The sun is hiding behind the mountains giving a hint of gold and reds. The clouds are even in cooperation helping stage the handiwork and creativity of God. I think this is the last day of deep freeze for a while. The last night to drip the faucets. I like cold weather but making sure that pipes don't freeze for extended periods can wear on you.
There are still patches of snow. Unusual for the front of the house because of a southern exposure and usual for the back of the house. Lots of shade and the trees around the pasture fence above us keeps the winter light at a minimum.
Last year I made a serious dent in giving away books that have been favorites, either story or author. I have been a holdout on making the same dent into Ellen Gilchrist and Alice Adams books. Alice Adams, while born in Virginia, placed most of her stories in San Francisco. She wrote on the choices strong women have to make or at least back in the eighties. She is one of the first authors I read when my love of reading returned way back in day. Her books have made every move but I haven't reread them. Did a quick a Google search to refresh my memory on her writing. She passed away in 1999, I did remember that. Ellen Gilchrist wrote in similar fashion of using short stories with a theme to tell the story of Rhoda Manning. Rhoda Manning's adventures were loosely based on Ellen's life. At some point her stories became harder for me to read because of a turn in her own life. Still bought the books, read them and carried them about for every move. I am at a point where the books I didn't fully appreciate will be given away. Her first few books will remain and maybe I will skim them. I was mentioning to Roy of my intentions with these books. He remembered the night at the bookstore I discovered Ellen Gilchrist. It was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. We had Chinese food, bookstore and a trip to Sharpstown Mall, when it wasn't such a danger zone, to Shelly's Tall Girl Shop. Something in the food didn't sit right with me and there isn't a need to go into that. Good ol' Shelly's Tall Girl shop...expensive and my only choice for work and dress clothes. Thankful for layaway cause that's how I bought stuff.
The following is from a blog post in 2021 that I reposted from sometime earlier in the beginning of good ol Monablog. It showed up in my memories on FB. This morning has not been the greatest morning for me. Just some circumstances that I don't particularly care for, a broken drawer that Roy says he can fix...guess cause he installed it. Haha, and when stuff happens it just makes everything else that is tolerable, just plain old worse. In the midst of this and believe me I am not trying to sound spiritual cause I'm not, I am remembering give thanks in all things. So, I complained and almost had some tears cause my insides want to have a grouch fest but the Word that gives life is saying give thanks IN all things. Don't think I am going to get to pout. So here is the blog post:
Yesterday, Soulprint by Mark Batterson was released. So I downloaded that puppy post haste. He has been putting portions of the book on his blog and I was hooked. The following quote is just in his introduction;
All of us start out as one-of-a kind originals, but too many of us end up as carbon copies of someone else. Instead of celebrating our uniqueness, and the uniqueness of others, we're too often threatened by it. We forfeit our uniqueness because we want to fit in. Instead of daring to be different, we sacrifice our soulprints on the altar of conformity."
The term soulprint refers to who we are, who we will be and just not who others see as they look at the outside in. It is a testament to God who has created us. Uniqueness is God's gift to us and our gift to God. We are created to worship God in a way that no one else can.
The above reminds me of my favorite Gail Godwin novel. Against the odds the main character is trying so hard in a new family situation, she's about 12 years old, and keeping her self unique among the status quo.
Do you think I get to be Christ-like and be grouchy? You know uniquely made to be funny, yet cranky, yet godly? After studying Mark for Sunday School I know that Jesus overturning the tables and cleaning out the temple wasn't done cause he was grouchy.
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A morning above freezing. Once the rain begins the remaining snow patches will melt into the ground. It has been quite sometime since snow stuck around for this long. We were able to get out and about yesterday. Grocery store where we saw Lois N and then we went over to Inez and Cuman's home. Great seeing everyone. Roy will probably get back to his workout routine this afternoon but he has been diligent and faithful in his home set up of exercise.
The blogger I mentioned in a post a few days ago no longer blogs. Heck, hardly anyone that was blogging when I started isn't blogging. It is the most consistent thing that is hobby-ish I have ever stayed with. The bloggers that used their platform have gone into podcasts. My attention span is still limited and thus hardly ever listen to podcasts. I just picked up Journeying Through the Bible and the way it is set up you can read short snippets or hang in there reading large sections. Either way, it is good.
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