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God's Work, Today's World: Prophecy
by Dr. David Jeremiah



A Time to Rejoice

Rejoice always.
1 Thessalonians 5:16

Recommended Reading
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

Have you heard about the man who smelled good no matter where he was or what he was doing? His skin and clothing and very being seemed to exude a pleasant fragrance. He worked in a perfume factory and breathed its aromas every day. They filtered into his clothing, penetrated his skin, and even filled his lungs. He became a walking perfumery.

That's the way we should be as Christians. The Bible says, "For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing" (2 Corinthians 2:15). We exude the aroma of joy, for in His presence is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11).

You might have heard that "Jesus wept" (John 11:35) is the shortest verse in the Bible, but that's only true in the English translation. In the original New Testament Greek, 1 Thessalonians 5:16 is shorter—"Rejoice always." The two verses are related. Because Jesus wept, we can rejoice. He doesn't want us to live in perpetual discouragement, sadness, or doubt. The joy of the Lord is the strength of our days (Nehemiah 8:10). This is a season to rejoice.



Be alone and evermore my hope, my whole trust, my riches, my delight, my gladness and my joy.
Bonaventure

All is well. Just been very busy the last couple of days.  Will try to catch up on postings tomorrow.

Hi, friends,

Jeanne, you are correct, I did take a spinal steroid shot. It has eased the pain somewhat, but the exit instructions caution that sometimes the pain lingers for a while after the shot.

My sister in law has a "blood infection" as she described it, and is now being treated by an infectious diseases specialist.

Much love to everyone,

Ruth Ann

Hi everyone on this rainy, misty Monday morning.  As some of you may have guessed we have been away for the last four days visiting with many of our friends in the area where we lived for over 18 years.  I didn't want to broadcast that we would be away from home and thus the reason for my vagueness and very short postings.  We did have a little problem on the trip over as our starter went out on our car when we had stopped at about the half-way point to get out and walk a little and get a soft drink.  When we got back in the car it sounded like we had a dead battery, I called Auto Zone as the battery was still under its two year full-replacement warranty.  A really nice young man answered the phone and when I told him of our plight he said he was just headed out on his lunch break, was close by at his store, and he would bring us a new battery and install it, which he did.  Unfortunately, that wasn't the problem as it was the starter.  This nice young man said he wasn't going to leave us stranded and he helped contact a tow truck which could two the car to where a new starter could be installed.  He not only did that but took us in his vehicle to his store so I could get the needed part and then took us on to the garage where the part was installed and we were back on our way with only a little over a two hour delay. Needless to say I got his number and store information and will be writing to Auto Zone with my commendation for their fine employee. 

We had left in time for me to have lunch with the group of men that I used to meet for lunch every week for over 6 years.  Of course, I couldn't get there.  The rest of the trip went as planned with going to the morning coffee groups at the Senior Center on Friday and McDonald's on Saturday.  On Saturday morning I attended a meeting and saw many of my friends there as there was a large attendance.  On Sunday morning we attended our previous church for the morning service and were able to see more of our friends as well as our Nigerian "grandson", whom we took out to have lunch with us and so we could spend a couple of hours with him.  He hadn't known we were going to be there and was surprised to see us at church.  The final activity was a special get together at the Senior Center arranged by Ellen, who was the lobby lady at McDonald's for several years and treated we men as if we were kings.  We all are very fond of her.  She had put together such a function last year and the wives were invited.  There were about 16 persons in attendance.  We left there and headed home and drove in just before it got dark.  We had stayed two nights with one couple and then Saturday night with another couple and, of course, did a lot of visiting and eating out with them.  It was a full and wonderful large weekend. 

Of course, I did get behind reading the message boards but will catch up today.  Since I have written such a long narrative above I will try to limit further comments on postings if I can constrain myself. 

Ruth Ann, not good new for your SIL.  I sure hope your back pain improves soon from the shot you endured.

Jeanne, I loved your devotional thoughts for this week.  Being joyful is such a wonderful way to live.  While we cannot always be joyful when some bad things happen to us we can always be joyful in our knowledge of the love of God and Christ for us. 

Janet, glad that Beth has had her medicine reduced and can now stay awake more and thus enjoy being with John and others around her.   

Hi everyone on this dreary Tuesday morning.  We are having very light rain and the forecast for the whole week is more rain and cloudy weather.  Yesterday was basically a day of recovery from our weekend travels.  I did go to Walmart Pharmacy to get a prescription and while there I had my annual flu shot.  Our son was here to have dinner last evening.  The main activity for today is to take Pat to get her new CPAP machine this morning. 

