Rambling Thursdays

             



      Day of the Melting Eyes

I wore glasses since I was in the 3rd grade, so they are as natural as the nose on my face. I’ve never been interested in laser surgery and don’t like contacts, so I’ve always been content with glasses. I love picking out a new pair. I just don’t enjoy spending my hard earned money to do it!

And for me it’s quite pricey.  I’m very near sighted. Which means everything is a blur without them. I could hurt myself without them on my nose.  Coke bottom glasses aren’t cheap. 

I have to get special lenses with bifocals and of course I need the sunglasses built in. The clip ons are a pain to keep track of. I have trouble enough with my keys? 

I usually go to the local eye doctor whom I love because he takes his time and is just a nice guy who truly cares about his patients. But, his glasses are so expensive. Over the years, the price has increased to the point where I’ve gone for a exam just to get my prescription so I can order online. 

But I’ve not been happy with this either. So, my husband who has never wore glasses in his life, poor soul, is starting to feel the effects of aging. 

He resorts to reading glasses. Lots of reading glasses! Kind of like Fred Sanford.

Yes this is exaggerating just a bit, but it’s close to the truth. Wherever we go, he keeps a pair in his pocket. And there are glasses scattered around the house.

Lord forbid he forgets his glasses! This means I’ll have to read to him. And usually it entails a trip to the nearby store to buy another pack. I know what you may be thinking...Yes he can drive. He can read the signs and avoid oncoming traffic. He just can’t read whatever is up close. 

I tried for a few years to convince him to get “real” glasses, but to no avail. So the reading glasses saga continued. 

Gradually his eyesight became a concern and finally he broke down.  We both went to a Walmart for our exams and new glasses. Because it is cheaper. 

Immediately I didn’t like the Doctor. He was impersonal and impatient; nothing like my comfortable local Doctor. This is the moment our day went off the tracks. 

The trouble started when he asked if he could give me a eye drop to dilate my eyes. I shrugged and said sure. My local Doctor has done this many times. It wasn’t a big deal. 

He quickly drops the liquid in and hands me a set of weird looking glasses wrapped in plastic. 

You may need this later.

Okaayy. Whatever. I threw them in the trash. My husband, (I’ll call him P from now on), was the next victim, uh patient. 

Well, we finished up and since we needed groceries, we grabbed a cart and started in produce. I began to notice something bizarre was happening with my vision. The lights looked weird, everything looked foggy, and then P said the same thing. 

From then it was an adventure to say the least. We couldn’t see! I literally had to hold items up to my face to know what I was buying. We almost bumped into people, stacks of food. We clung to the cart and to each other. It was like the blind leading the blind down the crowed isles. 

Miraculously we made it to a checkout lane. We fumbled around, set the groceries on the belt, somehow paid and started for the door. It was then the horror of our situation hit us squarely in the eyes. 

It was a bright sunny winter day. I don’t think intense would describe the effect of the sun. It was a piercing fire that set our eyes ablaze. P covered his eyes. I had sunglasses, (Transitions), but it seemed feeble to protect against the raging rays. 

The car seemed a mile away, as we stumped along, in our befuddled state.  I can only imagine what people thought as they looked at us. Through our squinted eyes, we found the car, threw the groceries in and fell in. 

P was moaning by this point. He had no sunglasses, (he threw his plastic ones away too). We originally planned to eat out. We were hungry and about a hour away from home. So we decided to eat and perhaps the effects of the industrial strength liquid would wear off. 

But a new problem ensued.  He couldn’t see. He tried to get out of the parking lot, but it just wasn’t happening without us wrecking or killing ourselves. So I got behind the wheel, with my sunglasses I could see better. 

We arrived at Cracker Barrel without an incident and sat down in relief. Out of the horrible glare of the sun. 

Reading the menu was out of the question for P.  I was having trouble too.  The waitress walked up and he quickly asked if they have large print menus. 

Yes we have those. Do you want one? I’ll go get one. 

She brings him a braille menu. 

The moral of my story? If you both go for an eye exam, one of you has to drive home. Both of you can’t be under the influence of the dreaded dilated eye drops. Be the designated driver. And always, always keep the plastic sunglasses! 

Have a great weekend!


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Five Secrets of the Potter

“Yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.” Isaiah 64:8

                    

                    Five secrets of the Potter:

1. The clay needs to be prepared.

The clay needs to be kneaded and pressed together to remove air bubbles, little pebbles, etc... If these aren’t worked out of the clay it will compromise the integrity of the finished vessel. The clay has to be pure and clean so it will be a strong vessel. 

