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Morning Devotional...


Same Event, Different Intentions

2 Cor. 12:7-10.  "And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelation, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.  Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.  And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect  in weakness.'  Most gladly I will rather boast in my infermities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake.  For when I am weak, then I am strong."

The "thorn" suffered by Paul was a "messenger of Satan, yet it was allowed by his Lord for several reasons.  It was there so he wouldn't be "exalted above measure."  It was allowed because God's grace was sufficient for him during it.  It was allowed because God's strength would be made perfect in the weakness it caused.  Finally, it was allowed so that he might experience the contrastingly great power of Christ in overcoming its ill effects.

The result was that Paul even took pleasure in it, in this "messenger of Satan."  And the same was true of the other negatives suffered by Paul in his life of service to Christ as well - in the reproaches, the persecutions, and in the distresses he experienced.  He took pleasure because he was glorifying his beloved Lord - because - in it all - he was strong through Christ's strength.

Paul prayed for relief, but he also gloried in his weakness.  We can all do the same.  Satan means "negative" things for harm, but our Lord uses them for good - just as He Himself suffered "for the joy that was set before him."
Al Moak

Thanks Al!    And thanks too for the great hymn.  I have it playing here so loudly!  (And I was singing too!)  Now I must go to bed and I'll read the devotional again tomorrow.

Thanks Al for the devotional this morning devotional. It is difficult to know when something is a thorn in the flesh or an evil that God wants to deliver us from.  I guess that one way to terst it is to pray about it.  If God gives us the 'no' answer it may be something that He is allowing.

God bless everyone who joins in today.

A.P.

Thank you for the devotional Al, and yes I was singing along with Pat.  Still no sound on my puter, good job I know the tune and no one is home to listen.

I finally have my Computer back and it is working right this time.  I am not going to go back just now to read all the back posts.  I have a furnace to lite.

WE had a good day at church yesterday and the Christmas dinner on Saturday was good too.  We had a lot of laughs and very pleasant company.  In a setting like the dinner we see quickly how many youth are in the church.  I was amazed to see there were more teens and young marrieds than I realized. 

One little boy, Zach, was following Mom's request to take a sugar dish into the kitchen.  As he approached our table we all broke out lauging He held the dish in one hand while he stuck his finger into the sugar with theother hand then licked it off.  He repeated this quite quickly, I guess figuring he would have the treat taken away soon.  His Mom and I had a good laugh at his antics.  I remember doing this as a kid and know the enjoyment he had while he was getting a sugar higjh!

It is minus 5*C here, still can see grass but fully expect the clouds to dump some more snow today.  Is everyone ready for Christmas?  I am just starting.  I am sitting down to get addresses for our Christmas cards and they will be sent this week.

Have a good day everyone.

Good Morning one and all who enter today.

Thank you Al  for the devotional today. Thorns in the flesh are meant to refine us as Christians.

May day today is as follows; Tai Chi class, Take my car to the body shop to get the door handle fixed and the new clips put two of the windows, Go to Versal's, clean up her house do the dishes then bring her laundry home to wash, dry and fold.

I am beginning to really like Skype and the friends in other countries that it brings together.

TTYL

Hi everyone.  The morning is about gone.  It usually takes me most of the morning to read and post here and in SeniorNet and then I work on projects in the afternoon.  I also need to get started on the Christmas cards and letters.  The time is quickly passing. 

Jane, I am a little bit like you in that I am not one to just pick up the phone and call unless I have a specific reason.  I am always happy to speak to folks but generally don't initiate the contact.  I am happy to have the folks here on SN on the Skype list as you just never know when it might be the right time to call.  It is a very easy program to download and have running on your computer.  You can search a person's e-mail address but need their permission, I believe, to add them to your contact list.

Marilyn, you certainly have a busy day today.

JudyB, glad you got your computer fixed and have been able to join us once again. 

Hi Anthony--it is always good to see your postings.

Al, thanks for the good devotional today. 

Karmat, I agree with you that we need to hear sermons on stewardship, sin and a lot of other areas, including the second coming. 

Ruthie, you are just about 3 months ahead of me in turning 65.  Where did the years go.  Of course, I have been retired for 10 years and lots of folks work until they are 65 or older.  That was a very nice celebration you had for your birthday. 

PapaJohn, you may be 78 but you still think young, right?

Janet, it is good to see your posting yesterday and know that thiings are looking up after the week you all had.  It sounds like Darrel is adjusting to the new blood flow through his heart and know you were thrilled that he gave his testimony last evening.

Nita, I am spoiled and always want my car in the garage.  When we got the new car for our daughter we let her park it in the garage and I parked my older car outside.  Now I have to scrape frost if I want to drive it early in the mornings.

