Blessed is a man who endures trials, because when he passes the test he will receive the crown of life that He (the Lord) has promised to those who love Him. James 1:12
I am not a bible scholar. I say this as a disclaimer for all those who are more learned than I am. I have had so many questions to ask of the Lord in the past year, and in my questioning and studies, I have read alot about tests, trials, afflictions, etc. In my studies, I have come to believe certain things very strongly. One is that God is a teacher. He calls Himself that on numerous occasions. I believe that He has a plan and purpose for each and every person born. I believe that our lives are planned to an extent, yet we are free to make our own choices. This is a contradiction that scholars have debated for centuries, and I certainly will not be the one to give the definitive answer. Paul said in Timothy that he had finished his course. Another part of scripture talks about our running our race without hindrances.
So, if God is our teacher and we have a course set for us (it helps me to think of this in academic terms), then it stands to reason that the tests, trials, afflictions we suffer in life are meant to show how we are doing in our "studies". If we endure these trials, and if we pass the test, we receive a crown of life. I have spent most of my Christian life supposing that this means that if we do not steal when tempted to, or murder someone, or commit adultery, that we have passed the test of temptations and will receive this crown. But I wonder more and more these days if it's not something more like how we respond to the daily affairs of life. For instance, two days ago, Sara was hurt in an accident. This accident was preventable had I been obeyed. It cost hours of time at the doctors, and much pain on her part. She had to have several stitches, and one finger has a small fracture in it. She has to wear a splint for several days (we don't know how long just yet), and there is no way she can play in her softball tournament. Is the crown of life something you win for responding correctly to things like this? If you are able to help, comfort and do what needs to be done without resentment or reproach, does that qualify you for the crown of life? Or is it being able to cheerfully work on endless piles of laundry when your mind is active and desiring to do "important and impressive things" ? Is the crown of life something that can be won by simply realizing that Jesus Himself was a servant, putting aside His own need for private time after the death of John the Baptist (his cousin) to minister to crowds of people and following His example in our daily lives?
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Just Touching Base
It's been a while since I lasted posted. I was sick for most of May with walking pneumonia. It's been along time since I had been so sick. It wasn't coughing so much as aches, pains, and headaches. At times I felt so bad that I simply cried, and I do not cry easily. I was just so tired, and I couldn't do anything. I couldn't even think and plan and scheme, or even read because my thinking was so cloudy I decided not to post while in this state of mind. Maybe I should have - it might have been very entertaining (but there is only so much I want to have to live down).
There have been several significant things happen since I last wrote. I found out that my son and his wife will be having a little girl - our first granddaughter. My middle daughter graduated high school on May 21. And my two other daughters have had birthdays. Jesse's birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks. Each of these deserves it's own posting, and maybe I'll get to it in the following days. But if I don't, I at least wanted to have mentioned them.
After I went to the doctor (first time in many, many years) and got antibiotics, my fatigue gradually left, and my thinking cleared up. I have found myself in a reflective mood. Of course, there is the typical musings on the passing of time and what it means. Mostly I've thought about people I've known. The relationships forged through the years, and how some people have touched my life for good, some for evil, and some just in passing. I wonder what difference meeting or not meeting a particular person has made, and what difference I might have made in the lives of others. I've learned through hard experience that things are not always what they seem. and the silence of so-called friends can be deafening when things are judged by surface appearances. But I am not the first to ponder such things, and the philosophers of the ages have tried to make sense of it all. So, the task is not to be too philosophical while still enjoying the insights a little reflective thinking can give, and to get on with the good things of life. And, I think equally important, is to give thanks for men and women who dedicate their lives to the study of medicine and the development of cures.
There have been several significant things happen since I last wrote. I found out that my son and his wife will be having a little girl - our first granddaughter. My middle daughter graduated high school on May 21. And my two other daughters have had birthdays. Jesse's birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks. Each of these deserves it's own posting, and maybe I'll get to it in the following days. But if I don't, I at least wanted to have mentioned them.
After I went to the doctor (first time in many, many years) and got antibiotics, my fatigue gradually left, and my thinking cleared up. I have found myself in a reflective mood. Of course, there is the typical musings on the passing of time and what it means. Mostly I've thought about people I've known. The relationships forged through the years, and how some people have touched my life for good, some for evil, and some just in passing. I wonder what difference meeting or not meeting a particular person has made, and what difference I might have made in the lives of others. I've learned through hard experience that things are not always what they seem. and the silence of so-called friends can be deafening when things are judged by surface appearances. But I am not the first to ponder such things, and the philosophers of the ages have tried to make sense of it all. So, the task is not to be too philosophical while still enjoying the insights a little reflective thinking can give, and to get on with the good things of life. And, I think equally important, is to give thanks for men and women who dedicate their lives to the study of medicine and the development of cures.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Strange justice
A few weeks ago, I talked about my love for storms. It was during the time when tornadoes were tearing through Arkansas and flood waters were overtaking Tennessee. I regretted not being there, because I really do like a storm.
Over the years, I have been in the path of tornadoes, but never felt the full punch of one. While I was still a child, my mom took movies of a funnel cloud starting to rotate outside our back window. When I was a young married woman, a funnel cloud passed over our neighborhood, blowing off shingles and tree branches, but doing no real damage (it did touch down in a rural part of the county near our home, taking down a few trees, but that was all). I remember that night, because I was up feeding Jesse, and I heard the signature sound of a train coming before it passed over. Many years later, we were driving to Eric's parents home through stormy weather. The rain finally became so heavy that we pulled over and waited it out at a convenience store. Later, we found out that a tornado had passed through that area only moments after we had pulled over (this is the story that prompted Jesse to tell me "dad would pull over in weather like this" during another one of my tornado escapades). Another day was while we lived in Maryland. The forecast was for bad weather, and I was outside putting up lawn furniture, bikes, etc. when Eric got home from work. We were talking outside when he heard what he thought was a siren. I didn't hear it, so he went in to check the weather. Sure enough, it was a tornado warning, and the track put our home in the storm's direct path (yes, our street on the weather tracking thing they do). He packed us up in the car, and we left. When we came back, we saw that there had been no touch down. But our trampoline was blown into the woods, and the tops of the trees in our woods were twisted off in a path between our home and our neighbors. If it had touched down, our home would have been destroyed.
Even with all that, I still revel in storms (maybe even because of it - who knows). But this past weekend we received a phone call that made it personal. We own property in McNairy county, Tennessee. There was no home on it, just a garage and several large old oak trees. My brother called to tell us that a tornado had touched down in McNairy county, and you guessed it, it hit directly on our property. All the trees along the road were taken out. We will have to go clean this up. It will be no small task, and I dread it. It's now my family that has to do the clean up, taking time and money to do it. There is some sense of justice in that (it's wrong to take pleasure in what does damage to others and that's what I have done through the years). But even in this set back, we can rejoice that no one was hurt and no home destroyed. The sad thing is, I am the one who chases the storms and takes pleasure in them, but it will be my sensible husband who has to use the chain saw and physical labor to clean up the mess.
Over the years, I have been in the path of tornadoes, but never felt the full punch of one. While I was still a child, my mom took movies of a funnel cloud starting to rotate outside our back window. When I was a young married woman, a funnel cloud passed over our neighborhood, blowing off shingles and tree branches, but doing no real damage (it did touch down in a rural part of the county near our home, taking down a few trees, but that was all). I remember that night, because I was up feeding Jesse, and I heard the signature sound of a train coming before it passed over. Many years later, we were driving to Eric's parents home through stormy weather. The rain finally became so heavy that we pulled over and waited it out at a convenience store. Later, we found out that a tornado had passed through that area only moments after we had pulled over (this is the story that prompted Jesse to tell me "dad would pull over in weather like this" during another one of my tornado escapades). Another day was while we lived in Maryland. The forecast was for bad weather, and I was outside putting up lawn furniture, bikes, etc. when Eric got home from work. We were talking outside when he heard what he thought was a siren. I didn't hear it, so he went in to check the weather. Sure enough, it was a tornado warning, and the track put our home in the storm's direct path (yes, our street on the weather tracking thing they do). He packed us up in the car, and we left. When we came back, we saw that there had been no touch down. But our trampoline was blown into the woods, and the tops of the trees in our woods were twisted off in a path between our home and our neighbors. If it had touched down, our home would have been destroyed.
