Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!  We’re pretty thankful for our new puppy.

He’s the cutest thing at 8 pounds and 6 weeks.

We bought a new pup because our other male might have mild hip dysplasia & if that is the final word he won’t be used for breeding anymore.  We suspect this new pup will grow up into a light cream color which will be awesome for our females, Mercy Rae & Jessie Rae.

By the way, we’re expecting Angel Rae to give us a litter of pups soon.   The proud papa is Caesar Augustus Ray.  I believe they will be sold for $250-$300 each…. so spread the word, eh?  Thanks!!

 

Artwork from 1st & 2nd grade students. Thank you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Missouri Trip!

I went to Missouri last week to see my brother Eric, his wife Wendy, and their twin daughters.  In a weird way, I was driven to go because I wanted to see them before my surgery.  Its not like I’m worried about dying during a little out-patient surgery, but somehow it was still the driving force.  Maybe I shouldn’t admit such frailties.

I did my back-and-forth health deal while I was there.  I would feel fine and have some energy one minute and then feel really crummy the next; either tired or nauseated or both.  That bugged me.  I guess it convinced me to keep my appointment with the surgeon this week.

On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, we sorted through all of their used books.  We made a burn pile for books that needed to be.  And, then we sorted the rest of the books by their condition.  That gave us a table full of “clearance” books that will be sold for $0.50 each.  And, it gave us another whole pile of books that would be kept on the regular shelves.  I looked those up on amazon and made notes on all of the books that sell for more than 1 cent.  Now, it will be up to Eric and Wendy to decide how they will price those books.

On Sunday afternoon, while Eric took a much needed nap, Wendy and I cleared everything away from a long wall that still needed to be painted.   On Sunday night, we had a little birthday party for the twins.  It was a few days early, but no one complained too much!!   I gave the girls the game of Trouble.  Remember that?

If I was going to get away with eating cake, it had to be angel food cake.  So, Wendy was very good to me and bought angel food ((and I did get away with it!))  The cake had 5 pink candles and 5 green candles so that each girl had their own candles to blow out.  Cute, cute, cute.   We also had cactus juice (lime sherbert in 7-Up).  A good time was had by all.

** HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIRLS **

*** HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIRLS ***

On Monday morning, Eric headed off to work around 3 am.  A few hours, or maybe quite a few,  Wendy and I started painting.   I worked the ladder and painted the top 1.5 feet.  There was some wood trim part way down, so I used a little trimmer.  It was fun (for me).    I’m not sure if Wendy was enjoying herself or not.  She had the greater part of the work.  She handed me the paint tray and brush whenever I needed a refill.  All the time, she was also busy painting the whole bottom part of the wall.

Here’s a picture I took of the girls when I was taking one of my many little breaks.

The girls are wearing their “special dresses”.  They are such good kids.

I love, love, love, love those sweet girls!!!!!!

When I left to go home, we had a good chunk of the painting done; but that was just the first coat of primer.  I haven’t talked to them since I left, so I don’t know how they are progressing.

–

Blessings,

Annette

 

Read it again.

Last November, I bought a book called Mere Discipleship, Radical Christianity in a Rebellious World by Lee Camp.  I’ve started to read this book 3 times… but then I keep giving the book away.  It starts out talking about Rwanda which was supposedly a Christian country with 90% of the people claiming to be Christians.  But, then, during a crisis, these people were taking their ethnic identity as something more important than their commitment to the way of Christ.  This led to huge slaughters.  People hunting out those of another race, and killing them without mercy.

Isn’t America the same way?  We certainly were during the civil war.  Brothers killing brothers.  Yankees and Confederates held their identity as such as something greater than their Christianity; sending up prayers to God that He would bless their murderous actions.

Christ calls us to follow Him.  To follow Him is to be committed to our identity as Christians & that needs to be far something greater than any nationalistic identity.  First, and foremost, commit to the call of Christ and to following Him.   Reject the Constantinople approach of “the ends justify the means”.

It is not a great thing to force Christianity down someone’s throat.  It is not Christ’s way.

It’s a busy day here & I must be running along.

Blessings,

Annette

 

Yipee!

To surgery, we will go.

To surgery, we will go.

High ho, the merry oh,

To surgery, we will go.

The results are in.  My gall bladder is functioning at 24.86%.  Officially, I told the doc that I want to keep it anyway.  So, I’m doing a super-bland diet.  But, I don’t know how much I can stand of chicken & rice soup, bagels, and green apples.  Any deviation tends to bring pain.  I’m hoping that if I stick to it, the supposed “dead” part of the gall bladder will function better… then maybe I could add some chicken or tuna.

Blessings,

Annette

 

Good-bye Misty, We Loved You!

 

8 Stinky things about October 13th

Ok, so I already posted about all of the good stuff that happened today.  Here’s the stinky part…

(1) I wasn’t just visiting someone at the hospital, I was there because of me.  I got another IV and I’m really tired of IV’s.  The test seemed to indicate a problem that is not simply solved with another pill.  If I end up having surgery, I’ll be back at the hospital again.  And, that stinks.

