Our Daily Bread
I started singing when I was in elementary school. I then sang in church and continued with that for many, many years. One of the singing groups I participated in was called Reflections of Joy. We really enjoyed singing together and singing for the Lord. It seems that joy has been a major theme in my life!
I liked today's devotional. The author talked about his personal journal and how he enjoyed writing it. You are reading my personal journal right now. I also enjoy writing it almost every day. 2012 starts my second full year of this blog. Wow! Do I write everything in this blog? Not everything. Do I care if no one reads it? Not really. If one friend or stranger reads this and gets something out of it, then that is OK with me!
What is God calling you to do in 2012? I pray that you will seek God in the New Year.
Lord, thank you for loving us for another year. Help us all serve you better in 2012.
Simply Saturday
I had a great week. I got stuff done at work even when no one was around. I had many good times with my best friend who arrived on Monday. I had several great conversations with mi tigre. He is so special to me. I picked up a few things from Amazon.com that I wanted, including a Kindle Touch. I am excited about this device and the carrying case I found for it. The case has a strap that I can use to hold the device easily and turn the pages with a touch of my thumb! How cool is that? I can also hold the device with my left hand, and turn pages and write with my right hand when reviewing Bible passages. Very cool! I will write more about on Thursday
Mi tigre sent me some very special songs this week. Wow... We will see where this friendship goes.
I also noticed that through prayers and Bible study and getting to know this special man, God is helping melt away many of my insecurities about relationships. As mi tigre says, 700 miles is not really that far when you think about it. How sweet is that? ;-p I am looking forward to his visit in mid-January.
I will read and work around the house after my best friend leaves for home tomorrow. There is a lot of D1 reading this week. I have some laundry and dusting to do as well. There is also the "clean up the guest room" routine after a visitor leaves. Next week will be a little busy as the routine kicks back in!
My best friend and I are going to have a nice dinner tonight at Smith and Wollensky's then see the movie New Years Eve. Should be fun. I want to wish mi tigre a happy new year on Eastern time and Central time! hehehe
I wish you and yours a safe and Happy New Years!
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, December 30, 2011
What is your gift?
Our Daily Bread
I had a funny moment on Christmas Day. We were getting our name tags at the front desk of the hospital where my great-nephew is staying. The receptionist didn't see me. She acted surprised when she finally saw me and said something like "Oh, I saved you for last since you are special". Being terribly shy and withdrawn I said "Yes, my mommy says I am special too. She is right here. You can ask her if you want!". hehehe
That funny story leads into today's devotional. God thinks each one of us is special in our own way. He gives us or helps us develop our own unique gifts. Figuring out what those gifts are and how to use them can be a challenge at times. What are your gifts? Are you using them for God?
Lord, please help each of us determine our gifts and dedicate them to you!
Foodie Friday
My best friend made something like this for me on Tuesday night. He is sending me the exact recipe so I can make it for mi tigre when he visits next month. Here is a similar recipe I found for Shrimp Scampi Pasta
Shrimp Scampi with Pasta
Serves: 2
Total time: 20 min Prep time: 10 min
20 shrimp
5 tbsps butter
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp garlic powder
5 tbsps lemon juice
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
8 ozs fettuccine (pasta cooked)
1 Melt butter in a medium saucepan.
2 Add shrimp to butter. Sprinkle with salt and garlic powder.
3 Saute over medium high. Add lemon juice.
4 Cook three minutes more with lid on.
5 Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and serve over angel hair pasta.
Other Stuff
I was not feeling well yesterday. I have had trouble keeping my blood sugar down this week. Things work that way for diabetics sometimes. I admit that I haven't been eating as well as I should this week. The holiday spirit took over my eating habits! Yikes! I was feeling needy and a little down. Mi tigre listened to me at lunch time. He was so sweet as he encouraged me, sent me an amazing song and called later to check on me. ;-) I appreciated it so much. We are always doing stuff like this for each other. I have been looking around Columbus for Pepsi Throwback, his favorite drink. I haven't found any stores that carry it regularly. I managed to scrounge up enough for his upcoming visit after searching about 10 - 15 stores! hehehe The treasure hunt was fun. Some of my friends helped! hehehe
I also had a fun night with my best friend. We had a very nice supper at J Alexanders, one of my special places to eat. We did some shopping, including a Costco run! Woohooooo! He used his $50 Costco gift card. I called my Mentor when I got home to check on him. We had a nice talk.
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
I had a funny moment on Christmas Day. We were getting our name tags at the front desk of the hospital where my great-nephew is staying. The receptionist didn't see me. She acted surprised when she finally saw me and said something like "Oh, I saved you for last since you are special". Being terribly shy and withdrawn I said "Yes, my mommy says I am special too. She is right here. You can ask her if you want!". hehehe
That funny story leads into today's devotional. God thinks each one of us is special in our own way. He gives us or helps us develop our own unique gifts. Figuring out what those gifts are and how to use them can be a challenge at times. What are your gifts? Are you using them for God?
Lord, please help each of us determine our gifts and dedicate them to you!
Foodie Friday
My best friend made something like this for me on Tuesday night. He is sending me the exact recipe so I can make it for mi tigre when he visits next month. Here is a similar recipe I found for Shrimp Scampi Pasta
Shrimp Scampi with Pasta
Serves: 2
Total time: 20 min Prep time: 10 min
20 shrimp
5 tbsps butter
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp garlic powder
5 tbsps lemon juice
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
8 ozs fettuccine (pasta cooked)
1 Melt butter in a medium saucepan.
2 Add shrimp to butter. Sprinkle with salt and garlic powder.
3 Saute over medium high. Add lemon juice.
4 Cook three minutes more with lid on.
5 Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and serve over angel hair pasta.
Other Stuff
I was not feeling well yesterday. I have had trouble keeping my blood sugar down this week. Things work that way for diabetics sometimes. I admit that I haven't been eating as well as I should this week. The holiday spirit took over my eating habits! Yikes! I was feeling needy and a little down. Mi tigre listened to me at lunch time. He was so sweet as he encouraged me, sent me an amazing song and called later to check on me. ;-) I appreciated it so much. We are always doing stuff like this for each other. I have been looking around Columbus for Pepsi Throwback, his favorite drink. I haven't found any stores that carry it regularly. I managed to scrounge up enough for his upcoming visit after searching about 10 - 15 stores! hehehe The treasure hunt was fun. Some of my friends helped! hehehe
I also had a fun night with my best friend. We had a very nice supper at J Alexanders, one of my special places to eat. We did some shopping, including a Costco run! Woohooooo! He used his $50 Costco gift card. I called my Mentor when I got home to check on him. We had a nice talk.
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
Thursday, December 29, 2011
How can we keep from singing?
Our Daily Bread
I loved the devotional today. God has been working with me on this approach to life for many years. To be frank, I have had several calamities happen to me during my life. God always lead me to music to keep me singing through these times. He also lead me to music when things were going well to always keep me singing!
Are you going through something right now? Could it possibly be as bad as your country, the people of God, being overrun by the Babylonians? The Temple of God being destroyed. Habakkuk continued to praise the Lord, continued to believe in his plans even during these difficult times.
Lord help us to always believe and trust you.
Technology Thursday
Not much going on this week. New phones. New tablets. iPad killers. blah, blah, blah. hehehe
I bought a Kindle Touch 3G this week. It should arrive today. I will write about it next week. I wanted a basic reader that I could use at church and other places without hauling my expensive iPad around. My iPad has sentimental value, so I don't want to risk losing it. The touch should be perfect for my basic reading needs.
Other Stuff
I had some nice conversations with mi tigre yesterday. We will talk more today. I really like him. ;-p
I had a nice lunch with Yang and my walking buddy. I bought their lunch to celebrate their December birthdays. Yang and I also exchanged Christmas presents. We had a nice time.
My best friend and I watched DVDs last night. We added a new funny story to our list of memories. hehehe
I got to bed early and slept very well. I hope to get a good start on my Connections lab today. I finished the Sametime lab yesterday. Woohoooo!
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
I loved the devotional today. God has been working with me on this approach to life for many years. To be frank, I have had several calamities happen to me during my life. God always lead me to music to keep me singing through these times. He also lead me to music when things were going well to always keep me singing!
Are you going through something right now? Could it possibly be as bad as your country, the people of God, being overrun by the Babylonians? The Temple of God being destroyed. Habakkuk continued to praise the Lord, continued to believe in his plans even during these difficult times.
Lord help us to always believe and trust you.
Technology Thursday
Not much going on this week. New phones. New tablets. iPad killers. blah, blah, blah. hehehe
I bought a Kindle Touch 3G this week. It should arrive today. I will write about it next week. I wanted a basic reader that I could use at church and other places without hauling my expensive iPad around. My iPad has sentimental value, so I don't want to risk losing it. The touch should be perfect for my basic reading needs.
Other Stuff
I had some nice conversations with mi tigre yesterday. We will talk more today. I really like him. ;-p
I had a nice lunch with Yang and my walking buddy. I bought their lunch to celebrate their December birthdays. Yang and I also exchanged Christmas presents. We had a nice time.
My best friend and I watched DVDs last night. We added a new funny story to our list of memories. hehehe
I got to bed early and slept very well. I hope to get a good start on my Connections lab today. I finished the Sametime lab yesterday. Woohoooo!
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
He ain't heavy...
Our Daily Bread
He ain't heavy, he's my bro-uh-ther! That is the title of a song from my early childhood (I think the 60's or early 70s). It fits well with today's devotional!
It speaks about how we treat each other. The specific reference is to slavery and how wrong it is to shackle another human being. We end up shackling ourselves as well! As much as we hate to believe it, slavery still occurs today!
The devotion also talks how we should treat each other as children of God. The passage from Galatians is beautiful. In short, it says to be sure to clean your own house as well as help keep your neighbor's house clean as well, in the complete spirit of love! We are to help each other overcome, helping bear each other's burdens.
Lord, I want to help others. Please help me maintain my own relationship with you so I can do that!
Witness Wednesday
The devotional sparked a thought from this last week. I had a friend who was down. We talked and talked. I followed up with him. I made him promise me that he wouldn't wait a whole day before he called or texted me if he was having a bad day. He agreed. I also made him agree that he would call or text when he was having a good day. I told him we needed to praise the Lord either way! Bearing each other's burdens can be a joy.
I also realized that bearing each other's burdens can be draining if you don't recharge often with prayer and Bible study and talking to close friends. One of the many things I like about talking to mi tigre is that our conversations energize me. We have been able to do that for each other a few times now in the short time we have known each other. It is very special to have a friend like that.
Other Stuff
Speaking of friends, my best friend is visiting this week. We are having a great time hanging out. He cooked supper last night. I think that was a first. It was very good. I told mi tigre what we had for supper. I have to get the recipe so we can make it when he visits in a few weeks. ;-p
I am having a birthday/Christmas lunch with friends today. It should be nice. I like eating at the Mohawk!
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Wait for it, wwwaaaiiitttt for it...
Our Daily Bread
Yeah, I am not a "waiter". hehehe I am a doer. I am a talker who does stuff. I have a tendency to be very transparent as you can read in this blog! I am learning more about "holding things in your heart", but I am not very good at it! I am doing my best to wait for the relationship with mi tigre to develop. Our feelings are growing more each day. It is well worth the wait!
The devotional today is about waiting. Waiting for God to work. Having faith when faith doesn't seem like an option. Things don't always work in on our schedule whether it be a romance, a new job, a new house, a baby, or whatever it is you are waiting for.
What is the important lesson here? For me, it is to keep learning, keep living, keep having faith each and every day of our short lives. Putting God first. Treating people as we would treat ourselves.
Lord, help us to be patient. Help us to trust you and love others!
Teaching Tuesday
We don't have Disciple 1 this week due to the holidays. I want to write a little about good news.
One of the themes of our Christmas service at church was how the folks who first heard about the birth of Jesus spread the good news. The angels spread the news to the shepherds. The star shone bright to lead the wise men. The shepherds told as many people as would listen about the things they saw and heard.
I know how I am about spreading good news. My friends are tiring of me talking about mi tigre. He is the best news I have had in a while now. I can't help talking about him!
My prayer is that I will always remember that so many folks need to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. Not only around Christmas, but all year long!
Other Stuff
I had a good day off on Monday! I slept in. I saw the movie War Horse. I ran a few errands, including buying a new snow blower (couldn't find a used one). I did some stuff around the house. I took a short nap. My best friend arrived and we went to dinner at Buca di Beppo. We had a nice time catching up. He hadn't seen the new family room furniture or the construction work I had done in the basement. Very nice. I also got to talk to mi tigre. I really like him. I love it when he teases me. I haven't been that way with many people in my life.
Back to work today. I want to get some stuff done in our labs while folks are out and can't bother me. ;-p I will see how motivated I am. ha!
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
Yeah, I am not a "waiter". hehehe I am a doer. I am a talker who does stuff. I have a tendency to be very transparent as you can read in this blog! I am learning more about "holding things in your heart", but I am not very good at it! I am doing my best to wait for the relationship with mi tigre to develop. Our feelings are growing more each day. It is well worth the wait!
The devotional today is about waiting. Waiting for God to work. Having faith when faith doesn't seem like an option. Things don't always work in on our schedule whether it be a romance, a new job, a new house, a baby, or whatever it is you are waiting for.
What is the important lesson here? For me, it is to keep learning, keep living, keep having faith each and every day of our short lives. Putting God first. Treating people as we would treat ourselves.
Lord, help us to be patient. Help us to trust you and love others!
Teaching Tuesday
We don't have Disciple 1 this week due to the holidays. I want to write a little about good news.
One of the themes of our Christmas service at church was how the folks who first heard about the birth of Jesus spread the good news. The angels spread the news to the shepherds. The star shone bright to lead the wise men. The shepherds told as many people as would listen about the things they saw and heard.
I know how I am about spreading good news. My friends are tiring of me talking about mi tigre. He is the best news I have had in a while now. I can't help talking about him!
My prayer is that I will always remember that so many folks need to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. Not only around Christmas, but all year long!
Other Stuff
I had a good day off on Monday! I slept in. I saw the movie War Horse. I ran a few errands, including buying a new snow blower (couldn't find a used one). I did some stuff around the house. I took a short nap. My best friend arrived and we went to dinner at Buca di Beppo. We had a nice time catching up. He hadn't seen the new family room furniture or the construction work I had done in the basement. Very nice. I also got to talk to mi tigre. I really like him. I love it when he teases me. I haven't been that way with many people in my life.
Back to work today. I want to get some stuff done in our labs while folks are out and can't bother me. ;-p I will see how motivated I am. ha!
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
Monday, December 26, 2011
Not exactly a jobs package...
Our Daily Bread
Yes, our president is trying so very hard to maintain and create jobs in this country. It is not an easy thing! I had a spirited discussion with a close friend the other day about the government and the economy. As usual, I told him my opinion. hehehe It is my opinion that Americans want it all -- we want companies that make huge profits, we want good jobs and we want the jobs to say in the US. Companies are taking the easy way out by offshoring many jobs to make more money. The executives are paid by how much money they make, not by how many jobs they keep in the US!
Paul and some of his followers got into trouble because the message of Christ threatened the economy for many craftsman that made idols to the goddess Artemis. When they realized that business was declining, they figured out why and tried to do something about it! Wouldn't it be nice today if the massage parlors and strip clubs and nasty bars all complained because they didn't have enough business!?! Everyone was so busy doing God's work that they would never go back to those places!
Lord, help us to spread your Word regardless of the impact!
Movie Monday
I got to see two movies this week: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Young Adult.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
This movie was long and involved. While the first 80 minutes was sort of slow as the individual story lines developed, the last part of the movie more than made up for it! The movie was sexy and disturbing and exciting and suspenseful most of the time! If you are easily offended, do NOT see this movie. There are rape scenes that are disturbing.
I give this movie three bear paws. See it in the theater to get the full effect!
Young Adult
This movie was not what I expected at all. I got the idea that it was a comedy. It was not. There were two fine performances by the lead characters. In short, the movie is about a young adult that never got over her high school sweetheart. I am talking obsessed here. She goes back home to win him back because they are "meant" to be together. Yikes. The man is happily married and a new father! The old high school acquaintance that she encountered was interesting.
I give this movie two bear paws for the acting. The story was creepy. Rent this one.
Other Stuff
I hope you had a nice Christmas! I know I did! After attending a great service at church, I drove to Wooster to pick up my mother. There was a change in plans, so I had to be flexible. I don't mind being flexible if someone can tell me what to do. I have to admit that I was not as patient and flexible as I should have been. I was very tired and felt drained after putting out so much energy the past few weeks.
I made it through the day. It was worth the driving to Akron to see my great-nephew and spend time with my family even though it was in the Ronald McDonald House and the hospital. It was nice to be together. The family really liked their presents. I am happy about that.
I had some nice conversations with mi tigre. We were both busy with family stuff all day. It was nice that we could take some time for each other in the evening. I kept thinking how nice our Christmases will be if we decide to be together.
I plan to see the movie War Horse this morning. My best friend is arriving this afternoon for a visit. We always have a good time. ;-)
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
Yes, our president is trying so very hard to maintain and create jobs in this country. It is not an easy thing! I had a spirited discussion with a close friend the other day about the government and the economy. As usual, I told him my opinion. hehehe It is my opinion that Americans want it all -- we want companies that make huge profits, we want good jobs and we want the jobs to say in the US. Companies are taking the easy way out by offshoring many jobs to make more money. The executives are paid by how much money they make, not by how many jobs they keep in the US!
Paul and some of his followers got into trouble because the message of Christ threatened the economy for many craftsman that made idols to the goddess Artemis. When they realized that business was declining, they figured out why and tried to do something about it! Wouldn't it be nice today if the massage parlors and strip clubs and nasty bars all complained because they didn't have enough business!?! Everyone was so busy doing God's work that they would never go back to those places!
Lord, help us to spread your Word regardless of the impact!
Movie Monday
I got to see two movies this week: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Young Adult.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
This movie was long and involved. While the first 80 minutes was sort of slow as the individual story lines developed, the last part of the movie more than made up for it! The movie was sexy and disturbing and exciting and suspenseful most of the time! If you are easily offended, do NOT see this movie. There are rape scenes that are disturbing.
I give this movie three bear paws. See it in the theater to get the full effect!
Young Adult
This movie was not what I expected at all. I got the idea that it was a comedy. It was not. There were two fine performances by the lead characters. In short, the movie is about a young adult that never got over her high school sweetheart. I am talking obsessed here. She goes back home to win him back because they are "meant" to be together. Yikes. The man is happily married and a new father! The old high school acquaintance that she encountered was interesting.
I give this movie two bear paws for the acting. The story was creepy. Rent this one.
Other Stuff
I hope you had a nice Christmas! I know I did! After attending a great service at church, I drove to Wooster to pick up my mother. There was a change in plans, so I had to be flexible. I don't mind being flexible if someone can tell me what to do. I have to admit that I was not as patient and flexible as I should have been. I was very tired and felt drained after putting out so much energy the past few weeks.
I made it through the day. It was worth the driving to Akron to see my great-nephew and spend time with my family even though it was in the Ronald McDonald House and the hospital. It was nice to be together. The family really liked their presents. I am happy about that.
I had some nice conversations with mi tigre. We were both busy with family stuff all day. It was nice that we could take some time for each other in the evening. I kept thinking how nice our Christmases will be if we decide to be together.
I plan to see the movie War Horse this morning. My best friend is arriving this afternoon for a visit. We always have a good time. ;-)
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
Sunday, December 25, 2011
A Grateful and Merry Christmas to all!
Our Daily Bread
As you might guess, the devotional today is the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. How appropriate for Christmas day! hehehe
I noticed something new in the devotional and the scripture -- the reaction of the shepherds. Yes, like you, I have read this passage many, many times. I never realized until this morning that the shepherds heard the angels and then left their flocks! Shepherds NEVER leave their flocks! They left their flocks to find the baby lying in a manger. They found him, just as they were told! Can you imagine what they looked like to other folks as they told their story that night!
Lord, help us to always look for something new in each and every scripture passage, and in each and every day. Thank you for the gift of your son, Jesus!
Special Edition -- A Grateful and Merry Christmas!
This Christmas will be different for me and for my family. We have a little one in the hospital, so we will focus on what is important -- being together on Christmas. My great-nephew had another surgery on Wednesday, the third of his short life. He is doing OK, but we are not sure when he will get out of the hospital. I am grateful for my family.
I spent Christmas Eve with my adopted mom (my walking buddy) and dad (her husband). I got to see many new friends and my adopted family at church last night (and will see some of them again today). I am grateful they are in my life.
I got a great report from my eye doctor on Friday. I am grateful for my vision.
This year is different for another reason. As you may have picked up on from previous blog entries, I met a guy when my best friend and I traveled to Kansas City last month. Mi tigre (my nickname for him -- my tiger) has become special to me in a very short time even though we are 700 miles away from each other. We have mixed emotions this weekend as we both know it is too soon to be spending this holiday together, but missing each other just the same. I texted him this morning something like this: "I am thinking of all the wonderful Christmases we will share if we decide to be together". Yes, they could be wonderful. I also told him the other day "we are not perfect, however we could be perfect for each other". ;-p I am grateful for meeting this "normal guy" regardless of where the friendship might go. Grateful indeed.
Have a Grateful and Merry Christmas!
As you might guess, the devotional today is the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. How appropriate for Christmas day! hehehe
I noticed something new in the devotional and the scripture -- the reaction of the shepherds. Yes, like you, I have read this passage many, many times. I never realized until this morning that the shepherds heard the angels and then left their flocks! Shepherds NEVER leave their flocks! They left their flocks to find the baby lying in a manger. They found him, just as they were told! Can you imagine what they looked like to other folks as they told their story that night!
Lord, help us to always look for something new in each and every scripture passage, and in each and every day. Thank you for the gift of your son, Jesus!
Special Edition -- A Grateful and Merry Christmas!
This Christmas will be different for me and for my family. We have a little one in the hospital, so we will focus on what is important -- being together on Christmas. My great-nephew had another surgery on Wednesday, the third of his short life. He is doing OK, but we are not sure when he will get out of the hospital. I am grateful for my family.
I spent Christmas Eve with my adopted mom (my walking buddy) and dad (her husband). I got to see many new friends and my adopted family at church last night (and will see some of them again today). I am grateful they are in my life.
I got a great report from my eye doctor on Friday. I am grateful for my vision.
This year is different for another reason. As you may have picked up on from previous blog entries, I met a guy when my best friend and I traveled to Kansas City last month. Mi tigre (my nickname for him -- my tiger) has become special to me in a very short time even though we are 700 miles away from each other. We have mixed emotions this weekend as we both know it is too soon to be spending this holiday together, but missing each other just the same. I texted him this morning something like this: "I am thinking of all the wonderful Christmases we will share if we decide to be together". Yes, they could be wonderful. I also told him the other day "we are not perfect, however we could be perfect for each other". ;-p I am grateful for meeting this "normal guy" regardless of where the friendship might go. Grateful indeed.
Have a Grateful and Merry Christmas!
Saturday, December 24, 2011
We got this!
Our Daily Bread
I love sports. I have played on several sports teams during my life (when I was healthy enough to play!). One of the expressions of confidence that I loved was "We GOT this!" That is the way I felt when I read the devotional today!
Victory over death through Jesus? We GOT this! hehehe As children of God living in this world, it can be easy to let things get to us. The world is so much different than us. So I want to add this thought: Victory over LIFE through Jesus? We GOT this! ;-)
Lord, thank you for victory. Help us to remember that each and every minute of each and every day!
Simply Saturday
It has been a wild week for me. A blessed week. I will try to be brief! hehehe
Work has been slow, but I had a really good meeting with my coworkers on Thursday. It was cool. I am looking forward to following up on this effort.
One of the things that I finally realized in my walk with God came out of my prayers about my next relationship. I want to deal with the baggage I have from previous relationships so it doesn't interfere with my future relationships -- either romantic or close friendships. This has been happening the past two months. It culminated with some talks with one of the guys, I called him Yang on this blog, who added to my baggage the past few years. I have struggled with forgiving myself and him for the way things have gone (and not gone) the past few years. I am finally able to offer him a "no-strings-attached" close friendship that won't digress into another failed attempt as a romantic relationship. He does not and will not ever feel that way about me. I am so thankful I can care about him as my close friend and Christian brother. God put us in each other's lives for such a reason.
I felt bad about my confusion with our friendship. I finally realized through prayer and Bible study that my confusion was caused by a mixture of physical attraction and my lessons from God about how to love. I misunderstood with both Yin and Yang that the love that God was starting to flow through my heart. It was more intense than anything I had ever felt before. I mistakenly tried transferring that to Yin and/or Yang as romantic love when it was something more important than romantic love. God helped me forgive me for these mistakes and helped me offer both of them the kind of friendship they need and deserve.
God also taught me: let go of that baggage so it doesn't interfere with my relationship with him! Praise God!
God used this growth to prepare me for my next (and hopefully lifelong) relationship). I called them my "wax on, wax off" moments in a recent post. ;-p All the things that God has told me about in the past few years seem to be coming to pass in my current relationship. This relationship is different. God told me it would be different. God told me other things that I may or may not write about. I am not sure if I want to share some of these things. I might actually "hold these things in my heart" like I wrote about last Wednesday. ;-) All I want to share right now is to ALWAYS trust God, even when the road ahead isn't clear.
I had some great talks with my friend this week. We laughed. We cried. I sang him some Barry Manilow. He sang to me. He made me laugh so hard, I almost drove off the road the other day when he was teasing me about something silly. He has touched my heart. I seem to have touched his. I nicknamed him mi tigre (my tiger). He calls me mi oso (my bear). We will see where this friendship goes.
Today is Christmas Eve. I have a wonderful day planned. Go to a movie. Talk to mi tigre. Have a light dinner with my walking buddy and her husband. I plan to sing at both Christmas Eve services at church.
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in loving arms!
I love sports. I have played on several sports teams during my life (when I was healthy enough to play!). One of the expressions of confidence that I loved was "We GOT this!" That is the way I felt when I read the devotional today!
Victory over death through Jesus? We GOT this! hehehe As children of God living in this world, it can be easy to let things get to us. The world is so much different than us. So I want to add this thought: Victory over LIFE through Jesus? We GOT this! ;-)
Lord, thank you for victory. Help us to remember that each and every minute of each and every day!
Simply Saturday
It has been a wild week for me. A blessed week. I will try to be brief! hehehe
Work has been slow, but I had a really good meeting with my coworkers on Thursday. It was cool. I am looking forward to following up on this effort.
One of the things that I finally realized in my walk with God came out of my prayers about my next relationship. I want to deal with the baggage I have from previous relationships so it doesn't interfere with my future relationships -- either romantic or close friendships. This has been happening the past two months. It culminated with some talks with one of the guys, I called him Yang on this blog, who added to my baggage the past few years. I have struggled with forgiving myself and him for the way things have gone (and not gone) the past few years. I am finally able to offer him a "no-strings-attached" close friendship that won't digress into another failed attempt as a romantic relationship. He does not and will not ever feel that way about me. I am so thankful I can care about him as my close friend and Christian brother. God put us in each other's lives for such a reason.
I felt bad about my confusion with our friendship. I finally realized through prayer and Bible study that my confusion was caused by a mixture of physical attraction and my lessons from God about how to love. I misunderstood with both Yin and Yang that the love that God was starting to flow through my heart. It was more intense than anything I had ever felt before. I mistakenly tried transferring that to Yin and/or Yang as romantic love when it was something more important than romantic love. God helped me forgive me for these mistakes and helped me offer both of them the kind of friendship they need and deserve.
God also taught me: let go of that baggage so it doesn't interfere with my relationship with him! Praise God!
God used this growth to prepare me for my next (and hopefully lifelong) relationship). I called them my "wax on, wax off" moments in a recent post. ;-p All the things that God has told me about in the past few years seem to be coming to pass in my current relationship. This relationship is different. God told me it would be different. God told me other things that I may or may not write about. I am not sure if I want to share some of these things. I might actually "hold these things in my heart" like I wrote about last Wednesday. ;-) All I want to share right now is to ALWAYS trust God, even when the road ahead isn't clear.
I had some great talks with my friend this week. We laughed. We cried. I sang him some Barry Manilow. He sang to me. He made me laugh so hard, I almost drove off the road the other day when he was teasing me about something silly. He has touched my heart. I seem to have touched his. I nicknamed him mi tigre (my tiger). He calls me mi oso (my bear). We will see where this friendship goes.
Today is Christmas Eve. I have a wonderful day planned. Go to a movie. Talk to mi tigre. Have a light dinner with my walking buddy and her husband. I plan to sing at both Christmas Eve services at church.
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in loving arms!
Friday, December 23, 2011
Ollie, Ollie, Oxen Free
Our Daily Bread
I remember playing tag and hide and seek when I was a kid. When we couldn't find someone or we were tired of trying to tag someone we yelled "Ollie, Ollie, Oxen Free”. I had no idea what it really meant, but we knew the were not going to be pursued any longer. Click here for the origins of that phrase.
God pursues us today to be his children. To have a relationship with him. He is calling Ollie, Ollie, Oxen, Free to each human on this earth. Come home today. You don't have to run any longer.
Lord, thank you for calling us to a relationship with you!
Foodie Friday
I made a new broccoli cheese casserole for a dinner party last night. I took several different recipes and combined them into my own creation. Everyone seemed to like it! Here is the recipe:
Duane's Broccoli Cheese Casserole
INGREDIENTS:
4 cups broccoli, trimmed
2 eggs, beaten
1 can condensed broccoli cheese soup
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons minced green onions (or one teaspoon dried onion)
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup grated Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup regular panko
2 tablespoons butter
PREPARATION:
Steam broccoli for 7 minutes, drain and place in buttered casserole.
Combine the milk, soup, eggs, onion, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, salt and pepper and cheddar cheese. Mix and pour over broccoli.
Toast panko with the butter til golden brown. Cover casserole with panko.
Bake at 350 degrees F. for 20-30 minutes.
Other Stuff
I have a follow up visit with the eye doctor this morning. The eye appears to be healing very nicely. Praise God!
I had another dental issue yesterday. My temporary crown fell off. It held up for over three weeks this time! It feel out while I was eating a buckeye (go figure). I found my dentist's backup person who took the time to fix it for me. Thank you very much!
I had a great conversation with my friend. He loved the video I made for him. I wanted him to know how special he is to me and how special I feel every time he talks to me. ;-p I also reminded him he promised he would never stop singing to me! hehehe
I got a nap in, then made my new broccoli cheese casserole for the chancel choir Christmas party. It was nice. I didn't stay very late. I wanted to do a few things around the house before my friend called.
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
I remember playing tag and hide and seek when I was a kid. When we couldn't find someone or we were tired of trying to tag someone we yelled "Ollie, Ollie, Oxen Free”. I had no idea what it really meant, but we knew the were not going to be pursued any longer. Click here for the origins of that phrase.
God pursues us today to be his children. To have a relationship with him. He is calling Ollie, Ollie, Oxen, Free to each human on this earth. Come home today. You don't have to run any longer.
Lord, thank you for calling us to a relationship with you!
