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Our Daily Thread 12-19-13

Good Morning!

Only 6 Days Until Christmas!

On this day in 1732 Benjamin Franklin began publishing “Poor Richard’s Almanac.”

In 1776 Thomas Paine published his first “American Crisis” essay.

In 1777 General George Washington led his army of about 11,000 men to Valley Forge, PA, to camp for the winter.

valley forge

In 1843 Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” was first published in England.

In 1918 Robert Ripley began his “Believe It or Not” column in “The New York Globe”.

In 1959 Penn State’s Nittany Lions beat Alabama, 7-0, in the first Liberty Bowl football game.

And in 1959 Walter Williams died in Houston, TX, at the age of 117. He was said to be the last surviving veteran of the U.S. Civil War.

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Quote of the Day

“My relationship with ‘Pollyanna’ is a very personal one, because Pollyanna got me through my childhood.”

Eleanor Porter

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First today, some Faith Hill.

And some Michael Card.

And since this one is such a classic, and today is it’s 170th birthday….

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Anyone have a QoD?

79 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 12-19-13”

  1. I love Michael Card and that is one of my favorites (the whole album, “The Promise,” is an awesome musical telling of the Christmas story).

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  5. Chas has been first this late.
    From yesterday:
    I have a pair of brown shoes that I wear on the Sunday I wear a brown sportcoat.
    I have a pairof uncomfortable black shoes that I wear with my black/dark blue suit.
    I have a pair of brown loafers that I wear out to the store, bank, etc.
    I have a pair of sneakers I wear everywhere else (that I wear shoes). What happens, is that I wear my sneakers till they get grungy, then I wear them to work around.
    One day, a guy at the Y was laughting and making fun of me because I had grass on my shoes. So I went to K-Mart and bought another pair for $13.95 and use them for my “good sneakers” and do my work in the gungy ones.
    That is my saga on shoes.
    I don’t wear shoes around the house. Don’t look down at my feed because I’m in my socks now..

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  6. Good Morning all. We took Middle Son to a restaurant owned by the uncle of his (son’s) room mate. It was a nice transition into the area since he had asked if we knew about the restaurant. He ate a 16 inch Po’Boy loaded with shrimp AND fries. We then went to the grocery store to make sure we had some snacks and such in the house that he would like. So far he has been very sweet. He walked in the house yesterday, came straight to me, said I’m (name) and hugged me.
    So far so good. He has some friends over in Pensacola that he wants to see. I told him he was welcome to have them here if he would like, but it is easier for him to go over there than for all of them to come over here.
    I have ground to cover today as well. The Christmas Party is tonight and one of my helpers called and isn’t going to be able to come over early. Good thing I am having it in a familiar venue, and will people I have worked with before.

    QOD Have you played Dirty Santa at a party before? How did you play? I know I have done it but I can’t remember how it worked. I bought nice gifts for Dirty Santa. If I end up with my own gift I want something I will actually use and like.

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  7. The story behind my gift giving criteria is a good one. When I was in 4th grade my mother gave me $20 to buy gifts for my friends at school. My Aunt C took me shopping. I was quite conservative with my purchases for my friends because there was also something I wanted. My aunt asked me several times if I really liked what I was buying for my friends and I assured her I did. I LOVED what I was buying for my friends. I was also quite concerned with having enough left over to buy what I personally wanted. That Christmas can you guess what my aunt gave me? The cheap, nothing little gift I had gotten my friends. Truthfully, I really didn’t like it and I was quite disappointed. She reminded me how much I loved it in the store when I was buying it for my friends. Lesson Learned. So now if you ever receive a gift from me you can be assured that it is either something I know you want or something you can tell me you want to give back to me and I will gladly take back.

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  10. Good morning, all! I remember listening to Michael Card with my sister, who was a new Christian at the time, back in the ’80’s.

    I’ve been unable to post for awhile–haven’t even had time to keep up with all of the posts–but have missed y’all!

