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Our Daily Thread 8-9-13

Good Morning!

It’s Friday! 🙂

On this day in 1842 the Webster-Ashburton Treaty is signed, establishing the United States-Canada border east of the Rocky Mountains.

In 1862, during the American Civil War’s Battle of Cedar Mountain, General Stonewall Jackson narrowly defeats Union forces under General John Pope.

In 1930 Betty Boop made her cartoon debut in Dizzy Dishes.

In 1936 Jesse Owens wins his fourth gold medal at the summer games becoming the first American to win four medals in one Olympiad.

In 1942 Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi is arrested in Bombay by British forces,

In 1944 the United States Forest Service and the Wartime Advertising Council release posters featuring Smokey Bear for the first time.

In 1965 a fire at a Titan missile base near Searcy, Arkansas kills 53 construction workers.

And in 1969 followers led by Charles Manson murder pregnant actress Sharon Tate (wife of Roman Polanski), coffee heiress Abigail Folger, Polish actor Wojciech Frykowski, men’s hairstylist Jay Sebring and recent high-school graduate Steven Parent.

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Quote of the Day

“We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort.”

Jesse Owens

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It’s Billy Henderson’s birthday.

It’s also Marinus Gerritsen’s.

And we’ll finish up today with some Kutless.

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QoD? Anyone?

83 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 8-9-13”

  3. Evening Chas. It is Friday evening and that means Teen Centre, which is our one opportunity to go out to eat. The Teens put on a sorta fast food restaurant, with burgers and salads. Then I went to a friends and watched October Baby. Good movie with a profound message. So glad that they made the film.

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  5. Well, I spilled my heart to all of you and asked for help but got a message that the comment could not be posted. Guess that was just another sign that my thoughts and opinions don’t matter.

    Have a good day.

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  6. Kim! None of that. You matter to God, you matter to your husband and family, you matter to your real life friends, and you matter to your online friends (that’s us). And to your pets, too.

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  8. au contraire Kim… your opinions and thoughts do matter….I’m convinced that little guy who lives in the computer who refused to post your message is an idiot! 🙂
    Your post on FB made me smile….I learned that lesson two years ago the hard way….it is one of my favorite quotes…
    Heading out for my walk…have a blessed Friday everyone……

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  9. I’ve never heard, “Your comments can’t be posted”. Try again.
    Write it out on the word processor, then paste it so that you won’t lose it if the web acts up.

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  10. By the end of this post I’ll need some cheese. Please don’t get me wrong, I only ask the following questions out of curiosity.

    Why on a Christian blog are there so many videos of secular music and very few of Christian music? Are we really supposed to promote the world’s culture? (I know, I sound legalistic here. I really enjoy a good rock-and-roll song myself now and then.)

    If it’s music, why are all the links videos? Music is for the ears, not the eyes.

    And why do those who obviously have high speed Internet ask AJ to post videos that they can find themselves? AJ posts what he likes. If you want something else go to a music site and listen to your heart’s content.

    Okay, enough “why-ning” for now. I’ll go have some of that jalepeño cheddar cheese I bought yesterday.

    And I apologize if this post seems negative. I had a bad day at the cave yesterday. No, the tourists I had were great, it was the boss’s pet at the ticket counter who was the problem.

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  11. Peter, not being the web-master here I can’t ultimately answer your questions, but I’ll give some sorts of answers:

    “The world” includes us. Culture itself is neutral; it can be used for good or for bad. Believe it or not, my husband doesn’t like listening to Christian music (a “new one” in my experience), but his reason is one that I can understand: He doesn’t think that it should be downgraded for “entertainment,” but should be used in worship. So he wouldn’t have any problems with singing songs to the Lord, but if listening to it as “background noise” while we wash dishes, he wants music that isn’t “Christian.” And of course neither of us likes “pop” Christian music at all.

    I don’t know why all the links are videos, although I suppose it’s because video links are what are usually created. (If you click on the links, you’ll see that some aren’t video of the musicians; they might show a sunset or flying birds or laughing children, with music as background.)

