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Our Daily Thread 1-31-14

Good Morning!

It’s finally Friday!

On this day in 1865 the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. It was ratified by the necessary number of states on December 6, 1865.  The amendment abolished slavery in the United States.

Also in 1865, General Robert E. Lee was named general-in-chief of the Confederate armies. 

In 1876 all Native American Indians were ordered to move into reservations.

In 1940 the first Social Security check was issued by the U.S. Government.

And in 1950 President Truman announced that he had ordered development of the hydrogen bomb.

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Quote of the Day

“It helps if the hitter thinks you’re a little crazy.”

Nolan Ryan

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Today is Franz Schubert’s birthday.

It’s also Peter Dawson’s.

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Anyone have a QoD?

84 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 1-31-14”

  1. Good morning! Insomnia strikes again — I’ve been awake for two hours already — but I think I will get first, so that’s a perk! 🙂

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  3. The Schubert piece was wonderful. Excellent cellist and pianist, and they worked extremely well together.

    At the university where I was a music major in my undergrad years, the music faculty had a tradition of putting on an all-Schubert recital each year toward the end of January, in honor of Schubert’s birthday. I don’t know how long the tradition had been going at the time I was there, or whether it’s going now, but it was a nice one where students could be the ones to sit back and here their professors play and sing rather than vice versa. 😉

    I’ve never heard of Peter Dawson before, but he looks and sings like the father of a friend of mine from high school, who was the school choir director at that time.

    Nice music again today, AJ — thank you. 🙂

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  4. It’s Friday
    You know what that means!
    It’s 16.7 degrees, but it’s going to warm up to the mid thirties, low forties, today.
    The weather man here says the bitter cold is over and we’re returning to normal winter with lows in the twenties-thirties and highs in the forties, etc.
    All the schools are on a two hour delay, so we aren’t going to the Y this morning.
    But I will be going to the Lions.

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  5. Good morning, AJ. 🙂 Yes, the Schubert piece was relaxing, but the Dawson one woke me right up!

    I think I’ll go about my day, starting a bit earlier than usual, and see if I can catch a catnap this afternoon.

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  7. I don’t see why WordPress is so persnickety about the password. It isn’t as if it’s the bank account or credit card, or somesuch. I once told a computer instructor that for my bank and so-forth, I use complicated passwords, for Amazon, iTunes, etc. I use simple ones.
    She said, “If I had your Amazon password, I could do a lot of damage..” I said, “Not much, Amazon always sends an e-mail confirming the purchase.”
    Some sites require more protection than others. I can’t imagine what damage could be done by someone getting my WordPress password.
    If I came on this site cursing and saying something out of character, I suspect most of you would pick it up immediately.

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  8. Good morning, Chas. We’re at -3 right now, heading up to 13. Or so it’s predicted. We’ll see.

    This isn’t necessarily a QoD, but I do have a question for anyone who would like to answer it.

    If you sense you’ve worn out your welcome and/or offended someone, would it be better to ask that person (a person who seems reluctant to willingly volunteer that information), or to simply assume you’re correct and back off without saying anything.

    (I’m not talking about anyone here, BTW, and it’s not family either, but an introverted friend.)

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  12. 6Arrows, I am extremely sensitive to wearing out my welcome and feeling that I have offended someone. You can either gently ask if you have upset them in some way and accept them telling you no, because you know they will, or you can develop thicker skin, assume they are an adult and if they are tired of you or you have worn out your welcome they will tell you. One of the hardest things I have TRIED to learn is that “what other people think of me isn’t any of my business”. Go on about your life being the sweet, gentle soul that you are and let others take care of themselves. I try and fail at this often.
    I have a friend whose Christmas tree is still up. She has papers and clutter scattered here, there, and everywhere. Her child has too many toys because she is always finding a good deal at Goodwill. To me and to another friend of hers who happens to be a Christian therapist, the state of her home if a sympton of a much larger issue. Luckily we have been friends long enough that I told her last week I was coming on Wednesday of this week to help her clean up. (This was all before the new job happened). She called me and told me the fear of me seeing how messy her house was, was such an embarrassment that she had started cleaning. I tell you this only to let you know that I am not always that sweet, calm,, gracious woman I appear to be. Sometimes I can be a pushy pain in the behind! Luckily we have been friends for 20+ years and neither of us takes offense.

