and two feet wide and, oh, a couple of inches deep. It was pretty heavy. I shoved it off the porch after it got delivered; then I just turned it end over end over end, all the way to the back yard and the patio. There were all sorts of pieces (see left) and a handy tightener-thing, for bolts (see right). I had to use my own Phillips screwdriver.

There was an easy-to-understand diagram, with all the pieces illustrated and identified by number. The screws and bolts were identified by letter. That tightener was item “D.”

 

 

All put together, it can be a table with benches. Or, it can be a nice place to sit and read.

 

Nifty, huh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

May God do what you want most and let all go well for you.

Psalm 20:4 (Contemporary English Version)

 

There are many, many, many things I can’t do. And it seems like I’ve needed lots and lots of disasters to help me understand what I can easily do, what I might can get done, and what I should never, ever, ever even think of trying to do. However, the “2 in 1 Outdoor Interchangeable Picnic Table/Garden Bench,” oh, I’ve got that one!

 

And Spring Turns Into Summer

| Joy

As I’ve been working in the yard these past springtime months, I’ve unearthed quite a few worms. There seem to be more than usual, but I think that must be due to the enormous amount of rainfall we’ve had, these last few weeks. Some springs, and moving onto the high-heat summers that follow, there’s a minimum of rainfall and a maximum of searing sunshine.

I guess there were worms, but they burrowed ‘way, ‘way, ‘way down to where the soil is more moist and more easily traveled through, wormwise.

This spring has been really unusual. Lots of rain. LOTS of rain. I was digging up some plants to move to a different part of the yard, and, with every scoop of my shovel, there was a rather loud, squelching sound. SLUUUUURP! And, when I walked through some grassless areas in the yard, my Crocs would sink into the mud. Sometimes they would get stuck in the mud.

Things are a little less wet, now, but it’s still pretty easy to dig up things. Like those worms.

A dug-up worm obviously doesn’t like to be dug up. They wriggle and wiggle and work really hard to get back down in the dirt. They are very interesting to watch when they do that.

 

I know better than to think that the rest of the summer is going to have plenty of rainfall and delightfully cool temperatures. Meanwhile, I’m going to enjoy each day, until the real summer shows up.

 

 

 

Nor only are there worms (and, of course, bugs), but my little green friend has returned. Maybe he’ll help with the bug issue.

 

I did look up earthworms and found that I could actually purchase some earthworms.

The link is to Amazon. Worms, however, are not eligible for Amazon Prime.

 

 

 

Look how the wild flowers grow! They don’t work hard to make their clothes. But I tell you that Solomon with all his wealth wasn’t as well clothed as one of these flowers.

Luke 12:27 (Contemporary English Version)

 

I grateful for the rain that waters my yard and for the earthworms that make the soil good for growing things and for a good God that puts beauty in my life, in so many ways.

 

 

 

 

AND–It’s a Wrap!

| Joy, Love, Patience

October seems like quite a while ago. In reality, I might be looking at only twenty-five or so Tuesday lunchtimes when I went to the elementary school near my church, and sat with three second-graders to listen to them read. There were intervening holidays, testing dates, and the time I said I couldn’t come on Tuesday the next week and a clever girl said, “You could come on Friday, instead, like you did that other time.” And I had, indeed, done that, and I ended up doing it again, because she asked.

School is out. Reading Club is over for another school year.

We read a lot of Mo Willem’s Elephant and Piggy books. One kid was a pretty good reader, maybe not compared to others of the same age, but stellar when compared to the other two. One of those improved over the weeks. The other one was still struggling with “and” and “the,” at year’s end.

These are the books that we read together on our last Reading Club day.

I chose this book because the entire vocabulary of the book is “Mine,” and “Yours,” on each page, with an “Ours” added in twice. I was thinking that, with the limited vocabulary of two of my three readers, they should get the hang of it pretty quickly. The story is of a small Panda who comes across the lair of a larger Panda. The smaller Panda asks “Ours?” and the larger Panda picks up the small Panda and deposits him outside, saying: “Yours!” as he walks back inside, indicating that the lair is “Mine.” The small Panda hangs around until the large Panda gives him a kite and says “Yours,” sending him on his way. As the little Panda comes across other woodland creatures, he consistently gets the “Mine” response when he shows interest in other playthings, and a redirection of “Yours,” in regard to the kite. So, we are moving along, page by page, and I am describing the action: others are protective of their belongings. At one point, the kite begins to become enmeshed in leaves and trees and playthings of others. When the other forest folk realize the problem, they join forces and rescue the small Panda, pulling him to safety. The next page shows all those forest folk, along with all their playthings, all together in the lair of the large Panda. The boy reader looks at me and says, “This is a GOOD story!” “Yes, it is a good story,” I say. “Everyone is getting along and sharing and working together.” I hadn’t realized he was beginning to feel anxious.

 

 

This is the other book we read. We are fond of the author Mo Willems, writer of the Elephant and Piggy books. I also had a reason for choosing this book, too. The first couple of pages have illustrations of the fox and the duck. The story’s words are the fox inviting the duck home for dinner. My best reader read two two-page spreads. My next best reader read the pages that included the duck’s responses, which were things such as, “Oh, that’s a good idea,” and “Yes, I’d like that.” Then, my struggling reader read the chick’s input, which was “That’s not a good idea.” Those three sections repeat, with similar responses. The chick continues with the not-such-a-good-idea comments, adding, “really,” and “really, really,” and “really, really, really.”

As we read through the sections, whenever we got to the chick’s page, she eagerly “read” what the page said, with sometimes some help. At one point, she said, with great joy and eagerness, “I am SO reading this book!”

So, we know she’s “reading” what she knows the page says. But, she’s enjoying being part of the ensemble. She’s excited about following the plot line of the story. And, maybe next time someone picks up a book, she’ll get close and want to know what the story says. Wanting to read is the beginning of reading.

 

As Reading Club volunteers, we can give small books as end-of-school gifts. Here’s what I give:

 

White boards. A couple of years ago, I bought a box of two dozen inexpensive white boards that came with small erasers (that blue square thing on the table). I bring dry erase markers in a variety of colors, and they can choose two to keep. You can probably figure out that I’m not allowed to show the kids’ faces. And, you can probably figure out who’s my best reader (the kid who can spell). The board in the center isn’t erasing well, so I got a new one for her, one that doesn’t get all smeary.

So long sweet friends. Maybe I’ll see you in the fall.

 

Children are God’s love-gift; they are heaven’s generous reward.

Psalm 127:3 (The Passion Translation)

 

 

 

Doesn’t seem like there’s anything else to say.

Moving from This-Is-Pretty-I-Think-I-Can-Grow-This to Can-I-Keep-This-Alive-for-the-Next-Three-Months

| Joy, Love, Patience, Peace

I’m working a lot these days, trying to get things done outside, before the really bad, hot, vicious, summer weather drops in. The temps have, and will be, in the eighties, the next few days, inching up and up, until maybe Tuesday, when the forecast is for 90°. I’ve moved some plants, repotted some plants, pruned some plants, dug up lots of weeds, picked up quite a few limbs and twigs, and reworked a little paved pathway that leads to the compost bins. I’ve had to start hand watering the patio plants; alas, all that nice rain we were having constantly, has abated.

I was working, in the late, late afternoon, last week. I had dug up some liriope, to transplant around a tree. The wind had picked up, and I was working as quickly as I could, to get done before the sun went down. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement, and I thought I saw a bicycle tire, rolling right towards me! I did need a few seconds to realize that it was not at all a bicycle.

 

It was very late afternoon, almost dark, and David wasn’t at home. And, apparently, I was a little on edge. While I work in the yard, and in the house, too, I listen to podcasts on my phone. They entertain and inform me, and make mundane work go faster. I find true-crime casts interesting. Possibly, if I’m anxious about yardwaste bins rolling by me, unexpectedly, I might possibly look for other kinds of podcasts.

 

Meanwhile, every time I go outside, there are branches and twigs in the yard. And I don’t mean just everyday, I mean when I go out in the morning (at which time I pick them up and put them in the yardwaste bin), but also in the early afternoon, and the late afternoon, and the early evening, and between the time that I go in the house to get and drink of water and come back. We’ve had a LOT of serious wind, and I don’t understand why they don’t just ALL drop on down at the same time. They’re all dead!

I’ve looked up into the pecan tree, and there seem to be several leafless limbs and twigs up there. Why don’t they just fall down? Maybe they’re next year’s leaf-drop crop.

 

 

You will keep the mind that is dependent on you in perfect peace, for it is trusting in you.

Isaiah 26:3 (Christian Standard Bible)

 

I’ve gone to the “search” spot on my phone to find more podcasts to enjoy. I’ve found several from Rachel Held Evans which I know I’ll enjoy. And, they’ll be ‘way more enriching than “Crime Junkie,” and “Murder Minute.”