    I think sometimes people ask AJ to post videos because they think others might like them too, or they think it would be cool to wake up to this video . . . or even because they think AJ might like not to have to think up all the possibilities himself once in a while!

    Sorry about the bad day at the cave. Are we allowed to ask what sort of animal this pet is, or do you not want to be that specific? (I try to be a bit vague at times myself on the net.)

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  12. Kim, when comments can’t be posted (I learned this trick at World’s blog, though it didn’t always work), go back a page (the left arrow at the top, whatever that is called) and your post should show up again. Then copy it so that you can try again later.

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  13. Good points, Cheryl. And this: the left arrow at the top, whatever that is called, is called the “back arrow”.

    As for the pet, it is a college girl who is nice enough but doesn’t understand how to manage which tour guide gets what tour very well.

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  14. Christian “pop.” 😦 Ugh. I’m not a fan either. And that can be much more of a minefield than secular music.

    I find the videos/songs posted here span a good variety, hitting many different styles and eras, even those before our time. I like it. 🙂 Sometimes I watch one, two or all of them, sometimes not, depending on the time I have.

    I’ll take a guess — maybe the “pet” Peter talked about is like a teacher’s (or boss’) pet student/employee?

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  15. Ah-Ha! I was right (we cross posted).

    When do you go back to school, Peter? We start on Monday out here, which is very early — I think it has something to do with the district trying to synchronize middle and high school schedules (which were not the same). So it’s all moving toward more of a college schedule, getting out early for summer and starting early for “fall.”

    We’ve had wonderfully cool weather throughout July (and so far in August). Hope it lasts. Of course, the big front page story out here yesterday was on … Global Warming. And how it’s all coming true, just like they predicted, so be ready, it’s a catastrophe in the making! Or maybe not. 😉

    I’m not saying there isn’t climate change (since there’s always been climate change). And some of it may, indeed, be a result of man’s impact on the environment. But this whole issue has become so agenda-driven that it’s no longer really “science” anymore.

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  16. For a long time I could not get the music videos because it did not work on the home computer and this office computer does not have sound or video capabilities. But with Smarty (phone) I can access the music videos. I enjoy hearing various styles of music even though I do not always have appreciation for the words. It is sometimes fun to hear music from when I was a teenager since those were not particularily good days and some of those days, the music on our local rock station, WQXI (that’s like Quickzi in Dixie, LOL) was the best thing about the day. I don’t mind what is posted because people certainly have the choice to pass over them or can probably block them somehow if desired. Maybe AJ would have a way to block them to any whio do not want them?

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  17. My brother does not like any music that has a beat or drum in it, so he would probably not be on this site simply because of the music that is posted. He is very strict with his requirements for music to be considered Christian.

    I feel a lot of young people can be reached through a familiar sound with words that hold a pure Christian teaching. Sometimes praise music can be repetitive, but maybe that is what the new Christians need as their milk before they have the solid food of old hymns. I know there are many opinions on this. I just get concerned when the older and more mature Christians, the ones who grew up in the faith from an early age, just don’t get the need for basics for the adults who have known nothing of Christianity and when they come to church, they are somewhat like a preschooler in Sunday School for the first time. They need the simple stuff so they can digest that and then move on to the more meaty words of the old hymns.

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  18. We have a good mix of music in my church and I so appreciate that. No one is excluded and possibly someone may have their heart opened to appreciate a form they have only disliked before.

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  19. Good point JaniceG. Our pastor was sharing last week about the importance of appreciating worship music that perhaps is not what we would ‘prefer’ when we’re visiting other churches. And we should never to feel “above” joining whole-heartedly in the simplest expressions of a song like “Jesus Loves Me, This I Know” in a SS class.

    But as for secular music … How can someone not like drums?? 😮

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  20. We also have a mix of contemporary and older hymns. Our church/denomination takes great care in selecting songs that a doctrinally sound but also pleasing to the ear. Some of the older people don’t care for the instruments and newer pieces, but I like the mix (sometimes we use a piano only, but often we use a soft accompaniment of guitar and, yes, even lightly-played drums).

