A Little Sunday Catch Up

With 99 open to 290 we headed over to Houston's First Baptist Church Cypress campus for church.  It was nice having extra time on Sunday morning and not leaving so early.  We loved it!  Roy saw tons of friends, well we both did.  We saw Jason right off the bat and loved getting caught up with my former boss but still good friend.  Even got to see Paige too.  It's not bad going to TV church, in fact we might have liked it better than in person at the loop.  The screen is closer.  With the extra time before leaving, I was able to work on my 500 words for the day.  I am enjoying this exercise in writing but truthfully most days when I sit down to write, I do more than 500 words.  It is a good habit to further develop. 

We stopped at Burgers and More after church and picked up BBQ.  Now Roy has gone out to ride his Trek while I have worked on Genesis homework.  I am fighting off taking a nap but I might be going down for the count.  This week it is mainly a review of Abraham's life because we are moving right on and have begun looking at Isaac and Rebekah with Esau and Jacob.  One of our for deeper thought questions asked what we have learned about Abraham.  Much more than I ever knew. 

Yesterday, was laid back. Roy went to Bible study and then took his car into the dealership for service.  He was there longer than anticipated.  He made a few stops on the way home and by that time we were ready for some Mexican food.  I think I might have found the menu item I will be ordering at least for the next few times.  Once we got home, I settled in with a book and Roy went to work out.  I started reading Mrs. Astor Regrets and it certainly has my interest. Yes, I am out of the south on this one but she did grow up in the south and would have been a belle but her mom was worried that all her schooling would make her less suitable for marriage, pulled her out of school and placed her smack dab in a very unhappy marriage.  Third marriage, she became Mrs. Astor. 

I am looking forward to having a bit more of a laid back week because beginning the week afterwards will be the long, long dental journey.  I know I have several dental surgeries in the coming months.  But I will persevere and know that this is just part of the process of getting back. 

As usual with Sunday posts, I complete them on Monday.  David and Emily called and we met them at the Luby's.  Yes, I think this is the hot spot to be seen in Rancho De Five.  The recent years have been almost Luby's free for us, even when we lived close to the one on Post Oak by the Galleria which we affectionately called the Hobble and Gobble.   The wait staff is good but it kind of bugs me.  One guy is a hover-er and if you put your fork on your plate for any reason, he is wanting to whisk it away.  Last night's guy...I think he was a guy, was attentive but not quick on the action part.  Oh well, I am willing to endure this first world problem to have a Luby's in the neighborhood. 

Buddy is purring and seems content her on my lap.  I hate to get up to get a cup of coffee.  I love these mornings where she settles down on me and makes herself comfortable.  Oops, she has stopped purring so this portion of her day is probably coming to an end.  Sitting on my lap is cutting into her first nap of the morning and.....there she goes. 

The Predicatable and Controllable

I am almost finished with the book Journaling, Catalyzing Spiritual Growth Through Reflection by Adam L Feldman.  I have mentioned that I have kept a diary/journal since the age of 9.  When I was going through things several times before we moved, I would skim over what had my attention as a child and then as a teenager in my journals.  Sadly, I must confess that the same things that bothered me as a child still bother me as an adult.  Instead of thinking myself foolish, I will choose to believe I was older and wiser than my years.   Once I hit college is when my journaling began to take some shape and direction.  With the reading of the book Journaling, 2014 will be a bit more organized and useful in writing and reflection.  At the end of the book, Adam helps by instructing how to set up a journal.  To chronicle life and to reflect is a commitment to time and a discipline.  I love how the author has taken a favorite verse of his and it just happens to be one of my all-time favs as well, Jeremiah 6:16 and breaks it down for understanding and then puts it together again with the result being more knowledgeable and wise by The Way of Journaling, Chapter 7.  We take a journey through the verse of standing, looking, asking, walking and resting.  Now THIS blew me away, a quote in the book; M. Robert Mulholland, Jr rejects the idea that life along the Way can be reduced to formulas, mantras and techniques.  He cites Judah in the OT.  They made the mistake when they rejected the messy, unpredictable faith in the living God for the predictable and controllable worship of idols.  Predictable and controllable idols jumped out at me.  I have never thought of idols being that, but stopping and thinking about it even for a few minutes reveals the huge truth.  I pulled out my copy of No Other Gods by Kelly Minter and did a quick review on her take which is idols are false gods and functional gods.  A functional god is who or what operates as our god.  I get a charge out of reading Isaiah 44 because the same remaining block of wood that has kept the craftsman warm and roasted his bread, now becomes the piece he fashions and carves into an idol.  You read that and think, gee that guy is stupid but I began thinking of things and people I have fashioned into an idol out of the leftovers of life and I make the same stupid mistake as the craftsman in Isaiah.  The messy and unpredictable faith in the living God is the much better choice.  It should be my first choice. That means I have to give up my desire for the safe and proven walk and tune my heart to the rocking and rolling of the faith journey.  To be honest I guess my vision is tuned between two extremes between safety and frenzy.  In many churches on Sunday mornings or Saturday nights or Sunday nights…whenever a group gathers corporately to worship God, the timing of the service is mapped out to the minute.  No room for surprises and if anyone takes too long in announcements or music, something gets cut.  Funny, it’s not usually the sermon.  I kind of get tickled thinking about the church I attend.  A couple of years ago it was determined that the 9:30 service needed to be started at 9:15.  There was a little bit of grumbling amongst the 9:30 crowd but we were told it was for more parking spaces.  We are land locked and I wouldn’t be surprised if a parking garage is not built in the near future.  That didn’t make sense because of various factors.  Then the spin became so the Holy Spirit could move and by giving Him another 15 minutes something could happen.  Well, bring the Holy Spirit into the thing to spiritualize the whole reason for the time change; partly for staging to be reset for 11:00 service and crowd control…  The first Sunday there was a remarkable “demonstration” of what the Holy Spirit could do with that extra 15 minutes.  Funny, the Holy Spirit has never gotten that 15 minutes back since then because the time is filled with announcements, videos, music and preaching. The other extreme would be churches that are open to the Holy Spirit moving and taking over the service but many a time that reasoning is used when one has not properly prepared a sermon and from the pulpit comes this sentiment, you can’t put a clock on the Holy Ghost.  No, but sometimes it is a safe way to see how things go and then the unprepared preacher can go with the direction he sees in all the unrestrained exuberance. 

