51 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 3-24-17”

  2. Right behind you Jjo.
    It’s really Friday, you know what that means?

    I’m glad it’s Friday. I wasn’t sure of that ’till I got up and looked at the computer.
    I have to teach for Bob this Sunday and I was thinking it was Saturday just before I rolled out.
    It has been a hectic week and I need to get settled before starting to work on Jesus’ ride into Jerusalem. It’s a bit early to teach a Palm Sunday lesson.

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  4. Thanx Peter. Boilermakers lost too. I don’ know the score, just that Kansas beat them.
    Gamecocks play tonight.
    Does anyone else use the phrase “There now” to indicate that you’re finished. You only say it when you’re doing something for someone. I’ve never heard anyone else say that.

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  5. Chas, I’ve heard that, but I couldn’t begin to tell you who said it.

    I see my cardinal in evergreen (with snow) shot made it. One would think that with cardinals coming to our yard a lot, in an area that gets a fair amount of snow, and having a blue spruce that can be seen from the window in our front door, that such a shot would be easy to take. But it isn’t. First off, to get that photo requires positioning the camera at a spot of the door where the glass is clear (most of it is frosted) and focusing correctly. Second, for reasons I don’t know, cardinals don’t land in that tree very often, they duck inside (out of easy photo range) pretty quickly most of the time when they do land on it, and finally they seem determined to choose not to land on it while there is still snow on the branches. 🙂 So to have the “luck” of having my camera with me and focused at the same time as a cardinal lands there on a snowy day, and sticks around for a few photos, has taken six winters of watching. But he cooperated very well on that particular day, landing on the tree three times (that I saw) over the course of the day, including once while it was still snowing.

    This was the same day I got the shot of courtship feeding in the backyard, so I assume that this is the same male and thus part of a mated pair. The female came to the tree a few times that day, too, leading me to wonder if they were considering it for a nest. But I’ve gotten good shots of the female on it before–she is less inclined to duck in to the center of the tree as soon as she lands, since the male is quite conscious he is brightly colored and visible, and probably an invitation to predators if he isn’t cautious.

    The picture is the “classic” cardinal shot for good reason, since the boy looks stunning against the snow and wonderful in an evergreen. But I like it that his pose in the shot isn’t the standard one–with his wings down and his crest down, the pose is different enough to be personal. But those many, many years when I bemoaned not having a camera that could photograph a cardinal, this is the shot I wanted.

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  6. Good snowing morning ya’ll!! That is a lovely photo Cheryl…I have been worried about our feathered friends today…the winds are howling at 60mph with extremely wet heavy snow! Where oh where do they hunker down during these times? The interstate is closed, as is the rural hwy close to our house…there is no way to get there from here! I will be staying put for the time being. The Mr says the snow is like concrete….but Lulah is having the time of her life running around outside…silly dog!

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  7. Chas, “There now” has always been used in my family circle. It can be used the way you described, after doing something for somebody. It can also be used, usually when speaking to a child, after they have done something they shouldn’t have and caused an accident as a result. If a couple of my nephews, who have been told not to roughhouse on the furniture, end up falling off the couch because they had been having a scuffle and bump their heads, we might say, “There now, that’s why we told you not to play on the couch.”

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  9. Chas, good to hear the new church is drafting you back behind the teacher’s desk now and again.

    Fridays are good days. 🙂 Have to dig up a story to write, though, in case the one I’m tentatively planning on doesn’t come through.

    I got up early to get the trash out today and was going through all the tax stuff as I (finally) made my appointment for tomorrow afternoon. I gathered almost everything I need in pretty short order (still need Ligonier donations, but I can find those online, too, I believe; my car registration – also online; and 1/2 payment of my property tax from ’16).

    Carol has another friend visiting today (she doesn’t visit often) and she’s agreed to get Carol to the library to get those 29 books returned. I was beginning to just hate hearing about those books day after day. 😦 Let’s hope there were lessons learned in all of that (she did mention starting to borrow electronic books instead, which I’ve always said is her best option for not having to worry about physically returning books on time, especially with her now more frequent hospitalizations and physical/transportation/financial limitations; the ebooks just vanish from your device when they’re “due”).

    We’re getting sunny days in the 60s (70s by mid week next week), really gorgeous weather.

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  10. I have heard it used, but it is not common around here, I don’t believe. Although, I am sure I will now hear it everywhere I go. 😀

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  11. Kim’s poems and the pictures of the Dogwood remind me that we had a pastor who used to also do a botanical tour featuring plants the reflect the character of God in them. I was never able to take it, but it did sound interesting.

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  12. That cardinal/evergreen/snow picture has me in the mood for Christmas 🙂 It’s coming … And my house should be done by then. Or even in the worse-case scenario, it will be at least closer to being done, right?

    I felt like I kind of missed this last Christmas with all the bathroom upheaval. And I’m still appreciating the perk of having a shower every morning. Going without for so long made me very conscious of that.

