82 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 4-9-16”

  6. Good morning, at least here in Atlanta. Hope all is well in your time zone, wherever on earth you may be. Of the regulars, I think Chas, Karen O, and I represent the Eastern Standard zone. Are there any besides us that I am forgetting? So, which time zone in the states contains the most regulars? Kare and Phos can be included, too, of course.

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  7. It has been much cooler here, but the thought of snow seems really weird. Our flower petals from spring blooming trees have been our most recent “snow.” Glad your tree bloomed before this cold snap, AJ.

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  8. We had a small earthquake this evening. I have been looking around noticing glass jars on shelves where they might fall. It seems strange, but somehow I feel like I am supposed to prepare. Who knows?

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  10. I love the Amplified Bible.

    Been awake since 2. Have done my Bible study, prayed, cried, switched to the quieter room to avoid snoring and now have to listen to the muffled cat yowling–I already locked her in the garage for noise.

    A very long day ahead (but at least the Bible study is done), expensive theater tickets tonight and a very busy Sunday morning tomorrow. You’ll see my prayer request. We may have children to watch. I’m about to become a mess.

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  11. It’s caucus day in Missouri. Mrs L and I are going to our county courthouse to pick delegates for the Congressional district convention April 30, which will pick delegates to the state convention in May. Our county gets 8 delegates to the Congressional convention. There probably won’t be more than 10 people there today.

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  13. I slept late! All the way to 7! It is so nice to sit outside on our patio in the evenings and enjoy our back yard. After all those years as a gypsy for both of us (Mr. P in the Navy and me…well, you all know) he has taken to home ownership quite well. He is really enjoying the yard the most. I keep track of the practical side of things, like changing the AC filter every month. It is a pain to do that because some genius decided to put them in the ceilings these days and it is a 10 ft ceiling so it requires a ladder.
    Amos and I have had our quiet time together this morning. BG will be going down to the beach to spend the weekend with her dad and stepmother (that sounds so weird).
    I really need to clean this house…I will have people in and out all month. It’s a good thing.

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  14. Janice,

    “Of the regulars, I think Chas, Karen O, and I represent the Eastern Standard zone. Are there any besides us that I am forgetting?”

    Uhhhh… hello? What about me? 🙂

    ————————–

    Also, there seems to have been a problem with some of the pics you sent me. The Bosley shots and some flowers didn’t come thru properly. Half the shot is gone or gray. You might want to resend, if you can.

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  15. Janice is in the Eastern time zone.
    She’s usually up pretty early.
    Cheryl is iffy because Indiana doesn’t go on Daylight Savings time and that puts them in the Eastern zone part of the year. (for practical purposes)

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  20. AJ, I truly did not realize you are, too, because I did not look at a map, and I have not traveled north much except to VA and DC. Pardon me!!! I should have known given how early you crank up the new day on here.

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  22. Most of Ontario is in the Eastern Time Zone – the western part of the province is in Central Time. So, I’m another EST. HRW, from what he has said, also comes from the same time zone, though he is an infrequent regular these days.

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  23. Yes, Linda would also be in EST. I had to check, because some of Atlantic Canada is in the Atlantic Time Zone, which is an hour ahead, but I see all of the Eastern U.S. is in the same time zone.

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  24. The book, Beyond Opinion, by Ravi Zacharias is on sale at Amazon for Kindle. It looks good for .99. He is an apologist I use to listen to on Christian radio. Very intelligent and makes people think.

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  30. Wow, AJ gettin’ no respect around here.

    There are a lot of us westerners here who are also night owls.

    Oh, here we go again with what sex is that poster, anyway? 🙂 I’m sure HRW is a he. Or I think I’m sure.

    Is 7 a.m. really “sleeping in”?

    I slept in today — until 9:30 a.m.

    It’s a rainy Saturday for us today.

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  31. I spotted the 4-leaf clover right away, they’re rare.

    Hard to prepare for an earthquake other than generally keeping emergency supplies around. They can predict them (I’ve heard now) maybe a few seconds before they happen, but that doesn’t give anyone much of a heads up.

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  32. Animals can predict them much earlier.

    HRW is a guy. And he does not live in California so probably plans to stay that way.

    Just in from watering the tomatoes. They are mostly doing well under their little blankets. I was a bit concerned with Michelle mentioning hers being covered….

