A Little Of This, A Little Of That

My husband is in the hospital with a knee transplant.  He is doing pretty well so far.  I am supposed to visit him tonight, but there is a big storm coming this way, a big wet, snowy one.  Hope I can go, but the most important day is Thurs. when I am supposed to take him home.  That day looks pretty good.

I got two pair of boots recently.  They were both on sale so I could afford both of them.  The first pair is short little black boots with wooden heels.  The only place I could wear these is to church.  I want to wear them with a short coat and a skirt.  I saw this look in an old movie, Holiday Inn.  The heroine had the cutest short black boots I have ever seen.  Of course we all wore winter boots then.  They don't even sell her kind any more.  I wanted to try to get a similar effect.  My daughter thinks they are awful.  They probably are.  I wonder if I should try to take them back or just be brave and let people stare and poke fun.

The other pair is long and brown.  They are comfy and I can tuck my jeans in them.  I can wear them to see the kids, take them off, and wear them to church that night instead of bringing an extra pair of shoes along.

God has been confirming themes for me.  One is an open heaven.  God is bringing joy and healing forth and I want to make sure I take my part in this.  He may be bringing me a long hoped for partner in ministry.  We'll see how that turns out.  He is pulling together different promises and I see a bunch of loose balloons being pulled together and secured in a knot so that they can be used together.

Exciting times are ahead.  I can sense them coming.  At least with God, every day is a good day in Him.

Faces To Remember

First of all, I would like to say I'm sorry that I have been away for a bit.  My computer was acting funny and I didn't know if it was the computer itself, the server, or the wireless connection.  I had had the modem fixed before or another one put in.  After a short time, the problems began again.  I did get a different type of modem and right now things are rolling again.  Hope you have all been well and happy.  I couldn't even check up on you.


I have been looking at old photos of my children.  Whenever I do, I am reminded of the play Our Town by Thornton Wilder.  It is about a small town and everyday things.  Near the end, the heroine dies.  She is in her grave and wishing that she could come back to earth for just one day.  This is granted her.  Early in the day she talks to her mother and her mother is so busy that she doesn't even look at her.  This is the scene that I will forever remember from that fine play, that her mother did not look at her. 

As my children grew up, I took lots of pictures, but I also tried to look in their faces and remember the moment so that I could recall it in later years.  I have been somewhat successful, but when looking at the pics, I wish I had looked just one more time at their sweet faces.

When I am with my older children, I try to look at them.  I don't want to stare because that isn't right and I don't want to pass over them without looking.  Somewhere in the center is a comfortable place where I can look for just a moment and remember this time and this age.  The different ages are all so precious to me.

I try to look at my grandchildren.  Too soon they will be big and I don't want to forget.  I am able to look at my husband when we go out to eat.  At other times, I can catch a glance.  I understand that men aren't as comfortable about looking face to face as women.  I will try to be sensitive and look when I can.  It's the remembering that is important.  I don't want to be like Emily's mother and be too busy to see, really see the loving faces before me.

My New Bible Reading Plan

I wanted to try something new this year with reading my Bible.  I love all of the epistles so I wanted to make sure I included those.  It's been too long since I've gone all the way through the Old Testament.  So I thought it would be fun to read in several different places.

I am ashamed to say that I had a tendency to skip First and Second Chronicles.  Mainly this is because the stories of the kings are also in First and Second Samuel and First and Second Kings.  And the Chronicles start out with genealogies.  Yes they can be dry, but they also set up the patriarchs and Moses and his family and other important people like David.  So, because there are some little gems along the way, it is enjoyable.  And you don't have to pronounce each name to yourself.  You can scan to see if you can learn something new.

I am also doing Proverbs in the Old Testament.  This book has many helpful sayings and much wisdom.  In the Old Testament, if I have time to read a little longer at one sitting, I'm doing Genesis.

In the New Testament, I'm doing Matthew.  I have just finished The Sermon On The Mount.  I know there are great  healing stories from Jesus in this book.  (It also starts with a genealogy.)  Then I am doing Romans which is one of my favorite books.  It is all about Grace and has so much good reading to absorb.  In my extended reading in the New Testament, I'm doing Acts.

It is amazing how reading from four different places brings the New and Old testaments together in a wonderful way.  It sounds like a lot, but I am actually only reading two chapters a day.  Mon. through Thurs. I do the New Testament, Friday through Sunday, I do the Old Testament.  The other chapters, as I said are extra, just in case I want to read further.  I may not get as much done as I'd like, but it is the process which is important.  I am learning so much this way and it is very enjoyable.

