Sept. 24, 2009 The wind

Bible verse of the day:

John 3:8 (New International Version)
8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

Celebrations:Boy have I fallen off the wagon. There is so much catching up to do. If I missed anyone, my bad. Please forgive me. If you celebrate a birthday on September 10th, you share a birthday with Charles Kuralt. For all you youngsters, he was a journalist and did one of the first travel segments on tv with a statement referring to "on the road again". It was interesting to see where his next destination was. If you have ever eaten a tv dinner, on this date in 1953 Swanson sold the first one. If you are into cartoons, the "Road Runner Show" premiered in 1966.

Now if your birthday is September 13th, you share the date with my sister-in-law, Patricia Cockrell and friend Sharon Ward Cooper. You would also share your birthday with Roald Dahl, the screenwriter of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach. Judith Martin, Miss Manners was born on this date and if you are a Muppet fan, The Muppet show premiered on this date in 1976. Miss Piggy, Kermit and Fozzie Bear, I guess today is your birthday, too. September 14th is the day Nancy Corter celebrates her birthday. She shares her special date with Ivan Pablov. Now it would really be ironic if her husband, Jim, shared the birthday. Jim theories on everything like Pavlov did.

September 15th is the day that Gerald Drope and Steve Ralston have birthdays. They share a birthday with Agatha Christie. Julie Clark share her birthday on September 16th with Lauren Bacall and Peter Falk.

September 17th was a special day in the family. My mom and dad got married in Lawrence county on this date in 1938. Unbeknown st to all my Aunt Lois and Uncle Bill got married in St. Louis on the very same day.

Pharita Calkin has a birthday on September 18th adn shares her day with Greta Garbo and if you love the vacuum cleaner you can thank Melvelle Bissell for the patent of the carpet sweeper on this day in 1876. I may have one of these next birthdays wrong. Seems like they were on the same day but Jill Hansen celebrated a birthday on September 19th while Kristi Pierce Craig celebrated her birthday on September 20th. I think the 20th is also Jay and Karen Gamblin's anniversary. September 20th is also Dr. Joyce Brothers and Sophia Loren birthday.

September 21st in the day that Stephen King , Leonard Cohen and H.G. Wells call their birthday. This is also the day my first born son entered the world. I am sure all mothers would agree that when the first born child enters the scene it is an eye-popping experience. Doug and I had our world turned upside down that day. Since Douglas is a new daddy this year, I hope he knows exactly what I mean. It is so different being in charge on your own life and letting your spouse take care of their life but when you bring that child into the world, you are responsible for the life of another individual. What a change! Doug and I traveled to Iowa last week to spend a few days with Douglas, Caroline and Tristan. I hope he thought is was better than a birthday card.

If you were born on September 22, you are born on the day of the cusp(?) between summer and fall.

Now that I have caught up with all the who's who around here I think I can move on to my random thoughts.

Random thoughts: You would think I would have lots of random thoughts since I have been MIA for so long, but the ole brain is kinda empty. I mentioned that Doug and I took a trip last week. We hopped in the car and set off for Davenport, Iowa. When we got around Springfield, Il we noticed the wind farm was coming up. This prompted speculation on our part about a lot of things.

1) we noticed how tall the windmills were. (We observed even closer when we saw flatbed trailers hauling single blades closer to Davenport. One blade hung off the trailer.) There was a tower close to the windmills and it appeared as though the windmills were taller than the tower.

2) There were no beacon lights on the windmills. Are they on flight plans for planes?
Are there any airports close by and why don't they have to be lit when the tower that looks shorter does have a beacon?

3) Are these monsters individually owned or are they a cooperate thing? Is this an energy company or someone just selling energy to the utility company?

4) We wondered what kind of expense there would be to putting up a windmill? What kind of return you receive on the investment? How long would it take you to receive a profit.

5) We figured that there was a switch to turn these things on and off because some were turning and others were not. Will the electric company only accept a certain amount of energy from one supplier or if these were just down for routine maintenance?

6)Is there anyone as fascinated by these things as the two hicks from Arkansas?

