dar334

Here is a prime example of our daily dealings customers.  Any customer.  They are pretty much all the same.

We got a service call in New Haven Indiana yesterday because one of the card readers wasn’t accepting credit cards.  The email indicated that the card reader had been cleaned and it still wasn’t working.  Our tech drove down there and took the card reader out of the pump and found a sticker stuck in it.  Like one of those stickers on the card when you get it that instructs you to remove it.  After removing the sticker and putting the card reader back in the pump he tested it twice and it worked fine.  He then sent a text informing us of what he had found and that it was now working.  At this point he got in his truck and headed to the next crisis.  This particular customer wants updates on the calls so I “Replied All” to the email and told them that our tech had found a sticker in the card reader, he had removed it, and the card reader tested fine.

Okay.  Now mind you, our tech is 15 to 20 miles away when we get an email response back.

“Did he happen to take a photo of the sticker?”

Seriously?!  Deep sigh.  Thank God it’s Friday.

dar

First of all, this blog will be a lot funnier to those of you who know my daughter and I, while on the same note, you might be luckier if you don’t.

We are busy at work.  Busy to the point of becoming punch drunk.  In the line of work we do here, we have several words that completely throw off the auto correct function that is everywhere these days.  While creating an invoice, Tonya had to type “pinpad” and auto correct wanted to correct it to “pimped”.  This little comment caused me to remember the best auto correct in all creation.  And even though I currently have 3 things started and the 4th thing in my inbox that is #1 in priority, I’m going to take the time to share with you.

When I got my very first cell phone with the capability of texting, I was on cloud 9 and hadn’t been burned by the auto correct feature yet.  I was sitting in the waiting room at the local Chevy dealer waiting for the oil change to be completed on my car.  While in there, I was playing with my new phone when a young man came in and sat down.  I looked up and realized I should know who this young man was, and could only go as far as knowing he had gone to school with Tonya.  I began texting her.  I told her there was a guy in the waiting room with me that I was sure she went to school with.  Now I can picture Tonya in her glider wrapped in a quilt, her feet up on the footstool, watching Days of Our Lives and munching on Doritos.  When it finally occurred to me who this young man may have been, I texted her “I think he’s a Quaderer.”  Now first of all, when I was in school this name was pronounced “Quarter”, as Schneider was pronounced “Snyder” and Birchmeier was pronounced “Birkmeier”.  And off topic I go …………….   Anyways, I had typed the last name “Quaderer” and hit send before realizing auto correct had changed it to “murderer”.  Now at this point, I began laughing.  Uncontrollable hysterical laughter.  The kind that double you over in pain with tears streaming down your face.  This poor young man was clueless sitting there, and Tonya said she was at the receiving end of this text thinking “Who did I go to school with that Mom thinks is a murderer?!”

Long story short, he was a Quaderer, not a murderer, and I try to proof read before I hit the send button.

Now back to work,

dar

My Saturday morning has too many distractions to start it with The Instruction Book, but it is starting with blessings.  Four of them to be exact.  Our first blessing has been with us for a little over 13 years, so inevitably he is “a teenager.”  I don’t see a need to say any more about that, except I’m fairly sure he has tested the very last nerve not previously damaged by MS in his mother. He will be followed up in three years by his younger sister, in which case I have been informed that when she becomes a teenager she will be living with me.  The other two blessings aren’t showing any of the signs these two are showing, probably because their dad didn’t either when he was that age.  This isn’t where I intended on going this morning with this blog, but as anybody that knows me realizes early on that I have ADD and use it remarkably well.  God has given us all different gifts which form one body.  We can’t all be hands, and we can’t all be feet.  And, forgive me, but somebody has to be an ass.  When all the pieces are put together they form one body.  I love this concept, God knew what he was doing.

As I was making pancakes this morning and cleaning up the kitchen, I started thinking about tucking Bella in bed last night.  I kissed her forehead and said “Goodnight Lucy.”  I am the queen of nicknames which has annoyed some until they realized their annoyance wasn’t going to stop me from doing it so they may as well accept it and move on.  The third of the four once corrected me when I called her little sister something other than her given name, at which point I hugged her and told her that Grammy could call them whatever she wanted because all the names were said with love.  

After calling Bella “Lucy”, I had to do the math.  Actually she is Lucy III.  My dad called me Lucy.   When Tonya came along she was Lucy II which ultimately makes Bella Lucy III.  Now back to the topic which was Trip.

At work we get service calls from technicians that need help fixing gas dispensers.  We get the majority of our work from Speedway.  Most of you understand the relationships that are formed when you have a job.  In my case, I know several callers quite well, but I couldn’t pick them out of a lineup because I never see them.  In the grocery store I only knew the names of those who wrote checks.  In both of these examples, whether I knew the face but not the name, or the name but not the face, I got very fond of several, and in the same sense, dreaded some.  With the introduction to caller ID, it’s now a game to see who’s calling first so we can be the first to proclaim “NOT IT!” when the caller is someone none of us want to deal with.  I will admit there was, WAS, one peticular caller nobody wanted to deal with.  And with no shame at all, I will admit I even hung up on him once.  In the roughly 35 years I have worked outside the home, this peticular person …….. was the WORST.  He, for some reason, was very stuck on himself and loved himself so much that by asking his name when he called caused rage.  RAGE.  Behind the safety of my telephone, in the epitome of receptionists, when he asked for one of my bosses, I would say “May I tell him who’s calling?”  Even though I now see more clearly that this was something Jesus would never even have thought of doing, when his response to my question was “TELL HIM IT’S GOD!”, I sat there motionless, and then hung up.  As I sit here now, rereading and editing what I have written, I realize that once again I have gotten off topic.

Trip.  Trip is a young man that calls us for help quite often.  He’s polite, and funny, and could easily be my nephew.  Trip works for Speedway.  With technology taking over the world, we have the ability to log in to several areas of our customers business via the extranet.  In the case of Speedway, it’s called IDS.  Having the occasion to log in to IDS for station addresses when Trip called, we discovered his name was Emeneffee.  One of the guys googled his name and found there were 3.  They next time he called I had to ask the story behind his name , I knew there had to be one.  He laughed when I asked and said his grandfather was adopted and from a little town in another state, the name of that little town that doesn’t exist anymore was Emeneffee, so that what his great-grandparents named him.  When his dad was born, he was named Emeneffee II.  As tradition goes, when he was born he became Emeneffee III.  He then explained his mother was a child of the 70’s.  Being a child of the 70’s myself, I laughed and said  “So she was sitting around getting high and decided your name was a real ‘trip’.  He said no, Trip was short for triple, he was number 3.  Now this led me to ask if he had kids.  He has 2 daughters and they are done having children.  I then asked if he had been given a son, if his son would have been Emeneffee IV.  He said yes, absolutely, but they would have called him Quad.

