Posts Categorized: Joy

I Prefer to Rely on My Mind’s Eye

| Joy, Peace

Interesting, isn’t it, how our eyes can see something, but out minds can translate the picture we thought we saw into something a little different from what we actually saw.

Last Saturday morning, I left the house pretty early, off to run errands before the rest of the folks got up and about. There was a really lovely sunrise.

I saw the beautiful sunrise. Only the beautiful sunrise. My brain, quite thoroughly, edited out the billboards, the traffic lights, all the traffic, the dashboard, and my inspection sticker. I was really surprised, and quite frustrated, by all the visual clutter in the photo. I wanted the sunrise.

I run into this problem when I’m in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

 

I am overwhelmed by the beauty of the mountains, and am always trying to capture that beauty. I often completely overlook the phone lines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I guess I’ll have two choices, if I want to get out early enough next Saturday to see a pretty sunrise. Early enough to drive outside of town and see if I can find a billboard-free piece of scenic attractiveness that includes a sunrise and a cloud or two. Or, I can just drive around town and let my brain’s selective visuals do that work for me.

 

From sunrise brilliance to sunset beauty, lift up his praise from dawn to dusk!

Psalm 113:3 (The Passion Translation)

 

 

Brilliance. Beauty. Brilliance. Beauty.

His praise, from dawn to dusk!

(You can sing this to the tune “Sunrise, Sunset,” from Fiddler on the Roof. Try it, while you’re ignoring the signs and billboards. Well, you’ll need to obey the traffic signals, of course.)

Thanks, but I *Like* What I Do in Sunday School

| Joy

Maybe I’d learn more, or understand more, or be challenged more, or be inspired more, if I went to Sunday School with grown-ups. But we have our own brand of learning, understanding, challenges, and inspiration, down in preschool Sunday School. I’ve been doing Sunday School the preschool way for m-a-n-y years, and there’s never a dull moment.

And in other important news, Kindergartner Peter has turned six.

 

Some people brought their small children to Jesus so he could touch them. But his followers told the people to stop bringing their children to him. When Jesus saw this, he was displeased. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them. The kingdom of God belongs to people who are like these little children. I tell you the truth. You must accept the kingdom of God as a little child accepts things, or you will never enter it.” Then Jesus took the children in his arms. He put his hands on them and blessed them.

Mark 10:13-16 (International Children’s Bible)

Seemed like an appropriate translation/version to use . . .

Afterthoughts

| Joy, Kindness

After/thoughts. It’s a real word. I checked. But, when I actually look at the word, it looks like “aftert houghts,” and makes me wonder if, when I’m reading quickly along, I might be stopped by thinking “Aftert houghts? What are those?” One definition of the word is “on second thought,” which might be a better usage. Or, I can just trust you to read it right in the first place.

Anyway, in thinking through those moments just before the second of those medical procedures from a couple of weeks ago, I recall the hubbub that seemed to bring something like panic through the cadre of medical professionals around me. My blood pressure was really high. There was lots of discussion about what to do about it. And I kept saying, “I don’t have high blood pressure.” Because, yes, indeed, I do not actually have high blood pressure. I had some visits with a cardiologist, a few years ago, because my blood pressure was so low that I’d, very briefly, passed out a couple of times. His advice was, “Get up slowly.” And I’ve pretty much been following his advice since then.

It’s not that I doubt that my blood pressure was elevated, lying there on that bed, waiting for the second attempt at the procedure, as I’d not had any solid food since Sunday. I’d not had anything to drink (except for that unpleasant-tasting colonoscopy prep liquid, which, I suppose, did hydrate me, maybe), since Tuesday. I’d had almost no sleep since Sunday night. And I’d had to sit in the waiting for an hour, and wondering if my colon was adequately prepared this time. Who wouldn’t have elevated blood pressure!

But the thing that may have made my blood pressure rise, even more than it had been, was a nurse who leaned ‘way up in my face and said, in a rather cloying and accusatory voice, “Honey! Have you not been taking your blood pressure medicine?”

And I said, “I don’t have high blood pressure,” for the first of several times.