Well, I have totally gotten off my thought of messy and unpredictable.  Tennis used to be my idol and functional god.  I sacrificed to make it to the open championship level.  Weekends were totally different if I had a HLTA match on Monday.  I took extra lessons and worked with a personal trainer.  The desire to make it to the top overtook too much of life, but I couldn’t see that.  Now, when I read those journals from that time of life I can see how tennis was my false god.  Then the predictable and controllable set in once making it to the top.  I had to keep my tennis skills sharp to remain at the there.  It all became empty and boring and predictable.  It wasn’t fun.  It was politics not talent.  That’s what happens when something or someone becomes bigger than your love of God.  Tennis in itself was not bad, but what I made it personally was the bad of tennis. 

It doesn’t have to be bad things that become an idol.  One Christmas Eve we went to St Martin’s Episcopal Church, correction we didn’t just go once, and the pastor, priest, rector whatever guy is called, he talked about no room in the Inn for Mary and Joseph.  The Inn was full because of an occasion, taxing which wasn’t great, but the side benefits for the Inn being filled, people seeing families and spending time with one another.  SO many times there isn’t room in our heart for Jesus because it is filled with good things; family, friends, hobbies…and yes all those things if not kept in perspective can go the way of the predictable and the controllable and the functional false god (s). 

An Evening At Downton Abbey...I Mean at Second Baptist

Oh most blessed day of Friday.  No appointments, no errands, just a morning to ease into the day.  It has been quite some time since I have had this much time to myself and it is filling up the reservoir of time alone in me.  In a bit I will fix some eggs and reheat some of the Biltmore grits I fixed yesterday for CBS brunch and by then I will be on my second cup of coffee. 

I was out late on a school night because Laurie M and I went to Second Baptist for the Downton Abbey themed evening.  Who says the Lord is not in the details of our life?  She drove in from Cypress and I drove in from Katy and we parked right next to each other.  Everything was done so well last night!  We met in the Sanctuary which is the original worship center.  The front circular driveway had a car from that age with ladies and gentlemen in their fineries.  The steps up into the narthex or whatever they call the lobby, each church is different, was lined with footmen dressed in their formal black and white. 

The evening began with a welcome from "Lord Grantham" and beautiful door prizes perfectly themed for the night.  Lot of tea and biscuits and the like.  We were entertained with a selection from Puccini which made me think of what happened on Sunday night while listening to the selection.  Focus Nancy....on the beauty of the music.   The speaker, Pam Thompson was delightful and refreshing.  I believe she has a weekly Bible study on Tuesday morning at the Woodway Campus.  She spoke out of Colossians 3 about the joys of being an upstairs girl and contrasting why we don't ever want to revisit who we were before Christ came into our life.  I learned a lot and laughed a lot.  Her sense of humor drew you in.  After her talk, we were invited to go to the reception that had been prepared and we were to follow the lamp lighted path.  No it wasn't Bibles on fire...i.e. your Word is a lamp unto my feet... and we entered into the world of the early 20th century.  Very well done and as Laurie and I sat to the side noshing on cheese, fruit and crackers, waiters came by with delectable treats of lemon and fruit tarts and chocolate covered cherries.  We heard there were cream puffs, but we were more than satisfied with our desserts.  Laurie and I had a chance for a much needed catch up on life.  Now that we are connected with 99, it will be much easier to make our luncheon dates.  We saw several friends from First Baptist and we were most happy to see Lisa T because somehow Laurie and I got lost in the maze of Second and couldn't find our way to the west parking lot.  Lisa got us in the right direction.  I thought it would be so easy to find our way back because Roy and I were once members at Second.  Guess a lot of change has happened since we were members in the late 70's. 

 

  We made it safely to our cars but passing by the prayer garden there at Second brought back good memories.  My friend Mary Madeline and I went there many a night to pray and seek the Lord.  It was back when two or three girls felt safe to go at night  and talk to the Lord.  I earnestly beseeched the Lord there in that prayer garden.  The design and scenery has evolved through the years but I could still see that garden in my mind's eye when I first came to know Christ.  If we hadn't been on such a search for the parking lot, I would have stopped and taken a picture but now I am glad I didn't.  I did take a picture of the stained glass because, we were parked right there and because I love stained glass. 

 

Yesterday afternoon, after Bible study, brunch, Target and CVS, I returned home fatigued.  Fatigue for me is different than tired because fatigue tells me something is amiss or I have overdone.  I considered staying home but I took a little nap and felt refreshed and ready to head into town.  Even though traffic was horrible. 

 

After such a fine evening one would think that this morning I would be drinking my coffee out of my finest cup and saucer.  That I would be dressed for breakfast and considering my sched...ule for the day.  Guess the familiar saying is true, you can take the girl out of the prairie but you can't take the prairie out of the girl. 



Tuesday's Thoughts

Well, little did I know there is this little thing called an off and on switch on the little fireplace thingy that came yesterday.  Gee, who knew?  I even read the instructions before trying it out.  Oh yes, there is plenty of info on the settings and which knob to turn and the like but nothing is ever said about an on or off switch.  Granted, I think if I had put this on the island in the kitchen to get a closer look I would have seen it UNDERNEATH, like on the bottom of it.  Things on the floor + me looking at it from above because I can't get to floor level=no worky.  Roy got out a flashlight and found the switch and he is giving me 'what for' because we have reversed roles on this one.  It is a small little stove like thing but I like it.  The flickering light seems to be bigger than what one would think.  It was a lovely few minutes, because I had other things to take care of last night, of sitting there in my reading room, surrounded by books I love and the cat I love curled up upon my lap.  Pictures of people and places I love and with a stack of freshly acquired notebooks that I love.  And there stood the man I love, watching me dwell those few fleeting minutes in an atmosphere that restores my soul, laughing at me because I didn't look for an on and off switch.  Well, it can't be too ideal because that wouldn't be real life.  Besides, tucked inside me I know this, it won't be long until Roy has one of these moments....bah ha ha ha ha!  I'll be gracious, I know...well, maybe not too gracious. 