Foodie Friday
I made a new broccoli cheese casserole for a dinner party last night. I took several different recipes and combined them into my own creation. Everyone seemed to like it! Here is the recipe:
Duane's Broccoli Cheese Casserole
INGREDIENTS:
4 cups broccoli, trimmed
2 eggs, beaten
1 can condensed broccoli cheese soup
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons minced green onions (or one teaspoon dried onion)
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup grated Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup regular panko
2 tablespoons butter
PREPARATION:
Steam broccoli for 7 minutes, drain and place in buttered casserole.
Combine the milk, soup, eggs, onion, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, salt and pepper and cheddar cheese. Mix and pour over broccoli.
Toast panko with the butter til golden brown. Cover casserole with panko.
Bake at 350 degrees F. for 20-30 minutes.
Other Stuff
I have a follow up visit with the eye doctor this morning. The eye appears to be healing very nicely. Praise God!
I had another dental issue yesterday. My temporary crown fell off. It held up for over three weeks this time! It feel out while I was eating a buckeye (go figure). I found my dentist's backup person who took the time to fix it for me. Thank you very much!
I had a great conversation with my friend. He loved the video I made for him. I wanted him to know how special he is to me and how special I feel every time he talks to me. ;-p I also reminded him he promised he would never stop singing to me! hehehe
I got a nap in, then made my new broccoli cheese casserole for the chancel choir Christmas party. It was nice. I didn't stay very late. I wanted to do a few things around the house before my friend called.
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Dig, I say, Dig!!!
Our Daily Bread
Sorry for another Foghorn Leghorn reference, but I liked that cartoon character when I was growing up! I still do!
The devotional for today was timely for me since we are studying the Psalms right now. Very cool! We are studying some more Psalms and the book of Proverbs for our next session after the first of the year.
I can testify that this devotional is true! I started studying the Bible more in the last 18 months as part of the Disciple Bible study classes through my church. They have been great so far! Reading and "mining" the Word of God has meant so much to me! I highly encourage everyone to find some kind of Bible study or regular Bible reading routine.
Lord, I know the Bible can't possibly contain all there is to know about you, but it is a great place to start!
Technology Thursday
Here are a few pieces of technology news from the last week and my opinions. Watch out! ha!
ATT-Tmobile deal dead
It appears that the ATT buyout of Tmobile is a dead deal instead of a done deal. The fears of creating a duopoly in the wireless phone market in the US killed the deal. Could Sprint pursue a deal with Tmobile next? We will see.
BlackBerry/RIM dying or dead?
If you asked me this question two years ago, I would have said "heck no!". Now I am not so sure. The management at RIM seems clueless to what is going on around them. They announced in the last week that their new QNX OS phones will be delayed until the end of 2012. What? Seriously? The models I reviewed a few months ago were already outdated before they were ready for market! They will now be delayed even longer? This is not good news. RIM is also losing its grip on the corporate market. We will see what happens next. There are talks of major management changes and other shake ups.
Facebook changes
I haven't been on Facebook for over two years, so I don't keep up with it as much as I used to. I noticed several articles over the past few months about how Facebook is trying to make changes to retain users and to attract new users. Frankly I think the people that "feel more connected" to others via Facebook couldn't connect with a real person if they were handcuffed together for a week. Oh well. I have a very different definition of "friend"!
Kindle Fire
Amazon has been selling the heck out of the Kindle Fire device (as well as the other Kindle devices). Very cool! To be frank, after using my iPad for almost 18 months, I think the Fire is OK. It did not overwhelm me like the iPad did. The Fire is only $200. The entry level iPad is $500. Try both before you decide what you want. I am thinking about getting a low end Kindle for casual reading. I like the small size and lighter weight of the e-ink Kindles. They are so inexpensive now, it is not extravagant to have both a Kindle and an iPad!
Other Stuff
I ran a few errands after work last night. I rested a little before the D1 class started. I had an unexpected conversation with a friend who has been somewhat estranged the past few months. We had a great conversation. We got cut short when I received a call from my new friend. I will try to reconnect with him today. I had a great conversation with my new friend. He says he is just a normal guy, but he is a very special man to me. I look forward to getting to know him better and seeing where the relationship might go. He sent me some cards the other day. I look forward to receiving those today or tomorrow.
I get off work early today and don't have to return to work until Tuesday. Woohooo! I have a few holiday gatherings planned for the weekend with special friends. They should be fun. I am looking forward to the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services at church as well.
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
Sorry for another Foghorn Leghorn reference, but I liked that cartoon character when I was growing up! I still do!
The devotional for today was timely for me since we are studying the Psalms right now. Very cool! We are studying some more Psalms and the book of Proverbs for our next session after the first of the year.
I can testify that this devotional is true! I started studying the Bible more in the last 18 months as part of the Disciple Bible study classes through my church. They have been great so far! Reading and "mining" the Word of God has meant so much to me! I highly encourage everyone to find some kind of Bible study or regular Bible reading routine.
Lord, I know the Bible can't possibly contain all there is to know about you, but it is a great place to start!
Technology Thursday
Here are a few pieces of technology news from the last week and my opinions. Watch out! ha!
ATT-Tmobile deal dead
It appears that the ATT buyout of Tmobile is a dead deal instead of a done deal. The fears of creating a duopoly in the wireless phone market in the US killed the deal. Could Sprint pursue a deal with Tmobile next? We will see.
BlackBerry/RIM dying or dead?
If you asked me this question two years ago, I would have said "heck no!". Now I am not so sure. The management at RIM seems clueless to what is going on around them. They announced in the last week that their new QNX OS phones will be delayed until the end of 2012. What? Seriously? The models I reviewed a few months ago were already outdated before they were ready for market! They will now be delayed even longer? This is not good news. RIM is also losing its grip on the corporate market. We will see what happens next. There are talks of major management changes and other shake ups.
Facebook changes
I haven't been on Facebook for over two years, so I don't keep up with it as much as I used to. I noticed several articles over the past few months about how Facebook is trying to make changes to retain users and to attract new users. Frankly I think the people that "feel more connected" to others via Facebook couldn't connect with a real person if they were handcuffed together for a week. Oh well. I have a very different definition of "friend"!
Kindle Fire
Amazon has been selling the heck out of the Kindle Fire device (as well as the other Kindle devices). Very cool! To be frank, after using my iPad for almost 18 months, I think the Fire is OK. It did not overwhelm me like the iPad did. The Fire is only $200. The entry level iPad is $500. Try both before you decide what you want. I am thinking about getting a low end Kindle for casual reading. I like the small size and lighter weight of the e-ink Kindles. They are so inexpensive now, it is not extravagant to have both a Kindle and an iPad!
Other Stuff
I ran a few errands after work last night. I rested a little before the D1 class started. I had an unexpected conversation with a friend who has been somewhat estranged the past few months. We had a great conversation. We got cut short when I received a call from my new friend. I will try to reconnect with him today. I had a great conversation with my new friend. He says he is just a normal guy, but he is a very special man to me. I look forward to getting to know him better and seeing where the relationship might go. He sent me some cards the other day. I look forward to receiving those today or tomorrow.
I get off work early today and don't have to return to work until Tuesday. Woohooo! I have a few holiday gatherings planned for the weekend with special friends. They should be fun. I am looking forward to the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services at church as well.
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
What is it about light?
Our Daily Bread
There are two things in this world that humans don't like too much of or two little of: water and light! We can see the damage that too much of each can do to us and to our surroundings!
Jesus used both of these things as symbols of himself. He will give us living water. He is the light of the world. He also instills that light in us when we accept him and follow him. We are then his light in our world. Darkness will try to overcome us, but Christ's light will shine through us if we let it!
Lord, I want to be your light in this dark world. I don't want to hide it under a bushel!
Witness Wednesday
Holding things in your heart
As I have been reading more and more in the Bible, I realized a concept that is foreign to me -- holding things in your heart. There are many examples of this in the Old Testament and the New Testament. Those of you that know me know that I usually say stuff as I think of it or as it hits me (and I can be a little dense at times!). I don't usually "hold things in my heart".
What does this mean? To me, it means that God told you something that you need to tuck away until a later time. It is usually a promise or some advanced knowledge of future events. This is not a mystical thing or sorcery like fortune telling, per se. An example is the message that the angel gave to Mary about her son. She held those things in her heart as she reared him and saw him grow into his destiny. Wow!
So what has this meant to me? I am learning about timing. There are some things that God showed me the past few years that I have been waiting to happen. Some have happened already. Some seem to be happening right now as a new relationship develops. I haven't told the man about these things because it is not the right time. I am holding. Holding. Holding.... ;-p
What are the advantages and disadvantages of holding things in your heart? First, it is difficult at times. The fulfillment of these things causes immense excitement that you want to share. I learned to share them with close friends and not necessarily the ones that are affected by it. Holding things in your heart increases your faith and reliance in God because you can rest in his assurances. How great is that! Finally, holding things in your heart can cause some impatience. Patience builds character and perseverance if we let it. I know I have cried out to God at times in my impatience!
I am praying that you can listen to God for the things that you should hold in your heart. That you can do a better job than me at being patient and resting God's promises!
Other Stuff
I had a relaxing evening. I picked up my desserts for Christmas day at Costco. I am not sure I will make something else or not. ;-p I did some laundry. I finished my Christmas wrapping and packaging. I actually watched a little TV (shock, shock). Amazon Prime Instant Video is so cool! I also finished my Christmas project for my new friend. I posted it last night. I hope he likes it. He has been so sweet to me. I want him to know how much I care about him. I am not sure I will post the Youtube URL here or not. I want to get his permission first.
He is visiting me in Columbus next month. If you can possibly imagine this, I will not over plan or over prepare. He wants to see what my life is like. He wants me to see what his life is like. We will figure things out. ;-p
I have D1 class tonight. I need to run some errands before class.
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
There are two things in this world that humans don't like too much of or two little of: water and light! We can see the damage that too much of each can do to us and to our surroundings!
Jesus used both of these things as symbols of himself. He will give us living water. He is the light of the world. He also instills that light in us when we accept him and follow him. We are then his light in our world. Darkness will try to overcome us, but Christ's light will shine through us if we let it!
Lord, I want to be your light in this dark world. I don't want to hide it under a bushel!
Witness Wednesday
Holding things in your heart
As I have been reading more and more in the Bible, I realized a concept that is foreign to me -- holding things in your heart. There are many examples of this in the Old Testament and the New Testament. Those of you that know me know that I usually say stuff as I think of it or as it hits me (and I can be a little dense at times!). I don't usually "hold things in my heart".
What does this mean? To me, it means that God told you something that you need to tuck away until a later time. It is usually a promise or some advanced knowledge of future events. This is not a mystical thing or sorcery like fortune telling, per se. An example is the message that the angel gave to Mary about her son. She held those things in her heart as she reared him and saw him grow into his destiny. Wow!
So what has this meant to me? I am learning about timing. There are some things that God showed me the past few years that I have been waiting to happen. Some have happened already. Some seem to be happening right now as a new relationship develops. I haven't told the man about these things because it is not the right time. I am holding. Holding. Holding.... ;-p
What are the advantages and disadvantages of holding things in your heart? First, it is difficult at times. The fulfillment of these things causes immense excitement that you want to share. I learned to share them with close friends and not necessarily the ones that are affected by it. Holding things in your heart increases your faith and reliance in God because you can rest in his assurances. How great is that! Finally, holding things in your heart can cause some impatience. Patience builds character and perseverance if we let it. I know I have cried out to God at times in my impatience!
I am praying that you can listen to God for the things that you should hold in your heart. That you can do a better job than me at being patient and resting God's promises!
Other Stuff
I had a relaxing evening. I picked up my desserts for Christmas day at Costco. I am not sure I will make something else or not. ;-p I did some laundry. I finished my Christmas wrapping and packaging. I actually watched a little TV (shock, shock). Amazon Prime Instant Video is so cool! I also finished my Christmas project for my new friend. I posted it last night. I hope he likes it. He has been so sweet to me. I want him to know how much I care about him. I am not sure I will post the Youtube URL here or not. I want to get his permission first.
He is visiting me in Columbus next month. If you can possibly imagine this, I will not over plan or over prepare. He wants to see what my life is like. He wants me to see what his life is like. We will figure things out. ;-p
I have D1 class tonight. I need to run some errands before class.
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Watchers
Our Daily Bread
I loved the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer during its seven season run. One of the interesting characters was the "watcher", the person who was responsible for the training and care of the slayer. It was a huge responsibility. Yes, I know it was just a TV show! Really? hehehe
As children of God, we have responsibility to be "watchers" over our fellow children of God. How does that work? Read the passage Acts 20:22-32 for more details. Yes, there will be some among us who will try to divide us. We need to be wary of them and pray for them. We need to be strong for each other.
Lord, I want to be the "watcher" that you want me to be, watching out for my brothers and sisters in Christ.
Teaching Tuesday
The lesson this week talks about the Psalms. I learned a lot of things I hadn't heard before. Here are a few highlights.
First, Psalms should be read aloud or sung to better understand them. Try that with some of your favorite psalms! Try reading them with the inflection the writer intended or how you would say the words if you wrote them.
Second, I sort of knew that David didn't write every psalm, but I sort of didn't. Apparently, they were written over hundreds of years, before, during and after the exile of Israel. Yes, some of them were written by David.
Lastly, you will see after reading several of the psalms that they are the most expressive books of the Bible. They express a wide range of emotions. They express the kind of deep, honest conversations that the children of God should have with their God. They hold nothing back, just like we should hold nothing back. What is the point? God knows everything anyway!
My favorite psalms so far are 23, 51 and 100. Try reading those aloud!
Other Stuff
I had a busy evening getting some stuff done. The highlight was getting thirty gallons of gas for nothing! I had enough fuel perks amassed to get a free tank of gas and also filled up my 5 gallon gas cans! Woohooo! I wrapped my Christmas presents. I put laundry away. I made supper and made some peanut butter blossom cookies (I cheated and used the store bought dough). I also had a couple of nice conversations with my friend. I am sending him some more buckeyes for his family to enjoy. ;-p
I plan to see the movie The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo tonight. That should be interesting.
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
I loved the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer during its seven season run. One of the interesting characters was the "watcher", the person who was responsible for the training and care of the slayer. It was a huge responsibility. Yes, I know it was just a TV show! Really? hehehe
As children of God, we have responsibility to be "watchers" over our fellow children of God. How does that work? Read the passage Acts 20:22-32 for more details. Yes, there will be some among us who will try to divide us. We need to be wary of them and pray for them. We need to be strong for each other.
Lord, I want to be the "watcher" that you want me to be, watching out for my brothers and sisters in Christ.
Teaching Tuesday
The lesson this week talks about the Psalms. I learned a lot of things I hadn't heard before. Here are a few highlights.
First, Psalms should be read aloud or sung to better understand them. Try that with some of your favorite psalms! Try reading them with the inflection the writer intended or how you would say the words if you wrote them.
Second, I sort of knew that David didn't write every psalm, but I sort of didn't. Apparently, they were written over hundreds of years, before, during and after the exile of Israel. Yes, some of them were written by David.
Lastly, you will see after reading several of the psalms that they are the most expressive books of the Bible. They express a wide range of emotions. They express the kind of deep, honest conversations that the children of God should have with their God. They hold nothing back, just like we should hold nothing back. What is the point? God knows everything anyway!
My favorite psalms so far are 23, 51 and 100. Try reading those aloud!
Other Stuff
I had a busy evening getting some stuff done. The highlight was getting thirty gallons of gas for nothing! I had enough fuel perks amassed to get a free tank of gas and also filled up my 5 gallon gas cans! Woohooo! I wrapped my Christmas presents. I put laundry away. I made supper and made some peanut butter blossom cookies (I cheated and used the store bought dough). I also had a couple of nice conversations with my friend. I am sending him some more buckeyes for his family to enjoy. ;-p
I plan to see the movie The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo tonight. That should be interesting.
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
Monday, December 19, 2011
10:00 and all is well!
Our Daily Bread
Have you ever seen any of those old movies that has a night watchman who tolls on the hour each night "All is well, All is well"? What would each of us "toll" if we told about our lives?
The devotion talks about how the children of God should feel that "all is well" regardless of our circumstances! That is difficult to say that to a friend who has been out of work most of the year or a homeless person or someone who just lost a parent, child or loved one! We each have to find that "all is well" inside ourselves when those times come. We also have to find it when things are going well. We sometimes think "OK, what can go wrong and when will it happen?". We have trouble relaxing and enjoying every moment.
The writer of Psalm 46 knows exactly the source of shelter and strength at all times -- our God!
Lord, I want to rest in you at all times. Thank you for being our strength and shelter!
Movie Monday
I saw two movies last week -- The Descendants and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.
The Descendants
I can't say that I liked or disliked this movie. I think it was well written. I liked the scenery (Oahu and The Big Island of Hawaii). The acting was OK. The story line was a challenge for me. Too much going on, though the character played by George Clooney did a great job of handling it all!
I give this movie two stars (for the writing and scenery).
Sherlock Holmes
If you liked the first Sherlock Holmes movie with Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law, I am sure you like the second one. It was more of the same, but different enough to add interest. Throughout most of the movie, Holmes seems to be a step or two behind his enemy. The ending is engaging and will surprise you! I liked the movie a lot, though it could have been a little shorter.
I give this movie two stars (for enjoyment and special effects). See this one at the theater.
Other Stuff
I rested last night. Whew...
Going to finish some Christmas shopping, wrap presents and do some stuff around the house tonight. This week will be slooooowwweeerrrrrr.... Woohooo! I also need to stop by Microcenter. You know how dangerous that can be for me!
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
Have you ever seen any of those old movies that has a night watchman who tolls on the hour each night "All is well, All is well"? What would each of us "toll" if we told about our lives?
The devotion talks about how the children of God should feel that "all is well" regardless of our circumstances! That is difficult to say that to a friend who has been out of work most of the year or a homeless person or someone who just lost a parent, child or loved one! We each have to find that "all is well" inside ourselves when those times come. We also have to find it when things are going well. We sometimes think "OK, what can go wrong and when will it happen?". We have trouble relaxing and enjoying every moment.
The writer of Psalm 46 knows exactly the source of shelter and strength at all times -- our God!
Lord, I want to rest in you at all times. Thank you for being our strength and shelter!
Movie Monday
I saw two movies last week -- The Descendants and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.
The Descendants
I can't say that I liked or disliked this movie. I think it was well written. I liked the scenery (Oahu and The Big Island of Hawaii). The acting was OK. The story line was a challenge for me. Too much going on, though the character played by George Clooney did a great job of handling it all!
I give this movie two stars (for the writing and scenery).
Sherlock Holmes
If you liked the first Sherlock Holmes movie with Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law, I am sure you like the second one. It was more of the same, but different enough to add interest. Throughout most of the movie, Holmes seems to be a step or two behind his enemy. The ending is engaging and will surprise you! I liked the movie a lot, though it could have been a little shorter.
I give this movie two stars (for enjoyment and special effects). See this one at the theater.
Other Stuff
I rested last night. Whew...
Going to finish some Christmas shopping, wrap presents and do some stuff around the house tonight. This week will be slooooowwweeerrrrrr.... Woohooo! I also need to stop by Microcenter. You know how dangerous that can be for me!
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Singing Sunday
I had a busy day, so I didn't make my usual post today. Our church choir sang the Christmas portion of Handel's Messiah this morning. Seventy voices with a twenty piece orchestra. It was beautiful. ;-0
I took a short nap. Talked to my friend as he opened the Christmas box I sent him. That was a lot of fun! I then made appearances at a Christmas part and a cast party. I am tired tonight. I am going to get some stuff ready for the week and take it easy.
Be sure to read the Teaching Tuesday entry on 12/20. We started studying the Psalms this week in my D1 class. It goes very well with my Psalm Sunday theme!
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
I took a short nap. Talked to my friend as he opened the Christmas box I sent him. That was a lot of fun! I then made appearances at a Christmas part and a cast party. I am tired tonight. I am going to get some stuff ready for the week and take it easy.
Be sure to read the Teaching Tuesday entry on 12/20. We started studying the Psalms this week in my D1 class. It goes very well with my Psalm Sunday theme!
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
Saturday, December 17, 2011
The Suffering Servant
Our Daily Bread
The book of Isaiah in the Old Testament is a long book with about 60 chapters. It is believed that there may have been three books at one time and had as many as three authors. One of the themes is the "suffering servant". There are three main theories about who the suffering servant is: Israel, Isaiah or Jesus.
When we talked about this in my Disciple 1 class last week, I decided I am not sure it really mattered which one it was. Jesus came. He gave us a new way to live and to think. There are two things important to me now: living the way he taught us and looking forward to his second coming. As children of God, we have hope in the future on earth and for all eternity! I don't know how all of this stuff will work in the long run. I have no clue. I trust God to fill in the details as I go along. I wish could be this trusting and spontaneous in my daily life! ;-p
Lord, thank you for giving us hope and life.
Simply Saturday
I had a busy week with performances and recovering from the performances last weekend! I have one more concert on Sunday morning. The chancel choir at church is singing the Christmas portion of Handlel's Messiah with lots of voices and orchestra. How cool! It will be exciting.
I also grew closer to my new friend. I nicknamed him "mi tigre". He is a Missouri Tigers fan, so that was a natural nickname to give him. He is of Mexican descent. He is trying to help me learn some Spanish. I will focus on it some more after my last concert. We have known each other for almost a month. We are taking things slow. We are looking forward to visiting each other again soon. We will see where this long distance relationship might go. ;-p
God is so good. There are so many things that are coming together for me now. All the hard work from the past 4.5 years has paid off. I will continue to work hard on my personal growth and being more sensitive to God's leading. I thank God each day for my many blessings and for meeting a special man.
I also learned some things about other friends in my life. I learned more about accepting people where they are not judging them. To be a better friend and to love more selflessly. It has been a good week.
I hope that each of you will be open to God's leading. Be open to learning. Be open to growing. Be not afraid -- God knows you and wants to work in your life to make you whole.
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
The book of Isaiah in the Old Testament is a long book with about 60 chapters. It is believed that there may have been three books at one time and had as many as three authors. One of the themes is the "suffering servant". There are three main theories about who the suffering servant is: Israel, Isaiah or Jesus.
When we talked about this in my Disciple 1 class last week, I decided I am not sure it really mattered which one it was. Jesus came. He gave us a new way to live and to think. There are two things important to me now: living the way he taught us and looking forward to his second coming. As children of God, we have hope in the future on earth and for all eternity! I don't know how all of this stuff will work in the long run. I have no clue. I trust God to fill in the details as I go along. I wish could be this trusting and spontaneous in my daily life! ;-p
Lord, thank you for giving us hope and life.
Simply Saturday
I had a busy week with performances and recovering from the performances last weekend! I have one more concert on Sunday morning. The chancel choir at church is singing the Christmas portion of Handlel's Messiah with lots of voices and orchestra. How cool! It will be exciting.
I also grew closer to my new friend. I nicknamed him "mi tigre". He is a Missouri Tigers fan, so that was a natural nickname to give him. He is of Mexican descent. He is trying to help me learn some Spanish. I will focus on it some more after my last concert. We have known each other for almost a month. We are taking things slow. We are looking forward to visiting each other again soon. We will see where this long distance relationship might go. ;-p
God is so good. There are so many things that are coming together for me now. All the hard work from the past 4.5 years has paid off. I will continue to work hard on my personal growth and being more sensitive to God's leading. I thank God each day for my many blessings and for meeting a special man.
I also learned some things about other friends in my life. I learned more about accepting people where they are not judging them. To be a better friend and to love more selflessly. It has been a good week.
I hope that each of you will be open to God's leading. Be open to learning. Be open to growing. Be not afraid -- God knows you and wants to work in your life to make you whole.
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
Friday, December 16, 2011
It's a wonderful life -- Bible style!
Our Daily Bread
The holiday classic "It's a Wonderful Life" has been a family favorite for decades. The banker who is in trouble gets to see what the world would have been like if he hadn't lived. He comes to the realization that no matter how dire the situation he was facing, there were things that were much more important. He truly had a wonderful life!
I laughed at myself when I named this entry "It's a wonderful life - Bible style!". ha! Instead of seeing what the world would be like life if he hadn't lived in it, the younger son saw what his life was like without the care and love of his father and family. After making a complete fool of himself, he went back home to apologize to his father. This was a quite different route to figuring out that he had a wonderful life!
What things does our God have for you that you don't realize? That you are not accepting? God has been working on me in some areas of my life (see the Witness Wednesday entry for this week!).
Lord, help us to always recognize and be grateful for the wonderful life we have in you!
Foodie Friday
A family favorite is the homemade Buckeyes I make each year! If I am too busy to make them, I outsource them to my mother! I am making them this year because Mom broke her shoulder in a fall last week. I made a few for my new friend on Monday. I will make up the rest of them this weekend and early next week. Here is the recipe that my family uses.
Buckeyes
Ingredients
1 pound butter (do not use margarine)
3 pounds peanut butter (use smooth)
2 pounds powdered sugar.
1/2 teaspoon salt
2- 12 oz packages semi-sweet chocolate chips (prefer Nestle or Ghiradelli)
paraffin
Bring the butter to room temperature. Mix the butter and peanut butter together either by hand or in a large mixing bowl. A Kitchenaid mixer works great for this. Slowly fold in the powdered sugar. Chill for one hour. After chilling, roll one teaspoon (or tablespoon if you want larger buckeyes) of mix at a time into a ball and place on a cookie sheet covered with waxed paper. Chill again. This makes the balls easier to dip in the melted chocolate. While the balls are chilling, melt the chocolate chips and paraffin together. Use about 1/4 stick of paraffin per package of chocolate chips. The wax helps the chocolate set after dipping. For each peanut butter ball, stick it with a toothpick and dip in the chocolate, leaving a little bit of the top of the ball uncovered. This gives the appearance of a real buckeye! Place the dipped balls on a cookie sheet covered in waxed paper. Chill if you want them to set faster. After the chocolate sets, gently pull them off the waxed paper and place in the storage containers of your choice. I usually put waxed paper in between the layers if I use a deep container. Enjoy!
Other Stuff
I had a busy evening. I had a session with my counselor. That went well. I went to choir practice after that for our Messiah concert on Sunday morning. It should go very well. I went home and went to sleep after a short conversation with my friend.
I plan to go to Easton for a short time tonight to see a buddy perform. I usually go to one of his performances each year. It is fun. I need to do some grocery shopping and pick up some stuff from the cleaners and tailor as well. Lots of church stuff to do tomorrow. Whew! I will be glad when Sunday night arrives and I can slow down!
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
The holiday classic "It's a Wonderful Life" has been a family favorite for decades. The banker who is in trouble gets to see what the world would have been like if he hadn't lived. He comes to the realization that no matter how dire the situation he was facing, there were things that were much more important. He truly had a wonderful life!
I laughed at myself when I named this entry "It's a wonderful life - Bible style!". ha! Instead of seeing what the world would be like life if he hadn't lived in it, the younger son saw what his life was like without the care and love of his father and family. After making a complete fool of himself, he went back home to apologize to his father. This was a quite different route to figuring out that he had a wonderful life!
What things does our God have for you that you don't realize? That you are not accepting? God has been working on me in some areas of my life (see the Witness Wednesday entry for this week!).
Lord, help us to always recognize and be grateful for the wonderful life we have in you!
Foodie Friday
A family favorite is the homemade Buckeyes I make each year! If I am too busy to make them, I outsource them to my mother! I am making them this year because Mom broke her shoulder in a fall last week. I made a few for my new friend on Monday. I will make up the rest of them this weekend and early next week. Here is the recipe that my family uses.
Buckeyes
Ingredients
1 pound butter (do not use margarine)
3 pounds peanut butter (use smooth)
2 pounds powdered sugar.
1/2 teaspoon salt
2- 12 oz packages semi-sweet chocolate chips (prefer Nestle or Ghiradelli)
paraffin
Bring the butter to room temperature. Mix the butter and peanut butter together either by hand or in a large mixing bowl. A Kitchenaid mixer works great for this. Slowly fold in the powdered sugar. Chill for one hour. After chilling, roll one teaspoon (or tablespoon if you want larger buckeyes) of mix at a time into a ball and place on a cookie sheet covered with waxed paper. Chill again. This makes the balls easier to dip in the melted chocolate. While the balls are chilling, melt the chocolate chips and paraffin together. Use about 1/4 stick of paraffin per package of chocolate chips. The wax helps the chocolate set after dipping. For each peanut butter ball, stick it with a toothpick and dip in the chocolate, leaving a little bit of the top of the ball uncovered. This gives the appearance of a real buckeye! Place the dipped balls on a cookie sheet covered in waxed paper. Chill if you want them to set faster. After the chocolate sets, gently pull them off the waxed paper and place in the storage containers of your choice. I usually put waxed paper in between the layers if I use a deep container. Enjoy!
Other Stuff
I had a busy evening. I had a session with my counselor. That went well. I went to choir practice after that for our Messiah concert on Sunday morning. It should go very well. I went home and went to sleep after a short conversation with my friend.
I plan to go to Easton for a short time tonight to see a buddy perform. I usually go to one of his performances each year. It is fun. I need to do some grocery shopping and pick up some stuff from the cleaners and tailor as well. Lots of church stuff to do tomorrow. Whew! I will be glad when Sunday night arrives and I can slow down!
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Overcome evil...
Our Daily Bread
I don't know about you, but I like adventure movies where the good guy whoops up on the bad guy! Go good guy! There is usually a lot of shooting and stuff blowing up. ;-p
As children of God, we are called to overcome evil, but not by shooting and blowing stuff up! We are to overcome evil with good. I usually don't paste the scripture passage in this section, but the passage from Romans 12 that gives us instructions on how to fight evil with good:
9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.[a] Do not be conceited.
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[b] says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”[c]
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
So now we know what to do and how to do it! Make it so!
Lord, thank you for the instruction in your scripture. Help us always do your will.
Technology Thursday
There are a lot of articles floating around the Internet lately about scientists possibly discovering the "god particle". This has been the stuff of fiction and movies for a long time. There is a theory that one specific type of particle is the building block for our universe. Hmmmmm. We called it a carbon molecule when I was in school! hehehe
This "discovery" is prompting discussions in many circles including religious groups (much like the Angels and Demons movie with Tom Hanks).
Personally, I believe that my God can't be described in entirety in our big blue sky. I don't see how God can be reduced to a particle! hehehe
Other Stuff
I had another busy day and evening. I had a concert at work at lunch. Only one more work concert to go today. I have one more concert on Sunday to end the concerts for this season. Whew! It has been fun, but a lot of work. The rehearsals are what really kill me!
I went to see the movie The Descendants after work. My friend saw it on Monday. We are going to compare notes. I will review it on Movie Monday. I went to D1 class after the movie, where I gave my devotional on my "wax on, wax off" moments.
I finished most of my housework chores. I still need to do a little light house cleaning. I also need to wrap presents and organize my office. I have let it get too cluttered the past two months. ;-p
Let go , my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
I don't know about you, but I like adventure movies where the good guy whoops up on the bad guy! Go good guy! There is usually a lot of shooting and stuff blowing up. ;-p
As children of God, we are called to overcome evil, but not by shooting and blowing stuff up! We are to overcome evil with good. I usually don't paste the scripture passage in this section, but the passage from Romans 12 that gives us instructions on how to fight evil with good:
9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.[a] Do not be conceited.
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[b] says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”[c]
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
So now we know what to do and how to do it! Make it so!
Lord, thank you for the instruction in your scripture. Help us always do your will.