I think you will really enjoy this beautiful rendering of Amazing Grace on a unique instrument with beautiful scenery (the type that many of us seldom get to see):  http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=Dy3h6--fMBA&feature=youtu.be

Larry:  Such a nice story about your getting unexpected help from the young man. 

We just got back from exercising at the gym they have here in Sun City - such a lovely building and it really does help our back issues.  We plan to go out for a Chinese lunch later & bring along our 91 year young friend - our way of celebrating our anniversary.  Here in Arizona, the heat is almost 10 degrees above normal every day for weeks now & it has dampened everyone's spirits.  No sitting outdoors and no windows open at night.  We still are getting projects taken care of - I don't know how anyone can stand the summers here.  Especially the yard workers and road crews.  Cannot imagine.

Looks like we have to buy some paint - I want to paint the inside of closets.  That should finish all the painting.  I am slowly knitting a scarf for a granddaughter and plan to listen to a book at the same time - the pattern is super easy or I would not attempt this project - really do not care to knit but it is mindless thing to do when it is hot.  Always thankful for air conditioning to have been invented. 

Hi, friends,

Well, my sister in law was able to transfer to rehab today. Praise the Lord. I'm very grateful, also, that it's only a block away from my apartment.

I'm still dealing with some back pain, but at least I'm able to sleep in more positions than on only one side.

It's great to learn y'all had your little weekend trip, Larry. Glad for renewing old friendships.

And, Carol, I certainly echo your statement in that I, too, am thankful for air conditioning.

Y'all have a good rest of the day.

Much love to all,
Ruth Ann

Hmmm.....I know I posted, as I remember commenting on the devotional and commenting to Larry and Ruth Ann.  I guess the cyber gremlins took it away!  Oh, well, today is a new day!

We are going to Garden City for some things today, and I have, as usual, prayed for safety on the roads.  I really know the value of that!    I am getting used to the new car, little by little!

Welcome home, Larry!  Glad you had a good, long weekend, and thankful for the help of the nice young man who came to your rescue.  I'm sure your Nigerian grandson was happy to get to see you and spend some time with you again.  Good you are still able to drive so you can go renew acquaintances!

It is overcast and a little misty here this morning, and predictions are for quite a lot cooler temps for a few days.  Maybe I should take a light jacket along.....I believe I will!

Plans for getting Beth's chair got changed.  We were to go to Pueblo, Colo (I remember posting all this!) yesterday; then they called and said Aaron would meet us in La Junta instead; so plans were changed; then another call saying there was a manufacturing problem with the chair, so it wouldn't be ready, after all.  This is answer to prayer, as from the first, I have prayed the chair will be exactly what Beth needs, so if changes need to be made, it's really good Aaron found the problem before we made an unnecessary trip.  He really seems to "know his stuff!" and I am so thankful.  We are about ready to give up on hearing from Wish Upon a Wedding and go ahead with planning.  It is frustrating, knowing all that needs to be done and not being able to go ahead because we are waiting to hear from them.

Carol, I am glad we are enjoying cool, rather than the heat you have there.  I hope it cools off for you soon!  Glad you have a nice gym to go to!  It really does help, doesn't it?

Looks like Darrel is finally ready to go, so see you all later!

Hi everyone on another overcast morning, as predicted.  I just came in from walking outside for 10 minutes and it is very humid.  Pat will leave in a few minutes to go to the church to help the craft ladies prepare for the upcoming bazaar in about 3 weeks.  I plan on staying home and this evening we will go for the fried chicken dinner at church for our Wednesday dinner and then attend the minister's class on Early Christianity.  This will be the third week of a twelve week study. 

Yesterday we had quite an adventure trying to get to where Pat got her sleep machine.  We used the GPS and it said we had reached our destination in Aiken, SC, which was about 22 minutes away from where we live.  Unfortunately that was an open field.  We thought we were on the right highway and went both directions to find the place thinking we would be close.  We called about three times and the lady in the office called us the last time as we actually were several miles from where we needed to be.  We finally found it and she got the machine and she started using it last night.  She had some success but will probably have to get another type of face mask as it wouldn't stay sealed.  It was the type that fit over the nose and the mouth.  She is to try it for two weeks and then can decide if she wants another type of mask.  The stair lift Representative was here for over an hour yesterday and replaced the batteries and fixed some other problems.  There is a good possibility that it was the lift chair that was beeping instead of the fire alarms and it made the same sounds we had been hearing thinking it was the fire alarms.  Of course, the chair had only a 90 day warranty so we had to pay over $200 for the service call and the new batteries.  This has been an expensive week.

