83 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 11-2-19”

  2. But you can pretend that your Saturday is beginning.
    Ours is going well. I made two cakes to give to my aide as they celebrate family birthdays. her son was delighted with the soccer ball that I got him last weekend.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  3. Sounds like fun. When I walked into my daughter’s kitchen this morning there were 3 cakes on her counter. Apparently they did well at the cake walk booth at the carnival.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  5. The situation in Sonoma County continues. Joy abounds with fires nearly contained. Concern mounts as the political posturing begins.

    Even Mr. Cool Calm and Collected is horrified at the political turmoil surrounding power and energy. Nothing is being suggested that will make a difference for years. Everything is being argued by lawyers and activists. No one is asking engineers or power managers— you know, the people who actually operate things— what they suggest.

    P, G, & E has tightened the screws and is threatening worse to the hostages, er, rate payers, if things are not done their way with proper respect.

    You threaten or complain to a linesman restoring your lines and they will NOT turn on your power. It’s not clear if that threat is to the entire neighborhood, or just the individual.

    They turned off the gas to the west county— and area 40 miles from the fire— during the unnecessary evacuation and will NOT turn on power unless you are home.

    So, you sit in your cold house waiting for them to deign to call and make an appointment to turn your gas back on.

    We did not lose gas— we were three blocks from the mandatory evacuation lines— and being able to cook and take a hot shower made our dark life bearable. Now, apparently, they will turn it all off and make everyone suffer more during the next planned outage— which could easily come at any time.

    To provide generators means the world starts digging to get all those rare metals necessary for batteries. You think China has destroyed her environment? Think what will need to be dug up to give all us fat power-needy American generators to run our air conditioning?

    I’m usually the one who goes crazy with injustice; he has been really upset the last two days.

    Oh, they also inadvertently knocked out the neighborhood phone and Internet lines, but that was a mistake, right?

    In several neighborhoods.

    People are really upset for a lot of reasons.

    Oh, he washed his four favorite shirts last night with a pen. When will I be home?

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  6. I can’t imagine Michelle. That has not been my experience at all. I have posted before of seeing power and utility trucks “staged” to get in and get power and other utilities restored as soon as possible after our storms.

    Like

    Reply

  7. They were staged and we were grateful. It’s this power play going on now in California that is so horrifying.

    It you know, this is what the Soviets and Chinese did/do.

    That’s my conclusion, not his.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  8. Today is busy Little Miss had her weekly “spend the night”. She and Papa are still asleep. The dogs and I have been awake.
    Tomorrow is the baby shower for Niece. I need to get dressed and had to Sam’s Club, and can’t because Little Miss and Papa are still asleep. I also need to did through my china cabinet and find the trays and things I want to use.
    When Niece was a little girl, she would come to my house and want to play with the Pink Baby. (A Madam Alexander Baby Doll). She has always loved Baby Dolls.
    I got Pink Baby out, washed her clothes and found out how to fix her matted fake hair. (Fabric Softener).
    I wrote a letter:
    Dear M,
    Once upon a time a little girl loved me very much. I am looking for another little girl to love me. Do you know one?

    https://www.google.com/search?q=madame+alexander+pussycat+doll+in+pink&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS701US701&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=EkbXlUKCJPWipM%253A%252CwWIlRT-ZSj6QgM%252C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kR0ML1eyz2mE9Rz8kBTl603WjcA8w&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjPkeC0wcvlAhVP-qwKHYjqApIQ9QEwAXoECAUQCQ#imgrc=T1c-rAF0OndL-M:&vet=1

    Liked by 6 people

    Reply

  10. Venezuela?

    But, on their side, people do threaten linesmen, as in shoot the messenger. I would not want to be a linesman but I am glad we have them.

    And if they don’t turn off the power, they get blamed and a lot of people lose their homes and some their lives.