I hope to research this further since we are getting a plant in Jonesboro to make these things. I had assumed the ones made here were going to be on a much smaller scale but they may be as big as those. It will be interesting to see if these things crop up around here.

We were discussing this wind farm thing with a pilot friend last night. He was telling us about all the places in Texas that had these wind farms on the open plains. His friend made comment that all the "greenies" have a problem with the windmills because they destroy the landscape. Well, to my way of thinking, if you are a greenie, you should appreciate the fact that the energy is clean, does not pollute the air and is not using up all our fossil energy. Someone would have to have an extremely hard case to sway my way of thinking. If you are anti wind energy, you can try.

BTW, I hope my photography friends don't fuss about how bad my pictures are. Going down the interstate at 70 miles an hour this is the best I could do.

Until later,

Hope the wind whispers your way,

Vera

Sept. 9, 2009 "09-09-09"

Bible Verse of the day:1 Timothy 1:5 NASB

For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and man, the man Jesus Christ,

Celebrations:Starting where I left off last.... Dianna Shatley and Stefanie Simmons celebrated birthdays last Friday, the 4th. We sang Happy Birthday to Dianna last Wednesday night at church. She has spent many years tickling the ivories for all services at church and does a wonderful job. My boss and his wife celebrated (very quietly) their 50th anniversary on Saturday. Brandon Craig also celebrated a birthday on Saturday. September 6th, Lettie Wilkinson celebrated a birthday and shares a birthday with Jeff Foxworthy. September 7th was Dana Bridger Hurts birthday. Dana was a BFF from high school. Dana shares a birthday with Grandma Moses and Buddy Holly. Now on September 8th, one of the most wonderful inventions took place. In 1921 a man named Richard Drew invented Scotch Tape. What would life be like today with Scotch Tape. Today is September 9th. A very special day. Adam Sandler shares a birthday with MaryKate Reid and our middle child, Jeremiah Davis. Today is the original day for "National Grandparents Day' although it is celebrated next Sunday. Also this is "Biscuits and Gravy" Week. Now that is my kind of thing to celebrate!! Yeahhhh!

Random thought:I read an article on the numerology of "0-09-09" just a few minutes ago. It is very interesting how people are about numbers. The article said that the Chinese are very high on the number 9. The Japanese are leery of the number 9, thinking is ranks second in bad omens. The number 9 is one of maths mysteries, on example is that September 9th is the 252 day of the year (usually) and 2+5+2=9.

Cool, huh. The study points out that this is the last date to have repetitive single digit dates until Jan. 1, 2101.

There us a place in Florida that is taking advantage of the day to offer wedding packages for $99.99 and ipod is putting out a new film today..."9".

If we believe that numbers work out neat and maybe have favorite numbers are we superstitious? Is it anti-God. Well, if it is, then why do Christians label the devil with 666 or why do the think the number 3 is Holy or that the number 7 is perfection.

No, I don't think it is evil to have favorite numbers. Just don't take this and turn it into a satanic practice or whatever. There are many of us that won't have anything to do with the number 13. A lot of hotels won't have a 13th floor. Some people simply have a fear of 13 or especially Friday the thirteenth.

So, Jeremiah, is your favorite number 9? Blake, is your favorite number 7?

Jeremiah will have his # 1 birthday as a new daddy today. Ian says "Happy Birthday, da-da."

I promise you there are baseball players that have favorite numbers. And bad numbers. Some times their actions are direct results of something to do with numbers. No other sport has as many numbers issues to deal with as baseball.

Are you a number person. Do you count steps and then repeat? I guess if you are a musician it would be one, two, three, four, one, two.... How about if you were a baker, would you count to 12 all the time? Does your number have to be a single digit? Will double digits work?

In the Bible we count:

1 God

2 parts of the day

3 Persons in one

4 seasons

5 loaves were blessed

6 days to make the world

7 times 70 we should forgive

(8 well I just couldn't come up with anything. )

9th hour was the time of Christ death.

10commandments.

All I know is that this is 1 sinner saved by grace,

Thankfully,

Vera

September 3, 2009 Don't worry, be happy!