Good to see everyone posting today. 

P.S. I have been meaning to share this link with you all, especially those of you who are older but think there is a lot of wisdom here:  http://wandascountryhome.com/winter/index.html

Good afternoon....the clock just struck 12 here! 

I haven't been here since Saturday.  Saturday evening was our Victorian Dinner at church.  It was about a 35 mile drive.  The 60+ tables were fabulous as usual.  The men looked so handsome in their suit and tuxes...we had door openers with tux and top hats!  The food was delicious!  And the entertaining was great!  BUT the entertainment of a band trio was cut short due to bad weather.  When we left it was raining but freezing on the windshields and sidewalks.  The roads were wet but not icy.  About three miles from home the roads were icy.  I put my brakes on for Kitty's home and slid forward about 20 feet.  Her husband helped her out of the car because ice was everywhere and on everything.  I let Ivalou out as close to her house as possible and even her landscape rocks were slick.  Next to the house wasn't too bad.  Then I parked my car in the garage (detached garage).  The grass wasn't bad but my rocks and sidewalk was slick.  I used my heel to break the ice on the rocks and moved the rocks around so I wouldn't slide.  Then held onto the door when I got to the sidewalk.  So everyone got in their homes safe and sound.

Then I called one of the ministers Sunday to tell him I wasn't coming in because of the ice.  But I reset my alarm and went to church with Ivalou. 

Today is cold....only 17°F!  Brrrr!  Ivalou went shopping but I am home until Small Groups tonight. 

When do you guys have time to talk on Skype?  I have speakers and a mic but don't know if they work or not!  May check it out later....after I have 89 pictures resized, compressed and uploaded to a website for the Victorian Dinner. 

Hello, good morning or afternoon!

I had a hard time getting Beth down the icy ramp this morning to go to therapy; but we managed to slide down without a mishap.  Got to get some ice melt!

I need to locate Darrel, he was gone when I got home with Beth.  Men!  Grrrr.  Be back later.

Hello to all of you !  I hope everyone is doing well.  I've gotta buncha work to get done that somehow I keep not getting around to...  

God bless all of you.

  Can you believe my husband went to WORK today?  When I located him, he sounded awful; said he had just thrown up, and to please come and get him.   I TOLD him to stay home!!  He is really feeling all wrung out now.......no surprise there!

If I can trust Darrel to stay here and rest, I am going to Pat's soon so she can cut and color my hair.  I'm looking like the week I had last week!

Talk to you all later...............

Hi all.

Etta Sue, I have lots of time to talk on Skype.   I'm like Larry and Jane.  I'll never initiate a call, unless a preplanned call time is set, but I do like to get short calls.   I can't think of anything to say for very long, but it's nice to hear the voice of someone you "talk" to almost every day.  And...if you hear sounds, your speakers work.

Janet, sounds like Darrel is just like you. haha.  I've noticed you stay pretty busy.  Poor guy.  I hope this "trial test" will convince him to wait awhile longer before he goes back to his old schedule.    It's so hard to keep a man still.  

We had frost last night.  My windows were frozen over.  Tonight the car goes into the garage.

Larry, you sound like me.  I still don't know how it happened, but I always put my kids' needs, or their stuff, over my own.  It comes easy for me, and it seems you are that way too.  I guess we're always looking out for them.  I don't have the funds to help them financially anymore, but I'm sure if I could, I would.  So her new car gets the garage, and your older one sits out in the weather.  I hope your children appreciate what you do for them.

Judy, that was so cute about the little guy with the sugar bowl.

Wow Janet ... that would make anyone upset!  What's with these guys anyway?  

I have spent my morning doing something quite out of character (for me).  With my wood burning stove also comes smokey walls and windows and everything else in sight.  I have wood paneling in my living/dining room, kitchen and hallway so I armed myself with some soft cloths and a can of Liquid Gold and set to work.  <work is another of those 4 letter words, isn't it>  I must say the place looks a lot better ... and Liquid Gold has a nice almond scent so that's pleasant as well.  

I don't often do things like this because I never have visitors and I live alone and I guess I get complacent about a lot of things thinking no one sees it but me and I just don't feel like spending too much time and energy messing with it.  A lick and a promise is what my mother called it.  

Next will be the windows ... maybe ... well, they can wait until Spring, maybe.  

Yes, Larry (and Etta Sue) ...that's my problem (or one of them).  I don't spend a lot of time on the computer and often I"m just online then off again and talking or typing in a chat format just keeps me sitting here much longer than I need to be!  I love to have people call me but I never know if I'm intruding on their time or disturbing them.  What a dilemma.  Ahhh me.

Well, it's time for me to get some wood in while it's still daylight and not raining.  We had crunchy grass and thick frost on the roofs this morning so I turned up the electric heat to get (some of) the chill off.

Talk atcha later y'all ... have a great rest of the day.

P.S. Hi there, NITA!! You came in while I was yakking away here.

Hi everyone, just thought I would drop by before I go to bed.  I have had a good day today and have accomplished quite a lot.  Thanks for the fellowship everyone and I do hope that it will continue until the end of your day.

JudyB I am glad that you had a good Christmas dinner on Saturday.  It's great for all of the church to be together as a family (lots of work for some folk though  )  We don't get to have our Christmas dinner until a week Wednesday.  The dinner was bought by a dear Christian lady who went to be with the Lord earlier this year.  She left the church the money in her will - I thought that was very touching.

Marilyn, that sounds like a really busy day you planned for today.  I trust that God will bless you through it all.  I'm glad that you are enjoying Skype too.  I'd better not get it or else you will all be laughting at my accent 

Larry, it sounds like you had a busy morning too.  Talking about Senior Net.  I used to post on there before, but I felt embarassed because I had not reached 50.  Anyways, my 50th birthday is next January, so perhaps  I will find a group to post to and not feel guilty while I am doing it 

Etta, I hate driving with ice on the roads.  Living in the city it doesn't last on the roads for very long.  The local authority soon send the gritters around to clear the roads, however the road where I live is about the worst in the area and I did go into a skid when the snow came in late November.  Glad you didn't have an accident.

Janet, men are fantastic it's just that you ladies don't understand us    I am sorry he was feeling poorly today, perhaps he needs to spend more time resting.  My brother-in-law was just admitted to hospital.  Our city hospital has just had a new heart and lung centre built, so all that he needed was done about one mile from home.  It is a great blessing.  (Say hi to Beth - and that reminds me I haven't seen the latest Abby photos, must go before I get to bed).

Hi Nards, forget the work and post some photos.  I bet the snow looks great in your part of the world - I'd love to see some photos.

Nita, glad you enjoy going on Skype.  I feel like Etta, I don't think I could spare the time.  You know how the saying goes about a man's work never being done.    It's good to see you posting today.

Jane, you shouldn't have said you never have visitors.  I  might just drop by for coffee later on    I love the smell of almonds too.

See y'all tomorrow.

Anthony.

Etta Sue, I was worried about you being out in the icy weather but glad that you made it home without incident, other than sliding.  The temperature sounds so cold.  It is in the 50s here and seems cold partly because it is so damp.  I look forward to seeing the pictures from your dinner Saturday night.

Jane, that sounds like a whole lot of work but expect you are pleased with the results.  That is one of the problems with a fireplace as well.  Our fireplace will not smoke up our walls as we have never had a fire in it and don't intend to change that unless I put in gas logs.  I had those once before and we seldom used them as they really ran up the gas bill.

Nita, the car really belongs to me and I want to protect my investment.  I do not believe my daughter is going to be able to drive too much longer as her feet are numb from the neuropathy.  Fortunately, she still has some feeling in her right foot but the nerves seem to be quickly dying.  We are hopeful that she will be able to find work shortly as she is in her last week or two of schooling.  However, the bigger issue is whether her health will allow her to hold a job as she is in a lot of pain most of the time. 

Janet, so sorry to hear that Darrel didn't take a few more days to rest and recover from the major trauma his body has encountered.  Did the doctor tell him he could resume his normal activities so soon?  Don't be too hard on him as we men really don't like to have to account for every minute to our wives.    Sorry to see you are having icy conditions as well. 

Hi Nards.  Hope you got that bunch of work done today. 

My wife decided I should go with her to Wal-Mart this afternoon, which I did.  Those superstores are just so large that they are exhausting.  I have been doing some routine maintenance on my desktop computer this afternoon.

Anthony, we never do age checks on the SeniorNet website and anyone is welcome to post there.  We have had many folks who have joined with us there before the age of 50 as they seem to enjoy what they found there.  We don't ask the age and if you don't say no one will ever know.   I assure you that you don't need to feel any guilt or concern.  We have some really wonderful folks who post on SN.

Well just DRAT! and double DRAT!!  the Chevy dealer ordered the wrong parts and  I had to go back there and get the right parts so my car didn't get fixed today but I am taking it back to the body shop tomorrow morning early. I had to buy the inside  door handle for the drivers door and get  the two correct clips for the windows. I have to take it almost to Eureka to the Body shop but that is ok 'cause I am getting to work done for free. One of the Brethren owns the shop.