Even with all that, I still revel in storms (maybe even because of it - who knows). But this past weekend we received a phone call that made it personal. We own property in McNairy county, Tennessee. There was no home on it, just a garage and several large old oak trees. My brother called to tell us that a tornado had touched down in McNairy county, and you guessed it, it hit directly on our property. All the trees along the road were taken out. We will have to go clean this up. It will be no small task, and I dread it. It's now my family that has to do the clean up, taking time and money to do it. There is some sense of justice in that (it's wrong to take pleasure in what does damage to others and that's what I have done through the years). But even in this set back, we can rejoice that no one was hurt and no home destroyed. The sad thing is, I am the one who chases the storms and takes pleasure in them, but it will be my sensible husband who has to use the chain saw and physical labor to clean up the mess.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Garlic
How do you decide how weird is too weird? And if it is too weird, should you let people know? Especially when you are not sure who reads your blog, and who doesn't. But I think I will share this, because someone else shared it with me, and I think it has helped.
I have been sick since last Monday. It started out with exhaustion, followed by aches, chills, and head aches. I didn't feel bad all day every day, or I would have gone to the doctor. But I am usually pretty healthy, so I assumed this would pass quickly. It did not. By Saturday morning I was feeling desperate. The sickness had progressed to what I assume was a sinus infection. I didn't recognize it as such, because I had none of the typical cold-like symptoms. By Saturday, I could feel the pain spreading from the left side of my face to the right side. I didn't want to go to the doctor on a weekend after enduring an entire week, so I resorted to a home remedy. I went to the store, bought juicing carrots, apples, beets, and garlic. I juiced everything but the garlic, and drank it throughout the day. And in an act of desperation, I used my blender to blend 3 cloves of garlic with warm water. Garlic has been recognized for its anti-bacterial effects for centuries. I usually take odorless garlic tablets as soon as I feel myself getting sick, and it seems to help. If it is only a placebo, at least it is one that helps. So why blend garlic in warm water, you ask. To release the compounds that give garlic its healing properties, it must be crushed. The anti-bacterial compounds in the garlic are the same ones that give it such a distinctive and lovely aroma. I did not want to lose any of the benefits that come from from eating a whole raw clove. I also did not want to eat a clove by itself. So I mixed it up, drank down as much of it as I could as quickly as I could. It was not a task for the faint hearted. The drink was nasty - hot and bitter. But I got it down. All that was left to do was to sip my much better tasting juice and wait to see if there were any effects from it. I know there will be skeptics, but I have to say that I could tell within a couple of hours that the congestion was beginning to break up. The soreness in my neck began to leave. Today I am feeling a lot better, although not completely healed. So there you have it. I know that some will say that after a week, it was going to get better on its own. Maybe so, but it didn't feel like it was getting better. I believe the garlic was the turning point in my recovery. I would not use this on children, and would only suggest it as a possibility for adults. But as for me, I am convinced of the benefits of garlic. The downside; I am not allowed to go out into polite society until the garlic smell surrounding me subsides :-)
I have been sick since last Monday. It started out with exhaustion, followed by aches, chills, and head aches. I didn't feel bad all day every day, or I would have gone to the doctor. But I am usually pretty healthy, so I assumed this would pass quickly. It did not. By Saturday morning I was feeling desperate. The sickness had progressed to what I assume was a sinus infection. I didn't recognize it as such, because I had none of the typical cold-like symptoms. By Saturday, I could feel the pain spreading from the left side of my face to the right side. I didn't want to go to the doctor on a weekend after enduring an entire week, so I resorted to a home remedy. I went to the store, bought juicing carrots, apples, beets, and garlic. I juiced everything but the garlic, and drank it throughout the day. And in an act of desperation, I used my blender to blend 3 cloves of garlic with warm water. Garlic has been recognized for its anti-bacterial effects for centuries. I usually take odorless garlic tablets as soon as I feel myself getting sick, and it seems to help. If it is only a placebo, at least it is one that helps. So why blend garlic in warm water, you ask. To release the compounds that give garlic its healing properties, it must be crushed. The anti-bacterial compounds in the garlic are the same ones that give it such a distinctive and lovely aroma. I did not want to lose any of the benefits that come from from eating a whole raw clove. I also did not want to eat a clove by itself. So I mixed it up, drank down as much of it as I could as quickly as I could. It was not a task for the faint hearted. The drink was nasty - hot and bitter. But I got it down. All that was left to do was to sip my much better tasting juice and wait to see if there were any effects from it. I know there will be skeptics, but I have to say that I could tell within a couple of hours that the congestion was beginning to break up. The soreness in my neck began to leave. Today I am feeling a lot better, although not completely healed. So there you have it. I know that some will say that after a week, it was going to get better on its own. Maybe so, but it didn't feel like it was getting better. I believe the garlic was the turning point in my recovery. I would not use this on children, and would only suggest it as a possibility for adults. But as for me, I am convinced of the benefits of garlic. The downside; I am not allowed to go out into polite society until the garlic smell surrounding me subsides :-)
Saturday, May 8, 2010
I really miss having my camera working. Rachel has given me her old one. It needed batteries, and Ben put some in for me today. Hopefully I can post some pictures in near future. I want to post some of the chickens, which have grown so much. Eric has the chicken coop framed, and it is looking really good. The garden is almost completely in. It's taking a while to plant, because I have so much going on and can only work on it a couple of days a week. Today I worked in it, but it was mulching the areas around the fruit bushes. I got my mulch the old-fashioned way - mowing the yard, raking the clippings and hauling them out back. I have used black plastic for mulch for a number of years, and really like it, but I read that black plastic is not good for fruit bushes, so I am putting down a layer of newspaper, then covering them with the grass clippings. It's alot of work, but I like knowing that I am improving the soil and using what I have available in large amounts.
The chickens have almost outgrown the container we've kept them in. Most days we put them out into a small fenced area that Eric made for them. I love to watch chickens as they scratch for bugs. I keep wondering which ones are roosters. I think I may have two - not bad for just guessing in the store. Of course, two roosters are more than I wanted, but at least I do have some layers. I am really proud of the coop Eric is making for me. It's an A-frame, and will be portable (this is a real advantage, so we can move them before they scratch all the grass from a single area). If I remember right, it will have a mesh floor, so their dropping will fall to the ground. Rebekah still has nightmares of cleaning out the chicken coop in Maryland (her job - Jesse got to clean out the goat house - I don't know which was worse - let's just say neither one of them will ever have farm animals for themselves). It's just really going to be nice, and I am very proud of it. I'm proud of my husband for building it for me, and taking the time to make it really nice.
If all goes according to plan, I should have the main garden completely planted and mulched by tomorrow evening. It always gives me such pleasure to do this. After it's done, I just sit an look at it. This year I am experimenting with lasagna gardening in certain sections. I have a small potato patch planted that way, and I have an area that I started last year that will become my herb garden this year. I put down cardboard boxes (or newspaper), then covered it with straw, grass and potting soil. I planted sweet potatoes in it last year, but a rabbit or some such thing ate them before they produced, and I never did anything more with it. After I finish the main garden, I will put concrete blocks around the area, put some more straw and grass clipping in, cover that with newspapers, then garden soil. This will be my permanent herb garden. Speaking of herbs, my echinnacea died again this year. I think it was eaten by aphids while we were down south. I believe it's just a curse. I have seeds, and will start some more. Maybe someday....... I really did have high hopes for this year.
Well, that's it for tonight's update. Tomorrow will be Rebekah's first Mother's Day. I know it will have a different meaning for Kathy too. There are just mother's everywhere, and that's just fine with me.
The chickens have almost outgrown the container we've kept them in. Most days we put them out into a small fenced area that Eric made for them. I love to watch chickens as they scratch for bugs. I keep wondering which ones are roosters. I think I may have two - not bad for just guessing in the store. Of course, two roosters are more than I wanted, but at least I do have some layers. I am really proud of the coop Eric is making for me. It's an A-frame, and will be portable (this is a real advantage, so we can move them before they scratch all the grass from a single area). If I remember right, it will have a mesh floor, so their dropping will fall to the ground. Rebekah still has nightmares of cleaning out the chicken coop in Maryland (her job - Jesse got to clean out the goat house - I don't know which was worse - let's just say neither one of them will ever have farm animals for themselves). It's just really going to be nice, and I am very proud of it. I'm proud of my husband for building it for me, and taking the time to make it really nice.
If all goes according to plan, I should have the main garden completely planted and mulched by tomorrow evening. It always gives me such pleasure to do this. After it's done, I just sit an look at it. This year I am experimenting with lasagna gardening in certain sections. I have a small potato patch planted that way, and I have an area that I started last year that will become my herb garden this year. I put down cardboard boxes (or newspaper), then covered it with straw, grass and potting soil. I planted sweet potatoes in it last year, but a rabbit or some such thing ate them before they produced, and I never did anything more with it. After I finish the main garden, I will put concrete blocks around the area, put some more straw and grass clipping in, cover that with newspapers, then garden soil. This will be my permanent herb garden. Speaking of herbs, my echinnacea died again this year. I think it was eaten by aphids while we were down south. I believe it's just a curse. I have seeds, and will start some more. Maybe someday....... I really did have high hopes for this year.