    If they do turn off power, they get blamed for inconvenience.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  12. Frightening how much power an investor owned company can have over human lives. There many be many people in homes needing supplemental oxygen, ventilators, and other electronically driven medical equipment whose lives are being threatened with the blackouts.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  14. Public oversight energy company. The PUC is as much responsible as the power company. I can’t remember how they make their money–a lot of it has come from pushing green energy, not from billing the rate payers.

    Home owner insurance companies have paid out something like $26 Billion in the last two years and told the CA legislature and governor if they did not find P,G, & E responsible for the fires, the insurance companies would refuse to insure in CA (which many already are doing), since the legislators will not allow they to raise rates to true values.

    The costs of housing is so high her and the well-meaning activisits so determined to legislate change, they have inflated the cost of rebuilding these homes to, in some cases, $200K or more than the houses are worth. That’s what we’re seeing among our friends who rebuild in the areas of “affordable” housing.

    $500K is not affordable first time housing costs.

    It’s a mess.

    And NO ONE is addressing the real issues. They’re just demanding and suing, leaving the normal citizens in the dark, literally and figuratively.

    Like

    Reply

  18. Well, don’t even get me started on DWP (the Department of Water and Power) here in LA. What a mess that agency is. The FBI raided them most recently.

    They’ve sent out huge (as in several thousand dollars) bogus bills to people in recent years and it takes forever to get it fixed (my cousin was one of them). A few years ago, I noticed they were charging me double for my sanitation pickup (one of their guys drove by and “counted” an extra can at my curbside — my neighbor’s because they have to park in front of their house and don’t always have room for all their big cans — so he figured I should be getting charged more). It took a full YEAR to get that amount credited back to me. I kept emailing and calling, they kept admitting their mistake but said they were still “working on” the refund. Sheesh. In an age of computers, how hard can that be?

    I’m letting my old hot water heater rest a bit before running the dishwasher. That will get replaced — right after the ever-rising property tax is paid. … Oy.

    I was up by 8 today to get Annie Oakley to the vet for her dental surgery follow-up check — they just like to peer inside the mouth to make sure everything is healing ok (it is). She’s happy to be home again. At 2 pm I get my hair cut (and will have to endure a nice but mini lecture on what I’ve done to my bangs last time I cut them myself; she can fix anything, right?).

    Yay for an extra hour of sleep tonight!

    Boo for ‘early’ sundowns.

    Yay for ‘early’ sunrises (they really do wake me up earlier).

    Peter, I caught part of The Village last night — I’ve seen part of it (only) before, too, and didn’t get all of it last night. I have yet to see it all the way through.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  20. We got some unexpected rain this morning — and some actual hail in Orange County to the south of us. Weird. Now the sun is out and it’s supposed to be 80 degrees later today (but temps are still sweatshirt-chilly at night).

    No more fire-causing desert winds in our forecast — for now.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  24. I think most people here in our state want daylight savings time (rather than standard time which we’re changing back to tonight) to be the new permanent time. We voted to that effect but apparently it still needs to be ratified by Congress.

    Like

    Reply

  25. Bangs are fixed. She said they were “vampy” the way I cut them, with a point in the middle. But I told her I never wear them straight down, but sweep them off to the side. “Really? Why didn’t you ever tell me that?”

    She did something a little different with my cut this time overall, it looks good. Sleek the way she styles it but I like to muss it up when I dry it (w/no blow dryer) and use some curling gel so it’s shaggier, choppier, more casual and fuller.

    But the straight look is kind of nice again for a change, too. And she cut the bangs differently for sweeping them off to the one side. She evened them out, too.

    “Did you learn your lesson?” she asked.

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

  26. Good evening, or late afternoon, which will be after dark tomorrow at this time. Boo Hiss!

    The tree in the header is the Birthday Tree in the fall. I can’t believe it still has leaves since many dropped when we had the horribly hot and dry spell.

