Tag Archives: Christianity

Apple Cider Vinegar Medium Roast

05 Sunday Apr 2020

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It was dark when I entered the kitchen on Palm Sunday. I immediately noticed a half-full carafe of water on my husband’s coffee pot—what a pleasant surprise. I poured the water in the side cylinder and brewed up

photo of coffee mug on top of book

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his favorite decaf Dunkin Donuts medium roast.

He walked out shortly after and said, “Oh, thank you, honey, how thoughtful.”, took a sip, and suddenly a vast expanse of quiet loomed.

“Ahh, I was cleaning the pot with vinegar last night, tastes like you may have used that water.”

Nice, what a way to begin your Sunday morning. Coffee and vinegar.

As we all spend extra time together sheltering in place, are your words edging on the sour?

Do they give grace to those who hear?

Are your Zooms and calls filled with words that build up others in need?

“No rotten talk should come from your mouth, but only what is good for the building up of someone in need, in order to give grace to those who hear.

Ephesians 4:29 HCSB

 

Shovel Guy

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I walked in front of a garbage truck the whole time I was out for my lunchtime stroll. It seemed to rev up loudly each time it moved beyond a few cans. It reminded me of how it feels when a person in a bad mood makes contact with you; it’s also with the stench and noise of their bad attitude.

Daisy age 16Don’t assume ownership and try to fix the venomous words spewing. It’s not ours to own. It’s the Lord’s work to repair.

There was a neighbor who was always angry when I walked our sweet Daisy by his yard. He was so upset one day, he took a shovel and began tossing dog poo out in the street with a shovel. He said, “You people need to pick up after your dogs.” By the size of the doggy doo, I knew it was a much larger dog than Daisy, leaving him treasures. I looked over, showed him my bag and softly said we always use a dog waste bag. “He replied, I bet.” At this point, I moved quickly, so I wasn’t on the receipt of a shovel full of ….. Daisy decides to hang out by his red fire hydrant and locks in her legs and won’t move. She’s checking pee-mail, and I’m getting nervous as shovel guy moves closer. I want to lecture him on contaminating our ecosystem, but as the shovel approached, I scooped up our sweet Shitzu and walked on the other side of the street. I continued to do so each evening until he recently moved.

I couldn’t fix my neighbor. He is the Lord’s to repair.

No rotten talk should come from your mouth, but only what is good for the building up of someone in need, to give grace to those who hear. And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit, who sealed you for the day of redemption. All bitterness, anger and wrath, insult and slander must be removed from you, along with all wickedness. And be kind and forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ. Ephesians 4: 29-32

Sweet & Sour

28 Saturday Dec 2019

Posted by in Places With God, Restful Homes for Our Families, Sweet, Uncategorized

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Yesterday morning I opened the refrigerator, and suddenly the top shelf on the door collapsed to the floor. The plastic tray that held my pickles and leftover sweetened condensed milk gave way. Both glass jars shattered everywhere, spilling sweet and sour over my feet, the floor, the cabinets, and my soon to rush in 16-year-old Shitzu who lightning-fast found a piece of glass with condensed milk invitingly dripping off the edges. My quick hands removed the jagged and deadly morsel, much to Miss Daisy Mae’s chagrin.

What a mess.

As we move through the twelve days of Christmas, I’m examining my sweet and sour.

Examine the sweet, which may be good competing with the best?

What are the sours? What needs tossing out of my life?

Proverbs 27 verse 25 states, “When hay is removed, new growth appears.”

 

What Scares Me – Part 3

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Shoal Creek

Shoal Creek

Being cooped up.

I’m an outdoor girl.

Mothers Day or my birthday are usually a day of canoeing, hiking or horseback riding.

Studying for my big exam this spring I missed taking in the grape kool-aid (mountain laurel) air with honey suckle top notes.

The scent of flowers and birds singing all calm me.

My coursework of memorizing laws and regulations kept me from my daily visit to the creek to breathe in the fresh air-conditioner free air.

Stepping out for a few minutes this spring, a young gentlemen from the next building whistled out the mocking jay haunting melody making me laugh.

I must remind him of a much older Katniss Everdeen.

Getting out of the routine of being outside scares me. Spring seemed to rush by without me noticing.

Don’t be scared… go outside.

What Scares Me – Part 2

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Every day I like to do something that scares me.

Choosing faith over fear, I went to work at a friends firm in Austin.

It scares me.

I’m scared in a good way.

Praying all day I can stay razor-sharp and accomplish as much as I can for our clients.

I am not commuting or working alone.

You have not to do it in your unaided strength: it is God who is all the while supplying the impulse, giving you the power to resolve, the strength to perform, the execution of His good pleasure. Philippians 2:13

In a nut shell my work encompasses being a tenacious problem-solver for each person I meet throughout my day and doing it with excellence.