    And we’re a large enough congregation (200-300 on any given Sunday) that the “music team” doesn’t dominate (unless it’s a brand new song to us that we are still learning), they simple lead.

    We’re all encouraged to stand and SING. 🙂

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  21. What I wrote out earlier had to do with something like the Brigg’s-Myers Assessment we are all familiar with. This is called a DISC Profile. In it I am a High S meaning that I am steady and prefer to be a team player rather than a lone wolf. It also suggests that I tend to hide my opinions and should feel safe to express myself.
    I have tried recently to be more open. I have posted elsewhere on the internet under a completely different profile some opinions on things. I have been accused of being a bigot and a slew of other nasty things. Pretty much I have been called everything but a child of God. No wonder I tend not to tell people what I think and if I disagree with someone I just ignore them and go about my business.
    I had been encouraged back in May to have an honest, non-threatening conversation with the man I was working for. I told him what I really needed out of my job. He was focused on me being on the phone all day, every day qualifying leads. I had told him I was excellent at that for about four hours a day and then I need to shift to something else. I couldn’t be locked in an office all day with no face to face human contact. This was to be a “fierce conversation” where it was safe to share my thoughts with the knowledge that he could only see things from his perspective and I could only see from my perspective. When he let me go he used this against me. He told me that he didn’t think I was happy with the job. Looking back the hours I put in contributed to the issues with BG although I cannot totally blame everything on that; just that it was a factor in our morning disputes.
    I had really identified with the team and wanted it to be successful. Recently I sent the man an email and a text message about things I thought would be beneficial to the team and to him. I have not gotten a response that he even received it. Things are posted on FB that I am no longer a part of and I mourn the loss. I WANTED to be part of those things. I WANTED to be associated with a top team. Each time I see one of those posts I realize again what I have lost and it is like a stabbing pain in my heart.
    It just all came crashing in on me this morning. No wonder I don’t express myself. Long life lesson is to keep my thoughts and opinions to myself because they will come back to hurt me. I feel as though I can’t express myself well to others. Whatever I say gets misinterpreted. I am working on getting better today and not feeling sorry for myself.

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  22. Good morning. It’s another scorcher here in Surfside, TX. We’re headed to Galveston today to do a little shopping. It’s about thirty minutes away from where we’re staying. So far, we’ve had a really nice time all being together. I’m with some of my favorite people and it’s been a wonderful respite after my trip home last weekend. I’m so grateful to have both Connie (nanny) and Monica (best friend since age 4) in my life. And, of course, my children, the biggest blessings of all! God has been so merciful to me.

    Regarding today’s topic of secular vs. Christian music: Our church is rather large and has a praise and worship band, complete with drums. I’d much prefer to sing hymns, but the majority of people seem to like the pop Christian songs. I know my kids prefer it. I do listen to KSBJ, the local Christian radio station, quite often. Many of the songs speak to my heart and I belt out the choruses when I’m alone in the car. I know there are a lot of people who are offended by this type of music (my Dad included), but I like most of it. And, it’s especially nice when the kids are in the car to have a station on that I don’t have to worry about what they will say next. Some of the secular stations can be very crude, especially during the morning shows.

    I can’t believe summer is almost over. My kids go back to school August 26, much later than many, but still too early to suit me. The summer has just flown by–we’ve made lots of good memories. I’m not ready to resume the harried schedule of the school year. Becca will be taking piano lessons again as well as acting classes and Lindsey will be busy with her new horse, Simba. I can’t believe my eldest is entering 8th grade. She has really blossomed over the summer and doesn’t seem like a little kid anymore. She looks like a young woman now and I find myself wondering where the years went. It reminds me of that old song, “Turn around……Where are you going, my little one…” It’s very bittersweet. I am thoroughly enjoying having a teenager in my life, but realizing she’s only got five years left at home makes me nostalgic. She’s a great kid — I can only hope and pray it stays this way! I am so grateful to God for the relationship we share. It is such a magnificent gift.