    Michelle, how is the arm?

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  33. I noticed the dandelion leaf right away as well. We were just out eating fresh dandelions yesterday. Probably get some more today. In fact, that sounds like a good mid morning snack. I’ll be back. Unless a comet lands on my head.

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  34. I saw some new rodent repellant — Rodent Sheriff — advertised on TV last night. It’s nontoxic and you just spray it around your plants and house entries. But cats are better.

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  35. Cats woke me up at one this morning. Snowball went out of the garage when son got something out. Normally he is happy to stay there but periodically he needs to come out and remember that his nemesis is waiting. So they yowled and howled and I had to rescue the cat. No wonder I slept in until nearly six this morning….

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  36. Mumsee, the states immediately to the south of the region I am in, Southern Ontario, are New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, all in the Eastern Time Zone.

    Yes, HRW is definitely a man – he is teacher, though – and lives in the same region, though nowhere near, and no, we don’t know each other. There are 12.12 million people in Southern Ontario, one third of the population of Canada.

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  37. Well, back to the old routine. I am mowing today. But it’s not really routine because it is so breezy and chilly (think LA Dog Park cold) that I am having to wear a lined windbreaker jacket.

    This is my second break. One more section to do, and I will only do it in spots since the little bit of ajuga left is blooming, and I hope it will make seed in addition to its new runners. I have already pulled many of the taller weeds out of that area anyway. Nobody else is out mowing today. The sky is a gorgeous blue.

    I had to pull that lawnmower string about a hundred times before it would start. A lady walked by walking her dog and she waved. I think she must have added her prayers to mine to get God to say “Enough, already. Crank, mower! You go, girl!”

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  40. My arm is better, thank you, but hurts like the dickens if I lean on it so no putting my head on the computer desk–simply covered in papers as I try to write out of Egypt–to cry. In other, unrelated but odd news, the thumbnail on my left hand caught the thumbnail base on my right hand and ripped it open.

    I can’t decide which hurts the most, inadvertently leaning on left forearm or doing anything with right hand. I must be in the middle of writing something important (well, I am, Biddy’s response to Oswald’s death), because the weirdest things are happening combined with not sleeping, of course. (After a couple weeks of great sleep).

    Honestly. My life. When I start talking about all the places I want to fly away and visit, my husband is now correctly interpreting that I’m feeling a bit stressed . . . fortunately we’re taking in the south in a couple weeks. I have to keep remembering that.

    And writing, no matter how I feel, of course. 🙂

    Loving my Bible study. Have I said that already? How will I ever survive an evening of Gilbert and Sullivan, especially since they’re serving champagne???? 🙂

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  41. It’s been a whirlwind of housework for me today so far: bleaching out the sinks, scrubbing the toilet, clearing out some junk mail, laundry, paying bills …

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  42. Very much enjoying Answering Jihad by Nabeel Qureshi. He is talking about how many Muslim people live in America and how they believe. He is developing the idea of what foundational Islam and Mohammed teach. Very much as I have found, the Muslim people seem extremely nice, they love their wives and children. But to be true to Islam as it is founded…… This guy has become a Christian by the way. That will certainly add a different dynamic to the discussion.

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  45. Interesting, babies in boxes.

    http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35834370

    _______________________

    Nearly three years ago, the Magazine reported on the Finnish baby box – a starter kit of clothes, sheets and toys the state gives to expectant mothers. The story went viral and was read by 10 million people in 18 months. Now the box idea itself is spreading around the world.

    It’s a tradition that dates back to the 1930s. Every new mother, regardless of background or income, gets a baby box from the government. The box contains a stash of supplies – bibs, bodysuits, nappies, a sleeping bag, outdoor gear, bathing products – as well as a small mattress. Putting the mattress in the bottom of the box creates the baby’s first bed.

    It has been credited with helping Finland achieve one of the world’s lowest infant mortality rates.

    ….

    A pilot baby box project is being launched this month at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital in London, in collaboration with the US company, Baby Box Co, which says the education component of its programmes is “crucial” to their success.

    “We take it for granted people have money for a separate sleeping cot or Moses basket but that might not be the case,” says Karen Joash, the consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist behind the plan.

