Christian Photographers Community

Hi everyone.  We have a beautiful sunny and non-windy day today and it is suppose to get up to about 50 degrees after a chilly night.  We didn't have many men at our coffee at the senior center this morning but as always had an enjoyable time.  I don't have a lot planned for the day but may run an errand or two after lunch.  Pat is at a meeting this morning and left me with the clothes in the dryer to hangup when they finish drying.

Jane, Al, Marilyn, Nita, Liz , Timberwolf and Jerad I hope you have no damage from the storm.  It sounds like it is going to be a big storm. 

Marilyn, I hope the hand exercises really help the pain. 

Ruth Ann, I am sure you are counting the hours until you see your son again.  I hope you all have a wonderful visit.

Jane, Janet, Marilyn, and probably several others, I think there are a number of us who have walked similar paths with our children or other family members.  It is tough but we don't have to accept the unacceptable and just because something is said certainly doesn't make it fact. 

Jane, your study sounds interesting.  The history often fills in a lot of gaps in our understanding and helps us increase our knowledge.

Janet, I am sure we all are thinking of you and praying for you during your eye surgery today.

Carol, it looks like the really cold weather may be over for awhile here in the south. 

Etta Sue, glad that Inky is ok.  I remember when the vet told us we should limit our cat to no more than 15 morsels of food twice a day.  Needless to say that never happened.  I hope you have hard wood floors and not rugs with the accidents Inky is experiencing. 

Larry ~ I do have beautiful hardwood floors.....under my carpets!  And Inky does use the carpet.  Gross but so far, I can pick it up with paper towel, then clean with a wet rag and Febreze it.

Thanks to all for your concerns about my Inky!!!

Inky has been 'good' today.  All is well.  Other than her looking at the empty food bowl mournfully, she is fine.  I just give her some pumpkin and she is okay for awhile. 

Well, I started yesterday cleaning my house.  I think I had forgotten how to dust without using a feather duster.  So I did one wall in the living room...the entertainment center...with Windex and Pledge.  Looks soooooo much better.  Today I did the north wall and dining room....looks soooooo much better!!  Tomorrow I need to tackle the fireplace and two book cases full of whatnots and such!!!!  Or perhaps, I will wait until Monday!!   

Today after 3PM Aaron is coming here on his scooter after working at the Elementary school and he wants to go to WalMart.  So if I get a check in the mail, I will go to the bank to deposit it.  And Ivalou and I both got certified letters that need picked up at the post office...we think it is about the house across the road that the man is re-doing and wants to put on a front porch...it is only 15 feet from the road now.  But probably the letter states that the county can't come closer to his house and would have to take part of our front yards if they want to widen this road...if so, there goes my Maple tree out front.  Then Aaron and I will go to WalMart and then Chili's to eat! 

By then I will be happy to come home and vegetate!!

Lots of dreary, wet days.  No serious storms of note and the island is still floating!
Hope the rest of you are also merely bored with the lack of sunshine.

Larry, I keep meaning to thank you for the link to that Daily Devotion.  Have been using it daily.  Also was inspired to get another of Jan Karon's books and order a newer one from the library.  Forgot how much I enjoyed them until you mentioned the name.  Have started a list of all the many authors that I enjoy as the names keep escaping my aging mind.  This way it is possible to order their books from the library, using the internet.  Ah, the wonders of modern tech....

Jane, you got me to looking up Josephus again on the internet.  Was thinking how much more my former father-in-law could have learned, had he not died (in 85) shortly before the internet became a household word.  I read it many years ago when he first began his quest for more than the bible.  He believed, as others do and have, that all prophecy happened during that period...etc.  Threw out a strong (it seemed) Christian faith, went on to embrace Mormanism, then became a minister in a New Age Cult.  Never returned to his original Christian Faith and took his wife along with him.....A sad end to intelligent people with too much money, seeking their own power, rather than what we all know is a higher one!

I did a little internet prowling this morning and see the controversy over these writings is still raging on.....Especially liked how one scholar summed things up:

Many scholars believe that the real writings of Josephus would have spoken of Jesus in more derogatory terms. Many of them have their own translations, but whatever the case may be, the record stands of the existence of the historical Jesus - the man. Whether Josephus found him a savior or a charlatan is of no consequence, except of course to Josephus.
                               

Etta Sue, I am so glad that Inky is okay.  Have decided to put Misty on a diet as she has a huge appetite.  We are going to try pumpkin with Misty and Squeek, told my daughter about it....A little fibre never hurt anything, unless it makes more work for me with the litter box!

