Monday, September 12, 2022

Where The Boys Are...On The Back Porch

 Another rainy morning this week. They are few and far between and it is a little cooler so just hanging around the house today, I am wearing an old favorite bum around flannel shirt. No jeans, but capris, no boots, well except muck boots when going outside. 

This past week I began gathering light and white clothes to put away until next spring and summer. Going through them and taking out items that have rarely been worn and getting them in a pile for Goodwill or someplace. We have some winter coats we no longer use but going to take them over to ABBCM when it starts getting a little cooler. We took a big box and a hamper full of gently used clothes over to a Goodwill donation center in TN. I don't hold too tightly to very much but some clothes that have seen better days, like the flannel shirt today, are comfy clothes for wet or cold days. 

I also began work on consolidating notebooks, pens, pencils and all things office supply that are in the front bedroom. Among these treasures a few notebooks filled with teaching notes from years past, including some minor prophet stuff that will come in handy after we leave Amos. Again, I was dreading Amos but the message is so clear and so much for today. Guess the last time through the Gospel Project, we didn't cover Amos. 

The Boys are napping on the back porch and Roy is upstairs ordering a few things from Amazon, mainly items for The Boys. 

**********

Monday morning, we greet with humidity and some fog. Once again, Roy and The Boys are on the back porch. I have been out there too but with the boys somewhat subdued and Roy doing his quiet time, the opportunity to come inside and blog presented itself. I am working through some thoughts that have me a bit down. One of which is, I think I used an example in the lesson yesterday that most probably was just for me but the joy of finding the song and the circumstances from the long ago, overclouded with happiness, I thought what a great example. So here is the context. My brain works in rhymes and music and trivia. Back in the day you wanted me on your Trivial Pursuit game but of course, I digress. While studying for the lesson, the thought came to me of a song from childhood, The Flounder in the Sea. I still have the album but it is packed away and no record player so Apple Music was the next choice. Y'all, the song, the whole album plus other albums were there. Kid in the candy shop listening to these long ago songs. My father bought a big stereo/radio system that was all the rage back in the day. It was a piece of furniture. To celebrate the purchase he bought my mom the album by The Four Aces, an instrumental album for himself and The Tinsel Town Players for me. That album had songs, nursery rhymes that I realize now had a good message along with some silliness to them. Ah, the perfect combination to hold my interest. The songs were perfect for acting out or singing along with. I did, oh probably 82,000 performances for my mom and whether she felt this way or not but to me she loved everyone of those renditions complete with costumes for her very own personal performance. I played the song for Roy and said the fisherman's wife is perfect for the illustration of the fat cows of Bashan, Amos 4:1. Over the course of the week, while remembering a time when my father liked me and the joy of finding these songs, some of their messages from those years back revealed how they helped me begin forming ideas about life. Be content with what you have, people in foreign lands and I had things in common, don't always go to the sky is falling when it isn't at all and such. Be helpful and kind. Don't be quick to speak. From a children's record to the lessons growing up in Sunday School, God began working and sowing seeds into my little children's heart. So yesterday, I played the song as part of an example. Yesterday afternoon I began thinking about that song and lesson and realized the song had a magic fish...who could grant any wish. Most of the class had smiles while hearing the songs but several faces indicated this could have been a poor choice. Since the afternoon, I have been beating myself up mentally and emotionally over this and the beat up continues on this morning. As well as the fact, the lesson in itself was presented disjointedly probably more so than usual. This morning, I am back at it, reading the lesson out of the quarterly for this coming Sunday. Told Roy, no musical or personal examples this week...Roy said, you just let the Lord lead you, Nancy. What's kind of funny to me, the very next song on my playlist is How Lovely Is Your Dwelling Place, classical in two different genres. 

The countdown for the Dr appointment or consultation I made in June is quickly coming next week,  along with an appointment in October with the cardiologist. Just in case, for my own peace of mind, I am keeping the calendar clear of most things. Along with this I know how long it takes for me to recover when I do too much. The ringing mantra of the past fourteen years is, if you stay in the parameters we have set for you, where you live life, you're better off paying attention and staying within them. I can live a happy and active life. I had to make a few decisions for the coming week for things I would love to do. One of them is the choir retreat. With a lesson to prepare, Roy working at the fair and a few other things, I made the decision on Saturday night that in light of physical concerns....and to be the best for that upcoming appointment, choir retreat is a no go this time. 

A little Feral Fam report for those who follow the adventures of these kitty cats. Radley, the rescuer, has been hanging around and running off KH every chance he gets. KH still tries to come around but either Radley or Mama Cat chases him up to the gravel road. Mama Cat has let Buster and Baxter get out and about a little more, even taking them over to the food bowls. Charlie hasn't been around for several days but Toupee and Blazey are around often, mostly in the early evenings. 

The temps have dropped so it is time to go join The Boys on the back porch. 


No comments: