Dad and I were at the little house yesterday and did more cleaning, polishing, painting...Always amazing how much TLC even a small space can absorb! We got home late last evening with Andrew. We will go together to Maryanne's this afternoon for dinner, then Andrew will help with moving chores over the next couple of days...
As mentioned, Dad, Andrew and I plus Grace and Justin, Neil and Melissa will celebrate Thanksgiving with Maryanne and family this afternoon and evening. We women will, of course, share the cooking...I know a good time will be had by all, but ALWAYS miss those of you not here.
SOme wonderful news - Tom has really worked the past few weeks to make his medical practice more profitable and has seen instant results; therefore, they can continue to have me work with the children in December, and will evaluate from there on a monthly basis - sounds promising! Other wonderful news I got yesterday is that Tim and Aileen will be here for March break! Hooray! WIll see Rick, Susanna and family in December, the others in March - Now, how to get you all here at the same time!
You know what I am most thankful for today - after God Himself, of course - all of you!
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Tuesday
Dad and I went up to Chattanooga as early as possible yesterday in order to do some cleaning and painting. As usual, we entirely underestimated the amount of time all would take - so we have not finished, but do have a good start...The three main living spaces - living room, dining room and kitchen are pretty much ready to go. Tomorrow, we attack the bedrooms and will try to organize cupboards...On the way home, we stopped and had dinner with Grace and Justin...Thanks!!!...
Today, I babysat the Ryan children, as usual. Poor, pregnant Jeannette had suffered food poisoning as a result of jambalaya eaten two nights before, but managed some sushi today - her comfort food from childhood! I read with the younger children all morning, then took them all to the library this afternoon. While there, I picked up two films - entirely unalike. One is the Jimmy Stewart movie everyone in the world except me has seen - It's A Wonderful Life. The other is The Rape of Nanking...Dad and I watched that earlier this evening. Every word in it is original documentation - either from diaries or interviews with survivors...As the Japanese invaded in 1937, a core of German and American people determined they would form a safety zone. Even though permission was denied, they carved out a two-square mile zone and manned it....Some of them, and probably most of them, were missionaries who refused to leave the city, even when told to by their embassies....One was named Minnie Vautrin, an American woman who headed a girls' school. She seemed fearless, protecting her girls from the rampant and often deadly rape that was taking place all over the city, as best she could. A few years later, she was invalided home with nervous exhaustion and ended up taking her own life shortly after that - just couldn't live with the memories and her own sense of failure at not having protected everyone perfectly. There is a martyr of a different order. A martyr nonetheless!...Older people shared their memories - the men weeping more than the women. I wonder if that is because they were not able to protect their loved ones - even though they were just boys, and couldn't...The saddest tales I have ever heard. Still, that small group of committed people managed to save over 200,000 lives - equal to the number taken by the Japanese...Both a terrifying indictment of human nature and an amazing testimony to the courage and beauty of God's people.
Today, I babysat the Ryan children, as usual. Poor, pregnant Jeannette had suffered food poisoning as a result of jambalaya eaten two nights before, but managed some sushi today - her comfort food from childhood! I read with the younger children all morning, then took them all to the library this afternoon. While there, I picked up two films - entirely unalike. One is the Jimmy Stewart movie everyone in the world except me has seen - It's A Wonderful Life. The other is The Rape of Nanking...Dad and I watched that earlier this evening. Every word in it is original documentation - either from diaries or interviews with survivors...As the Japanese invaded in 1937, a core of German and American people determined they would form a safety zone. Even though permission was denied, they carved out a two-square mile zone and manned it....Some of them, and probably most of them, were missionaries who refused to leave the city, even when told to by their embassies....One was named Minnie Vautrin, an American woman who headed a girls' school. She seemed fearless, protecting her girls from the rampant and often deadly rape that was taking place all over the city, as best she could. A few years later, she was invalided home with nervous exhaustion and ended up taking her own life shortly after that - just couldn't live with the memories and her own sense of failure at not having protected everyone perfectly. There is a martyr of a different order. A martyr nonetheless!...Older people shared their memories - the men weeping more than the women. I wonder if that is because they were not able to protect their loved ones - even though they were just boys, and couldn't...The saddest tales I have ever heard. Still, that small group of committed people managed to save over 200,000 lives - equal to the number taken by the Japanese...Both a terrifying indictment of human nature and an amazing testimony to the courage and beauty of God's people.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Isaiah
I do love Isaiah...
"And a highway shall be there,
And it shall be called the Way of HOliness;
the unclean shall not pass over it.
It shall belong to those who walk on the way;
even if they are fools , they shall not go astray..."