Technology Thursday
There are a lot of articles floating around the Internet lately about scientists possibly discovering the "god particle". This has been the stuff of fiction and movies for a long time. There is a theory that one specific type of particle is the building block for our universe. Hmmmmm. We called it a carbon molecule when I was in school! hehehe
This "discovery" is prompting discussions in many circles including religious groups (much like the Angels and Demons movie with Tom Hanks).
Personally, I believe that my God can't be described in entirety in our big blue sky. I don't see how God can be reduced to a particle! hehehe
Other Stuff
I had another busy day and evening. I had a concert at work at lunch. Only one more work concert to go today. I have one more concert on Sunday to end the concerts for this season. Whew! It has been fun, but a lot of work. The rehearsals are what really kill me!
I went to see the movie The Descendants after work. My friend saw it on Monday. We are going to compare notes. I will review it on Movie Monday. I went to D1 class after the movie, where I gave my devotional on my "wax on, wax off" moments.
I finished most of my housework chores. I still need to do a little light house cleaning. I also need to wrap presents and organize my office. I have let it get too cluttered the past two months. ;-p
Let go , my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Put me in my place...
Our Daily Bread
How many times can I say it? Today's devotional really spoke to me in a very timely manner! What is up with that? ha! See the "Witness Wednesday" section below for more details.
Are there people in your life that you constantly have to forgive? I call them "energy vampires". ha! My ex partner knew several folks like that and gave them that nickname. I finally learned that we need to forgive as best we can (as God has forgiven us) while still protecting ourselves from being abused by folks that don't share our same philosophy of life.
Lord, help us love like you love. Let us shine your light in dark places!
Witness Wednesday
I have a close friend that has blown me off the last few months. He has time to spend with other people and do whatever he wants, but never has time to spend time with me or even call me. While wishing him a happy birthday last week, I also mentioned that our friendship was at a point where we don't need to exchange Christmas or birthday presents. We both have everything we need. We can just exchange cards or do lunch. He took offense and still wanted to exchange Christmas presents. My first thought was "WTF?" I admit that I struggled with what to do next. Should I just blow him off like he did to me or be a true friend and still exchange gifts? To build my case, please understand that I don't do a lot of Christmas shopping. I only get gifts for folks that mean a great deal to me. This friend doesn't fall into this category any longer because of the way he has acted.
So the key to this decision is the form of the question I asked above: "be a true friend". That is the only way I know how to be. I am not a vindictive person. God has taught me that is not the way his children are supposed to be. So my decision is to exchange Christmas presents with this friend. To be a true friend. To accept him where he is without letting him suck the life out of me or get me down.
Is it easy? No. I hate seeing friends make bad decisions that will have consequences that are obvious to everyone except for the friend! It is not my place to control. It is my joy, not just my job, to love and pray.
What is your joy?
Other Stuff
I made a Costco run with my walking buddy, and then she took me to dinner at Mimi's Cafe for part of my Christmas present. We had a good talk.
I finished my D1 reading last night. I had a hard time getting it done after singing so much over the weekend. I also called my best friend and my mom. My friend and I also talked a couple of times. He is so sweet to me. I sent his mom a poinsettia for Christmas. She received it yesterday and really liked it. ;-p He should receive his Christmas box in the next day or two. I didn't spend a lot, but I think he will enjoy it.
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
How many times can I say it? Today's devotional really spoke to me in a very timely manner! What is up with that? ha! See the "Witness Wednesday" section below for more details.
Are there people in your life that you constantly have to forgive? I call them "energy vampires". ha! My ex partner knew several folks like that and gave them that nickname. I finally learned that we need to forgive as best we can (as God has forgiven us) while still protecting ourselves from being abused by folks that don't share our same philosophy of life.
Lord, help us love like you love. Let us shine your light in dark places!
Witness Wednesday
I have a close friend that has blown me off the last few months. He has time to spend with other people and do whatever he wants, but never has time to spend time with me or even call me. While wishing him a happy birthday last week, I also mentioned that our friendship was at a point where we don't need to exchange Christmas or birthday presents. We both have everything we need. We can just exchange cards or do lunch. He took offense and still wanted to exchange Christmas presents. My first thought was "WTF?" I admit that I struggled with what to do next. Should I just blow him off like he did to me or be a true friend and still exchange gifts? To build my case, please understand that I don't do a lot of Christmas shopping. I only get gifts for folks that mean a great deal to me. This friend doesn't fall into this category any longer because of the way he has acted.
So the key to this decision is the form of the question I asked above: "be a true friend". That is the only way I know how to be. I am not a vindictive person. God has taught me that is not the way his children are supposed to be. So my decision is to exchange Christmas presents with this friend. To be a true friend. To accept him where he is without letting him suck the life out of me or get me down.
Is it easy? No. I hate seeing friends make bad decisions that will have consequences that are obvious to everyone except for the friend! It is not my place to control. It is my joy, not just my job, to love and pray.
What is your joy?
Other Stuff
I made a Costco run with my walking buddy, and then she took me to dinner at Mimi's Cafe for part of my Christmas present. We had a good talk.
I finished my D1 reading last night. I had a hard time getting it done after singing so much over the weekend. I also called my best friend and my mom. My friend and I also talked a couple of times. He is so sweet to me. I sent his mom a poinsettia for Christmas. She received it yesterday and really liked it. ;-p He should receive his Christmas box in the next day or two. I didn't spend a lot, but I think he will enjoy it.
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
REALLY good bread....
Our Daily Bread
When my ex-partner and I got together, we bought a bread machine. It wasn't an expensive one, but it got the job done -- sort of. It did a great job of mixing the dough and raising the dough, however, it had a tendency to over bake the bread each time! We got in the habit of letting the machine mix and raise, then we popped the bread in the oven for the baking. It sort of defeated the purpose of the automatic machine!
I can very loosely connect that experience to today's devotional about the feeding of the 5,000. Just like I had what I thought was a reasonable expectation of the bread machine, the folks who were fed thought they had a reasonable expectation of Jesus -- an automatic bread machine! ha! Jesus told them that he didn't come to meet their physical needs, though they were many and he did meet them at times. He came to earth to meet their spiritual needs like no one else in history!
Lord, thank you for knowing my needs and meeting them over and over!
Teaching Tuesday
The D1 lesson this week is on Comfort. There are many passages from Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel about the comforting words God sent to the people of Israel after the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. It was the beginning of a new understanding of God for Israel -- God didn't exist only in the temple. God exists everywhere. There isn't a place in our universe that we can go to elude God! They started worshiping in synagogues around the known world. Very cool!
What is God talking to you about? It may not be a booming voice, rather a still small voice that is trying to talk to you about his presence and your life. I pray that you can be sensitive to his words.
Other Stuff
I had a very busy evening running errands and doing stuff around the house. I did laundry. I got it all done except for the sheets for the guest bedrooms. Those were dry this morning, so I will make the beds when I get home tonight. I paid some bills. I made a few buckeyes to put in my friend's Christmas box. I finished his Christmas box and mailed it this morning. I also sent a birthday card to my close friend in Northern Kentucky. His birthday is on Sunday.
I had a couple of talks with my friend. He is so sweet to me. He was concerned that I was staying up too late to talk to him (he is on Central time). I reassured him that I would sleep when I needed to. ;-p I sent his mother a poinsettia for Christmas. He thought that was very sweet. We are also talking about when he will visit Columbus next month. I am very excited about that. We keep reassuring each other that we are taking things slow. It is a good thing.
I had a dream trip opportunity come up, but I will wait for a while. Delta had a Groupon deal for a world tour (at least the Northern Hemisphere) for $10,000 for two people (economy class, or $20,000 for business class). Maybe some day.
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
When my ex-partner and I got together, we bought a bread machine. It wasn't an expensive one, but it got the job done -- sort of. It did a great job of mixing the dough and raising the dough, however, it had a tendency to over bake the bread each time! We got in the habit of letting the machine mix and raise, then we popped the bread in the oven for the baking. It sort of defeated the purpose of the automatic machine!
I can very loosely connect that experience to today's devotional about the feeding of the 5,000. Just like I had what I thought was a reasonable expectation of the bread machine, the folks who were fed thought they had a reasonable expectation of Jesus -- an automatic bread machine! ha! Jesus told them that he didn't come to meet their physical needs, though they were many and he did meet them at times. He came to earth to meet their spiritual needs like no one else in history!
Lord, thank you for knowing my needs and meeting them over and over!
Teaching Tuesday
The D1 lesson this week is on Comfort. There are many passages from Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel about the comforting words God sent to the people of Israel after the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. It was the beginning of a new understanding of God for Israel -- God didn't exist only in the temple. God exists everywhere. There isn't a place in our universe that we can go to elude God! They started worshiping in synagogues around the known world. Very cool!
What is God talking to you about? It may not be a booming voice, rather a still small voice that is trying to talk to you about his presence and your life. I pray that you can be sensitive to his words.
Other Stuff
I had a very busy evening running errands and doing stuff around the house. I did laundry. I got it all done except for the sheets for the guest bedrooms. Those were dry this morning, so I will make the beds when I get home tonight. I paid some bills. I made a few buckeyes to put in my friend's Christmas box. I finished his Christmas box and mailed it this morning. I also sent a birthday card to my close friend in Northern Kentucky. His birthday is on Sunday.
I had a couple of talks with my friend. He is so sweet to me. He was concerned that I was staying up too late to talk to him (he is on Central time). I reassured him that I would sleep when I needed to. ;-p I sent his mother a poinsettia for Christmas. He thought that was very sweet. We are also talking about when he will visit Columbus next month. I am very excited about that. We keep reassuring each other that we are taking things slow. It is a good thing.
I had a dream trip opportunity come up, but I will wait for a while. Delta had a Groupon deal for a world tour (at least the Northern Hemisphere) for $10,000 for two people (economy class, or $20,000 for business class). Maybe some day.
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
Monday, December 12, 2011
Only during the holiday season?
Our Daily Bread
Isn't it a shame that some folks are only "nice" around the holidays? I don't mean children. I am talking about adults! hehehe I guess this is my theme for the month of December. How can we be generous and give people a break all year long and not just in November and December?
The devotional talks about how we should react to anger and unkind words. We have a choice as children of God to lash back or to temper our response with God's love. Yes, we do have a choice. We have a choice of how we react in every situation, regardless of how rude or unkind folks are to us or to others.
What are my goals? To respond more slowly, with the love of God in my voice. To be kind to others even when they are not being kind or when others are not being kind to them. Being a light in this dark world!
Lord, help all of us be a light in this dark world all year long!
Movie Monday
Didn't make it to the movies this week. I was too busy with concerts. I thought it was cool that my sister enjoyed several movies while staying at my house on Saturday night. She watched one of my all-time favorites: The Princess Bride. She also watched Lost in Space. hehehe
Not sure I will get to the movies this week either. The holidays are very busy for us musical types!
Other Stuff
I enjoyed church yesterday even though it was emotional one of our ministers is moving to a new church in January. My mother and sister went to church with me. I guess mom was tired because she made a beeline for the car right after church! I had to put away my choir robe and pick up something from the church office. They left for home and had a safe trip.
I rested Sunday afternoon and got to talk to my friend. I really enjoy talking to him. ;-p The CGMC evening concert went very well. I talked with my friend again after the concert and then fell into bed! I can relax a little bit this week. The concerts at work and church start again on Wednesday.
I need to finish up my Christmas shopping. I thought I had it all done only to find out that some friends want to exchange presents. That was unexpected. It will be fine. I also want to send a box to my friend with a few little things he will enjoy.
Let go, my friends! God will catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
Isn't it a shame that some folks are only "nice" around the holidays? I don't mean children. I am talking about adults! hehehe I guess this is my theme for the month of December. How can we be generous and give people a break all year long and not just in November and December?
The devotional talks about how we should react to anger and unkind words. We have a choice as children of God to lash back or to temper our response with God's love. Yes, we do have a choice. We have a choice of how we react in every situation, regardless of how rude or unkind folks are to us or to others.
What are my goals? To respond more slowly, with the love of God in my voice. To be kind to others even when they are not being kind or when others are not being kind to them. Being a light in this dark world!
Lord, help all of us be a light in this dark world all year long!
Movie Monday
Didn't make it to the movies this week. I was too busy with concerts. I thought it was cool that my sister enjoyed several movies while staying at my house on Saturday night. She watched one of my all-time favorites: The Princess Bride. She also watched Lost in Space. hehehe
Not sure I will get to the movies this week either. The holidays are very busy for us musical types!
Other Stuff
I enjoyed church yesterday even though it was emotional one of our ministers is moving to a new church in January. My mother and sister went to church with me. I guess mom was tired because she made a beeline for the car right after church! I had to put away my choir robe and pick up something from the church office. They left for home and had a safe trip.
I rested Sunday afternoon and got to talk to my friend. I really enjoy talking to him. ;-p The CGMC evening concert went very well. I talked with my friend again after the concert and then fell into bed! I can relax a little bit this week. The concerts at work and church start again on Wednesday.
I need to finish up my Christmas shopping. I thought I had it all done only to find out that some friends want to exchange presents. That was unexpected. It will be fine. I also want to send a box to my friend with a few little things he will enjoy.
Let go, my friends! God will catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Un-Father of the year
Our Daily Bread
I never really thought that much about Joseph's role in the Christmas story until I read the devotional this morning. I remember some other Biblical stories about how God told men to name their sons very specific names because of His purpose. Never had any man been told that his wife was impregnated by God! Joseph fulfilled his marital obligation even though it meant going against the traditions of that time and his religious norms!
Are there times today that God asks us to do things that may be outside our current time or our religious norms? I have had several cases of this in my life. It is not always comfortable. At one religious retreat, God told me to speak to a new friend about his rocky marriage. Yikes! I gently encouraged him and reminded all weekend about it. I also followed that up with lots of prayer!
My point is that we should never shy away from doing the things that God asks us to do, regardless of how odd they may seem!
Lord, help us always to listen and obey, even when it is not comfortable!
Simply Saturday
It has been a very busy week! Getting ready for and singing a lot of holiday concerts can be tiring! I sang three concerts so far. I have two today. One tomorrow. Two more during the week and one more next Sunday. That is what I get for jumping back into singing with both feet! I obviously enjoy it or I wouldn't do it.
My friend and I have been talking each day. He is such a sweet man. I am so thankful I met him! I am not sure where things will end up. We will take things slow and find out.
My mother and oldest sister are visiting today. They will attend my 8:00 concert tonight. It will be nice to see them again.
A close friend had a birthday yesterday. It was fun sending him a naughty card. It was blank on the inside, so I wrote a nice birthday message. I joked that he could keep the card for those cold, lonely nights in Columbus, Ohio! hehehe
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
I never really thought that much about Joseph's role in the Christmas story until I read the devotional this morning. I remember some other Biblical stories about how God told men to name their sons very specific names because of His purpose. Never had any man been told that his wife was impregnated by God! Joseph fulfilled his marital obligation even though it meant going against the traditions of that time and his religious norms!
Are there times today that God asks us to do things that may be outside our current time or our religious norms? I have had several cases of this in my life. It is not always comfortable. At one religious retreat, God told me to speak to a new friend about his rocky marriage. Yikes! I gently encouraged him and reminded all weekend about it. I also followed that up with lots of prayer!
My point is that we should never shy away from doing the things that God asks us to do, regardless of how odd they may seem!
Lord, help us always to listen and obey, even when it is not comfortable!
Simply Saturday
It has been a very busy week! Getting ready for and singing a lot of holiday concerts can be tiring! I sang three concerts so far. I have two today. One tomorrow. Two more during the week and one more next Sunday. That is what I get for jumping back into singing with both feet! I obviously enjoy it or I wouldn't do it.
