77 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 8-13-17”

  6. I despise this poem for personal reasons, but it is the one that came to mind when I opened the blog, so I will share it for those who don’t share my feelings.

    I THINK that I shall never see
    A poem lovely as a tree.

    A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
    Against the sweet earth’s flowing breast;

    A tree that looks at God all day,
    And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

    A tree that may in summer wear
    A nest of robins in her hair;

    Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
    Who intimately lives with rain.

    Poems are made by fools like me,
    But only God can make a tree.

    Liked by 3 people

  7. Catty Kim is here with a Public Service Announcement and a comment or two.
    1. LADIES if the heels on your shoes are so high that you have to actively watch where you are walking and concentrate on where you are going and concentrate on each step you take, they may be too high.
    2. If you are that woman above AND you are dressed in a form fitting dress, you are older than 30 and you get in a Mustang with a LOUD rumble in the engine….well, I am going to laugh at you and perhaps make up a story about you to entertain myself.
    3. This one is especially for MICHELLE and CHERYL, I know someone who has cranked out two books in the last month, her husband is proofing the second one before she self publishes on Kindle. MICHELLE, what has taken you so long on Biddy?

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  8. Good Morning! What a lovely photo of that tree!
    Kim we had to memorize that poem in elementary school…Paul will break out and quote it from time to time….we finish it together in unison! 🌲
    Chas is Ellie sleeping in her own bed yet?

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Harper Valley PTA. I don’t wear heels other than what shows up on my exercise shoes, but I watch every step. Run into enough snakes and it will change the way you look at the world. Plus I tend to trip over a blade of grass once in a while.

    Liked by 8 people

  11. I do watch my step more on stairs as I have gotten older.

    The tree is lovely, but I never liked the thought of climbing pines because of their rough bark. Smooth bark trees appeal more to me for climbing.

    Liked by 1 person

  14. I found a cicada that had emerged from its old skin on a golden rod plant this morning. I got some good photos. It was the first time in all my years that I have seen the leftover shell with the cicada. It seems a miracle. I wish I could have seen it while it was emerging. It must have done that overnight.

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  16. Janice, I can’t tell if you are scolding me or pitying the woman I wrote about. Either way, I thought it was funny. I personally, am not the most graceful creature on earth. I had a lovely pair of stacked wedges a couple of summers ago. I felt so tall and powerful in them. The 3rd time I fell off of them I donated them to Goodwill. 😉

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  18. NancyJIll: Ellie is with her parents in NJ. They won’t get out until tonight. They fly to Charlotte and then to Greensboro.

    Interesting thing about Ellie.
    She was abandoned by her mother. Left on a doorstep. Her mother left a note, but no one would translate it and Mary doesn’t know what it said. Except they know her birth date.

    I understand that it is a shame in China for a family to have a disfigured member. Ellie was born with a left arm not completed. i.e. she doesn’t have left hand.

    Evidently, her mother loved her. But she abandoned her.
    I understand that it is illegal in China to abandon a baby. But they have a system. You place a baby at a station and ring a bell, then leave. A guard waits a while then goes to pick up the child and no one know who left it.
    But they say Ellie was left on a door step.

    The interesting thing to me is that Ellie was Chosen.
    Here is a baby who has no chance in the world. Abandoned and picked up by an orphanage.
    Yet. She was chosen by a couple from Florida.
    They bring her to America to be raised is an upper middle class family.
    She will spend every Christmas in NC with grandparents.
    She will attend a Baptist SS and VBS.
    Nineteen years from now she will likely enroll in a college in Florida. Or maybe USC or Appalachian State on Legacy Scholarships.

    This girl who was abandoned on a doorstep now has every chance in life.
    What she does with it is up to her.

    .

    Liked by 8 people

  20. And, depending on a number of factors (what mom ate, how snuggled and nurtured by mom and by those in the orphanage, etc) she may/probably will have a lot of anger issues to deal with regardless of how she is reared from here on out. People don’t understand that. But the time bonding with mom in utero, is very important and then that bond is broken when the child is given up. Yes, her opportunities have changed dramatically but even such a young child has a lot of baggage with her. We all need God. Desperately.

