70 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 1-5+6-19”

  10. Rk, I’m still waiting for when my daughter gets to deliver a baby in her ambulance 🙂

    Good morning, all. Hopefully, we will finish all the last touches we can on our kitchen today. Handles, levelling doors, end fillers, etc. We still need to exchange a few items, but husband can do that in person on his work trip next week.

    I did dishes in my new sink yesterday. This is noteworthy because: 1. new sink, and 2. I don’t do dishes by hand very often!

    Liked by 5 people

  12. Mumsee, well, I can build cabinets and drawers like nobody’s business, but the plumbing and technical parts aren’t my forte. I’d love to help someone else do their kitchen – it would be so much more fun letting them make the detailed decisions and then just putting it all together.

    Liked by 3 people

  13. I am still waiting (months now) for my bathroom to be remodeled. I cannot wait for the kitchen to also be done, but one thing at a time. Enjoy, kare!

    Liked by 2 people

  14. Daughter offered to give us a Christmas present of painted cupboards with hardware a few years ago. I told her not yet as we still have children slamming and crashing. Now I am ready to paint (we never had hardware) but she has two small folk and her hands full. It can wait or I will get it done eventually.

    Liked by 3 people

  15. My EMT tells the story of some friends on another rig. They were driving up the 110, “Harbor Freeway” not far from USC when the ambulance drivers saw someone on the side of the road waving widely at them.

    The ambulance put on its lights and stopped behind the car.

    “My wife! My wife! The baby!”

    One of the EMTs grabbed the delivery bag, ran to the front seat, and delivered the baby almost immediately!

    The ambulance was transporting another patient, who was delighted when a new mom and a baby joined her in the back of the rig! LOL

    They do carry a car seat, but in this case, let the mom hold the baby while they transported and dropped the two off at the nearest hospital.

    They continued on, laughing, with the happy original patient.

    Why yes, we love the ambulance stories. 🙂

    Liked by 8 people

  16. But my favorite story is from the local paper.

    A new fireman was giving the keys and driving the fire truck back to the station after a false alarm.

    He was relatively new to the area and made a left turn at the wrong street.

    His colleagues howled in the back, laughing at how green he was.

    The new guy made some comment and then noticed a man standing beside a car in a parking lot. He was jumping up and down, screaming and waving at them.

    So, the driver pulled over into the parking lot.

    Same line, “My wife! My wife! The baby is coming!”

    Our novice grabbed the delivery bag, ran to the car and caught the baby.

    His colleagues, suddenly serious, backed him up.

    When they sent the new family on the hospital, they climbed back in the rig and the driver calmly said, “I didn’t make a mistake. I had a delivery I had to make.”

    The new family showed up at the fire station a week later. Everyone gathered around to admire the little girl who bore a surprising middle name: that of the fire truck driver. 🙂

    What I love about this story is how often we make a mistake and it seems ridiculous, foolhardy and a waste of time.

    And then the Lord, who watched over all these things, shows us we had a reason for being in that one place at that one time.

    Sort of like Kim’s story the other day about how to react to red lights when you’re in a hurry.

    Who ever really knows what God is up to in even our daily lives? 🙂

    Liked by 10 people

  17. Hey, DJ, would something like this work for your dogs for overnight as they age? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LWATQ1D/ref=sspa_dk_detail_2?psc=1 (Amazon also sells trays, fake grass inserts, etc.) I saw a fake grass one on Groupon, and that is cheaper and reusable, but the real grass is supposed to take care of the smell and you can reorder the grass or get automatic deliveries every few weeks. Check out this and the fake grass (google Groupon portable potty) and you might have a way to protect your floors overnight.

    Liked by 1 person

  18. These baby delivery stories remind me of one I heard on Paul Harvey years ago.

    A woman was embarrassed after she delivered her baby on the elevator of the hospital. The orderly or nurse ( I forget which it was) tried calming her down, telling of a woman who gave birth in the parking lot of the hospital a few years before. The woman cried out: “I know! That was me!”