    This morning three ladies from my church and I rode up to the Christian Library International hub and stamped many Bibles and books with contact info for CLI. (This phone changed ladies to laziest in that first sentence, lol) When our volunteer time ended we had lunch at KFC.

    Tomorrow is when my little adult choir will sing and narrate There’s Something About That Name. I have never sung in a choir except for one piece, The Lord’s Prayer, when I was a youth. I am going out of my comfort zone. I have selected what I will wear, and now I need to trim my hair a little and use the thinning sheers since my hair is so thick and is starting to flare out as it grows. I hope I don’t make it worse. If I do then I can worry about my hairstyle rather than my singing.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  27. When we told the people volunteering at CLI where we came from, they thought we’d had a long drive. Then one guy mentioned how our area has become upscale from what it use to be. I said the bad thing about it is the rise in taxes. A lot of people want to move into this area now and long time residents are selling to make some money. With all the building, the traffic will soon be outrageous. But if someone lives in an area like where we do with a grocery store within a mile that does not require getting on a main street, it is okay for the time being.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  29. I cut my own bangs, but a hair stylist taught me how to do it. I get them wet and pull them all to the centre and do one cut. Then when they are brushed out they make my bangs be in an arc around my face.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  37. I loved being in the choir in my former Quaker church, we wore robes.

    But I also love all congregational singing only (we have no choir in our church) and feel that gets more to the heart of corporate worship.

    But I loved practicing and being part of that.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  39. Yeah, DJ, I sang in the choir when I did largely because it was hard to sit there mute while other people sang for us! And though as a teenager I also loved choir practice–it was the only time in the week I was with people other than family, as we were way out in the country, and in the church services we sat with our family–I much prefer congregational singing without choirs.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  40. The trend toward “worship teams” didn’t improve the choir concept in my mind–they made it worse. They just made each individual singer more obvious, and more self-conscious, and no way was I going to volunteer to sing in one. They also end up singing sillier songs. All in all, it’s a relief now to be in a church without “special music.” (I did like the occasional harp solo at one church I attended–but the harpist only brought her harp a few times a year.) It’s nice to have music be congregational worship, not congregational listening.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  41. Today is the day! It is Baby Shower Day for Miss Eden…we will be calling her Edie. I told her soon to be grandmother that with all she and I spent on this shower we could have taken Niece to the store and bought everything she wanted/needed. Oh well, with age comes wisdom or some such, which is why my house has Little Girl stuff all over the place.
    Ex-husband and his wife will be there. I really have no reason to dislike New Wife except that Ex-Husband sings her praises to the point it is disgusting. I finally said to him last week, “I know, G. If you divorce her I am going to marry her”.

    Mr. P and I have decided to go to New Orleans for Thanksgiving. BG will stay here and take care of the dogs. I asked her the other day if it would upset her or if she wanted me to do my regular Thanksgiving. She said no and then asked if I wanted her to stay here and take care of the dogs. I think that will be good for her.
    I KNOW it will be good for Mr. P and me. He first asked me where I wanted to go and then where I would like to stay. I don’t care as long as it requires crossing a state line and is over 100 miles from home.

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

  43. Something I haven’t mentioned: Another wave of grief has been upon me for the past couple weeks or so. Of course, it is not as bad as in the beginning, but at moments it feels pretty close to it. Maybe it’s due to the passing of the second anniversary of Hubby’s death, and the feeling that “It’s time to get over this”, knowing that I won’t be “over this” for a long time.

    It’s not that I’m sitting around crying, or moping around, but there are moments when a memory or thought particularly strongly grips my heart, and the tears come.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  44. Kizzie, there is no set timetable to be “over” a big loss. If you aren’t making progress in grief, sometimes it’s time to get help, but having another big “wave” hit you doesn’t mean “failure” or anything of the sort.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  45. Morning! Got to get myself together and get out the door soon! It is a lovely day around here and the snow is a melting!
    Kizzie I have a dear friend who lost her husband almost 10 years ago…she still cries at times when a memory hits her. The deep love between you will continue in that bond…and the bond you have in Christ. I pray our Lord will continue to bring to you comfort in the knowing…love you friend ❤️

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  46. Praying for you, Kizzie. I guess we never really “get (completely) over it,” I still have moments of sadness thinking about the loss of my parents, other family members and even close friends — this is going back many years. The holidays bring our losses up more often, I think; our own aging process, too, perhaps. But for you it’s a husband, your life partner, and the loss is still very recent and fresh.

