Anyone have something to share?
Luke 1:57-80
The Birth of John the Baptist
57 When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.
59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, 60 but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”
61 They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”
62 Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. 63 He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. 65 All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. 66 Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.
Zechariah’s Song
67 His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:
68 “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has come to his people and redeemed them.
69 He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David
70 (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
71 salvation from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us—
72 to show mercy to our ancestors
and to remember his holy covenant,
73 the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
74 to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
and to enable us to serve him without fear
75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
76 And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
79 to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
80 And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.
Wandering Views 
Thanking God for His tender mercies.
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Amen. To be known by God.
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Carol told me last night she has cellulitis (again — it’s something that pretty regularly recurs in her legs) so tonight is a bit up in the air. She typically has to go to the hospital to be treated for that, oral antibiotics really don’t do it for her. She’s worried the plans for tonight and my visit will be disrupted and is insisting to me that she won’t have to go to the hospital this time (but I’ve never known a time when she’s gotten this that she didn’t go to the hospital for a fairly long treatment). We’ll have to wait and see what happens today.
I’m worried that her system is just on a real downward spiral now, something I’ve seen before in older relatives and friends as their chronic conditions worsen. It’s never a good sign. If she has to go back to the hospital again, it will be the third time in four months.
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Our darling Jo is in the hospital, too. Her body is just wearing out.
When you have as many elderly friends as I do, you get used to hearing, “congestive heart failure.” It is serious, but so many just pluck along . . .
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On another note, our WWll vet from Omaha Beach, was back in church for the third week in a row. Looking merry and chipper. I can never remember how old he is….ninety four? ninety eight? Whatever. He loves the Lord and shares Him with one and all. Happy to serve but ready to go.
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Mumsee – I “liked” your comments on the daily thread from last night (the ones mentioning what is going on with some of your sons and the daughter in Okinawa). I thought I was still on the prayer thread, so my “likes” were prayers for them. 🙂
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Carol has managed to stay out of the hospital, a doctor stopped by yesterday to look at both her hernia (which bulges horribly now from the front of her stomach) and her very-swollen feet and legs that are red (but not “too” red) from the cellulitis. They have her on oral antibiotics for now and the doctor said it looked manageable for now; also told her to watch for a harness in the hernia as that was time to start worrying. 😦 But so far that hasn’t occurred.
I do worry she’ll mow through too many of the Christmas cookies I brought last night, the plan was to meet with several of her friends in the family room but that was nixed (as I only found out when I arrived) for medical and bathroom issues she was having. So it was just her, me and her boyfriend who stopped by for a visit (he barely talks, but I think I was able to draw him out a bit; he gave Carol some flowers for Christmas and his cousins gave her $25 which was so nice of them).
I should have taken some of the cookie trays with me to leave at the front desk, I realized later, but I didn’t so they all were left in Carol’s room with my explicit instructions to “be sure!” these are put out and distributed and shared with other residents.
I really don’t like her new place, it’s much bigger and less friendly than the old one just 10 minutes away — but that one remains shuttered, ostensibly for a malfunctioning elevator but I suspect maybe other Building and Safety code issues that either need to be fixed; of course, the building also could just be sold if the owners decide that’s the easier route to take.
Anyway, pray that Carol’s cellulitis is a mild case that will be resolved with the oral antibiotics and creams they’re applying and that she’ll somehow be up and about again in another week or two with no other medical crises for a while.
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hardness not harness
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My neighbors who live in the apartment house next door (it’s really on the main street that our lane comes off of, but its parking area abuts our side yard), are raising two grandchildren who were born to one of Tonya’s daughters. Both children were abused, with the older one, a girl named Summer, having been sexually abused at a young age. (The little boy was physically abused, but I don’t know if he was sexually abused.)
Summer is in third grade now, and has behavior problems, including running away. She usually runs away to the daycare lady on the other side of me, but has also gone elsewhere. The other day (not sure how long ago, but only a couple days or so), Summer had a meltdown so severe that an ambulance had to be called. She is now in a pediatric mental ward. 😦
Please pray for Summer, her little brother Jaxson, and also please pray for salvation and wisdom for her grandparents, who are gruff but loving, trying to do their best for these children, but having a hard time.
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