Have read all the postings and hope Janet's eye surgery went well today.  Loved the picture of Pastor Kevin's family.  Happy about Pat and her handsome beau.  How absolutely wonderful!

Time to go and get busy.  This seems to be turning into a book. 
Pleasant Day/Evening and God Bless.

Liz

Quote from: mybcjazz on January 02, 2008, 03:50:06 AM
Happy New Year to You!  It is 5:43 in the afternoon on January 2nd here in the Land of the Rising Sun.  It has been a very relaxing Christmas and New Years' Holiday for us.  It is especially nice to have Casey home from college for the first time in a year and a half.  And this was our first Christmas and New Year's Eve-and-day together as a family in 3 years.

It's a tradition here to send New Years' cards, rather than Christmas cards.  This is the one we've sent this year.

In His Grip,
Kevin

Ohhh, Kevin, what a lovely  card you made!  It's so nice to see the family and lovely that Casey got home alright and was able to spend Christmas with you all.  Jazz looks so cute in the photo.

Not much to say from here. We are dealing with a very bad storm here in the west.  Not staying on the computer long these days, my left hand is pretty painful today after doing the exercises the hand therapist gave me yesterday. She also gave me a much smaller wrap instead of the humongous brace the Dr. had me wearing. I like this one better as I can type  now. I can also get my medical gloves on over it.

The weather here on the West Coast is really bad. Lots of wind and rain. I couldn't even see with my wipers going full blast. When I went to Curves this morning I came out  the door and the rain hit me in the face. I didn't have  but maybe 12 steps to walk to my car and my rain coat was soaked. There are 25 foot waves breaking on the beach and the surfers were out yesterday, can you believe that., We have some dangerous jetties at the entrance to Humboldt bay  and these dummies were out there  in the ocean. Needless to say I am not walking the dogs today.

The winds are supposed to be 100 MPH over the mountains. Greyhound has suspended service to this area, they are only going as far as 3 hours south of here and 3 hours to the east of us. They are not even going to Oregon up I-5 only as far as Redding. Snow just might be all the way to the beach. There is a storm from Alaska coming down the coast.   

Quote from: Gord Brown on January 01, 2008, 11:42:41 PM


Pat. S.:  If you have not left for Virginia yet I pray for your safety and be careful of all the others on the road and if you get tired please pull over.  We love you and Happy New Year.

Hi Gord...

I'm not leaving for Virginia until just before Jan. 26.  The National Christian Choir concert is on Jan. 26 so I must be there for that.

Quote from: Marilyn on January 01, 2008, 10:04:49 AM


For me today I will make a pumpkin cheesecake using fat free cream cheese  for later. For dinner I will have a pork chop and a raw veggie and fruit salad, for supper I will have a bowl of soup.

Have any of y-all made any resolutions for 2008? I am going to eat more nutritiously, being careful to bring down my cholesterol and lose another 7 lbs to reach my goal of 160lbs. My spiritual  resolution is to read my bible all the way through this year along with the required reading in the book of John for the Women's Bible Study. It is been maybe 3-4 years since I have read it all the way through.

Pat Enjoy your time with Paul before he leaves.

No resolutions for me, Marilyn!!!  I always break them!    Your pumpkin cheesecake sure sounds yummy.

Yes, I had a wonderful time with Paul.  He got home to Falls Church, VA at about 3:30 am this morning.  I was waiting for his phone call!!  Guess he's sleeping most of today. 

Quote

Ivalou thinks Inky may have a tumor since she is sooooo big and the two cats only eat a cup of dry cat food a day.  And Inky is hard as a rock...but she acts like she is fine....except when she leaves presents and then she hides for awhile...knowing she did something that upsets her Mommy.  But the blood is telling me something is wrong.  How would I have seen blood if she used the litter box all the time? 

Ohhh, Etta Sue, I'm so sorry to read this.  Any further news?

Quote from: wordsculptor on January 01, 2008, 06:30:43 AM
Just posting my New Years greetings to all here.
May you all be richly blessed in 2008.

Thanks so very much, Keith!!!  Hope you had a wonderful and blessed New Year's Eve!

Quote from: Nita on January 01, 2008, 02:27:59 AM


I just received a wonderful email.  It was from my sister, Faye.  She is home from the hospital now and is soooo happy to be.  She said she feels good except for being very tired.  Also said it was very scarey because she couldn't breath and couldn't get anyone's attention (when they did the chemo) and later heard the medic say there was no heartbeat, and she knew she was still here, and didn't want them to give up on her.  She's very grateful to be home and getting stronger.  Will work on a new drug starting next week.  And Faye being Faye, the first thing she wanted us, her family, to know was that there was no fault with the doctors.   Her daughter was becoming really frustrated with no answers.

