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!
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
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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