Yesterday, Dena and I saw a most unusual sight as I was taking her back to her home for roadside assistance, a woman jogging.  There are tons of joggers and walkers and bikers out here, so that is not an unusual sight but what made this particular jogger stand out was her running togs, her top tog barely covered her, uh...let's see....ah yes, her essentials.  Dena was the first to express her surprise of seeing this essentially endowed woman. Really, you couldn't miss her.  We both agreed she knew what she was doing when she decided to get half dressed that morning.  With my spiritual gift of depth I said, maybe she is just being like Rebekah who carried her jugs on her shoulders...studying Genesis has paid off spiritually and funnily. 

Roy has a conference that he attends every year and it happens to be in Washington DC.  The past few years he has gone up early to take in the sights.  I have never been able to go due to health concerns.  This would be the year...but no it's not.  He has made his conference hotel reservations at The Mayflower Hotel and we had hoped to get a room at the same hotel so as not to have to pack, unpack, pack, unpack and pack till we got home and unpacked.  The only rooms they had left were suites and the price wasn't bad but we would have to change rooms on Sunday.  Since it seemed to be more hassle than it's worth, Roy is still going to his conference but neither one of us will be going up early.  We are both pleased with the decision.   

I have lots of paperwork to fill out for upcoming appointments.  There seems to be a whole lot of laundry.  I can hardly concentrate on this or the others I have mentioned because I have two really good books going.  I cannot get enough of them. 

I began the new system of journaling I have been reading about.  The name of the book is Journaling, Catalyzing Spiritual Growth Through Reflection by Adam L. Feldman.  This book introduces the discipline of journaling and introduces a lifestyle of contemplative reflection through Biblical, anecdotal, and practical teaching.  It helps deepen community with the Lord, discover contentment in life and develop confidence in decision making.   The chapter on Season, the When of Journaling has my attention.    The author gives deep insight into how we live in our current season of life.  Do we let circumstances, people, and the like invite discontentment  that in various ways will suck the joy, peace, contentment, love and fruitfulness out of life and if not careful these life suckers will detrimentally affect your love for God and for others.  Now, you wouldn’t think the three things he named would really be the ‘trend’ terms that are thrown about.  The first life sucker is Entitlement, second life sucker, entitlement that turns into bitterness and the third life sucker, nostalgia. 

I am also reading Walking on Water by Madeleine L’Engle.   She is blowing me away!  I never read any of her books geared toward children and I hadn’t read anything else she has done.  I have been made a fan in one day.  Walking on Water is one of those types of books that first read through I am using a black marker and other read throughs will be in other colors because I believe this is a book I will come back  to many, many times.

January 13- A Lovely Day

The early morning with fog and overcast skies made my heart and mind retreat into smokey layered thoughts of Biltmore mornings.  I knew well enough, I was not in North Carolina, nor was my morning going to be spent reading in front of a grand fireplace.  I knew my breakfast would not be containing grits nor would anyone be refilling my cup of coffee, well except for me.  Monday mornings are not early ones for the most part.  I like to take Mondays to relax and take care of everything going into the new week.  There is homework to finish up, laundry, sometimes errands, but I try to keep Mondays free.  That’s not going to be likely in the next few months as there are periodic trips to the oral surgeon.  Today is one of those days.  I had almost taken too long reading and had to hasten a bit in my morning grooming.  I was working on my hair, which I wish I had known that the winds were blowing 20 mph because I wouldn’t have taken that much time with the hair, when the phone rang.  Dena never calls me at 7:45 am and as I walked toward the phone, I was praying.  In that split second of rehearsing all the scenarios that reasonably could be for the call, but her call was none of those I imagined.  Phew….  Her car wouldn’t start.  She knew I had a 9:00 appointment with the dentist, but could I drop her off at the office?  Not a problem….  I picked her up and she came to the car complete with purse, lunch, briefcase, phone, and garage door opener in hand.  For a minute she lost track of the opener but finally found it on the floor of the car.  We laughed because we had spent the majority of the day together on Sunday; church, lunch, Nord, The Fresh Market and back to our respective homes.  In my nonprofessional opinion, I believed she had battery problems.  I dropped her off at the office and made my way to the dentist office.  The parking garage at the dentist’s professional building is not a fav.  This is where my former cardiologist offices and I had spent a lot of my time circling in search of a precious parking space and trying to keep my pulse and heart rate down when going for heart related appointments.  Really, you cannot have a heart attack in that garage because the cars would be lined up outside and onto the street if you happened to block one of those lanes.  In order to keep good health, I have opted for early morning traffic on the freeway.  If I hadn’t went willy nilly in the parking garage…don’t ask…I would have been five minutes early for my appointment, but I skidded into the office at 9:00 am and was out of there by 9:04.  In no time I was at the Target across the street and giddy in finding two more of the journals that I love.  Dena found three of them in Baytown, so it was a five journal haul this weekend.  I stopped by her office on the way home and picked her up.  Roadside service would come start her car.  I stopped at Whole Foods and returned home.  I had done more than most Monday mornings.  My little fireplace came today but I can’t get it to work.  Maybe Roy can figure it out for me.  The Sugarboo stuff came from the Nord today.  I am in paper heaven. 

I’m reading several good books, I continue to love the study of Genesis in CBS, and I’m content.  I have a thoughtful and kind husband and I have the best friends.  Those who I don’t truly understand or those who genuinely kind of aggravate me are at a distance right now and the rest is oh so very welcomed.  This has been a good Monday and for this I am sincerely grateful.   

Checking In and Completing My Word Count

The sky is a nice grayish, pinkish color tonight.  It was an absolutely beautiful day.  Warm temps and sunshine.  Where else but Texas; last week freezing and today people dining al fresco at the restaurants.  I was able to sleep in a tad and ease into Saturday.  Roy had Bible study and then errands.  He even made a stop at HEB to pick up a few things.  We made lunch at home and afterwards we went to Office Max to make some copies and buy a few items because we had the 20% off bag that expires today.  I was able to look into several notebooks that I thought might be as good as the ones I love at Target, but the paper isn't as think and the lines are not as thin.  Love a thin line journal.  Roy had planned to ride his Trek but even with warm temps, the wind was too powerful.  So he went with plan B, go to Lifetime.  I worked on Genesis homework.  We are working on Chapter 24 and so many new things jumped out at me.  I know I say it all the time, but this has been the best study.  Since it is such a splendid day to be out and about, I went to downtown Katy to have a look around the KT Antique Mall.  Found a couple of interesting books.  Then made a quick stop at Mimosa Rose and found several items marked down so I got out of there only spending $20.00. 

