Stories and other stuff

Dearest readers, So much is happening in my life right now that just isn't for sharing.  I'm still here, still well.  There's just not a lot that I have to talk about. I can say that God is at work and I praise and thank Him for what He has done to bring me to the point in my life where I am, and where I am now is just being quiet and thankful.  If the Christmas tree kicks my butt when I put it up on Saturday, I'll have a good story to tell.  Other than that, maybe just take some time to look at some past posts.  There's some really not so bad stuff in the archives. Coop

I had some fun today.  I put away the regular dust collecting china so the Christmas dust collecting china can have a chance to be seen.  The lights are officially "on"... well they're off by now, but they were on.  I have a few bulbs to change.  Hey, it happens. At least all the lights on the wreaths on the windows work.  I have two more to put up.  They're bigger and rest around the garage door lights.  I even broke out some of the Christmas records and listened to a tape of Fibber McGee & Molly  featuring The Great Gildersleeve .  It was fun.  I like old stuff like that.  The programs were very entertaining and had to be because they were painting pictures with words and sounds,  instead of colors and images. While taking things out, I found a treasure I didn't even know I had.  I found two Christmas records.  They're part of a collection I think Wendi bought at a thrift store.  They're not glass recor...

OK, it's time to turn on the Christmas lights.  First though, I gotta take down the pumpkins and put away all the fall stuff.  That shouldn't take too long.  Then it's time to haul the boxes of Christmas decorations up from the basement and get started on that.  It usually takes about two days to deck out the joint for Christmas. Miss June asked for a real tree this year.  Sounds good to me!  We gave up on them a few years ago because the pine aggravated Simba's (RIP Ba) asthma.  Last year, I think we were just happy to have the fake trees.  Nobody was really in the mood for celebrating Christmas last year.  A year later, and things are a little different. I kind of decided this year that I'm going to enjoy the holidays.  I'm getting lots of advice these days and I'm prayerfully considering what to do.  It's that fear of God that's keeping me from doing anything, though.  Like I said, I'm waayy past the point of fighting wi...

Today is a day for Thanksgiving.  We celebrate with football, an elaborate meal (you ought to see what's happening in the kitchen right now!), and times with family and maybe friends, too.  In some homes, there will be the traditional arguments over politics, or even over things that have strained relationships.  In other homes, there will be family football games, love, joy, and time together.  Either way, it's a day where memories are usually made. I said in the title this is about thankfulness, not Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving is a day set aside for thanking God for the bountiful harvest, and everything in our lives.  Thankfulness is when we do that each and every day, despite the circumstances. I have a litany of things to be grateful for.  Each is a blessing.  But so are the challenges in my life.  I've learned thankfulness.  I've learned to live with a contrite heart and to find blessings in the worst of circumstances.  It'...

I don't spend a ton of time in the kitchen anymore and it kind of shows.  June and I spent a few minutes today finding things that we don't frequently use.  Sometimes it's hard to remember where you put something you only use once a year. I had to run downtown this morning to the kitchen store.  I only had one pie protector ring.  I'm baking two pies.  These things work great.  You make your pie then put the protector ring over the edge and the crust doesn't burn. I love playing with my gadgets, as I've said before and today gives me a good chance to do that.  A food processor makes quick work of onions, celery, carrots, and apples.  All of which are simmering now in a crock pot with two packages of frozen squash and some chicken stock.  I couldn't find the recipe for squash soup I wanted, but I did find this one instead.  I'm making this today so it can sit overnight and get lots of flavor.  It's the first course at the feast t...

You ever do that?  Decide that you know best and go your own way instead of follow that little voice inside you that's kind of telling you you're making some really bad choices?  I know I have.  Today's blog is going to be about that, and I'm going to tell a little story about Jonah from the Bible to make my point. Jonah is a pretty well-known character.  He ran from God's will and wound up in the belly of a big fish for three days to think things over.  Last Saturday, in my Our Daily Bread devotional book, there was a devotional about God shaking things up so we could get rid of the unproductive things in our lives instead of stubbornly hanging on to them and the accompanying verse is from Jonah, Chapter 1. I had to wonder to myself if there wasn't something I was stubbornly holding on to. I really took a look at this and through the weekend, even into last evening, I don't think I am.  I've had my opportunities to walk it alone, to go down my own p...

I actually found my car keys this morning so I was able to go to Sunday school this morning.  I'm glad I did.  Today's blog isn't about what the lesson was, although it very well could be if I thought sharing the really unusual things that have been happening to me over the last few days was appropriate. Today's blog is about something the Bible study teacher said.  He said we should let folks know that we're just a bunch of normal guys that attend the church.  I really find that's true.  We hunt and fish and talk about it when we're together.  Yes, we love the Lord, but we love our families and talk about them, too.  We have problems.  We're all sinners and we know it.  Maybe that's why I like my church so much.  There's not a lot of pretense and I really feel comfortable there. I was thinking about that this morning, about us just being "normal" because it's not a word I attributed to church going folks.  I know some of y'...