Wednesday, March 31, 2010

The First Blue Bonnets


I walked over to the church this morning and noticed that the flowers are in bloom. I took this picture in our yard of some Blue Bonnets. Janie remarked "Does this mean we can't mow?" You see Blue Bonnets are the state flower of Texas. I made several phone calls today and worked on the sermon for Sunday. Janie picked me up for lunch. I was craving some Mexican food and found out why when we got there. It turned out that the Lord needed us to be at that restaurant. I love to watch as the Lord works out my day for me.

Tomorrow I will try to mow the yard and work on my Thesis. Friday "the 9" will be here, or as our daughter, Sarah, said "the 9.5." We are looking forward to that. God bless you.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Take a closer look


We had a good Bible study today. We did not cover much of the material that was on the schedule but we did have a good discussion. It seems a TV evangelist made a statement which was rather bold and gave a scripture for proof. His statement was false. The text he gave for proof did not support his statement at all. I have been teaching the church that I pastor to always take a closer look before agreeing with what somebody says about the scriptures. Everyone needs to get and use the tools of proper exegesis. I know that is a big word so look it up. Keep scripture in context, know who is speaking to whom and about what. Know when it was written and why and by whom it was written. Make sure the results harmonize with the rest of scripture. Check the translation of the text to assure that it is accurate. These tools will help you to know the truth and be able to identify false doctrines.

Janie and I went down to Lorena for services there. We had a good time of singing and Bible study. We always enjoy our time there. Tomorrow I will rise early and get to work on the sermon for Sunday and the Thesis. Thursday I will work on the Thesis again and that evening attend a Christian event at our local high school. Friday all nine of our grandkids will be at our house and we are looking forward to that. The picture is of Janie practicing while some of the grandkids lend a hand. God bless you.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Goose Bumps


I preached at the nursing home today. There was a crowd of about 40. Janie played the piano and I led the singing. The people at the nursing home seemed real glad to see Janie. Here lately she has not gone with me to the nursing home due to work. I worked on the bulletin and got that done. I finished the last episode of Tribman today. I plan to write the novel "Tribman" after I finish my doctoral thesis.
I worked on the sermon for Sunday and have decided upon Hosea 13:14 I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes. The last phrase of this verse gives me goose bumps. I challenge you to look into what this verse is saying and what it means.

I took a walk today while Janie was at curves. I got in about 2 miles and read eight chapters in the Bible finishing the book of Ezekiel. All in all it was a productive day. I am going to spend the rest of this evening working on the sermon for Sunday. The picture is of me taken by Jason at Tyler State Park. God bless you.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Rasmussen


We had a great day today. Our attendance at church was almost double what it was last Sunday. We are expecting a big crowd for Easter Sunday. Our daughter and son-in-law came over Saturday night and stayed for our services this morning. We enjoyed their visit. A lady in our church wanted to give away some clothes and we are going to take them to TBI. Our daughter tried some of the dresses on and found about 10 that she liked so she took them home and seemed glad to get them. We went to Pizza Hut for lunch and some of our church members were there. When we got home I received a call from Rasmussen and took part in a survey on politics. I was more than glad to give my answers and noticed that my answers were always either the smallest number or the largest, never in the middle. I wonder if that makes me an extremist? I don't think of myself that way. I will try to catch the news to see if they report on the results of the survey.

I had a dream last night that was strange. It was about the young man, Clint, who was burned almost a year ago. In my dream he died and we buried him and several days later we dug him back up to move him to another grave and he came alive and he looked the way he did before he was burned. We took him to the hospital and the doctor's were all amazed that he had risen from the dead. The only thing I can come up with as to why I had this dream is that I have been working on the Easter sermon and had been praying for Clint. When I woke up from the dream I was feeling such joy over his being alive and without any of his current afflictions. This dream made me look forward to my own Resurrection one day. There will be two resurrections so be sure that you are going to be a part of the first one. Leave me your email me if you want to know how.


