Not For the Faint of Heart This Week

 Good Wednesday morning. Thankfully this is one of the few ease into the day mornings we've had in a while. There is always something that needs attention or needs to be taken care of. Oh, yes, there is still all those types of projects, right now they are not time urgent. Yes, for this we give thanks. 

Sunday night was a special night for Roy, well I guess for both of us. He had been asked several months ago if he would consider being put on the ballot to be a deacon. He and several others were voted in, only Roy and one other candidate had never been ordained. All the years at First Baptist, he had no desire to be a deacon mainly because he didn't have any time to give to it. In his thinking he did not need another business meeting to attend, having enough of those at the office. The service was touching and heartfelt. The other man's grandfather gave a short talk on the calling and service of deacons. The grandfather, a pastor over in the Piedmont area, was truly moved and blessed by his grandson's ordination. Our pastor spoke a few words and then the whispered prayer thing over the candidates. Pastor with heart and common sense, they let them sit on chairs for the prayers. Afterwards our pastor's wife was teasing me about being a deacon's wife now and we laughed because she doesn't always fit in the pastor wife box. Roy says we are so much alike. Hmmmm....I agree, except I am not organized. I still need to give her the book Roy gave me for Christmas a couple of years ago on goals. My goal is not to lose the book and so far I have met that goal.

There are kittens galore in the garage and on the driveway. This is an adventurous group or rather groups of kittens. Tupac and Cutie are the moms and the babies are probably days apart in age. We had some pretty good rain this afternoon and today, most of those kittens hightailed it to the garage. Yesterday, Roy was out there drying off kittens left and right. In the joy of these kitties is the sadness of Sweetie. I believe she is facing her last days. She, one of the most beautiful members of the Feral Fam. A good heart, spending time with Toupee, who didn't have many cat friends. Sweetie watched over her. Sweetie lost her kittens and I don't know how or when and that deeply affected her. She constantly carried about others kittens. She fed these kittens as well as some too old to be nursed. It seems the target of KH is a cat that is male or I have shown favor toward. Neither of this is true in her case. KH is lying low these days and only shows up at mealtime. So, to counter his timing we have been serving food at different times to throw him off and keep him out of here. 

It is not for the faint of heart to go to old people discount day at Publix, I mean Wisdom Wednesday. Focused and narrow focused oldies but goodies are out for the discount. Not that we aren't but you know....I would like to think we are not as bad as those observed. Add to that several Instacart shoppers as well as those shopping for a big trip or gathering. One cart of people, I called them the swarmers. It mattered not where we were in the store, whatever we were looking at was on their shopping list too. Roy made a slight adjustment on a turn to throw them off the path, we forgot bacon, and when doing so two packs of AHA water flew off the bottom of the cart and when I came around the corner, I tripped over one of the water packages and caught myself by the cart handle. So thankful that Roy was holding onto the cart or I might have sailed over to the bacon. Yes, I could bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan and be in a cast from tripping over cans....cause I'm a woman! Old-woman who has been working on her balance. 

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Foggy Friday morning. While we wait for Waste Pro to deliver new garbage cans cause they wrecked the ones they gave us and while they make some excuse everyday that Roy calls, we will have to make a trip to the landfill this morning. Yesterday, the excuse was the delivery truck broke and is in the shop. That's a rather good excuse and so we shall see what excuse is used today. 

Last night we discovered one of the kittens who either wandered off or his mom toted him off from the others and he was in bad shape. From the look of things and after doing several hospice times with a few other kittens, he was not long for this world. He didn't need to go out in the shape he was in so we cleaned him up, tried to help him not be in pain and sat with him. I swaddled him in a couple of towels. He spent some time with his siblings who had sat with him in the past. I wrapped him up better and he pulled his paw out of the towel and touched my hand, then laid back his head. I am taking it as a thank you. Because of his condition, we got everyone out of the garage, cleaned it out once again and this time getting rid of anything we felt might draw flies and fleas. We sprayed Wondercide this week outside and inside the garage. We did it again last night for the garage and closed the door. Everyone had to stay outside last night but we reopened the cat houses for them. We also shampooed all the kittens and sprayed them with the lovely scent of peppermint Wondercide spray and put them in the heated cat house to keep them warm after a bath. They all cuddled together and we made sure their mama knew where they were. With all the work that we did, feeling buggy and sweaty, we threw our clothes into the washing machine with the extra strength, sanitizing detergent and got them washed. We both felt much better after taking showers. 

I had the boys out back on the porch for most of the afternoon and now I know why. While they played and then sat and then begged for treats, I worked on the lesson for Sunday. II Kings 7 and once again I thought, Lifeway, why did you pick this particular chapter but this week as I have read and studied, there is much more than what a first read through gives. It seems the right thing to do to compare Elijah and Elisha and how they were used so differently by the Lord. Elisha had a totally different background than Elijah and moved in society with a better understanding of people and systems than Elijah. 