Doesn't that sound like a promise just perfect for you and for me? For fools?...I have been reading another biography by Hudson Taylor and have been interested to see that in much of his early life he was bothered by thoughts of how his own sin - foolishness!-might hinder God's work. If it did, where would we be?
"And a highway shall be there,
And it shall be called the Way of HOliness;
the unclean shall not pass over it.
It shall belong to those who walk on the way;
even if they are fools , they shall not go astray..."
Doesn't that sound like a promise just perfect for you and for me? For fools?...I have been reading another biography by Hudson Taylor and have been interested to see that in much of his early life he was bothered by thoughts of how his own sin - foolishness!-might hinder God's work. If it did, where would we be?
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Semper Eadem
Do you remember the passage in Chiniquy in which he describes the priest coming to his mother, and taking her only cow-the family wealth- to pay for masses for her husband? Well, a passage from an old biography of John Bunyan, in which he is speaker. He is referring to the time when parliament was raising troops to fight against the oppressive government of Charles I - determined to roll back traditional freedoms and re-instate Catholicism. In the meantime Charles favored high Anglicanism, which was proto-Catholic:
"Though I was but sixteen, I had heard enough to make me eager to strike against the tyrants that had trodden us down. My mother's sister, Rose, had her house stripped from cellar to garret because she went to the funeral of a man excommunicated for not paying church rate; and her sister, a poor widow, while carrying a skellet full of milk, given her for her sick children, had the milk thrown away and the skellet taken from her by the bishop's men!...Right glad I was to serve at Newport Pagnell, under stout Sir Samuel Luke, a man who could fight and pray, too..."
Rick, take note...
In other news, Dad and I will go to Chattanooga again today - he, to look for work and I to have a good look through the little house and see what must be done to make it ready for move-in...Can't imagine there will be too much...Remember to pray for Grace as she has surgery today.
"Though I was but sixteen, I had heard enough to make me eager to strike against the tyrants that had trodden us down. My mother's sister, Rose, had her house stripped from cellar to garret because she went to the funeral of a man excommunicated for not paying church rate; and her sister, a poor widow, while carrying a skellet full of milk, given her for her sick children, had the milk thrown away and the skellet taken from her by the bishop's men!...Right glad I was to serve at Newport Pagnell, under stout Sir Samuel Luke, a man who could fight and pray, too..."
Rick, take note...
In other news, Dad and I will go to Chattanooga again today - he, to look for work and I to have a good look through the little house and see what must be done to make it ready for move-in...Can't imagine there will be too much...Remember to pray for Grace as she has surgery today.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Rents
Time to collect the rent and off we go...You go to Randy's, John, and I will go to Eleanor and Dan. OK...Knock, knock, knock...Hi, Barbara, sorry I didn't hear you the first time. I was just making the boys a tuna sandwich...Hi, Dan, Where's Eleanor?...She was called to work this morning and won't be home until five....Did she go to see the state representative about your tax situation?...I don't know. Phone her at six....Alright...Here is your rent. It is only $175 today because Donald did not pay his child support for PJ yet, and I was cut two hours of work this week...I am going to get my taxes shifted around next week so that I get to keep more of my check. I only get $226 per week. With this amount, the boys have lost Medicaid so I am going to claim them in a new way so I can keep more of my money and then get them medical insurance for $70 per week. Anyway, I will have the last $25 by Tuesday, or I will give you $225 next week...(OK, Barbara, control yourself. He will have it and you will be able to pay the electric bill by the end of the week.)...COme on in and look at the new books I have. See if there are any you would like...So, Dan, you are really supposed to be destroying all these books, except for a few you are allowed to rescue?...Yes, we cut off the covers and shred them. I want to collect as many as possible to sell at the flea market. I found one Bible almost one hundred years old and Eleanor has taken that. There are other Bibles, too, but I won't sell God's Word. Those I just give away.I went to the flea market last Saturday but one of my front tires burst so I didn't make any money there...Too bad, Dan. Well, I think I will take this biography of Madame Curie. Thanks! I had better go now. Bye! ...Oh, by the way, do you have Jack's check, as well? No, he hasn't received his unemployment check yet, so will pay you on Monday or Tuesday, whenever it comes in...Alright.(He will)...
John, did you get Randy's check? Good. I will go to Elizabeth's house and see whether she has the twenty-five dollars she owes us from last week, an amount she asked us to let her withhold to buy a sofa to furnish her living room...Knock, knock, knock...Hi, Elizabeth. I have come to collect the rent you still owe us...Oh, I told your husband I would give it to you when I pay my next month's rent...I peek in. She does, indeed, have a sofa to lie on, and someone has given her a black and white tv. She is watching cartoons....I feel so bad today...How is your blood sugar? Is your diabetes acting up?...I don't know. I can't afford the strips to test it. I just take my pill each day...Are you lonely, Elizabeth? You look depressed...I'm not really depressed, I just don't know what to do with myself. I don't have gas to go anywhere...Well, bye, Elizabeth. I will be by next week to get the rest of the money. If you don't have it, we will have to collect it for sure the next week, when your disability check comes in...Alright...