Pat, the "How Would You Know" is so perfect tonight.

What great news of Faye, Nita.  It is my prayer that she progresses nicely.  Has she been keeping up her blog until she went into the hospital?  I've lost the address of it.  Could you post it please?

I'm so happy you enjoyed my little "offering" about "How Would You Know".

Quote from: Larry Hanna on January 01, 2008, 09:30:20 AM
The biopsy that my wife had yesterday turned out to be on the inside of her cheek and they had to numb her face in that area and make a small incision and then put in a stitch.  It will be a week or so before the results are known and we will have to see this same dentist again.

I will be praying for Pat, Larry.  Please keep us informed about this.  Happy New Year to you as well.

Quote from: Ruth Ann Bice on January 01, 2008, 09:50:52 AM
Pat, do enjoy Paul's visit. The new year looks SO promising for y'all. God's richest blessings be with the two of you, and with all those you love.

Thanks Ruth Ann...  I've come to the conclusion though that a second marriage is much more difficult than a first as we're both older and more "stayed" in our ways and there's so much to think about about moving to another country, etc.  We're just leaving it all with the Lord though.  That's the best thing as His ways are Perfect!!

Pat~It's great to hear from you again.  I do understand the "scarceness" of your posts while Paul was visiting, though.     I know you are both waiting on the Lord for His perfect will and timing.  Lots of things to be worked out and plans to be made ... take it slowly (but not too slowly) and always rely on His will. 

Kevin~I am so sorry I neglected to comment on your wonderful New Year's greeting ... I love the photo of your family.   

The wind is really blowing – gale force – and we've had heavy rain off and on most of the day.  Times like this make me very happy to have a nice fire in the stove and a book to keep me company.  Nita and I both live on high ground, so we are not suseptible to flooding here, but that is not to say there isn't much flooding around the area. I wouldn't be surprised if there are more trees blown down.  Marilyn you should know that Oregonians have webbed feet ... maybe you should get yourself (and Al) some pontoons.  Or a boat! 

I try not to do much reading on the Internet (hurts my eyes).  I have many books here in my library, including the set of the Works of Josephus.  It is much easier (for me) to pick up a book than to access something on the Internet – or even read it from computer files, on screen.  I have eSword on cd, and downloaded into my computer, but still prefer opening books to study.  That's just me.

From the forward of Volume I of the Works of Josephus, I learned that Josephus was born into a priestly family in A.D. 37 or 38, and educated in both Jewish and Hellenistic culture.  He was a precocious child and, at the age of 14, he was consulted by the chief priests and community leaders concerning the meaning of Jewish ordinances.  At age 16, he began the process of investigating the major Jewish sects, with a view to committing himself to the one which best exemplified his ideas of piety.  His investigations were thorough and became of great value to his later discussion of the "philosophies" of the Jews – Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes.  At age 19 he became a Pharisee. 

As Larry said, I consider his wriings a pretty accurate account of history that is not covered – or only lightly touched upon – in the Bible. In fact, I understand the excavators of Masada, drew upon the writings of Josephus for the history of the site. I am just now making it to chapter VII of "The Wars of the Jews" ... I still have a long way to go, for sure. 

Hi!  We are just home a little while ago.  My surgery went well, as to results, he said---but the anesthestist didn't give me enough medicine, and I felt everything the surgeon did!  OUCH!  They told me later I should have spoken up, that they would have given me more med.; but I was concentrating on NOT moving, and thinking "I can stand this pain for ten minutes!"

I can barely see, hope I haven't made too many errors.  Thanks for your prayers and thoughts today.  I will be away from home tomorrow, but if I can read, will catch up with you all tomorrow evening.

Love to you all!

Ohhh, Janet!  {{{HUGS}}} 

I've been wondering about you and we'll chat on the telephone soon, ok?

Love

Pat

Quote

Pat~It's great to hear from you again.  I do understand the "scarceness" of your posts while Paul was visiting, though.   Smiley  I know you are both waiting on the Lord for His perfect will and timing.  Lots of things to be worked out and plans to be made ... take it slowly (but not too slowly) and always rely on His will. 

Thanks Jane!  Yes, I tried to check into the site but couldn't really as Paul and I have so very much to discuss about our future.  Moving to a new country will certainly be different!! 


