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Morning Devotional...

Psalm 50

Every Israelite needed, just as we do, to begin his day conscious of God and conscious of the race God wanted him to run that day.  Singing the fiftieth psalm early in the morning at the temple would help in that awareness.  It would boil it all down to one simple formula.  It goes like this: "Offer to God thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High.  Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me."

But before focussing on that formula, the song mentions another fact, a fact we all need to keep in view.  It's the fact of final judgement.  The people sing, "God will shine forth.  Our God shall come, and shall not keep silent; a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous all around Him." Simply put, Final judgement is not a figment of imagination - it's really coming!

There's always been just one sacrifice that's Acceptable to God.  The sacrifice God desires is an offering to Him of thanksgiving, obedience, and dependence.  The people sing, "Offer to God thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High.  Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me."  That says it all.  The "sacrifice" God requires of His people is thanksgiving - living through each day in awareness of God's wonderful gifts, of His gracious providence -  and responding with thanksgiving.  In other words, what God wants from all of us is an all-day relationship to Himself.

God wants us to come to Him throughout the day, to pray to Him, to call upon Him for help, and to experience answers to those prayers in His merciful deliverances.  Simply put, God wants us to have an attitude of grateful dependence!

The rest of the song just describes people who are "religious," but who don't have that necessary heart relationship to God, people who talk a good religion but, in their hearts, don't really relate to Him.

Which will it be for you today?  Do you carry your Christianity with you in the form of a cross around your neck, or does it radiate out to the people around you in goodness and love because it comes from a heart that is walking hand in hand with GOD?
Al Moak

Here's a wonderful hymn that wonderfully reflects these thoughts.  Just click to hear the music.

Thank you for those words Al.   A much needed reminder.  I pray that my Lord radiates out from me.  

I pray you had a good day yesterday Praising God.  I know we did at our church.  Pastor delved into the last chapter of John.

I have a lot on the agenda today.  So I am off.

Hi everyone.  We are having the most glorious weather yesterday and today and predicted for the rest of the week.  The pine pollen, which was so bad last week to coat everything in yellow pollen, is now over so we can have the house open during the day and enjoy the nice weather.

We have new housekeepers here today.  There are two ladies that work together (and I think they are cousins).  They came a couple of weeks ago and cleaned our porch, garage and upstairs.  Today they are doing the living area for the first time.  

I went to coffee but the group didn't want to walk today as they had other things they needed to do this morning.  I will go to my men's Monday luncheon at 1 pm.  Today we are going to meet at Fuddrucker's.  They have really good hamburgers with a big condiment bar that you dress the burgers yourself.  

Yesterday I got my hard disk cloned and will try to do that job every three months, or when I make a major change.  This was the first time to clone with the Windows 7 installation.  My next big project is to get Pat's computer cloned as it is several years old and I don't have a cloned copy.  She has some games that we would have to rebuy that she likes to play.  I have learned of a program that uses an external hard drive for the cloning process.  

Al, thanks for the devotional for this week.  Your writings on Psalms are always very illuminating.

Etta Sue, glad you are happy with your memory books.  I know it was a lot of work but sure you have a good sense of accomplishment for a job well done.

strollin, it sounds like you have a very nice cat.  Our cat was very loving and then could turn and bite you in a second when he got tired of being petted.  We are not going to have another pet as they are so much work and tie you down.  

Ruth, I have tried the Vick's on the bottom of my feet the last time I had a cold.  I will use that technique again the next time.

Hope everyone has a good day.  I have a lot of projects on my list so better get busy.

A beautiful day.   I even put on a jacket and had my    outside. 

I think that perhaps I will head over to wal-mart to see if I can treat myself to a manicure, and tomorrow is my footcare day.



Al: I enjoyed reading your thoughts on Psalm 50 thanks.

Larry:  It is nice that you are able to get together with folk,  is this more of a man thing than a woman as here is this town we see more men than women getting together.
 
At the present time it does not take very much for me to be discouraged.  An aunt repeats the same story over & over (yes I am the only niece in the family).   

I must move along, it is past my lunch but I am hungry so the frig. I will visit.
        Ruth

Ruth that repeating of the same story over and over is a lot to do with age.  Would she be interested in getting a computer to expand her horizons.  I know many her age that rely on the computer to stay in touch with the world.  When they loose that contact they revert back to the memories, whether the be pleasant or not.

Kass is off to cadets.  She is 2IC or second in command.  I am so proud of her accomplishments.   

