100 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 7-16-16”

  2. Good morning, Chas.
    I’ve already had my two cups…
    Scott is headed to our place in Centerville to mow….the girls and I are staying home. It’s just too hot this time of year…
    Monica and her daughter are coming at noon with their ten week old Golden Retriever puppy. Mia should have a ball with him!

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  4. I came across an interesting scripture. I Samuel 16:13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him (David) in the midst of his brothers and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward

    Interesting: David hadn’t done anything. He was tending the sheep. It was Samuel who, in spite of his previous unsuccessful attempts to anoint Jesses’ sons, poured oil on David and left.
    We don’t know how much time elapsed after that before David played the harp for Saul.
    Samuel went to Ramah and David tended sheep.
    But it was never the same.

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  5. Having my second cup just now.

    This should be my last day to care for the cats who do not show themselves. Saturday makes for an interesting drive over there. It is a highly Orthodox Jewish community so all those people will be out for their Sabbath today walking on the sidewalks by the street I will be on. I will drive by the Torah Day School and at least one synagogue and who knows what else that I know nothing about. I will see head coverings but likely no hijabs. I have never been to Amish areas, but I think the sights might be similar.

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  6. I like having this site, Aj. You may have noticed occasions before, the I just happen to come across something I want to comment on..
    It gives me a chance to share, but more important to me, commenting on it makes me cogitate and clarify my thinking about it.
    I’m sure most of you have the same experience. Passing thoughts don’t last long.

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  8. Also along the way I will drive by my Baptist church, a Presbyterian (USA). a Presbyterian (PCA). and an Episcopal church. This is probably within three miles of where I live. Lots to choose from. I’ve had association with all those churches, although with the Episcopal it was minor in that a Scout family was members there and after the Scouts had a flea market/parking lot sale, we delivered leftovers to that church for a sale they were about to have. My son did mother’s morning oand/or one year and preschool for two years at the Pres., USA, where we met families from the Pres., PCA, including the pastor’s wife who without telling me her position in the church, invited us to visit. We attended for a short while and donated to their building fund for the church I pass by but have never been inside.

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  10. We have driven through an Amish area and eaten in an Amish restaurant in another Amish area. It is interesting to see the buggies and the garments worn by the family members. I am sorry for them, however. In many ways, they have great lives, but legalism runs their lives. The devil ties people up in many ways. He does some of his best work in extremes.

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  11. Mother’s Morning Out was something I had never heard of until my daughter moved to TN. One woman tried to start something similar in one church we attended, but it never caught on. My daughter never took her son to any, but they seem like such a great thing to do.

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  12. Yes, Kathaleena, they are. I really liked the set up at this one because they had one hired worker, a very nice black lady, and then each week two moms had to do their volunteer helper time. It was then I worked alongside the PCA pastor’s wife.

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  13. We live near an Amish area, and it isn’t infrequent that Amish women shop at our Wal-Mart. Different regions have different regulations; here they can have electricity for a business but not for a home, they can have cell phone for a business, and (humorous to me) they cannot drive a car but they can hire a driver. So a vanful of them might spill out at Dairy Queen. We drive by their fields of horses, and my husband will point out the homes with no wires running to them and the “exhaust” piled up on the shoulder of the road where they have passed.

    When they get married, Amish people come from all over, hiring buses and bus drivers. Two or three years ago when we went for our anniversary trip, such a bus driver was at the same hotel and we all talked a bit. He and his wife were telling us about Amish weddings, how they’re big social events and how inevitably other young couples become betrothed at one while they’re all together with people from other states that they see only for weddings.

    One morning that weekend we went out to the state park we visit over our anniversary, and we were enjoying the peace of the woods when we heard laughter and excited talking of a group coming around the bend. We rolled our eyes at each other–our peace was about to be invaded by teenagers. And around the bend came a group of a dozen or so people in Amish garb. Totally unexpected view after the noise! We also saw a young couple lagging behind them and apparently wanting to be alone together as much as possible, just like any young couple might.

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  16. Kathaleena- What’s really sad about the Amish is they trust in the wrong thing for salvation. Also, women are not treated with the respect they deserve.