My friend and I have been talking each day. He is such a sweet man. I am so thankful I met him! I am not sure where things will end up. We will take things slow and find out.
My mother and oldest sister are visiting today. They will attend my 8:00 concert tonight. It will be nice to see them again.
A close friend had a birthday yesterday. It was fun sending him a naughty card. It was blank on the inside, so I wrote a nice birthday message. I joked that he could keep the card for those cold, lonely nights in Columbus, Ohio! hehehe
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
Friday, December 9, 2011
Wisdom, most of all
Our Daily Bread
What would I ask for if I had three wishes? Hmmmmm. My first thoughts are: all the money I would ever want, health, live forever. Hmmmm. My second thought, from a more "child of God" point of view, would be: for everyone to have a good relationship with God, world peace, and no more hunger. I guess there might be some balance there after all! hehehe Another thought is to ask for the love of my lifetime (forever?). This is sort of like dreaming what it would be like to win the lottery! It can be nice to dream sometimes!
The story in today's devotional is about God offering Solomon anything he wanted. Solomon asked for wisdom to guide God's people. He was already very wise for his age! I guess that might be because his father was King David! Solomon showed much wisdom after that wish and was acknowledged around the world (at that time) for his wisdom!
What would you ask for?
Lord, help us all be wise in our prayers and the things we ask for!
Foodie Friday
I bought some corn bread stuffing crumbs last year (don't worry, they are good for years). I found this recipe to make something out of them.
Cornbread Stuffed Pork Chops
Ingredients:
4 thick bone-in pork chops, at least 1 1/4-inches thick
salt and pepper
.
Stuffing:
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced onion
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
1/4 to 1/2 cup cooked corn kernels
2 cups cornbread crumbs, from freshly made cornbread or packaged crumbs
1/2 cup chopped golden raisins or dried cranberries
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
dash sage, crumbled, optional
chicken broth, about 1/2 cup, to moisten
salt and pepper, to taste
Preparation:
Cut a pocket into the meaty side of chop, cutting in all the way to the bone.
In a saucepan, heat butter over medium low heat; add celery, onion, and bell pepper. Saute vegetables until tender. Add remaining ingredients, adding enough chicken broth to moisten as desired and taste before adding salt and pepper.
Stuff pockets of pork chops with the stuffing mix. Set remaining stuffing mix aside. In a large skillet over medium heat, brown the chops, turning carefully to brown both sides. Push chops aside and spoon remaining stuffing in the middle of the skillet (if your skillet is not oven-safe, use a baking dish), then position the chops over the stuffing. Cover the skillet or baking dish and bake at 350° for about 25 to 30 minutes, until chops are cooked through.
Serves 4.
Other Stuff
Busy day yesterday! Had a few meetings at work. Walked with my walking buddy. Forgot my concert tickets at home, so I had to go home after my doctor appointment to retrieve them. That allowed me to take a short nap. My friend and I were both busy, so we didn't get to talk much. We communicated via voice mail and texts. I really missed talking to him!
I have two concerts today -- one at work and the first mens chorus concert tonight. My mom and sister arrive tomorrow morning so they can attend the Saturday night concert. Should be a fun weekend, though tiring!
Let go my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
What would I ask for if I had three wishes? Hmmmmm. My first thoughts are: all the money I would ever want, health, live forever. Hmmmm. My second thought, from a more "child of God" point of view, would be: for everyone to have a good relationship with God, world peace, and no more hunger. I guess there might be some balance there after all! hehehe Another thought is to ask for the love of my lifetime (forever?). This is sort of like dreaming what it would be like to win the lottery! It can be nice to dream sometimes!
The story in today's devotional is about God offering Solomon anything he wanted. Solomon asked for wisdom to guide God's people. He was already very wise for his age! I guess that might be because his father was King David! Solomon showed much wisdom after that wish and was acknowledged around the world (at that time) for his wisdom!
What would you ask for?
Lord, help us all be wise in our prayers and the things we ask for!
Foodie Friday
I bought some corn bread stuffing crumbs last year (don't worry, they are good for years). I found this recipe to make something out of them.
Cornbread Stuffed Pork Chops
Ingredients:
4 thick bone-in pork chops, at least 1 1/4-inches thick
salt and pepper
.
Stuffing:
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced onion
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
1/4 to 1/2 cup cooked corn kernels
2 cups cornbread crumbs, from freshly made cornbread or packaged crumbs
1/2 cup chopped golden raisins or dried cranberries
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
dash sage, crumbled, optional
chicken broth, about 1/2 cup, to moisten
salt and pepper, to taste
Preparation:
Cut a pocket into the meaty side of chop, cutting in all the way to the bone.
In a saucepan, heat butter over medium low heat; add celery, onion, and bell pepper. Saute vegetables until tender. Add remaining ingredients, adding enough chicken broth to moisten as desired and taste before adding salt and pepper.
Stuff pockets of pork chops with the stuffing mix. Set remaining stuffing mix aside. In a large skillet over medium heat, brown the chops, turning carefully to brown both sides. Push chops aside and spoon remaining stuffing in the middle of the skillet (if your skillet is not oven-safe, use a baking dish), then position the chops over the stuffing. Cover the skillet or baking dish and bake at 350° for about 25 to 30 minutes, until chops are cooked through.
Serves 4.
Other Stuff
Busy day yesterday! Had a few meetings at work. Walked with my walking buddy. Forgot my concert tickets at home, so I had to go home after my doctor appointment to retrieve them. That allowed me to take a short nap. My friend and I were both busy, so we didn't get to talk much. We communicated via voice mail and texts. I really missed talking to him!
I have two concerts today -- one at work and the first mens chorus concert tonight. My mom and sister arrive tomorrow morning so they can attend the Saturday night concert. Should be a fun weekend, though tiring!
Let go my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
Thursday, December 8, 2011
We shall behold...
Our Daily Bread
We shall behold heaven and all of God's glory some day if we are his children! Wow! We can only dream about what it will be like. The writings in the Bible are hard to fathom!
So is it healthy to think about heaven all the time? IMHO, I think it is healthier to work to bring heaven to earth! Isn't that what the Lord's Prayer talks about? "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven"? While the thought of heaven can be comforting during difficult times, especially during the death of a loved one, working to bring God's will to this world is our main goal!
Lord, I want to bring your will to this earth. Please help me be sensitive to that each minute of each day.
Technology Thursday
Once again, there isn't much going on in the technology world. Phones are passe, tablets are boring now, desktops are sort of dead, laptops are dropping in price each day, blah, blah, blah. What is there to write about?
CHRISTMAS SALES! Woohoooo! I found several good deals on technology the past month. Unless you are looking for a flat panel TV, check out the sales on Bestbuy.com, amazon.com, microcenter.com, etc. for some amazing deals. Unless you find a jaw dropping deal on a TV now, wait until January to buy one of those!
I found a great deal on an I5 processor laptop at Micro Center. I pointed it out to two friends of mine who purchased them. I found a Bluray player deal on Best Buy.com. My best friend bought one of those and is thrilled with the picture quality and all the video services he can access via the wireless networking interface. I found a couple of deals on bluetooth adapters and bluetooth headsets. I bought one of each for my new iPod Nano.
I am going to hold off on any more technology purchases for a while. I want to save some more money for other purposes. I know that is crazy talk, but that is what I am going to do. hehehe
Other Stuff
I am thinking and praying for my ex's family today. He lost his aunt on Tuesday. The grave side service is this morning. She was a dear lady. She and her late husband were always so nice to me when we were together. We will all miss her smile and laugh.
I ran a few errands after work last night, then had dinner with Flybear. We had a nice talk. I tried not to gush too much talking about my new friend. ;-p I went to D1 class after that. I stopped by my hero's house for a CD she burned for me, then talked on the phone on the way home. I fell into bed and went fast to sleep. Whew. The next few days will be very busy with concerts.
My mother fell and broke her arm on Tuesday. Old people are so delicate! hehehe I tease her about that. She is still coming to visit this weekend and hear my concert on Saturday night. She was worried about getting my Buckeyes made. I reassured her that I will have time to make them after this weekend. Silly momma! hehehe FYI, Buckeyes are like homemade Reeses Cups that are shaped like the buckeye nut and dipped in chocolate. I have been making them for my family for years. I outsource them to my mother some years. hehehe
I have dress rehearsal tonight. Should be fun. ;-p
Let go, my friends! God will catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
We shall behold heaven and all of God's glory some day if we are his children! Wow! We can only dream about what it will be like. The writings in the Bible are hard to fathom!
So is it healthy to think about heaven all the time? IMHO, I think it is healthier to work to bring heaven to earth! Isn't that what the Lord's Prayer talks about? "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven"? While the thought of heaven can be comforting during difficult times, especially during the death of a loved one, working to bring God's will to this world is our main goal!
Lord, I want to bring your will to this earth. Please help me be sensitive to that each minute of each day.
Technology Thursday
Once again, there isn't much going on in the technology world. Phones are passe, tablets are boring now, desktops are sort of dead, laptops are dropping in price each day, blah, blah, blah. What is there to write about?
CHRISTMAS SALES! Woohoooo! I found several good deals on technology the past month. Unless you are looking for a flat panel TV, check out the sales on Bestbuy.com, amazon.com, microcenter.com, etc. for some amazing deals. Unless you find a jaw dropping deal on a TV now, wait until January to buy one of those!
I found a great deal on an I5 processor laptop at Micro Center. I pointed it out to two friends of mine who purchased them. I found a Bluray player deal on Best Buy.com. My best friend bought one of those and is thrilled with the picture quality and all the video services he can access via the wireless networking interface. I found a couple of deals on bluetooth adapters and bluetooth headsets. I bought one of each for my new iPod Nano.
I am going to hold off on any more technology purchases for a while. I want to save some more money for other purposes. I know that is crazy talk, but that is what I am going to do. hehehe
Other Stuff
I am thinking and praying for my ex's family today. He lost his aunt on Tuesday. The grave side service is this morning. She was a dear lady. She and her late husband were always so nice to me when we were together. We will all miss her smile and laugh.
I ran a few errands after work last night, then had dinner with Flybear. We had a nice talk. I tried not to gush too much talking about my new friend. ;-p I went to D1 class after that. I stopped by my hero's house for a CD she burned for me, then talked on the phone on the way home. I fell into bed and went fast to sleep. Whew. The next few days will be very busy with concerts.
My mother fell and broke her arm on Tuesday. Old people are so delicate! hehehe I tease her about that. She is still coming to visit this weekend and hear my concert on Saturday night. She was worried about getting my Buckeyes made. I reassured her that I will have time to make them after this weekend. Silly momma! hehehe FYI, Buckeyes are like homemade Reeses Cups that are shaped like the buckeye nut and dipped in chocolate. I have been making them for my family for years. I outsource them to my mother some years. hehehe
I have dress rehearsal tonight. Should be fun. ;-p
Let go, my friends! God will catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Remember the...sailors
Our Daily Bread
My best friend and I went to Hawaii around the time of my 50th birthday. One of the most moving experiences of my life was visiting the Arizona Memorial! I guess I wasn't paying attention the day we covered that ship in American History, because I didn't realize they couldn't retrieve the bodies of the men and women lost on that ship! I got so emotional thinking about all the people who were entombed below the memorial. They sacrificed their lives so we could be free.
The devotional talks about remembering the sacrifice that Jesus gave so we could have spiritual freedom. I like the reference to the Lord's Supper as a remembrance. Very cool. I think we should also remember Christ's sacrifice by living a Godly life in this ungodly world! I know I joke about wearing my church tshirt because it means that I have to be nice to people. hehehe What if we wore a "I am a child of God" tshirt each day? We do and we don't even realize it!
Lord, I want to be your light in this world of darkness. Help me live each day like I am wearing my church tshirt all day long!
Witness Wednesday
I learned some things about the nature of God this week. I had a friend who was struggling with some of the Old Testament readings he ran across. It seemed that the God of the Old Testament is not the same loving God as in the New Testament. We discussed that and, as usual, I gave him my opinion. ;-p
To me, God has always been the same. It says that in the Bible. I think the inconsistencies have been in the way that man has perceived God as we evolved over time. There are things in the Old Testament that seem barbaric to us today. The writers of the Old Testament described God as best as they knew how, just like we do today.
The bottom line is for us to understand the nature of God. Is God a loving, caring being? Yes. Should God be praised and feared? Yes, because of who God is. In our world of technology, we sometimes forget the magnitude of our God. The Bible says that the skies could not hold all the things that could be written about God. Wow! I think in terms of computer storage and how much information could be stored on a very large hard drive or disk drive system. God could fill that up in an instant! ;-)
Our God is an awesome God! I ask that we all remember the nature of God as we read and as we live our daily life.
Other Stuff
I had a nice evening. I got off work a little early, so I ran a few errands. I had time to rest a little bit before arriving at my walking buddy's house for supper. We had a nice supper of pot roast! My favorite! ;-) I also delivered her new laptop. She was so excited! Her Windows 7 Professional upgrade was her Christmas and birthday present.
I had a couple of short talks with my new friend. I love talking to him. I shared a song with him last night. He didn't have it in his library, so I gifted it to him on iTunes. I am looking for a Christmas CD that my hero gave my last year. There is a cool song on there that I want him to have.
I have my first holiday concert today. I have about ten or so in the next two weeks. It will be fun. I am also having dinner with flybear and going to my D1 class. Throw in a conversation or two with my new friend and it will be a great day!
Let go, my friends! God will catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
My best friend and I went to Hawaii around the time of my 50th birthday. One of the most moving experiences of my life was visiting the Arizona Memorial! I guess I wasn't paying attention the day we covered that ship in American History, because I didn't realize they couldn't retrieve the bodies of the men and women lost on that ship! I got so emotional thinking about all the people who were entombed below the memorial. They sacrificed their lives so we could be free.
The devotional talks about remembering the sacrifice that Jesus gave so we could have spiritual freedom. I like the reference to the Lord's Supper as a remembrance. Very cool. I think we should also remember Christ's sacrifice by living a Godly life in this ungodly world! I know I joke about wearing my church tshirt because it means that I have to be nice to people. hehehe What if we wore a "I am a child of God" tshirt each day? We do and we don't even realize it!
Lord, I want to be your light in this world of darkness. Help me live each day like I am wearing my church tshirt all day long!
Witness Wednesday
I learned some things about the nature of God this week. I had a friend who was struggling with some of the Old Testament readings he ran across. It seemed that the God of the Old Testament is not the same loving God as in the New Testament. We discussed that and, as usual, I gave him my opinion. ;-p
To me, God has always been the same. It says that in the Bible. I think the inconsistencies have been in the way that man has perceived God as we evolved over time. There are things in the Old Testament that seem barbaric to us today. The writers of the Old Testament described God as best as they knew how, just like we do today.
The bottom line is for us to understand the nature of God. Is God a loving, caring being? Yes. Should God be praised and feared? Yes, because of who God is. In our world of technology, we sometimes forget the magnitude of our God. The Bible says that the skies could not hold all the things that could be written about God. Wow! I think in terms of computer storage and how much information could be stored on a very large hard drive or disk drive system. God could fill that up in an instant! ;-)
Our God is an awesome God! I ask that we all remember the nature of God as we read and as we live our daily life.
Other Stuff
I had a nice evening. I got off work a little early, so I ran a few errands. I had time to rest a little bit before arriving at my walking buddy's house for supper. We had a nice supper of pot roast! My favorite! ;-) I also delivered her new laptop. She was so excited! Her Windows 7 Professional upgrade was her Christmas and birthday present.
I had a couple of short talks with my new friend. I love talking to him. I shared a song with him last night. He didn't have it in his library, so I gifted it to him on iTunes. I am looking for a Christmas CD that my hero gave my last year. There is a cool song on there that I want him to have.