There was a serious accident at Lachford ON today.  2 trucks involved, one driver dead the other seriously injured.  It is so sad when this happens.  I have no idea what happened, I am waiting for the local news to come on.

We have had a beautiful day here, this afternoon the weather warmed up and I was able to open a window, and turn off the heat.  Even Cimi enjoyed the drive.

I have so enjoyed going through the new pictures coming in on the various threads.   The good weather is here, and it seems more people are out with their cameras.

I will be back.

Hi Everyone!

Last week's topic closed and I never posted my last thoughts for the week. 

Tin Whistles!  I love the tin whistles and my youngest son loves to play it.  We heard many, many tin whistle bands over in Northern Ireland when we lived there. 


Alan, I so appreciate your devotional thoughts on the Psalms!  This one meant a lot to me personally and I have Amazing Grace playing as I type.  Thank you so much!


Larry  I didn't see about your daughter's terrible event with the battery and what a wonderful fellow from Battery Plus!  Thanks so much for sharing that with all of us.


Bonnie, before we left Northern Ireland, our father wrote to Jack and said to him, I've got the nicest young fellow riding the buses with me nearly every day.  He used to live in N. I. and so when you get here, I want to introduce you to him so a younger fellow can befriend him.

This meeting happened and Jack met Gordon (who Judy and I call our brother).  We so enjoyed getting together singing around the piano and one Sunday, Jack and Gord were sitting in the front pew at Jarvis St. Baptist Church and Gordon went forward (accompanied by Jack) to ask the Lord Jesus to be his Saviour and Lord of his life.  What a day that was and what a life it's been sharing with our "brother" over all these years.

Al, thanks for that devotional and study of the 30th Psalm. 

Pat, what wonderful memories about your and Judy's association with Gordon.  Thanks for sharing!   

Thanks for the devotion on the Psalm. I enjoyed it.  I recently read David Jeremiah's book on Psalms.  It was very good.

Amazing Grace is the song I sing in my head - over and over and over and over - when  I am having tests.  An example is that tomorrow I have a MRI and I am incredibly claustrophobic.  They are putting a mask over my face.  I have to take something to help me.  I will also be singing Amazing Grace - a lot.  I trust God will give me strength.

Thanks again.
Becky

And Becky, we'll be praying for you tomorrow.  Please know that and then you can let us know how you did.

Becky, my prayers are with you today.  As Pat said, please let us know how things go for you.  We care. 

And how about start the day off with a little chuckle from my email this morning.

Get Me Out!

"My husband David's colleague at a package-processing center was trapped in a small rest room by a faulty lock.

When he was finally discovered, David and another worker were able to open the door with some difficulty. The lock was still jammed, so they blocked the door open while a maintenance worker was called.

A bit later, David noticed the door was closed again. He jiggled the doorknob and a voice from inside called, "Get me out!"

"Don't worry," David replied, "maintenance should be sending somebody."

"They did," said the voice."

*Thanks to Pastor Tim for this joke!*
cybersalt.org/cleanlaugh

What great photos the members of Killbuck Photo Guild takes.  It is always a great evening to see the talent in this group on the overhead screen. 

Before going to Photo Guild Kitty and I got all 30 out of 35 books done.  She will probably have them done today.  Then we need to check to see if two pages are stuck together.  That wouldn't be too bad.  We could just tear it out.  But if we find any missing..that's a problem.  I guess we will have to do Quality Control to make sure they are okay. 

I mailed one of them off to Phoenix yesterday.  My friend from Mexico is still in Phoenix after his hospitalization in Tucson and then going to Phoenix for rehab.  He is leaving Saturday, the 17th, to go back to Los Mochis, Mexico.  So hopefully he will have his Memory Book before he leaves.  He called me yesterday.  I didn't say "Hello!".  I said "It's in the mail!"  He laughed and asked, "How did you know that that was what I was going to ask?"  Funny!  Yes, Caller ID let me know it was Rex.

Today is SAM's Club.  Senior Adult Ministry.  That doesn't make sense to me.  Seniors are Adults, right!  Us older ones at church go out to eat...that's all we do.  Sometimes people read things that are inspirational or funny.  Just a get-together outside of church. 

It is bright and sunny and suppose to get to 80 today! 

I'm here...lurking!

Stopping  in to say Hello to all y-all. Well HELLO!!!!!

Like Marilyn just here saying hello.

Judy:  A computer for the Aunt not a good idea never never will it happen, I will say it is a good idea but never will it happen not with this one.