FYI-we senior adults do NOT like to be talked to and treated like children. Or called “Honey,” by total strangers.

I do understand that these are medically-trained professionals, and their job is to make sure that patients are healthy and compliant with procedures and prescriptions. And I also suppose that there are patients who don’t take their medications and don’t follow guidelines. But I do want the medical professionals to treat me as though I am compliant, unless I have a history that says I’m not.

There was no problem with my blood pressure Tuesday, the day before, when I was being prepped. That day, and the next day, a nurse had gone over my prescription list, which was on the computer. If I’d had a prescription for high blood pressure medication, it would have been on the list. Since there was none, the assumption should have been that it was not a diagnosis I had.

As I was being disengaged from the IV’s, etc. after I was done, a nurse asked when I’d last seen my primary care physician. “Six weeks ago,” I said,emphatically. “My blood pressure was fine.”

She said, “You should get a home blood pressure cuff. They’re easy to use. And you can check your blood pressure.”

“I have a home blood pressure cuff,” I said. “And I know how to use it. I got it a while back, when I was seeing a cardiologist, because my blood pressure was so low that I was passing out.”

They tell you that you probably won’t remember much from the colonoscopy experience, and of course, I don’t remember the procedure itself, but I’m pretty clear on what happened before I was put to sleep. And one of the last things I remember, before being wheeled from the prep area to the procedure area, was a nurse saying to the doctor, “Are you going to do anything about this blood pressure?” And he said, “No.”

I wouldn’t be surprised if my blood pressure had begun to drop right then. I know that I felt soothed and relieved, knowing that my physician was on my side.

 

 

Now, may the Lord himself, the Lord of peace, pour into you his peace in every circumstance and in every possible way. The Lord’s tangible presence be with you all.

2 Thessalonians 3:16 (The Passion Translation)

 

Interestingly, but not unexpectedly, when I went, two days later, for an appointment at the kidney center, the nurse who took my blood pressure said, “One ten over sixty. That’s great!” When the doctor came in and looked at all the numbers, he was even more enthusiastic. My kidney function was 36.6%, higher than it’s been in years and twice what it was in June of 2012, when they were starting to talk about dialysis.

And look!” he said. “Your blood pressure is really good!” Seems like I don’t have high blood pressure.

 

Membership Perks

| Joy, Kindness, Love, Patience

A couple of weeks ago, I had to wait for a prescription at Target to be filled. I spent the time wandering around the book department, where I shamelessly used my phone to take photos of book covers that I thought looked interesting and hoped that the library would have copies that I could check out, for free, to read.

 

 

I was startled, in a really good way, to see this book. A few years ago, I read Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. It’s a YA novel (Young Adult) with a really quirky plot, and I enjoyed it. Then, I found, at the library, of course, Book 2 (Hollow City) and Book 3 (Library of Souls) and read them, too. I thought that was the end, but, ta-dah, there, at Target, was Book 4 (A Map of Days). I’m about halfway into it. Just as quirky, just as interesting, and the only problem is that I’ve forgotten some of the characters and plot specifics, which the author is helping me with by subtle references, that are making me go. “Oh, yeah. Those guys.” Or, “Hmmmm. Was he invisible? Was she really tall?”

 

 

Anyway, the previous reader left her bookmark in the book, and I’m using it, too. Doesn’t it seem like the perfect, quirky sort of bookmark for a quirky book? I’m pretty sure that the most recent borrower of the book is female, because she also left her checkout receipt in the book, too. (Sometimes they make nice, disposable bookmarks, also.)

