60 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 11-29-21”

  3. I believe I just saw the most awesome Christmas outdoor decorations ever. My daughter shared a picture of a house near her. They had giant Advent candles (with one lit) and a set of camels off to the side. I am eagerly waiting to see what happens after the four candles are lit. I anticipate a creche or something showing up where the Advent candles are. Such a great conversation starter!

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  4. Morning! It’s a Christmas tree!! So pretty!!

    Chas must be having breakfast…up and at ‘em!

    Thanks for the recommendation Janice as I have wanted to get his book. Good to know you liked it much.

    You will have to fill us in as the display progresses Kathaleena..now I’m curious. We don’t have many outdoor displays in our area and I have seen no manger scenes. When I was a child growing up in small town USA the milkman down on the corner put up a manger scene in his front yard. It was the sweetest display of all as he crafted it himself.

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  5. Good morning. Son was on his nubulizer earlier. Husband is hopping around the kitchen. Daughter is prepping for her day. And I am talking at you!

    Had a nice phone call from twenty last night. She started about how she was going to go to the library to research how to take care of her problem, she is not liking the lady. We talked. In the end she was quite pleasant and kept saying she loved me and was glad I had answered dad’s phone. We have a plan for me to call her later in the week.

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  6. We are fortunate to have a manger scene at one of the main entrances to our general neighborhood. It is at the intersection with the little short road that everyone takes to get to our neighborhood Publix so everyone goes that way out/in all the time. It is a major blessing that a Christian lives there.

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  8. Good morning NancyJ
    I was here before, but don’t know what happened to the comment. Probably on yeserday’s somewhere.

    It is bright, but cold in Greensboro. And it ain’t even winter yet.

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Yes, those are real presents.

    There are many more under the table and a few more to be wrapped yet, mostly for Elizabeth and Isaac.

    I cannot divulge their contents at this time. Some of them are surprises they don’t know about. 🎅🎄

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  10. I read Yancey’s book several weeks ago and I thought it tough to read about his childhood pain. I’d think it would be worse to hear him read it.

    He commented that he cut down the size of the book from some huge number of words, but like Eric Metaxas’ memoir, I thought it would have benefited from more editing and a larger section about how his wife helped him deal with the past.

    That being said, he’s a fine writer and it’s amazing he still walks with God after his mother’s behavior.

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  11. Also, the tree is incomplete. When Elizabeth and Isaac arrive after the semester ends, they’ll add the ornaments. 🎄🎄🎄🎄

    Feel free to send in any holiday photos you’d like to share on the blog.

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  14. I think that Yancey’s book has special captivation for us because he was growing up here at the same time Art and I were growing up in the Atlanta area. He and Art are almost the same age. Music has played a big role in Art’s life, and it is discussed a lot in the book. Also, Art won an award in science and got to represent our state in a national science fair around the same time that Yancey won his position for work at the CDC. The juxtaposition of what went on in his home life with what was happening otherwise is astounding. And his discussion of racial relations here is right on target, and he does not neglect to say that the north was no better. In my opinion, this book gets an A+, but I do not have the background of Michelle to judge it on other merits besides my own personal experience and how I see it is working to deepen the faith of my husband.

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  15. It’s chimney sweep day here, they should arrive in about an hour, though this isn’t a simple “sweep” but more of an inspection to see what shape the chimney is in). So I doubt anything will actually be done today other than the $99 assessment. (If you decide to have them do what they say needs to be done, the $99 applies to that work.)

    I have a couple other companies if it’s in enough of a ballpark range that I feel I’d like to get some other serious quotes.

    After that I need to get to the credit union to get the property tax $ out and get that paid, want to also pay the car registration online today. And if I have time I’ll stop in at the eye doctor’s office just to see if they have some frames that I like (they usually don’t as their selection is small).

    And I may order the replacement pine tree for the backyard today, the smaller one, but first I want to get the estimate from the chimney folks.

    Our temperatures have gone down a bit but it’s still “bone dry” as the weather guy said on the local news last night. Absolutely no rain in sight through all of December.

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  16. Looks like AJ has a jump on all of us for the holidays. I like the themed paper idea in lieu of tags (which we can never find from year to year, right?).

    I’m way behind, not feeling the spirit yet — I haven’t even gotten the outdoor lighted wreaths out of the garage yet. I still have a faux olive branch wreath on the front door, it went up around Easter and I figured it was versatile enough to go through summer. And then fall …

    It’s been one of “those” years here.

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  18. Definite rain day here and I imagine Winchester is the same. Warm out, in the forties and fifties this week, with a hope for rain turning to snow in a week. It is that time of year.

    I need to get up on the roof with my able assistant when it is not raining and he is not struggling to breathe, and clean our chimney. But it can wait a bit. We did it three months ago.

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  19. I am glad we have no chimney to clean. Mumsee would have a long trip to get here!

    I went to Publix. I definitely prefer going early, but that did not happen so I went around lunch time.

    There was one buggy left with some tissues in the bottom of it. The guy handing out wipes said he could not touch the wipes and contaminate them so I had to get some to remove the tissues and then get more for my hands. Just to get into the grocery store. Things are so much more complicated than they use to be.

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  20. $134 for veggies, cheese, and eggs for a week. And store brand coffee was buy one get one free so I bought some to give at Christmas. A number of my Christmas gifts will be BOGO grocery store gifts.

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  21. I think my real issue, Janice, was how hard it was to read about how his mother’s behavior caused so much trouble. Yancey is judicious and doesn’t judge her much, it just was hard for me, personally, to read.

    I was skipping by the end. I couldn’t take another miserable mother scene.

    I became a Christian as a teenager and simply was never around that type of Christian (mis) behavior. Her distortions of the gospel and low view of God troubled me.

    Yancey has risen well above it, but God also used it to make him a very sensitive reader and writer–which is why his books are powerful.

    Your reaction and mine demonstrate how books affect different people in different ways. 🙂

    Which is why there are so many of them! 😉

    Liked by 1 person

  22. That’s a huge pet peeve of mine, folks who leave used hand wipes in the bottom of a shopping cart (and I still think it’s incumbent on the store to remove those before pushing them back into the live of available carts, or am I too picky?).

    I’m playing phone tag with another chimney sweep company who called (I wound up connecting with 3 as I used the Angi’s list service online). So depending on what this guy finds, I can call this other one back and have him also check it out. Same fee, $99 for initial inspection.

    I’ll check on their respective cleaning costs if it looks like we can just move to that step without repairs. But I’m anticipating some repairs based on age and how long it’s been since it’s been checked out.

    It does have a gas line in there so I also will ask about going that route — BUT gas is so expensive here now, I don’t know if that really makes sense. (Plus I would have to buy a gas log.)

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  23. Okay, I will go out on a limb and say that the issue of the tissue in the bottom of the basket was almost like a test of how is this white lady going to react when the black guy refuses to get the tissue out of the basket for her when he is obviously stationed at the door to assist customers with their buggies. It was odd. Almost like a set up. I would not think this way except for other odd things that happen at the store. And we live in this specific time and place.

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  24. Michelle, I could not relate to the harshness of Yancey’s mother.

    My parents were never that religious seeming.

    I think Art probably knew a bit more about things like that because once his mother told me that she had cut her little sister’s hair and her parents insisted she would be going to hell. She believed them at least for awhile.

    Art was brought up Southern Baptist and much more involved with church than I ever was as a young person.

    He was not allowed to enjoy Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny because they were ‘of Satan.’ I found that harsh, but nothing to compare with the harshness of Yancey’s mom.

    Yancy’s mom was from Pennsylvania. It was not a typical Southern mom thing to do in acting as she did. I think the combo of her harsh background combined with her warped thinking about the Bible worked out in her life in a horrible way in regards to how she brought up the boys.

    Yancey does not seem at all vindictive toward his mother. I am very impressed to see how he handled such a bad situation.

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  25. interesting…
    News from kinder, I don’t really know what I am doing today, it will not be as usual, but will be all fine.

    Russian boy is not going to the village today, so that is good.
    Another boy is going to the village next term for quite a long time. Luckily he is very bright as I am not sure what to send as they have changed our curriculum so much.

    And… I am losing another student. A PNG boy is now going to a png school. It really is a good decision as he is not doing too well and I can tell he is worried as it is hard for him. This is not his home language. Mom works in our preschool and I told her it was good. She said when they told him, he was very happy. He will be here the rest of this term.

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  26. Well, the chimney sweep failed to submit the job order so they’re now coming at 5 p.m. That gives me time to do my other errands, at least. They suggested coming tomorrow (or another day this week) but I already have a news conference I need to cover at noon Tuesday and it’ll be a busy day (and a busy week overall). So I’d just as soon get it done today. I suppose it won’t take all that long for this cursory inspection, looking from on top and from below. Done.

    Liked by 1 person

  27. It is difficult to learn in a different language. In many ways, it is good. But it is a process that depends on a number of factors and haste cannot be one of them. Sounds like a good call.

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  28. I had my oldest two in a German kindergarten. They had a lot of fun and learned some stuff but not sure they learned anything academic. I and they are glad they went.

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  32. It is 64 degrees here and “dry as a bone” too! We need snow but we are trusting the Lord through it all….

    I drove to Elizabeth to pick up some fruit, veggies and almonds..and a loaf of sourdough bread…34.00!

    As I drove down the dirt road getting there I saw a huge herd of antelope…they were eating the emerging green whatever it was that the farmer had planted. I don’t think the farmer would have been pleased!

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  33. It’s still cold here.

    I went to Kroger for Art’s meds and to the library around 4:30 I had on three layers.

    The library body temperature reader seemed to not like my shades over my glasses and kept telling me to step closer.

    I finally removed the oversized shades and was pronounced normal. I know I looked abnormal before.

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  35. Chimney sweep is here, came all the way from Malibu (the company is an overall LA one). He’s working on it now cleaning it with some gizmo from inside the house; minor cracks only and it needs a cap.

    I’d prefer no cap for architectural aesthetics, but realize they are a good idea (she admits, recalling how an aunt in Orange County wound up with two crazy raccoons tearing through her house after falling through the chimney some years ago).

    And Santa will figure it out, right?

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  37. Chas, the idea is to clean the chimney before you need it. You don’t want the creosote buildup or bird nests or burglars to catch fire. Good to get that done before trying it.

    I did not know you could use a wood fire in a gas configured fire place. Sounds dangerous to me!

    Liked by 1 person

  38. Yeah, seems like you have to choose one of the other. If I got a ceramic log that hooked into the gas line I guess that would be what I’d use going forward.

    But he chided me when I told him I hadn’t had it looked at or cleaned since I moved here.

    “How long would that be?”

    “Um, 20 years?”

    Ah.

    Then came the gentle lecture about regular cleaning as maintenance …

    Said his last job was a huge 2-store chimney in Malibu, he said mine was small and easy.

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  39. Nancy Jill, that is why farmers can get deprivation hunt tags for their property. Kind of a symbiotic relationship. The deer eat a portion of the crop and the farmer eats a portion of the deer herd. Win win.

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  40. DJ, I am glad you got it done. You did not use it much over the past twenty years. And gas is not going to gunk it up, but, without a cap, especially, nature will.

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  45. One of my neighor’s Labs is on seizure meds. We had a terrier/something mix who also had seizures; they cleared up for some time, though, until he was quite old, 16 yrs (which was after I’d inherited him following my mom’s death).

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  47. Time flies. Jake will be ten on the first of December. I was thinking she might be eight or a bit older. She seems to have lost quite a bit of her training. And does not respond when called for a treat. But once she is aware, she is food obsessed.

    That is pretty much how son described his beagles he had to put down. He also said the anti seizure meds changed them. Sounds like in much the same ways she has changed. We will see.

    Thanks for the article, it went along with son’s talk and what I had researched plus some more useful info.

    Liked by 2 people

  48. Jake is having the grand mal seizures like she did last spring. It seems much more comfortable for her to be having them outside. And I wonder if bringing her in has contributed to them. Son thinks the death of Barney as his second dog, who had never had seizures, started having them at the first dog, his sister, was put down. He thinks it was genetic for them and the death triggered his genetic predisposition. They went through a lot of the treatments for her but decided to put him down after just a short season with it as he was progressing so quickly.

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  49. My granddaughter told me this weekend that people down South use the term buggy for the grocery cart. She has a classmate who told her. I had never heard that term for a shopping cart before. Then, lo and behold, Janice uses it!

    The Yancy book sounds interesting.

    Liked by 2 people

  54. Yes, it took me a while to figure out what you were talking about, Janice.

    Buggy? That would be a horse-drawn carriage in my world. That would be an interesting supermarket accessory.

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