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  13. 6arrows, sometimes it is good to gently ask. I have had several relationships develop into very close friendships with clear understanding because I was willing to ask and to make it clear that I wouldn’t be hurt if they just needed some space from me. Introverts are a special breed – she may just want to be by herself for a while, but doesn’t quite know how to let you know that. The important part is to not be hurt by their answer, just accept it and move forward. 🙂

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  16. Kim, you’ve mentioned FlyLady to me before. You will enjoy knowing my little 6th Arrow appears to be a miniature FlyLady herself. 😉 Bit by bit, she proceeds through the house, cleaning and organizing as she goes. The other day, she decided to clean the cat’s paw prints off the outside of the sliding glass door. So she puts on her boots and coat, grabs a roll of paper towels and a bottle of glass cleaner, steps out onto the snowy deck, and sprays off all the cat prints and smears.

    There is hope for us here yet!

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  17. Oh, and BTW, Kare, those sound like really special friendships you’ve established, with some good and clear boundaries. I’m guessing this statement, “I was willing to ask and to make it clear that I wouldn’t be hurt if they just needed some space from me” was made early on in the relationship? I think I’d like to make that clear, too, but I’m afraid it may be more difficult, now that I sense there is somewhat of a wall up between us.

    I can also relate, though, to Kim’s comment to go on with life and let others take care of themselves. I always try to be the caretaker in everyone else’s business — maybe because I’m a firstborn? (I like to blame everything on that!) 🙂

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  19. 6 Arrows, as an introvert I have at times felt overwhelmed by people. I can for a time be filled to the brim and need some space. It could be she is working on a project that is time intensive and she does not know hoe to tell you without hurting hour feelings that she does not have time for you at this point. So she acts cool hoping thst her actions will be taken more smoothly than the words she could say. You can ask gently as others suggested or you could just say something like, “You seem like you need a little space so call me when you want to reconnect. I’ll be there for you.”

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  20. “What a world! Simply put, I would rather have my daughters marry plumbers than Goldman Sachs partners.”
    The last sentence of an article by Andrew Feinberg, a Wall Street hedge fund manager inKiplinger magazine.
    Amazing that such an article would appear by an insider. Tough stuff.

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  21. I love to read personalized car tags. This morning’s winner was on a black Dodge Charger–ICU2QT. Don’t cha just know that this is driven by a flritatious woman who smokes the men at a red light.

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  23. Kim’s car tag comment reminded me of a bumper sticker I saw years ago in Virginia.

    Jesus is coming again
    And he is pissed

    I have never decided whether this was blasphemy or prophesy.
    I’m beginning to think prophesy.

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  24. Good morning! My two favorite bumper stickers are: Whirled Peas (instead of World Peace) and The Hokey Pokey: Maybe it is what it’s all about!

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  25. When I was fifteen, anxiously awaiting my sixteenth birthday , I wanted a personalized license plate with PYT on it. Pretty obnoxious, I know, but it’s the truth. Fortunately, my dad squashed that idea!!!

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  27. I have no idea what PYT stands for. Probably a good thing!

    For any who prayed per prayer thread request, husband made it to work fine. He had gone by the IRS office to pick up forms, but they were closed, therefore a delay.

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  28. Favorite bumper sticker: “Where am I going? And why am I in this basket?”

    PYT: “Pretty Young Thing”?

    I also need a lot of unstructured down time alone. My job requires a lot of interactions with people all week so it’s easy for me to feel burnt out by Saturday and wanting to just retreat a bit.

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  29. So today’s a personal day off for me — our church is hosting an eschatology conference tonight and most of the day/evening tomorrow. Since I’m picking someone up who’s out of town, I needed to be on the road by at least 4:30 or so today.

    But in the meantime, I need to get over to the Home Depot to buy some chicken wire and a staple gun to see what I can do to better secure the back wooden fence to keep Cowboy in. He’s very sneaky and skinny enough to somehow squeeze under that fence line at some point.

    I sometimes wonder if the people on the other side ever notice that they suddenly have a strange dog in their backyard.

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  30. I felt like the shepherd in the parable of the lost sheep when I got home last night. I quickly noticed I was one animal short. Tess and Annie were here, but no Cowboy anywhere (but I could hear him on the other side of the back fence, he scratched the fence when I called his name).

    So I headed out with the leash and a flashlight to find him before I did anything else.

    Found him frolicking on the cul de sac around the block.

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  31. Concerning my 10:04. It just happens that Aj posted this from Ps.11 on the prayer thread:
    5 The Lord trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.

    6 Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.

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  32. Being a parent can be harder for introverts, especially if you have an extroverted child. You get almost no alone time. However it can also be good for you in that you get drug out of your comfort zone a lot.

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  33. I am an introvert and I value my time alone. hahahhahahhahahhahahhahahhaahhahahhahahhaahahhahahhahahahahhahahahahhahahahhahahahhahahahhahahhahahahahhahahahhahahhahahhahahahahh……………..