Bible verse of the day: Philippians 4:5-7 (New American Standard Bible)
5Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.
6Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
7And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Celebrations: Since my last post we have had some very famous birthday celebrations. Mary Shelley , author of Frankenstein shared a birthday with all the August 30th people. It is hard to imagine that she was born in 1797. Just think how old the book Frankenstein would be. All the modern remakes, you would think it was written maybe forty or fifty years ago. Wow. For August 31st, how about this combo; Van Morrison and Itzhak Perlman. They were literally born on the same day. In 1945. What two musical contrast. Oh, Richard Gere was also born on that day.

September first, Lorre Gookin and Joe Pierce and Sydney Higgins all celebrate their birthday. The famous people they share with is Conway Twitty and Lily Tomlinson. Today, September 3rd, Colin Ford shares a birthday with Mort Walker, the cartoonist that pens Hi and Lois and Beetle Bailey.

Random thoughts: Why do we spend all our life wishing time away or anxious for something to happen or getting excited for something to happen. Do you realize how much time we spend in anticipation instead of enjoying the present. For example, when a person is pregnant, they look forward to when the baby arrives instead of the time God gives us to prepare for the blessed event. How about weddings. We stress, fret and plot and plan. We forget to enjoy each day that God has given us along the way. How many mamas worry about the first day of school. Not just for a week but maybe all summer. Ya know, the child probably would not be anxious except for the fact that they have heard mama worry forever.

A lot of people worry about turning 30 or 40 and forget to enjoy 29 or 39. What is the big deal about turning thirty. You are ONLY one day older than you were yesterday. Or how about people that look forward to 65. Come on, you get so excited about SS that you plan everything for the future and forget to live today.

STOP... and give God the glory for today. Enjoy today. All the woes and heartaches we encounter daily just might not be as bad if we just took life "One day at a time".

Now, don't get me wrong. It is okay to plot the future. It is not okay to worry about it. Let God do all the worrying for you, and just enjoy the scenery along the way. That is so much easier said than done, but I betcha that we would all live longer, healthier, happier lives if we practiced giving all our worries over to God in the first place instead of trying to handle life on our own.

Looking forward to a worry free day!

Vera

August 29, 2009 worship

Bible verse of the day: Matthew 4:9-11

(New American Standard Bible)
8Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory;
9and he said to Him, "All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me."
10Then Jesus said to him, "Go, Satan! For it is written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'"
11Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.

This week's celebrations:Aug. 26th Jason woods celebrated a birthday. He shares a birthday with Mother Teresa. Lisa Cloinger celebrated a birthday on the 28th. Lisa special day is also the day two youngsters started a delivery service in Seattle Washington later developing into UPS. Even UPS started small. Of course that was in 1907. Sam Caery celebrated a birthday today. Sam shares his special day with Oliver Wendell Holmes and Ingrid Bergman. Both legends in their field during their time. (Just like Sam!)

Random thoughts: Ingrid Bergman had a couple of quotes worth repeating. On the subject of a kiss she said, "a kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when word become superfluous."

The other quote she had which I happen to like much better..."Be yourself. The world worships an original."

Who do we worship. A rock star, an author, politician, even an evangelist. Are any of these on our "Worship" list? Hope not. Who should we worship? Why should we worship? When should we worship? What should we worship? Where should we worship? Well, I think those answers are pretty simple myself. We should worship "our Father, who art in heaven." Why should we worship? In obedience to His will. We should worship every day, all day long...from morning til night. What should we worship? That one is kidda tough. We should worship for being alive. For our health or our sickness. We should worship for our family or the loss of our family and friends. We should worship for what we see as bad as well as what we see as good. That one is tough to swallow sometimes. We should worship anywhere we are and what ever the circumstances. Good, bad or indifferent.

The hardest part of the equation is this....What is "Worship?"

Is worship just singing praise or just saying a prayer or just saying we "love" Jesus while we are in public?
I ask for a definition and here are a few responses I got...
Ellen Deaton
What we were made to do...glorify and worship God.
Linda Gage
offering praises and sacrifices to the Lord God !

Blake Davis
Worship is being totally committed to Christ and being submissive to His will.

Linda Dixon Householder
being totally obedient to God so that we can glorify Him through our hearts and our actions.