    Liked by 8 people

  21. Chas we love the way our Lord knits families together…..Ellie is indeed chosen by the Most High….and her Great Grand Dad has covered her in prayer…I have no doubt that is a treasure she will carry in her heart for all of her days….❤️

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  24. Mumsee @10:44, I just saw a post from an adoptive mother (shared on FB by another adoptive mother) that said what you just said. The loss of one’s biological mother, whether by death or abandonment, is a tragedy, and one that the child will have to mourn over and heal from, whether or not the child was adopted into another loving family.

    Liked by 2 people

  25. We understand that she will have problems. Not only with her arm, but it will occur to her at family gatherings that she doesn’t look the same as the rest. She will likely be teased when she gets into school. But she will have an older brother to protect her.
    Yet, I think of the thousands of children in orphanages who cry, “Choose me” and nobody does.

    It’s an evil world. Just a little bit of light helps when it is dark.
    (An interesting phenomenon I notice when I get up at night for a potty break. When it’s really dark , I notice the light on the clock casts a shadow.)

    Though I’m not a Calvinist, I do believe in destine. I have experienced it so much. ,

    Liked by 7 people

  26. And that is why we are still considering opening our home to more children. So much pain out there. And we know the Truth but cannot make them believe, can only show them.

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  27. Chosen by God. An amazing doctrine it is, rich in its depth and mystery. When I began reading Sproul and others many years ago, I marveled and wondered, “Where has this been all my (Christian) life?”

    Yes, that tree looks like many we have in California, so grand. My little city tree out front is still coming along, but it has a ways to go before it is sturdy. It’s still tied to it’s poles but I water it almost daily still. It will be nice when it finally becomes “established.”

    Busy day for me today, first it’s off to the Civil War museum with my ancestor’s rifle. Then up to visit Carol, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen her, but it will be a relatively short (hourlong) visit I think. Tomorrow I will have to put in a little bit of work, unfortunately, to write a copy block for a big bicycle event coming to town that will close many of our waterfront streets (and make getting to the dog park impossible until after it’s over at 4 p.m.). Monday it’s gathering all the pets for the trip to the vet. And I may or may not go to the office for a 3 p.m. staff meeting, but now I’m leaning against going. Visiting a friend in the Valley on Thursday and in between I desperately have to find some time to spend on finishing up at least 1 or 2 rooms in this house. Vacation weeks go like that, there’s always so many things I really have to do just to catch up.

    It’s all gone silent, meanwhile, on the foundation job. Sigh. I just hope I don’t have to somehow find someone else who can do it for moonlighting prices. 😦

    Liked by 1 person

  28. I love high heels. But I’m 5′ 11″ so that doesn’t always work and I haven’t worn any sort of heel since I started working at camp – flip flops and flats now. I had trouble finding a sandal in my collection that had a higher sole/heel to match the height of my boot cast, but this morning I found a pair and while a bit lower, it’s a whole lot more comfortable on my hip than the extreme difference I had before.

    I find I easily fall off even a 2″ heel now – just not used to them anymore.

    Liked by 3 people

  30. Did anyone save the note (apparently not). 😦 😦 Mom will probably be wondering about her for the rest of her life.

    We’re all uniquely wired by God — and the experiences he brings each of us through are all for his purpose. Hard to fathom it all from our limited vantage point.

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  31. I’m amazed at some of the stiletto-style heels I see some of our advertising women wear to work. I was never a fan of heels, though wore them some when I was younger, of course. But I was glad to get past that stage, to be honest. I remember wedge shoes also, very popular when I was in college. I twisted my ankle more than a few times plodding along in those going to class from the far-end parking lots on campus.

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  32. Great maps, Phos. If you look on the National Park map, in the centre of Saskatchewan is Prince Albert – I live right on the bottom boundary near the centre. We also lived in Elk Island (Alberta) for 17 years and Grasslands (on American border) for 4 years.

    I am blessed to live in such beautiful areas of Canada.

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  33. There was a grand, very tall spruce tree in front of the house where we lived maybe from the time I was about 6-9 years old. I used to climb it as high as I could go to report later to my mom what landmarks I was able to see from the far reaches that day.

