Saturday, April 24, 2021

Saturday and the Kids Leave

 I slept pretty well last night on the trundle bed. I only woke up one time to go to the bathroom. I woke up shortly before 6:00AM and got up and quietly went into the bathroom and made up my face.  I dressed in the den and then fixed my breakfast and coffee.

The kids will be leaving sometime this morning for Tulsa to catch their plane to Phoenix. I will sure miss them. We have had a great visit and several good meals out. I had fixed a pot of chili but they only ate it once.  I never even fixed the roast. I will freeze it for another day. It's 6:33AM now and they are still sleeping.

In a bit I will go turn on the "weather on the 8's" and see what they can expect for weather to Tulsa for their plane. Earlier, it forecast rain.I don't know if that's still in the forecast or not. This is Kansas and the weather is mostly uncertain.

I fed four cats this morning.Three of then were yellow and then there was Inky. I still haven't seen Scruffie in days. She may be nursing kittens.

More later...  

We had a great visit! The next time they come, they are going to drive. `I have a couple of old computers Keith will rebuild and sell if possible. And Esther will take the china I have given her. I will pack it up in the banker's boxes I have and cushion it with padding.

I cleaned the apartment after they left. My regular cleaning day is Thursday but I definitely was not going to clean while they were here and I had plenty of time after they left. I went out to Sonic and bought a Wacky Pack child's meal of chicken and french fries and a small coke. I was going to have chili but I was out of crackers. I looked at the grocery store but they didn't have the kind I buy. I will get some later.

I tried to call Nancy but no one answered. Same old, same old. The visiting angels would be there today anyhow. My only opportunity to see her now will be Tuesday and Wednesday. This next week it will have to be Tuesday since I have my hair appointment on Wednesday next week and then game day in the afternoon.  

I did go out to Dollar General this morning to get Cran Grape juice and popcorn. The grocery store doesn't carry Cran Grape juice. They don't carry Kerig coffees either. I will have to get those at Walmart, I guess. I still have plenty right now though.

I did some laundry this afternoon...towels, underwear and that kind of thing. I texted most of the congregation too and told them I was looking forward to seeing them at church tomorrow.

More later...

I read most of the evening besides feeding the cats again. Scruff and Blondie and Inky came for supper.

About 7:30PM, I took my bath and put my pjs and robe on. I will go back to my book again until time to go to bed about 9:00PM.

Friday, April 23, 2021

Friday and No Particular Plan

I slept completely though the night last night and woke up at 4:45AM, got up and dressed and tried to go quietly into the bathroom to do my makeup. At one point I dropped my lipstick into my makeup drawer and made a loud noise. I probably woke them up with that. Hopefully they got back to sleep. I crept into the den, dressed and put away the trundle as quietly as possible. I hope they were able to get back to sleep.

I think I will just go into the living room and try to read quietly instead of making my oatmeal and getting my coffee made. It's 5:36AM and I would like not to wake them up any more then I have. Drat! 

They kids got up at their usual time and told  me they did not wake up with the noise I made. 

Keith went out and got some donuts at Casey's ...nothing fancy just glazed donuts. He and I had our oatmeal earlier but Esther wanted some donuts. 

We visited for awhile and I fed the two cats, Inky and Blondie. Later the soft yellow cat I call Scruff came and he ate too.

Later, about 11:30AM, we went to lunch at  Eggbert's. I had my usual honey chicken salad. They had whatever they wanted. In fact, Esther had a late breakfast. Then we went to the Caney market and they had the coffeecake mixes I had ordered and I bought two and some bananas. Then we came back home. 

They took a walk while I worked on this blog. It's 1:25PM now. It's been a fast day. Half of it is over now. Mainly we have been visiting. We had eaten our leftover Mexican food for lunch. I read all afternoon and when they got back from their walk we watched TV. This evening I popped my last bag of popcorn and we each ate some of it.

I finally fed Inky and Blondie and finally Scruff. I never did see Scruffie again this week. She must be nursing kittens.

At 7:00PM, I took my bath and put my PJs on and my robe. 

We watched some more TV until they were ready to go to bed at 9:00PM. They leave in the morning to fly home. We have had a wonderful visit and did a lot of fun things.

 

Thursday, April 22, 2021

Thursday and Their Anniversary


Today is Keith and Esther’s Anniversary. Once again I slept well on the trundle.I dressed and snuck into the bedroom to the bathroom and made up my face and combed my hair.  Then I fixed my oatmeal and breakfast bar. I am now working on my coffee. It is 6:51AM…the latest I have slept for awhile.

I had an e-mail from Dean. He thinks he is back to “normal” again and wants to think about coming to visit me again. Last year on a trip back from Houston where he visited relatives, he had a heart episode and instead of stopping here he went on back home to Topeka. Rod, his son, called 911 and he went to the hospital where he had four stints put in his heart. That made six or eight, I think. I would like to visit with him but I am a little leery of his heart. He is 85 too…a couple of weeks younger then me. I advised him to consult with Rod…and perhaps his doctor.