We had good services tonight. I had mentioned in my sermon this morning the book of Habakkuk so I preached from that book tonight. The sermon was about true faith in God and was taken from the last 3 verses of that book. After church I had an unusual supper (pictured above) made up of raw vegetables. It sure was good. I have loaded the dishwasher and blogged so I will now head for bed. Tomorrow morning I preach at the nursing home and Tuesday night I preach in Lorena. I will work on the Easter sermon tomorrow afternoon. Janie and I are hoping that we might get to see Elijah this week. The picture is of Janie holding him. God bless you.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Father and Son Hike


Thursday we drove over to Tyler where Janie and I met Jason and my father-in-law at the cancer center. Janie stayed with her dad and Jason and I went Henderson. I bought some tires but they could not put them on the car since I had left the lug nut key at our house in Hillsboro. We had them put the tires in the trunk and I will have them mounted later. We went on over to my in-law's house and unloaded Janie's luggage. We worked together on my mother-law's motorized chair and got it fixed. After that Janie arrived with her dad in tow. Both doctor's gave him a good report. He will not have to take Chemo again, at least for now.

Jason and I said our goodbyes and headed for Tyler State Park. We arrived too late to check in so we had to do the after hours check in. We had wanted to stay in our old camping spot but it was taken. We set up camp and cooked supper. We made a chicken casserole with an alcohol stove and my pot. We also made some hamburger helper. Both were very good. We cleaned up and then by flashlight we sat side by side and read and discussed some Bible scriptures. With the temperature in the 50's we climbed into our sleeping bags, called our wives to say good night and then lay there in the light of a half moon and talked about all kinds of things. The conversation waned and we both went off to sleep. I slept a lot better than I had expected to. When I woke up I could identify 5 different birds singing. The birds singing in the early morning is one of my favorite sounds. We got up and I made some instant fake coffee which hit the spot since it was 42 degrees. I ate a pastry for breakfast but Jason did not eat. We left the tent set up to dry while we went for our long hike. We covered about 8 miles getting back to camp around noon. We came across two men in their 60's who were walking bicycles up the hill we were coming down. I think they must have been city dwellers. They asked me what kind of animal was it that had dug up the ground along side of the trail. I told them it was an armadillo. They seemed surprised. I enjoyed hiking with Jason. It was good to get away from things, though one of my church members was taken to the hospital emergency room and I kept her in my prayers and thoughts throughout the day. I will plan to visit her tomorrow. The pictures are some I took while on our hike. God bless you.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Spring is in the Air


My allergies have really been acting up so spring must be in the air. Today I got the bulletin finished and the Sunday School lesson studied. I worked a little on my sermon for Sunday but still have a ways to go on it. Tomorrow morning early we will head for Henderson so Janie can go with her parents to the doctor's offices. I plan to take Friday as my day off and go hiking with my son. We will camp out Thursday night. I will finish the sermon for Sunday on Saturday and also work on my thesis.

Our daughter, Sarah, has five new little baby pigs. She was feeling poorly the other day but said she felt good today. Our daughter, Stacie, is doing well. Elijah is not letting her get much sleep right now. She hopes he will soon get his days and nights straitened out. The picture is of Hannah holding Elijah at the hospital. God bless you.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Pollen Filter In, Thanks to Jason


We had a great ladies Bible study this morning. The usual crowd was there. Jason and Angie took the boys with them to Wal-Mart during the Bible Study. The ladies asked some very interesting questions and I love it when they do. It made for some real good discussion. I washed the car today and went by the post office. I mailed off our income tax and our 2010 census. Jason changed out the pollen filter on our car. It is a task most difficult but he got it done.

Janie and I went down to Lorena for services. They had two visitors in their services and I preached a sermon from Revelation chapter five. I really enjoy preaching the word of God.

Monday is my turn to preach at the nursing home. Tomorrow I plan to walk over to the church and get some study done. I have the bulletin ready for Sunday but not the sermon nor the Sunday School lesson. I should be able to complete both before time for our evening services. Thursday it is off to Henderson and Friday I will take off and take a day hike with my son. I am looking forward to that. The last time we hiked together was in Paris France.
The picture was taken of Jonathan when we stopped to eat on our way to take the grandkids home. God bless you.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Filter


I took my car to have the oil and oil filter changed. They also changed the fuel filter and replaced a burned out head light. Tomorrow I am going to see if I can get Jason to change the pollen filter on the car. I called around and found tires for our car $102.00 each. The front two tires will have to be changed before the car will pass inspection.