    We played tea party (I remember wearing my mom’s high heels and lipstick), Davy Crockett and Lassie under the broad canopy of the tree, it was like being inside a tent with pine needles (and some sap) padding the floor.

    Someone once left a fox stole underneath it — head and all — which freaked my mom out as she was sure it was a dead animal. She called animal control and the guy came out, slowly walked up to the door with the thing in his hands and held it up for my mom to see. “Here’s your dead animal lady.”

    My grandmother later made it into a Davy Crockett hat for me which I came across not long ago in my mom’s (her mother’s before that) old wooden sewing stand. The fox head and face were discarded, I guess. The thing was rather creepy, but a fun story that our family never got tired of telling.

    When we were forced to move from that house — we rented and the state was taking the entire block to build a freeway — I remember my mom driving me by there on the night before the tree was going to come down, for one last look. She loved the tree too.

    And we were able to move just a few blocks away where our landlord had another rental house — that eventually my parents were able to buy from him.

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  34. We have several spruce trees but nobody climbs them as they are so prickly and sappy. They do climb a pine or two. Not the willows as they break so easily. And the apple and walnut trees are climbed a lot.

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  36. We had one very large spruce in our yard in Elk Island. The kids climbed it all the time and dubbed it “the whale” Lot’s of fun with trees.

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  37. They had to take down the large redwood trees on this property. Redwoods don’t have a tap root. Their roots spread out and join with others, meaning they support each other and hold each other up. If you are in a grove, you can jump up and down and it will sound like a wooden floor. They need each other, so we couldn’t leave them growing alone next to a house.
    There are also lovely sequoia trees growing here and the holly and camellia bushes are almost as tall as trees.

    Liked by 3 people

  39. I can’t speak for Cheryl, but in answer to Kim’s question about what takes so long, I know I have to use SpellCheck . . . 🙂

    There are fine writers who can whizz out the work in no time flat: Isaac Asimov, Charles Spurgeon, even Stephen King in his genre. But, really, would you want to live with them? 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  42. Spruce, pine, I think I use the term interchangeably. But the house (and tree) was on Spruce Street. 🙂

    OK, I have George Russell’s rifle and a copy of his letter home to his sister, written sitting under a large tree somewhere (the letter seriously needs transcribing, I have so much trouble reading some of that handwriting from years past, it’s beautiful but many of the words are indecipherable to me. I did pick up that he felt his captain was unprincipled. 🙂 )

    I’ll try to spend some more time with it later today or tonight. And I need to find the original, which I think is in a wooden box filled with letters in the house …

    Someday when I’m no longer working this will be a wonderful project.

    Liked by 1 person

  43. Former owners of this house planted one of those small, live potted Christmas trees in the backyard many years ago. It’s quite large now and Tess manages to come in with some sap in her fur now and again, the dogs like lying underneath it.

    Liked by 1 person

  44. I believe you can call a spruce a pine but you can’t call a pine a spruce. Spruce threes have the needles coming out of the branch, pines have them growing in clusters.

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  45. Daughter has been told over the years that writing required much rewriting but she never really accepted that. Now she is finding herself rewriting her paragraph for the fifth time in English Grammar course with her video teacher. Guess it was not just mom being mean.

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  47. OK, so my Civil War rifle is an Indian War (era) rifle, just post-Civil War (more like 1870ish). Now I’m sure the ancestor served in the Civil War but he may have continued on in the Army after that and so this could be a newer issue rifle that he had.

    The man at the museum was very helpful, managed to get the serial number off it, possibly the armory inspector’s initials, and some other details. It’s a trap door Springfield musket. At first he thought there might still be a bullet in it, but he decided it was mud. The firing device is stuck in the cocked position, though (happened as I was playing with it as a kid once). Might need a new spring, but guy said if I’m just keeping it as a family heirloom (which I am), no need to fix or clean it up, leave it as is and hang it over the fireplace.

    Liked by 6 people

  48. Kim, If I sounded like I was chiding, it would have been meant for myself as much as for you. I think I would have thought similarly to how you thought, and it is not the way in which we are suppose to think (we are suppose to try to think the best of people). I really have to work very hard to not think less or more of others than I think of myself. None of us are perfect, but some people seem to flaunt their imperfections more than others. We can’t help but notice how loud their style is. Truly it is a pity to encounter those who have a tacky sense of style. But if we get to know the person, we may realize why God made them as He did. Who knows what role He has in mind for them with their unique qualities?

