DSC01490_crop

The Bible Tells Me

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

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

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

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

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

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

Psalm 126: 2,3 (HCSB)

It’s Deja Vu All Over Again. Sort of.

| Patience

Earlier in the week, we were getting forecasts of very cold weather. There might be snow, there might be ice, there might be freezes. And, since we’re into February, we’re feeling a little anxious, given what happened last February.  In the middle of the month last year, we had a total of nine days (in a row) of below freezing temperatures. And that’s just extraordinary for us, here in Central Texas.

So when the weather forecasters say, “It’s going to get really cold,” we pay attention.

Last Wednesday, I was at the elementary school where I read with kids during their lunchtime. I knew the temperature was falling, and everyone at the school was starting to get anxious. Before I left, the school system had already decided to cancel classes on Thursday and Friday.

I was pretty sure that we had enough food in the refrigerator and freezer, but I thought that, maybe, I should stop and get some additional groceries. I went to Wal-Mart, along with many, many other folks who were also thinking about being stuck at home with not enough food. I got some vegetable broth and some canned corn and canned green beans and some rice, to make a big pot of soup. And some milk. And, some eggs.

The weather forecast says that by Monday, even the low temperatures will be above freezing. And by mid-week, the temps are forecast to be in the 60’s. Maybe this will be the only significant COLD weather that we’ll have. Hope so!

 

Rain and snow fall from the sky. But they don’t return without watering the earth that produces seeds to plant and grain to eat.That’s how it is with my words. They don’t return to me without doing everything I send them to do.

Isaiah 55:10,11 (Contemporary English Version)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Following in Mother’s Footprints

| Joy, Patience

When I was a kid, I’d sometimes use the smaller bathroom in our house, the one that my parents used. The bathroom on the hall, that JoAnne and I used, had a bathtub and a shower head. That smaller bathroom just had a shower stall. Peter has just recently begun to use that shower stall. He finds it fascinating, mainly because it has a shower stool (which my physician insisted I provide, in case, as a senior adult woman, I might fall, slip, or otherwise need to suddenly sit), as well as a shower head that can be unhooked from the wall, so that it can be used to spray one’s self at one’s discretion.

 

 

The larger bathroom has an overhead heater, which is nice to have during the chillier months. However, that heater is run from a switch that is either ON or OFF. It doesn’t have a variable switch. It’s either on, really on, or off, completely off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The heater in the smaller bathroom is mounted on a side wall, and it has a switch that can go from barely on to seriously on. I can turn that heater on just a little, or quite a lot And right now, even though the weather has dropped quite a bit in the past few days, I can decide for myself how much or how little heat I need.

 

 

 

 

When, as a child, I did visit my parents’ bathroom, I noticed that Mother had a small shelf where she put her Bible and Sunday School lesson book. Right next to the toilet. I just assumed that she took advantage of her bathroom trips to catch up on Bible readings and Sunday School information.

 

I’ve re-evaluated that idea of Mother’s. I’m also reading from a devotional book, in the bathroom, pretty much every morning. And then I read the accompanying Bible passages. I’m in there, in the bathroom, reading, because it’s warm in there!

And here is my new Bible. I’d purchased a new Bible a few weeks ago, but, as I’ve been reading through the passages, I was squinting and trying to read everything, and the words were just too small. So, I went and purchased a large print version of that Bible. It’s soooo much easier, now.

 

 

 

You have known the Holy Scriptures ever since you were a little child. They are able to teach you how to be saved by believing in Christ Jesus. God has breathed life into all Scripture. It is useful for teaching us what is true. It is useful for correcting our mistakes. It is useful for making our lives whole again. It is useful for training us to do what is right. By using Scripture, the servant of God can be completely prepared to do every good thing.

2 Timothy 3:15-17 (New International Reader’s Version)

The new Bible I bought is The Message translation, which I’m enjoying reading. But, I rather liked this translation of 2 Timothy 3:15-17, also.

Just Think of All the Things I’d Have Missed If I Didn’t Go to the Library

| Patience, Peace

I often see new books at the library that catch my attention. Sometimes, I’ll pick up a book that looks interesting and leave it sitting around my house for three weeks, when I should return it. Or, I could renew it, even if I’ve not ever opened it, but think that I might.

If no other library patron asks for that book, I could even renew it for a second time, and keep it for NINE weeks. At which point I really do have to return it, whether or not anyone wants it. But then, I could go back in a few days, check it out again, and, really, could renew it twice more, but by that time, I’ve come to understand that I’m not truly going to read that book.

