A Random Day

 

Since the The Simple Woman’s Day Book post was fun and one reader especially liked it, I thought I might try doing more in that vein.  I took some ideas from others and mixed them with some of my own.  I may keep on doing something like this from time to time.  Hope you enjoy it. :-)

This Morning I like the…
Smell of…fresh air.
Sound of…birds singing outside our living room.
Taste of…a banana, mixed berry, yogurt smoothie.
Sight of…sunshine.
Feel of…a jacket (Yes, it’s actually cool enough to wear a jacket inside this morning, though our weather this December has been unseasonably warm.)

Good Things about Today:

My husband has a job, and he was able to get to it (our own car is in for repairs, so we are borrowing my brother’s.)

I have family nearby whom I hope to visit with later.

Things Already Accomplished Today:

Made a banana, berry, yogurt smoothie. (Bet you didn’t see that one coming.) ;-)  Also fried an egg.

Entered some fabric giveaways online and also discovered some neat quilting blogs.

Let the cat out and petted her briefly.  (She was in one of her weird moods.)

Started working on the laundry – again.

Had my special time with Lord while doing my light therapy.

Created this blog post. :-)

Things that Need to Be Done – Hopefully Today:

Process and can the green enchilada sauce that is in the fridge and freezer.

Dust the house.

Random Photo from My World:

A batch of green tomato enchilada sauce before it was cooked.  Hopefully I’ll get the recipe posted for you all soon.

Quote for Today:

“You’re never safe from surprise till your dead.” – Irene Isenhart

Verse for Today:

Psalms 68:9  Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, whereby thou didst confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary.

 

Random Kitchen Shot and Some Thoughts On Using “Treasures”

Here is a random photo of my kitchen.  This was taken a year or two ago.  It’s before I got my new stove, so I know it was before the fall of 2010 anyway! :-)

A little description might be in order.  As you can see I have a dishwasher (praise the Lord), but I still use a drainer as I do some things by hand.  I also use it for drying fresh fruit and vegetables that I wash. 

The dark hole above the sink is not something out of The Time Zone.  Actually, it was a window before the living room was added.  The people who did this left the opening, put a board on the bottom (apparently for serving food into the living room, as it’s quite wide) and removed the glass panes.  The reason it looks so dark in the living room is that the shades and drapes are all shut (probably it was a hot day – we have a surplus of those in Texas).  The light is coming from the window which is across from the sink.

On the counter I see – coffee grounds waiting to go to the mulch pile, breakfast dishes, milk thawing (we buy ours at Costco and freeze what we can’t use right away), the toaster, a “cookie” jar (that’s the old one that now holds garlic), peanut butter, etc.

Using Those Treasures

Notice the little decorative pitcher up on the window ledge.  That is an “heirloom” from my grandmother.  I use it to water my house plants.  Yes!  You can use heirlooms for something useful! :-)  They don’t need to just sit on a shelf and collect dust – making work for you.

One of my grandmothers was especially bad about saving things for “special” occasions.  Unfortunately, those occasions seldom came and she had little opportunity to enjoy actually using her nice things (and some clothes).  I am trying to learn from that that it is OK to use my nice things and not to just keep them shut away or in the china closet for “special” occasions.  Any occasion can be special if you use a cherished and lovely item! :-) 

Take that little pitcher – I use it and I have the added pleasure of seeing it sitting right on the ledge every day.  Otherwise it would probably be stored in some dark corner out of sight!

These plates I probably only ever saw when my grandparents moved and when we cleaned out their house for the last time.  Isn’t that sad?  They are so nice!  My husband and I use them as everyday plates.  They went very nicely with our “eclectic mix” of blue and white dishes. :-)

Sack Lunch, Brownies and Predestination

One evening last week I had occasion to call a friend of mine. At that hour on a week day I'm usually working on my husband's lunch for the next day. She was cleaning up her kitchen after having made brownies for her husband. So, while we both worked on our projects hundreds of miles apart, we were having a kitchen visit at the same time. The kitchen really is a pleasant place to visit with friends. :-)

In the course of our conversation, she was telling me a bit about her parents' and grandparents' situation at this time. (Her parents are caring for her grandparents in their own home.) Now, her father's family has a Mormon background and not surprisingly, there are hereditary genetic problems in the family. The Mormons have been noted in the past for their intermarriage with close family members (and still are in some instances) and the consequences have been quite devastating and long lasting in some cases.  My friend's extended family is one of those.

However, the thing that was remarkably interesting to me was this:  Of all the members of her father's family who left Mormonism, her father was the only one who became a true Christian. He has showed no signs of the genetic problems that are common in his family. None of his children have either. And, so far none of his grandchildren have. This struck me very much.

I know there are some people who think that predestination and the sovereignty of God are exclusively "Calvinist" teachings and that they are, therefore, somehow not correct. I have seen and heard enough to know that God is sovereign and that He does things based on predestination which is according to foreknowledge, just as the Bible says. (NOTE: If John Calvin gets something correct from the Bible it is not "Calvinism" - it is Biblical!)

1Peter 1:1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

Romans 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

Now, I may be mistaken or proven wrong eventually, but as things stand at this time it is interesting to note in this case that God seems to have been keeping this man from before his birth, knowing in His foreknowledge that he would eventually be saved. God does not always work things this way, but in this case He chose to protect this man and his family from the genetic problems that so easily could have troubled them. Why? I do not know. But, the thing that it shows me so clearly is that God does work according to foreknowledge and predestination. He knew when this man was conceived that he would turn from Mormonism and later from the hippy lifestyle and put his faith in Christ Jesus alone for his salvation. God also knew that he would try to train his own children in the ways of the Lord.  And so, in His mercy, God preserved him and them from the very earliest moments of this man's life!

Psalm 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. 15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which incontinuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

The thing is that this man was not a special case for God's special attention. God makes no mistake. He knew us before we were born, and knew who would come to Him in faith through Christ Jesus. For those of us who believe, He prepared us even then to do His will. This is comfort. This is assurance. This should help us to accept whatever He deemed best for us and give us hope that He has a plan, and did have a plan from the start, regardless of what our "disability" may be.

Psalm 139:17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! 18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.