The Simple Woman's Daybook

Outside my Window...the sun is going down on a lovely spring day.  It was sunny and fairly warm ~ upper 50's i think.  

 
I am thinking...about why some people are so obtuse!  They refuse to understand how their words and actions hurt others.  Earlier today i saw a great word picture with photo of this very thing.  Imagine taking a china plate and dropping it on the floor.  What happened?  It broke, of course.  Now imagine saying "i'm sorry" to the broken plate.  Did that fix it?  Of course not.  That is how it is when we hurt others.  A simple "Sorry" does not put things back the way they were.  Some people just don't understand this.

From the learning rooms...today i learned from my doctor in answer to a question i had asked him that there is no hope for my being such a night owl/difficult to wake up in the morning person for he is the very same way!  i had hoped he had some miracle cure for my morning fuzzy-headedness.

 
I am thankful for...knowing so many, many wonderful people!  They continue to bless me every day.

From the kitchen...today the island is covered with soap ingredients that came in the mail today.  i will be making supper for the family tomorrow night.  i think i'll cook Chinese this time.

 
I am wearing...black pants, white turtleneck, bright green sweater (it is St. Patrick's Day, after all) and my brown slippers.

I am reading...several books currently.  My fiction/for pleasure read is Les Miserables.  i haven't gotten very far yet but it is very readable. i also have started Cure for the Common Life by Max Lucado and Out of the Storm and Into God's Arms by Jill Briscoe. They are both very good, inspiring, encouraging books.

I am hoping....to find a single bed with trundle to set up in the guest room for company. (Still looking!)

I am creating... some knitted things for Rowan.  i made a pair of booties and i want to make a couple more pair and then a pair of knitted pants.

 

I am hearing...the squawk of the parakeet; otherwise the house is very quiet.

Around the house...it looks very good.  i cleaned all day yesterday because i was going to host the monthly Bible study that my daughter leads; then today it was cancelled due to so many being sick.  i can enjoy a clean house for a few days!

One of my favorite things...the quiet.  i love a quiet house and a quiet life.  "...and make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and to attend to your own business and work with your hands..."  I Thessalonians 4:11

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...the same regular activities are on the calendar ~ Bible study on Wednesday morning,  TOPS Thursday morning and support group Thursday evening, followed by choir practice. i want to make a couple of batches of soap this week, work on the knitting and continue preparing the guest room for company. 

i am praying... more diligently. 

 

i am hoping... to find a bed for my guest room.

A flash from the past ~

This is an old post card of Galway, Ireland, posted in honor of St. Patrick's Day.

Journal Entry

Saturday, March 14, 2015

     This morning i was reading in my One Thousand Gifts Devotional (pg. 94-95) about living in the moment.  i have often heard that phrase and wondered how one did that exactly. 

"God, today is the last like this'.

This place, this people, this moment - 

It will never again be just like this."

     All of a sudden the concept made sense to me.  i will never again have this moment or this one or this. . . and so on.  i can live this moment as He gives this-moment grace.  i often have cried out, "i don't know how to live this life You have given me!"  It's true; i don't; but neither do i know how to live this moment because i have never lived it before.  Each and every moment is completely new, even though it may look very similar to the last or even the next one.  It is unique, unexperienced.  The God Who gives me the grace to live this moment will give me grace to live all the others, too.

The Simple Woman's Daybook

Outside my Window...it is sunny, windy and cool.  This has been a warm and dry winter for the Pacific Northwest.  i read just this morning that it was the warmest, driest February on record for Seattle.  i'm sure that's fine for some but i do enjoy the cool, cloudy rainy days.

I am thinking...of so many things!  Among them ~ my son and family will be here from China in a little over a month and i must get the guest room ready!

From the learning rooms...again, so many things!  i have been learning many things about my family through my genealogical research including the fact that an ancestress was accused and found guilty of witchcraft!  She was not hanged, however.

I am thankful for...a good cup of tea!  There is nothing like it!