    She also thinks the box will enable mothers to keep the baby in the same room with them, because it is so easy to carry, “which is good for bonding,” she says….
    ______________________________________

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  46. OSHA will never allow it here. 😦

    Both the Navy Relief Society and the Pregnancy Counseling Centers I’ve worked with for years have given away layettes. Many hospitals provide “beginning” kits as well.

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  47. I took aspirin as a preemptive strike against the pain I will have from mowing the lawn, especially pulling that cord so many times. I knew if I kept at it that it would eventually crank.

    Michelle, can you take aspirin to help? I just have the low dose aspirin which the doc told me to start taking some years back.

    Falls like you experienced are so shocking because they are so unexpected. My brother’s face seems to be healing up. I’m sure the antibiotics helped. I have not seen him which is probably good because I would be pained. I would be pained seeing you, too, Michelle, because of all your sore spots.

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  49. I had a Moses basket lined with lambskin wool for Wesley when he got home from the hospital. He was so cute in that basket. I think a lot of people use a dresser drawer for their baby’s first bed.

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  50. I’m in the Central time zone, which means Roscuro, HRW and I, as well as Cheryl and 6 Arrows are all in the same hour, unless Canada goes on daylight saving time.

    Had a good day. There were 20 some at our county caucus. I volunteered to go to the Congressional caucus, but not the state, since D2 is getting married the same weekend. Missouri gets 52 delegates. Of those, 3 are the GOP equivalent of a “super” delegate. Because he won by 2/10 of a percent, Trump gets the three, plus another 22 for the Congressional districts he won. Cruz gets 17. I know that only adds up to 42, so I guess the other candidates and “uncommitted” delegates are the rest. Yes, Missourians can vote for “Uncommitted” on the primary ballot.

    We chose 4 regular and 4 alternate delegates to each of the conventions. At the Congressional conventions, we’ll choose 25 of the 52 National delegates, then the others are chosen at the state convention.

    It’s confusing, but that’s politics in Missouri.

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  52. Chas, we actually do daylight savings time in Indiana now (though we hate it), so we’re strictly Eastern.

    Though I was in Chicago (central) when the question was posed . . .

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  53. Ladies In my church made baby layettes and then send them here for any national ladies that bring their babies into our clinic. They knit some things and then scour stores and thrift stores for the rest. Shipping is the highest cost.

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  55. I think Nancyjill and I are both in the Mountain time zone.

    Have been so busy the last couple of weeks, I do not have time to comment. 4 more days, and then a week of down time. 🙂

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  58. Just the basics, carrots, celery, onions (with apologies to Chas);

    salt/pepper/rosemary … but still cooking, unfortunately (since it’s 10 p.m. here on the west coast of the USA!)

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  60. This is a rave for me. There is someone here who I really felt didn’t like me. I was wondering if I had done something or it was just my personality. Anyway I was out walking tonight and encountered this person and said hello. She stopped and asked how I was doing. We had almost a ten minute conversation. I felt that she had been avoiding me and just did not want to be around me. This simple little conversation was an answer to my prayer for God to show me how to handle the situation. I am encouraged.

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  61. Janice, when Michelle said she would be in the south, she meant south of California.
    If she were going to Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, SC, for example, she would have said she is going to the South.

    😉

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  66. Mumsee! LOL! Your life is normal for you! Normal is highly overrated anyway.

    It’s cold here these days. Maybe not LA dog park cold, but brisk for here!

    Jo, glad you were able to clear up what could have been a problem. I hate thinking that someone has a problem with me but I don’t know why.

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  68. A lot of times if people don’t take time to speak, it is because they are preoccupied and don’t want to lose track of their thoughts. They may have a short time frame to get something accomplished and rather than saying, “Hi! Sorry I can’t talk,” they avoid saying anything. I’ve had to do that at times. So it’s good to consider that first rather than think the person does not like me. I think I would call that giving them the benefit of the doubt, and giving self a pat on the back for being a generally lovable person!♡

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  69. The pastor is doing a series about the family. I always feel badly for the singles, both unmarried and widows, during such series because it is about a month’s worth of sermons that don’t have much application for them.

    We have a temporary worship leader who does an excellent job. I wish we could keep him permanently, but he probably wants a larger church.

    A lot of people are on spring break so attendance was down today and last Sunday. And of course last Sunday was when the pastor was addressing the role of the younger family members, and few were there to hear his message.