Of course all those answers are correct. I like Linda G's answer a lot. Just what is a sacrifice for us? Do we go above and beyond what our normal day entails just to do something extra special for God. Is it just the pocketbook or is it words, deeds and actions.

What do we do to glorify God? Does God look down and smile on our deeds or is He frowning on what we have or haven't done?

The old saying that actions speak louder than words are very true when it comes to God. He wants us to be"doers of the word". God can see every action we do. Every day. All day. We cannot tell God how good we are. He knows more so than us just how good we are.

Do we have what it takes to worship God...You bet.

Do we worship Him every day; all day; His way...Maybe not so much.

Let's just keep at it, shall we,

Til next time,

Vera

August 24, 2009 Choices

Bible verse of the day: Joshua 24:15 (New American Standard Bible)
"If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

Today's celebrations:Happy birthday to Don Light and my first daughter-in-law Caroline Davis. hope you have a great day!

Random thoughts: Does the weather alter our moods? Do sunny skies make most people happy and rainy days make them grumpy? Do pretty, colorful sunsets give us warm fuzzy feelings and lightning make us tense? That is the way most people like it, but there are some of us oddballs that like stormy nights, overcast days and well just sitting in the window watching it rain. I should know. I am one of them. A cold November day with a cup of hot tea, sitting in the bay window watching it drizzle outside while smelling a pot of chili on the stove is divine in my book.
Some people would say "yuck" but not me. That is my perfect Saturday afternoon. Now mind you, it never happens. That time of year there is so much to do that there is no lazy Saturday afternoon. That is my favorite time, though.
Sunshine is great if it is 20 degrees outside. If the temps are 80 plus, no thanks. The best time for sunshine in my book is after a very pristine snow has blanketed the earth and the world is quiet and time stands still.
Now I know I am different but what if we all liked the same thing. The same weather, the same clothes, the same foods, the same thing on tv or in the movie theaters. Life would be BORING!!!
God gave is a mind so we might have options. We can decide what weather we like. What food we like and what type of book we like to read. We choose what clothes we wear and what style we wear our hair.
We even choose how close we follow Him. Now I know He desires us to be Perfect in our Christian choices but even the Bible states that God knows we are not perfect. "No, not one."Bro Terry Gage had a sermon yesterday that says we have to be totally dedicated. We all should be in one accord on that fact. But even being totally dedicated means different things to different people.
That is okay, too. Because God gave us each different gifts and we choose to serve according to the gifts we have. My dedication may be to teaching and your dedication my be to missions while our friend may have a dedication to tending the sick. Wow, isn't it great that we have options. We can think for ourselves. We are not all robots roaming around this earth doing exactly the same thing. If we all lived in exactly the same house we might get confused and go to the wrong one. What if we all drove the same car. Now Wal-Mart parking lot would be a riot. We all had the same jobs making the same money, spending our money the same way. UNREALISTIC!
Thank you, God, for giving me a mind and the ability to use it. To choose and to think for myself. Thank you God for making me unique.

How about you. Aren't you glad we don't all like brussel sprouts?

Until later,

I am glad I can choose...

Vera

August 23, 2009 Salt

Bible verse of the day:

Matthew 5:13 (New American Standard Bible)
13"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.

Today's celebrations:Bryan Elder, Beth Ann Caery, and Pat Bassett share a birthday with Gene Kelly. He was the guy with the umbrella prop in the "Singing in the Rain" song. One of my all time old time favorites!

Random thoughts:Salt. Doug watched a show on salt last week. I wish I could see it again.(I know they will play it again soon on the History Channel) However, I did catch a few facts about salt that I found interesting. Over 90 % of our water is salt water, but, if we drank a gallon of salt water there would be enough salt in it to kill us. How sad. One of our most natural resources is so bad for us. The refining process cause an astronomical amount of money to be able to use the most abundant of liquid. Not to mention that the salt they take out is also refined to see to us to place on our food. Take it out to put it in. How strange is that.

I think they said that next to water, H2O, that salt, sodium chloride, is the second most abundant compound that we have on earth. Like, how odd that the two biggest compound items are found together.

Kind of a contradiction of wants and needs, isn't it. We need fresh water to maintain our body needs. But too much will make us sick. We need salt to maintain our body needs, but too much of that will be the crux of a death for us.