I have just learned our good next door neighbor, Linda has died.  Her daughter and grandchildren live across the street.  I am in a state of shock.  Some church people just came to fix the meal for them and I was able to ask them.  There has been activity over there and I was so hoping that it involved a wedding of her daughter and the daughter's live in. 

Carol, sorry that you are experiencing such hot weather down your way but hope more moderate weather is on its way. 

Ruth Ann, glad your SIL is improving and is able to go to rehab and that it is close by to you. 

Janet, fortunately it is only a 2 1/2 hour drive to where we used to live so with a break at the 90 minute mark it isn't a bad trip.  It sounds like you have all waited long enough to hear from that organization.  I am sure both Beth and John as anxious for the wedding to occur and a bride and her mother always want to make a lot of preparations and plans.  I am sure what ever you do will be very nice.

Hi, friends,

The computer seems to be very slow this evening.

I feel confident my sister in law is better.  Today she felt good enough to be grumpy and wish she was back in her apartment. Yet, in the next breath she told me she is immobile unless someone helps her get out of bed, etc.

Today it's me feeling extremely tired. So much so that I suspect I've become anemic. I hope to stay in and rest most of the day tomorrow.

It's so good to hear from all of you.

May our Lord bless us as He sees what we need,
Ruth Ann

Hi everyone.  I am getting an early start to the day as woke up about 3 am and couldn't go back to sleep so after about an hour decided to get up.  I have worked up the morning email.  We had a good dinner last night at church, although the fried chicken we thought it was going to be is next week.  Instead it was a breakfast type dinner with an egg casserole, grits, biscuits and sausage gravy topped off with a wedge of breakfast pastry.  On my schedule for today is to go to coffee and then the Wisdom group at the church at 11:30.  I also have to pay bills today.  Our son is planning on coming out to have dinner with us this evening.  Our forecast for today is another cloudy day, although we had see some blue sky and sun late yesterday afternoon, with possibility of some showers/thunderstorms this evening.

Ruth Ann, sorry that you are feeling so tired and hope you don't have anemia again.  When a sick person becomes grumpy that is usually a pretty good sign that they are a little better.  It sounds like your SIL is where she needs to be.

The heat is supposed to drop tomorrow although Arizona is still almost ten degrees above normal.  I notice that mornings are a bit cooler - it'll be alright next week so they promise.  And, I cannot complain because there are so many working outdoors - bless them. 

Janet:  Prayers for a perfect chair for Beth - the sooner the better. 

Ruth Ann:  Prayers for strength for you.

One of the children wrote that this last week is the worst ever - regarding job - and I think family - with no explanation.  I started to fret - and realized that it is another trial but we always get through these trials one way or another - feeling more peaceful with that thought. 

Don has an eye appointment at the VA and we leave in a bit -

Larry:  I like the end of your sentence on your breakfast - topping off the meal with a bit of pastry!   

Hi everyone.  It is a cloudy 61 degree morning and some heavy rain predicted for tonight.  We did have about 1/8th inch of rain last night.  Nothing much on the schedule for today so have been taking things slowly.  I still need to get outside and take my morning walk.  Terrible events at that college in Oregon yesterday.  I read this morning that he asked people if they were a Christian and if they were he killed them, if they said they weren't he shot them in the legs.  What evil. 

Carol, you are in that we do get through tough times and while what happens to our grown children is troublesome it does them no good to worry about them.  Nice to see that you are expecting more normal weather next week. 

Hello from cloudy, cool SW Kansas.  I have a date tonight with a handsome man!  We are going to see the movie War Room.  I saw it opening weekend, but now it is here is=n our little town and I want him to see it, and I know I will enjoy seeing it again as well.    A friend asked me what it is about, and I said, "It's about prayer, stinky feet and lukewarm coffee!"  That should get her curiosity up!   

I hope everyone is feeling good and enjoying cooler weather.  It surely feels like Fall here!

Janet:  That sounds like an interesting movie.  We go to a movie about every five years.  Tell us more when you see it. 

It is a tad cooler here today - yea!!!! 

I really like the picture of the Random Image today - the California Quail.  I wonder if that bird is different from the Arizona Quail.  I call them the Bobble Heads because when they scoot around, that little top just juggles back and forth and even their call is so cute.  They won't ever make a pet though -too skittish. 