A couple of weeks ago, I was headed to the computers (to see if I’d remembered to turn in a book), when I passed a display of books. One of them caught my eye:

I thought this looked interesting.

THE CALLIGRAPHER’S SECRET

Rafik Schami

And the title page says: Translated from German by Anthea Bell

It seemed a little odd that a book that’s set in the Middle East (Damascus) would be written in German. Maybe it was written in a Middle Eastern language, then translated into German, and now is available in English.

To begin with, books that aren’t originally written in English and then translated into English, sometimes have a different rhythm to them. And for the first few pages, I needed to adapt, I guess, to the different cadence. And the whole different culture and descriptions and, rhythm, of the sentences slowed down the reading. I’m getting better at it.

And it is a very thick book.

I feel like I’ve been reading and reading and reading, and I’m not close to being halfway through it.

From almost the very beginning, I’ve known that a woman was going to run away. The reasons haven’t been explained, but I know it’s going to happen. And whenever I think It’s going to be soon. She’ll be gone before long. I’m wrong. She went to work with as a seamstress. She’s gotten married. She seems to like her husband. I don’t know what’s going to make her leave. I just know that she’s going to leave.

 

I was several chapters in before the Calligrapher showed up. And, based on the title of the book, he seems like an important element to the story. But, so far, there’s no connection between him and the woman who is the female protagonist. I’ve seen her name from almost the first page of the book. I’ve seen her as a child, as a young adult who worked for the most important seamstress in town, and now as a wife.

Obviously, I’ve got lots of pages to go.

I’m intrigued. Maybe she’ll leave and never return. But it seems like she’ll be back on the pages of the story, even if it won’t be with her husband or other family members.

And, really! what IS the Calligraphers Secret!?!

I will have to let you know.

 

There was a disciple in Damascus by the name of Ananias. The Master spoke to him in a vision: “Ananias.”

“Yes, Master?” he answered.

“Get up and go over to Straight Avenue. Ask at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus. His name is Saul. He’s there praying. He has just had a dream in which he saw a man named Ananias enter the house and lay hands on him so he could see again.”

 Ananias protested, “Master, you can’t be serious. Everybody’s talking about this man and the terrible things he’s been doing, his reign of terror against your people in Jerusalem! And now he’s shown up here with papers from the Chief Priest that give him license to do the same to us.”

But the Master said, “Don’t argue. Go! I have picked him as my personal representative to non-Jews and kings and Jews. And now I’m about to show him what he’s in for—the hard suffering that goes with this job.”

Acts 9:10-16 (The Message Translation)

 

I guess all sorts of interesting things have happened in Damascus.

Flowers and Trees

| Patience, Peace

The morning temperatures have been a little frosty, in the 30’s early in the morning, but the afternoons have been springlike. Well, for a couple of days. But Thursday and Friday had afternoon temperatures in the mid 70’s, which is perfect weather for working outside.

First, I hung the white pots back on the front porch railing. They come down when I put up the Christmas greenery and bows and lights. They’re back up now, with winter-hardy yellow violas . (Violas are like miniature pansies.)

Next, I put yellow pansies in the bed in front of the porch. Pansies are sturdy flowers, the kind that made it through last February.

I bought the pansies and violas back in the fall, as soon as they arrived in the nursery. There are all sorts of colors and varieties of pansies and violas. I like the ones that have petals that are all yellow, so that’s what I purchased: all-yellow pansies and all-yellow violas.

And, in a sadder situation, the tree next door could not recover from last February’s deep, deep freeze.

The tree is a variety of ash. I tried to determine what the life expectancy of an ash tree is, and I got anywhere from 25-40 years to 250 years. But there seems to be a wide variety of ash trees, some have short lives and others long lives. When I looked up pecan, I got anywhere from 250 years to 400 years, so our backyard should be nice and shady for quite some time.

 

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

Isaiah 55:10-12 (New International Version)

 

Yes, it’s one of my favorite passages. I do so enjoy the exuberance of those trees being so excited.

Science tells us that trees truly do communicate with each other in forests. So, I’m imagining that the root systems of the trees near my neighbor’s stump are singing together, also, but maybe something like a dirge.

I’ve Put Christmas Back in the Boxes, But My Mind Is Still Remembering

| Joy, Love

It is January, which hasn’t yet seemed like winter. It’s been chilly today, and the temperatures have been in the 40’s and 50’s. There’s supposed to be a freeze tonight, and tomorrow night the temperature might be as low as 25.° Then, it’s highs in the 60’s again. There might be some winter in, maybe, February. For now, I’m still remembering Christmas.