Judy:Did you get any news about the accident in Latchford?  We were speaking with the brother-in-law and he said nothing but he also lives north of that so it would not affect him.

Today is our 47th anniversary where has the time gone and yes we have dinner reservations in a very small place called Violet Hill with an outstanding reputation.

See y'all again           Ruth

Happy Anniversary Ruth!!!

The only info that I have is what I saw on the news last night. One truck went over the center line.....tiredness or distracted.  So sad.  If John had delayed his departure till the morning which we had talked about he would have been stopped by the accident, thankfully he chose to leave Sunday night.
I understand what you are saying about a computer with your aunt.  It would never work with Mother either.

Kass had an exciting day today.  She was at a "Women in Skills" luncheon today.  The meal was a 3 course , salad main course, and dessert.  She saw a friend from our former church, and made a laptop cable. 

John went through Thunder Bay today.  First time in a long time he has been that far west in Ontario.  He really enjoys his job, but will be glad to retire.

Well I am off, tired tonight, so Night all!

Hi everyone.  Happy Birthday Susan and Happy Anniversary Ruth & Mel.  My wife and I are will soon celebrate our 48th wedding anniversary and I know what you mean about looking back and wondering where did the time so. 

It was truly a beautiful day here yesterday and suppose to be the same here today.  Last evening Pat and I ate our dinner out on our back porch, where we recently had the windows installed.  We have decided to have indoor/outdoor carpeting put in as well.  We hope to get a lot more use from it as can close the windows at night and keep the mildew from the dampness out and also it will stay much cleaner as can close the windows when the lawn people come, as we did on Monday. 

Today is Bible Study day with the pastor.  We always enjoy the group going over to the donut shop, not for the donuts, but for the time to sit and visit with each other.  Ruth, I believe you are right that the meeting for coffee in the mornings is generally a men type thing.  We have concluded that through our working years we never had the time and that a lot of men just enjoy sitting around visiting.  I have been doing this for about 14 years now and never has there been an argument or hurt feeling that I am aware of.  We laugh and sometimes are very serious.  We always try to solve the world problems but for some reason no one listens. 

Hope this is a nice day for everyone.  Tonight is choir practice so it will be a reasonably busy day.

SAM's was fun yesterday.  There were 16 of us.  The restaurant had 16 chairs at the table so we all agreed that someone must have been at the door telling the ones that came late that there wasn't room for them.  Not really! 

Then it was TV the rest of the evening. 

My cold is much better.  I didn't take any tablets all day yesterday but decided to take some before bedtime last night.  At least I didn't wake myself wheezing!  And my sore throat is gone.  I sure am glad of that. 

I am sitting here with no noise anywhere other than the birds singing outside.  It sounds so sweet.  Inky is watching Kitty TV.  A bird just flew by and she wished she could get it! I have a planter outside the picture window and sometimes a bird or chipmunk with sit on the planter and tease Inky and Ali.  It's as if they know that the two furgirls can't get them so they really prance around. 

Today is rehab.  Today is the first time for a 45 minute wait between therapies!  I have some crocheting to take so I will be occupied.  Not sure what Ivalou will do though.

I was wondering why it was so cold in the house.  Hoping to not have to light the fire.  Only 50*F today, so down to the fire I go.

Kass has little school work today.  the class is going to another school to prepare a meal for all of them and then eat.  I am assuming this is like the home-ec classes we used to have except they do a full meal about 4 times a year.  It seems to be only the integrated studies program that does this.

I am off be back later.

We have been on the run since last Saturday - driving to middle Minnesota for a funeral (92 year old auntie) and trying to help plus visiting with everyone.  After the funeral yesterday, we drove to northern Minnesota (Duluth) just to take two elderly cousins (Don's) to lunch today.  They love it when we come - we also visit the cemetery and hit all the spots we want and that is including walking the boardwalk down by the canal.  Such wind and cold with white caps on Lake Superior - brrrrrrrr.  Tomorrow, we drive to Southern Minnesota and take grandson to dinner after he is out of school for the day.  Heading home on Friday morning thank goodness. 

I could not get the car trunk open with the keys today - we have two Nissans and I was using the wrong keys.    

Welcome strollen!  Nice to see you posting. 

JudyB:  Thunder Bay is just up the road!  Go Penguins!     Glad that John chose the right day to drive.

Thanks for the devotions. 

Our Lord is so very merciful! When we go over to the next town (often), we drive down  a hill.  When coming back, we got maybe 2/3 of the way up and I heard us run over something relatively small, then whatever it was obviously stuck to the tire, went round and round, and finally brushed off.  But then you could tell that the tire was going down fairly rapidly.  Obviously, I had run over a small piece of wood with a nail through it.  But we live just beyond the top of the hill, so I made it home into the driveway.  Called AAA (we have AAAPlus).  They came over, changed the tire to the "spare,"  and we were back in business in,  like, 10 minutes! And it turned out that the "spare" was a brand new tire!  So we're in good shape.  Still have to get  the old tire fixed (good tread on it), but no problem.  Our Lord is SOO merciful!

To go with Al's comment - God is truly good.  My MRI went okay - the electricity went out about 5 minutes into the test.  Fortunately I had taken the medicine they prescribed and was relaxed.  My husband, a wonderful guy, came into the room with me and put his hand on my leg to let me know he was there with me.  Of course no results yet - that is okay - I got through the test!

Take care and God bless the rest of your week.
Becky

Becky, thanks for the update.  I was remembering you.  Imagine the electricity going out though!!!  That's something else!!!

Alan, I have CAA Plus (same as yours) and although I don't need it often, it's money well spent I think.

Larry, that sounds like such a nice idea to eat your meals out there!  That's what I like to do.

Hi Marilyn, Ruth, Etta Sue and Judy and Carol!    Carol, I was in Duluth often while Janice lived in Thunder Bay.  I loved shopping in the Target store there.

Becky, I'm so glad you got through that MRI calmly, even with the electricity going off.  Praise God for His peace!

It's a beautiful morning here - may even get up to 60 F this afternoon.  But I can't believe how fast the time is flying - not just with wings but it's jet propelled!   

Hi everyone.  It is cloudy this morning and just now see the sun begin to burn through the clouds.  Suppose to get to 76 degrees this afternoon.  Yesterday evening at dinnertime it was too warm to eat on the porch but by the time dinner was over it was very nice out there.  I sat there until time to go to choir and it was just perfect.  I took my laptop out and worked my crossword puzzle on it.

Today is a light day.  I am in the process of backing up Pat's hard drive onto an external hard drive.  I am using a new program that is suppose to make the external drive bootable in case you lose the hard disk in the desktop.  This is the first time I have tried it.  I have been worried as don't have her hard drive cloned.

Etta Sue, do your cats click their teeth (chatter) when they see a bird.  Our cat used to do that and would get very excited.  It sounds like you had a very nice luncheon.

Al, glad you were able to make it back to your home with the tire before it went flat and was ruined by driving on it.  I also have a motor club as my older car is no longer under the roadside warranty that it used to have and I have on the other car.  I have had to use it a time or two, the last time to change a flat tire.

Carol, I didn't realize you had gone to Minnesota.  It is hard to keep up with you and Don.  Have a safe trip home.

Larry ~ Ali chatters.  Inky doesn't.  When Ali chatters, Inky looks at her as if she is thinking 'What is wrong with Ali?'  They both like their Kitty TV! 

Well, I got my eye exam today.  Both eyes need stronger lenses.  And I have a very small cataract on my right eye but not to do anything about it yet.  I sure didn't think glasses cost so much.  I have progressive lenses (no line bifocals) and transitional lenses (turns dark outside).  That adds up to $$$.  But when you think of having good vision it is worth the cost! 

I also did leisure shopping at WalMart.  Got a few items that I probably didn't need but got anyway...just because I wanted them.  Ha! 

Now I am doing some laundry.  I am either awfully dirty or awfully clean!  Seems I do a lot of laundry for only one person in this house!

We just had a special 1 1/2 hour visit with grandson while we ate supper together - he had to be back at 8 PM for study hour.  He has matured so much in this last year - it is a marvel to see him.  We leave early in the morning for a long drive that we will split into two days. 

Al:  Perfect ending to what could have been a tire hassle - merciful gifts abound. 

Becky: I am glad that you were able to take the MRI test without any problems.  Prayers for your test results.

Pat:  Duluth is just down the road and I love visiting there - that is Don's home town & he went to the U of Minn. @ Duluth.  It was terribly foggy when we left but when we reached the top of the hill, the fog lifted as we expected. 

Larry:  We never intended to go to Minn. this early in the year but everything fell into place after all.  I have lived away from relatives almost all of my married life and it is good to be involved when events in the family happen. 

Etta Sue:  I feel the same about laundry - how can there be so much?  It multiplies. 

Grateful for travel mercies that follow us everywhere.