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  23. Kim: Sorry you are struggling. I’ll be praying for you. I believe that when one grows up with an alcoholic parent, many times one has difficulty trusting one’s gut. It’s hard to know what normal is and to have healthy boundaries with people. I don’t think the answer is shutting down and not expressing yourself–that only perpetuates the lie that somehow you are unacceptable and encourages isolation, which isn’t healthy. Your thoughts and feelings are valid. You are uniquely created by God, lovingly fashioned into the Southern Belle you are. You helped me a lot last week with your supportive phone calls. I’m sorry things didn’t work out with your last job, but I believe God has something better for you, something that will be a better fit. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans for a hope and a future.” And, my favorite Bible verse of all time: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” -Romans 8:38

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  24. Peter,

    It is not my intent to upset anyone, so if I have, I apologize. I’m a fan of all types of music, even country as I get older. But you are correct, I like what I like and that is reflected in my choices. I also understand that many don’t like what I do. It’s why I’ve asked on a couple of occasions what it is folks would like to hear, the last time being a couple days ago.

    I spend considerable time every day choosing what I post. I use who is having a birthday to select many, because it provides a wider variety. I’ve found many I wouldn’t have thought of that way. Also, I take great care to try and avoid anything with cussing, those that promote promiscuity, alcohol or drug use (although sometimes they squeak by because I wasn’t aware of it or it’s veiled) and things like that. I watch everything first, and on many I search for the lyrics if I’m not sure. I do this because it’s the responsible thing to do. The last thing I want to do is upset any of you folks.

    What some of the ladies said above expresses my feelings on it, and they say it far better than I could myself. But I encourage you or anyone else to share what they’d like to hear. I’d be happy to accommodate them. Also, if something bothers someone, I encourage you to let me know. Send me an email or whatever, and I’ll do my best to try and make sure it doesn’t happen again.

    Allen

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  26. It just occurred to me that in listing all my pets the other day, I left one of my dogs out. Pilgrim, an Australian shepherd who had one health issue after another … from serious pollen allergies to a benign tumor that needed surgical removal to (finally) diabetes.

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  29. I’m not sure we can afford to double or triple his pay, but can we increase his benefits or give him a promotion? I vote for “promotion” as the cheapest option but one that sounds like we’ve done something important. (I don’t know whether a promotion should come with more responsibilities in this instance, if we don’t increase his pay too. What do you all think?)

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  30. I, too, left off a pet young kitty we had for a short time. It was a kitten who was a stray that came to live on our carport and seemed to be attached to one of the car tires. It was a very skiddish kitten who would hide when we came near it. Of course I could not leave it hungry and thirsty so I would put things out for it. I named it Puffkin. It was a precious Tabby with the rounds of stripes like you might find on a watermelon. It was such a dear little kitty but he disappeared after not much time went by. Then I found him barely alive with a wound covered with maggots. It was a terrible discovery . We took him to the county emergency vet services but they could not save his life. 😦

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  31. I like how AJ ties the music postings to birthdays. If someone does not like the muscian’s style, since it is their birthday, a prayer would be in order for their spiritual growth inChrist.

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  32. See what you started Peter? 🙂 AJ asked for requests the other day and I requested my favorite James Taylor…. I appreciate the time AJ takes to post these delightful video presentations that I otherwise would not see….I don’t watch all of them, but most. If someone doesn’t want to see it…don’t hit play…..And I do recall the Keith Green songs posted here….always a blessing to see…..and hear
    Thanks again AJ for all you do in keeping us together…I vote you get a cake for doing so…I’m not the cyber baker here…mine always come out lopsided…sooo…someone..anyone with expertise…get to it!! 🙂

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  34. I thought I had the name part fixed.

    On the prayer thread, Kim quoted, “never make someone a priority in your life while you remain an option in theirs.”
    I have heard that before. But the interesting thing about that is, though she never says. I believe that’s how I got Elvera.
    You all know that I asked why she chose me. She said, “Because you fed me.”
    That’s only partly true.
    You all know that she was going with Ernest at the time.
    She knew that she was priority in my life, but suspected she was an option for Ernest.
    But I’ll never know. I didn’t have much going for me at the time.

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  35. So today I had an hour’s free coaching call. In it the “coach” asked me why I decided to stay in real estate. I answered and she asked the question again, and again and again. Each time she dug a little deeper and uncovered what I really want and why I am do hurt by the loss of the other job.
    For the first time in a REAAAALLLLY long time that job gave me monetary security (notice I didn’t say financial) but with it I knew there was a set amount to a pay check every 2 weeks. I didn’t panic when the balance in the checking account dipped below a certain amount because I knew all I had to do was hold on a few more days and there would be more. The last time I had that feeling was before BG was born and I was spending every extra dime them to have her, so really I have NEVER had discretionary income.
    While I had it I was able to tithe and I was able to do things for others. Back in May because I knew I had money coming in I made the offer to Mr P that we could pay off Middle Son’s car. It was only $600 but we could DO it. The other day I was in the bank making a pitance of a deposit and there was an older gentleman in there trying to get $80 of a prepaid card. He didn’t know how much was on the card and the teller was not kind in her expanation that if she tried to run the card and there wasn’t enough on it she would not be able to run it again that day. I SO wished I had $80 that I could hand him and walk out so as to save him the embarrassment.

    So the BIG WHY today that came out, is that I want security so that I can do for others. Oldest Son and his wife are buying a house. They have 3 dogs and will need a fence. I want money so that I can send it to them to help pay for a fence. I want money so that I can provide some extras for my child. I want money so that I can help others. Without the security of money coming in I cannot do what I want to do which includes giving my time. I can’t give time if I feel like I have to be working all the time.
    To bad the coaching costs $500 a month because I got a lot out of the hour today but cannot justify that expense at this time.

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  36. On “The Five”, a FoxNews TV program; they were all talking about their favorite summer. That would be embarrassing. I was racking my brain to think of one. No events as a child or in high school. I did spend two weeks at Camp Kanuga, here in Hendersonville when I was 12. Nothing during the AF years. I worked through college & seminary.
    We usually took vacations to visit family.
    One year, don’t remember when, Elvera and I flew to Miami, rented a car and drove to Key West, then visited the Everglades. That was an interesting two weeks. But not the summer.
    I hope all of you had a nice summer.
    It has rained all summer in Hendersonville. I haven’t been able to do much that I planned around this place.

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  37. Kim, you may be trying to do too much for other people who can do for themselves and will not really appreciate what you did.
    I know, you’re not doing it to be appreciated.
    However, If middle son has a car, he needs to pay for it. I’ll confess, we made the down payment on Chuck’s first car. But keeping it up was his responsibility.
    And anybody who can buy a new house and keep three dogs can manage to care for them.
    I’ll confess, we have helped Chuck through the years. Nevertheless, it doesn’t help a person to assist them in extravagance.
    In twenty five years, or so, you’re going to need to rely on money you have stashed away. No one is going to help you.
    And the time passes quickly.
    ??Should I hit “Post” or mind my own business?
    If I didn’t care, I would hit the “return” arrow.
    Take the advice for what it costs.

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  41. When I was teaching school, one day in class I was letting the first grade music students make suggestions for musical activities to do for part of class time. Sometime after we’d moved on to other things I had planned, a student raised his hand, and when I called on him, he said, “I thought of something else we could have dood.” 🙂

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  42. IIt is so difficult to discern how much to help people financially. Some people get to where they expect it and seem like they lose all interest if you give up the role of ATM. I suppose the best way to give is anonymously so expectations are not set up. I do like to be able to give to help with needs but it has never been a consistent ability to do so.

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  43. Thanks for understanding Janice. No one expected what I was able to do. I did it for me. It was actually selfish of me to do it because it was more about the good feeling it gave me than it was about doing something they expected. It was a surprise for Middle Son to find out his car was paid off.

    I appreciate your advice Chas. Believe me when I say that my Number One Goal is to be financially secure. It used to be that you joked that you didn’t want to have to eat dog food when you retired but now even that is expensive.

