oh...that was scary watching...

I think it's luge.

Canada One overturned.

They are apparently okay.

But oh my....just scary to see because the sleds are heavy and they go so very fast.

Perkiness is good!

So almost a week on the acid reducer.

I have ENERGY AGAIN!!!! :)

so nice to not be in pain ALL THE TIME.

I don't have heaps of energy all day long, but today it lasted until about 3 p.m. when I just petered out.

BUT I got ALOT done today.
1. laundry ALL OF IT!
2. vaccuumed the entire upstairs. Jim helped by picking stuff off the floor in our bedroom.
3. cleaned the boy's room.
4. organized the book room
5. carried a chair up to the book room
6. played with the boy - trains, chase, tickle me, pounce, read books together
7. worked through a work book with the boy .. he now knows what the letter "H" is and is very proud of himself knowing how to spell an "F". :) he is intrigued that there are big letters and little letters.
8. read a chapter in a book just for myself :)

AND I didn't sit in front of the computer for most of the day. YIPPEE!!! I have energy again!!!!

I do still have some pain in my throat constantly.
I do occasionally feel pain in my mid-chest...particularly today as I forgot two days in a row to take the acid reducer.

BUT I FEEL PERKY!!!!!!

Tonights Supper

Low salt tacho chips (blue menu)
2 % cheddar cheese shredded.
1.25 lbs of extra lean ground beef, cooked with some onion, fresh ground black pepper, worchestershire sauce and mexican chili powder.

YUM!

Fairly healthy.
Tasted good!

Jim helped make it (he does a better scrambled fried ground beef than I do).

I think we'll do this meal again sometime. It was a hit with Justin as well (sans the ground beef). :)

At some point once my stomach issues have settled down I'd like to try it with salsa or diced tomatoe. But I'm not ready to try that at this point.

I suspect people think we're crazy

That would be Justin and I on a walk

Danglers - like to strangle you so they can eat you, but they really like snow so they are easy to bribe
Grimoles - live in holes so you can fall into them, but you can dig out with a handy shovel
Knockers - like to throw stones at you, all you have to do is say SORRY, and they stop.
Dwellers - sleep ALL The time but are pretty slow so you can usually out run them, and if they do catch you they'll make you a dweller too UNLESS you drink motion berry juice which causes you to start dancing on the spot and sends the dwellers away from you fast!
Mineikins - like to eat your toes so you HAVE to wear boots and stomp a lot
Farthers - little monkey creatures that sit on your head and make you giggle and dance
Nimbles - tiny mice like creatures that you have to tiptoe around
Conies - big and small. The big ones are mean, the small ones are friendly but they slobber you and that makes tabby cats(Aka TAGU) not like you until you roll around in the snow and get it off you again.

We don't have ordinary walks.
We do LOTS of exercise type things on our walks.
It's simply amazing!

And oodles of fun for a creative four year old. :) The things we see! :)

it seems to be working!!!!

So the acid blocker that I am taking seems to be working.

I'm still feeling sore in my upper GI, but it's not as intense as it was. I expect I have some healing to do. :)

not having that constant ache in the middle of my chest is a boon.

Still fighting some exhaustion, but today I feel sorta perky! :)

Jim slept well.
Today I go to pick up Justin from oma and papa's. we're meeting half way for lunch.

Another health update

Jim is frustrated.
He is chomping at the bit to go back to work and the doctor has said "No".
He is to take another month off.
He doesn't want to.

I expect he'll not preach for the month of February, but that he will start doing some work related things, such as the picky stuff of orders of worship. He might try to get starts on sermons done and what not. He will also, I'm thinking, do some phone visits, write emails/letters to people, and such like. He still needs to be alert to catching illness from people until he's all better so I imagine he'll be limiting his visits in person for a bit yet.

I'm not surprised that she said no work yet, when I see how easily tired he gets at this point, I think he needs more time to get back into things. I wasn't expecting a month, I was expecting two weeks, but hey...I'm not the doc. I don't get paid the big bucks. It's just a difficult thing for him right now.

Justin is at Oma and Papa's today. Jim has a funeral today, I have work, and I couldn't find a way around either for providing child care for him. He wasn't happy about it, but I know that he is safe and he is loved where he is. I HATE leaving a crying boy behind.

Me... I have an appointment at the hospital for a barium swallow. The doc wants to see if we can figure out why my wonky valve is being wonkier lately. Who knows... maybe it's turned into acid reflux disease (with it's issues), maybe I've gotten myself an ulcer or ???? I don't know. I know that since getting the acid blocker that I'm feeling that my pain levels are a lessened a bit though my tiredness continues all day until about 9 p.m. when suddenly I feel perky! I am hopeful that eventually I can eat fruit, drink hot lemonade and such like again. Would be nice. Time will tell.

Milk in bags makes sense to me.....

This Video



Spawned this article.

It is made me do was say...but milk in bags is neater, cleaner and doesn't go bad as fast. AND it takes up less space in the fridge than those big jugs do!

Why doesn't everyone convert to bags?

Email - Daniel's Gloves

Daniel's Gloves

I sat, with two friends, in the picture window of a quaint restaurant just off the corner of the town-square. The food and the company were both especially good that day.

