Tried the jalapeño rice last night. It comes in those individual servings so it is easier not to over eat and stuff down rice. With the coolish temps, it was welcoming with some turkey chili. The rice was very well flavored, just enough but not a lot of spicy hot. So, if you see some at the grocery store it is well worth the try.
It seems a rarity to have two days that are rainy, foggy just a bit, and cloudy. Rainy days and Mondays don't get me down. I worked diligently on Sunday's lesson. Have about 3/4 of it written out and will finish up the writing today. Then I'll have the afternoon to read or finish up the always something projects. Roy has always said there is always something to take care of around here, but didn't feel that way in Houston. Once it dries out a bit, we need to open the vents for the crawlspace. That's the closest I get to it.
***********
Well, the day got away from me yesterday but feeling a bit satisfied that a few smaller projects got taken care of and finished writing out Sunday's lesson. Roy had a good dental appointment in the afternoon.
May holds a lot of appointments or so it seems. Getting them all on the calendar to make sure we don't overbook or something. I was just looking at the memories from this day on FB. It is when I saw a bear in the Cracker Barrel parking and it also was a day in 2011 of going through books because I think I was in phase one of getting ready to move out to Rancho De Five. I am including one paragraph from a blog post in 2011.
As far back as I can remember, I have always loved to read. I don't know if my love of reading came to me naturally or if it is due to my mother's love of quiet. No matter, every summer there was a constant;, trips to the swimming pool daily to tire us out and trips to the library weekly, with checked out books keeping us occupied quietly in the afternoons. I think my brother and I were nonstop, full of activity and most days would find us having a fight or two or twenty. My mom told me that as a toddler I would climb out of my crib and get every book I owned. I would then put all the books into the crib and then climb back in either reading or just sitting there happy to be surrounded by my books. When Roy and I traveled doing joint venture auditing, what I missed most while on the road were my books. I couldn't wait to get home and see my books. In this season of life I'm having to cull through our books and only keep those that are memorable, those that I re-read and those that are valuable. Oh and I am keeping most of the books I haven't read yet. What has me thinking so much about reading and books? I am reading Pat Conroy's book, My Reading Life. It is interesting the influences that frame us to be readers or non readers. His mother's early influence of reading became a fully supported love by the time he reached high school and met an English teacher that changed his life. That English course navigated and determined the direction life would take for Pat, writing. So this book has gotten me to reflect and ponder my own reading life and that is why I'm wondering if I always loved reading or if reading helped my mother experience her favored atmosphere of quiet. Who knows, but no matter the source of this love, I'm so glad to be a book loving reader.
Because of the rain in the latter part of the week and the coolish to cold temps at the first of the week we punted on several of our plans. The week coming up seems to be more sunny and warm. Think Roy is really ready for the warmth of spring into the warmer aspects of summer.
*****
Oh Monday morning, cool and beautiful. Roy was able to catch one of the youngest kitties this morning and he or she will be ready tomorrow morning. This will be the fourth one caught and fixed. He used the humane trap they gave him.
We hit Erwin on Saturday and found some huge Cherokee purple tomato plants. Looking forward to tomato summer. On Friday we went to Duckett's Produce. They had more strawberries and the last batch we bought were so sweet. During the week the strawberries come from a farm in Columbia SC. Still love Strawberry Hill strawberries but these others were such a sweet treat. We've used Lou Lou's salsa for making spaghetti sauce. Just about everything she cans or makes is just so good. We picked up more strawberry sauce for those winter days that remind us that spring is coming.
At first, last week when I began studying John 18:1-11, I debated on maybe teaching something else but so glad I stuck with it because in studying I learned so many things, both historical and spiritual. This is something I don't usually think about, but it felt like such an oppressive week and each day held a spiritual battle. Even Saturday night, only slept about three hours and had the strangest and bad dreams. I apologized to the class and if I napped during the lesson, they were free to nap as well or leave. Two people said, your best lessons have been when you've had a lack of sleep. Hmmm....truly, that was encouraging to me. Although, a good night's sleep is treasured these days. Haha!
If you do not read South Main Baptist Church's blog usually written by Greg Funderburk on Monday mornings, you're missing out on a good word. His first few sentences will draw you in like a favorite book. This morning his topic is The Courage to Encourage. He writes of the generosity of encouragement. His words reminded me of Erwin McManus's encouragement:
A life of gratitude makes us WHOLE,
Overwhelms us with LOVE
And moves us to LIVE GENEROUS lives.
Greg Funderburk's thoughts along with Erwin McManus thought from his book Stand Against the Wind, seem to go hand in hand this morning. I always get tickled when SBC people talk about generosity and fail to mention there are more ways than not to be generous. Our pastor's wife did the children's moment in church yesterday. She did a beautiful job of teaching the kiddos, you might not have money but you have gifts that can serve the Lord and others. She talked about a camp experience last year when the kiddos visited a nursing home and what joy they brought to the residents. Being generous starts with gratitude. These past few weeks, many times while looking at FB, friends from long ago all the way to today, seeing them has filled me with so much gratitude for them, their encouragement and their love. You cannot help but be filled with love and like Erwin says, move us to generous lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment