25 Days . . . . .

 

We got this title in our church library last year.  I glanced through it mid-way through December and told myself I would like to use it as a devotional beginning around Thanksgiving time this year.  (I allow myself a couple of days extra in case I get really busy one day.)

Here's the  cool part - - - I bought the book last December and actually remembered (without putting it on the calendar) to start it yesterday!  Notice my Thanksgiving bookmark sticking out of the top of the book. 

Here are some interesting things I have learned in just two days.  Advent actually dates back to the 6th century.  Church leaders used the time to help families focus on the life of Christ so that His birth would be even more significant by the time it was celebrated.

Why does Christmas shopping begin at Thanksgiving?  It hasn't always been that way.  Before 1940, generally only the week before was spent in holiday activities from shopping to decorating the tree.  However, during World War II, President FDR asked those at home to shop early and mail their gifts by the first week in December.  When the war ended, retailers were happy and most consumers seemed to be, too so the new tradition of shopping for six weeks began.

So if Christmas preparations overwhelm you, then this book is to help you rediscover the joy and meaning of the season.  One suggestion is to read a chapter in the Gospel of Luke each day before Christmas since it has 24 chapters.

Day 2 reminds us of the greatest gift to the world and of how Jesus met needs while here on Earth.  With that in mind, you should consider buying for someone in great need - - - BEFORE you shop for your family.  The author's family does this and tells about the reaction of  families who had given up on receiving anything - - - - and also how wonderful it made his family feel - - - - they were the hands and feet of Jesus.

King Wenceslas began Christmas gift-giving before it was even in vogue.  In addition to building a better government for the people, assisted by his pages, he would personally visit needy homes and deliver food, clothing, and firewood.

Another thing I learned this week was that the Vanderbilt Family would find what gifts their employees' family would like and celebrate Christmas with a gift-giving party for them.

As many of you know, many of the servants did their chores in the basement of the Biltmore.  And that is where I am today - - not the Biltmore - - but rather our basement!  My husband and I have both been sorting, tossing, and rearranging.  We are going through 16 years of accumulation in this house and 34 years' of collecting during our marriage.  Blame it on the thyroid medicine beginning to work well for me!  My energy level finally got a lot better this week.  I realized that when I was singing at 8:30 one evening!  So - - - back to the dungeon I go because I am LOVING the results!

So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Psalms 90:12

Feeding the Flock

I know you are thinking, "I just saw that picture of your church lobby  two posts ago." 

Yes, you did but I want to remind you what it looks like empty.

This is what it looks like on Wednesday nights and any other time we have banquets.

During banquets, there are usually cloth tablecloths and centerpieces.  But on Wednesday evening, the tables are left bare for easy cleaning.  Supper begins at 5.  It is prepared by our paid kitchen staff.  Generally we have two meat dishes, 3 vegetables, bread, drinks, and dessert for only $5.  The food is great and you know the menu at least a week in advance.  This week it was the traditional Thanksgiving food.

After supper, there are Bible Studies, both in the sanctuary as well as individual classrooms.  The elementary children have choirs and the youth have a contemporary worship with music and a speaker.  Here are a few more views.

I was standing on these stairs when I took the pictures.

When you are at the top of the stairs looking forward, you will see this.

Here's a closer version of one of the seating areas.  (There were two in the previous picture.)

The ceilings are beautiful.

Our entire facility was built to be transitional and versatile.  The lobby is an example.  I will show you other examples the next time my post continues the tour of our First Baptist Church.

Last year at this time, we were preparing to begin our transition from downtown.  This year we are very thankful to be moved in.

And in our personal lives, we are thankful for new life.  Our son-in-law's sister had the first grandchild for their side of the family.  It was a rough delivery but we are praising God for both baby and mom being healthy and recovering well - - - - - and the new dad survived it all, too.  We were scheduled to enjoy the Thanksgiving meal with them today - - - but it was postponed until Saturday after discharge from the hospital.  You all might be finished with leftovers by then.   However, we don't mind waiting for this celebration dinner.  We are thankful any time we get to 'break bread' with my daughter's in-laws.  They are a precious family.

Thanksgiving reminds me of the song, Forever,  by Chris Tomlin.   Here is a link where it was probably recorded during a live performance.  I love listening to Contemporary and Rock Christian music while driving but especially when I am working hard around the house and need to keep up my energy.  When I am relaxing or working alone in my office in the library, I will go for more traditional and usually instrumental arrangements.

With that said, let me say, "Happy Thanksgiving!"

Give thanks to the Lord
Our God and King
His love endures forever
For He is good, He is above all things
His love endures forever
Sing praise, sing praise
........
Forever God is faithful
Forever God is strong
Forever God is with us
Forever
Forever

Stay-cation!

I am blessed, blessed, blessed with a LOT of days to take off between now and the end of the year.  Today and Monday are two of them!  I am home and enjoying every minute of it.  My husband and I went on a few short trips earlier in the year but during these winter holidays, we like to stay off the roads.  When the girls were younger, we traveled many years to grandparents during Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Now that we’re older, we don’t miss the traffic.

While home, we will do some projects but we know we will have multiple days to accomplish some of the bigger, more time-consuming jobs.  Throughout the year, it feels like some things begin to “pile up” and that leaves us with underlying frustration.  Now we can tackle them.

 

But for today - - - I started out at a leisurely pace around the house - - - made some holiday “to do” lists and then ran errands this afternoon.  To organize my route around town, I first list each place I need to visit on individual slips of paper and attach any coupons or sale papers to them.  Then I can “shuffle them” in the order I run them - - or change them or even save some for another day.   It keeps me from rewriting a list.  It may seem more work to some but it works for me.

So with that said, here’s my leisurely afternoon.

Although I was on vacation, something was delivered to me here today.  It was homemade cinnamon-swirl bread that I purchase from a friend.  She grinds the wheat right before baking the bread.  There are no preservatives or sugar.  Sweetening is with honey.  I slice and freeze the loaves.  Generally I eat one slice about mid-morning each day.  It lasts me three weeks.

One of the recycling sites is right out the rear exit of our church property.  I know you will enjoy these pictures!  haha

 

I know it is good to recycle so we don't deplete more of our natural resources but it is good for the landfill to have less contents.

It is now mid-afternoon and I am in need of a snack.  This thyroid thing does interesting things with my appetite and energy.  If I am hungry and don't eat, my energy bottoms out pretty rapidly.

Each of their tables had holiday decorations.  It was rather home-like. . . .  and the next stop was . . . 

to get food and litter for these critters.

Can you tell they are probably related?  We never have gone looking for any pet we have owned in 34 years of marriage.  They always seem to find us - - - just wander into our yard.

I stopped here earlier but did not see anything that jumped off the rack in the women's section and said, "Buy me." 

However, I was drawn to the men's section and saw something I knew would look great on my husband.  We met there after work for him to try it on.  Originally priced at $120, it was on sale for 50% off.  I had a coupon for $10 off a purchase over $50 AND another coupon for $15 off any purchase of $15 or more - - - so he got this for $38.40 (including tax).  It looks really good on him. 

In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.  Proverbs 3:6

52 Ft

When you walk in the front door of our church, this is the view of the information desk.    (This was taken when everyone had gone home for the day.)    If you stand with your back towards this desk, you will be looking out the front doors.  In this picture, I want you to notice the thin board in the peak of the ceiling.

Notice the soffits, too.  They are important to these next pictures.  But first imagine you are sitting at the information desk and just happen to gaze up at the beautiful ceiling - - and you notice that the small board in the ceiling peak - - directly over your head - - - appears to be loose.  How can that be fixed when it is fifty-two feet in the air?

That's when this piece of equipment was brought inside on Tuesday this past week.

And these will all be small pictures since I took them with my cell phone but I wanted to record this and my camera was at home.  This piece of machinery has a bucket on it.  The difficult part was working it through the beams and steel cable supports like a puzzle.  If the bucket got through, then when the lift was raised more, the lift arm would almost hit another soffit.

The men determined it might be best to cut the electricity to the lights first.

The man working up there did not seem nervous at all - - - even though the bucket would bounce a bit with his movements.  What they discovered was construction was stopped at the loose board when there should have been a finish board attached with longer nails.   hmmmm - - - wonder what distracted that original worker and made him not return to that job?   The good news is no current workers were impaled by falling objects.

And the moral of the story is probably, "Finish what you started."

 . . . God will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD.    I Chronicles 28:20b

Relaxing Saturday

So as I was sitting inside reading a book, I could see the leaves falling from the trees and thought, “That would be a fun picture if I could snap some of them in  mid-air.”

Well, guess what - - - when I went outside, they seemed to stop falling but as soon as I came back in, they would start again.  So what you have are “still life” pics.    These were  taken just minutes apart but it does show you our weather was a combination of sunny and cloudy.   It was also quite COOL.

Cold enough that we have run the gas heat all day.  Then the air inside gets too dry.  Having some humidity in the house is nice.  That means it was time to get our 6 quart dish on the stove to simmer water.  Do you add moisture to the air through a humidifier in your home or by any other means?

 

Even though it was cold outside, my husband still ran back and forth between football breaks to paint some more on the shutters.  We don't know if he will have mild enough weather to finish the house before winter but he has gotten a decent start on it.  We are really liking our new look - - - which I still have yet to show you.

A project I did today was re-organizing the two shelves above our washer/dryer alcove.  Using the Sterlite white baskets unified the space and it looks so much better.  I want to paint that wall before it is in a picture.

Saturday is generally our day to stay home because it is the only day of the week we don’t have obligations.  There is plenty of food in the freezer so I pulled out pork tenderloin and baked it in barbeque sauce.  Side dishes were brussels sprouts, pickled beets, and homemade oven fries.  I am not the one who usually makes those and wasn’t really sure how much seasoning to use.  We toss them in olive oil and a little cayenne pepper - - - got the little correct on that - - - but went a  bit overboard with the Watkins blend of black pepper, garlic, and onion powder.  My husband loved them.  Our older daughter and I enjoyed the taste, too but they cleared our sinuses!

And that’s it for our leisurely yet productive weekend.  Enjoy your extra hour tonight and hope you have a wonderful Sabbath worship tomorrow!

This is the day which the LORD hath made ; we will rejoice and be glad in it.   Psalm 118:24

Aging?!!

What do these things have in common?

Dry skin       (My mother had it.)

Swollen joints  (I do have some arthritis.)

Fatigue - - extreme at times.  (It has been a very busy year - - moving the library, big summer reading program, etc.)

Sounds like regular old age.  I kept thinking, “Man, it sure hits fast.  I thought it would just be a gradual decline where each day might feel like climbing an incline.”

Add Hives to the mix and I thought, “Okay, what am I allergic to?  People keep mentioning stress but I don’t feel stressed.  I love my family and my job is great.”

However, my body IS stressed - - - due to an under-active thyroid!!!!!  It may sound crazy but I was excited to get that diagnosis from my bloodwork yesterday - - - especially after talking to a couple of others who take medicine for the same thing and they feel great again.

If you knew me, you would know that taking manufactured medicines is close to a last resort for me but I eagerly got up this morning to take my first pill - - - - an hour BEFORE any food.  I am ready to feel closer to 100% again and glad to know that it was more than just “old age” setting in.  It may be part of aging but I don’t have to be old yet!

And don’t feel badly for me with this malady.  There are much, much worse things to deal with in this life.  If I have to have something, I am thankful for this - - - - especially if my medicine will not be too difficult to get regulated.  And I am thankful today is my day off - - - - - maybe I will take a nap now!

And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  2 Corinthians 12:9