As we talked, my attention was drawn outside, across the street. There, walking into town, was a man who appeared to be carrying all his worldly goods on his back.. He was carrying, a well-worn sign that read, 'I will work for food.' My heart sank.

I brought him to the attention of my friends and noticed that others around us had stopped eating to focus on him. Heads moved in a mixture of sadness and disbelief.

We continued with our meal, but his image lingered in my mind. We finished our meal and went our separate ways. I had errands to do and quickly set out to accomplish them. I glanced toward the town square, looking somewhat halfheartedly for the strange visitor. I was fearful, knowing that seeing him again would call some response.. I drove through town and saw nothing of him. I made some purchases at a store and got back in my car.

Deep within me, the Spirit of God kept speaking to me: 'Don't go back to the office until you've at least driven once more around the square..'

Then with some hesitancy, I headed back into town. As I turned the square's third corner, I saw him. He was standing on the steps of the store front church, going through his sack.

I stopped and looked; feeling both compelled to speak to him, yet wanting to drive on. The empty parking space on the corner seemed to be a sign from God: an invitation to park. I pulled in, got out and approached the town's newest visitor.

'Looking for the pastor?' I asked.

'Not really,' he replied, 'just resting.'

'Have you eaten today?'>

'Oh, I ate something early this morning.'

'Would you like to have lunch with me?'

'Do you have some work I could do for you?'

'No work,' I replied 'I commute here to work from the city, but I would like to take you to lunch.'

'Sure,' he replied with a smile.

As he began to gather his things, I asked some surface questions. Where you headed?'

' St. Louis '

'Where you from?'

'Oh, all over; mostly Florida ..'

'How long you been walking?'

'Fourteen years,' came the reply.

I knew I had met someone unusual. We sat across from each other in the same restaurant I had left earlier. His face was weathered slightly beyond his 38 years. His eyes were dark yet clear, and he spoke with an eloquence and articulation that was startling He removed his jacket to reveal a bright red T-shirt that said, 'Jesus is The Never Ending Story.'

Then Daniel's story began to unfold. He had seen rough times early in life. He'd made some wrong choices and reaped the consequences.. Fourteen years earlier, while backpacking across the country, he had stopped on the beach in Daytona.. He tried to hire on with some men who were putting up a large tent and some equipment. A concert, he thought.

He was hired, but the tent would not house a concert but revival services, and in those services he saw life more clearly. He gave his life over to God.

'Nothing's been the same since,' he said, 'I felt the Lord telling me to keep walking, and so I did, some 14 years now.'

'Ever think of stopping?' I asked.

'Oh, once in a while, when it seems to get the best of me But God has given me this calling. I give out Bibles That's what's in my sack. I work to buy food and Bibles, and I give them out when His Spirit leads.'

I sat amazed. My homeless friend was not homeless. He was on a mission and lived this way by choice. The question burned inside for a moment and then I asked: 'What's it like?'

'What?'

'To walk into a town carrying all your things on your back and to show your sign?'

'Oh, it was humiliating at first. People would stare and make comments. Once someone tossed a piece of half-eaten bread and made a gesture that certainly didn't make me feel welcome. But then it became humbling to realize that God was using me to touch lives and change people's concepts of other folks like me..'

My concept was changing, too. We finished our dessert and gathered his things. Just outside the door, he paused He turned to me and said, 'Come Ye blessed of my Father and inherit the kingdom I've prepared for you. For when I was hungry you gave me food, when I was thirsty you gave me drink, a stranger and you took me in.'

I felt as if we were on holy ground. 'Could you use another Bible?' I asked.

He said he preferred a certain translation. It traveled well and was not too heavy. It was also his personal favorite.. 'I've read through it 14 times,' he said.

'I'm not sure we've got one of those, but let's stop by our church and see' I was able to find my new friend a Bible that would do well, and he seemed very grateful.


'Where are you headed from here?' I asked.

'Well, I found this little map on the back of this amusement park coupon.'

'Are you hoping to hire on there for a while?'

'No, I just figure I should go there. I figure someone under that star right there needs a Bible, so that's where I'm going next.'

He smiled, and the warmth of his spirit radiated the sincerity of his mission. I drove him back to the town-square where we'd met two hours earlier, and as we drove, it started raining. We parked and unloaded his things.

'Would you sign my autograph book?' he asked.. 'I like to keep messages from folks I meet.'

I wrote in his little book that his commitment to his calling had touched my life. I encouraged him to stay strong. And I left him with a verse of scripture from Jeremiah, 'I know the plans I have for you, declared the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you; Plans to give you a future and a hope.'

'Thanks, man,' he said. 'I know we just met and we're really just strangers, but I love you.'

'I know,' I said, 'I love you, too.' 'The Lord is good!'

'Yes, He is. How long has it been since someone hugged you?' I asked.

A long time,' he replied

And so on the busy street corner in the drizzling rain, my new friend and I embraced, and I felt deep inside that I had been changed.. He put his things on his back, smiled his winning smile and said, 'See you in the New Jerusalem.'