I try to filter the things I place on this blog. The first filter is my own view of what things are appropriate for this blog and its being such a public place. The second filter is my wife. When I have doubts about something I am about to publish here I run it through the "Janie" blog filter and if it passes through it arrives here. I had a friend who could have benefited from a second blog filter and based on his experience I use the "Janie" filter liberally.

While I was at the oil change place the man changing my oil asked what I thought about the vote on health care. I filtered my response, keeping it non-confrontational. You who read this blog on a regular basis know that I virtually never talk about politics here. As a pastor I do not want to alienate anyone needlessly. Just being a Christian alienates many people. So I filter my words when asked about divisive subjects.


Jason and I smoked some chicken this afternoon. Angie had been craving smoked chicken, so today was her day. They came out really good and there is enough left over for tomorrow.

Tomorrow morning we have ladies Bible study and tomorrow night we will go down to Lorena for church services there. The picture is of my car at the oil change place today. It was the tenth oil change our car has had. God bless you.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Record Low


We had a record low attendance today at church. Some were out due to spring break. We had good services and I kept them over till 12:10 this morning. I like it when the sermon is over and I stand in the foyer and people come out talking about the text and asking questions about it and making comments. This lets me know they are paying attention and are really thinking about the scriptures. Last Sunday they did the same thing and it was wonderful. They left the building with the scripture on their minds.


Jason and Angie had a good day in Palestine. They will be back here late tonight. Tomorrow I will take the car for repairs and by tomorrow afternoon it should be all fixed up. I need to have it inspected and today one of the headlights burned out. I will get that fixed first thing tomorrow.

Janie and I enjoyed a quite afternoon and even took a short nap. I will have to put in some long hours the next three days to get my work done on time. The car repairs will be a distraction from my usual work but if you are going to drive as many miles as I do you have spend some time and money on your vehicle.
The pictures are of our visit with Elijah in the hospital. God bless you.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Welcome Elijah


We drove down to Kingwood, Texas to see Elijah our ninth grandchild (pictured). We found the hospital without any problem and it was already beginning to turn cold. It rained on us most of the way there. The kids were excited to see their new brother. They also had not seen their parents for seven days so they seemed glad to see them as well. We stayed for almost two hours and Janie held the boy for most of that time. He seems to like her a lot.

We made it home without any problems. I wanted to blog and get these pictures posted before heading to bed.

Jason and his family will be in Palestine, Texas all day tomorrow. Janie and I will have a quite Sunday together. Next week our car needs some work so I will take it to the shop to have its oil changed and its fuel filter. Then its off to the shop for a new set of tires and an inspection sticker then she will be road ready again.
We plan to go over to Henderson on Thursday to check on the folks over there. This last picture is of the Maness family and their new arrival. God bless you.

Friday, March 19, 2010

The Broom


The kids had a good time today. They played outside a lot. The picture is of a wedding party. It seems that Ruth and Caleb got married. As they gathered for the wedding picture Joshua was carrying a broom and said to me "I'm the broom." They had a flower girl throwing a basket full of leaves. When it was over the bride threw her bouquet up in the air and being that it was just a hand full of unconnected weeds it went all over the bridal party.

Elijah Scott Maness was born today. He was born at 1:05 pm and weighed 9 pounds 3 ounces. He was 21 inches long. Mother and baby are both doing well. In the morning we will head down there to see him and return his siblings home. Janie is very anxious to see Elijah. She wanted to make two trips but practical Paul said no. We will return to Hillsboro tomorrow evening.

We let the kids stay up late and watch a cartoon movie. This is their last night together so we celebrated by feeding them Zebra cakes and popcorn (pictured). They are sad to have to part. It is nice that they get along so well.
The funeral went well this afternoon. The weather was perfect. We did not eat with the family at lunch but had a sandwich with the kids here at the house.
I have the Sunday School lesson and sermon are ready to go. We have business meeting Sunday night. I prefer to have a quite Saturday at home but sometimes that is not possible. I had several hours of quite time at the office this week so that should make up for the nine hours I will spend driving tomorrow. God bless you.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Bread for Breakfast