 

 

Here’s her checkout slip. I don’t ever keep mine, because I don’t use them to keep track of my due dates, as I use my information on the library website, to keep track of what I have on hold, what’s ready to be picked up, and what can be renewed, or must be returned. Or, in too many instances, what has accrued a fine. And, there’s a self checkout area where I can scan and check out books myself, and the computer asks if I want a receipt, and I always decline, because that’s just another piece of paper floating around. The only time I have a receipt is when I get a DVD, which the librarians are required to check out, because the DVD cases are locked and the librarians unlock them (a thievery prevention system). Because I rarely get these slips, I’ve not noticed the information at the bottom. (Above the “Thank You” part)

Here’s my most recent slip. (Yes, I’m looking forward to watching Mr. Rogers. Soon.) I’ve never before noticed that financial information. I’m apparently getting close to saving $8000.00 by borrowing items from the library, instead of purchasing them. And, seriously, that’s nowhere NEAR the amount of money I’ve saved since I “began using the library.” I’ve been using the library since I was, I think, 7. That’s bound to be hundreds of thousands of dollars. This most recent total is just the $7,857.82 I’ve saved since they started keeping track. I need to ask them when they started doing that.

And, seriously, I can’t be buying any more books! Where would I put them?

It’s so hard to think of getting rid of books. Thank goodness there’s a library.

 

 

I use stories when I speak to them because when they look, they cannot see, and when they listen, they cannot hear or understand.

Matthew 13:13 (Contemporary English Version)

 

Miss Peregrine’s lot of Peculiar Children are a crew of, well, misfits of a sort. They behave as bravely as they can, they support their friends, they work together, in general, and they make a difference in their imaginary world. They rather remind me of some folks who cobbled together a group with different skill sets who worked together, in general, to make a difference in their very real world.

Meanwhile, I got an e-mail from the library informing me that my “membership in the library” was expiring, and that I needed to come in and renew it. The guy at the desk at the library was appropriately embarrassed at the term, but did explain that they were trying to update things so that someone who had moved out of town 20 years ago could be safely removed from the system. I do sort of understand, but it also seems like, if I’ve accrued, in the recent few months, nearly $8000.00 in library materials used, that mine would be a name that could safely be checked off as “active.”

 

 

The Great American Baker

| Joy, Love, Patience

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about Peter’s idea for the cake we should bake, in the manner of the Great British Baking Show, which he finds so very compelling. He was here again, for a few days, and had an additional idea for a “Bread Week” challenge (for our imaginary bakers). Chocolate Bread. It seemed like the very most perfect way for us to spend our Sunday afternoon. He thought I would be able to locate a recipe for chocolate bread, and, of course, in another time it might have been difficult. These days, “Chocolate Bread” in the search bar brings up all sorts of ideas. I chose one and checked my supplies and made a list of what else we’d need, which we purchased on Friday. Sunday, after church and after lunch, we got to work.

We mixed the dry ingredients together in a big container. Then, we combined warm water and yeast with the dough hook in the mixer, added the dry ingredients, and used the dough hook for the first mixing. After that,  we added enough more flour so that the bread dough was sturdy enough for kneading. Kneading is pretty messy work, at least until all the extra flour is getting kneaded in.

 

The next step is rising. Our bread didn’t rise very well, maybe due to a too cool temperature in the kitchen. The dishwasher was running while we were working, and, when I opened the dishwasher to take out the clean dishes, we felt how very nice and warm the dishwasher was, so . . .

 

 

 

 

 

we put the covered pan of bread dough inside the nice, warm dishwasher (with the door open a bit), and the dough rose quite nicely in there.

Then, we made four round loaves, and let them rise. (One of those loaves rather collapsed, so we tossed it out.) The remaining three loaves, after having slashes made across their tops, were baked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The chocolate bread turned out pretty tasty. A perfect accompaniment for breakfast cereal. There was a loaf for Peter to share with the boy next door, who came to play with Peter on Saturday afternoon and loaned Peter a few of his own toys to use for the rest of the weekend. And, Peter and Kevin took home a loaf to share with April.