Have you a favorite book of the Bible?  Why is it your favorite?

A Little Excitement Coming

I usually don't go to the stores unless I need something.  I had to buy a present for a family member.  I was working my way back to the electronics when I spied a rack of Valentine items.  In case you forgot, Valentine's Day is my favorite holiday.  They had these cute baby bibs, "I love Mommy," and "First Valentine's Day."  I fell for the second one.  The baby doesn't need it, but I had to buy it.  And later, after finding out that the electronics thing wasn't going to come through, I found on another rack by the bibs an assortment of  baby socks.  I was torn between the kind with the knit or print that makes them look like little black ballet shoes and a white pair with a red ruffle.  The ruffle sold me.  I'm prttty sure these will get used. 

I had forgotten, that around all of the white of snow lies a holiday with red piercing the ice and making its mark.  A red rose in winter is Valentine's Day to me.

I finally got my decorations up for the day and they look so bright and cheerful.  My heart just bursts with life when I see all the reds and pinks.  I love pink and red and white and purple together.  Valentine's Day is a fancy ladies' "day, a romantic day.  I love those black silhouettes of people doing the minuet.  I used to make cutouts like that.  Such a feast foe the eye is there if only you look in the right places.  And if you gaze outside, yo might just see a cardinal sitting on a bare branch or fluttering by.

I'm getting ready for the groundhog and Abraham Lincoln and George Washington and a short month and red and a little spring thaw.  Oh, so much excitement.  And that's just the externals.  Inside, all is well and so I hope with you.

Warm Words For a Cold Morning

Time to dip into my quote envelope and share a few treasures.  I can't get over how inspired I get every time I go through the packet and see how a little thing like words on paper can inspire, equip, encourage, teach, or just show off their beauty.

Here is one from The Hound Of The Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle:  "a dabler in science... a picker up of shells on the shores of the great unknown ocean."

From The Coach That Never Came by Patricia Beatty: "Some people come along at the right time.  Others are too early or too late to fit their eras."

Marlo Thomas: "If it comes from the heart it works - if you try to figure out what others want, it almost never works."

Little Chores

Does it ever seem like you spend most of your life in grooming?  And when you are, say, brushing your teeth, does it seem like it is always teeth time?  As if you just did it and here it is again?  I use an electric toothbrush because of my gums.  It isn't timed so I need to count thirty seconds for each quadrant of my mouth.  That means that for two minutes I can't think about other things at all.  I can't multitask when counting.  And then there are the nails to do.  I do mine weekly in a clear polish.  Then there are showers, drying hair, shaving, and cleaning off your shoes.  It just takes so much time.

Then when I saw and heard the horrible things that happened during hurricane Sandy, I started to cherish hot water and clean, cold drinking water and the ability to do laundry and brush teeth and any manner of grooming.  Suddenly those chores turned to luxuries.  So for about two weeks, I was very grateful for all of my blessings.

Now, I am still grateful, but I wish we didn't have to start and end the day (just before prayers) with so many little little things to do.  But then again, my grandpa and uncle used to get up at 5:00 every morning to do farm chores and they did the same chores every evening (outside!)  So I guess I'll just be happy that I can look and smell as good as I can and enjoy all of the time in between.

Are You Enjoying Winter Yet?

I managed to get my Christmas decorations put away yesterday.  I was going to wait, but I had time and so took advantage.  I left out my little wooden pine trees which I put on top of my antique secretary.  They just look so simple and primitive and outdoorsy.  They remind me of the page in the children's book The Polar Express where a few wolves roam in the nighttime amidst tall pines.  It's lonely, beautiful, and just the tiniest bit scary.  That is my favorite page in the book.

I think it is also the reason why I came to Michigan from Ohio 44 years ago.  My family was headed up to the Mackinac Bridge.  We traveled through all of the lower peninsula to get there.  I remember seeing row upon row of nothing but dense pine trees on either side of the road.  It was so gorgeous, so pristine.  The radio signals were very clear.  It was then that a love for this state first came upon me.  Little did I know that Michigan is suited for people who love the outdoors.  As far as that goes, I love sitting in and looking out.

I'm usually not a big fan of snow, but yesterday, as I left my church, the snow was coming down in such pretty flakes that it almost took my breath away by its beauty.  My heart burst with joy and I started singing Winter Wonderland.  The couple leaving with me joined in.  There is just so much fun to be had.  Hope this winter weather is a very good thing for you.