When I  got home my computer had the dreaded blue screen and that was twice in one day, yesterday and the day before it happened too. The message said it was my firewall so I shut off the Microsoft firewall, and activated the Cox Cable firewall and virus protection as well as got rid of Avast and reinstalled AVG.

I am doing Versal's laundry right now.

TTYL

Hi All!  Just a quick stop in to say hello since I am busy studying French at the moment

Enjoy the French, Teresa Dawn.  Better you than me.  I just don't feel like learning a language at this time in my life but earlier on, I would have loved it.

Theresa Dawn - I hope you do very well studying French.  I love languages - except French!  I have studied Greek, German, Latin, English, and some Spanish. I received "As" and "Bs" in all but French.  I took it in college, and I received a "Withdrew Failing!"  I spent hours in the language lab listening to tapes, etc, but nothing helped.  Maybe I could do better now, I don't know.

Larry - that was a very thoughtful site.  Thank you for the link.  I can certainly say with them, "Where have the years gone?"  I really appreciate the psalmist's words in which he said, "So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."

I am going to Blue Lake to babysit tonight. Gilbert and SArah are goiong to a concert at the University.

I made a Coconut cake this afternoon too.

TTYL

I'm checking in again before going to Darrel's Diabetes Support Group meeting for him.  He doesn't feel up to going, but tonight they are to share recipes for "allowable" goodies to make during the holidays, and I'd like to have those.

Larry, I never ask Darrel to account to me for his time, his money or anything else.  We both allow the other to be free to be ourselves, and it's a really good relationship.  He understood why I was anxious, and he wasn't upset with me about it at all.  I just want to keep him for a very long time yet!    I wish you had a three-stall garage so you could keep all your vehicles inside.  It sure is nice not to have to scrape ice on cold mornings!  I really enjoy having a garage, as I didn't have one for a lot of years.  I hope Stacy will be able to drive and to work for a long time.  It's really hard to see your "kids" having such severe health problems.  I am so concerned about Beth leaving for six months, not knowing how in the world she will manage.  But God knows.............

My friend Pat called a few minutes ago, in tears.  Her 20 year old daughter had taken a whole bottle of pills and drank a whole bottle of alcohol!    And she has a three year old daughter!  Pat's mother was going to pick up the child.  They all live in Texas, and Pat is here.  I know she is so distressed, and I'm praying for Alisha.

I must get ready to go to that meeting.  Darrel is in bed already, so I think he will stay put for the night!  

Janet I am praying for Alisha too.

Almsot time for me to leave for Blue Lake I will be  home around  midnight. That is solate for me.

Janet, it is hard to get men to slow down when they're recovering from something major.  But maybe Darrel's unfortunate experience this morning will convince him.

I don't have a garage (they're not allowed in the trailer park) but I park my car so that the earliest morning sun hits it.  So unless I have to get started early, or the sun's not shining, I seldom have to scrape. 

Sunday we had some very light snow and the roads were all plowed early, but by 10:00, on my way to church I suddenly found myself going off the right side of the road.  I was only going about 35 and was on a fairly straight section of the road, but off I slid.  My instant reaction, of course, was to steer back onto the road and I guess I over-compensated because then I slid across and started off the left.  I don't believe I even thought about hitting the brakes, so that wasn't the problem.  Praise God there was no one else on the road at the time. 

My mechanic had thought my tires would see me through one more winter, but when my All Wheel Drive Subaru didn't grip at all, I decided that was not a good idea.  So today I called and told him I want all four replaced.    He told me that with good tires the AWD is great but when they get worn down it's worse than regular 2 wheel drive.  So Wednesday I get new ones and until then I'm staying at home.   

Janet, you came on while I was typing.  What terrible news your friend Pat had!  And to be so far away at such a time.     Be sure that family will be added to my prayers.

Oh, janet...  What an experience your friend has had today.  I'm sure that she's feeling the stress for sure.  I'll be praying for her.


And Jeanne, my goodness what a time you had too with the road!  That's awful.  So glad that you're getting new tires.

Hi Larry, so you are the same age as me.   Tonight I went to a Christmas party from work and they also had another birthday cake for me.  It was a great time with great food.

Hi Gord, praying for your move to Welland and trusting God for some new beginnings for you and Noreen.   God Bless

Love Ruthie


                                                         

So, Ruthie, when's your last day at work?

It looks like I will be working to the end of December.  My family Christmas is scheduled for December 30th after work.  So I should get 4 or 5 weeks holiday pay.  Nice!

I may take a little holiday before I look for some part time work. 

Ruthie

Well, you'll be able to come out here to Guelph and stay with me for a few days!

Sounds good!    Good night Pat.   

Love Ruthie

Hope I'm not about to boink anyone.

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