We will go to Myrtle’s Market here in Caney today so Esther can look around. Then we will stop at that big place on the highway and look around there too. But first they will have to get up and dress and have their breakfast. They are later sleepers that I am. Esther slept until 9:30AM yesterday. Keith was up earlier….but not as early as me.

More later…I want to go watch the “weather on the 8’s” now and check on the cats. I did both.

Then after Keith got up I fixed him some oatmeal too. Later we drove around Caney and looked at houses that were in good shape and some that were in terrible shape. We stopped at Myrtle’s Market and Esther looked around. Then we were to the other store on the highway and she browsed some more. She bought a couple of things at both stores.

Then we stopped at Sonic and had a light lunch and then came back home so the kids could get a small nap.

About 3:15PM we went to Independence and once again looked around at the houses there too. We looked through four or five antique stores there too before we finally went by the restaurant and got a table. When John came we waited for Leslie before we all ordered. We had fine dinner and then hugged and came back home. The cats were waiting for supper so I fed them again. Then we watched TV until I took my bath and got ready for bed. Then they did the same thing. They were very tired too.


Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Wednesday and A Good Visit

 I slept well on the trundle bed. I only woke up once with cramps in my feet. I got up and walked around a bit and they finally worked out. That was sometime in the middle of the night.

We had a good visit yesterday and did some reminiscing about past events. The kids are so well suited. They will be celebrating their anniversary tomorrow. We plan to meet John and Leslie tomorrow at the Railroad Inn in Independence at 6:15PM  for dinner. Yesterday we had a late lunch at the Mexican restaurant in downtown Caney. They had not eaten when they got here yesterday afternoon. I had only had a banana. 

It is 5:43AM now. I sneaked in quietly to the bathroom this morning when I woke up. I had brought my change of clothing in the den and had dressed in there. But I brushed my teeth and made up my face as quietly as possible around 5:00AM. I don't know how long they will sleep but I will try to wait for them to wake up and get up to fix breakfast. I think it's about 40 degrees this morning. I did turn up the heat a little while ago.

I think I will go read...More later...

I read on my book for an hour or so and then I had my breakfast and coffee. The kids got up and I fixed them some too. After awhile they wanted to go to lunch  and wanted to go to Eggbert's at Coffeyville. Esther wanted to go to the antique mall over there and look around. So we did that. 

Then John called and wanted Keith and Esther to come out and shoot with him. So we  went to their house and they both took his new guns and went first to see the kennel and then after that to target shoot. I stayed at their home because the wind was blowing and I have sinus trouble in the wind...allergies big time. 

Then after they came back we visited for awhile before we came back home and they ate some of that chili with crackers and cheese.

While they were eating, I came in to work on catching up the blog.

More later...

We watched some PBS and I read on my book later...I went to bed fairly early and so did they. It had been a very busy day.

.

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Tuesday and Keith and Esther Come

I slept well last night. I was very tired. The kids will be here sometime this afternoon. Their plane leaves Phoenix at 6:30AM this morning and gets into Tulsa at 11:30AM. They must have a big layover somewhere along the way.

I remade my bed this morning with clean sheets. In a little while I will start the washer. I will sleep on the daybed trundle and the kids will sleep in my bed.

I have had my breakfast bar and am eating my oatmeal now. I am also working on my coffee.  I don't think Keith drinks coffee. I am not sure about Esther. She may.

I will fix chili today for this evening's supper.They will eat lunch before coming on to Caney.

More later. I want to go check out "the weather on the 8's". Eventually I may check out the cats too...when it gets light. 

I have had my Chai now and have watched the  weather too. They are forecast a freeze today, tonight and tomorrow. temperatures in the 20's...weird! I will have to cover my new bulbs and the dusty miller or I may lose it. Last time this happened last year I covered everything with an old sheet. I may have to do that this time too.

I haven't checked on the cats yet. It's still dark out there.

It's 7:35AM now and only Blondie and Inky came for breakfast.  I checked earlier and there  were no cats out there. It is 42 degrees out there now but we are forecast for a freeze.

In fact, I have covered my flowerbed. I just planted lily bulbs and they need to be protected. I also have last year's dusty miller still growing out there. I hope everything makes it through the freeze.  I never plant bedding plants until the last week in April. I hope that will not be too early this year.

I see Scruff is out there now.That's Scruffie's cat from her second litter. I don't see Scruffie out there yet. She wasn't welcomed out there yesterday so she may not come back. 

I got my chili finished and it is cooling now. I have put it in a Corning Ware dish and when it is cool I will put it in the frig. I went out to Dollar General and bought a few things today. I needed some contact cleaner and some bubble bath. 