This morning I fed the grandkids bread for breakfast. It was not just ordinary bread but bread that my mother had made. I made sure that the kids knew this. I had four loaves of this bread and the eight grandkids consumed it all. That's half a loaf per kid. When I see mother next I will tell her the story how they could not get enough of her bread. We had corndogs for lunch and I think Janie has fish on the menu for supper.
Janie and I went to the funeral home this morning and at noon while the kids were eating I went to the church to check on things. I went to the hospital and visited two patients there before returning home to eat my lunch. Jason brought me over to the church so I could get some work done this afternoon. I worked on the sermon for Sunday and camp registration. I need to get the camp information in the mail soon. I made major changes to http://www.baptistville.org/. I went there to activate the camp registration form but while I was there I thought I would change the look of it a bit.
I must admit that I miss Janie. I usually have her to myself most of the time so when I have to share her with eight grandkids I feel deprived. I do not regret this at all for we have sincerely missed seeing Jason and his family and it is so good to spend time with them for all too soon they will be gone again. They may not be back to the U.S.A. for three years so we will bond with their kids as much as we can while we can.
John 6:53-57 KJV (53) Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.(54) Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.(55) For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.(56) He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.(57) As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
God bless you.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Good Time


I cooked breakfast for the kids this morning. I made them waffles. The picture is of Ruth and Lilia waiting for seconds. They seemed to really like them. After breakfast I walked over to the church. It is about a mile and half from our house. I met with the meals on wheels people and visited with one of the pastors from here in town. I did some study on the sermon for Sunday and then Janie came and picked me up for lunch. We stopped and bought some hamburgers for the kids. Jason and I took the kids to the park (pictured) were they had a really good time. We left our wives at home to enjoy some quite time. Tonight we had good services and Janie's class was the same size as the adult class.

Our oldest daughter still has not had the baby yet. It is looking like Friday is going to be the day. We will head down there after the funeral on Friday. Jason and I are planning a camping trip. He plans to visit a church in Rusk County on Wednesday and then Thursday and Friday he and I will go hiking over at Tyler State Park. We plan to stay in our old campsite no. 112. We use to take our kids camping a lot when they were young. They have a lot of fond memories of that place. It should be a real good time. God bless you.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Funerals


This picture is of a piece of artwork that was made by a man named Joe Snow. I worked with him for several years at Lebus Mfg. Co. in Longview, Texas. He made this for me as a going away gift. It has been hanging on the wall of my office for over seven years now. It is made of beads of weld that are welded together. I have many fond memories of my 27 years at Lebus.

Janie and I attended a funeral this morning. There was big crowd there. The man was just six years younger than me. He had a lot of friends and was very well liked. We will attend another funeral on Thursday and then another on Friday. I will be helping with the one on Friday. It is a lady who was in the nursing home here in Hillsboro and a long time member of our church. I remember the first time I went to the nursing home to visit with her as her pastor. After visiting for a while I offered to have a prayer with her and she consented. I took her by the hands and prayed a fairly usual prayer. After I said amen she hung on tight to my hands and poured out the most fervent prayer for me and our church. As I left I talked with God about her. I could see that I was the benefactor of the visit and not her. From that day forward I went to see her for the prayers and encouragement she gave to me. I will miss Sibyl Clinkscales very much.
Our daughter still has not had her baby. It is looking like Friday will be the day. If that is the case we will most likely head down there Friday after the funeral.
I was able to get some work done at the office today. I was there when I got the phone call about Sibyl. I took Janie with me to the nursing home to see her and her three sons. I took Janie back home and then had to run an errand for Jason and then one for our mission's treasurer this afternoon. I had good visit with the treasurer and his mother who is in a lot of pain. I went back to the office and finished up the church bulletin and the Sunday School lesson. I did manage to read 12 chapters in the book of Ezekiel and walk 3 miles today. Tomorrow I will type up the sermon for Sunday and then try to get some Thesis work done. I am thinking about walking over to the church in the morning and then home again at noon. I need the exercise. God bless you.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Lets go for a walk


I took five of my grandkids for a walk to the nursing home this morning. We stayed for the services there and a short visit afterward. We walked back home and the two oldest granddaughters made sandwiches for everyone for lunch. Jason mowed the yard and with the help of the grandkids relocated two piles of bricks. The backyard looks a lot better. Jason used the riding mower to mow the main part of the yard and then cranked the push mower to finish off the yard. Lilia and I went to put gas in the van and to get a few things at the store. I had the girls make some cornbread which I used for chicken and dressing for our evening meal. I left the dressing cooking and attended a family visitation at the funeral home. We have, all in all, had a great day. The ladies auxiliary canceled their meeting for the evening and we have enjoyed watching the grandkids playing.