    Mary Schrock, a wman we met who lives near our former house, wrote a book about the Amish that is excellent, since she and her husband are former Amish. Read about her here: http://www.thegreaterinheritance.com/. She uses a lot of Scripture references in telling her testimony.

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  17. Chas, this site and the thoughts it provokes helps us to put the pieces of our life puzzles together. For example, I just realized that the first church our son attended for a while, other than a one time visit, was that PCA church which met closer in to downtown because they used another church building to meet in while getting ready to build in our neighborhood. Now, as years passed, son ended up at Covenant, the PCA college, and attending PCA churches. Interesting how that worked out a life circle

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  18. Despite the horrors I’ve wrestled with all week with technology, yesterday was my best day ever on my personal blog. More than 100 people read yesterday’s post on Jesus, Scientists and Me. Here it is for those who are curious: http://michelleule.com/2016/07/15/jesus-scientists-me/

    I’ve long used this blog, even when it was with World, as a place to ask questions about Christianity around the US and the world. I had not run into Christians quite like the bunch who used to comment here, in particular, and it was enlightening.

    I began blogging with World the same time I went to work and began reading queries at a Christian literary agency. The two showed me different reactions and thoughts about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, boy wizards, and the effect of society on belief.

    It was eye-opening and frankly troubling. We have attended I don’t even know how many different church bodies–14?– in all four corners of the US and Hawai’i. I thought I had a pretty good handle on the differences in Christians.

    But the work and the blogging revealed so many “believers” whose theology and belief was inches deep and not Bible-based, that it disturbed me. (I’m not talking about the posters here).

    It also showed me how the Church can get such a bad reputation in the world. We haven’t done well in the social media circus and the ability to have bad and wrong theology amplified by ignorant individuals and then pinned on ME has been appalling.

    I’m not talking about you all–I’ve obviously mixed the two in the course of writing this post.

    Anyway, I’m grateful for the interesting ideas discussed, the prayers exchanged, the ability to ask for a prayer request, and the different political ideas expressed on the politics form. I do miss some of those who provided opinions across the spectrum and always am happy to see HRW weigh in.

    Today’s a writing day, finally.

    Assuming the computer works, sigh.

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  19. Good morning, all! My good friend is getting married today and it’s a beautiful day for a wedding!

    AJ, did you get the pictures I emailed?

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  20. Ironical, I am watching Trump make his running mate announcement at my friend’s home. A conservative in liberal land. Still the cats will not come out from hiding to see their substitute mom. I will blame it on Trump!!! Just getting ahead of the blame game 🙂

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  22. I think I may have solved part of my technology problems. It seems there are different “channels” you can be connected to if you have DSL service. Yesterday I got a nice woman at AT&T who renamed my home network, changed the password to something I would remember instead of a series of letters and numbers, then changed the channel, and worked with me to do a “speedtest” on my network. For two days this week that is all I did; stay on the phone with AT&T.
    This morning I have had coffee, finished a book, written a lease, and started a load of whites. Mr. P is up and I can hear The Donald making a speech. Oh how I long for this disaster of an election to be over. I do think he made a mistake with who he chose to run with him as VP. Mike Pense is a late night talk show’s dream material to make fun of Christians. I really wish he had chosen Newt Gingrich. I don’t like him but at least he has “inside the Beltway” experience and a large enough personality not to cowtow to The Donald. I am THRILLED that Chris Christie wasn’t chosen. The media tried too long to make him the Republican choice and I am glad it backfired on them. Yes, I do realize how petty I sound and I am not apologizing for it.

    Cheryl and Michelle, last night Mr. P and I had dinner in town. I asked him afterwards if he felt like walking around for a little while. HE DID!!!!! We walked down the street where Mr. Gene’s Beans is and got dessert.
    Now I am off to do my Cinderella Chores. How I wish the Fairy Godmother would show up and with a bibbity bobbity boo clean and organize my house.

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  23. I’ve praying that device would work! Thanks be to God! Of course, your town is so pretty, it would be hard to resist a walk around . . . assuming it’s not muggy of course. 🙂

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  24. You’ve been busy while I’ve been sleeping in on this Saturday. How wonderful that felt.