Peter came for a few days, during the first days of his Christmas break.

I had very carefully asked everyone what would be the food they would need to be prepared for the best holiday experience while they visited. And these were the notes I made:

Jeremy-pimento cheese, Fritos, and White Chocolate covered Oreos. And, they’d had some great hot chocolate Bombs when he and Sarah celebrated Christmas, back in Brooklyn, and he thought that would be nice, too.

April’s choice for what she’d most like was chocolate cookies with cherries in them.

Kevin wanted the frozen cranberry salad that my mother used to make.

 

I was a little challenged by the cookies, but when I looked in the notebook where I keep all the recipes of things I’ve cooked/baked/prepared over the years, I easily found those cookies. And, I was pretty sure (and I was right) that Mother’s cranberry salad would also be there, also under the tab “Holidays.” The more challenging item was the White Chocolate covered Oreos. If there were any of those anywhere in Waco, they’d been sold out. And I searched at Target, Wal-Mart, H.E.B., Drug Emporium, and any other store that I thought might have them. No luck.So . . . when Peter came to visit, we baked those cookies that April wanted, and we made that frozen salad that Kevin wanted, and Peter and I opened up a package of mini Oreos, melted down a couple of packages of white chocolate discs, and we dunked those little Oreos in the melted white chocolate and made the cookies that Jeremy wanted.

We put all our holiday treats in the freezer to keep safe until the relatives came.

 

 

Peter also created a snack mix that he thought we (me) should make. I didn’t have the ingredients (except for the French’s onions), so I was going to have to shop later for the rest of the ingredients.

Feel free to make this delicious mix yourself. Or make your own yummy snack mix. The ingredients are easy to find. And, I made twice the amount and still have more cashews and golden raisins.

 

 

At Thanksgiving, we had crackers that had the regular snap when pulled open and they included the usual tissue paper hat and fortune and toy.

 

I’d gotten some Christmas crackers, too, which we really enjoyed. When you pulled them open, they had kazoos. And, there was a long list, in each cracker, of suggested songs. So, someone would “play” a song on the kazoo, and the rest of us had to determine what, exactly, that song was. It’s harder (and much more amusing) than you might imagine.

 

 

 

 

I bought, on Amazon, I think, a package of, basically, chunks of chocolate on sticks: two chocolate, two white chocolate, and two dark chocolate. The instructions said to heat up milk in a mug and then dip and stir the chocolate until it was completely melted. It was delicious. We drank the hot, chocolatey milk while we watched Claymation Christmas which we watch every year. We love traditions.

When I was doing some of the cleanup after Peter and I had cooked, Peter was working on this math problem. I didn’t know what he was working on so hard, but, suddenly, out of the blue, he said, “Mimi, do you know what 24 minus 16 is?”

I thought a couple of seconds, and said,” Eight.”

And he was quite taken aback.

“That’s right,” he said.

I guess he’s working on “borrowing” in math class at school. And, I can see his careful work. He had to take a “ten” from the twenty to make the “fourteen” that he’d use to subtract the six, giving him the eight. And then, in the ten’s column, the remaining “ten” would give him a zero in that column.

So now he knows that, not only can I cook, I can also subtract.

 

 

In the beginning was the one who is called the Word. The Word was with God and was truly God. From the very beginning the Word was with God. And with this Word, God created all things. Nothing was made without the Word. Everything that was created received its life from him, and his life gave light to everyone. The light keeps shining in the dark, and darkness has never put it out.

John 1:1-5 (Contemporary English Version)

 

After all the baking, after all the traveling, after all the fun and joy and love, we stop to remember that this is all we need to know.

 

 

 

 

 

Lay Flat to Dry

| Patience, Peace

I was doing some laundry. I’d looked through my closet and picked up several sweaters and pullovers that I’d been wearing when the weather had gotten chillier. (Of course, right now, it’s like springtime outside.)

I gathered up the heavier things and put them in the laundry basket. I also picked up a gray pullover (with a nice tall collar that really keeps my neck warm). I piled them up and then stopped to check their care labels. I very much like the labels that say to wash and then dry. I got to the gray pullover and read, with dismay, the care label: wash in cold water and lay flat to dry.

Nooooooo. First of all, I don’t really have a place large enough to lay a sweater down for hours while it air dries. Whyever would I have even bought a sweater without looking at the care label first?!?!?