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  49. Kare, we’re you ever around the Boundary Waters? When Wesley was in Scouting, they had a High Adventure trip they could have taken there between Canada and the USA. Wesley only went on one High Adventure trip that involved being on a sailing vessel in the Bahamas. Maybe Michelle’s sons went on the Boundary Waters trip?

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  51. Janice, I’ve never been to the Boundary Waters area. The closest water down in Grasslands is the Frenchman River which flows south into the Missouri River.

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  58. My husband and I went to the Boundary Waters over 45 yrs. ago. It is a beautiful area. OTOH, the promises made by government entities when it was formed haven’t been kept. No surprise there, I guess.

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  59. Our pastor is currently doing a pulpit series explaining the scriptures with images from a canoe trip to a wilderness area. It has been quite interesting, although nothing new for me, as far as the scripture.

    Liked by 1 person

  60. After 12 hours of winding mountain roads and wonderful scenery, we’re back at our friends’ house. We went to Rocky Mountain Park. Yes, we saw moose and elk. I’ll send some pics to AJ when we get home.

    Liked by 5 people

  61. I found a YouTube of a cicada leaving it’s shell behind. I was amazed to find a newly emerged one atop it’s old shell this morning. When I saw this YouTube I thought about how it is similar to what Kbells is going through, leaving the shell behind and free to be her perfect self for eternity.

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  63. I think I will send images of the letter from my ancestor to AJ for posting at his convenience (along with photos of the rifle). You guys did pretty good last time in interpreting that 1800 handwriting. This letter was written in 1861 from the field while he was in the army, so I am pretty sure the info about him serving in the Civil War is accurate — wondering if he just stayed on in the Army afterward and the gun I have was a later-issue one he had.

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  65. Was I really the first one to comment on this thread today? No other comments this morning? (Well, it’s still morning for our western coast friends.)

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  68. Janice,

    Growing up we had a palo verde tree in my front yard that the cicadas loved. In summer, it wasn’t uncommon to be able to catch 10 or 12 from it. (And palo verde trees have thorns and cannot be climbed–so I’m talking about branches a kid can reach from the ground without poking herself. Like I said, it drew many cicadas.) We often found the discarded shells, I’m pretty sure I saw one climbing out once or twice, and occasionally we would find one that had died in its shell or trying to emerge.

    Liked by 1 person

  69. Our sermon was about the fact that every portage does not lead to the lake you want. Parable was about two young college women going into the Boundary Waters with a lot of confidence, but no idea of what they were in for. They had no map and had reserved an in point far from where they were going. The pastor was asked to barrow a canoe and help them get started. He was astounded how little they knew about where they were going. First thing, he took them to buy a map. They were able to reserve a different in put spot and plan better. Of course, scripture was also used.

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  70. This was the day of our joint worship service. When I got to church, the air was not working. It was steaming and not a situation for the visitors to make a good choice on merger. The deacons were very active trying to remedy the situation. The A/C repair person came in to see what could be done. I came back home and rushed to get our three fans loaded in the car. I got exhausted and almost overheated getting the fans into the church. I gave all three up to be used to get the sanctuary more comfortable. I stayed in the media center with a tiny fan. By the end of Sunday school hour I was feeling ill and came back home. I missed out on the service but felt that was wise. The parking lot was packed. That was great to see. I need to call someone and find out how the service went.

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  71. I have felt tearful all day, mostly about Kbells, but also from not getting to be at the service today.

    I am trying to get some writing done to attend a writer’s retreat next weekend. It is nice to have that as a distraction from the emotional pains of life. I also have some inmate Bible Studies to review.

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  72. My husband and I went to our new (after we move) church, which meant being gone all weekend. But it was a blessing to meet our new church family (we’d already met the pastor) and it should help with the transition and also help with getting help at the other end when we move! It was a blessing to be there, but I joked we had to have had the longest commute in the service–most people don’t drive several hours round trip and stay in a hotel overnight just to go to church.

    Sobering, though, to come home to KBells’ report. May God bring great comfort to that young family.

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