Good Morning!
On this day in 1844 the University of Notre Dame received its charter from the state of Indiana.
In 1870 a cartoon by Thomas Nast titled “A Live Jack@#% Kicking a Dead Lion” appeared in “Harper’s Weekly.” The cartoon used the donkey to symbolize the Democratic Party for the first time.
In 1943 the Pentagon was dedicated as the world’s largest office building just outside Washington, DC, in Arlington, VA. The structure covers 34 acres of land and has 17 miles of corridors.
In 1953 Harry S Truman became the first U.S. President to use radio and television to give his farewell as he left office.
And in 1967 the first National Football League Super Bowl was played. The Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League. The final score was 35-10.
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Quote of the Day
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Today is composer Ivor Novello’s birthday. So it’s “We’ll Gather Lilacs” from Marino van Wakeren, who sings it very well.
Lilacs have me thinking Spring, so let’s go with that. Charlie Louvin singing “Where the Roses Never Fade” 🙂
And the last for today, Vivaldi’s “Spring”, from InnocentiStrings
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Wandering Views 
Seriously? I’m first?
Hmm, it’s above freezing here (finally) but I may end up staying home as we have a freezing rain warning and work has a high wind warning. Doesn’t sound like a good combo 🙂
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Yep. 🙂
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Good morning Kare and Aj. I was up, just not here.
But it’s time for coffee now.
🙂
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AJ, did you take the deer photo? She’s a pretty lady.
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I love the photo of the deer. I slept late. I made up for the night before. It is so nice to walk into the kitchen and find the coffee already made.. The puppy dawgs had to have their morning love-attention.
Now I have to make up for the time I overslept..
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I just posted a very long post about why being pro-life and pro-welfare are not synonymous, but I realized I posted it on yesterday’s thread. Anyone who was in on that discussion and interested in the topic, I weighed in.
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Good morning! I really enjoyed the videos today, AJ. Lots of green in that first one — love it! And at the top of the page, too. We received a pretty fair amount of snow yesterday, so it’s nice to see some bright green somewhere. 🙂
You all have a nice day, whatever color it is in your neck of the woods. 😉
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Yes I took the pic. It was on our vacation to the Poconos. 🙂
They were so used to people that you could get close.
And I just took a bunch of pics of squirrels in the neighbor’s tree.
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I’m up but I’m still sleepy. Yawn. And I have a slight headache. Maybe I should make some coffee, I haven’t had any this week.
Strange dreams, too, I dreamed I was taking a summer college course and the instructor was … Obama. First thing he had us do was divide up into little groups …
It was just all so distressing. 😦 😦
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And notice the eyes watching you. The amazing provision of the Creator for the prey.
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Interesting take on why changing the definition of marriage has social consequences no big government can solve:
http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2014/01/11880/
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Eye, not eye.
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never mind…
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Cowboy is staring at me. But he just wants food.
Time to feed everyone.
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That would be the predator eye. Looking for food.
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And yet another powerful post. QOD; can you guess the ratio men vs women in your congregations? I’d say we’re 40-60, but we have a lot of elderly widows, so maybe 35-65
http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2014/01/fatherless-churches
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Tried to post earlier but the phone got knocked out of my hand by Bosley when she pulled on the charging cord and the post got dropped. 😦
Instead of wide-eyed at night, she is wild-eyed. She ate salmon today that she would not touch after she got home from the vet’s. She had booster shots, de-worming and two flea treatments. I think I’d be sick for a day after all that, too. She has been wired with the salmon goodness. Finally she is in zonked out mode.
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michelle, good question, I’ve never thought about it — I think we’re pretty even between the two sexes. Our congregation is mostly made up of families/couples. Some widows.
Along with that, though, we tend to attract a fair number of single young men who are in college/seminary and are very theologically astute.
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I have not considered the ratio of men to ladies at church. There have been a lot of older couples where one spouse has died. So I think there are more of the ladies. Also, there is a single ladies class with no corresponding one for single men. A class of older widows also, but no corresponding class for widowers. My guess is 40 /60.
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Deer photo is great, AJ!
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Good post yesterday, Cheryl, about who is responsible for supporting single moms in society. Typically there is a cost to society in one form or another because of single parent homes. But government has got to be the least efficient, least cost containing and least providential method of care that is needed. I don’t have a good solution except to try to do things to promote marriage between one man and one woman through whatever resources or groups are avaiable to do so.
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We once had a fellow blogger named Old Hickory. Hickory lived in Fort Worth, near where I used to live. He was a bachelor, but not a happy one. It was obvious that he was looking to find a wife. We once had this exchange:
Me. “(Something about) lots of women out there”.
Hickory: “Where are they?”
Me: “Probably out looking for you.”
Then, I suggested he go over to Travis Avenue BC and join an adult SS department. There will probably be several women there, widows, divorced and never married. Most of whom would be desirable wives.
I’ve told you my story about getting Elvera. Then I said, (Equivalent of ) “find a woman in church doesn’t tell you a lot about her. But it does tell you something important.”
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You have all heard everything I went through to have BG so there is no need to repeat that. You also know that I divorced her father. I am happy in my life now and things have worked out, but If I could go back to 2003 there are a whole lot of things I would do differently. I can’t so there is no use to hash and rehash that. I am where I am.
I was a single mother for 8 years. In that time I never, not even once received any help from the government or a charity. I asked for help from Ecumenical Ministries in December of 2008 because I could not pay my utility bill. I had been let go from a job where I was the last one hired and first one fired in early December. I did not qualify for any help. It was degrading. I ended up calling the utility company and working out a payment plan. I spilled all of that to all of you over the years.
Today I am remarried. He is a disabled veteran. He always wanted a daughter. He got more than he bargained for. I tried to warn him. Life is good. It isn’t always great, but it is always good.
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Michelle’s QoD: Fairly even, as most of my tiny church is made up of retired couples. Among my peer group taken from several local churches, it sometimes seems there are more dedicated women than men; but then I think of several cases where the young man was dedicated and it was the girl he liked who was the bad influence.
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Lots of families at our church. We do have a couple of young (40ish) widowers who have had no trouble finding a single lady to date.
I missed a few days of reading here and I do believe I missed Kare’s birthday on Sunday….soooooo….HAPPY BIRTHDAY Kare..
Was there cake…I haven’t seen a cake around here in quite a while!
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Well never mind…it’s next month…I read my FB totally wrong…I’ll return with a HBday to you in about a month….just know I’m so blessed you were born….even a month early!! 🙂
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Thanks anyways nancyjill! Yes, it is next month.
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My point was that you can make it. I don’t think I made that.
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Church makeup: our current church seems to be very closely balanced but, other than our children, almost everybody is over fifty and most are over sixty into nineties.
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is it morning yet??? so nice to sleep in my own bed and get some rest. I am taking it slow today. I wonder if there has been enough sunshine here so that the water is hot?? hmm….
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How did you get there so fast??? Welcome home, Jo!
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We have a good age range and mix — young, in between and older.
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We are a growing church with lots of young families. That is one of the things we discuss in vestry meetings. What we can do to keep these families as the children grow older. We just hired a youth minister.
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These are some beautiful photographs:
http://www.boredpanda.com/animal-children-photography-elena-shumilova/
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Mumsee, I can straight through with no stops. Sacramento to LA with six hour very prayerful wait, then to Brisbane for an hour or two, then up to Port Moresby where folks were waiting to take me to our planes and then up to Ukarumpa. I am not sure I was thinking straight by the time I got here. In the last plane, our Kodiak, I almost couldn’t stand to still be sitting in that position.
By the way, have I ever mentioned that Ukarumpa International School has a website? I know that I took some of the photos, but not sure if I am in any of them.
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You can check out my thoughts on Home Staging.
http://kimcottenhurlburt.wordpress.com/
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Go Sandpoint!
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When I became single again, an older friend wanted to paint a room for me, but I had no ideas. I invited an acquaintance over to give me ideas. She quietly walked through my house looking at what I had. She didn’t say a word and offered no criticsm. I happened to pull out some curtains I had that weren’t up. She told me to wash them and then iron them. She kept looking and then started moving things. Grouping things that I already had, but in a different way. She took the curains and hung them in my room, using one set to frame a window over my bed. It was amazing. She rearranged what I had and made it entirely new. I didn’t spend a dime and had a new home.
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Thank you Jo. I wish you would comment on the blog.
I have a friend who is an interior decorator by education, she studied industrial design. She shops at Goodwill. It kills me. She can take a hundred dollars and make it look like a thousand. I can take a hundred and make it look like ten!
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Interesting post, Kim. My daughter is an interior designer, who has done some staging. I think it is helpful to let someone give you an educated opinion. We do become stuck in the way we see things.
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When the adult children come to visit, they often point out where we have let things slide. Easy to do when our focus is so totally on the children. Not only do they point it out, they pitch in and fix what they can. It is nice to have a different set of eyes now and then.
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Mumsee, I believe your kitchen gets re-arranged every time the dishes are put away.
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There is that. These days, youngest is in charge of supper dishes. She has yet to begin “making the kitchen her own” so it has not been so bad.
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My church is just about 50% male. I’ve counted a couple times and I end up with roughly even numbers. Same was true in my Nashville church. I think men tend to avoid the touchy-feely stuff, but give strong theology and allow men to BE men and it’s better for men and women both.
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