 

And, because I’m so sure that everybody is going to want to know how to make real Chocolate Bread, here’s the recipe:

 

 

 

 

 

Chocolate Bread

Ingredients

7 cups of bread flour (scoop and level off)

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup natural cocoa powder
1 3/4 cups chopped bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (we used a bag of dark chocolate chips)
2 teaspoons salt
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 packet)
3 1/4 cups water

Directions
Combine the flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, chocolate chips, and salt in a mixing bowl. Mix well, breaking up the lumps of brown sugar as needed.
Combine the yeast and water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook; beat on low speed. When the yeast has dissolved, add the flour-chocolate mix and knead with the dough hook attachment. At first it will look as though you have just wasted great chocolate, but soon the dough will pull together. After about 4 minutes, turn off the mixer and use your finger to poke at the dough. If it seems too soft and sticky, knead in more flour a tablespoon at a time.
Lightly flour a work surface. Transfer the dough to the surface and knead by hand for 4 or 5 minutes.
Use a little neutrally flavored oil to grease the inside of a large bowl. Shape the dough into a ball, place it in the bowl and cover with a damp dishcloth. Let it rise for 90 minutes to 2 hours
or until it has doubled in size. (The temperature of the area should not be so warm that the chocolate starts to melt.)
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.(I don’t know what kind of baking sheet and oven this writer has, but we needed two baking sheets to hold the four loaves and only two at a time fit in my oven.)
Gently knock down the dough (in the bowl), then divide it into 4 equal portions. Knead each one into a ball and place on the parchment paper with enough space in between to keep the risen loaves from touching; cover with a damp cloth. When dough has almost doubled in size (about 90 minutes), it is ready to freeze or bake.

 

TO BAKE: Place a cast-iron skillet or small, shallow baking pan on an oven rack positioned on the next level below the middle rack. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Use a very sharp knife to make 5 shallow slashes, cut parallel on the diagonal, on the tops of the loaves. As the dough rises in the oven, these slashes will expand, giving the finished loaf a fat football shape. Place the loaves in the oven (still on the cooking parchment) and toss about 1/2 cup of water into the hot skillet or pan below the bread. Close the oven immediately. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the bread has reached an internal temperature of 198 to 205 degrees.
Transfer the loaves to a wire rack and allow them to cool to room temperature.

TO FREEZE: Place the risen, unbaked loaves in the freezer (on the parchment-paper-lined baking sheet). After they have frozen solid, wrap the loaves individually (including the parchment under them) in plastic wrap, then wrap again in resealable plastic food storage bags. The unbaked loaves can be frozen for 2 or 3 months.
To defrost, remove the wrapped loaves from their plastic bags and set them on a flat surface in the refrigerator (still wrapped in plastic) to defrost overnight. When the loaves have completely defrosted, carefully remove the plastic wrap. Then wake up the yeast in the bread dough with a warm, moist sauna by boiling 1/2 cup of water in the microwave on HIGH; carefully move the boiled water to one corner of the microwave, then place the unwrapped, unbaked loaf in the center of the microwave and close the door. Let it sit for 1 hour.
After the sauna, slash and bake as directed above.

 

Go, eat your bread with pleasure, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already accepted your works.

Ecclesiastes 9:7

Today, 70% of the world’s cocoa beans come from four West African countries: Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon. Originally, it grew in Central and South America. And I guess that, if I didn’t know about chocolate, then I wouldn’t be able to feel unhappy about not having it.

 

 

It Feels Like Some of the Old Year Is Still Hanging Around.

| Joy, Kindness, Love

Post-Christmas and holidays, and things are settling down back into normal, or usual. But the memories are still fresh.

Last Christmas, I found a notebook that had one of those sequin covers where the sequins can be brushed one way or the other to create designs. The sequins were black in one direction and gold in the other, and Peter enjoyed creating ominous black clouds on the covers. I’ve seen more and more of those sorts of items in the ensuing months. I’ve thought they were intriguing, but I wasn’t interested in buying another sequined item until I was at the HEB last month. This large pillow seemed like another compelling item for family fun. Basically, brushed one way, there are green wedges and white wedges. Brushed the other way, there are red wedges and white wedges. Peter discovered that he could make a spiral. And, if you’re really careful and concentrating, you can have a green/red version. Rather mesmerizing.

It seems that my consistent struggle with chilly temps has been taken to heart by family members. I got a muff, hand made hand warmers, handwarmers, and, that black thing that looks like a computer mouse is an electronic, rechargeable handwarmer. Toasty days ahead for me!

And, I also got some books, to warm my soul.