    Liked by 6 people

  19. Morning! Oh it is downright Springlike around here! It will not last long but the deer are meandering out back, the squirrels are leaping and running up and down the trees. Snow is still on the ground and I am in hopes the ice will finally melt off of our road so that my neighbor and I can take our walk without falling and breaking a hip! 🙃

    Liked by 3 people

  20. Great ambulance stories. Thanks for the link, Cheryl, that may come in handy someday … Cowboy’s doing his overnight pacing again, first time in close to a year I believe. But the last couple nights, it’s pace-pace-pace, back and forth. Gave him both a melatonin and a Benadryl last night but they didn’t help apparently …

    I slept in and woke up to news of a major late-night shooing (a brawl gone violent, possibly gang related) at a bowling ally just a couple blocks from our newsroom. Our cop reporters, some editors and photographers had a long and busy night.

    😦

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  21. A friend of mine walked into the ER, looked around at all the moms waiting to be seen with their children and said, “I’m very, very sorry,” squatted down and delivered baby #4 (ultimately of 9).

    I, myself, delivered within 20 minutes of arrival at the hospital –twice.

    Why wait around?

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  22. Another friend delivered #3 in the front seat of the car drawn up to the ER entrance.

    Afterwards she was in tears. “If I had to deliver in the car, why wasn’t it the new one?”

    I could think of several reasons why the beat up car was a better choice, myself . . .

    Liked by 3 people

  24. Elvera said she thought the baby was coming. So she walked down to the phone booth and called the doctor. He told her to go to the hospital.
    I took her to the hospital and went to work.
    I was a GS-2 WAE (While Actually Employed) worker at USDA Soil Conservation Service while attending seminary.
    They called me about 3:00 pm and said the baby is coming.
    I went to the hospital. Still had to wait about 45 minutes.
    They showed me the baby, just born. His head was misshapen and he looked terrible.
    The nurse said that he was fine.
    Turned out, he was.

    Some said, “Why weren’t you at the hospital waiting all this time?
    I said, “She was doing her thing, I was doing mine>”

    Liked by 4 people

  26. My dad was delivered on his parents’ kitchen table. Or maybe it was the floor. But it was in the kitchen. His mom had been on her hands and knees cleaning the kitchen floor when she went into labor, and it was a quick one.

    I wonder if she had to re-clean the floor after that.

    Nightingale got to attend a birth in one her clinicals while studying to be an LPN. The other student with her fainted! 😀

    Liked by 2 people

  27. It was fun reading yesterday’s thread to discover how many Whovians there are here. My daughter got us started ten years ago. I haven’t kept up since the Matt Smith years. David Tennant has always been my favorite.

    AJ, you mentioned going back to Tennant but don’t forget Christopher Eccleston who was the original 21st-century doctor.

    Liked by 1 person

  29. I have been around Dr. Who for years, but for whatever reason I have not gotten involved with the program. I suppose it is partially because Art watches a lot of television and I can only do a limited amount of screen time. This time at Hilton Head I watched some of the Hallmark movies with him. He did not even get out to the beach this time. Wesley and I did a lot of walking on the beach, and he did a run so far that he could get a photo of the Harbour Town lighthouse. We also sat out near the ocean and read some, and we played some games of pool. We wish for Art’s company but knew he was not up for what we were doing. The only activity, besides going out for a meal, that Art did with us was to go to the used book sale at the library. Wesley took our car during the middle of the week for two days to spend time with a group of friends from Covenant. He drove five hours each way to see them for New Year’s Eve. I am so thankful that all nine were able to get together.

    Liked by 2 people

  30. Daughter checked out some Dr Who from the library but I had no idea what they were, just that she was not supposed to be checking out movies. She also checked out some horror stuff.

    Liked by 1 person

  32. I just spent 15 minutes going into every room of the house, in the backyard, onto the front porch, calling for Annie. I couldn’t find her anywhere.

    Finally, I noticed she was sitting in her top “condo” box on the cat tree — just watching me. Sheesh. She must have been very amused.

    Liked by 5 people

  34. Yes, in bed. Such a long week, and I feel wiped out. Next week Miguel has surgery on Monday, Trey has dental work on Tuesday, I have a beef to cut and wrap, and work Wed night and next weekend. I think I am tired just because I am dwelling on it. I will get out my seed catalog and relax.

