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"In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the Angel of His presence saved them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed them: and He bare them, and carried them all the days of old."-- Isa_43:9

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. There is the affliction of ill-health, which compels us to stand aside and leave our tasks to others. The languor of sleepless nights, the inactivity and loneliness of the long days, the fear of being burdensome to others. The anxiety as to how this or that interest may fare in inexperienced hands. The sense of helplessness and weakness. These are the ingredients of that cup which many have to drink!

There is the affliction of poverty, when every door seems closed against our appeal; when hundreds of applicants are answering the same advertisement; when the cruse of oil has been drained of its last drop, and the barrel scraped bare; when the rent is overdue, the boots are wearing out in vain journeys, and the faces and clothes of the children begin to tell the tale of privation--then the iron seems to enter our soul!

There is the affliction of uncongenial companionship. "Woe to them that sojourn in Mesech, and dwell in the tents of Kedar!" To how many the Psalmist's words would express their precise position: "My soul hath long dwelt with him who hateth peace; I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war." There is even profounder suffering, when man or woman is mated for life with one who is out of Christ, or is the one Christian disciple in an irreligious family. It was with a deep knowledge of human nature that the Apostle urged his converts not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers.

There is also the affliction of temptation. Jealousy, pride, discontent, self-will--these assail us from without, and too often they find a response from within, as though there were an accomplice in hiding.

Such are some of the problems and afflictions which darken our experience. The mistake is that we face our troubles without God's fellowship, consciously realised. We carry our burdens, without casting them upon the Lord, and claiming the grace which waits to help us in our hour of need. We do not realise that He has come down to deliver us, because He knows our sorrows. In all our afflictions He is afflicted.

O God, we have no help but Thine, nor do we need another arm save Thine to lean upon. Teach us how to gain strength from Thee hour by hour, in the glance of an eye, the breathing of a sigh, the brief ejaculation, may we take into ourselves that strength which Thou hast stored for us in Christ Jesus our Lord. AMEN.

This hymn (He Giveth More Grace) has a special meaning for me .... I recently spent several weeks beside my daughter while she endured major surgery for pancreatic cancer, and following complications, at Stanford University Medical Center in California.  Day after day, we experienced the great mercy and grace and strength that our Father gives, and gives and gives again.  She is still slowly recovering, but continues to give all praise and gratitude for the strength He gives each day. 

Thank you for that, Jane.  The devotional and the songs lifted my heart this early morning!

Hi everyone.  What a lovely day we had here yesterday as it got up to 66 degrees.  We are suppose to be cloudy with some periods of rain today and tonight.  We got quite a bit done on Pat's sewing room and later in the afternoon I got her computer hooked up, except will wait for our son to come over for the internet connection.  We went out to lunch and and stopped at a couple of stores.  We are still trying to learn our way around here.  I don't think we will make it to church this morning.  I expect we will just enjoy a quiet day. 

Jeanne, sure wish I could share this nicer weather with those of you up north.  The weather sure is brutal up that way and more storms on the way.  We are far enough south and east of Atlanta that the storms so far have missed us. 

Janet, I love musicals and they can do great things with lights and a few props to change the scene in a play.  You are fortunate to have access to a dinner theater.  I thought something was wrong with our new headphones but last night discovered it was weak batteries.  They use AA batteries and those have a limited life.  When I put in new batteries they worked well.  I have some rechargeable batteries that I am going to sort out today and get charged up.  They really make a difference in watching TV and you can actually mute the sound from the TV and control the individual volume of the headphones.  They have an on/off switch and even with the TV off if you don't have them turned off you get the sounds from the last channel you had tuned in as they are plugged into the Dish receiver.   Hope your trip to Texas is without any problems regardless of when you go. 

Ruth Ann, like you and Jeanne, I too anxiously await seeing Janet's pictures. 

Jane, I think many of us can relate very well to the first part of the devotional you have posted for us for this week.  A very fine message that we need to remember.  Thanks for sharing it with us. 

Jane, thank you for this morning's devotional.  The very first sentence really says it all and is what we need to remember.

Thanks Jane for the devotional and song!

Jane:  It is a perfect song (songs) and devotion.  Thank you! 

Don just said that the burgers are done - we rarely have them for a meal but I put together some ground beef and seasoning and thought it was chilly enough to have this for tonight. 
Take care all.

