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Our Daily Thread 11-1-14

Good Morning!

It’s Saturday!!!

I found this one lurking/hunting in the weeds. 🙂

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Click for a larger view.

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On this day in 1611 “The Tempest,” Shakespeare’s romantic comedy, was first presented at Whitehall Palace in London. 

In 1870 the U.S. Weather Bureau made its first meteorological observations using 24 locations that provided reports via telegraph. 

In 1904 The Army War College in Washington, DC, enrolled the first class. 

And in 1979 Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini urged all Iranians to demonstrate on November 4 and to expand their attacks against the U.S. and Israel. On November 4, Iranian militants seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran and took 63 Americans hostage. 

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Quote of the Day

“However big the fool, there is always a bigger fool to admire him.”

Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux

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 Today is Dan Peek’s birthday, so hippie music it is….

And it’s Michelle Tumes’ too.

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Anyone have a QoD?

60 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 11-1-14”

  2. Good Saturday morning everyone.
    We have about three inches of snows in Hendersonville. But the temperature is 32.8 degrees and the hard surfaces (roads, sidewalks) are clear.
    But it’s only November 1!

    Global warming, that’s what it is.
    I told you before, that’s almost as sensible as the explanation Elvera’s aunt gave for the strange weather we were having in the sixties.
    “Those rockets are poking holes in the atmosphere.”

    Liked by 2 people

  6. Good morning. Good evening, Jo. Glad you had fun at dinner.

    Both my girls had good Halloweens. Hubby took Becca and her friend trick or treating and L. enjoyed her costume party. We had a lot less kids than in years past–so we have lots of candy left over.

    Hubby is leaving for the ranch soon. It’s opening weekend of deer season here in Texas. I really appreciated that he waited until this morning to head up there, so he could be home for Halloween.

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  7. Fortunately most of the leaves are off the trees now. I told you about the colossal mess we had in Virginia when we had a snow on 10 October.

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  11. Chas has more snow than northern Canada (we have none).

    Love that picture – the intense green and the snowy white!

    Heading home today – should have good weather.

    Liked by 1 person

  13. Lovely egret photos–the colors of the bird’s eye and the grasses work really well together. (The last of the cormorant photos yesterday was really excellent, too.)

    Liked by 1 person

  14. Peter, that was sad.

    It was just 17 months ago my sister was driving home to tell her children (then 5 to 14, I believe) that their father didn’t make it. One thing that was particularly hard for her was knowing that she barely remembered our dad, who died when she was 15, and she knew her two youngest would have only the faintest memories of their father.

    Today, sometimes when my husband and I go hiking, I wish that we could just once take my dad with us. He would delight in tramping through woods, naming the trees, showing us signs of creatures before we could see them ourselves. He died 30 years ago and would be 97, so obviously there is no reasonable way that could happen. And I never had an adult relationship with him at all; I can only imagine what that would be like. Knowing that he knew the constellations and the names of trees, and that he enjoyed the outdoors, is the closest I can get to imagining an adult relationship with him. But my husband never met either of my parents, and won’t till eternity.

    Liked by 1 person

  16. Death really is an enemy. It brings so much grief. Jesus weeping at Lazarus’s grave, even though, he know he would raise him from the dead, is such a moving picture for us. Grieving with those who grief always seems so small. We always feel so helpless.

    What a relief to know Christ brought us eternal life and the battle is won!

    I was surprised to hear of how far down the cold was going. I am surprised at that snow, Chas. The children down there will enjoy it.

    Liked by 1 person

  17. I’m off to a memorial service this morning for the father of one of my dearest Navy wife friends. It will be held in a fantastic jewel of a Navy chapel on Mare Island–all the windows are Tiffany stained glass. We worshiped there in the dark ages and are looking forward to seeing it again.

    I’m getting up to talk–my ideas are three pages long because Chet was full of stories when he visited his daughter in Hawai’i and I egged him on. He was in Hawai’i shortly after the original bombing, I think, and returned to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the ending of the war–which was a fantastic party.

    There’s trouble over money between the children with his death. I’m going to get up and remind them all that he loved and was very proud of his son. And then launch into other discussions about the family and people I knew well whom he adored. I can’t imagine not saying anything about the son who will be sitting there, but there is spite in this crowd and a lot of hurt. If you have any extra prayers, perhaps this is a prayer request . . .

    Meanwhile, someone who is “not religious” has contacted me because of the Oswald Chambers posts. I’ll need some prayer in hearing the Holy Spirit as I respond to him.