Now I will go to Tony's house. I wonder if he has been able to find a job yet...Knock knock knock...Hi, Tony. What is happening?...I am flat out of money. I have gone to all the agencies in town and noone is hiring. I will have to take out a loan from H and R Block. I have done that before. I went into town this morning, but their office was closed. They will be there again Tuesday, so I will give you the rent then....Is this frightening for you, Tony?...No, it is not frightening. I have been here before. But it is stressful. I just hope I can get to town. My car is almost out of gas...But you have food?...Oh, yes. And I can get food stamps...Alright, bye Tony...
And these are all people-at least the healthy ones- who want to work. Many don't, but they do. They were not looking for handouts from us, just stating the facts...What a horrible thing poverty is.
John, did you get Randy's check? Good. I will go to Elizabeth's house and see whether she has the twenty-five dollars she owes us from last week, an amount she asked us to let her withhold to buy a sofa to furnish her living room...Knock, knock, knock...Hi, Elizabeth. I have come to collect the rent you still owe us...Oh, I told your husband I would give it to you when I pay my next month's rent...I peek in. She does, indeed, have a sofa to lie on, and someone has given her a black and white tv. She is watching cartoons....I feel so bad today...How is your blood sugar? Is your diabetes acting up?...I don't know. I can't afford the strips to test it. I just take my pill each day...Are you lonely, Elizabeth? You look depressed...I'm not really depressed, I just don't know what to do with myself. I don't have gas to go anywhere...Well, bye, Elizabeth. I will be by next week to get the rest of the money. If you don't have it, we will have to collect it for sure the next week, when your disability check comes in...Alright...
Now I will go to Tony's house. I wonder if he has been able to find a job yet...Knock knock knock...Hi, Tony. What is happening?...I am flat out of money. I have gone to all the agencies in town and noone is hiring. I will have to take out a loan from H and R Block. I have done that before. I went into town this morning, but their office was closed. They will be there again Tuesday, so I will give you the rent then....Is this frightening for you, Tony?...No, it is not frightening. I have been here before. But it is stressful. I just hope I can get to town. My car is almost out of gas...But you have food?...Oh, yes. And I can get food stamps...Alright, bye Tony...
And these are all people-at least the healthy ones- who want to work. Many don't, but they do. They were not looking for handouts from us, just stating the facts...What a horrible thing poverty is.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
The Flute in the Valley Below
Another of Grandfather's poems. I imagine it was written for Grandmother!
The flute in the valley below
O Love, it is pleading for me,
The low, liquid airs as they flow,
Are telling my yearning for thee.
For my lips they are stricken and dumb,
When thy soul-piercing beauty I see.
The whip-poor-will calls from the wood,
Where the gloom and the grey shadow lies,
He knew how entranced I stood,
As I looked in the depths of your eyes;
And his song is the song of my heart,
But the song on my lips ever dies.
The wind from the covert has stept,
In the leaf-latticed moonlight has strayed,
While old serenades that have slept
On the deep strings of night, sweep the glade,
And my soul it re-echoes the strain,
But my lips - Ah, my lips are afraid.
The flute now is laid on the sill,
The whip-poor-will sleeps on the bough,
The wind in the maples is still,-
The curls lying calm on thy brow;
O girl of the wondrous grey eyes,
Let me sing, - let me sing to thee now!
The flute in the valley below
O Love, it is pleading for me,
The low, liquid airs as they flow,
Are telling my yearning for thee.
For my lips they are stricken and dumb,
When thy soul-piercing beauty I see.
The whip-poor-will calls from the wood,
Where the gloom and the grey shadow lies,
He knew how entranced I stood,
As I looked in the depths of your eyes;
And his song is the song of my heart,
But the song on my lips ever dies.
The wind from the covert has stept,
In the leaf-latticed moonlight has strayed,
While old serenades that have slept
On the deep strings of night, sweep the glade,
And my soul it re-echoes the strain,
But my lips - Ah, my lips are afraid.
The flute now is laid on the sill,
The whip-poor-will sleeps on the bough,
The wind in the maples is still,-
The curls lying calm on thy brow;
O girl of the wondrous grey eyes,
Let me sing, - let me sing to thee now!