    6 arrows: I hope you are able to get the shoes! I agree with everyone else that $50.00 isn’t too much to spend on a well-fitting pair of shoes, especially if they are leather. I get most of my shoes at DSW–if you have one close to where you live, I’d encourage you to check it out.

    My sister has all of her children back together for the holidays. I took her oldest to the airport on Monday. No official word yet, but it sounds like they will be renewing their commitment to Kibigora Hospital — probably signing up for a three year stint. My mom is heartbroken. She was really hoping they would come home in August.

    We are officially done with homeschooling until January 6. Things are going much better–we both seem to have settled in and the days are passing without the drama that was rampant in the beginning.

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  11. Love that story about your aunt, Kim. How nice to have someone who cared so much about you and demonstrate it! Nice to hear things are going well with your visitor. I am not on as much either, but do pray for you.

    I have been praying for wisdom and patience etc. for you, too, Ann. I know how that can go. It will be worth it, of course, as all things done unto the Lord are.

    I will have all my family home this weekend. First and furthest away family arrives today. They have been driving all night. Cannot wait. The sisters are especially happy to see one another, since it has been a couple of years for them. It will be a crowded, chaotic cacophony. I am one happy camper! We will all need prayers for patience, too, no doubt. 🙂

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  12. Wise aunt of Kim. I never bought presents for friends at school. It never crossed my mind and I never had any money.
    I read about A&E and the Duck Dynasty in the paper. Seems that A&E is disappointed that Robertson made a comment about homosexuality in GQ magazine. So they canned him.
    Robertson’s comment: I, myself, am a product of the 60’s who indulged in sex and drugs until hitting the bottom and accepting Jesus as my savior, he said in a statement (This is the way it is in the paper, no close quotes)

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  13. Kim, I have the opposite story. My favorite brother (11 years older than I) took me shopping for a gift for my sister. I found some dolls I thought were really beautiful, and they had several different versions of the doll (different hair colors and different outfits), and the price was quite affordable. I decided my sister would love one and I really wanted another one for myself. But my brother said no, I couldn’t get one for me; we were shopping for my sister. At home I told my mom, and she agreed my desire to get one for myself wasn’t unreasonable (since I was spending my own money), so she took me back to the store. Funny thing is I don’t remember owning the dolls, don’t remember anything of what they looked like, just that I wanted to buy one for each of us. Maybe they were coloring books or something other than dolls, but it’s dolls that come with my memory of that shopping trip. Maybe I wanted to buy her a doll but couldn’t afford it, and then we found coloring books, I don’t know.

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  14. There is an I Stand With Phil Robertson page on Facebook. I have read some of the comments in various places. There are the standard “inbred redneck sleeping with their cousins’ comments and then there are some from the gay community actually standing up and defending Phil’s right to say what he wants to say. Perhaps all is not lost.
    I have told you many times I have enough gay friends and relatives to have my own parade, but this is stupid. Hopefully A&E will come out the loser on this and people will start taking back their rights to their own thoughts.

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  16. My favorite shoes are Born and Saucony. A friend who had foot troubles saw that her foot doctor specialist had both those brands on his good to buy for foot health list. I find Born at Ross or Goodwill.

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  17. Good morning. 84 years ago today my dad was born. I’m blessed to have a good, godly man as a father, and so thankful that he is still with us and in relatively good health.

    Ann, I’ve not heard of DSW, nor most of the places people mentioned yesterday to look for shoes. Goodwill and TJ Maxx I know, but the rest sounded pretty foreign to me. 😉

    Kim, I’ve never heard of Dirty Santa before. Someone will have to enlighten me on that — this blog is good for teaching me things I’ve not learned. 🙂

    Late last night, I proposed a possible QoD:

    Do you have a Bible reading plan you’re thinking of for next year?

    I don’t have a specific plan yet, but I’m thinking of reading all the way through my Geneva Bible, which I’ve not done since purchasing it several years ago. I believe it’s a 1599 version, which predates my 1611 King James Version I’ve been using for several years now.

    You all have a nice day. I’ve got a lot of things to wrap up with the kids’ schooling before we break for Christmas after tomorrow.

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  18. I am too rough on shoes to wear them more than 3 years. They aren’t even good enough for the garbage can when I am done. Be careful when buying shoes at second hand stores, especially if you are looking for support. Shoes break down over time. I worked my way through college fitting shoes, first with Connie/Natrulizer and next with a small family owned store. I sold Nike, Ked, Reebok, Birks, and a number of other brands. My secret is that when my feet would start hurting I would go in the stockroom and get a pair of SAS and wear them for an hour or so. “Them’s some kinda ugly shoes, but they show do feel good.”

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  19. Good Morning all…Kim I have never heard of Dirty Santa either…
    I purchase most of my shoes at DSW or Marshalls….it’s difficult to find a size 5 shoe…but DSW has them regularly on their clearance shelves! Born is my favorite fitting shoe…and boot
    We don’t have cable, therefore I haven’t watched Duck Dynasty. It’s nothing new that the beliefs of Christians are not tolerated by the “progressives” in our society. Sad but not surprising.

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  20. Kim,

    Too funny.

    When I met my wife she was the manager of a Naturalizer shoe store in the Rockaway Mall in Jersey. She managed 2 or 3 different ones. She only came to this area because she had opened a store in a local mall.

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  21. I love Born shoes, too, and also buy mine at Ross or DSW, when they have them.

    DSW carries good shoes at often significantly reduced prices. I haven’t been there in a while, though, as I bought several pairs of shoes 2 years ago that are still doing well (the other secret: Buy a few pairs and alternate wearing them so they don’t wear out). I love the Born flats and clogs. Comfortable and good for your feet.

    At home it’s one of my funky, beat-up, faded pairs of old-fashioned converse sneakers, great shoes for the dog park and dog walking. And you can throw them in the washing machine.

    I’ve always loved Michael Card — I followed him on Twitter several months ago and he returned a “follow,” which he must do as a courtesy for those who follow him.

    For those who missed it the first time around this year (like I did, why do they always show it so early??), “A Charlie Brown Christmas” will be on at 8 p.m. tonight, Channel 7. 🙂

    We get a holiday “boxed” lunch today. It’s a far cry from the lavish catered spreads we used to get in our more affluent days when we had at least three times as many employees. Those parties were epic, complete with strolling Christmas carolers (though one of my Jewish colleagues complained more and more every year about the carols).

    But, hey, it is a free lunch.

    I have no idea what “dirty Santa” is but suspect it’s that game where everyone buys and wraps a generic gift and then you can “steal” from each other? We used to do that at my former newspaper, it can be fun.

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  22. I used to wear Reebocks & Naturalizers, but haven’t bought those brands in quite a while. Keen boots are good and they’ll go on sale here and there. Never wore SAS, they are kinda ugly I guess which is maybe why I’ve never gone that route, but they are supposed to be comfortable.

    But generally shoes are one thing I won’t scrimp on — I’ll get them for discount prices, but I think it always pays to buy well-made and good-fitting, leather shoes.

    (I remember buying “plastic” shoes once at Payless Shoes — they were cheap but HORRIBLE. I tossed them within months. Never again.)

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  26. What is happen to Phil Robertson should not shock anyone. When you consider what has been happen in our Nation towards Teachers who posted on their own face book page, their disagreement with the gay rights, towards our Military Soldiers who have been threaten and facing UCMJ Action over the disagreeing with gay rights, to Christian Bakers and Christian own flower shops, photo shops, who are targeted of protest and dragged into Court Rooms. It is clear today if you disagree with gays right, you must be silence or facing the punishment of society. What is shocking if you look at what he stated, he listed different sinful actions but only one small group got angry and demanded him to be fired. How did this small group of people obtain such power?

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  27. I am almost as old as 6 Arrows’ dad and I’ve never heard of “dirty Santa” either. I can’t imagine what he is.
    Elvera wears SAS shoes all the time now. It is a very special occasion to get her into heels. Like a wedding, or somesuch.