We just finished up our delicious dinner of sloppy Joes.  Now, we are trying to get things back in order and finish up the little things we started working on this morning.  It has been a good day.  Texting with the girls and Nancy, shopping, getting things done around here, like...finally taking the red tablecloth off the table.  Guess I could have left it on for Valentine's.  I will probably put out Valentine related decorations toward the end of this next week. 

I worked on my 500 words earlier today and this blog post should put me over my goal.  Some days I do blogging for the 500 and other days I journal.  I am leaning toward journaling more because of two very good books I have been reading.  Seems these days if we are going to do anything it should be done with purpose or passion or something.  I'd like to think that some of the silent times are in preparation for purpose times.  I have once again changed my One Word.  After this past week and with a few fatigue times thrown in, which I have not had many of, but persevere might be my final choice or as Beth Moore says it Persa-dang-vere!  I'm leaning toward the Beth Moore version of the word. 

We did make it to Luby's yesterday.  It is so nice to have them in the neighborhood.  I have missed being able to just get veggies for dinner. 

Ode to the Winter Pedicure

Ode to the winter pedicure; need you, will be happy to have fresh polish and soft feet but oh winter pedicure, what to wear?  Fortunately, it is a warmer type day out here on the prairie, so I can wear flip flops and a pair of boot cut jeans that will easily roll up over my knees. I don’t get too many off season pedicures but I have let these feet go too long without one.  I would take the time this fall to have an appointment scheduled but a change in schedule or an unexpected happening transpired and the appointment was cancelled.  I had even thought of getting a pedi at the Biltmore Spa but once I sunk into those comfortable couches in front of the fireplace and cozy chairs by the window, the thought of a pedicure went right out of my mind.  Somewhere in the back of my mind I also think I just wasn’t willing to be fastidious in leg shaving.  Today is the beginning of the next few weeks of reckoning with dentists and doctors and now nail technician.  I will be embarrassed that Lisa will have to work so hard on my nails but keeping lotion on my feet has been a constant for me this winter.  There won’t be a mini snowstorm of dead skin when she uses the paddle on my heels and the bottom of my feet.  As I crawled into bed last night, actually I kind of Fosberry Flop into bed at night because our bed is rather high, I thought of what color I might like to get.   Of late I have favored the turquoise and blue shades but maybe it is time to shake these nails up. 

On Wednesday evening we had pot roast that cooked in the crock pot all day.  It was delicious and combing two recipes on the internet helped me perfect a flavorful roast.  I added in the carrots a little later than usual, so they were not soft and pliable like usual.  This is a great experience for the person who is mashing up food; everything is looking like baby food, to eat.  Last night, leftovers, so I took the gravy and carrots and heated them on the stove, which made the carrots much easier to eat. 

It was disappointing to learn that the warm house retro floor standing electric fireplace delivery has been delayed.  It’s not really a fireplace but looks more like an old black stove for the reading room.  Bear with me; it’s going to be cute.  The delay is due to polar vortex of last week.  Now that it is summer here in Rancho De Five…I hope to get some use of it.  This purchase is more for atmosphere than heating.  It’s hard to have that reading nook feeling when Roy has Castle or sports on the TV in the family room. 

I did not shake things up with color this morning.  I was immediately drawn to turquoise.  There is good people watching at nail salons.  You have people like me who want minimal conversation and I have a book or magazine in hand.  There are others who desperately need an audience and if one gives eye contact, you will be ensconced in their spider web of gab for the duration of your treatment.  I watched from a distance as a poorly placed young woman fought valiantly to regain her cone of silence.  She did not regain it.  The lady next to me was a whiner.  After getting a mani/pedi she told the tech who had worked on her feet, here is $5.00, you and the other girl split it.  Well Happy New Year and La Te Da!  That is a pet peeve, women who under tip at the nail salon.  It ain’t right.  The nail salon I go to doesn’t rush you in and out and when they are working on your hands or feet you are the focus, not other ladies coming in the door. 

My next task on the list is to clean out my desk, so I better head that way.  This is how exciting things are for Roy and me; we are going to the new Luby’s that opened yesterday.  When he gets home, we are heading over that way.  Yes, life in the fast lane is way too exciting and for that cause I will not continue this post because the waves of jealousy coming from my readers are palatable

Sugarboo, CBS and Cynthia Clawson

While casually scrolling through the Nordstrom website, I saw something that brought me great joy.  September, while in Blowing Rock NC at a little store that I have fallen in love with, I was formally introduced to Sugarboo Designs.  Actually in May Dena had bought me one of their writing tablets, but I didn't know it was Sugarboo until later.  Sugarboo has all kinds of designs but I love their paper products.  An email to the company let me know they had a retail site that I could order from since stores around here didn't carry their products.  Amazon carries their art and signs but not paper products.  So, while on the Nordstrom site I saw Sugarboo Designs.....paper products!  Since I had several Nord Notes to use, I ordered up a couple of their products and they should be here the first of next week.  Happy am I!.

CBS began again today.  I have missed my friends over the break.  Since I am still recovering from dental surgery and was not there Tuesday, our teaching director led our core group.  We had a lively discussion, with good points and well thought out questions.  We are wrapping up our study of Abraham and getting ready to keep on moving through Genesis.  If you have a CBS study near you or not too near you, I urge you to go.  Hint, hint, Geni.  We have such a fun group and we are going to do another theme brunch for next week, breakfast food.  I am making Biltmore grits and maybe, just maybe Peggy will make her delicious pancakes like she did for the welcome to the ranch breakfast for Dena, Dana and Emily.  That would be delish. 

I'm reading a good book on journaling.  The insights are new and refreshing and this book has a spiritual bent to it, so the subject is presented in the reflective style of spiritual formation.  There are examples of taking your journaling to a new level and I like that.  Since I am participating in the 500 Words a Day in January, this book helps tackle a subject I am very familiar with and have too many unused journals, for those just in case times, to prove it.  This is when I wish I had the artistic bent to really liven up the presentation and they say you should go with your strengths, so stick people it is. 