Physically, we are made up of a vast amount of liquid. The Bible says we are the salt of the earth. Now, talk about a two edged sword. If we are the salt of the earth, most people probably need us in small doses. Too much of the good thing might choke a person out and smother them. OUCH! We are good. We are bad. There is a fine line between the two.

The program also stated that some salt is much more rare than others. Some salt sells for over $150.00 a pound. Are we an ordinary salt or extraordinary salt. Hmmmm.

Does salt become tasteless? Jesus said if the salt becomes tasteless it is worth nothing but to be trampled under the feet of man.

Not only is salt refined from the ocean but it is also mined. Man has to go digging for salt. So we as Christians have two sources to receive salt . We can be refined by separating the bad things that need not be in our lives. Or, we can have a lode of salt in our bodies that has to be dug out and processed. Not much difference. Just that sometimes there is so much sludge in our bodies that we do have to refine before we are able to use it.

Have you ever noticed how salty tears are? We we cry, we are draining the salt from our body. A cleansing, so to speak. The refinement in this case is pulling out the hurt and pain to be able to get on with life.

Until we meet again, I am still...

Refining my salt,

Vera

August 22, 2009 forgiveness and grace

Bible verse of the day(How about week):

Ephesians 4:17-32 (New American Standard Bible)
The Christian's Walk17So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind,
18being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;
19and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.
20But you did not learn Christ in this way,
21if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus,
22that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,
23and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
24and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
25Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE of you WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another.
26BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger,
27and do not give the devil an opportunity.
28He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need.
29Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.
30Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
31Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
32Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

This weeks celebrations:17th Belinda Doyles' daughter Bridgett Huckabee...19th we remember the birthday of Ogden Nash... 21st is a tribute to Kenny Rogers and I know that a few of our young mothers at church celebrated a birthday but when I went back to retrieve that information it was gone. Sorry. Happy birthday, girls.

Random thoughts:This week has been very active. Monday night Bruce Raley was our guest preacher for Sunday night on Monday. The scripture reference he used was Ephesians 4:32. Forgiveness. A very simple subject that we tend to forget about from time to time. Very good sermon.

Tuesday was an evening of working on photos on the computer. My new computer needs my forgiveness cause it sure makes me mad from time to time. Like any time I try to work on a program. Uuuuurrrrrrggggghhhhh! It did like me Tuesday night. On top of that Tuesday night was not one of my better sleep night. Lack of sleep makes me grumpy and I don't want to forgive any body when I am grumpy. Just get our of my way and you will be okay.

On Friday Doug took me to work then forgot me when it was time to go home. Should I forgive him? Still thinking about that one. BUT, since he did cut me out 21 Christmas ornaments Friday maybe I could cut him a little slack.

I am so ready for Christmas to get here this year. I cannot wait to have Christmas with my two grand boys. My first Christmas to be a Nana. What joy. But the way, I guess I should forgive my sons of everything I have held against them since they have given me a couple of sweet little cherubs to love. (And spoil)

Think back and see if there is something that burdens you because you have never forgiven some one for something they did to hurt you. When we are hurt we don't want to forgive some one but it is scriptural. We want revenge. It's human. As Bruce pointed out Monday night, forgiving someone is not for the other person's benefit. It is for our own. So we can lay the past to rest. If we have something that keeps boiling up in our mind for days gone by that someone has done to hurt us, we have not let go. We have not forgiven them. We haven't prayed for God to help us put it in the past.

Do you know anybody that brings up stories from the past about how someone mistreated them. As they recant the story they get mad all over again. Well, they haven't put it to rest. Haven't forgiven the person. Haven't made peace with themselves about it.

Take it from experience, you can get an ulcer or work yourself into a physically distraught state if you don't find peace. The other party could care less if you are hurt. They could care less if you forgive them or not. Don't do it for them. Give yourself peace of mind. Be the person God wants you to be. If you are at odds with someone else you cannot go about doing the work of the Lord and be productive for Him.

I choose not to be out of grace with God. I had rather He be pleased by my actions than disgusted at my reactions.

Still striving,

Vera