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  28. That small group has friends in high places.
    They have different reasons for wanting to hush people who have opinions differenty from theirs.
    Some are politically correct and don’t want any sort of disparagement of anyone. Many Libertarians fall into this category. But not all. Some think everyone should be free to day anything.
    Some are “Politically Correct” only for their Their particular group. That is, it is bad to disparage homosexuals, but OK to diss Christians, especially narrow minded evangelicals.
    Some are not politically correct at all, but want to destroy our culture. Hence the Overton window.
    That isn’t all but TSWITW just bellowed, “OK Charlie”. Gotta go. 🙂

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  29. I love Born shoes, too! I must admit to feeling rather spoiled, as I have quite a few pairs of shoes….not anything extraordinary–but more than I truly need. I buy the best shoes I can afford as I hate hurting feet, and shoes really do make a huge difference!

    Kathaleena: Thanks for keeping me in your prayers. I have felt “…all of that love from here…” as Wynonna Judd used to sing (I’d provide a link, but I don’t know how!!!). We got off to a rocky start — but things are much better now. I don’t know how long our homeschooling journey will last, but I feel privileged to be on it. It has turned my schedule upside down and it’s been a big adjustment. However, I’m so happy to be having this experience.

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  31. One of my closest childhood friends is gay. I love him very much. I don’t think homosexuality is any more of a sin than premarital heterosexual sex — and don’t feel it should be singled out as the sin that tops all sins. I believe we all fall short and sin each and every day, in thought, word or deed and do believe it’s sad we’ve made the gay community such an “other”.

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  33. Ann I don’t think it is so much as making the sin of homosexuality more than other sexual sin…Christians are told we are not “allowed” to think of it as a sin…that we are bigots if we hold to what the Bible states on such sin. My nephew is gay…I love him dearly. He is an activist, in your face, you must believe as I believe person. He states he is a Christian. My relationship with him is rather difficult due to his prejudice against my beliefs…

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  34. Annms, agreed. But the reason homosexuality is front-and-center right now is because the issue is culturally and politically being driven by proponents of gay marriage. Christians didn’t start this conversation. They are, for the most part, responding to it because it has been forced onto center stage.

    The political push to normalize homosexuality and gay marriage has swept over our culture like a tidal wave. There’s probably no stopping it now (and I think I was saying this several years ago as well).

    But I think the reason you see so many Christians now addressing it (more than other sins) is because of the impact that movement will have on society as a whole and on generations to come. It will affect everything from our school curriculums to (possibly, at least from these early signs) the ability to speak freely in the public square.

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  35. When I was in about sixth grade, my teacher had us all draw names to buy a Christmas gift for one fellow student. I don’t know if we’d made gift suggestions or were just supposed to buy something they might like. Well, I drew the name of the girl who had been my best friend throughout grade school, though by this time she had another friend or two she spent more time with. Anyway, I bought her some nice stationery. When it came time to exchange gifts, it turns out she had my name too! She told me she really liked the stationery, and she could use it to write to her uncle. I don’t remember what she got for me.

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  36. I started the post above a couple of hours ago, in response to something posted way up yonder, but I ate breakfast and went shopping before I was able to finish it.

    Kim, re Dirty Santa, we didn’t call it that, but we played it at two different annual gatherings at my last church (one for women that was an ornament exchange and a white-elephant one for the whole church). The rules as I remember it include these: first, people should know the boundaries of what to buy/bring (e.g., for the white elephant exchange you could include as many items in the box as you wanted to get rid of, they just all had to be in one box or wrapped together; for the ornament exchange, you bought an ornament for five dollars or less–women often bought them on clearance after Christmas for the next year). Each gift should be wrapped. There are various ways to decide who goes first, but basically everyone draws a number or is given a number as they arrive. You can then go in order (1-32 or however many people there are), in reverse order (32-1), or as your own number is drawn.

    Each person, as his number is drawn, can choose either to open a gift or to “steal” one that has already been opened (and the person whose gifts is stolen is in turn allowed to open or steal). You cannot just resteal the gift that has just been stolen from you. (We did see mothers and daughters “work together” to get around this rule. Let’s say Mother wanted the gift she had, and Mother’s gift got stolen. Mother then “steals” Daughter’s gift, and Daughter resteals the gift her mother had.) The third time a gift has been stolen (its fourth possession), it is “retired” and cannot be stolen again.

