Mother's Day 3

We had ladies Bible Study this morning and my mother really enjoyed it. She was impressed with how enthusiastic the ladies were about Bible study. We spent the day getting some work done. Mother worked out in the yard while Janie and I worked in the house. Mother came in and we started a Jig saw puzzle. Janie and mother are working on it right now. I will try to get a picture of it tomorrow to post here. Mother is doing well and her wounds seem to be healing. We are going to carry her home Thursday morning.

Jason emailed that he would like for us to come to France August 30th or the 31st. We want to spend two weeks there so that would have us returning on September 14th. We certainly look forward to seeing that baby girl. If the weather permits I would like to do some day hiking with the grandkids. The picture is of Jason on his first birthday.

I learned new things today while working for Sullivan Supply. What I learned I will be able to use on the Baptistville website. I like learning new things. I certainly have learned much in the process of researching for my thesis. I firmly believe that you are never too old to learn. God bless you.

Uno

I left mother and Janie at the house and went to visit at the nursing home this morning. The services there were good. After that visit I went by the post office and then back to the house. I was going to stay at home and read while Janie and mother went to the Wal-Mart but mother looked disappointed that I was not going to go with them so I set down my laptop and head off to Wal-Mart. Mother got her material and we got some things for the yard. When we got home we went to work in the yard. Janie and mother had cleaned out the back yard flower beds while I was at the nursing home. The place is looking really good. This afternoon mother took a short nap while I worked on my thesis. When she got up from her nap we went into the dinning room and played the card came "Uno." We had to learn this game and it was easy enough. We had fun. Janie won and mother came in second. We just finished supper and are watching the news.

My brother, Steve, is off the trail for the year. He is heading home on Sunday. I am not sure how many miles he walked but I think it was way farther than he had ever walked before. I am anxious to visit with him when he returns to hear the details.

Jason and Angie are going to have a girl. The birth date will be the 1st or 2nd of September. We need to discuss with them what date would be best for them for our visit.

The first picture was taken today at Wal-mart of mother and Janie looking at material. The second is of mother while we played Uno. God bless you.

Mother's Day

My children seem to have this competition going over who calls first on special days like today. The phone rang this morning and I saw that it was my oldest daughter and I answered "Your number one." In about 10 seconds our other daughter called and while Janie was on the phone I had to break the bad news to her that she was second. Mother's day in France is celebrated in June so Jason was off the hook. This picture is one I took the other day of Janie on the phone.

I am a task oriented person. When given a task I am all over it. I plan, work, and press until the task is done. Giving me a job to do is like throwing a bone to a dog. When I accept responsibility for a task I become focused on getting it done. I also have a one track mind. It is difficult for me to do multiple tasks at the same time. I am happiest when the task at hand consumes my complete attention. I would just love to drop everything and work on my Doctoral Thesis. I would love to knock that task out and git-R-dun. I have multiple tasks, jobs, and responsibilities. Juggling these so that they get taken care of is stressful.

Mother has gone to bed and Janie and I are up working. I just finished the Bulletin for next Sunday. I want to give mother some attention while she is here so I will try to work while she is asleep or otherwise occupied. Janie will take her shopping tomorrow while I am helping in the services at the nursing home. Mother wanted to know if I was going to have a busy week. I assured her that as weeks go this one will not be that busy. She is not in my way and she is not keeping me from important work. I am not too busy to take time to enjoy her company. We will enjoy playing games, working on puzzles and visiting. I will take a break from these activities to make sure that I have my work done.

The Bible is clear on the subject of the brevity of life. It is short indeed. I want to walk in it the way God wants me to. Honoring my mother and father is an important thing to God. Inviting my mother here was part of that task. It is good that she is here for Janie has been a big help taking care of mother's cut elbow. It is still looking good and no sign of infection.

Janie's Dad needs our prayers. He is not eating and drinking as he should. Hopefully he will improve this next week. Well its off to bed for me. God bless you.