Off to run errands and such. 

Wrapping Up a Blog Post and Elijah

 The long day of riding and waiting marked time till about 1:30 am when we both fell into bed exhausted. The thoughtfulness of Judy C being much appreciated because after dropping the truck off at church for Roy, they took me home. I was happy not to be out on these rural roads after dark thirty. This past week the state or county has been patching up our well traveled road but in the midst of the patches, the white lines on the edges of the road have been covered. 

Roy has made it downstairs and he is having his quiet time with the boys on the front porch. I love his telling of adventures this week. He did get to take a few pics of the area to share with me. Just so beautiful.

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Sunday morning. The coffee is brewing and the boys are stirring. Roy is still in bed. That's good that he is taking care of himself. Hopefully in this morning's lesson we will get to the part of Elijah under the broom tree, again with the theme of God using the miraculous as well as the ordinary, we just need to be aware of His workings. God knew he needed rest for the journey ahead and Elijah slept and God sent an angel to wake him and provide food and water for him. Since Lifeway didn't use a lot of last week's lesson to show how Elijah learned with the brook and ravens and the widow, I covered that and today we look at Mt Carmel and as much as we can with the aftermath of the big moments/big ministry times and such. If we have to go into this into next week's lesson, that is fine. This time going through the life of Elijah, I am seeing how much God's grace and patience is shown. The other times, the first time though while studying in CBS my eyes were opened to the very human side of Elijah. When we studied him in 2019 using The Gospel Project, I was halfway miffed with him. 

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It has been tougher than usual to sit down and write. I need to get back to my regular writing as well as blogging, if nothing else but for me to think through thoughts and prayerfully approach things I don't understand. 

I slept in a little this morning and it was much needed. Roy and the boys were already on the front porch and wrestling between the boys in full swing. Roy reading his Bible verses in between breaking them up when turning a little too vicious. I joined them on the porch for coffee drinking. We got the Fam fed. Dean hasn't been around for several days...thus you never know in their wild lives what happens. Truthfully, I don't miss him as he was a bully and a scardy cat at the same time. He picked on those smaller than himself. Now Blazey was gone for several days and I sure was happy to see him show up last night. 

The weather and my health has kept us from doing the day trips we had planned this week. I am hoping we can get another trip in. We are thrilled for the rain that's for sure. The trees were suffering a bit. We picked more tomatoes yesterday and a good amount of blackberries. Brenda said yesterday now y'all are fully entrenched in WNC life and there is no turning back. Yep, I reckon that there is some truthful words. I keep thinking of friends dealing with the hot temps back in Texas. The week forecast called for temps over 100° for seven straight days and the lows are in the 80s. Don't miss that at all. 

We will wrap up Elijah on Sunday. I didn't get as far as I wanted last Sunday. There is just so much with his life and experiences with God that we can learn from. 

This could go on longer but since time hasn't been made recently to blog, I'll go ahead and post this. 

Dear Diary

 Dear Diary,

It isn't even 8:30 am and already the morning has been a full one and an early one. Got up at 3:30 am to get Roy to church for their early morning departure. Had a difficult time getting Mojo to give up the comfy confines of sleep underneath the car. Finally, with that chore done, we headed over to church in a thick, misty fog. It was a slow go but a safe one. Upon returning home, there was Mojo sitting in the middle of the driveway waiting for her house to return. She wouldn't budge and since it was a little after 5:00 am, I didn't want to honk a lot to wake up those who still slept soundly in their homes. I hoped I had pulled in enough not to get hit by the gate closing. Whew, made it clear but only by an inch or so. Got inside the house and made coffee. Looked over notes for tomorrows lesson and then began the separate porch time for Mr Mo and then G Mo. Mr Mo, full of energy threw himself into all that involves play. Climbing up the tower, chasing an impudent stuffed animal, and generally getting all the ya yas out. Put him up and gathered their bowls to be filled later. The Feral Fam gathered and waited on breakfast which began service around 7:00 am. In the midst of the frantic wait for bowls, a very familiar face entered the garage, Radley. Radley looked a little rough around the edges as if he had been fighting. He did something uncharacteristic for him, he hissed. I talked to him like always, cause he is always a joy to see and he is HP's brother. I didn't go near him because we have been on polite distance terms, but when I went toward the cats waiting for breakfast, he hissed at me. Oh my spidey sense told me to close down the service line and get inside the house and that's what I did. Went out a little later and he had moved on. Now, it was time for G Mo to get out on the porch and he climbed up the tower to the next level. He's a growing boy. We moved into together time which went well. G Mo is getting a little more assertive in standing his ground and even initiated some of the scuffles. By this time, mama is tired, brought them inside, served breakfast and now they nap. Yes! Now to have some breakfast myself. 