    The Lord is good. I’m really tired. But I slept last night–must have been all that candy I ate for the tricker-treaters? 🙂

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  18. I love your photos, AJ. They are fantastic.

    We continue to be blasted with problems lately. I won’t go into details, but my husband has gotten the run around from two pharmacies and still does not have his antibiotic refill that was called in on Wed.

    As he left for work I could not bear to tell husband that our furnace is not working. At least he should have heat at work. And I have a warm kitty cuddled up with me right now. There are other issues, too, but you get the gist.

    There was snow in North GA this morning. We have a lot of cold wind. I am glad we are back home so Bosley won’t be scared by all the outdoor noises on this windy day. That was the longest we have left her. She seemed okay with us leaving her with double portions of food and water.

    Liked by 2 people

  20. Janice, personally I can’t imagine that Satan cares whether your husband smokes or not. I can understand why you prefer that he not smoke–I myself wouldn’t want to live with a smoker for health, smell, and financial reasons–but I don’t think it’s a sin, and I don’t really think Satan has that much control over the daily parts of a believer’s life.

    I think “why” questions are often a waste of energy. We know how we are supposed to respond to trials, and we don’t need to know the reasons for the trials unless God lets us know (which He rarely seem to do).

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  21. Glad to hear your husband has continued to be smoke-free, Janice.

    Peter, so sorry that you lost your mother at such a tender age.

    AJ, more beautiful pictures today. I always look forward to seeing the new header photo (and other pictures that you may post) each day.

    No snow here yet. Very interesting to hear of it in places far south of where I am, though.

    Liked by 1 person

  22. Cheryl, Satan is for death. Cigarettes are a source of death. For that reason I see a link between Satan and cigarettes. I don’t think smoking is a sin in the sense that it is not listed specifically in the Bible as a sin, but it is a controlling addiction for some like my husband, like so many other addictions of various sorts for other people, that take eyes and hearts off of God and His best plans for life.

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  23. Peter, I wish I could read your poem, but this silly phone will not let me link to it. 😦

    My husband has no love or like for these “Smart”phones. The best I can say for mine is that it did a good job with the audiobook we listened to on our trip.

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  24. I think many of these behaviors (smoking for instance) can become sin when they become bondage — and addictive substances so often take people down that road.

    After spending some time in the past year in that old classic the Christian in Complete Armour, I have a better appreciation for spiritual warfare how the enemy often does use our personal weaknesses or vulnerabilities — combining forces with our other 2 enemies, the world and the flesh, of course. They all can conspire together at times in our lives.

    No snow here, but we had some glorious rain overnight. What a sweet sound. It started before I fell asleep at around 11, I think, and I heard it throughout the night as I would briefly weak up.

    The muddy paw trail from the doggie door across the kitchen floor don’t even bother me today after this dry spell we’ve been enduring.

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  25. Interesting moment yesterday on a conference call with numerous editors, reporters & designers with most of our 9 sister papers scattered throughout LA

    The subject was a special cold case project we’ve all been selected to be part of to run in most of the papers. At one point, one of the lead editors said — with regard to the raw data we’ve collected from police so far — that we shouldn’t treat it “like the Bible,” but should realize some of the raw info we have may include errors. (Interesting by itself, since she’d told me once she wasn’t religious, so I doubt she meant the phrase literally.)

    Anyway, then the other editor speaks up saying: “Good point. But I’d correct that to say you should treat it like the Bible — you never know what’s fact or fiction in the information.”

    Silence on the call, I think I rolled my eyes on my end though. 🙂

    Oooh!! It’s raining again! I thought it was over, the sun was out just a few minutes ago.

    My Jeep is going to be so clean, even the little cat paw prints across the hood (Annie likes my car) will get washed away.

    But I need new windshield wipers. I’ve put it off since there’s never any rain to worry about anymore.

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  26. I do agree that bondage to anything can become sin. But I don’t think Satan can touch the believer without God’s permission . . . so rather than asking, “What is Satan trying to do through this?” it seems far more productive, and wiser spiritually, to ask what God wants from me than what Satan wants from me.

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  27. My husband and I have been joking about spoof election commercials that would be fun to create.

    For example, a man is talking to the camera, explaining all his qualifications . . . and then you find out he is the citizen, not the one running for office.

    Or you have the politician kissing a baby . . . but with one hand he is stealing candy from the baby, and as soon as he leaves, the baby gags and wipes his mouth.