(2) After everyone left the house & I had it to myself… I went to check on Misty.  Misty was really really really sick.  So, it was cold & raining, and I had to dig a grave for a dog that I really liked. And, that stunk.

(3)  When I was completely frustrated because I couldn’t make the grave deep enough, I came into the house to find that Misty had died.  Now there was a time crunch.  I had to get the stupid grave deep enough before the dog got all stiff and needed a bigger hole yet.  And, that stunk.

(4)  I kept working on the grave, but I ran into tree roots on both ends of the grave and couldn’t get the stupid thing long enough.   Twice I asked God to send me some help and I was silly enough to watch for it.  No one came.  I drug the dead dog out of the house and across the yard all by myself.  It was gross.   And that stunk.

(5) Eventually, I called someone to come help me and I was a blubbering idiot, crying like a baby, the whole time I was on the phone.  And, that stunk.

I went back out and kept working on the hole.  Jerry came home and said he thought the grave was deep enough.  And, I was able to call the friend back and cancel the call for help.  That was actually nice.

(6)  So, I dumped her body in there & started throwing dirt on top of her.  Nick eventually found a garden rake and helped me put some of the dirt on top of the dog, for maybe 5 minutes.  And the whole time, he complained about how it was hurting his back.  I sooooo wanted to slap him.  And that stunk.

(7)  Annie came home & I had to tell her that Misty died.  Then, Rachael came home well after Nick went to bed, and she needed someone to help her with breeding the dogs.  So, I got stuck out in the cold and wet again, this time waiting the better part of an hour for stupid dogs to finish mating; all the time talking about stupid things that need to be done around the house.  And, that stunk.

(8) I finally got overwhelmed, sat at my computer, and edited stupid blogs.  I am so “done” with today.  But, no one else seems to be.  Annie wanted a backrub before she went to bed.  I had to say no.  Rachael wants to talk.  I said no.  Jerry wants me to eat something.  ARGH.

It all stinks.

Don’t even tell me that I need drugs for depression.  I might have to kill you.  And, you know what that would do to my anxiety level.  *small grin*

 

My Happy Morning!

IT’S NOW OR NEVER

I first wrote this post a couple of weeks ago.  It had been a marvelous morning and I was just plain happy.   Compelled to write down the details, I went to my blog.   The rest of that same day was awful – really awful.   Shockingly horrible.  It was worse than any nightmare.  How else can I say it?  It was bad.

“MY HAPPY MORNING” post stayed in with the other drafts until today.

OH, HAPPY DAY

I woke up today in a similar mood.  And really had a great day.   I spent the early morning hours at Lourdes Hospital which wouldn’t normally be on my “fun things to do” list.  But, the test wasn’t too bad and it seemed to pinpoint the problem that put me in the ER last week.

Jerry & I enjoyed an early lunch together which was nice.  And, I found some needed clothing at a thrift shop.  That’s always good.   Big bonus — when we got home the kids weren’t fighting with each other.

Not too much later, I had the house to myself which is a rare treat.  I sat down to check my email  & to see if anyone left comments on my blog.  I saw “My Happy Morning” sitting there in with all of my other drafts and decided that today was the day to post it.

I’ll probably end up posting about how this day turned out.  Because, once again, the day ended poorly.  There was a whole lot of drama and a whole lot of sadness… wonderful in comparison to that other day.  But, yeah, it wasn’t great.

“MY HAPPY MORNING”

[September 23]

I WOKE UP THIS MORNING…

At Cedarville College, on an otherwise insignificant morning in the mid-1980’s, a visiting preacher taught all those in chapel a new song.   It had the feel of an old negro spiritual and it went a little like this:

“I woke up this morning wit’ my mind, wit’ my miiiind, stayyyyed on Jeeesus…..hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah”

Ever since then, it has been “my happy morning song”.   That’s not exactly how I woke up this morning, but it has been a good morning nonetheless.   I woke up around 5 a.m. which is about 2 hours earlier than my norm.    I got up anyway.

FEED MY SHEEP

Once out in the living room, I saw a note that I had written the night before.  I was going to do a little research for Annie.   She had written a few paragraphs for her Reading/ Writing/Bible class and was having trouble with the ending.

What a glorious hour I spent considering a passage near the end of the Gospel According to Saint John.    It was the passage where Jesus was commissioning Peter.  “Do you love me?” — “Feed My Sheep.”   I found some interesting commentaries and ended up going to other scriptures.  It was such a pleasurable study.

Eventually Nick woke up & we enjoyed some time with just the two of us.   Jerry was rather pleased too, I’m sure, since he didn’t have to crawl out of bed to take Nick to school… as is the usual on days when I’m not teaching.

IT’S GREEK TO ME!