JUDY
I had a long talk with Judy today.  I was too busy over Christmas to even call her!    but she understands.   Anyway, she's having so many computer problems.  She can check her email but can't access sites on the internet so therefore she's not able to get into CP.  She has someone who is going to look at the computer but she has to wait a couple of weeks.  I've told her about all who have mentioned her so she's very happy to hear from you all through me.

Janet:  It is good that your surgery ordeal is over.....sorry that you had to endure pain as it never should have happened.  

We are back after taking grandson half way to his home & we made that trip twice in 24 hours.  He was busy with grandpa making a beautiful wooden handled cheese slicer.  

Marilyn, Jane, Nita and Al:  Hang on to your hats!  I have heard that this is a biggie storm.  

Carol

Pat:  You certainly do have a lot of changes coming.  I am glad that you don't drive on the wrong side of the road, for instance    

HAHAHAHA!  Carol, no I had to endure that when I moved to Ireland with Jack!  HAHA!!

Jan. 4/08

I am going to try and post.  I have read all this weeks posts, and have not frozen up or been booted off the site. 

Pat thank you for explaining things for me. 

Happy New Year Everyone.  May this coming year be blessed as you dig deeper into His ways.

John was home for a week at Christmas and went out again on Sunday before NewYears.  We have had a quiet week this week.  Monday it is back to the grind of school.

Have a good weekend everyone, and God Bless.

Yes, God bless everyone here.  You have a great weekend too, Judy.

Jane, I'm still standing.  You?  I wasn't so sure my windows wouldn't break during some of our hail storms, but they didn't.  I looked out, stood on the porch and watched, and they were pretty big for what we usually see here.  Scared the dogs too. lol   The wind was WINDY, but I'd experienced a lot worse here.  I could see it in the trees around me and hear it, but nothing moved on my property.  Not even a pile of brush.

"Burdens are Lifted at Calvary".  How I know that.  Oh, how I know that.

Nita

Yup, still standing over here.     The winds weren't as strong as those a month ago, although pretty wild at times.  Actually, don't tell anyone, I really like to watch the storm (from the safety of my home).  I looked out at the ducks trying to buck the winds and they were just being blown all over the lake.  The swans were swimming with the wind at their backs and their feathers were lifting and making them look pretty "ruffled."  All the ducks were facing into the wind so their feathers remained unruffled. 

JudyB ... good to see you posting.  I'm glad you were able to make it in here and hope things continue to improve so you can return as a regular once again!   

Good Morning Judy B.  Nice to see you posting.

Nita & Jane:  So, you are still standing.  Great!  We had high winds last night and this storm is supposed to only affect the mountains, but we shall see.  The last foot of snow we had was a surprise.

Pat:  Thank you for lifting burdens song.  I needed that message this morning. 

I have a meeting this morning and the speaker is going to explain why there is more poverty in this county and it has come on suddenly.  Not a good sign. 

Carol

Just a note this morning before I leave to "teach" my painting group!  That will be the almost blind leading the ......sighted!    They are all very good painters, no worries about that.  Just give them their packets and turn them loose!

The storms in Oregon and California sound really wild; I am praying for all to be safe during the storms.

JudyB, great to see you here again, and hope your computer behaves so you can continue to post.

Carol, that sounds like an interesting meeting.  Let us know what you learn.  Thanks for your good wishes.

Yes, Pat, I hope we can talk soon.  Maybe I need to start planning a trip to Virginia?!?!?!  Love today's verse!

I must run!

Well, here we are, bright and early.  Well, early anyway.  We live in a mobilhome park, and the park has no water at the moment.  I've notified the man who fixes such things, but I'm sure it'll be a while anyway before anything happens.  Thankfully, Marbeth put two bottles of water in the refrig., so I'm having coffee anyway.  What would I have been like if I couldn't have my coffee? (What am I like anyway!)

Thankfully, the storms haven't affected our power yet.  We have gas heating, so it's warm as well.  Thank the Lord for His mercies!

Hi everyone.  Glad to see you all postings from California and Oregon and to know that, at least a the time you posted, you still had power.  I heard on tv this morning that more than 1 million people were without power in California. 

We had a nice evening.  Yesterday afternoon some friends from church called wanting to know if we would meet them and two other couples at a particular restaurant and then come to their home to help finish up some Christmas goodies.  We said sure and had a delightful evening. 

Janet, glad to see that your surgery went well although painful.  Hope your painting class goes well today.

Carol, I will be interested in what you learn at the meeting today on poverty. 

JudyB, sure nice to see your posting again.  Hope your computer has been fixed and stays that way.