Hi everyone.  It was a rainy night and I see in the forecast this morning the work snow although it is not suppose to get much below freezing.  However, it will be colder than the last day or so.  Nothing special on the schedule for today. 

Hi, friends,

I'm preparing to go out to a funeral today. So, I'm cooking green beans with onion, potato, and ham to take to the family meal.

Jane thank you for both the wonderful devotional and both the songs, which I number among my favorites.

As my hearing gets worse, I will also get headphones so not to irritate those in apartments nearby.

Y'all have a wonderful day.

Ruth Ann

I didn't tell y'all that Bebe  who is now 14 yrs old had surgery last Wednesday to remove a lump from her hip It was cancer. The Vet sent off the tissue to Portland to be evaluated to see what kind of cancer it is. She still has anther  lump on her leg. he will prescribe a chemo pill for 1 month to see if it will shrink that tumor if it does we will know the pill is doing it's job.  The surgery and ongoing  treatment is quite expensive. So I set up a Gofund me account to  ask for donations. Please do not think I am asking you for ANYTHING I AM NOT!!! I advertised it on Facebook and twitter, I already got a $20 donation from someone I know from S/Nipped.

Anyway I am taking good care of her cleaning the drain tube twice a day and soaking it with a warm wet  washcloth where it comes out so it won't get stuck or plugged up. It has to stop draining for 24 hours before it can be removed.

Marilyn we have lost 4 dogs to cancer and suspect Cimi our old girl has it as well.

This has been a better day than yesterday, I am feeling better and rested last night quite well.

Ruth Ann we are at the age where we go to more funerals than we do weddings or baby showers.  It is sad, however that is part of our age.

Have a great night everyone.

Hi everyone.  We are getting a pretty good rain at the moment although a few minutes ago the roads were dry.  There is a possibility of some more rain and sleet this morning.  It looks like between 9 and 11 this morning the rain should stop for awhile and then the sleet around noon.  I may go over to COSTCO and also see if I can get a pair of shoes this morning and then will likely stay in the rest of the day.  We hung up a few pictures yesterday and that was about all.  We will see if we can't get a few more hung up today.

Ruth Ann, I think you would like the headphones.  What I like about them is that when Pat uses hers to watch TV the volume can be muted and the house is quieter as she used to have the volume up pretty high. 

Marilyn, sorry to learn that Bebe has cancer and hope the removal of the lump takes care of the problem. 

Judy, glad you were feeling better yesterday.  It is amazing what a good night's sleep can do for us. 

Hi, friends,
I'm so sorry to learn of Bebe's cancer, Marilyn. Thank goodness you have had good training in caring for her.

Larry, it seems it never ends, but y'all have made a good decision to be near your son. If at least one of my children were not living here, I would make a similar decision.

Judy, y'all hang in there - spring will be here soon, and this difficult winter will be behind us.

I love each one who comes here, and am trusting that our Lord will lead us in the paths we should take.

Ruth Ann

I want to thank each of you for your comments re: the devotional and songs ... I will admit, when I read Dr. Meyer's message, I felt a strong connection.  I have been through a few months of stress and concerns, not only with my daughter's health and surgery, but with troublesome issues concerning home repairs, etc.  So today I just felt like getting away for a while.  I went to the free Senior Movie this morning.  It was Black or White, with Kevin Kostner, and Octavia Spencer (love her ... she was in The Help).  The story line hit home for me and my family ... very well played and meaningful. 

Hi everyone.  I had a very busy morning as saw my cardiologist to get established with him.  On my way home I stopped at COSTCO to return an item that did not fit.  When I got home our son was here to help us with some projects.  It is almost 2 pm and just now getting to eat my lunch and then will rest for a couple of hours.  While it is pretty chilly here we haven't had any rain and the wind isn't blowing but rain is expected at any time and will continue throughout the night.

Ruth Ann, we have seen more of our son in the last month than we did in several years and it is nice.

Jane, sometimes we just need a "time out" from the stresses and stains that we sometimes face.  These times seem to help repair our perspective on things. 

Hi everyone.  After a rainy night it is just cloudy this morning and is suppose to remain cloudy for a couple of days.  I don't see anymore rain in our forecast until the weekend.  Today will be pretty well taken up with medical appointments this morning and then our DIL will probably come over to spend the afternoon with us after some serious dental work this morning while our son works this afternoon and evening. 