I find myself thinking about Vicky, Catha and Crista several times daily.  When they come to mind, they are lifted in prayer.  Louie's service was well thought out and planned, God honoring.  Those who have been close to him and have walked in life with him were there on the stage honoring Louie and his legacy, Beth Moore, Curtis Jones, Bill Heston, Steve Seelig, Micah Dene and Cynthia Clawson.  As Bill Heston put it, a bunch of First Baptist has-beens.  The words were just right, the laughter just right, the tears, just right.  Cynthia Clawson can take a hymn that almost across all denominations is familiar with, Softly and Tenderly and make it dance. Not a upbeat dance, but a dance done privately when we sing to the King.  She sang it accapella, she did all her hand gestures that makes it uniquely Cynthia but mostly, the song was alive.  She didn't sing it like she was leading others in worship, she didn't sing it like this is a song she has sung a thousand times, she didn't explain to us what the song was saying and for this I thank you Cynthia, she sang it as an offering to the Lord and as a comfort for the family and the rest of us were drawn in.  Then when the song was over, she simply walked away.  No head nodding, no fist pumping...just a simple song with words so powerful, many have come to Christ walking to the resonance of those notes and words.

I wish I could find a version without accompaniment.  Beautiful hymn sung for a beautiful servant and life, Louie Duck.  (this version is from You Tube)

Stop, Rinse and Spit

On Monday I heard all kinds of instructions from the nurse at the oral surgeons.  All those instructions came after the procedure and after being knocked out with propofal.  Funny, I came to singing Thriller.  So much of what she said sounded like Charlie Brown’s teacher, wah, wah, wah, wah.  I’m so glad Roy was there and heard all the instructions with his orderly mind.  I do remember two instructions, don’t use a straw today and don’t spit.  As someone who rarely spits except in the case of brushing my teeth, all of the sudden I had this great desire to spit.  Guys spit all the time but girls rarely do.  I thought this instruction was unnecessary.  Remember boys and girls back in the day when you had to rinse and spit in the little white porcelain bowl next to you at the dentist office.  I hated having to spit cause then your strings of saliva would kind of hang onto your chin and lips.  So thankful for the little vacuum thing they use these days. 

This has not been my fastest recovery.  My mouth hurts and it really hurts to talk.  Please, no comments about that.  Having both sides of my mouth worked on feels odd and mainly it is the dental work in the front of my mouth that hurts the most.  I remember I came to just a little while he was working on it and they quickly put me back under.  That’s good because I couldn’t feel anything but I heard the sound.  I didn’t like it.  Give me the sound of silence. 

The whole dental surgery thing was so unexpected.  I knew I needed to schedule an appointment to have a checkup because I had finally been cleared to get this done in October.  But the past few months of the year felt particularly busy and so my thoughts turned toward the New Year of taking care of things, only to have a tooth fracture on Sunday afternoon.  The tooth shattered as well as my plans to leisurely get these things taken care of. The tooth never hurt, never had any pain or any clue, it just went pop.   Now as I recover I am making all the appointments I need to be making for checkups, physical and dental.  I have been so focused and rightly so with heart issues and heart events.  I had to let other areas slide because at one point my risk of stroke was highly elevated.  I’ve been blowing and going for all the right things but in the midst of that entire heart journey, I forgot to stop at warning lights, red lights and stop signs.  It almost felt as if I had carte blanch to disregard signs and unwisely thought I had a ‘siren’ and authority to blow through everything else.  Uh, no, I don’t. 

Last week while sitting at a stop sign, we all who had come to the intersection together, were frightened by a driver who boldly blew through the stop sign.  It looked like she knew what she was doing and confident in all of us having a slow start through the intersection.  She could beat us.  Roy and I were talking about this later and he said something to the effect that so many times that is how we go through our days, ignoring the stopping points or even just slowing down.  We just blow through them expecting slowness on the start and our remiss or errors finally catching up with us.  Sometimes I find myself thinking; oh I’ve done the heart problem thing, like it was mumps or chicken pox or measles.  It doesn’t work that way, yet I am blowing and going.  Spiritual lessons or applications…yea, I’ve been through that before, not going to come around again.  Uh…no, it doesn’t work that way.  Even thinking that once I get through a certain time or a difficult reality, that I’ll have time then to stop, rest and reflect.  Lies, all lies…because something else draws our attention. 

This has been a welcomed day.  The first in many days of totally having all day to myself and I’ve stopped to listen in the silence from the One who knows my name and days.  Even in the beauty of nature at Biltmore, the concerns of the day kept me from hearing and knowing from the One, the Lord.  Arriving home to details and involvements kept me from the long visit of silence and prayer and thinking and creating and dreaming.  It is good to have a day.  I need more of them. 

I would also like to report, I didn’t feel the urge or the compulsion to spit one time today. 

Happy Birthday Marty!

I can remember junior high school, some of it good, some of it bad and some of it not even remember worthy.  Still to this day I can sing the school song, but I have no idea why I can remember it. I like many, when asked would you like to ever relive junior high school , answer back with a resounding NO!  I wanted to be popular, but I wasn’t.  I wanted to be rebellious but not wild.  My mom made me wear longer skirts and socks with my shoes.  I wanted to wear miniskirts and fishnets, but I rolled my skirt up and took off my socks on the way to school and reversed the process on the way home.  My friend Leah and I were supposed to walk the long way to school and cross over the footbridge but many a morning we had taken too long with the previously mentioned clothes adjustment to be oh so cool and ended up having to cut across the football field.  Doing that ruined oh so many pairs of shoes because of that pesky morning dew.  Junior High was PE wearing one piece gym suits.  It was lunch with aluminum wrapped Hi-C drinks that had been packed frozen for a refreshing beverage at lunch instead of buying lukewarm milk in the cafeteria.  One of the best things though about junior high school was meeting Marty Z.  We were in the same history class and I remember her Amelia Earhart oral report, not for the dynamic presentation but for the fact she dropped her notecards in the trash can while giving her report. 

We went to the same high school, she was a Rebelette which back in the day would have been the dance squad but schools back then had drum and bugle corps…oh Rebelettes also played fifes.  I played volleyball.  Our lives didn’t intersect again until our junior year.  In January 1971 I asked Christ into my life at a James Robinson revival.  At the time he was known as God’s angry young man.  My friend Beth who was so instrumental in me coming to a saving knowledge of the Lord was a good friend of Marty.  And Marty became my good friend as well.  Both Beth and Marty helped me in early discipleship and growth in the Lord.  I was in Marty’s Action Group, which was the relevant term back then for Bible study.  See, trendy terms have always been around.  My New Testament was called Blueprint for Revolution.  It was the 70’s man!  J  One day today’s relevant will be charming memories.  That’s the way life is supposed to happen.  Through the years Marty and I have remained friends, picking up where we left off the last time we saw each other.  We have been doing that for over forty years.  Some of my favorite memories are the days I would go to Boerne and spend a couple of days with her and Bobby and the girls, Tricia and Megan.  Tricia always called me by my full name, Nancy Monarch and Megan made me a friendship bracelet, which I still have packed deep within our storage unit.  As you can tell, we have walked through a lot of life together, together but in different cities most of the time. 