Tomorrow morning Janie and I plan to attend a funeral. Afterward I will head over to the office to get some work done. Hopefully tomorrow our daughter will call announcing that she is in labor. Her doctor will induce if she has not had the baby by Friday. Janie is cleaning up the kitchen and then we will head for bed. The picture is of the kids on our walk this morning. God bless you.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

1 in 5


One person in 5 at our services today belonged to our family. Jason's family of 6, Stacie's 4 children, and Janie and I makes a total of 12. We had an attendance of about 58. I think some may have missed setting their clocks ahead. The services were good and we observed the Lord's supper tonight. The kids had questions for me about the Lord's supper and they were complicated questions with no easy answer. It would not be so bad if they would not ask "Why?" I end up having to say "Because the Bibles says so."
Our oldest daughter still has not gone into labor. We have their children and it makes for a chaotic house with eight kids. They are very well behaved children. I am so proud of them.
Jason and Angie are going to help us with our Easter choir special. Jason is very good at music and singing. He was picking on me tonight and I told him not to pick on his musically handicapped father.
My week is shaping up to be a busy one. I have the potential of attending two funerals and possibly helping in a third this week. I may walk over to the hospital and the nursing home in the morning for a visit. I may walk on over to the church office where I can get some work done without distraction. The picture is of Joshua, Ruth, and Hannah three of our grandchildren. God bless you.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

False Alarm


We got a phone call Friday morning at 2:38 from our daughter saying she thought she might be in labor. We left the house about 3:30 and headed to Moss Hill. We got there at 7:00 and she was having contractions about every 5 to 15 minutes. My son-in-law went to work and then came and got her to head for the hospital about 10:00. She got there and they kept her for an hour or so then sent her home saying she was not quite ready. The nurse said she expected to see her back at the hospital that night. She got back home about 2:30 Friday afternoon. We stayed at their house with the kids (pictured). Janie took a short nap while I watched the kids then I took a short nap while she watched them. Janie had only gotten one hour of sleep before they called and I had had about four. We took them out to eat for supper and then soon after getting back to the house we went to bed. Your own bed is always more comfortable than any other so it was not the best of nights but I did get some sleep. I had a bad headache which happens to me when I don't get enough sleep. It was all gone by morning. We stayed until noon today then headed back to Hillsboro in their van with the grandkids. It is now nearly nine and she is still not in labor.

The grandkids helped fix supper and then clean up afterward. They are all bathed and ready for bed now. We will head them that way shortly. Jason and Angie will be here later tonight. The house will be filled almost to capacity. The two older grandkids helped assemble another toddler bed and now we have enough places for everyone to sleep. Janie went to the store to get a few things. She is working hard getting all the sheets washed and changed out. I will head to bed when the grandkids do to some study before going off to sleep. I have changed the clocks that do not change automatically. I am hopeful the others will change themselves. I have set my alarm for 5:00 just to make sure the automatic clocks have indeed updated themselves. God bless you.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Clint


The traffic into Dallas at 4:30 this morning was not bad at all. I stopped once for directions to the outpatient surgery building. The surgery went well. They worked on two of Clint's fingers and on the scar tissue on his neck. The traffic was not bad returning home.

I reviewed our tax return today and found some errors. The IRS telephone help line was able to answer my questions after passing me to the fourth person. I made the corrections and have it ready for a final double check. We should be able to mail it off tomorrow. The above picture looks a lot better than the one I took of my tax stuff scattered all over the table. I will walk Janie line by line through the return and let her ask questions and double check the numbers.
Tomorrow is thesis day. I will first review the sermon for Sunday and the Sunday School lesson. I will also go over the sermon for Sunday night. I am beginning to feel like I got up at 3:30 this morning so I better head for bed. God bless you.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Bob's Funeral


We went to the funeral this morning and I would guess there were 300 people there. We arrived 30 minutes before the service and the Chapel was already full. They set up chairs in the viewing rooms and in the foyer. We sat on a couch in the foyer with some friends of ours. The funeral was well done.

