53 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 8-4-21

  1. So, Aj, you have some wonderful pictures that you post on here. Do you take a lot of walks or do you have favorite places to go? The headers are wonderful.
    Morning, Chas.

    Liked by 2 people

  2. Well thank you Jo.

    I have a bunch of favorite places, it depends what I want to photo.

    Right now I’m trying to figure out where the bald eagles are nesting at the reservoir. My dad knew and told me where to look. I’ve only ever seen one bald eagle (at Disney on a tree far out on a lake) and only have one far off shot. My dad says the fledglings are out of the nest now, so more than usual are around. Hopefully this is my year…..

    Liked by 3 people

  3. Having a great time on the East Coast. We drove the Skyline Parkway yesterday, will visit friends near Baltimore today.

    Tomorrow we put in masks for the Smithsonian Natural History Museum and then fly home.

    Our daughter returns to LA today and off to Nicaragua next week.

    In her own words, she’s still emotionally fragile. If you think of her, please pray however God leads you.

    Maybe someday I’ll catch up on my email, sigh.

    Liked by 4 people

  4. I’m not sure what transpirted yesterday regarding the “News” thread (and I confess that I never read Cheryl’s posts anyhow) but I echo others who said it was a significant source of information. I can’t imagine what the complaint could be – granted there are some opposing opinions, but I actually appreciated them.

    Liked by 2 people

  5. …and I confess that I never read Cheryl’s posts anyhow…

    I usually read the first paragraph of her long ones. If it was an interesting topic, I’d read the whole thing. If it was in response to another comment or part of an ongoing discussion with another person, I’d skip it.

    I enjoyed the photographs she sent, and the descriptions of them.

    Liked by 2 people

  6. Politics have gotten so volatile over the last however many years. Maybe it began as far back as “W”, but has gotten so much worse now.
    I have been “silenced” because anything I say or write can me misconstrued and can cost me my license and ability to earn a living. That is a sad state of affairs here in the home of the free.
    People have gotten mean and vindictive over it.
    As you may have noticed I haven’t been as active here this year. The biggest part of it was getting a Mac and losing my posts because I am constantly signed out of WordPress. The other part of it is that it as been a busy year and I have also been focused on my health, so I have been exercising in the mornings.
    I do miss all of you and am extremely thankful for all of you.

    Liked by 4 people

  7. Cheryl has been one of us for a long time and a fellow Christian. She may from time to time pop in on us to check. Please don’t say anything that isn’t nice. She has feelings too and has choses to walk away. Sometimes that is the best way to handle something. I have done it a few times myself.

    Liked by 3 people

  8. Today is my little brother’s BD. He would be 83. He was killed in an auto accident.
    Weirdest thing
    I was away in Arabia in the AF at the time. My parents lived outside the school zone. They moved there after my little brother started school. He never changed and went to school on acity bus.
    But in bad weather, my mother drove to school to get him.

    One day, it was raining. Mother went to get him. He had already taken the bus. She came home.
    When hse got off the bus, he ran behind it. A car was coming the other way. It hit him.
    He was in the hospital three days while my mother prayed.
    After three days she agreed, in prayer, to God’s purpose.
    He died that day.
    Weirdest thing, the way it happened.
    I don’t generally believe in desting. But this is it.

    Liked by 4 people

  9. Morning! It is overcast and a tad bit drizzly outside this morning. The storm broke into two parts yesterday and we were in the middle…getting nothing ! 😊
    Trusting our Lord to tend to the needs of us all this day….for His eye is on the sparrow….and may we always look to Him….

    Liked by 1 person

  10. I enjoyed Cheryl’s photography and info about her hikes. Some discussions about theology really made me think such as when we talked about infant and other baptisms. For half my life I was in churches that practiced that and later switched to immersion only so I had a personal stake in such discussions that may not have interested others.

    I know I offended Cheryl at times, and we had some heated moments, but I think we were able to get past it. I wish her well and recognize she has strong convictions. I hope she can find another community, maybe one which is more specific to her photography and hiking interests. I have recently found a gardening group on Facebook that I am enamored with. It is a positive place for those who love plants and involves no politics.

    As a small business owner, I give high regard to the rights of the owner. I do recognize AJ as owner and manager of this blog. He has done a wonderful service for this community of believers, and he has has allowed for opposition to his point of view to be posted almost daily. He has been flexible. I am amazed how he keep it up and running through his family’s ordeal with Covid. Such dedication and devotion is rarely found these days. I so much appreciate his efforts. And I love his photography, too! And I have a special place in my heart for fellow homeschoolers and empty nesters.