Mother's Day Tomorrow

We made it back to Hillsboro with my mother in tow. She is doing well. She was sore all over from the fall. Janie changed the dressing on her elbow and it is looking good. Mother's hand was swollen a little but is better now. We worked in the flower beds a little this afternoon. Mother brought some flowers for us to put out and they are in place. Janie was given a gift certificate to a plant farm near Tyler that has lots of flowers. We will try to go by there on our way home next week. Mother laid her hands on one of our sick tomato plants and after plucking away yellow leaves and such it looks a lot better. I think she has a special touch when it comes to plants. Mother took this first picture using my cell phone. This is her first time to take a digital picture. Next thing you know she will be blogging. The second picture is of Janie and Mother looking at the front flower bed talking about the roses.

Tomorrow is mother's day and we are expecting a good crowd at church. We will be having a special recognition of the mother's that are present. The sermon is titled "Learning from the best child ever how to honor your mother." God bless you.

Mother Fell

My mother fell today. She was out in her storage shed which she had just under pinned to keep rabbits from going under it. She wanted to paint the shed so went inside to see if she had a roller and pan. She has a small step ladder and was on it when she stepped off of it and lost her balance. She fell backward on the floor. She called Janie's cell phone and told her she had fallen and cut her head and needed some help. Janie was in town with her mother and sister and they went right over to check on her. I was with my father-in-law whom we had just taken to the doctor in Tyler and had just gotten home. I headed over to mother's and Janie and her younger sister were working on her. She had a cut on the back of her head about an inch in length. She had a real big cut on her elbow. I could tell it was going to have to have stitches so we taped up the elbow and headed for the Emergency Room. They CAT scanned her head and everything was fine there. They put 3 stitches in her elbow and then 2 in her head. The doctor then look at the elbow again and it had bulged out to the size of a lemon. He had to take the stitches back out and drain the blood and clot that had gathered under the skin. He then sewed it up again and put a compression bandage on it. Mother looked bad with blood on her shirt and on her skirt. We took her home and she was feeling fine. She is anxious to go with us in the morning to Hillsboro. We can help to dress her wounds for the next several days. She was in very good spirits through out the whole ordeal. She at first refused the CAT scan but I talked her into it. We took her home and she is doing well. The picture is of my mother back in the mid 1940's.

We are back at Janie's parents house. Her dad has not been eating and has been sleeping a lot. The doctor made some recommendations and hopefully they will help him. We took my father-in-law in his truck. To turn the A/C blower on in his truck you have to turn the switch on and then take the hammer out of the back seat and whack the blower housing under the dash several times. The old truck needs some attention but it is doing okay for having 153,000 miles on it.

I got a book in the mail yesterday that is at least 2 inches thick and the whole thing is on the Song of Solomon. It makes me tired just looking at it sitting there. It is going to take me a long time to read that one. I am enjoying the research and have learned much.

We went out to eat with Sarah and Justin tonight at the same restaurant where I first laid eyes on my son-in-law. They gave Janie her mother's day gift and we enjoyed a good visit. Justin is very good at building things. I got some pointers from him tonight as to the best way to make a bunk bed. I am going to try to make one soon. The second picture is of Justin and Sarah with Jason and Angie's kids. Well its off to bed. God bless you.

Ambiguity

Ambiguity (uncertainty of meaning) is a word that I use a lot in connection with the Song of Songs which is Solomon's. When I read "The Song", as I have come to call it, It does not seem to get any less ambiguous (having several possible meanings; difficult to comprehend, distinguish or classify). There was once a time when Jesus' disciples were hearing Him teach in parables and they had no idea what He was talking about. They approached him later after the crowds were gone and expressed their frustration over His ambiguous discourse. He gave them a very unambiguous answer. He thoroughly explained the meaning to them. I would like it very much if I could ask the LORD to tell me in the simplest of terms and using the simplest of words exactly what it is that this book is trying to tell me. I am convinced that it is the most difficult text of the entire Bible. Actually that is why a chose it for my doctoral thesis. If I can clear it up, that is to make it less ambiguous, I will be satisfied with my work having a most rewarding sense of accomplishment. The journey to understanding "The Song" will be one worth writing about. I expect to make many wrong turns on this journey and, due to errors, waste much time. I will chronicle these and set forth for the next traveler a map of how to get over and around mount ambiguity.