Now that was a long short story,

dar

I don’t think I’m alone in wanting to ‘pay back’ or ‘give them a taste of their own medicine’ when someone hurts or disappoints me.  In fact, I have done it as a way to show them what it feels like.  Whether it is an annoying habit or simply not following through on something they said they would do but didn’t, or being where they were suppose to be on at an agreed upon time and they weren’t, or the hurtful comments that when called out on, weren’t referring to me.  Although I have done these things myself, I always feel bad for repeating what caused negative feelings for me and then tried to back peddle to make up for my mistake.

In my quiet time with scripture and coffee this morning, my reading was in 1 Samuel, starting with chapter 22.  Now for a refresher, David is running from King Saul because Saul is jealous of the popularity and successes of David and wants to kill him.  Now what Saul should have realized is because of David’s faith, God is with him and there was no way God was going to allow that to happen.  It was God’s plan to make David king and to carry out His promise to have a messiah come from the line of Jesse, who was David’s father.  

David and his men were hiding from Saul far back in a cave and Saul went in that cave to relieve himself.  David’s men wanted to kill Saul right there but David wouldn’t let them.  Instead, David snuck up and cut off a piece of Saul’s robe and when Saul finished and left the cave David went out and called to him, showing him the piece of robe he had cut off to prove he could have killed him if he wanted to.  Now here is where my pondering began when it popped right out at me from 1 Samuel 24:13, David was speaking this to Saul:

As the old saying goes, ‘From evildoers come evil deeds,’ so my hand will not touch you.

Now in this case the evil deed would have been murder.  My pondering had me thinking about lesser things people do in order to pay back a wrong or to prove a point.  Even if it’s just saying something or doing something in a subtle way, if the intention was to pay back a hurt, then it’s an evil deed.  The instruction book tells us that we should heep burning coals on the heads of the evil doers.  Not literally of course, but by killing them with kindness even though they did us wrong.  In that way, the evil doer sees the light of Jesus shining even when what they deserve is the darkness of Satan.  When we ‘pay back’ we are doing the same evil that we complain about.  We are no better than them, we are hypocrites.  

Always pondering,

dar

It’s funny really, the directions my mind takes every day.  With my inability to stay focused on the task at hand, it ends up on a dead end road regularly; causing, as Sir Topishat would say, “Delay and Confusion”.  In a recent conversation with a friend who’s faith is at the level I’m aiming for, we touched lightly on the subject of punishment.  It’s funny really, how the events in her life five years ago are what brought us together and now I am living those same events in my life.  I haven’t believed in coincidence or karma for awhile now that I honestly believe God is in complete control.  Although I believe God does not punish us for our sins anymore when he sacrificed his only son on the cross over 2000 years ago, my mind still takes that dead end road wondering why every time I start feeling comfortable at where our life is, something happens to make us run right in to that brick wall.  And the worse part is when your child takes the brunt of that collision, altering the life they thought would never change.  We’ve seen pretty much every possible heartache and the only thing that life has not taken from us is our love, and no matter how many times Satan has tried to take that he is defeated.   

Not sure where I read this:
We should not be afraid when we see evil increase. God is in control, no matter how evil the world becomes. God guards us during Satan’s attacks. We can have victory over evil by remaining faithful to God.

I’ve been trying to remember what it’s called when people honestly believe that when popular opinion decides it’s ok to go against what God wants, He actually is ok with it, He just wants us to be happy.  I know it set me off on a rant but I can’t find where I wrote down.  I know my first thought was that I don’t think God is up there with White Out so He can rewrite the commandments, or cement if he is still using the stones.  Anyways, in my search, I found this I never published.   I guess now is as good a time as any.

I don’t know where my pondering was headed now,

dar

I opened my purse a few minutes ago to find a couple recent receipts I needed to log in my checking account register courtesy of an app on my Smarter Than I Am phone.  Stuck to the back of one of them was a 1.5″ x 2.0″ post-it note in which I had written “Current Wife”.  I instantly knew why I had written that note and the pondering began.

In the recent past, I have had a task involving new life insurance applications crossing my desk, where I was privy to the details requested.  On one of those applications, in the options to choose your beneficiary, was “Current Wife”.  My first reaction was laughter, but the more I think about it the sadder I get.  One thing thinking does to me is cause pondering, then cans are opened and worms are spewing.

In my pondering I was led to google “Scripture on Marriage in the Bible” and one of the first things that popped up was from a wedding planning website to help in the planning of that special day.  As I’m sitting here typing this blog, it dawns on me that the choice of “Current Wife” and “Special Day” certainly do not go together when you keep in mind the intentions of our Creator.  The first verse that this website shared was from Genesis 1:27-28:

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.  And God blessed them.  And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'”

Not much farther into the book we have Genesis 2:24:

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh”

When I got down farther in the article I found one of my favorites from Mark 10:9:

“Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

Now before this starts a new branch on my pondering tree, I need to stick with the topic at hand.  I grew up in a family that obviously took that last verse to heart and stayed obedient to His word and the words they agreed to on their wedding day.  That is a blessing I remember quite often these days, and I hope it’s a blessing my husband and I have passed on to our children, and hopefully they will pass it on to theirs.  I’m not sure when it all started going bad, but the older I get the more generations I see, and the more generations I see the worse each gets.  The choice “Current Wife” would never even have been thought of in regards to a beneficiary in the generation my parents grew up in, nor the generation of my siblings, or even mine ( #imnotinthesamegenrationasmysiblings), yet we seem to be taking it in stride now days.  And THAT my friends, is WRONG.  Granted, there are some that still hold fast to the words they spoke, the commands of God, but we are becoming fewer and fewer.  It’s ironic that the attendance in our churches is also becoming fewer and fewer.  And we wonder why there are so many horrific storms, mass shootings, and incurable diseases these days.  In my opinion, it’s like the plagues in the Old Testament.  And to quote a dear friend of mine that no longer walks this earth; “Opinions are like ass holes, everyone has one”.  RIP my dear Jerry, I will never forget you.

I, for one, do not believe that as this world changes, so does God’s commands.  Until the New New Testament is written, I’m sticking with the Instruction Book I have and hoping I will one day be strolling through heaven with my parents.

Always pondering something,

dar

Monday morning, October 23, 2017.

From the introduction to Jeremiah: 

Those who tell people only what they want to hear are being unfaithful to God’s message.

Today Jim has PET scan number ….. maybe 5? Each one tells a different story and if I had to categorize the story it would rest in the drama section at the local library.  I do love starting my day with the Instruction Book so I will be gleaning from a few different readings this morning while I wait.  I wish this hospital had a library so I could find a spot where quiet was expected.  Obviously it isn’t the cafeteria, nor is it in the Imaging waiting room or the lobby.  The greeter on call this morning needs kudos for her bubbling happy acknowledgement of whoever is walking in or going out.  There is a bar of which overly chipper people can cross and this happy woman has crossed over the bar I hold.  I guess when your anxiety level is bordering locking yourself in your house and never coming out, a bubbly personality can be the final straw.  We all deal with things differently.  Nuff said.

After I finished reading Jeremiah I leafed back to the beginning and clicked in the first study note.  I soon gleaned ‘God does not keep us from encountering life’s storms, but he will see us through them’.  The first time I heard that God does not give you more than you can handle was when I as holding a newborn baby boy while his mommy was being treated for a malignant tumor that was found during the final weeks of her pregnancy.  Those words came out of the mouth of the baby’s grandmother, the woman who had given birth to his mommy.  It doesn’t take long for you to learn that being a grandmother brings a whole new type of worry as well as a new new type of love.  This grandmother is also the one who said ‘Every chemo treatment takes you to the verge of death’, she also showed me what faith looks like.  If only I can be a light in another young woman’s life.

Since a lump is developing in my throat, I need to get back to the Word.

Always pondering,

dar

Our daughter mentioned the beautiful sunrise this morning that I saw as I sat at the kitchen table waiting for the coffee to finish dripping that would lift me up and make me capable of tackling whatever is on my path today, which starts with my Instruction Manual being the cream in my cup.  I opened up my iPad and went straight to my email for my daily reading courtesy of BibleGateway.com.  The first thing I saw was a recent WordPress post from the Comeback Pastor.  This young pastor touches my heart with his real life accounts that sometimes hit a little too close to one particular heartbreak we experienced too.  It is my belief that the Holy Spirit was able to pick him up and put him back on the right path.  

Now back to the reading that spurred me to write.  In this pastor’s post he quoted from 1 Corinthians 4 in which Paul wrote about current sufferings.  Considering the road we are walking on now, this type of scripture is what’s keeping me from falling off the cliff beside us.  As usual, I went straight to my Instruction Manual (Kindle version) to read it there and then tap to the study note.  (At this point I filled my coffee cup and headed to my Quiet Room since Hawkeye and Trapper John were distracting me;  goodbye beautiful sunrise, hello freshly combined bean field that triggered the gleaning title.  (#ocdmoment.  My Mom used to glean the white beans after Big Leo finished combining; which when Big Leo saw her doing it he told her all she had to was ask for some and he’d give her some.  But Mom was from the generation where nothing went to waste, so she happily gleaned). Now back to my story.  After reading the verse the young pastor sent me to, I noticed a section just a few verses below it that I had highlighted at one time and quietly read them a few times getting comfort from their message.  I hope you get comfort from them too:

   Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

In closing so you can ponder that for a minute, remember to thank God for our instructions and his forgiveness when we don’t follow them exactly.

Always pondering,

dar

I feel like there are far too many disrespectful adults in the world and their disrespectful actions are what the children of this world are mimicking.

This thought sprang from something I was part of this morning;

The fact that I smacked your back with the back of my hand when you used the Lord’s name in vain in front of me is not that I want you to be a Bible thumper like I have become, it’s that I would appreciate you not using the Lord’s name in vain in front of me out of respect for my feelings even though they are different from yours.

Thinking is getting me in trouble.

dar

I decided prior to even making it to my desk this morning that my word of the day was going to be “whatever”. I even went so far as to look up the definition in the Miriam- Webster dictionary where I found this:

pronoun

: anything or everything that

: no matter what : regardless of what

—used in questions that express surprise or confusion

Now I have heard, and even said this word enough times to realize that was not the meaning I was going for so off to google I went. Lo and behold, the meaning I needed was found in the urban dictionary:

Indifference to what a person is saying! Who cares!;Get a Life!

You have my permission to use my wotd in regards to this post.

Nuff said, no pondering needed.

dar

My thoughts over the past couple days have caused a lot of pondering on my part.  One of the biggest challenges I face would fall under the heading ‘Old Testament Civil Laws’, with the subheading of ‘ To Follow or Not To Follow?”.  As I pondered the three main Biblical laws, civil, ceremonial and moral, and how the New Testament negated several of them, I still struggle with wanting to demonstrate ‘An eye for an eye’.  I’ve pondered over the parable found in Matthew 20:1-16 and have even written down part of it to assure that I don’t forget the face value.  In this parable, Jesus tells of a vineyard owner who made several trips in to town throughout the day to find people to work in his vineyard.  When evening came and it was time to pay the workers, the ones hired at the end of the day received the same pay as the ones hired late in the afternoon.  Now mind you, we all would have a problem with being paid the same amount for 10 hours of work when someone else got paid the same for only working 1 hour.  The moral of the story is the vineyard owner had the right to pay what he wanted whether you thought it was fair or not.  After all, even though you worked 10 hours, you agreed to do that for a set amount of money, in this case a denarius, so the vineyard owner kept up his part of the agreement, he could also give a denarius to the late arrival if he wanted to, it was his money. Case closed.

Now mind you, the meaning of the parable was that even if you have followed the laws of the Lord for the 90 years of your life, walking in complete obedience, you can not rightfully be angry at the Lord for allowing another who accepted Jesus as his savior and repented his sins at the very end of his 90 years of life, even though 89 years of his life he did everything completely the opposite of what the Lord required …… he gets a place in heaven the same as you.  God is gracious and forgiving.

With that said, I have noticed a few instances over the last few months where I would like to pay only 1/10 of a danerius to the late arriver and 12 danerius (is that a correct placement of a  ‘  Tonya?) to the loyal follower of God.  Now in regards to ‘An eye for an eye’, I have had several instances where I would like that to come in to play.  I have had to put myself in time-out several times while I thought about the actions of my mind in regards to paybacks.

My problem today lies with punctuality.  I am completely annoyed by tardiness and what makes it even worse is when I want to ‘pay back’ the annoyance I have felt.  I have had several instances where there was a mutual agreement to meet, at let’s say 3:00.  Now in reality, if the agreement is to meet at 3:00, then at 3:00 both parties should be at the agreed upon location.  (At least that’s how I roll.  In fact, I will be there at 2:50 just in case you arrive early, but I won’t start being annoyed until 3:01.)  Now the devil on my left shoulder wants me to tell you 2:30 and then arrive at 3:00 so you know how it feels to wait.  But then the angel on my right shoulder says to wait there patiently because you may have a valid reason for your tardiness.  At which point the devil on the left whispers that at 3:00 you decided it was time to get your shoes on, use the bathroom, then head out to door to meet me, hence arriving late.

Now the same situation can be used a work.  Start time at work is, let’s say 9:00.  (You have bankers’ hours)  This does not mean you go through the ritual mentioned above and arrive at 9:10, considering your shoes are slip on and you live 5 minutes from work.  Now let’s say the employee manual says 9:00 is start time, and if you are late 3x you will be fired.  Now another problem surfaces.  You arrive late 4x and you are not fired.  As with parenting when you do not get punished for negative behavior, all the other kids are going to arrive at their own sweet time too and you can’t do anything about it because you didn’t punish the first instance but allowed it to repeat.

Now as for ‘An eye for an eye’, I have to remember that book I spoke of the other day.  So I will arrive on time for our meeting, or arrive on time to start my workday, when in fact I want to go all Old Testament on you and start slinging stones.   But instead I smile and give you a friendly greeting and move on with my day.

The need to write this started with my morning reading which had a study that said:
By doing what is right, you will be pleasing God, whose opinion matters most.

It’s hard work to please God, but in the end it will be worth it.  Can I get an “AMEN!” ?

Always pondering,

dar

Although this isn’t one of my favorite pondering topics, it is very real and I spend a lot of time doing it.  I’m currently sitting beside my husband of 41 years while chemo is pumped through a port in his chest to slow the progression of lung cancer.  We are both all too familiar with this procedure and all too familiar with the probable outcome.  We do however, continue to pray for a miracle while giving thanks for our desire to grow closer to God.  In doing that, we are also well aware it will be His will that will be done.

My reading choice for today is from the book of 1 Samuel, chapters 16-18.  This book, along with 2 Samuel, is our current study material.  I try to start with prayer to keep me focused, to help me tune out all distractions, to keep my mind focused and help to grasp any message He may want to send me.  (Currently the itching reaction has started and he’s about going nuts with it so a major distraction is taking place) ……………. after stopping the chemo and an injection of Benydryl, Dr visit, monitoring …… he is improving. 

I’m done pondering, at least done writing …… I want a miss deal approved.  I am over it.  

This afternoon I stopped in the local party store and picked up a muffin and a bottle of soda.  The total was $2 and some cents and I gave the cashier $5.00.  I noticed a coffee can sitting on the counter with a hole cut in the plastic top and the top taped shut with a picture of a family on it.  The plea was that the family had lost everything in a house fire and a donation was being taken to help them.  When the cashier handed me back my change of $2 and some cents I put it all in the can.  After all, if that $2 and some cents is going to break me, I shouldn’t be buying the muffin and a soda right?

After leaving with my goodies I remembered a time when I had done that same thing and the person behind me told me they never put money in a can at any checkout counter because they don’t know that there is in fact a need, there was a possibility that the owner of the can was using the money for beer or drugs.

Now this is where my pondering began.  If you believe in God and that Jesus Christ is our savior, and if you’ve read the Bible or even heard the words “Book of Life”, then you know that when the book is opened at your arrival in heaven, there will be an accountability of all the things you have done, good or bad, that were worthy of being written in said book.  I’m not risking the chance that when said book is opened there will be written in it “Darlene did not help a family in need at the local party store.”  The chance that I will take is that when the owner of the can, if they deceived me, arrives in heaven and the book is opened, it will say “You deceived my children by putting a can in the local party store saying there was a family that had a fire that burned their house causing them to lose everything when in fact, you were using the money to buy beer or drugs.”

As a matter of fact, I politely told the person behind me in line that day that I was willing to take that chance.  Because if there was a 1% chance that food or clothing would be bought for a family burned out of their home, I was going to take that chance.

While I’m on the subject, those of you who don’t believe there is a God and a heaven, the chance you are taking is a big one.  Because if, when I die, there isn’t a God and a heaven, I will have lost nothing.  You, on the other hand, have lost eternity in paradise, and I hope you like the heat.

Always pondering,

dar

As we do almost every Sunday, unless chemo has rendered Jim unable to get to the truck or car, or unless we have left the county, we attended early church this morning.  We were able to attend our worship service at Trinity United Methodist Church because Michigan State University took home the win from the Big House.  Although college football isn’t high on my list, it is high on a lot of the lists other people have.  I can respect that.  I don’t fly a college flag proudly at my home, I proudly fly the American flag.

Now about the outcome of the game yesterday.  Our Pastor is a Michigan State fan.  And unfortunately, the actions of a few people who are U of M fans have caused me to root for whoever is playing against them, just because of the arrogance of a few maize and blue fans.  With that said, I only watch U of M if they are playing Michigan State or Ohio.  Yes.  The Ohio State Buccaneers.  (My favorite color is red.)  That’s how I roll.

We had a wedding at our church yesterday, the son of a dear friend I have known my whole life.  Someone whose friendship has changed in different ways over the years because I have grown older.  I don’t remember her ever being “little”, she was always a grown up in my eyes.  My age now indicates I am a grownup too so our friendship has changed yet again.  Jim and I attended that wedding yesterday and our Pastor did an excellent job.  In fact, I doubt any married couple in that church wasn’t looking at their spouse in a whole new way; remembering the covenant they made at the altar on their wedding day.  When he said “Till death do us part” while performing the ceremony, I had tears falling from my eyes.  Not that tears have ever been a surprise, yesterday it hit home just a little too close.

When I realized the big game was going to be on, I was surprised Pastor agreed to marry this young couple on the day the two colleges battled.  As always, he didn’t let me down at the reception when he showed up with his lovely wife and a big round button proclaiming GO STATE on the lapel of his suit.  He even began the prayer before the meal with a blessing of Michigan State before blessing the bride and groom.  That’s how he rolls.  Of course it was done in fun as the DJ let everyone there know they needed to catch a glimpse of his button when he introduced Pastor to the guests.  I’m as sure as the sun will set this evening that Pastor is lucky he left before the guests tipped a few more adult beverages.  I am also certain that when Bocephas sang about all his rowdy friends there were some ancestors of the groom in that room.

The meal was delicious and when it was done, Jim was done too.  We left just as Pastor and his wife were saying goodbye.  As Jim and I were heading to the truck, I told Pastor if Michigan State did not win, I would be attending the Baptist Church in the morning.  I didn’t feel I could sit in the pew and see the sorrow in his face.  But thankfully, I was able to give him a high-five as we walked in the door of our church this morning.   He started the service letting the other parishoners know that he was happy to see me, that like weather was predicted, my presence in the Chapel indicated the outcome of yesterdays game.

After worship was over Jim and I went to Bible Study.  There are several out there that think they don’t need to attend church or a Bible study but I am not one of those people.  If I didn’t stay in the Word, I don’t know where I’d be today.

During the study, I quietly left to visit the bathroom and when I was on my way back to the study a young women stopped me to offer a hug.  This particular young lady has become a very special friend to me and I cherish her presence on my journey.  She asked if I was still writing, she said she missed me and my blogs.  I told her nothing had touched me recently and promised I would try to be more alert to a subject to ponder about.  This wasn’t entirely the truth because I have had several topics to blog about, but I didn’t because I was afraid I would be opening a can of worms I didn’t want to unleash.

When the study was done, Jim and I had breakfast and headed to Meijer for groceries.  During our drive to Corunna, I pondered about my pondering.  I was afraid my pondering would quickly turn in to rambling, babbling, sputtering or whining as this seems to be where I have been in the last week.  Reality has hit me hard and I have stayed away from things that could possibly upset or annoy me ….. like facebook.  When I publish my blogs they go to facebook along with the WordPress site so I’m drawn to open my facebook app to see the comments.  When I do that I’m often annoyed by something else posted there, which is why I also quit reading our local paper.

In closing, I had several topics I couldn’t have written about this afternoon, but I picked this one.  Now I’m going to take my shoes off and put my feet up and watch the remainder of the Lions game with the love of my life.  We don’t get to choose when we are born and we don’t get to choose when we die and we don’t know how many more Lions games we are going to be able to watch with loved ones.  It’s the reality that is life.

This one’s for you my sweet sender of rainbows,

dar

Since Jim has chemo Wednesday the 20th, he knew he would miserable next weekend so he offered to take me away this weekend for my birthday.  Gracie the nail lady told me about The Cross in the Woods at Indian River so that was our destination. As I know most of you ……. (inserting an attention grabber here. We are following a pack bikers on M-115 and it has dawned on me they are like a flock of migrating birds.  You have a leader and several followers and the one in the back seems to let the outsiders behind the flock know when there will a change in the flight pattern.  He will be the one to pull over first when changing lanes and then the ones in front of him move over as one unit.  Although they may be 30 individuals, they ride as one flock.  I respect them) ……. now back to my story.  As most of you know, I like to visit casinos.  I admit it, and I can justify it as good as anyone else can justify their faults or lacks in complete obedience, what we do is between us and God.  Enough said.  After having dinner at Soaring Eagle we spent Friday night at Houghten Lake.  We visited The Cross on Saturday, did a little shopping in the gift shop, and then spent a couple hours at Odawa Casino and then Little River Casino in Manistee, before spending the night on the the fourth floor of a historic downtown refurbished bank.  No elevator, but it had those beautiful old carpeted stairs with the traditional shiny wide wood trim.  It reminded me of my Aunt and Uncle’s home in Brant years ago.

As we are headed back home today, and since radio stations rarely come in good on two lane State highways cut through hills and forests, I read my daily scriptures out loud as we headed east.  The verse that grabbed me was in 2 Corinthians chapter 10, verses 17 – 18:  ‘But, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”  For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.’  I get a lot out of the study notes so off to them I went. ‘When we do something well, we want to tell others and be recognized. But recognition is dangerous—it can lead to inflated pride. How much better it is to seek the praise of God rather than the praise of people. Then, when we receive praise, we will be free to give God the credit. What should you change about the way you live in order to receive God’s commendation?

I’m guilty of boasting. I have been working on this peticular issue and notice it so much more since completing the Disciple series.  I notice it in me and in others.  I’ve become comfortable in not trying to impress others,  I get no benefit from them knowing what I’ve done.  I’ve also noticed that when I hear someone boasting, I actually feel the opposite affect of what they are boasting for.

So here’s my pondering for today.  I hope you do something today to make someone else feel good.

Always pondering,

dar

     As I sit here looking outside, wishing I had more coffee, and a donut, I’m leafing through my Daily Scripture reading delivered to my email.  It’s from BibleGateway.com and skips a chapter now and then but stays in order.  There’s readings from the Old Testament and a reading from the New Testament. 

This morning I’m drawn to this Proverb from chapter 26, verse 18.  Like a maniac shooting flaming arrows of death 19 is one who deceives their neighbor and says, “I was only joking!”

Growing up as the youngest of three, with a significant distance in age from the other two, it was almost like growing up as an only child.  I’ve recently noticed that people who grow up with siblings near their own age are much better at spewing sarcasm, criticism, and the need to cast blame on others.  With that said, and my slow brain function, and my lower than normal self asteem, when flaming arrows have been sent in my direction I’m instantly defensive, but mostly hurt.  I’m daily around people that have close in age siblings and grew up with arrows flying right and left.  I’ve been hit by some of these arrows and have taken it to heart.  If I am in my prime, I spew back something without thinking and then end up with eyes full of salty water.  One time in peticular, after I spewed something out, the archer said it was just a joke.  Then when confronted by my spew, he admitted that usually there was a thread of truth wrapped around most arrows.

Now I’m thinking about my Mom that told me if I didn’t have anything nice to say, I should say nothing at all.  She was a good person, and I loved her.  We all need to try to keep our arrows in our quiver, because some wounds never fully heal.

Time to close now, my husband is hungry.

Always pondering,

dar

This morning Jim and I had the pleasure of sitting in the Robinson Chapel for early worship service.  Forty one years ago today we stood at the altar in the Robinson Chapel and repeated our marriage vows to each other in front of our family and a few close friends.

Considering the way Jim felt from the chemo he received on Wednesday, it was truly a blessing he was able to attend this morning.  The first Sunday of every month is communion Sunday, unless Pastor is unable to attend.  I’ve done a lot of reading in the Bible, aka The Instruction Book, and I’ve seen several references by a few different people, including Jesus Christ, directing us on how we should view communion.  Just recently I copied a portion of a study note for 1 Corinthians 11:24-34, it read as follows:  Eating the bread and drinking the cup shows we are remembering Christ’s death for us and renewing our commitment to serve him.  With my inability to stay focused and the little distractions like the banners not be straight at the front of the church, or thinking about the picture of Jesus at the front of the altar and the remarks that have been made during Disciple Study that Jesus may not have been a white man or the fact that it’s just a picture of what someone thought Jesus looked like, I struggled to concentrate on the correct frame of mind to receive communion.  I will admit that I’m not one of the people who enjoy singing more than one hymn during worship, but I do remember reading in The Instruction Book that God likes worship through music and singing so that’s enough for me to sing along to the best of my ability.  (Our music director assured me that it doesn’t matter what our singing voice is like, when it reaches God it is beautiful)

My writing today isn’t about singing, it isn’t about cancer, it isn’t about my wedding anniversary, but it is about worship.  I can’t emphasize enough the amount of knowledge four years of Disciple Study has given me, but I’m humble enough to know I have a lot yet to learn.   I struggled through the writings of Paul, and after five years I can honestly admit that I kinda sorta get what he’s saying.  He spent most of his time spreading the Word one way or another beyond the Promised Land.  After all, that’s one of the reasons Jesus came into the world, so everyone could be saved through Grace.  Even me.  Even you.

Which brings me to my point.  Jesus traveled all through the Promised Land teaching the Word of God.  People followed him waiting to hear what he had to say.  They sat hour after hour listening to Him.  I haven’t read once that they decided they had heard enough and it was time for Jesus to stop talking so they could get on with their day.  After Jesus ascended to heaven, it was the disciples job to spread the good news of Jesus.  Paul spent the rest of his life teaching and working on starting the church.   He gave instructions on building a following and pastoring to it.  Not once have I read, in The Instruction Book, how long a service should be.  Not.  Once.  There is nothing on a time frame.  Nowhere.  Nothing.

In closing, our church has had some complaints about the service running long.  Of course the blame is placed on the Pastor.  It is my understanding that he is even being timed.  It is my understanding some have gone to his superior.  It is my understanding that some have even threatened to leave the church because they had to sit there too long.  This all leads to my observations.  It has been my observation that the ones doing the complaining are the ones that have been in church a long time.  Some even grew up in this church.  They raised their children in church.  I also haven’t seen them in any of the studies offered at our church.  Our Pastor, any Pastor, is at that pulpit because it isn’t Jesus Christ’s time yet to come back for us.  And from what I see, we aren’t ready, we still have a lot to learn.  I wonder if those who are watching the clock have learned it all; they have been there a lot longer than I have.  I wonder if I will ever get to the point where I don’t need to learn anymore, I wonder when all I will have to do is watch the clock.  I wonder when all the complaining about petty things will send me looking for another church.

Always pondering,

dar

I still ponder the word “brother” or “neighbor” when I read them in my Bible.  As I have said before, I take things at face value when I read anything, which causes a lot of confusion when I read the Bible.  When I read about the vine and the branches, and God trimming them, throwing the ones that don’t produce into the fire, I literally imagine a grapevine.  When “brother” is spoken, I see Ron and the word “neighbor” always conjures up my Katie.

The following Scripture from 1 John 4 falls under the heading “Obedience by Faith” which was one of my reading suggestions this morning.

20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.

I struggle with the word hate, as it can having several levels of feeling.  I hate snow.  I hate cancer.  I hate liver.  I hate John Doe.  The Greek language has three words for love, which is why Jesus asking Peter three times if he loved him was hard for me to wrap my brain around.  (John 21:15-16)  Eros means desire and longing, as in the way you love your sweetheart.  It has a sexual content.   Agape is the kind of love you would have for your child or your parent, the most popular love in the New Testament, the kind of love Jesus had for his Father and the kind of love God had for his son.  Then there’s Philos, the kind of love you would have for your friends.  So now I’m on the complete opposite side of my topic.

Hate is a strong word, I hate to use it.  (Mental eye roll)  I have had some pretty strong negative feelings about people, but I don’t ever remember thinking I hated any one of them.  Perhaps I have hated those that I’ve heard about on the news that did unspeakable things, and I’m not quite sure if torture to death would fall under the hate column, I prefer to think of it as in the justice column, then it doesn’t take long for me to remember I am not to judge.  Anyways ….. the definition of brother is ‘a man or boy in relation to other sons and daughters of his parents’.  So in that respect, I got this one covered!  I do love my brother.  So after googling ‘brother definition’, I added ‘in the Bible’ since we seem to be way off  in our understanding of what God wants.  (I once heard the Bible referred to as an instruction manual, which I think we need to get back out, blow the dust off, and OPEN THE BOOK!)  The site I found the most helpful was bible-history.com where is says that the word brother means several people, one of the same tribe, one of the same kindred, a friend, a neighbor, an Israelite by birth.  Christ applied the word ‘brother’ to all Christians, and ‘neighbor’ to the world.  These definitions cover a wide range of people that we are to love.  So if indeed the Bible is an instruction manual, why aren’t we following the instructions?  Not just with loving our brothers, but our sisters should be loved too.  And our neighbors.  And all the people in the world.  So come on people, let’s start spreading the love, not the hate.  And while your at it, take a peek at some of the other things in the instruction manual we are not doing right.  Until God leads someone to write the New Testament version two, we better start following the directions in version one!

Always pondering,

dar

In regards to my title this morning, I should have added ‘3 Hours Ago’.

For those of you who know me well, or have come in contact with me in the morning, you know I am not a morning person, which inevidently means I like to sleep in.  I have never fully understood how people can get up at 6:00 because they are awake and can’t go back to sleep.  To those people I have to say “Just roll over”.  It works for me every time.  My Dad wasn’t a morning person either, my Mom was.  She would literally tip toe around in the morning on the hard wood floor so she didn’t wake him up.  She was constantly crocheting or embroidering something because it was ‘quiet’, if it was summer she would be in her garden.  I remember during the school year getting yelled at for walking too loudly, which I admit I do, but I INHERITED IT FROM HIM!, or turning my bedroom light off and on too many times. (Yes, the silent light switch had not been invented yet). I can still feel the annoyance I felt then when he would yell from his bedroom that I was being too loud.  Because of my respect for him, or most likely fear, I never yelled at him at 1:30 in the morning when he woke me up after just getting home from work.  Granted he did very well coming in quietly, or fixing a bedtime snack quietly, and he even wore earphones when he watched the little TV in the kitchen ……….. but his laughter at whatever followed Johnny Carson woke me several times.  Boy, I miss that old fart.

I’ve gotten off track here, reminiscing was not my intent this morning.  My intent was the fact that I married ……. wait for it …… a morning person.  My dear sweet loving husband is up about 5:30 EVERY MORNING.  I get up with just enough time to get to work only 2 or 3 minutes late Monday through Friday; and nobody better not say anything about me not giving something up for Lent when I give something up every Sunday morning.  I give up what I enjoy the most ……. sleep.  Even the people that attend early church learned early on that I’m not a morning person.  Jim walks in all happy and smiling and full of chatter and I’m all scowling, carrying my coffee, and giving the ‘don’t even’ look.  There are a couple women who obviously do not have have the fear and they will sometimes hug me.  Occasionally, I will hug back.  Now about the family that sits behind us at early church.  I learned early on that the Dad was a morning person, he generally has a pleasant look on his face and when he speaks there is no sign of a growl.  Sometimes he comes in looking like he just got in trouble for something.  The poor guy probably doesn’t even what he did because the Mom definely is not a morning person either.  I know this because when our eyes meet we both growl, and give that dreadful ‘don’t even’ look to each other.  A lot of times she is carrying a mug of coffee too.  Walking in just ahead of them is their son.  I can tell that his feelings about everything is ‘whatever’.  He will sometimes sit with us on the aisle side of the pew.  I consider it a challenge to get him to smile so I will move just a little closer to him, a little at a time.  When I’m close enough I will then put my arm around him.  Sometimes I will pass him a note and as he reaches for it, only his eyes will move in my direction.    I celebrate when the corners of his mouth will almost turn upward into a smile.  Then there is the daughter.  Now this little female person is always donning an ear to ear smile, and if you listen close enough you will hear the hum of her little pixie wings.  Before the service is done, whatever little stuffed toy she brought with her will land on my shoulder or I will feel her playing with my hair.  Morning. Person. 

And off track I got again.  Saturday is the only day of the week I can sleep in, and I will not get out of bed before 9:00.  At which point my husband has been up for roughly 3 hours and is ready to talk.  I had to remind him a couple times this morning to shush while we made the bed.  He got ‘the look’ when he asked me a question.  He’s a pretty good guy so he laughs off my morning attitude and says “I love you dear.” I’ll keep him.  This morning I got fresh coffee made while I got dressed, kissed him after brushing my teeth, and headed to my Quiet Room with coffee in hand.  As I was trying to concentrate on Jonah, he was in and out until finally landing in the garage where the table saw started buzzing.  Alas, I decided I would write a blog since I couldn’t concentrate on the giant fish vomiting up Jonah on the shore.  (The moral of that story is God gave Jonah a second chance to obey, saving him from certain death).  During this writing, Jason the Happy Hummingbird appearled just outside the window, to which I had to stop and go inside to make fresh sugar and water for him.  When I brought the feeder in, I noticed icky stuff inside it so I had to pour some rice in there, add soap and hot water and shake it around and around to get it clean.   It’s now clean and full and retuned to it’s hanger and Jason is zipping back and forth.  I swept up the cat hair and organized the shelf with my plant stuff on it, filled the water jugs, and I’m on my second load of laundry.  The saw isn’t buzzing in the garage anymore, Jim wore himself out so he’s in the house.  My coffee is gone and a bottle of water is now setting beside me.  (Uh-oh, now Troy the Trooper Hummingbird and has shown up and he’s picking a fight with Jason). I guess I’ll try to finish my morning with God time, it’s only 1:30 now.  

Always pondering, 

dar

It’s not a secret that some have criticized my choice to become a better Christian.  Jokes have been made, fingers have been pointed, and hurtful things have been said.  Maybe not directly to my face, but things get around.  Little remarks made without actually calling someone out, when enough is said to know who you were referring to.  People talk, people tell things they shouldn’t, people like to criticize.    It’s no secret, we are all human, and that kind of stuff is human nature.  I’ve done it myself on more than one occasion.  I still do it without thinking, but I’m working on being a better person by correcting my bad behavior.  I’m a work in progress.  I’m not giving up on it, I’m going to keep working at it, and when you criticize, well, I guess that’s just my light finally starting to shine; after all, if you didn’t see it you couldn’t criticize it.  Perhaps it’s the essence of the Holy Spirit?   Either way, it’s a change for the better, but there’s still a whole lot of work to be done.  That’s why I’m determined to stay in study, it’s the only way to stay focused on the goal.

My parents didn’t have me baptized when I was a baby.  I’ve thought about that several times, and I’ve had several different feelings about that.  I now have a better grasp of just what that decision involves.  I was baptized in 2008 with Tonya, Josh and Isabella.  It was my choice.  And with that baptism were some things I had to agree to do.  I accepted those things, now I’m trying to uphold my end of the agreement.

People do change.  Let me tell you about Saul.  Saul was a devout Jew.  He knew the Bible inside and out and when the Christian movement began, CHRIST-ian movement, he fought it with all his might because he thought it was a threat to Judaism.  Now I want to emphasize, he knew the Old Testament.    The Old Testament was full of predictions of a savior that was yet to come.  What Saul failed to recognize was the fact that Jesus Christ was THAT savior.  The New Testament which brought the good news of Jesus as our savior had not yet been written, but it was being talked about by Jesus’ disciples, THAT ALSO HAD CHANGED.  Long story short, after Jesus’ ascension  to Heaven, Saul took off to Damascus to round up some of Jesus’ disciples and their followers to bring them back to Jerusalem and throw them in jail.  While he was on the road to Damascus he heard a voice say “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”  It was Jesus.  Jesus then told him to go into the city where he would be told what to do, and then Jesus blinded him.  The Lord then instructed a man name Ananias to go to the city and restore Saul’s sight.  Ananias went to Saul, put his hands on his eyes and told him the Lord who had met him on the road to Damascus had sent him to restore his sight so that he would see again and be filled the Holy Spirit.  That convinced Saul that Jesus was Lord and Savior.  Saul’s name was then changed to Paul, he went through many trials and persecutions himself, and is accredited to starting the church.  He is also the author of several of the books in the New Testament.  Now I hope you pick up a Bible or find a Bible online and read Acts; it was written by Paul/Saul.  Then maybe read Matthew or Mark, you don’t even have to read them in order, they are all separate books.  Just like the other 63.  #66.Separate.Books.

In closing, I often think of something a dear friend of mine told me after lung cancer was diagnosed in my husband.  She said “This is what God has been training you for.”  So go ahead and continue to criticize, it lets me know my light is shining.

Always pondering,

dar

Granted, I’ve often almost pondered myself right in to the nut house, or even the grave.  My pondering has even caused my imagine to run rampant and caused unimaginable dreams.  I can not watch scary movies.  My pondering on them will send my imagination out of control, rendering nights in which I can’t sleep or nightmares if I do.  I once asked our son how he could watch such things and he told me because he watches them knowing they are not real.  Doesn’t work for me.  I’m a lover of the 30 minutes sitcom.  Last night my pondering kept me awake and I was still pondering when I woke up this morning.

At the women’s study last night of Jonah, we were posed with the question of why Jonah wanted to run from the job God asked him to do.  Again, it doesn’t take a Bible thumper to know Jonah was swallowed by a whale.   Jonah was a prophet.  God asked him to go to Ninevah to preach to the Assyrians who were nasty people that inflicted physical and psychological terror on their enemies, and God’s people, the Israelites, were their enemies.   Jonah didn’t want to go, he would have been just fine with God just letting them fall off the face of the earth.  Instead of obeying, Jonah ran.  He ran to Joppa where he boarded a ship to sail as far away from the presence of God as he could.  Once out to sea, God caused a great storm that threatened to cause everyone on the boat to perish at sea.  The sailors believed in gods that had a specific purposes, not in the one true God.  Their prayers were unanswered so they went to Jonah so he would plead their case to his God.  Long story short, they threw him overboard and the seas calmed immediately.  As Jonah was sinking to the bottom of the sea, a big fish swallowed him.  I found out last night that nowhere in scripture does it say a whale, apparently that’s the biggest fish anybody could think of when they read the story.  He lived in the belly of the big fish for 3 days, during which he went to God in prayer.  (Jesus was in the tomb for 3 days too remember).  God responded to Jonah’s prayer by having the big fish vomit Jonah up on dry land, Jonah obeyed and went to Ninevah and preached to the people.  The Ninevites repented, accepted God and were saved.  Jonah wasn’t happy.

Where my pondering caused trouble was that somewhere I had read that perhaps one of the reasons Jonah disliked the Ninevites so much was they could have killed his parents when he was just a child.  If you see your parents killed in front of you, and then God asks you to go to the ones that killed them and preach so they can be saved,  you would want to get as far away as you could too.  The women sitting beside me thought that sounded familiar to her, but others looked at me like I had flipped my wig.  Granted, I do read several different scriptures a day, and when they refer to another scripture I often read that one too.  I’m constantly confused on what I read where and who exactly it was speaking of.  In this case, the fact that Jonah’s parents could have possibly been killed by Ninevites was clear in my head, but I couldn’t put my finger on where or when I had read that.  I brought my study manual to work this morning and was able to locate where I had read it, and let everyone know via a message through Facebook.  Just so they knew I had not flipped my wig after all.  Score one for me.

Moral of the story, you can’t run from God.  And when you do, you better be ready to suffer the consequences.

Always pondering,

dar

Jim is feeling the effects of the chemo so we are lying low at the home front.  The kids were all here yesterday, with the exception of their spouses, Mike and Michelle were both working.  I made the usual baked spaghetti.  I’ve found that garlic toast using hotdog buns is the favorite, though our kids make sure their kids eat the spaghetti too.  I have to chuckle to myself when a couple of the plates are returned with the hamburger still on them.  I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, I preferred my pasta with just tomato juice too.  Two of our grandchildren have August birthdays so I gave them their gifts; Josh will be 13 and buying for him is completely out of the question, he got cash.  Morgan is our little crafter, I hooked her up with card making items.

I slept in after having a rough night and Jim didn’t wake me for church so must be he wasn’t feeling up to attending today.  I’m sorry we missed some friends that are out of town now; perhaps we can catch up with them next weekend.

My cup of coffee and my daily reading plan have me opening my Bible today to Psalms 87-88 and Romans 13.  It was in Romans 13 that my pondering began.  Verse 11’s title is The Day is Near, my pondering began with verses 12-14.

The night is nearly over, the day is almost here.  So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.  Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in the carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery (extreme indulgence in bodily pleasures and especially sexual pleasures), not in dissension (disagreement that causes the people in a group to argue about something that is important to them) and jealousy.  Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.

I admit, I still take the message as it is written.  Night being night and day being day.  Thank goodness for my study Bible, because off to the study note I went.

The night refers to the present evil time.  The day refers to the time of Christ’s return. Some people are surprised that Paul lists dissension and jealousy with the gross and obvious sins of orgies, drunkenness, and sexual immortality.  Like Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Paul considers attitudes as important as actions.  Just as hatred leads to murder, so jealousy leads to strife and lust to adultery.  When Christ returns, he wants to find people clean on the inside as well as on the outside.

As I pondered myself in this particular instruction, I have been guilty of drunkenness, dissension and jealousy.  The drunkenness for me wasn’t a problem to stop, I was never really a drunk.  To be honest, I really don’t enjoy drinking.  I only did it to fit in with the current person or people I was in the company of at the time.  As for dissension, I’ve gotten a lot better with that.  The majority of the people I have had serious  arguments with are always right and the arguing makes no difference anyways.  I will say, I will argue to my death if it involves dishonoring my parents, my kids, or my husband.  Besides, arguing uses up a lot of energy and I have none to spare.  Jealousy is probably my hardest to control.  The majority of my jealousy can be taken care of when I remember I don’t get to pick the cards I’m dealt.  I’m glad annoyance wasn’t listed.  That one may be impossible for me to quit, so I just try my hardest to avoid those things/persons that annoy me.

I guess this wraps up my current pondering.  I’ve noticed a hummingbird appearing just outside the window in my Quiet Room and the nector is old so I did take time to heat more up, it’s cooling on the stove right now.  And I have a sunflower now blocking the majority of the feeder so I need to move that to the south a little.  Some of the laundry I washed yesterday is still on the line, the “occasional” showers we experienced didn’t give the heavier stuff enough time to dry.  Thankfully our sheets got dry between showers and I made it out to get them before they got wet again.  I may try to get some mowing done, I’m not sure how Jim will feel in the next few days.  I also want to work on my puzzle some more.  Jim just told me some things he’s like to have in the house to eat, so a trip to the grocery store will be soon.  Seems like too much to do before bed, and tomorrow I’m back to work.

Always pondering,

dar

It’s early afternoon on a quiet Friday at work; B1 left early and will not be back.  B2 had to take a trailer to one of our techs not far away and then is having lunch; he will return to the office.  R & L carriers brought a load of overfill drop tubes, manholes, and manhole covers; fortunately the trailer was equipped with a lift gate and was carrying a pallet jack, I was here alone.  Nice young man, covered in tattoos, was the driver.   Had he not been dressed normal, except for the backwards baseball hat and driving the R & L semi, I may have been afraid of him.   Forgive me, but I can visualize him with saggy bottom pants being handcuffed on an episode of America’s Most Wanted.  Yes, I profile.  I was mostly confident that R & L does background checks on their drivers, and if they don’t I’d rather you didn’t tell me.

I opened my personal email and found Today’s Bible Reading courtesy of Bible Gateway.  As always, something will pop right out at me and get my pondering juices flowing.   Psalm 83 was one of today’s readings and verse 8 was the popping out at me verse.  “Even Assyria has joined them to reinforce Lot’s descendants.”

I don’t think you have to be a Bible thumper or even attend church to have heard about Sodom and Gomorrah.  You may not know the whole story of these particular two cities, but I’m sure the profiler in you will get a negative feeling when you hear their names.  Sodom and Gomorrah’s inhabitants were terribly wicked and the Lord decided to come down with a couple of his angels to see just how wicked they were; and if he they found they were, in fact, terribly wicked, He would destroy the cities and the inhabitants completely.

When the two angels reached the gate of Sodom they found Lot.  Lot was a nephew of Abraham, the father of all the nations.  Abraham left his home in Ur to go to the promised land, per instructions from God, and took Lot with him.  When their descendants and their flocks got too large for one area, they parted company.  Lot went to Sodom.  Abraham knew Lot was there and didn’t want the Lord to kill him so he pleaded with God to spare the righteous if he found any.   Long story short, Lot and his wife and two daughters were found righteous by God, so before sending down the burning sulfer they were told to leave the city quickly and not look back.  Lot and his family escaped, but while they were running to Zoar his wife looked back and was turned in to a pillar of salt.

Lot took his two daughters and settled in a cave in the mountains.  The daughters realized there were no men around to give them children so they got their father drunk two nights in a row and took turns sleeping with him.  They both conceived and gave birth to sons, Moab and Ben-Ammi.  Moab is the father of the Moabites and Ben-Ammi is the father of the Ammonites.  Both ‘tribes’ ended up being enemies of the Israelites, God’s chosen people.

Now back to Psalm 83.  Per the theme in my study Bible, this psalm was a prayer for God to do whatever it takes to convince the world that he is indeed God.  The writer is asking God to destroy the Israelites enemies and prove that He is Most High over all the earth.

Now my pondering leads me to realize that no matter what He did, people still denied obeying Him.  He then sent his son and throughout the New Testament, several tried to convince the world that Jesus was real, Jesus was God, Jesus was Lord.  And here we are today.  Not obeying His laws, living the way WE want, even going as far as changing HIS laws to conform with what WE want.  I’m just as guilty as everybody else.  And we wonder why we are experiencing so much tragedy.  Storms, earthquakes, disease, illness.  Same shit, different day.

Always pondering,

dar