I Apologize

| Faithfulness, Joy, Patience

A couple of weeks ago, I was working in the backyard, when I began to hear “Hello? Hello? Hello?” The words seemed to be coming from the back pocket of my overalls. I took off one of my gardening gloves and reached back to pull out my phone. April was Face-Timing me.

“Hi!” I said.

“Hi,” she said back. “I really can’t talk right now,” she continued.

I was confused, and must have looked like it. Turns out, I had Face-Timed her. Inadvertently. By sitting down on my gardening cart and then getting up. I guess. I apologized and we hung up.

A few minutes later, I felt a buzz from my back pocket. When I looked at the phone, there was a message, from a phone number instead of a name, and the message said, “I can’t talk right now.” I had, apparently, pocket-dialed someone else. I don’t actually know who it was, because I never went back through my contacts to find the number. It can’t have been someone I know well, because they would have, or might have, called back.

Anyway, I’m just bringing it up in case you’ve received some random call or request from me. If so, I’m sorry. I’m trying to be more responsible, by making sure that, when the phone goes into my pocket, the screen isn’t on the contact list.

Here’s today’s weather information from Thursday’s paper. We’ve had an unusual spring. Rain, rain, rain, and then some more rain. There are parts of the yard where I squish and squish when I walk over the grass. Last Sunday morning, I checked the back yard and, for the first time in several days, there was no standing water. On Monday, it rained some more. And Tuesday. And Wednesday. I’ve been going outside, between rain showers, every day. Thursday, the rain came in really early, and then the sun shone for hours! But still, my shoes were heavy from all the mud that accumulated as I walked around the yard. And, by mid-afternoon, the clouds had come rolling back in.

The rain is supposed to begin again in the wee hours Friday morning, and continue until noon or so. But the high temperature is only supposed to be 62.

And, I’m really not complaining. Every drop of water that falls from the sky is a drop of water that I’m not having to pay for when I need to use the sprinkler system. Every pleasant day is a day we’re not having to run the air conditioner.

 

 

Speaking of the neighbors, they were all busy Thursday, the first really sunny, warm day in ages. The yard right behind me got mowed. The guy next door to me mowed their yard, too. And, there’s a little piece of yard that’s next to the one behind me, that backs up to a back corner of my yard. That guy did a lot of weed-eating. I guess they’re feeling like they should get lots of yard work done because the rain is supposed to be rolling back in. Imminently.

 

A few days ago, I was happy to see the little dark lizard was still on the premises.

 

But instead be kind and affectionate toward one another. Has God graciously forgiven you? Then graciously forgive one another in the depths of Christ’s love.

Ephesians 4:32 (The Passion Translation)

 

Okay, pocket-dialing somebody isn’t exactly a huge mistake, but, I don’t want to bother folks, especially by mistake. Meanwhile, our being kind and affectionate toward each other (and graciously forgiving), seems like the way to go.

April Showers Bring . . . Well, Some More Showers

| Faithfulness, Joy, Patience

We haven’t had standing water in the back yard in years. It takes a few days for the greatly sodden dirt to soak up the excess water. Then it rains, REALLY RAINS, again.

It’s been raining. Quite a bit. According to the weather information in the newspaper, our total rainfall this month has been 6.73 inches. And we’re not done with the month, yet. The weather forecast for the rest of the month says there might be a thunderstorm on Tuesday. The normal rainfall for April is 2.04 inches. The excess seems like a good idea, given what June, July, and August are sometimes like.

 

These days, when it rains, it does pour. I hope the rainfall abates enough to keep the mosquito population from becoming a problem. Meanwhile, the grass is looking great!

On Palm Sunday weekend, there was a big rainfall, lots of wind, and dropping temperatures on Saturday evening. Our Worship in the Park plan seemed to be in jeopardy (when we have our worship service in a park across the street, along with the church that is catty-cornered from us, on the other side of the park). The sun really did come out and the temperature rose, somewhat. Songs were sung, prayers were prayed, choirs sang, pastors preached, children handed out palm branches, which were waved in the air as we celebrated. Peter had come, and David returned him to Fort Worth that afternoon.

 

The afternoon was warm, and I spent a hour or so picking up the small branches that had fallen from the pecan tree. Pecan tree limbs are, apparently, rather easily broken. But they often just break off and stay perched up on the uppermost branches, for what sometimes seem like years. Many of these got blown down. I spent an hour or so Sunday afternoon, picking them up and breaking them up. The large green bin was about half full. I put in enough of the pecan tree’s broken branches to almost fill the green bin to the top.

 

 

 

 The Lord will bring about justice and praise in every nation on earth, like flowers blooming in a garden.

Isaiah 61:11 (Contemporary English Version)