The kneading process isn’t a pleasant one but necessary for the integrity of our character. The strength of our character is so important when He is using us to minister to others. If we have not surrendered to His workings, it will show up eventually, because it weakens us. 

Making a clay pot takes a matter of days, but to make a vessel of honor is a life-long process. Our Potter is patient and faithful to His great and beautiful work, i.e. YOU. He will not cast you aside in frustration. He loves you too much to give up on you. 

 2. The Potter has a master plan.

As the clay is being formed, the Potter has a master-plan. And He brings that to life in the clay. A visitor to the Potter’s house sees a shapeless mass of clay.

 What can You make with that? 

Oh, I’m making a beautiful serving dish out of this one.

Really? Out of that? 

And the Potter does just that with that shapeless clay. He sees something beautiful. In Ephesians 2:10, it says “that we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” 

The word workmanship in the Greek means poiema. It’s where we get the word poem. We are literally His work of art. His masterpiece. 

I’ve stood on the edge of the Grand Canyon at sunrise. It was amazing and surreal. I stood in wonder at my marvelous God and His beautiful works. But as beautiful as all this is, did you know that you are His greatest work? 

You are His vessel of honor. You are a carrier of His anointing, His presence. When people see the beautiful work He has wrought in you, they can’t help but praise the Potter. His fingerprints are all over your life. You reflect His loving touch. 

3. The Potter achieves His purpose by the means of the wheels.

In ancient days, the Potter would spin the top wheel by his feet turning the bottom wheel. As the wheels turn, His hands hold the clay steady and begins to shape it. He shapes it here, presses it, pulls it up, and alters the shape. 

The wheels are the times of our lives. The circumstances, events, experiences, it’s what turns the wheels. 

As the wheels turn, our lives are in motion. His hands, those steady,  loving hands holds us steady as we press into Him. And He shapes us through all the times of our lives. The good, the bad and the ugly, through it all He is making something beautiful. 

But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, "You are my God."  My times are in your hands; Psalm 31:14-15 

4. The clay needs to be centered on the wheel.

The Potter doesn’t take the clay and just slap it anywhere on the wheel. It has to be centered. Otherwise as the wheels turn, it will rip and tear the clay. As long as the clay is in the true center, the wheels can turn even at a dizzying pace, the clay will stay steady and easily shaped. 

This life can do a number on us. The wheels can stagger us if we aren’t centered on Jesus. There is so much that can distract and pull us away from Him. We need desperately to be anchored in Him. We need to be in the Word. Let the wheels spin, we won’t be shaken! He’s got the wheels and He’s got us!

5. The Potter is able to reshape and remake us.

Do you feel yourself to be a failure? Is your life a disappointment? Do you think it’s too late for you? 

Our Potter is a God of restoration. There is no clay beyond hope. I can testify to that. I wouldn’t be writing this now if not for God’s touch in my life. Believe me, I’ve felt myself to be a disappointment. It’s too late for me. But I was wrong. He did not abandon the work of His hands. He has done something beyond what I could have imagined. 

Don’t you disqualify yourself! You have not been shaped to sit on the dusty shelf. This brings us to the most important part of the process: Yielding to His touch in our lives. 

“You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, "He did not make me"? Can the pot say of the potter, "He knows nothing"?  Isaiah 29:16

We don’t always understand His purpose, His plan for us. We may even fight against His hands. Dear beloved sister, trust Him. Rest in His hands. He knows the end from the beginning. 

I don’t know what He saw in me. This shapeless mass of clay. I don’t understand why He chose me, picked me up and shaped me. But He did. He did it because He loves me and thinks I’m beautiful. Do you believe that about yourself? I don’t exactly find it easy to believe it myself. But it is true. 

He has made a beautiful vessel out of you and He longs to pick you up and pour you out to minister to others. Rest in His hands, yield to His touch and you will be amazed at what He will wrought in you.  


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Rambling Thursdays

The Frozen Diet

Need to lose some weight? I recently read about a new way to lose those extra unwanted pounds. It sounds much easier than Zumba, starving, lifting dumbbells, and anything else that would require strenuous activity. 

Just freeze the weight off. Yes, you heard correctly. Scientist Ray Cronise deducted that regularly exposing yourself to cold temperatures burns calories quickly. He conducted an experiment on himself, doing a regimen of cold showers, shirtless walks in winter, sleeping without blankets or sheets, and keeping the indoor temperature in the 50 degree range. 