As the house was still quiet & I wasn’t feeling too well, I picked up a book called An Introduction to Greek by Crosby and Schaeffer.  I purchased the book some time ago at the recommendation of Dr. Thomas Fleming who is the editor of the Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture, published by the Rockford Institute.   I’m fortunate enough to have him as resource because of his influence at Nick’s school.

I purchased a (c) 1928 version of the book with hopes that it would be so much cooler than the newer versions.  My eBay seller showed such a nice color picture from the beginning of the book & who would want a copy of the book that might be missing that?   I jest.  I really like old books and this one happened to be cheaper than the newer copies.

I read the introduction to this book and started to get pretty excited about learning Ancient Greek.   The house was still quiet, so I grabbed another old Greek grammar.  The introduction in that book was fascinating.   It gave quite an exposition on the history of languages, especially those of the Israelites;  including the “hows” and “whys” of various changes.

I am so convinced that I want to learn Ancient Greek… and not just a little.   I want to learn it so well that I dream in Greek.  *big smiles*

 

I’m still a stranger, and still “just passing through”.

I’M NOT HOME

After 4 days in the hospital, it was nice to find my way back to 12710 Hwy. 69N.  It was so good to hug Jerry and the kids and pet the dogs too.  After that bit of exertion, I happily fell into my own little bed with pillows that don’t go “crinkle” or “crunch” and took a long nap.

I wanted to start this post by saying I’M HOME…  but that made my brain spazz.  The little bit of  gray matter between my ears clearly reminded me that this brick structure in Cottage Grove, Tennessee is not my home.  Being with my precious family and my super-comfy bed just doesn’t make it “home” either.  No way, I had to replace that statement with “I’m not home”.   I belong to the kingdom of God, and my only home is with Him.  Until the day I am with my Jesus and I can see Him face-to-face, I will be a sojourner living in a strange land.

Do you get that concept?  Deep down inside?   I really feel my foreign-ness.  I pray that each day I will be less and less accepted here in this wicked land and in these evil times.   In England, I could not open my mouth without people knowing I was a foreigner.   Even now, as a Yankee in sweet Dixieland, I experience similar situations.  But, those things are so trite.  I long for the day that I am seen as a foreigner for the reason that every time I open my mouth, the words of Christ will be shared; His words of truth will be shared in love.

What could be better that being rejected for Christ’s sake???

GOING TO HEAVEN: A SCARY THOUGHT

There is good reason to believe that Jesus is coming back very soon.  At that time, He will gather up His saints.   That thought makes me nervous.  I don’t want to go to heaven; not for quite some time.   I really want plenty of time here on earth to serve God, to obey God, and to earn some crowns to lay at His feet.

Somehow I can’t relate to people who only want to talk about our Lord’s return; whose Christian thought stops at sweet dreams of Beulah land.   I know, I know, I know.  I know that we need to be watching for the return of our Lord.   We need to watch for the signs and be always ready.  To quote our preacher, “I’m just dumb enough to believe…” that there is so much more to following Christ than such complacency.

Still, I’m a  little afraid of heaven and I don’t look forward to the day when I go there.    Heaven is going to be so big and so grand; the Creator of heaven and earth will be there; it is too overwhelming.  Only the thoughts of falling at the feet of Jesus and then embracing Him gives me the courage to hope for that glorious day.

COTTAGE GROVE:  A GRAND PLACE.

So, anyway, I came back to Cottage Grove a couple of days ago.   I hugged, I pet, and I slept.  When I got up from my first nap on soft, quiet pillows, I couldn’t believe how noisy my house is.   My friends the Atkins and Waddeys would roll their eyes at that one.  But, I sat here dealing with people asking me questions like “can I get you anything?” and “do you feel any better?”.  Then, there was the rustling of papers, the heavy footsteps of people crossing the room, and the endless whispers of people who were trying not to disturb me.  *lol* and *sigh*

THANKFULNESS

No doubt, I’ve had a hard 2 weeks.  Traumatic situations seemed to hit me from every side. But, I am so grateful for God’s endless mercies.  I absolutely refuse to waste the time or space writing about the troublesome situations.

Praise be to the Lord that several days before my hospital stay, He showed me His constant hand of loving protection on my life.  No worries.  No need for any worries at all.

I thank you, Jesus, for sparing me a heart attack and for giving me a competent cardiologist long before a crisis situation.    You are so good.  Thank you also for Christians who came along side and left encouraging words.

—-

Blessings,

Annette

 

Why?

I write quite a few posts for my blog.  I really do.  I just don’t publish them.  That makes me mad.  There is so much going on, and I’m thinking about so many different things.   And, I just love the feedback that I get.   It’s even fun without the feedback because so many people will come to the site.

Sometimes I don’t publish my posts because I’ve written about things too personal or too self-critical.  Other times, I just can’t get the posts to the point where I’m satisfied with them.  Still, I should just click “publish” and let it go, eh?!

Maybe things will change soon.  Maybe I’ll just go back to some of the drafts, edit a little, and click that silly “publish” button!