I see the trash collecting person came back for my trash container. He passed me up earlier.  I braved the elements and went out to bring it up to the house.

It has been snowing for an hour or so. April 20th is pretty late for snow. Thank goodness I covered my plants this morning. I hope they are not hurt by the cold. It is 36 degrees out there now and it's only 10:46AM. 

It's 1:28PM now and I have watched the recording of Bull and also read since then. I haven't had lunch yet but I am not hungry. I had an ice cream bar earlier. I think I will just wait until supper. I have one banana left and I can eat that to hold me over.

About 2:39PM my kids came. We visited for awhile but then they had not eaten so we went to the local Mexican restaurant and had dinner. After dinner, Esther bought us a flurry from Mr. G's. I was stuffed and could not eat anything else the rest of the day.

We visited all afternoon and Keith went through my Tivo and cleaned it up.

About 9:00PM, I took my bath and put my pjs on and robe and went into the den to check my e-mail.

It's10:00PM now and I probably should go to bed. It has been a long day.

 

Monday, April 19, 2021

Monday and A Hair Appointment

 I slept fairly well last night. I still got up at 5:00AM though.  I also had no internet this morning so I rebooted the computers because that usually does it but I finally had to reboot the router to get it. I don't know why that happened but it did. 

I have had my breakfast and coffee and even chai latte. 

And amazingly, a slim and trim Scruffie was back when I opened the door. Also Inky and Blondie were there but they won't let Scruffie eat yet. I have no idea where she has been all this time and I have no idea where her kittens are either or even if they are alive. They may have chased her away. They are finished eating now but she must be gone.

I changed my hair appointment till today because Keith and Esther will be here sometime tomorrow and I don't want them to have to deal with my hair appointment on Wednesday. The appointment today is at 8:30AM and it is only 6:49AM now so I have some time. I will leave here at 7:45AM because I want to go to the bank too and get some cash. 

More later...I want to check on Scruffie...


No photo description available. 

The other cats don't want to let her eat so finally I just had to bring the bowls in. It's been awhile since they have seen her...even if she is their mother.

I got over to Coffeyville in time to buy gas at Woodshed and go to the bank.Then I went to get my hair done. After that I came back home, picked up Kim's gift, called Johnna and took the gift to Neodesha. Kim was there looking after her mom, who had had hernia surgery. I didn't stay. The teenager is supposed to come this afternoon or this evening after school and mow for me. I wanted to be sure to be here to pay her.

I had the rest of my fish for lunch. I saved most of the Okra for later. 

More later..

I decided to see if I could still mow at all. I mowed the front yard and emptied the bag. I think that's about all I'm up to now. The girl will be here about 5:15PM to finish. I feel pretty good about being able to do the front. I imagine I could do the back later on but I don't want to push myself.  I know I couldn't manage the west side anyhow. I will just let her do it. It's only 2:56PM now. 

More later...


May be an image of grass and tree 

Just curious if I could still mow at all. I got the front yard finished before I stopped.


May be an image of tree and grass 

I decided I'd better let the teenager finish. She will be here shortly after 5:15PM to mow the back and the west side. I was surprised I was still able to do the front.

She got it finished and I paid her.

Then I read all afternoon until the CBS news came on. I watched that and then took my bath at 7:00PM and then read some more until 9:00 PM when I went to bed.

 

Sunday, April 18, 2021

Sunday and the Sermon

 This afternoon here is today's sermon:

 

Proclaim Repentance and Forgiveness of Sins

April 18th 2021

Luke 24: 36b-49

And

Romans 2:1-16

Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ”peace be with you. They were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, see that it is I myself. Touch me and see, for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence. 

Then he said to them “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you- that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled.”  Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised, so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

(Romans 2: 1-16)

Therefore we have no excuse, whoever we are, when we judge others, for in passing judgement on another we condemn ourselves, because we judge, we are doing the very same things  Do we imagine, whoever we are, that when we judge those who do things  we consider ungodly we are doing them ourselves. Do we not realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead us to repentance?

For it is not the hears of the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but the doers of the law that will be justified.

In this precious last moment the disciples have with Jesus, Jesus says “repentance and forgiveness of sin is to be proclaimed.”

And I am curious about this word repentance.

Repentance has been part of movements of fear and manipulation. It has been used to shame and to control.    

But setting aside these negative connotations I want to invite you to a more biblical understanding of repentance. For Isaiah calls to us from the past, with the message from God that “in repentance and rest …you shall be saved. In quietness and trust shall be your strength.”

The Hebrew word for repentance literally means “to return” It acknowledges that to be judgmental is sin…to stray from the presence of God and that repentance is a returning.

Repentance is not earning of forgiveness by feeling bad or sorry enough.