I have my first holiday concert today. I have about ten or so in the next two weeks. It will be fun. I am also having dinner with flybear and going to my D1 class. Throw in a conversation or two with my new friend and it will be a great day!
Let go, my friends! God will catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Fret not...
Our Daily Bread
OK, I admit it. I am a fretter. hehehe I fret a lot. A lot more than I should. Fret, fret, fret! Oh well.
Today's devotional is a follow up lesson for me that God talked to me about over the weekend. I was fretting about the evil that a close friend was doing (he is not really evil, but has been doing some very unhealthy things). I fretted over it. I have tried talking to him about it. I have tried lambasting him for it. Nothing works. After another fervent prayer about the situation, I finally heard what God was telling me all along -- "I got this. Let me handle him. Love him as your close friend." Wow! What a relief!
I also manifest my fretting in creative ways in my silly head sometimes. I think of all the possible scenarios, well, I should say all the negative scenarios that might happen. I try to come up with my possible responses to those scenarios. It wastes so much time and energy! God has been helping me with that as well as I turn over my fretting to him.
Lord, thank you for helping me cast all my cares (and fretting) to you.
Teaching Tuesday
The Disciple 1 lesson this week is called Consequences. Wow! The consequences we read about are when the children of Israel turned against God by worshiping other gods and other pagan practices. If they acknowledged their God at all, it was with insincere and ritualistic sacrifices to try to cover their butts! hehehe You can't CYA when it comes to God! ha!
What were the consequences? Israel and Judah were overrun by neighboring powers. Jerusalem and the Temple were restored. The Hebrew people were scattered across the kingdoms.
Even in the darkest times, God showed his love by revealing through his prophets that he would still be with the remnant of Israel. He would bring them back to the land he promised some day. He was still their God.
I looked at my own life and the consequences of my actions. It is tough sometimes because you can't always see the consequences immediately. Think about that this week. I know I will.
Other Stuff
I had a great evening. My eye doctor appointment yesterday afternoon went very well. I am very thankful. I go back to the doctor on December 23 for another follow up visit. The vision in my left eye is improving almost every day.
I had several good conversations with my new friend. I really like him. ;-p
My ex called me last night. When I listened to the voice mail, I knew what had happened. I called him and my hunch was correct. He had a death in his family and he wanted me to know. His aunt always treated me so well when we were together. She was very sweet. We will all miss her smile and funny ways.
Let go, my friends! God will catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
OK, I admit it. I am a fretter. hehehe I fret a lot. A lot more than I should. Fret, fret, fret! Oh well.
Today's devotional is a follow up lesson for me that God talked to me about over the weekend. I was fretting about the evil that a close friend was doing (he is not really evil, but has been doing some very unhealthy things). I fretted over it. I have tried talking to him about it. I have tried lambasting him for it. Nothing works. After another fervent prayer about the situation, I finally heard what God was telling me all along -- "I got this. Let me handle him. Love him as your close friend." Wow! What a relief!
I also manifest my fretting in creative ways in my silly head sometimes. I think of all the possible scenarios, well, I should say all the negative scenarios that might happen. I try to come up with my possible responses to those scenarios. It wastes so much time and energy! God has been helping me with that as well as I turn over my fretting to him.
Lord, thank you for helping me cast all my cares (and fretting) to you.
Teaching Tuesday
The Disciple 1 lesson this week is called Consequences. Wow! The consequences we read about are when the children of Israel turned against God by worshiping other gods and other pagan practices. If they acknowledged their God at all, it was with insincere and ritualistic sacrifices to try to cover their butts! hehehe You can't CYA when it comes to God! ha!
What were the consequences? Israel and Judah were overrun by neighboring powers. Jerusalem and the Temple were restored. The Hebrew people were scattered across the kingdoms.
Even in the darkest times, God showed his love by revealing through his prophets that he would still be with the remnant of Israel. He would bring them back to the land he promised some day. He was still their God.
I looked at my own life and the consequences of my actions. It is tough sometimes because you can't always see the consequences immediately. Think about that this week. I know I will.
Other Stuff
I had a great evening. My eye doctor appointment yesterday afternoon went very well. I am very thankful. I go back to the doctor on December 23 for another follow up visit. The vision in my left eye is improving almost every day.
I had several good conversations with my new friend. I really like him. ;-p
My ex called me last night. When I listened to the voice mail, I knew what had happened. I called him and my hunch was correct. He had a death in his family and he wanted me to know. His aunt always treated me so well when we were together. She was very sweet. We will all miss her smile and funny ways.
Let go, my friends! God will catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
Monday, December 5, 2011
A grandmother's love
Our Daily Bread
I could have been the "friend with a loving grandmother" that the author mentions in today's devotion. My grandmother was my best friend when I was growing up. She was a close second even after I met my current, long-time best friend from St Louis! She would always try her best to do and say the right things with everyone she met. She has been gone for almost 10 years now. I miss her very much!
I think the biggest problem with churches today is that people forget our main mission -- loving others. We are not here to judge or correct (except when love demands it). We are supposed to, IMHO, lead people down the correct path through love. That is not always easy. There are some folks who can be difficult to love. I have a friend (probably more of an acquaintance now) that can't seem to tell the truth (once again, IMHO). He manipulates situations and people to his good without concern for their feelings. I once felt God calling me to bring these things to his attention. I realized that it was not helping the situation. I keep him at arms length away, but still try to be a friend. His birthday is this week. I plan to give him a card, but not offer to take him out like I did last year or get him a present. I don't like dishonest people in my life, but I need to be a child of God that loves while still protecting himself.
Do you have situations like that in your life? How do you show the love of God through your life?
Lord, please help me to always love others even when they are unlovable!
Movie Monday
I went to see the movie Happy Feet 2 on Saturday. How cute! It was the same formula as the first one, which was fine with me! Great music. Cute characters. A predictable story ending, though there were some surprises along the way. I bought the soundtrack on Amazon.com because there were so many cool songs. My favorite song, Bridge of Light, was only available when you bought the whole album. It was much cheapter on Amazon.com than iTunes (weird...).
I give this movie three bear paws for the cute characters, great music and consistency with the first movie. You can see it at the theater or wait til video.
Other Stuff
I went to church yesterday morning, then ran some errands. I rested some Sunday afternoon before heading to mens chorus rehearsal. It was a long rehearsal. Most stuff seem to go very well. It should be a great concert. Get your tickets now for this weekend!
I talked to mi tigre a couple of times. He doesn't really talking on the phone, so I really appreciate him making the effort with me. Long distance relationships are not easy. We shared some more music yesterday. That is very special to me as well.
I go back tot he eye doctor for another checkup this afternoon. I will let you know how it goes.
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
I could have been the "friend with a loving grandmother" that the author mentions in today's devotion. My grandmother was my best friend when I was growing up. She was a close second even after I met my current, long-time best friend from St Louis! She would always try her best to do and say the right things with everyone she met. She has been gone for almost 10 years now. I miss her very much!
I think the biggest problem with churches today is that people forget our main mission -- loving others. We are not here to judge or correct (except when love demands it). We are supposed to, IMHO, lead people down the correct path through love. That is not always easy. There are some folks who can be difficult to love. I have a friend (probably more of an acquaintance now) that can't seem to tell the truth (once again, IMHO). He manipulates situations and people to his good without concern for their feelings. I once felt God calling me to bring these things to his attention. I realized that it was not helping the situation. I keep him at arms length away, but still try to be a friend. His birthday is this week. I plan to give him a card, but not offer to take him out like I did last year or get him a present. I don't like dishonest people in my life, but I need to be a child of God that loves while still protecting himself.
Do you have situations like that in your life? How do you show the love of God through your life?
Lord, please help me to always love others even when they are unlovable!
Movie Monday
I went to see the movie Happy Feet 2 on Saturday. How cute! It was the same formula as the first one, which was fine with me! Great music. Cute characters. A predictable story ending, though there were some surprises along the way. I bought the soundtrack on Amazon.com because there were so many cool songs. My favorite song, Bridge of Light, was only available when you bought the whole album. It was much cheapter on Amazon.com than iTunes (weird...).
I give this movie three bear paws for the cute characters, great music and consistency with the first movie. You can see it at the theater or wait til video.
Other Stuff
I went to church yesterday morning, then ran some errands. I rested some Sunday afternoon before heading to mens chorus rehearsal. It was a long rehearsal. Most stuff seem to go very well. It should be a great concert. Get your tickets now for this weekend!
I talked to mi tigre a couple of times. He doesn't really talking on the phone, so I really appreciate him making the effort with me. Long distance relationships are not easy. We shared some more music yesterday. That is very special to me as well.
I go back tot he eye doctor for another checkup this afternoon. I will let you know how it goes.
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Tis the season...
Our Daily Bread
Tis the season for peace! I am always encouraged by this season because it seems people are more willing to at least try peace! There are cease fires in wars declared. People put aside their personal differences to hep the less fortunate. Lots of good things can happen! It would be great if it could happen all year long!
Taking this idea to a personal level: what acts of peace do you need to work on this season? For me, I need to finally forgive and forget the wrongs done to me by someone who was supposed to be a friend. I tried to make our friendship a romantic relationship. Neither the romantic relationship or the friendship ever really worked out even though we got to know each other pretty well. I don't agree with some of his actions, however, I found myself judging him instead of praying for him and taking him where he is. I commit to my readers and to God that I will work through this. I don't want any old relationship baggage interfering with my new relationship!
What acts of peace do you need to do this season?
Lord, help me love and forgive during this season and all year long!
Psalm Sunday
I am looking at Psalm 31 today. It is beautiful. It talks about so many human emotions that we feel when talking to and thinking about God. My favorite verse is the last one.
Psalm 31
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
1 In you, LORD, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame;
deliver me in your righteousness.
2 Turn your ear to me,
come quickly to my rescue;
be my rock of refuge,
a strong fortress to save me.
3 Since you are my rock and my fortress,
for the sake of your name lead and guide me.
4 Keep me free from the trap that is set for me,
for you are my refuge.
5 Into your hands I commit my spirit;
deliver me, LORD, my faithful God.
6 I hate those who cling to worthless idols;
as for me, I trust in the LORD.
7 I will be glad and rejoice in your love,
for you saw my affliction
and knew the anguish of my soul.
8 You have not given me into the hands of the enemy
but have set my feet in a spacious place.
9 Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am in distress;
my eyes grow weak with sorrow,
my soul and body with grief.
10 My life is consumed by anguish
and my years by groaning;
my strength fails because of my affliction,[b]
and my bones grow weak.
11 Because of all my enemies,
I am the utter contempt of my neighbors
and an object of dread to my closest friends—
those who see me on the street flee from me.
12 I am forgotten as though I were dead;
I have become like broken pottery.
13 For I hear many whispering,
“Terror on every side!”
They conspire against me
and plot to take my life.
14 But I trust in you, LORD;
I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in your hands;
deliver me from the hands of my enemies,
from those who pursue me.
16 Let your face shine on your servant;
save me in your unfailing love.
17 Let me not be put to shame, LORD,
for I have cried out to you;
but let the wicked be put to shame
and be silent in the realm of the dead.
18 Let their lying lips be silenced,
for with pride and contempt
they speak arrogantly against the righteous.
19 How abundant are the good things
that you have stored up for those who fear you,
that you bestow in the sight of all,
on those who take refuge in you.
20 In the shelter of your presence you hide them
from all human intrigues;
you keep them safe in your dwelling
from accusing tongues.
21 Praise be to the LORD,
for he showed me the wonders of his love
when I was in a city under siege.
22 In my alarm I said,
“I am cut off from your sight!”
Yet you heard my cry for mercy
when I called to you for help.
23 Love the LORD, all his faithful people!
The LORD preserves those who are true to him,
but the proud he pays back in full.
24 Be strong and take heart,
all you who hope in the LORD.
Other Stuff
I had a good day yesterday. I went to see the movie Happy Feet 2. I will review that movie tomorrow. ;-) A close friend from Cincy was in town, so he stopped by. He went to a holiday open house with me and then met my hero for supper. We had a nice dinner at a new restaurant near her house. I got to talk to my new friend before hitting the sack. Thinking of him always brings me sweet dreams. ;-)
I need to rest after church today. We have a four hour choir rehearsal tonight for the mens chorus. Our concerts are next weekend! Whew! I figured out I have about ten concerts in the next two weeks with the three groups I sing with. Cool!
Let go, my friends! God will catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
Tis the season for peace! I am always encouraged by this season because it seems people are more willing to at least try peace! There are cease fires in wars declared. People put aside their personal differences to hep the less fortunate. Lots of good things can happen! It would be great if it could happen all year long!
Taking this idea to a personal level: what acts of peace do you need to work on this season? For me, I need to finally forgive and forget the wrongs done to me by someone who was supposed to be a friend. I tried to make our friendship a romantic relationship. Neither the romantic relationship or the friendship ever really worked out even though we got to know each other pretty well. I don't agree with some of his actions, however, I found myself judging him instead of praying for him and taking him where he is. I commit to my readers and to God that I will work through this. I don't want any old relationship baggage interfering with my new relationship!
What acts of peace do you need to do this season?
Lord, help me love and forgive during this season and all year long!
Psalm Sunday
I am looking at Psalm 31 today. It is beautiful. It talks about so many human emotions that we feel when talking to and thinking about God. My favorite verse is the last one.
Psalm 31
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
1 In you, LORD, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame;
deliver me in your righteousness.
2 Turn your ear to me,
come quickly to my rescue;
be my rock of refuge,
a strong fortress to save me.
3 Since you are my rock and my fortress,
for the sake of your name lead and guide me.
4 Keep me free from the trap that is set for me,
for you are my refuge.
5 Into your hands I commit my spirit;
deliver me, LORD, my faithful God.
6 I hate those who cling to worthless idols;
as for me, I trust in the LORD.
7 I will be glad and rejoice in your love,
for you saw my affliction
and knew the anguish of my soul.
8 You have not given me into the hands of the enemy
but have set my feet in a spacious place.
9 Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am in distress;
my eyes grow weak with sorrow,
my soul and body with grief.
10 My life is consumed by anguish
and my years by groaning;
my strength fails because of my affliction,[b]
and my bones grow weak.
11 Because of all my enemies,
I am the utter contempt of my neighbors
and an object of dread to my closest friends—
those who see me on the street flee from me.
12 I am forgotten as though I were dead;
I have become like broken pottery.
13 For I hear many whispering,
“Terror on every side!”
They conspire against me
and plot to take my life.
14 But I trust in you, LORD;
I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in your hands;
deliver me from the hands of my enemies,
from those who pursue me.
16 Let your face shine on your servant;
save me in your unfailing love.
17 Let me not be put to shame, LORD,
for I have cried out to you;
but let the wicked be put to shame
and be silent in the realm of the dead.
18 Let their lying lips be silenced,
for with pride and contempt
they speak arrogantly against the righteous.
19 How abundant are the good things
that you have stored up for those who fear you,
that you bestow in the sight of all,
on those who take refuge in you.
20 In the shelter of your presence you hide them
from all human intrigues;
you keep them safe in your dwelling
from accusing tongues.
21 Praise be to the LORD,
for he showed me the wonders of his love
when I was in a city under siege.
22 In my alarm I said,
“I am cut off from your sight!”
Yet you heard my cry for mercy
when I called to you for help.
23 Love the LORD, all his faithful people!
The LORD preserves those who are true to him,
but the proud he pays back in full.
24 Be strong and take heart,
all you who hope in the LORD.
Other Stuff
I had a good day yesterday. I went to see the movie Happy Feet 2. I will review that movie tomorrow. ;-) A close friend from Cincy was in town, so he stopped by. He went to a holiday open house with me and then met my hero for supper. We had a nice dinner at a new restaurant near her house. I got to talk to my new friend before hitting the sack. Thinking of him always brings me sweet dreams. ;-)
I need to rest after church today. We have a four hour choir rehearsal tonight for the mens chorus. Our concerts are next weekend! Whew! I figured out I have about ten concerts in the next two weeks with the three groups I sing with. Cool!