Friday, November 7, 2008
Sovereignty
I was reading Isaiah this morning and came to the passage: " He will raise a signal for nations afar off, and whistle for them from the ends of the earth" This is a passage referring to God's calling of the Assyrians to invade Israel and bring down His judgment on it...I was visiting Nancy awhile back - stayed overnight with her in her hotel room before she gave the commencement speech at Covenant the next day...Funny Nancy! It is fun getting to know someone all over again ofter years apart. Either she has changed, or there are certain elements of her personality I had forgotten. All night long she was acting things out as she told me of them -gestures, voices - mostly personal things from her childhood. In any case, we somehow got talking about this passage. She said, "Just think about it. This is what God does." And she put her fingers in her mouth as if to whistle, and imperiously motioned to the invisible players to get into position - just as a coach does to his team...I have never forgotten her picture, nor will I...The sovereignty of our great God...
Thursday, November 6, 2008
What Do You MEan By...
I was reading Isaiah this morning and was struck by the verse where God asks His people, What do you mean by crushing my people, by grinding the face of the poor?...I was amazed yet again by God's perfect assumption that He owns ALL, and our accountability to Him because of this. How terrifying to stand before God one day, to have Him look you in the face, and begin to ask questions: What did you mean by, why did you, what made you....etc....Horrible! Questions with no (good) answer. I wonder if that is why we will be speechless on that great and terrible day...Perhaps no accusations, just questions...At least for the world. Thank God for the Mediator who will be between me and Him, displaying the wounded hands, feet and side as the ONLY answer that is, that will be, acceptable...
Monday, November 3, 2008
Finally! Odds and Ends
What do you think I got in the mail today? A new Bible! RC Sproule offered a Study Bible for any amount at all, a Reformation Day special, so I took him up on it...Dad is cautioning me not to vandalize it the way I did my old one, but I can't imagine not writing in it...Perhaps I will just use it at church and continue to read my old one for day to day study...I can't think without a pen in my hand! We will see!
I also made the discovery today that there is a beautiful park, with a swimming pond and walking trails, exactly two minutes away from our home! Dad and I had a lovely half-hour roaming there this afternoon...Found it as is where the voting will take place tomorrow...So sorry we didn't find it sooner!
We went to Grace and Justin's church yesterday and really enjoyed it...Returned for the evening service and raided the library - old books from a school library which they want to get rid of - many from the forties, fifties. I brought a few home to read to Jeannette's kids, and eventually, my grandchildren. I was amazed to see how many of them Mom had for us as children. We were bathed in the best children's books form infancy!
Dad, Andrew and I met up with Alicia for awhile yesterday afternoon - walked around in downtown Chattanooga, sat and watched children play in the fountain, then visited the art gallery - free the first Sunday of each month! As we walked out, there was an a capella black group singing by the bridge - buskers, I guess...Love any Gospel/spiritual music, so listened to them for awhile... A pleasant Sunday, with church as bookend on either side of the day!
Dad and I enjoyed our trip to Tuskegee last week...Was amazed at the size of the campus - 2300 acres plus, originally much used for agriculture....Ideal to be as self-sufficient as possible, and largely succeeded! Reread Booker T Washington's book, Up From Slavery, which I bought at the museum there...Great, farsighted man!
And so end my few little odds and ends - will try to get back into the swing of blogging after such a long time away!
I also made the discovery today that there is a beautiful park, with a swimming pond and walking trails, exactly two minutes away from our home! Dad and I had a lovely half-hour roaming there this afternoon...Found it as is where the voting will take place tomorrow...So sorry we didn't find it sooner!
We went to Grace and Justin's church yesterday and really enjoyed it...Returned for the evening service and raided the library - old books from a school library which they want to get rid of - many from the forties, fifties. I brought a few home to read to Jeannette's kids, and eventually, my grandchildren. I was amazed to see how many of them Mom had for us as children. We were bathed in the best children's books form infancy!
Dad, Andrew and I met up with Alicia for awhile yesterday afternoon - walked around in downtown Chattanooga, sat and watched children play in the fountain, then visited the art gallery - free the first Sunday of each month! As we walked out, there was an a capella black group singing by the bridge - buskers, I guess...Love any Gospel/spiritual music, so listened to them for awhile... A pleasant Sunday, with church as bookend on either side of the day!
Dad and I enjoyed our trip to Tuskegee last week...Was amazed at the size of the campus - 2300 acres plus, originally much used for agriculture....Ideal to be as self-sufficient as possible, and largely succeeded! Reread Booker T Washington's book, Up From Slavery, which I bought at the museum there...Great, farsighted man!
And so end my few little odds and ends - will try to get back into the swing of blogging after such a long time away!
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