A Promise....

(Click on images to enlarge.)
If you peer close enough you can barely see the rainbow in each picture. The top picture it is going across the sky and the bottom picture it's located at the end of the road. It had been brighter but was fading quickly when I remembered we had our camera with us. We had been to a little town about an hour from us, with another couple, to eat Mexican food. Yummm!


Genesis 9:12-16

God said, "This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you; for all successive generations; I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud, and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth."

Have a blessed Sunday! May you find it in your heart to worship the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

 

Summer flowers...

Color to cool our H.O.T. weather.

 

Psalm 90:2

Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. ~Psalm 90:2

Have a great weekend everyone!

Friday Feast

Feast One-Hundred & Four


Appetizer
What's the funniest dream you can remember having?
Oh my! I don't have funny dreams. Isn't that sad? However, my husband and our son can have some pretty funny ones. But, I guess that doesn't count, does it? ;D

Soup
If you were a dog, what breed would you be, and why?
I know I would not want to be a chihuahua because they are too small and haven't any fur. I would love to be a Keeshond, or any breed that my friend Pam, over at Ramblings and Other Things, might have. Why? Because she LOVES her dogs and takes the very best care of them and, I have a sneaking suspicion...she spoils them.

Salad
Continue this sentence: "I get confused when I'm doing complicated math."

Main Course
Name two things that need to be done, but you are procrastinating in completing.
Just two? Oh come on now! 1) cleaning my desk top 2) yard work (because it is too hot---103 F)

Dessert
When was the last time you tried something new, and what was it?
This is easy. On July 21st I tried my new diabetic med which is an injection.

Snapdragons anyone?

I just want you to know that I have entered the snapdragon part of my life.

I received this in an email today. Enjoy!

A well balanced diet!

I want you to know that I really do believe in a well balanced diet. Don't you?

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Names of God 1…. The Creator: Elohim 2.... The God Most High: El Elyon 3.... The God Who Sees: El Roi 4.... The All-Sufficient One: El Shaddai 5.... The Lord: Adonai 6.... The Self-Existent One: Jehovah 7.... The Lord Will Provide: Jehovah-jireh 8.... The Lord Who Heals: Jehovah-rapha 9.... The Lord My Banner: Jehovah-nissi 10.. The Lord Who Sanctifies You: Jehovah-mekoddishkem 11.. The Lord Is Peace: Jehovah-shalom 12.. The Lord My Shepherd: Jehovah-raah 13.. The Lord Our Righteousness: Jehovah-tsidkenu Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. Crayonsetc. 2. Mysterious Lady's Clues 3. Something's Missing 4. Juggling Mother 5. Raggedy 6. Army Wife 7. S Wilder 8. Southern Girl

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Whom do you run to?

Where do you run for your help? What is your first instinct when you find yourself in trouble? Why do we run to man before we ever run to God?

What is the problem? Do we just want to run away from God, fearful of what He will tell us? Why don't we run to the arms of our all-sufficient God? My suspicion is that a lot of people out there don't really know Him. Admit it. We often see many people, who are Christians, collaspe in time of trouble or of times of testing. Why is it they become immoblized rather than standing aggressively in the face of fear? Maybe it's because Christians, for the most part, can't boast in the name of their God.

What does it mean to boast in? It means to have confidence in, to trust in. So to boast in God's name means to have confidence in His name.

If you don't know the Lord and His many different Names then I would encourage you to seek Him out and find out just Who this is. You might be surprised. Each of the Lord's Names has meaning and purpose. You will certainly learn where to run in time of need. The Father longs to have us know Him better so that we may "trust in the name of the Lord and rely" on our God (Isaiah 50:10). It was Christ's desire that "they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent" (John 17:3). It was also Paul's goal in life, "That I may know Him" (Philippians 3:10). Oh how I pray that it would become your goal in life, too!!

Here's some food for thought; a question to get you started...if someone were to ask you to describe God, how would you do it?

How about a smile?

Five things which made me smile today.