    Cheryl, I completely agree with you about corporate singing and no “performances” during worship.

    We have a ‘worship team’ but their role is only to lead in the singing, not “perform” or overbear; their singing is never over or above the congregation’s singing. They never shout “Let’s hear you sing!” or do other annoying things. Their role is as much in the background as possible, to keep us all in tune and that comes in especially handy when we’re introducing a hymn or song the may be new to all of us. The members also rotate with several in the congregation being part of the group. The instruments include guitars, piano and drums, but their charge also is to “play softly.” On the 4th Sunday of every month, we’re “unplugged” — piano accompaniment only.

    We once had the “team” standing off to the side of the room which was much more preferable than now, where they’re next to the pulpit in front on the platform. But that change was necessary when we did our space remodel a few years ago, it was the only way to make things work for electrical hookups, we were told. They also brought back the wall screens with the remodel, which many of us don’t like, but it also was seen as simply a practical aid in worship for posting not only song words but Scripture verses and other quotes cited during the sermons. Many of us still just refer to our bulletins or hymnals for the music and to our Bibles, bound or electronic versions, during the sermons. But posting the verses on the screens do make for easy jotting down of references also. Otherwise, the screens are blank.

    We lease a space in a business park so our options are limited somewhat and our space isn’t what you’d call inspiring, architecturally. We’d love to someday find a church building to buy or lease/share. We’ve looked, but everything we’ve found falls through for one reason or another. There were some talks a couple years ago with the area mainline Presbyterian church near the beach — it was where our pastor began his ministry and he still has warm relations with the people there and we’d met there in the afternoons for the time during our remodel. The congregation is part of the mainline Pres denomination, but is more evangelical and has been thinking of leaving the PCUSA (they may have done so by now, I’m not sure). I think our pastor was hoping to persuade them to come our way, denomination wise, so we could combine; but it was a bridge too far for them in the end, last I heard they were considering moving to a newer Presbyterian break-away group developed specifically for mainline churches that wanted a more conservative approach to the faith but weren’t quite ready to give some things up like women elders.

    The time change: Well, it worked — with our “earlier” sunrise, it got me up earlier. I even went to bed “early,” by 9 (10 in the old time). A good, long night’s sleep.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  47. The move of the instruments to the front also was a way to optimize seating. We’re pretty much at capacity for the space we lease and providing more (and more easily accessible) seating was a priority.

    That’s one of the issues also in looking for a church to purchase or lease — inside seating space (we’d prefer not to go to two morning services) and sufficient parking. We need a fair amount of both.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  49. Home from church yet again. I had a mid night migraine and while I feel better, I don’t like to drive after one. Husband’s head was foggy last night after a small quiet supper with our full time camp staff and the camp board of directors, so we figured church would be pushing it, especially if he needed to drive.

    I’m so thankful for our camp directors – they met all day yesterday working on policy and other camp stuff with our director and then put on a beautiful Christmas dinner for the staff and their families with lovely gifts purchased for everybody. It is wonderful to be appreciated by the board. We are all very thankful for their thoughtfulness and the work they do for the camp.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  50. One of the reasons I don’t attend the Baptist church is that the Minister of Music turns his microphone louder than the rest of the choir and “over emphasis” his singing. It is quite the performance (sarcasm) and I can’t stand it.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  52. I heard the score on Georgia/Florida and knew I blew it by picking FL and thought all was lost. Then Surprise. Seriously, a big surprise. I will look to see who is playing and let you know, Peter.

