66 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 4-3-21

  1. Happy Saturday you all. You are certainly joining my day early.
    Time to go to school to get things ready for next week.
    Just finished making the croissant dough for tomorrow.

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  2. Chas, not according to Scripture: “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.” (Proverbs 21:1)

    “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.” (Daniel 4:37)

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  3. That was odd, the second verse should be:
    “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.”
    (Daniel 4:37)

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  4. Good morning. Another beautiful spring day that gives us a chill to start off but will warm up to the 60s later. The weather report advised dressing in layers.

    My friend, Karen, and her husband are house shopping. They find something they like and then it is sold before they can make an offer. The market is hot here. I don’t really understand it. We are losing cloudt because of the reasonable voting ID requirements. So things are really beyond weird. Crime is so bad in Atlanta. Guess who wants to live here? I suppose it would be those looking for a place where defunding of the police gives them greater opportunity for undetected criminal activity. This is a wide open mission field.

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  5. When I was grocery shopping yesterday I saw all the Easter candy on the shelves and thought of you Wanderers. For myself, I bought a BOGO, 2 bags of Pomegranate flavor Craisins. That is my Easter treat. I admit to already eating one bag of them. They are so good! If I use my imagination, they seem like little red jelly beans.

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  6. This popped up on my Facebook Memories this morning:

    Advice from an 80 year old. We should all realize this.
    I used to worry about what people were thinking of me.
    Then, sometime late in life, I realized that they weren’t thinking of me at all. They are thinking about themselves.
    That is liberating.
    No matter where you are in life, you can’t live up to your imagination of someone’s expectation.
    I have to confess, most of this realization occurred after I retired. It makes a difference if you don’t have to answer to anyone.
    But, as I said before, if it’s a friend who is hurting you, you don’t need to put up with that sort of thing. It’ll hurt you, your family and your spiritual life because you become obsessed with something you can’t change.

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  7. Good today morning. I suppose, if we are trusting that God will change our country to be more like Him (which would be true mercy) it makes sense to plead for mercy for our country. But if He is going to allow us to continue down this horrible path, why? Don’t we prefer it to come to an end and have a possibly better restart? We can’t go on doing to the children what nations in the past were destroyed for.

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  8. The housing market is crazy everywhere Janice. Money is “cheaper” than it has been in a really long time. We are still in a housing deficit caused by the market crash in 08,09,10… All the houses that didn’t get built. Add to that the inability to get supplies from overseas due to the pandemic and it’s feeding frenzy. Anything that is in a first time homebuyer price range is being snapped up by cash buyers for investment property. It’s hard. I am about to write a release and cancellation on the cute little cottage I “sold” to the young couple. It has asbestos siding and the husband is flipping out. His MOTHER called the listing agent because “they weren’t getting a response from their agent”. I had been on the phone with him and told him I was driving and about 30 minutes from home and would handle it when I got home. When I got home and called the agent, she had been on the phone with the buyer’s mother.

    I do think buyers are reaching their limit of what they will put up with out of sellers and real estate agents are to blame. They have been all over social media asking, “If someone knocked on your door and wanted to buy your house, how much would it take” and “SOLD in 10 hours for $50K over ask with 12 offers”. Shoot. I even considered selling my house. Here’s the flip side now. We have told potential sellers how much they can get for their house and they are questioning, “If I sell, where will I go”?
    It tough out here, but as I have said multiple times in the past two months…I don’t know how long it’s going to last but I am going to ride the wave as far as I can…

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  9. One of the guys my husband jams with just put his home up for sale. He said he has had three offers already and more showings today. He mentioned he may be homeless sooner rather than later. I suspect they may be moving closer to grown children and grandchildren. That market is even hotter, though. Renting is ridiculous, so home ownership is very attractive. I have no doubt we could sell ours easily, but I am hoping we will not need to do that for quite some time yet.

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  10. Mumsee, I trust God whatever our future holds. But I don’t want to see our nation follow Cuba or Venezuela, and that seems more likely than a simple, clean “restart.”

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  11. Inflation is set to soar, owning a home is one way of missing out on some of those rising prices if you own your home and can afford to make the payments.

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  12. I was talking on the phone with a former associate pastor of the church in Virginia. We were talking about how things have changed, with people sitting apart and television “worship” services. I contend there is no such thing.
    People need to be together. There is just something different about having to sit seven feet from your neighbor. This “separation” business has it’s price and we don’t yet know what it will l be. At my 90 years, I don’t expect to see the result of this transformation, but it doesn’t look good.
    People need each other.

    On a personal basis, Elvera, during the last couple of years, contributed nothing to the welfare and keeping of this place.
    But I miss her. Just being here was important.
    The point is: : People need each other. TV doesn’t do it.

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  13. I agree with you Chas. We were created to be social. There is a reason “cabin fever” was a think during the homesteading/pioneer days.

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  14. My grandparents, in their final years, were unable to attend church and watched televised services instead. They never wavered in faith or stopped in growth. The Spirit is not limited by isolation of location or prison walls or bodily infirmity in ministering or any other barrier to fellowship for members of the body of Christ. “For though absent in body, I am present in spirit” (I Corinthians 5:3).