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  14. For any who like Monty Python, and will get this: We were doing a triage exercise in class this week. We had a list of thirty hypothetical people with various describe injuries and vital signs. We had four coloured cards we had to hold up depending on how we would classify them: Black – not breathing; Red – need immediate attention; Yellow – need attention, but can be delayed; Green – minor injuries, and can still walk. One of the hypothetical people had an amputated arm, with the bleeding controlled. Most of us said he would be in the Yellow category. However, one classmate contended the person would be in the Green category, because it was an amputated arm, so they could still walk. A lively debate was beginning, when another classmate pipes up, “It’s just a flesh wound. I can still fight you!” The whole class dissolved into laughter, and even the teacher couldn’t talk for laughing.

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  17. I don’t know as the use of ‘there now’ as I gave it is so much in a tone of reprimand as pointing out a logical conclusion, i.e. actions have consequences. We use it in similar way during an informal debate or discussion that is taking place among several people. Somebody might bring up a hitherto unknown or forgotten fact in support of a certain position, and those who are for that position might say, “Ah, there now, that’s a good point.”

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  18. Donna you can come on over to my house…we are having a white Christmas in March
    Chas I have heard of “there now” as in terms as “it’s all over and done” What comes to mind is when a child falls and Grandmother picks the child up, brushes them off , says “there now”..pats them on the bottom and child runs off to play again 🙂 (and that is exactly what my Grandmother did time and time again)

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  19. Donna @ 10:32. My problem is that I can’t keep my mouth shut.
    I don’t think they know I’m a seminary graduate. I’m not going to tell them unless it comes up somehow.

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  21. I don’t know how using “there now” with children started, as it has always been part of my life, but I wonder if it had something to do with my mother’s style of discipline. If our misbehaviour caused us to get hurt, she wouldn’t discipline us for it, but simply point out that our punishment was in getting hurt. The logical lack of sympathy for self-inflicted punishment had a bracing effect, and helped us learn not to sulk.

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  25. My grandfather used there now (gruffly), pause, get down out of that peach tree before I get your tail! The gruff “there now”, was used to get your attention. Then came the what you were doing wrong. We were not allowed to climb the trees in his orchard! I had not thought of that phrase in years. “Yonder” is another of his words.

    Nancy Jill, we got a dusting of wet snow, but mostly the crazy wind. Still blowing!

    Phos, funny story. Did the amputation end up yellow? I would think it would have potential for rapid deterioration.

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  26. “Now now” was always used as a cautionary reprimand for us….as in “you better watch it or else!!” 🙂
    Rkessler my neighbor went outside to measure the snow this morning…there was 14 inches of measurable heavy wet snow…and the wind is still howling…it is so beautiful in the forest this morning…and I am ever so thankful for shelter..and heat…and coffee!

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  27. RKessler, all the 30 people were supposed to be in the same accident, so the official position, as given by the teacher, was that since the bleeding was controlled, the amputation could wait in the yellow category until those in the red category were seen to.

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  28. Re: My 12:00. I don’t know how much they know about me. My son and grand son-in-law are deacons and oldest GD was children’s minister for years. But parents and grandparents seldom come up in conversations.

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  29. These days, when someone says, “I saw you driving down Friendly Avenue”, it means they saw you on their smart phone. They didn’t really spot you.

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  30. Chas – When we finish doing something for someone, like tying Forrest’s shoelaces (something he is trying hard to master, but not quite getting), we may end with “There!” without the “now”. 🙂

    I’ve heard “There now” as a way of comforting a child who is crying.

    It’s interesting how words or phrases can have different connotations in different areas. Several years ago, I mentioned how my MIL used “jackass” as an epithet, often at me. (This was when she had Alzheimer’s, but the disease merely aggravated her already-negative & critical nature, so it was hard to say it was “just the disease talking”.)

    Cheryl said she didn’t think that was so bad, because the word merely referred to a very stubborn person, which makes sense. But to many, “jackass” is equivalent to “complete idiot”.

    There was a show on years ago by that name that had a guy doing really stupid stunts.

    (Btw, I hope my spelling out the word isn’t too offensive. But since it is also the legitimate name of an animal, I wasn’t sure how much of a swear word it would be considered.)

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  31. And no, I didn’t watch that show.

    About to begin a weekend of babysitting Little Guy. Nightingale is working second shift tonight, & first shift both Saturday & Sunday. Hoping she’s not on the rehab wing, because that always make her late, sometimes very late, getting home.

    Just a quick note about my day with Nightingale on Wednesday. We had fun browsing in Home Goods, where we found a lovely new coffee cup for me that looks like a large teacup (decorated with roses & a gold rim) on a little pedestal. It is “so me”. 🙂 (She also bought me a package of shortbread cookies, & a face cream for my dry skin.)

    Then we had a very delicious lunch at Five Guys, my first time there.

