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Our Daily Thread 1-16-14

Good Morning!

On this day in 1547 Ivan the Terrible was crowned Czar of Russia.

In 1883 the United States Civil Service Commission was established as the Pendleton Act went into effect.

In 1919 the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibited the sale or transportation of alcoholic beverages, was ratified. It was later repealed by the 21st Amendment.

In 1920 Prohibition went into effect in the U.S.

In 1979 the Shah of Iran and his family fled Iran for Egypt.

And in 1991 the White House announced the start of Operation Desert Storm. The operation was designed to drive Iraqi forces out of Kuwait.

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Quote of the Day

“God made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure.”

Eric Liddell

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Today is Ronnie Milsap’s birthday. From SidsCardShop

Today is also composer Gavin Bryars’ birthday.

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Anyone have a QoD?

49 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 1-16-14”

  3. January is half over. We had a snows storm yesterday, but the temperature was 38 degrees and none of it stuck around.
    It would be racist to play Stephen Foster songs today. (From yesterday’s political.)

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  4. A phone call woke me. Baby Girl is at her Nana’s. She stayed home sick today. Finally, they have decided that if she stays home sick she doesn’t need her cell phone. Nana’s older sister died the other day. There will be no funeral, she donated her body to science. That seems to be a trend in that family.

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  5. I let Lynn know we were praying for her last week. This was her message back that she said I could share with you:

    “What a blessing to have so many people praying for me! Actually, I have been on a miraculous mend since November, when I stopped taking a couple of different medications. My energy has bounced back by a factor of about 95%

    ” I had some major cognitive difficulties as well and had to take some time off from writing. I feel that’s on the mend, too, but haven’t tested it out by writing anything yet! Kind of afraid I’ll find that I have really and truly lost my mojo… 🙂 “

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  6. I’m glad to hear that Lynn is improvingl. She is the only modeator we got attached to.
    I notice BG has a “Nana”. That’s what the grandkids, even the spouses, call Elvera. Some wondered in the grandkids called me “gramps”. No, Becky couldn’t say “Dad” as Chuck called me, so she said “Da”. The oldest grandkid names the grandparents, so that’s the way it is.
    “Nana and Da” it always will be.

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  7. Chas, an affectionate expression I called my father for a while was, “DaDoDah”. That was when I was maybe a preteen or even a teen and feeling a bit silly. So I can relate to the Da. 🙂

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  9. Great story Kim. Compassion is important, but, OTOH, doingthe job, as the doctor did, is more so. I say that for this reason.
    Year ago, our pastor at Boulevard BC in Falls Church was chaplain for the fire department. He was using an illustration about the men working an emergency, situation. Not one of them showed signs of compassion about the situation.
    I thought at the time, if I were part of that tragedy, I wouldn’t want the EMS people weeping and worrying, I would want them doing their job.
    That’s the important thing, do the job.
    That, in fact, was what the doctor was doing.

    As I said before, Mary, middle GD, is a neonatal nurse. A couple of years ago, she told about a tregedy she, and others were involved in. They were working to save a child’s life. I don’t think he survived, but they kept at it as long as they could.

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  11. Qod? What does it mean to you to glorify God? Do you ever intentionally do things to bring Him glory or is it just a part of your everyday living out of your Christian faith? If our chief purpose is to bring glory to Him, are we doing enough?

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  12. Of course, the doctor talks about showing compassion after the heat of the moment. There is a time and place for putting our emotions in check. To never show compassion, though, when we have opportunity and it will help others, is not good. If we are to “do unto others as we would want” we know that to be true.

    I was so grateful for the doctor’s obvious compassion after he did my dad’s surgery yesterday. He let us know he cared. He let us know he understood our concerns and they were not trivial or foolish. That is important in anyone in the health field. It is important for all of us daily.

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  14. I believe we glorify God when we believe what He says and show that by action. I believe we glorify God when we often do not realize it. I believe we glorify God when we are at our weakest and it is He who holds us up.

    I believe this is similar in how we influence others around us. What we think is going to ‘wow’ people and point them toward the Lord is often not what does. Some of the smallest, most trivial seeming things can point someone to the Lord. Later, when the story is told of what captured someone’s attention we are so surprised. Of course, the Holy Spirit is at work in both cases.

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  15. Good answer, kathaleena (10:48).

    I came to the WM blog after Lynn had already left, but it’s good to hear she’s feeling better.

    It’s dry as a stick out here on the coast, skin-chapping dry and brush-fire dry.

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  16. Aside from here where it is a given and we discuss our relationship with God on a daily basis, I do NOT LIKE nor do I TRUST people who come at me telling me what good Christians they are.
    I figure if you are a good enough Christian I will figure it out on my own.
    I tend not to tell many people that I am on the vestry at my church, not because I am embarrassed by it, but because I do not want to set myself up as being “a Good Christian”. I would rather be like my friend B was, I want to live my life in such a way that people will look at me and say, “I don’t what what it is about her or what she has that I don’t, but I want some of it”.