    Liked by 6 people

  35. I’m curious other people’s thoughts on this. The context is a pastor wanting to keep manly men and have a church that isn’t 70% female. He gives some tips on what he does, presumably so that other pastors can learn from him. I have a few thoughts of my own, but I’d love to see what both men and women think of this particular piece of advice:

    blockquote
    Refrain from touching another man’s wife or kids.

    Touching doesn’t just communicate affection, it communicates ownership. There is something primal at work here, and it is politically incorrect to think in these terms, I know. Nevertheless reality is not politically correct. And you can be politically correct and turn your church into a women’s club, or you can submit to the facts and stop touching the members of another man’s family.

    When you refrain from touching another man’s stuff, you subtlety communicate your respect for him. Now here’s how I do it. After service (or before) when I’m greeting people, I always reach out to shake the man’s hand first. If this is not practical, I don’t make an issue about it. But if the wife comes first, I wait for her to extend her hand to me. Then I respectfully shake her hand, taking something off the the grip. I never, ever move to hug her. If she leans in towards me to embrace, I will. But I do so briefly, and respectfully, but always–and I can’t stress this enough–always, with my eye turned toward the husband.

    When the kids come by, I do the same thing. I always pay my respect to their father as I touch them. (C. R. Riley, “On Getting and Keeping Masculine Men in Church,” Patheos, https://www.patheos.com/blogs/gloryseed/2018/01/on-getting-keeping-masculine-men-in-church/ )

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  36. Cheryl, I have never heard of such thoughts. It sounds like it is acknowledgement of a control issue. Also, it seems disrespectful of women within the flock if that is who is given by God to shepherd. I do think it is proper and wise to take cues from people as to whether or not they are approachable for handshakes and hugs.

    Liked by 1 person

  37. H A P P Y. ❤ B I R T H D A Y ❤
    ❤❤❤❤❤KIM❤❤❤❤❤
    May you have a most blessed
    year full of joy, peace, happiness,
    and love from family and friends.
    May you be successful in your
    work, well respected, and appreciated
    for all you do. Blessing upon blessing
    unwrapped in your life daily with gratitude to God,
    the giver of all good and perfect gifts.

    Liked by 4 people

  43. Happy birthday Kim!

    Re the pastor and other men’s (owned) “stuff” as he (crudely) refers to people/family members in one instance, I guess I find it curious that he’s so focused on it at all. It sounds like a lot of mental work and logistics for him to be so concerned about every week.

    It all strikes me as exhausting, unnatural and odd, if not something worse. I’d agree with Janice about the ‘controlling’ aspect of it all.

    Liked by 2 people

  50. I think that pastor has a screw loose. There are people who due to our modern society are almost never touched in a living way. They become susceptible to the WRONG people when those they can trust don’t give the affection.
    I remember once crying when I got a cheapl manicure because someone was touching me.
    I told all of you a long time ago that there were only two men allowed to hug me and they were the husbands of my two best friends.
    Now I have become the hugger. Life is too short not to give affection to those who may just need a hug.

    Liked by 3 people

  51. Kim, are you saying that you got a cheap manicure just to have a reason for someone to touch you in a kind way? That is sad if that is what you meant. My family of origin was not much into hugging. I am fine with hugging, and I am fine without it. I do tend to hug hello and goodbye to close friends and Wesley. My brother and I do not hug since it was not our tradition in our family.

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  52. Took the lights, the 5-point Christmas star (clearly a symbol of Satan, according to painter’s sidekick, if you recall) and porch wreaths down a little while ago. Sigh.

    I’m leaving the front door wreath (sans red bow) up for now, it’ll still light up with white lights every night. And of course the hanging and potted porch poinsettias will remain in place for now as well.

    I always hate taking “Christmas” down — it’s much more fun putting it all up. Even a workman sitting in his truck across the street called out how he hated to see Christmas “go” as I unwound all the porch rail lights. I agreed.

    But it’s time. And because I went the very simple route this year it didn’t take but 15 minutes or so.

    Besides, taking it down for most of the year is what makes it all the more special when it’s time to put it all up again. 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

  53. My former/retired pastor and his wife were in the congregation today, I always love seeing those two. They’re members of our sister church across the harbor but on occasion come our way to visit. They’ve had some health challenges of late (he was carrying an oxygen bag today) but still lively and taking life in stride.

    One of the wife’s piano students is something of a protege and is now pursuing the organ (he’s 17). She was so happy when he was told that he must have had a very good piano teacher when he was growing up.

    Liked by 2 people

  58. Hugs, as I understand, are a fairly new thing for Americans. Most Americans. The handshake was fine while I was growing up. I learned to hug in the military, among the women. Around here, with mostly older in church, it is handshakes for the men and hugs for the women, but not all women. And the World War ll vet gets hugs and kisses. It seems what most are comfortable with around here.

    Liked by 1 person

  60. Janice, when I first read it I was bothered by his careless use of the word “stuff.” I don’t think he meant to say that husbands and children are the father’s “possessions” or “material belongings,” but the word is wrong. And I wondered what men would think, if that really would show honor to the husband and father. But then when he mentioned the children, I realized he seemed to be saying that he doesn’t even look at the wife and children, only at the husband and father. If he’s saying that, then I think abusers are going to end up comfortable in his church, but their families are going to feel unheard.

    Also, this is an artificial framework. Do husbands and wives always go through a “line” greeting him side by side? It would seem that women might greet him separately from their husbands at least sometimes–does he look around the church for her husband as she draws near? Do the children always stay with their parents? And does the pastor’s reticence translate to people within the church also being formal with one another?

    I’ve long wondered how a pastor wisely walks the line of ministering to everyone but not drawing attachments from the women . . . but this isn’t it. (For the record, all the Reformed churches I’ve attended have had roughly 50% men and 50% women. Yet far from the Reformed women being voiceless, there is far more discussion of theology among the women than in other churches I have attended. So I don’t think it is at all necessary to push the women down, keep them in their place, to have men feel welcome.)

    But I am curious if it rubs men the same way as it rubs women, so I didn’t give my own perspective. The other article and a half I’ve read by this man hasn’t raised any red flags for me (though they might for someone else), but those couple of paragraphs did.

    Liked by 2 people

  61. Janice. I had the manicure as a treat to myself. It was 10.00 and that was a luxury in 2008. The lady massaged my Hans and stretched them. Then she rubbed up my arms to my elbow. No one had touched me in oh so long. BG had hugged me and I held her as we slept but I was the adult and the nurturer in that situation. In October of that year is when Amos joined us. He adored me and I was his person. That is why I call him the love of my life. Of course now the little traitor stays home with Mr P all day and only wants me at night when it is time to go to bed or in the morning when he thinks I need to get up.

    Liked by 1 person

  64. I don’t know what the percentages are, but I do know that there are a lot of men in my church congregation, and there are not many wives without their husbands. (I don’t count, since Hubby would be with me if he could.)

    Just thought of something that AJ and Linda saw, but I don’t think I’ve mentioned before. At Hubby’s memorial service, when it was time for me to go up and speak, Pastor Billy came to me and offered his arm, then led me up the steps (with me holding his arm), and then did the same for me to return to my seat when I was finished. I was impressed that a young man (he was 30 at the time) knew to do that.

    Liked by 4 people

  68. Cheryl, I don’t see anything in the Bible according to the example Jesus set that aligns with what that pastor suggests. Think of how Jesus gave both women and children attention. He respected them as made in the image of God. I think that pastor is preaching his own form of legalism in saying all men should act that way in church. I would not want my own children or other children to be around a pastor who would not acknowlege their existence and treat them like they were doing their part by participating in church activities appropriate to their age. If a pastor is not approachable for a child then I think it could give a child a rather skewed view of God , or Jesus, as head of the church. The pastor is a representative for God. It is late and I am tired. I hope that my post makes sense

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  69. Janice, for context, he is concerned about churches being mostly women, and what is keeping men (particularly working-class men) out of church. I don’t think he is refusing to acknowledge the existence of women and children, just trying to focus on them as parts of family groups. So far, so good. And I suspect some men might not be too crazy about pastors who hug everyone. But you don’t respond to one problem by leaning too far the other way.

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  70. Kim, it is still your birthday on the west coast, so continue to celebrate. I am glad to hear that you had some family time. I am taking back a pile of cards to read on my birthday. I cheated and already took the money out of those that had money. It would do me no good in PNG.

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