Pat, are you going to be moving to the USA full-time or maintain duel residences?  I am glad you had such a nice visit with Paul and that you will be able to see him again later this month.  Thanks for your concern for my Pat.  She had a letter from the doctor yesterday saying they were awaiting more test results from something they had rerun related to the lupus test.

Jane, I watched a very interesting program last night on History International.  It was about the books that were rejected as part of the Bible.  I knew very little about them.  It fit right in with the discussion of Josephus.  I found it fascinating.

Marilyn, being a caregiver you have to get out in the bad weather.  Sorry to hear that your hand was so sore this morning after doing the exercises yesterday. 

LIz, glad you found the Daily Devotional site helpful.  I have decided to try to read through the Bible in one year again as I have done a couple of times before.  However, like Marilyn, (I think it was) mentioned it has been two or three years since I have done that.  I decided January 1st is a great time and I can listen to audio of the Bible while I follow along.

Etta Sue, I noticed in Target yesterday they had the products they have been advertising in the infomercials on TV including the one for pet odor.  I remember we had to have our carpet pulled up and the padding replaced after our cat decided he couldn't wait to get to the litterbox.  From then on we kept a litterbox available in the house and didn't have anymore problems. 

Al, hope your water is restored shortly. 

We have a meeting to attend shortly and then plan on watching some football this afternoon and resting.  I am still fighting this dreadful cough but think it is gradually getting better.

Good Morning Just checking in.  No power outage here either, I did hear lots of thunder booming in the night and  my poor Happy has spent the last two nights under my bed.

I am high enough not to be affected by any flooding. I have hear that  the Eel river was to reach flood stage by last night but I haven'tseen today's paper yet. Still too dark to see if it is in the front yard. (the paper)

My, you are bunch of chatty people.  Must be the west coast winds loosened their tongues!   

Yesterday Aaron and I had a good time.  I had to tease him a lot.  It seems when he asks you to go to WalMart or out to eat, then it is him that wants to make all the decisions.  He really didn't like it that I went to the bank and the P.O.  Then we got to WalMart and I mentioned that we would meet up front at 4:30pm, he said 'Let's make it 4:35!!'  Then he rode his scooter here but bought to 2-12 pack cartons of pop and 24 bottles of water.  I asked him how he was going to get those home.  He said, 'Well, I am going to ask you to stop at my house so I can carry them in and then go to your house and get my scooter.'  But some how when we got to his house, I was the one that carried his things in.  But here at my house, he carried mine in...so all is even now.  He is a fun guy to be with.

Ivalou and I just got home from eating lunch at Woody's in Lapel.  They have huge breaded tenderloins so we split one and had potato chips with it.  Great lunch.  Bestest tenderloins.

Now I am wanting to call Kitty to see if she is home to go over and see the routine of feeding and watering her cat and cleaning the litter box while they go to Disney World for two weeks. 

And Pat, Inky is fine now...two days and no presents.  And last evening I thinned the pumpkin down with water and Inky liked that better.

Warmer, dreary rainy day in Indiana.

Saturday afternoon around 4:30, we returned from a short 2-day trip; Midori, her Mom, and Casey, our second son.  The weather was spectacular and the sites and food were grand.  We're back for church today, and I have a couple of counseling appointments in the afternoon.

And then tomorrow we head to Tokyo for 3 days--I've extended my vacation a bit...hope to be able to share photos of both trips soon.

I'm reading Matthew 6 this morning.  It starts off like this...

"Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don't make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won't be applauding. When you do something for someone else, don't call attention to yourself. You've seen them in action, I'm sure—'playactors' I call them— treating prayer meeting and street corner alike as a stage, acting compassionate as long as someone is watching, playing to the crowds. They get applause, true, but that's all they get. When you help someone out, don't think about how it looks.

Just do it—quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way your God, who conceived you in love, working behind the scenes, helps you out."

In His Grip,
Kevin

Kevin - I'm one of those people who want an absolutely acurate version of God's Word.  And, thankfully, I believe I actually have it.  But as a paraphrase - as an admittedly paraphrased version - that which you've been quoting is really great!  I think I like that one bettwer than any I've seen (and I've seen about all of 'em).

By the way - we've got our water back!  I thank our Lord for my across-the-street neighbor who does the fixing on such things!  I got him up at about 6:30 this AM to tell him it was off, and he got right on it.  Thank You, Lord.

Yeah but youcame over here for water too. and I was Oh so generous with my water.

Yes, Marilyn, you supplied us with 9 gallons of water, and that was great.  The only thing was that as soon as we got home we discovered that the water was (of course) back on.  Never in all history have so many  done so  much for so little!