Words be few

Quote from Shakespeare:
Give every man your ear and few your words!
Solomon said it like this:
Even a fool is considered wise when she keeps her mouth shut.
James 1:19
Let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to get angry.
That is what I am working on, learning to listen more and speak less.

Self conscious

Last night we saw an incredible program about children with progeria. It is a syndrome that causes a child to age 7 times faster, so that a 10 year old has the health problems of a 70 year old. It is very rare and there are only 30-40 known cases in the world.
In the program they followed three children, two boys and a girl. One of the boys, John, is in high school and I was so blessed to see his self esteem. Though he 'looks' like a little old man, he is a vital part of his high school and so enjoys life.
I thought about all the times I have bemoaned how I look and had a pity party. I saw myself as too fat, too thin, yucky hair, etc. I was awed at the way John was so comfortable with who he was. His parents said kids were cruel to begin with but it is obvious that the kids both love him and enjoy him. I think ,in part, because he feels so good about himself.
Man does tend to look on the outward appearance but God looks on the heart. I am going to focus more on that myself. Not obsessing on how I look and accepting how others look too, I vow to not let first impressions to keep me from getting to know others.

Legacy

The other morning I was searching for the 'foot' to my bread machine. You can't make bread without and I had fresh bread planned for lunch. I vaguely remembered putting it in an odd place last week, but where? God was good to reveal it's whereabouts before I got too frustrated.
As I put the ingredients in the 'pot' I thought about how proud I am of my youngest grandson. When he spent his vacation week here last month we have' Rummel cooking school'. Among several things we made was bread. I did not use the bread machine since I knew he did not have one. We did it by hand all the way. It is a bit tricky and there are a variety of reasons that it could fail, which we covered. Here is the amazing part. He listened and remembered it all and have weekly graced the family with fresh bread.
Now I know that we have cooking genes from my Father who was a chef in the Navy and then my nephew who is also a great cook . I have finally learned by trial and error( my Father's lessons were disappointing to him where I was concerned). But it takes more than genes. You have to watch, listen and practice to be good. I have come to love cooking and now Gabriel does too.
But to me, the incredible part is that he listened to something I said about something that meant a lot to me and cared to practice it and followed through to make it a life skill.
Oh, how I pray that the spiritual things I shared with him make as much impact. Solomon says," Listen to your Father's instruction and do not forsake your ( grand) mother's teaching. They are to be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck. ... My son if you accept my words and store up my commands with in you.. Then you will find the knowledge of the Lord."
That's the legacy I long to give my grandson, the knowledge of a loving God who is pursuing him to pour out his love on him.
Bread lasts a lifetime but the knowledge of God goes into eternity.

Storm

On Tuesday we had a terrible thunder storm. I have wondered what that term meant, but no more. They say we had 3500+ lightning strikes with the accompanying thunder. This sent my dog over the edge of emotional stability . He was a mess, shaking, unable to eat( his favorite thing in life), trying to hide and make it go away, all to no avail.
I finally got him to sit at my feet while I petted him and talked softly telling him I was right there and nothing was going to hurt him. As I was doing that I could hear God remind me of all the times he had done that for me, gentled me in crisis.
Sometimes He calms the storm and sometime He calms his child. Like Buddy, I need both. How about you?

Two are better

Have you ever bitten off more than you can chew? Well, not only in eating, but in a project? That was me yesterday. I am so glad that no one was there with a camera. I was dirty from head to foot, literally. I have dirt in my sox and even my underwear. I also sported a mustache of soil. It all began with the hurricane in the south. That raised the cost of heating oil, so Jon decided to buy a cord of seasoned Almond. They are going to deliver it tomorrow and we needed to make room for it in the back patio. Jon had not made much progress so I decided to help out after he went to work. I drug the plant clippings out to the 'green can' and then returned for the non -producing rose bush. I had done all I could to forestall it's demise but it had not cooperated so we decided to eliminate it. It is a tree rose and has much dead wood and it so unhappy .
I dragged it, in it's pot to the back garage door. It sure was heavy. I wondered how I would get it up into the can. I pulled it out of the pot and thought that would lighten the load but it did not make much difference. Next I set up the ladder. I am not kidding. My plan- walk the tree rose up the ladder to the same level as the can and push it in. Brilliant, huh? Well, not really because as you can guess, while I did walk it up the ladder to the correct level, I could not push it in, try as I might.
I dropped it to the floor and get a second bright idea. Chop at the roots with the hoe. So chop I did, with dirt flying in every direction. I paused to think about the terrible mess I would now have to clear up in the garage. Then I turned back to my job, sure I had it all figured out.
About that time I saw my elderly neighbor coming across the street using her cane to steady her and holding a paper. I wondered if she had gotten some mail of mine. As she drew closer, she had a wide eyed look on her face.
"What are you doing?"
" I am trying to get this in my green can. It is very heavy and I tried to walk it up the ladder but it was too heavy. Now I can chopping the roots in hopes I can shove it in."
" Do you need help? I could help you push it in"
"No, I don't want you to hurt yourself".
Not to be deterred, she drew closer still and indicated she was serious. I took her up on it and in a moment we had it deposited nicely in the can. Only one other problem. The trunk stood up high and we could not close the lid of the can.
She slowly shuffled across the street and returned with her hand saw and you should have seen her saw that trunk off with ease! I now was the one wide eyed.
We both laughed looking at the mess on the floor and the mess on me. She is the one who pointed out my mustache.
All I could say was" Girls rule!"
She ambled on home and I know she was laughing to herself all the way.
King Solomon said that two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. If one falls, the other can pick them up. Pity the one who falls and has no one to pick him( her) up. God never meant for us to live life alone. Solomon went on to say that a cord of three strands is not quickly broken. God, me and my gardening friend. He was right as usual.

Selective listening

This tale begins with an article I read about one way to avoid senile dementia. It said to do word searches and other word puzzles to exercise your mind. I discovered that our paper has several things I could try each day. I went right to the word searches since that seemed the easiest. I began to see the being dyslexic would be an advantage since most words were backwards.
I looked at the Crypto next, where you have to decode a phrase. That was not my forte, so I moved on. The jumble is similar and like the crypto too hard for my unexercised brain. I settled on the word game.
Here they give you a word- like respite- and you have 30 or so minutes to come up with as many words as you can ,using those letters. They have to be four or more letters, no use of 's' and no reusing the same verbs with the addition of ed, etc. I really thought this was' up my alley' . I found quickly that I had a hard time visualizing the letters and moving them around so I came up with a great solution. I retrieved our scrabble game and used the letters in it. I still have not come up with all the words they print the next day, but I am doing better.
The problem came with what to do with the game the rest of the day. I did not want to take it back upstairs and retrieve it each day. I am a neat freak so could not have it sitting out and had to search for a creative hiding place. Wow, I came up with a great one- the dryer! Put it in and close the door. It is safely stowed away. The mental gymnastics must be working already. What a creative idea!
Well, of course there would not be a blog from this if it was that simple. The next day I put the sheets in the dryer and walked away. Instantly I heard a crash and ran as fast as I could to retrieve all the pieces now spinning around in the dryer. Ha. But not to be deterred, I put it back after I was done, now sure that I would not forget again. I shared all this with Jon and he had a good laugh on me.
Last night I was upstairs blogging and I heard this terrible crash. You guessed it. Jon was using the dryer, supposedly to take wrinkles out of his Levis. I have to say that that is the first time in months he has used it, but use it he did. I ran down to grab the letters out of the dryer and try to explain.
" Don't you remember that told you about all this?"
" No"
" Well, I did. Was this one of your selective listening times?"
"I guess so. But I still don't get it. Why is the whole scrabble game in the dryer?"
I won't bore you with a rehash of all that. Suffice it to say that I had to some up with another idea. I put just the letter tiles themselves in a ziplock bag and stuffed them in a drawer and returned the rest of the game upstairs to the game shelf.
Even the Bible talks about selective listening. Samuel was a young boy and God called him three times but he thought it was Eli the priest. The third time he got it right:
" Speak Lord, I'm listening."
Missing out on what God says is more critical than the shock of scrabble tiles in your dryer! Listen up.