Hi everyone.  This is a raining, drab looking day.  I checked my rain gauge and so far haven't had much rain but it is predicted throughout the day and tomorrow and it is now raining.  The Weather Channel is saying we could have historic flooding across the Carolina's and part of the Augusta area, including North Augusta are under flood warnings. The weather map shows South Carolina seems to be the focus of the heavy rains and floodiing.  I plan on staying in today, as I did yesterday and will stay nice and dry.  However, I will be able to enjoy college football games this afternoon. 

Janet, hope you enjoyed your date last night and in seeing that movie again. 

Carol, glad you are getting some cooler weather.

I did enjoy our date night and love the movie War Room!  It's about the power of prayer, and learning how to pray or fight the right way.  I highly recommend it to everyone!

It's just flat COLD here today!  I went downtown to Fall Fest and it was just too cold for me, as I wasn't dressed nearly warmly enough.  Now I'm home and have time for a nap before we go to Liberal tonight for Jeff's audition with Voices of Praise.  I hope he does really well.  Abby is playing golf in Lakin today, so I hope she has warm enough clothes.  B-r-r-r-r-r1

Darrel is watching football--on the inside of his eyelids! 

See you later!

Hi, friends,

I took today off to rest and recuperate.

And, I've planned to praise our precious Lord that He gives me strength for the day. That's so important for me to remember - not the load itself, but the strength He grants for each new day.

When I saw my sister in law yesterday she was much improved both in color and in personality.

Carol, my brother is seniors pastor at his church, and he took as many seniors as he could to see the movie. He highly recommends it.

Love to all,
Ruth Ann

Hi everyone on what appears will be another very rainy, rainy day.  We got through the day yesterday with only light rain but it really rained hard during the night.  We lost power for about 30 minutes around 3:30.  I have an Uninterrupted Power Supply that sounds and alarm when the power goes  off and it woke me up and realized there was no power.  I really appreciated it when the power came back on and the AC started and the ceiling fan moved the air around as it was getting quite warm in the bedroom.  I tried without success to book a flight for my SIL to come from Kansas City to visit us in a couple of weeks.  I will have to try again today but it will have to be a little later than what I was trying to book yesterday.  Today I plan on attending Sunday School and Church and then we will dine out or I will pick up something to bring home for lunch.  I also need to review my will and another Durable Power of Attorney as we have an appointment with an attorney in the morning to help up update everything and to evaluate the need for the Living Trust.  Scott is going to go with us.  I did this when my folks made their Living Trust and it was very helpful.  Yesterday was not a good day for either South Carolina or Georgia Universities on the football field.  They had a huge crowd in Athens, Georgia to watch the game in pouring rain.  I watched in the comfort of my easy chair. 

Janet, what is the Voices of Praise?  Glad you enjoyed the movie again. I don't remember you mentioning Abby playing golf.  Was it a competitive event?

Ruth Ann, certainly encouraging news regarding your SIL.  God does give us the strength for each new day and we need to praise him for it.

Hope everyone enjoys their Sunday.

Ruth Ann, good to hear the improvement in your SIL.  And good that you, like Larry, take time to rest when you need it.  That's very important!  I'm trying to learn this myself these days.

Larry, Abby is playing golf for her PE in High School, and they had a match in Lakin yesterday.  She enjoys it, but isn't radical about it, if you know what I mean!  Her passion is dance.  They had some little kittens whose mama got run over.  They were trying to hand feed them, really a problem with their busy schedules, and she somehow found a lady in Lakin who was willing to take them.  So last night, on the way home from Liberal, we stopped by their house and got the babies and their big can of milk, and took them to McDonald's here in Ulysses, where we met the lady.  She drove here from Lakin to get the kittens (about 22 miles) and was there when we pulled in.  She said the kittens were a little smaller than the ones she has, which I gather she has been hand feeding also.  Abby was so happy to find a good home for them!  I know a lot of people would have just knocked them in the head, but I'm glad she and her family respect life, even of tiny kitties! 

Voices of Praise was started to help find and develop worship leaders to work in their local churches, and to help those who want and love to sing but have been timid about getting up in front of a group to sing.  It started in Miami, Florida, and somehow now has this connection in Liberal, Kansas.  They are having auditions for four Saturdays in a row; with from 9 to 13 contestants in each group.  On October 24 they will choose 12 finalists, who will compete for cash prizes of $500 for first, $300 for second and $200 for third.  Jeff loves to sing and is on the praise team at their church, but he wanted to just see how he would do in this.  I thought his song was the best choice last night, as it was peppy, and the only one the audience seemed to really connect with, and they were clapping their hands in time with the music as he sang.  He chose the song Soul on Fire as his solo, and did a really good job.  More than half the songs were sung in Spanish, so of course, we didn't understand them.  There were 19 churches represented, from a wide area of Kansas and Oklahoma.  And that's all I know about Voices of Praise!     