    The roof job wore me out, you’d think I’d been up there pounding away alongside of them. 🙂 Hope they’re getting some rest this weekend, they’re generally done except for some final touches and the inspector’s visit on Monday, he told me (they were still here when I got home Friday at around 7, very long day for them).

    I don’t have a lot of plans today other than picking up around the house, maybe hitting a closet to get some more Salvation Army things set to go.

    I have a good-sized crack/gap in the ceiling plaster in the bedroom (it was already there but now is considerably bigger after the roof work) that I’ll need to deal with. But not today.

    We tend to romanticize the Amish and the lifestyle (in images) has appeal. I joke with some FB friends that I’m going “Amish” for his election year as I’m feeling so disconnected and can’t seem to bear getting caught up in any of it, thank you.

    So since I just got up, I feel out of the loop. Are there any coups going on today, failed or not? New terrorist attacks? Something surely is blowing up somewhere.

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  27. And I am just in for breakfast. It has been a lazy day here. Up and out to feed animals, deal with fourteen year old and her stuff she is moving around from storage to her room and elsewhere, moved the pigs into a larger pasture, moved the bucks and bucklings into a smaller one. Separated the bucklings from the bucks so we can sell them later, put the bucks in with the pigs, rebuilt a fence, and mowed about half the tree pasture with the walk behind. Good thing husband said we are taking it easy today after fourteen year old kept us all up to after eleven. We normally get the last of us to bed at eight thirty. Off to finish the mowing.

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  32. The lizard seems to be a male Carolina anole or green anole. I photographed this one in Georgia on our way home, but I saw a couple more in Alabama. (I didn’t identify them until we got home.) One of the ones in Alabama, I saw the dewlap extended (as above) but didn’t get a photo. Later I saw one on a bush, and didn’t get a photo until it had jumped to a tree trunk. I got two or three more photos, but somehow didn’t notice until looking at the photos later that in the first photo the lizard was still bright green, in the last it was brown, and in the middle one it was changing colors. The day I got this photo, a brown lizard was also around, and I suspected this lizard was displaying to it, but I assumed they were different species because this one was green and that one brown. I haven’t looked again at photos of the brown one, but I know now both brown and green could be the same species. The extendable dewlap is a trait of males only.

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  33. Janice, I’m familiar with butterfly weed, and though these look similar in some ways I don’t think it’s a milkweed. But not being a botanist, and having taken a quick photo and then run ahead to catch up with Kim, I didn’t get a really good look at it.

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  34. Yeah, definitely no to either Gingrich or Christie. Though Pence is my governor, I don’t keep up with politics enough to know much about him. Truth is, I don’t much care what Trump does or says or who he chooses; he lost me months ago, or rather, never had me to lose and has moved from neutral with a negative lean to a very negative perception. He can do pretty much whatever he wants from here on out, but I’ll try to ignore him as I have ignored Obama.

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  35. I am gullible enough to give Trump a chance based on who he places as his counselors. So far so good at this early point. At least he probably won’t have tzars like the emperor O. What happened to the tzars? Maybe they got renamed when Obama and Putin started having difficulties?

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  36. Cheryl, I think now it is not a butterfly weed. The leaves looked similar along with the flower shape and size, but when I looked for red butterfly weed online it just showed the dark orange like my plants.

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  37. I am at home now recuperating from the work I did at my friend’s home to put things in better order for them. I still did not see their cats. I think they hide in closets. I broke down a lot of cardboard boxes and got them all out, along with carrying out the garbage from every can I found that could be emptied. The lady next door wanted to know if my friends still lived there. I told her I was helping them and looking after their cats. They order a lot from Amazon Prime so many boxes accumulate that they have not been able to deal with. I am glad to know they will be glad to step into their home and see one less thing they need to deal with. Vacation laundry is enough!

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  40. Annie’s sweetly curled up on a chair in the patio for a Saturday afternoon nap. I allow her out when I’m home, she stays in the backyard now for the most part and that’s important. (Not sure if it’s because she’s just getting a bit older or if she senses the coyote danger these days out front.)

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  41. So, I picked a room. The first place I went to was beautifully appointed and within a short walk to the campus. But, they had housecats. I like animals, but I have learned by experience that I cannot live long term in the same house as them. My asthma won’t stand for it. So, the room I picked is a little less well appointed and with not as many comforts available, but I think I’ll get along fine with the family (the first house, the couple reminded me of the landlords who put me in a spot the last time I rented) and the bus route is nearby. The rent was the same for both places.

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  42. I was hopeful I would find live cats in the boxes, but did not. You know, after a week of only seeing one early on, the mind starts to wonder. But the rearrangements of household items they made, along with empty food plates and bowls, and water bowls that needed refilling, not to mention the gravel coated cookies in the litter boxes make me logically conclude all is well with them.

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  43. As you can see from the current header photo, Kim’s region is one of those that grows blue hydrangeas. (As you may or may not know, the acidity of the soil determines whether hydrangeas will be blue, pink, or white. In my region they’re white and I’m not all that excited about white flowers.)

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  44. I recognized the hydrangeas. Iron is what makes them pink. A rusty nail stuck in the soil next to them will make them pink. Acids soil mails them blue…if I am remembering correctly.

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  45. Question for someone who might know.

    Background: My ophthalmologist has decreed that I not eat regular peanut butter. That is, the kind that comes in jars. So, Elvera went to a store that makes peanut butter. It is OK. It dries up fast so it needs to be used within a couple of weeks. Thankfully, you can buy small containers of it.

    Now, we have moved. We can no longer patronize that store. I don’t know if Harris Teeter, (That is not the place we got it in H’ville.) has it.
    Problem: What do I call it? How do I know what to ask for?

    I know. “Do you carry that kind of peanut butter you make here and isn’t like the stuff in jars?

    Seriously, does that stuff have a name, or some identification?

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  48. That feeling you get when you walk out onto the front porch to see why the police helicopter if flying so low in circles overhead — and see police everywhere.

    Apparently there’s a guy with a gun in the alley half a block away. Guess I’ll stay in tonight.

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  50. Chas- I would think any of the processed peanut butters would be what the doctor meant. They have additives like dextrose or other sugars, plus hydrogenated non-peanut oils. Get a natural one that only has peanuts as an ingredient, and uses the peanut oil. They are more expensive, and some of them require stirring before use, as the oil separates and floats to the top. I refrigerate it after stirring to prevent the separation.

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  51. Ugh, well it’s pretty intense here, all our streets are barricaded inside police perimeter & my friend down the street texted that police with helmets & guns drawn were outside her kitchen window a little while ago — before they headed my way with the K9 dogs. Loudspeaker seems to be telling the guy he has “1 minute to surrender” before the dogs are let loose.

    I’ve closed all my windows.

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  53. Well, he didn’t surrender in 1 minute apparently.

    Saw my backyard lighting up a few minutes ago, helicopter light I think.

    It’s all very loud here.

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  54. And a neighbor just posted this: 4 swat men 1 dog going Yard to Yard, in garage,

    So maybe not the helicopter lights …

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  55. cop just came to the door, they’re checking the yards, wanted to know if neighbors were home as they hand’t answered their door. I can hear yelling right outside but I think they’re yelling commands at the K9 dog.

    All started with an armed robbery in the park where I walk my dogs and take so many pictures … now we have a guy with a gun running around. Lots of yelling right outside in the driveway next to me.

    And poor Annie was locked outside in the back for a while, finally got her shooed into the doggie door, she was meowing up a storm.

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  58. OK, guy in custody in front of my neighbor’s house at the canyon entrance, now looking for the gun. Thankfully the helicopter is gone!

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  59. Good idea. I’ll check a health food store. They’ll know what I’m talking about anyhow.
    It doesn’t have any preservatives and dries out quickly. To me, the texture and taste are about the same.
    I never thought of refrigerating it. I can’t imagine cold peanut butter. 😯

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  61. I thought Adams made natural peanut butter.

    We don’t usually have that stuff going on in my neighborhood, Donna, ever think of relocating?

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  62. I like the color Donna, what style is your house. That seems dark–maybe a lighter shade on the wheel and use this for trim? Of course a lot will depend on what it looks like in natural light. You can always ask for a sample and test it on the back of your house.

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  65. Still in lax and getting tired. I saw the hard work of the cleaning staff in the middle of the night. Please pray that they would have room for me today
    Last night I got all the way to the gate, but folks showed up late, so they took my luggage off

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  69. Jo, sorry this is happening. It’s no fun being stuck in the airport. The longest I’ve had to wait was about five hours and that was enough for me.