Don't be late

Yesterday we took a picnic and drove with friends to the Stanislaus River at Knight's Ferry. We found a good spot with table and all and began to eat. As we did, we noticed some very 'interesting' people gathering at the spot across from us. Obviously it was for a wedding reception. They were having to carry all their supplies down the hill but the site they had was cement and a good choice for their event.
I was busy devouring my KFC biscuit when the guys spotted the location for the wedding. Some white folding chairs had been set up facing the river. Picturesque except that the trees and bush at the front of the site were browning and the chairs on a slanting angle. Hum!
We continued to watch the goings on. Black seems to be the color of choice of most of the guests and we wondered what the bride would be wearing or if she was already there in the midst, not standing out.
When we had finished our delicious lunch, complete with chicken, potato wedges, Cole slaw( not my thing) and fresh fruit, we packed up our stuff and safely stowed it and the meat bees that had plagued us in the trash. Then we headed over the bridge to the other side and the nature center. We browsed there for awhile and then hiked up to the covered bridge, reading the historical trivia as we walked.
As we headed back to our cars a little later, we saw a gal running toward us. She was dressed in black and seemed hysterical. You guessed it- she was the bride and could not locate the rest of the guests or the attendants, not to mention the exact location of the event! We gave her directions and she rushed back to the car and headed out. We did not reach our car before another vehicle stopped us for the location of the wedding. They had RSVP'd and had a map but they claimed it was useless. We assured them that the bride was late too, so they had plenty of time to drive back across the bridge and locate the site of the wedding. We noted that they were dressed conservatively, so we wondered who they were related to!
We laughed and laughed on the way home about this unorthodox wedding and it's lack of planning and organization.
On further thought , I only have one word of advice. Do not be late for the wedding supper of Jesus and his 'Bride"( all his followers) at the end of time. If you don't RSVP you won't be allowed in, no matter when you arrive.

Shopping

I am so glad that you were not with me the other day on a spur of the moment shopping trip. I had been out running errands and needed to get a specific item that Trader Joe's did not have.
Since I was close to O'Brien's fancy market I thought they would surely have it. It is what I would call an upscale market- fancy cheeses, lovely bakery breads, fresh produce arranged so appealingly. I browsed on the way to locate the only item I came for. I added a great salad mix, on sale, and some baby carrots. Next I decided on some pasta,since I was almost out at home. The cereal aisle had the cereal Jon likes on sale so I added that to my basket.
When I finally located the rice cakes ( Jon is on a new diet and must cut his fat and sugar levels and elevate the whole grains) they did not have what I was looking for. I had seen caramel and apple-cinnamon at Raley's the other day when I got the chocolate ones( which are great by the way). What to do? I did not want what they had but was too tired to stop anywhere else. Besides, I had the other things in my basket now!
Right there in the rice cake aisle, I have a talk with myself and said to myself, 'Don't get what you don't want.'
Good advice if I do say so myself.
What happened next would have embarrassed you to say the least. No, I did not abandon the basket with items in it, but retraced my steps and returned each item to it's proper place! Then I quickly left the store and felt so good about not doing what I really did not want to do!!!!
On the way home, I thought about how this was a blog in the making( a sure sign that you are addicted to blogging) but until now did not see the lesson. I see that when you know what the right thing to do is, do it at all cost, even embarrassment. When that still small voice says,' You don't want to do that', listen and follow through. Sure saves trouble later. You don't end up with something you never intended to have- the consequences of ignoring your conscience.
Oh, I did stop at Raleys' and got the rice cakes I had seen there earlier in the week . So all's well that ends well.

Would you miss it?

If Leviticus, II Chronicles or Jude suddenly disappeared from your Bible, how long before you would miss it? That thought was in an article I read today. It made all the more convicting because I just told a dear friend this week that in her reading through the Bible God didn't care if she skipped Leviticus!
A recent survey of American teens revealed that 28% didn't know who Moses was and 10% thought he was one of Jesus' disciples!
Muslims put Christians to shame in that they treat their scriptures as divine, a recitation of God's words, unfiltered speech. Christians not only have dusty Bibles, they, for the most part, are not clear what is even in them!
What Christ is for Christians, the Qur'an is to Muslims, the living Word of God made present in this world. Pity we don't know more about it and Him.

Keep it burning

I was talking with a friend today about losing the passion for the Lord and the desire to be with God's people on a regular basis. Then this evening in my reading I came across such a good illustration that I had to share it here.
A young man went off to college and when he came home for the holidays he dropped in to visit his Pastor. In the course of conversation the Pastor asked what church he was attending? The young man had dreaded this question and answered that he had been so busy that he had not bothered to go and besides, he had not felt the need.
The Pastor when to the fireplace and pulled out one log onto the hearth. Then he sat back in his chair and just watched it. The young man grew antsy and rose to leave, thinking that the Pastor had fallen asleep.
The Pastor spoke.
" Did you think I have forgotten you were here? I was watching that log. It was burning so brightly in the fireplace with the other logs. But notice that once I pulled it out, it quickly cooled and now is cold."
Then he proceeded to instruct the young man in the necessity of regular corporate worship and fellowship with other believers on a regular basis if he wanted to maintain the fire of his faith.
I will share that with my friend and let the story speak for itself.

Lost

Today I was in a panic over my lost glasses. I knew they had to be somewhere. But where? I can't read anything without them and distance is getting more and more difficult. So I looked in all the logical places, to no avail. Then I looked in the illogical places with the same result. I was growing increasingly grumpy. This had all upset my morning breakfast and perusing of the paper. Jon was calmingly eating and reading and that did not improve my mood, either.
Finally he said" Want help?"
Now that was the rub, I did, since I wanted them. But I didn't since I wanted to be the one that found them, saving face. But I gave in and let him look, telling myself he wouldn't find them if I hadn't.
As luck would have it, he found them and said,
" Well why did you put them on the floor?"
I just humphed or whatever you would call it and took them. After I had some breakfast under my belt, I said thanks and all that.
Now, I wonder if I am losing my mind? I know that I did not put them on the floor by the bed. Who would? Especially since they are so important. So the mystery remains. But I am so glad to have my 'eyes 'back.
Jesus talked about lost things in Luke 15. Three lost things. A lost sheep, a lost coin and a lost son. In the first two cases the person searching ,did so diligently until they found what was lost and then threw a party to rejoice.
In the third case, the Father was watching each day for his son but waited for him to come to him. How he must have longed and grieved at the loss. Like the other two, he threw a party when the son was found.
Each person in the stories is like God, looking for us, searching for us, longing for us to be found by Him. He longs for us to be with him 24/7 but like the lost son, it is up to us to come to him. He is waiting.

Fisherman

Jesus called us to be fishers of men but we have drifted into being keepers of the aquarium! Quote from Paul Harvey
Boy does that hit home.

Failure

Well, I have to tell you the truth. I hate failure- that is, in ME. Here is what brought about that revelation. Ever since we converted to DSL, we have had an email problem if we go to a website and try to email it to someone. Why I have been selected to be the computer wizard is beyond me. I guess that is so that errors will be my fault. I don't know for sure. Anyway, this has been a minor problem ( as far as I was concerned) that I have ignored for the last 2 months.
Yesterday Jon tried to email someone from a website and it would not go through. So 'rummel tech support' was called in-ME. I discovered a program that was included that was the problem, or so I thought. I did not want to sign up and pay for it, so I successfully removed it. Did that fix the problem, I know you are asking.?Answer- NO. I just let it go, hoping it would fix itself overnight.
Today I had my Mammogram, where they make a cup into a saucer and a saucer into a napkin. I returned home to have breakfast and read the paper. Jon still needed to email this person from their website so I found myself at the computer again. UHG!
I read once that you should to the' feared things first'. Fine for them to say. I did not want to be responsible for this repair now or ever. Why did I resist? Because the truth about my failure in this area would be revealed glaringly. And as I said at the beginning, I hate my failures.
To make a long story shorter, I called SBC and a really nice guy walked me through the steps to fix the problem. Success is sweet. Guess there is something to doing feared things first- makes the rest of your day seem 'free'. As my Mother in law would have said now there is nothing 'hanging over my head'.
In my post lunch moments, I thought again about the place of failure in my life. God uses it to reveal my need of total dependence on Him. It brings me to the end of myself. It is also one of the things He uses to conform me to Christ. The less there is of 'self', the more room there is for Him to dwell with His love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness faithfulness gentleness and self control. That means that more of my character is reflecting Jesus. I am becoming more and more the woman God created me to be- with my unique personality.
Now I would not go so far as to say,' bring it on, problems and failure', but I will have a better perspective the next time. I hope!

Dead or alive?

I have sure not felt well today. Tired, wimpy and pain ridden. Not much good for anything.
Then I read about the Pastor who actually said this at the funeral he was doing:
'This Corpse has been a member of my congregation for ten years.'
Or take the comment of the little girl to her parents about the service:
I really can't remember much he preached but I think his text was "Many are cold but few are frozen".
Both comments remind me that often we need to give ourselves a little check up. Paul says that you are to "examine yourself to see if you are in the faith." I sure don't want to be a corpse in my congregation for the next ten years. I want Jesus to send the life-giving Spirit to revive me, physically and spiritually. All the divine energy of God flows from Him to God's children, including this daughter. So come Holy Spirit and revive me. I sure need it.

Half full or half empty?

Today's trip to the lab for blood work prompted this post. It wasn't the trip exactly as it was the gal in the waiting room. She was talking loudly about how awful this insurance is and how you are just a number, etc. I was reading my book and minding my own business but not Jon.
He nudged me to pay attention. He said, 'We really like this insurance."
She countered with," I don't have one good thing to say , not one good experience."
Again he nudged me. Guess I am supposed to speak up." We have been with them quite awhile and even through surgery and they have taken good care of us."
"Well, they are impersonal and just see you as a number. If I had a choice, I would go back to Sutter Gould"
" I have heard horror stories from there too." I added.
On she went about the government, wanted socialized medicine, thought we were worst than a third world country, etc, etc,etc.
Jon had had enough and we got up and moved.
The last act of this lady's trip was the funniest. After she was done, she returned to the receptionist and said," You don't even know my name. "
To which the receptionist replied"You are ___________!"
On the way home we talked about people like her who are so negative. I heard the word hypervigilant once and think it applies here. She was so sure someone was going to rip her off or treat her unfair that she is looking for it to happen around every corner.
The reminds me of the joke about two kids put into a room, one at a time. The room only had a big pile of horse manure and a shovel. The first child cried the whole time wanting someone to let him out. The second one discovered the shovel and began to dig furiously. "There must be a pony in here somewhere!"
That lady sees life one half empty. What a shame.
Count your blessings
Name them one by one
And it will surprise you
What the Lord has done.

Who cares?

I must not get out enough. Today's paper contained a whole article on ampersand. Know that word? I sure didn't. Turns out that even the spellcheck knows that word! It stands for this:& The article went on and on about where it came from and why it is used and who relates to it, etc.
I wondered, who cares? Were they just looking for an article to fill that spot on the paper? OK, so that was harsh. But really, beyond that brief piece of information, who really cares. It is not life changing.
It is the opposite of the tragic events in the south from the hurricane. Now that was life changing and frankly they need a miracle. In reality so does our country, our economy and way of life. I never knew who fragile our economy was until now. I bet most of the rest of the country didn't either. How wonderful that God is the God of miracles, available for just such a time as this.
This is a time to show the love of Christ in tangible ways. Giving resources,( samaritanspurse.org)praying for God to do a miracle in lives and for reaching out as you have opportunity, perhaps to the poor and disabled in your own town, if nothing else.
In light of what is at stake, who cares about ampersand?

Beautiful

When Gabriel was here a week or so ago, he regaled me with his knowledge about the universe, the stars, the planets, and nebulae, etc. I was astounded with what he knew and what I did NOT know. The beauty and precision of it all is beyond words.
Then this morning I read this quote and it says it all for me:
This is a piece too fair
To be the child of Chance and not of Care
No atoms casually held together hurl'd
Could ever produce so beautiful a world

John Dryden

Could be me

As I watch the events in New Orleans, I see the best and the worst of people. The best is the self-sacrifice of people for the refugees. Folks opening their hearts and homes. A nation ready to give financially where it's needed and not complain if gas costs $3.00 since they actually have a car to drive and money to buy the gas.
But we are also seeing the worst in man. Looting, rape, shooting, and more.
We are never more self-righteous than when we see things like this and say " I would never do THAT."
My Father had many sayings but two related ones he said so often they still sticks in my head after all these years:
"I grieved that I had no shoes until I saw a man who had no feet."
The corollary is:
"There but for the grace of God go I."
What does that mean?
First off, grace defined is getting what you do not deserve. In the case of spiritual things, that refers to redemption and forgiveness because of Jesus' substitutionary death for us. Life instead of spiritual death. What else does grace do? It changes me, daily conforms me to the image of Christ. That is, makes me loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, gentle, faithful and self-controlled.
So, without God's grace any of us is capable of any heinous act. Any of us. Without Christ, even the very best we do is like 'filthy rags' and you do NOT want me to define that for you, trust me.
So as you watch the news and see this inhumanity to man, remember that 'there but for the grace of God goes YOU!'