Today was the national day of prayer. We had a better than expected attendance at our service tonight. We had originally planned to head for Henderson tonight but will go in the morning instead. Janie's sister is coming in for a visit and will take her mother to the hair dresser in the morning. Janie and I will take her dad to the doctor tomorrow. I am afraid that he will not be able to get out of our small car since he has had a lot of difficulty getting up from a sitting position. I may have to take him by myself in his pickup truck. Saturday morning we will go by and get my mother and bring her to Hillsboro. We are looking forward to her visit.

The mother's day sermon is ready to go and it is anything but ambiguous. I have not studied the Sunday School lesson yet but should get that done tomorrow. The picture is of a flower next to my mother's front porch. God bless you.

Brace

I have a brace on my wrist (pictured). Several years ago I had a problem with my right hand. I started wearing a brace night and day, especially night and my hand got better. I put the brace away for years and now I am back in it again. I think it is all the typing I have been doing on my thesis. I have 39 cards now. This second picture is of my computer screen. It shows the book I am reading on the left, via Kindle, the card file in the upper right, and the dictionary in the lower right. This laptop computer is a very convenient way to write a thesis. Back to the brace, I am wearing it night and day and when I have it on my hand feels fine. When it is off, my little finger and edge of my hand begins to feel numb along with my ring finger. There is also a burning pain every now and then when I bend my wrist to an extreme angle. The last time this happened I was spending a lot of time on a computer keyboard programing for Lebus Mfg. Company. I expect that after a few weeks with the brace on the hand will be back to normal and then I will wear it only when I type.

We went to church early tonight so Janie could help the junior choir practice for their special. They will be singing at the National Day of prayer service that our church is having tomorrow night. We had a visitor in our services. He was a middle aged man who, if his story is true, was walking and hitch hiking his way to Ohio. Our church gave him a gift card to Wal-Mart to help him with food for his journey. He was a friendly, talkative, likable fellow. His intention was just to stop for our services and then head on his way. I talked with him for a long time and I hope he will make it home to Ohio safely.

This last picture is of a rose bush on the east end of our house. God bless you.

Where have you been?

I have not blogged in a couple of days so you might well ask "Where have you been?" Sunday was a busy day. Our services were good and well attended. I spent the afternoon working and after the evening services I worked some more. I just had some things I needed to get done. Monday I spent working on my thesis. I am reading a really good book on the Song of Songs. It is so good in fact that if plagiarism was not a bad thing I would cut and paste most of it for mine. I do not agree with everything he has written so my book, he said arrogantly, will be better. Monday afternoon I had a headache and just felt bad so I took a short nap then went back and took a longer one. I went to bed about 7:30 and got up this morning at 6:15. After burning the candle at both ends you have to drop it every now and then. So I am rested now and back to work. So that's where I have been.

This afternoon we are going to make a trip to Waco to see about picking up Mother's Day gifts to give to the mother's at church this Sunday. I also need to pick up my mother a gift and Janie needs to get her mother one as well. I am not sure how many mother's day gifts I have given to Janie but I think it is not many. I bought her one this year. Those years where I did not get her anything I would answer my children's objections with "She's not MY mother." Would it be okay to say that of all the mothers I know she is my favorite?

Tonight I plan to spend on my thesis. I hope to finish this book this week. I need to move on to the 60, or so, others I have to read. I must read at least 5 books a month to stay on schedule. I do not plan on preaching through any books of the Bible this coming year but will instead preach texts that I have already researched saving me a lot of time on weekly sermon preparation. I will preach some of the ones that I preached during the seven years I pastored at Gum Springs. Well I need to do lunch. The first picture is of Janie doing one of her favorite things. The second is of flowers we saw while out for a walk with the grandkids. The red is Texas Buckeye and the yellow white is Honeysuckle. Stacie and I introduced her girls to eating Honeysuckle nectar. God bless you.

My Car

The grandkids got us up early this morning. Later I went outside to put the new license plates on my in-law's van. Little Jonathan (2 yrs old) followed me. I got my cordless drill out and he said "screwdriver?" I said "Yes that's right." He followed me to the van where he said "My car?" I said "no." From that moment on every car was his car no matter how I protested that it was not.

We enjoyed Stacie and the grandkids. We headed home at noon and made it back safely. I will be preaching from Job 31:14 tomorrow. The picture is of my mother-in-law holding Elijah. God bless you.