These are the tactics we’ve learned work with one another. But this is not what God is asking of us.

Biblical repentance is a “returning”. Repentance literally means “the way back”.

What it is meant to do is to invite us to consider ourselves once again with an attitude of honesty and humility before God and one another.

And so we come together, all in this same boat of having missed the mark., all in this same boat of sin in the things we have done and left undone, in words we have said and words we have left unsaid, in disobedience to the Spirit of God, in wanting to control and direct our own lives, in the ways we have treated one another and ourselves. We come together, not alone.  We hold one another up to the light – not as different from ourselves, but as similar to us for even though our particular sins vary, our sinful state does not. As Paul makes pains to communicate in his letter to the Romans, “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”

This statement from Paul comes quite suddenly and unexpectedly. Paul begins in Romans chapter one by talking about “them.” We can imagine the whole crowd nodding in agreement. Certainly God condemns those people who we all agree are clearly sinners.

But then in a most striking turn he says,

Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others, for in passing judgement on another, you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things.

Paul has set them up. Knowing the secret judgements of our hearts, Paul gets us all in the judgement seat, as he lists sinner after sinner, talking about how wrong “they” are.

And then when no one expects it,  out of the blue  Paul concludes by saying, “YOU” are without excuse, whoever you are. YOU.

Everyone thought they were just agreeing with Paul about other people’s sins. They think, “Why has Paul turned this on us? As though WE are the sinners.  

Paul is making the point that ALL are sinners. Paul is making the point that none of us can rightly stand in the judgement seat. Paul is teaching what Jesus taught that day he drew in the sand while accuser after accuser dropped their stones and left the woman they had dragged out to be stoned for adultery. None among them were without sin. So as Jesus said “let he among you without sin throw the first stone” and all fell away, except Jesus, the only one without sin.

Paul is catching us all red handed as we judge and condemn one another, by saying…

“You are no different”.

That is a bold and risky thing to say.  Perhaps it was good Paul’s message was delivered by letter and not in person…This may explain part of why he was beaten within an inch of his life on more than one occasion. To equate known  sinners with those society deemed good and upright people?

So, I invite you today to imagine yourself in the crowd that day , listening to Paul’s letter.

Then think how do we feel when he then says “Therefore YOU are without excuse.”

Personally I would feel like saying “Who? Me?” I think I would have been looking around, wondering who he thought he was talking to. I am the one who showed up. I am the one listening to his letter being read in the first place. I am seeking knowledge and understanding. I AM seeking God.

YOU? We think… That must be a typo.

But no, it isn’t a typo.

The whole point of listing out all of ”those people” was to show these people, and to show US, that WE are no different from the folks we all agree are sinners.  

The folks we ignore and isolate.

The folks we do not like and avoid.

WE are no different.

I cannot express how offensive this must have felt – if you let it sink in, you may well feel offended – but Paul says it anyway Paul echoes Jesus in saying that any among us without sin can throw the first stone at another. Paul, who himself had zealously followed after God all his life, knew that even among “the best” of them, they live in sin and evil and brokenness.

And Paul needed to get their attention OFF their neighbors and back on THEMSELVES.

As long as they were busy comparing their sins to others, they could feel better about themselves. But Paul makes the point that this is NOT how God measures our righteousness.

OUR righteousness is measured by God’s righteousness.  Our righteousness is measured beside Jesus’ . And, of course,  WE ALL fall short of the glory of GOD. We ALL miss the mark.

We can no longer take comfort in the ranking ourselves beside what we see as sin in one another. There is no truth in thinking we are better than others. For we are all alike before God.

It took me awhile to learn this lesson. I learned that if we neglect to forgive those we feel have wronged us, the only person really hurt is ourselves. That grudge we hold against another will eat at us ..it will over time poison us. It is essential that we forgive those we feel have wronged us. That forgiveness is the essential part of repentance.

As long as we are focused on others, we will not see the truth about ourselves.

The truth that we are beautifully and intentionally created by God and that God called us good.

The truth that we have been blessed to overflowing, in more ways that we can count.

The truth that we are loved and cherished by God.

AND the truth that no one of us is really deserving of this love.

The truth that left on our own, we tend to be full of darkness too.

The truth that we each sin and screw up time and again, and that it doesn’t matter if someone else’s screw up seems bigger. We are all screw ups from time to time, sin is sin, and when we neglect to forgive others whom we feel have wronged us, we have missed the mark.

In our honesty 

In the humbling of ourselves

In our returning our gaze OFF others and back on ourselves.

Why? Because we have heard and we believe that God knows us inside and out, just as we are, remembers we are made of dust, and loves us anyway.   And so we repent to receive forgiveness not only from others but also from ourselves.

May our lives shine with the light that comes only when we know because we have repented, we have been forgiven.

And may we extend that same light to everyone else.