    That reminds me of when it was Scout Sunday at another church and the Scouts and their families were visiting. I don’t think that was considered when the pastor put together the sermon which seemed to be blasting the membership for not taking a more active role. I could not have imagined a worse sermon for guests to hear. 😦
    That was from when Wesley was in Scouts.

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  70. We are still walking through Romans, verse by verse. Expository preaching only at our church, so the pastor will embark on a book and go through it, often it takes a couple years, but God’s word is so amazing and it’s really the best way to be both grounded in sound doctrine & edified on how it is to be applied in our lives. And it touches on virtually every topic, including family life, singleness, vocation, ministry …

    We’re in Romans 12 — Ch. 13 is the one that will address our relationship to government, so that should be interesting with all that’s going on around us.

    Today’s message dwelt on humility, using our gifts to minister to others and for the local church.

    One humorous remark — our pastor says sometimes he’s taken aback when he hears rumors about himself that seem to be going around in the community. He said Spurgeon once said something to the effect that the reality about ourselves is always far worse (so get over feeling indignant) 🙂

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  71. And on some Sundays we’ll take a break and go to 1 John or another book — and even in Romans, we’re going to many other passages in Scripture as it’s all unpacked.

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  72. Our pastor does expository mostly. We’ve just finished a year or two in Luke which ended timely at Easter. Occasionally he breaks to do this kind of series, but not often. In the series, he uses a lot of Scripture and fully reads the passages. He is very good, and I believe the best I have learned from during my lifetime as far as in a church building. Some on Christian radio may be better.

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  74. We’ve occasionally done topics as well — not often and the expository messages also focus in on a theme: “Renewing our Minds,” “A Walking Church Service,” “Who’s Child Are You,” etc.

    Our church also sponsors an annual marriage and family retreat (but held at the church) where issues that are of more particular focus are addressed for those who are interested.

    Mmm, leftover pot roast for lunch.

    And a 2-hour nap, I needed that today.

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  77. I am going to The South for my vacation.

    Flying into New Orleans, visiting Navy friends in Baton Rouge, inspecting Kim’s new house in AL, driving to Chatanooga because I’ve always wanted to see Lookout Mountain because of the name.

    Possibly darting up to the Smokey Mountain National Park because Baton Rouge friend posted such terrific photos, thence to Murfreesboro to meet with my editor pal and thus write off portions of the trip plus attend a big party at her house, home out of Nashville where we’ll do a honky tonk crawl just to tease my husband (long suffering and traveling with me).

    8 days. Any suggestions of anything else to see/eat?

    BTW I do NOT care for Cracker Barrel.

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  78. Mumsee, when I read your posts about watering the goats and children going to boarding school my husband said “that’s why my parents sent me there!”

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  79. Michelle, in Nashville you may want to see the Parthenon–the only full-size replica in the world and well worth seeing. (I only went inside once, and the huge statue/idol wasn’t something I really wanted to see, and didn’t want to pay money to see, but the outside is lovely.) They were planning a remodel of the park last time I was there, but at least they used to have lovely little two-person wooden swings scattered around that I wished I had a man so I could swing on them, so when I did have a man, I made it a point to have a picnic in the park with him, show him the Parthenon and swing on the two-person swing.

    Lookout Mountain and the Smokies are both stunning. Azaleas should be in bloom in the Smokies now, I think, if you’re going now. I agree with you on Cracker Barrel.

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  81. Michelle, Cloudland Canyon State Park is to the right off of Scenic Highway which is on top of Lookout. Cloudland is one of our most beautiful parks and has great overlooks and hiking trails.

    Point Park on top of Lookout is nice and has a little history center with a film.

    Chickamauga is a great place to drive through for Civil War history and is not far from Chattanooga. And the art district in Chattanooga is great, maybe known as North Shore.

    The Starbucks next to Rock City on Lookout is our favorite Starbucks.

    The Purple Daisy Cafe at the base of Lookout, right before the drive up the mountain has good BBQ.

    Mt. Vernon Restaurant, not far from Purple Daisy is good food, a bit more dressy than Purple Daisy.

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  82. Well it sounds like the itinerary is all set.

    (michelle, a couple in my church stopped me on the way out and said they can rent out a room if that was still needed; told them she was set, but if anything changes and she needs a backup or something temporary again in the future …)

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