I’ve talked before about Peter’s interest in The Great British Baking Show, which I watch when I’m walking on my treadmill. And he will encourage me to take a break from whatever I happen to be doing so I can have my walk. (And he can watch bakers.) His most recent idea is that we should have our own Great Baking Show, and has created an imaginary kitchen, stage, and bakers to be contestants on that program. “We’ll ask them to make a cake,” he suggested. “A two-layer cake. No!” he changed his mind. “We’ll ask them to bake just one layer, and then they’ll have to slice it in half. The bakers have a hard time slicing a layer in half,” he says, knowingly. He likes to make things challenging for our imaginary bakers. He wanted a brown sugar cake, which I had to go online to find a recipe for. And he wanted vanilla frosting in the center. I suggested a browned butter frosting, since it might look prettier with the brown sugar cake. Then, we made dark and white chocolate stars for the top. Just because.

I’ve recently read this biography of Fred Rogers. His growing-up years were interesting to learn about. His family was a wealthy one, and his parents quietly helped employees in their company who might have been struggling with overwhelming bills, and made sure that needs were met. They supported their son, and later a daughter, too, in their interests, and provided a strong spiritual foundation. Fred had imagined that he would grow up to be a Presbyterian minister. Thank goodness he went the early childhood route!

I really enjoyed the book, and recalled hearing Mr. Rogers’ songs played every weekday morning in our house when the boys were preschoolers. And I wondered if the library might have some Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood videos. Of course they did. I got one, planning to introduce Peter to the the charm and delight of Mister Rogers.

Peter stayed in Waco for several days after his parents went back to Fort Worth, and, that first morning, I explained about the program that his dad and Uncle Jeremy had watched. Peter was uninterested. “I don’t want to watch that,” he said. “We’re watching it,” I said. He whined. I reminded him that I am always doing the things that he asks me to do and, this time, it’s my turn. “We’re watching it,” I said.

Peter groaned and got up on the day bed and barricaded himself behind pillows. I started the video, and Fred Rogers came through his door, singing, “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor, would you be mine?”

“I wonder what he’s carrying?” I said. (It was a pasta maker. Mister Rogers always brings in something interesting.) By the time Mister Rogers had sat down and taken off his street shoes and put on his tennis shoes, Peter was sitting on the edge of the bed and smiling. We watched the whole episode, and, by time the second episode began, Peter was sitting in my lap. A Fred Rogers convert.

Meanwhile, I just put away the last of the Christmas boxes on Wednesday.

 

 The Lord‘s unfailing love and mercy still continue, Fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise.

Lamentations 3:22-23 (Good News Translation)

“Fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise.” That seems like a wonderful way to welcome in a nice, new year.

 

 

 

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like I Need to Get Busy

| Joy, Patience, Peace

Does anyone ever feel like they’re completely ready for the birthday, the graduation, the big event, the whatever’s going on? It just always seems like there’s one more thing I need to do. Or, worse, one more thing that I’d forgotten I should do. It seems like I’m ready, but I suspect that there will be that Oh, No! moment when I remember that I’m NOT ready. I made cookies with a friend last weekend, and mine are in the freezer. I’ve mailed off all but one of the packages that needs to go. I’ve worked on Christmas cards (don’t you like to get them, surprise-like, a few days after Christmas?). The stockings are crammed full. I’ve put together most of the parts of our Christmas lasagna. The room where Kevin and April stay when they are here is getting close to being “guest-ready.” I might need to go to the grocery store tomorrow, and maybe the next day and the next.

Meanwhile, last weekend I went to Fort Worth for April’s graduation ceremony on Friday. Then, on Saturday, I went off to one of my favorite places to shop, the amazing grocery store Central Market. The main entrance opens onto the fresh foods area. It’s enormous. I got some apples. It was pretty chilly in that part. I walked around the corner where the meat market is, but it was really cold in there, so I turned around.

There are many vegetarian shoppers at the store, and they complained at some point about having to walk through the meat department (which includes live lobsters) to reach the other parts of the store. So, a while back, they cut an additional doorway from the fresh food section into the personal care area. I did go that way, and it’s where I get the soap I like. But, by then, I was pretty chilled.

They use the best bags there. I always try to remember to take my own reusable bags; I sometimes forget. But, since the bags are these nice, brown paper, handled bags, I save them and use them for all sorts of things. Here are my lovely apples, Snap Dragon, and Autumn Glory and Green Dragon.

 

At home, I’ve tried to sprout “micro-greens,” like I did for Thanksgiving a few years ago. I’m not having much success this time. The micro-greens aren’t sprouting particularly well, and they are all leggy. I don’t really think the mushroom spores were included in the seed packet. I guess they just wafted in from somewhere. I pulled these out, but another, tiny one has come up. Maybe our Christmas dinner salad will be micro-green-free.

 

 

 

Shout praises to the Lord! Praise God in his temple. Praise him in heaven, his mighty fortress.

Praise our God! His deeds are wonderful, too marvelous to describe.

Praise God with trumpets and all kinds of harps.

Praise him with tambourines and dancing, with stringed instruments and woodwinds.

Praise God with cymbals, with clashing cymbals.

Let every living creature praise the Lord. Shout praises to the Lord!

Psalm 150 (Contemporary English Version)

 

 

How lovely that, just when we need to feel thankful to God for Jesus, here is this very nice Psalm that we can use.

I Prefer the Term “Efficient”

| Joy, Patience

A less kind person might say that I’m rather lazy. I must admit that I’m always searching for the way that’s less trouble, no-so-involved, easier, etc. Efficient.

Years ago, in our other house, I created a large swag made of pine and holly (the artificial kind), and hung it across the top of the large doorway between our living and dining rooms. I added a string of small, white Christmas lights. Over the years, I purchased clear, plastic ornaments meant to be attached to those lights. It’s lovely. One year, I found an apparatus designed to be plugged in to an outlet, and the other end was a metal snowflake. You touched the snowflake to turn those little lights on, and you touched it again to turn the lights off. It was handy, even though the plug, in that house, was easy to reach.

Now, in the house where we currently live, the swag goes around the large windows at the front of the house. The Christmas tree sits in front of that window. The only plug on that wall is right behind the tree, and therefore difficult to reach. The you-only-have-to-touch-it snowflake is extra handy now, and I touch it every morning to turn on the lights. Easy-peasy. And, there’s a step-on button at the bottom of the Christmas tree that turns on those lights. Efficient.

There are also two candle lights in the windows. We are careful, as we prepare to decorate each year, to plug those in at exactly six o-clock, p.m. They come on, the stay lit for 6 hours, then they go off. And, for the rest of the season, that’s the routine for them. On at six. Off at midnight. Efficient.

For all the years we lived in the other house, we never did any outdoor decorating. When we moved, I began to consider it. The next-door neighbors particularly loved Halloween. They also put up stuff for Christmas. Some others did, too. Not tons and tons of lights and stuff, but enough to make the street look merry in the evenings. I wanted to do some decorating, but, remember, I’m, um, efficient. I didn’t want strings of lights that had to be put up on the roof, unplugged and replugged each evening and morning, and then removed again in January. We don’t have space for those lit metal figures that would have to be stored for eleven months of the year. And I just didn’t want to try to tackle those large, inflatable figures. I found the answer at Target. Solar lights. Seemed perfect for the person who is, um, efficient.

I bought some.

They have these little solar collectors, which must get lots of sunlight during the day. Then, the lights come on at dark, and shine for several hours. They lose their power at some point in the night. Then, you hope, they gather up enough sun for the next night. One set of our lights are hung on a pine swag across the wrought iron rail along the porch. They are working fine. The lights (here on the right-hand side) are on a mesh sort of arrangement, and they have not worked at all this year. I know it’s not a lack of sunlight, as the two solar collectors are right next to each other, as you can see (over there on the left-hand-side).

So, the mesh-set ones are out. I found some snowflake-shaped ones and ordered them. They just arrived today (Thursday), and are, therefore, outside, powering themselves up. I also bought a plain set for the holly hedge across the front of the house. I’ll have to let you know next time how everything’s working.

Oh, ’tis the season!