He lost 26 pounds in six weeks. Wow, and to think all this time all I had to do was go outside in the winter in a bathing suit, (I do have close neighbors, shirtless would not do), and sleep without a blanket! 

I’ve lost about 30 pounds in the last year or so, but I also changed jobs and am on my feet now. I eat more veggies and fruit. I’ve always been an active person. But this intrigues me. 

Could I do this regimen? I don’t know. My brother is part of a beard club and every winter they do a polar plunge into a lake. They cut a portion of ice open and in they go. Now I would be tempted to try that. I think I could do it. It’s just a quick shock to the system and then you’re wrapped in a towel and whisked off for a scalding cup of coffee. 

Cold showers?? I don’t know about that. After all it isn’t a quick deal is it? I have to wash my hair. And then there is the shaving issue. No I don’t think I could do that one. Perhaps a couple of quick glacial showers a week? Hmmm. I’ll have to think about that. 

Sleeping without blankets or sheets? Ohh that’s a blog in itself! That has been a continuous battle of our marriage. My husband is always cold. He piles blankets on top of himself. I don’t mind a blanket and comforter, but the fan better be pointed on me. And believe me, there is a fine line I cannot cross with the direction of the blowing air. It’s a tense situation every night. But we are doing fine after 25+ years.

Even when I have night sweats, yes I just dated myself, still I need a sheet over myself. It makes me feel secure to be covered up. So no I don’t see that working for me. 

The walking outside shirtless we’ve already covered. (I just made a funny!) Here in Indiana, we have had three brutal winters. I’m not a fan of winter. It wouldn’t hurt my feelings to never see a flake of snow ever again. I especially get weary of putting on coats, boots, trying to find gloves and ear muffs. Do without all these? Go outside in frigid temps without a coat or hat? 

Perhaps I could do it for a few minutes a day. Go stand in the middle of the driveway with just my t-shirt and shorts. My husband would probably be okay with it, just as long as I don’t cross the fine line with the fan. But the neighbors would gaze out the window and think I’ve lost my marbles. Next day over the mailbox, they would look at me with pity and ask those probing questions. No I wouldn’t want to make them feel uncomfortable. 

That leaves keeping the house in the 50’s. I’ve already talked about the issue with the fan right? If I suggested turning the heat down, my fan privileges could be in jeopardy.  I wouldn’t mind sitting around in a sweater and maybe a blanket, I do this anyway in the winter, but my husband is a firm shorts and t-shirts guy. Rarely have I ever seen him in sweatpants.  I foresee trouble in the kingdom here. 

So there you have it. This just would not work for me. I’ll continue on with my normal lifestyle and hope for the best, thank you. If you feel so inclined, I wish you luck. Just don’t tell anyone where you got the info. I’m not going to be the bad influence here! 

Have a good weekend. I hope you all are staying cool in the August heat! 



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It's all about the approach, Pt 2

Two men, two desperate needs, two approaches to God. 

Proud Naaman with leprosy. His preconceived ideas how he should be healed. Humbled in the end as he went down to the Jordan to wash. Transformed, a different man, God rocked his world. 

The Centurion, his servant dying, didn’t feel worthy to even approach Jesus. Instead sent the Jewish elders to plead on his behalf. They told Jesus this Centurion deserved to have you do this. After all he has given money to the church. He is a powerful, influential man. 

Jesus comes. Not far from the house, the Centurion sent friends to tell Jesus, "Lord, don't trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."

Jesus marvels at his faith, turns to the crowd, "I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel." 

There is only one other place where He marvels. It was in His hometown when He tried to work miracles among them and was unable to because of their lack of faith. The Word says He marveled at their unbelief. 

Does he marvel at my unbelief or faith? Will I trust Him? Lord help my unbelief. 

The Centurion said, “Just say the word and it will be done”. Naaman questioned God, fussed, argued and finally rode off in a rage. In the end he was humbled and healed.

The Centurion was already a humble man who didn’t feel worthy to even have Jesus step in His house. 

His sweet heart stirs me. Just say the Word, and it will be done.

I don’t feel worthy Lord, but I’m reaching out to You. Just like the woman with the issue of blood, who crawled through the crowd to touch the hem of Your garment. Like blind Bartemanes yelling to You through the taunting crowd who told him to shut up. Like the lepers reaching out to touch You with scarred, scaled hands. 

They reached out with a simple faith. Not a long elaborate prayer. Not posturing. No fancy formulas. No referring to “5 steps to get your prayer answered.” Just say the Word Lord, and it will be done. 