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Dear Diary,

First night of VBS done and day three of being a single parent to two wild boys. Again, this morning, I find myself getting them fed and hopefully played out on the front porch. In a bit I will go feed the Feral Fam and then it is my turn. 

With extra activities this week as well as too many appointments, I am working on this Sunday's lesson earlier this week. We covered Asa as well as the background of Elijah being prepared by God for the big showdown on Mt Carmel. Some of my favorite verses on the brook, ravens and the widow. Asa, well his heart was loyal to God his whole life but he didn't finish well. For his life and study, when he and Judah had rest in the land for ten years. Seeing the things that Asa confronted and then restored, well, I wish we could have given more time to that. 

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Feeling the VBS hangover this morning especially in my feet and legs. Last night, I was so tired when I went to bed, I tossed and turned. Woke up around 1:00 realizing I had not taken all my meds, so it was a tip toe kind of descent downstairs as not to wake the boys.

I have seen Radley two more times. Once, he seemed like normal Radley but the next time he was hissing at all the fam but not at me. Got him fed but makes me wonder if he returned just like Big Daddy before crossing the rainbow bridge. Radley hasn't made an appearance since Saturday. I also think little Mojo might have crossed as well. She had a habit of sleeping out in the open on the driveway, she is more white than black being easily spotted by a hawk. Broke the news to Roy last night that it has been several days and Mojo was not one to miss a meal. 

There is much to be done before going to VBS, so with that thought I will close this post. 

The 4th, The Mr Mo and G Mo Saga and Lunch with Friends

 We celebrated July 4th very low key. In the evening we enjoyed the show that distant neighbors across the way put on and it almost looked professional. Off farther in the distance we could see the professional show done in the city. We could see the highest reaching fireworks. When we first moved out here there were hardly any shot, but as more houses are built there are more people shooting them. The nice thing is, they stop around 10:30 or so. We get a great show as well as a good night's rest. 

The 4th seemed to be a good day to go to TN. Another truly American thing we did, go to Walmart. Roy wanted to check the price of shot gun shells as well as pick up a few other items he needed. Since Mr Mo and G Mo like the feel of my winter bed jacket, we found pre-cut fabric of that same texture for the boys. It is kind of funny the things we had in our shopping basket or could have had. Shot gun shells, prune juice and a plunger, and to make the point, none of these items were related to each other. We decided to put one of the items back as not to draw suspicions checking out. We had other junk, but we were cracking up, although I am sure that Walmart checkers have seen a lot of stuff and could tell us some stories. Upon the conclusion of the trip we went to Sonic to get hot dogs for lunch and to celebrate the holiday. We were going to go to Pals in TN, but the drive through line, no indoor ordering, was what seemed to be a mile long. 

Last week our beloved coffee maker bit the dust and we put the next one in without a fuss. Several years ago we ordered the new coffee maker that was like the old one but the old one gave us two more years of semi dependable service. Back then, before any shortage of supply chain it took months for it to arrive. I can only think what it might be now. They might have quit making it too. Who knows? 

The exciting news around here has been G Mo coming inside to stay. Only one not too excited about that is Mr. Mo. We have them together several times a day on the front porch and their playpens are right next to each other. Their food dishes are mere inches apart with the mesh in-between them. We are reading all we can on getting these two to socialize although G Mo is holding his own. I have a feeling he is going to get much bigger than Mr. Mo, so there is that. G Mo right now is a low energy, laid back kitten. Mr. Mo is entering the teenage years. I will leave it at that. Next week G Mo goes to the vet to get checked out and hopefully get his snip snip surgery scheduled. Mr. Mo goes the week after that since we just have the one carrier and putting them in at the same time might not be the best thing to do. 

The gastro office finally called and my consultation appointment is in September, but I've also been put on the cancellation list. This has been a long journey and it seems it has a longer time to go. 

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Roy is getting ready to meet Kyle to shop for the Vermont mission trip. I have a few things to take care of this morning and then get back to studying Sunday's combined lesson. We didn't ger Asa covered so we need to have that taste of good king before we get to King Ahab and the rest of the doing evil in the sight of the Lord gang. 

Yesterday was such a fun day. We met CourtneyS and fam at Blue Rooster. They are in the area on vacation. Lunch was delicious and more fun cause four out six of us are kind of silly. We talked about our funny memories as well as new things that have happened along the way. Wish we had more time but they needed to move on out and see everything they could for the rest of the day. Roy and I went over to Robin Blu because they have the cinnamon bourbon popcorn I fell in love with last fall. We got the last two packages. I love the taste of bourbon but don't drink it. So, this is good. We went next door to the new bakery Farm to Cake and got a couple of things. Very tasty and the lady who owns it is very nice. They might have gingerbread cookies around Christmas and for this I am grateful. We tried to get over to Christopher Farms but the roads leading to there are all being worked on. With the skies growing ominous, we headed back home, in the rain. We were going to stop by the Les-ter farmer's market but rain. Came on home, then after the rain moved on we went to TJs for peaches and a stop at Ingles, cause they have creamer on sale. The kind that we like. Later in the evening we had the most successful yet porch session with Mr. Mo and G Mo. G Mo actually went after the Mr and it turned the tide a bit in the struggle to get along. Last night gave us hope we are on the right track. 

Weekly Reader or Writer?

 Being homebodies, at least in the evenings, we were out nearly to 9:00 pm last night. I was a bit wired from the fun of visiting with friends up at the picnic shelter at church and it took some time to wind down once we got home. We also took Mr Mo out to the front porch to get the ya yas worked out of him. He is so full of kitten energy and fights going to sleep with a kitten passion. Finally, all three of us settled down for a long summer sleep. Goodness, Roy and I slept in till 7:00 am...threw everyone off in the cat world. In fact, we got the stare down from the front deck this morning. 

Yesterday afternoon, we got a hold of NoMo. His eyes were crusting up again and he needed them to be cleaned out as well as a little dose of antibiotics. Once I got him he put up quite the fight and a quick transfer of NoMo to Roy proved to be successful as I got his stuff ready. When he hissed got the antibiotics in him, then as he tore up a paper towel with great teeth action, I was able to clean his eyes and then apply the cream to them. Saw him briefly this morning at breakfast but got a good look at his eyes and they have cleared up. He scooted right out the door when he saw me walking toward him, only the approach was more like going to the back door after serving breakfast. 

I love following South Main Baptist Church in Houston on FB. The devotionals written by staff are some of the most interesting as well as spiritually deep of any I've read. While the world is spinning out of control or so it seems in the natural world, there are sacred and meaningful moments to experience and thank God in. While Roy and I are no longer interested in long distance travel and love the feeling of being anchored at home and the area, there is a bustle to days in which we don't notice where the hand of God is leading and drawing our attention. Yesterday, Ragan Courtney posted this memory:

Ragan Courtney

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I remember very clearly writing this like it was yesterday. It is still my testimony.

He's the wind I soar on. He’s the grass I run through. He’s the one I turn to when I have to laugh or cry. He’s the light of my world. He’s my priceless pearl. He’s my answer to why He’s my friend even after I die. He’s the sun I sing in, He’s the sea I swim in. He’s the mountain I climb to when I want to reach a new high. Jesus, my Lord! Of all the things he said to me, the best was truth shall make you free! You shall know the truth. And the truth shall make you free. You shall know the truth. And love is the proof that the truth shall make you free!

-Ragan Courtney, 1972 (50 year celebration of Celebrate Life)

Just graduated from high school and looking forward to attending college and being away from home, the songs of the musical Celebrate Life along with the songs from God's People Give Thanks, Church of the Redeemer (Houston) seemed to be the soundtrack of life in that particular season. Anytime I hear the music of that time, I am carried back in memories, not of the difficulties of maneuvering and trusting God but how the words spoke deeply and gave respite when I searched for rest. I have always been a creation and nature girl. All the hymns like This is My Father's World, When Morning Gilds the Skies, All Creatures of Our God and King...live eternally in my spirit and soul and if I am feeling particularly adventuresome musically, How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place will be a song sung in the car at the glimpse of mountains upon returning from the flatlands. The reminder of God with us is a strong tower. 

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Wednesday morning held appointments at the Densc and Smash...the imaging center. Got a good report from my mammogram and still waiting for the bone density which will arrive on Tuesday. Glad to have those over for the year. Great people watching even though I brought a book to amuse me but when I read, almost everything gets tuned out and the need to hear my name called caused me to put down the book and observe. Years ago I had an irrational fear of storms, loss of electricity and smashed and trapped in the device and I would be left in the dark to fend for myself. Even back in the day I was too tall for the machine, so it was a rather uncomfortable position with knees bent and locked in. Now days, that fear doesn't even come to mind while in the midst of it all. 

The lesson for Sunday is coming together. We are combining two weeks since we had a speaker for Sunday School last week. The title of the lesson is These Three Kings and what we can learn from them in the mistakes as well as the right things they did. Some had a good start and finished badly while one was a tyrant the moment he took the throne. 

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Roy has gone to work out and in just a bit Mr Mo and I will be returning to the front porch. He's taking a nap and I do not want to disturb his sleep. He goes 100 mph and then zonks. When G-Mo came up on the front deck this morning with the other cats, well we knew he is ready to come inside to the good life. We are waiting on something to be delivered tomorrow for them and then the process will start. 

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Good Monday morning! Happy Independence Day! 

I will close this post out because it is Monday and been working on this all during the week. Feral Fam updates to tell but alas, that is for next time.