Today is my friend’s birthday.  Happy Birthday Marty!  She’s a blessing and a joy.  She’s compassionate and a good listener.  She knows the Word but more importantly walks it out in daily living.  And something new that I learned about her yesterday, she carries both blue and green gum for her grandsons.  Now that is love! 

Well Done

It is January 5^th and I have been waiting for this day for quite some time.  It is the start over here across the pond of Downton Abbey.  I was watching the special preceding the first episode of season four but since I am recording it and since I need to write 500 words today, I decided to come blog.  Granted, this isn’t going to be much of a post because of several unexpected happenings this afternoon that I am not quite ready to write about.  Nothing earth shattering and this isn’t some blog secret thing that people will do to get people more interested in their blog.  It is a disappointment but not an unexpected disappointment.  I kind of knew in the back of my mind this would come about in a matter of time.  Side effect of five years of heart issues, but I will go face the music and report in later this week. 

We went to church this morning and didn’t do our regular LBS, late breakfast stop, but went to The Fresh Market to pick up a few things and then headed back out to the prairie.  We have some friends who are out of town and we went over to weather proof the pipes and turn up the heater in their home in preparation of these next two nights of cold weather.  Then we stopped and picked up some lunch and headed home.  Roy finished up with our pipes and bringing in some plants. When he went to Katy Hardware yesterday, he picked up the last outdoor faucet covers they had, although we already had some. Way to follow that inner voice because we used those three covers at our friend’s house today.  I ran a couple of errands and returned home to a long nap on the couch. 

I am still in shock over the passing of Louie D.  I have thought of Vicky and the girls so many times since Friday and each time I go in prayer to lift them to the Father.  I have known Louie and Vicky since I was in high school.  Vicky’s sister and I were friends, well we still are, but back in high school.  We were in high school but they were in college.  I have loved their whole family for a whole long time.  Louie was one of the kindest men.  He was pretty dang funny too.  Our first time we visited Bayou City Fellowship, he was out there in the parking lot greeting people and offering them rides up closer to the chapel.  He loved his family, well.  Very well.  I cannot even imagine the heartbreak of the family of losing someone that loved them so well and so unconditionally and then losing him so unexpectedly.  .  Once again we are reminded to cherish those we love.  Speak kind words.  Love one another.  Help one another.  Encourage one another.  Laugh with one another.  I don’t understand why someone like Louie has to go too quickly and too soon from us, more so from his family.  Well done though good and faithful servant. 

A Laid Back Saturday on a Sunday Morning

Time to get in gear again, CBS begins next week.  I worked on homework last night and re-entered Abraham’s world and right into his grief of the death of Sarah.  Even in his obvious mourning he is able to negotiate with the Hittites for a burial cave for his beautiful sister wife, really half-sister wife.  This purchased plot of land is Abraham declaring his trust in God’s promise of the land.  He didn’t take Sarah back to their place of origin.  In the coming years this place held the bones of Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob and Leah.

Roy has gone to Bible study and is at the gym right now.  Then he is going to Katy Hardware to get more stuff to wrap pipes and get a little advice.   It is giving me another chance at easing into the day on this beautiful Saturday morning.  I’m excited for more cold temps this coming week.  Roy not so excited as he rewraps pipes and makes sure everything is ok. 

It feels like football overload this week, but we are trying to savor every last moment because it is a long time till August.  I need to take the LSU sign out of the front yard and put it up until the fall and college football return.  Roy is beyond thrilled that Alabama lost.  He is also happy about Ohio State too, but not as much as Alabama.  

Yesterday was beauty beautician day for Roy and me, but not at the same time.  Bonus, I got to visit with Susan Kirby who was at Emmanuel too.  Then HE had a pedi appointment.  I need to go but I’m not quite ready to break the Nazarite vow.   Guess I will this week because I have an appointment coming up.  We also tried Ling’s, a Chinese takeout place.  Liked it, but I wasn’t too wild about the moo gu guy pan but everything else was good.  Roy had been waiting for this other new Chinese restaurant to open by us but when he went in to pick up a menu, he could not get over the strong smell of cabbage and that the prices are rather high.  Things are looking good for the new Luby’s to open soon.  Yes, we have gotten old when one is excited about the possibility of having a Lu Ann Platter a little more often and with our senior discount. 

The only thing missing in my reading room is a fireplace.  I have tried to imagine where I could move furniture in order to make this happen by getting an electric fireplace.  I finally gave up but this morning I saw a electric faux wood burning stove and the dimensions are perfect and it was marked down 50%!  It will be here Thursday.  I have been moving things around today to make space for it.  Too bad it won’t be here for the cold, cold weather on Monday and Tuesday.  Since I can chose whether to use the heat or flame, I can use it year round, on those days when it is overcast and rainy and hot, kind of in the bleak midsummer.  . 

Happy Birthday Gertrude...Peggy....My TFBFF

 

 

Think about all the opportunities and adventures that have come your way simply by saying yes.  Going to a progressive dinner and then a youth group production of the famous 70’s church musicals, introduced me to Jesus.  Not so much the musical but the people I was with had something in their life that I desperately wanted too and thought I had.  Saying yes to that also gave me lifelong friends that I treasure.  I said yes to a date with Roy when I really had other plans started the greatest love story of my life.  I am a child of the 70’s and Love Story was a huge hit back in the day.  Fortunately, I didn’t have to die or become preppy, have a clichéd over used saying or go to an Ivy League school to meet my love.  Saying yes to a lunch invite after church, that I would only commit to dessert because I thought it would be a waste of time, introduced me to one of my best and closest friends.  But today I am writing about saying yes when asked if I could go to Camp Houston as a sponsor for 11^th grade girls.  By saying yes, I met my partner in crime, myTF (I’ll explain later) and running buddy.  Although, there has been very little running over the years.  Does running to the bathroom because you think you are going to wet your pants count?  Because we have made those type of runs many times during the years of our friendship. . 