This is what makes you marvel. Not who we are, or our social status, how gifted we are.

It’s our faith, our trust in You even in our deepest need, our rawest pain. 

So how do we approach God? 

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:15-16

In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. Ephesians 3:12

The word confidence in the Greek means freedom to say all. Can you speak freely to just anyone about your deepest needs, hurts, weaknesses, and struggles? Probably not!

You and I have an audience with the King of Kings. An invitation into the Holy of Holies. We don’t have to creep in, fearful, hoping that we will be heard. 

Oh no! He implores us to come to Him. He is acquainted with our weaknesses. He not only hears us as we share our hearts. He cares and He will give us the Grace we need. 

Dear Sister, do you have a deep need? Are you hurting, struggling? Step confidently into the throne room. Tell it to Jesus. 

Here is the hymn. Sing and enjoy. 

https://youtu.be/zIKQU-yFcLo

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It's all about the approach. Pt 1

Two men. Each with a desperate need. Each reaching out to God, but each with a different approach. 

Naaman of 2nd Kings 5 was a military commander, proud, wealthy, accomplished, high up on the social ring. Yet he was a leper. 

That could be a serious problem when your life is all about keeping up appearances. 

He approached God with preconceived ideas on how the healing would happen. The Syrian celebrity shows up at Elisha’s house with his entourage, hoping to impress. 

His pride was wounded when Elisha sent out his servant with God’s instructions to wash in the Jordan river seven times. He argued and fussed,  "I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed?" He finally rode off in a rage. 

Don’t we do this sometimes? We have our own ideas on how God is going to answer. Surely He’ll do it this way?  You can make a list of all the ways you believe He will answer, but you might as well tear that list up and throw it away. Because He won’t answer in any of those ways. 

He’ll blow up that list and do it in a way beyond what you can ask or imagine. Just to show He is God! He has more in mind than just answering your prayer. Something more deeper.

One of Naaman’s groupies finally talked sense into him and Naaman went down to the river, washed and he was completely healed. 

Naaman was all about getting his prayer answered. Nothing less, nothing more. Just heal me and let me be. But God was all about, “I’m going to rock your world!” Yes, his prayer was answered, but he was humbled. His life was transformed. He left the Jordan completely different. 

You know, there have been times in my life when I was desperate for a prayer to be answered. It was all about getting the prayer answered. I was there a year ago January. I was informed that I was being transferred out of the office and in fact would be cleaning the offices. 

I was really angry, my pride was wounded and I prayed desperately for God to intervene. Please Lord, change their hearts, let me stay in my position, change my situation. It became the center of my life. It was all I thought about. 

I kept praying and seeking His face. In time, I began to change. My anger lessened, I surrendered to His will, and I even forgave. I don’t like my job so much, I wouldn’t say I’m completely happy. But I am content. Does that make any sense? I don’t know how to explain it better to you. 

In the past year, I have changed for the better. I have a new passion for Jesus. I’ve mined deeper in the Word. In fact I’ve had new doors of ministry open to me. Blogging is one of those doors. I’ve had opportunities to preach. It’s been more than I expected for sure. 

Bottom line....He has my heart like He didn’t have it before. I needed to change, to surrender. That is ultimately what He wants. He loves us way too much to answer our pleas and leave us the way we are. 

Beloved sister are you questioning Him? Are you fighting against His hands? Do you trust Him to know what is best? Tough questions I know. 

Know this....you are cherished and loved so much by your Heavenly Father. In the end whatever the outcome, you will see His faithfulness in your life. You will end up a beautiful vessel. 

Next week we will look at the Centurion who approached Jesus with a desperate need. 


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Rambling Thursdays

It’s fruit picking time here in my neck of the woods. And boy are they fruitful right now! 

Even as a kid, I always enjoyed picking fruit. There was a blueberry patch not far from the old home place and Mom would enlist us as her helpers every year. There would be an assortment of belts to choose from. All sizes and shapes. These would be our harnesses for our buckets. We would range up and down the blueberry isles picking the blue beauties. 

Of course tasting a few, (or more) is required. You could hear the voices of unseen fellow pickers a few isles over. I just loved it! Still do. 

My daughter-in-law and I went on Monday to Southwest Michigan to pick blueberries, (her first time) and bought sweet cherries and raspberries. There’s just something about Michigan fruit. Not sure what it is. Perhaps the “lake effect” from Lake Michigan. 