    We finished off with our pedicures. I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would, & felt a bit uncomfortable, but it was nice.

    On our way home, we swung by to pick up Little Guy from school, as she had promised him she would pick him up that day. As he gets in the car, he says, “Mimi! What are you doing in the car?!” 🙂

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  33. Kare, I’m sorry you’ve never seen a cardinal! I didn’t grow up with them–the first I ever saw was in Phoenix, but they don’t belong there. In Chicago I only rarely saw them (once a year or so), but in Nashville I saw them, including babies in my yard most years–that was a real treat, though I never saw a nest–and here we see them fairly frequently. They’ve been easily one of my favorite birds since that childhood sighting of one on our back fence.

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  34. Time to laugh at Kim. I always leave and return to my house through the garage door. I have three keys on a key chain, one to my car and the other two to my house. I had to go into the office today and Mr. P left to do some things. The Daddy was coming to get BG but they discovered they didn’t have a way to lock the house and shut the garage. There is a coded box but I couldn’t remember the code to the garage. They got the house secured on went on their errands. I stayed at the office for an extra hour because Mr. P wasn’t home and I didn’t know if I had a key to the front door and couldn’t remember the code to the garage door.
    HOW STUPID WAS I???? I have a garage door opener in my car! Turns out I also have a key to the front door. (We had had to change the lock on the front door several months ago)

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  35. I always used the garage door opener, But I remember the code tool. I miss my garage.

    I’ll bet I have read Matthew 12 a hundred times. This is the first time I realized that Jesus didn’t ride into Jerusalem on the donkey, but on the Colt. Zech. 9:9. Matthew doesn’t say so specifically, but it certainly looks that way.

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  37. I was thinking “No, you call it a hinny” so I Googled.

    A male donkey or ass is called a jack, a female a jenny or jennet; a young donkey is a foal. Jack donkeys are often used to mate with female horses to produce mules; the biological “reciprocal” of a mule, from a stallion and jenny as its parents instead, is called a hinny.

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  38. Michelle, I’m assuming that’s what he means. Some Scripture texts refer to the disciples being told to bring the mother donkey and her colt and some just mention the colt. I assume Chas pictured Jesus riding on the mother while her colt walked alongside–right?

    Chas, I assume you actually did notice it at some point, but it’s a small detail and we don’t always remember small details from one reading to another.

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  39. In all these year, I had never considered two animals. I just read past it. The Bible says “foal”. It’s what Kim said.
    Minor thing. But it shows that you can lean something after 62 years of study. I have taught 1203 SS lessons. Never taught this passage before.

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  40. I keep learning things in my old age.
    Elvera just informed me that you were supposed to kiss when you went under a covered bridge.
    I never had a covered bridge. But she did.
    Now, I wonder?

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  41. Chas, I once went walking with my sister and her family in a park on Christmas Day. I was walking ahead of them, but after a while I ducked back to whisper to my sister that there was mistletree growing in the trees just ahead and it is after all Christmas. She took advantage of the opportunity. 🙂

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  42. I remember when I first heard that Jesus rode on the colt of a donkey, which is how the bible translation put it that we were reading. I was surprised, since my brothers broke horses in and there was no just hopping on a colt and riding it. Conquering kings in the world at that time rode horses. It is significant that he came on the colt instead. Also, the reference from the OT makes it so for those who knew that scripture.

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  46. Thanks, Kathaleena. I liked the falling snow, too, though I think overall I like the other photo better. But it was nice of him to give me more than one chance!

    6 Arrows, since green is the complementary color of red (opposite on the color wheel), it’s about the best color to bring out the red. But I dialed the color up just a notch in the photo program to make up for taking the photo through a window. I don’t remember if I adjusted the color in this one, but I did a little in the other one (maybe a tad too much). Yeah, I looked and I did this one a little bit, but just to make the color what you could actually see in real life without the glass between. The other one probably ended up a little too bright. But they really do look more red against the green.

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  47. K is right that Jesus riding on the young donkey into Jerusalem fulfills an Old Testament prophecy. It actually fulfills two. There is the one in Zechariah: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass” (9:9). There is also another one, contained in the prophecies that Israel gave to each of his sons on his deathbed. Speaking of Judah, he said, “Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes” (Genesis 49:11). It is interesting to see, in Jacob’s prophecy, he was foreseeing not only the triumphal entry, but also the death of Christ.

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  50. When I was 8 or 9, I looked out our picture window and there on the fence was a bright red bird. “What kind of bird is that?” I asked Mom. She looked and said, “That’s a red cardinal.” An awful lot of my schoolwork after that had a bright red and black bird drawn on it somewhere.

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  51. We have a tree like that near our sunflower seed feeder, and the cardinals sure do look pretty against the green. And with snow on the branches, it looks even better.

    I think our windows need washing, though. 🙂

    Thanks for sharing those lovely photos, Cheryl.

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