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  34. Actually, I get up an hour and a half before the others so I can have time to myself. I go out and do my chores, play with my dog, watch the goats….And husband is pretty good about seeing that I get time alone once in a while, as is the neighbor. But for the most part, I am surrounded by incredibly needy children most of the time.

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  36. Good Morning…we got snow…not as much as predicted…but we have a good 4 inches of the stuff…and it is 16 degrees out there.
    Agree to what Janice and Ann said about introverts…I am one…and I do tend to isolate at times, needing alone time. It’s not that I don’t love my friends, I love them dearly….I just need to get alone and regroup….being around extroverts tends to muddle my brain at times 🙂

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  37. Remembering back, at first when I would take my son to the park playground I would hope in my introverted way that we would have it all to ourselves. Over time I grew out of that selfish desire to hoping we would meet some new friends at the park. So I knoe what was meant about introverts being drawn out of their cocoon by becoming parents.

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  38. Well, as another introvert, I will add my two cents worth 😉

    6 Arrows, as the others have said, it doesn’t hurt to ask. Don’t just suddenly withdraw – I have had friends simply disappear from my life and it hurts every time. Also, you may or may not be understanding the signals – I know that I am often hoping my friends will take the time to break down my shell.

    Introverts do need alone time in order to function. When I was in school, during the day I was so busy that I couldn’t process all that I was learning. Even though I was physically exhausted at the end of each day and needed to get up very early the next morning, my body would wake up around 1 or 2 AM and I would lie awake for several hours just thinking over all I was learning. Due to the lack of sleep, I was broken down by the end of school. So, it is also necessary for our physical health that we get time alone.

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  39. Hey, even us extroverts need downtime! When I had all those little children at home, some days I thought I would go mad!

    But, that might have more to do with them always needing something and I was the go-to parents. I cannot imagine how single parents get through their exhausting days. Salute!

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  41. Thank you SO MUCH for all the responses to my question! What a treasure trove of ideas and wisdom I get from all you fine people. 🙂

    I have decided to try gently approaching the subject with my friend via email. Pray for wisdom in my word choices and tone.

    P.S. Michelle — If I were a reporter (hat tip to Donna 😉 ), picture me extending my imaginary microphone and asking you, “So how does it feel to be surrounded by all these introverts?” 😀

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  44. Bought the chicken wire, wire clippers, staple gun, heavy-duty staples and six 17-pound pavers. I was surprised that the most expensive item turned out to be the roll of chicken wire.

    Now for the installation. 😉

    I has half tempted to hire one of the illegals who hang out in the Home Depot parking lot, I’d guess it would take one of them 30 minutes. Me, it’ll take a lot longer than that. But you never know who you’re bringing onto your property with a stranger like that.

    But as it is, I’ll only have time to do a section of the fence before I need to get ready to pick up my passenger for the conference tonight (which starts at 6).

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  45. Donna, you need a good neighbor to help with that project. That is reminding me of how 6 Arrow’s husband helped their neighbor.
    Our church youth group recently had some days of service when they helped older people with home projects. They moved an old stereo cabinet to the street from our carport.

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  46. Bumper stickers: I used to from time to time see one that said something like, “My kid is an honor roll student.” I’d also see the occasional vehicle, usually a big, beat up old pickup truck or something similar, with a sticker that said, “My kid beat up your honor roll student.” 😉

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  48. Oh, that reminds me. One time I saw a car with a Wisconsin license plate and two bumper stickers. One said “Coexist” and had a peace sign, the other said “Recall Scott Walker”.

    I guess coexist with everyone except Scott Walker. 🙄

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  49. Donna, enjoy the conference!

    Meanwhile, here in the Midwest we’re just hoping the weather cooperates enough to let us go to church this week. So far we have some pretty nasty predictions and yes, it’s snowing again.

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  50. Yeah, I’ve now decided that my plan for the fence isn’t going to work. Hard to explain, but the bottom of the wood fence is several inches above the ground on my side and several inches pulled away from the concrete strip on the other side.

    Basically, there’s a long stretch in which the gap is just big enough for Cowboy (and the cat, I see, while I was out there examining it more closely) can slip under and out the other side.

    I’m not sure how best to close that all up. I took some photos and will show a couple people, maybe just hunt down a handyman to do whatever needs to be done. Maybe just wood planks bolted to the bottom of the fence that go down to the ground, maybe using sandbags — I don’t know. I just don’t have a head for that kind of thing.

    I’m horribly unhandy. I can look at something and just feel stumped by something that should be relatively easy. Should have seen me trying to put together the cat tree a few years ago. Oy. I don’t do well looking at diagrams (or even having an idea in my head of how to do something) and then translating that into the real physical world with tools and wood and wire.

    So I guess for now I have to keep Cowboy locked in the house whenever I’m gone — and unfortunately, I’m tied up all day tomorrow at the conference.

    Hopefully the cat will come back before I leave, otherwise she’ll be locked out all evening.

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  51. the bumper sticker I really liked was the one on an old car that said “My other car is a piece of junk too”.
    Counters the ones that say, “My other car is a BMW”, or some such.

    I’m almost finished reading Four Blood Moons by Rev. John Hagee. I’m pondering whether I want to report on it, or maybe not.

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  53. Donna, I don’t know exactly how it works, but Brian, Becky’s husband, had an invisible fence for his dog. There was something around her neck that created an uncomfortable sensation when she approached a certain line. She leaned to avoid. It worked even after they removed the collar because the dog was trained.
    I don’t know how much it cost.

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  54. Last summer when we were at the Nautilus museum, D3 saw a bumper sticker she wanted, so we bought it. It is in the shape of that famous nuclear vessel and says: “My other car is a submarine”. The other day I was driving “her” car (it’s really mine, but she drives it) and while getting gas, someone asked “What kind of gas mileage does your sub get?” I forgot the sticker was on it.

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  55. My daughter used to have an invisible fence. It is like an electric fence, only underground. The collar on the dog gives a shock when the dog gets too close to it. You have to train the dog by going around the perimeter first. The shock can be made stronger or softer by a device inside the home.

    Her dog would still go through, if he were scared or determined enough. It finally quit working for some reason and they never replaced it.

    I would think fixing the fence somehow would be cheaper and easier, but I am no expert.

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  56. I don’t do bumper stickets but there are several I have like:
    Years ago I wanted the one that said Recycle your tupperware build a Corvette
    I bought my dad one that said, “Don’t steal the Government Hates Competition”
    Personally I would have, “My Other Car is a Broom”

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  58. try again.
    I am an introvert too. My son, when he was young was wonderful. He just wanted me near and would play quietly and even drive his cars up and down my arms in quiet. My youngest daughter, however, wanted to talk and have my full attention at all times

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  59. Donna, I have three children who could have that fixed up for you in a few minutes. Want me to send them on down?

    Chas, what does Rev Hagee have to tell us?

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  60. Several years ago, one of my daughters got upset with me and felt rejected when I sat down to read a book, while they were cooking as a group. We had already spent the day hiking and shopping together. When she was in the bedroom nursing the baby, I went in and explained to her that I live alone and need some alone time. She understood and ever since has made sure that on my visits, I get some quiet time. And that can be hard to do when you are sleeping on a mattress on the floor with three little girls right next to you in the bunkbed.

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  61. You know, as an introvert, I can have trouble with one on one time. It is easy to speak, but hard sometimes to find the questions to draw others out.
    However, I have no trouble speaking in front of groups. In fact, I enjoy it. Doing chapel this week and acting/telling my story in front of the whole school was great.

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  62. Jo, I’m the complete opposite — no problem at all striking up and sustaining conversations with strangers when it’s just 1 or 2 people or so; big groups intimidate me, I hate speaking in front of them (and am sometimes asked to do so).

    Even speaking up in a group setting like a SS class is difficult for me, though I do participate if I have something pertinent I really want to say or ask.

    mumsee: send kids.

    So I dashed Cowboy to the dog park and raced home knowing I had to hit the road to pick up my passenger some 30 miles away for the conference tonight — lots of driving back and forth in Friday rush hour traffic.

    But she called right as I was about to leave and bailed.

    Which is fine, except it really threw my schedule off. Now I have time to kill.

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  63. Wow, lots of introverts on here. My cousin is an extreme introvert and yet she is able to preach and teach, no problems. It’s good to see others’ perspectives. I’m probably more on the introvert side (definitely not an extrovert) but I do like being around other people.

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  64. My life has become a series of meetings 🙂 Monday 8 am, Monday 4pm, Tuesday 9 am, Friday 2pm. I am learnign the back end of the tracking system, I will que up the commission checks, but someone else will quadruple check (I am the third person to look at everything) and sign them. Sometime in all this I am supposed to recruit and train agents. I think I may like it. I don’t like doing the same thing all day, every day. Guy I Used to Work With was in the office today. He hugged me and told me he was glad I got the job. I told the guy who trained me most of today that Guy was like a brother to me and “he is my dog and I can kick him but no one else can”.

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  67. Kim – (or anyone else who might like to answer) – You wrote, “…the state of her home if a symptom of a much larger issue.” What do you think that is?

    The reason I ask is that my upstairs friends/tenants have the messiest home I have ever seen. Piles of papers & stuff, not only on counters & tables, but piled high on the floors, too. The bedrooms are so bad, it looks like they have to carefully pick their way from bed to door, or have to walk on stuff. I have felt this certainly is a symptom of something, but I don’t know what.

    ~~~~~~~

    I’m an introvert, too, & lack of alone/quiet time is the hardest thing about my current living situation.

    Forrest is quite a little chatterbox, & wants a lot of attention or company. Often, I can just sit near him as he plays, & he’ll have a little running monologue about what’s going on in his playing. I make sure to interject little comments or questions so he knows I’m paying attention.

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  68. I am a slight introvert in large groups. I just don’t know who to talk to. But in small groups I enter into whatever conversation there is and have to be careful not to dominate.

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  69. i offered Donna some children to fix her fence but she wants my goats. Donna? Goats need a really good fence to keep them in, they can show you all the escape routes, is that really what you want?

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  70. AJ, can Donna send you photos to post of her project and then all these introverts can figure it out for her?

    Surrounded by introverts! It makes me feel like I’m talking too much!

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  76. A friend sent me a link to a movie called “Babies are Murdered Here.” It’s an hour long and I’ve had it running while I played with Pinterest and FB. I’m having a really difficult time with it and don’t recommend it.

    My question is–do I look like the Holy Spirit to you? Is it my job to stand outside of abortion clinics and yell at women going in?

    I can see standing outside a clinic and praying. But not yelling, not specifically trying to make women feel guilty or embarrassed.

    According to the men presenting this video, I’m the problem because I’m not willing to label women who terminate, murderers.. Am I?

    I can’t imagine walking up to anyone and shoving their sin in their face–no matter what sin it is.

    And my experience has been this type of in-your-face behavior hardens hearts not softens them. 😦

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  77. lost my comment twice. I will have to copy it this time.
    Michelle, one year I spent weekly time praying alone outside a clinic. A few us covered the hours they were open in prayer on the sidewalk outside. They only did referrals, but we strongly felt the need to be in prayer.

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  78. Michelle, as you know my dad was one of 12-that means I have 8 aunts. The baby of the family had difficulty getting pregnant then she had several miscarriages. Back in the ’70’s when the “women’s clinics” first opened she would go there rather than to the doctor to have a free pregnancy test. Can you imagine the surprise of the protester when she ran up and hugges her, happily telling her she was pregnant? That pregnancy resulty in my cousin C

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  80. Thank you. This is the email I sent to my (male) friend:

    Finally took some time to watch–or mostly listen–to this program.

    I’m having a lot of trouble with it.

    I’m one of the pro-life sissies they’re referring to. I notice this is mostly men doing this talking.

    I’ve been working in this ministry since pretty much the late 70’s. I’ve never picketed, though I’ve spent a lot of time praying over the years.

    I’ve talked with an unknown number of women about their crisis pregnancies. Few of them were hard hearted about their choice. There were stupid girls, but mostly it was panicked women. Most of the time if ONE person who loved them would support them, they would not abort.

    We are NOT the holy spirit. We can provide an outstretched hand, but we cannot make someone do something they do not want to do.

    And does it do any good if we make women feel guilty about their choices? To force them to be ashamed?

    Yes, I know, they are choosing to terminate the lives of their children. I know very well.

    But behaving like this will harden their hearts toward the gospel. It makes it more difficult to provide them with Jesus’ love–because they acquaint God’s people with shouting, hating and being aggressive while they are struggling to do a very hard thing.

    Abby Johnson wrote an interesting book, Unplanned, about her experience when she chose to leave Planned Parenthood for the pro-life movement. She notes that when she was in despair–knowing she had to get out of PP, she went to the only people she could think of–the picketers who had LOVED her and the women going into the clinic over the years.

    Powerful book, powerful story.

    Much more effective, IMHO

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  81. You know several years ago World Magazine Blog posted something about women who are emotionally damaged from their abortions and how the Church could offer healing. I was talking about this to a woman I knew and she opened up about the abortion she had and started crying. All I could do was hug her and tell her that God could and would forgive her. I drected her to the site that World reported. I think she went there and found help.
    That makes four women I know who have told me about their abortions. They need to be loved and helped to find God’s forfiveness, they don’t need us to further beat them up for what the chose to do in a moment of panic. It could have happened to so many I know and maybe even myself if circumstances had been different.

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  82. Michelle, I’ve never felt comfortable with that, either. If you can physically stop a murder from taking place, then yes, it seems like a good idea. But societally-approved murder that we cannot physically stop, nor legally stop, it’s trickier. But I really don’t think the answer is violence.

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