Larry, you seem to have things pretty well in hand in your new location.   

We have actually reached 20⁰ F !!!    But tonight we'll be back down to zero or below.   

I took Bebe to have her drain tube removed yesterday afternoon and got the report from the lab on her tumor, It was a slow growing tumor that will not require any chemo therapy. She still has the one on her leg but we are not going to worry about that one. After all she is 14 years old and the tumor now is nothing to be very concerned about.It isn't the kind that will metastasize. Just a low grade soft tissue sarcoma. She goes back next week to have her sutures removed.
Whew that was a load off my mind.

Hi everyone on another cloudy morning here in South Carolina.  No rain and to be in the mid-50's by afternoon.  We liked our new internist that we saw yesterday.  Now have to get some blood work done.  We did get the final authorization for Pat's handicapped car tags (I got mine on Wednesday).  so today will try to get by the DMV and pick up the new tags for the car and then will have to return the tags that we got previously.  We still can't get driver's license until we get certified copies of our birth certificates.  I have a little shopping to do today and hope to get some things done around the house, like putting up more pictures.  Our DIL did not spend time with us yesterday as our son didn't have to work after all so he was with her. 

Jeanne, I think things are in pretty good shape here and we are about through the maze of paperwork and detail involved in buying and selling a home and moving to a different state.  You are a lot colder up your way than we are as it didn't even get to freezing here last night. 

Marilyn, sounds like a good report for Bebe.  Sure glad Bebe doesn't need the expensive chemo therapy. 

It looks like another cold one today, in the teens and below zero tonight.  The tomorrow possibly mid twenties, a little more on Sunday.  But snow starts tomorrow night - "light" accumulation up to about 4 inches by Sunday morning.  BUT....  next week looks like around 30 with nights staying above zero, maybe even only down to the teens and with chance every day of some sort of precipitation.  I guess it's another case of what you get is what you get!   

Hi Jeanne  I hear you on the cold. it was minus 27c here this morning when I got up and it is still Minus 17C at 11.30am. But there is milder weather on the way this weekend and it is suppose to carry on into next week. That will be welcome. Hope though that in this area it is going to be a slow melt. With All the snow we got this winter if it is a rapid melt we will be experiencing flooding in this area and possibly have our road washed out. That happened one year before, a number of years ago due to heavy snow cover. Well anyway looking forward to spring what ever it brings. Must run Got things to do Blessings everyone.

Good morning everyone.  Jane I forgot about the  movie being this week. Since I am not working anymore it  might be a good thing for us to start going to the monthly movies again.

I have  filled out a Volunteer  application for Pacific Cove Humane Society, the first meeting will be in two weeks so then I will know more about what I will be doing and when.

Hi, friends,

I've finally gotten out today.. Took someone to the pharmacy and then took myself to Walmart for some groceries.

I'm so thankful most of the ice is gone from our roads - only a few scattered piles along roadsides, at least here in Nashville. More may still be troublesome in some of the outlying counties.

Thankful Bebe has no need for chemo.

Y'all have a good rest of the day.

Ruth Ann

Hi everyone.  A beautiful sunny morning so far here in South Carolina but to have intermittent clouds and then more rain tomorrow.  I had a very busy day yesterday.  I was out running errands, including getting the handicapped plates for the cars, and some shopping and other business matters. Yesterday afternoon, after resting, I hung more pictures and did other little jobs.  I hope for a quieter day today but do have to make a trip to Goodwill to unload my car trunk of new donations.  I did get Pat a one-cup Keurig coffeemaker yesterday and she will have her first cup of coffee from it this morning. 

Jeanne, you folks in the NE just don't seem to get a break on the weather. 

John, good to see your posting and sure hope you all don't experience flooding later this year. 

Marilyn, the Humane Society sounds like something you would really enjoy. 

Ruth Ann, glad your roads are improving and you were able to get out and about. 

Hi everyone.  It was a very rainy night and today we are to have periods of rain again with the high of 44 and the low of 44.  However, in mid-week they are predicting 80 degrees one day.  We plan on going back to visit the Methodist church this morning, probably go out for lunch, and then have a quiet day as this last week has been pretty busy.  We did get the certified birth certificates in the mail yesterday so next week should be able to get our driver's license and then we can feel our move is complete.

For the devotional for the new week, please click HERE

I'm sorry the link I originally posted has disappeared.