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Our Daily Thread 12-12-14

Good Morning!

It’s Friday!!!

And 13 days until Christmas. 🙂

Today’s header photo is from the birthday girl.

Happy Birthday Janice. 🙂

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On this day in 1792, in Vienna, 22-year-old Ludwig van Beethoven received one of his first lessons in music composition from Franz Joseph Haydn. 

In 1870 Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina became the first black lawmaker to be sworn into the U.S. House of Representatives. 

In 1912 The Mother’s Day International Association was incorporated with the purpose of furthering meaningful observations of Mother’s Day. 

And in 1951 the U.S. Navy announced that the world’s first nuclear powered submarine would become the sixth ship to bear the name Nautilus. 

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Quote of the Day

“Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childhood days, recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth, and transport the traveler back to his own fireside and quiet home!”

Charles Dickens

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 We’ll start off today with TSO’s “Prince of Peace.” From TSOVids

And then it gets louder, 80’s style.

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Anyone have a QoD?

46 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 12-12-14”

  4. Good morning, Aj. I checked in on my phone earlier, but am the world’s slowest texter, so decided to wait to comment ’til I pulled up the blog on my computer.

    I’ve been listening to old Twila Paris songs this morning. She has such a beautiful voice. My favorite song by her is “Love’s been following You.” It’s such an encouraging song to me. We had “How Beautiful” sung at the beginning of our wedding ceremony. But, my favorite song at our wedding was Steven Curtis Chapman’s “I Will Be Here”, sung by a very talented man on guitar. Love that song!

    Anyhow…Hope everyone has a great day. I’ll be back!

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  5. It’s Friday. You know what that means?
    In 1953 Janice was born.

    Has anybody ever said “Yoo Hoo”? That’s what the friends are calling.
    But I’ve never heard it.
    The Times-News always has a QoD for whoever wants to answer.
    Today’s (yesterday’s) question, printed to day was “Will you donate to any cause this Christmas?”
    12% said NO.

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  10. Bonne Anniversaire Janice
    Musical Advent Calendar – Day 12: The Irish name for the 12th century “Wexford Carol” is “Carúl Loch Garman”. By tradition, it was only sung by men; but this woman sings it well.

    Good people all, this Christmas time,
    Consider well and bear in mind
    What our good God for us has done
    In sending his beloved son.
    With Mary holy we should pray,
    To God with love this Christmas Day.
    In Bethlehem upon that morn,
    There was a blessed Messiah born

    The night before that happy tide.
    The noble Virgin and her guide
    Were long time seeking up and down
    To find a lodging in the town.
    But mark right well what came to pass
    From every door repelled, alas
    As was foretold, their refuge all
    Was but a humble ox’s stall.

    Near Bethlehem did shepherds keep
    Their flocks of lambs and feeding sheep,
    To whom God’s angel did appear
    Which put the shepherds in great fear.
    Prepare and go, the angels said:
    To Bethlehem, be not afraid.
    For there you’ll find, this happy morn,
    A princely babe, sweet Jesus, born.

    With thankful heart and joyful mind
    The shepherds went this babe to find.
    And as God’s angel had foretold
    They did our Saviour Christ behold.
    Within a manger he was laid
    And by his side a virgin maid,
    Attending on the Lord of Life
    Who came on earth to end all strife.

    There were three wise men from afar
    Directed by a glorious star;
    And on they wandered night and day
    Until they came where Jesus lay.
    And when they came unto that place
    Where our beloved Messiah lay.
    They humbly cast them at his feet
    With gifts of gold and incense sweet.