Pastor Kris finished his series on What am I Doing? this morning with a sermon on What am I doing, sitting on the Sidelines?  His main point was that every Christian needs to be involved in some way in furthering the Kingdom of God.

I'm starting to gather up things I want to take on the trip to Mark's wedding.  We plan to leave early Thursday morning.

I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful Lord's Day!

Ruth Ann:  I didn't know you had a brother who is a seniors pastor - how super is that! 

Janet:  Hooray for Abby and for Jeff as well! 

I will tell this story on myself - almost daily, I cannot "find" the cell phone because I forget where I put it and this morning was no exception.  I looked all over and was feeling distraught about my forgetfulness - then turned to the page in the book, "Jesus Calling" where the first daily words were about not being upset over things that go wrong, etc.  Just to trust.  That calmed me enough to think about calling the cell phone number from the regular phone and it rang and rang where I found it hidden in my chair - totally hidden on the side.  My whole reason for writing this to you is that I feel that I have wasted so much time over fretting and really am glad to be reminded of total faith.  thanks for listening to me   - Carol

Carol, I could tell you so many similar stories on myself!  And I'm sure others here could, as well.  I've had to call my phone more than once like that.  Now we have no land line, so if I "lose" my phone I will have to call it from Darrel's!

Hi everyone.  Compared to most of the State of South Carolina, we have fared very well here in the Augusta/North Augusta area.  However, the schools in our county are all closed today.  We were to make a trip to Greenwood, SC, this morning for an appointment with an estate planning attorney.  This is about 55 miles North of us and I have no idea of what their situation is with regard to the flooding.  I will call and reschedule as the Governor has requested people to stay home today.  The flooding has been beyond belief in this State.  It is still raining this morning in many locations in SC.  I do plan on going over to Augusta around noon but will not leave this area.  I did attend Sunday School and Church yesterday but there were many people absent.  I was able to make plane reservations last evening for Pat's sister to come for a week's visit.  She is to be here on October 20th. 

Janet, thanks for the information related to Abby's golfing activity and also the Voices of Praise.  I hope Jeff is one of the twelve finalists.  Glad they were able to find someone to take the kittens. 

Carol, let me assure you that you are not the only one who sometime loses things and can't find them.  Glad you found your cell phone.  Pat has a problem remembering to turn hers back on after she has turned it off.  I keep my cell phone in it's case on my belt except when I lay down I put it on my night stand.  Occasionally after getting up I find I have left it on the night stand rather than putting it back in the case on my belt. 

I had my furnace serviced last week, in preparation for winter.  And it was just in time.  The temperature here overnight was  28^o!

But I'm much better off than people in South Carolina this morning. 

Hi everyone on a bright, sunny and cool South Carolina morning.  The clear sky and sun is certainly welcome and now the work of cleanup and restoration throughout the State can start.  Our church is collecting water to take to some location where it is needed as even parts of our County have had significant flood damage.  There is another effort today to take the churches emergency response trailer out and prepare meals for people that need them.   

Yesterday Pat and I were able to get eye appointments at COSTCO and had our eyes checked.  Neither one of us will be getting new classes at this time as only slight changes were made in the prescriptions.  Of course while there we had so get some meat, fruit and a couple of other things.  You never get out of there without a significant charge.  Scott came out and had dinner with us as Pat had fixed a roast and scalloped potatoes and we had some squash casserole left.  That was topped off with pumpkin pie that we had picked up at COSTCO.  It was huge but pretty good.  Today Pat plans on going to the church to help prepare for the church ladies bazaar that is coming up in a few days.  I plan on meeting Scott for coffee and breakfast/lunch at Gary's Hamburger place downtown but will go a little early to buy some bottled water and I will drop it off at the church.  I have a little wheeled platform that we used a lot to get things into Stacey's apartment and will take that to move the cartons of water.  I have already done the morning chores around the house so probably will have a quiet rest of the day. 

Jeanne, it sounds like you got your furnace served at just the right time.  I am going to pass on that this fall as the Heat Pump is new.  I do need to get the filter changed but have to figure out where it is located on the unit. 