    I think that sometimes it’s played where the very first person to open a gift, not having had a chance to steal, is allowed at the end either to keep what she opened or to steal.

    By the time you get up past 30 people/families or so, the game can drag if people do much stealing.

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  37. I have also been running around this morning doing some “Secret Santa” things.
    I am just about on cruise control on the Christmas Party. We had a slight change on the door prizes. Everyone who attends will get 1 ticket but they may purchase additional tickets with the proceeds going to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital NICU. I have lots of good prizes!

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  40. Just in from Ross–where I bought a pair of shoes for $18 and thought of you all!

    I, too, have challenging feet and buy what works, but I’ve never heard of Born before . . .

    I’m going to put a movie on and wrap presents. Work is done for 2013, Stargazer is flying home right now and almost all is right with my world. Thanks be to God!

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  43. Homosexual sin will be used to keep Christians out of the public sector and a lot of businesses. As soon as someone “comes out” as a Christian they will be questioned on homosexuality.They will be painted into a corner and will have to choose between their career and their faith. I can see this eventually being a condition for employment at a lot of companies.

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  44. Did I start this thing about shoes?
    I didn’t know so much could be said about shoes.

    Rush’s friend and former Dallas Cowboy, Ken Hutchison died. In the eulogy for him on his proram, Rush gave the best testimony for Christianity I remember hearing on secular radio. “Hutch” ended his football career and went into the pastorate. I think his church was/is in Seattle.
    Rush told about Hutch’s Christian faith and said that because of it, “Hutch has moved up to heaven.”
    Hutch was 65, just a child by my figuring.
    I think I heard Roy Rogers give a testimony, but don’t quite remember.
    And Roy Acuff talked about it on the Opry often.

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  45. it will also be interesting to see how it plays out in political campaigns going forward.

    Seems to me the battle now moves into a freedom of speech, freedom of religion phase. Accepting that the wider culture has (or will soon) embrace gay marriage, Christians now must fight for the right to publicly hold an opposing view that is treated with at least some respect and not silenced.

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  48. There will be a lot of turmoil if Baptist preachers feel restricted about their proclamation of the Gospel. The country hasn’t come to that point yet.

    Aj, you said on the prayer thread that everything on the circuit works but the lights. I presume you are talking about ceiling lights with more than one bulb, not an outlet.
    Is this so?

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  49. Chas,

    The outlets all work. The kitchen and back porch lights run off a set of 2 switches on the same circuit breaker. The lights don’t work even after I replaced the switches. So I’m guessing there’s a break in the wire. There’s a plug right behind the switches on the back porch side of the wall right behind the switch, that works. Outlets farther along work too. I’m stumped, but I don’t want to just start punching holes in walls though.

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  51. Re an earlier comment or two that homosexual sin is “no worse” than heterosexual fornication. I don’t think that’s true. And I say that as someone who is unambiguously opposed to sexual sin and got her first passionate kiss (and anything “past” that) on her wedding day at the age of 44.

    All sexual sin is evil against God; all sexual sin is pardonable. But some sins are worse than others in terms of their depravity and their consequences. Adultery is worse than a couple having sex a week before their marriage. So is rape, or a man having sex with his daughter. So is casual sex. There is a greater degree of depravity the further sexual sin turns away from God’s design for our sexuality. Premarital sexual sin can not only be repented; it can be “redeemed” in a sense by marrying the person. But adultery strikes at the heart of one or two marriages; incest twists family love and protection; and homosexuality twists the natural order for sex into something that can’t come close to representing Christ’s love for the church and that turns away from the way God made our bodies.

    That doesn’t mean homosexuals are dirty, untouchable sinners. All sin is pardonable. All sin is an offense against God. All sin requires repentance and fleeing rather than thinking, “I’m dirty, I might as well just keep on doing this.” All sinners are made in the image of God and bear value. But some sins are worse than others and bear worse consequences for the sinner and for the community.