The Office

The Office

What Scares me…

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My empty light blinks on. Pulling off the interstate as  my  two-year old daughter sings,  a  gas station is nowhere to be seen.

A rickety metal Sinclair sign  sends me 3 miles down a rutted back road in southern Indiana.

A deserted  gas station greets me as the car rolls over tall grass growing up between concrete cracks.

Gas pumped a twenty to pay and child on my hip,  two red necks approach swiftly, the smell of unkempt bodies and beer knocks my senses and a small brass bell rings as my back pushes open the dusty glass door.

Hank Williams sings from where I hope a cashier is waiting to save me, but no, the barely stocked store is  hauntingly empty.

God spoke to my spirit warning me and nudging me to pull over sooner, but I ignored His signals and the lowering gas gauge.

The odor sickens me as they  paw me and  desperation hit to think they were about to touch my daughter.

The garage door swings open and a gritty oil covered man reaches out toward me.

The Lord is an ever-present helper even when we ignore His promptings.

The two men seemed to vanish like rats into a rusty blue Camaro with a confederate flag covering the back window.

He had been under a car in the bay and was so sorry. “How can I help you Ma’am?”

For He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. Psalm 91:11

Healing – Part 10

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Go to Church

Find a bible-based church that’s not so large you get lost in the shuffle.

“See and be radiant and your heart will tremble and rejoice.”  (first half of Is. 59v.5)

Experience the transformative power of God’s Word.

Sorrow is better than laugher, for sadness has a refining influence on us.

Ecclesiastes 7:3

Just soak it all in.

Rest.

Worship.009

Teaching.

The old.

The young.

Cry.

Church is a safe place to weep.

The deeper the sorrow, the less the tongue has to say.

The Talmud

Healing – Part 8

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Develop relationships with people in their 90’s.

They have walked through great and irreparable loss.

A seasoned perspective.

My Aunt Virginia almost 94, and a friend Frances, who is  94 seem to have a quick way of pulling me to a feeling of ease.

A beautiful sheath of lilies unfolds in my mind and the scent wakes me, when encouragement or advice comes from these women of distinction .IMG_1005

Show respect to the aged; honor the presence of an elder; fear your God.

I am God.

Leviticus 19:32 The Message

Healing – Part 7

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A well dressed gentlemen walked past me in the library.

His perfectly polished cordovan dress shoes were in contrast to a strong alcohol odor passing by and nauseating me.

Liquor seeped out of his skin on a Sunday afternoon.

I was just relaxing catching up on the latest periodicals, but another story began to unfold in my mind.

Sadness so unbearable some turn to old vices.

My old vice was candy, especially black licorice.

Blue after visiting with a grieving dear friend, I bought a box.

A strange calm arrived as I bite into the chewy, salty, tart sweet.

Perhaps this well-groomed young man had suffered a loss of some kind.

When the dark angst hits go outside and read the psalms beginning at 100.

Read out loud till you hit 107 verse 20.SONY DSC

He saved them from their distress.

He sent His word and healed them;

He rescued them from the Pit.    Psalm 107 v. 20 HCSB

 

 

Healing – Part 5

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In line at the grocery store a young mom started setting items aside she could not pay for–

bananas, apples, and other veggies.  I handed the money to the cashier and she, with her many lovely long braids, and her sweet children were on their way.

I’ll never see this family again, but I assured her it was from God and He loves her.

Standing in line at the gas station one of our coaches from the high school was checking out.  It was less than $10.00 but it gave me the opportunity to thank him for all he does for the young people in our community and a simple God Bless you.

You are reading this and thinking I don’t have any extra.

Save a quarter a week till you have a dollar and give it away and bless another.

Perhaps one of my biggest adjustments to having an empty nest is the grocery store, mine is HEB.  Feeling blue grocery shopping alone one Saturday, two teen girls stood in front of me at the checkout counter with a giant bottle of chocolate syrup. The only thing I said as I slipped several dollars to the cashier on their behalf was “God Bless you” to the two smiling young faces. It ended up being on sale and just one dollar, but it was my small way of demonstrating God’s love toward others, and God lifted my spirits as I gave just a little away, my unexpected blessing from Him.

A young mom from our neighborhood texted me to see if she could pick up some food for her three small children from our churches pantry. I could not get there, but the owner of the preschool was there to help, and helped her carry the groceries to her car where she quietly handed the young mom an envelope with extra cash.  That mom called me later to say how she could not believe how God had met her need so quickly.  Sometimes our random acts of kindness are really divine appointments– God’s way of letting others know they are loved and not forgotten.

Feeling Sad?

Be the hand of God.