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  28. Cheryl, agreed. God indeed uses those attacks on believers (from Satan, the world & our flesh) in ways that are designed to further awaken and refine us, to drive us back to (or closer to) Christ.

    But the battle is quite real and it’s important to acknowledge it — and stand up and fight — when it arrives, knowing that God’s purpose in it is always our benefit and God’s glory.

    Liked by 2 people

  29. We weren’t the only ones to get it.
    From Drudge:

    November 1st, 2014 by Roy W. Spencer, Ph. D.

    As I predicted two days ago, the earliest snows on record are beginning to occur in the Carolinas.

    Columbia, SC has just experienced their earliest snow in 125 years of weather records, beating the Nov. 9, 1913 earliest snow record by 8 days. Current South Carolina weather shows it’s still snowing in Greenville, SC.

    Snow has stopped here. But we do have a winter weather advisory. There’s a warning for the higher elevations.

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  30. Good afternoon everyone. Just thought I would drop by and say Hi. Haven’t fallen off the face of the earth yet. Just very very busy. I really love teaching. I hope to teach part time at OSU in OKC after I retire.

    Liked by 3 people

  31. Janice, I really hope with you that your husband is done with the cigarettes for good. I’ve never lived with a smoker and wouldn’t willingly do so, for several reasons, so I’m sympathetic.

    Cigarettes are greatly exaggerated as a cause of death, however. I have heard that anyone who dies and has ever smoked, the smoking is listed as a contributing factor to death–and that’s just ridiculous. (We all die sometime.) My stepfather had been a smoker at one point, before I met him; for how long, I don’t know. When he was diagnosed with emphysema, he quit smoking, finding out to his surprise that he wasn’t addicted. (He’d never even tried to quit smoking, assuming that he was addicted and it would be hard to quit.) He is probably listed as a smoking-related death somewhere . . . but he lived into his eighties and died of a heart attack. So even if smoking shortened his life, it obviously isn’t what killed him, and it would be a stretch to list smoking as a significant factor.

    Furthermore, when my brother-in-law died young last year, the cause for his heart issue was most likely the arm surgery he had had six months before. He had never smoked. The doctor who treated him (who did not know him) assumed that a 46-year-old man who dies of a heart attack must be a smoker (which is rather stupid, actually, since healthy people don’t die that young from smoking-related illnesses), so he listed him as being a smoker and having high blood pressure (he didn’t). So he was officially a “smoking-related death,” even though he never smoked at all!

    The reality is (1) Smoking to excess can be fairly unhealthy (I doubt an occasional pipe or cigar carries any health risks) and (2) The dangers of smoking cigarettes is greatly exaggerated. (Moderate consumption of alcohol or caffeine has also been proven to be beneficial, but those are also seen as dangerous vices and against medical interests to show as good things. I suspect tobacco isn’t actively “good for you” even in moderation . . . but I honestly would not be shocked if it were discovered that it is.)

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  32. My husband thought he had been a smoker for forty years and then thought more about it and figured it was closer to fifty years. He has good genes to not have had more of a problem with it. Still, the doctors have told him it would kill him if he did not stop. His COPD was getting worse. He has been good about going outside to smoke for many years. Otherwise I would not have been able to tolerate it.

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  35. Mama Ruth was moved to a room today. They will not have to operate. They are trying to determine what is making her so dizzy.
    I am very glad I was able to tell her that I know she loves me. She didn’t have to put up with my alcoholic mother but she did. She didn’t have to take me on her vacations so she would know I was safe but she did. She didn’t have to do any of the things she did but she did. The bonus was that she was married to a man who never questioned why she did it and made me feel just as much a part of their family as she did It goes back to what I have always said. Live is a verb not a noun.

    Liked by 11 people

  36. Cheryl – I understand your point about the death statistics. Even if death is from smoking itself is not inevitable, smokers still have the lung damage to deal with. Even young smokers can develop a wicked “smoker’s cough”.

    What you wrote about how smoking is automatically attributed as a cause of death reminds me of something (on a different medical topic) I saw on Facebook. It’s a comic of a woman with a wooden pole through her middle, & the doctor says she’ll feel better if she loses weight. The man who shared it says most overweight people have had their weight blamed for various ailments, especially when the doctor can’t determine what the problem really is.

    I am overweight, but happily haven’t had that experience.