Hope all have a nice day.

Fall has arrived here, and it's quite a lot cooler.  I'm hoping it won't freeze for a while, as I surely would like to get some more tomatoes from the garden.

We have a terrible invasion of little fruit flies, and spray won't kill them.  They are all through the house, even in the bathrooms!  Yuck.  We will set off a bug bomb when we leave and hope to come home to no bugs!  They really are a nuisance!

Larry, so glad the flooding didn't affect your immediate area.  It's really rough there in your state, though.  I heard this morning that Operation Blessing has crews there helping, which they do for every disaster.  And since we are members of the 700 Club, we do have a small part in that.  It takes lots of folks working together to help in these situations.

We will pack today for our trip to IL. for grandson Mark's wedding.  It is very near to St. Louis--just across the river.  We plan to be gone four days, as it's too long a trip to do in one day.

Beth will be getting those three teeth filled tomorrow.  I hope she tolerates that well.  John will take her.

I don't seem to have any news much, so see you later!

Don just left for the post office - for some unknown reason they have not forwarded our mail for over three weeks even though we have gone in there and talked to them a week ago.  Uff da as grandma would say.

Thunder and a little bit of rain is in the area.  Arizona almost always needs rain.  the rain that hit South Carolina is just shocking.

You make me feel a little bit  better about forgetfulness - it can be so frustrating at times. 

Hi everyone.  It is another beautiful clear and crisp morning.  That sunshine looks so good after about eleven days of cloudy and rainy weather over South Carolina.  Today Pat has a medical appointment at 10:30 but it is only about 7 miles from us in the University Hospital area.  Then this evening we will go to church for the Wednesday night dinner and following Bible Study.  I was feeling rather off balance yesterday and by evening was exhausted.  I went to bed at 7 pm and it was almost 8 am when I got up this morning but do feel more like my normal self. 

Janet, our church is busy trying to help with the relief efforts here in South Carolina.  They are collecting bottled water and hand sanitizers, asking people to put together cleaning buckets with specific items in each bucket, and our church's emergency relief unit went yesterday to some area to fix meals for folks.  There is one county, where the city of Florence is located, that is apparently cut off from the rest of the state due to losing bridges and washed out roads as well as a lot of flooding.  Because certain areas are not in flood plains people have not been able to buy flood insurance.  This disaster is so wide spread that it staggers one's imagination.  Hope the dental work goes well for Beth. 

Carol, hope you get your mail situation resolved. 

Hi, friends,

Janet, before I forget it. When we had a garden, my husband would pull the tomato plants up by the roots the first day a frost was predicted. He hung them, roots up, in the basement. Several years, we even had fresh tomatoes on Thanksgiving and on Christmas. Try it - you might like it!

Larry, when I was a toddler, my dad pastored a church in Columbia. It's where I learned to talk and some from South Carolina say I still have an accent from there.

Carol, my brother is also director of three denominational ministries: the senior's (called Prime Time), the men's, and the motorcycle ministry. So, I think he and his wife must schedule a time to be together on their calendars! God is blessing them, and I'm so very grateful.

Good news on two fronts today. They're beginning to talk about being able to discharge my sister in law. Oh, how happy she is. And I saw my spine doctor today. We agreed that, while another steroid shot is an option, we will experiment to see if I can go to the YMCA for a bit of exercise on the NuStep machine, one which has helped in the past. It's a manual machine and can be customized to the resistance needed to bring me up to a better fitness level and possibly help me lose some of this excess weight.

So, I sat in my car listening to BBN radio with wonderful Christian music as a way to quietly worship our Lord, thanking Him for these blessings.

Y'all have a good rest of the day.

Ruth Ann

Thanks for that, Ruth Ann!  We don't have a basement, but maybe hanging the plants in the garage would work.  I have tried picking all the tomatoes and wrapping them individually in newspaper.  They did keep for quite a while, and ripened slowly.  I'll do one or the other!    Good to hear your SIL is doing better and that some exercise might spare you getting another shot.  I have been so sore I can barely get up out of a chair for ab out two weeks.  I keep going, even to the gym, but...Ouch!  Once I'm up and going, the pain almost goes away, but I need a boost to get me going!  (I don't have one.)

Hmmm!  They're saying on TV there will be a shortage of pumpkins so lots of kids may not have a jack'o'lantern this year.  Big tragedy, huh?  The excess water has caused the pumpkins to rot, I guess.  I like seeing pumpkins and other fall stuff, but not necessarily the carved ones.