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  17. Just had a conversation with a parent who is concerned about common core. Her child did no finish a project at school and wanted to work on it at home. It involved going to a website online. The teacher did not want to give the name of the website to the mother saying they had the time needed in class to do the work. The mother had to ask several times before she was given the website of a local newspaper. Common Core involves collecting data points on the nuances of how children use the computer. At home the school would lose the data collection. This makes me full of righteous anger.What has our education system dissolved into?

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  19. My husband is scandalized, scandalized I tell you! The woman across the street doesn’t work outside the home. Most of the time you see her she is in work out clothes, either going or coming from the gym. There is a strange car in the driveway and there is a woman who is going in and out of the house with a vacuum, mop, and other cleaning type stuff!
    Can you believe it? She is too lazy to clean her own house???? What does she do all day?

    I told him not to be a hater, I was jealous and if I could justify it that woman would be cleaning my house too! Wonder how much she charges? Of course, I am never going to be satisfied with anyone else. No one can clean like Leola did and she IRONED!

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  21. We talked about that story at dinner, Janice. I wish I could have been such a great parent as that, but I was not. Of course, I’m not as disciplined a person, apparently, as those parents so what do you expect?

    My children can, however, fix their cars (though not build them), fix their computers (only one or two have built them), travel the world, support themselves and be pleasant. I’ll take that!

    My husband had only one question: “did they know Jesus?”

    I don’t remember seeing that in the story.

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  22. “Glorifying God” is a frequent prayer request for me. I believe we glorify him when we live according to the purposes he has given us in our lives–no matter how mundane they are–with a cheerful heart of submission to Him.

    It starts in the heart and then others, maybe, will see Jesus at work in us.

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  25. Kim, your post at 11:47 really struck a chord with me. Just yesterday a Christian friend forwarded me an e-mail she’d gotten from someone who thanked her for the role she played in his life and she said basically, “I just wanted you to know how much I bless people.” How the heck do you reply to something like that??

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  26. Was that a typo and the person meant “how much you bless people?”

    As for the woman seen often in exercise gear, it made me wonder if she might work as an exercise instructor or personal trainer.i guess I try these days to be quick to give the benefit of the doubt, whatever that means and is good for.

    After having said that, let me contradict myself and say that I was wondering the same thing about that family. You’ve been a great mom, Michelle, and you, too, Kim. And all the other moms on here along with aunts included. Sadly I never got to be an aunt.

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  27. I guess I have been slightly struggling about how keeping the kitten can be glorifying to God. Husband and I went to a Christmas concert and World Vision was there wanting people to take on monthly support of a needy child. I wish I could do both. I feel selfish enjoying a pet when I know the same money could be used to make a child’s life better.

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  28. I continually think of Psalm 67:7 and the whole psalm. God blesses us that all the ends of the earth may fear Him. I also take it that God blesses us that we may tell of His goodness. As I sat for six hours in LAX I prayed that I would get on the flight to Brisbane. But, I could not just pray for myself. I was convicted to pray for all 30 of us waiting on standby to make the flight. We all made it. They bunched us together to go through security and I said to the others that I was a missionary and that I had prayed that all of them would make the flight. I wanted to testify to His goodness.
    I told a friend yesterday how humbled I was by all the amazing ways God blessed me on my return trip. She responded, “You are His beloved.”

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  29. Linda, I am stumped and had to read your post several times. Last week I had an assignment from a career coach to ask all of you what I was passionate about. I came here, asked, received, copied and pasted the responses to a Word file and still waited a week to send it to the coach.
    It means more to me for Janice to include me in saying I am a good mom like the other mothers here than for me to come here and tell you how I sacrifice for my child and all the other things. I guess that comes from hearing a mother tell everyone how much she loved me and “would let someone cut her heart out for Kim” but she couldn’t give up a bottle of bourbon for me.

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  30. Janice,

    Think of it this way for a moment. We know that God cares for the smallest sparrow, as He does for us. He does kittens too. A safe, loving home sounds like just what that kitten needed. God has provided that thru you. And, as God often does, it’s a double blessing because you help fulfill God’s plan, and your life has been enriched by the kitten too. Caring for lesser creatures isn’t a frivolous waste of money, and God would expect us to care for those creatures in our charge. Don’t beat yourself up about where money might be better spent. God will take care of those needs and the rest as He sees fit. God wants us to be happy, so enjoy the blessing that is your kitty. 🙂

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  32. Wow, Linda, I don’t think I’d respond to her email at all, unless you think she might be able to receive some constructive criticism. To me, that doesn’t sound too likely, though, as it appears that she likes to think of herself as other-centered, but she sounds more self-centered, trumpeting the way she’s blessed others. It would be hard to know what to say if one were to offer some gentle but constructive criticism.