Then I looked at the label in the neck of the sweater; the manufacturer. Eddie Bauer. I’d ordered it from their online catalog, and, I’m quite sure, the description of the sweater had not included the care instructions. I’ll not make that mistake again. But, I’d made that mistake now. And the decision I made was to wash and dry the thing, and see how it came out.

It came out great. It looked exactly the same as when I’d first put it in the washing machine. And now, after coming out of the dryer, it looked promising. I tried it on and, TA-DAH! It fit exactly the same as it had before.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that every piece of clothing I purchase that says “Lay flat to dry” is going to come out of the washer and dryer looking perfect. But, I’m avoiding the potential disaster by being diligent about checking care labels before I spend that money. And, if I’m ordering something that doesn’t have the care information listed on the website, I can order it and then send it back if it has that label that says “Lay flat to dry.”

 

 

 

 

yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love. It is as none other than Paul—an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus— that I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains.  Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.

Philemon 1:9-11

 

Thesaurus.com says “usefulness” is a synonym for “responsibility.” It is, I guess, irresponsible not to pay attention to the instructions for a garment to remain usable and useful. But, if I had to follow the instructions on the sweater, I’d have rarely worn it, knowing that I’d have to to through all the steps of making the sweater clean. Now, I can wear it happily, knowing that I can clean it whenever the sweater needs it.

And, I should also be looking for the useful people in my life, the people who help, encourage, and support other folks.

 

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like, or, Rather Like, or, Somewhat Like . . . Christmas

| Joy

Where has the time gone? Yes, the tree is up, and lit, and decorated. The stockings are hung (up on the hooks where our jackets and coats usually hang). But that’s about it. And, as I look at the calendar, I see that Christmas Day is the day after tomorrow (as I write this on Thursday evening). However, we’re not actually going to see any visiting relatives for a few days. So, I’m not quite so concerned about the lack of delightfully wrapped gifts under the tree. There are some from my sister, and, well, that’s about it.

Jeremy will be coming to Texas a couple of days after celebrating Christmas with Sarah in New York. And Kevin and April and Peter will have holiday celebrations at home and with family, and then will come to Waco after Jeremy arrives. So, I have some time. Thank goodness!

 

 

 

Yeah, It’s Just a Tree

| Faithfulness, Patience

Last Monday afternoon, there was the sound of chain saws, and, while not completely unheard of, it was unusual. I opened the front door and looked out at my next-door neighbor’s yard. A couple of men were there, sawing off large limbs from my next-door neighbor’s very large ash tree.

That meant one thing:  tree is dead.

And I wept.

That tree is a tree from my childhood. We live in the house that my parents built in 1959. My parents and sister and I moved in at the end of May that year. One of the first things that almost every family did that summer was to begin planting. Little squares of St. Augustine grass were laid out on the ground, and watered carefully to encourage runners which would connect those squares to completely carpet the yard. Flower beds were established.

And trees were planted. Most yards had one or more spindly, single stalk, tree, in the front yards, the back yards, and sometimes on the sides.

And here’s what we’d do, my next door neighbor and I (when no one was watching): We’d go to the end of the block, and run, jumping over those spindly, little trees, all the way to the other end of the block. I suppose it’s a miracle that any tree lived. But they did. And, by the next summer, they were too tall for jumping over.

Over the years, many of the original trees died. I know my dad replaced trees in the front yard and the back. When Kevin was a preschooler, there was a maple tree in the back yard. They drop the most interesting seeds. The seed pods are shaped something like a feather, and the seed is at one end. When the seeds fall, they look like little helicopters. That tree didn’t last. In its spot, there’s a large crepe myrtle tree, which has just now dropped its many small red leaves. Yesterday, I raked them all up.

In the past few weeks, I’ve raked, and bagged up the leaves from the  red oak in the front yard and the pin oak on the side.

And this ash tree, in my neighbor’s yard, hasn’t drop any leaves, because it hasn’t made any leaves, for most of the spring and summer. Every now and then, it would put out a small spray of leaves, out of the center, but nothing like the leaf production that it should have.

And now, limb by limb, it’s coming down.

As I was leaving the house, a couple of days ago, I stopped and talked with the tree guys. I explained how sad I was about the tree’s demise, since I’d appreciated the tree for the many years it grew there. One of the tree guys, who was, at the time standing on the roof, said, “Thanks for telling me that story.” I said, “Thanks for listening.”

A few days later, as I noticed all the small logs beginning to pile up around the yard, I asked them what they were going to do with all those little logs. They said they put them in a chipper. I said could I have some of them. And they said sure. And one of them got his trolley, and I got my wheelbarrow, and we carted a number of logs to my back yard.