    Mumsee, the program starts in the last few days of August. I’m excited and nervous at the same time. I’ve registered for all the mandatory courses, but now I’m trying to choose an elective. There are a lot of options.

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  71. Kim,

    You should recognize those oaks too. 🙂

    I’ve got one more pic for later. Some southern lady, and her little dog as well. 🙂

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  72. The picture reminds me of hwy 61 west of Charleston. Except hwy 61 has more moss.
    Problem is: it is protected area. Charleston has expanded past it. Lots of valuable property that can’t be developed. People like you and me appreciate that. People who own the land sitting on millions of dollars worth of land they can’t sell.

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  75. I almost didn’t make it to church today, woke up late after last night’s long and intense cops-and-robbers melodrama playing out in front of my house. Hearing a police helicopter sitting almost on top of your house, spotlights flickering through your backyard — and then seeing LAPD in riot gear and K9 dogs outside your front door — is never a good sign.

    But it all ended without injury, thankfully, guy was hiding in the stand of trees right across the street when the dog found him — WOOF WOOF WOOF — and he decided he’d surrender before they let the dog loose.

    The officers had been immediately around my house and the neighbor’s house for more than 30 minutes beforehand, so I was pretty sure the dog had picked up something very nearby. The “cleared” my backyard and apparently looked under the house also as my grate was placed very “neatly” ajar, I noticed later.

    Never a dull moment.

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  77. Those oaks are around the corner from my house. The land behind them is developed but the oaks are protected.
    One of the photos is od Sunfish sailing on Mobile Bay. Cheryl took that one from the Fairhope Pier.

    Who is coming to visit me next?

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  78. Kim can probably say more about the last two photos than I can, since they are spots she took me to so that I could see them and get photos. The sailboats were from some sort of club (there are more of them than in the photo, but that was the best photo), and when she asked me to send AJ the photos of the “Tunnel of Oaks,” she wrote, “You can tell him the Oaks are around the corner from my house.” It was a very pretty living tunnel. By the way, the headlights approaching on that car, the one on the right (the car’s left) glowed reddish, and I tried “red-eye remover,” and it worked.

    But the best photo was probably the Southern belle and her little dog. Donna, I wouldn’t let Cowboy see, because the moment Misten sees, Cowboy is going to have some serious competition. That little boy looks sophisticated enough to woo a prissy collie. So it’s better if Cowboy doesn’t know about him.

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  80. Oh. The Fairhope Yacht Club. That is probably the local youth learning to sail. There was a time in my life I could do that but it has been years.

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  81. Flights don’t matter, God wants my attitude, but I sure am tired
    Probably no room tonight, but I will need a hotel for some sleep

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  82. Misten has Cowboy & now may be going for Amos? What about Heidi? Can’t she have a boyfriend? Sheesh. Those pretty girls get all the boys.

    (Heidi is more on the cute side rather than what people would call beautiful in a dog. But she is very cute, & she is beautiful to me. 🙂 )

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  83. Trying Expedia searches for tomorrow. Lax to Pom and it gives two good ones, but when I select them, it says not available
    Anyone else want to try?

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  91. It’s the Love Puppy. The Most Handsome Puppy Dog in the World and as both husband and daughter understand he is the love of him mama’s life. He is currently snuggled up behind my knees sound asleep. (Don’t worry. I have saved money for BG to see a therapist about her mama and the dog).

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  93. For the record, I got two shots of Kim and Amos, and I thought the other one was a slightly better shot of Kim . . . but in this one, Amos is such a little man that it’s like he’s posing for his own dating website or something. Misten would be drooling if I let her see.

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  96. Insomnia tonight. Better than a migraine, though, which I had most of the day Saturday, and into very early Sunday morning — at its worst around 1:30 a.m. yesterday, but gone by the time I got up for the day.

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  98. Donna, glad they got that guy in your neighborhood. Yikes. I think I’ll take bears and raccoons in our yard over something like that!

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  99. Time to read a bit, to pass the time. Philip Glass’s memoir Words Without Music. An interesting read.

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