1. Taking the bandages off of my toes.

2. Coming before the Lord this morning.

3. A very good air conditioner in my car.

4. Gazing at my hubby! (Always a shoo-in for a smile!) :D

5. A phone call from Pilot (second day in a row!)


So often I think it is too easy not to notice the small things in life which are really, in truth, some of the very best things which life has to offer. Why don't we shift our energies on looking around us and focus on the good rather than the irritating? I've heard it said that it takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile. I don't know if that is accurate but it is so much more enjoyable to walk through a crowd and see people smiling rather than frowning.

If nothing else jumps out at you, then at least praise the Lord you are still living, or that you have family/friends who love you, that you are able to see with your eyes and hear with your ears. If you don't have any friends then don't wait. Go out and meet some new people. If you live here in the USA and consider yourself poor....did you know that you are actually wealthy compared to so much of the rest of the world?

There is beauty all around us which is free for the gazing. So much variety of color surrounds us. Just think of all the different shades of green, or red, or blue. Some days we are fortunate to see a rainbow filled with a multitude of colors all at once.

There is a richness in living life. A richness which should be shared all around. If you see someone struggling, why not go over and offer a helping hand along with a big smile. Spread some of that richness around. Be the cause of a huge smile in return showing up on someone else's face.

Blessings to you all today....

The Papa Prayer by Larry Crabb

I'm sitting here soaking my toes in epsom salt water and thinking about prayer. Is prayer the richest part of your spiritual life? It is for me. In fact, I would go so far as to say it's my lifeline. How would your life be without prayer? Mine would be one stressed out life, worrying constantly over things which I have no control over. It isn't a happy picture at all.

How do you see prayer? Is it something that is useful in asking God for different needs? Or do you see that prayer has more to do with God's speaking to you and you learning to be the listener? As Larry Crabb says in his book, The Papa Prayer, "It's a dance where He leads.

So far I'm liking this book. It is convicting in many ways. Depending on your prayer relationship with the Lord, you may find yourself learning some new thoughts regarding prayer and God. I highly recommend it.

Does God exist?

A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed. As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation. They talked about so many things and various subjects. When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said: "I don't believe that God exists."

"Why do you say that?" asked the customer.

"Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn't exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can't imagine a loving God who would allow all of these things."

The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond because he didn't want to start an argument. The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop. Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and unkempt.

The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and he said to the barber: "You know what? Barbers do not exist."

"How can you say that?" asked the surprised barber. "I am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked on you!"

"No!" the customer exclaimed. "Barbers don't exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside."

"Ah, but barbers DO exist! What happens is that people do not come to me."

"Exactly!"- affirmed the customer. "That's the point! God, too, DOES exist! What happens is that people don't go to Him and do not look for Him."

Need a laugh?

I'm telling you I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. You need to pop on over to Classic Adventures and read this post. Maybe it was just me, but I laughed till I had tears. Course, it could be I could relate since I did experience a close call with a snake.

ISFJ?

You Are An ISFJ

The Nurturer You have a strong need to belong, and you very loyal. A good listener, you excell at helping others in practical ways. In your spare time, you enjoy engaging your senses through art, cooking, and music. You find it easy to be devoted to one person, who you do special things for. You would make a good interior designer, chef, or child psychologist.

What's Your Personality Type?


I can hear Pilot now in response to the child psychologist bit, "Oh heaven help us! That explains soooo much!" Lol! Hopefully, he won't hold it against me. However, I must confess, I use to take those personality tests for Pilot and Pilot Dad, as if I were them. Then, I would have them take the same test and I would see how well I knew my guys! They, of course, would roll their eyes! But, I will have you know that I always scored the exact same answers as my hubby and on my son's we disagreed on only one answer. I have to say I know both of my men very well!

In fact, awhile back Pilot called and asked me how he turned out on one of these frivilous things I post on and I told him I had no idea. He was shocked! He asked me why I hadn't done the test for him? I had to tell him that I didn't bother because he was no longer living at home. Isn't that too funny!

As for my free time...I don't really "engage mysenses in art, cooking and music." Oh, I enjoy them, yes, but I would much rather be reading, or spending time with a friend, and naps...naps are really good too! :D

A laugh for my sister!!!

Next best thing to seeing it in person, Sis! *wink*

 

Friday Feast

Friday Feast One Hundred and Three


Appetizer
Fill in the blanks: I feel contented and at peace when I finish praying.

Soup
Name something you use to make your home smell good.
Candles. Or baking some yummy treat to eat!


Salad
If you could receive a coupon in the mail for 50% off any product, what would you want it to be for?
Airfare to go visit Pilot! Duh...that's a no brainer! ;)


Main Course
Besides sleeping, what do you spend the majority of the hours of your typical day doing?
Hmm, I take care of my almost 90 year old mother which requires a lot of appointments etc, and I fix 3 meals a day, I manage to read quite a bit and, of course, I BLOG!!!

Dessert
What can you hear right now while answering these questions?
A huge fan going in the background to circulate the air. Birds chirping out my window. It's pretty quiet right now. Perfect time to take a nap!

My first self given shot...

I was greatly encouraged the other day to read over at Corry's site, Experiencing Rheumatoid Arthritis, that she had successfully given herself her first injection of a new medication she was starting on. Well, unlike Corry, who I imagine had to give herself a regular injection, I gave myself my first injection today with a pen filled with a month's worth of medication. I put on this little tiny needle and just poke it straight in, push down on the end of the pen and count, one...two, and then pull it out. Ever so easy and no worse than pricking my finger for my glucose testing. I don't even have to grab a roll of fat or anything, just poke, press, and count and I am done. Piece of cake!

Christmas in July!!!

How about a little Christmas in July? Every one gets excited about what December holds. I've heard a trailer on the radio and maybe you have too. Go here to find out more. I think this will be an excellent film for Christmas.

Memories....

Today was nearly 105 in our little part of Salt Lake City. Much too hot to even grill. After picking Nana up from her hair appt. we went out to eat. The first thing we noticed when we walked in the restaurant was how absolutely pleasant it was! So nice and coooool!

We are fortunate that when we get high heat we do not usually have high humidity. Today's humidity I think was in the 20's.

Yesterday at dinner and today at dinner my mom shared stories from her childhood. Memories from a long time ago. She is going to be 90 in August. How we laughed at some of them. One of them was so cute. She was just a little tyke but she was getting to go with the older kids into town to see the circus. She had her coat on and was sitting in her little rocking chair impatiently waiting to go. One of the adults teased her about not going, but she adamently rocked away the whole time proclaiming, "Oh yes I am. I've got my coat on and I'm READY!" Finally, the young man, Romney (Rodney), who was driving everyone arrived and they all got in the car. As they got closer to town my mom was so excited as she grew close enough to town to see the lights. She cried out to everyone, "Oh LOOK Romney! Look at the lights of the town! Aren't they so bright and pretty?"

Well, ol' Romney just growled at her in his low, deep voice, "Those 're just possum hunters!"

She began laughing as she remembered that time. Her eyes just sparkled as she recounted about the lights. I could so easily visualize her as a little girl so excited about her trip into town after dark.

Then I stopped at the grocery store and had to go by the produce section. There were these little, itty bitty watermelons on an endcap. I immediately thought of the summer when I was about 4 or 5 and we were visiting my grandmother, my mother's mother. She had planted a fairly large garden out in the back along the fence of her pasture. We had watermelon maybe our first night there. I can't remember exactly, but it had to have been early enough in our visit that I could plant a seed. My little mind began asking questions about the seeds etc. and I declared I wanted to plant a watermelon seed and grow a watermelon.

My dad kind of pooh poohed the idea, not really putting any stock in the whole idea. I'm sure he never even really gave it another thought. But my grandmother took me and we went out back in the garden and planted one lone watermelon seed. Grandmother tried her best to encourage me to plant several seeds but no, I was determined to grow a watermelon from one seed.

It was so exciting to watch the progress. Every day I went to the garden with Mammy (that's what we called her) and kept a close watch on my little vine that began growing. I guess I helped her with her other vegetables, as well as the weeding, and we talked and talked.

Well, the day finally came to go back home. Mammy lived in Booneville, Mississippi and we lived in VA. The whole family was loaded into the car, all our goodbyes had been said and we were backing out. Mammy was standing just off of the back porch watching us back out when I REMEMBERED the watermelon!!!! We hadn't eaten my watermelon! "DADDY! STOP! STOP!" "What's the matter?" my Dad asked. "We forgot to eat my watermelon!" "Well, Claire, I'm sure it's not ready to be picked. We need to get on the road." "Oh no, Daddy, please!!! We can't go yet!" I begged. Of course, he had stopped the car on my first shriek of DADDY, and Mammy walked on down to where we had stopped on the gravel road.

Mammy was the best! Of course it would be ready for picking. It might not be a huge watermelon but it would be edible she told Daddy. Now my Daddy had grown up on a farm in Mississippi and knew all about watermelons. I'm sure he sighed knowing that he had lost. We all piled out of the car while Mammy went to get her butcher knife. While she was gone I went and pulled my melon. It wasn't even the size of a cantaloup but to me, it was perfect. The amazing thing was that God had allowed one single watermelon to grow from one tiny black seed. Mammy came with her knife and we cut it open and sliced it so everyone had a bite. It was the most delicious watermelon I ever tasted...well...um...that is until my first night at college when a group of us went and stole, um...heh heh...took some from a farmer's field...but that is another memory for another time.

Email funny....

Do you want to hear something funny? Pilot emailed yesterday to say they weren't going climbing. This is what the email said and I will quote verbatim: " You can rest easy because he ended up getting scheduled to take a test today so we aren't going to climb." Now, please understand that I had just gotten up and was still under the influence of my heavy meds. I read the email and I thought to myself how odd that he would say "he" instead of "I". Oh well...I'll pray for his test today.

Pilot calls tonight. I answer the phone.

Me: So how was your day? Long I suppose?

Pilot: No, I was off today. I didn't work.

A pause. I assimilate what he just said.

Me: What about your test today?

Pilot: I didn't have a test today. The nav guy who I was going to go climbing with, he had the test today. I told you that in the email.

Me: *bursts out laughing* Well, ask how he did on his test. He was certainly prayed for today! I wonder if God passed it on to him or is He holding my prayers in a little box for safe keeping for your next test!!! LOL!!!

Whew! I'm sure glad it was I that was in the error regarding the email and not Pilot. I thought for sure he had a sound grasp of his pronouns.... *snicker* It's just me that's the dumb cluck!!!

Friday's Feast

Friday's Feast One Hundred & Two


Appetizer
Name one thing nice that you could do for someone else today.
I can take my mom to her hair appt. And, I'll make her breakfast for her. And last night at dinner I sat and listened to her as she told tales of being a little girl growing up. I asked questions and we laughed together.

Soup
When was the last time you were frightened by the weather?
Hmmm. If it means when I was safely tucked inside my home it would have been when Pilot was in the 10th grade having to drive home late from Basketball practice in his first major snow storm after getting his driver's license. It was 10 miles one way and he had to come on the freeway and it was so icy and...well, you know how Mom's are. His father told me not to worry. I prayed for him all the way home.

Salad
What would you say is the most useful website or blog that you visit?
I use Google an awful lot. Also, CBD, a Christian bookstore online, and I actually pick up some very useful tidbits over at Carol's place, She Lives.

Main Course
Who was your favorite singer/group when you were a child?
When I was a child?! Oh good heavens, I have no idea! But my favorite when I was a teen was The Beatles. As I "matured" (ahem) I liked Chicago and The Eagles.

Dessert
Do you have any rituals? If so, what are they?
Does this mean something I do all the time, without fail? Like cleaning my face before bed and putting on moisturizer? Brushing my teeth? Making sure my overhead fan is turned on to 'medium' before going to bed? Reading my Bible everyday? Or are we talking about OC things like having to check to make sure the doors are all locked at night...5 times. I don't do things like that. My family may can think up some but they don't blog, or comment, so I think I'm relatively safe from their sharing anything. :)