 

And here they are. I’m not sure what we’re going to do with them. Make a border, maybe. We have a chain saw, so I think we can decide how to use the logs. And, I said to David, as well as the tree guys, that if we decide we don’t want them, we can easily put them in the green bin (which is for recycling yard waste), if we decide we don’t want them, after all. (But I think we’re going to want them.)

 

 

 

When you are set free, you will celebrate and travel home in peace. Mountains and hills will sing as you pass by, and trees will clap.

Isaiah 55:12 (English Contemporary Version)

 

I don’t do lots of traveling. But I think I should pay more attention to the mountains and hills that I pass by; and listen to the clapping of trees.

Yes, I’m Still Wearing My Mask

| Faithfulness, Joy, Kindness, Peace

When I made my first do-it-yourself mask, I never dreamed that we’d be wearing masks for, what seems like, the rest of my life. Later, I ordered a couple of masks that have my college logo on them. I keep them hanging on the turn signal lever on the side of the steering wheel.

At church, we are still wearing masks during Sunday School and during Worship Service. The logo mask sometimes generates questions. One adult friend asked what it was, and I said it was my college’s logo. “Oh,” she said. “I thought it might be Hogwarts.”

When I go to the elementary school close to church, I’m part of a group of adults who, once a week, spend lunch time with children who need a little help with reading skills. I’m with a fifth grader who is reading a book about Venus and Serena Williams. I wear a mask, and she wears a mask, too, until she is eating her lunch, and reading sentences, between bites. (I’ve been reading with her since she was a first grader.)

Despite the months and months of mask-wearing, I often leave my car and get almost all the way into Target/Library/Grocery Store/Drug Store/and lots of other places, before turning around, going back to the car, and retrieving a mask from the turn signal lever on the steering column in the car, and heading back to Target/Library/Grocery Store/Drug Store/et.al.

But, I have begun to appreciate my mask more, now that winter is coming up. The temperatures in Central Texas aren’t usually extreme in winter. (Well, there was that EPIC February deep freeze last winter.) But it can be really windy, and combined with cold temps., the wind chill factor can cause folks to go racing to stores for heavier, woolier, outer wear.

And I am really glad, at this point in the year, that I actually have something that helps keep my nose warm. So, as I’m walking across a parking lot, on my way to Target/Library/Grocery Store/Drug Store/et.al., I’m much more comfortable than I ordinarily would have been, and am glad that I have my mask.

 

Give each other a warm greeting. I pray that God will give peace to everyone who belongs to Christ.

1 Pete 5:14 (Contemporary English Version)

 

There are lots of ways to be warm. I wish you all the warmth you need.

Don’t Let the Turkey’s Get You Down*

| Joy, Love

Those brightly-colored turkeys on our Thanksgiving table were, of course, chocolate filled. Usually, this sort of foil-covered treats are, while chocolatey, usually hollow. I purchased these at the World Market store. I knew when I picked them up that they were not at all hollow, but instead, completely full of chocolate.

Before Kevin, April, and Peter left to go back to Fort Worth, after our Thanksgiving days, Peter had peeled away the foil and begun to gnaw away at a yummy turkey. Who knew how long it it would take for him to completely eat it all up.

 

I did rescue the other two turkeys. I had a plan.

I was going to peel away the foil and grind up the turkeys and make my own chocolate chips.

I have a small food processor. I learned, quickly, that I couldn’t load up the bowl with too much of the hard chocolate. The chopper blades got stuck under the hard chocolate and made the blade part pop up. I had to chop the chocolate pieces into smaller pieces. And, too much chopping created very small pieces, smaller than mini-chocolate chips.

I got some chocolate-chip-ish sized pieces. And then I used this colander to try to shake out the much smaller pieces. I shook the smaller pieces down into that green  bowl, and then used the long skewer to push some of the remaining small pieces through the colander holes. Now I had some chips, some very small pieces, and some chocolate dust particles.

Everything’s all cleaned up and there are a couple of bags of chocolate chip-ish things and much smaller chocolate pieces, just waiting to be part of some delicious dessert. Thanks to a couple of chocolate turkeys.

 

 

So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 8:15 (New International Version)
*According to “Answer” on my computer, “Don’t let the turkeys get you down,” means “Don’t let jerks get to you, maintain your good mood.” And, also from “Answer,” Chocolate can add some nutrients. And dark chocolate contains heart-healthy antioxidants. Good to know!