    Like

    Reply

  53. Because of the time change, the pastor made an extra effort to get people to church by calling it Show Up Sunday and sending out postcards to everyone who has attended to hopefully up attendance. Ballots were handed out with members names to choose nominations for the directions team. The pastor had a good sermon based on scripture in
    2 Corinthians about service. The congregation sang several old hymns and during the offeratory the small adult choir sang. It was nice being with the group, the oldest being age 95 and youngest 33. I am enjoying going to choir practice. Singing is a healthy thing to do and learning something new is fun. It probably makes more sense in this oldest group setting to have a choir for one piece at the end of worship time to give the older people a break. This is not so far a choir that will sing every week like my husband’s church has. My friend who is about 90 is a soprano who sings next to me.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  56. I miss singing in choir. I only was able to sing once in the city church choir in my last year, due to how busy it was. Even if there was a choir in the church I attend now (I am now attending the church I attended in my childhood, having stopped attending the tiny church my parents and Youngests go to), I wouldn’t have the time. It would make life a bit easier if I could have time for things like that. Doing something entirely different than nursing would make me feel less like a machine. Even during school, taking elective in entirely different subjects than nursing helped keep me balanced.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  58. I agree with Cheryl about worship bands. It seems more like a concert and not corporate worship. I do like an occasional special when someone really has a good song that means a lot to them, or a good choral piece that goes along with the sermon. But sometimes “special” music becomes an expected part of the service, and then it is not so special.

    Like

    Reply

  60. I think the way my church service does the receiving of the financial offering with a variety of special music done tastefully is a good thing. The music is an offering to God whether from a small choir, the men’s quartet, a trumpet solo, a flute solo, a soloist who plays the piano while singing, a duet, a young soloist, etc. It has been a great variety so it does seem like the glory is all meant for God and not just for the same ones who perform week after week. The other service does have a worship band, but it seems there are a lot of people involved with that so I do not know if there are different people each week.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  61. Janice, I don’t mind quiet music during an offertory when the congregation wouldn’t be singing anyway. We don’t do an offertory in my church, and it never occurred to me to miss it, though.

    Like

    Reply

  62. Lately, people have been clapping after worship – it makes me so uncomfortable. Our worship teams do not grab the attention and tend to lead quietly, but I don’t understand the clapping – it’s not a show!!! Sorry – it just bugs me.

    I’m wondering if it’s a new believer thing (which would be good, having lots of new believers). But it seems if someone claps, everyone joins in (except me) 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  63. I attended an enormous church today, sits 6-9K.

    During worship, I had to focus on the words, everything else going on was very busy and distracting. I kept wondering how someone with ADHD would manage.

    Sermon by Kyle Idleman, was excellent.

    We even had two girls baptized in a large glassed-in submersion tank.

    Wonderful time with my Louisville friend and her friends for brunch.

    I am so tired! I bought Yesterday on DVD and am going to veg out watching it on my laptop. I have nothing left to give! Lol

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  64. Maybe clapping is a signal of approval or affirmation that the service honored God appropriately? I am thinking some people might say ‘Amen’ in the same way. Maybe ask the pastor for his interpretation of what the clapping is about. The young people are so full of energy that maybe they clap to release pent up energy after sitting still for the sermon.

    Like

    Reply

  67. I don’t mind clapping along in praise (I don’t do it – just a thing of mine). But clapping afterwards and it really doesn’t seem like a spontaneous praise to God, but more like, “that was a great performance”

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  69. Applause.

    It rarely but sometimes raises up in our church but almost only as a response to new members taking their vows. it still bothers me.

    And I think the trend toward worship “bands” and performance-style singing has promoted the applause trend. None of our “up front” singers or instrumentalists ever speak anything to the congregation, that is NOT their role. Thankfully.

