Healing Service

Hello, We had a prayer service for the healing of the nations. It was very meaningful to me. In the course of that service, we put candles on a map of the world. We chose a country that we wanted to pray for peace and the wellbeing of the citizenry. A part of me wonders where God is in all of this unrest, killing, and violence. There were several countries listed in the hand out. The number of killed and number of refugees was listed. It is so awful to see the number of people who are unsafe in their own country. Apparently, the number of refugees is higher than it has ever been. So many countries close their doors and do not give help to the needy. The refugee status became personal when we sponsored a refugee family from Laos back in the early 80’s. They came into our house with the clothes on their backs and one small suitcase for three people. Besides fear they had few resources. The woman told me she had sold jewelry into order to eat. Later we met a “kid” in Slovakia who was at a refugee camp there. His story is heartbreaking, but he was filled with hope. Is God in the sharing that people do? Paula

The Season is Changing

Hello, Daylight saving time started Sunday. Not sure how we are saving daylight since it is not in our control. Now we know that we must adjust. It takes a few days, but we can get that done. Another change, we started delivering the first neighborhood newsletters today. I rather enjoy it. It is an excuse to walk. I get into a part of the neighborhood that I normally do not travel. We both were too warmly dressed for this trek. It was good to get home and shed some layers. There are some tulips emerging by the side of the house. We do not remember planting any in that spot. Must just be our weak memories since they are looking good. The winter onions are turning green or sending up green shoots. Wish I had some regular onion bulbs in the ground. Maybe I should plant some lettuce. If I had a cold frame, it would be good to get that started. Leroy walked by the community garden. He tells me he spotted some rhubarb poking through the ground. Clothes were hung on the line outside. They were dry about noon. I hung some things out Saturday. That was not a successful venture. The wind might have blown out some of the moisture, but most of it came back in the house. The adult side of the little free library has only one book. I looked through the books I have been expecting to read and decided I can take out two of them. Surely a library somewhere would have a copy if I can remember that I want to read that title. Paula

Forgot What?

Hello, We sang parts II and III of Handels Messiah this afternoon. I carefully packed my music, spare shoes, glasses, and phone. Stopped at the bathroom, just to be prepared before going to the seat. Just when it was almost time to sing, I realized I had left my glasses upstairs in my backpack. I could see the director just fine, but the music was a challenge. The person ahead of me remained seated for the entire concert requiring me to hold my music up high. That was a good thing as it should be high to see the director and the music without moving my head. My arm got tired since the book is heavy and some of the selections are long. I was astonished at how much I remembered. Especially, the second part was almost all in my brain. That was a good feeling. The third part was more challenging. Apparently, I had sung the selections in part two enough in the past to have them in my memory. I did know two of the selections in part three, but the rest were not there. The last is the amen and that is the only word. Ahead of time I thought that would be easier. However, the notes were harder to connect to where we were. One thing that was good about this, my voice did not feel so stressed. It seems I am forcing it when I can see the notes. I just let them come with proper voice placement and breath control. It was even rather fun. Paula

Gleaner

Hello, I brought home some grapefruit that were fragile and had some bad spots. The person who gave them to me called me a gleaner. That must be true as I am quite comfortable cutting off the rotten spots to see if the rest can be salvaged. For instance, half of two grapefruit went to the compost pile and we ate the other halves. They were quite fine. I grew up with the idea that it was ok to cut off the rotten part and eat the rest. We fed food scrapes to the dog or the pigs, but we did not have that many things to give them. Perhaps it is because most of the food we ate, we grew ourselves. The labor of growing makes it more valuable. It is hard to throw away the result of hard work. If we had extra produce, I remember my mother offering it to others. much of that went to the minister and his family. When we butchered, meat was set aside to give to them. We had more things to share than money to share. There have been times when I have gone to a grocery store that marked down items that needed to move out of the store. Many of those bargains appeal to me. Is that another type of gleaning? Could this term be also applied to the fact that I am more comfortable buying clothes on clearance that at full price? We know spring is coming because the Dairy Queen close to our house has opened. Paula

Sparrows

Hello, We get many sparrows at the bird feeder. Leroy even got out the bird book to try to see how many different species were out there. He did not report. Perhaps he felt unsuccessful about identification. Many starlings also come. We are not so excited about either of these bird types. We do see some cardinals, juncos, nuthatches, and the occasional chick-a-dee. Some downy woodpeckers also come from time to time. We would like to see more color, but have come to appreciate the appearance of the sparrow. We seem not to appreciate the ordinary as much as the occasional. Is that true of much of life? We have paid our car insurance for another six months. Sometimes we wonder if we should just have one car since we are both retired. There is the day when we want to go different directions and we are glad to have two cars. In our visit to the insurance company, we took along the papers that they sent. Our purpose was to learn if we needed to keep these papers. It was decided that we could eliminate all of them because everything is kept online. Paula

Is it that cold?

Hello, Before we got into church someone asked, “Is it that cold?” They came in a car and probably did not go out of their house to get in the car. Leroy and I had on winter coats, scarves, hats, and mittens. We were not too warm. It was in the 20’s with a brisk wind blowing. It was nice to get in the building. The trip home was disappointingly not much warmer. I walked this afternoon and it was still cool even though it was in the 30’s F. One thing about being in the cold, it is so wonderful to come into a warm building. What a gift that we often just take for granted as our due. I thought that my Thanksgiving cactus plants were not to rebloom this year. But two of them are growing buds just now. It is exciting to see that. Only one of the three amaryllis is sending up a bud. The poinsettias are starting to lose leaves at a steady rate. The violets look good. It seems there is always something on one end of the bloom cycle. It puts a lot of color in my life. Our rubber band supply is set for a long time. I mentioned to a friend that I had gone to the store for rubber bands and they were out. He had some from his newspaper. He brought me many more than we need, or else they will last three years. Life is full of unexpected riches. Paula

Some Jobs Change

Hello, We had planned to be at church to do our usual unloading help. That was to be followed by cleaning the balcony. Our cleaning helper was not well so we would not do the whole balcony, but planned to do a part of it. We helped onload and put away some things. We finished the stowing of items and moved on to the balcony. The organist was practicing. He said, “It is just fine if you want to clean.” I moved a few things and got ready to clean the window blinds. It would not release all the way. Another guy came by. He also could not get it to release. He had another suggestion, “The new family bathroom is finished and needs cleaning so it can be used on Sunday.” Off we went in another direction. We had to brush or dust all surfaces to remove any leftover plaster. Then we had to clean the mirror, wash walls, the door, and the floor. We followed that by dusting and washing the baseboard in the area outside of that bathroom. All of the dust from one project seems to float around any open space. We were both tired by the time we went home. Paula