    Liked by 3 people

  11. I see on TV where people have signs saying Defend Police. Onnly they have mispelled “defend” to read defund.
    They can’t be sutpid enough to believe tha?
    Can they?

    Liked by 1 person

  12. It’s back to work for me, but Cowboy still isn’t doing great as he’s getting switched to a new pain med. Too early to tell right now, I’ve committed to seeing it through the week.

    Tess and I got out for a walk together late last night and it felt good. She’s also having issues but is doing much better than Cowboy and we had a well-paced steady walk; not far, it was late, after 9 p.m., but took in a few blocks and it felt good to go at a quicker pace than I can with both dogs right now.

    It’s a hard and emotional season for me right now, obviously.

    I will (and already do) miss Cheryl and it saddens me to see some of the comments here. Really?

    Cheryl and I bonded early on the blog “back in the day” — we both loved herding dogs and were Reformed Christians who enjoyed theology. Yes, enjoyed it — when I moved to a Reformed church I was energized by long sermons with some meat to them. Where had this been all my Christian life?

    I won’t comment here on what took place over the past few weeks only that it was difficult and sad to see all the way around.

    But the blog lost some richness with the departure of Cheryl (and perhaps roscuro as well?). I’m sad to see that happen and personally will miss the intellectual and theological stimulation they brought to the environment.

    And picking up on something Kim said, we as Christians are trying to navigate through what’s a very contentious, difficult — and sometimes ugly — period in the nation right now. What’s going on in our nation isn’t easy to watch, and it appears to have no end in sight.

    The divisions that already existed for some time have only deepened with the Covid era and I’ve seen it affect churches, mine and others, as well as Christian communities like ours here.

    Love one another. Easier said than done, clearly. I’m as guilty as anyone of failing on that front.

    May we all take a breath, maybe a even break now and then if necessary, be gentler with each other, and always remember our higher (and first, above all others) calling.

    Liked by 3 people

  13. Ditto to what DJ said.

    I did not always agree with Cheryl, and sometimes her writing on certain topics could come across as a little blunt (which she has admitted). But I had “known” her throughout all these years (almost 20!) and recognized that she has a tender, caring heart, which made me read her posts differently. I will greatly miss her contribution to this blog.

    And I sure hope that Roscuro comes back. She, too, had a strong way of presenting her views which was not everyone’s cup of tea, but – as I wrote about Cheryl – I found that she has a tender and caring heart, and so much knowledge, especially of history and early Christianity.

    Liked by 2 people

  14. Chas ain’t mad at nobody.
    He comes here often to get different points of view.
    I think I researched once and concluded that this is a Christian blog. That is:
    You don’t have to be a Christian to post here, but the Christian point of view is the norm here.

    Liked by 2 people

  15. I am so much trying to stay on board with the “if there is anything praiseworthy, think on those things” track we are given as the high road in the Bible. I used that thought yesterday in my Bible study group. It applies to so much in life. There will always be negatives in this fallen world. None of us are exempt from having negative aspects of ourselves or noticing the existence of those in others. Even with logs in our eyes, the flaws often can not go unnoticed. But the Bible gives us good ways to overcome our deficiencies. May people see more of Jesus and less of us individually as we go forward bearing the image of God and being known by His name. May we grow closer to perfection day by day as we draw closer to Him and abide with Him.

    Liked by 3 people

  16. We went out to the neighbor’s hayfield (he provides us with hay) and picked up a few truckloads. It is so nice to see the younger ones able to step up and do the work now! Fifteen year old can buck some bales! And thirteen is not far behind though she does not have the height or muscles he has. So this old granny gets to be the support team with gramps. Rah rah.

    Liked by 4 people

  17. In other breaking news, the other nineteen year old turns twenty today. He is out working for a farmer on harvest. They just abandoned a field as the yield was so short of normal.

    Liked by 3 people

  18. I just accidentally put this on the news thread:

    ~Around here, football conditioning and practice season has begun in earnest. The conditioning training was for three days a week for two or three weeks in July, but now that August is here, Boy will have football practice five evenings a week. He loves it, and it is good for him.

    God bless (and save) these men who volunteer their time to work with these kids.

    Nightingale has the options of staying to watch or coming home or doing something else while he is at practice. Sometimes she stays, but other times she comes home or goes for a run or something, so she doesn’t feel that it is taking much time from what she wants or needs to do.~

    Liked by 3 people

  19. The physical therapist told me our bodies are made to move, to be in motion.

    Cowboy’s having a better day today. And there’s a wonderful, cool breeze coming in the south front windows, so I’ve set up my home-work station in that part of the house today.

    Liked by 4 people

  20. I just received the most beautiful (long) note via FB from Carol’s close childhood friend from NY. I’d let her know of Carol’s passing months ago. She’s experienced a great deal of loss (a daughter, a brother, Carol — her oldest living friend) and has been pretty emotionally stunned for the past several years, she told me, thus the much-delayed response. News of Carol’s death hit her hard. She’s a published author living in England with her husband and has added a dedication line to one of her books coming out (I believe she writes poetry primarily).

    She shared so many new details about Carol’s childhood and teen years, they were truly best friends — a friendship that formed in 2nd grade because they both had such high reading skills — that I just didn’t know about, such a special, heartfelt message.

    What a hard period this has been for so many.

    Liked by 5 people

  21. My Physical therapist decided the other day that my leg muscles needed to be stretched.. I was on my back and she put my leg on her shoulder and pushed and pushed. Wow was I in pain by the end of yesterday. Then she wants me to stretch it twice a day. I think I will be waiting a day until my legs recover.

    Liked by 2 people

  22. My friend and I were sharing last night what a good, positive, supportive staff we have at the school right now. It hasn’t always been that way and I have suffered from it. But now we are being appreciated and encouraged everyday. What a difference.

    Liked by 4 people

  23. Encouragement makes a world of difference, Jo.

    Yes, DJ, it has been several years of seeming back to back losses. I am still adjusting to the partial vision loss and what all that has meant. We have to make ourselves count our blessings instead of sinking down to despair over the losses. An important thought I read somewhere for those who are disabled is to concentrate on what you can still do instead of on what you can’t do. That is such a wise way to approach life.

    Liked by 3 people

  24. What a special blessing that was for you Dj…
    And for you as well Jo….it does give us an extra boost to know we are appreciated at times and then for you Dj to be given a glimpse into the life of your precious Carol from someone who had cherished her friendship as well….
    It has turned out to be a blessed autumn day here with a crisp breeze coming through my windows….I feel like pulling out the oak leaves and pumpkins…but the end of summer flowers are in their full glory…feeling season conflicted today!! 🎃 💐 🎄 ⛄️

    Liked by 3 people

  25. That’s a good way to think about it. Still, there’s no denying that we will tread through some difficult afflictions and they will be often hard to bear. God works through it all, and the suffering itself has a purpose.

    Yeah, I had my least favorite activities at PT as well. 🙂 But all for my benefit, I know.

    Liked by 2 people

  26. NancyJill – We have been having close-to-fall-like weather ourselves. I only just put my living room ac on a little while ago because the humidity is going up as some rain (another storm maybe?) is on its way. I even had a light sweater on for a while!

    But I’m telling myself not to get used to it, because I know that summer weather will be back again before long. It will be back into the lower 80s for the weekend, starting on Friday. That’s not too bad, except that we often have the humidity that makes it feel worse.

    Liked by 1 person

  27. Oh how true Kizzie. The temps are supposed to reach the upper 80’s by this weekend….I shall enjoy the cool breezes while I can!
    Miss Bosley is one “spoilt” girl….and that’s how it should be ♥️

    Liked by 2 people

  28. I have spent 3 days with these people. J is my new best friend. She has fixed my phone and car, she has explained some things about myself that I never knew. I talked to her about BG and have new insight.
    We are looking again tomorrow.

    Liked by 2 people

  29. I found out today that ragweed has no petals on its flowers. Its pollen is so tiny that it goes airborne to accomplish pollination. It does not need pretty flowers to attract the pollinators. Finding that out got me to thinking how neat it would be if something like ragweed pollen could attach to the Covid and they could disable each other before they get inside of people. I know God is the Master Designer, and we do not know why he made such irritating things as ragweed pollen. Also thinking about how Cobra venom is now used as Botox treatments to help ladies (with $) get rid of their wrinkles. We never know!

    Like

  30. DJ, they are her clients she is taking out looking at properties. People can spend many hours in the vehicle doing that. I’m sure some people (general public) can be quite obnoxious, but God has blessed Kim with wonderful people. That reminds me that I am listening to War Room on Audible and the story involves a real estate lady who becomes very close to her client who helps her learn to pray effectively. It’s a good story. So is Kim’s story, and it’s for real!😀

    Like

  31. Try to keep up, DJ. 😉

    *******
    Earlier I said that the temps will be going up to the low 80s starting on Friday. The revised forecast says upper 80s, nearing 90. Ha! I knew summer was just teasing us with this nice reprieve.

    Like

  32. Ha, that’s what I told myself, ya gotta keep up! What’s wrong with me?

    We’re around the high 70s, warm but not too bad. We’ve had a mild summer (so far).

    I watered both front and back after my interviews were finished for the day. More water on me than the plants as usual.

    Liked by 1 person

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