Posts Categorized: Patience

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

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)

More of the Same, Sort Of

| Joy, Patience

My sister said that, when her older grandson started walking, he would often stand by the door and say, with great passion, “‘Side, ‘Side, ‘Side.” He desperately wanted to go outside.

I’m feeling a little like that, these days. I’ll get up. I might do a jigsaw puzzle on the computer (the temperature might still be rather chilly). I’ll make my egg & cheese burrito; and then I’ll put on my overalls and go outside.

Wednesdays are my day to go to the elementary school where some of our church members and I read with kids during their lunch times. Last Wednesday, when I left the school, after reading, I went straight to a nearby nursery and bought three big bags of dirt. Well, they’re not that big. There were bags that were quite large; I know that I cannot pick up a bag of dirt that heavy. And, truly, the bags that I did buy were too heavy for me to pick up and tote around to the side of the house. (Fortunately, there are strong guys at the nursery who can easily pick up those bags of dirt).

But, I do have a wheelbarrow. I pushed the wheelbarrow from the little storage shed in the backyard around to the garage. I had the car’s remote control, and I used it to raise the garage door. Then, I opened the trunk and strained to pull one of the dirt-filled bags to the edge of the open trunk. Then, I pulled and tugged until I could get one bag into the wheelbarrow. Then, I closed the trunk, used the remote control to close the garage door, and, struggling, got the bag around the corner of the house.

I tipped the wheelbarrow over so that the bag of dirt fell close to the edge of the concrete edging stone. I used a pointed garden tool to stab a nice, big hole in the bag, and then I used a scooping garden tool to move lots of nice, black dirt to fill in the space between the back side of a few of the edging stones and the flower bed. Then, after I’d poured out all the dirt from one bag, I had to go back to the garage door and start all over. (The wheelbarrow is rather unwieldy, and I can only manage one bag at a time.)

At last, all three bags were empty and all the spaces were filled with nice garden dirt and none of the edging stones were wobbly.

 

I do try to be efficient. Sometimes that translates to “lazy.” Here’s my plan for some of the watering:

 

I planted some new hostas. And, now, the space where I’ve been putting hosta plants for a while, is pretty much full. I could put some more in, I guess. However, all the hosta plants that I put in last year have now come back, a couple of them really spectacularly. I’ve added some more, but now, that’s it. For good, I think. They die back in the winter, but every one that I’ve previously planted has popped back up again. I did, however, after I said that I was done with the hosta shopping, I found a “Captain Kirk” hosta. (It’s the one at the bottom of the photo.) But that’s  it!

 

 

 

 

So the earth produced all kinds of plants, and God was pleased with what he saw. 

Genesis 1:12 (Good News Translation)

 

 

 

Nine. One. What?

| Patience, Peace

I’ve been spending lots of time outside, working in the yard, planting plants, organizing the potting bench, re-working beds, that sort of thing.

A couple of days ago, I was planting some new Lantana plants. They are hot-weather hardy, and very sturdy. The ones I bought recently are named “Hot-Blooded Red.”

The weather was nice, and I’d gotten lots of planting done. I have a wheeled, garden cart that I can sit on, so I don’t have to try to get up from the ground when I’m moving from place to place to put plants in beds or dig up  weeds. I was putting those Lantana plants at the right-hand corner of the front of the house. There were three plants, and I was digging up the dirt and getting the small area ready.

I was diligent, working that dirt, pulling up any weeds that had taken root there, and arranging the three plants in the space.

But, I kept hearing, or I thought I was hearing, someone saying my name. It was eerie. It was bizarre. It was quite strange.

“Gayle.” “Gayle.” “Gayle, can you hear me?” “Are you all right, Gayle?”

So, the sound really wasn’t my imagination. But, what? Where? Why?

I finally realized that the sound was coming from the pocket at the front of my overalls. Hmmmm.

I pulled my phone from my pocket and saw, at the top of the screen, the numbers 911.

“Hello,” I said, a little startled. And someone responded, “Gayle, are you all right?”

“I am all right,” I responded, warily.

“We’re just checking on you, and making sure you’re okay.”

Apparently, I had pocket-dialed my phone. And I called 911.

“I AM SO SORRY!” I said, when I realized what I’d done.

“I’m working outside in my yard, and I am fine, and I guess the fabric in the pocket of my overalls dialed the numbers. I’m very, very sorry.”

The young man (and he sounded pretty young), was gracious and not at all angry (it seemed). And, frankly, I think he’ll have a really good story to tell to his co-workers, his family members, and his neighbors.

“Let me tell you about the time this lady (let’s hope he doesn’t say old lady) dialed 911 when her phone was in her pocket, while she was planting flowers.”

I guess I could use a piece of tape to attach an index card (trimmed to fit) to the front of the phone. I’d still be able to listen to podcasts and audio books while I worked. And, I’d be able to hear the phone ring, and could answer it.

I’m certainly embarrassed. I hate the idea that I took up time that a First Responder could certainly have used for some task that was much more important than chatting with me.

 

 

A teacher of the Law came up and tried to trap Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to receive eternal life?”

Jesus answered him, “What do the Scriptures say? How do you interpret them?”

The man answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind’; and ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’”

“You are right,” Jesus replied; “do this and you will live.”

But the teacher of the Law wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”

Jesus answered, “There was once a man who was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when robbers attacked him, stripped him, and beat him up, leaving him half dead.  It so happened that a priest was going down that road; but when he saw the man, he walked on by on the other side.  In the same way a Levite also came there, went over and looked at the man, and then walked on by on the other side.  But a Samaritan who was traveling that way came upon the man, and when he saw him, his heart was filled with pity.  He went over to him, poured oil and wine on his wounds and bandaged them; then he put the man on his own animal and took him to an inn, where he took care of him.  The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Take care of him,’ he told the innkeeper, ‘and when I come back this way, I will pay you whatever else you spend on him.’”

And Jesus concluded, “In your opinion, which one of these three acted like a neighbor toward the man attacked by the robbers?”

The teacher of the Law answered, “The one who was kind to him.”

Jesus replied, “You go, then, and do the same.”

Luke 10:25-37 (Good News Translation)

 

I don’t know where a 911 call goes when it comes in. I’m wondering if my pocket-dialed 911 would go to the Fire Station that’s closest to me. I should find out. I should take them some cookies.

Where Are My Gardening Gloves!?!

| Patience, Peace

It’s spring all over the place! The weather’s pretty nice. Mostly. The grass is greening up. The trees are leafing out!!

And I want to plant things.

So, I went to a nursery. And another one. And another one. And, I’d already been to a couple of them, a week or so ago.

I did some yard work one day. Then, I did some yard work all day, one day. So, then I could hardly move. Just as well; the weather turned a little chilly.

But, Thursday, the day was great! I went to all the nurseries, including the one that’s ‘way out of town.

The basics of the yard were put in place by my dad, so many years ago. There are two large trees in the front yard and two in the back. There’s a hedge in a planter across half of the house. There are ferns on the north, shaded side of the house. I’ve added some things to the bed on the south side of the house. Most of what I purchase are in planters on the patio.

 

 

And another one bites the dust. When I came home today (from all the nursery shopping), I found these guys cutting down another great big tree, a couple of houses down from us. It was a casualty of the mega-freeze, February before last. The pale circle that you can see in front of the workers is the small wood chips that the other tree guys made when they chipped down the stump from that tree. The tree shadow you see is from the tree in our side yard. I think those were the only trees lost from our block.

 

 

 

 Ask rain from the Lord in the season of the spring rain, from the Lord who makes the storm clouds, who gives showers of rain to you, the vegetation in the field to everyone.

Zachariah 10:1 (New Revised Standard Version)

 

Last week, hardly any trees were leafing out. Now, this week, almost all of them are.

Why Is “The Hard Way” the Most Effective Way

| Patience, Peace

Yes, I’m a Senior Adult woman who’s been cooking and baking for many years. And yet . . .

I’d been working hard at some sewing and cleaning and house stuff, and I noticed what time it was. I’d thawed some dinner for David, and I checked to see how that was going and then to find what else I should/could add to the main dish. I got out a roll to also thaw, and found some frozen vegetables to add, too.

I checked the suggested temperature and cooking time. I opened a cabinet to get something to put those vegetables on, to bake in the oven, popped them in, and set the timer on my phone so I’d know when to go back and retrieve them. Then I went back to that cleaning work.

When the timer went off (and I felt so well-organized to have remembered to set that timer), I went back to the kitchen. I opened the oven to to this:

The item I used to hold the broccoli tots was the glass lid to one of my large casserole dishes. And while I’m pretty sure that I’ve baked things in that casserole dish, even with its lid, I’m guessing that the lid itself wasn’t really intended to be a baking utensil by itself.

So, here it is: glass pieces and shards, from the top rack to the bottom of the oven. And broccoli tots from the top shelf to the floor of the oven. I turned off the oven and left it open to cool. I went back a while later, removed all the glass, all the tots, and threw everything away.

And, obviously, I also need to clean the oven.

 

I removed the oven liner, which was covered in shards. I guess I might have been able to wash and clean all the shards off, but that seemed maybe a little dangerous. I threw it away, too. I had a second liner still in its box. I got that new one, and trimmed it to fit the oven floor.

There were more broccoli tots in the freezer (the last of the broccoli tots).

I got another glass container. I really felt a little anxious about this one, but I kept reminding myself of all the other things I’ve baked, successfully in the oven (meat loaf, bread), using that same glass pan.

I turned the oven back on, put the pan, with tots, in, and set the timer on my phone. Again. I kept going back and looking, and everything was fine. The container didn’t smash into shards. The broccoli tots baked nicely.

The oven liner was the last on in the box, so I ordered more.

There is a right time for everything, and everything on earth will happen at the right time.

There is a time to be born and a time to die.
There is a time to plant and a time to pull up plants.
 There is a time to kill and a time to heal.
There is a time to destroy and a time to build.
 There is a time to cry and a time to laugh.
There is a time to be sad and a time to dance with joy.
 There is a time to throw weapons down and a time to pick them up.
There is a time to hug someone and a time to stop holding so tightly.
 There is a time to look for something and a time to consider it lost.
There is a time to keep things and a time to throw things away.
 There is a time to tear cloth and a time to sew it.
There is a time to be silent and a time to speak.
 There is a time to love and a time to hate.
There is a time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8 (Easy-to-Read Version)

 

 

 

 

 

Thinking About What’s Next

| Faithfulness, Joy, Patience

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about an oncoming bitter weather forecast. It was cold, but not the sort of freezing that we had a year ago. Then, things warmed up and I worked outside in the yard on Monday and Tuesday afternoons. And now, it’s  COLD again. Not as bad as last year, but pretty cold. In the 20’s, and we just don’t really know how to get along in that kind of weather. School’s didn’t close, but they pushed the opening time on Thursday back two hours.

I made a big pot of chicken and wild rice soup, which should last us a few days. And I think I’ll be willing to get out Friday afternoon, to replenish some groceries, like milk, and return some library books, which might be overdue.

But last Wednesday, just as the temperatures were really dropping, I was able to read with my Reading Club girls.

The Fifth Grader did finish the Venus and Serena Williams book.

Given her previous choice (Venus and Serena Williams), it seems as though she’s wanting books about athletes. I was wanting Wilma Rudolph, but I don’t see her in the list of these books. I’ll have to look through the books online, to find other female athletes in this series.

Meanwhile, I’ve combed through the libraries in town and located these books for the Fourth Grader.

 

These are all the Rosa Parks’ books that are easy to read with short texts on each page. Of course, they all say basically the same thing, but we are going to plow through all of them. We are SO going to have the Rosa Parks’ story down pat.

 

 

There are, of course, two other libraries in town that I can go visit. I have checked online, to see where the available books are. I think I’ve got copies of all the picture book versions, but I might go and check to see if there are books that we could use. There might be books that are going to be too hard to read, but might have some good illustrations and/or photographs. At the rate that we’re reading, we should easily get to Spring Break and beyond, with just the books that I have. She’s working really hard to read all those words.

And I am working hard to try to explain what things were like for Rosa Parks, and every other African-American citizen. And I’m working hard to help her know how Rosa Parks changed things in ways that were so significant.

 

I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for.

Jeremiah 29:11 (Good News Translation)

 

I also have plans. I hope for a future of growth and learning and understanding. This is my last year with the Fifth Grader. I’ll have another year, I hope, with the Fourth Grader. I’m already feeling sad.

I Wonder How Many Books the Library Will Let Me Check Out

| Joy, Love, Patience

I’ve never asked one of our librarians just how many books any one person is allowed to check out.

I do have a good record with the library. I almost always turn in my books on time, or renew them, and then turn them in on time. And, when I am tardy with returning a book, I always pay my fines.

At present, I have seventeen books checked out. Yep. Seventeen.

It’s those girls that I read with at the elementary school where members from my church volunteer. The Fifth Grader is almost finished with a book about Venus and Serena Williams. We should finish it next week.

The Fourth Grader really wants to read books like the one the Fifth Grader is reading. But that Fourth Grader is a very poor reader. She’s very interested in the harder books, but, even with easier books, she usually needs help with many of the words. Actually, it’s most of the words.

I’ve looked at the library’s holdings, and I’ve found several books about Rosa Parks that seem to be very easy reads. I wonder how many more books I can check out.

So we can read a few pages of Pete, and some, or all the pages in the easier Rosa Parks books I’ve seen on the library’s list. She really does want to read. And I really want her to read, too.

Recently, I was talking with another church member who has a group of three Fifth Grade boys that he reads with. He said that he’d been reading with them since they were First Graders. And I said that I’d been reading with my Fifth Grader since she was a First Grader, too. Of course, we’d missed their Fourth Grade year with the pandemic-related issues. But we’ve been part of their lives all these years.

 

We often suffer, but we are never crushed. Even when we don’t know what to do, we never give up.

2 Corinthians 4:8 (Contemporary English Version)

 

O may all who come behind us find us faithful, May the fire of our devotion light their way.
May the footprints that we leave, lead them to believe, And the lives we live inspire them to obey.
O may all who come behind us find us faithful.

Steve Green