If you aren’t familiar with the “Lake effect” and what that means, believe me it has quite the effect! Especially in the grips of winter. Lake effect means snow. It’s a snow machine that generates the stuff and throws it all over Southwest Michigan and down into Indiana. 

So it has to contribute to the fruit that just grows in abundance there. I know it contributes to the humidity that does a frizzy number on my hair every summer. 

Right now it’s the season for blueberries, sweet cherries, tart cherries, and raspberries. I put some blueberries in the freezer. I love them in pancakes, on my yogurt and by the handful. I have a recipe for Blueberry Buckle that I love to make. It’s like a coffee cake. I put the required three cups in a freezer bag so I can make it through the winter. Here’s the recipe:

Blueberry Buckle

2 cups flour

2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

3/4 cup Sugar

1/2 stick Butter

1 Egg

1 tsp Vanilla

1/2 cup Milk

2 cups Blueberries

Topping

1/3 cup Sugar

1/3 cup Flour

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) Butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix the topping until it’s crumbly, set aside.

Blend the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. In a large bowl cream the sugar, butter, egg and vanilla. Alternately add the milk and flour mixture to the creamed mixture ending with flour. Stir in the berries. Pour in cake pan. Sprinkle topping on top and bake 40-45 minutes. 

Soon the peaches will be ready. There’s nothing like a fuzzy, sweet, juicy peach. Not sure how many more adjectives I can add here. It’s just plain heavenly. 

But it can be dicey every spring to see what survives the winters here. Or any late frosts that damages the crops. Last year there was a late frost that destroyed the peaches. The only peaches we could get was from Illinois. They were very pricy. Which bummed me out because I so wanted to can some. Perhaps later I’ll give you my recipe for canned peaches. There’s nothing like opening a can of peaches that you labored over in the middle of winter. Believe me it doesn’t even compare to a store bought. 

In a few weeks I’ll be very busy canning peaches. Yes, it is work, but satisfying. 

So what fruit is ready in your part of the country? Do you put it up for the winter? 

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                                               The Attack of the Skinny Jeans!!

So I have a theory, an observation I came across last week. You don’t wear skinny jeans to help move or to do any physical activity of any kind. I mean come on girls! 

I’m sure many of you heard about unfortunate girl from Australia who was helping a friend move and ended up in a hospital getting those skinny jeans cut off. Her legs and feet were so numb she could not walk properly.

The woman said she was unable to stand up after falling because of the temporary paralysis and swelling. 

It took four days of bed rest and IV fluids in the hospital before she was mobile again. Doctors say she was fortunate that she had emergency intervention before the condition damaged her kidneys.

Now shouldn’t this be a no brainer? If I wore skinny jeans, I would probably traumatize those who unfortunately laid their eyes on me. I just won’t go there. 

I don’t wear skinny jeans, because well, I’m not skinny! I probably couldn’t get them much past my knees much less my expansive hips. And if miraculously I did get them on, I would probably end up in a clinic getting them cut off! 

Shopping for new jeans will probably be in the near future for me. I’ve lost some weight and my current ones are rather loose. I really don’t relish trying on new ones. I’m tall, long waisted and big hipped. It can be a challenge. All of my friends have unique challenges when it comes to jeans. I used to bemoan my body issues, until I went shopping with some of them. After seeing what they go through, I don’t complain anymore.

One of my friends has a daughter-in-law who wears a zero.  Yes, you read right and yes I did a double take as well. I never wore a zero in my entire life! This same girl though one day forgot to eat. Forgot to eat! Who does that??? 

For you younger gals, way back in the day jeans used to fit far above your waist. Now they sit at your waist, or below. I don’t mind the “sit at the waist” jeans at all. But the problem is finding one that sits at my waist. What inevitably happens is they sit too low, (long waist issue) then a muffin top ensues.  

I feel like I need to hike them up all the time. And Lord help me when I sit down. Yes, it’s a challenge. This is the reason I never buy jeans online. 

It’s crazy isn’t it? You can line up 10 pairs of jeans, all the same size and they will all fit differently. Then it involves pulling them up, zipping them up, and peering in the wrap-around mirrors. That way you get the effect of what people see behind you. After all the back end view is so important! I just don’t relish the experience. 

Then if you do find a pair, better enjoy them because you’ll never find that same pair ever again! As soon as you leave the store, Bam, it’s out of style and will never be made again. 

Anyway, I’m sure you all can relate. I wish you all well on your endeavor to find the perfect jeans. 

So are you searching for any new jeans? 


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