    I also wouldn’t say, “Wow, that’s great how you blessed him” either, or something to that effect, as that would probably feed her ego more.

    I think I would just ignore the email.

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  33. Thanks, AJ, and others for your thoughts. I am enjoying the kitten in case you couldn’t tell. 🙂

    As for the person saying they are a blessing to others, I would be inclined to say something like, “Hmmm…I wonder what percentage of that blessing comes directly from you and what part God gets credit for,” to at least make the person pause for thought before they make that statement again. Having an accounting background helps with putting it in terms of percentages and numbers.

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  34. Janice, as I sit here with one dog I paid $150 for and another we paid $100 do “adopt”, I remind myself that those pets who find you are the best…all the others feel entitled and uppity.
    Kitten needed a home before it got too cold and lo and behold there you were.

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  35. Thanks, Kim. The last two kittens we had around 25 years ago were the two from my parent’s stray mama cat litter that came over and spent time with my husband and me. The black and white cat curled up in the crook of my arm. The peach and cream tabby kept talking in her loud voice to my husband. We brought them home. It was great to have two back then so they kept each other company since we both worked long hours.

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  36. Chuck bought a Westhampton Terrier (I think that’s what she is, they call her a “Westy). She owns the house, she allows Chuck & Linda there because they feed her.
    But she does protect them from squirrels.

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  37. When I picked up Bosley from the vet there was a petite lady who was picking up an all white very young Westy puppy. It was about the same size as Bosley. Super adorable puppy. I could have brought that one home, too. 🙂

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  38. Good videos again today! “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” is one of my favorite hymns. I like to play and sing it on the piano at home. We sang it in church last Sunday, too.

    That second video — not sure how to describe it, but it was quite mesmerizing! The music and the images. The addition of the male chorus toward the end was really cool. I’d not heard of that composer or the piece. Refreshingly different. 🙂

    Oh, and the bass soloist appeared to be so tall. I noticed how bent over he was reaching those notes far down the fingerboard. I don’t know how he didn’t get a sore back, neck and shoulders!

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  39. I once had a fellow church member telling me what a humble man he was. I had to work hard not to laugh at the absurdity of that.

    Janice, I sometimes feel a bit guilty over certain material blessings. I’ve come to the conclusion to be grateful for the blessings God sends our way, & be faithful to do the blessing He leads us to do.

    Sometimes it’s hard to separate unnecessary “feeling guilty” from His conviction, but we can often tell the difference from what we sense after praying about it.

    And sometimes we can make arbitrary rules for ourselves while ignoring other aspects of the situation. Such as…

    I knew a family from India who refrained from giving their children any birthday parties because back in India, so many children lack so much.

    However, they lived in a very large, comfortable home, & ended up selling that one & buying a McMansion.

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  41. I read part of the Sermon on the Mount tonight (chapter 6), and the email Linda got came to mind. I wonder if there’s a subtle (not sure about my word choice there) way to talk about the first four verses with the email writer when she boasts of her good deeds?

    1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

    2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

    3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:

    4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

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  42. Good story in that link from World, Kim.

    Janice, I enjoyed reading the link about the family with twelve children. I wish we’d done a lot of that. I can’t see my husband or me ever putting a 5-year-old on a plane alone, though! Maybe a little of that is because we’ve never flown (except my husband went for a brief ride on a small plane one time). Still, though, even if we had flown on jets, I still don’t think we’d have one that young fly alone. That’s outside of our comfort zone. 🙂

    One thing we do have in common with that family is that our arrows in college are paying their own way. We also did nothing in the way of communicating with the schools before or during their education. It was their responsibility to handle every aspect of their post-high school educations — getting together everything they needed to apply, and so on.

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  43. 6 Arrows, those verses certainly address the situation. It would be interesting to see the response to the verses, to see if they are taken to heart and cause conviction of the Holy Spirit.

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  44. Another day done.

    I think of caring for animals as caring for a little piece of God’s unique and diverse creation. And I try to look for spiritual lessons they provide (there are plenty, as with children). One of my favorites is Lessons from a Sheepdog by Phillip Keller (who also wrote A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23)

    And it’s especially sweet when the animal “finds” you as your kitten did that cold day. (That’s how we acquired cats when I was growing up; and a couple dogs as well.)

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  45. KimH

    I met Tim Donnelly at a “Meet and Greet” here in Crescent City. I had no disagreements with him on anything he said. He was slick, but then so are most politicians, No?

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  48. it actually is amazing that I am still awake since I got up at 5:30 this morning after going to bed at 8 last night. It is hard to switch so many time zones.

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