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  11. Chas: Regarding the Times QoD: I sponsor a couple of kids through World Vision and always send them an “extra” financial gift in November, so they’ll get it in time for Christmas. I send another in June. I also buy gifts for a number of kids in El Salvador (Connie makes sure they get to the right kids), including Connie’s two granddaughters. Then, I buy gifts for needy kids through church, make a donation to Ligonier Ministries in honor of my Dad, give a goat through World Vision in honor of my Mom, give to Covenant House Houston and Redeemed Ministries (an organization that helps girls/women rescued from sex trafficking; Houston is a major hub). I wish I were an extremely wealthy heiress and could spend all my time bestowing generous gifts to causes dear to my heart. I experience the most pleasure from this type of giving. It’s fun! My list isn’t very impressive–but let me tell you what Connie has done since she moved to Houston from El Salvador, almost thirty years ago… She has sent money for bicycles for impoverished kids in her small village every Christmas. Some years (when she earned more money), she sent as many as fifty brand-new bikes! But, it is definitely sacrificial giving–especially now–as she doesn’t earn very much money. She has such a beautiful, generous heart, especially for hurting/needy kids (be they financially needy, emotionally needy or physically needy). I’m so glad God sent her into my life almost ten years ago. She has become like family to me and I’m so grateful for the gift of her love. In addition to the bikes at Christmas, she frequently sends money home to help someone in her village who needs serious medical treatment. Last year, she helped a little girl from her village get the heart surgery she needed to live. In El Salvador, the doctors and hospitals require that you pay before they treat you (for any reason). She does all of this quietly (I only learned of it by speaking with her son).

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  13. So I had to order myself a new name tag. I put my name, my title, and Associate Broker on it. I worked hard for that broker’s license rather than a real estate license. I had also found that some people thought all of my experience was administrative. So the question was why didn’t I just put my title. Didn’t I like my job?

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  14. Those trees are beautiful, Kim — and I see you even have the Christmas star in the sky. Or maybe that’s just a very bright street light.

    It’s RAINING here — and we had major winds and rain overnight, at one point my cell phone woke me up with one of those annoying loud alerts for flash flooding in our area. Sheesh.

    Now to assess the damage.

    The big snowman in the front yard next door is down. But my modest 2 little strings of Christmas lights on the porch stayed in place (more or less). And my new gate stayed shut.

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  17. Is it safe to say to the birthday girl, “we told you so,” about Bosley? Happy birthday, Janice, I appreciate you very much.

    It’s still raining up here, Donna! As of last night we’d received 5 inches of rain in my end of town. Some of the hills (where the redwood trees flourish) received over 8. The paper is cautionary–“we need six more storm like this one to replenish the reservoirs,” which is right, of course, but it’s lovely to feel the moisture on your face.

    Well, it would be if I went outside . . . 🙂

    I wrote three blog posts yesterday, did my Bible study and started in on the Christmas cards. My list from last Saturday is actually looking a big doable now. (Darts nervous looks around) 🙂

    When I wrote today’s blog post about Advent: Mary’s Year of Challenge, several odd thoughts came to me. I’d welcome comments about some of my suppositions. You can read the post here: http://michelleule.com/2014/12/11/advent-marys-challenging-year/

    This will provide a QOD: Do you think Mary traveled alone? Do you think Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem by themselves or in a family group?

    Bonus question: Have you ever done that much hiking while pregnant? 🙂

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  18. I know this sounds stupid, but Donna and Michelle have you filled your tubs with water? If the city decides they need to shut off the water or the sewer overflows you will want some water on hand to flush the toilets.

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  19. michelle’s tub is filled.

    Interesting dialogue from an array of people (including my pastor) going on the FB link I posted to ‘Unbroken’ going for a universalist religious theme rather than a specifically Christian one.

    Heard from a friend ‘in the business’ yesterday who saw the film, saying they had jolie & the main actors there at the screening which (she said) usually indicates they’re worried about how a movie will do. She said the film was good, similar to a Capt. Phillips experience, but not wonderful, said she thought it might have done better under a more experienced director but the project had been around so long no one else was taking it on. She’s Jewish, not particularly religious, but also thought the film would have been stronger if it had focused more on some of the war’s aftermath and the spiritual struggles he went through personally.

    As for how the faith angle is handled, I’m reserving judgement until I see the film. I suspect I’ll wish the message was relayed more specifically (theologically) and more strongly (even if briefly), but … we will see.

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  20. As for California storm damage, there was this from a former coworker/editor this morning:

    Funny/sad: last night’s walloping wind knocked a couple of inflatable snowmen (snowpeople?) off my apartment building’s entrance roof. Now they’re dangling horizontal about three feet off the sidewalk, looking exactly like skydivers or Macy’s parade balloons.

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  21. If you click on my link above you will see the side of the pharmacy. The own of the pharmacy used to have me fax him my infertility prescriptions so if he had to go somewhere and get what I needed he would have it that afternoon. I also had a charge account there so I could pay over time with no interest.