Our church services tonight were good. I preached from Matthew chapter five. I am going to head for bed for I have to get up at 4:00 in the morning to head for Dallas. Jason and Angie are due back here at our house Saturday night. Our oldest daughter is still waiting for Elijah to arrive. The picture is of Jason when he and I took the boys with us to Sam's. God bless you.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

100,000


After the ladies Bible study we took my mother back to Henderson. We went by Janie's parents to take care of a few things there and then headed back to Hillsboro. On the way back our 3 year old car's odometer turned over to 100,000 miles (pictured). I wonder if my feet have 100,000 miles on them yet?

The man who passed away and whose funeral we will attend tomorrow died at, what I consider, a young age. He was just 62 years old. An unexpected death, four funerals I have preached so far this year, going to the nursing home 5 times a month, and praying every day for the 20% of our congregation that is shut in because of failing health makes me want to redeem the time. There is so much I would like to get done and so little time to do it. Solomon said "Remember NOW thy creator in the days of thy youth." It will not be long before my car begins to break down and become unreliable. When that happens I will most likely buy a new car. I have owned about 14 different cars in my life. When my body wears out God will give to me a new one that will never wear out.

My brother's wife is going to have surgery on the 19th of this month so we will not be going hiking as planned. He has been very sick and so putting the hike off until later will be a good thing for him. I may try to work up a hike with Jason or maybe with Joshua in the next few weeks. Maybe I will hit 100,000 miles of hiking before the Lord comes again. Maybe on the new earth of Revelation 21 I will hike 100,000 miles a year just trying to take in all the marvelous sites. God bless you.


Monday, March 8, 2010

Mother Day 3


I took this picture on our last visit to see Sis. Davis. She is doing well. Janie has been working extra hard to get more of Bro. Davis' sermons on the Internet. There are at least another 2000 sermons to go.
The services at the nursing home was not well attended this morning but were good. It has rained all most all day today. It did stop long enough for my mother to clean out the front flower bed. When I returned home we finished off Janie's homemade soup and then mother and I visited while Janie worked. I showed mother a lot of pictures, mostly our kids and grandkids, many of which she had never seen before. We took a break from that and had some tea and cookies. We are watching the news right now while Janie is cooking supper.

Our oldest daughter called to report on her doctor's appointment. She is doing well and the baby is due any day now. Last night she put me onto something I did not know was available. It seems you can have your blog printed into a book. I ordered a hard back book of my blog and it should be here by the end of the month. God bless you.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Mother day 2


We have enjoyed my mother's visit. Saturday we arrived home with her and we just had a good talk. Janie made some homemade soup for supper and mother liked it real well. We went to church this morning and the services were better attended than I had expected for such a rainy day. I put a roast on for lunch. It was ready to eat by the time we got back home. We all took a nap this afternoon and returned to church for our evening services. They too were better attended than I had expected. Mother had to sit and wait for us to get through with choir practice but she did not seem to mind. She had a good visit with one of the ladies of our church while she waited. We got home and had some more of the soup that was left over and then after a short visit mother went off to bed.

We learned today of the death of one of the funeral directors in our town. This man was well liked by everyone and it sure seemed like he knew everybody in Hill county. He was a wonderful man and very good at his work. I personally will miss him a lot. He always treated me as a friend and I loved working with him at funerals. I hope to be able to attend his funeral on Wednesday.

I will go to the nursing home in the morning to lead the singing in the services. I will work on my taxes in the afternoon and try to finish that project. Tuesday after Bible study we will take mother home stopping in Tyler to pick up a prescription for my mother-in-law. We will most likely need to head back to Hillsboro Tuesday night to be here for the funeral on Wednesday.

Stacie called to check in. Her baby is due this week and she has no one lined out to babysit for her should it come before Friday. Her other childern were late in coming and perhaps this one will be as well. I know that as soon as we get word Janie will want to get down there ASAP to see that baby. Thursday I plan to go to Dallas for a surgery there. Friday is thesis day Lord willing. The picture is of my taxes spread out and in the works. God bless you.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Walk


My father-in-law took a rather long walk today. He walked to the car and then from the car into the cancer center lab area then way down the hall to the waiting area then back up the hall to the exam room then back to the front door of the cancer center then from the car back to his chair. I would estimate he walked 1/10 of a mile. I took a walk this afternoon as well. It was a short walk for me about 2 1/2 miles. It was a beautiful day for a walk.