I remember hearing about the fun Peggy B from friends who were sponsors at Camp Houston several years before I actually met her.  When I joined choir, repeatedly I was told, I needed to meet Peggy B and that we would be instant friends.  I’m sorry but telling someone that comes with a lot of pressure.  Peggy was recovering from knee surgery, so it was a while before I made her acquaintance.  I finally met her at a Camp meeting when she came up to me and said, “Heard you’re funny.”  I calmly responded, “Can be.”   She then asked me to rewrite the words to a song for Clean Cabin Girls.  Yea, that’s me, calm on the outside but jumping up and down on the inside. On my way home I called Roy from my…car phone…and excitedly told him about rewriting the song and meeting Peggy, finally.  In those weeks before going to Leaky, Texas for camp, at camp and then at middle school camp, those who had told me that I needed to meet Peggy were surprisingly right.  We were instant friends and couldn’t believe our good fortune of friendship, so we called ourselves ‘temporary friends’ or TF for short, you know just in case….She celebrated my birthday at middle school camp by smashing a Twinkie on my knee because she said she hadn’t known me long enough to give me a real gift. 

 

Peggy makes everything fun.  Like taking a howling hairless cat named Bob to the Dallas area for a friend.  I got to ride along in that adventure.  Or an ordinary trip to the HEB turns into a laugh fest.  Any day that we get together is fun.  We can amuse ourselves with so little.  If you have ever been on a trip with Peggy, you know you’re going to see life a little differently because she is there.   In the summer Peggy runs a camp/bed and breakfast/fun house.  It all starts up in May and comes to an end mid-September.  She will pull you on the Jet Ski until dusk turns to night.  Then she’ll rustle up a milkshake for you afterwards.  I’m relieved that she remembers my name but she mostly calls me Millie so that she can remember that she is Gertrude.  I think it confuses the housekeeper she and I both use.  Many a time we run into people she knows and later she’ll say, I would have introduced you but I don’t remember their name.  We’ve been disruptive in choir and Sunday School, although we are well behaved in CBS.  We used to make Marge Caldwell laugh as we made faces at her from the choir loft.  Peggy can walk into a room and take it over, not even saying a word.  Over the years we have done quite a few M&G but we never want to practice our lines out loud.  Eventually, we do but all the ways we procrastinate opens us up for more laughter.  At Tallowood, right before we went on the stage, I knew there was a God.  I think I will chose not to tell that story.  Every day when you are with Peggy is a party.  The more the merrier. 

                                                                                                                           A rare sight, Peg in Kitchen

I get to see another side of Peggy and that is a wonderful benefit of friendship.  She is one of the most generous people you will ever know but she gives in a non-flashy, doesn’t need to be recognized kind of way.  Peggy is wildly compassionate, no really!  I have heard stories of how she has visited friends late at night in the hospital.  She visits with you when you’re sick.  She takes in friends for the holidays, all major and minor ones, holidays that is, not major or minor friends.  There are only a few people who offer their house for events and parties often and Peggy is one of them.  I love that she prays for you but doesn’t tell you in some slick, holy voice kind of way.  Sometimes one is prone to think that someone like Peggy doesn’t get sad or down or doesn’t understand certain issues and events in life, but she has and she has walked through those times bravely and honestly depending on the Lord. 

Her children and grandchildren rise up early or late morning early and call her blessed, Mops.  I call her Peglitta and Gerti.  Best of all, I get to call her my friend.  My TFBFF.  Not too often, but every once in a while I think about what my life would have been like if we had never met, if I had never said yes to camp.  My life would not have been as fun or as rich.

Reservations are now being taken at Camp Bain for summer of 2020

 

 Happy Birthday Peggy!  I love you!  I’m so glad we are friends and so joyful that we are neighbors.  Let’s go wrap a house. 

Trees of the Field With No Hands to Clap

Roy downloaded his pictures last night to keep him from getting too involved in the Baylor game.  In hindsight, that was a good decision.  I loved looking through all the pictures he had taken and deleted several that I did not find too attractive.  On our trip I had asked him to take pictures of the dormant trees.  He kept calling them dead trees but they aren’t dead, they are in their winter display.  This bare bones pageant of the trees draws me in, almost into a hypnotic gaze as I study their structure and limbs.  Don’t get me wrong, I love me some trees in the spring, summer and fall but in winter they await their new growth naked and exposed to all who take the time to notice.  The trees in their full fall foliage beauty is what the people come to see every year, but a tree standing bravely in the cold is beautiful with the backdrop of the sky to highlight and adorn those limbs with beauty is a celebration in itself.  The soft gray of sleep dominates the mountainsides and looks like a dusting of snow.  In the midst of this gray palette are the few greens of pine trees and the spotty shadings of red.  It is a sight to behold.  Many think of winter as a time of death and I guess I would have to admit they are correct.  Some people use the word winter to describe their lives or the season they find themselves in.  To them, winter is a negative connotation and truly, I understand that.  I know at some point and I don’t remember any defining moment, but at some point, my attitude toward winter changed.  It is probably the most real of all the seasons.  When there are no leaves on the trees, the illusion of being in the middle of the country is lost at Biltmore.  Looking across the river at the entrance of the estate you can see the railroad tracks and loading station.  The distant lights of Asheville can be seen from the Inn.   You can see all the homes that are scattered across the acreage that house essential personnel to the running the estate 24/7.  This doesn’t diminish the illusion but it speaks that those things essential to living are near-by.  The leaves of spring and summer hide those things.  It is easy to be a tree in spring, summer and fall.  All it has to do is stand, keeping deeply rooted.  In the winter the tree stands against the cold, bitter wind.  Every knot hole, damage to its bark and the slight and insignificant stems visible, exposed and that is when the unmasked architecture reveals what is behind the splendor and magnificence of a tree.   

Roy teased me all week about my attraction to the trees.  He was relentless but I was just as relentless sharing my observations and thoughts of the winter trees in the mountains.  The compensation of winter tree observation has transferred over into other matters in finding fascination in the dormant areas of life and even people.  So many treasures have been found in lackluster surroundings.  Often we read of people discovering coins, jewelry, rare books, and other prized possessions under a layer of ordinary.  At first glance only the dated and ugly might be obvious, but with a little investigation and time, something wonderful can be discovered and appreciated. 