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  44. Oops! I forgot today was Friday! So I guess I should post the funnies!

    I haven’t read all the comments yet, but so far everyone is making some good comments about music. But this one by Janice has me scratching my head: My brother does not like any music that has a beat…

    Janice- I think he means a strong beat, or syncopated one, like in rock music. Tell your brother that all music has a beat, whether it is emphasized as in rock music, or not. Even Gregorian chants have a beat! Tell him that when he opens a hymnbook and sees the two numbers at the head of each song, that those numbers tell the musician how many beats are in a measure and which notes get one beat.

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  45. Cheryl- I can see a reason why your husband doesn’t like to use Christian music as entertainment. Personally, I like to have Christian music (usually Christian rock or contemporary) playing while working on the car or other labor like that, as it keeps my mind on God more. And if I have trouble with a bolt or something, it reminds me Who is in ultimate control so I don’t get as upset that the job isn’t going well.

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  46. So I’m sitting here at the computer desk, and the book lying next to the keyboard is one I just checked out of the library today, The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains, by Nicholas Carr.

    I’m just a little afraid of reading it… Do I really want to know?

    I think I’ll have to (to borrow a thought from the prayer thread) take a D-E-E-P breath, face my fears, and plunge in. 🙂

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  47. AJ- I am not offended by the music you choose, and I never watch the videos because our connection is too slow. Thank you for keeping the selections “clean”. I think someday soon I am going to write a blog post about music on my blog (to which I haven’t posted in a loooong time). When I get it done, I’ll link to it here. I do agree with 99% of what everyone has said here about music.

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  49. I so enjoy coming on here after a long day and just seeing what my ‘friends’ have been up to and discussing all day. Thanks all, and especially AJ – I love it when you pick an artist that I like – just more in common with all of you.

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  50. When I was at the Naval War College, we took a personal psychology course. As part of the course, we were asked to list the ten things that we enjoyed most. When I looked at the results, I realized that none of them involved money. Two required that I have had the resources to acquire a patio and fireplace. Otherwise, money was not involved.
    I’ll bet you would have the same result.
    My dad used to say, “I just enjoy seeing the children happy.” I understood then, moreso now.

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  51. Kim, how funny that you have another blog personality somewhere else where you can be totally anonymous! I like that you can give your opinions though. I know on facebook I chose who I am, a missionary, mom, and teacher. I have strong prolife feelings, but don’t feel that that is the place to share those.
    I enjoy the silence here, it is very quiet. Music might be nice, but I leave it quiet

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  52. Jo, I created it because people can hate that person and it is fine. They don’t know me. Here and on FB it is really me and if someone were to hate me it would destroy me. I still express the same opinions but to a wider audience. Yes, sometimes I comment on controversial subjects but it would still be the same opinion I would have here. One of the ones I commented on was the PA couple who “moved up” their wedding so that their two year old son who was dying could be in the wedding. They were planning a wedding for 2014. What would your comment have been?

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  54. I think that is why I finally joined this blog. After reading the comments for years, I knew that you all were a group of like minded folks that I felt comfortable with.

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  58. Looks like we’re to that time of night where people start claiming certain numbers.

    I have dishes to do, then I’m coming back for 62. (I’m a poet, and I don’t know it.) 😉

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  76. 6 arrows, you are up late, still early here.
    printing pictures of the families for school and adding books to my kindle. Can’t go to the weight room without something to read on the kindle

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  79. So what, you all just go to bed right when I get home?

    I had a long visit today with a friend today, but ran into a lot of late-night freeway traffic coming home through the Hollywood Hills. They’re doing nighttime work on the freeway so a couple lanes were closed and it was bumper to bumper for quite a while. It normally takes about an hour to get home but tonight it was probably closer to 90 minutes.

    During the course of the day we took a walk through one of the local malls and it occurred to me how seldom I ever do that anymore (like in never, really). We used to go to the Border’s Bookstore there, but of course that’s gone now, so we meandered through the first floor and stopped into a couple other stores that didn’t hold much interest for me. Amazing to see all the bling and fashions and Disney toys …

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