From the kitchen...the other day i made some Vick's Shower Pucks at a daughter's request.  i didn't use actual Vicks but sort of made my own with Menthol and Coconut Oil.  Today i am making Lavender Soap and Rose Soap.  i know, those are not very kitcheny types of things but that's what's been going on out there.  Oh, this morning i made tea and oatmeal!

 
I am wearing...denim skirt, black sweater and brown slippers.

I am reading...well, i have set Moby Dick aside again.  i read Twins Found In A Box, a book i found at Goodwill.  It was self-published and not exactly great literature but it was interesting.  It is the true story of twin infant girls abandoned in a box on the streets of Seoul, Korea and adopted by an American family.  They had rather difficult lives in their adoptive families but they seem to be doing well now.  Next up is Les Miserables.  i know, i go from one giant, blockbuster classic novel to another.  This one i am reading because of a deal with my daughter.  i love the recently-made musical of Les Mis and insisted that my daughter (and her whole family) watch it with me .  She was hesitant thinking that it would not be very good and so she extracted a promise from me that if she watched the movie i would read the book (which i had not done but she had).  i've only just started the book (it has 1450 pages!), but so far it is very readable and interesting.

I am hoping....to find a single bed with trundle to set up in the guest room for company.

I am creating... Soap today, and wanting to dig out of Pinterest some cute baby knitted things that i can make for the baby.

 

I am hearing...the squawk of the parakeet.  He can be so loud sometimes!

Around the house...it looks and feels rather like spring.  i hope winter doesn't jump back in and hurt the beautiful flowering trees.

One of my favorite things...wearing long skirts and dresses.  i think i like the old-timey feel of them.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...the same regular activities are on the calendar ~ Bible study on Wednesday morning for which i am bringing treats. i think i'll make a couple of kinds of mini-muffins, TOPS Thursday morning and support group Thursday evening, followed by choir practice.  i am thinking of making Tuesday a thrift store shopping day.  There are a few in the area that i haven't checked out yet.  i will follow that up with some regular grocery shopping. 

i am praying... to focus more on Jesus, His sacrifice and impact on my life during this Lenten season.

i am hoping... to find a bed for my guest room.

A flash from the past ~ This is my dad and me sitting in our living room in Omaha.  i'm not sure why we're so dressed up but i am wearing my favorite bright blue slippers.  i think the only piece of furniture that shows in the picture that remains in the family is the rocking chair that Dad is sitting in.  Oh, and also the painting on the wall is still around.

Verse a Day ~ 4 & 5

     Now that i've gotten behind on my posting a Verse a Day, i will post 2 today. 
In thinking about the recent celebration of Valentine's Day, i am reminded of God's never-ending love for us and His requirement for us to love one another.

In this is love,

not that we loved God,

but that He  loved us and sent His Son

to be the propitiation for our sins.

I John 4:10  (NASB)

Beloved, let us love one another,

for love is of God

and everyone who loves is

born of God

and knows God.

I John 4:7  (NASB)

Verse a Day ~ 3

     The next in the series ~ A Verse a Day ~ is Philippians 4:8.

Finally, brethren,

whatever is true,

whatever is honorable,

whatever is pure,

whatever is lovely,

whatever is of good repute,

if there is any excellence

and if anything worthy of praise,

let your mind dwell on these things.

(NASB)

      Sometimes it seems as if there is so little out there that is true, honorable, pure, lovely, etc.  If one watches the daily news ~ which i don't anymore, listen to the news on the radio ~ i do that sometimes, or catch the headlines on Yahoo! or some online source it would appear that the world is going to hell in a handbasket.  And very quickly, at that!  Wars and rumors of wars (Matthew 24:6), terrorism, shootings of innocent people, and the list can go on and on.  As my mother used to say "man's inhumanity to man".  