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  15. Cheryl, of course we trust God to work out His plan in whatever form. Jo mentioned praying for mercy and I wondered how that would play out. Initially, I was thinking it would be forgive us and let us go on our way. But really praying for mercy may mean, “end it quickly” or ” remake our hearts to adore you” . I am going with the latter.

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  16. Good morning. Today’s date as listed above, but with the hyphens removed, is interesting: 4 3 2 1.

    There’s your numerical trivia for the day. 🙂

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  17. Musicians are good at numbers and math. Blastoff!

    I just listened to a good news cast where our govenor and some legislators spoke about the Georgia bill being unfairly attacked based on lies. I liked what I heard. But I feel he is trying to swim upstream after what all went down before.

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  18. Morning! It is another beautiful day given to us and I love having the windows open to bring into this house some fresh air!
    I suppose Hebrews 10:25 “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching “ hits many of us. Of course if one cannot get to the physical church building…as is the case with my Mother…the blessing of watching or listening to the service is there. Her church is not a healthy one. A couple of times they remembered her and brought communion to her but it has been years since. The latest I heard was the new “pastor” tried to convince her homosexuality was not a sin and she should be accepting of “all”….

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  19. I am paying the price for having eaten all those Craisins yesterday. My body expected more sugar and sent out insulin to cover it, but there was nothing sweet in my system this morning. I have the low blood sugar jitters. Now I am having oatmeal cooked with unsweetened applesauce and plain yogurt with cinnamon and cloves to help this uncomfortable feeling go away. At least I recognize what is going on. The body, as God made it, is so amazing!

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  20. 8:55 and 11:30, amen

    “Virtual services” are, in many ways, lacking — but in times of necessity, they still bring the preaching of the Word to us (and many others who might normally not be present for church) on the Lord’s Day. Many churches have reported reaching folks they’d never reached before.

    All of us have missed in-person worship and I, for one, am grateful to be back to that more natural and satisfying pattern where communion can be observed and we are worshiping — in person — with one another. I’m not sure why people are sitting 7 feet away from each other at Chas’ church — we just leave a couple chairs in between us where I am, easily within chatting distance. As a single, I’m not used to sitting cramped-up and shoulder-to-shoulder anyway, so there’s very little difference in my own experience. I’m plenty close enough to those around me to connect while leaving a handy empty chair or two for Bibles and other items that otherwise would have to be put on the floor (one reason I miss pews, they give you much more “scooch” room).

    I agree that this past year — whether you think the measures taken were necessary or not — will leave some lasting mental and social impacts. It most definitely hastened some regrettable changes, already underway, in our nation. It was interesting to see how even a virus and the vaccines to stop it became so widely political.

    Mostly, perhaps, it reminds us that we’re not in charge after all. Our God is sovereign, yes, even over all of this. He is also good and wise and He’s working and moving in all that we see going on, the invisible hand behind it all. To what end, we can’t see.

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  21. 6 (12:23), I saw on the news somewhere that many had already been booking weddings and other events for that date (which you want to put “blastoff!” afterward)

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  22. As for our present-day hardships, the human spirit is remarkably resilient. People have endured far worse. The impacts on our psyches and spirits are difficult, but they can also be positive. We are told that in this world we will have trouble. It’s the norm, really.

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  23. We got our shopper to get us a ham, so even though I don’t really have a long-standing tradition of Easter dinner, last night I made mashed potatoes since I noticed the potatoes were starting to rot and we were about to get new ones, and for dinner we had ham, the pre-made mashed potatoes, and a few other fixings, with a wonderful black raspberry wine. It’s nice to have a really good meal for very little work! Just a couple weeks ago I used up the last of the ham from the fall, and I’ve also used a couple of the mashed potato packets I’d frozen, so I got to restock the freezer, too. It’s a blessing to have enough freezer space to put food away for easy meals later!

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  24. Anonymous at 1:14, I almost wrote “blastoff!” after 4 3 2 1, then changed my mind for I don’t really know what reason. 🙂

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  25. The moving of the All Star game is, well, ridiculous. I’m glad to see some strong pushback on it.

    We’re having basically just ham and scalloped potatoes, all purchased cooked and just brought in for re-heating, some fancy, flavored fizzy water (and some kind of dessert which is my assignment) when the 3 cousins gather for Easter lunch/dinner at 1 tomorrow. I will be out of church by 11.

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  26. Hebrews 10:25 isn’t a command to always meet in person. If that were the case then every prisoner in solitary confinement for their faith from Marie Durand to Watchman Nee, every missionary traveling alone to minister the gospel from Philip the Evangelist to David Livingstone, every invalid unable to leave their home from Charlotte Elliot, author of ‘Just as I Am’ to one of my friends would be in disobedience. But such people grow in truth and live lives of blessing, however limited their sphere.