    Cheryl, if you read the article, you got a gift from Stowe’s. 😉 They have the most distinctive bows on their packages so you always know when you are getting a good gift. 🙂

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  25. I did not hike while pregnant. Near the end of my pregnancy our office went out downtown for lunch. I was really big (son was 10 lb. 11 oz.). We were on one of those really long escalators inside a tower building, probably going down to the subway (MARTA station). I had a balloon in my hand and dropped it. I bent over on the moving escalator to retrieve it. I think my office mates almost had a heart attack thinking the big pregnant lady was going to tumble. I got the balloon and there was a great sigh of relief. That was my hiking while pregnant experience. 😉

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  29. Michelle, 🙂

    In other “news,” this has been a fairly busy day here. Earlier in the week I put a turkey in the fridge to thaw, so I was making a commitment.

    I realized last night that Misten needed to go to the vet. And for some reason, my husband decided to have us go by and see his parents this morning. So it was rush home from seeing them, groom the dog enough to be passable, prepare the turkey, and leave a note on the table telling my husband telling my husband temperatures and times to do what with the turkey, and take the dog to the vet. Now I’m doing piles of laundry while I prepare a mini-feast. (Being a guest instead of a host means no leftover turkey, and that isn’t a good thing. I’m not doing “everything” in a Thanksgiving meal, but turkey, dressing, real mashed potatoes with canned gravy, and cranberry sauce seem like staples. And I bought sparkling cranberry juice and we had a turtle pie in the freezer that seemed like the right finishing touch.)

    Misten got a mostly clean bill of health, for a 10-year-old, but her bladder control is getting iffy and once we ruled out diabetes and a UTI, the vet gave me a prescription for her. She’s lying beside me, exhausted from the ups and downs of meeting multiple new people but having to endure various indignities at their hands.

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  30. cheryl, Tess has been on a med (PPA) for incontinence ever since I got her — related probably to her spay surgery, the vet said, but she left a puddle everywhere she slept initially. The prescription is inexpensive & effective (if it’s the same thing Misten is on), half a tab in the morning, half in the evening with food.

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  31. School finishes Tuesday at noon, and God just gave me an idea to invite the new teachers in to meet and greet the children and their parents.
    I leave Wednesday morning on a 7:30am flight. Aviation here brings a large van to pick us up at our homes, so nice. I fly to Port Moresby, the capital, on Wednesday, then standby the same day down to Brisbane, Australia where I overnight. The next day I am flying standby to LAX for a few hours, then to Sacramento. That is all one day!

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  35. Happy Birthday, Janice!

    That is a very sweet picture of you & Miss Bosley. 🙂

    *******

    That Elf on the Shelf is a truly creepy little thing! Having one of those around would most probably give me nightmares. I’m serious!

    All though my life, I have had occasional nightmares of dolls coming alive & moving. The creepiest ones are the ones in which there was no noticeable movement, but I see that they eyes have shifted.

    My mom would talk about how when I was little, anything with “eyes” had to be turned towards the wall. I remember putting my dolls in my closet at night, & making sure the door was closed well.

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  36. Donna, they said spayed females tend to have that problem as they get older, and I’d already heard that. I did have friends with a collie that had been on it ever since she was spayed, so I was glad I didn’t have that problem with Misten. She has always had extremely good bladder control, but she has had three or four accidents in the last year–her first in my house since she was about four months old. (She did have at least one accident in someone else’s house, but I don’t count that. She was out of her routine and that house had a lot of dogs that came through.)

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  37. Friday night — phew. Busy, busy week and another one coming up. And doing some quiet soul-searching in the down times between the busy-ness. Very draining sometimes. I went to bed Wednesday night at 11:45 and, other than a brief time (not much more than a few minutes) when I was awake at about daybreak, I slept until 9:52 Thursday morning. Must have needed it.

    You all have a good weekend…and week…

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  41. Well, that would be true. Here we all, working away …

    We had a tornado in South Los Angeles with this latest storm.

    But good news — more rain is forecast for next week! Yay!!!

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  46. Wow, Donna, you are up late. That was an early comment for me. You should see my place: suitcase on counter in office, trunk for stuff staying here on floor of bedroom, carryon bags on my bed, overflowing trash can (not really as I burned papers today), corner cupboard full of canned goods that I am locking away. So much stuff….

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