 

 

 

Here, on the left, is what the railing swag looks like. This is, of course, a flash photo, since I didn’t think about it during the daylight hours.

On the right, you can just barely see the little solar lights on the swag. They look brighter if you’re actually walking or driving by. And, I don’t really know how long each evening the lights stay on. I’ve gone to bed long before they use themselves up. But, you can see in the photo the two candle lights in the window, some of the lights from the tree, and at the top and down the side, the lights from the swag that easily turns on with the touch of a snowflake.

 

 

The only drawback, and it happened for a couple of nights earlier in the week, is that it only takes a couple of cloudy days to completely shut down the solar lights. So I guess it’s not a great choice for places in the northern reaches of our country, where the days are so much shorter. And, not so good in places where it’s overcast for much of the winter months. But, for us here in Texas, there’s usually lots more sunny days that cloudy ones. Perfect for someone who’s, you know, not exactly lazy, but … efficient.

 

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

James 1:17 (Christian Standard Bible)

 

Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father who created all the lights in the heavens. He is always the same and never makes dark shadows by changing.

James 1:17 Contemporary English Version (CEV)

 

Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

James 1:17 Contemporary English Version (CEV)

 

Every gift[a] God freely gives us is good and perfect,[b] streaming down from the Father of lights,[c] who shines from the heavens with no hidden shadow or darkness[d] and is never subject to change.

James 1:17 (The Passion Translation)

 

Everytime somebody give you someting nice an spesho, all dat come from yoa Fadda up dea inside da sky. He wen make all da lights inside da sky — da sun, an moon, an stars. But God no change jalike da tings inside da sky.

James 1:17 (Hawai’i Pidgin)

 

 

Beautiful lights. Just one part of a beautiful Christmas celebration.

 

 

I Do Some Things Better Than Others

| Joy, Love, Patience

As a senior adult, I’m growing accustomed to being a little bit (or a lot) behind on things. I don’t know that I’m up-to-date on much of anything beyond what medications older folks are taking these days, and what’s new in Baby Boomer-related issues, such as Medicare, Social Security, and those sorts of things.

But, I was a little bit dismayed when Kevin sent me a link last week after reading last week’s post about the issue of “that’s a great question.” The link relates to a podcast about that same issue. It was dated “January 15, 2015.” Yes, I’m almost four years late noticing it.

However, do know that the podcast is really interesting, and you should listen to it.

So, I’m not necessarily up on all things current. But, I do get some things done.

I like to rake. Mowers (and Edgers and Leaf Blowers) have been coming on Tuesday mornings since springtime to mow and tidy up the yard. A couple of weeks ago, I said I thought it was time for the winter break from yard work, and the guy in charge brought up the leaf issue. He wants to mow the leaves to shreds. I want to rake them up. I reminded him that I like to rake, and that we have a compost where I put them. For every bowl of peelings and cores (and things that have sat too long in the crisper) that I dump into the compost container, I add an armful of leaves. After a year, I leave Bin #1 to decay,  and I pull the nice, composted stuff that’s been percolating in Bin #2 out, to put into the garden. Then, I start adding stuff to the newly emptied Bin #2.

 

 

 

For years, Christmas crackers have been part of our holiday celebration. Sometimes, I can find them in local stores. Sometimes, I order them. This year, we put up the tree and decorated it the day after Thanksgiving, because everyone was here to help. Then, for the next days, and days, I got down a Christmas storage box and put out things. One box every few days. And I thought, Oh, do I need to order, or search for, crackers? Finally, a couple of days ago, I took down the big red basket that holds a variety of holiday things. And, there, TA-DAH, was a box of crackers, purchased, I suppose, a few days after Christmas, on sale probably!

 

 

Along with some other folks from my church, I volunteer each week as a Reading Buddy at an elementary school close to church. Every Tuesday, three second graders spend their lunch time, half an hour, with me, reading, to try to bring their reading skills up to grade level. We started in October. The information I got said that the kids were reading at Level 1, which turned out to be, um, mostly inaccurate. I have one girl who was in my reading group last year. She was reading behind the other two girls’ abilities, but tried hard. This year, she’s the star reader, mainly because the other two kids are way behind. There’s a boy who struggles with the simplest words. There’s another girl who, and I’m not exaggerating, could not read the words “the,” and “and.” That’s not a Level 1 reader. So now I’m choosing the 0.4 and 0.6 books, which still are not easy for those two.