The doctor is suggesting another round of Chemo therapy treatments for my father-in-law. They will make that decision in three weeks when he sees the doctor again. If he does this, I guess he will be taking that 1/10 of mile walk every week.

I walked with God today by praying more than usual and also reading 8 chapters in the Bible. Sometimes I do not pay attention to the convicting of my heart by the Holy Spirit of God. There is a song that says "Every time I feel the Spirit moving in my heart I will pray." Today I listened intently for the Spirit and as a result my day has been filled with prayer. There are people of our church that have health problems and I prayed for them all. My daughter, Sarah, called to tell me that a young man that is kin to her husband fell off of a roof and was hurt and wanted me to pray for him, which I did.

It is my desire to walk with God tomorrow as well. There is not a better day than when you walk with the LORD. I love that old song "When we walk with the Lord in the light of His word, what a glory He sheds on our way. While we do His good will, He abides with us still, and with all who will trust and obey." The picture is one I took today of my shadow while taking a walk. God bless you.
I napped this afternoon. Burning the candle from both ends catches up with you every now and then. We made it to Henderson and I will spend the day with my father-in-law at the cancer center. Janie will be with her mother at the hair dresser. God bless you.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

434


This picture was taken 434 months ago on our wedding day. The perfect scenario is to complete form 1040 and the number on line 72 and line 75 is ZERO. I have spent some 16 hours on my taxes and I am down to line 75 having 434 on it. It will be tough to get it any lower than that for the well of deductions is just about dry. I will spend at least another 434 minutes going over the forms making sure everything is filled out correctly and nothing was missed or overlooked. I will be so glad to have this behind me. I went to bed last night after working on my taxes and my mind would not stop thinking about them. I got up and watched part of a movie to erase forms and schedules from my mind. It worked well for when I did go to bed at 1:30 this morning It only took about 434 seconds for me to go to sleep.

We are headed over to Henderson this afternoon. I need to go by the church to check on things there and by the store to pick up a few things. My mother will be returning with us to Hillsboro Saturday morning to stay through Tuesday. We will take her home after the Ladies Bible study. God bless you.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Vote


We voted in the primary today right after we finished the ladies Bible study. A friend of ours was a voting judge at the first polling place to which we went. We had not seen her in a while and so visited for a few minutes. The second polling place to which we went was the right one. We voted using the computer ballots but I am not sure why. It does not save any paper for they printed enough paper ballets for everyone and I am sure they will be thrown away. I noticed that while we were there everyone else used the paper ballet.

We went down to Lorena for services tonight. I love preaching especially when the people seem eager to hear God's message. We stopped to eat some supper on our way home. Janie helped me with our taxes this evening. She sped things up quite a bit. I would guess that tomorrow I may be able to finish our taxes.

Thursday morning I plan to be at the church when the "Meals on Wheels" people move into our fellowship hall. We will head over to Henderson where I will spend my day off helping my in-law's get to Tyler for their appointments. Saturday we will be back in Hillsboro. The picture is of our grandkids playing together at my in-law's house. God bless you.

Monday, March 1, 2010

1040


Well, today was "work on taxes" day for me. I got started at about 9:00 this morning and with just a few breaks I spent about 9 hours on taxes. I need to put away all this paper work and clear off the table for Bible study in the morning. Taxes would not take near as long if I were more organized throughout the year. It is way too early to decide if I owe any taxes yet. Tomorrow after I go and vote I will spread my stuff out again and get back to it. We will be going down to Lorena, Texas for church services there tomorrow night.

My blog was a big help to me today. I was able to fill in a lot of gaps and answer a lot of questions by looking back at my blog. I use to keep a better written diary of my work but since the advent of the blog I have become very lax in keeping records of things I have done and places I have gone.

I talked to my mother today and we plan to pick her up on Saturday and bring her to Hillsboro for a visit. She will stay until Tuesday when we will take her back home. The picture is of our eight grandkids outside of my in-law's house. God bless you.