Let go, my friends! God will catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Where is your heart?
Our Daily Bread
When I was a child, an uncle would come up to me and pretend to grab my nose off my face. He would stick his thumb through two of his fingers so it looked like he really did it! I would run to a mirror to make sure I still had my nose! Yes, that is silly, but I still do it today to little kids! hehehe
Looking in the mirror to find you nose is one thing. Looking in a spiritual mirror to find your heart is much more difficult in my opinion. It can be difficult to take a step back to clearly see what should be important to you and what is really important to you in practice. I admit that I sometimes work too much. I sometimes spend too much money. I sometimes play too hard, like drink too much. I sometimes go to too many movies. I can even do too much at church. Are these things wrong? Not necessarily in and of themselves, but they can be if we use them to avoid doing the things that God wants us to do. They can also be wrong if we do them with the wrong attitude. I think we all have read the New Testament stories about the religious leaders that do many good things for show in the Temple, but Jesus warns them of a having rotten souls! Yikes!
Where is your heart? What is important to you? What should be important?
Lord, I want to follow my heart, the heart that you gave me and speaks to each day.
Simply Saturday
It has been an interesting week. I got back from Kansas City last Sunday night. Had a temporary crown installed on a back tooth on Monday. My mother arrived in Columbus to take me to my eye surgery. She had a surprise for me. She bought a car. It was a surprise to say the least. I had my cataract surgery on Tuesday. I recovered Tuesday and Wednesday while having a nice visit with Mom. We had sort of a weird D1 class on Wednesday. Choir practice was great on Thursday. I had a restful evening at home last night. I worked on my walking buddy's new laptop, wrote out Christmas cards, worked on my mens chorus music and did some D1 reading for next Wednesday. Whew! I am taking it easy today.
In addition to all of that, I have been talking and texting with my new friend on a daily basis. That has been very special to me. Where is this friendship going? I don't know. It is too soon to tell. We are both committed to finding out! That is very nice. We will keep talking. We will take things slow. We both agree on that as well.
So what is it like to meet the man of your dreams? I thought I knew when I met my ex partner. We had 11.5 years together, but did not build a sustainable relationship that would last the rest of our lives. I wish him well and hope he can find that special man. What I learned the past few weeks is that you may or may not know if he is "the one" when you meet him. My new friend and I were able to start opening up to each other almost immediately. It was cool that the physical attraction was definitely there on both parts, but it was not the most important thing. Being together when we can and getting to know each other before you start having deep feelings and a physical relationship should be the solid foundation of a lasting relationship. We are both committed to those things as well. Regardless of what happens between us, I thank God for meeting him and the special way he makes me feel when we spend time together.
The coolest part of this new friendship is that I feel like God has been preparing me for this for the last 4.5 years. He has been preparing me to meet someone like this special man. I am having some "wax on, wax off" moments almost every time we talk! You know what I mean from the original Karate Kid movie? The student couldn't see why doing menial tasks would ever help him learn karate. I couldn't see how going through some of the things I went through would ever help me with my future relationships. I thank God for those lessons. I will do my best to have more faith in the future to trust God even more during these seemingly menial tasks!
Let go, my friends! God will catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
When I was a child, an uncle would come up to me and pretend to grab my nose off my face. He would stick his thumb through two of his fingers so it looked like he really did it! I would run to a mirror to make sure I still had my nose! Yes, that is silly, but I still do it today to little kids! hehehe
Looking in the mirror to find you nose is one thing. Looking in a spiritual mirror to find your heart is much more difficult in my opinion. It can be difficult to take a step back to clearly see what should be important to you and what is really important to you in practice. I admit that I sometimes work too much. I sometimes spend too much money. I sometimes play too hard, like drink too much. I sometimes go to too many movies. I can even do too much at church. Are these things wrong? Not necessarily in and of themselves, but they can be if we use them to avoid doing the things that God wants us to do. They can also be wrong if we do them with the wrong attitude. I think we all have read the New Testament stories about the religious leaders that do many good things for show in the Temple, but Jesus warns them of a having rotten souls! Yikes!
Where is your heart? What is important to you? What should be important?
Lord, I want to follow my heart, the heart that you gave me and speaks to each day.
Simply Saturday
It has been an interesting week. I got back from Kansas City last Sunday night. Had a temporary crown installed on a back tooth on Monday. My mother arrived in Columbus to take me to my eye surgery. She had a surprise for me. She bought a car. It was a surprise to say the least. I had my cataract surgery on Tuesday. I recovered Tuesday and Wednesday while having a nice visit with Mom. We had sort of a weird D1 class on Wednesday. Choir practice was great on Thursday. I had a restful evening at home last night. I worked on my walking buddy's new laptop, wrote out Christmas cards, worked on my mens chorus music and did some D1 reading for next Wednesday. Whew! I am taking it easy today.
In addition to all of that, I have been talking and texting with my new friend on a daily basis. That has been very special to me. Where is this friendship going? I don't know. It is too soon to tell. We are both committed to finding out! That is very nice. We will keep talking. We will take things slow. We both agree on that as well.
So what is it like to meet the man of your dreams? I thought I knew when I met my ex partner. We had 11.5 years together, but did not build a sustainable relationship that would last the rest of our lives. I wish him well and hope he can find that special man. What I learned the past few weeks is that you may or may not know if he is "the one" when you meet him. My new friend and I were able to start opening up to each other almost immediately. It was cool that the physical attraction was definitely there on both parts, but it was not the most important thing. Being together when we can and getting to know each other before you start having deep feelings and a physical relationship should be the solid foundation of a lasting relationship. We are both committed to those things as well. Regardless of what happens between us, I thank God for meeting him and the special way he makes me feel when we spend time together.
The coolest part of this new friendship is that I feel like God has been preparing me for this for the last 4.5 years. He has been preparing me to meet someone like this special man. I am having some "wax on, wax off" moments almost every time we talk! You know what I mean from the original Karate Kid movie? The student couldn't see why doing menial tasks would ever help him learn karate. I couldn't see how going through some of the things I went through would ever help me with my future relationships. I thank God for those lessons. I will do my best to have more faith in the future to trust God even more during these seemingly menial tasks!
Let go, my friends! God will catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
Friday, December 2, 2011
He listens... and responds!
Our Daily Bread
Have you ever had a friend who doesn't seem to listen? You almost hate to have conversations with him or her because you have to repeat yourself over and over because the person is distracted by the folks around you, the cell phone, the TV, etc. I think we all have!
Have you ever felt that God isn't listening? I think we all have! My biggest problem with "waiting on God" is I have no patience sometimes. God's time is not always our time! That means we often want immediate answers when immediate answers are not what is best for us. There have been several times in my life when I realized that if God had answered my prayers years before, I wouldn't have been ready for the answer. I still had some learning to do before I could handle the answers! hehehe God has opened up my eyes to the prerequisite training that he requires sometimes before giving us the desires of our hearts! There are rarely "Cliff Notes" available for these kinds of life lessons. You just have to learn them!
Lord, thank you for teaching me so much about life and love and your will. I want and need to learn much more.
Foodie Friday
As you may remember, I traveled last week to St Louis and Kansas City. I had some great meals in KC (I am accustomed to having great meals in St Louis since I have been there so many times!).
I had a Kansas City Strip steak at a restaurants called Houstons. It was amazing! My dinner partner had the filet. He let me taste his filet because he said it was probably better than any I ever tasted. It was! I really enjoyed the meal (and the company!).
I also had some Kansas City BBQ at Gates. It is one of the BBQ institutions in KC. "May I help you?" rings out when you walk up to the counter. "Will that be to stay?" they ask (eat in). I ate there twice during the week. I had the beef brisket with their original sauce. Amazing! It was the best beef brisket I had ever had. The sauce was tangy and spice with a nice smoky flavor. I bought a bottle to bring home. I bought a bottle of the extra hot sauce for my hero.
Lastly, I ate at Cinzetti's, an Italian buffet. You might be thinking "an Italian Hometown Buffet" kind of place? Noooo! They make their dishes in small batches so it stays fresh on each station. It was amazing! I ate too much, of course, but it was worth it! For dessert, I had a dense chocolate cake with vanilla cream sauce. MmmMMmm!
We had a great trip. I really enjoyed my stay there.
Other Stuff
My left eye is trying to heal up. I am going to relax this weekend. I go back to the doctor on Monday for a check up.
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
Have you ever had a friend who doesn't seem to listen? You almost hate to have conversations with him or her because you have to repeat yourself over and over because the person is distracted by the folks around you, the cell phone, the TV, etc. I think we all have!
Have you ever felt that God isn't listening? I think we all have! My biggest problem with "waiting on God" is I have no patience sometimes. God's time is not always our time! That means we often want immediate answers when immediate answers are not what is best for us. There have been several times in my life when I realized that if God had answered my prayers years before, I wouldn't have been ready for the answer. I still had some learning to do before I could handle the answers! hehehe God has opened up my eyes to the prerequisite training that he requires sometimes before giving us the desires of our hearts! There are rarely "Cliff Notes" available for these kinds of life lessons. You just have to learn them!
Lord, thank you for teaching me so much about life and love and your will. I want and need to learn much more.
Foodie Friday
As you may remember, I traveled last week to St Louis and Kansas City. I had some great meals in KC (I am accustomed to having great meals in St Louis since I have been there so many times!).
I had a Kansas City Strip steak at a restaurants called Houstons. It was amazing! My dinner partner had the filet. He let me taste his filet because he said it was probably better than any I ever tasted. It was! I really enjoyed the meal (and the company!).
I also had some Kansas City BBQ at Gates. It is one of the BBQ institutions in KC. "May I help you?" rings out when you walk up to the counter. "Will that be to stay?" they ask (eat in). I ate there twice during the week. I had the beef brisket with their original sauce. Amazing! It was the best beef brisket I had ever had. The sauce was tangy and spice with a nice smoky flavor. I bought a bottle to bring home. I bought a bottle of the extra hot sauce for my hero.
Lastly, I ate at Cinzetti's, an Italian buffet. You might be thinking "an Italian Hometown Buffet" kind of place? Noooo! They make their dishes in small batches so it stays fresh on each station. It was amazing! I ate too much, of course, but it was worth it! For dessert, I had a dense chocolate cake with vanilla cream sauce. MmmMMmm!
We had a great trip. I really enjoyed my stay there.
Other Stuff
My left eye is trying to heal up. I am going to relax this weekend. I go back to the doctor on Monday for a check up.
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Advent is here!
Our Daily Bread
I never really celebrated Advent when I was growing up or even in early adulthood. I went to a few services over the years, but not many. The church I currently attend has Advent services each year. They can be very nice.
The devotional for today talks about the four themes of Advent: Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. What better themes could you have? ;-) Check out your area churches to see if they have Advent services. Or, you can review this web site for Advent information and resources.
Lord, help us to remember the four Advent themes all year long!
Technology Thursday
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I bought a Kindle Fire tablet from Amazon.com the first day they were out. Here is my informal review after using it for a few weeks.
eReader
As an eReader, this is a nice device, though very different than the original Kindle devices. The Fire has a color screen instead of the e-ink screen. Color is better, right? It is very cool when the book or magazine has color illustrations. The problem the device has is similar to the iPad -- the glossy screen. You can get a lot of glare off the screen. The good news is that the screen does not wash out quite as bad as the iPad (I tried them side by side in the sunlight!). The adjustable font is very cool as well.
Apps
There appears to be several apps available. I haven't checked them all out yet.
Interface
The interface is very easy to use in my opinion. There is a home button that takes you to the home screen. From the home screen you have a ribbon of choices across the top like Books, Newsstand, Video, Music, etc. The navigation is fast due to the dual core processor. There is also a scrolling list of apps or books that you have recently accessed. That is pretty cool to look at and flip through!
The device has an external power button and a micro USB port. That is it. Everything else is done on the screen, like volume control, etc.
Video and Music
I tried watching a TV episode via Amazon Prime on the device. It was very cool! I like the picture quality and sound quality using headphones. The external speakers are not that great (not as good as the iPad).
Web browser
The web browser is decent. I am still not sure if the Amazon web servers they advertise really help or not. The performance is not bad. Most web sites look pretty good. I haven't tried a Flash site yet.
The "Gotchas"
The device holds only 8 gig of stuff. It is not horrible since you can store everything you buy from Amazon on the Amazon Cloud service and then bring it down to the device when you want to view it. It is not expandable (no external card slots). The device only works with wireless networks right now. There is not a 3G option like the other Kindle devices.
This is a great device. I think they will sell a ton of them. Please make sure you know what you want before you buy it. It is not an iPad. At $199, it also doesn't cost as much as the entry level iPad! Check them out at Best Buy or on the Apple site.
Other Stuff
I had a relaxing afternoon yesterday after my eye doctor and dentist appointment. I broke off my temporary crown AGAIN at breakfast yesterday morning. Oh well. My dentist is very patient with me.
We had a nice D1 class last night. Everyone seemed to enjoy the snacks I took.
Back to work today. Woohooo! I need to pay for all of this fun!
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
I never really celebrated Advent when I was growing up or even in early adulthood. I went to a few services over the years, but not many. The church I currently attend has Advent services each year. They can be very nice.
The devotional for today talks about the four themes of Advent: Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. What better themes could you have? ;-) Check out your area churches to see if they have Advent services. Or, you can review this web site for Advent information and resources.
Lord, help us to remember the four Advent themes all year long!
Technology Thursday
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I bought a Kindle Fire tablet from Amazon.com the first day they were out. Here is my informal review after using it for a few weeks.
eReader
As an eReader, this is a nice device, though very different than the original Kindle devices. The Fire has a color screen instead of the e-ink screen. Color is better, right? It is very cool when the book or magazine has color illustrations. The problem the device has is similar to the iPad -- the glossy screen. You can get a lot of glare off the screen. The good news is that the screen does not wash out quite as bad as the iPad (I tried them side by side in the sunlight!). The adjustable font is very cool as well.
Apps
There appears to be several apps available. I haven't checked them all out yet.
Interface
The interface is very easy to use in my opinion. There is a home button that takes you to the home screen. From the home screen you have a ribbon of choices across the top like Books, Newsstand, Video, Music, etc. The navigation is fast due to the dual core processor. There is also a scrolling list of apps or books that you have recently accessed. That is pretty cool to look at and flip through!
The device has an external power button and a micro USB port. That is it. Everything else is done on the screen, like volume control, etc.
Video and Music
I tried watching a TV episode via Amazon Prime on the device. It was very cool! I like the picture quality and sound quality using headphones. The external speakers are not that great (not as good as the iPad).
Web browser
The web browser is decent. I am still not sure if the Amazon web servers they advertise really help or not. The performance is not bad. Most web sites look pretty good. I haven't tried a Flash site yet.
The "Gotchas"
The device holds only 8 gig of stuff. It is not horrible since you can store everything you buy from Amazon on the Amazon Cloud service and then bring it down to the device when you want to view it. It is not expandable (no external card slots). The device only works with wireless networks right now. There is not a 3G option like the other Kindle devices.
This is a great device. I think they will sell a ton of them. Please make sure you know what you want before you buy it. It is not an iPad. At $199, it also doesn't cost as much as the entry level iPad! Check them out at Best Buy or on the Apple site.
Other Stuff
I had a relaxing afternoon yesterday after my eye doctor and dentist appointment. I broke off my temporary crown AGAIN at breakfast yesterday morning. Oh well. My dentist is very patient with me.
We had a nice D1 class last night. Everyone seemed to enjoy the snacks I took.
Back to work today. Woohooo! I need to pay for all of this fun!
Let go, my friends! God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!
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