I made some word cards. First thing last Tuesday, I laid out a sentence that began with the struggling girl’s name. I helped her read the words that were hard for her. Then, I put out the words for the boy, and he read his sentence, with help. Then, the last girl had a sentence three times longer than the other sentences, which she read pretty easily, as the others looked on. Then we moved on to our book, and each kid read a two-page spread (just a few words appear on each page). And by the end of lunch, that first little girl read, all by herself, “and” and “the,” every time they showed up!! AND, she read the word “wait,” which she had seen several times, as the book is about waiting.

We now have read all the 0.4-0.6 books that are on the shelves for the Reading Buddies to use. I think this week I’ll need to write a book about three second graders who like to read and eat lunch and go to school. (I plan to use the words “and” and “the” several times.)

 

 

Put your heart and soul into every activity you do, as though you are doing it for the Lord himself and not merely for others.

Colossians 3:23 (The Passion Translation)

 

Of course, it’s not all that difficult to put one’s heart and soul into every activity if it’s interesting and fun and satisfying.

 

I’m Not All that Great a Gardener

| Faithfulness, Joy, Patience

Years ago, when we lived in our house that was built in 1912, I saw an idea for a small, compact garden, described in a women’s magazine. A ring garden. The plans said to dig up a nine-foot circle. Then, with metal stakes and wire mesh, we made a three-foot diameter compost area in the center. The plans gave specific instructions for what to plant and where, in the ring garden, with the plants that needed staking at the edge of the compost (like beans and tomatoes). Plants that needed the most moisture and nutrients were planted closer to the center. Plants needing less, were planted closer to the edges. The suggestion was to pour a bucket of water into the center, compost area, once or twice a week, if it didn’t rain. We followed the instructions to the letter. This, however, was a garden plan for some other part of the country–someplace where it rained more and the summer wasn’t scorching hot. We got some beets, I think, but not much else. We kept putting peelings into the compost, along with the errant squash or tomato that got left behind on a garden plant. Then, in the spring, as suggested by the magazine article, we pulled compost from the center and dug it into the garden to begin anew.

And, we did begin anew, but with seeds and plants that we knew we liked–summer squash and zucchini, tomatoes, and cucumbers.

Early one spring, I saw a little vine pushing from the edges of the compost bin. Obviously a squash, it was growing, I imagined, from something spoiled or bug-eaten that had been tossed into the compost the previous summer. Deep in the warmth, with rotting leaves and vegetable peelings, the seed germinated, and the sprouting plant pushed out into the sunlight. I watched as it grew, more vigorous than the squash vines I had started in the garden. It thrived, flowered, and began to set fruit. Hmmm. The two little round, green fruit on our vine were certainly not summer squash or zucchini, the only kinds of squash we plant and eat. I wondered what they were, thinking hard to recall some other kind of squash we might have had.

The squash grew bigger and greener and rounder, and I grew more and more perplexed. Not knowing what they were, I didn’t know when pull them from the vine. Then they began to turn orange.

One year, we planted cantaloupe. I think this was the total harvest. But, that is the ring garden, behind the boys.

Oh. Of course. Pumpkins. From last Thanksgiving.

When they were completely ripe, I picked and cooked and froze them. The next Thanksgiving, we enjoyed pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie from our surprise pumpkins.

 

A tree is identified by the kind of fruit it produces. Figs never grow on thorns, or grapes on bramble bushes.

Luke 6:44 (The Living Bible)

 

Squash, however, come in many varieties, most of whom grow on vines that look deceptively alike. Sometimes, you just have to wait and see what shows up.

One year, we had several volunteer tomato plants, scattered around in the ring garden. And, another year, the little garden was rife with, oh, yes, pumpkin plants. They are pretty aggressive, those pumpkins.