    The context of Hebrews 10 is warning about unbelief, and verse 25 is encouraging believers to help each other remain faithful. Forsaking the assembly of yourselves is not ceasing to go to church on Sunday because of circumstances outside one’s control, rather it is refusing to listen to input from other believers, refusing to hear their reproof when they see a need for correction, refusing to hear their exhortation when they see a need for being stirred up to good works, refusing to hear their teaching when they see a lack of knowledge. There are many so-called believers who attend church regularly and yet never benefit from it at all. I have met such people: a man who physically abused his wife yet regularly attended my mother’s church; a man who came to our family church yet never grew beyond the latest culture war, leaving his children to be fed on the scraps of Bible knowledge that Sunday School provided; a youth who also attended our church, rose to prominence with his musical ability, married and moved to the US, beget four children while serving as a youth pastor in a church, and then permanently abandoned wife and children for a short fling with the senior pastor’s daughter. Such people benefit not at all from fellowship and preaching. They were present in body always, but completely absent in Spirit. They forsook the assembling of believers even while attending church regularly.

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  27. I will break with the traditional ham and grill steaks. It will be in the 70’s and I will take full advantage of the warm temps and spend time outdoors! We getting used to spending holidays alone….
    Dj are you hosting the gathering with your cousins?

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  28. Here are some trivia questions for you. Without looking up the answer, guess for the years 1901-2000:

    1. How many times did Easter happen in March?
    2. What was the earliest calendar date?
    3. What was the latest calendar date?

    For extra credit: 4. What date(s) within that range got skipped?

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  29. Well, hey, the pandemic hasn’t been nearly as bad as wandering 40 years in the desert, right?

    I still think it’s what we do with these challenges, how we deal with it spiritually (I could have done way better than I have) that is the important focus.

    Crises will come. We’re just very accustomed to not really having them in the present day US where life generally is quite comfortable.

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  30. Cheryl, I know a bit about the dating of Easter so I will take a few guesses, even though numbers are not my strong point:
    1. Between 66 (one third) to 75 (three quarters) of those dates were probably in April since the dates cycle between the end of March to the middle of April.

    2. The earliest calendar date would be in March. Based on what I know, I think March 24 is the earliest, but I might be wrong about that.

    3. The latest date is in April, of course. It varies but I don’t think it is ever after April 20.

    4. This involves leap year math, so I will not attempt it.

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  31. Janice, I am doing OK. About where I should be in recovery. Still struggle with some bodily functions a bit, as everything was really getting messed up prior to surgery. Hoping it will make a full recovery.

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  32. Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon of Spring. So the earliest Easter would be the day after the vernal equinos, and the latest would be 28-30 days after. Since Spring begins March 20th or 21st, most Easters would be in April.

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  33. The homeless do the windshields here. It’s how one of mine wound up broken, haha — cost me more, in the long run, than the bills I handed to the homeless guy at the gas station.

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  34. Cheryl’s trivia questions with my anonymous, italicized guesses:

    1. How many times did Easter happen in March? 23
    2. What was the earliest calendar date? March 25
    3. What was the latest calendar date? April 24

    For extra credit: 4. What date(s) within that range got skipped? All of them that did.

    🙂

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  35. Anonymous at 7:37 had some really good guesses to go with earlier people’s explanations. Nobody has had any dates or numbers precisely right yet, though.

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  36. I’ve been weeding and planting a hydrangea— but wondered about the wisdom of doing that in a second drought year in a row. Sigh.

    Am checking, too on my gray water line— I’ll start my vegetable planting in that bed this year since, see above, water shortages. 😦

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  37. Hi y’all. Nightingale and I were hanging out together for much of the day, so I am behind on these comments. Maybe someone has already said something like this, but when I pray for God to have mercy on our country, I am praying for Him to have mercy on the people of this country – native born or immigrant, legal or illegal – by saving their souls and delivering us from the deceits and delusions of the enemy, the world, and our own flesh.

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  38. 6 Arrows mentioned that today’s date is 4 3 2 1. Today would have been my MIL’s 100th birthday. She didn’t notice the 4 3 2 1 of her birthdate until she was in her 70s, but then she got quite a kick out of it. 🙂

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  39. MIL Mary was 34 when she had Hubby, and Hubby was six years older than me, which means that Mary was 40 years older than me. It was interesting to me to realize that she was only eight years younger than my maternal grandmother. My FIL was only five years younger than my grandmother, but I never met him since he died when Hubby was 18.

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  40. Janice – Nightingale is feeling better than she was on Friday morning, but still not “all better”. She called out of work for tomorrow, as she feels she needs more rest. (She very rarely ever calls out sick, so if she does, you know she needs it.)

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  41. As for Chickadee, there had been another suggestion of showing up with cookies or something sometime. The thing is, that is something we have never done. We have never been invited to their apartment, not even in the beginning to see where she would be living. With the current situation, to show up all of a sudden “bearing gifts” would seem manipulative or pushy or something.

    I am still saving the Valentine’s Day and Easter candy for Chickadee that I would have given her if she were here.

    I still can’t believe this is happening. It is so unlike Chickadee, as she has always been very loving and sweet with me.

    My great concern (I hesitate to say “fear” but it is close) is that even if she wanted to reach out to me, the pressure (even if unintended) from YA and/or CBF to not do so could be more than she can resist. This whole situation is very scary to me. I have no idea when I will hear from or see my beloved younger daughter again. I have been crying on and off today. Tears in my eyes as I type this comment.

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