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  41. Global warming is related to the increase of cats and dogs who sleep on the bed with their owners making many people warmer. It was originally known as Three Dog Nights. Al Gore changed it to Global Warming as mentioned previously so he could make bucks from barks in the cold nights. He did not figure in the complication of a President who is Muslim and how Sharia law does not allow dogs. Obama ‘ s going to put Gore under the dog house.

    I could use three cats tonight!

    Liked by 2 people

  47. Along those lines, in his opening prayer, an assistant pastor prayed “and thank You for the four seasons, even those that happen on the dame day:”. We didn’t quite get summer yesterday afternoon, but it did get into the fifties. But it is cold and windy now. 48l8 degrees now.

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  49. Janice: Kudos to your husband on quitting smoking. Unfortunately, I’ve been a smoker since the tender age of fifteen and have tried to stop numerous times without success. I never imagined it’d be so difficult to quit when I started. Hubby hates it; I only smoke outside, but the smell permeates my hair, clothes and breath. It’s an ugly habit. I do think it’s ridiculous that smokers have been cast as social pariahs — in some parts of California, one can legally smoke pot but not cigarettes in public!

    Liked by 1 person

  51. Chas, I can’t even imagine what 4,818 degrees feels like. Now THAT’S global warming. 😉

    Beautiful day here on the west coast, blue skies, white puffy clouds, cool breeze — but bright sunshine. And the extra hour of sleep was wonderful!

    Our SS hour today was spent in prayer groups for the persecuted church around the world.

    Liked by 2 people

  52. Today was Pastor Kris’s last day as our pastor. He & his family are on their way back to Texas for a while, but he thinks they will eventually come back to minister somewhere in New England.

    When he preached his first sermon as the new pastor, six years ago, there were only 29 in attendance. Today, there were about 130, I think. God may have used Pastor Kris to stir things up & get this church on its feet, but God is the one in control, & I believe He will continue the great work that has begun over the past six years.

    Liked by 6 people

  53. Ann, my mom started smoking at the age of 15. She smoked for decades and then quit. She said she just made her mind up to do it. I hope you will be able to do it one day. I am so glad I did.

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  57. Janice- It is part of Muslim (and Jewish) culture that dogs are unclean animals and to be avoided. If you look in the Old Testament, you won’t find any nice references to dogs. Mostly they are considered negatively.

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  58. Hubby got a deer today. It’s extremely rare for him to kill one opening weekend; it makes it harder to justify additional hunting weekends as there is a one buck limit in the county where our ranch resides. He already has another trip planned with a few of his buddies in a couple of weeks..

    My sister and I will get to spend about 48 hours together at our ranch in mid-November. It will be just the two of us and I’m really looking forward to it. They return to Rwanda January 8 and we’ve spent very little time together thus far due to their fundraising speaking schedule and the responsibilities of parenting, especially their newly adopted six year old, Deste (who is an absolute bundle of joy and such a blessing to our entire family).

    My sister, who is six years older than me, acted more like a mom to me than just a big sister. She fixed my hair every day, drove me to and from school and dance classes, and let me sleep in her bed when I had nightmares. She’s also who led me to Christ after years of praying for me.

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  59. Heavenly Father,

    Thank You for Your felt presence when we acutely feel so many troubles trying to knock us down. Sometimes we feel struck down for the moment, but thanks to You we are not destoyed. Thank You for the many times that churches, not the buildings but the fellowship, lift up those who are in need of extra prayer for strength against what threatens their existence and adherence to Your best way for them to do life. Thank You for showing Your redemptive strength in times of weakness in those who believe or those who are seeking and being drawn to belief. Thank You for Your steadiness shown to the man in Kathaleena ‘ s church. You are reliable and worthy of trust in trouble times.

    Thank You for being in the mix with Annms’ s family. I pray for her mother to be released from her bond age to alcohol. Many others pray the same. Please, Abba, things that have gone on for ages appear to us as I’m possibilities for they have a stranglehold over lives. Yet, Your power is stronger. Please, show Your power to release Annms’ s mom as You have released others from that horrible grip. None other than You can do this type wonder. I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen

    Liked by 1 person

  60. Okay, this phone is crazy! I was posting on the prayer thread and all of a sudden it jumped over to the daily thread. It also rearranged my wording. I do not understand why this phone is possessed by gremlins, but God knows.
    I am so tired. For those not wanting to see prayer on this thread, well, I pray You will forgive the gremlins who are active this evening. I promise it is not me, and Bosley had nothing to do with it! She is a good scapegoat for some things, but she has a good alibi on this one.

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