Well, that's it for tonight's update. Tomorrow will be Rebekah's first Mother's Day. I know it will have a different meaning for Kathy too. There are just mother's everywhere, and that's just fine with me.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Ponderings while mowing the yard
We have a large yard. There are many advantages to this, and only a few disadvantages. The main disadvantage comes when it is time to mow it. Even then it's not a huge disadvantage, because we have several in our home who can mow. But sometimes.......
Over the past month the grass grew to great heights. Between the rain, the trip down south, ball games and work schedules, the lawn just kept being put off. This week the day of reckoning came. I mowed some on Tuesday night (missing my son's ball game in order to do it). The front yard grass was so high that I had to set the deck up to mow, knowing that it would take another pass to make it look pretty. Wednesday night was church, and last night ball practice. So today was the day to mow the whole yard to a reasonable height. It took just under three hours, and there are still some areas that need a touch up. But at least it looks like some body cares. Ben has worked at mowing, which is why the whole yard wasn't in the same sorry shape as the front. Eric, who does an admirable job on this, has been working on the chicken coop in his spare time. As a side note, the chicken coop is looking really good. I can't wait until it is done.
I love to mow, because it gives me uninterrupted time to think great thoughts. At least they seem great while I'm out there. Today I was thinking about just what a wonderful gift language is. And equally great is the gift of literacy. I've heard the saying "readers are leaders" for over twenty years, and I've always believed it, though I don't believe I always understood just why it was true. Avid readers have access to all the accumulated knowledge of all the great minds throughout the years. What a wonderful gift!!!! Knowledge does not have to be forgotten with the passing of time, but can be built on and added to by those wise enough to make use of the written word.
I think part of the pain of death is the loss of a shared history that necessarily comes with it. All that a person is, all that he knows, all that he has done is lost if not recorded while there is life. A civilization, I think, cannot excel if there is no way to write down its history, which is nothing more than the collective stories of individuals. The gift of language and literacy is a means for keeping a person alive, even though they are dead, and to preserve a nation wise enough to learn from those who left a written record of the reasons why things were done as they were.
This is just some of what occupied my thoughts while mowing. I am not satisfied with how it sounds now that it is written, but I suppose it's because thoughts always seem more profound while sitting on a riding lawn mower.
Over the past month the grass grew to great heights. Between the rain, the trip down south, ball games and work schedules, the lawn just kept being put off. This week the day of reckoning came. I mowed some on Tuesday night (missing my son's ball game in order to do it). The front yard grass was so high that I had to set the deck up to mow, knowing that it would take another pass to make it look pretty. Wednesday night was church, and last night ball practice. So today was the day to mow the whole yard to a reasonable height. It took just under three hours, and there are still some areas that need a touch up. But at least it looks like some body cares. Ben has worked at mowing, which is why the whole yard wasn't in the same sorry shape as the front. Eric, who does an admirable job on this, has been working on the chicken coop in his spare time. As a side note, the chicken coop is looking really good. I can't wait until it is done.
I love to mow, because it gives me uninterrupted time to think great thoughts. At least they seem great while I'm out there. Today I was thinking about just what a wonderful gift language is. And equally great is the gift of literacy. I've heard the saying "readers are leaders" for over twenty years, and I've always believed it, though I don't believe I always understood just why it was true. Avid readers have access to all the accumulated knowledge of all the great minds throughout the years. What a wonderful gift!!!! Knowledge does not have to be forgotten with the passing of time, but can be built on and added to by those wise enough to make use of the written word.
I think part of the pain of death is the loss of a shared history that necessarily comes with it. All that a person is, all that he knows, all that he has done is lost if not recorded while there is life. A civilization, I think, cannot excel if there is no way to write down its history, which is nothing more than the collective stories of individuals. The gift of language and literacy is a means for keeping a person alive, even though they are dead, and to preserve a nation wise enough to learn from those who left a written record of the reasons why things were done as they were.
This is just some of what occupied my thoughts while mowing. I am not satisfied with how it sounds now that it is written, but I suppose it's because thoughts always seem more profound while sitting on a riding lawn mower.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
A Clarification
I love a good storm - it's true. But not storms that result in lives lost and property destroyed. I cannot fathom what folks in TN. have gone through - often floods can be anticipated and prepared for when the rivers rise in the spring. But this flood could not have been anticipated. I am grieved when I think of the lives lost. I am sorry for people who have lost everything they had. I am sorry for those whose lives will be spent cleaning up the mess for days to come. I am sorry to have made light of such a serious situation.
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