     Isn't it to wonderful to know that there is beauty, truth, honor, purity, love and excellence abounding in the world, too?  When i look around at the beauty of God's creation that surrounds me, hear a grandchild laugh,

read wise words from honorable people i am encouraged.  There are beautiful, wonderful things in our world placed there by a loving Heavenly Father.  i think it can be a wise move to turn off the news, don't read the headlines and focus on the loveliness that He has given us.

Verse a Day ~ 2

i almost forgot to post a verse today!  Another favorite verse of mine is Jeremiah 29:11:

For I know the plans that I have for you,

declares the Lord,

plans for welfare and not for calamity

to give you a future and a hope.

(NASB)

      This verse is so comforting to me.  It reminds me that i don't have to worry about the future ~ God has already done all of the planning for me.  His plans are always good even if i can't see it at the moment.  

     The main way that i have for understanding God and His ways is as a parent.  i have raised 4 children, each of them very different from the others and i have learned many things through the process.  One size does not fit all!  Each human being is  unique.    God treats each of us differently.  He does not give each person the same trials or the same blessings.  In raising my children, sometimes i had to be stern or strict with them to teach them valuable lessons.  It did not mean that i did not love them; quite the contrary.  It showed that i loved them immensely!  If i didn't love them i wouldn't have cared what they did or what happened to them, but since i did care so much i did everything i could to teach them to be honest and respectful, gentle and kind, responsible and productive, etc.  Sometimes, though, the lessons were hard and there were tears and maybe loss.  Sometimes, the child had to be disciplined in ways that were extremely unpleasant to them.  They might even say or think that i didn't love them, but as they matured they could see the reason behind  my actions.

     i think God works in much the same way.  He delights in giving us the things that make us happy but sometimes He knows that certain things would not be good for us so He says, No.  At other times, He knows that now is not the right time so he says, Wait.  He may need to discipline us in ways that we find harsh and in our confused, childish mind, we may become angry with Him, but He always operates from a heart of love.  

     His plans are always for our welfare, even when we can't see it.  Just like the wise parent who can see down the road that the child's bad behavior will lead them to heartache someday and so will train and discipline them, God lovingly guides us along through the joys and difficulties of our lives. 

     In Him we have a future and a hope.  To me this is where faith comes in.  If we could always see the way ahead, or know the reason for things, we would not need faith.  Faith is trusting that His plan is loving and that in Him we do have a future and a hope.

A Verse a Day

i was reading a blog that i really enjoy and the blogger mentioned that she was posting a favorite verse a day for 7 days.  i guess it was a challenge on Facebook or somewhere?  i think i will join her.
    One of my all time favorite verses has always been Romans 8:28 ~

     And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those    who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.  (NASB)  

      My live has had it's difficult moments ~ more than some, less than others ~ and this verse has always been a comfort to me.  On the difficult days, the frightening days, the confusing days i know that i know that i know that He is working in my life to bring about His perfect will.  

i was raised in a church-going home but even though i was very spiritual-minded i didn't really "get" who God was and how i could relate to Him.  i saw Him as a stern grandfather-type sitting up in heaven watching me, waiting for me to mess up so He could say, "Ah Ha!  I knew you couldn't be good!" 

 After leaving the church of my childhood i sort of wandered about church-less but not without faith even if it was very weak and confused at times.  As i struggled with who am i, who is God and what it's all about, He was at work in my heart drawing me ever closer to Him.  In about 1972 or 3 i completely surrendered my heart and life to Him.  i won't say it's always been easy; He didn't take away all of the troubles, trials and temptations that plagued me but i knew that He was always there and would take care of me no matter what.

 As my children and i went through dark and fearsome days i wondered just how was He going to take care of us.  Often it wasn't in the way we wanted really but we were cared for, of that i have no doubt.  Many, many times i have seen good come out of those trials and even though i would not choose to live them again i can truthfully say i am glad that i lived them. 

The past couple of years have brought a new set of trials and testings but i am here to say that He is always, ALWAYS there.  i expect to see good coming out of these new difficulties but even if i don't see them, i know they will be there because His word is true, always.