    I stained the side gate today after church. Easy job that made a pretty big difference. I chose ‘redwood’ semi-transparent color, it came out a bit dark but that’s ok as it contrasts nicely with the house color (which is a bit lighter).

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  72. So I am assuming that “offertory” means the collecting of the offering? Is that correct? We just call it taking the offering. 🙂

    Cheryl – Does that mean that your church does not “take the offering”? Or maybe I don’t understand the word correctly.

    Our church used to have baskets at the front, and a time for people to go forward to put their offering in. The former pastor thought that was more biblical, as we were “bringing” our offering, not merely having it collected as we sat in the pews. (Well, we have chairs, not pews, but same idea.) I liked the symbolism of that. But interestingly, when the interim pastor changed it back to having the offering collected, giving went way up.

    Then there is online giving. One of the problems with having a tithe or offering on a regularly scheduled payment from online banking is that we miss the “feel” of purposely giving. Mine was on an automatic schedule, but I took it off that when I realized that I didn’t have the “feel” of giving. (I still do it online, though.)

    Like

    Reply

  73. Kizzie, the offertory is music played during the collection of the offering.

    Applause during the worship service bothers me, too. My Chicago church started doing that, and I said tongue in cheek that they applauded everything but the offering, but that was almost literally true. They applauded most songs, testimonies, baptisms, and even some sermons. I don’t remember whether prayer ever got applauded. It was distracting and troubling. The sermon didn’t generally get applauded, but sometimes it did. We had a guest preacher once, and when he got applause at the end you could see him do a double-take. One mother told a few of us that her son was a new believer and he wanted to get baptized, but he didn’t want people to applaud him. My take was that baptisms shouldn’t be getting applause anyway–they aren’t for our entertainment–so talk to the pastor and have him ask the congregation to withhold applause (and do it for other baptisms, too, while you’re at it).

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  74. “Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples!
    Shout to God with the voice of triumph!” Psalm 47:1, NKJV

    Sounds like God approves clapping as a means of praise. But I agree that often it is applause for the performance.

    As for the offering, we have a box at the back of the church and we just put the money in as we enter or leave. No one has to know who is and who isn’t giving, except the person who endorses the checks.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  76. Cheryl – Thanks. As you could see, I thought it was a different word for the offering. 🙂

    So now I know that we have an offertory, too!

    Goodnight, dear brothers and sisters in Christ. I am achy and tired, and need to go to bed early, and hopefully get a good night’s sleep.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  77. Not every culture uses hand clapping as applause. In West Africa, clapping was used in rhythm games and singing If people wanted to signal appreciation or approval of, say, a speech, they did not clap, they snapped their fingers.

    I have played many offertories in church, some of them quite complicated and ornate. I have never been applauded, but often thanked from the pulpit. Since soloists are often acknowledged and thanked in the world, did the pastor use a worldly method in thanking me?

    Like

    Reply

  79. Roscuro, if you were in a service with ten songs in it, and the congregation applauded all ten songs, would it strike you as at least a little bit weird? That was the way it struck me. And applauding a sermon felt very much like saying “Great speech!” The church I was in clapped along (rhythmically) to many songs as they were sung, but that’s a different issue entirely than applauding after something as over, as though it were entertainment.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  80. Clapping vs. applause (for a performance) — I think that’s the difference.

    Clapping is fine and good. Applause I find problematic when it becomes indistinguishable from an audience routinely applauding after every musical number at a night at the theater.

    We have a simple piano offertory as passing the baskets takes a bit of time.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  81. I am so tired tonight, it felt like bedtime at 6 p,m. as it had already been dark for a while. Can’t remember this time change affecting me quite like this.

    I walked the dogs super early (but after it was dark) and now am just kind of waiting for bedtime. It’s only 7:30 p.m.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  83. Roscuro, that 9:25 video looks very American in style, actually. I don’t know much about Middle Eastern culture, but it seems likely that was imported styles and not local ones.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment