It's a lovely foggy morning in August. It's a lovely Monday morning in August. It's a lovely verse, how lovely are the feet of those who bring good news.
Last Friday we took the backroads with adjustments to the bridges being out on several of our main roads we take to get over to Troyer's. We left earlier than we usually do to get to the store before 10:00 am when the parking lot fills and the store overflows. We shopped just a bit before going to the register to check out and get our receipt marked for peaches purchased. While the scenic return is usually our choice we opted for the quicker route, not as scenic but we were in TN to shop, not fun shopping but stock up on things we use and our supply is getting low. The pre-winter stock up. We also need to go back to Ducketts and see if Lou Lou has canned anymore greasy beans.
As is the tradition it is now a week out from last Friday. We are nearing what is called false fall 2 this weekend. It has been so dang hot and most are looking forward to the temperature respite. The forecast calls for a low in the forties on Wednesday. Less humidity too. It will be tempting to start that season exchange of clothing but I will hold off.
This week I have been reading Luke 5. Funny how I came to that chapter. I was watching an old interview with two Bible teachers or pastors. One told about his mentor and how the mentor came to Christ. The mentor was doing conscientious objector work on a farm assigned menial farm work. His mind was free to think and pursue. He was an agnostic but had been challenged to read the Bible. So in his readings nothing particular stood out until he read Luke 5. It was the pattern of numbers that drew him in and there on a farm doing menial work he accepted Christ. So you know, being the numbers girl that I am...did you laugh? Anyway, I thought that's interesting how God had gotten his attention. The Bible teacher guy was right, you do see a pattern of one, four and large crowds all throughout the chapter but the verses that drew me in is the story of the four friends bringing their one friend to Jesus in the large crowd. The verses that stood out for me: after Jesus heals the man on the mat He says to him, Get up, Pick up and Go Home. This time those words hit me differently. One would think the stand up and the pick up would be the hardest part of doing what Jesus commanded but now I am thinking the go home would be the hardest. Why? Well, I am glad you asked. Just thinking back to those days of bilateral knee replacement rehab days, standing up was a little easier than pre knee replacements. Learning the correct way to pick up stuff was easier and quickly do-able. Now this is where the example ends because I was so ready to go, but it was the best. Take what I have learned and put it into practice. Go home but when you think about it, after a huge miracle for that man, he would have been hounded by the Pharisees and swarmed by the people. The Lord knew he just needed to return home and be surrounded by his family. Jesus would take care of the Pharisees and teaching the people in the house and out of the house. The healed man would be overwhelmed and maybe he just needed to get away from the crowds to truly ponder what he just experienced and then tell others of the miraculous love of God . We are told he was praising God and for this we give thanks.
Most afternoons this week have had rain and some of that rain rather heavy. We are both thankful we haven't had to go out and water. The purple peas are doing well and with cooler temps I can get out there and get some picked.
The thought of how everything is cyclical has been in the forefront lately. Our lives, culture, churches, and schools just to name a few. All the hype of the Cracker Barrel changes is viral in all the media types and hypes. My first experience with CB took place in the 80s. Roy and I were visiting my brother north of Atlanta and there was one near his apartment. My goodness I think in those couple of days we ate there every chance we got. Home cooking, well not like my home cooking but somebodies. Through the years it was not a destination but a oh, it's close to _________, and that is where we ate. In 2019 we ate there after Roy's colonoscopy. He was hungry for pancakes. In all the trips between Houston and here Cracker Barrel became a safe spot to stop and use the bathroom and pick up more snacks for the road. My most famous relationship with Cracker Barrel was breaking my hip at the one in Lafayette. Of course they contacted Roy and said they could not compensate much financially and Roy said, can you just cover out of pocket expenses? They agreed most heartily. They sent me a CB gift card in good faith and let's just say Dayspring, my Houston Sunday School class, gave me one with a lot more money on a gift card than CB. People are mentioning the nostalgia factor and I see that but it did bother me that if I was thinking of grandparents upon entering I would nostalgically remind grandma that her floors should look cleaner. Several years ago I read about the man whose one job was to shop for things to go on the walls of CB. Why was this not covered as a job option in high school? Guess it is because CB wasn't even around back then but this guy had a full run on his job years until maybe last year. When we were traveling back and forth to NC we liked stopping at the CB in Sulphur, La because LSU shirts and sweatshirts were a reasonable price.
Oh my, I just learned that Chuck Girard has passed away. His music played a huge part of my early Christian life and my favorite song was, Love Song. Just listened to it and remembered how that song ministered to my spirit on some of the hardest days I had faced.
I went back and listened to several more songs from that era. It seems that I am getting sentimental about music these days. Two separate afternoons last week I listened to The First Baptist Choir Dallas on You Tube. Once again I cried but not from having those opportunities anymore, but because I did. Think I was having so much in those days and because in that time of life I wanted every minute to be filled with busyness, I didn't take the time to appreciate the musical foundation given, yes, even to people like me that loves music but never had any kind of training.
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