We are drawn to the flashy and beautiful.  We can be taken in with spiritual sounding words, tones, touch and looks.  The easy clichés and the practiced stance and looks, transfix and hold until the ‘leaves’ collapse and the true manner is exposed.  That is when we find out the wonder of the tree or the person.  We are captivated by those who stand and exist in the public arenas that are vulnerable and authentic in their message.  They let you see a little bit of their lives as an unleafed tree.   They would be foolish to totally unleaf.  JWe are interested and amused for a while by those whose leaves never fall or change.  Truly they, are but for a season and may even remind us of all the silk and fake finery that can be found in any big box decorative store.  The price is right and looks good at first, but then they are nothing but a dust magnet. 

500 Words

Yesterday, I wrote about my one word for last year and finding my new word for 2014.  This morning while having coffee and perusing Twitter and Face Book, I came across Jeff Goin’s challenge of writing 500 words a day for the month of January.  To make us accountable, he urged us to register our blogs and join the 500 Word Facebook page.  I rarely if ever join and participate in these kinds of things but this morning, maybe because of the newness of the day, I signed up.  Truthfully, many mornings I sit here and write, sometimes for the blog but mostly for me.  I love writing, the process, the thought process.  My weakness shows once something that I love to do becomes a requirement or a discipline.  But it is a new day and a new year.  This is much more do-able than the NAMO challenge in November.  The thought of that is totally overwhelming and it stills the creative juices.  So here I go, into January 2014. 

We spent last evening at the Bain Compound enjoying dinner, football and friendship.  OK, most of us did not enjoy the football, well, we enjoyed the first half.  Not huge Aggie fans in the bunch gathered but it was more of; please don’t let Johnny Football do too well so the Texans will draft him.  Roy and I enjoyed spectacular firework displays on our short trip home.  Once we arrived, our neighbors put on an impressive show, almost as good as a professional one.  It seems like eons since we have actually stayed up to welcome the New Year, but we did so last night.  I finally had to call it a night or morning and now realize I can sleep through incoming fire, make that incoming firework.  We slept in.  I eased into the morning but Roy went to gym to work out. 

It is our tradition to go to the bookstore on New Year’s Day and we continued that tradition today.  Roy mainly looked in the discounted book section and I hoped the new journaling magazines would be out.  We both found a few things.  We opted for Los Cucos for lunch and returned home.  Yea, we live that full and crazy life.  We did have to make a return trip to the storage unit.  Yesterday, we got all the Christmas décor taken down and put away.  We took everything to our unit just like most of Rancho De Five.  Of course, even with multiple checks and rechecks, something Christmas is always left behind.  Today was no exception.  I think we can now say our home is free of any Christmas decorations.  Now, I contemplate whether to pull out Valentine’s stuff or do with a bleak mid-winter theme of January. 

Life goes back to a normal routine tomorrow.  Roy has opted to go into the office.  No more late nights or late mornings for him at least for a while.  Chris comes tomorrow afternoon, so I will get out and about stocking up on everyday things and camping out at the library to work on homework. 

The excitement of the LSU win today in the Outback Bowl will make the time between now and August when college football begins again, to be filled with hope for another successful season. 

I’m over 500 words for the day but I look forward to the challenge and topics that I will write about. 

Happy New Year!  Happy 2014!

2013 The Year of Proceed

PROCEED

Instead of doing New Year's Resolutions I have been doing the One Word thing.  It cuts out a lot of the clutter and discouragement that resolutions bring in about, oh I don't know, February.  The word I picked for 2013, Proceed.  I did the work and whittled down my choice to proceed and progress and as you now know, proceed won.  It was a good word that really describes the year.  I proceeded from maintaining the status quo with my heart to actually feeling good and more energetic after the ablation in March.  Then on August 31 I had a monitor put inside my chest that reads the beats and relays them to the doctor office.  Once I proceeded in this area, I proceeded to the Orthopedic and began the injections and meds regimen to bring relief from constant knee pain.  

Spiritually, I proceeded in abiding in the Word and making it my constant source for life.  Facilitating a group in Community Bible Study has brought such joy and discipline.  Being able to do things in my spiritual giftings combined with natural talent given by God has brought much contentment and purpose to me in this year.  Asked to speak and teach, to laugh and write by other strong and confident women has been so encouraging but along with the encouragement are the challenges given to make me strive in knowing Him. 

Relationally, I have proceeded to keep away from the presence of those who I will never ever be able to please or those who have to be paid by undying allegiance to receive any type of blessing or favor.  We all have toxic people in our lives and these toxic people may not be toxic to others or maybe we have found ourselves in the role of toxic person number one.  Graciously, the freedom from these toxic, insecure people and being able to proceed in life has been welcoming, healing, freeing and relieving. 

2013 found me proceeding into more reading and creativity of expressing thoughts and ideas. 

This year held in it various trips and travels.  The year began in Israel and the year will end in Rancho De Five.  And that is good.  I was able to visit Biltmore three times this year, I've never done that before.  Conferences and training came too in these days of trips and travels.  There are those relaxing drives to Brenham to see a good friend, Mimi. 

2013 was a year of reunions and finding friends from long ago and going on like years of time had not gone by.  It was a year of making new friends and becoming friends with those so opposite of me.  The year has blessed me with three good friends moving out to the Rancho De Five area, Emily, Dena and Dana.  And of course my partner in crime being so close by is a blast. 

Roy and I proceeded to make several major decisions this year.  We spent a lot more time together and aren't mad that we did.  :)  We proceeded to love and honor one another and want the best for each other in 2013 and beyond.  We proceed to make plans for the years ahead after Roy joins me in retirement. 

2013 brought many opportunities to proceed in thanksgiving and gratefulness.  Gratitude and generosity. 

I know many who are so thankful to have this year be finally over.  This year has held more than enough hurt, misunderstandings, lost opportunities, loss and pain for many but 2013 will always hold a special place in my memory of days gone by.  2013 and the word for the year, proceed, brought me much contentment.  I think this year has been one of the most contended years of my life.  And for this I am thankful, for this I am blessed. 

On our trip, I had a lot of time to think and pray for the One Word for 2014.  The One Word came to me out of the blue, it wasn't even in the top five.  When I saw the word in an article, it jumped out at me.  I researched all the meanings and the forward direction and look it possessed.  I'll reveal it later this week and no, the word is not Nordstrom.