'I'll be there!' was my reply.

He began his journey again. He headed away with his sign dangling from his bedroll and pack of Bibles. He stopped, turned and said, 'When you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?'

'You bet,' I shouted back, 'God bless.'

'God bless.' And that was the last I saw of him.

Late that evening as I left my office, the wind blew strong. The cold front had settled hard upon the town. I bundled up and hurried to my car. As I sat back and reached for the emergency brake, I saw them... a pair of well-worn brown work gloves neatly laid over the length of the handle. I picked them up and thought of my friend and wondered if his hands would stay warm that night without them.

Then I remembered his words: 'If you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?'

Today his gloves lie on my desk in my office.. They help me to see the world and its people in a new way, and they help me remember those two hours with my unique friend and to pray for his ministry. 'See you in the New Jerusalem,' he said. Yes, Daniel, I know I will...

'I shall pass this way but once. Therefore, any good that I can do or any kindness that I can show, let me do it now, for I shall not pass this way again.'

Me and the doctor today

Went to see the doctor today for myself.

She has a tag-a-long today...a 3 year med student. So I got to do everything twice.

I still retain my cough. I don't worry about that too much. I figure in time it will go away. Since it is now a productive cough, the doctor isn't too concerned either.

She gave me a script for an acid blocker because I'm in constant pain lately and she's concerned that I might be working on an ulcer. (oh fun). To be taken once a day unless it's not working by day three and then I get to double the dose.

She took blood because I'm constantly tired and she'd like to know why. I suspect pain has something to do with that and she agreed but added that I might also have a bleeding ulcer that might be causing the problem as well. (I felt mildly put in my place) LOL

I'll get the joy of doing a barium swallow at some point.

So it's just a case of never ending joy at our house lately. :)

On a positive note:

Justin seems more himself lately as daddy continues to get a bit better.

Jim's BP seems to be pretty good at this point. He continues to monitor it closely. He continues to get tired easily. He's happy that we have dad's exercise bike to use for the winter. 5 minute stretches biking work well at this point. :) And since it's in the living room, I'll use it for a while at night as well.

Dangerous Duty of Delight

As mentioned yesterday, I've started a new book. It's just a small book some 91 pages. It's called "The dangerous Duty of Delight". It is written by John Piper.

In Chapter One I learned the people don't like hearing that it is our DUTY to delight in God.

So if Christian Hedonism is old-fashioned, why is it so controversial? One reason is that it insists that joy is not just a the spin-off of obedience to God, but part of obedience. It seems as though people are willing to let joy be a by-product of our relationship to God, but not an essential part of it. People are uncomfortable saying that we are duty-bound to pursue joy. (p.13)

Joy is part of our obedience to God. :) Isn't that good to hear? We don't have to worry about just enjoying God and his creation and well.....everything about him. We can just enjoy him because we enjoy him.

We can enjoy "doing good" because when we are 'doing good' we are doing it with the purview of God are we not? We, as Christians, do good to others because God wants us to. AND if we enjoy doing it, we are delighting in God.

It's like I enjoy doing the newsletter up for Church. I'm not always the greatest one at it, but it's one of my pleasures each month. And it's a way for me to tangibly serve the body of Christ here. :)

Chapter Two is entitled "Glorify God by Enjoying Him Forever".

In this chapter Piper quoted Lewis

If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of rewards and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered to us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

Boy that made me think.
What am I too easily settling for?
What more could I desire of God?
What more should I aim for?
What joys in the Lord am I missing?

And the thing is...I don't know. Like that child who doesn't understand what pleasures await him at a theme park...I don't know what all pleasures await me with God. I just know that God has a way of making me smile at times.

Last week when I went to visit Jim, I had forgotten a picture that Justin had made for him in the car. When I went back to get it I noticed two things. 1. my lights were on and 2. my keys were locked in the ignition. Fortunately God had planned this out. I had Jim's keys in my pocket so I was able to unlock the door, retrieve the keys and get Justin's picture. The timing of all that just made me smile and say Thanks God. :) These things I see easily. I can enjoy nature and the wonderful variety of all that God has made, but what other joys do I miss?

Started a new book

I'll have to bring it down to get the proper title but it's called something like the duty of delight. I think, but am not sure, that it's a Piper book.

it's just a small book.

it is interesting.

I think it's this one, but I'll double check later. :) oh...and it's the actual book not the audiobook that I'm going through. :)

The first chapter has some interesting lines in it that I'm still mulling over in my head.

But we as Christians are to DELIGHT in our God. it's a duty for us to do so. But not a thing we do because we have to kind of notion, but just like a hug Jim because it's my duty, it's also my delight to do so. Hope that makes sense. :)

Anyways, I have a busy day so I'll have to come back later with quotes and what not. But so far, good read.

The weekend here

So as you know, Jim is home again.

His blood pressure seems to be fairly stable at this point.

He is still easily tired out.

He is managing a brisk walk around the block.

He went to church on Sunday but was exhausted afterwards.

He is hopeful to preach the morning service next Sunday. Just the morning service, not the evening one. We have communion then so it would be important for him to lead that service.

God is gracious to us. :)