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  53. Aj, I’m not an electrician, but my dad was. Very little rubbed off, but some did.
    Wires don’t break without a cause. And the cause usually causes some commotion.
    Two things can cause lights not to work. Bad lights and bad connection.
    I also can’t imagine the scenario that you describe. If you replaced the lights, and everything else on the circuit works, it does point to the connection. But you say two of them are out.
    I would not punch holes in the wall. You may have to call a real electrician.
    Let us know what it is. It looks like a real puzzle to me.

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  54. I have been home all day doing Christmas cards. Still not finished.

    After my previous complaining about Christmas letters, we finally got one today. It was from my husband’s ex. She always has news about who has passed away and her health issues. She was married three times in all and my husband is the only one of the three still living. We mostly just hear from her at Christmas each year, but zhe did get in contact when her third husband died. The card she sent was a nice Christmas card with a Bible verse. I usually send a card but don’t write much but she asked about if son finished school so I may tell her our good news. She never had chilren, but she has had lots of cats.

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  55. I did not keep up with reading the Bible all the way through this year. I did keep up with my daily devotions and Bible reading based on the Scripture Union Discovery guide. I want to try again to read NLT through this next year I have it on Kindle broken down into daily readings to go through a year.

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  58. Okay, so the kids didn’t get much schooling today, but I got done Christmas shopping, and I bought the shoes!! And the even better deal is that today when I went to the store, lo and behold, not only were the shoes still there (two pairs of size tens, which I tried on yesterday), but there was also a pair of size elevens, exact same color and style, which I had not noticed yesterday, and actually fit even better! I am one happy camper, and, like an excited child, I am wearing my new shoes right now! 😀 Gotta get used to walking around in 2-inch heels before braving the church parking lot, you know. 😉

    Thank you for all the shoe advice yesterday and today!

    Oh, and BTW, I had never heard of Born shoes until yesterday’s discussion, and then when I was driving out of the shoe store parking lot, I saw an advertisement in their window for Born shoes. 🙂

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  59. Kim, I must have just missed you. I saw your number on my caller ID when I got home. Looks like you’d called a little after 1:00, and I think I had left not much before 1:00. I see an email, too, a little after the call. We’re sitting down to supper now, but I’ll write back after that.

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  60. Re the gift exchange game. We had our youth group play that each year and one year we added a twist at the end. Once we were done and people thought they had the gift they wanted, we said everyone had to pass their gift 3 spots to the right. The teens were floored, but all laughed and had fun.

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  62. Chas,

    No commotion that I’m aware of, thankfully. I’ve isolated what wires go where and to what. I think. There are only 2 choices. I’ve got the breaker in question off just to be sure, since it only runs three plugs. and the lights. By taking the faceplate off on the backside plug it looks like just paneling and then it’s open, no plaster and lathe thankfully. Tomorrow I’ll pop the molding along the ceiling and see if I can pop the panel without cutting it. If I can get a look behind it I could see what I need to see. If I go from the other side I have no choice but to cut plaster and all in the kitchen. That’s last resort.

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  71. Getting close to finished on the Christmas cards. Talk about last minute. Car in the shop kept me from any last minute store shopping.I feel a bit fuzzy brained from doing cards for all day and into the night.

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  76. Picking up on Cheryl’s post about homosexual sin … Our pastor once said that the Bible seems to indicate that homosexuality in a culture is the end of the road, so to speak. That the other sins that begin to overtake a society will culminate in that particular behavior. In that sense, it is a final form of depravity for a society or a people who go down that road of separating themselves from God. And, as Romans indicates also, it comes as a result of God giving them over to themselves and their desires.

    Again, homosexuality certainly isn’t an unforgivable sin.

    But when a culture accepts and even promotes it, it is a red flag. It is a sign that the culture has reached a very low point.

    Just observing what’s taking place in America in recent years and even months — including the many random shootings and other violence, the growing anger so many people now exhibit, the lack of any kind of real moral compass — it seems to me that our hostility toward God is bringing us some stark consequences.

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